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Related Articles View More TV Stories"It's no good, I can't maneuver!"
–Gold Leader, Star Wars: A New Hope
In his Turn Zero articles, guest writer and three-time X-Wing™ World Champion Paul Heaver addresses some of the game's most frequently overlooked fundamentals. Previously, he has turned his attention toward asteroid placement, squad design, ship deployment, and battle plans. In each case, he has offered his insight not only into the different ways you might approach these fundamentals, but also the reasons why your decisions matter.
Today, he advances his Turn Zero series into actual game play, exploring the practice of blocking and its potential impact upon your matches.
X-Wing World Champion Paul Heaver on Blocking
Since the beginning of X-Wing, blocking has been a valuable skill to master. It is one of the reasons that the TIE swarm did so well in the game's early events. People tended to joust one another, and the jousting team that had modifications to its dice rolls tended to beat the teams that were just rolling dice and hoping for good results.
At its most basic, "blocking" is when you maneuver a ship so that your opponent's ship cannot complete its maneuver because it would overlap your ship. The blocked ship is pushed backwards along its template until it is no longer overlapping, and it has to skip the Perform Action step of the activation phase.
Generally, this means that the blocker has had the opportunity to perform actions, while the blocked ship loses that opportunity. Over the course of the game, incremental advantages like this add up, especially if the rest of the blocker’s list is prepared to fire upon the blocked ship. It’s an even bigger bonus if the blocked ship ends up on an asteroid or in a debris field that it would have otherwise avoided. This will penalize them further, and you might be able to keep them on the obstacle the next turn with another skillful block. Finally, if one ship in the opposing formation is blocked, you can sometimes cause a chain reaction that causes the next ship to bump into the blocked ship, and so forth, removing multiple actions from the enemy list!
The Usual Suspects
Clearly, since blocking is most commonly used as action denial, it’s best to block ships that depend on the Perform Action step. In the current metagame, most “ace” ships, like Soontir Fel and The Inquisitor, depend upon using their actions to avoid your firing arcs and stack defensive tokens. Soontir is a lot less intimidating when he doesn’t have two focus tokens and one evade token assigned to him!
Other ships need their actions to prepare to fire ordnance, like JumpMaster 5000s, and have much weaker primary attacks when forced to use those instead. Once you identify which of the ships in your opponent’s list most require actions to be cost-effective, it’s time to determine how you are going to stop them.
In general, blocking requires you to use actions to reposition your ships and to activate at a lower pilot skill than the ship you want to block. You also want to use a ship with a weaker attack, since it will not be making an attack on the blocked ship. Actions like boost and SLAM are great for blocking in the first round of combat, as both squads are approaching one another. They allow you to cover more distance than your opponent was expecting and can set up situations in which the rest of your squad will be ready to shoot the blocked ship.
However, blocking with boost or SLAM actions often ends up with your blocked ship at Range "1" of the enemy squad—and without defensive tokens—so you should expect to lose that ship. These early blocks should only be done if you are confident you will gain more from the rest of your squad than you lose from losing one of your ships.
Barrel rolls tend to be better actions for blocking in the middle of a dogfight. Where the boost action covers a lot of ground, it offers only three possible locations, and the action itself can be blocked. Barrel rolls can be adjusted to help you fit where you need to be. Doing a Speed "1" turn and then barrel rolling back toward your original location can still surprise opponents who were expecting you to move further.
Ships that have reposition actions, weak attacks, and low pilot skills include the A-wing's Prototype Pilot, the TIE fighter's Academy Pilot, the TIE Advanced prototype's Sienar Test Pilot, and the JumpMaster 5000's Contracted Scout. These are probably some of the best blockers in the game. If you are having difficulty defeating lists that depend on their actions, these aren’t difficult ships to fit in your own list.
Plus, there are ways to punish enemy ships even more when they are blocked. You can run the dreaded “BumpMaster,” which uses Anti-Pursuit Lasers, Intelligence Agent, and Feedback Array on a Contracted Scout to see where an ace will land, use barrel roll to block it, maybe do one damage with Anti-Pursuit Lasers, and then damage it with Feedback Array!
Move into Block Position
To block your opponent’s ships, you have to know what their most common moves are going to be. A ship like a TIE Defender with the TIE/x7 Title will mostly be executing Speed "3" turns and Speed "4" Koiogran-turns, for example. Soontir Fel loves his Speed "2" turn, and anything with a Speed "1" turn tends to execute that maneuver often.
Always pay attention to the options your opponent has available to turn his ship around—Koiogran turn, Segnor’s Loop, and Tallon Roll—and be prepared to block those. Opponents will rarely choose to fly through obstacles, so keep them in mind when determining your opponent’s moves. If you can’t guess the move correctly, then you can’t block it!
Being able to guess an opponent’s move is a key part of X-Wing, and a skill that comes with practice and playing lots of games. Often, you can boil it down to two or three possible moves.
Which one do you block? I’d say block the one that, if successful, stands the best chance of causing the most damage to your list. For example, if you are sure an ace is either going to turn to attack your squad or run away, then block the attack move. If you are wrong, then he runs away, and no shots are fired. But if you try to block the retreat move and he attacks, then you threw one of your ships out of position for no effect, and have one fewer shot to send in his direction.
To Block, or Not to Block
Another important skill to develop is deciding when not to block. Like I mentioned above, boosting a ship forward to block your opponent will often result in the opponent’s other ships getting multiple Range "1" attacks on it. If you can’t match that for impact, then it probably isn’t worth making the sacrifice. I’ve also seen people block opposing ships by turning away from the battle. In many cases, this means your ship isn’t firing at anything for multiple turns. If the blocked ship is still shooting at something on your list, then it might not be a smart move to make.
Finally, just because you can make a block, doesn’t mean you should. Say you have four A-wings against Soontir Fel. You might realize you can block all of his moves with three of your ships, while the fourth sets up a shot.
If Soontir’s the last ship with one hull remaining, this might be worthwhile. However, if Soontir’s healthy, just has to weather a single ship's attack, can fire back, and the block points your A-wings in different directions on the next turn, then you aren’t going to win this exchange. In this case, it’s better to try to determine exactly which maneuver he’s executing and sent one A-wing to block it, putting yourself into position to fire into Soontir with the other three fighters.
In general, blocking is all about planning for the future. A good blocker not only plans for what will happen the turn after he blocks you, but for the positions the block puts his ships in for next turn, so that he will still have board position enough to press his advantage. It’s an important part of gaining incremental advantages, and it's a skill that you can keep developing with practice.
Practice Makes Perfect
Whether you prefer to practice with an A-wing, TIE fighter, or JumpMaster 5000, we encourage you to go out this week and try your hand at predicting and blocking your opponent's maneuvers. Then return to our community forums to share your results! Did gain the incremental advantages Paul mentioned? Did you commit too much of your squad build to the effort? Did you block too early or too late? How did you anticipate your opponent's maneuvers?
Practicing your blocking might not lead you to become the next X-Wing World Champion, but it certainly won't hurt!As a reminder, the Hamilton Street Railway will be operating on a holiday schedule for the Victoria Day holiday on May 23rd. On this date many routes will be operating with reduced frequencies while some routes will not be operating at all.
The following routes will not be in service on this day:
Summer route 9 ROCK GARDENS, which operates on Sundays and Holidays, WILL be in service on Victoria Day.
DARTS
Also DARTS will be operating holiday service hours on Monday, May 23rd. All subscription trips on DARTS, with the exception of dialysis, are cancelled for Monday, May 23rd. If passengers need to travel on this day, they must make an advance reservation to do so.
Normal Operating Service Hours for DARTS on holidays are 6:30 am to 12:30am.
ATS customer service will be closed on Monday, May 23rd. The HSR Customer Service Centre at the Hamilton GO Centre is also closed on Victoria Day.
BURLINGTON TRANSIT
Burlington Transit will also be operating on a holiday schedule. Route 1 PLAINS will be operating with a one hour frequency between 8am and 6pm. Route 101 PLAINS EXPRESS does not operate on holidays. [PDF]
Burlington Transit Customer Service locations are closed on Sundays and statutory holidays.
GO TRANSIT
GO Transit will be operating on a Saturday schedule for Victoria Day and there will be no train service to the Hamilton GO Centre or the West Harbour GO Station.In a courtroom drama as confusing as it was compelling, a woman has been convicted of pretending to be a man and using a deep voice, a prosthetic penis and a blindfold to trick her female friend into having sex with her during a two-year relationship.
Gayle Newland, 25, persuaded her victim to wear a blindfold throughout the more than 100 hours they spent together during their relationship, which started online.
Her 25-year-old victim told Chester Crown Court that she had kept the blindfold on during about 10 sexual encounters. She remained blindfolded when the pair were sunbathing together and even when they “watched” a film at her flat. The deception, she said, only ended when she pulled off the blindfold while they were having sex to see her friend Gayle wearing a strap-on prosthetic penis.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Gayle exclaimed: “It’s not what you think.”
In her defence, Newland insisted that no blindfold was used during their relationship. She also denied strapping bandages to her chest to mask her breasts, claiming they were only there to protect a heart monitor.
Denying five counts of sexual assault, Newland, from Willaston, Cheshire, insisted her accuser always knew she was pretending to be a man, and that they had been engaging in roleplay while her friend struggled to come to terms with her lesbianism.
But the jury convicted Newland of three of the sexual assault charges while acquitting her of two others.
Judge Roger Dutton warned her that imprisonment was inevitable, but adjourned the case for pre-sentencing reports, explaining that Newland had “serious issues surrounding her personality”.
Newland’s deception begun in 2011 when she sent her victim a Facebook friend request after setting up a fake account in the name of “Kye Fortune” by downloading photos from an American man’s Myspace page.
During online and phone communication, “Mr Fortune” told the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that “he” had a close friend called Gayle Newland. The victim then became friends with Newland as well as Mr Fortune.
The victim said she noticed that Mr Fortune and Newland, who at the time was a Chester University student, had “really similar accents, [but] his was just a bit deeper”. Describing how she fell for the con, she told the court: “When you Googled him, it came up with a Twitter account, Facebook account, a Bebo account. He seemed a feasible person. I’m still in shock... coincidences keep flashing in front of me, like how Gayle and Kye shared the same birthday.”
The pair finally met face-to-face in February 2013, but “Mr Fortune” insisted on the blindfold, claiming he was embarrassed about scars on his body from being involved in a car accident and receiving treatment for a brain tumour.
The court heard how the victim also agreed to rules that included not touching Mr Fortune’s genitals.
As the romance blossomed, the victim said, they would sometimes snuggle up in front of a film. She added: “I would not say ‘watch’ because I had a mask and scarf on. I heard a film. For us, that was what was normal. In hindsight, I wish I had ripped that mask off sooner.”
The couple eventually got engaged. The victim, who insisted she was not attracted to women, said: “I told my friends I was engaged to a guy. Every time I met up with Kye Fortune, I either had the mask on already or he would wait outside the door and I would put it on. I was so desperate to be loved. It’s pathetic.
“If I could go back and scream at me, I would. It does look ridiculous on paper.”
The deception ended, she told the court, while they were having sex: “I grabbed for the back of his head and my hand got caught on something. It did not feel right.
“Something in my mind said, ‘Pull it [the blindfold] off’. I just pulled it off. Gayle was standing there... I just couldn’t believe it.”
As the judge told Newland she faced “serious consequences” after the jury returned their guilty verdict, she protested: “How can you send me down for something I have not done?” She repeated tearfully: “I don’t understand... I don’t understand.”
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowWe interrupt your regularly scheduled program to look into an argument that is starting to annoy the tits out of me.
One of the most frequent arguments against Communism that I seem to face almost every day now, is the one that says that human nature is such that a system based on cooperation and altruism could never be achieved.
The claim is that this human nature is necessarily greedy, competitive, aggressive and whatnot. With such a nature then it’s only understandable that we’d have wars, poverty and capitalism as these are the only things that our nature is compatible with. It’s then no wonder that Communism has failed every time it was attempted. It went against human nature! Nevermind other factors, it was doomed to failure from the start.
These interpretations basically take the view that human nature is generally “flawed” and is such that only under Capitalism can it be somehow tamed. It is with such reasoning that white becomes black and vices become virtues in order to defend the current system. Against the human nature argument one cannot win for nobody can escape his nature.
Or can they?
The point of calling something a human nature is that a human cannot escape or avoid it. I cannot avoid eating for it is my nature to need energy. Perhaps at some indefinite point in the future we might arrange that we won’t need food anymore but we’ll certainly still need energy, thus our nature remains. The same goes with anything else that we cannot escape.
And this is where evolutionary psychology comes in and tell us that we have genetical predispositions to various behaviours. Fight or Flight, children’s language learning capability etc. One of these predispositions is then posited to be Competition and thus that the human society must be organised in a way that Competition is put to good use. Ergo Capitalism.
Putting aside the quite large controversy around Evolutionary Phychology itself, I have the following arguments:
Reason
If one thing is said to certainly be part of our nature, then that is our ability to reason and use logical arguments. Indeed we are the only known animal that uses it so one can easily even call it our defining nature. It is the only reason why humans are capable of introspection and thus of managing their own predispositions.
It is with reason that not only can we control our psychological predispositions, but even our biological ones. It is because of it that I can suppress my urge to eat because I am overweight. It is because of reason that men can suppress urges to rape women when they otherwise could and are driven to it by their biology. And it is because of it, that I can suppress whatever urge I have to compete or simply turn it into a noble or friendly competition.
Thus, the strongest and undeniable part of human nature, indeed the one that can be said to be defining humans, is the one that allows us to control all other parts of our nature, whatever they may be. This means that even if, theoretically, competition, greed or whatever else is in our nature but it is against our benefits, we have the innate capability to suppress it.
Cooperation VS Competition
Humans are a social animal, that much is certain. As such we have a definite predisposition towards cooperation with other humans. But is it stronger than any predisposition we may have towards competition? I believe that is the case.
Someone reading about the origins of the family and the state can easily see how before civilization, the humans were barely competitive with each other at all. Within a gentile community, the predominant behaviour was of mutual cooperation and the further back one goes into the stages of barbarism and then savagery, the more powerful this cooperation becomes. This is simply because the less tools and ability humans had to survive independently, the more they had to cooperate with each other to survive.
The only cause of competition that could have happened, was when meeting another band of humans and there was a lack of resources to go around. Then, as a results of humans being separated into haves and have-nots, competition emerged. Other than that, there was no other competition to be had. Their societies were ones of group marriages and thus there was not even male competition for women.
This cooperative method of living persisted for millions of years with the strongest forms of cooperation lasting longer (as the lesser forms of evolutionary progress lasted longer) until eventually, roughly 9000 years ago, humans enterred civilization. It is with civilization that the monogamy, private property and the state emerged. This was the reason why humans were separated, for the first time in history, into classes. And it is because of the friction between those classes that competition became the fact of life.
The larger the society grew, the bigger the class separation, the larger the gap with other humans in one’s society, The impression of individual independence grew even though it is patently false. Nevertheless, the human within a huge society finds it impossible to perceive it and ends up assuming that he actually has no codependence on other humans. Thus in this vast society, competition feels like the only choice, add to that the constant reinforcement of this idea by popular media and memes and it’s no wonder that this feels like “human nature”.
But what do you think is evolutionary stronger. Cooperation which lasted millions of years or competition which in the grand scheme of things is as long as a blink of an eye? Not only logic but simple empirical evidence points to the former. Cooperation survives even in the most hostile environment of Capitalism – the system which honestly expects people to act rationally and individualistic and ends up having to work with emotional cooperative humans.
And to top it all off, we still have reason, as explained above, which can further suppress competition in favor of cooperation when warranted.
If there is any truth to evolutionary psychology, it is as Marx noted, in that humans have the nature of cooperation and individualism. Our nature do not prevent Communism at all, it yearns for it, for it is both in all of our best interests and also closer to our psychology.
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TumblrAmong the 28 Latter-day Saints who entered the 2013 season on NFL rosters, two rookies are so far justifying their status as first-round draft picks.
When Star Lotulelei was at the NFL combine last February, doctors reported he had a heart condition that prevented him from working out for NFL scouts and coaches. This raised concerns and the massive lineman from the University of Utah eventually fell to a middle first-round pick.
But Lotulelei has not disappointed the Panthers three games into the season. Thus far he has registered nine tackles, a sack and been a disruptive force for opponents, wrote ESPN insider Kevin Weidl.
"Lotulelei has been stout defending the run and has created disruption in the backfield while also showing impressive range," Weidl wrote.
In the article, Lotulelei is compared to another Latter-day Saint lineman — Baltimore's Haloti Ngata.
"Ngata was bigger and was about 25 pounds heavier coming out than Lotulelei. He also had exceptional athleticism," Weidl wrote. "Lotulelei does not have the same type of athleticism, versatility and has a long way to go to even be considered in the same conversation as Ngata.... However, they shared a lot of similarities coming out of school."
Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah, the fifth overall pick in the draft out of BYU, is also turning heads in his rookie campaign. He has recorded 11 tackles — the most among Detroit defensive linemen — and a team-high 2.5 sacks, not to mention a handful of quarterback hits. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive lineman from Ghana credits teammates Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley for his early success. He has impressed Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz, according to the Detroitnews.com.
“He makes plays whenever he goes in the game,” Schwartz told writer John Niyo. “I mean, he learns something new every week. He practices well. His technique continues to improve. But he just has that knack for being able to make a play on the field.”
Add Paul Kruger to the list of Mormons playing on the defensive line for NFL teams. In an article posted on BaltimoreRavens.com, Kruger talked about returning to Baltimore — the team he just helped to win the Super Bowl — but now as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
“I was (in Baltimore) for four years and have so many friends and people over there that I still talk to,” Kruger said in the article. “But I’ve made this place a new home and (I’m) really loving it here. I’m really excited about what we have going on.”
After helping Baltimore to win Super Bowl XLVII, Kruger signed a five-year, $41 million deal with the Browns.
“It went smooth and I’m real happy with the outcome,” Kruger told BaltimoreRavens.com. “There’s no looking back.”
Tevita Stevens signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Redskins after starting on Utah's offensive line for four years. Currently, the 6-3, 300-pound offensive lineman is on Washington's practice squad.
Stevens was recently featured in a lengthy blog post by Brian Skinnell. In the article he tells about his athletic family, serving a Spanish-speaking mission to New York and his playing days at the University of Utah.
As the center, Stevens said he lined up each day against future Carolina first-round draft pick Lotulelei, which was hard but made him a better player.
"Star and I went against each other every day in practice and he is definitely the best defensive lineman I have ever gone against," Stevens told Skinnell. "He was definitely worth the first-round selection. Going against him made me such a better player in many different ways."
Another returned missionary and practice-squad offensive lineman is Buffalo's Mark Asper. After anchoring Oregon's offensive line, Asper has been riding an NFL roller coaster. According to Buffalorumblings.com, Asper was drafted by the Bills in 2012, then released and claimed off waivers by Minnesota. The Vikings released him and he spent fall training camp with Jacksonville before being released again and coming back to Buffalo.
"(He) has now come back full circle where the Bills intended to have him all along," writes Brian Galliford. "Asper worked with the team as a center during Chan Gailey's last training camp, and he gives the team some flexibility behind injured reserve guard/center Doug Legursky."
Before he left Oregon for the NFL, Asper and his young family were featured in a 2011 video report by Nick Krupke of KVAL.com. The video introduces Asper's wife and two children and the impact they have on his life.
Meanwhile, Eric Weddle, an LDS convert and former all-American safety at Utah, continues to be a leader for San Diego's defense. Weddle, a captain and three-time all-pro selection, was recently featured on Chargers.com.
First-year San Diego coach Mike McCoy said of Weddle: “He’s a crafty veteran that’s played a lot and has had a great career to this point and time. He is a great guy to learn from. Anytime you can play behind an experienced veteran, you’re crazy to not listen to everything they say or watch everything they do. Some guys are a little quieter than others, but you’ve got to watch what they do (and) how they do things. The way they study the game. The good players in this league, it’s not only on the field, it’s off the field. The way they take care of their bodies. It’s nutritionally. It’s the weight room. It’s the film room. It’s everything they do because they’re true pros. And that’s what Eric is.”A video with echoes of the Rodney King beating shows Floyd Dent pinned to the ground and punched 16 times by an officer with a history of citizen complaints
Floyd Dent never felt pain like he did the night of 28 January.
At about 10pm, the Detroit native says he went to visit a blind friend in the neighboring city of Inkster, to deliver a bottle of Rémy Martin and a 40oz of Bud Ice. He stayed for a few minutes, then left to drive home.
Moments later, a police cruiser behind him flipped on its overhead lights. According to a police report on the incident, Dent, 57, had failed to use a traffic signal and disregarded a stop sign. He continued to drive at roughly the same speed for about three-quarters of a mile, to a well-lit area where he says he felt comfortable. There, near an old police station, he pulled to the side of the road.
The police say Dent was driving with a suspended license. According to the office of Dent’s attorney, Greg Rohl, his driving record indicates the suspension was related to an unpaid driving ticket from several years ago.
Dent opened his door and put both his hands out of the window.
“I wanted to let them know I’m unarmed,” he told the Guardian.
But officer William Melendez – believing Dent was reaching for a gun – approached with firearm drawn. What happened next was captured on a patrol car camera.
No audio of the incident exists. According to Dent, one of the officers told him to “get out the car, before I blow your fucking head off”.
Dent opened his door and was dragged out of his Cadillac; almost immediately, Melendez put him in a chokehold. Melendez then proceeded to deliver 16 blows to Dent’s temple. This all took place in about 15 seconds. Another officer arrived moments later and proceeded to use a taser stun gun against Dent, three times. In the video, Dent, with blood dripping from his forehead and cheek, appears not to be resisting Melendez’s efforts to arrest him.
In the police report, Melendez contended that as he had approached Dent’s open car door, the 37-year veteran Ford employee, who had no criminal history, looked at him “with a blank stare as if on a form of narcotic” and plainly stated: “I’ll kill you.”
Dent says Melendez choked him so tightly he couldn’t breathe.
“At one point, I just gave up,” he said in an interview on Sunday at his attorney’s office. “I thought that was it for me.”
At a later hearing, Melendez testified that even before any traffic violation occurred, he planned to investigate Dent simply because he had stopped to visit someone in a part of Inkster known for problems with drugs.
Melendez, 46, claimed Dent was immediately combative and bit his forearm, though he would later testify there were no marks because he was wearing several layers of clothing. Dent denies the accusation. Melendez said the bite was enough reason to begin repeatedly punching Dent.
“I was afraid that I might contract something,” Melendez testified, earlier this month. “I needed to assure that Mr Dent would not do that again.”
For that, Dent says he spent two days in hospital for a fractured left orbital, blood on the brain and four broken ribs.
‘Not all cops are bad, just the ones I ran into’
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Floyd Dent stands with his attorney, Greg Rohl, as they address the media. Photograph: Jessica J Trevino/AP
Inkster, with a population of about 25,000, is 73% black. Melendez is Hispanic; the other eight officers who arrived to the scene on 28 January were white.
While Dent was sitting in the back seat of a cruiser, police say they found a small bag of cocaine underneath the passenger seat of his vehicle.
Dent, whose post-arrest drug test came up negative, says police planted that evidence. Rohl, Dent’s attorney, contends that a close review of a video released this week shows Melendez pulling a bag of drugs from his pocket.
“I saw [an officer] with drugs in his hand, and I thought, ‘Look at them dirty dogs,’” Dent said. “After that I just held my head down.”
The counted: inside the search for the real number of police killings in the US Read more
Dent has two children, including a 30-year-old son who says he is now unsure if he wants to pursue his dream of being a Michigan state trooper.
“He told me, ‘If cops are like this, I don’t wanna be a state police officer’,” Dent said. “I told him not all cops are bad, just the ones I ran into.”
Hilton Napoleon, a former Inkster police chief, said the allegations levied by Dent came as no surprise.
Citizens told him during his three-year tenure that officers planted evidence at a crime scene, he said.
“I tried to get them to come forward and make an official complaint … but they’re scared,” said Napoleon, who resigned in 2014. “And rightfully so.”
Police departments across the US have “bad apples”, Napoleon said, but officers often fail to report their actions.
“People are up in arms, everywhere,” Napoleon, who is black, told the Guardian. “And they’re looking at the police with a jaundiced eye now.”
According to local activists, the incident involving Dent is just one among a number that have pointed to a larger problem of police brutality nationwide. Following the deaths last year of two unarmed African Americans, Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Missouri, protests have spread across the US.
In the wake of the video showing Dent’s beating, demonstrations took place in Inkster – where the police force is estimated to be 80% to 90% white.
Bishop Walter Starghill, president of the Western Wayne office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said he immediately met officials in Inkster, seeking ways to engage the community and let residents know the incident involving Dent would not be “swept under a rug”.
“I was shocked,” Starghill told the Guardian, when asked what he thought of the video. “It wasn’t a pretty sight; it brought a lot of concern to see somebody to be actually treated that way.”
Starghill compared the clip to the infamous beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police in 1991, saying it afforded the public an opportunity to witness what took place. King’s beating, captured on camera, sparked serious riots.
“We realize there’s two different kinds of justice,” Starghill said. “There’s American justice and then there’s black justice. And America says that you are innocent until proven guilty; in black America we feel we are guilty until we are proven innocent.”
Inkster’s police chief, Vicki Yost, who is white and did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Guardian, told other media outlets Melendez had been taken off street patrol. A criminal investigation by Michigan state police is under way, with no timeline for completion, said spokeswoman Shannon Banner.
“The investigation will include a review of all video evidence and interviews,” Banner told the Guardian. Its report will be forwarded to the county prosecutor’s office for review, she said.
The only person who has been prosecuted since the incident is Dent.
Initially, he faced charges of assault, resisting arrest and possession of cocaine. Upon viewing the patrol car video at a preliminary hearing earlier this month, a district court judge tossed out nearly all the charges. A court date on the drug charge is scheduled for Wednesday.
Regardless of this, said Rohl, the kind of treatment Dent received is unacceptable.
“I don’t care if he’s got a kilo of cocaine and two dead bodies in that car, I don’t give a shit,” he said. “It’s never appropriate ever to see that kind of brutality visited upon someone being arrested.”
In the case of Inkster, the question of a financial settlement with Dent comes at a difficult time for the city. Since 2012, Inkster has been under a consent agreement with the state of Michigan to address its dire financial problems. During Napoleon’s short stint as police chief, the number of officers in the department dropped from 73 to 24.
“You have a city that can barely keep its doors open, and now they’re gonna have to come up with a bunch of money and throw it on the backs of taxpayers,” he said.
‘RoboCop’
A frame from a dashcam video provided by the Inkster police department shows an officer punching Floyd Dent many times in the head while another officer tries to handcuff him. Photograph: Larry Edsall/AP
Melendez’s record shows he has faced similar allegations before. At one point, he garnered more citizen complaints than any officer in Detroit, where he started his career in 1993 and served until his resignation in 2009. He entered Inkster’s police force a year later.
Over nearly two decades, Melendez has been named as a defendant in a dozen federal lawsuits, accused of planting evidence, wrongfully killing unarmed civilians, falsifying police reports and conducting illegal arrests. Some suits were settled out of court. Others were dismissed.
In 1996, Melendez, who was known in Detroit as “RoboCop”, and his partner shot and killed Lou Adkins. While Adkins was on the ground, several witnesses said the officers shot him 11 times, according to the Detroit Free Press. The case was settled for $1.05m, court records show.
Later, in 2002, Melendez and a group of officers arrested Detroit resident Darrell Chancellor, a convicted felon, for possession of a firearm. Chancellor testified that he was sitting in a car with a group of friends when Melendez drove by with his partner. Chancellor and his friends exited the vehicle quickly “because it was RoboCop”, Chancellor testified.
Accounts of the incident between Chancellor and Melendez vary wildly. The officer claimed Chancellor threw a gun; Chancellor denied he had one. About 15 minutes later, according to Chancellor’s testimony, Melendez put a gun on top of the vehicle and said: “Chancellor, this is your gun.” Chancellor denied the accusation.
While Chancellor was being transferred to the police precinct, an argument broke out. Melendez, Chancellor said, told him to “shut the F up” or he would also plant drugs on him.
Chancellor spent 213 days in jail. When federal prosecutors reviewed the case, the firearm possession charge against him was dismissed.
The US prosecutor’s office examined Chancellor’s case as part of an investigation into allegations against Melendez, who was cited as the ringleader of numerous officers indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003 on civil rights violations. The officers were acquitted in 2004; jurors who spoke with the Detroit News explained they didn’t believe the government’s witnesses, many of whom had criminal records.
Around the time Chancellor’s case was concluded, in 2007, the city of Detroit settled another suit involving Melendez for $50,000. The lawsuit alleged Melendez and his partners knocked on Ernest Crutchfield III’s door in November |
works Physica and Causae et curae. She also corresponded with magnates and lesser people from all over Europe, made three preaching tours, and defied the abbot who ruled over her convent by absconding with some of the nuns to set up a new convent in a place of her choosing.
Education and Literacy
We’re all familiar with stories where the son gets thorough schooling while his sister is not even taught to read because it’s not a skill that’s valued in a bride. But many women throughout history were educated, and not every culture has seen literacy as a “male” virtue.
Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, was a high priestess (an important political position) and a composer and writer of religious hymns that remained known and in use for centuries after her death (23rd century B.C.E.)
In the second century B.C.E. a certain Polythroos son of Onesimos made a gift to the city of Teos to use for educating its children, including “three grammar-masters to teach the boys and the girls.” [Roger S Bagnall and Peter Derow, editors, The Hellenistic Period: Historical Sources in Translation, Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p 132]
“Since the beginning of the Safavid period, the art of reading and writing, calligraphy, and composing letters was common among the women of the court, who used it for personal correspondence as well as for diplomatic activities.” [Hambly, p 329]
16th century Nuremburg midwives seem to have commonly been given printed copies of their oath and of baptism regulations, suggesting it was expected for them to be literate. A manual called “The rosegarden for midwives and pregnant women” was in popular use, and the knowledge midwives had in these circumstances would have been similar to that of physicians of the time, within their specialty. [Barbara A. Hanawalt, editor, Women and Work in Preindustrial Europe, Indiana University Press, 1986, chapter 6]
Sex and Modesty
Sexual mores vary over cultures. The puritanical, post-Victorian mindset prominent in 20th century USA is unique to a specific era, and is in fact unusual.
Here’s a folk proverb from the territory of Savoy: “No house was ever shamed by a girl who let her skirts be lifted.”
Zhou Daguan, the 13th century Chinese envoy whom we’ve met before, was startled by many things Khmer; for example, the unapologetic sexual feelings expressed by women.
“If a husband doesn’t meet his wife’s wishes he will be abandoned right away […] If the husband happens to have work to do far away, if it is only for a few nights that is all right, but if it is for more than ten nights or so the wife will say, ‘I’m not a ghost—why am I sleeping alone?’”
Bathing customs also come in for scrutiny. Modesty doesn’t mean the same thing across cultures, and nudity is not always linked to sexuality.
“Everyone, male and female, goes naked into the pool. […] For people from the same generation there are no constraints.” And, even better (from his perspective): “women […] get together in groups of three to five and go out of the city to bathe in the river. […] You get to see everything, from head to toe.” [Zhou Daguan, pp 56, 81].
Seen across time, premarital and extramarital sex are not rarities; they’re common and, in some cases, expected. Some cultures have no restriction on premarital sex because marriage is not, in those cultures, about sexual access, nor is a woman’s virginity a universally prized commodity.
There can be policy reasons for extramarital sexual relations as well.
“Plutarch preserves an anecdote that implies that Alexander encouraged Cleopatra [his sister] to take lovers rather than remarry, much as Charlemagne later did with his daughters.” [Carney, p 90]
Sex work, too, must be considered with nuance rather than the Playboy-bunny-style courtesan and willing-or-thieving whore who turn up with odd regularity in science fiction and fantasy novels.
“Among people who believed that simple fornication or adultery by married men with unmarried women was not all that bad, prostitutes might be just another sort of service worker. They could be part of networks of women within towns, associating with other servant women if not with their mistresses. One London case involved a prostitute who gave other women information about the sexual prowess (or rather lack of it) of potential marriage partners, reporting ‘that certain young men which were in contemplation of marriage with them had not what men should have to please them.’ One man sued her for the damages he sustained in losing the opportunity to marry a rich widow.” [Ruth Mazo Karras, Sexuality in Medieval Europe, 2005. p 107]
Don’t despair, however. You can totes have your sexy spy women who use lust to destroy the enemy.
Kautilya’s The Arthashastra (written no later than 150 CE) is an extensive handbook for the art of government, and a pretty ruthless one at that (Machiavelli, eat your heart out). Besides wandering nuns (ascetic women) acting as roving spies, the section “Against Oligarchy” suggests using lust to weaken the bonds between a council of chiefs whose solidarity the king wishes to disrupt:
“Brothel keepers, acrobats, actors/actresses, dancers and conjurors shall make the chiefs of the oligarchy infatuated with young women of great beauty. When they are duly smitten with passion, the agents shall provoke quarrels among them. […]” [Kautilya (translated by L.N. Rangarajan), The Arthashastra, Penguin, 1987, p. 522]
Lesbians exist throughout history (and thus certainly before history began to be recorded), although their presence isn’t as well documented as sexual relationships between men. Writer Heather Rose Jones’s “The Lesbian Historic Motif Project” does so much so well that I am just going to link you to it.
Also, please remember there is no one universal standard of beauty. The current Hollywood obsession with thinness is a result of modern food abundance. In societies with high food insecurity, heavier women may be perceived as healthier and more attractive than their thin counterparts. It’s not that slender women could not be considered beautiful in the past, but if every girl and woman described as beautiful in a book is thin or slender according to modern Hollywood standards (which have changed a great deal even compared to the actresses of the 1920s), or if weight-loss by itself is described as making a character beautiful, then this is merely a modern USA-centric stereotype being projected into scenarios where different beauty standards would more realistically apply. This should be equally obvious in terms of other aspects of perceived beauty, like complexion, hair, features, body shape, and ornamentation.
Any cursory read of world literature reveals an emphasis on male beauty and splendidness as well. In Genesis, Joseph is described as “well built and handsome,” which gives Potiphar’s wife at least one reason to make unwanted advances toward him. In his book The Origins of Courtliness: Civilizing Trends and the Formation of Courtly Ideals 939-1210 (University of Pennsylvania, 1985), C. Stephen Jaeger notes that “An impressive appearance was all but a requirement for a bishop.” He goes on to note the example of Gunther of Bamberg (died 1065) who, it was said, “so far surpassed other mortals in ‘formae elegentia ac tocius corporis integritate’ that in Jerusalem great crowds gathered around him wherever he went in order to marvel at his beauty.” I don’t make this stuff up, people.
Rape
Oh, everyone knows how to write about rape. It’s a popular way to include women in an epic fantasy or historical narrative, whether written in explicit detail or merely implied (as in all those Conan comics of the 70s). Fantasy novels are littered with raped women, possibly more raped women than women serving any other plot function except sex work. (And wouldn’t that be an interesting statistical survey?)
If you must include rape (and there can be reasons to include rape), know that there’s nothing new, bold, or edgy in writing violent scenes from the point of view of the person who is inflicting harm, suffering, and fear; that’s the status quo. Flip the lens. Try writing from the point of view of those who survive, and not only as a revenge fantasy or “I became a warrior because I was raped.” Consider how people endure through terrible trauma and how some are broken by it while others are able to build a new life for themselves. Consider how ripples spread through an entire family or village or society.
Not all cultures offer the same treatment to women captives, either.
“‘Generally,’ as the eighteenth-century French traveller [in North America] J.C.B. put it, ‘savages have scruples about molesting a woman prisoner, and look upon it as a crime, even when she gives her consent.’” [James Wilson, The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America, Grove Press, 1998, p. 141]
Gives one a different perspective on the word ‘savage,’ doesn’t it?
Children
It’s not remotely unrealistic (or anti-feminist, as I was once told) to include pregnant women, children and the care of children, and women wanting children in books as matters of interest and importance.
Stories about the stigma of being a barren woman also matter, because for many women having a child was a necessary and/or desperately desired part of life. At the same time, a childless wife might well have other valuable qualities or connections; her status wasn’t necessarily only contingent on her ability to bear a child.
In polygamous societies stories abound of the tighter bond between children of the same mother as opposed to children who had the same father but a different mother. Sunjata was close to his full sister, Kolonkan, who went into exile with him and used her magic (and her skill at cooking) to aid him. Alexander the Great was known to be close to his full sister, Cleopatra, who acted in his interest after he left Macedonia and who, after his death, was considered an important potential marriage partner for the generals vying for control of his empire because her children would be heirs to the Argead dynasty (the ruling dynasty of Macedonia at that time, which died out when all the remaining descendants of Alexander’s father, Philip II, were murdered).
Not all mothers are nurturing and selfless. Some women are willing to sacrifice a child to hold on to power for themselves. After the death of her husband (and brother) Ptolemy VI, Cleopatra II married another brother, Ptolemy VIII, even though on coronation day he murdered her young son by Ptolemy VI. When Ptolemy VIII then also married her daughter by Ptolemy VI, she and her daughter, now co-wives, competed ruthlessly for power in a contest that eventually resulted in the brutal death of yet another son. In contrast Cleopatra VII (the famous Cleopatra) nurtured and protected her children as well as she was able, raising her eldest son Caesarion (by Julius Caeser) to co-rule with her; after her untimely death he was murdered by Octavian’s agents even though she had arranged for him to escape to the east in the hope of putting him out of reach of the Romans.
Not all women in the past got pregnant and had an unending stream of pregnancies broken only by death in childbirth. Various forms of (more or less successful) birth control have been practiced for millennia. The plant silphium, grown in coastal Libya, is said to have been such an effective contraceptive that it was over-harvested until it became extinct.
Not all women pined for children. Some were perfectly happy without them, and/or dedicated themselves to work or religious matters that specifically prohibited them from childbearing.
Some women, for a variety of reasons, never married.
Single Women
The most clichéd and thus commonest ways to portray single women in fantasy are as women in religious orders or as sex workers. Ugly spinsters who can’t get a date also appear, although in actual fact looks are rarely as important in the marriage market as family connections and money. A common reason that a woman might not marry was that she simply could not afford to or, depending on marriage customs, could not attract an acceptable suitor because of a lack of aforesaid family money and connections.
Enslaved women have often lived in a state of enforced singleness, whether or not they are free from sexual demands (and in almost all cases they are not). Americans are most familiar with the horrific history of the trans-Atlantic chattel slave trade, but slavery has existed in many different forms for millennia. In Europe, for example, slavery continued throughout the Middle Ages, waxing and waning depending on the region and era, and many women were transported great distances from their original homes. Of course human trafficking still goes on today in appallingly high numbers.
Many single women in past eras were employed as domestic servants, but not all were. Some had their own work and households. Throughout the Middle Ages in Europe there were always single women who “had their own smoke,” to use a phrase from the late medieval period in Germany that referred to their ability to support themselves in a household of their own. In Paris, single women and/or widows “found practical, economic, and emotional support in their companionships with other unattached women. […] The Parisian tax records [of the 13th century] support this anecdotal evidence of female companionship by offering us glimpses of women who lived and worked together for years.” [Judith M. Bennett and Amy M. Froide, editors, Singlewomen in the European Past: 1250-1800, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999, p 85 & 193]
Some women didn’t marry because they did not want to marry and had the means to refuse, even in cultures where marriage was the overwhelming outcome for most.
“Ai’isha (bint Ahmad al-Qurtubiyya d. 1010) was one of the noble ladies of Cordova and a fine calligrapher […] She attended the courts of the Andalusian kings and wrote poems in their honour. She died unmarried. When one of the poets asked for her hand she scorned him:
1 I am a lioness, and I will never be a man’s woman. 2 If I had to choose a mate, why should I say yes to a dog when I’m deaf to lions?”
[Abdullah al-Udhari (translator and author), Classical Poems by Arab Women, Saqi Books, 1999, p 160]
A Final Word
Women have always lived complex and multivariate lives. Women are everywhere, if only we go looking. Any of the lives or situations referenced above could easily become the launching point for a range of stories, from light adventure to grimmest dark to grand epic.
Our current discussions about the lives and roles of women are not the first round. In the late 14th century the newly widowed Christine de Pisan turned to writing as a means to support her family. She is most famous for two books defending “the ladies.” To quote from Wikipedia, she “argues that stereotypes of women can be sustained only if women are prevented from entering into the conversation. Overall, she hoped to establish truths about women that contradicted the negative stereotypes that she had identified in previous literature.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Pisan was writing in 1405 C.E.
Women have been written out of many histories, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t present. In the epilogue to his book The Secret History of the Mongol Queens (Crown, 2010), anthropologist Jack Weatherford writes “Only grudgingly and piecemeal did the story of the daughters of Genghis Khan and of Queen Manduhai the Wise arise from the dust around me, and only hesitantly and somewhat unwillingly did I acknowledge that the individuals whom I had never studied in school or read about in any book could, in fact, be figures of tremendous historic importance” (p 276).
If we don’t hear about them, it’s hard or even impossible to see them. It’s not only male writers who leave out women; female writers do it too. We all do it because we’ve been told women didn’t and don’t matter unless they were allowed to be like men and do like men, or to support men’s stories, or unless men found them sexually attractive or approved of them. We’re told women were passive and repressed and ignorant and therefore empty. But it isn’t true.
Women’s stories don’t trivialize or dull a narrative. They enrich it. They enlarge it.
It’s easy to place women into epic fantasy stories—and more than one woman, women who interact with each other in multifarious ways and whose stories are about them, not in support of men. In my Tor.com essay “Writing Women Characters,” I elaborate on my three main pieces of advice for those who wonder how to better write women characters:
Have enough women in the story that they can talk to each other. Filling in tertiary characters with women, even if they have little dialogue or no major impact on plot, changes the background dynamic in unexpected ways. Set women characters into the plot as energetic participants in the plot, whether as primary or secondary or tertiary characters and whether in public or private roles within the setting. Have your female characters exist for themselves, not merely as passive adjuncts whose sole function is to serve as a mirror or a motivator or a victim in relationship to the male.
Where does that leave us?
David Conrad’s essay on female power in the epic tradition quotes from djeli Adama Diabaté’s telling of the Sunjata story, the Mande epic of the founder of the empire of Mali in the 13th century. [Ralph A. Austen, editor, In Search of Sunjata: the Mande Oral Epic as History, Literature, and Performance, 1999, p 198]
It is a foolish woman who degrades womanhood.
Even if she were a man,
If she could not do anything with a weaver’s spindle,
She could do it with an axe.
It was Maghan Sunjata who first put a woman in government in the Manden.
There were eleven women in Sunjata’s government,
[From among the] Nine suba women and nine nyagbaw.
It was these people who first said “unse” in the Manden:
“Whatever men can do, we can do.”
That is the meaning of unse.
Kate Elliott is the author of numerous fantasy & science fiction novels, including Black Wolves, Cold Magic, Jaran, and the YA fantasy Court of Fives. You can find out more about her work at her website. Many thanks to Ellen B. Wright, Liz Bourke, Aliette de Bodard, Cheri Nagashima, and Ann Marie Rasmussen for comments and encouragement on this piece.Big Brother is Listening to You
Chapter 1 – WWN's New Show
A/N: So this isn't canon, I won't pretend that it is in anyway. It's set in 2003, 5 years after the final battle and its canon up until that point pretty much but then AU from there onwards. I've rated it M for bad language and sexual themes mostly but there is a bit later that is quite a sensitive topic which is why it has that rating.
I hope you enjoy reading!
Harry Potter was an Auror, he was supposed to be out fighting and protecting the Wizarding World. Instead he was wandering around his house in his pyjamas with nothing to do, bored out of his mind. He sighed heavily as the front door to his flat opened and Hermione walked in with a brown bag in her hand.
'Why aren't you dressed yet?' she asked when she saw him, 'it's 3pm!'
'What's the point?' Harry asked, 'I've got nothing to do.'
Hermione shook her head disapprovingly, 'This isn't good for you.'
'I need to get back to work, I'm so bored Hermione,' Harry whined.
'You shouldn't have gotten yourself suspended then,' Hermione retorted, 'I brought you groceries.'
'I didn't get myself suspended,' Harry grumbled, 'I saved that kids life!'
'I know, but you also disobeyed direct orders Harry,' Hermione said, 'do you want a sandwich?'
'I suppose,' Harry said with a deep sigh.
'Stop moping around like the world has ended,' Hermione said sternly, 'it's only a 6 month suspension, think yourself lucky they're still paying you half-wage for it.'
'I don't care about the money,' Harry said as he got to his feet, 'I want something to do. I asked Andromeda if I could take Teddy in but she said it would confuse him.'
'She's right, you can't just look after your Godson when you're bored,' Hermione said, taking the bag to the kitchen with Harry at her heels, 'besides you only have 4 more months to go now.'
'Only?' Harry groaned.
'You've made it through 2 months, I'm sure you'll manage,' Hermione said handing Harry a sandwich on a plate she had just cleaned, 'why don't you go abroad? Travel for a bit?'
'I can't, they told me not to leave the country,' Harry said.
'Go on a date then,' Hermione suggested, 'try and find a girl, you're not very good at that.'
'I can find girls just fine,' Harry said as he bit into the sandwich,'mmm, this is good Hermione.'
'Yeah, you're right,' Hermione said as she grabbed her bag, 'you find them fine, it's holding onto them that's the problem.'
'Exactly,' Harry said through a mouthful of food.
Hermione rolled her eyes, 'I have to get back to work,' she said, kissing him on the cheek, 'you better get dressed.'
'Why?' Harry asked.
'Dinner at mine tonight, remember?' Hermione said with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
'Right, I hadn't forgotten,' Harry lied.
'Of course you hadn't,' Hermione said with a slight smile,'see you tonight, at 8.'
'See you then,' Harry said in amusement as Hermione left the room, 'thanks for the sandwich!' he called after her.
'Bye Harry!'
Harry sighed as Hermione left, he sank back down onto his sofa in the London flat he had bought when he got into Auror training. Here he was, a successful Auror with the best friends in the world, but what else did he have to say for himself? Not much. He was 22 years old and the longest relationship he had been in had been 6 months with Ginny after the war. He sighed, normally he didn't have time to think about the depressing state of his love life which consisted of a bunch of dates with women he thought liked him for him but actually just wanted to sleep with him because he was Harry Potter. Work was busy and stressful, thank Merlin for that or he would feel this miserable every day of his bloody life.
Harry had forgotten about dinner at Hermione's that night and she knew that. It was a good excuse for him to get out of the house so he quite happily showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt. Hermione had dinners every so often, they normally consisted of her and Ron, Harry, Ginny, Neville and Hannah, and Luna.
He apparated to her flat in Oxford and knocked on the front door, Hermione had it good. She had gone to Muggle University here after the war and had graduated last year, she worked in the Ministry now and she earned a good living from it. She and Ron had been dating on and off for the past 5 years but they didn't live together, Ron had a London flat near the Ministry because he was also an Auror.
'Hey Harry!' Hermione said as she opened the door, 'nice to see you washed, and shaved.'
Harry rolled his eyes and kissed her on the cheek, 'I'm not a complete slob, you know,' he said, handing her a bottle of wine.
'Oh I know, you can be quite the gentleman when you want to be,' Hermione said, letting him in and shutting the door behind him.
Harry chuckled, following Hermione into the living room where Ron was engaged in conversation with Neville about Quidditch. He said a quick hello to them and sat down next to Hannah, Neville's pregnant wife.
'Wow, not long now, eh?' Harry said with a smile.
'2 months,' Hannah said happily, 'a thought which is both exciting and terrifying.'
Harry laughed, 'You and Nev will make great parents,' he assured the blonde.
She smiled and said, 'Oh I know that, I don't think Neville does though.'
'You know what he's like,' Harry chuckled, 'he worries about everything. Is it just us tonight then?'
'Ginny's coming too,' Hannah said,'she's at training so she'll be here a little late. Luna can't make it though, she's on a date with Rolf Scamander.'
'Scamander…why do I recognise that name?'
'Because his Grandfather is Newt Scamander,' Hermione said, wandering through from the kitchen and sitting down, 'he wrote 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', our Care of Magical Creatures Textbook.'
'Ah, of course,' Harry said with a nod.
'I'm surprised you remember that mate,' Ron said, 'I didn't pay much attention in that class.'
'Neither did I,' Harry said honestly, 'I guess it must have stuck somewhere though.'
'The book was interesting,' Neville said, 'Hagrid just made the classes a little…'
'Terrifying?' Ron finished, making the others chuckle.
Hermione glanced at the clock, 'Ginny should be here soon,' she said.
'I didn't think she trained on a Saturday night,' Harry said.
'Only when they have a big game coming up,' Ron said, 'and her game next week is a semi-final.'
'Fair enough,' Harry said, he and Ginny got on well after their short-lived relationship. He was still close to all of the Weasley's so it made things much less awkward.
At that point there was a knock on the door and Hermione answered it, reappearing in the living room with Ginny, she smiled and said hello to everyone, sitting down next to Harry on the sofa.
'How was training?' Harry asked her as Hermione got them a glass of wine each from the kitchen.
'Intense,' Ginny said, 'I can't wait to go home and have a bath.'
Harry chuckled, 'I feel like that after a big raid,' he said.
'Not that you've been doing much of them lately,' Ginny teased.
'Don't mention the suspension,' Ron warned, 'he gets pissy about it.'
Harry threw a pillow at his best friend, 'I do not!'
'See!' Ron said,'such violence!'
Neville laughed, 'You should be enjoying it Harry, treating it as a long holiday.'
'Holiday? I'm bored out of my skull,' Harry said, 'the only companionship I've had is Hermione bringing me sandwiches for lunch.'
'That sounds like an innuendo,' Ginny said, getting glared at by Ron.
'No, she really does come to my flat to make me a sandwich and check I'm alive,' Harry said.
'Everyday,' Ron added,'she used to spend her lunch breaks with me.'
'Clearly I'm more important mate,' Harry joked to chuckles from the others.
'So, how did you get suspended?' Ginny asked with a smirk.
'Well,' Ron said, 'there was this raid and Harry didn't do what he was told, the usual.'
Harry punched Ron in the arm, 'No, what happened was the Senior Auror on the raid was an asshole and he was so bloody stuck on following procedure that a 7 year old kid nearly died.'
'It was a hostage situation,' Ron said, 'we were supposed to bring in the kidnapper but procedure said we couldn't bring him in hurt.'
'Let me guess, Harry hurt him,' Ginny said, looking at Harry in amusement.
'Well if I hadn't then the Senior Auror was going to let the kid die, so yeah I stunned the kidnapper, but he was halfway through a killing curse on the little kid,' Harry said hotly.
'Kingsley said you were in the right,' Hermione remarked, 'but they had to be seen to be doing something, Harry's lucky he only got suspended. He could have been subject to a court hearing, then he might have lost his job and his Auror qualification for good.'
'You did do the right thing,' Ginny agreed, 'that poor boy.'
'He was only a couple years older than Teddy,' Harry said, 'it was a tough case.'
'Being a Godfather is making you soft,' Neville teased.
'Wait till you become a Father, being responsible for a little person does make you soft,' Harry said completely honestly.
Hannah smiled a little, and Neville just looked nervous.
'Oh, did you guys hear about the new project the Department of Magical Games and Sports are announcing tonight on WWN?' Ginny asked, sipping the wine Hermione had given her.
'No…what is it?' Ron asked.
'I don't know, it hasn't been announced yet,' Ginny said as Ron glared at her.
'I've heard talk of it at the Ministry,' Hermione admitted, 'but I don't know what it is yet either. What channel is it on Ginny?'
'WWN5,' Ginny said, 'at 9pm.'
Hermione glanced at the clock, it was around half past 8 now, 'well I've made some French onion soup if anyone is hungry, by the time we've finished eating, it will be time for it to start.'
'Hermione, I love your cooking,' Ron said, instantly on his feet and walking towards the dining room. Ginny rolled her eyes and followed him. They sat around Hermione's oak dining room table and talked about the little things in life, like work and what Hannah and Neville were going to call the baby. Hermione's cooking was fantastic as always and when they had finished eating and retreated to the sitting room it was bang on 9pm.
Hermione turned on the radio and tuned it into WWN5, they all fell silent as they listened to the popular radio presenter, Stephanie Cruise, make the big announcement.
'Exciting news from the Department of Magical Games and Sports! A new programme is being launched for the entertainment of our listening public! This new programme is called 'Listen-In' and will be granted its own channel. The programme features 10 people placed in a house together and cut off from the world, they will have to live this way for 2 months and each week one housemate will leave the house. All of the audio will be recorded 24 hours a day for the entertainment of you, at home! In addition, each week you can vote off a contestant and the person with the least votes will be eliminated.'
In the room the friends shared amused looks, it sounded like it could be a good programme.
'We could see rivalries and romances blossom in our mystery house, fights or kisses, you name it! We bet you'll get invested in the people inside and root for them to win, or leave the house! You can nominate anyone you like for the show, and anyone who gets more than 100 nominations will be in with a chance of becoming a housemate. Just floo in your nominations to…'
They stopped listening as she reeled off the address and said that the 20 most popular nominees would be chosen and then the public would vote and the 10 most popular nominees would become housemates.
'Sounds like an interesting concept,' Neville said.
'The final 10 housemates will enter this mystery house on the 1st of July, and the nominations will be announced on the 21st of June, that's next Saturday so make sure to get your nominations in fast!'
The radio started to go onto the national news so Hermione turned it down and said, 'Well it's certainly an interesting concept, you're right about that Neville.'
'It is,' Neville agreed, 'but who would want that level of publicity? I mean people would be able to hear everything you said, everyday, for two months.'
'Oh but it would be great fun, Nev,' Ron said.
'Imagine all the fun you could have, you never know who you could end up in there with after all,' Ginny said.
'Yeah Harry, imagine if you and Malfoy were both there, you might become best friends,' Hannah said optimistically.
Ron burst out laughing and even Neville smirked a little.
'Sorry to disappoint Hannah, but it's a show, it can't make miracles happen,' Ron said in amusement.
Harry rolled his eyes, 'Malfoy isn't that bad, he's just a bit of a prick.'
'I don't think any of us can argue with that,' Hermione said honestly, 'I work with the idiot.'
'I still can't believe they let Malfoy become a lawyer,' Ron remarked, 'the slimy git.'
'Yeah that in itself is a bloody miscarriage of justice,' Harry added.
Ginny shook her head, 'He's a good lawyer though, isn't he? I've read good things about him in the papers.'
'That's because he's screwing the woman who runs the prophet,' Ron said, 'he's a good lawyer, but his moral compass is slightly off.'
'Hes the reason people get away scot-free for crimes,' Hermione added,'so yes he's good at his job, but I somehow doubt hes reformed.'
'Since when do you care anyway Ginny?' Ron asked with narrowed eyes, 'you're not dating him now, are you?'
'Shut up Ron, I'm not dating anyone,' Ginny snapped.
'Leave her alone Ron,' Hermione said, a warning tone in her voice. Ginny had just gone through a break-up with the guy she had been dating for 2 years.
Ron rolled his eyes, sufficiently told off. They fell back into the topic of small-talk, and the evening continued in a similar vein.
'Harry?'
Hermione walked into her best friends flat, shutting the door behind her.
'One second, Hermione!' Harry called from the bedroom, 'right, well this was fun, see you around,' he said to the woman in his bedroom.
'See you Potter,' the dark haired woman said with a grin, she got into the fireplace, the floo whirred and she was gone. Harry grabbed his dressing gown and walked out into the hall.
'Hey,' he said casually.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, 'Who was that?' she asked.
'Uh, nobody,' Harry lied.
'Really Harry?' Hermione asked, partly amused but mostly exasperated.
'You told me to date!' Harry said, sitting down in an armchair in the sitting room.
'I said date, not sleep around,' Hermione pointed out, sitting down on the sofa.
'Well people don't want to date me, they want to sleep with me because I'm Harry bloody Potter.'
'Still bitter about that then,' Hermione mumbled.
'Yes, it is kind of annoying when I'm trying to find a girlfriend,' Harry said in annoyance, 'what are you doing here anyway?'
'Ron's on a stake-out tonight,' Hermione said sheepishly, 'and I wanted someone to listen to the nominations for that new WWN show with.'
Harry chuckled, 'Right,' he said, 'you know I don't have a radio, don't you?'
'I know, I brought mine,' Hermione said with a grin as she took it from her handbag, 'I brought food too.'
'Even better,' Harry joked as Hermione set the radio up, turned it on and tried to tune it in.
'So who was that in your bedroom?' Hermione asked curiously as she fiddled with the nobs on the radio.
'Tracey,' Harry said, 'I work with her, she's a junior juror.'
'Tracey Davis?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow, 'the Slytherin who dated Theodore Nott in 6th year?'
'How do you know these things, Hermione?' Harry asked as the radio began to emit something other than noise.
'I shared a dorm with Lavender and Parvati, remember?' Hermione said in amusement, turning the radio up, 'aha, just in time!'
'And here is the exciting moment where we reveal our 20 nominees! In no particular order they are…
'Daphne Greengrass, the famous wizarding model known for working on the controversial dragon hide robes commercial.'
'Daphne Greengrass? Who?' Harry asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes, 'Your bedmates best friend for a start Harry. We went to school with her for 6 years.'
'What house was she in?' Harry asked, wracking his brains.
'Slytherin,' Hermione replied.
'Well, that's why I don't remember her,' Harry said.
'You should still know who she is! She was in our classes for 6 years!' Hermione exclaimed, she couldn't believe how ignorant Harry was of the people they had gone to school with.
'Well let's face it, I did have bigger things to worry about at the time,' Harry remarked, 'you know like fighting Voldemort every year.'
Hermione smiled a little in agreement as they listened to the radio for the next nomination.
'Luna Lovegood, war heroine and editor of the Quibbler magazine. She is of course famous for her inventive conspiracy theories and her book 'Voldemort's use of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the Second Wizarding War'.'
Harry chuckled, 'Oh, wow, Luna in a house with 9 other people. She would scare them so much.'
Hermione was also chuckling, 'She would do it on purpose, just to creep people out.'
'I really hope she gets picked now,' Harry said.
'Me too,' Hermione admitted.
'Parvati Patil, famous wizarding designer and socialite known for her beautifully unique cloak designs.'
'Well if Parvati goes in we'll find out the whole wizarding worlds gossip,' Hermione remarked.
'I think she's probably too high-end for that,' Harry said,'she won't want to give up her big parties and her expensive champagne.'
'Oh Parvati's a lovely person,' Hermione said, 'if you can ignore the gossiping, she's just been raised |
Houthis limit the arbitrary and abusive power of influential sheikhs. According to Abdulmajid al-Fahd, Executive Director of the Civic Democratic Foundation, Houthis help resolve conflicts between tribes and reduce the number of revenge killings in areas they control. (Comment: While claims that Houthis are establishing a parallel state seem far-fetched, it is likely that the Houthis are attempting to arbitrate local disputes. End Comment.) HOUTHI ABUSES: CHILD SOLDIERS AND ALLEGATIONS OF "SHIELDING" --------------------------------------------- --- 8. (C) Numerous organizations, including Save the Children, UNICEF, and Islamic Relief, have documented the Houthis' use of child soldiers. HRW's Wilcke reported that Houthis use boys as young as 13 as guards; older teenagers are used as fighters. According to UNHCR interviews with IDPs, "Their reasons for leaving their places of origin include... forced enrollment of children as young as 14 in guerrilla forces," as well as forced taxes, destruction of properties, and heavy weapon shelling by both sides. Judith Evans, a Times of London reporter who visited the Mazraq IDP camp (Hajja governorate), told PolOff on October 12 that she heard many accounts of atrocities against civilians by the Houthis. She said, "The refugees we spoke to were terrified of the government bombing raids, but it seems the Houthis take things a step further and deliberately target civilians, including children, for instance, shooting them in their houses as an act of revenge for siding with the government." Saba, the government news agency, reported on December 6 that the Houthis killed an 11-year-old boy in retaliation for his father's refusal to join them. 9. (C) While the ROYG repeatedly accuses the Houthis of using civilians as human shields, Wilcke noted that "shielding" has a very specific definition in international human rights law, requiring intent to expose civilians to danger in order to fend off a military advance. HRW does not have enough evidence to conclude that the Houthis are intentionally using civilians as human shields, he said, though Wilcke admitted there may be cases they have not been able to document. However, HRW has documented a number of other Houthi violations of international humanitarian law, such as looting and forced evacuation (in which civilians are told to fight with the Houthis or flee). He said HRW also documented assassinations, which, depending on the circumstances, could be regular crimes or rise to the level of war crimes. 10. (C) With respect to humanitarian aid, WFP's Cirri said that the Houthis have never stopped any WFP food convoys; they once stopped an ADRA convoy in Al Jawf but allowed it to pass. Rather, it is often tribes demanding aid or government concessions who hold aid convoys hostage. In addition, one joint WFP-UNHCR convoy was stopped for three weeks by the government. TACTICS AND STRATEGY --------------------- 11. (S) According to journalist Qadhi, the Houthis have gained experience from each round of fighting, as shown by their use of more sophisticated tactics. HRW's Wilcke said that the Houthis now dig trenches around towns so that the artillery shells, which explode upwards, do not hit them. The British DATT believes that the Houthis' advances in tactics and strategy indicate that they have received outside training, though he did not say by whom. Early in the sixth war, he said, the Houthis focused on collecting and capturing weapons and resources. He told PolOff on November 21 that unlike previous rounds of fighting, in the sixth war there have been some set piece battles, including an attempted takeover of the Republican Palace in Sa'ada City involving hundreds of Houthi fighters. Such large battles are unusual, however. Murad Zafir, Deputy Director of the National Democratic Institute, said that Houthi fighters generally attack in groups of three to five people, including one sniper. That way they minimize their own losses while driving up the costs of the army, which is using big bombs on small groups of fighters. Col. Mansour al-Azi, a senior military intelligence officer, told PolOff on November 24 that the Houthis fight with religious fervor, yelling "God is Great" when running into battle, unafraid of dying because they believe that if they do, they will go directly to paradise. WEAPONS SUPPLY -------------- 12. (S/NF) Contrary to ROYG claims that Iran is arming the Houthis, most local political analysts report that the Houthis obtain their weapons from the Yemeni black market and even from the ROYG military itself. According to a British diplomat, there are numerous credible reports that ROYG military commanders were selling weapons to the Houthis in the run-up to the Sixth War. An ICG report on the Sa'ada conflict from May 2009 quoted NSB director Ali Mohammed al-Ansi saying, "Iranians are not arming the Houthis. The weapons they use are Yemeni. Most actually come from fighters who fought against the socialists during the 1994 war and then sold them." Mohammed Azzan, presidential advisor for Sa'ada affairs, told PolOff on August 16 that the Houthis easily obtain weapons inside Yemen, either from battlefield captures or by buying them from corrupt military commanders and soldiers. Azzan said that the military "covers up its failure" by saying the weapons come from Iran. According to Jamal Abdullah al-Shami of the Democracy School, there is little external oversight of the military's large and increasing budget, so it is easy for members of the military to illegally sell weapons. 13. (S/NF) ROYG officials assert that the Houthis' possession and use of Katyusha rockets is evidence of support from Iran and Hizballah, arguing that these rockets are not available in Yemeni arms markets nor ROYG stockpiles. (Comment: Given Yemen's robust arms markets, especially in Sa'ada, it is possible that Katyushas are available on the black market even if they are not in ROYG stockpiles. According to sensitive reporting, there is at least one instance of Somali extremists purchasing Katyusha rockets in Yemen in 2007. End Comment.) However, according to sensitive reporting, it may have been the ROYG military who aided the Houthis in obtaining a shipment of 200 Katyusha rockets in late November 2009. SECHEOne of the most interesting design patterns used on web development is the Publish/Subscribe. This pattern, also known as Pub/Sub, fits like a glove on the browser, mainly because the DOM is event driven, it uses events as its main interaction with API scripts. However, events aren not restricted to the DOM and you can have your own events on your API.
Pub/Sub offers a way to handle communication between various parts of a whole system. In short, subscribers want to be notified when something interesting happens and publishers want to notify, to those interested, that something has happened.
So this is the idea, a client 1 say for instance “I want to be notified when the data changes” and client 2 says “The data has changed!”.
Now that client 1 has been notified, he can update the data on the page for instance.
Without Pub/Sub, this works as well, the main difference is that the publisher needs to know about the other clients. In this case, after data changes, client 2 needs to call directly client 1, which would sound like “Hi client 1, data has changed!”.
This means client 1 and client 2 are tightly connected. This scenario starts to be complex with the number of clients growing, making the maintenance of your code too dificult. And what if one client is not there or is not right implemented? Will the other clients be afected?
What Pub/Sub introduces is loose coupling, the publisher doesn’t need to know who are the clients or how many are they. Neither the subscribers need to know about publishers or other subscribers. If one fails the other ones will keep working normaly.
On the other hand this decoupling also presents as its disadvantage, mainly because the publisher and subscribers don’t have any guarantee that everything is working, there is no guarantee that subscribers will be notified neither publishers have the guarantee that anyone is listening.
Event though I think the advantages are much more valuable than the disadvantage, however, the Pub/Sub pattern doesn’t apply to every application, and there are situations more suitable than others.
For instance, this pattern is commonly used on MVC applications (or some variation), where the View subscribes to changes on the models, and react properly when the Model notifies about its changes.
Normaly Javascript frameworks and libraries, and not necessarly MVC frameworks, implement this pattern and lets you use it out of the box, for instance, if you are using jQuery you can use Custom Events.
However, I want to show how easy is to implement your own version of Pub/Sub so that you understand even better what happens.
Below you can see my tiny implementation and I hope the code and comments will be self explanatory.
/* * Pub/Sub implementation */ var pubsub = (function () { // store events subscribed // events = { eventName : [callback1, callback2,...] } var events = {}; // publish the event with the specified data function publish(eventID, data) { if (!events[eventID]) { return; } var len = events[eventID].length; while (len--) { events[eventID][len](data); } } // subscribe to an event // passing the event name and the callback function function subscribe(eventID, callback) { if (!events[eventID]) { events[eventID] = [callback]; } else { events[eventID].push(callback); } // returns eventID and the position index on the array // so that can be unsubscribed if needed return { eventID : eventID, index : events[eventID].length - 1 } } // unsubscribe from an event passing the returned data got upon subscription function unsubscribe(subscription) { if (!events[subscription.eventID]) { return; } events[subscription.eventID].splice(subscription.index, 1); } return { publish : publish, subscribe : subscribe, unsubscribe : unsubscribe }; }());
And now, a short example of how this can be used. We have a list of items that we can add to the basket and we have two different vies of the basket, a simple one that shows only the total items and a detailed one where shows the items and quantities. When an item is added to the basket, the views will be notified and will refresh the data.
/* * on DOM ready handle adding to cart action * demo.js */ $(function () { // Add an item to the cart $('.add-to-cart').on('click', function() { //get product var product = $(this).prev('div').text(); // publish event pubsub.publish('addToCart', product) }) }) /* * The view that shows the total items on cart * simpletrolley.js */ var simpleTrolley = (function($){ var total = 0, $display = $('#total-items'); // notification when an item is added to the cart pubsub.subscribe('addToCart', function() { total ++; // update total updateTotal(); }) // update total items on the view function updateTotal() { $display.html(total); } }(jQuery)); /* * The view that shows the items detail and quantities on cart * completetrolley.js */ var completeTrolley = (function(){ var items = {}, $trolley = $('#trolley'); // notification when an item is added to the cart pubsub.subscribe('addToCart', function (product) { // save info if (!items[product]) { items[product] = 1; } else { items[product] ++; } // update view updateItems(product); }) // update items on the view function updateItems(product) { // append to the view if item is not in the list // otherwise only update quantity var li = $trolley.find('li[data-product="' + product + '"]'); if (li.length === 0) { $trolley.append('<li data-product="' + product + '">' + product + ': <span class="quantity">1</span></li>'); } else { li.find('.quantity').html(items[product]); } } }());
You can run the Live Demo and also get the source code from GitHub.
I hope that it became clear the advantages of using Pub/Sub and that you now have a better understanding of it, either if you use an already implement version or you want to implement it yourself.
AdvertisementsH&H Outdoors, downtown Baltimore's longstanding military surplus and camping shop, has purchased a property on Harford Road and is gearing up to relocate, the owner of the family-owned business said.
H&H President Ken Rosenblatt, whose father started the store more than 40 years ago, said he wanted to move because the current location lacks parking and has seen business slow amid sewer and road work. H&H, which has four employees, also rents its space in the 400 block of North Eutaw Street.
The deal for 5406 Harford Road, the former Hopkins Beauty Supply, closed at the end of September. Rosenblatt, who declined to name the sale price, said he expects to move to the new building in northeast Baltimore in the next year or so.
"It's not an overnight thing," he said. "We're in the middle stages here."
H&H is located at the corner of Franklin and Eutaw streets, a part of the city that is seeing a resurgence of activity as developers open new apartment buildings and announce plans for others. But Rosenblatt said he didn't think the new life would improve his sales.
"They are projects, which is all to the good, but that doesn't transfer necessarily into my business," he said. "It's not commercial."
The store sells a range of outdoors gear, with clothing for workers, such as insulated wear, fatigues and work boots representing its strongest sales category in recent years, Rosenblatt said.
nsherman@baltsun.comToday's Top News Stories • Report: In U.S., record numbers are plunged into poverty - • VP's plane has minor electrical problem - • Israeli troops raid West Bank city - • Severe storms injure 27 in Arkansas - • Va. lawmakers pass slavery apology - • Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds
Court's pot ruling won't apply to patients in federal program By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY Irvin Rosenfeld, a 52-year-old stockbroker, says he reeks of the marijuana he has smoked for many years to treat rare bone tumors. He gets his pot for free from an unlikely source: the U.S. government. Irvin Rosenfeld shows off a marijuana cigarette while testifing to a House hearing committee considering a proposal to legalize medical marijuana in February. By Sally Mangiaracina, AP Every month, Rosenfeld and six other Americans receive about 300 cigarettes each to alleviate health problems under an old but little-known U.S. program funded by taxpayers. These seven have the federal government's written permission to use, even though the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the U.S. government may prosecute sick people who use marijuana. "I handle millions of dollars, and my clients know I smoke 10 to 12 joints a day, without euphoric effect," says Rosenfeld, who works for Newbridge Securities in Fort Lauderdale. In 1982, Rosenfeld became the second person eligible for the "compassionate use" program, which began four years earlier as a result of a lawsuit. Glaucoma sufferer Robert Randall had sued the U.S. government after he was arrested for using marijuana. A judge ruled Randall needed it for medical reasons. The government agreed to set up the program, run by the Food and Drug Administration. The marijuana is grown on a farm at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. The first President Bush discontinued the program in 1992 after Randall tried to help scores of AIDS patients become eligible, but he grandfathered in the 13 patients who were already enrolled. Several, including Randall, have since died. "The government has done everything to hide the program since 1992," says Keith Stroup, founder and legal counsel of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "For political reasons, the government doesn't want to find out marijuana is helpful for medical purposes." Tom Riley, spokesman of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, says the federal government is spending millions of dollars on research into marijuana's medicinal uses. "This program is just part of that effort." Riley says the government would be receptive to a non-addictive marijuana derivative with medical benefits, but it would be subject to FDA approval. He says proponents of medical marijuana want to circumvent that process. Rosenfeld urges the current Bush administration to reopen the program as a way to study marijuana's medical value. He says he and three other participants underwent complete evaluations a few years ago that showed no adverse health effects from their pot use. Rosenfeld considers it a miracle his health is good. Born with a disease in which tumors press into the muscles at the end of his long bones, he suffered paralysis and extreme pain. He's had 30 tumors removed in six operations. He still has 200 tumors, some too small to remove, but in the 30 years he has been smoking marijuana, he says, he has not had a new tumor. He says he doesn't take the marijuana for granted. "I'm always worried (about the shipments ending) because I don't trust the government, and the medicine means everything to me."Tomi Lahren decided to dress “American AF” for Halloween and Twitter is having a great time trying to guess what her costume is actually supposed to be, other than somewhat insulting to the American flag (Flag Code).
She looks like an off brand American gladiator —?spooky josiah? (@josiahfartlett) October 29, 2017
is she an eastern european tourist who lost her luggage and put together a wardrobe from a times square gift shop — la petite bort (@important_celeb) October 29, 2017
Some claim she looks more like a Budweiser can…
Others believe it is the worst ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage costume of all time,
What do you think Tomi Lahren is supposed to be?
Related Reading
This guy dressed up as Tomi Lahren for Halloween
Tomi Lahren finds new home at Fox News
Tomi Lahren Still Doesn’t Understand Why NFL Players are KneelingGOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee says President Obama's Iran nuclear deal will "take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven." Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is the deal's preeminent opponent.
But according to a rare national survey conducted in the wake of the agreement, a plurality of American Jews support the new Iran nuclear deal.
The LA Jewish Journal survey released Thursday found that 48 percent of Jews support the deal while 28 percent oppose it and 25 percent hadn't heard enough to form an opinion. The survey described key parts of the deal, which lifts major economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran restricting its nuclear program in a way that makes it harder for it to produce nuclear weapons.
Jewish support for the deal was 20 percentage points higher than for Americans overall, according to a side-by-side poll of the general public. A separate question found 54 percent of Jews saying Congress should approve the deal, while 35 percent want Congress to block it. Both polls were conducted by telephone in the week after the deal was announced among 500 respondents each. (See below for more methodological details.)
The relatively pro-deal attitudes of American Jews might be surprising given the intensity displayed by Netanyahu and American Jewish groups pushing Congress to block the agreement. While some liberal Jewish groups have come out in support of a deal, they are probably financially outgunned by anti-deal groups, who are lobbying this week to persuade Democrats to help achieve the two-thirds-majority opposition needed in both the House and Senate to block the deal.
Jewish support for the deal is less surprising given two other facts: Jews are much more liberal than the overall public, and liberals largely support the Iran deal. Fully 53 percent of Jews in the poll identified as liberal, while 28 percent were moderate and 16 percent were conservative, which is similar to the findings of a larger 2013 survey of American Jews by the Pew Research Center. In contrast, the survey of U.S. adults found slightly more conservatives than liberals, 36 to 31 percent.
Even among liberals, Jewish respondents were more supportive of the deal than the general public. By a 53 point margin, Jewish liberals said Congress should approve rather than oppose the deal. Liberals in the public at large favored congressional approval by a 36 point margin.
Jews' liberal background is borne out in their views of other aspects of the deal. Jews are more hopeful about the deal's potential impact on stability in the Middle East. Some 47 percent of them say the agreement will eventually lead to more stability in the Middle East, compared with 29 percent among the public overall.
Yet American Jews have reservations about the deal as well -- similar to the public overall. Many Jews agree with critics of the deal who say it puts Israel in danger from Iran in the future; 50 percent said the deal makes Israel "more endangered," while 28 percent said it makes it safer. In addition, American Jews are also not confident the deal will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons in the next 10 years, with 54 percent saying they are "not so confident" or "not at all confident." Among the public overall, 63 percent lack confidence it will stop Iran from making nuclear weapons.
The tenuous confidence in the deal — evidenced by different results last week in polls with different question wording — indicates Jews and the public overall could be swayed by campaigns for support and opposition over the coming weeks. But the latest poll also shows that Jewish reactions to the deal are largely in line with their general political position. If the debate breaks heavily along partisan lines, this might motivate Jews to support the deal, given their Democratic and liberal leanings.
Methodological details
The Jewish Journal poll of U.S. Jews was conducted by telephone July 16-20 among a national sample of 500 self-identified Jews, including those who identified their religion as Jewish or said they identified as Jewish "for any reason." The sample of Jews was identified by calling households where a respondent had identified themselves as Jewish in a previous national random sample survey conducted on landline and cellular phones. The survey was weighted to match demographic estimates of the Jewish population from the 2013 Pew Research Center Portrait of Jewish Americans. Overall results for results among Jews have a margin of sampling error or plus or minus six percentage points. The results for the U.S. public overall were based on a random sample of adults reached on landline and cellular phones conducted over the same interview dates, and have an error margin of 5.2 percentage points.
Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.Mhm.meow,
Great app🙂
I have this app on my iPhone, and I think it’s great. I don’t get on that much but when I do it’s always fun. Whether I’m watching or streaming. The only thing is, I understand that if I leave the whole window the video will end. That’s fine. But I can’t even answer a text without it ending.
I’ve seen people who stream hands free, and it’s obviously not their phone they’re using because they usually have their phone next to them. So I assumed that maybe they were using a laptop or something. Until I looked at the app here I didn’t realize it wasn’t compatible with my Mac. I thought using my laptop would be so much easier so I could use my phone and not worry about accidentally ending the video.
I don’t have an iPad or any of that, so I mean I COULD get one... but it’s not something I can afford, and I already have a laptop with a camera on it.
So if you guys could make the app compatible with laptops, that’d be GREAT.
(I’d just say Mac since you already support most apple products, but it’d be nice for people not using a Mac too. I know programming and stuff is hard, so, No pressure!)In Genesis 11:5-8, there is a story about a united group of people, speaking the same language, built up a tower "with its top in the heavens". [...] "And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." (English Standard version 2002 - from Omniglot)
"And so God scattered them upon the face of the Earth, and confused their languages, and they left off building the city, which was called Babel "because God there confounded the language of all the Earth."" (Wikipedia)
Because this provides a Biblical explanation of why multiple languages exist on the earth, the Tower of Babel story has become well-known in linguistics. I did not get a tower, or a Bible, but I did get "The Power of Babel" by John McWhorter. Being the linguistics geek that I am, this made for an exceptional gift. This book explains the history of language, how it developed and evolved, etc.
The first part of the description on the back of the book: "In this entertaining romp through territory too often claimed by stodgy grammarians, McWhorter ranges across linguistic theory, geography, history, and pop culture to tell the fascinating story of how thousands of very different languages have evolved from a single, original source in a natural process similar to biological evolution."
In addition to this book was also something very surprising: Rat treats, "Corn and Fruit Kracker Sticks" for rats (sic). This was a very emotional gift for me. A few months ago, I was forced to give up my rats for adoption. Seeing these treats reminded me of them, and how special they were. I am very delighted to see that they weren't forgotten, even if I don't have them any more. This really does mean a lot to me to have those memories coming back. I was very close to them. They were part of my family. I'm very happy that my SS was able to see how important they were to me by including them in the exchange.Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Liberty Blitzkrieg was early in reporting on the trend of financial firms entering the U.S. residential real estate market with “all-cash” bids for tens of thousands of homes with the intention of turning former homeowners into permanent sources of rental income. The first of many pieces I published on the topic was in January 2013, titled: America Meet Your New Slumlord: Wall Street.
Now that the financial oligarchs have had their way with the U.S. property market, to the point that average citizens can’t even afford to own a home (Zillow recently showed that 1 in 3 homes are unaffordable), it appears they have turned their sights overseas. What better market for bailed-out bankers to feast on than Spain, with its 50%+ youth unemployment rate and a continued depressed real estate market.
We learn from Bloomberg that:
Marcelino Calvo Sanchez and his wife, Maria Luisa, had never heard of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. until last year, when the global investment bank bought the four-building housing estate where they live in Vallecas, on the southern outskirts of Madrid. Marcelino, a 71-year-old retired truck driver, isn’t impressed by his new landlord. Goldman Sachs picked up the 289-unit complex in August 2013 as part of its purchase of 3,000 low-income apartments from the regional government of Madrid for 201 million euros ($269 million). With the sale, some subsidies for tenants disappeared, and, according to Sanchez, a small problem with squatters has become a larger one. That’s exactly right, Bloomberg Markets will report in its October issue. Though the housing estate looks like one of the last places in the world smart-money Goldman Sachs bankers would bet on — glass doors are shattered, broken mailboxes hang open, and graffiti mars the courtyard walls — this is where Goldman has touched down in the Spanish real estate market. Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest alternative-asset manager, bought a similar low-income-housing portfolio from the city of Madrid in July 2013 for 125 million euros. These bets on Spain marked a turning point in investor sentiment. The country, for five long years a toxic no-go zone for foreign investors, is now at the top of the list for private-equity firms, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds hunting for cheap assets in Europe. “Spain now is a tale of two cities,” says Ismael Clemente, chairman and chief executive officer of Merlin Properties SA, which raised 1.25 billion euros in June in the largest initial public offering in Spain in three years.
I sometimes wonder when I hear people characterize the economy as a “tale of two cities,” if they even appreciate the fact that the book itself was written about the violent overthrow that was the French Revolution, itself sparked by extreme inequality and poverty.
Clemente, 44, is sitting in the art deco lobby of Madrid’s five-star Villa Magna hotel, which these days is crawling with investors and bankers chasing juicy deals. A 14-year veteran of Deutsche Bank AG, Clemente says the opportunities are enormous as Spain emerges from the depths of recession and banks continue to unload real estate assets. Merlin’s IPO capped a dizzying six months of Spanish real estate deals. In January, the New York–based private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC bought the real estate unit of Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank by assets, for 664 million euros. In March, the Madrid-based REIT Hispania Activos Inmobiliarios SA raised 500 million euros from investors, including George Soros’s Quantum Strategic Partners LP and John Paulson’s Paulson & Co. In June, Texas-based private-equity firm Lone Star Funds and JPMorgan Chase & Co.bought a 4.4 billion euro portfolio of Spanish and Portuguese commercial property loans from Commerzbank AG of Frankfurt. In the U.S., Auten was a managing director at Waypoint Real Estate Group, an Oakland, California-based investment firm that buys up foreclosed homes across the U.S. Auten says a lot of investors are looking at Spain, a country of 46 million, as if it’s a carbon copy of the U.S. market, where investors such as Blackstone and Waypoint have scooped up hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of homes and rented them out.
I gave these serfs an offer they couldn’t refuse:Ahmedabad/Palanpur: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that he and his party may criticise the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their “mistakes", but will not disrespect the position of the prime minister the way they did when they were in opposition.
“We may spot Modi’s faults or disturb the BJP but we won’t disrespect the PM’s position. When Modiji was in opposition he would disrespect the PM. This is the difference between us and them. No matter what Modi says about us we will not go beyond a certain point as he is our Prime Minister," Gandhi said while interacting with the social media volunteers of the Congress at Ambaji in Banaskantha district of North Gujarat. He is in Gujarat for the fourth phase of Congress’s Navsarjan Yatra ahead of the state elections in December.
Gandhi’s social media presence has become a topic of discussion lately, especially after he tweeted a video of his dog Pidi.
To a question on the reason behind his large Twitter following, Gandhi said, “I said it is Pidi who tweets…the political tweets are mine but the routine ones like birthday wishes are posted by my team."
Gandhi said that Congress believes in self-introspection and self-improvement and unlike the BJP does not blame others for its own faults.
“Demonetisation and GST (goods and services tax) implementation were whose faults? They were Modiji’s mistakes. But did he even once accept that he made a mistake? Reality is that everyone commits a mistake be it a politician or a social media worker. But one must accept a mistake and move on. This is the difference between them and us," he added.
Later in the day while addressing an election rally in Banaskantha, Gandhi said that the popular sentiment among the people is that government should curtail GST on most commonly used items and control inflation by bringing petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders under GST in a uniform rate which should not be more than 18%.
The Congress vice president visited Palanpur as well where he targeted Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani over the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) slapping fine on his firm for alleged manipulative share trade, and asked the prime minister to speak out on the issue.
Gandhi claimed that Sebi has termed Rupani “beimaan" (dishonest) and imposed the fine on him. Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak out against his “dishonest" chief minister. “Gujarat is more corrupt than the entire country. Surat businessmen told me that policemen come to their units every two minutes (allegedly to demand bribe)," he said.
“Some days ago, Sebi said your chief minister is beimaan (dishonest) and they fined him. “Modiji used to say ‘na khaoonga, na khane doonga’ (I will neither take bribe nor allow others to take bribe). Please open your mouth on this subject now. But he is silent. Now his slogan is ‘na bolta hu, na bolne dunga’ (Neither do I speak nor do I allow others to speak)," Gandhi said. “Jay Shah, son of (BJP chief) Amit Shah, increased the turnover of his company from Rs50,000 to Rs80 crore in a few months after the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) came to power in 2014. The people of Gujarat know this cannot be done without corruption," he added.
“The people of the country want to listen what you (Modi) have to say on Amit Shah’s son’s company, on Vijay Rupani. The people of Gujarat will believe that you are not ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) but ‘bhagidar’ (collaborator) if you don’t say anything on the issue."
The Congress vice-president began his three-day tour on Saturday by visiting the famous Akshardham Temple of the Swaminarayan Sect that has a huge following of the Patel community, and followed it up with a visit to the Ambaji temple on Sunday.
PTI in Palanpur, Gujarat, contributed to this story.Source: Roy Morgan Business Single Source (Australia), December 2010-April 2015. Average monthly sample last 12 months, approx. 1,000.
Roy Morgan Research’s Business Confidence results in April dropped by 7.3 points (down 6.5% to 105.1) from March. This is the lowest level since August 2011 (101.8) and continues the underlying downward trend seen since the peak of 136.3 in October 2013. It is also well below the five-year average of 117.3.
These April figures are the result of 705 interviews with all types of businesses across Australia.
The decline in business confidence occurred across all components of the index but stemmed mainly from a decrease in the proportion of businesses believing that Australia will experience good economic conditions over the next 12 months. The level of agreement with this positive outlook for the economy has declined from 57% in March to 51% in April – the lowest level since Sept 2011.
There was also a big drop in the proportion saying their business was better off financially than a year ago, dropping from 28% in March to only 22% in April.
Monthly Business Confidence -- Australia
Source: Roy Morgan Business Single Source (Australia), December 2010-April 2015. Average monthly sample last 12 months, approx. 1,000.
Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research says:
“The drop in business confidence is potentially bad news for the Australian economy because it is driven mainly by increased concern that Australia will be facing bad economic times over the next year. In this context, it is unlikely that the drop in the official cash rate that has just been announced by the RBA will encourage increased investment or borrowing, as this depends on a positive outlook, not just the interest rate. The decision to drop the interest rate also sends a possible message to business that conditions and the outlook are currently not good. “The continued negative economic news provides strong headwinds against which business investment must be made. These negative factors include the collapse in the iron ore price, constant revisions to the federal budget outlook, getting budget measures passed by the Senate, speculation about the forthcoming May budget, the slowdown in China, uncertainty regarding Greece, high unemployment and under-employment and tax reform. “Despite hopes that other industries will make up for the decline in the mining sector, they continue to show a subdued outlook and so are unlikely to offset the loss. Construction has only around average confidence, and retail and manufacturing are below average. The most positive major sectors are ‘finance and insurance’, ‘accommodation and food services’ and ‘personal, repair and other services’. “Growth in the Australian economy will not only be largely determined by the willingness of businesses to borrow but by banks being prepared to lend to them. Both sides are likely to show considerable caution in the current economic environment. Banks will also need to improve their relationship with business — as shown by the much lower satisfaction levels when compared to their retail customers — if they are going to retain and attract good business customers.”UPDATE: Police Are Looking for 6 Suspects in Massive Wedding Brawl that Left White Girl Knocked Out on Street
There was a massive street brawl late Saturday night in downtown St. Charles.
The brawl started somewhere near 142 North Main Street in the business district.
The brawlers were dressed in tuxedos and long dresses and were reportedly attending a wedding in the historic St. Charles downtown.
One poor girl was knocked out cold on the street.
The rest of the kids laughed and screamed out loud.
The man in the white suit knocked the white girl out cold.
Sick stuff.
The group of black men were allegedly beating up on a female, according to sources.
St. Charles police are searching for six suspects and two victims from the brawl. It was a wedding!
The fight was first posted on Snapchat and later made its way to Facebook and YouTube.
It is not yet clear what caused the massive brawl.
Hat Tip EdNYT: Retailer bankruptcies set to prompt thousands of store closings Mike Sheehan
Published: Monday April 14, 2008
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River) where the Genoese were seized and held in close captivity.[1]
Sources [ edit ]
The principal documentary source is the Genoese annals of Jacopo Doria, presented to the city of Genoa in 1294. Under the entry of the year 1291, Doria writes the following:
"Tedisio d'Oria, Ugolino Vivaldi and a brother of the latter, together with a few other citizens of Genoa, initiated an expedition which no one up to that time had ever attempted. They fitted out two galleys in splendid fashion. Having stocked them with provision, water and other necessities, they sent them on their way, in the month of May, toward the Strait of Ceuta in order that the galleys might sail through the ocean sea to India and return with useful merchandise. The two above-mentioned brothers went on the vessels in person, and also two Franciscan friars; all of which truly astonished those who witnessed them as well as those who heard of them. After the travelers passed a place called Gozora there was no further news of them. May God watch over them and bring them back safely" [2]
Additional documents identify the other brother as "Vadino", that Tedesio Doria (Jacopo's nephew) did not embark, that the supplies were for "ten years", that the names of the vessels were Sanctus Antonius and Alegranzia, and that the ship made a brief stop at Majorca before proceeding.[3]
Geography [ edit ]
Jean Gimpel suggests[4] that the two Franciscan friars who accompanied the Vivaldi brothers may have read the Opus Majus written by their fellow Franciscan, Roger Bacon, in which Bacon suggested that the distance separating Spain and India was not great, a theory that was later repeated by Pierre d'Ailly and tested by Christopher Columbus.
It is uncertain how far the Vivaldi brothers reached. The Vivaldi brothers may have seen or landed on the Canary Islands. "Gozora" is a name found in some Medieval charts for Cape Non, which lies before the Canary Islands (e.g. Caput Finis Gozole in the maps of Giovanni da Carignano (early 1300s) and the Pizzigani brothers (1367)). The name of the ship Alegranzia may be the source for the Canary Island of Alegranza, and has led to the supposition that the brothers landed there (or that at least one of the ships capsized there).
An allusion to the Vivaldi galleys is given in the Libro del Conoscimiento, a semi-fantastical travelogue written by an anonymous Spanish friar in c.1350-1385. There are two passages relating to the Vivaldi brothers. In the first, the narrator, traveling in what seems like the Guinea region (sub-Saharan Africa) reaches the city of Graçiona, capital of the black African empire of Abdeselib, which is allied to Prester John. "They told me in this city of Graciona that the Genoese who escaped the galley that was wrecked at Amenuan were brought (betrayed?) here, but it was never known what became of the other galley which escaped.".[5] When the traveling friar moves on to the neighboring city of Magdasor, he came across a Genoese man named Sor Leone who was in this city "searching for his father who had left in two galleys, as I have already explained, and they gave him every honor, but when this Sor Leone wanted to traverse to the empire of Graciona to search for his father, the emperor of Magdasor did not allow it, because way was doubtful and the path was dangerous"[6] As it happens, Sorleone is the real name of Ugolino's actual son.[7]
The location of these kingdoms have been much speculated. The references to Prester John and Magdasor (which sounds much like Mogadishu in Somalia) has led assume that it says the other galley circumnavigated Africa but was intercepted around the Horn of Africa. But the narrator's geographical references (e.g. to the Senegal-Niger River, the gold trade, the Mali Empire, even the Gulf of Guinea, doubtlessly drawn, if inchoately, from Arab geographers), suggests Abdelsalib and Magdasor are in non-Muslim sub-Saharan west Africa. The localization of "Amenuan", the place where the first galley capsized, is suggestive of Senegambia region. If there is a grain of truth in any of this, it would not stretch credulity to imagine that the Vivaldis got as far as Senegal, and that their adventures ended there.
A century later, in late 1455, Antoniotto Usodimare, a Genoese navigator in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator, claims rather improbably in a letter that while traveling up the Gambia River in West Africa, he came across a man who spoke the Genoese dialect and claimed to be the last descendant of the survivors of the Vivaldi expedition.[8] (Usodimare's travelling companion, Alvise Cadamosto, mentions no such meeting in his memoirs.) Usodimare gives more details of the Vivaldi expedition in another document in the Genoese archives:
In the year of 1285 (sic), two galleys sailed out of the city of Genoa commanded by the brothers Ugolino and Guido Vivaldi (Hugolinum et Guidum de Vivaldis fratres) with the purpose of going, by the east (per Levantum), to the parts of India. These galleys sailed much; but when they entered the sea of Guinea (mari de Ghinoia), one of the galleys tore its hull, and could not continue sailing further; the other, however, continued through this sea until it reached a city of Ethiopia named Menam; they were captured and detained by the inhabitants of this city, who are Christians of Ethiopia, subjects of Prester John. The city is by the sea-coast, near the river Gion. They were so tightly detained that none of them managed to return home. This is what is related by the Genoese noble Antoniotto Usodimare[9]
Gion is the name of Biblical Gihon river that stems from the Garden of Eden and flows through Ethiopia. In this instance, it may be a reference to the Senegal River.[10] Usodimare's narration seems to be a mere repetition of the tale told in the Libro del Conoscimiento.
The historian José de Viera y Clavijo writes that Father Agustín Justiniani, in the Anales de Génova, includes the information that two Franciscans also joined the Vivaldi expedition. Viera y Clavijo also mentions the fact that Petrarch states that it was a local tradition that the Vivaldis did indeed reach the Canary Islands. Neither Justiniani nor Petrarch knew of the expedition's fate. Papiro Masson in his Anales writes that the brothers were the first modern discoverers of the Canary Islands.
The Vivaldi brothers subsequently became the subjects of legends that featured them circumnavigating Africa before being captured by the mythical Christian king Prester John.[11] The Vivaldis' voyage may have inspired Dante’s Canto 26 of the Inferno about Ulysses’ last voyage, which ends in failure in the Southern Hemisphere.[12] According to Henry F. Cary, Ulysses' fate was inspired "...partly from the fate which there was reason to suppose had befallen some adventurous explorers of the Atlantic ocean."[13]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]"I hear someone's been saying they're rigged," former 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul said. "I don’t think they’re rigged, but they are biased. And intentionally so." | AP Photo Paul: GOP primaries are intentionally 'biased'
The Republican primary process is not rigged, but rather "biased," and intentionally so, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday.
During an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the former presidential candidate, who declared his candidacy a little more than a year ago, referred back to his father Ron Paul's 2012 run when asked what he thought of Donald Trump's complaint that the process by which delegates are allocated and selected is "rigged."
“Well, no, I hear someone's been saying they're rigged. I don’t think they’re rigged, but they are biased. And intentionally so," he said, going on to explain, "rigged would mean that it was illegal, that it was somewhat shady. No, it’s done somewhat in the open. But they are biased in favor of the establishment."
Such was the case in the 2012 primary, he remarked, when the rules committee passed a rule that specified that a candidate could not be nominated without winning eight states. "And interesting, now, if you talk to all of the Republican establishment, they're saying, oh, yeah, your votes can be counted," Paul said. "This is a big deal because, think about it: [John] Kasich's votes cannot be counted. Under Rule 40(b) they should not be counted. And if it was not Ron Paul, they were not counted in 2012."
"When you think about it, both [Ted] Cruz and Trump have a great deal of incentive not to let anybody else have votes," Paul added. "That's what the rules currently state. However, 110 people are going to be very important. That's the rules committee. They're going to decide what the rules are. I think you want to see a contentious room, it's going to be those 110 people."
Asked whether he could have done anything differently to overcome Trump, Paul said, "Not really," blaming disproportionate media coverage.
"I think virtually everybody got trumped in the sense that I mean, he was getting 25 times more coverage than all of the other candidates combined. It was overwhelming," he said. "And Cruz was able to stick around and make his way through that, and that’s a good strategy. But I’m not so sure it necessarily worked for me, either, because our coalition was a little bit different than others’, and but I do think that on an intellectual plane, our ideas are winning, whether or not we should always intervene in civil war. I think we’re winning some of those battles, at least among the public."A Missouri man received the birthday gift of a lifetime — the ability to see color.
Craig Greco was formally diagnosed as colorblind just a few years ago during a physical exam, but he has struggled with the condition his entire life.
Read: Colorblind Brothers Burst Into Tears as They See Color for the First Time: 'It's So Bright'
Diagnosed with Deuteranomaly color blindness, Greco couldn’t detect colors of red and green and instead saw only shades of yellow and brown in their place.
For his 35th birthday in April, his wife wanted to give him a gift that she knew would change his world.
Greco had been researching online about Enchroma glasses, but couldn’t afford the pricey specs that cost $350 a pair for adults.
“I was trying to save up,” Greco told InsideEdition.com. “My wife was well aware that I wanted them. She and a mutual friend of ours — Lisa — actually set up a private Facebook event and their goal was to raise the money.”
The pair surprised him with the glasses for his birthday and Greco said he was absolutely shocked.
In a video captured by Caters News, Greco is completely overwhelmed with emotion and breaks down in tears once he puts them on.
“It just blew me away. I’ve honestly never felt sense of joy so powerful,” Greco said. “There aren’t words to describe the thanks and gratitude I have to my family and friends that made this happen.”
Greco’s wife also handed him a children’s book identifying colors, many of them he’d never seen before.
Read: This Colorblind Man Sees Color for the First Time and He Can't Stop Smiling
“It’s still just amazing," Greco said. "I can’t believe the clarity and the richness of the color. I was shaking. I was crying. I mean it was uncontrolled."
Greco, who paints in his free time, said he’s really excited to use the glasses while working on his art.
He had previously struggled with his work when it came to mixing colors, a problem he will no longer have.
“I’m now so excited to wear the glasses as I paint and see my creation come to life before my eyes,” Greco said. “I’m finally able to see the world in the way it was intended to be seen, and it’s completely stunning.”
Watch: Colorblind Teacher Shocked Seeing Color When Students Surprise Him With GlassesEastpointe police say a 91-year-old man shot an attempted robbery suspect outside of a Rite Aid on 9 Mile around 10 a.m. Monday.
Police say the elderly man declared he was a CPL holder as he noticed the suspect approaching him erratically. The suspect then reportedly pointed an unknown object at the victim, and that's when the 91-year-old pulled out his gun and opened fire, striking the suspect in the neck.
"This was an attempted robbery of the shooter," Eastpointe Deputy Police Chief Eric Keiser said. "The person who fired the shots had a CPL and was lawfully carrying a handgun and said that he defended himself when he was attacked."
The suspect, described as a black male in his late 20s, was transported to a nearby hospital in police custody.
According to Keiser, they are consulting with the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office to make sure he did act in self defense and was legal in what he did.
If charges are authorized, there's a change the arraignment could happen on Tuesday.Barack Obama welcomed the endorsement of Colin Powell at a North Carolina rally on Sunday, linking the decorated veteran to soldiers serving today.
"With so many brave men and women from Fayetteville serving in our military, this is a city and a state that knows something about great soldiers," he told the crowd, according to remarks released by the campaign. "And this morning, a great soldier, a great statesman, and a great American has endorsed our campaign to change America. I have been honored to have the benefit of his wisdom and counsel from time to time over the last few years, but today, I am beyond honored and deeply humbled to have the support of General Colin Powell," said Obama.
Obama benefited from some of Powell's wisdom on Sunday morning, when the two spoke for about ten minutes. Robert Gibbs, a senior aide to the senator, said Obama told Powell that "he looked forward to taking advantage of his advice in the next two weeks and hopefully over the next four years."
At the rally, Obama also cited Powell's leadership as an inspiration for a spirit of service and community that transcends old divisions -- which Powell discussed as one of Obama's strengths during his Meet The Press endorsement.
"General Powell has defended this nation bravely, and he has embodied our highest ideals through his long and distinguished public service. He and his wife Alma have inspired millions of young people to serve their communities and their country through their tireless commitment and trailblazing American story," said Obama. "And he knows, as we do, that this is a moment where we all need to come together as one nation - young and old, rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrat."
UPDATE: I must add that it is truly saddening to see some conservatives respond to Gen. Powell's endorsement by impugning his decision with baseless personal attacks, or recklessly suggesting that race helps Obama's campaign, instead of responding to the Powell news for what it is -- the bombshell of a former senior Bush national security official endorsing the opposing party's nominee. (For more, see Sam Stein's report that Rush Limbaugh and George Will took those tacks on Sunday.)
Now Powell's endorsement may get Mr. Will thinking about "race," but thankfully most of the American public sees Powell differently, on the merits, as a decorated military leader and statesman. As I wrote on Friday, Powell remains the most respected person ever to serve in the unpopular Bush administration. That is precisely because most people assess his views and character based on his record. Other major national security figures in Bush's cabinet, from Don Rumsfeld to Condi Rice, have unfavorable ratings that quadruple Powell's. Yes, voters can tell Rice and Powell apart, even though they are both Republican secretaries of state who happen to be black. By the logic of Limbaugh and Will, however, that Rice endorsement should be just around the corner.3 of 12
Paul Sancya/Associated Press
"Winner": The New York Jets (4 votes)
Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. For the New York Jets, those days appear to be any ending in "y."
For years, the Jets have been a festival of the bizarre. Head coaches for a day. Kissing Suzy Kolber. Tebowmania at its most fervently freakish. Some thought the recent issues could be traced to blustery head coach Rex Ryan.
Well, maybe it's in the water, because Ryan's gone but it keeps right on happening. Recently, it was a locker room fight that left starting quarterback Geno Smith with a broken jaw and on the shelf for at least six weeks.
Per Brian Costello of the New York Post:
The players said Smith and IK Enemkapli were having words over the $600 debt Smith owed the linebacker, but they were on separate sides of the locker room. One source described Smith as "taunting" Enemkpali over it. Enemkpali challenged Smith to say it to his face. Smith did and pointed his finger in Enemkpali's face, which then led to Enemkpali punching Smith and breaking his jaw.
Then the whole team looked sucker-punched in being outclassed at every level by the Lions in their preseason opener.
Of course, most people couldn't see that, because as NFL National Lead Writer Mike Tanier points out, NFL Game Pass didn't so much offer a pass to anything:
It actually worked for me, and I felt like I lived in the only house in the neighborhood with power after the tornado. We're lined up with our credit cards out to watch third-stringers commit special teams penalties, NFL: it's the least you can do to actually render the service you are offering.
The fact that NFL Preseason Live did the exact same thing last year does not inspire a lot of confidence that the NFL is going to get right on that.
Not that Jets fans want to see anyway.
Others receiving votes: Geno Smith, QB, New York Jets (2 votes); NFL Game Pass (2 votes)Meals for school children have been in focus in India recently. The Union government has decided to make Aadhaar verification mandatory for mid-day meals, while Delhi government announced the inclusion of eggs and bananas in its school meals. Discussion on utility of mid-day meals is often centred on their health benefits for children. A National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper by Michael L. Anderson, associate professor at University of California, Berkeley, and others shows that balanced meals in schools also contribute towards development of cognitive abilities in children.
The paper is based on a five-year study of all California schools, and shows that children from schools with healthier school lunch vendors scored better in state achievement tests.
These findings are in keeping with earlier research which has shown stunting to have an adverse effect on cognitive development of children in India.
Also Read | School Lunch Quality and Academic Performance
The digital economy is often thought as being more open to new ideas and competition. Recent research by Ulrich Dolata, professor at the University of Stuttgart, says that the commercial internet is increasingly getting centralized with five big companies—Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft—shaping the overall products and services offered on the internet and determining access to the web.
Besides, these large firms structure the communication possibilities for users and are the main drivers of innovation in this field, giving them immense ‘power’ to shape narratives and maybe also events.
However, the study notes that the ‘power’ of the incumbent giants need not be permanent, citing the examples of AOL, Yahoo, MySpace and Nokia.
Also Read | Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft: Market concentration - competition - innovation strategies
Stock market rallies led by foreign portfolio investments are often seen as a blessing for any economy.
Such beliefs do not distinguish between financial and real investments.
A recently published paper by Daniele Tori and Özlem Onaran of the University of Greenwich shows that this might be inappropriate. Analyzing the behaviour of European companies between 1995 and 2015, they argue that financial investments by non-financial companies often crowd out their physical investments.
Financial development, i.e. the growth of stock markets and financial intermediaries often induce companies to “suppress investment in fixed assets". The researchers contend that increasing “financialization" could be a factor behind stagnant or fragile growth in advanced economies.
Also Read | The effects of financialisation and financial development on investment: Evidence from firm-level data in Europe
The choice that working mothers often face, whether to devote more time to child-care or to career, is likely to remain a difficult one in the years to come even if societal norms change and the world as a whole becomes more progressive. Ylenia Brilli of the University of Gothenburg shows using data from the US that an increase in a mother’s working time may eventually lead to a reduction in child’s ability, physical and cognitive, owing to a decrease in mother’s child-care time. A father’s child-care time might not be the perfect substitute as studies show that the father’s time with the child becomes more ‘productive’ only as the child reaches adolescence.
Also, no amount of non-parental child care time is able to compensate for the loss in mother’s child-care time, strengthening the widely held view that mother’s time devoted to child-care is essential.
Also Read | Mother’s Time Allocation, Child Care and Child Cognitive Development
It seems the state of the Indian economy depends on which set of data you want to consult or put your faith in.
Official data released last week showed that demonetization did not have much adverse impact on economic growth in the October to December quarter. However, critics argue that estimates for the informal sector in GDP calculations might be based on now inappropriate extrapolations.
Moreover, some monthly indicators actually paint a picture of a nose-diving economy rather than a healthy one, viz. the Sales Managers’ Index (SMI) for India published by ‘World Economics’. An article in Zero Hedge notes that the sales indicator fell to the lowest level in over three years in February, reflecting the headwinds faced by small businesses on account of demonetization.
Also Read | Indian Economy Collapses As ‘Demonetization’ Crushes Small Business
Economics Digest runs weekly, and features interesting reads from the world of economicsPlay is a frivolous pastime only to be indulged once the real work of the world is done. Or so we tend to think. But what if play is actually a key driver of progress? In Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, Steven Johnson argues that many of our most important innovations—from probability theory to artificial intelligence—have their origins in human beings just trying to have some fun.
View Images Courtesy of Riverhead Books
When National Geographic caught up with Johnson by phone in Malibu, California, during a break in his book tour, he explained why an automaton of a dancing girl inspired Charles Babbage to design the first programmable computers, how movie star Hedy Lamarr helped create today’s wireless technology, and how Monopoly was invented by a 19th-century feminist named Liz Magie, who believed playing a game could teach children the evils of capitalism.
You say, “Delight is a word that is rarely invoked as a driver of historical change.” Explain how play actually inspired many of the world’s most important inventions and ideas.
We tend to think about delight, play, and recreational leisure as the spoils of progress. In fact, it goes in the other direction. Many transformative ideas begin with this sense of delight, wonder, or fun.
One of the key examples is a place in Baghdad at the height of the Islamic golden age—the House of Wisdom, a mix of think tank, translation bureau, and maker lab, as we would say today. There were these brothers [the Banu Musa] who came up with incredible engineering ideas that Western Europe wouldn’t see for another 400 to 500 years.
If you look at what they designed, it’s all toys: robotic elephants or automated flute players, designed to amuse and entertain. Those ideas would eventually lead to transformative things, like industrialization, mechanization, and eventually artificial intelligence. But their first appearance was as play.
Meet a Competitive Yo-Yoer Watch a yo-yo virtuoso and hear his story of how the toy inspired him.
A key figure in the history of play was Charles Babbage. Tell us about his seminal encounter with an automated doll—and why it still reverberates with us today.
There was a shop in London called Merlin’s Mechanical Museum, run by this crazy guy John-Joseph Merlin, with all these incredible mechanical contraptions. Merlin also had an upstairs attic where he kept special things. There he had an automated dancer who was very elegant and had these humanlike movements. In 1801, an eight-year-old boy is brought to Merlin’s Museum by his mother. Merlin senses something interesting in this kid, so he invited him and his mom into the upstairs attic and showed the boy the automated dancing lady. The boy was completely taken in and later writes in his memoirs how she had an alluring appeal for him.
That little boy was Charles Babbage, who many years later continues his obsession with automation, like the new industrial machines proliferating across northern England, and writes a seminal book about them that influences Karl Marx. Eventually, Babbage starts thinking about how you can take that kind of machinery and use it for computation and calculation. He designs two machines that are rightly considered the first programmable computers.
View Images Jacques de Vaucanson, inventor of this mechanical duck, also came up with a way to program a machine to weave patterns into cloth. Illustration by Bettmann/Getty
The 18th century was a golden age for automatons. Tell us about Vaucanson’s duck—and some of the other amazing inventions from that era.
It is an extraordinary period! The most advanced engineering in the world was devoted to these automata in the 18th century. Almost without exception, they were objects of amusement and illusion. It was not functional in any way. It was just play.
Jacques de Vaucanson designed a number of things, the most notorious of which was an almost anatomically correct duck that could walk, quack, and waddle like a duck. You could also feed it pellets of food and it would simulate processing that food and defecate, to the amusement of the Parisian elites. The Defecating Duck was his name.
But the most important thing Vaucanson did was to take the idea of music boxes—designed by those Baghdad brothers many years before—to create programmable music, using a rotating cylinder with little pins in it that corresponded to the song you wanted to play. He then began to think about using that system to program a machine to weave patterns into cloth.
That later influenced Joseph-Marie Jacquard, who came up with the idea of using punch cards encoding instructions for a loom into paper. This became the Jacquard loom, which was revolutionary … in terms of textile design and ended up influencing Babbage and the history of computing as well. What’s so fascinating is that the whole idea of programmable machines comes from music boxes.
You write, “Music has a longer history of technological innovation than any other form of art.” Why is that? With some examples, please.
Music is this great mystery. We know it’s an ancient part of human ingenuity. There are bone flutes at least 45,000 years old. In a very early stage of our advancement as a species, we are already using our technical skills to create musical instruments. There’s no functional reason. But people loved them and made them. The Romans designed water-powered organs. Later, this became the clavichord, then the harpsicord, then the pianoforte, which becomes the piano.
But it’s not until the middle of the 19th century that people start to say, “Wait a second, these keyboards work well for music, what if we used them to create letters rather than notes?” That’s where the idea for the typewriter comes from, and later the computer keyboard. In fact, the very first typewriter was called “the writing harpsicord.” When you talk about the keys on your keyboard there’s an echo of the musical sense of the word key.
View Images Actress Hedy Lamarr collaborated on a mechanism to control torpedos that was inspired by player pianos. Photograph by Clarence Sinclair Bull, Hulton Archive/Getty
Hedy Lamarr is best known as a movie actress. But she was also quite a geek, wasn’t she?
[Laughs] She’s an incredible figure! She had come over from Austria, where she had been married to this vaguely Nazi arms dealer and had learned quite a bit about the military. She then became a movie star in the U.S., living in Hollywood. As the war was starting, she was very much on the American side and wanted to do something to help the military. She was an armchair inventor who would go off and be this glamourous movie star during the day, then come back home and read Scientific American.
She started working with this guy George Antheil, who was known as the bad boy of classical music. They started thinking about a mechanism, an unhackable transmission system, for controlling a torpedo remotely, so you could send a signal to it without the risk of it being intercepted. They hit on an idea borrowed from the player piano, which is another way in which music changed technology. The player piano has a roll of paper, or pack of punch cards, with holes corresponding to which notes are being played by the 88 keys on the keyboard.
Their idea was that the signal you were sending to the torpedo would hop around at various points in the acoustic spectrum, divided up into 88 different slots. The receiver on the other end knew where the jumps were going to be, because it was following the same code, but someone listening wouldn’t hear it as a signal at all, just brief bursts on one part of the spectrum. The military ignored it at the time but the fundamental idea behind it is used in almost all the important wireless technologies of today.
Charles Darrow has been immortalized as the inventor of the board game Monopoly. But it was actually someone else, wasn’t it? Tell us about Lizzie Magie—and her very different conception of what could be learned from play.
We think of Monopoly as the ultimate celebration of ruthless capitalistic behavior. You want to build a real estate monopoly and kill off all your competitors. The origin story written on every copy of Monopoly was that this down-on-his-luck guy, Charles Darrow, invented the game during the Depression, sold it to Parker Brothers, and made a fortune.
In fact, that story is a complete lie! The game was actually invented 35 years earlier by a fascinating woman named Lizzie Magie, who was a left wing progressive, what we would now call a feminist. She did stand-up comedy and was a follower of this late 19th-century progressive named Henry George. A lot of people at the time thought George-ist economic policy, which was quite left wing, was what the country needed.
But only Lizzie Magie thought his ideas would be best advanced by a board game, so she invented a game called “The Landlord’s Game,” designed to teach kids about the evils of capitalism. The game is clearly Monopoly. You go around, buy property, there’s a jail, there are utilities. But in Magie’s version, you could play it two ways. You could play it traditionally, where you would get all the money and property, or you could play it where the goal of the game is to share the wealth as equitably as possible.
For some reason, that [second] version didn’t survive. [Laughs] But her game developed this underground following in progressive circles. Upton Sinclair played it and people would have their own hand-drawn boards and circulate it among their friends. Eventually, it made its way to Charles Darrow, who got a guy to design the official board and then sold it to Parker Brothers, never acknowledging Lizzie Magie’s original conception of it.
View Images Published in 850 by three brothers working at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, the Book of Ingenious Devices included plans for automatic mechanical devices. Photograph by Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty Images
Games of chance, whether cards or dice, are as old as mankind. But they also played a key role in many modern innovations, didn’t they?
There’s a crazy character named Girolamo Cardano, an Italian from the 16th century, who was a full-time gambler and part-time mathematician. He lived this rogue’s life—he knifed a guy in Venice—and lived many years off his gambling proceeds. At the end of his life, he figured out how you could do the math to explain how likely it was that a given event would happen with dice—how much more likely it is that you will roll a 12 two times in a row, verses rolling a 7 two times in a row. Cardano figured out the fundamental principles, which then got refined over the next 50 to 60 years and became the basis of what we call probability theory, which is one of the engines of the modern world. You need probability theory for the insurance business, clinical drug trials, or airplane design. And it all stems from dice games!
You write, “You will find the future wherever people are having the most fun.” So what’s coming down the pike, Steve?
We saw it this summer with Pokémon Go, this international obsession that was completely frivolous and pointless. You’re running around capturing imaginary monsters on your smart phone in the real world. What that game was doing was overlaying a virtual experience—information—over real-world environments. That’s what we call augmented reality: the idea that we are going to be walking around the world in actual physical space but have extra information overlaid in that world, telling us more serious things. Not, hey, there’s an imaginary monster over there, but, hey, your friend is around the corner or this is the best way to walk across the street. We’ll look back in ten years as those things become more prevalent in everyday experiences and say, hey, this all started with a game.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.Former inmates given psychotropic drugs significantly less likely to violently reoffend, study finds
The Oxford University study explores the role untreated psychological illness can play in violent crime.
ResearchGate: Could you explain the significance of the findings of your research?
Seena Fazel: Many criminal justice agencies have focused on psychosocial therapies as part of rehabilitation programs for prisoners, some of which extend into the community on release. What our study shows is that three major classes of psychotropic medication are associated with reductions in violent reoffending. This is important insofar as it suggests that the effects of these medications go beyond relief from symptoms and into reducing the risks of real-world adverse outcomes. As the study cannot prove causality, triangulation with other designs is required, and in particular trials.
RG: What prompted you to look into the impact psychotropic drugs have on criminal reoffending?
Fazel: A striking finding is that reoffending rates have not decreased despite reductions in crime in the general population. And they remain very high – more than a third of prisoners are re-convicted within two years of release in the US and the UK, for example.
RG: You mention that most individuals who could benefit from psychotropic treatment do not receive it after prison release. Why is this the case?
Fazel: Ensuring links with community health and addiction services is difficult as many prisoners move to new areas or lose contact with their previous healthcare providers. In addition, surveys of US prisoners have shown that around a third of those with severe mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) do not receive medication while they are in prison.
RG: Do you believe that there is a problem with incarcerating people who have psychological disorders? What alternatives could be valid?
Fazel: Different jurisdictions will have various legal approaches to this issue, and what criteria need to be met for an individual to be diverted to a secure hospital (instead of prison). It is difficult to make any clear statement about this due to the very different legal traditions involved. As for alternatives, some have argued that community sentences should be considered in individuals who represent low risk of serious reoffending – I don't have a view if this should be specific to subgroups.
RG: What are the next steps in this research?
Fazel: One is to understand whether this association is causal or explained by other factors. Another is to figure out how to improve the identification of mental illness in prisoners, links to community health and addiction services, and adherence to medication on release.
Another important next step is to develop scaleable and accurate methods to predict reoffending risk as a way to leverage community treatments and target resources at those with the highest risk. The same team has been involved in developing one such approach in Sweden, which uses an online risk calculator and is free to use.
Image courtesy of study released today in JAMA compares time periods in which former inmates were prescribed psychotropic drugs for mental illness and periods in which they were not given these medications. In total, 22,275 released prisoners in Sweden were included in the study. Researchers found significant reductions in violent reoffending during medicated periods: a 42 percent reduction with antipsychotics, 38 percent with psychostimulants, and 52 percent with drugs for addictive disorders. Seena Fazel, a doctor from the University of Oxford and the study’s lead author, told us what impact his findings could have on the criminal justice system.Many criminal justice agencies have focused on psychosocial therapies as part of rehabilitation programs for prisoners, some of which extend into the community on release. What our study shows is that three major classes of psychotropic medication are associated with reductions in violent reoffending. This is important insofar as it suggests that the effects of these medications go beyond relief from symptoms and into reducing the risks of real-world adverse outcomes. As the study cannot prove causality, triangulation with other designs is required, and in particular trials.A striking finding is that reoffending rates have not decreased despite reductions in crime in the general population. And they remain very high – more than a third of prisoners are re-convicted within two years of release in the US and the UK, for example.Ensuring links with community health and addiction services is difficult as many prisoners move to new areas |
.
First responders, bystanders lift car to save trapped woman
State police Sgt. Luke Splittgerber tells the newspaper one of the woman's legs was fully pinned and the other was partially pinned under the vehicle, which wasn't visible from the road. He says the woman never lost consciousness.
"She had been out there all night," Splittgerber told The Post-Star.
Troopers say the woman lives alone and endured a night with temperatures in the low 50s and rain showers. She was discovered Tuesday morning by a neighbor who heard her calls for help.
Local firefighters removed her from beneath the SUV. She was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.
A hospital spokesman says the woman is recovering in the surgical intensive care unit.Theresa May is to hold talks with European Council President Donald Tusk as she tries to break the deadlock in Brexit talks.
Mr Tusk will head to London for a meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday after having a pre-briefing with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
It comes further Brexit talks in Brussels saw little progress, with Mr Barnier saying the UK had to settle its obligations to the EU before talks of a transition of future relationship but Brexit Secretary David Davis insisting there are "no excuses" for moving forward.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
The meeting with Mr Tusk will be seen as a key opportunity for Ms May to direct her message to member state leaders, whom she wants to push EU Commission negotiators to allow progress.
The Council will meet next month to decide whether "sufficient progress" is being made for talks to move on to discussion of a future trade deal.
In her speech in Florence on Friday the PM said she wanted a two year transition period in which Britain would stay in the single market, to provide "certainty" for business.
A positive initial response raised hopes the move would encourage the EU to begin talking about an essential EU trade deal, but on Monday Mr Barnier said talk of a transition could not precede talks on settling the divorce bill, and issues around EU citizens' rights and Ireland.
He said he was "keen and eager" to understand how the Prime Minister's speech would be turned into a negotiating strategy.
Shape Created with Sketch. Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Brexit: the deciders 1/8 European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty 2/8 French President Emmanuel Macron Getty 3/8 German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters 4/8 Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA 5/8 The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty 6/8 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images 7/8 Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA 8/8 After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA 1/8 European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty 2/8 French President Emmanuel Macron Getty 3/8 German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters 4/8 Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA 5/8 The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty 6/8 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images 7/8 Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA 8/8 After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA
"We do not need to remind ourselves that we are six months into the process. We are getting closer to the UK's withdrawal and I think that this moment should be a moment of clarity," he said.
Mr Davis said the latest citizens' rights would be incorporated fully into UK law, progress had been made on resolving the Irish border and insisted the UK would "honour commitments" made during its EU membership.
"But it's obvious that reaching a conclusion on this issue can only be done in the context of and in accordance with our new deep and special partnership with the EU," he added.
"The UK is absolutely committed to work through the detail. We are laying out concrete proposals and there are no excuses for standing in the way of progress.
"It will take pragmatism on both sides to make headway and I hope we can achieve that this week."
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe now.Travis Knight will helm Paramount's Transformers spinoff Bumblebee.
Christina Hodson (Shut In) is writing the script for the film based on the Hasbro toy line, centering on the yellow and black striped Autobot that appeared as one of the main characters in the Transformers film series.
Bumblebee is slated for a June 8, 2018, release as part of Paramount's expanding Transformers universe. In 2015, Akiva Goldsman created a "Transformers Cinematic Universe,” bringing together a group of writers to come up with prequels and spinoffs in order to expand the franchise. An animated film is in the works as well. The next movie in the series, Transformers: The Last Knight, is set to hit theaters June 23. Michael Bay is directing the pic, which stars Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci.
Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Steven Spielberg, and Bay are producing Bumblebee.
Knight, an animator, most recently helmed Oscar-nominated animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, which was his directorial feature film debut.HA HA HA HA
-OR-
XaiaX gets another lesson in practical linguistics from TheTrueHOOHA!
XaiaX to TheTrueHOOHA, "I need help understanding the uses of my degree."
TheTrueHOOHA to XaiaX, "I'm coming."
quote: Suffice it to say, you have no f'n clue what the hell you are talking about. Saying "nuh uh" isn't proof of shit.
Oooh. So callous! Seems like someone's been acting like a jerk but is embarrassed to admit it. Gimme more, baby.
quote:...went to the dictionary to try and say that I don't know what MY OWN FUCKING DEGREE is about?
Um, yes, actually. I don't think it would be hard to understand why. You seem to know quite a bit about linguistic jargon, but not so much about practical linguistics. See
self-important ego-stroking about "mad linguist fu" and synthetic/agglutinating/fusional language.
Obviously for someone of such profound skill and expertise, it could be expected that you would be familiar with the uses of basic, commonly-used English words. It's actually endlessly amusing to me (and others) that you are so offended by a standard dictionary, Master Linguist. I would have figured that you would be more familiar with its usage.
quote:...a hint, the dictionary is nigh useless for word meaning, it's a convenient orthography aid, though.
Why XaiaX is clueless in matters concerning the English language, or, "Bzzzzt, wrong again."
I've lost track of how many times you've been wrong now. I'll take the time to educate you and show you how you are wrong, though. The dictionary is actually the definitive source of word meaning. Think about it: the root word of dictionary is diction, which is the choice and use of words used in writing or speech. Pretty hard to argue with that. More literally, the dictionary is a definitive source: it supplies us with definitions. Can you redeem your degree for a cash prize? Maybe a stuffed animal? That's about all it appears it will be used for, Captain Semantics. I think you should try being a bit more open-minded.
quote: How about I study them at university for the purpose of obtaining a degree? Is that as good as finding a book written for lay-people and finding the two sentence long entry marked "semantics"?
Universities produce two things: morons, and elitist assholes. Simply going to college, alone, will only place you in one of these groups. Great minds do not need a university to make them any more credible: they get what they need and quietly blaze their trails into history. By trying to assert superiority through group membership, you are shooting yourself in the foot. You are saying, "I suck as an individual, but I hang out with non-suck people, so I suck less!"
Then again, maybe your group membership fetish comes from your Japanese experience.
quote: (And again, this is not a semantic issue, this is a pragmatic issue.)
Perception.
quote: Ah, the dictionary again. When you don't actually know something, quote another source.
Actually, when you do know something, you back it up. You back it up because you can. Evidence exists all around you, so it is easy to do. However, if you are just making shit up and pulling terms you don't understand out of your ass, you don't back it up. There is no evidence to support your arguments because you have no argument. What you are saying is incorrect, wrong, and unacceptable.
quote: The vast majority of communication is inferential, as context makes up a stupendously huge amount of the data used to determine what the hell is meant.
Inference may be used in communication, yes. However, inference implies assuming something unspoken. This means whatever was unspoken was NOT communicated verbally. Perhaps you are thinking of all communication as opposed to verbal or written communication. You cannot argue that assuming something unspoken does not lead to miscommunication.
quote: The words "I'm coming" mean precisely jack without context.
Not so! Let me break it down for you as another practical lesson:
"I'm coming." {I (Speaker) am (first person singular present indicative of be) coming {approaching (the addressee)}.
quote: kisama...
THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART! Here we go!
Since did not properly communicate your intended meaning through this single word, I will have to assume you are attempting to communicate in some poor mishmash roomaji meaning, roughly, "true kiss."
åŽçœŸ, maybe?
While I truly appreciate the respect implied in your offer (either way), I'm not like that, really. I'm taken.
It's back to the kana charts for you!
quote: In short: You lose, come clean and apologize.
Dear XaiaX,
You're so cute when you shamelessly debase yourself with adolescent strategy.
Love,
-Hooha
Oh, my email is dragonblade9@hotmail.com, since you seem so endearing. Can I join your University kurabu? Let's be friends.
Oooh. So callous! Seems like someone's beenbut is embarrassed to admit it. Gimme more, baby.Um, yes, actually. I don't think it would be hard to understand why. You seem to know quite a bit about linguistic jargon, but not so much aboutlinguistics. Seeself-important ego-stroking about "mad linguist fu" and synthetic/agglutinating/fusional language.Obviously for someone of such profound skill and expertise, it could be expected that you would be familiar with the uses of basic, commonly-used English words. It's actually endlessly amusing to me (and others) that you are so offended by a standard dictionary, Master Linguist. I would have figured that you would be more familiar with its usage.I've lost track of how many times you've been wrong now. I'll take the time to educate you and show youyou are wrong, though. The dictionary is actually the definitive source of word meaning. Think about it: the root word of dictionary is, which is the choice and use of words used in writing or speech. Pretty hard to argue with that. More literally, the dictionary is a definitive source: it supplies us with. Can you redeem your degree for a cash prize? Maybe a stuffed animal? That's about all it appears it will be used for, Captain Semantics. I think you should try being a bit more open-minded.Universities produce two things: morons, and elitist assholes. Simply going to college, alone, will only place you in one of these groups. Great minds do nota university to make them any more credible: they get what they need and quietly blaze their trails into history. By trying to assert superiority through group membership, you are shooting yourself in the foot. You are saying, "I suck as an individual, but I hang out with non-suck people, so I suck less!"Then again, maybe your group membership fetish comes from your Japanese experience.Perception.Actually, when youknow something, you back it up. You back it up because you. Evidence exists all around you, so it is easy to do. However, if you are just making shit up and pulling terms you don't understand out of your ass, youback it up. There is no evidence to support your arguments because youno argument. What you are saying isandInference may be used in communication, yes. However, inference implies assuming something unspoken. This means whatever was unspoken was NOT communicated verbally. Perhaps you are thinking ofcommunication as opposed toorcommunication. You cannot argue that assuming something unspoken does not lead to miscommunication.Not so! Let me break it down for you as another practical lesson:"I'm coming." {(Speaker)(first person singular present indicative of be){approaching (the addressee)}.THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART! Here we go!Since did not properly communicate your intended meaning through this single word, I will have to assume you are attempting to communicate in some poor mishmash roomaji meaning, roughly, "true kiss."åŽçœŸ, maybe?While I truly appreciate the respect implied in your offer (either way), I'm not like that, really. I'm taken.It's back to the kana charts for you!This video is no longer available
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IS THIS THE END!!? Battle against the Elite Four | Pokemon Classic Red | Episode 48
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Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, Lance and last but not least my rival tails, face off on the biggest showdown yet! As we shoot our way to the top of the Pokemon League and become "The very best! Like no one ever was!" #pokemon #pokemonred #pokemonredandblue #pokemonlogo #pokemonletsplay #pokemonsunandmoon #gameplay #videogames #videogameseries #videogames #letsplay #letsplayers #letsplayseries #pokemonleague #funny #pokemongo #rival #battle #master #championship #champion #championsleague #pikachu #elitefour BECOME A PATRON ON PATREON: ▶https://patreon.com/preview/5415e48422374e079a48115f1a38273f Check out Starburst Gaming MCPE's Channel for links to his Intro's. He was the one that developed my new one at the beginning: ▶https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU0ebZzciqeNuDhrGHJwfjQ Check out my other channel: ▶https://www.youtube.com/user/spdytrtle14/ Come talk to me on facebook, we can hang! :) ▶https://www.facebook.com/spdytrtle14 Or you can talk to me on twitter or send me fan mail: ▶https://twitter.com/SpeedyTurtle114 Follow me on instagram! :) ▶http://instagram.com/kelton_stewart For music and sound content shared by: ▶freeSFX.co.uk Did a new outro with some music: ▶https://soundcloud.com/nyteofficial Album: NYTE Song: Neon Lights Leave a comment and let me know if you like the video and what I can do to improve. Or just say hi! I wouldn't mind. Eat your Chips and Frosties and respect each other in the comments okay?!
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99The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) on Tuesday accused an Illinois lawmaker and Army veteran who lost both her legs in Iraq of “not standing up for our veterans.”
The group blasted Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate, in a tweet that it promptly deleted. “Tammy Duckworth has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans,” the NRSC wrote on Twitter.
It later issued a statement on the tweet that slammed Duckworth again. “It would be great if reporters would pay as much attention to a deleted tweet as they should to Tammy Duckworth being sued by VA whistleblowers for ignoring claims of mistreatment and corruption,” NRSC spokesman Greg Blair said.
The lawsuit referenced by the NRSC alleges ethics violations from nearly a decade ago and has become a point of contention in her campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, the Chicago Tribune reported last August.
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Duckworth was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot when she lost both legs and partial use of her right arm in a 2004 explosion during the Iraq War. She was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of her injuries, according to her website. Duckworth’s spokesman, Matt McGrath, called the tweet “tasteless and dishonest,” according to a statement obtained by NBC News.
Contact us at editors@time.com.If you're like most people, you've probably been hearing a bit about "Bitcoin" recently.
And, if you're like most people, you'll probably not know what it is or what to think about it--or what the fuss is all about.
Here's a snapshot.
Bitcoin is an electronic currency--a new form of money.
Bitcoins take the form of strings of numbers that can be electronically owned by and transferred among individuals and organizations. For now, the currency is primarily used for payments by fringe retailers or illegal transactions, but it is being accepted at more and more places. And organizations that exchange Bitcoins for standard currency are now being approved to operate as banks.
The premise and promise of Bitcoin--the part that appeals to folks who don't happen to be gold bugs or cryptography geeks--is that the current plan is for only a finite number of Bitcoins to be created. This is in direct contrast to standard government-issued currencies, which governments can always print more of. If the supply of Bitcoins remains finite, this should theoretically eliminate inflation, which is one of the biggest drawbacks of paper money.
(Although inflation has remained low in recent years, it ravages the value of paper money over time. A dollar in 1900 is only worth about $0.04 in today's currency.)
So Bitcoin is conceptually very interesting, especially since it is not issued by a government agency.
What has suddenly grabbed the public's attention about Bitcoin, however, is the recent explosion in the value of the currency.
Because the number of Bitcoins is limited, their value increases rapidly when more people want them. And when the value of something increases rapidly, more people want it because they see it as a means of making money. So the initial price increases fuel future price increases which fuel more future price increases...at least for a while.
This dynamic has fueled the inflation of every asset bubble in history. And they have all ended badly. So it behooves people to analyze the sustainability of such price increases carefully.
When Bitcoin was launched in 2010, the currency initially had very little value. Quickly, however, the price of each "coin" soared above $25, making the initial Bitcoin believers rich. Then prices collapsed, with coins trading down to $5 again, making Bitcoin adherents into fools. Then Bitcoin prices began a slow and steady rise that has suddenly gone parabolic.
At the beginning of last month Bitcoins could be exchanged for about $35.
Now they're changing hands at above $90.
This explosive price increase has many intelligent people crying "bubble!"
And these intelligent people may well be right.
But if there's one lesson that gets repeated again and again in bubbles, it's that prices can rise much higher and bubbles can last much longer than most observers think.
Internet stocks, for example, were first described as a "bubble" in 1995, a full five years before the peak. And the amount of money made in those next five years made everyone who was skeptical early on look and feel like a fool. House prices, meanwhile, were described as a "bubble" as early as 2002 and 2003. And it wasn't until 2007, many years later, that house prices finally peaked.
Driving prices in all bubbles, of course, is the possibility that the price action might not actually be a bubble.
That applies to Bitcoin, too.
If Bitcoins become an accepted currency everywhere in the world, if governments don't make Bitcoin transactions illegal, and if the supply of Bitcoins remains finite (if the systems aren't hacked or the anonymous creators don't get greedy and decide to create many more), then Bitcoin prices could go much, much higher.
After all, how much would you pay for a currency that could be used everywhere in the world and would never demolish your savings by losing value to inflation?
You might pay a lot.
And, as with any asset, it would be hard if not impossible to determine how much was "too much"--because determining the value of any asset or means of exchange is always a subjective exercise.
At the same time, though, there are many big risks that could bring the Bitcoin frenzy to a quick and brutal end.
Governments, for example, might decide that Bitcoin undermines the value of their own legal currencies--and ban it. In the U.S., for example, only Congress has the power to print money, and Congress might well decide that Bitcoin is money (which, it is).
Story continues• Final £13m of Manchester United’s offer would be performance-related • Juventus likely to demand more and word from Pogba that he wants to go
Manchester United are set to make an official bid for Paul Pogba in the next 24 hours with club officials meeting the Juventus directors Giuseppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici as well as the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, to discuss the deal.
José Mourinho’s Manchester United start: first impressions as club heads to China Read more
Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, was originally due to travel with the team to China for their pre-season tour on Tuesday but he did not board the plane and it is understood that he will be part of the delegation that is meeting Juventus.
United are expected to make an opening bid of £100m with £13m of that performance-related add-ons. Juventus are likely to reject that offer – they want £100m without add-ons to even contemplate a sale – and are still hoping to hold on to the 23-year-old midfielder, who has a contract until 2019.
The Serie A club will meet United to get a sense of whether they would be prepared to raise their offer and will then talk to the player and Raiola. Pogba has not yet said that he wants to leave the club and the deal is likely to hinge on him demanding a move.
Pogba would be offered a contract worth £250,000 a week. If the two clubs can agree a deal the Frenchman would become United’s fourth summer signing following the arrivals of Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. If a deal can be concluded Pogba would return to the club he left in 2012.
Real Madrid are the only other club the player could join and the Spanish club’s manager said on Monday: “I am happy with the squad I have got and it’s difficult to improve on it. Do I like Pogba? Of course, he’s a very good player and every club wants the best players but right now he’s at Juve and we have a large squad already.”
Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane admits he is a Paul Pogba fan Read more
Zidane added: “There are still lots of players yet to join up with the squad and with the Euros going on we couldn’t do anything. We have three games coming up and that’s the focus at the moment.”
The new United manager, José Mourinho, who replaced Louis van Gaal in the summer, and the team flew to China on Tuesday. There they will face Borussia Dortmund on 22 July and Manchester City three days later.
Ibrahimovic is not in the travelling party but Mkhitaryan and Bailly are. Luke Shaw will continue to step up his fitness after making his return from long-term injury in the weekend friendly at Wigan, while Axel Tuanzebe, Will Keane and Andreas Pereira will get a chance to impress on the week-long trip.For years, many were under the impression that Mike Zimmer was one of the NFL's best defensive coordinators, but his no-nonsense way of dealing with everyone—no matter their situation—was going to impede his potential as a head coach. Zimmer is about as apolitical as anyone in the league, and he's not going to say something if he doesn't believe it.
It took far too long for him to get a head coaching opportunity, but the Vikings took a chance, hiring Zimmer for that position in January 2014. He plowed through quite a bit of drama in his first year in Minnesota, dealing with a rookie quarterback, a suspended running back, an offensive line in flux (to put it kindly) and a defense under construction, and Zimmer squeezed a 7–9 finish out of his team in 2014, with a great deal of potential going forward. But if anyone still questioned his validity as a head coach, Zimmer answered them all with the way he handled Adrian Peterson's situation.
While the Vikings' front office was feuding with Peterson's camp regarding the running back's future with the team, seemingly putting Peterson's future with the franchise in doubt, Zimmer was the voice of calm. He didn't interrogate Peterson about his child abuse incident. He didn't kowtow to management and blast Peterson in the media. He showed unrelenting support behind the idea of Peterson returning to the backfield, but also made it clear that whether Peterson held out or not to improve his contract situation, it would be business as usual for the team. It was the balm everyone needed.
“When you have a guy like that, who's gonna stick up for his players and support his players as much as he did in that situation, as another guy in the locker room who sees that, you can't help but wanna do everything to come out here and do everything you can,” TE Kyle Rudolph said in early June. “He'll be our head coach for a long time.”
That was after Peterson returned to OTAs, and everyone now seems happy with the situation. That's thanks to, more than anything else, the way Zimmer handled it.
Now, with Peterson in the fold, it's time to improve on last year's mark, and there are many reasons the Vikings are a chic pick to ascend to possible contention in 2015. Teddy Bridgewater has all the potential you'd want in a second-year quarterback, and he proved his cool under fire in several in-game situations last season. He'll have a new primary target in Mike Wallace, acquired from the Dolphins in a March 13 trade. Peterson is obviously a huge addition to the offense if he can regain his old form on the field and keep the distractions to a minimum everywhere else. First-round pick Trae Waynes from Michigan State gives Zimmer another potential lockdown cornerback to pair with Xavier Rhodes. Second-round linebacker Eric Kendricks will play alongside former UCLA teammate Anthony Barr, who's one of the more intriguing young pass-rushers in the league.
There are still some legitimate questions about Minnesota's offensive line (especially about left tackle Matt Kalil, who had an awful 2014 season), but this is a team on the rise, and 2015 should see some major gains for the franchise in the ultra-competitive NFC North. One thing's for sure: The Vikings picked the right head coach, and that's a big part of the battle.
• SI.com's off-season report cards: Grading every team's moves
Grade: B
Best acquisition: Mike Wallace, WR
In 2014, Bridgewater tied for 11th in the league with 16 completions that went 20 yards in the air or more. That's not bad for a rookie who was still finding his way, but in offensive coordinator Norv Turner's system, the expectation is that there will be more vertical gains. Wallace, who caught six such passes for 199 yards and a touchdown from Ryan Tannehill in Miami last season, will undoubtedly see the majority of Bridgewater's deep balls in the near future.
“I like Mike Wallace, he’s got some fire and he comes up to me all of the time and says, ‘You can’t stop me today,’ and stuff like that,” Zimmer said in June. “Hey, I like those guys that are competitors. He works extremely hard. I think he’s developing a good relationship with everybody on the football team and not just Teddy.”
As for Wallace, moving from the West Coast offense paradigm in Miami to a three-digit vertical system in Minnesota is right up his alley, and he couldn't be happier.
“I think it's more so [like] my first four years,” Wallace said in late May, referring to his early career in Pittsburgh. “It's a vertical offense, [rather] than a short, West Coast offense. You go down the field a lot more here, more what I'm accustomed to.”
• BENOIT: Bradford has big opportunity with move to Eagles
Biggest loss: Greg Jennings, WR
Yes, the addition of Wallace should add some downfield fire to Bridgewater's passing game, and his kind of vertical speed is a perfect match for the route combinations drawn up by Turner. But the cupboard is still relatively bare at the receiver position, and the Vikings didn't seem to see Jennings as a valued asset, despite the fact that he led the team in receptions in each of his two seasons there. Not that the 31-year-old Jennings is the player he once was during his peak with the Packers, but the Vikings could have been forgiven for adopting an “any port in a storm” strategy with the veteran possession receiver.
In the end, Jennings signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Dolphins, a low-risk contract that the Vikings could have easily matched. Jennings's old contract did prove to be too much of a salary cap hit, but the team hasn't really replaced him as an inside-outside receiver. Yes, Charles Johnson has shown potential, and yes, everyone hopes that Cordarrelle Patterson will turn things around, but the receiver position still is a pretty serious liability—and in a passing league, that's never a good thing.
• KAPLAN: How Beckham Jr. is trying to manage his newfound fame
Underrated draft pick: T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pitt (110th overall pick)
To call Clemmings underrated might be a bit of a stretch, given all the pre-draft buzz about the right tackle, who moved to that position in 2013 after three seasons on the defensive line. Clemmings is still learning the particulars of the position, but at 6'5" and 309 pounds, he's got all the athleticism and aggressiveness you'd want from a tackle. When I put together his SI 64 scouting report, I compared him to Dallas left tackle Tyron Smith, who might be the best in the business right now. Like Smith, Clemmings will face his share of technique fixes at the next level, but there's a lot to like here. And according to general manager Rick Spielman, the stress fracture in Clemmings's foot that may have caused his slide down draft boards isn't a big deal in the long term—Spielman said in May that it was an old injury discovered during exams at the scouting combine. Clemmings has participated in OTAs, and the immediate plan may be to plug him in at left guard.
“We’re very excited that we were able to get a guy of that caliber, of that talent, that we were able to get him in the fourth round,” Speilman said back then. “When you look at the junior tape on him and the jump that he made from his junior to senior year, it’s pretty remarkable for how quickly he picked that up. We went down to the Senior Bowl. It probably was not as great of a week as he probably anticipated; we moved him over to the left side a little bit, he’s basically been on the right side, but we’re very excited to get an opportunity to work with him. He has the athletic skill set to play both sides, and I know our coaches, offensive coaches and offensive line coaches were very excited to get an opportunity to work with this kid just because of the tremendous upside that he has.”
Upside is right, and if Clemmings is able to live up to his tremendous potential, the Vikings may have their future franchise pass-protector in the fold.
Looming question for training camp: Can Adrian Peterson beat the age curve?
Peterson turned 30 in March, and that's a dangerous age for running backs. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, There have been 43 seasons in which backs aged 30 or older have run for 1,000 yards or more. That sounds encouraging, right? Sure, until you look further out in the age curve. There have been 21 seasons for backs 31 or older, nine seasons for backs 32 or older, and from age 33 on? Well, good luck with that. John Riggins broke the 1,000-yard mark at 34 and 35, and Franco Harris did it at 33. That's it.
Peterson already proved that he's a physical freak by returning from a serious knee injury to rush for 2,097 yards in 2012, but the realities of age in football, especially at his position, are even tougher to overcome. To counter this seeming inevitability, the Vikings are planning some smart contingencies. They'll look to monitor his touches out of the backfield, and it's Turner's intention to get Peterson more involved in the offense in other ways, which would be a great help to Bridgewater.
“In Coach Turner's offense, there's so much he throws out there,” Peterson recently said. “I'll be more involved in the passing game, going out wide, presenting myself for a checkdown... making the defense play more balanced.”
It's a slippery slope with aging superstars in the NFL. Peterson has some fairly monstrous cap hits over the next three seasons if he's on the roster for all of them, but there are almost no penalties to the team if he's released after this season. This is a crucial year for Peterson—and the Vikings—in that regard.America's demographic fabric is changing, and marketers are taking note by increasingly portraying diverse families in their ads.
But as a new Old Navy advertisement is demonstrating, such campaigns may not be embraced by everyone, although Americans are increasingly lending their support to brands that embrace inclusivity.
Oh, happy day! Our #ThankYouEvent is finally here. Take 30% off your entire purchase: https://t.co/nGQ9Pji1pN pic.twitter.com/vq4mIczm6A — Old Navy Official (@OldNavy) April 29, 2016
The brouhaha started when the apparel maker on Friday tweeted an image of an interracial family wearing its clothes, unleashing negative comments from some people espousing racist views.
Then Twitter fought back. Supporters of Old Navy's ad campaign, including many interracial families and friends, tweeted messages with the hashtag #LoveWins, a term that went viral last year after the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling. Fans of Old Navy's message took the hashtag to heart and tweeted messages of support as well as personal photos showing their own diverse families.
American families are increasingly diverse, with Pew Research Center finding that 12 percent of newlyweds in 2013 married someone of a different race, a record high. Add in same-sex couples and the share of diverse families in the U.S. is even larger.
But the advertising industry has lagged that reality, with relatively few commercials showing families of different races or same-sex relationships.
"The shift in the American family landscape is historic, and interracial families are only one part of the new normal. We're seeing more households with parents who are single, co-habitating, LGBTQ, or which include stay-at-home dads," said Julie Michaelson, head of global sales at parenting website BabyCenter. "Some brands are nervous about embracing this new reality, concerned about backlash."
Hey @OldNavy, my family and I thank you for the diversity in this ad! #LoveWins, no matter the color ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TjgYUPMGu4 — KHARY PENEBAKER (@kharyp) May 1, 2016
Controversy over portraying interracial families in advertising is nothing new. In 2013, Cheerios faced a similar situation when it aired an ad featuring a biracial little girl who asks her white mother about the cereal's heart-healthy benefits. The girl rushes to her napping father and pours a box of Cheerios over his chest.
The spot produced a backlash against interracial couples and prompted parent company General Mills (GIS) to shut down the comments section for the ad's YouTube video. In that case, fans also clearly won out, with the ad earning far more "likes" than "dislikes."
Old Navy, which is owned by Gap (GPS), didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. It's likely the company was aware that the rewards of promoting racial inclusivity far outweighs the risk of alienating some shoppers, given that a recent study from BabyCenter and YouGov found that 80 percent of parents like seeing diverse families in marketing campaigns.
About four in 10 families are diverse when it comes to race, gender or household formation, such as single-parent households or families with stay-at-home dads, the study found.
"The proportion of traditional family types is shrinking," the BabyCenter research report noted. "Marketers who want to connect with parents today cannot afford to ignore this shift."
As BabyCenter's Michaelson noted, the #LoveWins outpouring " |
misappropriation of the patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other intellectual or industrial property rights of any third party with respect to the extent caused by Panasonic and/or the Items as delivered by Panasonic; provided, however, that the foregoing indemnity shall not apply with respect to Claims to the extent [***].
9. Section 12(a) is amended and restated in its entirety as follows:
(a) Limitation of Liability.
(i) TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW AND EXCEPT FOR (1) [***], (2) EACH PARTIES OBLIGATIONS SET FORTH IN SECTION 11, (3) [***], (4) TESLAS OBLIGATIONS SET FORTH IN SECTION 12(d), AND (5) [***], NEITHER PARTY SHALL BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE TO THE OTHER PARTY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WORK DELAYS, LOST GOODWILL, PROFIT, REVENUE OR SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, COST OF CAPITAL, COST OF SUBSTITUTE EQUIPMENT, FACILITIES OR SERVICES, OR DOWNTIME COSTS, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OR IS AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND NEITHER PARTYS LIABILITY FOR MONETARY DAMAGES TO THE OTHER PARTY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT SHALL EXCEED [***]. [***] MEANS AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO [***].
(II) TESLAS LIABILITY TO PANASONIC RESULTING FROM [***] SHALL NOT EXCEED [***].
(III) THE PARTIES AGREE THAT DAMAGES INCURRED DUE TO [***], WILL BE CONSIDERED DIRECT DAMAGES.
Amendment to Tesla-Panasonic Supply Agreement Page 2 of 5 [***] Information has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential Treatment has been requested with respect to the omitted portions.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Tesla Motors, Inc.
10. The current version Attachment 1 of the Agreement is no longer in effect and is hereby replaced in its entirety by Attachment 1-A, attached hereto.
11. This Amendment, together with the Agreement (including any open purchase orders), constitutes the entire agreement between the Parties and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, both oral and written, between the Parties. This Amendment may be executed in counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which taken together will constitute one and the same instrument.
I am pleased that we have reached this point and look forward to a continuing productive relationship with you. Please confirm Sellers agreement with the foregoing by signing a copy of this letter where indicated below and returning it to me.
Sincerely, /s/ JB Straubel JB Straubel Chief Technology Officer Tesla Motors, Inc. 3500 Deer Creek Road Palo Alto, CA 94304
Agreed to by Panasonic Industrial Devices Sales Company of America, division of Panasonic Corporation of North America
By: /s/ Kazuto Nezu Name: Kazuto Nezu Title: Director, Panasonic Industrial Devices Sales Company of America, division of Panasonic Corporation of North America
Agreed to by SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. acting through Portable Rechargeable Battery Business Division
By: /s/ Shinsuke Nakahori Name: Shinsuke Nakahori Title: Director, SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. acting through Portable Rechargeable Battery Business Division
Amendment to Tesla-Panasonic Supply Agreement Page 3 of 5 [***] Information has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential Treatment has been requested with respect to the omitted portions.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Tesla Motors, Inc.
Attachment 1-A
List of Items, Pricing Mechanism
1. Pricing for Cells Delivered Through December 31, 2013
[***].
2. Pricing for Cells Delivered After January 1, 2014
(a) Cell Pricing.
2014-2015 1Q14 2Q14* 3Q14* 4Q14* 1Q15* 2Q15* 3Q15* 4Q15* Price for Li-Ion Cell [***] (Tesla Part No. [***] ) 1 [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] Quantity (millions) [***] [***] [***] [***] 2016-2017 1Q16* 2Q16* 3Q16* 4Q16* 1Q17* 2Q17* 3Q17* 4Q17* Price for Li-Ion Cell [***] (Tesla Part No. [***] ) 1 [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] Quantity (millions) [***] [***] [***] [***]
The pricing set forth above is based on the following [***]. The Parties shall work together on an on-going basis and in good faith to [***], the Parties shall jointly determine the amount of [***] in good faith [***] following any such meeting, and [***] shall be reflected in [***] pricing under this Attachment 1-A as follows: [***].
2014-2015 4Q13 1Q14 2Q14 3Q14 4Q14 1Q15 2Q15 3Q15 4Q15 [***] cost per cell [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] cost per cell [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] cost per cell [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] cost per cell [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***]
1 The Parties may also agree to modify the types of Items eligible for purchase under this Agreement (e.g. by substituting later versions of earlier cells), and purchases of such Items hereunder shall be deemed to satisfy any applicable purchase commitments hereunder and the price for such Items shall be negotiated in good faith by the Parties.
* The prices set forth above are [***], and the Parties shall recalculate the [***] in good faith [***].
Amendment to Tesla-Panasonic Supply Agreement Page 4 of 5 [***] Information has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential Treatment has been requested with respect to the omitted portions.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Tesla Motors, Inc.
(b) Price Adjustments. The prices set forth above shall be adjusted [***] for adjustments in prices for the [***] materials set forth below, in accordance with the adjustment mechanism process set forth in Exhibit 1 ( [***]). The following assumptions shall apply for purposes of the price adjustment mechanism:
Baseline Commodity Assumption [***] Content (g) [***] [***] Price (USD/kg) [***] [***] Content (g) [***] [***] Price (USD/kg) [***] [***] Content (g) [***] [***] Price (USD/kg) [***] [***] Content (g) [***] [***] Price (USD/kg) [***] Exchange rate (Yen/$) [***]
For purposes of this adjustment, the [***] materials prices shall be converted from United States Dollars (USD) into Japanese Yen (JPY) using the [***] and the [***] for the applicable [***] period set forth below:
[***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***]
Attachment 2 to the Agreement is hereby deleted.
2. Panasonics Investment.
(a) Panasonic will make certain capital investments to enable production of cells for Tesla under the Agreement at Panasonics factories at [***], Japan, consisting of [***] (the cost of the foregoing investments is the Investment Cost ). Panasonic will use reasonable efforts to limit the amount of the Investment Cost, and the Investment Cost shall not [***].
(b) Tesla commits that Panasonic will recover the Investment Cost from Tesla [***] for at least 1.836 billion Items (cells) [***]; provided, however, that [***].
Amendment to Tesla-Panasonic Supply Agreement Page 5 of 5 [***] Information has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential Treatment has been requested with respect to the omitted portions.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Tesla Motors, Inc.
Exhibit 1
Material Adjustment Calculator
[***]
[***] Information has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential Treatment has been requested with respect to the omitted portions.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Tesla Motors, Inc.
Tesla-Panasonic Confidential
June 22, 2012
Process and Procedures for Damaged Goods Arriving at Tesla Motors
Process incorporates language of Section 7 of Supply Agreement between Tesla Motors and Panasonic Industrial Company and Panasonic Corporation dated Oct. 5, 2011 (the Agreement)1
1. Tesla will inspect shipments promptly upon delivery: within [***] of receipt at the DAP Point [***]. Inspection will be to determine if Items conform to mutually agreed upon inspection specifications and to determine if Items are damaged. Tests will include:
a. OCV measurements
b. Impedance measurements
c. [***]
2. Tesla must notify Panasonic of damage or other non-conformity within [***] of delivery to the DAP Point. This notice must be in writing.
3. If Panasonic does not receive a notice of damage or non-conformity within [***] after delivery to the DAP Point, the Items will be deemed to be accepted for purposes of payment.
4. If damage or a non-conformity is found or alleged:
a. Tesla will send written notice to [***] of Panasonic as soon as possible after discovery of damage or non-conformity. Tesla will supply Panasonic detailed facts and supporting evidence (such as test results) regarding the damage or non-conformity.
b. As soon as practical, [***] will travel to Tesla site (Fremont or Palo Alto) to inspect the affected Items and take photos.
c. On the same day of the inspection, [***] will email photos to the Panasonic factory (represented by [***]) for review.
d. As soon as practical, [***] will respond to [***] with a determination as to whether the Items: (i) are usable; (ii) should be subject to additional inspection; (iii) should be returned to the Panasonic factory; or (iv) should be destroyed.
1 This document is not intended to, and shall not, modify the Agreement or otherwise waive or modify the parties rights and obligations thereunder.
Tesla-Panasonic Process for Damaged Goods Page 1 of 2 [***] Information has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential Treatment has been requested with respect to the omitted portions.
Confidential Treatment Requested by Tesla Motors, Inc.
Tesla-Panasonic Confidential
5. If Items are determined to be usable, the Panasonic factory will send a written report to [***] that can be submitted to Tesla certifying that the Items are okay to use (i.e., they are free from damage and conform to the agreed specifications).
6. If the Panasonic factory determines that the Items must leave the Tesla site for further investigation:
a. Tesla will arrange for pick-up of the allegedly damaged or non-conforming Items and transport to a mutually agreed upon designated location at Teslas expense; and
b. Once Items are at the designated location, Panasonic or the parties selected third party service will promptly begin the additional inspection (including technical evaluation of cells) to determine whether cells are usable. This additional inspection will be conducted at Teslas expense.
7. If the cause of the damage or non-conformity is determined to be solely attributable to Panasonic (i.e., cells were damaged or non-conforming upon delivery to Tesla), Panasonic shall:
a. Replace the affected Items. [***];
b. Reimburse Tesla for the reasonable costs of transporting the Items to Panasonic or an alternate designated location for inspection and testing (if transport was conducted at Tesla expense); and
c. Reimburse Tesla for the reasonable costs of inspection and testing (if they were conducted by a third party at Teslas expense).
8. If, based on the findings of Panasonics investigation, Panasonic determines that the Items must be returned to the Panasonic factory in Japan, Panasonic will arrange for pick up and shipping of the goods to the factory at Panasonics expense.
a. [***] will work with Panasonic Operations to complete a Return Material Authorization form (RMA). [***] will issue an RMA number to Tesla as soon as practical.
b. The RMA number must be issued before Tesla transports the Items either to the Panasonic factory, or to an alternate designated location.
c. The RMA number must be referenced on shipping documentation.
9. If Panasonic instructs Tesla in writing to destroy the damaged or non-conforming Items, Panasonic shall reimburse Tesla for the reasonable cost of such destruction.FOR years the Czech Republic has suffered from weak, ineffective governments. They controlled slim majorities in parliament and got bogged down in bickering and stalemates. As a rule, a handful of coalition lawmakers blackmailed their cabinets in order to capitalise on their valuable votes.
In 2010 Petr Nečas’s three-party centre-right ruling coalition won 118 safe seats in the 200-head lower house. Voters rejoiced that actual policymaking may prevail over politicking. By now even the last of them realises that they had hoped in vain.
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Mr Nečas's impressive majority is gone and the government is facing collapse. His cabinet is held hostage by six lawmakers from Mr Nečas's ruling Civic Democratic Party, also known as ODS. They oppose the cabinet's plan to raise tax in order to bring the budget down 3% of GDP as mandated by the European Union.
Encouraged by Václav Klaus, the president, who has waged his own campaign to topple Mr Nečas, the sextet struck down a bill that proposes to raise the two VAT brackets from 14% to 15% and from 20% to 21% respectively and to increase income tax for top earners in September. (The rich are taxed relatively lightly and some wealthy, civically minded wealthy Czechs say that they should be taxed more.)
Convinced that he must push ahead with his proposed tax changes to meet Brussels budget criteria the prime minister is playing it tough. He returned the bill to the house and tied it to a confidence vote. The six renegades are unwavering. They have so far rejected Mr Nečas’s compromise proposal to raise just the lower VAT bracket and implement the higher tax for the rich only next year.
With the clock ticking, the prime minister has dug himself into a hole. He told a leading daily paper that he would prefer losing an early election to a government in agony. Either two sides reach a compromise deal (unlikely) or one of them backs off (maybe) or the cabinet falls next week.
The cabinet's collapse would bring Mr Klaus back into the spotlight as the president picks the next prime minister. Possible scenarios include a continuation of the current ruling coalition with a new boss, a different cabinet altogether or early elections, an outcome that would probably end the renegades' political career.
The stalemate directly affects the routine year-end drama of budget passing. Mr Nečas’s finance minister, Miroslav Kalousek, pulled his budget draft from parliament because it counted on the controversial new tax revenue. It would be pointless and illegal to open hearings on a budget that lacks legal footing.
Mr Kalousek has until November 23rd to rework the draft budget. That means that he needs to cut 20 billion ($1 billion) to 25 billion Czech crowns in spending to meet his deficit target, on which he insists. The minister quipped that he is not capable of producing “Swedish public services for Romanian tax”.
Other government policies are at stake. Chances now look slim that the embattled ruling coalition will push through a long-awaited (and highly unpopular) church property restitution deal and its take on a pension reform.
So why all this mess? The renegades claim that they can no longer watch Mr Nečas burying conservative politics. They say they want to return the party, co-founded and once led by Mr Klaus, to her "right-wing roots". Very few believe that. "That [these men] should bring ODS back to the roots...is laughable and absurd," said Vladimira Dvořáková, a political scientist.
Instead, the sextet is suspected of aiming to rebuild their clique's influence lost under Mr Nečas’s rule. The premier had earlier sacked two of the defectors from high-level posts. The logic is that weakening or ousting the premier would help the renegades (and their unlikely supporter at the Prague Castle) remove Mr Nečas from the party's helm and replace him with an ally at an upcoming party congress.
Several of the renegades have ties to the country's healthcare, which led to speculation that they intent to avert an investigation into questionable healthcare deals. The defectors denied that. (One of the rebels was an influential deputy health minister between 2006 and 2010 and worked for pharmaceutical firms prior to that. He currently chairs the board of directors of the country's public healthcare insurer, which is also the largest one, and sits on the lower house's healthcare committee.)
At a recent press conference the embattled prime minister said: "If they care about solving this issue, as they have said, I doubt we would not find a compromise. If there is something else at stake, a power reshuffle within the ODS, a replacement of the ODS chairman, then this only serves as a pretext."Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Previous studies have suggested turmeric may have cancer-fighting properties
A spice commonly found in curries may boost the brain's ability to heal itself, according to a report in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.
The German study suggests a compound found in turmeric could encourage the growth of nerve cells thought to be part of the brain's repair kit.
Scientists say this work, based in rats, may pave the way for future drugs for strokes and Alzheimer's disease.
But they say more trials are needed to see whether this applies to humans.
People shouldn't take this as a sign to stock up on supplies of turmeric for the spice rack Laura Phipps, Alzheimer's Research UK
Spice injection
Researchers from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Julich, Germany, studied the effects of aromatic-turmerone - a compound found naturally in turmeric.
Rats were injected with the compound and their brains were then scanned.
Particular parts of the brain, known to be involved in nerve cell growth, were seen to be more active after the aromatic-turmerone infusion.
Scientists say the compound may encourage a proliferation of brain cells.
In a separate part of the trial, researchers bathed rodent neural stem cells (NSCs) in different concentrations of aromatic-tumerone extract.
NSCs have the ability to transform into any type of brain cell and scientists suggest they could have a role in repair after damage or disease.
Dr Maria Adele Rueger, who was part of the research team, said: "In humans and higher developed animals their abilities do not seem to be sufficient to repair the brain but in fish and smaller animals they seem to work well."
Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Turmeric belongs to the same plant family as ginger
The research found the higher the concentration of aromatic-turmerone, the greater the growth of the NSCs.
And the cells bathed in the turmeric compound seemed to specialise into certain types of brain cells more rapidly too.
Dr Rueger added: "It is interesting that it might be possible to boost the effectiveness of the stem cells with aromatic-turmerone.
"And it is possible this in turn can help boost repair in the brain."
She is now considering whether human trials may be feasible.
'Complex disease'
Dr Laura Phipps at the charity, Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It is not clear whether the results of this research would translate to people, or whether the ability to generate new brain cells in this way would benefit people with Alzheimer's disease.
"We'd need to see further studies to fully understand this compound's effects in the context of a complex disease like Alzheimer's, and until then people shouldn't take this as a sign to stock up on supplies of turmeric for the spice rack."
Aromatic-turmerone is the lesser-studied of two major compounds in turmeric that may have an effect on the human body.
Previous studies suggest the other compound, curcumin, could reduce inflammation in the body and have anti-cancer benefits.Image caption India's central bank has been looking to take measures to open up the banking sector
India's central bank has unveiled new rules that will allow foreign banks to expand their presence in the country.
Foreign banks will now be allowed to set up "wholly owned subsidiaries" in India, which will enable them to open branches anywhere in the country.
The subsidiaries will need a minimum capital of 5bn rupees ($80m; £50m).
The changes are a part of the push by the central bank's new governor, Raghuram Rajan, to liberalise the sector as he looks to boost growth.
Foreign banks have long wanted to boost their presence in the country - home to nearly 1.2 billion people.
However so far they have had to face tight regulations, especially over the number of branches they can open.
The Reserve Bank of India said the new rules would allow them to open branches "at par with Indian banks".
However, they will need permission to open branches in "certain locations that are sensitive from the perspective of national security".
The RBI said it would also consider introducing takeover rules that would allow foreign companies to own as much as 74% of a domestic bank.
But it said any such decision will be taken after a review relating to "the extent of penetration of foreign investment in Indian banks and functioning of foreign banks".Reports are coming in that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s Atlas Gorge bonus multiplayer map is now free to download for non-Season Pass holders on Xbox.
The map, based on the classic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map Pipeline, was originally included as a bonus for owners of Advanced Warfare’s Collector’s Editions or Season Pass. With the release of the recently-announced Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition, it appears Activision and Sledgehammer Games are now making the map a free download to all.
It doesn’t look like anything official has popped up as of yet in terms of announcements, but the reports coming in thus far have all been from Xbox One users (1) (2) (3).
If it is indeed the case, it’s likely the map will enter the map rotation in public matchmaking as well. We’ll keep you updated if we hear anything from Activision or Sledgehammer.related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
PATTANI, Thailand: More than 50 people including children were injured on Tuesday (May 9) when a car bomb exploded outside a supermarket in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south, police said, the largest attack for months on a civilian target there.
The Muslim-majority border region has seethed with violence for over a decade as ethnic Malay insurgents battle the Buddhist-majority state for more autonomy.
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The latest attack hit the town of Pattani around 2.00pm with two bombs going off outside the Big C, a busy supermarket near the town centre.
The first device was packed inside a motorcycle in the car park, officers said, spreading panic among shoppers.
"The second blast was a car bomb," Pattani police commander Major General Thanongsak Wangsupa told AFP.
Deputy national police spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen told reporters 51 people were injured by the blasts, four of them seriously.
Video posted by a witness on Twitter showed the second blast detonate in a large fireball, sending bystanders running for cover.
Police were at the scene and appeared to be encouraging people to move back when the second blast struck.
In heavy rain forensic officers started searching through the twisted remains of the car looking for clues, an AFP photographer said.
A large swathe of the supermarket storefront had been blown away, replaced by a twisted mess of charred metal.
"I heard a very loud explosion," a resident who lives close to the supermarket told AFP, requesting anonymity. "Minutes after that, I heard the sirens of rescue cars and ambulances. I feel bad about it... it happened at a place where people go to buy things."
Near-daily shootings and bomb attacks have claimed more than 6,800 lives since 2004, with both sides accused of rights abuses.
The simmering insurgency plays out far from Thailand's popular tourist resorts and receives little international attention as a result.
The UN children's agency condemned those behind the blasts for targeting an area where youngsters would be present.
"No child's life should ever be put at risk in this way. This is wholly unacceptable," said UNICEF's Thailand representative Thomas Davin.
Talks between the Thai junta and an umbrella group claiming to represent the rebel foot-soldiers have staggered along for years without any result.
Thai negotiators do not believe their rebel interlocutors have the power to stop the violence.
The rebels want peace talks to include international observers, as well as discussions on devolving political power and on protecting their Malay-Muslim culture.
But shortly before Tuesday's attack junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha reiterated his opposition to foreign involvement in solving the festering conflict.
"We must keep this issue away from the reach of the international arena," he told reporters in Bangkok.Movie Barcodes have been around for a bit of time now. The idea is squeezing the entirety of a film into a barcode, each frame being a thin slice. It’s not only a cool effect but a rather useful tool to study as a filmmaker and movie watcher. Especially when it comes to animated films colors are of utmost importance. Detailed scripts are created documenting the color of every aspect of each frame. Color not only gives us vibrant characters and environments to look at but also helps convey emotion through the overall color grade and lighting of a scene.
Below are barcodes for Pixar’s films.
Look at Finding Nemo vs. Ratatouille: Do you see the difference in the bright sea colors of one film as opposed to the richer earth tones of the other?
Stuff to note:
the overall color scheme
when a particular segment takes place
the emotional journey through the film
There is a myriad of ways to take in a movie barcode and use it as an alternate means of studying a particular film. Take your time absorbing Pixar’s repertoire then search online for other barcodes.Cuphead is finally out and being enjoyed by most people, and the game has even made the jump to 3D printing.
WildRose Builds has created this miniature not of the titular Cuphead, but the second player character Mugman.
As with the game, this model takes inspiration from classic sources with the body being a remix of an existing Mickey Mouse design.
To make your own Mugman you’ll need the free files which are hosted on both MyMiniFactory and Thingiverse.
We also suggest watching the accompanying video which has a timelapse of the entire creation process, from modelling through to printing and finally painting.
If you’re a bit disappointed that this isn’t Cuphead instead, we’re sure the existing model above could be converted with some simple altercations and different colours of paint.The youngest of the eight Ohio family members found slain in execution-style murders last week received a threat on Facebook before the mass killings, Ohio's attorney general said Monday.
Christopher Rhoden Jr., a 16-year-old freshman at Piketon High School, was the subject of the threat, CBS News reported.
"I'm aware of the Facebook threat," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "Every piece of information is valuable and our investigators are certainly taking that into consideration."
The threat is just one emerging piece of evidence in the investigation, which has also uncovered cockfighting chickens and a marijuana growing operation at some of the properties where the eight were killed.
Seven of the relatives were multiple times, according to autopsy results released Tuesday. One family member's body showed nine bullet wounds. Some bodies also had bruising, which matched a report from a 911 caller who said two appeared to have been beaten up.
The victims have been identified as 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; and 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, whose 6-month old son with "Frankie" was unhurt.
Leonard Manley, father of Dana Rhoden, told the Cincinnati Enquirer he first learned about the marijuana operations from news reports.
Manley, 64, said he's sure his daughter couldn't have been involved in anything illegal. "They are trying to drag my daughter through the mud, and I don't appreciate that," he said.
Manley also noted that the attacker was able to get by his daughter's two dogs. "Whoever done it knows the family," Manley said. "There were two dogs there that would eat you up."
DeWine told te Enquirer investigators found roosters kept in individual cages, which he said was "consistent with" an illegal cockfighting operation. DeWine cautioned, however that investigators "don't know what's relevant" to the murders of members of the Rhoden family.
Also Monday, a local prosecutor confirmed that several hundred marijauna plants were found at three of the crime scenes, some of which were sheltered in a large grow-house.
"It wasn't just somebody sitting pots in the window," Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk told The Columbus Dispatch.
All eight victims were fatally shot in the head, including a young mother whose newborn baby was sleeping beside her Friday morning. That baby, another infant and a toddler were spared.
Extensive marijuana-growing operations are not uncommon in sparsely populated rural southern Ohio, an economically distressed corner of Appalachia. Two of the four homes that became crime scenes Friday are within walking distance of each other along a remote, winding road leading into wooded hills from a rural highway. The others are nearby.
Piketon — about 60 miles south of Columbus and 90 miles east of Cincinnati — is in Pike County, which is home to just 28,000 people and has an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent, considerably higher than Ohio's rate of 5.1. A main employer is a shuttered Cold War-era uranium plant whose cleanup provides hundreds of local jobs.
More than 22,000 marijuana plants were seized in Pike County in 2010, and while authorities made no arrests, they said they found two abandoned camps where Mexican nationals apparently stayed. In 2012, another 1,200 plants were seized in Pike County in an operation connected to a Mexican drug cartel, the Attorney General's office said. Seizures continued in 2013 and 2014 in the county.
DeWine said the state's crime lab was looking at 18 pieces of evidence from a DNA and ballistic standpoint, and that five search warrants have been executed. More than 100 tips have been given to investigators, and a Cincinnati-area businessman offered a $25,000 reward for details leading to those responsible.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Texas Grid Sets New Wind Power Record & Aims Much Higher
November 29th, 2012 by Silvio Marcacci
Wind turbines generated 8,521 megawatts (MW) of electricity just after 10:00 a.m. on November 10. More than 7,000 MW came from wind farms in West Texas, with around 1,100 MW coming from installations along the Gulf of Mexico coast.
This mark beat the previous record by more than 150 MW, was enough to power 4.3 million average Texas homes, and represented 85% of the state’s optimal wind generation output, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Wind has represented around 9% of ERCOT’s supply for much of 2011, but that share is growing.
“We have surpassed previous wind power records several times this year,” said Kent Saathoff, ERCOT vice president of Grid Operations and System Planning. “While added capacity is one reason for this growth, experience and improved tools are enabling ERCOT to integrate this resource into the grid more effectively than ever before.”
Could Texas Reach 75% Wind?
ERCOT manages the grid for 85% of the state’s total electric load, matching supply and demand for 23 million customers across 40,500 miles of transmission lines. Texas already has the most installed wind capacity of any state in America with a total of 10,929 MW and 10,000 MW within the ERCOT system.
But more installed wind capacity than many countries isn’t enough for the state where bigger is better. Texas could conceivably triple the amount of installed wind capacity in the state.
Roughly 21,000MW of new wind turbines are under review by ERCOT, and the state is nearing the completion of several massive transmission projects designed to move wind power from West Texas to eastern metropolitan areas where demand is highest.
Winds of Economic Change
Wind played a key role in limiting blackouts during freezing conditions in 2011, and could become an even greater part of the state’s energy and economic future.
Considering the potential of West Texas wind turbines, it’s not hard to see an ideal situation where 30,000 MW of installed wind capacity could meet 75% of the state’s total demand – especially with 2,400 miles of new transmission lines improving the grid operator’s ability to move wind across the state.
The Texas renewable energy industry report, released this summer, estimates the wind industry will help add 6,000 renewable jobs per year through 2020 and contributes to 1,300 companies and 100,000 jobs, in total. Imagine adding 200% more to those numbers.
But, of course – Texas’ wind energy potential ultimately depends a great deal upon renewal of the federal Production Tax Credit. Combined with wind power records being set across the country, ERCOT’s newest announcement is proof once again that wind power make economic sense regardless of party affiliation.
Image Credit: Texas wind turbines via ShutterstockDiff. Patch. Change. Delta. Δ.
Whatever you call it, diffs are pretty much the aggregate output of any developer’s day. A bunch of deletions and additions from a set of files that can be codified in a.patch file as a bunch of pluses, minuses and context indicators.
‐‐‐ a/todo.md
+++ b/todo.md
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
# TODO
buy anniversary present
build arduino-based vaucanson’s duck
-blog on git diffs
fork webkit
‐‐
I’m still undecided as to whether it’s depressing or amazing that our life’s work can be so simply encoded.
Regardless, git has given us a bunch of neat ways at looking at these diffs. The following post is a quick primer on the various incantations of git diff. Note that I’m going to be focusing on different output format for viewing diffs. There’s also a whole range of ways you can specify different commits and paths to diff, but that’s a topic for another day.
git diff
You’re probably already familiar with the built in git diff command. By default, diff will show you changes to tracked files in your work tree that haven’t yet been added to the index. For example:
It was the best of times,
it was the blurst of times. $ sed -i ‘.tmp’ ‘s/blurst/worst/’ 2cities.txt $ cat 2cities.txt $ git diff It was the best of times,
-it was the blurst of times.
+it was the worst of times.
This works fine, but it’s unfortunate that it shows up as one removed line followed by one added line. All I did was change one word!
git diff ‐‐color-words
git diff also has a special mode for highlighting changes with much better granularity: ‐‐color-words. This mode tokenizes added and removed lines by whitespace and then diffs those.
It was the best of times,
it was the blurst worst of times. $ git diff ‐‐color-words
That’s an improvement! Now we’re down to the individual words that have changed. But if you look closely, we’ve really only changed three characters: “blu” has become “wo”. We can do even better.
git diff-highlight
If you clone the git source you’ll find a sub-directory called contrib. It contains a bunch of git-related tools and other interesting bits and pieces that haven’t yet been promoted to git core. One of these is a perl script called diff-highlight. diff-highlight pairs up matching lines of diff output and highlights sub-word fragments that have changed.
It was the best of times,
-it was the blu rst of times.
+it was the wo rst of times. $ git diff | ~/src/git/contrib/diff-hightlight/diff-highlight
Sweet! Now we’ve pared down our diff to the smallest possible change.
If you like this fine-grain way of looking at diffs, you can add a shell function alias to ~/.git/config to handle the piping to diff-highlight for you:
[alias]
# assumes git.git clone at ~/src/git
diff-highlight = "!f() { git diff \"$@\" | ~/src/git/contrib/diff-highlight/diff-highlight; }; f"
Then, you can get a nicely highlighted diff by simply invoking git diff-highlight.
Diffing binary files
If you make changes to a binary file (such as an image, pdf or archive) the default output from git diff is pretty uninteresting.
Binary files a/script.pdf and b/script.pdf differ $ git diff
However, git does have a nifty feature that allows you to specify a shell command to transform the content of your binary files into text prior to performing the diff. It does require a little set up though.
First you need to specify a textconv filter describing how to convert a certain type of binary to text. I’m using a simple utility |
chief Charlie Bolden blamed "mid-level managers" and said his office was looking to correct the mistake.
"In performing the due diligence they believed appropriate following a period of significant concern and scrutiny from Congress about our foreign access to NASA facilities, meetings and websites, [they] acted without consulting NASA HQ," Bolden wrote.
'It is unfortunate that potential Chinese participants were refused attendance at the upcoming Kepler Conference.' — NASA's Charlie Bolden
"Upon learning of this exclusion, I directed that we review the requests for attendance from scientists of Chinese origin and determine if we can recontact them immediately upon the reopening of the government to allow them to reapply."
The ban had been widely denounced by both Chinese officials and scientists, who initially labeled it “deplorable.”
The issue arose when an employee of the Ames Research Center where the Kepler Science Conference II is to be held sent an e-mail citing a 2013 restriction spearheaded by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. It prevents the agency from hosting any Chinese nationals, and was drafted as a response to national security concerns -- concerns described to FoxNews.com in conversations with a whistle-blower earlier this year.
But it shouldn't extend to students and ordinary scientists, Wolf said.
“It places no restrictions on activities involving individual Chinese nationals unless those nationals are acting as official representatives of the Chinese government," reads an Oct. 8 letter Wolf wrote to NASA chief Charlie Bolden and supplied to FoxNews.com.
'It is unfortunate that potential Chinese participants were refused attendance at the upcoming Kepler Conference.' — NASA's Charlie Bolden
Speaking Wednesday in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called the ban "discriminatory." She said China believed that academic or scientific research activities "should not be politicized."
A strongly worded letter from the committee organizing the event agreed.
“We find the consequences of this law deplorable and strongly object to banning our Chinese colleagues, or colleagues from any nation, from participation in KSC2 at NASA/Ames. Had we been aware of this possibility at the onset of planning KSC2, alternate venues to NASA/Ames would have been pursued,” the letter reads.
Wolf said the ban was a misinterpretation of the rules: NASA had conflated the temporary restriction and a larger, 2011 congressional provision that primarily restricts bilateral meetings and activities with the Communist Chinese government.
“The email from NASA Ames mischaracterizes the law and is inaccurate.”
Yet Wolf told Bolden he remains concerned about leaks of highly sensitive information from Ames and elsewhere in NASA.
“There is good reason Congress is concerned about providing the Communist Chinese government with additional opportunities to work with the U.S. on space given their continued cyberattacks, espionage campaigns and development of space weapons to use against the U.S.,” Wolf wrote.OnStage has just received a copy of a lawsuit against “69 Taps in Medina”, a Cleveland Bar, filed by Broadcast Music, Inc, known as BMI, which licenses music on behalf of musicians to ensure that musicians get paid. While the band is not named in the lawsuit, it is believed that the band is Alter Ego, whose performance last August at 69 Taps in Medina prompted the suit, which could yield damages of up to $1.5 million.
The suit lists Ten (10) songs that the band performed. There may have been more, but apparently BMI only has agreements with the license holders of these ten songs which BMI alleges were played in the single performance:
1: “Bad Moon Rising” written by John Fogerty
2: “Brown Eyed Girl” written by Van Morrison
3: “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” written by members of Poison
4: “Fortunate Son“ written by John Fogerty
5: “Free Bird” written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant
6: “Jessie’s Girl” written by by Rick Springfield
7: “Mustang Sally” written by Bonny Rice
8: “Some Kind of Wonderful” written by John Ellison
9: “Talk Dirty To Me” written by members of Poison
10: “You Really Got Me” written by Ray Davies
photo credit: Tom Crane
Note that the “license holders’ are not the same as the writers, so this suit may not benefit the musician at all.
READ THE FULL SONG LIST and who will actually benefit
The lawsuit alleges willful copyright infringement for each work, which could be up to $150,000 for each work infringed, plus costs and attorney fees. It could even get worse, as there are more licensing agencies that could come out and pile on. There are ASCAP, and SESAC as well, as not all songwriters have signed on with BMI.
BMI’s heavy handed tactics are nothing new. In 2011, BMI filed another suit called BMI v. Cameron Hospitality, Inc, d/b/a Foster’s. The Court ordered the restaurant owner to to pay BMI $30,450. for “illegally playing” four unlicensed songs. That restaurant has since closed. In the Foster’s case, Broadcast Music Incorporated sued Fosters and claimed in court documents that it called the restaurant 56 times and mailed 29 letters. BMI says Fosters ignored its requests to get a license to play music. However, reading through the files, BMI began sending communication regarding the restaurant’s lack of proper licensing back in September of 2009, but it wasn’t until May of 2010 – eight months later – that BMI even bothered to visit Fosters to verify that the business was actually playing unlicensed music. (From page 32 of the PDF.)
BMI is also asking for an injunction to prevent 69 Taps in Medina from playing more live music.
READ THE FULL LAWSUIT HERE:
The Great Licensing Debacle
Taken to the extreme, if a bar or restaurant was playing CDs or music in the background, they may need not just a BMI license for the songwriter, but if the song was written by Bob Dylan (publishes with SESAC) but sung by someone from ASCAP, a BMI license wouldn’t help them. So, what does a bar owner need to do if they want to have live music? Any business owner that plays or allows for music to be played publicly, will need the proper music license in order to be compliant with the copyright law. But it doesn’t stop there. A photographer with music on her website would need a license. Which one? The easy answer is that it depends. For the bar owner, or even an owner of a skating rink, most likely you’ll need three (3) different licenses. Three licenses for a simple website cost well over $800 per year at a bare minimum, and then there are additional fees depending on a confusing formula of website traffic, website revenue or music played.
Of course, artists should get paid, but will they really? Of the ten songs above, several of the beneficiaries of any damages from the lawsuit are not the songwriters, but are instead, record labels such as Universal. Whether the songwriter will ever see a dime is anyone’s guess.
There’s some speculation on whether this is just an intimidation tactic by BMI, especially when they’d brag about the Foster’s lawsuit victory on their website. Who really benefits and who suffers? Local music will almost certainly suffer, given that bar owners choose to pay for licenses or risk being put out of business by example of one of the licensing bodies. If the costs to bring live music go up, will bands be paid less, or the costs of drinks rise to offset the rising costs? To read about the uneasy balance between the bar bands and the bar owners, check out http://www.onstagemagazine.com/open-letter-from-a-bar-owner-to-musicians/
Lets us know what you think, below. We welcome your comments.
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Powered by Facebook CommentsClouds dominate everything
Al Gore describes how carbon dioxide beats up Mr Sunbeam and stops him leaving the atmosphere. But he “forgot” to mention that clouds reflect around a quarter of all the sunlight that hits the earth. Those beams of light travel all the way from the sun to get bounced off into space when they are just a few kilometers from the ground.
Any change in cloud cover makes a major difference. The IPCC assumes clouds respond to warming, but clouds could easily drive the warming.
There are lots of things that could potentially change cloud cover, which would affect our climate. Things like cosmic rays (see page 18), changes in patterns of ocean temperature, land clearing, or aerosols all affect clouds.
The models not only get the feedback effects of clouds wrong, they appear to mix cause and effect
Clouds reflect around a quarter of all the sunlight that hits the earth
The earth has its own evaporative cooler—rain
Evaporation and rain keep the planet 50°C cooler. Fifty! Eighty percent of the natural greenhouse effect is due to humidity and clouds. Clouds cover 60% or so of the entire planet. No one has any idea whether cloud cover was the same in 1200, or 1800, or even 1950. It’s a guess.
The IPCC and the modellers admit they don’t do clouds or rain well. But these factors are the master “knobs” on Earths’ climate control unit.
If the computer simulations are only out by a few percent, any tiny change in evaporation, clouds or rain will wipe out the warming from carbon and it can do it in days.
The climate models rely on best guesses, assumptions and estimates. The models are incredibly accurate on dozens of points that don’t really matter, but they stab in the dark at the one or two points that do.
Source: 50°C cooler, “Water Cycle” NASA Science.
Page 7
TURN THE PAGES (Links in red will become active as pages are published). You are on the page in the Red Square.
This is Page 7 of The Skeptics Handbook II, a 20 page PDF.
This post fits especially well with the page on Feedbacks since one of the most powerful factors amplifying or dampening any effect of carbon are clouds.
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
please wait... Rating: 6.4/10 (5 votes cast)– Authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting at Minneapolis City Hall Monday night.
The Minneapolis Police Department says there was an officer-involved shooting in the department’s investigative unit at City Hall, located at 315 4th Street S.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said a person being interviewed by investigators was left alone in a room. When he began hurting himself with an “edged weapon,” officers attempted to subdue him before shooting him.
The man was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. His condition is unknown.
Arradondo said the incident was captured by a video recording system in the room and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating.
The chief said multiple officers were involved, but did not give an exact number. The officers have been placed on standard administrative leave.
Arradondo said they were investigating how the man got a weapon into the interview room.
Sources told WCCO the “edged weapon” was a concealed knife.
Sources also told WCCO the man lunged at police officers before he was shot. Sources said two detectives were also in the room with the officer who fired the gun.But Ny says she didn't cause trouble and is treated differently due to looks
Says it asked the group to leave its branch in Hull after 'causing problems'
Ny Richardson says manager asked to see ID to prove she was a female
A teenage girl claims she was asked to leave a McDonald's restaurant for using the women's toilets - because staff mistook her for being a boy.
McDonald's says that Ny Richardson, 16, was part of a disruptive group at the St Andrew's Quay branch, in Hull, East Yorkshire, and was asked to leave after causing problems in the restaurant.
But Ny, who is a lesbian, claims she did not cause trouble and said it was not the first time she has been treated differently because of her appearance.
Police, who were called to the restaurant on Tuesday night, say a group of youths became abusive after a customer complained about someone they wrongly believed to be a boy in the women's toilets.
Ny Richardson, pictured, claims she was asked to leave a McDonald's restaurant for using the women's toilets - because staff mistook her for being a boy
Ny said: 'I ordered my food and left it with my girlfriend as I went to the toilet. When I was in there, someone told me to get out and when I sat back down, the manager came over and told me that I needed to leave because I have been in the girls' toilet.
'I said to him, 'Why do I need to leave? I'm a girl, can you not tell by my voice?'
'He then asked me to show some ID, but when I didn't have any he told me to get out and he rang the police.
'I'm used to being accused of being a boy, but this time I was humiliated in front of the whole restaurant. I think his attitude was disgusting and I'm still angry about it now.'
Police have confirmed they were called to the McDonald's after a group of youths Ny was with became involved in an 'altercation' with staff.
Ny, who is a student at Kingswood Academy, said she came out as gay when she was 12 years old. Despite the full support of her parents and friends, she said it has led to her being abused.
Ny said, on one previous occasion, some women hit her with their handbags when they saw her in toilets. She now resorts to using the disabled toilets whenever she can, but it was occupied on Tuesday.
Ny's mother, Leigh Richardson, stood by her daughter.
McDonald's says that the 16-year-old was part of a disruptive group at the St Andrew's Quay branch, in Hull, East Yorkshire, and was asked to leave after causing problems in the restaurant
'She is who she is and people need to accept that,' Mrs Richardson, of Beverley Road, said. 'She shouldn't have to justify herself to anybody.'
A McDonald's spokesman said: 'We can confirm a group of individuals were asked to leave our St Andrew's Quay restaurant, following several complaints about inappropriate behaviour.
'This group has been asked to leave the restaurant on numerous occasions over the past few days, culminating in the police being called on Tuesday evening. These actions have been taken due to unacceptable behaviour only.'
A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: 'Officers were called to the St Andrew's Quay branch of McDonald's following reports a group of youths being abusive.
'An altercation had ensued between the youths and staff after a customer complained a person they wrongly believed to be male was in the women's toilets.Senile dementia is causing serious social problems in Japan and much of the blame lies with the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry as it attaches importance to aiding those who have physical difficulties while neglecting those with low degrees of dementia.
It is estimated that in the 2020s, 1 in 8 elderly people aged 65 years or older will fall into that “low degree dementia” category, with the potential of related wandering and reckless driving increasing.
According to six companies operating toll expressways, there were 739 cases of vehicles driving in the wrong direction from 2011 to 2014. People 65 or older were involved in about 70 percent of these incidents, and about a tenth of these drivers were suspected of having dementia. This would mean that about 7 percent of cases of driving the wrong way on expressways involved people with dementia.
It is difficult to detect dementia in its early stages, especially among those who are capable of driving. It is all but certain, though, that those in such stages will keep increasing in number in line with the aging of the population. So will cases of driving the wrong way by such people.
To cope with this situation, the National Police Agency adopted new rules in 2009 requiring people aged 75 and older to take a dementia test before renewing their driver’s license.
But of the roughly 1.45 million people who took the test in fiscal 2013, an infinitesimally small 118 had their license suspended or revoked. Given that about 15 percent of the people 65 or older in Japan are believed to have dementia to some extent, the test apparently fails to catch a large number of drivers in the early stage of dementia.
Thus the burden of looking after and controlling elderly drivers with dementia falls on their family members. But according to a survey conducted by a physician at Kochi University on 7,300 patients with dementia, 11 percent continued to drive even after they were diagnosed as having the disorder and 16 percent of these people caused accidents leading to injury, death or material damage. Thus such elderly people become “lethal weapons on wheels” while they have no sense of guilt.
In October 2015, a 73-year-old man made the news when his car hit six pedestrians and bicyclists, killing two people and injuring four. It was subsequently revealed that he had been under treatment for dementia for several years, that he had his driver’s license renewed and that he had continued to drive despite his doctor’s and family’s advice against it.
Worse still are cases in which a person is in such an early stage of dementia that it goes unnoticed until he or she actually causes a traffic accident. In December 2014, at a railway crossing in Nagano, a limited express train hit a car standing on the tracks and dragged it 300 meters. Nobody, including the 77-year-old driver — who was standing outside the car — was injured, but he was later determined to be in an early stage of dementia. In March 2015, an 85-year-old man drove his car the wrong way on the Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture and hit a truck. Although he was not seriously hurt, he said he did not know where he was driving and was later found to have dementia.
In both cases, the drivers had not been diagnosed as having dementia prior to their accidents. As a result, although people close to them may have noticed symptoms such as them repeating the same thing or becoming forgetful, it did not occur to them to advise against driving.
Of the various types of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is the most difficult to handle. It accounts for 50 percent of dementia cases in Japan, followed by cerebral vascular disorder and Levy body dementia, each at 20 percent. A 1998 study by the Carolinska University Hospital in Sweden showed that of 98 elderly people who had died while driving and whose brains had been anatomized, 47 percent showed signs of Alzheimer’s. The study pointed to a high possibility of drivers in the early stages of this illness causing fatal traffic accidents.
Why is it that sufficient care is not being extended to those in the early stages of dementia? A doctor specializing in treatment of patients with dementia says the reason lies in the present nursing care insurance system, which places primary emphasis on looking after those who have physical disabilities. This, he says, is a fatal shortcoming in Japan’s system of caring for those with dementia.
The degrees of care that an individual is entitled to receive under the insurance system is determined on the basis of the amount of time a care giver needs in helping an elderly person with such daily activities as going to the bathroom and eating. Thus, those who tend to go wandering or have fits of anger are not certified to be in need of a high degree of care. This system discourages entities engaged in the nursing care business from taking care of such people.
Figures released by the National Police Agency show that during fiscal 2014, 10,783 elderly people with dementia were reported missing and the whereabouts of 168 of them were not known at the end of 2014. The number of such people is bound only to increase. But given its tight fiscal conditions, the government will tinker with the nursing care insurance system in the direction of continuing its policy of neglecting senior citizens with dementia.
This kind of policy is a boon to entities in the nursing care business because the more serious the physical conditions of elderly people taken care of by these entities become, the greater amounts of money are poured into the sector from the publicly administered insurance system.
But the number of people with dementia, which stood at about 4.6 million in 2012, is forecast to rise sharply to more than 7 million by 2025. Of them, about 4.7 million are expected to be in “light” stages of the disorder, which means that 1 out of every 8 people aged 65 or older will have the potential to go wandering or to cause traffic accidents.
Economic burdens caused by those types of elderly people are immeasurable. If they cannot be accommodated at cheaper care facilities under the nursing care insurance system, they have to be looked after either by their families or at expensive private-care facilities. But only the wealthy can afford to use private residential homes with care provided, which usually require an up-front payment of about ¥5 million and monthly fees of no less than ¥150,000 to ¥300,000. In most cases, children of the residents will have to pay the cost.
A family that has to take care of an elderly relative with dementia has to put in an average of 1,300 hours a year for the care, which translates into lost profits of ¥3.82 million a year per person with dementia for the family and ¥6.2 trillion for the whole society — close to the ¥6.4 trillion for care covered by the nursing care insurance system, according to studies by Keio University doctors. Those families also tend to lose contact with other members of society, with their mental and physical health deteriorating under this crushing burden.
There has been a growing number of cases in which elderly people with dementia have been murdered by family members who had found it no longer possible to care for them. Etsuko Yuhara, an associate professor at Nihon Fukushi University, says that there have been at least 672 such murder cases during the past 17 years — accounting for about 4 percent of the total number of homicides in Japan. But this is just a tip of the iceberg because about 15,000 cases of cruel treatment of the elderly by care-givers are reported every year.
The health and welfare ministry shows no signs of correcting its wrong approach to the problem. Although it has proposed various plans, they are clearly designed to increase the practice of people caring for elderly family members with dementia at home. The plans are just pie in the sky because it is simply impossible for elderly people to care for family members with dementia on their own without any assistance.
The only way out is to increase the number of necessary care facilities and entrust the care of people with dementia to experts. Unless a system in which such people live in a facility together with medical and care experts involved in their care is quickly established, Japan will soon be filled with elderly dementia sufferers wandering around aimlessly and causing traffic accidents. There will also be many tragic cases in which people with dementia are murdered by their family caretakers because they can no longer cope with such a heavy burden.
This is an abridged translation of an article from the April issue of Sentaku, a monthly magazine covering political, social and economic scenes.Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 62nd birthday Tuesday in a peculiar fashion: by himself in the Siberian forests. For the past few days, Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, has brushed off journalists' questions about why the president decided not to celebrate his birthday in Moscow or do other work as he has in previous years. This is just another odd piece to an increasingly complex puzzle surrounding the stability and future of the Russian president and his government.
Current Instabilities
Russia is in the eye of the perfect storm. Though the crisis with Ukraine has been reduced to a simmer, Russia has seen a strategic reversal in its critical borderland. In addition, the crisis moved the West to enact sanctions on Russia and loosen many financial and economic ties to the country. Now the Kremlin is in the midst of an economic crisis that is every bit as serious as the Ukraine situation. In the past two days, Russia's central bank used $1.6 billion of its currency reserves to shore up the Russian ruble. Since the start of 2014, the central bank has injected $51 billion in currency reserves to keep the currency stable. The Russian economy is projecting flat growth for 2014, while foreign investment into Russia has fallen by 50 percent. The Kremlin may have $630 billion in its reserves, but these funds are being used quickly in an attempt to fill the cracks.
Concerns over Russia's financial stability have erupted into public battles between the various Kremlin factions. On Tuesday, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, a key figure in the liberal economic clans, publicly called on Putin to cut Russia's ambitious defense spending program. Russia is set to start a 10-year, $770 billion defense rearmament program in 2015. Siluanov reportedly rejected the plan during recent budget drafts in September, prompting Putin to move decision-making on defense spending under his office and away from the Cabinet.
While Siluanov's argument against defense spending is financial, Putin also has to consider the security and political ramifications of such a decision. Russia's continued struggles in its borderlands will require a robust military. Moreover, Putin is using the defense budget to appease Russia's various security and defense circles.
The Rise and Fall of Russian Leaders
Though Putin has ruled Russia for 15 years in a centralized and autocratic fashion, like any other leader he must balance various factions within the country. His ability to manipulate the various political clans is what brought him to power. The lack of that ability is what caused the downfall of Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, and many leaders before him. Yeltsin was unable to manage the competition between his own loyalists, the more liberal circles of economists and the security and defense circles. Yeltsin wildly shifted policies in order to retain a grip on power, such as his economic shock policies and the restructuring of the Federal Security Services. Such erratic moves contributed to the Russian economic crash, the breakdown of the security services and the erosion of Russia's military as it fought a savage war in the North Caucasus.
Yeltsin's stumbling enabled Putin's rise to power. Putin understood that a Russian leader could rule only as long as he could balance the competing groups. Putin is a former KGB agent, tying him into the security circles, while his knowledge of Russia's need for Western technologies gives him an understanding of the more liberal economists. In his first years in power, Putin divided Russia's assets and tools of power between the clans, keeping them in constant competition and positioning himself as the ultimate arbitrator.
The problem now is that the clan system has begun to crumble. The security circles are being blamed for failures in Ukraine, while the liberal economic circles are being blamed for the sour economy. Many personalities and groups are putting their own positions (and financial revenues) before the betterment of the state. Putin continues to try to maintain balance, as seen in the recent weeks of budget debates between the liberals and security circles. But Putin's 15 years of success at balancing the clans came during times of rebuilding and resurging for Russia. Now, Putin is attempting to find balance from a position of weakness.
Putin's grasp on power is not easy to gauge from outside the Kremlin. The decision for new leadership is made within the Kremlin walls, not among the people. Previous Russian leaders, from Nikita Khrushchev to Leonid Brezhnev to Yeltsin, were removed or pushed aside by the ones closest to them. Thus, it seems fitting that the current Russian leader chose to celebrate his birthday far from the Kremlin and its clans.CLOSE FC Cincinnati's second-round US Open Cup win over AFC Cleveland sets up a rematch against Louisville City FC, a bitter rival. The teams' now infamous April 22 match resulted in the six-game suspension for Cincinnati's Djiby Fall in United Soccer League play. Djiby scored the game-winning goal against Cleveland to set the teams on a collision course. The Enquirer/Patrick Brennan
Buy Photo FC Cincinnati striker Djiby Fall (9) dribbles in the first half during the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup game between AFC Cleveland and FC Cincinnati, Wednesday, May 17, 2017, at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. (Photo: The Enquirer/Kareem Elgazzar)Buy Photo
If Jeff Berding took a call from Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber tomorrow and heard the words, "you're in and we need you for 2018," which players from the 2017 Futbol Club Cincinnati squad would you use to help the club transition smoothly and competitively into MLS?
To answer the question, Enquirer contributor Charlie Hatch and I acted upon this hypothetical: FC Cincinnati has been selected as something of an emergency inclusion for the 2018 season (Miami Beckham United came online faster than expected and they needed one more team to balance out the conferences, OK?).
Also, we can take just four players from the current roster of 28 and use that to lay the personnel groundwork for FC Cincinnati's first season in MLS.
The point here is that there's definitely MLS-caliber talent in the team, and should FC Cincinnati actually make the jump to MLS one day, there's no guarantee the club would undergo a complete overhaul with flashy and expensive transfers. It's possible a few players on USL contracts could make the jump with the club.
So, since FC Cincinnati is building for the future today and every day, which players project as the most likely candidates to be part of the club's long-term plans?
PATRICK BRENNAN'S FOUR MLS ROSTER INCLUSIONS: My selections - Harrison Delbridge, Corben Bone, Djiby Fall and Aodhan Quinn - would give FC Cincinnati a strong spine up the middle of the park and a quartet of players that are hell for opposing teams to deal with.
Harrison Delbridge, full back – Tall. Athletic. Can get forward, stay calm on the ball and feed the club's playmakers Great stamina. Big ups and dominant in the air. Leader on and off the field in more ways than fans know (and wore the captain's armband in extra time Wednesday against AFC Cleveland). He's already one of the best players at his position in the United Soccer League, and his game is still evolving. I was surprised he wasn't picked up by an MLS team last offseason and I'm confident he'll end up there eventually.
Corben Bone, midfielder – What more could you want from a midfielder? In Bone, FC Cincinnati has a players whose presence is robust. He fights, he has passion and chases lost causes. Games change on his foot. When he's on (and he's usually on) Bone looks like he's two or three steps ahead of the man marking him.. No brainer - Bone to MLS.
Djiby Fall, forward – For context, let's refer to former FC Cincinnati talisman and USL MVP Sean Okoli, who is suddenly playing a considerable role at New York City FC and on Wednesday scored his first-ever MLS goal against Real Salt Lake. Djiby's and Okoli's responsibilities for FC Cincinnati are/were strikingly similar, and based on the eye test, Djiby appears to be the more dynamic and physical of the two players. If Okoli is making it in MLS, doesn't it stand to reason Djiby could just as easily be finding his way in the league right now? Djiby's finishing ability is instinctive while Okoli's finishing always felt a bit laborious. He certainly strained to get to 16 goals in 2016. Djiby could still eclipse that sum even with his current six-game suspension. Also, there are reports MLS clubs are already eyeing Djiby, so he may end up in the league soon enough. If FC Cincinnati went to MLS tomorrow, bringing Djiby along for the ride is a no-brainer.
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Aodhan Quinn, midfielder – A player that has MLS experience. Also, his pedigree is off-the-wall impressive (Google search: "Aodhan Quinn's father"). Quinn has an edge to him, too – he has goals to achieve in the game, hasn't sustained the kind of success he expects but is going to get there come hell or high water. If you aren't buying his intangibles, at least buy his loaded résumé. MLS SuperDraft-ee, member of USL title-winning side, USL Goal of the Year winner (2015), set-piece extraordinaire.
CHARLIE HATCH'S FOUR
Kenney Walker, center midfielder –The best way to appreciate Kenney Walker is to think of him when he’s not there. Recently, that’s been easy to do. With the holding center mid injured, FC Cincinnati’s midfield is injured, too. Walker is the go-between for the backline and midfield. No disrespect to anyone filling in for Walker, but to do so is to fill a role of FC Cincinnati’s most influential player. As the leader of the defense and the anchor of the attack, he’s positioned in a labyrinth, tasked to unsolved the crisis. More often than not, his solution is better than that of anyone else. The squad needs him healthy.
Djiby Fall, forward –Skepticism seemed fair when his signing was announced. Djiby, a former Senegal-international, was 31, played in Kazakhstan, hadn’t scored more than six goals in a year since 2010 and was expected to replace the reigning USL MVP. (By the way, congrats to Ugo on his first MLS goal Wednesday night.). Djiby has already exceeded Sean Okoli’s influence. He’s a bully, but more importantly, he sweats goals. For anyone who dismisses him for taking 16 shots to score one goal against a fourth-tier AFC Cleveland side, it should be noted his ability to even position himself for as many shots shows how dominating he can be. He has a graceful first touch similar to that of his fellow countryman: Demba Ba, who once played for Chelsea and now plays in Turkey. Yeah, he could be more clinical, but Djiby has a swagger unlike anyone else in club history. Oh, and he’ll probably lead the league in goals. What else can you want from a no. 9?
Kadeem Dacres, right wing – I thought he was the best player FC Cincinnati didn’t have last year. Now they do. Compare him with Jimmy McLaughlin. For as hard as McLaughlin works — and you can see his emotions and pride in every step — Dacres can do that without, but does it while looking effortless. It’s a blessing, and shows raw, natural talent. He might not score often, but he’s a walking mismatch with gangly defenders trying to go 1 v.1 with the clever winger. Alongside McLaughlin and Djiby up top, Cincinnati should have the best up front in the league.
Matt Bahner, right back – Some might say Harrison Delbridge is the right answer, but I’d argue differently. Since Bahner has arrived, he’s started every match as Delbridge. That means any praise of a stronger backline should also boast that Banner is the only new component. But Banner is as influential defensively as he is moving forward. He has the awareness to know when to join attacks and when to conserve energy. It’s a trait few right-backs perfect. Bahner fits the billing. He’s clever on the ball, as his statistics suggest: two assists, good for joint-top of the category for the team. Like Walker, compare him to his counterpart. In this case, it’s Pat McMahon. Buccaneering down a flank is an under-appreciated art. I appreciate it. And seeing as both Pat Brennan and I were right-backs at one time (he played in college, kids!), we concur.Kevin Young showed how to create a wonderful asset, which looks like it was taken from World of Warcraft.
Introduction
I’ve been studying 3D Game Art at Kendall College of Art and Design since January 2016. I’ve been working in 3D for about a year now, specializing in environments. I was taught by both Cory Heald and Brian Olmstead for the majority of my time here and I was also given a great opportunity to intern alongside them both at Underbite Games for the past 9 months, expanding my knowledge vastly. I recently departed from that internship but while there, I worked on video game environment projects for both Super Dungeon Tactics and early development of Sentinels: Age of Heroes as well as some outsource work for a Lego Star Wars project.
Source of Fel
The project originated when my instructor, Brian Olmstead, asked what I may want to make for our first project for the upcoming Fall semester and I gave him a handful of concepts to choose from. He ended up choosing the Source of Fel project (Concept by Egor Belavsky) for all of us in class to create. I jumped in to start blocking out the model in Modo and I wanted to make sure the major elements of the scene were well conveyed proportionally while adding a functionality to the piece as needed. I also thought to have some fun and change the skeletal hand to a more gruesome fleshy hand. I had also taken notice of a thread on the Polycount forums that used the same concept for the months of January and February as part of their environment challenge project. While I was much too late to participate in their challenge, I took note of the participants’ work to see how they both struggled and succeeded with their own projects, ultimately contributing to my own success with the model.
Modeling
The modeling began within Modo, blocking out the overall shape of the concept, ensuring that the proportions were adequate. I planned ahead to duplicate the stonework in a radial pattern and sculpted no more than a half-circle of the bricks to save myself some time. I subdivided the model several times within Zbrush to obtain a certain smoothness and detail quality. I paid close attention to the concept for detail and where it was placed to ensure my authenticity. Using Michael Vincente’s brush pack, I was able to easily achieve a hand painted style for both the wood, metal, and stonework. The most challenging part of the sculpt was probably with the rope. I had never before sculpted a rope and while I looked into tutorials that would help me through the process, they were a bit too realistic for the hand-painted approach and I ended up sculpting it entirely by hand, meaning I went through the entire length of the rope making sure each line matched with the last. It was not the most time efficient approach but it certainly matched the hand-painted style I was hoping to achieve within my time constraints. I was, however, given more time effective approaches by Brian to achieve the same look after I completed my |
my class of choice. Having tracked down Amnesiac’s stream, I was startled at how articulate he is and by his ability to read matches. We spoke at the start of the month about his thoughts on competitive Hearthstone, the mindset needed to compete at the very top of the ladder, and what the future holds for him as a player.
PC Gamer: Firstly, congratulations for finishing last season #1 legend on the NA server. Can you tell me a bit about your climb and how you went about holding the rank once you got there?
william 'amnesiaC' barton
Amnesiac has reached rank 1 legend multiple times on the North American server, and is currently placed 10th in the 2015 standings, granting him a spot at the double elimination regional qualifier for this year’s Blizzcon. His Twitch stream can be found here and you can also follow him on Twitter. When not grinding ladder, he plays basketball and tennis competitively.
William ‘Amnesiac’ Barton: I got rank 1 halfway through the season playing Demon Handlock—my own version, which actually got pretty popular after that. I could tell it was my list whenever I saw it because I was the only person to put Doomguard in it, and that became kind of staple for a while. Pre-TGT [The Grand Tournament - Ed.] I saw a lot of that deck. But basically for a solid week after I got rank 1—aside from the first day I got it when a couple people took it back—I didn’t have to play very much. I think I played one or two games. And then when TGT came out, it was a little bit awkward because I wanted to test my ideas on ladder, but it didn’t make a ton of sense to queue up unrefined decks at rank 1 legend. That just didn’t seem practical. So I waited until people passed me, and then I figured since the metagame was actually fairly Shaman-heavy for the first two days after TGT came out, Demon Handlock was still a good choice because I feel like that’s a very favored match-up. So that was what I continued to play and I had to win probably around three games after TGT came out. It took one game to get rank 1 back one time, and then it took two games the other time. And then for the last week of the season I just didn’t have to play.
PCG: Is that because you knew you had such a high win-rate while you were climbing to rank 1, so could keep it by only playing a few games?
Amnesiac: Yeah, I think that was a big thing, because by the third time I had taken it back I would imagine that my MMR and win-rate was really high and it would be very difficult to pass me—it would probably take quite a few wins. I talked to Ostkaka, and he said he won four or five games at rank 2 and still couldn’t pass me. So at that point I didn’t feel obligated to continue stacking MMR, because towards the end of the season people stop pushing for rank 1 as aggressively. They’re more content with top five, especially in the last season [before BlizzCon] where people are more aggressively hunting for the points.
PCG: What was it about the metagame that made you feel like Demon Handlock was a good read? The amount of Patron Warrior out there?
Amnesiac: Yeah, exactly. There was a lot of Warrior, and I feel like Demon Handlock is one of the best Patron Warrior counters in the game, more so than Handlock, because it’s more consistent in how many threats you’re going to draw. So it’s pretty reasonable to have three threats from turn 4-6, which is really important because against Patron the board clears are much less important than actually being able to threaten them and pressure them out of the game. That’s why I was going with a list with only one Hellfire and one Shadowflame, rather than the double Hellfire and one Shadowflame that was pretty staple at the time.
I’ve never spent money on the game, I've never been able to...
PC Gamer: Tell me a little bit about how you got into Hearthstone initially?
Amnesiac: It must have been when I was 12, I guess. The first time I saw Hearthstone was on Day9’s channel. I was watching and I was like: “Wow, there’s no mechanical skill in this game, so you don’t have to practice as much.” What was going through my head was that I could actually play this game and enjoy it and compete at some sort of level, without worrying about huge time constraints. Of course I never thought that I’d be competing at a professional level, it’s just kind of worked out that way. I’ve never spent money on the game—I’ve never been able to—so I had to play a couple months of Arena. But after that I just started playing, and my first ranked play season I peaked at rank 40 legend on the last day.
PC Gamer: Do you hope to turn pro eventually or is that too far off to consider?
Amnesiac: I don’t know if I’d want to commit everything to the game, but I think I play at a professional level at the moment and I’d like to compete at that level. I just wouldn’t want to go all in, I guess, because I like everything else I do in my life too much.
PC Gamer: Are your friends and family impressed by what you’ve achieved so far? Do they watch you stream?
Amnesiac: No, they don’t watch me stream. It’s kind of hard to explain… I don’t bring it up very much. At school very few people know I play videogames, and at home it comes up occasionally, but not really. So yeah, I’m pretty quiet about it.
I don’t really feel intimidated by anybody in the world when I watch them play.
PC Gamer: I saw you involved in the Team Archon card review stream before The Grand Tournament came out. What’s your relationship with Archon?
Amnesiac: I get along really well with basically everybody on the team. I coach and play with Amaz a lot. We’re pretty good friends. Same with Orange and Zalae. I don’t know Firebat or Purpledrank as well, but I have talked to them both multiple times so I’d say we’re on pretty good terms. And I helped Xixo with his preparation, before he was released from the team, for the Archon Team League Championships so I get along with him as well.
PC Gamer: There’s been rumors that you’re going to be their new coach. That seems extraordinary to me, because you’re 14! Is there any truth in it?
Amnesiac: I definitely think I’m good enough to be helping them learn. I’m not going to feed any speculation as to what team I’m joining, but I don’t feel as though I’m inferior as a player to any of them except maybe Firebat—because when I watch Firebat play it’s absurdly impressive. But I think they’re all amazing players, I just don’t really feel intimidated by anybody in the world when I watch them play. I’d never go into a best of five thinking I can’t win.
On the next page: His mindset when grinding ladder and the common mistakes players make.Getty Images BEIJING (Reuters) - China is poised to further tighten rules on virtual currencies after regulators on Monday banned virtual coin fundraising schemes, Chinese financial news outlet Yicai reported citing sources.
China banned and deemed illegal the practice of raising funds through launches of token-based digital currencies, targeting so-called initial coin offerings (ICO) in a market that has exploded since the start of the year.
Yicai's report late Monday cited a source close to decision-makers as saying the announcement on the ban was just the start of further follow-up regulations of virtual currencies.
In total, $2.32 billion has been raised through ICOs globally, with $2.16 billion of that being raised since the start of 2017, according to cryptocurrency analysis website Cryptocompare.
Bitcoin rival Ethereum, which token-issuers usually ask to be paid in and which has seen dramatic growth this year, fell sharply on the news. It was down almost 20 percent on Monday at $283, according to trade publication Coindesk.
Bitcoin was also down 8 percent, while the total value of all cryptocurrencies was down around 10 percent after China's ban was announced, according to industry website Coinmarketcap.com.Reputation is everything — and Vancouver's is in very good shape.
After polling more than 18,000 people from the G8 countries, the Denmark-based Reputation Institute ranked the world's 100 most reputable cities and released the results in a survey on Thursday.
Determining factors included beauty, safety, cultural offerings and infrastructure.
Vancouver took top spot, beating out close competitors Vienna and Sydney. Toronto placed 22nd. Montreal wasn't far behind at 26.
"We believe that a factor in Vancouver's stature is our reputation as a city where all nationalities gather comfortably, where over 40 first languages are spoken in the average school, where perhaps 50 per cent of our population has English as a second language and in our having a deep-seated respect for varied religious views," Tourism Vancouver president Rick Antonson says in a statement accompanying the survey's release.
Vancouver was only seventh in the beauty rankings, following old-world architectural gems Venice, Florence, Rome, Paris, Vienna and Barcelona.
Last year, the Reputation Institute used a different ranking system: Vancouver placed 14th, while London, England, placed first.
[ More Daily Brew: B.C. civic leaders continue mostly symbolic push to decriminalize marijuana ]
The survey found that small to medium sized, safe, environmentally friendly and sporty cities like Vancouver, Vienna, Sydney and Copenhagen fared better reputation-wise than mega cities like Hong Kong, London New York and Tokyo, "due to the increased challenging of managing their reputation."
"The world's largest cities...have many more factors that can impact their reputation and many of these influencers cannot be controlled. Additionally, big cities tend to operate much more under the microscope of the media. The conversation surrounding a destination — be it in the news and/or social media — is often a major influence on public perception. We can see in this year's results just how effective Vancouver has been in shaping a constructive and trustworthy dialogue with the media," says Reputation Institute's Nicolas Georges Trad.
At the bottom of the list: Bogota, Moscow, Tehran and Baghdad.
Earlier in September, the Reputation Institute named Canada as the most reputable country for the second year in a row.
"We live in a reputation economy. While the idea of a destination's reputation may not be on the top of everyone's mind when they decide where to live, work, vacation, or do business, our studies indicate that it should," Trad says. "We have found that a person's perceived reputation of a city is a key factor when deciding where to visit, or in terms of business, to invest. Our modelling demonstrates that effective management of these reputation drivers translates directly into increased tourism receipts, investment, and stakeholder support."
[ More Daily Brew: Number of aboriginal women in prison at crisis levels, federal report shows ]As everyone knows, Brandeis publicly announced that they would award Ayaan Hirsi Ali an honorary doctorate–and then, under siege by nearly 30% of their professors, and by thousands of their own students, they publicly disinvited Hirsi Ali. This campaign was orchestrated by the Muslim Student Association and by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization which is the American face of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Someone sent author Naomi Wolf a copy of my latest article about this scandal: “Brandeis Feminists Fail the Historical Moment.” It was my response to Brandeis’s shameful dis-invitation of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I noted that 21% of the signatories taught in Women and Gender Studies and I mourned the abysmal state of academic feminism. In response to my article, Wolf published this at her Facebook site:
I know Phyllis Chesler. I believe she is funded these days by pro-Israel advocacy organizations that support journalists and writers to advocate ‘the party line’ in terms of hardline anti-Islam and right-wing policy outcomes regarding Israel. She is welcome to contradict this if I am mistaken. She has made some outlandish, grossly factually incorrect attacks on me whenever I write anything that encourages Western readers to have a deeper understanding of Islam.
One of Wolf’s followers immediately seconded Wolf’s allegations about me and upped the ante: “It is well known the ‘respected’ Australian political magazine Quadrant was originally funded in the 1960’s by hidden CIA budget lines…Outside the United States during the cold war billions were spent by the Americans subverting communism in a systematic war-like set of directed actions…This is well documented in respect of the 1960’s …”.
And there you have it. Now I am both a Zionist agent and, according to one of Wolf’s followers, also a CIA agent!
Wolf claims that I, among other writers, have failed to disclose that I receive funding from “pro-Israel advocacy groups.”
First, let me point out that I do disclose all funding to the government and acknowledge funding for my published academic research.
Second, is my crime “failure to disclose” or is it taking money from…Zionists? Is it a crime–a thought crime–that I do not receive or accept funds from the Democratic Party and that unlike so many feminists, including Wolf herself, that I am not a Democratic Party operative?
Let it be known: No government, no political party, and no individual Zionist has to pay me to express my views. I am not for sale. I do not exercise my First Amendment rights merely for money.
I would never bother asking Wolf publicly about her funding sources. But now that Wolf has opened this door–I fear I must also walk through it.
Naomi: Are you on the payroll of the public relations crisis management team Brandeis has reportedly hired? Are you now or have you ever been funded by George Soros? Or merely by the Democratic Party? Is Al Gore, for whom you once consulted, and who sold his cable channel to Al-Jazeera, backing you? Is he supporting your Woodhull Institute? Or are the Jordanian royals helping you? I know you visited with them and wrote about them very favorably.
I have known Naomi Wolf since she was a pale, young girl. Her mother, Deborah, once worked for me. Wolf attended some of the Manhattan feminist Passover sedarim that E.M. Broner, I, and a handful of others first organized in 1975. I attended the book party for Wolf’s first book and she kept thanking me over and over again for doing so. I think Wolf is beautiful, talented, hard-working, well-connected, ambitious–and a bit dim-witted.
When last I saw Wolf, it was at another author’s book party, possibly in 2004 or 2005. After engaging in friendly small talk, I tried to engage her in a discussion about rising anti-Semitism. Wolf widened her eyes, then said something like: “Really? You don’t say? You really believe that?” And then made a beeline for someone else. She had eyed me as if I had an infectious disease that she might catch.
Naomi Wolf’s comments at her FB site lack substance and mainly concern the source of my presumably unacknowledged funding. Wolf thinks she can derail the substance of my argument by “outing” me as a Zionist or as on some secret Zionist payroll.
Would that I were on a Zionist payroll! If a check arrives, I will cash it forthwith.
This is so typical a ploy. Smear the bearer of truth so that people will not hear her. And, what is the worst thing that a feminist intellectual can be accused of? Well, being a “racist” and an “Islamophobe,” usually work. They shame and taint one’s credibility. Ah, but an accusation of being a secret Zionist agent–that is right up there with poisoning the wells and using Christian baby blood to prepare Passover matzot.
Wolf has published some of her views about Muslim women. They toe the Obama Democratic Party Line and are “come-hither” attractive to those Muslims who feel misjudged. Here is one example. In 2008, in the Sydney Morning Herald, Wolf wrote:
The West interprets veiling as repression of women and suppression of their sexuality. But when I traveled in Muslim countries and was invited to join a discussion in women-only settings within Muslim homes, I learned that Muslim attitudes toward women’s appearance and sexuality are not rooted in repression, but in a strong sense of public versus private, of what is due to God and what is due to one’s husband. It is not that Islam suppresses sexuality, but that it embodies a strongly developed sense of its appropriate channeling–toward marriage, the bonds that sustain family life, and the attachment that secures a home.
Unlike Wolf, I view the burqa as a sensory deprivation isolation chamber and as such, a violation of human and woman’s rights. I was once held captive in purdah in Kabul. The polygamous family which isolates and sequesters women is totally against freedom for women. While I enjoy all-women company just as much as Wolf does, I would never enjoy it if it was the only company I was allowed to keep.
Naomi: I challenge you to address the issues. Do you agree with the Brandeis signatories and also believe that women on the Brandeis campus are as endangered as women in Iran, perhaps in Evin Prison are? As endangered as child brides in Afghanistan or genitally mutilated girls in Indonesia? As endangered as the 100 girls just scooped up by an Islamist paramilitary group in Nigeria to be their sex slaves? As endangered as a girl who wants to choose her husband is in parts of India? As endangered as a girl who wants an education in Pakistan or who insists on driving her car in Saudi Arabia? Do you believe that the face veil and the burqa are religious choices, or “sexy” and mysterious? Even if girls and women who refuse to wear them are honor killed by their families for this very reason?
AUTHOR BIO: Phyllis Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies, a Fellow at the Middle East Forum, the author of thousands of articles, including studies of honor killing, and the author of fifteen books, including Women and Madness and Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman. Her fifteenth book, An American Bride in Kabul won a 2013 National Jewish Book Award. Dr. Chesler is a co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and of the National Women’s Health Network (1975). She may be reached at her website www.phyllis-chesler.com.Image copyright Prof Mario Palma/Sao Paulo State University
The venom of a wasp native to Brazil could be used as a weapon to fight cancer, scientists believe.
A toxin in the sting kills cancer cells without harming normal cells, lab studies suggest.
The University of Brazil team say the experimental therapy latches to tumour cells and makes them leak vital molecules.
The work is at an early stage and more studies are needed to check the method will work safely in humans.
Polybia paulista is an aggressive social wasp endemic in south-east Brazil.
Though its sting is largely seen as unwelcome, scientists increasingly believe it could be put to good use.
It contains an important toxin called MP1 which the insect uses to attack prey or defend itself.
And recent studies in mice suggest it may target and destroy cancer cells.
Prof Joao Ruggiero Netto and colleagues set out to discover how, by putting it under the microscope.
They found MP1 interacts with fat molecules that are abnormally distributed on the surface of cancer cells, creating gaping holes that allow molecules crucial for cell function to leak out.
In healthy cells, the same molecules are hidden on the inside. This means healthy tissue should avoid MP1's attack, the scientists say in Biophysical Journal.
Co-researcher Dr Paul Beales, from the University of Leeds, said cancer therapies that attacked the lipid composition of the cell membrane would be an entirely new class of anti-cancer drugs.
"This could be useful in developing new combination therapies, where multiple drugs are used simultaneously to treat a cancer by attacking different parts of the cancer cells at the same time," he said.
Dr Aine McCarthy, science information officer for Cancer Research UK said: "This early stage research increases our understanding of how the venom of the Brazilian wasp can kill cancer cells in the laboratory.
"But while these findings are exciting, much more work is needed in the lab and in clinical trials before we will know if drugs based on this research could benefit cancer patients."This updates a story posted at noon on Saturday.
AMHERST — As a relatively calm Blarney Blowout celebration continues throughout the town of Amherst, as of early afternoon police here reported just three arrests and the medical treatment of nearly a dozen young people for a variety of issues.
According to Jennifer Gunderson, a spokesperson for the Amherst Police Department, the arrests have been relatively minor with the most serious charge being domestic assault for an incident which happened outside the Mullins Center ahead of the concert with Ludacris, Ke$ha and Juicy J. Another student was charged with disorderly conduct for an incident near the Curry Hicks Cage early this morning and a 19-year-old male was charged for being a minor in possession of alcohol and having an open container in public.
At the Mullins Center, where police have revised the number in attendance from nearly 7.500 to around 5,000, Gunderson reports that 8 people were treated in the triage area for unspecified issues, one was taken into protective custody for alcohol intoxication and one person taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital by the Amherst Fire Department.
But many of the students and young people attending the concert said they were just there to have a good time and wanted no part of the rowdiness which has marred past Blarney Blowout celebrations and damaged the reputation of UMass Amherst, local police departments and the town itself.
But despite the aforementioned incidents, the efforts of police from more than 14 departments to disperse any large groups of young people gathering in town has thus far proved effective in preventing a repeat of the violent 2014 Blarney Blowout clashes between police and young people.
Around North Amherst off-campus apartment complexes, where much of the trouble has been concentrated in the past, police are preventing any non-residents from entering the properties or courtyards.
"The Amherst Police Department continues to monitor groups of pedestrians that are walking throughout north Amherst," Gunderson said. "Alcohol violations are not being observed and there have been no reports of property damage."
PVTA buses at the stop on Route 63 have been busy with groups of students taking rides elsewhere after being dispersed by police.
Gunderson said there are a number of smaller parties all over the town, but none have caused any significant issues so far in the day.
The bars downtown don't open until 4 p.m. this year so as of 3 p.m., there was still ample parking and relative calm as no calls for service have come from the downtown area today, according to police.
Stick with MassLive.com for Blarney Blowout updates and photos throughout the day.Crowd at the Lincoln Park sea lion cave, circa 1910
I love random Chicago facts, so every week I'll present "Did you know,Chicago?" and give interesting tidbits about Chicago favorites. (Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you the square footage of the Merchandise Mart.)
I absolutely love Lincoln Park Zoo. It's beautiful, free and has great history. I researched the zoo a little bit last night, and I found out a few things you might find amusing:
The zoo made its first animal purchase in 1874: a bear cub for $10. The bear pit was built in 1879, but the bears learned how to climb out and would regularly roam the zoo at night.
The original sea lion house was built in 1889, but the 18 sea lions were moved in before it was completed. They all escaped and 17 were found in a Clark Street restaurant. The missing sea lion dove into Lake Michigan and was never seen again.
When Judy the elephant refused to board the train to be taken from Brookfield Zoo to Lincoln Park Zoo in 1943, she had to be walked the whole way.
Lincoln Park sea lion cave, 1908
Images via Chuckman's Chicago Nostalgia. He has some great photos.Get the biggest politics 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
Ukip have moved out of their London headquarters amid claims of major financial difficulties for the party.
Staff are "packing up boxes" at the party's plush Mayfair offices, and have reportedly been working from home while they look for new premises.
A Ukip source claims contractors and staff have gone unpaid, and rows have erupted over how money was spent in the run up to the election.
The source added: "There's going to be a run on Ukip in the next week like it was a Greek bank."
Landline telephone numbers for the party's HQ and press office were dead today, though a spokesperson blamed this on a fault.
Some within the party had expected to be able to pay for the mammoth cost of the party's election campaign with the increased parliamentary funding available to them after the election of Douglas Carswell.
With one MP, the party can claim up to £650,000 a year in so called'short money' to run a Westminster office.
But Mr Carswell announced after the election that he would not accept the full amount - saying some at Ukip HQ wanted to get their "noses in the trough."
(Image: Getty)
The resulting row climaxed with Nigel Farage declaring he wouldn't accept any of the money at all.
A report in the Independent on Sunday claimed the party was £500,000 in the red, and that the party faced fines under electoral law unless they could find a donor to bail them out, or took out a loan.
The party has until July 6th to pay its election invoices or obtain an extension from the High Court.
The party's offices had been donated to Ukip by millionaire lawyer and close ally of Nigel Farage, Andrew Reid, who has registered £143,000 in free-rent donations to the party since 2011.
A Ukip spokesperson said their departure from Mayfair was a "planned move", and the party were looking to relocate somewhere near Westminster.
And a senior party source said: "The Mayfair office was never intended to be permanent as I understand it."
Ukip moved into the premises, in Brooks Mews, in 2013."You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
- Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Ultimate Edition title screen.
Batman v Superman is a Zack Snyder film through and through. While most films are composed of scenes, Zack Snyder's films are composed of moments. This is due to two key aspects: stunning visuals and beautiful sound design. Let's talk about visuals and tone first. This movie is not your typical superhero film and you see this from the simplicity of the opening credits. Where most films go with crazy 3D text and colorful decoration, Batman v Superman opens much like an indie film. This tone is set right from the start and carries on throughout the rest of the film. While the film's Marvel counterparts are much more family friendly and light hearted, the DC films are grounded and ask complex questions about mortality and government. I understand that this isn't for everyone but there is no better way to believe a superhero than dropping them into modern society and seeing the ripples. (Plus, as much as I love the Marvel movies, seeing the same formula being implemented with different characters gets boring and it's good to have a change of pace. And I'm pretty sure if Batman v Superman did go the family comedy route, people would say it was just copying Marvel.) Accompanying the tone is the gorgeous imagery that makes each frame look like a carefully drawn painting. The camera never moves unnecessarily, there is always a point of focus and reason. Simply put, Snyder's direction along with Larry Fong's cinematography is superb. There's also Snyder's signature slow motion and snap zooms. Love 'em or hate 'em they do have a purpose in the film. The slow motion allows the audience to take everything in and, during a heated battle, take a break from the action, meanwhile the snap zooms are great for understanding the scale and scope of something. (As a bonus, they look really cool.) For example, in the beginning of the film as you see the events of Man of Steel unfold from ground level there is a scene where debris is raining down from the atmosphere and destroying Metropolis and the camera zooms in to see Superman and General Zod plummeting along with the fireballs. This gives you an idea of how devastating the damage was and how it looks from the point of view of a civilian looking up as their city is being destroyed. is a Zack Snyder film through and through. While most films are composed of scenes, Zack Snyder's films are composed of moments. This is due to two key aspects: stunning visuals and beautiful sound design. Let's talk about visuals and tone first. This movie is not your typical superhero film and you see this from the simplicity of the opening credits. Where most films go with crazy 3D text and colorful decoration,opens much like an indie film. This tone is set right from the start and carries on throughout the rest of the film. While the film's Marvel counterparts are much more family friendly and light hearted, the DC films are grounded and ask complex questions about mortality and government. I understand that this isn't for everyone but there is no better way to believe a superhero than dropping them into modern society and seeing the ripples. (Plus, as much as I love the Marvel movies, seeing the same formula being implemented with different characters gets boring and it's good to have a change of pace. And I'm pretty sure if Batman v Superman did go the family comedy route, people would say it was just copying Marvel.) Accompanying the tone is the gorgeous imagery that makes each frame look like a carefully drawn painting. The camera never moves unnecessarily, there is always a point of focus and reason. Simply put, Snyder's direction along with Larry Fong's cinematography is superb. There's also Snyder's signature slow motion and snap zooms. Love 'em or hate 'em they do have a purpose in the film. The slow motion allows the audience to take everything in and, during a heated battle, take a break from the action, meanwhile the snap zooms are great for understanding the scale and scope of something. (As a bonus, they look really cool.) For example, in the beginning of the film as you see the events ofunfold from ground level there is a scene where debris is raining down from the atmosphere and destroying Metropolis and the camera zooms in to see Superman and General Zod plummeting along with the fireballs. This gives you an idea of how devastating the damage was and how it looks from the point of view of a civilian looking up as their city is being destroyed.
Superman fighting General Zod during the beginning of Batman v Superman.
Then there's the sound. Everything regarding sound is amazing in this movie. Zack Snyder's films have great sound design and everything feels more potent because of it. During the right moments, small actions take center stage. The sound of a horse's hoofs hitting the ground to break the silence of a disaster or the subtle sound of an object that is important in the scene, or the film as a whole, clatter with a subconsciously appropriate effect. I can't say this enough, everything in Batman v Superman feels purposeful by the director, writers and editors. This is all backed up by one of the best soundtracks for any superhero film which is produced by, the legendary, Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. I would be lying if I said some tracks didn't put a smile on my face. The best way I can describe it is this: When I went to watch Batman v Superman in theaters, the day it came out, there was a little kid and his mom sitting in front of us. There was a particular scene in the film where the music took center stage (the introduction of Wonder Woman if my memory servers me right) and I had a huge smile on my face and in my head I said That's awesome! Then in front of me the little kid turned to his mom with an ear-to-ear grin and whispered "That's awesome!"
Now before we move onto the story and characters let's start with a bit of backstory. This is a very different Batman you are seeing from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy. The Batman from Batman v Superman is more reminiscent of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comics and movies. This is a Batman who has witnessed the death of Robin. He is a war-torn man who has been broken by the Joker. If you are wondering how I know this, the scene in which the Robin suit is shown with yellow paint saying "HAHAHA the joke's on you BATMAN" is post death-of-Robin as shown in Under the Red Hood. Keep this in mind because that is why he starts killing or brutally assaulting the thugs in Gotham City. We aren't looking at the same Batman who came home from Ra's al Ghul's training and refused to kill. (If you want more of that type of Batman watch Under the Red Hood, The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns movies.)
Ben Affleck as Batman.
Despite early doubts, the best thing about this film is Ben Affleck's Batman. Over the decades that Batman movies, comics, and games have been made, there have been many iterations of the Caped Crusader. But on film, this has to be one of the best. (A statement I never thought I would say after The Dark Knight.) This is very much a modern Batman with roots in the character's comics and animated movies. Like I said earlier, the design and aesthetic is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns which means he is older and, as weird as it is to say, wider. Taking it one scene at a time, let's start with the introduction. Batman is hanging from the roof and blending into the shadows. Below him people are scared saying "the devil" saved them, which is an accurate description of Batman because of his "pick-one-off-at-a-time" fear tactics and, of course, pointed ears. Then we get a brief look at security camera footage where he drops down, grabs a thug, and repels back up before anyone can get a shot off on him. If you played the Batman Arkham games then this should be familiar considering the game has you doing the same thing. Batfleck also loves his gadgets and the warehouse scene at the end is a great example of this. He throws sticky bombs on people's guns to disarm them and uses his grappling hook to throw them around. What is Batman, other than a billionaire philanthropist with crazy martial arts skills, without his gadgets. Sure, Bale's Batman also used gadgets but not in combat like he does here. Above it all, however, is Batman's skills and there is no better showcase of this than the Knightmare sequence. In layman's terms, that long uncut take is everything you need to know that we are looking at the best Batman we have ever seen. Period. Then there's the sound. Everything regarding sound is amazing in this movie. Zack Snyder's films have great sound design and everything feels more potent because of it. During the right moments, small actions take center stage. The sound of a horse's hoofs hitting the ground to break the silence of a disaster or the subtle sound of an object that is important in the scene, or the film as a whole, clatter with a subconsciously appropriate effect. I can't say this enough, everything infeels purposeful by the director, writers and editors. This is all backed up by one of the best soundtracks for any superhero film which is produced by, the legendary, Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. I would be lying if I said some tracks didn't put a smile on my face. The best way I can describe it is this: When I went to watchin theaters, the day it came out, there was a little kid and his mom sitting in front of us. There was a particular scene in the film where the music took center stage (the introduction of Wonder Woman if my memory servers me right) and I had a huge smile on my face and in my head I said That's awesome! Then in front of me the little kid turned to his mom with an ear-to-ear grin and whispered "That's awesome!"Now before we move onto the story and characters let's start with a bit of backstory. This is a very different Batman you are seeing from Christopher Nolan's. The Batman fromis more reminiscent of Frank Miller'scomics and movies. This is a Batman who has witnessed the death of Robin. He is a war-torn man who has been broken by the Joker. If you are wondering how I know this, the scene in which the Robin suit is shown with yellow paint saying "HAHAHA the joke's on you BATMAN" is post death-of-Robin as shown in. Keep this in mind because that is why he starts killing or brutally assaulting the thugs in Gotham City. We aren't looking at the same Batman who came home from Ra's al Ghul's training and refused to kill. (If you want more of that type of Batman watchandmovies.)Despite early doubts, the best thing about this film is Ben Affleck's Batman. Over the decades that Batman movies, comics, and games have been made, there have been many iterations of the Caped Crusader. But on film, this has to be one of the best. (A statement I never thought I would say after.) This is very much a modern Batman with roots in the character's comics and animated movies. Like I said earlier, the design and aesthetic is inspired bywhich means he is older and, as weird as it is to say, wider. Taking it one scene at a time, let's start with the introduction. Batman is hanging from the roof and blending into the shadows. Below him people are scared saying "the devil" saved them, which is an accurate description of Batman because of his "pick-one-off-at-a-time" fear tactics and, of course, pointed ears. Then we get a brief look at security camera footage where he drops down, grabs a thug, and repels back up before anyone can get a shot off on him. If you played thegames then this should be familiar considering the game has you doing the same thing. Batfleck also loves his gadgets and the warehouse scene at the end is a great example of this. He throws sticky bombs on people's guns |
an inocentes. Creían que podían hacer una revolución…
—¿Esa era su creencia?
—Era la de todos, o había algunos manipulados por extremas derechas o izquierdas u otros grupos de poder. Vamos al grano. Hoy 19 de septiembre veo un artículo. Dice que estamos a 40 años del asesinato del empresario Eugenio Garza. A ver, yo quiero exponer una versión que tiene mucho más sustento que las que se mencionan.
Un grupo, posiblemente la Liga Comunista 23 de septiembre, andaba en Monterrey, Chihuahua y Saltillo, haciendo su guerrilla a su manera y ese grupo ilegal, fuertemente armado, trató de secuestrar a don Eugenio. Pero le salió mal.
Tengo entendido que don Eugenio andaba armado, posiblemente con una.38. Don Eugenio y su chofer, valientemente, se defendieron. Siempre lo dijo él: “A mí, secuestrado no me lleva nadie”.
Y se armó la balacera. Varios fuertemente armados contra dos individuos. Fueron acribillados y murió don Eugenio. El responsable era un guerrillero bravucón, vivísimo, súper inquieto, llamado (Jesús) Ibarra Piedra.
Ya sé que voy contra muchos tabúes y clichés: cómo es posible que alguien que ha sido de la UNAM, liberal y socialdemócrata, hable así, pero es una verdad. Había muchas guerrillas y muy agresivas, urbanas y de otras. Por lo que quieras: por la Guerra Fría, porque México era un país injusto, porque había un solo partido de un gobierno monolítico, de acuerdo.
Hasta el jefe del Estado (Luis Echeverría), aunque era del equipo del que fue Presidente en el 68, tuvo que entender que había que cambiar las cosas. Eso lograron los jóvenes. Los que tenían buenas intenciones, los que iban armados de ideas, así fueran ideas comunistas, liberales, clasemedieras… había de todo y tenían razón.
—¿Valió la pena el movimiento del 68?
—Bueno, ahí tienen los resultados. Los que siguen instalados en el 68 son verdaderamente anacrónicos. Se quedaron en ese siglo. El movimiento del 68 le abrió la mente a todo tipo de líderes, a las madres, a los hijos. A todos nos cambió la forma de ver el mundo. Lograron que todos nos cuestionáramos cómo debía ser la educación, la justicia, cómo debía ser el futuro de este país.
Más adelante, muchos de ellos llegaron a puestos del poder político y económico. Todas las ideas por las que luchaban los estudiantes honestos del 68, que eran la mayoría, se cumplieron. En parte por la apertura controlada y supervisada que inició el Ejecutivo en el 71. Todo lo que pedían, aunque tardó, se cumplió.
Incluso uno que anduvo ahí, cuyo origen era de clase trabajadora, de pelo largo, del IPN y siempre en escuelas públicas, que fue interpelado por policías y militares en el 68, en 1994 fue presidente de la República.
—¿Y tenía que ocurrir el 2 de octubre?
—Lo que ocurrió fue que el presidente Díaz Ordaz tuvo miedo de que los estudiantes llegaran a tomar algo más que el Zócalo. En esos días, cualquier otro presidente quizá hubiera tenido las mismas reservas. Ahora cualquiera toma las calles y el Zócalo todos los días.
—Si ni siquiera se podía tomar el Zócalo, mucho menos el poder, entonces ¿por qué el 2 de octubre?
—Porque tenía, y lo digo con todo respeto a la personalidad de Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, todas las reservas, por no decir miedo, a que le tomaran el Zócalo y el Palacio Nacional. Porque él creía en la lucha entre la libertad y el comunismo. Creía que había comunistas infiltrados y de todos los países. Pero la mayoría de los estudiantes eran pacíficos, desarmados. Esa marcha hoy parecería una marcha de niños de primaria.
—¿El 2 de octubre es resultado del miedo de un Presidente?
—Esa es mi opinión personal, resultado de mi análisis y estudio. A mí nadie me lo dijo. Y a eso se sumó la inexperiencia de cómo manejar eso. Y el error. Cuando francotiradores, manejados por agentes extranjeros y algún partido ilegal entonces, dispararon e hirieron al coronel a cargo del batallón y los soldados reaccionaron en defensa. Para eso están entrenados. Para repeler una agresión, no para repartir flores.
—Hay evidencias de que fueron militares los que atacaron a los soldados, personal del Estado Mayor Presidencial…
—No, no, no, ahí están las fotos. Va más allá. Ojalá fuera tan fácil. Y si hubo errores, yo no soy cura ni obispo, ni ando repartiendo culpas por la vida. Pero sí creo en esa parte de la religión de que hay que perdonar todo. Aunque tarde, hay que saber perdonar.
—¿Hubo participación de extranjeros en el movimiento del 68?
—Ahí están los datos. El movimiento estuvo infiltrado. Y el gobierno de Díaz Ordaz tenía gente de todo tipo. En esa administración había gente formada en algunos centros de entrenamiento de Estados Unidos o de Panamá, Florida o Washington: policías, militares y, sobre todo, abogados, economistas, administradores…
—Hace unos 15 años, Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Borja, hijo del ex presidente, comentó en entrevista que el 68, según le contó su padre, había sido preparado y planeado, que le tendieron una trampa. De ahí que se arrepintiera después de haber seleccionado a tu padre como su sucesor.
—Sí, don Gustavo se arrepintió en el 71, 72, 73, antes de caer más enfermo y más viejo. Sí, se arrepintió de haber apoyado la candidatura de Echeverría, pero no se arrepintió nunca de haberlo tenido como secretario de Gobernación, como colaborador excelente, servidor público. Durante 11 años no se arrepintió de él.
Ahora, mira, con todo respeto a don Gustavo y a su familia (tuve el gusto de conocer a su mamá, admiro la música de Alfredo), yo también podría decir que sé de buena fuente cualquier cosa, pero no se vale. Son opiniones de café, de sobremesa. Lo que se tiene que hacer es investigar, ahí están los documentos. Lo que hizo la fiscalía y han hecho historiadores serios.
—Y arraigaron a tu padre.
—Afectaron a algunos que hicieron bien su trabajo.
—No se puede negar lo que hizo, por ejemplo, la Dirección Federal de Seguridad.
—Yo no sé de eso.
* * *
La mención sobre la entrevista con Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Borja publicada en la revista Milenio Semanal en 1998, a propósito de los 30 años de la masacre de estudiantes, le genera a Benito algo más que un recuerdo incómodo. Pocas cosas lo van a irritar tanto durante las tres sesiones de la entrevista. Una de ellas es, precisamente, la referencia a la familia Díaz Ordaz.
No deja pasar la oportunidad para retomar el tema tan pronto reinicia la entrevista.
—Volvamos a lo de Gustavo (hijo) y don Gustavo (padre) que en paz descanse… esperemos. Díaz Ordaz vio en Echeverría a un colaborador obediente, ordenado, honesto, recto, que cumplió con la ley y las reglas del sistema durante 11 años. Creo que a don Gustavo le hubiera gustado que el siguiente gobierno, quien fuera (Emilio Martínez Manatou, Alfonso Martínez Domínguez, Alfonso Corona del Rosal, quien fuera), diera continuidad a su mano dura. También que fuera intransigente, porque él creía que el nacionalismo se defendía así, por la fuerza.
Desde el momento en que se asumía como el Estado legítimo, todo lo demás era ilegítimo, anticonstitucional. Había que combatirlo y, si era necesario, reprimirlo. Era un hombre de mucha fuerza, de mucha autoridad, un tanto autoritario, y no dudo que le hubiera gustado que siguieran con una política parecida.
Pero desde la campaña el candidato Echeverría —continúa Benito—, con su espíritu humanista, universitario, conocido de intelectuales, pintores, cineastas, y con la autonomía que le daba la candidatura, empezó a definir su propia personalidad y opinó lo que quiso de acuerdo con sus ideas. Eso no le gustó a don Gustavo.
—¿Principalmente lo del minuto de silencio en la Universidad Nicolaíta en Michoacán?
—Pues algunos pidieron un minuto de silencio por los estudiantes muertos el 2 de octubre, y él pidió lo mismo pero por los soldados caídos. Y se guardó el minuto de silencio por ambos.
Y luego, ya en la Presidencia, Echeverría va a dar espacio en el poder a los jóvenes, sin darle oportunidad a los viejos diazordacistas, lo más rancio del PRI-sistema de los cincuenta y sesenta. Hizo que reaccionaran los empresarios, con aires de apertura y críticas, para que hicieran algo por el país. Eso no le gustó a don Gustavo.
En términos personales, creo, como un Echeverría más, que si hoy me dijeras que otros ex presidentes y grandes políticos se hubieran arrepentido de que mi padre haya sido el Presidente, sí me preocuparía. Pero si es don Gustavo quien se arrepentía, eso me tiene sin ningún cuidado.
—Pero sí supieron de esa versión, ¿no?
—La versión que yo conozco nos las narró un amigo que conoció muy bien a don Luis. Y dicen que don Gustavo, con su poco humor y su cara de enojado (aunque, como todo hombre inteligente, tenía humor), en las mañanas se daba cachetaditas frente al espejo y decía: “¡Por pendejo, por pendejo, por pendejo!”. Allá él. ¿Te imagnas que Echeverría se anduviera arrepintiendo públicamente de las decisiones que tomó?
—Más allá de la anécdota, lo cierto es que Luis Echeverría fue, junto con Díaz Ordaz, uno de los hombres más informados de lo que pasó en el 68.
—Y también el jefe del Estado Mayor, y el jefe del ejército y los embajadores de las dos potencias. Sí, había cinco o seis personas más informadas.
—Luis Echeverría es un hombre hermético que se llevará, como estadista, los secretos de lo que pasó en el 68.
—¡Pero cuáles secretos! Ahí está todo. Eso de creer que existen secretos como si fuera la corte de Napoleón… Ya está todo, fotos, videos, películas, libros, archivos… testimonios. Todo está al alcance de la prensa.
—Lo que ya no se supo públicamente del 68, ¿sólo él lo sabrá, nadie más?
—¿Qué puede saber él que no sepa la población? A estas alturas y después de tanto tiempo, nada. A lo mejor ni él supo tampoco a ciencia cierta de dónde salieron los francotiradores, de qué embajada o de qué partido u organización guerrilla salieron.
—Pero esa idea coincide con la de Díaz Ordaz, la del complot comunista…
—Para provocar al gobierno, para que reprimiera más. Para hacer quedar mal y quemar al secretario de Gobernación, para que renunciara. Recordemos que el destape estaba a un año. La Presidencia se hallaba en juego. Para que el Presidente fuera más mano dura. No sabremos a ciencia cierta las intenciones de los que iniciaron la balacera aquel terrible día, lo que sí sabemos es que no le convenía al Presidente ni al secretario de Gobernación.
¿Qué secretos puede llevarse una persona que hace 40 años no trabaja ahí? Si don Luis supo alguna cosa, algún detalle, seguro lo comentó con su jefe, que era el presidente de la República. Si hay algún secreto, ahí se quedará, porque si alguien es discreto, hermético y sabe guardar secretos de Estado y no tiene esas debilidades de lengua suelta, que se anda contradiciendo dependiendo de cómo ande la humedad en el rancho, ese es don Luis Echeverría.
—¿Qué concluir del 68?
—No sé, pero lo que sí les digo es: ¡Señores, ganaron! Yo soy de la gente de los sesenta. Se les agradece.
—¿Ganaron?
—Todos, incluido Luis Echeverría y todos los que hicieron cosas por la apertura democrática de este país entre los sesenta y setenta. A final de cuentas, con la llegada al poder de Ernesto Zedillo, llega la generación del 68, los estudiantes que no eran ni militares ni trabajaban en Gobernación o el PRI. Ganaron. Llegaron al poder y a los negocios. México se democratizó, se aumentó por tres el presupuesto en las universidades.
La generación de los Beatles llegó al poder con Bill Clinton en Estados Unidos, y con Zedillo en México. Quien siga en la idea del 68, se quedó en el siglo pasado. Ya supérenlo, acéptenlo. Nosotros superamos el trauma. La responsabilidad que se tenga que asumir, la calumnia, la difamación, la exageración, el desprestigio, todo se supera. Aliviánense.
—¿Qué tan difícil fue para Luis Echeverría y la familia que años después una fiscalía del Estado lo llamara a cuentas por la matanza del 68 y lo relacionado con la Guerra Sucia de los años setenta?
—La guerrilla sucia de los setenta. Eso no era una guerra frontal. Hasta los soldados tenían que usar tácticas de guerrilla y no estaban en las plazas y las avenidas. Para mí es la guerrilla sucia. Guerra sucia, la de ahora.
—Esta guerrilla, que llamas sucia, no tenía posibilidad de llegar al poder, como tampoco iba a ocurrir con los estudiantes del 68. ¿Era necesario lanzarle al ejército y todos los aparatos del Estado?
—Los estudiantes del 68 llegaron al poder.
—No, me refiero a ese momento, en el 68.
—Todo lo que querían, aunque tarde, lo lograron. Todas sus ideas las terminó asimilando el poder.
—¿La guerrilla tenía posibilidades de llegar al poder?
—Claro que no. Si hubieran sido un millón, quizá.
—¿Para qué, entonces, mandar al ejército contra ellos?
—No sé, pero si estaban haciendo guerrilla en Guerrero y en las ciudades, asaltando bancos y matando empresarios en Monterrey, pues la policía no se daba abasto. Tenía que apoyarse en el ejército, como ocurre ahora.
—Y echaron mano de la Dirección Federal de Seguridad y de los grupos especiales.
—A ver. Siempre hay violencia en todos los países. La violencia debe ser monopolio del Estado, siempre y cuando éste sea legítimo, democrático y, en mi opinión, liberal. No olvidemos qué años eran. El contexto internacional. No olvidemos.
—¿Qué tan difícil fue lo del arraigo?
—Para la familia en general, fue motivo de gran preocupación. Yo vivía fuera del país en ese momento, lo vi con más distancia, leí todo lo que pude y llegué a la conclusión de que fue algo muy positivo para Luis Echeverría Álvarez.
Mis hermanas no se dieron cuenta, pero eran las más felices aunque estaban muy preocupadas. Las dos hijas, las consentidas que cuidan a don Luis. ¿Por qué? Porque inclusive ya con 81 años, se la pasaba viajando, comiendo en la calle y recibiendo a decenas de personajes diariamente.
Si ya no tenía un trabajo específico, se inventaba cosas, proyectos. Se la pasaba gastando y mal cuidando su salud. Y luego para estar sano, según él, debía hacer mucho ejercicio, entonces se levantaba a las seis de la mañana a jugar tenis.
Ya se nos estaba muriendo mi papá. Estaba malísimo. Nos fuimos a China en 2001 y se quedó con ganas de ir a Shangai. Pero luego él regresó en 2002 y anduvo comiendo cualquier cosa en la calle, el equivalente a tacos callejeros, y se enfermó del SARS, síndrome que efectivamente en esa época vino de China. Estuvo casi un mes hospitalizado.
Es cuando viene el arraigo. Y ya no puede salir, desvelarse, viajar, y toma un horario ordenado para sus actividades. Nunca lo habíamos tenido sentado, tranquilo. Sólo con el arraigo se quedó quieto.
Sinceramente, y se lo mandé a decir a los panistas a través de un amigo, Luis Pazos: “Si ves a tu alumno Calderón o a tu cuate Fox, dale las gracias, sobre todo a la fiscalía”.
—¿No fue duro? ¿Sentirse juzgado quizá no judicialmente, pero sí históricamente?
—Ese grupo de la fiscalía investigó durante cuatro años. Abrieron todo, detuvieron a policías, etcétera. Pasaron cinco o seis años y resultó que los jueces dijeron que no había nada que perseguir. Hoy, además de ser el (ex) Presidente más longevo, es el único jefe de Estado mexicano, aparte de Maximiliano, que ha sido juzgado, investigado, arraigado y quedó libre de responsabilidad ante la ley los jueces. Su abogado, Juan Velázquez, dice que ha sido el caso más grave de la historia de México. Lo acusaron del delito más grave que hay en el mundo: delito de lesa humanidad.
—¿Qué sentiste, como hijo del ex Presidente, cuando en algunas portadas de los diarios de esos días estaba la imagen de tu padre y la palabra “asesino”?
—Fue una falta de seriedad periodística. No me dolió porque nosotros sabemos que no es así. No nos queda el saco en ningún momento. Vean lo que fue de joven, sus estudios, su tesis, su trayectoria intelectual y humanista.
—Esos son aciertos, ¿pero no crees que se equivocó también en algunas decisiones?
—Seguramente, todos nos equivocamos todos los días.
—Como Presidente.
—No existe el gobierno perfecto. El error no está en los gobernantes, sino en nosotros, que seguimos esperando que nuestros líderes sean impolutos y que cada Presidente sea una nueva pirámide que se construye sobre la otra. Ahí está el actual gobierno, gobernando, tomando lo mejor de los gobiernos pasados. Imagina que ahorita se pusiera a revisar los delitos, los abusos, el tráfico de influencias, el enriquecimiento ilícito de los Sahagún…
—¿No tendría que hacerlo?
—Eso corresponde a los abogados y las procuradurías. Que se perdonen ellos si pueden; y de su manera de vivir, que los perdone Dios. Las tonterías del jefe del gobierno federal de esos años.
—¿Le dolió a tu padre que llegara el PAN al poder?
—De ninguna manera, era un proceso natural. Lo que sí duele es que cualquiera pueda llegar a ser jefe del Estado. Que llegue quien sea, pero a la altura de México. No saltimbanquis, indecisos que cambian de partido…
—¿Cómo te gustaría que se recordara a tu padre en la historia?
—Son dos personas. Como papá, amable, educado, correcto, muy justo. Así lo vamos a recordar nosotros.
—¿Y la historia?
—Lo verá como uno más de los presidentes del siglo XX, nada más. Yo quisiera que lo registre como debe ser. La historia no es una invención y, con todo respeto, tampoco se construye con periodismo. El periodismo cumple otra función social sumamente importante. Es un instrumento que puede ayudar a la historia.
—Para muchos seguirá siendo un personaje malo de la historia.
—Sí, le hicieron muy mala fama en 1977 y 1978, gente que tenía la necesidad de echarle toda la culpa al pasado, y luego los gobiernos del PAN.
—Decías que los del movimiento del 68 finalmente ganaron. ¿Y los guerrilleros?
—Perdieron. Fueron reprimidos. Mejor se dedicaron a otra cosa. La vía armada nunca les funcionó. Perdieron. Por la vía política han logrado mucho más.
* * *
—Has mencionado en varias ocasiones al perdón. ¿Es hora de perdonar?
—Lo que creo y afirmo es que para ir adelante como sociedad, como nación, tenemos que despojarnos de muchos lastres del siglo pasado. Acabar con tabúes. Hay que perdonar los errores.
—¿Y del 68 y los años setenta?
—No me corresponde a mí decir que perdonemos ya a don Gustavo. Ojalá que sí. O a dos o tres militares que cometieron errores gravísimos. Los guerrilleros ya fueron indultados en 1977 y uno que era muy violento es hoy importante en la política.
No olvidar el pasado, pero superarlo. Que a esos años los juzguen los historiadores con objetividad. Hay que quitarnos esos plomos que nos atan al pasado. Bueno, hasta podemos perdonar a quien devaluó la Presidencia hace 10 años.
—¿Ya perdonaste a Vicente Fox?
—No es tan importante, es irrelevante como persona, como saltimbanqui. Pronto andará apoyando al PRD. Da risa y provoca pena.
—¿El Estado mexicano no tendría que pedir perdón por los desparecidos de los años setenta, por ejemplo?
—Estaría de acuerdo si hay responsabilidad del Estado y del gobierno. Yo desconozco detalles, yo era un niño muy mal informado. No puedo decir muchas cosas, pero como estudiante, incluso menor a los participantes de la guerrilla sucia de esa época. Y quiero insistir: para mí, la de los setenta es la guerrilla sucia.
—Los excesos también se dieron de parte del ejército.
—Bueno, ahí están los resultados de la fiscalía. Algunos administradores y algunos oficiales, muy pocos, cometieron errores.
—Por cierto, has mencionado a Rosario Ibarra de Piedra y a su hijo. Doña Rosario ha mantenido una posición muy dura contra el gobierno de tu padre, sobre todo porque en ese sexenio su hijo desapareció. ¿Qué le dirías a Rosario Ibarra?
—No tengo el gusto de conocerla, pero sé que es una luchadora social, una mujer que ha sufrido mucho porque sus hijos resultaron violentos y fuera de la ley. De alguna forma se ha convertido en una “madre de Mayo” mexicana, una mártir. Todo mi respeto para toda mujer y toda madre mexicana. Ella puede ser una santa, pero sus hijos eran unos delincuentes. Le diría: toda mi solidaridad y todo mi cariño, porque así nos enseñó mi madre. Todo mi respeto como persona y como madre que ha sufrido; ojalá y que tenga nietos felices y libres de culpa y perdón.
Ninguna familia es perfecta. Y quienes quisieron dar la vida en la guerrilla escogieron su destino, como quienes los reprimieron, los policías que abusaron, también escogieron vivir con eso el resto de sus días.
Esas son mis palabras. No estoy hablando en nombre de mi familia ni de don Luis. Le diría a doña Rosario que debió aceptar la invitación cordial y amable que le hizo don Luis de entrar a esta casa en dos o tres ocasiones que ha venido a manifestarse a la puerta.
Debió haber aceptado entrar y hablar de frente. Estábamos varios miembros de la familia para cuidarla como mujer y para cuidarlo a él también. Con todo respeto a la persona, corresponde a la misma corriente anacrónica de algunos que se hacen llamar la izquierda mexicana.
—¿Cuáles es el mejor recuerdo que tienes de tu padre?
—El mejor, cuando me acompañó en mi boda y en el bautizo de mi hija. Cuando disfrutamos una buena ensalada y una buena carne en 1978, fuera del país. O cuando me llevó a China a mis 18 años de edad.
¿Del Presidente? Cuando lo vi hablar en las Naciones Unidas a nombre de México y de América Latina. Admiro más al mexicano, y quiero más al padre y lo respeto profundamente.
* * *
Son las 13:30 horas del domingo 22 de septiembre. Esta entrevista concluye en el comedor de la casa de San Jerónimo. Es una de esas mañanas frías y húmedas, que en el sur de la ciudad suelen ser más intensas. A unos pasos, la habitación del ex presidente Echeverría. A ratos se cuelan entre la conversación algunas voces, murmullos que se pierden en los corredores de la casa.
Al ex presidente lo acompaña su hija María Esther y una amiga del propio Echeverría que ha sido su compañía en los últimos años.
Benito Echeverría aparece por los pasillos, que bien podrían ser los de un museo: pinturas de Coronel, de Oswaldo Guayasamín, Tamayo, Siqueiros; esculturas, decenas de árboles de la vida, retratos al óleo de María Esther Zuno y Luis Echeverría, juntos, por separado; artesanías de Chiapas, Oaxaca, de todo el país.
Benito aparece con una veladora en la mano. La acomoda sobre una mesa de cristal y luego de dos intentos (los cerillos están húmedos) la veladora parpadea.
La veladora tiene grabadas frases para alejar los peligros, los malos espíritus. “Contra daños”, se lee en ella.
—¿Y eso? ¿Crees en esos asuntos?
—Creo que después de todo lo que he dicho, la voy a necesitar.
La veladora sigue parpadeando.
_I'm excited and intrigued by the character I shall be playing in Sherlock...
Toby will star in the second episode of the brand new three-part series, which starts filming today. Episode two will be directed by Nick Hurran, who was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries for 'His Last Vow' series three Sherlock episode.
Toby Jones says: “I'm excited and intrigued by the character I shall be playing in Sherlock..."
Co-creator, writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, says: "Delighted to have Toby Jones on board, bringing to life one of Doyle’s finest villains."
Co-creator, writer and executive producer Mark Gatiss adds: "We're thrilled to welcome one of our finest actors to the Sherlock family. I know Toby will embrace the part with true relish!"
Sue Vertue, Executive Producer for Hartswood Films, says: "Great to have Nick Hurran back after his fabulous work in series three, and I've been wanting to work with Toby for ages, so this is a real treat."
Promising laughter, tears, shocks, surprises and extraordinary cases, it was announced last month that series four will begin - with the nation’s favourite detective, the mercurial Sherlock Holmes, back once more on British soil - as Doctor Watson and his wife, Mary, prepare for their biggest ever challenge - becoming parents for the first time.
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, which aired on New Year’s Day this year, was the most watched programme over the festive season with 11.6 million viewers and the highest-ever audience share for a Sherlock episode. The Victorian special was also released in thousands of cinemas around the world to complement the TV broadcast.
Sherlock is written and created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and inspired by the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock is produced by Sue Vertue, and the executive producers are Beryl Vertue, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat for Hartswood Films, Bethan Jones for BBC Cymru Wales and Rebecca Eaton for Masterpiece. It is distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.
CKCompile Heart announces Tokyo Clanpool for PS Vita [Update 2]
Meet Natsume Kannuki, the prime minister and protagonist.
Following the launch of a teaser website yesterday, Compile Heart has announced Tokyo Clanpool for PS Vita.
The game is part of a new Compile Heart and Dengeki PlayStation crossover brand called “Den-Pile.” It features character design by Manamitsu, who previously did some character designs for Megadimension Neptunia VII and Fairy Fencer F.
Tokyo Clanpool is set in a Japan isolated from the outside world after a devastating attack, where a new organization called the “Cyber Tactics Cabinet” was established to fight demons. With the support of the people, the new prime minister, a girl named Natsume Kannuki (voiced by Manami Numakura), leads the Cabinet of girls and fights as they aim to capture the demonic tower known as the “Dark World Diet Tower” that engulfed the National Diet Building.
More information is due out on the June 8 issue of Dengeki PlayStation, which should leak in advance in the early morning on June 6, New York time.
Watch the teaser trailer below.
Update 10:40 p.m.: Dengeki Online has posted a preview article confirming a bit more information.
Tokyo Clanpool is the first title in the Den-Pile brand, which is underlined by the keywords “dungeon RPG revolution.” The protagonist, Natsume Kannuki, is a “beautiful girl prime minister” who will fight alongside her fellow beautiful girl cabinet ministers.
The setting is near-future Tokyo. When a mysterious, upside-down city suddenly appears in the sky, a tower stretching from the city connects to the National Diet Building, forming the demonic tower known as the “Dark World Diet Tower.” The monsters that travel through this tower begin to overflow, and Japan is isolated from the outside world and falls into a state of devastation.
The “Cyber Tactics Cabinet” is established to rebuild the collapsed government and fight against the monsters. Natsume, the protagonist and first-generation prime minister of this new cabinet, aims to capture the “Dark World Diet Tower.”
The game features customization elements through its “Gadgeteers” system, which are cyber spirits themed after gadgets, as well as unique systems related to bills, elections, and the like that leverage its setting.
Degenki PlayStation this week will feature a look at the game’s setting, an introduction to the “Diet Member Dolls” of the Cyber Tactics Division team, an overview of the “Digi-Skins” that transform through the use of a smartphone, and screenshots of the dungeons and battles.
There is also an interview with producer Makoto Kitano and character designer Minatsu featuring comments like, “We aimed to make a dungeon RPG that is pleasant to the touch,” and “Character design took some time, I improved it many times over and completed it to be satisfying.”
Update 06/06/17 at 7:30 a.m.: Characters fight by transforming through the use of a Cyber Smartphone.
One of the game’s unique systems allows you to drill holes in the walls and floors, as well as jump over cliffs.
Your exploration of dungeons is live streamed to the people of Tokyo, who will judge you. In one of the screenshots, an “approval rating” percentage can be seen. If you have a high approval rating from the people, you’ll get special bonuses and support money.
You can have a maximum of four party members. They are:
Natsume Kannuki (voiced by Manami Numakura) – The protagonist. The Cyber Tactics Cabinet’s first Prime Minister. She is a bit sloppy and rough.
(voiced by Manami Numakura) – The protagonist. The Cyber Tactics Cabinet’s first Prime Minister. She is a bit sloppy and rough. Chiyo Saionji (voiced by Yoko Hikasa) – The daughter of a large enterprise. She is strong-willed and hates crooked things. She works as the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
(voiced by Yoko Hikasa) – The daughter of a large enterprise. She is strong-willed and hates crooked things. She works as the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Hotaru Urushihara (voiced by Aimi Tanaka) – The lacking self-confidence and always nervous Minister of Defense. She has a timid personality and is always trying to gauge the feelings of those around her.
(voiced by Aimi Tanaka) – The lacking self-confidence and always nervous Minister of Defense. She has a timid personality and is always trying to gauge the feelings of those around her. Mikuri Kirigakure (voiced by Aya Uchida) – The quarter-foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is a gentle-mannered and kind girl. She loves Japanese culture, but something feels out of place.
The four team members listed about make up the “Diet Member Dolls.” There are a variety of “Skins,” and changing these is one of the game’s customization elements.
Thanks, Hachima Kikou.Baghdad: At least two Sunni Muslim mosques have been attacked in Iraq and two people killed in apparent retaliation for the execution of a senior Shi`ite cleric in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, officials and police said on Monday.Iraqi Shi`ites protesting the Jan.
2 execution of Saudi Shi`ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr separately marched in Baghdad and in southern cities, calling for a boycott of Saudi products and severing ties with the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
Iraq`s Interior Ministry confirmed the attacks on Sunni mosques late Sunday in Hilla, around 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi blamed them on "Daesh (Islamic State) and those who are similar to them," without further explanation.
He ordered provincial authorities "to chase the criminal gangs" who attacked the mosques.
Iraq has faced sectarian bloodletting for years, mainly between minority Sunnis and a Shi`ite majority empowered after the US-led invasion in 2003. The battle against Sunni Islamic State militants who control large swathes of the north and west has only exacerbated those tensions.
The spark for Sunday`s attacks appears to have been Nimr`s execution a day earlier, which triggered angry reactions in Shi`ite-ruled Iraq and Iran.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with regional rival Iran on Sunday after protesters attacked the kingdom`s embassy in Tehran. Bahrain, the Shi`ite-majority Gulf state ruled by a Sunni family, and Sudan followed suit on Monday.
Pro |
id Abaaoud? Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Who was Abdelhamid Abaaoud? 02:02
France's RMC radio interviewed a woman claiming to be the witness who tipped off investigators to Abdelhamid Abaaoud's whereabouts in the days after the November attacks.
The woman's voice was disguised in the interview, and her identity was not revealed. She told RMC that she was friends with Abaaoud's cousin and met the attack mastermind when they were looking for a place to stay.
The interview, which also aired on CNN affiliate BFMTV, reveals new details about the ringleader and his plan:
• Abaaoud was planning to carry out attacks against a police station and a child care center in the Paris business district of La Defense on November 19, the woman says, citing a conversation she had with his cousin.
Read MoreThe official website of the second season of the My Hero Academia television anime announced on Friday that the first episode of the second season will be a recap episode of the first season, with some scenes of new footage. The first episode is titled "Boku no Hero Academia Hero Note." The concept of the episode is based on the meticulous notebooks that protagonist Izuku Midoriya keeps that detail other heroes' abilities.
While Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine had revealed in December that the second anime season adapting Kōhei Horikoshi's original My Hero Academia manga was slated to premiere in April, the site lists the premiere as March 25. However, the first episode after the recap episode will premiere on April 1.
The new season's new cast members include Wataru Hatano as Hitoshi Shinsō, Azu Sakura as Mei Hatsume, Saki Ogasawara as Itsuka Kendō, Kōji Okino as Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Miho Masaka as Ibara Shiozaki, and Kōhei Amasaki as Neito Monoma.
Kenji Nagasaki is returning to direct the series at BONES, with Yousuke Kuroda returning to write and oversee the scripts. Yoshihiko Umakoshi is again serving as the character designer and chief animation director, and Yuuki Hayashi is also returning to compose the music. The main cast from the first season is also returning.
The new season will cover the U.A. Sports Festival arc of Horikoshi's original manga.
Source: Dengeki Online (Takenoko)Osama bin Laden. AP There are a lot of puzzled expressions on people's faces when it comes to the subject of the late Osama bin Laden and why the White House has not authorized the release of any pictures of the body.
Photographs and video were released of Saddam Hussein's hanging, as well as post-mortem pictures of his criminal sons, Uday and Qusay, after Delta Force took them out.
Why not release a few pictures of Public Enemy #1 to prove that he is dead and show the world what happens when you take on the US of A?
Matt Bissonnette, one of the SEAL Team Six operators on the raid, partially outs the reason in his book, No Easy Day. The book reads, "In his death throes, he was still twitching and convulsing.
"Another assaulter and I trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds. The bullets tore into him, slamming his body into the floor until he was motionless," Bissonnette writes.
An aerial view of the compound that Osama bin Laden was killed in, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Department of Defense
But this is perhaps the most measured and polite description that one could give of how operator after operator took turns dumping magazines-worth of ammunition into bin Laden's body, two confidential sources within the community have told us. When all was said and done, UBL had over a hundred bullets in him, by the most conservative estimate.
But was it illegal? Under the Laws of Land Warfare, a soldier is fully authorized to put a few insurance rounds into his target after he goes down. Provided the enemy is not surrendering, it is morally, legally, and ethically appropriate to shoot the body a few times to ensure that he is really dead and no longer a threat. However, what happened on the Bin Laden raid is beyond excessive. The level of excess shown was not about making sure that Bin Laden was no longer a threat. The excess was pure self-indulgence.
You may not care if bin Laden got some extra holes punched in him, few of us do, but what should concern you is a trend within certain special operations units to engage in this type of self-indulgent, and ultimately criminal, behavior. Gone unchecked, these actions get worse over time.
Getty Images
The real issue is not that bin Laden was turned into Swiss cheese, but rather that this type of behavior has become a Standard Operating Procedure in this unit. Of course, these attitudes and behaviors do not come out of nowhere. Endless back-to-back combat deployments, PTSD, broken families, and war itself all plays into it.
Now you know the real reason why the Obama administration has not released pictures of Osama bin Laden's corpse. To do so would show the world a body filled with a ridiculous number of gunshot wounds.
The picture itself would likely cause an international scandal, and investigations would be conducted which could uncover other operations, activities which many will do anything to keep buried.
If you enjoyed this article please consider becoming a member of the SOFREP community, and support our all military veteran writing team. News &Analysis from Military & Special Operations veterans. Click here for more info.The Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to dedicate $27 million in the next fiscal year to Vision Zero, a plan to eliminate the city’s rising traffic deaths. The plan will also point LA towards a future of fewer cars.
“Today’s vote shows that the City of Los Angeles is going to step up to make our streets safer and our communities better places to live, work and enjoy,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin.
Bonin joined a coalition of councilmembers including Paul Krekorian, Nury Martinez, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and Jose Huizar, who rallied to procure more funding for the initiative after a hearing on Friday where Vision Zero’s budget was chopped to only $3 million, far less than the $16.6 originally recommended by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
More than $27 million will now go to Vision Zero programs, including a critical $8.3 million for infrastructure improvements like streetscape redesigns, curb extensions, and road diets along the city’s 40 most dangerous corridors.
The funds will come from the local return money of Measure M, the transportation sales tax voters approved in November, and SB 1, a new statewide gas tax.
The plan was called a “compromise” by Councilmember David Ryu, who was part of a separate faction of councilmembers who argued that Measure M had been marketed as a way to fix roads and wanted two-thirds of the local return amount to be allocated to street repaving. Bonin had originally proposed an alternate plan to allocate two-thirds of Measure M funds to Vision Zero.
Although all councilmembers who spoke said they were in favor of Vision Zero, there was lingering hesitation about using Measure M funds to pay for it. The motion at this morning’s budget hearing was followed by an informed, nuanced, and mostly cordial conversation about the ways that Vision Zero and street resurfacing goals could work together to help Angelenos get around.
The discussion was framed by Krekorian, who claimed “incorrect reporting” (ahem, was he talking about us?) had gotten the council’s recommendation wrong, and Vision Zero was never in danger of being defunded. He made the case that streets in disrepair could both hinder Vision Zero’s goals and cost the city money, citing the $4.5 million lawsuit settled earlier this month with the family of a cyclist who was killed when he struck uneven pavement in Eagle Rock. Earlier in the budget conversation, the council had moved to allocate $100 million to address to lawsuits like this brought against the city.
“Residents are paying with their lives. In parts of the city, the simple act of walking can become a life or death decision.”
The most passionate plea came from Councilmember Martinez, whose San Fernando Valley district is home to the deadliest intersection in the city (Roscoe and Van Nuys). She argued that improving safety infrastructure promotes equity in underserved neighborhoods, which often have the highest rate of fatalities.
“Resurfacing streets is important, but if people are dying or being seriously injured on our streets, what good is a resurfaced street?” she said. “We must stop talking about reducing traffic accidents and actually put resources behind this goal.”
Harris-Dawson, who said he has been “scared to death” to walk on certain LA streets, echoed her concerns, pointing out that in places like South LA, the basic safety infrastructure was never built in the first place.
“Residents are paying with their lives,” he said. “In parts of the city, the simple act of walking can become a life or death decision.”
Perhaps the most intriguing curveball in the discussion was a street improvement idea specific to autonomous vehicles from Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who, it should be noted, biked his two-hour commute to City Hall with Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition executive director Tamika Butler this morning.
Buscaino said he wants to prepare LA for driverless cars with a “smart streets” strategy, which could employ sensors, kiosks, and other tech designed for automated vehicles.
(It should be noted that if the streets were truly smart, they would also be dramatically reduced in size, as autonomous vehicles will not need as much on-street parking and the ability to share them would mean far fewer cars on the road.)
Advocates see the the $27 million for Vision Zero as a win, even though it’s far less than the $80 million which the city’s Department of Transportation general manager Seleta Reynolds says she would need just to reduce traffic deaths by 20 percent. Her department will provide a detailed update on Vision Zero initiatives and activities using the new budget by late June.At the risk of turning this blog into a place where I mostly post things I might want to find later, here are some interviews I did a few years ago with some friends when I was in grad school at the University of California, San Diego. We produced them because interviews can be quite helpful for budding scientists in need of advice and interviews of scientists are unfortunately uncommon (thank you Reddit for hosting AMAs!). Even though these interviews are a bit dated now, there are still some gems in them. In particular my favorite question/answer in the series belongs to computational neuroscientist Terry Sejnowski, who answered the question “Have there been any people or experiences that have particularly influenced how you think about the brain?” with:
“I have been inspired by many colleagues but I have learned the most about the brain from my students.”
Indeed, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate more and more the critical importance of fresh minds for driving an academic discipline forward.
Below are the interviews with Terry, as well as the late neuroscientist Robert Galambos (who proved that bats use echolocation), neuroimaging pioneer Anders Dale, and consciousness scientist/philosopher David Chalmers. Enjoy:
• Groppe, D.M. & Filimon, F. (2008) An interview with Terry Sejnowski. Cognitive Science Online, 3.1, http://cogsci-online.ucsd.edu/6/6-3.pdf.
• Groppe, D.M. (2004) An interview with Robert Galambos. Cognitive Science Online, 2.1, http://cogsci-online.ucsd.edu/column_archive/CSO2-1-interview.pdf.
• Groppe, D.M. & Yu, H.-H. (2004) An interview with Anders Dale. Cognitive Science Online, 1.2, http://cogsci-online.ucsd.edu/column_archive/CSO1-2-interview.pdf.
• Lovett, C. & Groppe, D.M. (2004) An interview with David Chalmers. Cognitive Science Online, 1.1, http://cogsci-online.ucsd.edu/column_archive/CSO1-1-interview.pdf.
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Through the eye of the beholder
T o be or not to be — that is the question. But what about being human? What does that entail? And how does one begin to even approach the unfathomable task of condensing millennia of our earthly existence into remotely comprehensible terms? In Under the Skin, director Jonathan Glazer explores these questions and more, by distilling human nature to a few choice emotions — lust, compassion, fear — all as seen through the eyes of an alien observer who bears a striking resemblance to Scarlett Johansson.
Unlike the novel by author Michael Faber, on which the film loosely finds its basis, little is revealed about the identity of Johansson's otherworldly femme fatale, a raven-haired seductress who prowls the highways and byways of Glasgow in an innocuous white van. In the book, she was Isserley, an agent of an alien conglomerate sent to Earth to ensnare suitable human specimens — and male hitchhikers were her chosen prey. In the film version, her character is defined by the aura of mystery that surrounds her, as Glazer and co-writer Walter Campbell jettison the original story's more tangible elements, reducing it to its metaphysical core and leaving viewers to speculate on her backstory and motives.
As the film's nameless heroine, Johansson's appearance is meant to allow her to fade into the background; instead it's almost iconic — adorned by her fur coat, her come-hither stare and pouty red lips framed by a mane of stark black hair — bringing to mind Sean Young's character of Rachael in Blade Runner (and indeed, Under the Skin is almost a companion piece to that film, touching on similar themes). Both demure and deadly, she uses her feminine wiles on a string of unsuspecting men — most of whom she meets by the roadside — luring and trapping them beneath sinister, black waters, from which the only hope of escape comes through the liquification of their tissue, organs and bones. Her numerous conquests takes an unexpected toll on her, however, when she finds herself developing empathy for her victims, leading her to abandon her predatory mission in favor of a more self-exploratory one. But the further she allows herself to be drawn into the myriad of human emotion, the more vulnerable she becomes — until finally, the huntress becomes the hunted.
At first glance, it would seem that Under the Skin shares a kinship with the 1995 film Species. Not only do the two films embrace the common theme of female sexual empowerment, they both revolve around a female character who turns the tables on her male counterparts. But there's much more lurking beneath the surface of Johansson's character, for her endgame isn't mere sexual gratification, nor is she driven by a desire to copulate. She only entices her victims with the promise of sex, just as the film titillates with lingering shots of her naked frame.
Glazer explores the aspect of repressed sexuality throughout the course of the narrative, using it as a turning point for her journey of self-discovery, much of which is told not through words, but — quite literally — through Johansson's eyes. Because though she speaks, her words belie her true thoughts. Though she emotes, it's no more than a show put on for the benefit of the men she tries to entrap. And when she's deep in thought — whether it's watching as a scene of human tragedy unfolds before her on a stormy shoreline or intently studying her physique in a mirror — she's utterly expressionless.
The only insight into her thought processes comes from examining the subtle shifting of the pupils or the slightest furrowing of the brow. Johansson's performance is inward-facing to the nth degree, but at the same time it's altogether absorbing and mesmerizing to watch. And in tandem with the unorthodox approach Glazer took to shooting many of the film's scenes — using a hidden camera to film Johansson's encounters with everyday Glaswegians — and composer Mica Levi's haunting (and alien-sounding) score, it helps to create a heightened sense of realism, resulting in a brooding cinéma vérité experience that blurs the line between reality and fiction.
The Bottom Line
Under the Skin may exhibit all the outward trappings of sci-fi fare, but in truth it escapes classification. Director Jonathan Glazer's examination of themes of humanity and sexuality — filtered through the gaze of an alien pretender who is ultimately seduced and betrayed by the nature of her prey — is part glossy science fiction parable, part introspective character study. It's also deceptively minimalistic and strangely voyeuristic — and thanks to Scarlett Johansson's entrancing performance, it will get under your skin like no other film ever has or ever will. [★★★★]The transition between classical physics and quantum physics is always fascinating. How does an object go from behaving in a deterministic manner to occupying the quantum world, where its activities are a matter of probability? At the boundary between the two, we cannot behave as if something is entirely classical or entirely quantum—rather, we need to treat it as a mixture of the two.
In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, researchers show that they can manipulate both the classical and quantum parts of a Rydberg atom with a microwave field. In the process, they get an electron to orbit in an almost predictable manner.
A group of researchers has been studying how to manipulate the states of Rydberg atoms. These are atoms with one electron excited to a very highly energetic state (see sidebar). In this state, an electron still has some wave-like properties, but it is also very much like a particle, in that it can really be thought of as orbiting the nucleus in a circular or elliptical orbit. So, you can think of a little cigar-shaped wave of "electron-ness" whipping around the nucleus of the atom at a fairly high rate.
Going down the rabbit hole of quantum mechanics An atom consists of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons that are trapped by their attraction to the nucleus. In school, we often learn to picture this as a tiny solar system, with the electrons in fixed circular orbits around the nucleus. Such a picture is useful, but almost entirely wrong. Instead, you need to think of each electron as a wave that is spread out around the nucleus. It is, literally, everywhere around the atom once. And, as we add electrons to our atom, the shape of the waves the new electrons take on are different. Some are spherical in nature, meaning that the wave is evenly spread around the nucleus; while others are lobed so that the wave is more concentrated in some spatial locations and not in others. If we were to try and find an electron, we could; it would appear as a particle at some specific location. That would seem to contradict what I have just written, but there's a link between the two: the amplitude of the wave at a location dictates the probability of finding the electron-as-a-particle at that location. These electrons are also stacked in terms of energy. If you consider Neon, it has ten electrons. Two are paired up in the lowest energy, a spherically shaped shell, and two more are in the next shell. The final six are at higher energy, paired up and divided among three lobed shells. But the ten protons have sufficient attractive force to hold on to electrons at higher energies than those in the outermost shell. Indeed, every atom has empty energy levels hanging around like family members at the death of a rich uncle. Because the energy gap between each energy level gets smaller with each step up in energy, there are, in principle, an infinite number of energy levels—though the energy required for an electron to escape the atom remains finite. It is possible to excite an electron into these upper levels, creating a Rydberg atom. When they are excited to these higher energy levels, electrons are rather interesting. They are still confined, so they have wave-like properties. But the wave isn't initially spread out around the entire shell—instead, it is localized in a wave packet that orbits the nucleus rather like a planet.
But this nice, clean situation doesn't last very long. In less than 100ns, the electron will either be gone from the orbit, or, if it's still in the orbit, the wave packet will have spread out, so the electron is effectively everywhere around the nucleus again.
What the researchers wanted to do is to see if they could keep the electron wave packet together to create an indefinitely predictable orbit. To do this, they illuminated the atom with microwaves with a frequency that coincided with the expected orbital frequency. In slightly more detail, the researchers create the Rydberg atom and shine a microwave on it for a fixed period of time, then kick the electron out of orbit and see where it hits a detector. By back-tracking, they could figure out where the electron was when it was kicked out. By running this experiment multiple times, they could figure out how predictable the electron's orbit is.
The experimental results show that, over the short term (about 50ns) the microwave field makes very little difference, and may even make things slightly worse. However, by 100ns, the electron wave packet is orbiting in a highly predictable fashion. And this continues indefinitely—the researchers stopped at a microsecond, inadvertently showing that scientists have an extremely limited attention span.
The explanation for this time dependence appears to be the due to the starting conditions. When the electron is kicked out of its normal state and into the very high energy state, it ends up at a random location, so the phase difference between the electron and the microwave field differs between experiments. Some time is then spent gently bringing the electron into phase with the microwave field, after which it stays locked to the microwave field and orbits the atom quite happily.
The researchers also showed that this locking process can be used to smoothly shift an electron from one energy level to another. They did this by first locking the electron to the microwave and then slowly changing the microwave frequency. This speeds up or slows down the electron wave packet (depending on whether you increase or decrease the frequency), shifting the electron from one energy level to the other without the loss of phase information. This process, called an adiabatic passage, is quite a common theoretical technique, but is often difficult to pull off experimentally.
This is really a paper about control rather than anything else. Rydberg atoms are a simple model system for testing quantum mechanics over a range of energy scales. With this research, we have gained an extra knob via which we can tune interactions between Rydberg atoms. It may then be possible to translate findings from these experiments to more applied systems.
Physical Review Letters, 2012, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.043001Announced at the 2000AD 40 Years Of Thrill Power Festival, in Hammersmith today, Jason Kingsley of gaming company Rebellion and publishers of 2000AD, announced a new initiative for the company.
Best known as a games publisher and developer, Rebellion have made a number of 2000AD-based games, but feel they are at full capacity, and are leaving too many classic and exploitable properties on the shelf.
So they are opening up 2000AD’s library of characters to other game developers, for licensing purposes. Talking to Bleeding Cool after the announcement, Kingsley emphasised that while he has had many media approaches for exploiting 2000AD characters, and has something big to announce later this year, video game makers have often seen reticent, as they see Rebellion as a competitor.
But he talked about wanting to work with other game developers and giving them freedom to expand on the 2000AD library, including Judge Dredd and Dredd-related characters. He said he’s love to see someone take on Mega City One’s Helltrekkers…
So anyone interested? Get in touch. Kingsley expects dozens rather than hundreds of inquiries but sees four to five games possibly developed from other publishers in the near future.
About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist.
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None foundRenderings of Jersey City's Montgomery Gardens mixed housing plan. This project didn't benefit from the city's PILOT program, but it's an example of the city's vision of mixed-income development. Jersey City Mayor's Office
The city wants to steer mixed-income development to all its neighborhoods with clever tax incentives.
“Jersey City is really blowing up.” That’s a common refrain among people living in and around New Jersey’s second-largest city. The historically industrial area has come a long way from the 1960s and 1970s, when jobs, residents, and investment began to disappear. The city has since repackaged itself as the cheaper, homier alternative to Manhattan and Brooklyn. Today it has young and diverse residents, many of whom work in New York, a short train ride away. By living on the Jersey side of the Hudson they avoid those high New York state income taxes. But Jersey City’s growth, like that of so many U.S. cities, has been unequal. New residents funnel into the swanky, walkable neighborhoods downtown and along the waterfront, where most of the last decade’s development has taken place. The annual median household income of Port Liberté, for example, is $100,000. Rents there can climb above $2,000 a month. In less sought-after neighborhoods, meanwhile, median household income ranges between $20-30,000, and rent can dip below $750. (For context, the city’s median household income is approximately $58,000.) Some of these neighborhoods are losing residents, especially the ones far from transit options. In the coming years, Jersey City’s overall population rise is expected to accelerate, and the housing stock is expected to increase by 20 percent by 2020. To ensure this growth is equitable, the city has unveiled a clever new housing policy that employs a seemingly simple strategy: tax incentives. Local officials believe the plan can preserve community while promoting development—a harmony that’s proved so elusive elsewhere.
“Where many urban areas in the country have affordable housing condensed into one area and market rate elsewhere, we think a healthy city has both market rate and affordable touching every corner of the city,” Mayor Steven Fulop tells CityLab. An “innovative” approach Jersey City’s new housing plan is expected to become effective in the coming months after adjustments to the city code. It hinges on the extension of Fulop’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) policy, instituted in 2013, which offered developers stronger incentives to build in neighborhoods that were getting less attention from the market. So far it seems to be working. CityFixer Solutions for an Urbanizing World Go “[The PILOT plan] been instrumental for moving housing away from the waterfront, which was the original location of the market housing,” says James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, who is familiar with the 2013 policy’s outcomes. Hughes gives the example of Journal Square, a neighborhood that was languishing before PILOT but is now hosting new development. The updated PILOT plan divides the city into four zones (below) with their own set of tax incentives and affordability requirements. Tiers 1 and 2 cover areas that are already quite developed. To build here, builders have shorter-term property tax abatements—exemptions or subsidies that reduce the cost of construction. Tiers 3 and 4 cover neighborhoods where the city wants to lure developers; these places have longer-term abatements. Each tier requires builders to construct or fund some affordable housing in the city.
Tier 1, for example, has a tax-abatement term of 10 years. To build in this zone, PILOT requires developers to set aside 10 percent of the total number of units for affordable housing. Tier 4, on the other hand, has an abatement term of 30 years, and requires 15 percent affordable housing contribution. If developers in any zone want to extend their tax-abatement period, they’ll have to commit to building additional affordable units. (Jersey City Mayor’s Office) Simply put, Jersey City would offer the smallest tax incentives for market-rate development in already-coveted neighborhoods—along with strong requirements for affordable housing. In less sought-after neighborhoods, meanwhile, it would offer the strong incentives for all development. Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... “What makes the Jersey City plan innovative … is that it varies the level of the tax incentives for development based on the market characteristics of the neighborhood,” Alan Berube, senior fellow and deputy director of the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program tells CityLab via email. “Too often cities fail to use these incentives strategically, or they spread them around like peanut butter.” Tipping the scale toward affordability Officials say many of the city's underdeveloped areas would remain that way without the tax subsidies at the core of the plan. By jumpstarting development in these vacant places, which currently aren't generating tax revenue, the PILOT policy will lead to an expanded tax base, more property taxes, and greater overall economic activity. They also argue their approach to affordable housing is more cost-effective than other alternatives. "Ultimately, the incentives that we're using are still cheaper than if the city was to go through acquiring property itself and construction of huge numbers of affordable housing,” Fulop says. Berube, who praised the plan via email, does warn of a potential pitfall. As with Seattle’s new affordable housing plan, Jersey City developers have the option to donate to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund instead of putting up affordable units on their site. (State laws mandate that developers have a choice to waive affordable housing requirements; in other cities, similar requirements have come under fire.) This option might let them buy out of developing affordable units in high-demand neighborhoods, and lead to the type of imbalance Jersey City is trying to resolve. City officials aren’t worried—they’re confident the tax incentives will tip the scale in favor of building on-site affordable housing. Hughes, the Rutgers planning professor, points out that because the state has the highest property taxes in the country, the tax abatement incentive is particularly potent here. With the PILOT policy, there’s a much greater chance that affordable units are built where they’re needed, he says. Plus, affordability is what can help Jersey City maintain its advantage over Manhattan and Brooklyn, which would be good for the city’s overall housing economy. “Jersey City has a natural cost advantage,” says Hughes. “But the greater its cost advantage in terms of rent levels, the greater share of the [regional] housing market they're going to be able to secure."Did you see the list of just over 100 Christian colleges and universities put on a so-called “Shame List” by the LGBT group Campus Pride? If a college as much as hosted a campus speaker critical of homosexuality, it made the list — this, because such colleges are deemed “dangerous” by Campus Pride.
Joseph McCarthy Shane Windmeyer, the head of Campus Pride, has an op-ed up on NBCNews.com in which he calls on corporations to blacklist graduates from these universities. Excerpt:
The business case for equality is clear. If companies take pride in “being inclusive and welcoming to all” and say that “discrimination is wrong,” these same corporations must consider their associations with these 102 anti-LGBTQ campuses. Discrimination under the guise of religion is still discrimination. It is the most oppressive and hurtful kind of bias and prejudice to LGBTQ people, who have been victimized by religion-based bigotry for many years. The harmful association with anti-LGBTQ laws and policies is cause for alarm for any business looking toward the future. If a campus wishes to have an anti-LGBTQ policy sanctioned under the law with a Title IX exemption, that is their choice. Campus Pride published the Shame List so everyone will know about these campuses. Corporations also have a choice to exercise their values. Don’t donate to these campuses. Don’t recruit or hire at these colleges. Simply choose not to do business with those who choose discrimination over inclusion and diversity.
How long do you think those colleges and universities will be able to hold out if major corporations, yielding to pressure from LGBT groups, treat diplomas from there as badges of shame? If graduate schools refuse to consider students with bachelor’s degrees from the “shame” schools?
How many of those schools on the Shame List will be there in 20 years?
These activists don’t want to dialogue with you, except to negotiate the terms of your school’s surrender.
To some of us, the failure of a Christian college or university to make the list is an occasion of shame.
UPDATE: A college professor (whose school is not on the list) writes:
Campus Pride’s so-called “Shame List” is certainly worthy of eye-rolling and snark, which seems to be the reaction from most of the commenters. But I think this list, and the accompanying Op-Ed, will be one of those cultural markers we look back on from a post-liberal, post-Christian future, and will be able to point to as a turning point. (Granted, my position in academia makes me more sensitive, perhaps, to this kind of thing.) Yes, much of the information is not new and these sorts of legal battles have been ongoing for a decade or more. But there are elements of the Shame List (hard to write that without much eye-rolling) that should make traditional conservatives sit up and take notice, particularly in a post-Eich society. What struck me as especially disturbing about the list was the description of Westmont College’s “offense”: according to Campus Pride, Westmont expressed “Verbal opposition to pro-LGBTQ legislation.” If you follow the group’s link, you can find Westmont’s perfectly reasonable letter about California SB1146. The president expresses a desire to defeat the bill, which would undoubtedly represent quite a reach by the state into the affairs of a private, religiously affiliated college. As we know, the crux of all of this is access to federal financial aid: if your students can’t access it, your days as a college are either numbered or at least made vastly more difficult. The college did not donate money, the way Eich did. It simply released a statement — “verbal opposition,” as Campus Pride says — opposing a bill in the democratic process, as is its, and my, and your, right. This debate is a political problem, in the sense of politics as an attempt to satisfy multiple constituencies in democratic life. As such, it will inevitably break down into a series of compromises, which is exactly what politics is. And, it’s worth mentioning, what politics should be. But Campus Pride insists that what matters here is not politics or the democratic process, but some kind of moral purity as represented in free speech. When we are dealing with a complex federal budget, we are all going to support things we don’t want to. I don’t like that my tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood or drone strikes that kill innocent children, but I also know that, on some level, that’s the price I pay for living in a democratic society and for getting money for the causes I care about. Campus Pride has missed this, and that’s a crucial point: in their view, no taxpayer money should be directed toward groups they see as “exclusionary” as defined by a private group, not by public consensus. This is Athenian Democracy 101 — that when we pool money, we ineluctably support things we’re not crazy about — that you can read about in Aristotle’s Politics, but Campus Pride has, in classic Enlightened Modernity fashion, now seen a thing that was never there and claimed it to be eternal. Worse, follow Campus Pride’s logic: Group A has a policy we dislike, and so we encourage incomparably powerful structures (for what else are corporations?) to boycott and blacklist anyone associated with Group A. The gay rights movement was marginalized for many years. The fact that they are now calling for hegemonic and anti-democratic powers to join them in silencing people who verbally disagree should be a huge cause for concern. And this is not even to mention that they don’t want to just silence Group A but in fact anyone associated with it, including, potentially, a gay student who had the poor luck to graduate from there. Traditional conservatives should not roll our eyes at this development. A neo-McCarthyist group is explicitly asking the forces of the neoliberal corporate state to join forces with them in expelling dissenters from gay rights orthodoxy not just from the public square, but from the public and from the society. The goal is not to win an argument; the goal is to drive someone away. The goal, bluntly, is to symbolically kill them. That such vengeance is emanating from a recently disenfranchised group is very disheartening. That the movement is calling for a State-Corporate fusion in order to excise Christian enemies is terrifying.
You can get on the blacklist simply by inviting a speaker to campus that disagrees with the LGBT activist line.
I would point out that Campus Pride has a major national corporate sponsor: the supermarket chain Food Lion. With its sponsorship, Food Lion supports blacklisting Christian colleges and their graduates. Why should Christian grocery shoppers support Food Lion?With 13 opening weekends remaining in the movie year, the Oscar bubble is already alarmingly inflated. Big doings are afoot, people! Brace yourselves for some Shakespearean drama as two popular Brits playing two complicated protagonists, Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game and Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, vie for slots in the Best Actor race! That category is so competitive that one Oscar columnist has already suggested that it would be an injustice not to expand it to 10 contenders, since even though none of the movies in question has opened, this is the best acting year in the history of sound film. (As Lewis Carroll explained in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “Everybody has won and all must have prizes.”) Meanwhile, with her performance as a victim of early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice, Julianne Moore has turned the Best Actress race upside down — an especially acrobatic feat since there is no Best Actress race yet. Of course, the Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York film festivals changed everything, too — they changed everything, like, half a dozen times! — which has created so much tumult that we might need all of October to sort it out, which we must do because in November, another game changer will enter the race when Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar opens; that film will doubtless rechange everything until Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken changes everything back, or forward, or at least differently, in December. Things are moving faster than they would if Shonda Rhimes snorted a double line of Adderall before dictating a Scandal script onto her |
questions to fpenergy@nationalpost.com or join the conversation at 1pm ET on April 2.
[npscribble id=519006]Beijing is seen in many quarters of Europe as something akin to an economic savior. The price might be steep.
Chinese foreign policy has been stuck in a rough patch for the last two years. In East Asia, its territorial and maritime disputes with its neighbors have growing more ugly and dangerous. The all-important Sino-U.S. ties are seriously strained because of cyber espionage, Washington’s support for China’s defiant neighbors, and rising strategic distrust.
But for Beijing, there is at least one bright spot on the external front: its relations with major European countries have never been better. One can gauge Chinese success in wooing Europe by the number of European leaders who have jetted off to Beijing in recent years.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has just concluded her seventh visit to China since 2005. But she was late by comparison. In December last year, British Prime Minister David Cameron, more than 100 business executives in tow, descended on Beijing eager for deals. The gold medal for courting China’s new leadership goes to French President Francois Hollande, who became the first major European leader to pay respects to newly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping in April last year.
The Sino-European lovefest is by no means a one-way street. The latest Chinese charm offensive in Europe was led by President Xi himself. In April of this year, he swung through the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Belgium on a highly publicized state visit and became the first Chinese president to be hosted by the European Union at its headquarters in Brussels. In June, China’s number two, Premier Li Keqiang, was in Britain (where he was given an audience with the Queen, an unusual gesture that broke British royal protocol because Li was not a head of state).
Beijing’s diplomatic success in Europe has as much to do with China’s Machiavellian tactics as with European weaknesses. Chinese leaders have long spotted Europe’s well-known Achilles’ heel—lack of policy coordination, rivalry, excessive belief in its soft power, and desperate urge to compete with American firms for deals in China. In addition, unlike the United States, which as the guarantor of peace and stability in Asia unavoidably has conflicting security interests vis-à-vis China, Europe blissfully is far removed from the geopolitical tensions generated by China’s growing military power and assertive foreign policy.
As a result, Chinese leaders seem to know which buttons to push to produce desired response in Europe. With European economies either growing more dependent on exports to China (such as Germany) or desperately trying to strike new deals with China as a source of growth (that’s everybody else), China is seen in many quarters of Europe as something akin to its economic savior. As two-way Sino-EU trade in goods and services reached nearly $650 billion last year (EU exports to China topped $237 billion in 2013, a new record), China now can use its enormous leverage to achieve its strategic goals.
One of these goals is to ensure that major European powers would respect Chinese “core interests” as Beijing defines them. To be sure, this has been a bitter pill for the Europeans to swallow. Take human rights for example. Long-time watchers of Europe know that its leaders have taken immense pride in their promotion of human rights. But apparently these Europe’s political elites had little idea of who they were dealing with when they tried to stick to their professed principles. In the case of China, European leaders began by optimistically assuming that they could have their proverbial cake and eat it, too. Specifically, they thought that they could continue to maintain cordial official ties with Beijing and sign business deals even if they occasionally risk gestures on human rights that might upset Chinese leaders.
They found out, bitterly and belatedly, that they were totally wrong when one of their gestures on human rights in China—meeting the Dalai Lama— infuriated Beijing to such an extent that China adopted harsh punitive measures (suspension of high-level contact and business deals) until major European leaders (privately) acknowledged their mistakes and promised not to offend Beijing again. So far Beijing’s tactics have a 100 percent success rate—successive European leaders (including David Cameron and Angela Merkel) have been subjected to such treatment and appeared to have been cured of their desire to meet the Dalai Lama, who appears to be welcome only in two capitals—Washington and Tokyo—these days.
The coming test of China’s ability to influence Europe’s foreign policy is clearly on the security front. A decade ago, Beijing suffered an embarrassing defeat when its efforts to get the EU to lift its post-Tiananmen arms embargo fizzled out due to American opposition. Although China has not made another attempt to put the Europeans on the spot, observers need to watch how Europeans react to the rising geopolitical tensions in East Asia and the continuing deterioration in U.S.-China relations. So far, European leaders have been treading carefully on China’s territorial disputes with its neighbors, perhaps out of deference to Beijing’s professed “core interests.” No major European leaders have publicly criticized Chinese actions. Beijing must be surely pleased.
Washington can only watch the warm Sino-EU ties and European habit of capitulating to Beijing’s pressure tactics with frustration. In the short-term, there is little else the U.S. can do. European leaders are pragmatists and know they must do anything to lift their economic fortune before they can stiffen their spines. Unfortunately, Chinese leaders know this, too.
Minxin Pei is the Tom and Margot Pritzker ’72 Professor of Government and a non-resident senior fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Image: Flickr/ European Parliament /CC by-nc-nd 2.0You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters
— One minute, their 12-year-old daughter was happily flying in the air at the North Carolina State Fair. The next, she was falling 10 feet to the ground, crying and asking why.
“You heard a snap, and then you heard a snapping of cords,” said Rich Gallagher.
“It sounded like something broke,” said his wife, Renee Gallagher.
Brigitte Gallagher, of Raleigh, fell while on the bungee jump on Oct. 17 at this year’s State Fair. The cable holding her unraveled and sent her plummeting to the ground, leaving her with serious injuries, including a broken foot that will require multiple surgeries.
“I was up on the ride, and it broke and it dropped me behind the pad,” she said. “It kind of felt like I was flying and then falling and everything at once … I kind of hit feet first, and then I kind of rolled backwards.”
Brigitte’s accident marks the second time in two years that someone has been seriously injured at the State Fair. On Oct. 24, 2013, five people were injured when The Vortex – a ride known for its wild twirls and flips – started moving while people were getting off and dropped some unsecured passengers 20 feet onto the ride's metal floor.
A criminal investigation found that a safety mechanism designed to keep the ride from moving had been disabled. The ride's operator, Timothy Dwayne Tutterrow, and owner, Joshua Macaroni, were later arrested in the case.
What is different about Brigitte’s case, though, is that fair officials quietly investigated her accident outside of the media spotlight. Her story has not been reported until now.
Brigitte’s parents say it’s the lingering emotional trauma of the accident that they can't seem to get past. Rich Gallagher remembers his heart dropping as he watched his daughter fall. His wife, a normally polite, unflustered woman, says she began shoving strangers aside to get to her daughter.
"I was a crazy person, pushing people out of the way," Renee Gallagher said. “I was on my feet as soon as I heard the snap. I was on my feet before she was even dropping, and when I got to her, she was just on the ground shaking, (saying), ‘Mommy, why did it drop me?’”
The impact of the fall broke the second metatarsal bone on the top of Brigitte's left foot. She also suffered a torn ligament and broke one of her braces. Doctors surgically implanted a plate and six screws in her foot, but she will eventually need more surgery to remove the hardware, her parents say. For now, Brigitte is in a wheelchair to keep her weight off her foot. She’ll soon get a cast and then a boot when she moves to crutches.
The recovery process will be long and has already caused Brigitte, a seventh-grader at The Franciscan School in Raleigh, to miss out on competitive diving and social activities, including her first middle school dance, pumpkin carving with her art club and trick-or-treating at Halloween.
An investigative report by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture cited a man who witnessed Brigitte's accident. He said he thought a cable on the bungee jump malfunctioned. The operator of the amusement said the motor failed to capture the cable when it was supposed to.
The Department of Agriculture has turned over its findings to the state Department of Labor. A spokeswoman for the labor department said the investigation is ongoing and the findings will be released when the report is complete. The labor department is responsible for inspecting rides when they are set up. The rides are then supposed to be inspected three times a day by the operators.
“It would’ve been inspected before it could even operate at the fair,” said State Fair spokesman Brian Long. “That’s the thing about North Carolina’s ride safety standards – they’re among the most strict in the country.”
Long says Brigitte’s accident was the only one reported at the fair this year.
“It appears there was some sort of mechanical failure with the device, which led to the accident,” he said. "We're wishing Miss Gallagher a speedy recovery from her injury."
The bungee attraction Brigitte was injured on is owned by Pam McDonald of Reddick, Fla., who was under contract with Powers Great American MidWays to bring the attraction to the fair. WRAL Investigates spoke with McDonald, who declined to comment. Powers Great American MidWays did not respond to repeated requests for a response.
Long says the bungee ride was fixed after Brigitte’s accident. It was re-inspected and allowed to continue operating for the rest of the fair. While Brigitte’s injuries weren’t as severe as those suffered on The Vortex a year earlier, her parents and their attorney say it brings ride safety into question again.
“Two years in row now there's been accidents, serious accidents, where children have been injured at the State Fair, and this really needs to stop,” said Raleigh attorney Mike Maurer. “The right thing to do for the future and other children would be the inspect these things better or not allow them to take place on the property at all.”
“When kids go to a State Fair, they have every expectation that the rides are going to be safe,” he added. “The parents also have that same expectation.”
Long says they should still have that expectation. Nearly 930,000 people attended this year’s State Fair, which lasted 11 days and featured more than 100 rides
“Because of this intense scrutiny, people can feel confident that they can come to the fair and ride the rides enjoy themselves and do it safely,” Long said.
The Gallaghers aren't convinced.
“The first thing (Brigitte) said to me is, "Dad, I don't ever want to come back here,’” said Rich Gallagher. “That is sad. It's supposed be a family fun event.”Glasgow and Liverpool were in the top five so-called workless areas of the UK for the ninth consecutive year since records began.
Almost one third of all households in Glasgow are inhabited by people who are not in work, new figures have revealed.
Scotland's largest city and Liverpool were in the top five so-called workless areas of the UK for the ninth consecutive year since records began.
Just over 30% of households in Glasgow were workless in the first quarter of last year, up from 28.7% the previous year, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Liverpool had the second highest percentage of workless households at 28.7%, down from the highest in previous years.
The highest percentage of workless households in Wales was in the Central Valleys at 26.2%.
Long-term and temporary sickness was the main reason given for not working by people aged 16-64 living in workless households.
Other areas with the worst levels were Hull with 27.6%, Birmingham with 27.4% and Wolverhampton with 27.3%. The UK average for workless households was 18.1% for 2012.
The ONS said the link between some areas with the highest percentages was their heavy reliance on industry in the last century.
The lowest percentages last year were mainly in the south of England, with 10.6% in Hampshire and around 11% in north Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, West Sussex and Surrey.
A third of people in Northern Ireland in workless households cited sickness or disability, compared with one in four in England.
London had the highest percentage of people in workless households who were studying, while the south west and east of England had the highest percentage where retirement was given as the main reason for not working.
Scottish Finance Secretary, John Swinney MSP said: “Across the country Scotland has a higher rate of households in work than the rest of the UK.
“The Scottish Government has a relentless focus on boosting employment and recovery in the economy and the latest headline labour market figures released by ONS last month show that employment in Scotland is now at the highest level in more than four years and Scotland continues to have a higher employment rate than any other nation in the UK.
“Youth unemployment continues to fall with Scotland performing better than the UK across all labour market measures for young people.
“We are investing in Glasgow – this year alone over £3 million has been committed to helping people young people find work. The Commonwealth Games will also provide opportunities in the East End of Glasgow with 1,300 places for local people to participate in jobs schemes.
“With the full fiscal and economic powers of independence the Scottish Government could do yet more to strengthen our economy and create more jobs.”March 2016 will be a big month for Capitol Hill transit. If everything goes to plan — and it has, mostly, through four years of work so far — Broadway’s Capitol Hill Station and the 3.1 mile University Link extension of Sound Transit’s light rail network will begin “revenue service” a year from now.
In the agency’s “2015 Service Implementation Plan” (PDF), Sound Transit planners lay out the timeline for the $1.8 billion project to begin carrying passengers next March as part of its regular schedule of service changes through its various bus and rail services.
Trial runs on the line are expected to begin “in Fourth Quarter 2015,” according to the document produced last December. “Testing for the University extension is expected to begin either at or sometime during the September 2015 service change,” the document notes elsewhere in the plan.
According to Sound Transit, the project remains around 8% under budget with the total cost expected to come in around $1.8 billion. A March opening would put the project about six months ahead of some of its early planning and keep to the pace the agency has been talking about publicly since 2013.
UPDATE: We’ll let you parse this response from a Sound Transit spokesperson:
We really don’t know that U Link will open in March, 2016. All we know right now is that it will be in the first quarter – could be anytime Jan-March at this point. The service changes that the SIP referred to are any changes that happen as/after U Link opens, not the usual service changes that happen in February.
The spokesperson tells us that Sound Transit is planning to update the document “to say U Link opens in Q1 next year.” The original wording? “Testing for this alignment will begin in Fourth Quarter 2015 with revenue service anticipated to begin with the March 2016 service change.”
The new milestone for Capitol Hill riders joins more potentially good scheduling news when it comes to public transit in the neighborhood as the Seattle Department of Transportation has arrived at a new deal with the Czech Republic company building the trams for the First Hill Streetcar project that would put that line on track for a start of service this summer. One of the due streetcars finally arrived last week. An update about the streetcar line connecting Pioneer Square to Broadway via First Hill will be presented to the Seattle City Council next week. It is expected that testing on the line could begin within weeks.
Back at Capitol Hill Station, work is progressing to complete the facility as the development negotiations for the valuable land around the station continue. The Sound Transit board has been evaluating proposals to develop the housing and retail properties surrounding the Broadway light rail station. It is expected to announce the winning bidders this month. At this point, it’s clear the station will open for riders with work far from complete on new buildings that will surround the site.
The ride from downtown to UW via Broadway is expected to take about 8 minutes — 3 minutes from the Hill to the Montlake station adjacent Husky Stadium. CHS reported that, yes, you’ll be able to use your mobile phone thanks to a new contract Sound Transit has pounded out with a service provider for the twin tunnels on the route. Fares and service hours are predicted to remain stable:
Capitol Hill Station is about 65 feet beneath the surface and will have three entrances: a north entrance on the east side of Broadway at the corner of East John Street, an entrance on the west side of Broadway just south of East Denny Way, and a south entrance at the corner of East Denny Way and Nagle Place. In 2016, the entirety of the expanded Central Link system is expected to carry 48,500 riders per day. By 2030 about 14,000 Capitol Hill Station riders are expected to board the light rail trains daily. They’ll enjoy some excellent, circa-2015 Capitol Hill art.#DropOutHillary Hashtag Goes Viral On Twitter
Twitter users on the right and left have caused the hashtag #DropOutHillary to go viral. Bernie Sanders supporters, conservatives and independents who just don’t like Hillary have unified to send Mrs. Clinton a message.
Here are some choice examples:
Campaign To Dump Democratic Frontrunner Hillary Clinton Goes Viral, Nearly 500k Tweets To #DropOutHillary https://t.co/xriZtFXxFn — Infidel (@HeidiL_RN) May 5, 2016
Hillary was rejected 8 years ago. Since then…. Benghazi.
Lost 6 billion state dollars.
Risked National Security.#DropOutHillary — Leah the Boss (@LeahRBoss) May 5, 2016
#DropOutHillary to get your affairs in order before you are arrested. Bill will get his "affairs" in order as well. pic.twitter.com/FhXj907Ztc — Michael A Nöthem (@mikandynothem) May 5, 2016
#DropOutHillary because you spent a million dollars on #paidtrolls & still couldn't stop this from trending allday pic.twitter.com/fYHZ1nZSw8 — Caitlin (@Catiemay321) May 5, 2016
I've said it before and I'll say it again: it'll be cool to have a woman for president one day, just not this one. #DropOutHillary — jessica (@femjesss) May 5, 2016
When I saw #DropOutHillary trending at #1 on Twitter, my faith in the Internet was restored. — PartTim3Hobo (@PartTim3Hobo) May 5, 2016
How can a Presidential Candidate who is being investigated by the FBI run for office? #DropOutHillary #AlwaysTrump pic.twitter.com/F8tjBvhLF0 — Penny Bishop❤ (@pennybishop16) May 4, 2016
The Democrats are in big trouble.
They’ve put all their cards on Hillary and she’s a toxic candidate.No one likes control over their internet freedom but there are some government agencies from different part of world who are spying on our online activities, actually they are the enemies of our internet freedom. Along with Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo, now Microsoft will also notify users on state sponsored hacking attacks.
Microsoft on Wednesday announced plans to inform users when it believes that any of its consumer services — including Outlook.com email has been comprised because of state sponsored hacking attacks.
Also Read : Microsoft Probably has your Disk Encryption Key in its Server, Here’s How to Take it Back
Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing division, said: — “We will now notify you if we believe your account has been targeted or compromised by an individual or group working on behalf of a nation state.” He also added: — “We’re taking this additional step of specifically letting you know if we have evidence that the attacker may be ‘state-sponsored’ because it is likely that the attack could be more sophisticated or more sustained than attacks from cybercriminals and others.”
The change follows revelations that Microsoft corporate executives concluded that over 1,000 of the company’s Hotmail email accounts had been hacked into by elements linked to Chinese authorities over three years starting in July 2009, but did not tell users. Targets included the emails of high-ranking Uighur and Tibetan leaders in multiple countries, African diplomats, human rights lawyers and others in sensitive positions inside China.
Also Read : Researchers Claims GOTPass System – Images and Patterns as Passwords Holds Up Well Against Hacks
Microsoft, after being alerted by security company Trend Micro in 2011, patched the security holes in its web services that allowed the hackers access to the emails and to reset user passwords. But it did not alert the affected users to the intrusions and the scope of the snooping, allowing the hackers to continue their campaign, according to former Microsoft employees.
Microsoft officials did not dispute that most of the attacks came from China, including a Chinese network known as AS4808 which has been publicly attributed to China by US intelligence, but said some came from elsewhere. They did not give further details.
The company is certainly not the first to take this welcome move, many others including Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo have already taken similar decisions. Google already started warning its users back in 2012 and issues tens of thousand of alerts every month.
Also Read : This is what Edward Snowden said About Tor ProjectGETTY Brexit would hurt German banks, said Felix Hufeld
The desperate head of Germany's financial watchdog Bafin said he wants the UK to remain in the union and is worried about how his country's banks would cope otherwise.
German firms such as Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG have a large exposure to London and would be faced with big problems in a Brexit, revealed Felix Hufeld in an interview with German newspaper Tagesspiegel.
Mr Hufeld said the banks were now assessing the consequences of leaving and how their business dealings would be affected. FOR THE LATEST BREXIT NEWS CLICK HERE
The president of Bafin said the European Central Bank (ECB) is also planning to closely monitor the situation.
GETTY Deutsche Bank would be among the firms hit by a Brexit, said Felix Hufeld
But Mr Hufeld warned if Britain doesn't vote to remain "[Germany's] biggest banks would have the biggest problems… They have the most activities in, and with, London." It came as Swiss financiers described the Brexit effect as a 'tsunami.' Chief economist, Alan McQuaid at Merrion Capital Group Ltd spoke of Brexit as a "game-changer" on Swiss banks.Swiss National Bank President Jordan warned back in April that a so-called Brexit would cause “enormous stress” in Europe.
Chief economist, Alan McQuaid at Merrion Capital Group Ltd spoke of Brexit as a "game-changer" on Swiss banks.Swiss National Bank President Jordan warned back in April that a so-called Brexit would cause “enormous stress” in Europe. Support for the Leave campaign has surged in the final days ahead of the June 23 referendum, with out now taking a 19 point lead.
In a separate interview with German paper Bild, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, unleashed comments designed to scare Britain into voting remain.
The funniest EU memes Tue, June 28, 2016 Here are the funniest EU memes on the internet. Play slideshow IG 1 of 16 TheLocal veterinarians are warning dog owners to be alert for potentially fatal blue-green algae as their pets walk along or swim in the James River.
Recent hot and wet weather is contributing to algae blooms that can collect in stagnant pools and near riverbanks around James River Park.
“You can’t just tell from the color of the water,” says Charles Hickey, founder of Short Pump Animal Hospital. “There are 2,000 species of bacteria playing around in there, and 80 of those are very toxic.”
The veterinarian says that conditions are bad this summer. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials expect this to be one of the most severe algae seasons in recent years.
Dogs can ingest harmful, possibly deadly, bacteria if they drink tainted water or have a cut that allows bacteria to enter their bodies, he says.
Hickey says there’s no antidote for algae exposure and that symptoms appear within 30 minutes. Vomiting, drooling, tremors, seizures, or respiratory paralysis can very quickly lead to death. “Scummy water is not a good thing,” he says.
Virginia Department of Health officials haven’t reported any canine deaths but are closely monitoring unusual river conditions.
“Blue-green algae is a form of cyano-bacteria which has the potential to produce liver toxins and neurotoxins,” says Rebecca LePrelle, its director of environmental epidemiology.
Farm runoff containing nitrogen and phosphorus can feed the blooms, she says. On Aug. 2, Department of Environmental Quality officials began investigating 17 muddy-colored miles of Stony Creek. The Dinwiddie County waterway is possibly contaminated with farm runoff — grain slurry and fecal bacteria.
LePrelle says officials will alert dog owners of potential problems by posting information from the Department of Environmental Quality on a surveillance map available on its website.
“Even though your dog gets to escape the confines of its home, it needs to be monitored,” says Edda Eliasson of Village Veterinary Service. She has posted Facebook advisories on plant life harmful to dogs. “The thing with algae is that it’s deadly, compared to most plants a dog might eat,” she says. “Dogs have evolved, sensitive stomachs to vomit anything toxic, but you can’t be too careful around stagnant water.”
Dogs themselves contribute to the problem if their owners don’t clean up after they defecate during James River outings.
“It’s like the wild west down there,” says Alan Douglas, president of Alpha Dog Club, an indoor pool club for canines. “Especially on weekends, when everyone’s leaving who knows what behind. One tiny prick on a paw and boom, you’re exposed to toxic algae. Dogs don’t need to drink it,” he says.
His organization offers a three-hour course on first aid for dogs. “I’ve had folks who saved their dogs lives that way,” he says.
James River Park System manager Nathan Burrell says he recently became aware that conditions are ripe for blue-green algae, but hasn’t received any reports of dog illness. He owns two dogs. “I would exercise caution on the back side of Belle Isle, near the 21st Street entrance, where you’ll see pools of water,” he says.
LePrelle says the best rule of thumb is “when in doubt, stay out” and she offers a hotline at 1-888-238-6154.window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type:'mix' });
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Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Image 2 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 3 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 4 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 5 of 10 Image 6 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 7 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 8 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 9 of 10 The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. The crew of 'Zombie Reign' films in front of the Alamo on Wednesday. Photo: Benjamin Olivo / mySA.com Image 10 of 10 Zombies in front of Alamo spark criticism 1 / 10 Back to Gallery
Early Wednesday morning, the sun still sitting low in the eastern sky, crews for an in-the-works TV show called “Zombie Reign” were filming their last scene in front of the Alamo. But a photo of the production posted on the Downtown San Antonio Facebook page and San Antonio subreddit sparked some criticism from people who said it’s disrespectful of the site of the Battle of the Alamo.
From Scott Jones on Facebook:
I don’t think they should be filming any movie in front of the Alamo or on Alamo plaza…especially a zombie movie…Alamo plaza is a battlefield where blood was spilled for Texas Independence. The city let’s this happen and I think its very disrespectful
From Christine Crawford Van Wyk on Facebook:
The Alamo is hallowed ground. Nobody should be filming, drinking, dancing, partying, or peeing on the grounds. Anybody that thinks that’s ok is a complete and utter fool.
from o0joshua0o on reddit:
Disrespectful morons!
…wait, doesn’t this give the city more media exposure and increase revenue in the form of permit fees?
Ramiro Avendano, the TV show’s director, said the intent was to showcase San Antonio, and it’s major landmarks, not disrespect the Alamo. With “Zombie Reign,” he’s trying to bring exposure to his hometown the way “The Walking Dead” did for Georgia.
“It was an honor to even be allowed to do what we did,” Avendano said. “I definitely do apologize for anyone who would be offended, but that was just for us to show that San Antonio can be a place to film a series.”
Others on social media defended the filming.
From Michael Rogers on Facebook:
Scott, Does that mean there should be no smiling or laughing in and around the Alamo? And truth be told there are very few places on this planet where blood hasn’t been spilled for one reason or another. It’s just a building. An historic one, no doubt. But this is entertainment. Wasn’t Phil Collins going to perform there? And everyone was all happy about it. This is no different. It’s all entertainment.
From Adam Nagle on Facebook:
Yes no fun at alamo.. Keep San Antonio lame..
From Rockhead Rodriguez on Facebook:
badass!
“Zombie Reign” is still in the pilot phase, Avendano said. But he said he’s in talks with a Las Vegas production company to pick up the show and eventually pitch it to the networks. He said a number of financial supporters have showed enough interest that he plans to begin filming the series in early June. However, he needs to have a pilot/teaser in the bag, first, in order to make the show a reality.
Avendano’s crew has been filming for a year, and the Alamo shoot was the last.
For Drew Mayer-Oakes, director of Film San Antonio, the city department that issues film permits, the TV show’s potential exposure for the Alamo City was enough to allow the filming, but it was not without reservation.
“We don’t (issue Alamo Plaza permits) every day, but we want to try to support the locals as best we can,” Mayer-Oakes said. “And this was an important part for them to get this project sold.”
Film permits for Alamo Plaza cost $200 per day. They are typically granted to travel and food TV shows, and, on occasion, news crews like CNN and The Today Show. For the “Zombie Reign” shoot, Mayer-Oakes was on-sight and limited the filming to two hours.
“We try to just get them in and get them out,” Mayer-Oakes said. “Like I said, it’s a fine line for us to support these guys and let them get what they need and also respect the historical nature of the facility, and the aspect of it being a shrine.”
Avendano takes pride in the concept for his zombie TV show, which he conceived seven years ago, before “The Walking Dead” debuted on AMC. In his zombie world, doctors found a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, but that when people die, the brain keeps going. It doesn’t stop.
“‘Walking Dead’ is a great show, and we want to go a little bit further,” Avendano said.
Have any downtown news, event info, hearsay, tips, celebrations, complaints, boastings, updates, breaking news, memories, old photos, etc.? Want to write a guest blog? E-mail me.
Follow the Downtown Blog on Twitter: twitter.com/mySA_downtown. And on FacebookImage copyright FBI Image caption The Darkode forum, which was created about six years ago, can no longer be accessed
Darkode - a notorious hacking forum used by Lizard Squad and other cybercriminals - has been shut down after an investigation carried out by authorities in 20 countries.
"We have dismantled a cyber-hornets' nest... which was believed by many, including the hackers themselves, to be impenetrable," said one of the US state attorneys involved.
Twenty-eight people have been arrested.
They include a 26-year-old man from Coventry, England.
In addition, the UK's National Crime Agency said an address in Paisley, Scotland, had been searched and material removed for examination. It said that five other suspected members of the site had previously been arrested.
The FBI added that dozens of other people linked to the site had been charged or had their property searched as part of the inquiry.
Restricted access
Darkode's members allegedly used the site to trade and to share hacking tools and information, including details of zero-day attacks - techniques that exploited flaws in products that neither their creators nor the wider security industry were aware of, and thus could not be protected against.
This information was password-protected.
"Only those proposed for membership by an existing user could join, but not until they posted a resume of the skills and achievements that could contribute to the criminal community," explained the NCA.
"There was a hierarchical membership structure, and the status of users determined who they could communicate with, and their access to the commodities and services on offer."
Although the site was not accessible to the general public, it was profiled extensively by the security blogger Brian Krebs, who posted several screenshots on his site.
Image copyright Krebs on Security Image caption Botnets - networks of hijacked computers used to mount co-ordinated attacks - were promoted on the site
"Most of the cybercrime forums are in Russian or some other language that's not English, but this was an English-language forum," he told the BBC.
"And it was a sort of meeting ground for cybercriminals from different nationalities and languages.
"A fairly significant number of people were selling botnet services there, and there were also services for deploying malware and phishing."
He added that the forum's visitors included members of Lizard Squad - a group of hackers which has carried out high-profile attacks on Sony, Microsoft and others.
"The guy that was most recently the admin of the forum used the nickname Sp3c," Mr Krebs recalled.
"He was a leading member of the Lizard Squad. What's interesting is that you don't see his name in the lists of those that were apprehended or charged as part of this.
"I don't really know what that means, but there was a definite connection between the Lizard Squad and this forum, at least in the last year or so."
The FBI said that Operation Shrouded Horizon had indicated up to 300 people had used the forum.
"During the investigation, the bureau focused primarily on the Darkode members responsible for developing, distributing, facilitating and supporting the most egregious and complex cybercriminal schemes targeting victims and financial systems," it said.
It added that its counterparts in Australia, Bosnia, Brazil, Israel, Colombia and Nigeria were among those involved in the international crackdown, and that efforts to trace other suspects were "ongoing".More than fifteen years in the making, more than 5 1/2 million words, this monumental task of scholarship called on the best brains in Judaism and won the approval of the world's top rabbis. Yet few Christians today even know it exists, and you will probably not find it in your local public library. The Come and Hear™ hypertext version, currently on line at this web site, represents approximately 1431 folios (produced as accurately as possible). We hope this presentation will provide the necessary context for understanding ancient and modern rabbinical teachings. We hope the larger context will also enable you to evaluate how fairly various commentators interpret the text.
Passages censored in previous editions of the Talmud were restored, and the translators amplified the text with extensive footnotes that form a running commentary. The publication was completed as a 35-volume set in 1952, and republished in 18 volumes in 1961. Each tractate was accompanied by a glossary, a table of abbreviations, an index of Biblical references, and a general subject index |
’re in a rush.... So you have to be very tolerant. And very understanding, if you can be, of other people.’
Caroline Kempster in front of Trinity Wholefoods after redecoration (including wrought iron gate). Photo: Trinity Wholefoods
Skilling up
There is another thing the two co-ops have in common, mentioned by Caroline there. Rebecca says: ‘I know that I got such a lot out of having done this work in a co-operative environment and particularly a small co-op. You end up having to learn so many different skills that maybe it can be quite useful, if you want to go on and get a different job, you’ve got this really broad base of skills.
‘Whatever it is that you’re doing, whether it’s baking bread or delivering food or running a shop, or doing back-office finance stuff, you’ve got all of those management and negotiating skills, and the ability to read legal documents. Which is really handy for progressing in any career.
‘So it can be a really good springboard even if being in a co-op isn’t what you want for the whole of your life. I’d like to go back to working in a co-op at some point but right now I’m really enjoying public sector work.’
Rebecca, like Caroline, left her co-op last November. Rebecca now works at the county council. Caroline, while still helping out at Trinity, is concentrating on caring for her mother, which has been a big part of her life for the last three years.
Caroline says about the skills side of things: ‘Each day [in the shop] has its own allocated duties. It wasn’t really to do with the individual who would take on responsibilities, they were always shared so that people learned everything.... What I love is that anyone can come into the co-operative and when they leave, they know how to run a business, because you understand the structures, the accounting, the ordering, the customer service, the presentation, the linking up of your ideas with what’s going on in the outside world.’
Rebecca says: ‘Being in a workers’ co-op has definitely, definitely increased my confidence and really broadened my skillset. In any small business, there’s so many things to do. I think particularly in the co-operative sector you tend to have more of an attitude of “Hey, let’s learn this ourselves”, rather than a “Let’s just outsource it, pay somebody else to do it because it’s not in our skillset”. That’s increased my confidence because I generally have the attitude of “If a thing needs doing, I can just learn how to do it. And then do it.” That’s naturally how I work anyway, but I’ve become more confident that I can actually do those things, rather than just thinking that I should.’
Gender agenda
On the subject of confidence, I ask Rebecca about being a woman in an (accidentally) women-only co-operative for many years, and she says: ‘The main thing about being a woman in a women’s workers’ co-operative is that it has nullified the gender difference for me. I don’t think that I would be as confident to talk over men in a meeting if I hadn’t been in an all-female environment where we had more natural female collaborative communication patterns. So now if I go into a meeting and there’s somebody being quite alpha male, it annoys me because I notice it. Whereas before having been in all-female environments, I probably would have just been used to it. Now I don’t let them get away with it, I take equal space to them because I don’t appreciate men talking over women all the time. But that might also just be naturally what happens when you become a woman in your forties!’ (She laughs at this point.)
Rebecca is reluctant to make too much of the fact that Catalyst was women-only for so many years: ‘To be honest, it was more relevant that we were primary care-givers than necessarily being female, though obviously those two things often coincide.... Catalyst was always designed to fit in around children, that was how it was sold to me.’
“What I found was that my weakness was my strength. And my strength was my weakness. Because my confidence was overwhelming. And my stubbornness was really useful.”
She points out that ‘some of our private businesses that we helped were also women who were single parents who were trying to run businesses while being primary care-givers.’ Catalyst were good at supporting such women ‘because we understood how you have to work if you’re in that position’, unlike many mainstream bookkeepers. It’s partly because all three of her children are now in secondary school that Rebecca left Catalyst: ‘it started to feel like not only was Catalyst not the right thing for me, but actually it was time to pass it on to other people who’d get out of it what I’d got out of it, which was employment and a sense of purpose – at a period of time where full-time work wasn’t accessible.’
If Rebecca was reluctant to make too much of gender in relation to her co-op, Caroline is extremely resistant: ‘I really am against any kind of discussion about gender in a lot of ways. We’ve got to evolve as a human race and discussing the gender of people is not discussing their attributes and you can get feminine men and masculine women. I think I might be ahead of the curve here.’ At another point in our conversation, she says: ‘I’m not sure that the gender politics is a good idea even to discuss, from the point of view of men and women, because it actually doesn’t matter who it is.’
Having stated this position strongly, Caroline does admit some gender differences, in line with some things Rebecca notices about ‘natural female collaborative communication patterns’ (mentioned above in terms of dealing with men dominating meetings). Rebecca expands: ‘Obviously it’s being a bit gender-stereotypical but if you look at communication patterns generally, women are expecting to take turns in a conversation and are more happy to defer to somebody else because they suddenly have a viewpoint that they want to express. I think that does work much better in a co-op. I think generally it just works better! I think it’s a more effective communication style than “I’m the biggest gorilla so I get to talk the most.”’
Rebecca also says: ‘The other thing that women tend to be better at is noticing if there is somebody who is accessing nonverbal communication. “Oh, you look unhappy. You look like you disagree with that point. Do you want to explain?” Drawing people into the conversation. Things that are really, really useful in any situation. If somebody feels that people are making the wrong decision but doesn’t feel like they have the position of power to be able to say it, then quite often they’re a really useful person to listen to.’
I put some of this to Caroline and she observes that there have always been more women than men in her co-op: ‘the women seem to present better at the interviews, shall we say’. ‘The reason we’ve always had more women than men in the co-operative is because they can communicate better in a shorter space of time. It might be a time limit! Because you’re passing on the stairs: “Has this been done? What’s happening here?”
‘Whereas a bloke will just go up and down the stairs. He won’t bother to say anything, bless him!’ (She laughs.)
Caroline Kempster in her garden, 2017. Photo: Peace News
Flakey fails
Another reason why Rebecca is leaving Catalyst is to do with a kind of compassion fatigue. Catalyst’s primary purpose has always been to help new co-ops start up – it also registers them with the authorities for a small fee.
Rebecca says: ‘At the start of helping new co-ops to start, you are very, very positive about every single idea that comes through. Then you start thinking: “I know that your project isn’t going to go anywhere because you’re a bunch of flakey people.”
‘The point at which you want to not bother with the people who you think are statistically not likely to get very far with their project is the right time to move on.’
Caroline says that one of the most-needed qualities for someone in a wholefoods co-op is ‘stability’: ‘I know it sounds a bit strange, because the energy you need is quite a lot, you need to be physically strong, and if you have a stable life, you don’t bring [instability] into work with you, and distress other workers.’
She adds: ‘You do become friends with everybody, actually, because you know their family lives, what they’re interested in, whether they listen to The Archers or not. [She laughs.] Really delicate details of life!’
Last words
Caroline would say to new co-op members: ‘First of all, I would expect the unexpected.’
Rebecca warns: ‘The great thing about a workers’ co-op is that instead of being exploited by an evil capitalist boss, you just exploit yourself instead. Be careful that you don’t put your own needs to one side for the needs of the co-op. That can lead to people being quite resentful.
‘The sacrifices that you put into a business yourself – if someone comes along and they don’t want to put that in, people can feel very resentful. But, actually, you should have been looking out for yourself as well. And then you don’t end up feeling resentful.’
Caroline says: ‘To support the co-operative has been a real honour. It’s been my pride and joy. I’ve just absolutely loved it. You think about it all the time. It’s just there and everyone talks about it all the time.
‘When you talk to previous members who’ve left, they say: “Oh yes, we could do this and we could do that!” So you never lose the effect of working in a co-operative in your life. It’s in how you deal with everybody.’
After so many years in their co-ops, both Caroline and Rebecca keep referring to Trinity and Catalyst as ‘we’, several months after ending their memberships. ‘You never lose the effect of working in a co-operative in your life. It’s in how you deal with everybody.’Mike Perry has been in the UFC for less than six months, but he's already made a big impact.
Having recorded back-to-back wins over Hyun Gyu Lim at UFC 202 and then Danny Roberts at UFC 204, the American now finds himself matched against Alan Jouban at UFC on Fox 22 on December 17.
Thoughts on his performance at UFC 204
Speaking six weeks after his win latest over Roberts in Manchester, England, Perry further offered his thoughts on the fight.
"I've watched the fight a few times--it was great and it was entertaining," Perry said. "I just look to go out there, be entertaining and come out there with the win and that's exactly what I did that night and I'm going to do it again.
"To be honest I think Danny was the best he was ever going to be that night and he would've beaten a lot of welterweights that night. It just wasn't inside of him to beat me and guys are going to watch that fight and see that he just didn't have what it took.
"He was in the prime of his life right then and he did everything he was supposed to do and he did it right. I'm just going to keep doing what's been working for me and just keeping doing what I do."
How the fight with Jouban came together
Despite being pushed hard by Roberts in that fight at UFC 204, Perry was always very open about wanting to take a third fight before the end of 2016. He described how the fight with Jouban came about and how he didn't even care about the name on the bout agreement.
"I told my manager right after Danny Roberts and I think even said it on a couple of interviews before that I was going to beat Roberts and then I wanted another fight before the year was over," Perry said. "I told my manager, let's get a fight before this year is over to make it three and he we got one man. Three inside four months--I'm trying to do things differently, I'm trying to break records.
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"I tell my manager, Ibrahim Kawa First Round Management, I want to fight and he says ok, then he hits me up, says the opponent's name and I didn't even go look and I say "let's go; I'm ready"--it's as simple as that."
It doesn't matter who the name on the contract is
The name on the bout agreement for December 17 is of course Alan Jouban who is currently riding a two-fight wink streak. Perry gave his thoughts on his opponent, though he didn't let on that he cared who it was in the slightest.
"Yeah …. I mean, it doesn't matter the opponent anyone gives me or who I get, I'm going to study and I'm going to be smart," Perry said. "Any fighter can be written down on the paper and read like a book. I mean, I just see Jouban and I'm going to break him fast--I'm going to crush him.
"I'm going to move forward, he's not going to make me move back. He's not going to stop me and I'm going to break him. His body is breaking down and he's getting old. He's already got a broken hand and I've heard one time he's already torn an ACL. I'm going to hurt him bad and if he goes to sleep fast he might come back and fight again.
"If he puts up a fight and gets into a war with me like Roberts did--I will destroy his body and he won't come back from that."
Jouban will be finished just like the rest
Perry then gave his proceeded to prediction for the fight with Jouban. Suffice to say he wasn't a predicting a pretty ending for his opponent.
"Like I said, I'm going to move forward, come out fast and going to put it on him right away," Perry said. "I'm not going to waste any time. I wanted the crazy fight with Danny and I wanted to drag it out and have fun with it, but this time it's the end of the year and I'm trying to get out of that cage and enjoy my Christmas with my family and buy some gifts with the money that I win off his head.
"I'm just going to step forward and I'm going to smash him point blank period man. There's nothing he's going to be able to do. I'm going to put my hands on him fast and I'm going to hurt him and who knows, he's probably going to shoot for a takedown or something and then I'm going to finish it."
Big things coming so stay tuned
A win over Jouban in December will take Perry to a professional record of 10-0 and a UFC record of 3-0 having only debuted on August 20. The 25-year-old believes that a third successive win in the organization in under four months would be the perfect end to year. He then alluded to some big plans for 2017 though wouldn't quite reveal his hand as to exactly what they might be.
"Absolutely, it's not going to get any better," Perry said. "It just depends how I knock Jouban out and when and I am going to. I'm going to do what I do and it always seems to work out in my favor. At the end of the day, all I got to do is win and it's going to be perfect.
"I got some big things coming on the future that I can't wait to get out there and do and show to the world and I'm really going to blow things up here in the UFC. I've really got some great ideas that are going to come together here soon.
"I was actually hoping to do one in Sacramento, but certain people have to do certain things on that night and they can't make it out and I can't do wat I wanted to do. I'm going to have to save it for the next one and next time so it's going to be a real big surprise man and it's going to be pretty cool when the world sees that go down."
Setting records in 2017
Perry then elaborated by saying he was already planning well ahead and that while Jouban might be the man to meet him next in the Octagon, he was already a step ahead of that.
"I'm thinking ahead of Jouban you know," Perry said. "I'm thinking world titles and I'm getting ready to call some guys out. I'm going to smash Jouban and then continue to make my dreams come true. One punk at a time man."
While some would consider fighting four times in a year to very active, Perry seemingly consider this as a minimum. The American is aiming for a very, very busy 2017 and if he gets his way, he will easily set some new records.
"Let's see, this time next year I will be about 14-0 and err, maybe a little more if I fought three time in four months," Perry said. "If we keep that up it's 3, 6, 9, that's 9 fights next year I don't know, we can make it happen. I could be 19-0--who knows.
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"Between 14-0 and 19-0 and I'll be fighting for the world title this time next year. They aren't going to deny me too long because I'm just going to knock everybody out. I'll be fighting for ten million dollars next year lets do it."
A message to Team Platinum
Love him or hate him, Perry has made a big splash since his debut and has already managed to establish a large following. The American had one final message for his fans before signing off and as you would expect, he did it in true Mike 'Platinum' Perry style.
"Pay attention--keep your eyes peeled," Perry said. "If you ain't believed before, I'll show you. It doesn't matter what I do or not, I'm just going to keep winning.
"Enjoy the show …. Motherf******."Dele Alli‘s incredible rise to the top continued on Tuesday as the 19-year-old smashed home a wonderful goal for England in his first international start to lead the Three Lions to a 2-0 win against France at Wembley.
[ MORE: Behind-the-scenes at Wembley ]
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder only joined Spurs permanently in the summer after breaking through at MK Dons in English soccer’s third-tier but he has already become a regular in Mauricio Pochettino‘s midfield in the Premier League this season. 12 months ago he was playing for MK Dons at places like Yeovil and Barnsley.
With several injuries for England in the midfield area he made the most of his chance to play and was the best player on the pitch against France in the moving, poignant friendly in London after the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday.
Speaking to reporters after the game at Wembley, Hodgson was delighted with Alli’s performance as he’s fast-tracked him to the first team.
“It was as close to a faultless performance as you can get,” Hodgson said. “I did not think he was anything other than top class, it is amazing at that age to have no previous experience and to go in and do what he did tonight was quite outstanding. He will obviously get a lot of praise for that performance, and he deserves a lot of praise. “I was not surprised as if I did not believe he could play like that, I would not have chosen him. Do not forget he is only 19, he has only played a handful of games, this is his first start and it would be nice if he gets to learn the game without too much glare.”
Now, we’ve been here before with numerous players not just in the world but specifically in England. Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere spring to mind as they all dazzled for England at a young age. All of whom are still Premier League players and regulars in the England squad but none of them have really elevated themselves to be the savior of England and the man the team should be built around. Alli’s dynamic performance in midfield (his tough tackling and vision were hugely impressive) proved he has all the attributes to succeed at the international level but he will, of course, have to keep proving that over a sustained period of time.
Spurs youngster Dele Alli scores first international goal for England – and what a goal it was! #ENGvFRA https://t.co/lpWo7Ahu31 — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 17, 2015
His performance against France — who were, understandably, a little off the pace as Hugo Lloris admitted they struggled with “concentration” — was a huge plus for England as a rising star in the Premier League and for England has emerged.
Now it is important, as Hodgson said, to give him time to learn the game and continue his progression. If Alli can continue to progress at his current rate a spot in England’s EURO 2016 squad beckons and that may only be the start for the Spurs starlet.
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1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiled salted water until al dente.
2. Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters. Finely chop the basil leaves.
3. To make the sauce, combine the olive oil, garlic, chilli and oregano in a medium-sized pan over low heat and gently warm through until the garlic "flutters" in the oil. Turn the heat to high, and immediately add the tomatoes and sea salt.
4. Cover the pan and cook for two to three minutes, giving everything a quick toss once or twice, until the tomatoes are soft and juicy. Drain the pasta and add to the pan. Add remaining basil leaves, quickly toss and serve on warm plates, with an extra swirl of olive oil, and parmesan for grating.When silly points need extra cover
Ah the Cricket World Cup! Where men gather in raucous crowds to relive their collective boyhoods, where the phrase bowling a maiden over will elicit approving sniggers from the locker room and where male chauvinism certainly needs no extra cover.
The gorgeous Mandira Bedi was in regulation noodle straps during World Cup coverage. Want to crash the boys club on cricket commentary? Better show some flesh, baby! Female sports anchors across sports channels are in any case always in clothes designed to show off magnificent décolletages. Gender imaging has been hit for a six when it comes to cricket as mass entertainment.
BCCI recently decreed that wives and girlfriends of cricketers could not accompany their partners on tours. After all, when the big powerful male is fighting for his country’s honour, how can he be distracted by frivolous temptress Eve, the original reason for Adam’s fall from paradise? At IPL female cheerleaders obligingly kick up their heels as warriors on the field battle for victory, female bare flesh the necessary accessory of male sport. The poster girls of women’s sport – Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal – show that tennis and badminton offer much more of a level playing field for women where female sporting talent is celebrated.
Does anyone care about women’s cricket? Do any of the women gushing over M S Dhoni or Rohit Sharma bother to follow the careers of women cricketers or spare a thought for the valiant Diana Eduljee when she pleads for sponsor support for women’s cricket? Ladies, let’s face it, cricket is for the men, by the men and of the men. An exclusive male zone where women are barely welcome and if they want to participate they must transform themselves into eternally giggling, swooning fangirls or sex symbols for TRPs. During IPL TV coverage female anchors are forced to be younger and better looking every year while serious women sports journalists barely get a look in.
From Viv Richards to Imran Khan, female fans are supposed to be worshippers of looks and physique while the men are armed with cricketing lore, statistics, pitch details and field placements. A woman cricket fan doesn’t need to know all of that, she just needs to swoon and clap and try in vain to belong to the patriarchy of the bachelor party. When it comes to cricket, women are reduced to silly points and men are ahead by many wickets.VIA Kevin Drum, Keith O'Brien reports in the Boston Globe on a new study showing positive results from Portugal's nine-year-old experiment in drug decriminalisation. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, rates of hard- and soft-drug usage in Portugal were soaring, along with hepatitis and HIV rates.
But nearly a decade later, there's evidence that Portugal's great drug experiment not only didn't blow up in its face; it may have actually worked. More addicts are in treatment. Drug use among youths has declined in recent years. Life in Casal Ventoso, Lisbon's troubled neighborhood, has improved. And new research, published in the British Journal of Criminology, documents just how much things have changed in Portugal. Coauthors Caitlin Elizabeth Hughes and Alex Stevens report a 63 percent increase in the number of Portuguese drug users in treatment and, shortly after the reforms took hold, a 499 percent increase in the amount of drugs seized—indications, the authors argue, that police officers, freed up from focusing on small-time possession, have been able to target big-time traffickers while drug addicts, no longer in danger of going to prison, have been able to get the help they need.
Faced with both a public health crisis and a public relations disaster, Portugal's elected officials took a bold step. They decided to decriminalize the possession of all illicit drugs—from marijuana to heroin—but continue to impose criminal sanctions on distribution and trafficking. The goal: easing the burden on the nation's criminal justice system and improving the people's overall health by treating addiction as an illness, not a crime.
Some researchers caution that Portugal's results may be due not so much to tolerance for drug possession as to making more treatment available. But of course these two always go hand in hand, in any harm-reduction strategy for drug use: it's only by decriminalising possession that you get problem users to come in for treatment.
Portugal is far from the only country that's embraced such harm-reduction strategies, and the verdicts everywhere seem to be similar: they may lead to greater usage of soft drugs, they don't seem to lead to significant increases in hard-drug usage, and they significantly reduce the costs of drug addiction to society. That doesn't mean that drug policy disappears from the political agenda in countries that move towards harm reduction. The newspapers in the Netherlands reported today on a very American-seeming scandal: a website set up by an association of heroin users in Amsterdam, intended to provide addicts with advice on health and safe non-infectious usage, could be read as effectively providing how-to advice on how to shoot up, accessible to web surfers of any age. A conservative-leaning Dutch youth expert wants the site to be somehow restricted to those over the age of 12. But it's instructive to read the reaction of a council member from the right-wing, laissez-faire VVD party, which currently leads the Dutch governing coalition:
On the one hand, we must ensure that the lowest possible number of people use that stuff. On the other hand, if they do, they should use clean needles, not borrow them from each other. And they should try to limit the health risks. That's the perspective from which I look at the site.
This is a perfectly rational conservative perspective. And the fact is that Amsterdam's heroin-addict population has been stable or falling for two decades. That's even though, since 2002, the Dutch authorities have been doing something even more radical than Portugal's for heroin users: they've been giving them free heroin, as long as they show up to inject at government-run "safe injection points", under the eyes of police and health staff. Dutch drug researchers now say that the youth population "doesn't relate to hard drugs at all", and that there's no danger that Dutch kids reading the advice site will find heroin use attractive. They're more likely to find it pathetic.
Drug abuse is driven to a significant extent by fashion. If there's one thing government has going for it, it's the ability to make anything unfashionable. This insight into government's jujitsu-like capability to render the cool uncool should be more obvious to conservatives than to liberals. And yet, in America, the very people who are most distrustful of government's ability to do anything right are the ones who are steadfastly opposed to letting the government use its secret power of deadly uncoolness to fight drug abuse. It seems like a huge wasted opportunity.We've already driven BMW’s excellent all-new 7 Series flagship - but now the brand has revealed a new plug-in hybrid version at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
But there was drama at the unveil of the car at the show when the press conference ended abruptly as BMW boss Harald Krueger appeared to faint under the lights.
However we already knew that BMW's hybrid tech would join the 7 Series range, with a new 740e model with a claimed economy figure of 134mpg on the way.
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The classier new BMW 7 Series is aiming to finally give the knockout punch to the all-conquering Mercedes S-Class when it reaches showrooms in November 2015 priced from £63,750.
It’s clearly an evolutionary design for the new Seven rather than a radical rethink. The front-end retains the traditional swollen kidney grille and prominent nose, but the biggest change is a set of more aggressive headlamps featuring the new ‘Laserlight’ laser-based beam tech as the BMW i8 supercar.
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The side profile is almost completely identical to the old model's, while the rear is positively blink-and-you’ll-miss-it until you note the sharper read LED light design. It’s clear BMW would rather play it safe than risk scaring away loyal customers as ex-designer Chris Bangle’s quirky 7 Series of 2001 did.
BMW 7 Series: bigger than ever
Like the outgoing car, the 7 Series is offered in both regular and long-wheelbase format. The LWB model is a full 14cm longer than before, while even the base car swells by 26mm to improve passenger space. Width and height are virtually identical, but it’s still the largest series-produced model the Munich firm has ever produced. The long wheelbase rear cabin is visibly larger than before, while there’s a 515-litre boot.
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Despite the size increases, the biggest news is that it is nowa substantial 130kg lighter than the old car. This is thanks to the use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the passenger cell and body, as well as lighter new engines.
New luxury interior design
Climb inside and the only big design change to the dash is a new freestanding sat-nav/infotainment screen in both the smaller standard item and 10.2-inch Professional option. ConnectedDrive services include innovative new “interactive traffic sign updating”, a world first. It’s also a touchscreen for the first time, combining with the iDrive rotary controller, and a new gesture control system that debuts on the flagship.
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Gesture control allows you to make hand movements to alter in-car functions, with a 3D sensor registering your movements. The instrument cluster is a multifunctional TFT system, adjusting according to which driving mode you are in.
Four-zone climate control is standard across the range, with a touch control panel between the rear seats allowing adjustment of temperature and the rear media interface. An optional Heat Comfort system allows the wheel, front and rear armrests and front and rear seats to be warmed individually, while new ambient lighting adorns the cabin.
Other tech includes wireless phone charging, active massaging seats, WiFi browsing and a removeable 7-inch tablet that can control functions from in our outside the car. There’s even the option of an ‘Ambient Air’ package, which releases a choice of eight controlled scents into the cabin and ionises the air.
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The neatest feature is another world first. A new ‘Parking Assistant’ feature allows the car to manouver in out out of forward parking or garage spaces without the driver even stepping inside. It can be activated remotely with the new ‘Display Key’. Safety tech such as rear collision prevention, rear cross-traffic alert and autonomous traffic jam steering.
BMW 7 Series: engines and prices
The new 7 Series aims to uphold BMW’s reputation of offering a more dynamic drive than rivals. A new ‘Executive Drive Pro’ feature combines adaptive dampers and air suspension to actively remove body roll and smoothen the ride.
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The only engine options at launch for the 7 Series are six-cylinder units, with a 326bhp 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol in the 740LI and the 265hp 730D with 620Nm of torque. Four wheel drive is also available across the range.
The 730d emits just 119g/km of CO2, and a class-leading 740e plug-in hybrid will be available next year for cost-concious buyers.
The new 7 Series range kicks off from £63,750 for the 730d, rising to £67,700 for the long-wheelbase version, and £72,060 for the 740LI. Two trim levels are available, the standard car and M Sport spec.
Check out our round-up of the best luxury cars you can buy now...Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Whether you’re a hard-core car enthusiast or you think of your vehicle as an appliance, you don’t want automotive problems that demand dealership visits or generate roadside delays. One of the key sources of information about automotive quality is the J.D. Power and Associates U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS), which the company has been conducting since 1987. But how, exactly, is quality measured in this survey?
You begin to wonder when you compare the 2011 IQS results with those from 2010 [see below]. For example, GMC, Mazda, and Toyota each moved up 14 or 15 positions on the chart, while Ford plummeted 18 places—from fifth to 23rd. We haven’t noticed a huge degradation in Ford quality during the past year, so what’s going on?
Part of the disconnect stems from most people’s tendency to equate quality with an absence of defects. Back in the Eighties, when Japanese carmakers were grabbing market share from domestic companies on the strength of their superior assembly quality, many of us thought of automotive quality primarily in those terms. But Webster’s concise definition of quality is “the degree of excellence which a thing possesses.” And the J.D. Power IQS has always taken this broader view.
Raffi Festekjian, J. D. Power’s director of automotive product research, explains that the IQS was designed to capture “things gone wrong” with a vehicle. Each one is called a “problem,” and it can be “either a fault in the assembly of the vehicle or a design issue.” A fault might be a poorly assembled door panel or a loose electrical connection, while a design issue is something that a customer doesn’t like—a multifunction cruise-control stalk, for example—even though the item is performing exactly as intended.
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To identify both types of problems, J.D. Power conducts an extensive survey with 228 questions divided into eight categories: exterior, interior, features/controls/displays, audio/entertainment/navigation systems, seats, climate controls, powertrain, and driving experience. “In our 2011 IQS, we had a random survey, geographically distributed, with more than 73,000 respondents who had owned their vehicles for 90 days. We require a minimum of 100 surveys for a model to be rated,” says Festekjian. “And we make no judgments about these answers. We simply report the voice of the customer.”
Which brings us back to Ford, which introduced two all-new models last year—the Fiesta and the Explorer—and performed a major face lift on the Edge. Was Ford’s drop in the rankings simply an illustration of the old adage about never buying a new car in the first year, before the bugs are worked out?
The IQS numbers would appear to support this theory. The industry average was 107 problems per every hundred vehicles in 2011, while new and redesigned machines averaged 122 problems, and carry-over or lightly modified cars and trucks scored only 103 problems. Indeed, according to Festekjian, the all-new Ford Explorer experienced the greatest IQS deterioration of any vehicle in the industry.
But while J.D. Power won’t reveal the breakdown of problems on individual models or brands, Festekjian does allow that Ford’s plummet in the rankings was primarily due to design problems rather than defects. “Ford tried to do too much, too quickly.”
Ford does not deny this. Spokesman Alan Hall says that the company was aware of many of these issues even before the IQS results were released. “Voice recognition has been identified as ‘not working.’ ” Why the sudden problem when Ford has had Sync for years? Hall explains that “Sync controlled primarily the phone and the music player with a fairly simple command structure. [The new MyFord Touch system] has far more capability with far more commands.”
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In other words, Ford’s voice-recognition system works, but customers don’t know how to use it, given that it requires precise vocabulary and syntax. “We did clinics about this, and one of the first things we learned is that customers were asking for more training.” Hall explains. “We’ve put together dealer-personalization sessions to provide training for our customers.”
In addition, there’s a dedicated staff at the Ford customer-service center to address MyFord Touch questions, as well as some 30 training videos on the MyFord Touch website. This is one IQS problem that can’t be solved on the factory floor.
At the same time, Ford is also making running software changes to improve the operation and user-friendliness of its electronic systems. But this example underlies the risks of incorporating too much modern technology in cars. As Power’s Festekjian puts it, “Consumers want the technology, but as it’s added and integrated into the vehicles, the technology tends to add to the problems reported in the IQS.”
Lest you think that these problems are primarily electronic in nature |
policy reformers had been bitterly disappointed by President Obama's performance during his first few years in office. With the notable exception of his support for shorter crack sentences, which Congress approved almost unanimously in 2010, Obama had done very little to de-escalate the war on drugs, despite comments prior to his election that led people to believe his administration would be less repressive than his predecessor's.
To the contrary, the feds cracked down on medical marijuana more aggressively under Obama than they had under George W. Bush, even though he and his attorney general, Eric Holder, repeatedly promised the opposite. The administration continued to defend marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug, a category supposedly reserved for substances with a high potential for abuse that have no accepted medical applications and cannot be used safely, even under a doctor's supervision. When the subject of marijuana legalization came up, Obama literally laughed at the idea. Finally empowered to release drug offenders serving sentences that he had said were too long, Obama issued only one commutation during his first term and was on track to leave behind the stingiest clemency record of any modern president.
Some critics of the war on drugs—a crusade that Obama had declared "an utter failure" in 2004—predicted that he would improve in his second term. Safely re-elected, he would not have to worry that looking soft on drugs would cost him votes, and he would finally act on his avowed belief that the war on drugs is unjust and ineffective. As Obama embarks on the third year of his second term, it looks like the optimists were partially right, although much hinges on what he does during the next two years. Here are some of the ways in which Obama has begun to deliver on his promises of a more rational, less punitive approach to psychoactive substances:
Marijuana Legalization. Although the federal government cannot stop states from legalizing marijuana, it can make trouble for the ones that do by targeting state-licensed growers and retailers. Under a policy announced in August 2013, the Justice Department has declined to do so, reserving its resources for cannabis operations that violate state law or implicate "federal law enforcement priorities." The department also has refrained from challenging state marijuana regulations in court, a strategy that could have delayed the opening of cannabusinesses in Colorado and Washington even if it was ultimately unsuccessful. In a New Yorker interview last January, Obama said "it's important for [legalization] to go forward" in those states. Speaking to reporters at the U.N. last October, William Brownfield, the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said international anti-drug treaties should be interpreted to allow such experiments.
Unlike earlier promises of forbearance regarding medical marijuana, the respect for state policy choices signaled in that 2013 memo has visibly restrained the actions of U.S. attorneys and the Drug Enforcement Administration. "They've reversed course on marijuana after, I guess, previously reversing course on marijuana," says Bill Piper, director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. "They've reverted back to their original position, before they launched the biggest crackdown on medical marijuana ever. They had to have put their foot down, because there's been such a substantive change with respect to the raids. I think the politics shifted even further, to the point where some of the U.S. attorneys may have just given up."
Federal Marijuana Ban. After Obama observed, in his interview with The New Yorker, that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol, CNN's Jake Tapper asked him whether he was open to reclassifying marijuana. "What is and isn't a Schedule I narcotic is a job for Congress," Obama replied. "It's not something by ourselves that we start changing. No, there are laws undergirding those determinations."
That response was highly misleading and evasive, especially compared to Obama's candor regarding the relative hazards of marijuana and alcohol. Contrary to the impression left by the president, the executive branch has the authority to reschedule marijuana without new legislation from Congress. In September, a few days before announcing that he planned to step down soon, Holder said whether marijuana belongs in the same category as heroin is "certainly a question that we need to ask ourselves." Since the Controlled Substances Act empowers Holder to reclassify marijuana, it would have been nice if he had asked that question a little sooner. Still, Holder was willing to publicly question marijuana's Schedule I status, something no sitting attorney general had done before.
Sentencing Reform. Obama supports the Smarter Sentencing Act, which would make the 2010 crack penalty changes retroactive, cut the mandatory minimums for certain drug offenses in half, and loosen the criteria for the "safety valve" that allows some defendants to escape mandatory minimums. Beginning last year, Holder has repeatedly criticized our criminal justice system as excessively harsh. Under a new charging policy he established last year, hundreds of drug offenders could avoid mandatory minimums each year.
"The first term vs. the second term has been almost like night and day on criminal justice reform," Piper says. "We see that especially with what Holder has done administratively. But they've also pushed much more strongly for sentencing reform than they have in the past."
Clemency. After a pitiful performance in his first term, Obama has signaled a new openness to clemency petitions. Last April an unnamed "senior administration official" told Yahoo News the administration's new clemency guidelines could result in "hundreds, perhaps thousands," of commutations. Obama's total so far, counting eight commutations announced a few weeks ago, is just 18, but he still has two years to go. He already has surpassed George H.W. Bush (who commuted three sentences in four years), George W. Bush (11 in eight years), and Ronald Reagan (13 in eight years). Obama still trails, among others, Bill Clinton (61 in eight years), Jimmy Carter (29 in four years), Gerald Ford (22 in 29 months), and that old softie, Richard Nixon (60 in 67 months).
A few months ago, Obama chose former ACLU attorney Vanita Gupta, a passionate critic of the war on drugs who emphasizes its disproportionate racial impact (a theme Obama and Holder also have taken up), to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. A year before her appointment, Gupta had criticized Holder's moves on drug sentencing as an inadequate response to mass incarceration. The previous month, she had endorsed marijuana legalization. The next two years will show whether Gupta's appointment is a sop to disappointed Obama supporters or a signal of bolder steps to come.
If Obama actually uses his clemency power to free thousands, or even hundreds, of drug war prisoners, that would be historically unprecedented, and it would go a long way toward making up for his initial reticence. He could help even more people by backing sentencing reform, which has attracted bipartisan support in Congress. And having announced that states should be free to experiment with marijuana legalization, he could declare the experiment a success. "I'm waiting for the president to come out and say his views are evolving on marijuana," says Piper.
If none of those things happens, Obama's most significant drug policy accomplishment may be letting states go their own way on marijuana legalization. Even if our next president is a Republican drug warrior, he will have a hard time reversing that decision, especially given the GOP's lip service to federalism.
"The toothpaste is out of the tube, and I don't think there's any putting it back," Piper says. "Even if the next president really wants to crack down, I don't think they're going to be able to. They might be able to create chaos, and some people will go to jail, but I don't think there's any stopping legalization at this point."
This article originally appeared at Forbes.com.Just as they did during Bill Clinton’s presidency, in 2017, America’s leading leftwing feminists once again proved that nothing has changed in the era of #MeToo — that, if it means furthering The Cause or protecting their friends, they are in reality nothing less than partisan villains eager to enable credibly accused sex abusers.
Most of the time these hideous women hold the sisterhood mask fairly steady. But every once in a while it slips and we are allowed to see what is really behind the hear me roar facade: a grotesque ideologue willing to sell out and personally destroy alleged victims in order to protect a left-wing agenda that, in their own twisted minds, trumps all — even photographic evidence and basic, human decency.
Here, in no particular order, are the Left-Wing Feminist Enablers and Monsters of 2017…
Mika Brzezinski
Joe Scarborough’s insufferably smug gal-pal swaggers around the cable dial and, on stage at her feminist forums, as some kind of crusading keeper of the suffragette flame when, in reality, she is the exact opposite. Brzezinski is guilty of what we are told are three unforgivable sins — and in her case they undoubtedly are.
1) To protect Al Franken, Brzezinski questioned the credibility of Leeann Tweeden, a sex abuse victim with an actual photo of her abuse.
2) Brzezinski victim-blamed her pal Mark Halperin’s numerous accusers as heartless “hypocrites,” for not wanting to meet with him, exonerate him, and allow him to return to the Morning Joe set. Among other things, Halperin is accused of roughing a woman up, rubbing his erection up against them, and masturbating under his desk in the presence of a female staffer.
3) In her unrelenting attack against a Franken accuser who has an actual photograph of his misconduct, Brzezinski slut-shamed Tweeden because she is a former Playboy model.
Lisa Bloom
Gloria Allred’s disgraced daughter, who, like her disgraced mother, identifies as a crusading feminist attorney, imploded this year over a series of jaw-dropping scandals. She sought huge payoffs for President Trump’s accusers, defended Harvey Weinstein, sought to discredit his alleged victims, is accused of trying to silence alleged rape victim Rose McGowan, initially downplayed the allegations against Weinstein, and is also accused of all kinds of sleaze to protect another powerful man accused of and fired for misconduct, Amazon’s Roy Price.
Lena Dunham
After getting caught falsely accusing an innocent man of raping her in college, Dunham apparently thought it would be a good idea to declare a friend and colleague of hers, Murray Miller, completely innocent of the alleged rape of then-17-year-old actress Aurora Perrineau.
“While our first instinct is to listen to every woman’s story, our insider knowledge of Murray’s situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year,” Dunham proclaimed from on high.
The backlash was fierce, and deservedly so, and Dunham was eventually forced to apologize.
Meryl Streep
Streep, one of the most plugged-in players in all of Hollywood, faced her anti-woman sins of both past and present in 2017.
After lying about President Trump mocking a dishonest reporter’s disability, the Internet served its most useful purpose in reminding us that Streep has both defended and applauded a fugitive who drugged, raped, and sodomized a 13- year-old.
Streep also downplayed Harvey Weinstein’s (a man she once called “God”) alleged crimes (which includes alleged serial rape) as acts of “disrespect,” and now wants us to believe that, although she has been the Queen of Hollywood for decades and has had close business ties with Weinstein for two of those decades, she knew nothing.
No one believes her. No one should.
Gloria Allred
Defeated U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R-AL) faced three accusers, and all of their stories raised enough reasonable doubt that he should have been acquitted in the court of public opinion. Only one accuser, though, committed a forgery, and that was Allred client Beverly Nelson.
During a press conference, both Allred and her client attributed to Moore the most damning piece of a yearbook inscription, something Nelson later was forced to admit she wrote herself.
No one will ever believe Allred again. Worse still, this breathtaking misconduct enables any man ever accused by one of Allred’s clients.
If she had even a shred of decency, Allred would retire.
Cokie Roberts
Last month, NPR’s Cokie Roberts admitted that she (and other members of the congressional female press corps) have known “for years” about male lawmakers who act inappropriately with women in elevators.
Not only did Roberts remain silent for decades, she still refuses to name names.
Kasie Hunt
Although Leeann Tweeden has an actual photo of disgraced Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) groping her breasts while she sleeps, in order to protect Franken (who has resigned his seat after a half-dozen more accusers came forward, most of them supporters) Kasie Hunt of NBC News told the world that what Franken did to Tweeden is “not actually groping.”
NBC News has a massive sexual misconduct problem, and Hunt’s enabling only adds to it.
Michelle Goldberg
Back in November, Goldberg used the pages of the New York Times to trash Bill Clinton accuser Paula Jones as both a liar and political pawn.
There was just one massive, glaring, unforgivable lie of omission in the column — Goldberg did not want her readers to know that Clinton eventually settled with Jones for a reported $850,000, which was more than the $700,0000 she originally sought.
Andrea Mitchell
In May of last year, in a desperate effort to shield accused rapist Bill Clinton and to make his wife president, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell straight-up lied about Juanita Broaddrick by dismissing as “discredited” Broaddrick’s every credible claim that Bill Clinton raped her.
This year, Mitchell has refused to apologize or to correct her indefensible smear, which is as fake as fake news gets.
Mitchell is the queen of NBC’s den of homophobia and misconduct.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.Retail giant Target is losing sales and may be on track for another major stock-drop in the second quarter, analysts say, amid a growing boycott caused by the company’s transgender friendly policies.
The company’s second-quarter sales, from April to June, may drop as much as 2 percent compared to the prior year, executives told reporters and Wall Street analysts. That’s “horrendous,” said Jim Cramer, founder of the stock-market website, TheStreet.com.
The earnings prediction comes a month after the left-leaning company announced April 19 that it would allow men claiming to be women to use the women’s bathrooms and changing rooms at its stores. The decision has sparked a boycott petition effort that garnered over 1.2 million signers in only a week.
Target executives deny the pro-family consumer boycott is making a significant difference. But, according to TheStreet.com, the business-news website,
“We have seen a noticeable slowdown post-Easter,” Target CFO [chief financial officer] Cathy Smith said on a call with reporters. Target’s CEO Brian Cornell, who was also on the call, blamed the slowdown on unfavorable weather trends in the Northeast and volatile economic trends. Cornell also said the company has not seen a “material” impact to its overall business from the protests, but has seen some hit to sales in a “handful” of stores. He declined to quantify the extent of the hit, however.
According to the Associated Press, Target expected a sales growth in new stores to hit 1.6 percent in the first quarter, but only realized a 1.2 percent growth.
This week, the company announced a reshuffle in the executive office.
Stock-pickers are getting nervous about the company’s executives. “Target is now a question… because the degredation of Target from month to month to month has them confused,” said Jim Cramer, founder of TheStreet.com. “Apparel [sales] is not good, electronics is not good, the [earnings] guidance is horrendous,” he said.
Amid Target’s troubles, Costco and the Walmart company will likely gain, he said.
Target’s stock has fallen 20 percent — from $84 per share to $67 per share — since it imposed the pro-transgender policy on its customer base of families. That loss has chopped roughly $10 billion from the overall shareholder value of the company, according to a chart produced by Yahoo.com
The AP notes that Target isn’t the only retailer to see a drop in profits with Nordstrom, T.J. Maxx, Walmart, J.C. Penny, Khol’s and Macy’s all seeing a downturn as Obama’s economy continues to struggle. But with the added pressure of the boycott movement, target’s fall has been worse than its rivals.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.comHalf a century ago, in February and June 1966, robotic spacecraft first landed on the Moon. I vividly remember those events from my days as a 14-year-old space buff. On February 3, the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 thumped down on the vast lava plain known as Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms), after a number of failed attempts. A Soviet stamp shows its landing configuration, which used air bags to cushion its fall. On the right is the first picture transmitted, from the turret camera in the cylinder on top.
<p>The Soviet Union 1966 CPA 3317 stamp feature the first images of the Moon’s surface taken by the Luna 9 spacecraft.</p>
This image was intercepted by the Jodrell Bank observatory in England, which beat the Soviets to releasing it. The quality in this version was less than ideal, but it was the one that made the newspapers like my hometown Calgary Herald.
<p>The first image of the Moon’s surface intercepted and released by the Jodrell Bank observatory in England.</p> <p> </p>
Luna 9, which was only powered by batteries, lasted three days, enough to transmit a panorama from very close to the surface
The United States’ first successful landing on the Moon came on June 2, when NASA’s Surveyor 1 touched down on another part of Oceanus Procellarum, which is the large dark area on the right side of the full Moon. That landing, I remember especially well, as it was carried live on TV from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It unfolded around midnight, Calgary time, and no one knew whether it would work or not. One of the first pictures Surveyor 1 took was of its foot pad.
<p>The first picture captured by Surveyor 1 of its foot pad.</p>
This image, along with data transmitted from strain gauges in the three landing legs, gave valuable information to NASA about the bearing strength of the lunar surface, vital for planning the Apollo missions that were to follow.
Surveyor was a more sophisticated, solar-powered spacecraft. The Museum has a test vehicle made to look like the second successful lander, Surveyor 3. The solar panel is on top and the flat panel for the main antenna to transmit to Earth is behind it. The TV camera is located in the white cylinder with the oval mirror under the solar panel. The Surveyor 3 had a scoop (lower right) for testing the soil’s characteristics, but it was not on Surveyor 1.
<p>The Surveyor series was designed to carry out soft landings on the Moon and provide data about its surface and possible atmosphere. These were the first U.S. probes to soft-land on the Moon.</p>
Surveyor 1 shut down during the 14-day lunar night but revived and transmitted pictures until July 14. Even after that it was able to send back engineering data during lunar days until January 1967. Its panoramas have been processed more recently by Philip J. Stooke of the University of Western Ontario.
<p>Panoramas captured by Surveyor 1 and recently published by Philip J. Stooke of the University of Western Ontario.</p>
Those were exciting days for space enthusiasts and for the general public. We were witnessing the first pictures taken from the surface of another world. That same summer, spacecraft also went into orbit around the Moon for the first time. Luna 10 and Lunar Orbiter 1 transmitted many more images, as did their successors. Three years later, humans walked on the Moon, helped in no small part by their robotic precursors.In two weeks, I will celebrate my second wedding anniversary to my best friend on the planet. Our life together is everything I could ever have asked for, and I can’t imagine ever having any regrets, or growing old with anyone else. Yet sometimes when I’m meeting someone new, I cringe a bit to myself when I include him in a story: “My husband and I…”
I was never a particularly feminine girl, and I came out as bisexual pretty much the second I stepped foot on my undergraduate campus. My career has been partially driven by my passion for queer issues and the push for equality under the law. I keep my hair short and my wardrobe tends toward oxfords and ties (although I also have an addiction to red lipstick). I drool over girls with tattoos who rock menswear. At the Pride parade after New York passed marriage equality in 2011, I cried.
And then, two years later, I married a man.
My husband and I are polyamorous, and I have female partners as well as male. Sometimes I feel like I bring this up in conversation less out of any particular relevance and more as a defense mechanism—“See, I’m not straight, I like girls too!” Before we began exploring polyamory, I didn’t even dress as androgynously as I do these days—I wanted to, but I was afraid of being accused of appropriating someone else’s culture. Or, perhaps more truthfully, I was afraid I would be appropriating someone else’s culture. Did I have the right to call myself queer while I benefited from all the perks of living like a heterosexual? I had vague visions of outraged lesbians calling me out and saying I was misleading people, that I was misrepresenting myself, that I wanted credit for something I hadn’t earned. From my conversations with friends in similar situations, it seems like this isn’t a terribly uncommon fear for bisexual or queer women who “marry straight:” the fear of taking the easy path, of “passing,” of not being gay enough to label yourself in the way that feels true to you.
The issue of “biphobia” is one that comes up in the media and in queer-centric conversations from time to time. Bisexual celebrities continue to baffle media outlets, who refer to Kristen Stewart’s girlfriend as her “gal pal” and who tell Anna Paquin, to her face, that she “used to be bisexual” because she married a man. (Props to her, by the way, for shutting that right the hell down. It was a proud moment.) In my own life, I’ve encountered my share of these attitudes, from straight and gay folks alike. I was welcomed with open arms into my college’s LGBT group, until the day I got a steady boyfriend. I was never explicitly uninvited from anything—but the temperature of my interactions with other members noticeably cooled, and I stopped going to meetings shortly thereafter. In the single dating days of my early twenties, before I met my husband, I went on more than one date where the woman gave me the distinct vibe she was testing me. When it became clear that my most formative past relationships had been with men, I could almost watch their interest dissipate. Obviously this attitude isn’t universal, but when you encounter it enough times, as with any other prevalent social attitude, you start to wonder if maybe people aren’t right about you.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a bit more comfortable in my skin, and am less likely to define myself by other people’s expectations. I love my husband (and also my other partners)—and how that all works, and what I “consider” myself, isn’t really anyone’s business but ours. Most days, I’m pretty good at remembering that. I spike up my hair, put on my tie, and head to work, where pictures of me in a long white dress grinning at my husband-to-be have a place of honor in my cubicle. Most days, if I were asked outright, I would have no issue identifying as a queer woman, and raising a disdainful eyebrow at anyone who questioned my right to do so. Most days.
But some days I still wonder if I’m quite gay enough.From Miami New Times, more on the fatal dangers of modern policing:
An 18-year-old skater was Tasered to death yesterday by Miami Beach Police officers after they caught him tagging a building.
Details about the death are still murky, but what is clear is that Israel Hernandez died before dawn Tuesday morning after cops caught him spray painting near 71st Street and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. Police have yet to comment on the killing, but an officer near the scene confirmed that cops had fatally Tasered someone. Hernandez's friends on the Miami Beach skate scene are devastated.
"I just cant believe it," says best friend Rafael Lynch, on the verge of tears. "I still have his hat and his board. They still smell like him. It's crazy."
Hernandez and Lynch worked together at MIA Skate Shop in Sunny Isles. Lynch says his friend, a Colombian immigrant who had only recently gotten his papers, was a brilliant and peaceful kid.
"This dude wasn't a regular dude," Lynch says. "He wasn't into partying... I've seen him drink a beer in the past but nothing to get fucked up...
"I loved this person. He was very different. He had a passion for skating and art and many other things. He taught me a lot."The state’s newly minted Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, accepted cash from a mobster convicted of racketeering and steered thousands more to a man who did time for manslaughter, records show.
Between 2003 and 2008, more than $2,800 flowed into the Bronx Democrat’s campaign coffers from Tri-State Employment Services and its top executives, including reputed Bonanno associate Neil Messina, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison last April in connection with a 1992 home-invasion murder.
Heastie also directed at least $250,000 to the Bronx Business Alliance. The now-defunct nonprofit’s head, John Bonizio, was convicted of manslaughter in 1982 for bludgeoning a man to death with a baseball bat. Bonizio also made a plea deal after being indicted in the same year for trying to bribe an NYPD detective.
“Associations like these seriously undermine his attempts to show that the Assembly Democrats have turned the page,” a Democratic operative said of Heastie.
“As someone who is totally undefined in the public eye, this is a troubling first impression.”
Heastie took over as Assembly speaker last month amid corruption charges against former Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Silver was arrested by the FBI in January for allegedly accepting nearly $4 million in bribes and kickbacks dating back to at least 2000.
Since 2000, Heastie has represented the northeast Bronx neighborhoods of Edenwald, Wakefield and Baychester, and currently serves as chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party, a post he eventually plans to give up.
Heastie said through a spokesman he did not know of Bonizio’s brutal crime, which was reported in newspaper accounts in 1989, or of Messina’s reputed ties to the Bonanno family.
“These contributions were made years ago, before the accusations, and [Heastie] will be donating them to charity,” spokesman Michael Whyland said. “The speaker has no input regarding the makeup of the [Bronx Business Alliance] board.”
Heastie did not receive campaign contributions from Bonizio, state financial disclosure records show. But Bonizio hasn’t been quiet when it comes to political money. He’s shoveled campaign cash to Mayor Bill de Blasio and to City Council members Ritchie Torres and Annabel Palma, according to city campaign finance records.
Bonizio told The Post he’s paid his debt to society and hasn’t done anything wrong for the last 35 years.
Messina went to federal prison last year for racketeering in connection with the 1992 home-invasion death of a Brooklyn man. He served as president of a key division of Tri-State, which failed to disclose to the city and state that he’d been charged. The city recently announced it was canceling a $10 million contract with Tri-State.
The downtown Manhattan firm did not return calls.UPDATED 3.57PM: A violent attack on a six-month-old puppy has resulted in jail time, and a life-time ban from owning animals for a 19-year-old.
Christchurch teen Logan Smoor will spend 15 months in prison for his crimes, which include an assault on a person as well.
Smoor was sentenced today after pleading guilty to several charges including the ill-treatment of animals.
The Canterbury SPCA has commented on the attack, calling it one of the worst acts of cruelty it has ever seen.
The puppy, named Kia, was treated after receiving 11 fractures all over her body.
She was unable to eat, drink, or go to the toilet without assistance.
Animal Welfare Inspector Claire Ripper said the severity of the of the puppy's injuries made the case one of the most distressing she's ever had to deal with.
The SPCA is hoping to send a strong message, following the sentencing of a 19-year-old Christchurch man for a violent attack on a six month old puppy.In 2015, the Golden State Warriors blew the roof of the NBA in record setting fashion. They won a blistering 88 games. They began the year averaging 116.2 points in January. They ended the year averaging 112. 2 points in December. Against 40% of the league they were too powerful, winning every matchup: Celtics, Hornets, Pistons, Rockets, Heat, Timberwolves, Knicks, 76ers, Trailblazers, Kings, Raptors and Wizards. They dominated the Eastern Conference, losing only 6 games, one of which was a game in overtime.
They lost back to back games twice in the regular season and twice in the playoffs. They had winning streaks of 7 games, 12 games and 24 games. They never lost more than three games in one calendar month. They were brilliant on the road, 37-14 (72%). They were spectacular at home, 51-3 (94%) and haven’t lost a home game since June 7th against the Cavaliers, a two point loss. They haven’t lost a home regular season game since January 27th against the Bulls in overtime.
The Warriors 88 wins since January 1st is the most of a NBA champion this past decade. Their 17 losses is five fewer than the 2013 Miami Heat who were 85-22 that year.
Best Team Records (Calendar Year) W-L 2015 Golden State Warriors 88-17 2013 Miami Heat 85-22 2008 Boston Celtics 84-28 2009 Los Angeles Lakers 81-25
The Warriors 16-5 playoff record is surpassed in history only by iconic teams, the 1996 Bulls (15-3) and the 2001 Lakers (15-1).
This year when the Warriors made their mark in the NBA, they did it surrounded by critics and skeptics who doubted their style of play would be successful in the post-season. It was. In a reversal of fortune, the Warriors are the ones everyone wants to copy and emulate.
There is no such thing as a perfect year or a perfect team but the 2015 Warriors were as close as you could get to sublime perfection. The Steph Curry injury at year’s end is a dark cloud to be sure, and Steve Kerr has yet to coach a game. Harrison Barnes is still out. It’s a reminder of how fragile all of this is and that the pendulum can swing the other way real quick. The game is about chemistry, timing, talent and health. In 2015, the Warriors had it all.
No worries. The footprints have already been dug in the sand for 2016: move the ball, rotate and defend, make open perimeter shots and have a hell of a good time while doing it.
photo via llananbaPhoto
Yesterday a former government official at a meeting I was attending asked a very good question: have any prominent Republican economists taken a strong stand against the terrible, no good, very bad tax legislation their party just rammed through the Senate? I couldn’t think of any. And this says something not good about the state of at least that side of my profession.
We can divide Republican economists into three groups here. First are those enthusiastically endorsing the specific bill, like the 137 signatories of the letter Trump has tweeted out. They’re a pretty motley crew, many not economists at all, some apparently nonexistent, and some with, um, interesting backgrounds:
Other names on the economists’ letter may raise eyebrows. John P. Eleazarian is listed as an economist with the American Economic Association. But membership to the AEA is open to anybody who coughs up dues, and membership simply grants access to AEA journals and discounts at AEA events. Eleazarian is a former attorney who lost his law license and the ability to practice law in California after he was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison for forging a judicial signature and falsifying other documents. His current LinkedIn profile lists him as a paralegal at a law firm.
Second are people like the Nine Unprofessional Economists – all of whom have, or used to have, real professional reputations, who signed that open letter asserting that corporate tax cuts might produce rapid growth. As Jason Furman and Larry Summers pointed out, they misrepresented the research they claimed supported their position, then denied having said what they said.
The nine economists’ original Nov. 25 letterestimated that under the House and Senate proposals, “the gain in the long-run level of GDP would be just over 3 percent, or 0.3 percent per year for a decade.” … The conservative economists wrote to Summers and Furman on Thursday, saying the 3 percent growth assertion “did not offer claims about the speed of adjustment to a long-run result.”
So that’s explicit aid and comfort to tax cutters, with an extra dose of dishonesty and cowardice.
But there’s a third group, people like Greg Mankiw and Martin Feldstein, who have written in favor of the general idea of lower corporate taxes, which is OK – that’s a position one can hold in good faith, even if I disagree (and even if Mankiw at least seems to have screwed up his analysis without admitting error). But have any of them spoken out about the reality of the actual legislation, the bad analysis being offered by political figures, the corrupt political process? I may have missed some condemnations, but I haven’t seen any.
You may say that this is how everyone behaves – if your political side does bad stuff, you go silent. But it isn’t. You probably think that I’m going to offer happy stories about principled liberals – but I can do better than that. Consider a very different group of conservative intellectuals, whom I have had lots of bad things to say about in the past: neocon foreign policy types.
Nobody can accuse me of having a soft spot for the likes of William Kristol, Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin, David Frum, and others who played a role in cheerleading the Iraq War. But one must grudgingly admit that under Trump they have shown real courage: they have proved willing to criticize, harshly and even shrilly, the disastrous governance of our current regime.
On other words, the foreign-policy neocon intellectuals, however wrongheaded I may find their ideas, turn out to be men and women with real principles.
I wish I could say the same about conservative economists. But I can’t.Update May 17, 2018
Following the U.S. Senate’s 52-47 vote to reinstate net neutrality rules, U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) announced the House of Representatives will attempt to also force a vote on the issue under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
“I have introduced a companion CRA in the House,” Doyle said during a press conference yesterday, “but I’m also going to begin a discharge petition, which we will have open for signature tomorrow morning. And I urge every member who supports a free and open internet to join me and sign this petition, so we can bring this legislation to the floor.”
To force a vote in the House, the petition needs 218 signatures. The Democrats hold only 193 seats there, so they need 25 Republicans to switch sides.
Update May 16, 2018
The U.S. Senate voted 52-47 to reinstate the net neutrality rules. Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Kennedy (La.) broke party lines and voted with all Senate Democrats to overturn the FCC’s decision to repeal the 2015 Obama-era rules.
The measure now moves to the House of Representatives, where it faces a significant battle. Republicans hold a 236-193 majority in the House. If it receives a simple majority there, it then moves to the President for his signature.
Update May 10, 2018:
The effort to restore net neutrality advanced yesterday when the U.S. Senate forced a vote on a new resolution restore the rules.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and 32 other Democrats submitted a new discharge petition under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to restore the 2015 Open Internet Order — net neutrality. The petition has the power to force the U.S. Senate to vote on the resolution, which Markey said he hopes will happen next week.
“This is the fight for the internet,” Sen. Markey said during a press conference. “By passing this resolution, we can send a clear message that this Congress won’t fall to the special interest agenda of President Trump and his broadband baron allies, but rather will do right by the people that send us here.”
The CRA allows Congress to roll back regulations within 60 legislative days of introduction, which would apply to the internet rules FCC Chairman Ajit Pai introduced in December. Those rules reversed the 2015 Open Internet Order, which had explicitly banned blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization by internet providers.
To undo Pai’s rules and restore net neutrality, the resolution needs a bare majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as the President’s signature.
So far, 50 senators have said they’re in favor of the bill. They include all 48 of the Democratic senators, as well as Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Activists hope to persuade moderate Republicans Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to also support the bill.
Update Dec. 14, 201 |
did not involve a black bloc, but appears to have included local residents, although it is known that many local residents were treated as protesters, even being teargassed, despite having no part in the protests. Police called in from other cities mistook the typically crowded streets of Capitol Hill as groups of protesters.[22][23] More than 500 people were jailed on Wednesday. Throughout the day, police used tear gas to disperse crowds downtown, although a permitted demonstration organized by the Steelworkers Union was held along the waterfront.[24]
Media response Edit
The New York Times printed an erroneous article that stated that protesters at the 1999 WTO convention in Seattle threw Molotov cocktails at police.[25] Two days later, The New York Times printed a correction saying that the protest was mostly peaceful and no protesters were accused of throwing objects at delegates or the police, but the original error persisted in later accounts in the mainstream media.[26] The Seattle City Council also dispelled these rumors with its own investigation findings: The level of panic among police is evident from radio communication and from their inflated crowd estimates, which exceed the numbers shown on news videotapes. ARC investigators found the rumors of "Molotov cocktails" and sale of flammables from a supermarket had no basis in fact. But, rumors were important in contributing to the police sense of being besieged and in considerable danger.[27] An article in the magazine The Nation disputed that Molotov cocktails have ever been thrown at an antiglobalization protest within the US.[28] Video shot by anarchists at Seattle does show some protesters throwing debris at police.[29][30] Though media coverage of the Battle in Seattle condemned the violence of many protesters, the nature of this violence has justified its use to some people. Specifically, the violence employed was symbolic violence: that is, "acts directed toward property, not people."[31] Though many still denounced the violent tactics used by protesters of the 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle, this violence clearly resulted in increased media coverage of the event. The WTO meeting had an increase in evening news airtime from 10 minutes and 40 seconds on the first day of the meeting to 17 minutes on the first day of violence.[31] In addition, WTO coverage was the lead or second story on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC after violence was reported.[32] Two days after the start of violence, the meeting remained the top story on three of the four networks.[31] Though these numbers alone are telling, the media coverage of subsequent demonstrations that did not include violence by protesters shows even more the effect of violence on coverage. For example, the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (WB/IMF) meetings in the spring showed a "coverage pattern that was almost the reverse of that in Seattle" and that "suggests the crucial role of violence in garnering time on the public screen."[31] In an even more striking example of the effects of violence on media coverage, the 2001 WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar, included no reports of violence.[31] As a result, "there was absolutely no TV evening news coverage by the four major networks."[31] This coverage did not center exclusively on the violence. Instead, details of the protesters' message and antiglobalization campaign were included along with the discussions of symbolic violence taking place.[31] DeLuca believes the violence served as a dense surface that opened viewers' and readers' minds to a whole new way of thinking about globalization and corporations' operations.[31] That is, not only was this violence contained within the familiar setting of television, and not only did it meet the criteria of being dramatic and emotional enough to warrant air time, but it also shattered preconceived notions of globalization and the practices of corporations that drive so much of America's economy.[31]
Aftermath Edit
To many in North American anarchist and radical circles, the Seattle WTO riots, protests, and demonstrations were viewed as a success.[33] Prior to the "Battle of Seattle", almost no mention was made of "antiglobalization" in the US media, while the protests were seen as having forced the media to report on 'why' anybody would oppose the WTO.[34] Previous mass demonstrations had taken place in Australia in December 1997, in which newly formed grass-roots organizations blockaded Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Darwin city centers.[35] Controversy over the city's response to the protests resulted in the resignation of the police chief of Seattle, Norm Stamper,[36] and arguably played a role in Schell's loss to Greg Nickels in the 2001 mayoral primary election.[37][38] The massive size of the protest added $3 million to the city's estimated meeting budget of $6 million, partly due to city cleanup and police overtime bills. In addition, the damage to commercial businesses from vandalism and lost sales has been estimated at $20 million.[39] On January 16, 2004, the city of Seattle settled with 157 individuals arrested outside of the no-protest zone during the WTO events, agreeing to pay them a total of $250,000.[40] On January 30, 2007, a federal jury found that the city had violated protesters' Fourth Amendment constitutional rights by arresting them without probable cause or evidence.[41][42]
See also Edit
References Edit
Further reading EditHow to Make Homemade Cheez-Its
By Molly Durham in Food on Feb 9, 2012 5:00PM
Cheese and carbs are a magical combination. Put them in a bite-size niblet and I think we all can agree that "Once you pop you just can't stop" should really apply to the cheesiest snack of all: Cheez-Its.
This recipe is just as simple as our homemade Wheat Thins. You can have that so-cheesy-it's-almost-painful taste, and you don't even need the thiamin mononitrate or soy lecithin (both ingredients found in Cheez-It brand products).
This recipe could easily be modified with different cheeses of similar texture like white cheddar or another semi-hard cheese. Stored in a sealed container, they should last for a few weeks.
Homemade Cheez-Its Recipe:
Ingredients
1 cup flour
8 oz. cheddar cheese of your choosing, grated
4 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into squares
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until blended and crumbly. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture forms into dough. For us this was about 2 tablespoons. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.
Place the ball of dough on a floured surface and roll out with a rolling pin until it's about 1/8 inch thick. This can be done in 2 batches, if you don't have enough surface area. Cut dough into squares about 1 inch x 1 inch. Poke center with one prong of a fork for that famous hole in the center. If you want the serrated edges, use a serrated knife to trim the very edges of each cracker. Sprinkle with extra salt on top.
Either line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it with baking spray. Place crackers on sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Dan Ryszka is a pharmacist, so he knows something about medicine. But he was still stumped when drug after drug failed to curb his children’s violent seizures. Then they joined New York’s fledgling medical marijuana program, and the attacks all but stopped.
“You go through the ABCs of medicine. Let’s try this drug, let’s try that one, let’s find one that works,” said Ryszka, a Buffalo-area resident whose 15-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son are now taking medications derived from marijuana. “We tried 10 drugs. Now, my son is off oxygen. He’s smiling. Somedays my daughter was having three to five seizures. Now it’s one a month.”
More than 7,000 New Yorkers have signed up since New York began allowing patients with certain conditions to obtain non-smokeable marijuana preparations early this year through one of the most cautious medical marijuana programs in the nation. Now, the state is looking to expand it, with plans for home delivery and more dispensaries.
State health officials say they will also allow nurse practitioners to authorize medical cannabis, and are weighing proposals to make chronic pain a qualifying condition for medical cannabis. To make it easier for patients to find doctors, the state may post an online list of physicians who participate in the program.
Ari Hoffnung, CEO, Vireo Health New York “Right now there's a micro market.”
The steps are overdue and don’t go nearly far enough, said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat and one of the authors of the law, which was passed and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014.
“The excessive restrictions in the medical marijuana law and regulations are not justified,” he said. “Patients deserve easier access and more choice.”
Currently, there are 17 dispensaries around the state operated by five companies that grow and process cannabis. Three more are slated to open. The state’s expansion plan calls for up to 20 more dispensaries.
At least one company picked to operate the program is concerned about the expansion plan.
“Right now there’s a micro market,” said Ari Hoffnung, CEO of Vireo Health New York, which operates dispensaries in Queens and Westchester and Broome counties. “We urge the state to hit the pause button… there may at some point be a rationale to adding more. The time for that has not yet come.”
Alphonso David, Cuomo’s counsel, said the state will carefully assess the need for more dispensaries as it makes other changes — such as allowing nurse practitioners to authorize medical marijuana recipients — to ensure the transition is smooth.
“We are expanding the program we’re doing so in a thoughtful way,” he said. “We are focused on patient access… We need to make sure there is sufficient demand before we increase the supply.”
Unlike most other states, New York’s program prohibits smokeable marijuana, instead requiring dispensing the drug capsules or oils or tinctures that can be vaporized or used with an inhaler. Doctors must complete an online training course before authorizing the drug. Patients may not know which doctors have agreed to participate, making it difficult to access the program.
When he signed the program into law Cuomo said it “strikes the right balance” between treatment for patients and the need to protect public health and safety.
Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia now have medical cannabis programs. Enrollment rates vary considerably. Michigan has 182,000. Rhode Island, which has a population 1/20th of New York’s, has nearly 12,000.
A study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers this year found that enrollment is highest in western states with older, less restrictive programs and lower in more recent “medicalized” programs like the one in New York. Minnesota, which has a program similar to New York’s, has enrolled nearly 2,800 patients since its program started a year ago.
The study suggests that if Cuomo’s plan was to create a program that’s difficult to abuse, he may have succeeded.
Ryszka said he’s pleased the state is expanding access to a program that has helped his children. He said there are still many people in need who can’t get the drug.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “I get calls all the time: ‘I live in this area, is there a doctor I can talk to?’”At least three senior White House officials, including the top lawyer for the National Security Council, were involved in the handling of intelligence files that were shared with the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and showed that Trump campaign officials were swept up in U.S. surveillance of foreign nationals, according to U.S. officials.
The White House role in the matter contradicts assertions by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and adds to mounting concerns that the Trump administration is collaborating with the leader of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Though White House officials have refused to answer questions about the documents shared with Nunes, the White House said in a letter to the House committee Thursday that it had “discovered documents” that might show whether information collection on U.S. persons was mishandled and was prepared to show them to lawmakers.
[Chairman and partisan: The dual roles of Devin Nunes]
One of those involved in procuring the documents cited by Nunes has close ties to former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The official, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, survived a recent attempt to oust him from his White House job by appealing to Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon, the officials said.
(Reuters)
The materials unearthed by Nunes have been used to defend President Trump’s baseless claims on Twitter that he had been wiretapped at Trump Tower under a surveillance operation ordered by then-President Barack Obama. FBI Director James B. Comey and others have said that claim is false.
Nunes reviewed the material during a surreptitious visit to the White House grounds last week. He then returned the next day in a visit he said was arranged so that he could brief Trump on what Nunes depicted as potential abuses by U.S. spy agencies brought to his attention by an unnamed source.
Nunes and White House press secretary Sean Spicer have repeatedly refused to answer questions about the identities of those involved in unearthing the intelligence reports or arranging for Nunes to review them at the White House complex — although Nunes at one point said his source was not a member of the White House staff.
That assertion is under new scrutiny after U.S. officials confirmed that three senior officials at the National Security Council — considered part of the White House — played roles in the collection and handling of information shared with Nunes.
The officials said that the classified files were gathered by Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council.
After assembling reports that showed that Trump campaign officials were mentioned or inadvertently monitored by U.S. spy agencies targeting foreign individuals, Cohen-Watnick took the matter to the top lawyer for the National Security Council, John Eisenberg.
The third White House official involved was identified as Michael Ellis, a lawyer who previously worked with Nunes on the House Intelligence Committee but joined the Trump administration as an attorney who reports to Eisenberg. Ellis and Eisenberg report to the White House counsel, Donald McGahn.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) leaves the House floor on March 29. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)
The involvement of Ellis and Cohen-Watnick was first reported Thursday by the New York Times.
A spokesman for the NSC declined to comment. Jack Langer, a spokesman for Nunes, said the chairman “will not confirm or deny speculation about his source’s identity.” Langer also said that Nunes “will not respond to speculation from anonymous sources,” despite Nunes’s insisting on the anonymity of his own source.
Nunes, who served as an adviser to the Trump transition team, said the files he reviewed had made him concerned that U.S. intelligence agencies had mishandled information on members of the Trump campaign, although Nunes acknowledged that he saw no evidence of illegality.
He appeared to be referring to cases of “incidental” collection on U.S. persons, which generally occur when foreign officials being monitored by U.S. spy agencies either mention an American or communicate with one. The identities of those Americans are supposed to be masked in any intelligence reports disseminated in the U.S. government.
Nunes said that most names were masked in the files he reviewed but that he could still identify Trump campaign officials from context.
Cohen-Watnick gathered the cases of incidental collection on Trump campaign operatives after arriving at the NSC. One official said Cohen-Watnick did so as part of research unrelated to Trump’s wiretapping tweet. Instead, the official said, Cohen-Watnick was assembling materials out of concern that intelligence information on U.S. persons was being shared too widely and that unmasking rules were being abused.
The U.S. official said Cohen-Watnick was not involved in showing the material to Nunes, didn’t clear Nunes onto the White House grounds, didn’t review the material with Nunes and wasn’t even aware that the material was going to be shared with the committee chairman.
Even so, White House officials appear to have recognized the value of Cohen-Watnick’s material in defending Trump from criticism for his false accusation that he had been wiretapped by Obama.
U.S. officials declined to say who had contacted Nunes or arranged his White House visits, except to note that Cohen-Watnick had brought his findings to the attention of Eisenberg and that Ellis works for Eisenberg.
Cohen-Watnick was brought into the administration by Flynn, a former Defense Intelligence Agency director who was fired after it was exposed that he had misled Vice President Pence and others about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
During a preliminary meeting this month to discuss the possibility of Flynn testifying before Congress, Flynn’s attorney said he wanted to explore the possibility of his client receiving full immunity in exchange for his participation.
Intelligence committee lawyers responded to the attorney by saying that immunity request, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was premature. “That’s not on the table,” an official said. “We aren’t entertaining immunity for anybody.”
Flynn frequently battled with the CIA, which mounted a failed effort to have Cohen-Watnick removed from his job.
After Flynn was replaced by H.R. McMaster, some in the CIA made it known to him that the agency would prefer someone else in Cohen-Watnick’s job. Early this month, McMaster interviewed the agency’s suggested candidate, senior CIA analyst Linda Weissgold, and informed Cohen-Watnick that he was being moved to another position.
Cohen-Watnick consulted Kushner and Bannon, Trump’s chief White House strategist. After Kushner and Bannon spoke with Trump over the March 11-12 weekend, Cohen-Watnick was back in place.
Within days, a CIA detailee to the NSC working under Cohen-Watnick was told without explanation to clear out his desk and return to the agency. The agent, a former and future covert operative whose name is being withheld by The Washington Post at the request of the CIA, was on a standard two-year rotation to the White House.
In its letter to the committee, the White House repeated calls for it to investigate leaks that have led to media reports about contacts by Trump associates with Russian operatives. In particular, it referred to a March 2 MSNBC interview with former Obama Defense Department official Evelyn Farkas, which has suddenly become a leading element in White House pushback against the Russia allegations and evidence of Trump’s claim that the Obama administration has actively sought to undermine his presidency.
The interview took place after the New York Times reported that the Obama White House, fearing the new administration would sweep it under the rug, had spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election. Farkas said, “I was urging my former colleagues and... the Hill people, get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can, before President Obama leaves the administration.”
“That’s why there were so many leaks,” said Farkas, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
While her comments were widely ignored when initially broadcast four weeks ago, the MSNBC clip suddenly appeared Tuesday on conservative websites and subsequently on Fox News and other television outlets. In a Hugh Hewitt radio interview Wednesday evening, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that its relevance to “surveillance of Trump transition team members is something that we need to figure out.”
Spicer, referring to the Obama administration, said the Farkas comment constituted an admission “on the record that this was their goal, to leak stuff.”
Farkas, in an interview with The Post, said she “didn’t give anybody anything except advice,” was not a source for any stories and had nothing to leak. Noting that she left government in October 2015, she said, “I was just watching like anybody else, like a regular spectator” as initial reports of Russia contacts began to surface after the election.
As a former staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a former Defense official involved with Russian affairs, she said she “got worried” that the Obama White House was not briefing Congress on what it knew. “I know how the Russians operate,” she said, and called former colleagues to make sure Congress was being informed.
Adam Entous, Abby Phillip, Jenna Johnson, Philip Rucker, Karoun Demirjian and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
This story has been updated.
Read more:By Yi Whan-woo
The diplomatic row between Korea and Japan over "comfort women" may deepen in the years to come because no presidential candidate here respects a bilateral agreement signed in December 2015.
All five major presidential nominees ― Moon Jae-in, Ahn Cheol-soo, Hong Joon-pyo, Yoo Seong-min and Sim Sang-jung ― are pledging to either renegotiate or scrap the deal.
Their diplomatic principles are contrary to Japan's plan to ensure that the next Korean government will carry out the deal as promised by the outgoing conservative administration.
Analysts said Wednesday failing to narrow the gap may take Seoul-Tokyo relations to their lowest level. They said bilateral ties may become worse than before December 2015 when the two countries made the controversial agreement.
"At least one side may need to yield ground, and it is very unlikely to happen," said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.
Shin Yul, a politics science professor at Myongji University echoed a view, saying "Korea must get ready for the worst."
He pointed out that even the two conservative candidates ― South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong of the Liberty Party of Korea (LDP) and Rep. Yoo of the Bareun Party ― are with their liberal rivals in protesting the December 2015 deal.
Hong said it would be "right to scrap the deal," adding, "It is a betrayal of the spirit of the country."
Yoo vowed to break the agreement "one-sidedly," if Japan refused to comply with a call for renegotiation.
Justice Party Chairwoman Rep. Sim Sang-jung said "nullification of the agreement" was necessary and called for an investigation of it when the next government begins its term.
Presidential frontrunner Moon of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Ahn of the People's Party both called for renegotiating the agreement.
But Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine made clear that this is not the case for Japan upon his return to Korea, Monday.
He temporarily left his post from Jan. 9 as part of Japan's retaliation against Korea for "violating" the deal after a statue of a girl symbolizing the "comfort women" was set up outside the Japanese Consulate in Busan.
Nagamine said he will "strongly ask" acting President and Prime Minsiter Hwang Kyo-ahn and other relevant Korean officials to implement the deal.
"Japan seems to want Hwang and other outgoing government officials to serve as its messenger to the next Korean government that its view of the agreement will remain unchanged," Shin said.
He assessed that the diplomatic row between Korea and Japan mainly stems from inconsistency in interpreting the agreement made verbally by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
Tokyo argues that Seoul agreed to remove the "girl statues" outside its diplomatic missions in Korea in return for receiving 1 billion yen ($9 million) to help former Korean sex slaves.
Seoul does not deny its agreement on the government's role in making efforts concerning the statues set up by civic activists. But it claims it did not promise to do so in return for the money.As time goes by and your rock and mineral collection grows, you may start to ask yourself, “What can I do with all these rocks?” Of course you already display them at home and you are constantly showing them to your disinterested friends and family, but have you ever thought about showing your crystals to the public?
Creating a Display for your local rock or gem show is a fun and creative way to share your love of crystals and minerals with others. Most rock clubs love to have their members and other collectors within the community exhibit their gem and mineral collections during their annual rock shows and tail gates.
In my decade plus of working within the rock and gem show world, I have seen, and created a great many rock and mineral display cases… some even winning awards at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show™. From this experience I present you with Brandy Zzyzx’s Best Practices Guide to Gem Show Display Case Design.
Step 1. Contact Gem Show Display Coordinator for permission to participate
The first step is contact the Display Coordinator for the Gem Show in which you wish to display. For larger mineral and rock Trade shows, this information is often easily found the show’s website, but for smaller, local shows many times this information is not listed on the show’s (or club that is hosting the show’s) website, or they do not even have a website. If there is no Display Coordinator, try to contact the Show Promoter or Show Chair. Or speak to any member of the hosting club that you may know, and they should be able point you in the right direction.
Before being able to exhibit your rocks, you will be asked to fill out 1 or more forms and/or releases. Each club as their own specific rules about cases, liners, and appropriateness for general (non-competitve) displays. More advanced collector’s may wish to compete for display awards that may be given out by the club. These types of displays have additional rules, specifications, and forms. If the club is a member of American Federation Mineral Societies, these competitive display rules and regulations are determined by the federation; making them consistent across all rock and gem shows in the US.
After you have secured a case for the duration of the gem show, and have been given the display case dimensions and the date of the show, it is time to plan exactly what you want to display and how to go about it. Sure you probably already have an idea of what you want to do, but now is the time to finalize those plans.
Step 2. Pick a Theme or Statement of Purpose for your display case
Anyone can throw some rocks in a case, but that doesn’t make it worth looking at. Don’t kid yourself; if you phone it in, everyone who sees it will be able to tell that you didn’t even try. So before you pick out any rocks, ask yourself why you want to put together a display case and your purpose for sharing your collection. The answer to this question will make putting your case together so much easier and aid you in creating a visually appealing display.
What is my purpose for displaying my rocks & minerals?
Answer 1.To showcase my collection of rocks & minerals
What one thinks of as traditional rock and gem show display cases. Usually they are a sampling of collector’s personal rocks and crystals, however they can also be compiled by a group of people or a case presented by museum or school. In some instances the display case may be on a theme, such as minerals all the same size, all specimens from the same locality, or all the same type of mineral. Traditional display cases usually have very little, if any signage except for specimen labels, because the rocks, crystals, or gems are the main focus of the display.
Answer 2.To teach the people about rocks & minerals
Display cases that are educational in nature are usually submitted for display from schools and museums; however it is not uncommon for companies and advanced mineral collectors to also create informative displays for larger, international gem and trade shows. Sometimes the displays are scientific and technical in nature, often times showcasing more specialized or vocational rock and mineral information.
Another popular example is detailed timeline of the operations of particular locations or discovery history of a specific mineral type. These types of displays usually have many signs, graphs, charts, photos, and labels; sometimes even paragraphs of text to read. Illustrating and educating the viewer about the rocks or minerals is the primary focus of the display; specimens are used to convey the information
Answer 3.To share my experiences with rocks & minerals
Display cases that may be related to rocks and minerals, but are actually more about telling a story or relaying a feeling or memory. These types of displays are often very different from the displays around them; they showcase the achievements or thoughts of the humans involved as the main focus.
The rocks and minerals provide a social construct for the sharing of mutual interests and experiences. Immediately recognizable, most commonly seen examples are displays of someone’s art, craft, or other creative endeavors, and what I call meta-displays. This is a display inside a display.
For instance, the specimens and awards from a winning display case 25+ years ago recreated now. Memorial cases of photos and specimens of a departed collector or of a closed location are other ways to immortalize stories and experiences from our community’s collective past. These may be the hardest type of display to execute due to their personal nature. Although sometimes seen as cheesy, these cases are quite important; often times the stories and history of our collective past is otherwise forgotten if not shared.
A great display may contain elements from multiple categories, but as a personal guide, I like to narrow down my themes. This will not only make it easier for you to decide what specimens to include, but will help the viewer be able to understand and appreciate your case quickly in a noisy/busy gem show environment.
Example: If your case is a display of mixed minerals from your personal collection, maybe choose specimens that are all the same size. Or conversely, if displaying all the same mineral from one location; showcase the different sizes, shapes, and color variations that can be found.
Choosing a theme or purpose for your display case creates a guideline to work within as you gather specimens and other elements. As you assemble your display, choose only items that will help further your purpose and stay within your desired theme.
Step 3. Plan and execute the actual design and presentation of your display case
Use of Size & Balance: A display case is essentially a box that you are filling. The very best, and most visually appealing displays are ones that utilize all 3 dimensions; length, width, and height. In order to take full advantage of the entire volume of a display case; risers, pedestals, and other display accessories are used to not only provide height, but to assist in the viewing of all specimens equally; this is especially necessary if the specimens are small or if there are many of them.
For mixed size mineral cases, place larger specimens in the back or on the sides of the display and alternate the spacing between rows to ensure optimal viewing of each specimen.
In certain displays signs and photos can be used to add height to an otherwise empty display; either on easels or by attaching them to the back of the case insert.
Use of Color & Contrast: While many rock shows will provide you with pre-covered fabric liners for the inside of your display case, most people prefer to provide their own. This gives the exhibitor the ability to choose a color that will showcase their rocks or minerals in their very best light. For instance, if you are displaying a case of white or clear specimens you would probably want to choose a dark colored background material, as to provide visual contrast for the viewer. In some cases, you might want to use a monochromatic color scheme, like using a pink background for a case of hot pink rhodochrosite specimens.
When considering color, also remember that risers and stands are made of materials that also have distinct colors. Styrofoam is mostly white, display stands usually are clear or black plastic, and labels and signs are usually predominately white. All these elements will change how your specimens and your overall display is perceived by viewers.
Generally, neutral or natural colors are preferred for backgrounds, stands, and other non-specimen display items. Creative but tasteful use of color can enhance your display in some instances, but remember, “less is more.”
Use of Tools & Materials: Even though just about anything can be used in the creating of a mineral display case, there are some materials and methods that are tried and true. Back and side case inserts are usually cardboard, foam core, or wood cut to size and covered in fabric that is secured in place by duct or masking tape. The best fabric to use is something not too stretchy or loose knit, and that is forgiving to marks and stains. Cotton, Blends, Suede, Canvas, Muslin, and Flannel are all materials I have seen used successfully. When covering your own case inserts, iron your fabric beforehand to remove creases before securing it to the background board.
Stands and risers can be purchased pre-fabricated or DIY concepts of your own design. Materials used for risers are wood, plastic, Styrofoam, Foam core, or cardboard. Pre-fabricated risers and pedestals are often clear, white or black, but DIY risers made of foam or wood could be easily painted or covered with fabric to enhance the display or to create a custom effect. Those with special tools, skills, or talents could employ any number plastic, metal, polymer, or 3d printed bases, risers or stands to give their display a unique style or feeling.
Small minerals and crystals are mounted on stands. These stands usually are foam or Lucite, with the specimen mounted with mineral tack, white glue, or hot glue. Before displaying, take into consideration what type of lighting will be used in the display case. Many smaller clubs still use hot burning display lights, so a specimen mounted to a stand with mineral tack my fall over under the heat of a display lamp. This is also true for signs and photos attached to backgrounds. For this situation, I would recommend high melting temperature hot glue to mount the specimens and a very sticky tape or possibly tacks for the pictures and signs (depending what the background material is.)
The inclusion of other types of ephemera as an accompaniment to the rocks and minerals is a way to help create interest, add height or to carry a theme. This could be documents, antiques, labels, models, optical equipment, plaques, souvenirs, etc.
Step 4. Make sure your rocks and minerals are display ready
Orientation, Cleaning, Mounting, and Labeling a mineral or rock effectively can be confusing for many novice exhibitors. The correct way can be largely subjective and often times shape or size can create challenges for even a seasoned collector.
Orientation – Always display full, terminated crystals facing the viewer. Broken crystals should face toward the back or bottom when all possible. If you are unsure what your crystal should look like, look up photos.
Cleaning – Clean any dust or dirt from your minerals and rocks prior to displaying them. Depending on the nature of the dirt/mineral cleaning could be a spray of compressed air, a soft paint brush, soap, and water, or scrub with a toothbrush.
Mounting – Mount small specimens on stands or bases securely using an appropriate adhesive. Test under shaking and heat to ensure effectiveness of the mount.
Labeling – Look up the localities of all minerals online (I recommend Mindat.org) or in reference books to ensure that you have the correct information and spelling. Use a clean, simple, font that is easy to read, and consistent throughout your display. Cut your labels out carefully and neatly with either a paper trimmer or scissors. If colored paper or text is used, make sure that the information is easy to read, that the contrast isn’t too drastic, and that it doesn’t detract from the overall display.
Step 5. Practice, Prepare, Pack, Present
Pay attention to the details, this is what will make or break the successful execution of your display.
Double check the spelling and grammar on all labels and signs.
Make sure dirt, dust, stains, or hair is removed from all fabric.
Check all mountings for stability and adhesion.
Do a practice set-up of your display case and see if all your minerals are clearly visible.
Once you have decided on a final layout, take a photo of your practice display to use as a reference for real display day.
Pack everything up backward as to how you will unpack it; pack items in the back row first, ending with the first row last.
Pack your minerals securely for transportation to the show location. Place backing boards, fabric covered inserts, risers, and other items inside bags or boxes to protect them from damage or dirt during transport. Transport signs and labels in a folder or envelope to prevent wrinkling, creasing, or other damage.
Usually display cases are set up the day before a gem show opens. You will be given instructions as to the date, time, and procedure beforehand; save these on your phone or print them out and bring them with you. Be prompt, wear your name tag if asked, follow any parking instructions, and try to finish setting up your display case in a timely fashion.
Bring all tools and accessories you may need to set up your display case; you cannot be sure what will be available to you. Here is an example list of items to bring along on set-up day.
Hot glue and glue gun
Mineral tack
Scissors
Hobby knife
Masking Tape
Duct Tape
Iron
Lint roller
Thumbtacks
Glass Cleaner
Paper Towels
Ruler
Spare Stands and bases
Tweezers or forceps
Extension Cord
Most importantly, have fun and create a display that makes you happy. By deciding to participate in the sharing of your rocks and minerals with other members of the rockhound community, you are helping to keep our rock and gem shows interesting and diverse. All the pointers and examples in this guide are presented to help you through the process of creating your own, unique display cases with less trial and error. For more information on display cases, visit your local gem, mineral, rock or lapidary club.Over the phone from Los Angeles, Josh Tillman – the creator of libidinous, shamanic indie-folk rocker Father John Misty – says the sun's out, and with no photo shoot to attend, maybe he'll "just sit around and take selfies." Just a few days earlier, he debuted Total Entertainment Forever, a track from his upcoming album Pure Comedy, on Saturday Night Live. The song opens with the line, "Bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the Oculus Rift." The Internet reacted, well … swiftly. Tillman has since acknowledged the grotesqueness of the lyric, and clarified that the point was to confront the often disturbing ways people entertain themselves. After pointing out that anger is "the real commodity right now," and explaining the click-collecting culture of media websites, Tillman expresses sympathy for those hammering out articles about the reaction his SNL gig elicited.
"They know a song is a song, they know there's such a thing as metaphor. They know there's such a thing as using pop culture as a means to make a larger point," he says. "But they have to pretend they don't understand all that in order to create articles that serve the function that their corporate overlords have deemed is the function of their website."
Modern entertainment has ended up a |
created previously.
Debra Powell QC said Chris Gard and Connie Yates had given their son 'complete and unwavering' love and support but Charlie's 'quality of life' was'so poor'.
She told Mr Justice Francis that the views of Charlie's parents were 'extremely important' but not 'determinative'.
Ms Powell added: 'This is a case where the possible benefits are so small that they are outweighed, heavily outweighed, by the burdens.'
'This case concerns a little boy who is dearly loved and cherished by his family. The parents' commitment to him has been complete and unwavering. They have been determined and passionate advocates for his best interests.
Last week Charlie's father made a final plea to a judge to save his son's life and told him: 'I can't bear to lose him. He's my boy'.
Clutching Charlie's favourite stuffed toy monkey Chris Gard told Mr Justice Francis the eight-month-old 'deserves this chance' to go to the United States for treatment.
Giving evidence at the High Court with Charlie's mother Connie by his side Mr Gard was asked to confirm he was the boy's father, and replied firmly: 'Proud father.'
He added: 'Me and Connie firmly believe that Charlie was sent to us to look after him. We truly believe these medicines work.
'If there was no improvement, we would let him go. We would never keep him like this. He deserves that chance. He has earned that chance.
'I just plead that you please give him the chance'.
He also attacked the doctors who said there was no hope, adding: 'My son is the apple of my eye and I would do anything for him. He deserves this chance.'
Last week it emerged a doctor who believes baby Charlie should be allowed to die described his heartbroken parents as a'spanner in the works'.
The Great Ormond Street medic, who cannot be named, said Connie Yates and Chris Gard's 'hunt' for hospitals around the world to save him had delayed the decision about their son's fate.
He sent an email complaining to a colleague about their 'parent-driven' search for a specialist because it was holding up a court case in which the London hospital asked a judge to sanction letting the eight month old die.
Unwell: Seven-month-old Charlie Gard is believed to be only the 16th person in the world to be diagnosed with his ultra-rare genetic condition
Charlie's mother final plea to judge to let him live A tearful Connie Yates has personally begged Judge Francis to let her son live. She pleaded: 'Charlie has one shot, one chance of life.' 'Without this treatment, Charlie's only alternative is death. 'Charlie deserves his chance to improve and get a better quality of life.' 'This therapy could work absolute wonders, and not harm him.' 'He always responds to us, only last night I took a video where Charlie was awake, I tickled his head.' Mrs Yates said he opened his eyes as if to say 'Oi, I was annoyed'. Charlie's father sobbed as, reading from her smartphone, she added: 'His only alternative is death. Why should any human being, let alone an innocent little boy, not be given that chance.' Miss Yates said if her son suffered or did not respond to the treatment, they would give up. 'If the situation were different we would be allowing Charlie to die with dignity.'
The doctor also described the US expert as 'the only person on earth' advocating pioneering treatment for Charlie.
Miss Yates cried out 'it's a lie' and began sobbing in court as the same doctor said Charlie's brain function was so poor there is no difference between him being asleep and awake.
The doctor said that when the clinical team met in January to consider Charlie's case, 'it was one of the most distressing ethics committee meetings we have had'.
The court heard that when Charlie's parents started researching his condition themselves, and contacted experts around the world, one of his Great Ormond Street doctors described this in an email as 'parent-driven' and 'a spanner in the works'.
The email between the Great Ormond Street doctors which was read out by the family's barrister in court, said: 'The spanner in the works has been a parent-driven exploration of all alternatives internationally leading to a new specialist who has recommended a three month trial of nucleosides.'
Asked if it was an appropriate way to describe parents on a 'hunt for a treatment for their child', the doctor replied: 'It's a bit clumsy but I was trying to suggest that our previous decision to take this to the court as urgently as we could was being held up by something being explored that needed to be explored.'
'We love you and won't give up. You don't deserve to die': Charlie's parents' message for their poorly son Charlie's parents gave a statement last night about why Charlie should have the chance to win Your child is ill, you find them medication but your not allowed to give it to them. You've been battling to keep your child alive for 6 months and all that fight boils down to one person and one day.. Tuesday 11th April 2017 at 2pm is when your child's fate will be decided.. your parental rights could be taken away. Your child is admittedly nothing like a normal 8 month old baby BUT he's not as bad as they say, your proud of your child moving their hands or feet, opening their eyes, moving their mouth despite only having 1-2% muscle strength. You break down in court hearing otherwise 'no purposeful movements' 'he can't breathe because his brain doesn't work' 'he's blind' 'he never wakes up' 'he's in pain' none of that is true!! You are the one who spends every waking hour with your child... well over 3000 hours since you arrived in hospital - you know your child, you know when they are happy or sad, you know best or you wouldn't still be fighting! You swear on the bible in court and know that your telling the truth 'he's not blind' 'he does respond' 'he's not in pain' 'he doesn't have a good quality of life BUT he needs this chance, the chance to improve' 'he's not suffering or i wouldn't be standing here now' 'HIS MRI IS FINE' 'he should improve' 'please trust us as parents, we won't let him suffer' 'he needs this chance' Charlie we are so immensely proud of you and we hope that we have done you proud by standing by your side and never giving up despite everything we've had to face! We've never been so stressed in our lives but we'd do it all again in a heartbeat because YOU are worth every ounce of pain and every single tear! You're our baby and we are your parents and we will do ANYTHING for you! We've got the money, we've got our passports, we've got the Dr who's got the medication.. all you need is the chance. We won't give up on you because you have a rare disease, it's not your fault, you shouldn't have to die, I'm sorry this has happened to you, I wish I could take your place!! We love you! We will fight for you until the very end and we'll pray that we'll get to hold your warm hand forever Thank you to everyone who has supported us, you have put our faith back into humanity.. we will always be eternally grateful whatever the outcome for Charlie but we're praying that he gets his chance! #charliesfight #charliesarmy #charlieschance #savecharlie
Swell of support for sick baby's parents as well-wishers flood Twitter with #CharliesFight hashtag and blue hearts after judge gives his devastating ruling
Charlie Gard's family were met with a wave of support from well-wishers after a judge ruled that the baby's life support should be turned off.
The eight-month-old's devastated parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, lost their case against Great Ormond Street Hospital, with Mr Justice Francis ruling that the boy should 'die with dignity.'
Uniting under the hashtag #charliesfight, Twitter users posted blue hearts and slammed the decision, with many believing that the eight-month-old deserves another shot at life.
Actress Leona Vaughan, who stars in CBBC show Wolfblood, was among those to condemn the verdict.
She posted that 'No man should have the right to take a life away, not a judge, doctor or anyone else' followed by three blue hearts and the aforementioned hashtag.
But, many other members of the public echoed her sentiments, following the decision.
One fellow Twitter user said: 'Thoughts with the parents of Charlie Gard. Absolutely gutted to hear that they have lost their court case.'
Another added: 'How awful, to think he could of had a chance - no one should make that decision for a parent it should be their choice.'
Belyna O'Brien posted: 'Just heard about the courts decision for #charliesfight he should be allowed one chance!!!! Thoughts are with his family!'
There were also calls for an appeal, which is already being sought by Charlie's parents.
Several users also criticised Great Ormond Street for bringing forward the case for the youngster to die.
One even pointed to the Government's refusal to allow euthanasia for terminally ill adults as a reason as to why he should have been given experimental treatment in America after £1.26million was raised by 80,000 members of the public.Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American financier, public official, and newspaper publisher. He published the Washington Post from 1933 to 1946, and the paper stayed in his family throughout the rest of the 20th century. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933 and was the first President of the World Bank Group.
Life and career [ edit ]
Born in Los Angeles, California, he was one of eight children of Harriet (née Newmark) and Marc Eugene Meyer. His parents were Alsatian Jews,[1] but he avoided identification as a Jew until later in life.[2][3] His mother was the daughter of Joseph Newmark. He grew up in San Francisco and attended college across the bay at the University of California, Berkeley, but he dropped out after one year and later enrolled at Yale University. He received his A.B. in 1895.
After college, Meyer went to work for Lazard Frères, where his father was a partner, but quit in 1901 after four years and went out on his own. He was a successful investor and speculator, and owned a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He married Agnes Elizabeth Ernst, a Lutheran, in 1910; they had five children, including the future Katharine Graham, and another daughter, Florence Meyer (Mrs. Oskar Homolka). By 1915, when he was forty, he was worth $40 million.
In 1920, Meyer teamed with William H. Nichols of General Chemical to help fulfill his vision of a bigger, better chemical company. Meyer and Nichols combined five smaller chemical companies to create the Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, which later became Allied Chemical Corp., which in turn became part of AlliedSignal, the forerunner of Honeywell’s specialty materials business. Both men have buildings named after them at Honeywell’s Morris Plains, New Jersey, headquarters.
Chairman of the Federal Reserve [ edit ]
Meyer went to Washington, D.C., during World War I as a "dollar-a-year man" (his token salary) for Woodrow Wilson, becoming the head of the War Finance Corporation and serving there long after the end of hostilities.[4] President Calvin Coolidge named him as chairman of the Federal Farm Loan Board in 1927.
Herbert Hoover promoted him to Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 1930. He took on an additional ½-year post in 1932 as chief of the new Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which was Hoover's unsuccessful attempt to aid companies by providing loans to businesses. After Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, Meyer resigned his Fed position on May 10, 1933.[5]
Meyer has been criticized as Fed Chairman for not attacking the economic catastrophe of the early 1930s with monetary stimulus, thus allowing the banking crisis to get out of hand and deepening the economic collapse. One of his biggest critics at the time condemned Meyer along with J. P. Morgan, Andrew Mellon and Ogden Mills as being the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.[6] More recent critics include Nobel laureate Milton Friedman and his fellow economist Anna Schwartz who, in their landmark book A Monetary History of the United States, put forth the argument that the Fed could have lessened the severity of the Depression, but failed to exercise its role of managing the monetary system and ameliorating banking panics.[7]
Purchase of the Washington Post [ edit ]
In 1929, Meyer made an offer of $5 million for the Washington Post, but he was rebuffed.[8][9] In June 1933, he bought the paper at a bankruptcy auction for $825,000, the paper having been ruined by its spendthrift socialite owner Ned McLean, and by the Great Depression. Meyer had resigned as Fed chairman just three weeks earlier, and he had no experience in the publishing business. But he was prepared to bid up to $2 million for the Post, far more than the other bidders, including William Randolph Hearst.[10][11] Preferring to remain anonymous, Meyer stayed home from the proceedings.[12] After weeks of speculation when even his daughter Katharine didn't know the buyer's name,[13] it was finally revealed in newspapers around the country on June 13.[14][15]
In his statement to the press, Meyer vowed to improve the Post, and asserted that he would operate it independently. He also said that he had bought the Post on his own, without the influence of "any person, group or organization."[16] He made this statement to contradict the rumors that as a well-known Republican, he would soon turn it into a voice for Republican causes. Press reaction to the purchase was positive, with other newspapers being pleased that the Post would not go out of business, and would continue to report the news from the nation's capital; given its important location, said one editorial, rescuing the Post was "a public service."[17]
An editorial in a newspaper that was identifiably Republican praised the purchase as "good news for journalism." While expressing the hope that Meyer would in fact take the Republican point of view, the editorial acknowledged that he probably would not do so, since he seemed to be "no slavish supporter of any party or leader," assuring that under his leadership the Washington Post would be "hard hitting and independent, a paper that nobody can ignore."[18] As it turned out, Meyer did take the side of the Republican party on some issues. He was opposed to FDR's New Deal, and this was reflected in the Post's editorial stance as well as its news coverage, especially regarding the National Recovery Administration (NRA).[19] He even wrote an editorializing "news" story under a fake name.[20]
Over the next twenty years, Meyer spent millions of dollars of his own money to keep the money-losing paper in business, while focusing on improving its quality; by the 1950s, it was finally consistently profitable and was increasingly recognized for good reporting and important editorials. As publisher, Meyer occasionally contributed to stories: his friendship with the British Ambassador, Lord Lothian, led to a Washington Post scoop on reporting of Edward VIII's relationship with Wallis Simpson.[21]
After World War II, Harry S. Truman named Meyer, then 70 years old, to be the first head of the World Bank in June 1946. Meyer appointed his son-in-law, Phil Graham, as publisher of the Post. After six months with the World Bank, Meyer returned to the Post, serving as chairman of the Washington Post Company until his death in Washington in 1959.
Meyer's older sister, Florence Meyer Blumenthal, was noted for the philanthropic organization she formed, the Franco-American Florence Blumenthal Foundation, which awarded the Prix Blumenthal.[22] His brother, Edgar J. Meyer, married to Leila Saks Meyer, the daughter of Andrew Saks, perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[23]
Honors [ edit ]
Eugene Meyer Elementary School in Washington, DC was named in his honor in 1963. It closed in 2008 and the building has been used as swing space by the school system ever since.
References [ edit ]
Notes
BibliographyCereal sales are getting crushed and there’s a surprising reason why.
The core issue appears to be that millennials simply don’t have the energy for the breakfast option, according to the New York Times. The newspaper reported that a survey conducted by Mintel, a global research firm, found nearly 40% of millennials consider cereal inconvenient to consume. Why? Because it needs to be cleaned up after eating.
That statistic comes in direct contrast with baby boomers. About 40% surveyed by Mintel said that cereal was—and remains—a favorite.
“The cereal category is certainly shifting,” Melissa Abbott, director of culinary insights for food research firm Hartman Group, said in an interview with the Times. “Consumers over all are less interested in industrially processed grains as a meaningful start to their day.”
The Times reported that sales of cereal fell to about $10 billion for 2015, which is down from $13.9 billion in 2000. It said that while analysts such as Euromonitor expect sales to continue falling, food executives and other analysts believe there could be a comeback. The newspaper reported that John A. Bryant, the CEO of cereal-maker Kellogg Company (k), believes cereal sales could rise 1-2% in 2016.
In other millennial news, Fortune ranked the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials last year.Static linking with GHC on ArchLinux
Posted on May 3, 2014
There are many reasons why to prefer dynamic linking to static but I’ll not go through them. Sometimes you just want static linking, period. In my case it was to show that Go’s static executables without dependencies are not something special and other languages can do it as good as well - Haskell included. My compiler of choice is GHC and I’m running ArchLinux. More on why this is important later.
Firstly I’ll need I file to test - Main.hs
Then a quick search supplied me with the command line to compile this statically
-O is for optimizations, -static instructs GHC to do static compilation, -threaded includes pthread and -optl-static pushes -static flag to ld.
But it didn’t work. Instead I got a bunch of errors from ld telling me I’m missing librt and libgmp. Running locate librt turned up results as well as locate libgmp. I was flabbergasted.
Then I tried running the same thing on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and it worked. The resulting binary also run on my Arch without problems. Now I was just sad. I tried searching online for my problem but apparently my google-fu is insufficient. I also tried setting gold as preferred linker but to no avail.
Few weeks later
Today I was playing around with C and when I got something working I decided to link it statically so I can send it off to a colleague who doesn’t have all these obscure libraries installed. And I hit into a similar problem. Now it couldn’t find libgc - a library I was using that worked like a charm when using dynamic linking.
Apparently the problem didn’t lie in GHC but in my linker. Time to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and investigate.
Turns out I’m a bloody ignorant idiot. There are dynamic libraries(with.so extension) and there are static libraries(with.a extension). I remember knowing this once. And I had all dynamic libraries installed but not static. This was the root of my problems with GHC and now with GCC.
More researching turned up that Arch shies away from providing static libraries in order to encourage dynamic linking. If you want static objects you’ll have to build them from source.
Solution
I build libgmp and then also libc in order to get librt out. It wasn’t that long. But for your convenience here are the resulting files if you want them libgmp.a librt.a
I dumped those into /usr/local/lib because I didn’t want to pollute my global libraries. Now I just need to convince GHC to use them. Easy. Just set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to that path.
And it works. Now I’m happy.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
DisqusI can’t express enough how important this Gooseberry project is, for me personally and for a lot of people out there. There are so many solutions for urgent issues coming together in Gooseberry – it is really mind-blowing sometimes.
This is what Gooseberry is for me:
Open Movies as a Blender development model
Open Source software works very well as in-house software, as an ongoing flexible development process. This is opposite to commercial programs, these have a more distinct product life cycle.
Imagine: Gooseberry is going to be an 18 month animation-studio simulation! With so many wonderful technical-creative challenges to solve, and we can all be part of it.
Raise the bar – make a feature animation film
Every animator or artist who has done a couple of shorts before, understands the excitement of the prospect doing a feature animation film once. It’s really a different medium, it’s a new technical and creative challenge – risky but rewarding. It’s also a medium that brings you a new and massive audience. This would be the ultimate advertisement for Blender as well as for FOSS in general.
Investigate using Cloud services and features for open source projects
Software is moving into the cloud, Adobe and Autodesk work hard on it. They present this as “benefit for the users” but they actually just pull up an Iron Curtain to safely hide their software behind. No more piracy, no reverse engineering… total control!
I don’t want to wait for us to lose this fight. We can find out ourselves what the real user benefits are, but in openness and by truly respecting user freedom. The Gooseberry teams will use Cloud, for sharing and collaboration. With you too!
Building the world’s largest free/open 3d content & education repository
We shouldn’t underestimate how much importance the open movies and the open game had for education and training. Not only for its free data, but especially for the tutorials, the making-of videos, the training dvds we made with these teams. This massive dataset should be kept around, renewed but also be kept updated and working.
New business model for Blender Institute and Foundation
We can’t keep selling paper and plastic with open/free data forever… that did a lot for us, helped Blender to grow, hire developers and do big projects. But the revenues are going down. Having a pile of DVDs is nice on your bookshelf, but not to actually use. Online sharing – in the cloud – is a much better solution for the data.
I believe in a future for subscription models for cool content/training/data/services. Especially if that enables us to become a media producer ourselves!
Occupy Bay Area, Occupy Hollywood?
There’s a real growing unrest out there about how a few greedy people control this business – making their billions – while others lose jobs in the same week their company has won an Oscar. Yep, Mark Z. buys another toy for billions, which he makes by selling our digital lives. And we nerds just line up for yet another Marvel super hero movie again. Meanwhile the powers that be prepare for a separated internet – with fast and “free” commercial channels – and a slow, expensive one for the remains of the open internet we love.
I’m not fit for politics, nor do I feel much like protesting or mud slinging. I’m a maker – I’m interested in finding solutions together and doing experiments with taking back control over our digital lives, our media, and especially get back ownership as creative people again – and make a decent living with it.
So that’s Gooseberry for me. An experiment, but with potential impact!
I know there’s some skepticism out there, about the project concept and about the slow funding start. But well – we’re learning, and we’re developing well to get the message and the website to work optimally. It’s also inventing something new, and that you can only do by trying it.
Key is that I’m having a vision, and the guts to live by that vision. I’m not lead by polls, not by common opinions or what others think might be more successful. I’m also not a billionaire. Not a movie star. It’s just me :) And one thing for sure, I cannot do this alone.
http://cloud.blender.org/gooseberry/
Thanks,
Ton Roosendaal
Chairman Blender Foundation
Ton Roosendaal in 1992, with his first SGI.Microsoft Corp unveiled a larger but lighter version of its Surface Pro tablet on Tuesday, hoping that the company's expertise in business software will help it take on Apple Inc in mobile devices.
At a presentation in New York, new Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella made it clear that Microsoft, which recently acquired Nokia's handset business, is committed fully to making its own devices, despite a lack of success for its phones and tablets so far.
Microsoft says the latest version of its Surface Pro is thinner and faster than its predecessors. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
"We are not building hardware for hardware's sake," said Nadella, at the event. "We want to build experiences that bring together all the capabilities of our company.
The Surface Pro 3 tablet, which comes in three models starting from $799 and costing up to $1,949, features a 12-inch screen, much larger than Apple iPad's 9.7 inches. It also comes with access to Microsoft's Office software suite, employed in businesses around the world.
Microsoft executives made frequent comparisons with the MacBook Air at Tuesday's launch, making it clear that Apple's lightest laptop, which starts at $629 with a full cellular connection, was the device to beat.
The same executives, highlighting a focus on the enterprise segment of the market, also talked up the limitations of existing tablets in a full office environment.
Microsoft "has concentrated on its key strength - business users who look at tablets as extensions and/or replacements for full laptop capability," Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates wrote. "Microsoft finally seems to understand it cannot go head to head with Apple's iPad, and must offer a superior business device."
Microsoft, which is recasting itself as a 'devices and services' company, has not made much headway on the devices side, except for its Xbox game console.
The Surface, launched in October 2012 and updated last year, has about 2 per cent of the tablet market, failing to make a dent on Apple's iPad. Microsoft has only 3 per cent global share in smartphones, chiefly through Nokia.
The Surface Pro 3 runs the full Windows operating system, and Microsoft hopes it will be the device consumers and companies go to when they are replacing laptops.
Initial reaction was positive, but analysts have doubts that Microsoft can easily haul itself into a meaningful position in the hardware business.
"This is Microsoft's best shot yet to move the needle in the right direction on market share gains," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "The odds are stacked against Microsoft, although we have to credit Nadella with putting his pedal to the metal to go after tablet market share, which remains key going forward."
The new device, which like previous versions uses Intel Corp processors, will be available to order this week.“I’ve known Mark Karpeles for a very long time. Mark is a very sweet guy. Very non-confrontational, but has he made bad business decisions? Yes. Has he failed to do everything he should have? Yes.”
So says Charlie Shrem, the troubled bitcoin entrepreneur, speaking to me from his parents’ house in New York, where he’s currently under house arrest.
He tells me he classes Karpeles, CEO of the disastrous bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, as a good friend, but disagrees with a hell of a lot of the decisions the Frenchman has made.
Mt. Gox has been dying a slow and painful death for some months, but now appears to be taking its final breaths after documents came to light suggesting insolvency and the loss of more than 744,400 bitcoins (around $426m).
Shrem believes a number of factors are responsible for the exchange’s current issues, from a lack of PR presence to poor management structure, but first and foremost is the inadequacy of the technology Mt. Gox is built upon. He explained:
“The whole exchange is built on layer upon layer of patchy scrap work – the whole thing is flawed because of the way it was built.”
As for the company’s management structure, Shrem said Karpeles may call himself CEO, but he “doesn’t make any of the business decisions”. Gonzague Gay-Bouchery “pretty much runs the company”, despite his official job title as marketing director.
The company has also hired a lot of developers, but any developer code that’s created has to be looked over and checked by Karpeles, creating a bottleneck that has severely hampered progress.
Shrem believes the company should have, long ago, hired an agency to handle its PR, but it didn’t, because Karpeles didn’t want anyone to know Mt. Gox’s inner workings (read: didn’t want anyone to know what a dire mess it was in).
He acknowledges that Karpeles and Mt. Gox have done a massive disservice to bitcoin, but said, in a strange way, they’ve also done everyone a big favour – Gox’s competitors will learn from the mistakes that have been made and will progress with more robust and technologically sound models.
The 24-year-old admitted he has some bitcoins in Mt. Gox and didn’t sound particularly hopeful that he would ever see them again.
However, he’s trying his best to be a good friend to Karpeles at a time when he’s (understandably) being hounded from all angles.
And Shrem certainly knows all about that, having been headline fodder for a good few weeks earlier in the year, following his arrest on money laundering charges.
Shrem’s arrest
“I didn’t know what was going on. One minute I was getting off my flight, the next I was being arrested.”
“The way they did it – arresting me at the airport in front of a ton of people – the whole thing was set up to make me look like a criminal,” he said.
Shrem believes his arrest was carefully planned by the federal government to damage the public’s perception of bitcoin. He thinks the media hasn’t helped matters, either, by “making assumptions” and publishing articles “without knowing the full story”.
He is alleged to have been involved in a scheme to “sell and launder over $1m in bitcoins” through the now defunct online black market Silk Road.
A document published by the Manhattan US Attorney alleged Shrem knew 52-year-old Florida native Robert M Faiella was “operating a bitcoin exchange service for Silk Road users” and that the authorities have email correspondence to prove this.
The entrepreneur said the emails have been taken out of context and that the government and media seem to think his company, BitInstant, where he was CEO until recently, was selling bitcoins to Faiella. He stressed:
“That’s not how the business worked – we didn’t actually sell any bitcoins.”
BitInstant was designed to enable people to quickly transfer money to their bitcoin exchange accounts. The way Shrem sees it, Faiella allegedly advertised his services on Silk Road, and would send his customers on to BitInstant.
These customers would conduct the transactions themselves, then send the money to their own Mt. Gox accounts. Once on this site, they would buy bitcoins, transfer the bitcoin to their Silk Road account and buy illicit goods.
“Now how many times am I removed from that already?” he added.
The case
Having recently resigned from board of the Bitcoin Foundation, Shrem said he is now spending the vast majority of his time focusing on his case and “trying to hang on to my sanity”.
He’s working with his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo of Brafman & Associates, to meticulously comb through the 30-something-page complaint against him and try to work out what exactly the charges against him are.
[post-quote]
Agnifilo defended former managing director of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he was arrested in Manhattan on charges of sexual assault.
Agnifilo’s colleague Benjamin Brafman famously worked with O.J Simpson’s defence lawyer Johnnie Cochran as co-defendant of Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) when he faced illegal weapons and bribery charges.
He was also hired to represent NFL star Plaxico Burress who was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment.
Shrem said he’s currently not allowed to go anywhere – not even his lawyer’s office – without first getting permission from the court, 48 hours in advance. “I can’t go anywhere. It sucks.”
Staying sane
Shrem told me he’s maintaining his sanity by spending his time indoors speaking to his friends and picking up new skills. He explained:
“My friends are here a lot and I’m getting a lot of free stuff. People are sending me a lot of alcohol gifts, which is good. I’m trying to make the best of it – I’m learning some new languages, I’m working out a lot every day and watching Netflix – a lot. Just trying to keeping my spirits up,”
He hasn’t completely put the brakes on his business activities, though. He said he’s working on a “secret project” that involves bitcoin.
When pushed for more details, all he would reveal, rather cryptically, is: “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for ages, but haven’t had the time. It requires a bunch of licensing and bringing it over from the EU before I can do it.”
He’s trying his best to spread the bitcoin entrepreneurial spirit by giving away the many bitcoin domain names he owns to people looking to start projects within the ecosystem.
“I’m just trying to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the space. My brain is here for the picking and a lot of people are calling me to see what I think about their business and I’m brutally honest with them,” Shrem explained, adding:
“Just bring me a six-pack and I’m yours for an hour.”
BitInstant relaunch
Shrem said that, at the time of his arrest, BitInstant was about to close a large investment round. He stepped down from the company so this could continue.
BitInstant plans to relaunch with a service enabling people to buy bitcoin with cash in stores in more than five countries, paying less than 1% in charges.
“Unlike the other American bitcoin companies, we actually have all the licences and the compliance that we need to have, which makes things a lot easier,” he said.
The service BitInstant has planned sounds a lot like that recently launched in the UK by ZipZap – customers order bitcoins online, then head to their nearest ZipZap payment location (there are over 28,000 across the UK), pay cash and see the bitcoins appear in their wallets.
“We worked with ZipZap for a long time in the US. I was the one that introduced Alan Safahi [ZipZap’s CEO] to bitcoin in the first place and we became really good friends. He’s a big supporter of us,” said Shrem.
He’s made quite a few “good friends” over his past few years working in the bitcoin ecosystem, in fact, he jokes that he knows “everyone in this frickin’ space”.
The bitcoin brotherhood
“Bitcoin is a brotherhood. That’s the best part about it,” said Shrem.
“It’s such a beautiful thing to be a part of. That’s what keeps me involved in bitcoin. You know that you’re changing the world and you know that other people are involved in doing it with you.”
He challenges me to find a more open and accepting community than bitcoin and likens its close-knit nature to that of his Jewish community.
“We are the most non-discriminatory group of people the world has ever seen. We’re ripping the guts out of the whole financial infrastructure, so let’s break down some other barriers too.”
Image Credit: Mediabistro / FlickrWhenever I point out how well America did with strong unions and highly progressive taxation after World War II, I can count on conservatives trying to resolve their cognitive dissonance by saying “but it was easy then — all our competitors were in ruins!” You can see this all over the comments on today’s column.
Sorry, guys, but that’s bad history and very bad economics.
On the history: the great postwar boom wasn’t just a few years after the war; it was a whole generation long, from 1947 to 1973 — well into an era in which Europe had very much recovered. Here’s West German GDP per capita as a share of US GDP per capita:
Photo
The Europe-in-ruins era was long over while the US boom was still going strong.
But the bad history is incidental; the really key point is that this is nonsense economics. Yes, our competitors were in ruins for a while; so were our customers (who were more or less the same countries). Basically, we had nobody to trade with. Here’s exports and imports as a percentage of US GDP:
Photo
There’s a brief surge in exports in the late 1940s; that’s the Marshall Plan. But through the 50s and 60s America essentially did very little trade, exports or imports. If you think that’s good for the economy, you should be all for extreme protectionism.
Actually, there’s a substantial trade theory literature on the effect of other countries’ growth on our income and purchasing power, which says that it can go either way — more competition, but also bigger markets, with the net effect depending on how it affects our terms of trade, the ratio of export to import prices. There’s a slight presumption of positive effects from foreign growth, which becomes a much stronger presumption if the foreign economies start very small — which is exactly the situation after World War II. So the whole notion that we had it easy because Europe was destroyed is just ignorant.
And anyone who reflexively reaches for the idea that we were actually better off because Europe was in ruins as a way to explain the postwar economy should take a hard look in the mirror. Did you think this through? Or were you just grabbing for something, anything, to explain away a fact that your ideology says can’t have been true?PHILADELPHIA -- A Philadelphia man says he is humiliated and upset after he was briefly stopped from boarding a flight from Chicago when another passenger overheard him speak Arabic, making him uncomfortable.
Pizza shop owner Maher Khalil emigrated from Palestine 15 years ago. He says he had never experienced discrimination before the incident Wednesday at Midway International Airport.
"We |
backend. Altogether the OpenGL ES port has had more than 120 single commits changing more than 80 source files.A strict Muslim father who had been previously jailed for raping a schoolgirl attacked his daughter and her secret boyfriend with a hammer after he found them having sex.
Soruth Ali attacked the pair after he heard noises coming from a bedroom his house on 21 August and has now been jailed for 14 months after he admitted actual bodily harm and common assault.
The 42-year-old's daughter is in police protection after the incident and has now been placed in care to keep her away from her "very religious and very controlling" father.
It emerged, after he was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court, that Ali had served seven years for the 1995 rape of a 15-year-old girl when she was in her school uniform.
The court heard that Ali was woken up at 5am by noises coming from the bedroom and opened the door to find her and lover James Martin in bed together.
The restaurant manager grabbed a hammer and hit Martin over the head then punched and kicked his daughter Fathema before dragging her out of her bedroom by the hair ignoring pleas from her family to stop.
The attack, which took place in Leigh, Greater Manchester, left Martin with a deep gash to his head which required two staples.
Fathema's head and face were badly bruised and in a statement, she said that her father, a married father-of-four, hit her on the left arm, knocked her to the floor and began to kick her to the head and legs.
In a statement to police, Fathema claimed she was forced into living two lives, one for her strict Islamic father at home and another outside the house.
The court heard that on the night of the incident Fathema sneaked in Martin thinking her parents were away, but when they returned he hid in her bedroom for the night.
The Daily Mail reported that Ali was said by probation officers to have shown a "lack of remorse and empathy"' although he contested this.
In mitigation, his solicitor Isobel Thomas, said Ali misses his family and is sorry for his behaviour.
Passing sentence Judge Timothy Clayson told Ali: "You could have killed Mr Marion and it is through no design of your own that you did not. It is incredibly fortunate that he wasn't seriously injured."
Ali was banned from contacting his daughter for three years under the terms of a restraining order.Father Hudson Site Coleshill: UK 2012/2013
The Father Hudsons Society was founded by Farther George Vincent Hudson at the turn of the 20th century.
The aim to help less fortunate and homeless children in the area. The charity is still working today although a number od buildings on the site are now abandoned.
St Edwards Home For Boys
Not just a home for the local homeless children the home included a chapel and schooling facilities.
St Edwards closed in 1988 after a dark scandal of around 15 offences committed in the 1950s and 1960s.
Due to the sordid history locals feel it would be best for the building to be knocked down.
St Gerards Orthopaedic Hospital
To aid in the care of the local children the society set up this small hospital 1913.
After caring for wounded soldiers in WWI the hospital specialised in TB and orthopaedic care.
St Gerards became established as the local orthopaedic care centre until it closed in 1988.Following the advice of their pastor, the men and women shuffled to the altar, cut up their credit cards and placed them near his feet.
"If we want to have victory, we have to come out of financial bondage," the Rev. John K. Jenkins of First Baptist Church of Glenarden shouted during a recent sermon.
Ordinarily Jenkins's sermons are about spiritual freedom and ridding one's self of sin. But his message has taken a different turn lately -- one that preaches the dangers of overspending and debt.
The sermons are not unusual. With the country on the cusp of a recession and many people burdened by the mortgage foreclosure crisis, skyrocketing gas prices and rising grocery bills, religious leaders across the Washington region are increasingly ministering to their members about financial responsibility, encouraging them to control their spending.
"We tell our members, don't buy dresses and shoes, take trips, all on credit," Jenkins said in an interview. "It's killing us."
Churches are going a step further by providing financial counseling and pointing people to local and state programs that help with finances.
McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia offers classes on how to handle money according to Biblical principles. And last month, St. Martin's Catholic Church in Gaithersburg hosted a foreclosure prevention workshop to help those in danger of losing their homes.
The churches' efforts are timely. Consumer debt, which does not include mortgages, reached $2.56 trillion in April, up from $2.28 trillion at the end of 2005, according to the Federal Reserve. And a recent report by the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University found that the region has one of the fastest growing foreclosure rates in the country.
In Prince George's County, one in 163 households received some type of foreclosure filing in May, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosure trends. In Prince William County, the numbers were even more staggering with one in every 92 receiving a default or foreclosure notice.
"What we are trying to get over to people is that we have to teach about stewardship the same way we teach about forgiveness," said the Rev. Kerry A. Hill, president of the Collective Banking Group, a consortium of pastors in Prince George's and the District who help area churches finance projects. "A lot of pastors agree that we have talked about tithing, and we need to talk about the other 90 percent."
Zulay Andrade, 41, of Gaithersburg, was three months behind on her rent and afraid her car would be repossessed when she turned to St. Martin's in Gaithersburg. Unemployed for five months, she had recently returned to a job at Target but was struggling to regain her financial footing on a $350-a-week salary.
After going over her finances, leaders at St. Martin's advised Andrade to negotiate with creditors for a reduction in bills, such as her car payment. This month, the church also gave her $200 toward her rent and put her in touch with a program that kicked in an additional $200 for back rent she owed.Holden’s announcement of job cuts on Monday demonstrates the dual impacts of the strong Australian dollar and import penetration upon the beleaguered domestic automotive industry.
400 jobs will go in Adelaide, with 100 in Victoria cut as well.
A myopic view of the industry is that it is merely about vehicles. However, local manufacturers Toyota, Ford, and Holden are only one part of a much broader automotive components manufacturing industry,
Holden has received $1.8 billion in industry assistance in the last 10 years. That works out at about $8.10 for every Australian man, woman and child, assuming a population of around 22 million.
An informal poll in The Age indicates that as many as 75% of readers are opposed to the maintenance of government subsidies and bail-outs to the industry. It’s clear that any parochialism or sentimental attachment to locally made cars is a relic of the distant past.
Yes, I am fully aware of ERP, the effective rate of protection, which is a complex multiplier based upon the direct and indirect flow-through costs of tariffs and other forms of protection for a given industry sector.
However, as Kim Carr noted recently, the industry, cumulatively, received subsidies amounting to less than $18 per person over the last decade. So it cost you, the long-suffering Australian taxpayer, the princely sum of $1.80 per annum to prevent the collapse of plants like Elizabeth, Fishermans Bend, Altona, Geelong and Broadmeadows.
But the flat-earth policies of the free-trade think tanks, who opine that subsidies should be removed at all costs, invariably have no solutions to the systematic deindustrialisation and large-scale unemployment their prescriptions will inevitably bring. (A solid counter-argument to this perspective is advanced by Kalfa and Gollan here.)
These “free-traders” ignore the deep asymmetries wrought by industrial subsidies that persist throughout the rest of the world economy. They propagate the Ricardian fallacy that whatever cannot be produced efficiently locally should be imported.
Imports, in this case, of subsidised cars.
You. Are. Subsidised.
Think this $18-per-capita car subsidy is too much? Think again.
You — yes, you — subsidise the banks to the tune of $763 per annum, plus all the fees and charges they generously impose upon you. Not quite the chunk of change ($83 billion) the US government affords its banks in subsidies, but still.
And the mining industry doesn’t have clean hands either. They get at least $4 billion per annum. Queensland alone spends $1.4 billion in subsidies.
Let’s be clear about this: virtually every industry in Australia is subsidised, directly or indirectly, via government hand-outs.
We’ll try a little quiz first. Tick any box that applies to you:
Your child care.
Your private (and public) health insurance.
Your wheat. (The Australian Wheat Board runs a single desk that avoids a genuinely free market in wheat export sales. And does deals with the late-lamented Saddam, occasionally.)
Your private schools.
Your universities.
Your accountant.
Your private-sector big law firm, which would require oxygen if starved of government contracts. A Victorian government-commissioned report (by Boston Consulting) notes that, “up until now the provision of legal services has largely been an unsupervised feeding trough for law firms.” (It’s now a supervised feeding trough.)
Your National Broadband Network. (My telecoms engineering friends are still giggling with delight at the mere thought of the NBN and have all ordered new 7-Series BMWs.)
Your first home.
Your nursing home.
Your negative gearing.
Your ABC.
My salary.
Your salary.
Your superannuation tax breaks.
Actors and the arts in general (don’t me get started; I’ll end up sounding like Jack Hibberd).
Corporate welfare.
Don’t kid yourself if you’re in business. Tax breaks infiltrate every part of the scaly Australian subsidy serpent. Virtually every business input is tax deductible. For example, that “company” car you drive around at weekends? The “home office” with a chunk of the domestic mortgage on it as a business expense? If you’re not doing this, then you’re paying far too much tax.
True, sectors like dairy have very low subsidies (the second-lowest in the world). But don’t make the mistake of thinking you didn’t pay for dairy industry rationalisation: you did.
From 1995, under the National Competition Policy (NCP), taxpayers funded billions in rationalisation across a range of industry sectors. One of the objectives of the NCP was to drive Queensland dairy farmers off the land, compensate them with a fistful of dollars, and hand the dairy industry over to Victorian dairy farmers, who then have their teats sucked dry as the supermarkets screw them on milk prices to the point of bankruptcy. Good to see the ACCC doing such a fine job regulating predatory behaviour.
Unless you have no children, live in a cave, avoid Weet-Bix, The Marriage of Figaro, and Dimboola, while consuming only dairy products, You. Are. Subsidised.
No guru. No method.
I am not in any sense defending the poor business decisions by the industry, or the incompetent government policy that has prevailed since John McEwan was Trade and Industry minister. Federal and state governments locked themselves permanently into a system of auto industry subsidies and protection from 1948. Whitlam slashed tariffs across the board, but delivered no industry plan. John Button rationalised the industry, but set Soviet-style production quotas and sought no innovation. Howard, Rudd and Gillard merely trod water.
The reason the industry failed to innovate behind high tariff walls was because it catered virtually exclusively for the domestic market for the first few decades of its existence. Governments were equally to blame as they did not attach conditionality to the complex system of tariffs and subsidies that could have compelled the industry to invest in new technologies or truly innovative products.
In the 1970s, Ralph Sarich’s noteworthy Orbital engine, while lauded, never took off. Sarich nevertheless developed new engine technologies, inking licensing agreements with GM and VW. Sarich ultimately transformed Oribtal into a billion-dollar company on the New York Stock Exchange. Orbital products are now utilised by one of China’s major auto firms.
Except that Sarich didn’t achieve this in Australia. He had to go offshore. No one was interested, even though Sarich was famously parochial. In 1989, the federal government offered him $16.5 million to keep Orbital in Australia. Too little, too late.
Real jobs or McJobs?
Manufacturing provides stable wages and working conditions across a range of industry sectors (some 2009 and 2011 statistics are here and here). It also employs around 1 million workers directly, contributes almost 10% of GDP, and accounts for around one third of exports. Male workers occupy approximately 75% of manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing careers are often long-lived; workers may be employed by, say, Holden or Ford for 20 or 30 years.
But when deindustrialisation hollows out manufacturing and downsizing occurs, the following problems emerge.
First, how do you retrain and redeploy workers aged 40–55 to compete effectively in alternative labour markets? Ageism is rife throughout the Australian jobs market. And retraining – even if it works – takes real time. And time is not on some workers’ sides.
Moreover, any retraining costs invariably fall upon government, meaning taxpayers are forced to shell out in any case. Not to mention the inevitable social security costs associated with the fallout from deindustrialisation.
Second, what industries will replace labour-intensive heavy industry in Geelong, Elizabeth and other manufacturing hubs throughout Australia?
Third, Australian manufacturing employment still dwarfs mining employment, although the gap has narrowed. Mining will not take up the slack, nor is it geared to absorb the existing automotive industry skills base.
Fourth, the auto components industry manufactures parts for imported (as well as local) products. However, they achieve scale economies largely through supplying the downstream car-makers, without which it is unlikely most small and medium auto components firms would be able to derive sufficient revenue streams in the absence of volume production for particular models (Falcon, Commodore, Camry). In other words, they need local volume in order to be serious about export-geared production.
Fifth, it is inefficient to waste the considerable investments, accumulated over decades, in the skills and training regimes embedded in the automotive, materials and production engineering sectors. Dumping this skills base makes no sense; adopting adaptation strategies for an existing industry is the logical path.
The industry’s problems are not entirely of their own making. The high Australian dollar exchange rate; the free-trade agreement with Thailand in 2007; weak world demand, combined with the economics of surplus capacity in the global automotive industry, where there are over 30 million units of surplus production, have all contributed to the downsizing of the industry. Essentially, the industry has become a victim of the law of diminishing returns: despite increased subsidies, jobs in the sector have decreased in rough correlation with outputs. In other words, neither jobs nor the industry will be saved via incremental productivity gains.
Roads to somewhere?
Perhaps we should look to Beijing for guidance. After all, that’s where virtually the entire federal cabinet is currently.
China is looking at subsidizing electric and hybrid cars (while filing a case against the EU in the WTO, designed, cleverly, to stop Europe from subsidizing high-value green technologies, while China plays protectionist catch-up).
The Germans are also looking at electric car subsidies. The Germans also subsidize their car industry to the tune of about $US95 per capita. A far cry from Australia’s $AUD18. Not quite the $US260 the Americans pay per head.
Neither the Chinese nor the Germans are stupid. They know their auto industries are strategically important to their economic present and future. I won’t regurgitate the arguments concerning the security of the industrial base, the skills base and the jobs base, as I canvassed them here in 2012.
Just five years ago, the Holden engine plant at Fishermans Bend, Victora, was scheduled for closure following the cessation of Family II engine production. However, new investment and government assistance ensured the plant’s survival as it was re-geared to produce the HF V6 Alloytec engine. But a lack of local and global demand has also compelled reductions in output at the Fishermans Bend plant, leading to this week’s job cuts.
Australia has first-rate engineers and builds world-quality suspension and braking systems, develops advanced composites and innovative alloy technologies.
Australia also builds second-rate cars. It has a third-rate managerial class and fourth-rate governments.
It has the knowledge and capabilities to develop world-class next-generation electric and hybrid technologies. Even if Australia specialises solely in the export of high value-added components to the global automotive industry, rather than building complete vehicles, this is the preferable road to travel, rather than the gradual unravelling of an entire industry that is one of the central components of the country’s manufacturing base.
Better a small multitude of Ralph Sarichs than a plethora of unwanted cars.One Month
On the morning of his murder, Feb. 11, Devin Aryal, 9, dressed to the ticking of his race car clock. His collection of stuffed animals, won from those arcade claw games, stared back at him from their perch on his top bunk.
Devin felt he had outgrown the cutesy animal prints that had adorned the walls of his Oakdale, Minn., bedroom. He was in fourth grade now, after all. Without telling anyone, he had yanked the prints off his walls one by one. He had yet to decide how to fill up the blank spaces.
The night before, Devin had watched the Disney channel and played with his pirate gear and a couple of toy dinosaurs on his mother’s bed. He snuggled with her on the couch and watched more television. This had become their sleepy ritual. He’d explain the plot of the television show they were watching, or recount the highlights of his day -- a winning soccer goal, a new level beaten on one of his Nintendo DSi games.
"The morning was usual," recalled Melissa Aryal, Devin’s mother. "We got up and we got ready. I dropped him off at day care at 7:45."
On the seven-minute ride in their minivan, Aryal, 39, kept the radio off so she could talk with Devin. "He had so much to say," she recalled. Their morning conversation always ended the same.
"I love you,” Aryal told her son.
“I love you more," he replied.
“He would always win that game,” Aryal said. “It always gave me a good feeling.”
The Huffington Post has tracked gun-related deaths in the United States since Newtown. Click here for an interactive map of those who have died.
After a 34-year-old stranger with a 9 mm pistol and a backpack full of bullets shot Devin in the head for no apparent reason, Aryal only hears her son in her dreams. She is wrecked by the world she wakes up to, a world without Devin. He has become, for her, a composite of memories, conversation and images.
In the first week after the Newtown, Conn., massacre on Dec. 14, more than 100 people in the U.S. were killed by guns. In the first seven weeks, that number had risen to at least 1,285 gunshot killings and accidental deaths. A little more than three months after Newtown, there have been 2,244. The Huffington Post has recorded every gun-involved murder and accidental shooting death reported in U.S. news media since Newtown, revealing an epidemic that shows no signs of abating. The horrors cannot be contained behind yellow police tape or find resolution in a courtroom. For the victim's families, the grief deforms all it touches. There's the fear that the radio will play her favorite ballad. An airplane overhead, like the kind he flew, will strike panic. Home is not safe. One month, two months, two years, nine years since those fatal shots -- the grief never leaves.
Mere days into her own grieving, Aryal’s mind is dark, except for memories of her son and his last day. They were close as can be. But no matter how hard she tries, she can‘t remember what Devin wore that day or what Devin talked about that morning. “I hate to say this," she said. "Nothing stands out. How did I know this was going to be our last morning?”
Aryal rushed to her cashier job at a hardware store after she left Devin at the day care. She had to be there by 8. Her daughter, 19, slept through the morning and missed saying goodbye to Devin.
Devin greeted Pam Reilly, who runs the center in her toy-filled basement. Reilly's day care, across the street from Devin's elementary school, had been an early-morning fixture for dozens of kids for decades. It had been Devin’s second home for 5 1/2 years. Reilly was family.
That Sunday, the night before, had been Reilly’s birthday. Devin wanted to know if she had listened to the celebratory voicemail he and his mother had left for her. Then he wanted to talk to her about video games. “He had beaten this level on this game on my birthday,” Reilly recalled. “He thought that was pretty cool.” Aryal would later put that game in his coffin next to his body.
At about 8 a.m., Devin and the eight other children took seats at long black folding tables, surrounded by tall shelves stuffed with books and toys, and ate breakfast. Reilly served chocolate donuts, apple juice and Lucky Charms.
Devin had become the day care’s comforter-in-chief, an expert hand-holder and sharer. When a girl with cerebral palsy had trouble playing tag, he’d run a little slower so she could tag him. When his best friend Aaron got sad about his parents' divorce, Devin was there to counsel him about the extra presents he would soon get on Christmas. He assured Aaron he’d be okay. Devin had gone through it too.
“Devin was extremely anti-bullying,” said Amy Berger, 38, whose son was close to Devin at the day care. “If he saw anyone being bullied, he would be their friend instantly -- in school, day care, it didn’t matter. No one can pick on anyone. He wouldn’t allow it.” In a card left at the church, a classmate wrote of Devin: “He played with me when I was lonely.”
Just before 8:30 a.m., Devin walked across to Oakdale Elementary with Aaron and Aaron’s little sister Emily. Emily had difficulty walking. Devin held her hand.
At an extra gym period, Devin practiced jumping rope for a heart association fundraiser. He returned to Reilly’s basement at about 3:20 p.m., where he stayed until his mother would pick him up after her work. He quietly completed his homework. Forty minutes later, Reilly passed out Rice Krispies bars.
SpongeBob came on the day care television at 4:30 on channel 54. Devin had a choice between a black futon couch and an older brown couch. He played his DSi game system with Aaron. When Aaron left, Devin played with Berger’s son, Nathan.
By 5:30, most kids had left.
Upstairs, Reilly brewed a pot of Folgers regular. She had formed a little coffee club with a few of the mothers, mostly single parents. Camaraderie came easy. As the years went on, Reilly become something of an activity organizer for the grownups, arranging outings to a casino just south of Hastings, games of Yahtzee in her kitchen, horror movie nights in front of the TV in the living room. On nights when "The Bachelor" aired, she'd order pizza and the other mothers would come over and watch.
That night was “Bachelor” night.
Aryal wasn’t sure she could make it. She talked about maybe dropping Devin at her parents’ house. She wasn’t sure.
Devin knew what he wanted. He had decided that his hair was too long and told his mother he wanted a haircut. He could twirl his cowlick. That meant it was time for a trim.
Aryal thought the haircut could wait. It was their last squabble. Devin still wanted to go to the barbershop, Reilly remembered.
“Yes we are!” Devin said.
“I don’t think so,” Aryal said.
“Yes we are!” Devin said.
“I think we’re gonna wait,” Aryal said. “We’ll talk about it in the car.”
Devin put his hood up, grabbed his dark green backpack, and said his goodbyes. As he walked out, Reilly and a day care worker yelled after him: “Zip up your coat! It’s cold out!” Their last words.
He got into the back seat of their forest green 2004 Nissan Quest minivan. Aryal pulled onto 7th Street and began the same drive she had taken for 5 1/2 years. She was thinking it was too cold to go back to Reilly’s house for “The Bachelor.” She just wanted to go home and snuggle with Devin in front of the TV.
Devin talked about the double-digit multiplication homework that he had finished. He kept on about the haircut. His mom assured him she’d take him soon.
Aryal thought she heard a noise coming from under the minivan’s hood. She did not see the man in the green jacket and black jeans firing round after round into the street with a 9 mm handgun.
As Aryal turned left onto Hadley Avenue, her right arm suddenly went numb. Blood spurted.
She pulled into the Rainbow Foods parking lot, jumped from the minivan and dialed 911 on her cellphone. As she was calling, she turned and looked back. The minivan back window was shattered. The emergency dispatch operator came on the phone. Aryal's eyes found Devin in the back seat. “I just dropped the phone and I ran to him screaming,” she said.
She found her son slumped over in his seat, unconscious. He was making long, deep breathing sounds, and was bleeding from his head. “I’d seen the exit wound on the top of his head when I was holding him,” Aryal remembered.
She held her son’s head in her arms. “I love you. Just hold on. I love you. Just hold on. Mommy’s here.”
Aryal held on to her son until the ambulance took him to the hospital. He died within the hour. She learned the news while she was being treated for her bullet wound.
Two days after the funeral, she said she couldn't think. "I'm numb and just full of grief," she said. "I loved being a mom."
Fifteen days after Devin's death, she obsessed about her son’s last moments. She stays up every night unable to sleep until five or six in the morning. Her brain can’t stop flipping back to that night. “Seeing how bloody he was,” she explained. “It’s a gunshot.”
The immediate aftermath of violent death is red tape. Vast bureaucracies must be notified. Forms need filling out. Insurance must be contacted. The school must be told. The police must ask questions.
The police came to the house and handed over what was left inside the minivan: Devin's backpack, a laptop, papers, Devin’s rainbow-colored mittens and scarf, a case of pop, folding chairs they carried to his soccer games, and HappyMeal toys -- so much of it now freckled with blood. That same day in February, an official from the school district dropped off Devin’s belongings from his desk: a reading folder, a math folder, a box of Valentine’s Day cards the kids had sent to Devin. Aryal rooted through his backpack and found his completed math homework and handed it over to the school official, not wanting to rob Devin of his final achievement.
Nhan Lap Tran was arrested near the crime scene and charged with murder. Aryal tried not to read the newspaper stories. But she couldn't help herself. It didn't matter that she'd end up in tears. She needed to know why. According to the criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court, police found Tran with a loaded 9 mm handgun about seven feet from where he had been standing. A round was in the chamber. He was wearing a black fanny pack crammed with bullets. He had two more loaded 9 mm magazines in his pockets. In his backpack, police found two large knives and still more ammo.
“Tran admitted to reloading at least once in order to be able to continue shooting,” the police wrote in their complaint. In a search warrant affidavit, police alleged that Tran confessed, saying that he thought cars had been following him, and that the drivers had been parking in front of his house, revving their engines, and waking him up.
Detectives found a note on a desk in Tran's bedroom. “Random Kill, Fake Plates,” it said. All over his walls, he had scrawled “12/12/12.”
“There’s not a clear motive that we are aware of,” prosecutor Jessica Stott told HuffPost.
A judge granted Tran’s defense attorney Susan Drabek's request for a mental-health evaluation of her client. “He has a history of mental health issues“ she explained. “The family was without health insurance. … There was not much they could do without health insurance. The resources available to them were virtually nil.”
On the one-month anniversary of Devin’s murder, Aryal attended her first support group meeting. She said she hasn’t managed to do much more than sit on her couch with the TV’s white noise. She has been in her bedroom only to grab clothes. “I try to get in and out of there quickly,” she explained. She keeps her bedroom door closed at all times.
Aryal hasn't forgotten the toys that Devin left on her bed on his last night. She cannot touch them. She cannot look at them. “They're waiting for him to come back,” she said.
Six Weeks
Marquita Thompson's 21-year-old cousin Aleya Criswell had been the unintended victim of a shooting in her Fort Smith, Ark., home town on the afternoon of Dec. 29, 2012. Less than two months later, Thompson woke up in the middle of the night and headed to the bathroom. Peering into the living room, she thought she spotted Aleya sitting on the couch. So she sat down next to her.
“Did it hurt?” Thompson asked this vision of Aleya. She had always wanted to know.
Aleya giggled at her cousin's question. Yes, she said, she felt pain. “Like I got stung by a bee,” she assured. “That’s what she said,” Thompson recalled. “She told me to tell her mama that she loves her, that’s she’s okay.”
It was about 3 a.m. Thompson thought she talked to Aleya for about seven minutes before she flashed "a real pretty smile" -- just like in the photo a Texas aunt had made of her with angel wings -- and "floated up to my ceiling." Thompson was suddenly back in her bed. She felt a little scared
“It was like a dream to me,” Thompson, 29, said. “I don’t know if it was a dream.”
Thompson called her grandmother. It was one of those nights where nobody could sleep. Thompson’s grandmother told her she had just gotten off the phone with Aleya’s mother and one of Aleya's aunts. Neither had been visited by Aleya. They were just unable to stop thinking about her.
On the phone, Thompson started to cry. The two ended up talking for an hour.
Aleya’s death had felt so unreal, so arbitrary.
The first of the many dominos leading to Aleya's death fell the night before, at a high school basketball game. The sister of Aleya's partner fought with the sister's boyfriend -- her baby's father -- after he showed up with someone else. It got heated and physical. But later that night, the two patched things up. Only Aleya’s partner, Nikki, wouldn’t let it go. She arranged to confront her sister's boyfriend at a park the next day.
Nikki, her mother, Aleya’s brothers and other relatives went along. Aleya took a seat in the back of their van. When the boy didn’t show, they thought better of it and drove off. As they were leaving, they saw the boy with a friend. Jonathan Jackson, 23, opened fire on the van at May Avenue and North L Street, police said.
Aleya’s brothers won’t talk about the shooting. Shortly after it happened, Thompson said she got the brothers into a room. The driver gunned the van as the shots were fired. Once they got down the street, Aleya giggled. "Y’all, I think I was shot,” she said. The brothers thought Aleya was playing. “No, you all. I’ve been shot,” she said. She had been hit in the back.
They drove straight to Sparks Regional Medical Center. Relatives gathered by the dozens in a quiet room. When doctors broke the news Aleya had died, her mother, Clarissa Tucker, fainted. It took at least five minutes to revive her.
A few days earlier, on Christmas, as everyone in the family gathered to open presents, Aleya began to sing in the kitchen. “Everyone got real quiet,” recalled an aunt, Niecy Cannon, 44. “We were just listening to her. I’ve heard her sing but not like that. … Everybody cheered her on. I couldn’t believe it.”
“Y’all heard that?” Aleya asked. Singing was the only time she could get church-mouse shy.
Aleya was slowly coming into her own. After bouncing around, she had gotten seasonal work at the local Walmart that she thought might stick. She had effectively become a mother to her 3-year-old niece and 2-year-old nephew -- and liked it. She was still young enough to dream big, a bedroom gospel singer with aspirations for a real stage, runway beautiful who wanted to smile at something more than a cellphone camera.
Charles Thompson Sr., 74, Aleya’s grandfather, spends most of his days by himself while his wife Martha works as a health aide. Aleya visited often. He digs in his garden and tinkers with a ’76 Chevy pickup -- anything to stay out of the house, he said. Once inside, where he's not so busy, his granddaughter’s death will hit. “The minute I get in the house and sit down after about five or 10 minutes, I’m thinking about her,” he explained. “I try not to think about her too much but I can’t keep from it.”
Kathie Thompson, 47, one of Aleya’s aunts, said she can no longer listen to music. After a fire, Aleya and her girlfriend had moved into her apartment for a while. Every Sunday, the two would sit and listen to the slow jams program on 102.7 FM. She bought a little radio just for that purpose.
The radio sits on top of her microwave, unplugged. “I just don't do it anymore. I'm scared I might hear a song she liked on the radio,” Thompson said. “It’s just way too difficult.”
Tucker can still hear Aleya in the house.
"I have been having really bad anxiety attacks,” Tucker said. “I keep thinking I hear her. I have to realize that she's not really there anymore. I can hear her singing."
Kathie has seen her, too, once while staying at Tucker's after Aleya’s death. Her little niece had seen something at the back door and woke her. “We were sleeping in the living room,” Kathie Thompson remembered. “I raised up. It was a shadow. You know how you know a person’s face? It was her … We all just stared at the back window.”
Cannon said she had seen Aleya twice sitting in her living room. A couple of weeks ago, she spotted Aleya standing in her hallway. She couldn’t go back to sleep. Her husband, she said, has yet to see his niece. “He sleeps too hard,” Cannon explained. “If I see her I’ll tap him … I’ll ask him ‘Did you see her?’ and he’ll say no. He’ll go back to sleep and he’ll try to hold me. But that doesn’t help.”
Courtney Robinson, 19, used to date one of Aleya’s brothers, Tino. Even after their breakup, she still talked to Aleya all the time. About 10 days after the killing, she tried to chat with Aleya on Facebook. “Hey girl,” she wrote. It took Robinson five minutes to realize Aleya wasn’t going to write back.
Shortly after Aleya's death, Tino discovered she had saved a recording on her phone of herself singing. He quickly downloaded it and passed it from one family member to another and another. It’s been on heavy rotation since. “We all got it on our phone," Kathie said.
Marquita said she thinks Aleya recorded it in her bathroom. Tucker insisted she recorded her daughter in her dining room before Thanksgiving. It’s one minute, 19 seconds long and Aleya doesn’t start to sing until 17 seconds in.
The slow R&B sounds far away and distorted. You need headphones to hear Aleya’s soft, high pleas. She knows this is not a good take. Midway, she complains that her voice is cracking. Toward the very end, she says half-jokingly, “I fucked up.” She barely raises her voice above the canned beat.
“You say you wanna be with me,” she coos just high enough so you can hear the words. “But you cannot right now.”
Kathie plays that one minute and 19 seconds every morning. “That’s all I do,” she said. “I have to hear her voice. … That’s the only voice we got.”
10 Months
Gun violence happened before Sandy Hook elementary and the Aurora theater shooting. In some instances, the media took an interest. Several print outlets, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, reported on the discovery of Melanie Colon’s body on May 12. The 22-year-old mother had gone missing a few days earlier. She was found in a wooded area behind an apartment building, a 10 or 15-minute drive north of her home. Colon was struck six times at close range with |
_07 => port_out_07, port_out_08 => port_out_08, port_out_09 => port_out_09, port_out_10 => port_out_10, port_out_11 => port_out_11, port_out_12 => port_out_12, port_out_13 => port_out_13, port_out_14 => port_out_14, port_out_15 => port_out_15, port_in_00 => port_in_00, port_in_01 => port_in_01, port_in_02 => port_in_02, port_in_03 => port_in_03, port_in_04 => port_in_04, port_in_05 => port_in_05, port_in_06 => port_in_06, port_in_07 => port_in_07, port_in_08 => port_in_08, port_in_09 => port_in_09, port_in_10 => port_in_10, port_in_11 => port_in_11, port_in_12 => port_in_12, port_in_13 => port_in_13, port_in_14 => port_in_14, port_in_15 => port_in_15, data_out => data_out, address => address, data_in => data_in, write => write ); end Behavioral ; Verilog projects, VHDL projects --fpga4student.com FPGA projects -- VHDL Testbench for the microcontroller library IEEE ; use IEEE.std_logic_1164.all ; entity computer_TB is end entity ; architecture computer_TB_arch of computer_TB is constant t_clk_per : time := 20 ns; -- Period of a 50MHZ Clock -- Component Declaration component computer port ( clock : in std_logic ; reset : in std_logic ; port_in_00 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_01 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_02 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_03 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_04 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_05 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_06 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_07 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_08 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_09 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_10 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_11 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_12 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_13 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_14 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_in_15 : in std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_00 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_01 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_02 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_03 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_04 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_05 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_06 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_07 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_08 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_09 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_10 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_11 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_12 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_13 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_14 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); port_out_15 : out std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 )); end component ; -- fpga4student.com FPGA projects, Verilog projects, VHDL projects -- Signal Declaration signal clock_TB : std_logic ; signal reset_TB : std_logic ; signal port_out_00_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_01_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_02_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_03_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_04_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_05_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_06_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_07_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_08_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_09_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_10_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_11_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_12_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_13_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_14_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_out_15_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_00_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_01_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_02_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_03_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_04_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_05_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_06_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_07_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_08_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_09_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_10_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_11_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_12_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_13_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_14_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); signal port_in_15_TB : std_logic_vector ( 7 downto 0 ); begin -- fpga4student.com FPGA projects, Verilog projects, VHDL projects micrococontroller_unit : computer port map (clock => clock_TB, reset => reset_TB, port_out_00 => port_out_00_TB, port_out_01 => port_out_01_TB, port_out_02 => port_out_02_TB, port_out_03 => port_out_03_TB, port_out_04 => port_out_04_TB, port_out_05 => port_out_05_TB, port_out_06 => port_out_06_TB, port_out_07 => port_out_07_TB, port_out_08 => port_out_08_TB, port_out_09 => port_out_09_TB, port_out_10 => port_out_10_TB, port_out_11 => port_out_11_TB, port_out_12 => port_out_12_TB, port_out_13 => port_out_13_TB, port_out_14 => port_out_14_TB, port_out_15 => port_out_15_TB, port_in_00 => port_in_00_TB, port_in_01 => port_in_01_TB, port_in_02 => port_in_02_TB, port_in_03 => port_in_03_TB, port_in_04 => port_in_04_TB, port_in_05 => port_in_05_TB, port_in_06 => port_in_06_TB, port_in_07 => port_in_07_TB, port_in_08 => port_in_08_TB, port_in_09 => port_in_09_TB, port_in_10 => port_in_10_TB, port_in_11 => port_in_11_TB, port_in_12 => port_in_12_TB, port_in_13 => port_in_13_TB, port_in_14 => port_in_14_TB, port_in_15 => port_in_15_TB); CLOCK_STIM : process begin clock_TB <= '0' ; wait for 0. 5 * t_clk_per; clock_TB <= '1' ; wait for 0. 5 * t_clk_per; end process ; ----------------------------------------------- RESET_STIM : process begin reset_TB <= '0' ; wait for 0. 25 * t_clk_per; reset_TB <= '1' ; wait ; end process ; ----------------------------------------------- -- fpga4student.com FPGA projects, Verilog projects, VHDL projects PORT_STIM : process begin port_in_00_TB <= x "00" ; port_in_01_TB <= x "11" ; port_in_02_TB <= x "22" ; port_in_03_TB <= x "33" ; port_in_04_TB <= x "44" ; port_in_05_TB <= x "55" ; port_in_06_TB <= x "66" ; port_in_07_TB <= x "77" ; port_in_08_TB <= x "88" ; port_in_09_TB <= x "99" ; port_in_10_TB <= x "AA" ; port_in_11_TB <= x "BB" ; port_in_12_TB <= x "CC" ; port_in_13_TB <= x "DD" ; port_in_14_TB <= x "EE" ; port_in_15_TB <= x "FF" ; wait ; end process ; end architecture ;“He who does not work should not eat” is a popular Czech expression. It appears that after several centuries of being imprisoned in the iron cage of production, work has become our main means of measuring our worth. Should we not work, we would feel like trash. But is it not the time to change that?
Photo courtesy of a2larm.cz. Reproduced with permission.
“He who does not work should not eat” is a popular Czech expression. It appears that after several centuries of being imprisoned in the iron cage of production, work has become our main means of measuring our worth. Should we not work, we would feel like trash – in addition to the people around us looking down on us. But is it not the time to change that? What if we simply refused to work?
I, Work
The difficulties connected to maintaining a position in a (well) paid job are ever-present. Just listen to the conversations of people at any pub. Who has the boss screwed over now? Howcome I will not have enough money to pay my rent even after several weeks of slaving? Where can I get a better job? What can I do when a friend or colleague stabs me in the back? According to statistics, we receive eight thousand e-mails a year on average. Just answering them takes roughly 900 hours, which begs the question of whether there is any meaning whatsoever in all this toil.
Most workers fall into the category of the not engaged worker, braving the depths of working hell just to not end up on the street.
A world-wide survey performed by the Gallup Institute divided employees into three categories: The engaged (13 per cent), the not engaged (63 per cent), and the actively disengaged (23 per cent). The engaged employer is a regular worker hero in the Soviet sense: He slaves away so the company he works in is successful, because he considers the good of the organization inseparable from his personal life. Most workers, however, fall into the second category – they brave the depths of working hell just to not end up on the street. Work has lost any sense of meaning for them, and they often suffer from so-called “presentism”: While they are physically present at the workplace, they burnout they are experiencing is so intense that they (often) ignore their work performance, and suffer through their working hours.
Additionally, there is a third group that not only hates their job but also actively sabotages it. An example could be the lawyer who took a dump into the liquid soap bottle, mixed it with the bottle’s contents, and let other employees in the company use it to wash their hands. While this is certainly bizarre, it is far from uncommon: Employee-saboteurs keep thinking up various means to hurt the company, a company where they are doomed to toil. They steal things from offices, intentionally damage the organization and the work of their more ambitious colleagues, and upon realizing this attitude gets them nowhere, they fall back on self-harm, drugs and even suicide. All in all, work has affected our lives to an extreme extent, even if we happen to hate it; these days, instead of “I, human,” we might as well think of ourselves in terms of “I, work.”
You Must Work!
We literally live by our jobs, which destroys the social status of people connected to non-profit activities, art, religion or raising children.
The British professor Peter Fleming, who studies workplace conditions, claims that our jobs have become the center of our lives: “We face an omnipresent ideology of work constantly telling us the only thing that matters is whether we have a paid job. We literally live by our jobs. This, naturally, destroys the social status of people connected to non-profit activities, art, religion or raising children.”
Why has work overtaken our lives? And how are all the currently fashionable hate-speeches about “slackers” and “social security parasites” connected to work? Maybe it is the fact that for many of us, work has simply become senseless.; we lost our faith in providing security, professional pride, and/or the feeling of stability. All it took for us to see the light was low salaries, arrogant bosses or the loss of faith in a better future. But more importantly, we also must not be allowed to think that it is possible to get by without working. “You must work!” is the message repetitiously conveyed by the ever-present work ideology. Even if we are badly paid, even if we hate our job, even if the job ruins our health, the goal is for us to set our doubts aside and discipline ourselves in time for the next shift.
Escaping the trap
Is there a way out? One possible answer is suggested in the book The Refusal of Work: the Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work (2015). In the book, stories of people who decided to intentionally lower their workload or leave the job process completely are told. These brave souls realized that there is no point in slaving away as a bank clerk, a copywriter, or as a call center slave. They tried something different. One of them states the following about work culture: “We all know that the so-called good life is the primary cause of our stress and bad health… People start their day in a traffic jam or stuffed in a bus and spend the rest of it glued to a computer screen, performing tasks that could just as easily be handled by a trained monkey.”
Adventurous souls who intentionally decrease their workload or quit their jobs know that without broad social changes, their efforts are merely isolated acts of resistance.
These people who decided to resist work are refuting the idea of toiling away from dawn till dusk as the norm. But they do not have it easy; they often face scorn and ridicule, and in order to avoid resorting to engaging in theft to survive, they are forced to be creative when it comes to securing a means of living. Some of them were lucky enough to have earned enough as IT men or managers to kiss their jobs goodbye and retire to the country. Others, however, have plenty to keep them busy and combine various ways of earning, like occasional jobs, subsistence, and participating in various mutual help and solidarity groups. One thing, however, is a commonality amongst all of them: With a lower workload their needs have decreased, because they no longer have to compensate for workplace frustration with consumerism. In addition, they know how to make and grow plenty of resources on their own. They view time differently; many of them spend it making art and regard the life of “normal people” as absurd: “You slave away five or six days a week, then you are burned out and have to rest or take a vacation just because you need to recuperate in order to work again. And again and again and again.” But even these adventurous souls know that without broad social changes, their efforts will remain as mere isolated acts of resistance.
Away With Asceticism!
In which form should such change take? One of the options is fighting for shorter working hours and simply sharing some jobs, an approach that is being experimented with in Canada, where employers of a company that needs to save money can switch to a shorter working week, with the state compensating for part of their salaries. It also seems that European countries with shorter working hours are – paradoxically – more productive since the workers there are not as tired and burned out.
A guaranteed universal basic income would give work a meaning again, we would no longer have to slave away in order to survive.
Another option is a universal basic income that would – on a sufficient level – take away the necessity of working. While there is still plenty of questions surrounding the idea of a guaranteed basic income, it has a large advantage, for it would make work voluntary. We would no longer have to slave away in order to survive, and could instead spend our time on activities that satisfy us. People would be given the means to live or develop their own businesses. And work would have a meaning again because plenty of degrading, redundant and life-wrecking jobs would cease to exist.
If there are people that still believe that without paid work and the constant pressure to eke out one’s living the human race would degenerate, they are horribly wrong. This idea was refuted by the famous British mathematician Bertrand Russell in his now legendary text In Praise of Idleness. According to him, should we find ourselves with nothing to do with our time after a four-hour workday, it would mean “a condemnation of our entire civilization”; our capacity for play and joy, then, would be irretrievably destroyed by the cult of performance. But things might not be all that bad, as Russell puts it: “Without a considerable amount of leisure a man is cut off from many of the best things. There is no longer any reason why the bulk of the population should suffer this deprivation; only a foolish asceticism, usually vicarious, makes us continue to insist on work in excessive quantities now that the need no longer exists.“
Translation by Michal Chmela.
This article was created as part of the Network 4 Debate project, supported by the International Visegrad Fund.Every day seems to bring fresh evidence of how a Donald Trump presidency could be a disaster on multiple fronts, whether it’s bragging about sexually assaulting women, implying his accusers are too ugly to assault, or suggesting in Wednesday night’s final presidential debate that he might not accept the election results. But that’s not all we have to look forward to if the Republican nominee wins next month: A Trump presidency could also be an unending series of battles in and about our courts.
Trump is by far the most litigious major party nominee in American history. In June, he was reportedly involved in at least 3,500 lawsuits over the past 30 years, including 50 that were still pending at the time.
While many are the kinds of cases you’d expect to be filed against a real estate developer, others raise major questions about his character, including a suit alleging Trump University defrauded students, another claiming Trump raped a 13-year-old girl (though recent reports have cast doubt on this claim), and two related cases in which Trump is suing restaurateurs who backed out of a Trump-led Washington, D.C., development project over his derogatory comments about Mexicans.
These cases won’t go away on Inauguration Day. Instead, they’ll continue making their way through the courts and pose a major distraction for President Trump. He could find himself repeatedly subpoenaed, deposed, and called to testify about his actions.
But Trump’s position as commander-in-chief would do little to help him avoid these distractions. Two decades ago, then-President Bill Clinton tried to delay Paula Jones’ sexual harassment suit against him until after his term of office ended in January 2001. But in a unanimous 1997 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Clinton was not protected by an executive privilege that barred all lawsuits, allowing Jones’ case to go ahead. The Clinton v. Jones ruling would apply equally to suits against Trump, both those already pending and those yet to come.
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And there will almost certainly be more cases to come, given Trump’s history of not paying vendors and the fact that at least 10 women have now come forward claiming he sexually assaulted them. For the latter, it’s possible that Trump could face criminal charges. The reality TV star’s history of lying—including at least one instance of lying under oath—could also put him at risk for perjury charges.
What’s more, Trump could face a litany of lawsuits challenging his actions as president. Modern presidential administrations are sued constantly; the state of Texas alone has sued the Obama administration at least 44 times in the last eight years, and multi-state suits against the federal government have increased significantly over the past two decades.
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But while lawsuits are a fact of life for any administration, Trump’s lack of temperament—especially his tendency to act first and ask questions later—could make them both more likely and more contentious.
Trump’s signature promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States would most likely be challenged and heard by the Supreme Court. Existing precedent gives the president broad discretion in immigration matters, but legal scholars suggest that banning immigrants based on religion might violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of freedom of religion and equal protection or the requirement that the president act in good faith in immigration matters (possibly a stronger claim, given that Trump’s ban would be based more on his gut feeling than on evidence). But the outcome would be uncertain, and a Trump victory at the Supreme Court could further provoke white supremacist sentiment in America.
A Trump administration may also routinely disregard rules for issuing and revoking administrative regulations. He’s promised, for instance, to revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, and roll back other major environmental regulations. But adopting or amending regulations is an onerous process that can take years.
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Trump might order agencies to rush through changes without proper review of evidence, leading to extended litigation. For instance, trying to revoke the Clean Power Plan would almost certainly end up before the Supreme Court, as 18 states have sided with the EPA in the ongoing case challenging the plan and won’t likely let the issue drop.
Trump is by far the most litigious major party nominee in American history.
In many of these cases, Trump might engage in outbursts attacking judges for perceived partiality, and calling the independence of the judiciary into question. He’s already repeatedly accused the judge presiding over the Trump University case, Indiana-born Gonzalo Curiel, of being biased—based solely on his Mexican heritage. Such attacks could continue after a Trump inauguration, and even extend to the Supreme Court.
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In the aftermath of Trump’s comments about Curiel, Republicans and Trump surrogates made repeated references to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s years-old comment that “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion than a white male” judge. (Sotomayor was born in the Bronx to parents of Puerto Rican descent.)
Although Trump said he doesn’t think Sotomayor should have to recuse herself in immigration cases, that could easily change the moment she asks a critical question during oral arguments. And given his campaign’s flirtation with the anti-Semitic alt-right, comments about the Jewish heritage of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan are also possible (not to mention sexist comments about Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Kagan).
And unless the Senate unexpectedly decides to act on Merrick Garland’s nomination, Trump would be able to nominate at least one justice to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia. Last month, Trump released a long list of potential Supreme Court nominees filled with conservative jurists, many of whom are best known for their strident anti-LGBT positions. But because Scalia was one of the court’s most conservative members, any replacement won’t likely shift it further right.
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Trump could do far greater harm to the Supreme Court if another justice resigns or dies. Two members—Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy—are over 80, while three more—Breyer, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito—are over 65. Replacing either the left-leaning Ginsburg or the libertarian Kennedy (who has often voted with the court’s liberals on social issues) would mean a dramatic shift in the court’s balance of power for decades to come.
While Trump’s legal troubles might make for compelling television, they would be a disaster for America’s court system. A president who baselessly attacks judges for bias, lies with impunity even while under oath, and questions the legitimacy of democratic institutions would seriously threaten our judicial independence. Add in one or more Trump nominations to the Supreme Court, and it could be generations before we recover from the damage.
Charles Paul Hoffman writes about comics, pop culture, and the law. He enjoys talking about Michel Foucault and how culture constructs societal norms.Military officials at the brig where accused WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning is imprisoned prevented a long-time visitor from seeing the soldier after discovering that the car he was driving had expired registration tags.
Authorities detained David House (above), a friend of Manning's, for nearly two hours while they repeatedly examined his ID and other documents. They refused to allow him to proceed onto the Quantico, Virginia, base where the brig is located when House and his passenger could not produce proof of insurance for the car. Although House offered to drive the vehicle off the base, the guards refused, according to Jane Hamsher, founder of the Firedoglake blog who owns the car and was a passenger in it during the encounter.
Instead, Hamsher told Threat Level, the guards called a tow truck to remove the car, and then made her and House wait with the driver for 45 minutes before allowing them to leave the base. She said the guards kept asking to see documents they'd already seen and ignored House's concerns that visiting hours would soon expire.
They had arrived at the base between 1 and 1:30 p.m., and by the time the guards had released them, it was 2:50 p.m. The guards told House he could return to visit Manning after the car had been towed to a garage, but visiting hours ended at 3 p.m. The two of them were left with a $150 tow-truck bill and a summons to appear at a later date at a district court in Alexandria, Virginia, to provide proof of insurance and registration.
Last November, House was detained at Chicago's O'Hare Airport by U.S. customs agents on his way back to the country from a Mexico vacation.
The agents searched his bags and questioned him for 90 minutes about his relationship to 23-year-old Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking classified documents to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks. The agents confiscated a laptop computer, a thumb drive and a digital camera from House and reportedly demanded, but did not receive, his encryption keys.
Hamsher said she had accompanied House on two prior trips to visit Manning at the U.S. Marine Corps' Quantico brig, and they had never encountered problems. House is on a visitor's list for Manning, but Hamsher is not. Manning is not allowed to receive visits from the press.
She said that during previous visits, she was allowed to wait at a base McDonald's while House met with Manning. She believed their treatment this time resulted from public statements House recently made about Manning's living conditions at the brig.
"I think it has to do with that fact that David was the person who spoke out that Bradley was being mistreated on the base," she said. "So for whatever reason, they didn’t want David to get there."
House wrote in a blog post last month on Firedoglake that Manning's treatment was "inhumane." He described severe restrictions on Manning's ability to exercise, communicate and sleep.
"In his five months of detention, it has become obvious to me that Manning’s physical and mental well-being are deteriorating," House wrote.
Last week, Manning's attorney David E. Coombs filed a formal complaint after the brig commander abruptly placed Manning on suicide watch.
The suicide watch added more restrictions to Manning's confinement. He was confined to his cell around the clock, while a guard sat outside watching him. He was also stripped to his underwear, and his prescription eyeglasses were taken from him except during the one hour he was permitted to watch television and when he was permitted to read. The suicide watch was lifted the day after Coombs filed his complaint.
Military officials told NBC Monday that the brig commander had crossed a line when he put Manning on suicide watch. The sources said that only medical personnel were allowed to make such a determination and that Manning had been placed on the watch after he had failed to follow orders from his Marine guards.
Hamsher believes the brig thwarted House's visit on Sunday as a way to punish Manning and keep him isolated. House, she says, has been Manning's only visitor for the last five months, other than his attorney and an initial visit from an aunt.
Brig spokesman 1st Lt. Brian Villiard said the guards had been following proper procedure when they refused to allow the car to proceed onto the base.
"When that vehicle showed up and they asked for ID, the MPs that worked at the gate also noticed that the license plates were expired," he said, "and at that point, it just became a routine traffic stop."
Villiard said it's against state law for vehicles without current registration or valid insurance to be driven on Virginia roads.
"Because the vehicle was on the base, we have an obligation to uphold Virginia law on the facility," he said, and therefore House was not allowed to drive the vehicle off the base. "If their paperwork for the registration had been fine, [then] it wouldn’t have been an issue."
He said that House was not allowed to visit Manning while Hamsher dealt with the car issues because procedures dictate that anyone in a vehicle that is stopped has to remain with the car.
"If I were a passenger in a vehicle wearing my uniform, I would still be held until the vehicle was towed off base," he said.
Hamsher told Threat Level that the registration for her car has been paid, but she's waiting for the stickers to come from California. She also said she has insurance and told the guards she could download a certificate from her insurer's website to prove it, but the guards refused to accept a digital copy, saying it could be altered.
Photo: Image of David House /YouTube*
See Also:The US army follows the UK armed forces in getting its Special Forces several hornet drones, a new kind of flying robot which has military experts worried about the implications for the future of warfare.
US Special Forces are testing PD-100 Black Hornet drones, one of a new breed of small drones which can autonomously fly in many different environments and, experts warn, present scientific, technical and ethical challenges for military and civilian applications.
The Black Hornet drone weighs 18 grams and carries a regular or thermal camera; it has a maximum flight time of around 25 minutes, a top speed of 10 m/s and a range of more than 1.5 km. Its camera relays video and still images to a handheld control terminal.
The incredible piece of equipment is made by Norwegian firm Prox Dynamics, which calls the PD-100 a 'Personal Reconnaissance System' [PRS] that "provides law enforcement agencies with a game-changing pocket-sized ISR capability that provides instant situational awareness."
The tiny drone has been in operational use for three years; the UK military first began using the PD-100 in Afghanistan in 2012. In February 2013 the UK Military of Defense revealed its plan to purchase 160 of the robots, in a contract worth £20 million [$31 million].
"Using this is no different to playing on an Xbox, playing on a PS3 with the control," said Sergeant Carl Boyd of the British Army, when demonstrating the device.
commentary published by the journal Nature this week examined the challenges and impact of such devices, which according to the authors present "an important ethical decision: whether to support or oppose the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems [LAWS]."
"Technologies have reached a point at which the deployment of such systems is — practically if not legally — feasible within years, not decades. The stakes are high: LAWS have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms," writes Stuart Russell, Professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Autonomous weapons systems select and engage targets without human intervention; they become lethal when those targets include humans."
"The overriding concern should be the probable endpoint of this technological trajectory. The capabilities of autonomous weapons will be limited more by the laws of physics — for example, by constraints on range, speed and payload — than by any deficiencies in the AI [artificial intelligence] systems that control them."House of Representatives Agrees That 30 Years Is Long Enough, Pushes Much-Needed Email Privacy Reform Bill to the Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) today, which would require the government to get a probable cause warrant from a judge before obtaining private communications and documents stored online with companies such as Google, Facebook, and Dropbox.
The bill provides a long-overdue update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), first passed in 1986. The bill also codifies the Sixth Circuit’s ruling in U.S. v. Warshak, which held that the Fourth Amendment demands that the government first obtain a warrant before accessing emails stored with cloud service providers.
The House vote is historic, given that H.R. 699 has an amazing 315 cosponsors, almost three quarters of the entire House. The House voted unanimously, following a unanimous vote by the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month.
EFF has pushed for an update to ECPA for over six years as part of the Digital Due Process Coalition, which is comprised of civil society groups and technology companies. Today’s win is also the result of efforts by EFF supporters across the country, who have kept a steady drumbeat of pressure on Congress to reform ECPA.
While we applaud the passage of H.R. 699, the bill isn’t perfect. In particular, the Email Privacy Act doesn’t require the government to notify users when it seeks their online data from service providers, a vital safeguard ensuring users can obtain legal counsel to fight for their rights. However, companies may continue to provide notice to users of government requests—prior to compliance—something many companies commit to in our annual Who Has Your Back report.
The government should also be required to obtain a warrant when demanding a person’s geolocation data. And if the government does obtain any communications data in violation of the law, courts should have the ability to suppress that evidence in criminal prosecutions.
Despite these drawbacks, H.R. 699 is a win for user privacy. We thank the bill’s chief sponsors, Reps. Yoder (R-KS), Polis (D-CO), and Graves (R-GA), and House Majority Leader McCarthy (R-CA) for scheduling today’s vote. We urge the Senate to pass the Email Privacy Act without any weakening amendments before the 114th Congress ends in January. Please contact your Senators and demand their support for strong privacy protections for your online data!Buy Photo Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Tyler August (left), Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (center) and Senate President Roger Roth (right) applaud Gov. Scott Walker as he delivers his state of the state address during a joint session of the state Legislature in January in Madison. (Photo: Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)Buy Photo
Madison — After striking down Wisconsin's legislative maps as unconstitutional two months ago, a federal court Friday ordered Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers to redraw the districts by Nov. 1 to ensure their use in the fall 2018 elections.
The three-judge federal panel rejected the state's request to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on the case, which is being watched closely nationwide because it relies on a novel legal argument.
But the panel also denied a request by the Democratic plaintiffs that the court draw the maps. The judges said that was a task better left to the state's GOP-controlled Legislature and Walker, saying there was no evidence they wouldn't comply with the order.
"It is neither necessary nor appropriate for us to embroil the court in the Wisconsin Legislature’s deliberations," the panel wrote.
Unlike the 2-1 November decision striking down the maps for being excessively partisan, this order was unanimous. It was hailed by Bill Whitford, the lead plaintiff in the case brought by the Fair Elections Project, which said it wouldn't appeal the parts of the order it lost.
"Today is a good day for Wisconsin voters, and another step in the journey of ensuring that our voices are heard. Now, we will be keeping a watchful eye on the state Legislature as they draw the new maps and I ask them, for the sake of our democracy, to put partisan politics aside and the interests of all voters first," Whitford said.
RELATED: Federal court strikes down GOP-drawn maps
RELATED: Redistricting ruling could help, hurt both parties
RELATED: Gov. Scott Walker: Reverse redistricting ruling, fight new maps
The Democratic plaintiffs sued in 2015 to invalidate the maps passed by GOP lawmakers and Walker in 2011, and the lower court has ruled in their favor. The U.S. Supreme Court is required to take the case and could still rule against the plaintiffs.
"We are reviewing the court’s order, but we expect to file an appeal with the Supreme Court and seek prompt reversal of this decision," said Johnny Koremenos, a spokesman for GOP state Attorney General Brad Schimel.
Redistricting cases are unusual in that they are first heard by a special three-judge panel and then go to the U.S. Supreme Court. They do not go to appeals courts, as other litigation does. Appeals go directly to the Supreme Court, which must take |
Zimmer's motivational coaching style, and Norv Turner's Air Coryell system fitting Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater, we will see much better things from our quarterbacks. Only time will tell of course, but it sure seems like we've got a better situation now than we did back in 2011.BULAKAN, Bulacan–The province honored former senator, writer and martial law freedom icon Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo with a bust and a school building named after him, during rites held on Friday (Jan. 27) ahead of the 103rd commemoration of his birth Saturday, January 29.
Rodrigo, who was jailed along with the late senators Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno following the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, passed away on Jan. 4, 1998.
A newly constructed Activity Center of the Bulacan State University (BulSU) Meneses Campus here was named after Rodrigo. His bust stands in front of the facility.
Rodrigo was born in Barangay (village) San Jose on Jan. 29, 1914.
He was a member of 1987 Constitutional Commission which crafted the 1987 Philippine Constitution, following the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
He is buried at this town’s cemetery. In 1998, his name was inscribed at the “Bantayog ng mga Bayani.”
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MOA Arena area declared ’no-fly zone’ for Miss Universe pageant“The Trouble With Male Feminism” is the topic Ally Fogg wrote about over at The Guardian this week. He argues that the “retirement” of Hugo Schwyzer from his self-appointed position as “Professor Feminism” highlights some of the issues men have with feminism. In a nutshell, men who write about feminist issues feel they have to “take their cues from the women around them”, that they must “yield first in disputes” and toe an ideological line “very carefully”. I respect Ally’s work a great deal, and I realize that he’s explaining why he can’t identify himself as a feminist any more, but I think his piece makes some assumptions which show up the real problem with many male feminists. They can’t imagine not being the heroes of the movement.
What could be the problem with taking cues from women, for a male feminist? Feminism works to rectify centuries of imbalance during which women have been silenced, oppressed and subject to male authority. It seeks to articulate the experiences of a massive swathe of people who have often been ignored and exploited. What’s wrong with the assumption that those of us who haven’t had those experiences shouldn’t be giving orders? If there’s an “ideological line” to be drawn, why should it be an affront that men didn’t get to draw it? For white cis men, one of the most important things we can realize about feminism is that it is not about us. We can contribute, we can co-operate, but we can’t lead it, win it or set the agenda. We can’t embody it or introduce it to the big time. We can’t be feminism. If we ever did, it would stop being feminism.
I can’t see why yielding first in disputes, or working within ideological structures created by other people, are issues either. I do this all the time as an academic. Sometimes it’s very obvious, like getting up to begin a paper which develops the ideas of another writer and realizing they’re grinning at you from the third row. Other times it’s more subtle: when I’m a bit less dogmatic talking about medieval literature than the seventeenth century, or when I defer to someone in the room who I know has spent years reading the manuscripts I’m talking about. I happily accept that other people know more than me in various fields, and that I’m speaking “subject to correction” when I give my thoughts on a topic. We all assume that our ideas are contingent, open to nuance or flat out contradiction by other people, in a process which ultimately (hopefully) moves the field forward. If we[1] don’t have a problem taking into account another person’s special expertise in a setting like that, surely we should be even more keen to acknowledge their right to speak about their own experience. Even if it contradicts a theory we’re so sure works out.
The only way these could be problems for male feminists would be if they didn’t want to contribute, but wanted to be the Christopher Hitchens of feminism: lone fearless outriders sneering at the intellectual credentials of all those who disagree with them. There will never be a Christopher Hitchens of feminism. Partly because Hitchens seemed to have trouble imagining women could be as clever as he was, but also because the male hero, leading from a lonely and glamorous eminence, isn’t what feminism needs from men. The craggily authoritative “public intellectual”, the charismatically self-destructive bad boy, the strict but sentimental “leader of men”: these are all male roles which feminism critiques, not roles waiting for the right guy to come along and fulfil. Feminism isn’t just a set of propositions about the way the social, cultural and economic structure supports a harmful gender binary. It’s a mode of operating – or rather, a set of modes – which includes an attentiveness to other’s voices, a willingness to take things seriously which you’d like to dismiss and an awkward, ongoing encounter with the reality of other people. You can’t just sign up to the right statements and then expect people to snap into line because you look more like a leader than they do.
There won’t ever be a Four Horsemen of Feminism, and that’s not a problem with feminism. It’s part of feminism’s success in questioning the images of male intellectual and moral authority which our society holds so dear. I’d guess that the problem with male feminists is that too many want to be Richard Dawkins, only with the right opinions. The problem certainly isn’t that they might spend too much time listening to women.
[1] White, cis men again. Gosh, we get everywhere, don’t we?
AdvertisementsThe White Sox finally announced their signing of Adam LaRoche on Tuesday afternoon, with the new DH/first baseman flanked by Rick Hahn and Robin Ventura on a conference call.
The details:
LaRoche will make $12 million in 2015 and $13 million in 2016.
Scott Carroll was DFA'd to open the spot on the 40-man roster.
It's LaRoche's biggest contract by $1 million, and he said, "I'd be lying if I said the money had nothing to do with it." Besides the interest the Sox showed in him, he also listed other items that swayed him into picking Chicago for the location of his 15th home in 15 years -- the city, an opportunity to push an improving team, and most uniquely, his history with the Sox.
His father, Dave, was the White Sox bullpen coach under Jeff Torborg from 1989 to 1991.
"I remember running around Old Comiskey when my dad was coaching there, and I've honestly always been a White Sox fan, and I don't just say that," LaRoche said.
"I was starting to understand the game and figure it out, and I happened to be in a White Sox uniform quite a bit around that old stadium, and I always really enjoyed being there and being around those guys. When I talked to Robin and Bobby Thigpen down in the bullpen, and some of those guys I was around as a kid, that played into it."
So that's how LaRoche got here. But what about the people that were already around?
Scott Carroll
He felt the repercussions of the LaRoche signing immediately, as the White Sox designated him for assignment to make room for LaRoche on the 40-man roster. That struck me as surprising at first, considering Carroll threw a whopping 129⅓ innings for the White Sox last year, mostly because the Sox didn't have anybody better.
That said, the Sox got rid of most of the pitchers who ran out of chances. Of the arms on the 40-man, the only outlier is Raul Fernandez, a 24-year-old claimed from Colorado by the Sox in July, because he's never pitched above A-ball.
After that, Andre Rienzo is probably the next-most vulnerable, as all the other iffy pitchers joined the 40-man more recently, and Carroll actually pitched for the Sox in September. However, if you think Rienzo has a brighter future in the bullpen, then it makes sense to give him one season to devote himself to the role. Carroll's best MLB role is a swingman, but a lot of guys fit that bill.
Carroll isn't out of the picture entirely, but if he ends up on another team, his story was fun enough in a down year. He'll always have his debut. And Doodle Hats. Fastball!
My biggest immediate question about the LaRoche signing: How much first base would he play? By metrics and reputation, he's a better first baseman than Abreu, but Abreu is signed for three years past LaRoche's deal, so it may not be worth stunting his defensive development for an immediate gain that might not be all that noticeable.
Ventura said his idea is to play LaRoche there twice a week, assuming normal health and productivity. That must be good enough for LaRoche, because he was rather candid about his desire to wear a mitt:
Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I would sign as a DH somewhere, even a part-time DH. [...] I love playing first, plain and simple, and I told Robin I would hate to come in to a position somewhere where I totally give up first base, because I feel like I can still be very productive on the defensive side. Physically, I still feel great. I'm not in a position yet, thankfully, where I need to be off my feet a bunch and where defensive will affect me physically. I feel good, and talking to him, there is that spot. They've got a kid that's obviously going to be around and be really good for a long time, so it's not fair to make him a full-time DH this early in his career, especially when he can handle first base and handle the glove over there. I'm good however it plays out, and that's exactly what I told [Ventura]. I said if you need me to play first more than we're talking about, great, I'll be there. If I end up DHing more, that's fine. I'm looking forward to hopefully being in the middle of that lineup and having the chance to drive some runs in.
Ventura seems to believe in Abreu, vouching for his improvement, especially with his movement around the base, over the course of the season.
"Later in the year, we were able to move him further off of first base, with the way we were setting up," Ventura said. "I think he started to enjoy that part of it... even staying a little bit off on a pickoff, to be able to move around and jockey with the runners."
Rick Hahn and Robin Ventura
Hahn listed the on-field benefits of the acquisition -- left-handed, first base depth, etc. -- but he piled praise upon LaRoche for his leadership abilities:
"Part of the appeal is his presence in the clubhouse," Hahn said. "I cannot tell you how many different club officials, scouts and even players I've heard from since this leaked out the other day, as well as doing our due diligence on Adam, just raved about what he brings to the clubhouse."
"Given that we have a young club and an evolving club, we felt it was important, first and foremost, to add what he brings on the field, but also it was very appealing, what he could bring in the clubhouse and the leadership he could provide to this young club."
At the general managers meetings two weeks ago, Hahn said the Sox could use such a player to bridge the gap to a new hierarchy after Paul Konerko retired. At least it seems to be a player Ventura can use, too.
It sounds like there's no "hopefully" about it. Assuming the on-hand talent holds, Ventura said he plans to bat LaRoche fourth, after Abreu and before Avisail Garcia.
The sixth hitter? Gillaspie. He's not really the subject of trade rumors, but more of a persistent thought that the Sox can do better at third base. Until anything materializes, though, he's still the incumbent, and Ventura sees a fit for him in the lineup.
"It really balances out our lineup, to be able to have Conor probably in a more comfortable spot of just being a line-drive hitter batting in the six hole," Ventura said.
By process of elimination, that would seem to put Alexei Ramirez in the No. 2 spot, with some combination of Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers and the winner of the second base job in the bottom third of the order.
Maybe Marcus Semien would change the equation if he won the second-base job, because Ventura gave him that assignment when during Gordon Beckham's absence over the first month or two, and that could be a future for him, especially against lefties. But all this speculation could be pointless if the Sox end up acquiring an OBP-oriented player at third or left field.Former Just Cause developer Stefan Ljungquist is showing off the first in-game footage for upcoming MOBA release Deadbreed, currently being voted for on Steam Greenlight.
The free-to-play title is heading to Windows PC later this year, pitting groups of three players against online or AI opponents, and an endgame boss.
"I wanted to play a MOBA where I could totally customize how my hero looked and, more importantly played, but I couldn't find one," said Ljungquist, adding: "Talking to friends, I realized I wasn't the only one wanting this, so we decided to make it. Also, this was our chance to make a darker themed MOBA for hardcore gamers like ourselves and bring in some additional RPG gameplay features."
You can take a look at the game above.To increase the presence of Ontario Craft Beer for customers we invited 42 craft brewers to set up shop in our hall and show off their beer to various grocery decision makers.
Once the trade show was finished the breweries had some extra beer to share and we decided to open this event to the public, bringing in visitors from our retail bar and using social media to invite everyone down for an impromptu craft beer fest!
The cost was free and a few lucky individuals who saw our posts on social media got a chance to sample some of the finest craft brews Ontario has to offer.
The craft beer movement is about people over profits and what better way to show the spirit of Ontario Craft Brewers then by throwing open our doors to thirsty craft drinkers to help us polish off the beer.
PS. Impromptu craft beer fests are all the more reason to follow us on social media if you aren’t already!
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FacebookMedia playback is not supported on this device Highlights: Froome wins Rio time trial bronze
Great Britain's Chris Froome took bronze in the Olympic men's individual time trial, which was won by Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara.
Three-time Tour de France champion Froome struggled early on but made up time in the latter stages to finish one minute 2.12 seconds behind Cancellara.
The Swiss came home in one hour 12 minutes 15.42 seconds, 47.41 seconds ahead of silver medallist Tom Dumoulin.
Britain's Geraint Thomas finished ninth on the wet-dry 54.6km course.
Froome's bronze means Team GB have now won seven medals at the Rio Games, with hopes of further success on Wednesday in gymnastics, shooting, rugby sevens, tennis and more.
Life's a beach: At least, it's about to be for Cancellara, who retires from cycling at the end of the season
He who dares...
Hit by heavy rain showers throughout the race, riders were at risk of sliding off their bikes on the downhill sections of the tricky, jungle-lined Rio course, which was the scene of some serious crashes in the previous weekend's road races.
Cancellara, 35, appeared to descend on the wet, downhill sections faster than pre-race favourites Froome and Dumoulin, giving him a sizeable advantage.
By the 32km checkpoint, Froome's hopes of gold had all but evaporated and he was also seven seconds adrift of third-placed Australian Rohan Dennis.
However, Dennis broke a handlebar in the closing stages, which required a change of bike.
That gave Froome a chance and he took advantage with a strong finish over the last 10km.
Froome said he performed to his best on the course, located on Rio's southern coast.
Kenya-born Froome, 31, is considered a time-trial specialist within cycling, and has won many times at the discipline
"I can't be disappointed," he told BBC Sport. "I'd love to have been in with a chance of gold. I gave it everything I had.
"Fabian was the clear winner. If I had lost by five or six seconds I would have been disappointed myself. Fabian was the strongest guy.
"I tried to hold back a little bit for the last lap knowing how hard the course was but I didn't have any more."
Analysis
Olympic track cycling champion Chris Boardman
"If you ask people in any other sport how long you can maintain peak form for, you're probably going to get an answer of a couple of weeks.
"To come to Rio and win this time trial after the exertions of the Tour de France, you're asking for top form for more like two months.
"It was a good course for Froome, but he can be happy with a bronze in my opinion.
"Thomas was thrown in at the last minute, and he can be proud of his performance. He got stuck in."
Cancellara won the time trial at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and several of cycling's 'classics' races
What the others said
Thomas, who had finished 11th in the road race after crashing near the finish, said: "I got stuck in but it wasn't my day.
"The disappointment of my road race crash overwhelms everything else, but it's an amazing experience to represent Team GB at the Olympics.
"I can be proud that we gave it everything."
Cancellara, seventh behind gold medallist Bradley Wiggins four years ago, said: "It is pretty special.
"After the 2012 disappointment and many other ups and downs, now in my last season, my last chance, I knew it would be challenging with Froome and all others.
"To finish with another gold it is not bad."
Three-time Tour de France champion Froome also won bronze in the time trial at London 2012
A wet Rio is a far cry from four years ago, when then Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins stormed to the men's time trial gold at London 2012 in glorious sunshine
(Left to right) Tom Dumoulin, Fabian Cancellara and Chris Froome receive their medals
Riders struggled on the wet course in unfamiliar surroundings
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.As a kid, I was totally fascinated with the Wonkavator, Willy Wonka's magical elevator from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" that travels in all dimensions and defies all Earthly logic. I looked sadly at modern elevators that were only able to go up and down, wanting one that could go sideways and squareways and whateverways I wanted.
It looks like the universe is about to meet me partway with the Multi, a magnet-propelled elevator concept that in addition to moving up and down can also go sideways. The elevator uses a technology called magnetic levitation to move multiple elevator cars along the same shaft without the need for wires and cables. Wait times for elevators can thus be drastically reduced, and the ability to move the cars in almost all directions could let architects stretch their design innovation.
The Multi's cabins are smaller, meaning fewer people transported per car, but it should be able to move more people in the same amount of time as traditional elevators since cars come every 15 to 30 seconds. The Multi elevator is set to begin testing sometime in 2016, and German innovation company ThyssenKrupp hopes to have a fully operational prototype running in its test tower in Germany by the end of 2016.
Here's hoping that by 2026, we've come up with a full-blown Wonkavator that blasts out of a building and goes wherever we want to go anywhere in the world.
(Via Wired UK)The Catholic Church in Ireland is at "a breaking point" over the child sexual abuse scandals, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.
Dr Martin told CBS's "60 Minutes" programme, which will be broadcast on Sunday, that the crisis is not over.
"60 Minutes" asked Archbishop Martin whether the church here has reached its breaking point.
He responded that it is at a very difficult stage and that this is "enormously" due to the scandals.
The interview will be broadcast as church leaders here await Pope Benedict XVI's response to their invitation to attend June's International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.
Archbishop Martin has already warned that the church in Ireland needs to progress further its radical overhaul and reform before a visit would be of significant benefit.
Without mentioning the visit, he said there is a real danger today of people saying the child abuse scandal is over, that it should be buried and that the church should move on.
But he said the scandal is not over and that the protection of children is something that will go on beyond his lifetime and into the future.
He added that this is because "the problems are there".by X Anonymous
According to the IPCC, “climate variability refers to variations in the mean state and other statistics (such as standard deviations, the occurrence of extremes, etc.) of the climate on all spatial and temporal scales beyond that of individual weather events. Variability may be due to natural internal processes within the climate system (internal variability), or to variations in natural or anthropogenic external forcing (external variability).”
Known examples of internally generated variability include ENSO, AMO, and the PDO. An example of Internal variability which exists on a longer time scale is Thermohaline Circulation. There are many other examples of internal variability, especially when we include instances where the line between internal and external phenomena is blurred, and when the Earth’s climate system state has changed (e.g. Heinrich events during the last glacial period).
Is there a difference between ‘climate change’ and ‘climate variability’? Time is the key. Even though the interglacial cycles or “Ice Ages” are some of greatest ‘climate changes’ known, and are described as the change between two ‘long term’ climate states, they are cyclical. What sets these glacial cycles apart from other examples of ‘variability’ is the hundreds of thousands of years of evolution through time, and apparent external forcing. Therefore, when we hear about ‘internal variability’ in the context of attribution, ENSO, the AMO, and other short term ‘noise’ are often referred to, since the longer time scale variability is unlikely to have much impact (as impossible as that is to prove).
Therefore, it is fair and reasonable to assume these short term influences on the climate are short term. It’s a zero sum game when it comes to the IPCC’s use of internal variability. As the figure above illustrates, internal variability is the slave and external forcing is the master. All internal variability can do is move energy around. There is no significant net change in energy consistent with the laws of thermodynamics, where energy cannot be created nor destroyed. The climate must be forced to change in the long term; internal variability is unforced and does not cause long term temperature trends.
Historical data and observations are used to estimate internal variability. Since the observable patterns of variability cannot explain long term temperature trends, external forcing is needed to provide a physical explanation. And since the external forcing generally doesn’t have much impact on its own, a positive (water vapor) feedback, consistent with atmospheric physics, is evoked to explain the discrepancy.
The above shows a climate system with a high sensitivity. On Earth, the ocean is responsible for a very large system memory; the only consequence of this enormous potential of energy in a system dominated by positive feedback, however, is to cause a system lag, which constrains the time it takes for the climate to change.
To summarise, the IPCC have largely ruled out internal climate change, and used physics to exaggerate processes that would normally have little impact on their own, to explain the origin of the climate. In the IPCC’s view, the ocean can store an enormous amount of energy, but at no time can that potential energy influence long term climate change under a dominate positive feedback. Ultimately, with or without a system lag, it all comes down to external forcing. Periods of hiatus /rapid warming, etc. cancel out in the long term. There is no doubt the attribution of 20th century warming has been simple and straight forward due to human emissions.
In contrast to a system depended on positive feedback, the impact of external forcing is reduced with a system based on a negative feedback, and the initial ‘cause’ or ‘origin’ of climate change is far more ambiguous. Unless a specific negative feedback mechanism is known, attribution is near impossible. Attribution is synonymous with positive feedback. As noted by climate researchers, attribution of warming to an internal process such as the ENSO cycle requires a highly sensitive climate with positive feedback to work!
In this ‘negative feedback’ world, climate sensitivity is low. The system is hard to change with external forcing. In contrast to the previous ‘positive feedback’ example, the associated external forcing does not immediately explain the magnitude of the climate signal. By its own nature, a negative feedback system requires climate changes to be attributed (for the most part) to internal variability. External forcing therefore plays only a minor role, leaving the feedback as the dominate driver of change (‘the cause’). Attribution then requires knowledge of internal dynamics (are they random or deterministic?). A significant, dominate role for internal variability would be impossible without a system memory. A positive feedback does not require a system memory, yet we live in a world which has one.
The climate signal in the figure above may have been caused by the forcing, but only very slowly over time. It may have taken a million years. Since external forcing can only cause a small deviation from equilibrium (due to low climate sensitivity), such a forcing would need to be periodic in nature (such as orbital forcing), in order to change the system in the long term. In the absence of external forcing, the climate oscillation that has accumulated over a million year time period, will take another million years to stop oscillating completely and return to equilibrium. A million years of climate change with no external forcing is theoretically possible under a system with both a memory and negative feedback. Impossible under a positive system.
Attribution studies which claim that 20th century warming has no alternative explanation other than manmade greenhouse forcing are only credible in a hypothetical positive feedback world. In other words, there is no alternative explanation in these studies because they have only considered positive feedback mechanisms. Ruling out Internal variability as a driver of change inevitability means negative feedbacks are also ruled out, and vice versa.
Evidence of a negative feedback is found in climate records which exhibit characteristic of system memory, such as an accumulation of periodic energy:
This figure shows the climate record of Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) constructed by combining measurements from 57 globally distributed deep sea sediment cores. The measured quantity is oxygen isotope fractionation (δ18O) in benthic foraminifera, which serves as a proxy for the total global mass of glacial ice sheets. Source: Wikipedia
Until climate scientists consider internal variability in the context of both positive and negative feedback systems, it is unlikely the great mysteries of climate change will be solved.
JC comment: This essay landed in my inbox this morning, I have not communicated previously with the anonymous author. This essay speaks to a concern that I have had regarding the separability of natural internal variability from forced variability, particularly as we detrend a time series to identify the natural internal variability. I have suspected that all this may be convoluted and not easily separable, with external forcing projecting onto the modes of internal variability. And particularly since we are looking at a period of about 3 decades as being the main ‘signal’ from CO2 forcing, we don’t really know how to do the attribution problem on this time scale.
Moderation note: This is a technical thread, pls keep your comments relevant (and civil).Mad Max: Fury Road may not seem like a particularly romantic film, but two stunt doubles ended up falling love on set, and they’re now married with a kid.
Dane Grant, 37, came aboard as Tom Hardy’s temporary double, while Dayna Porter (now Dayna Grant), 39, was serving as Charlize Theron’s double.
“I remember that first day meeting her in the stunt rehearsal gym,” Dane told The Telegraph. “She stood out for all the right reasons”
Having to fight each other for hours every day clearly fostered a connection between Dane, who’s from South Africa, and Dayna, who’s from New Zealand.
“Every time we get to work together is a blast, but none more so than the initial fight rehearsal,” Dane said. “In the film it’s the first time Max meets Furiousa and they fight it out with a sequence that fight choreographer had us training non-stop for weeks.”
A few key takeaways:
Yes, this a married couple named Dayna n’ Dane. Dayna Grant and Dane Grant. Yup.
The Mad Max shoot was a really long time ago. (Filming began in May 2012.)
You really can find love in a hopeless place.
Contact us at editors@time.com.A law expanding the rights of New Yorkers to sue for bias profiling by police, passed last year over Michael Bloomberg’s veto, will stand, Mayor de Blasio announced today. The new administration is abandoning the old one’s attempt to fight the law, which allows plaintiffs to sue the NYPD in state court for “injunctive relief,” i.e., changes to department policy, not money.
“There is absolutely no contradiction in protecting the public safety of New Yorkers and respecting their civil liberties. In fact, those two priorities must go hand-in-hand,” said de Blasio in a statement. “No New Yorker should ever face discrimination based on the color of his or her skin. We are going to be explicit in setting fair and effective standards that prevent bias in any form.” That, of course, includes stop-and-frisk, the subject of a separate Bloomberg suit dropped earlier this year by de Blasio.Germany will close its air base in Uzbekistan by the end of the year, German officials have said, marking the end of the fourteen-year military presence in Central Asia.
Earlier this month, Germany's ambassador to Uzbekistan said that the base was only being used as backup and wasn't being used actively. The base, in Termez on the border with Afghanistan, had been used to supply German troops in Afghanistan. Germany's combat mission ended at the end of 2014 (though Germany still has 850 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO's now training-only mission).
"All particpants were aware from the start that our deployment to Termez wouldn't last longer than the military presence of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan," Ambassador Neithart Höfer-Wissing said then.
That news was hard to square with the fact that Uzbekistan had just raised the rent of the base last year to 35 million Euros a year, more than double what it had been charging, and was now trying to raise the rent to 72.5 million Euros.
Now, it seems Germany is pulling out altogether. AFP reported that 21 German soldiers recently arrived in Termez, with another 14 to join shortly, who will work on closing the base down. And since August, the German air force has been using U.S. military transport, making Termez less necessary, the report continued.
"Termez right now is just a backup. We are not effectively using it right now, that's the reason why we are closing it," German military spokesman Dominik Wullers told RFE/RL. "Some [personnel] will be transferred to Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan where we have our base, while others will relocate to Germany."
It seems like the end of the combat mission can't be the only reason Germany is leaving the base, given that rent negotiations were going on even this year, after the mission had ended. Presumably Germany would have been willing to stay in Termez had the terms been more attractive.
It's also curious that Uzbekistan decided to bargain so hard that they drove Germany out. Not that 35 million Euros was the panacea for Tashkent's budget, but Uzbekistan's authorities must have decided that it wasn't worth it.
Meanwhile, a senior delegation from Russia's ministry of defense visited Tashkent last week to discuss military overflight rights, apparently to Afghanistan, reported regnum.ru.As the date approaches, we're starting to get weird and giddy about the release of the Rare Chandeliers mixtape, the latest offering from foodie rapper and VICE fam Action Bronson. The tape drops November 15 right here on Noisey, and it's already clinched our vote for Best Cover Art of 2012. Check out this bruiser of a cover, done right by the illustrious illustrator Johnny Sampson:
Right? Right.
Now bear with us for a second before we unveil the tape's tracklisting. Usually releasing tracklists is a boring part of an album's rollout plan, and we don't do it because it's a waste of your time. But this one is an exception - take a peek at the artists that Action's paired with. Apart from Alchemist, who produced everything, we've got guest spots from Roc Marciano, Meyhem Lauren, Styles P, and Sean Price, among others.
Check the tracklisting below, but before you do, press the little triangular play button on that YouTube thingy down there: It's the official video for "The Symbol," and it features Action living out his dream of being an Albanian cocaine smuggler pulling off his last big score before ditching the drug trade.
And again, check back on Noisey November 15 to snag that mixtape.
Rare Chandeliers
Out November 15 on via Noisey.com
1. Big Body Bes Intro
2. Rare Chandeliers
3. The Symbol
4. Sylvester Lundgren Feat. Meyhem Lauren & Ag Da Coroner
5. Randy The Musical
6. Demolition Men Feat. Schoolboy Q
7. Eggs On The Third Floor
8. Modern Day Revelations Feat. Roc Marciano
9. Dennis Haskins
10. Bitch I Deserve You Feat. Evidence
11. Gateway To Wizardy Feat. Styles P
12. Bathtub 8 Feat. Deep
13. Blood Of The Goat Feat. Big Twin & Sean Price
14. Mike VickA great new footpath to the nearby railway station is helping to reduce our transport footprint
By Stephen Leahy
June 5 2008 Inter Press Service News Agency
The village of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, England is aiming to be the first carbon-neutral community in the England (Golden Lion pub included).
In just two years, the 1,000 residents have saved 20 percent on their energy costs and transformed their community.
“It’s been great fun and an amazing boost in community spirit,” said Garry Charnock, who put the idea to some friends in the local pub. “I thought they’d think of me as a bit of a crank, but they were all for it.”
More than 75 percent of the village showed up for the first meetings, something that had never happened before. Charnock told IPS that people are worried about climate change and want to do something but are reluctant to do it on their own. Unwittingly, Charnock’s notion of a carbon-neutral village unleashed the power of community.
People share ideas and statistics on energy use, and make suggestions for improvements while sitting in the pub. There’s been a remarkable transition over a huge range of behaviours, he says. People are converting their front lawns into vegetable gardens to reduce the carbon used in transporting food. To reduce car use, they lobbied the local town council to build a footpath to the train station.
One key to Ashton Hayes’ success has been the philosophy of not blaming anyone or forcing people to participate. They adopted a “do what you can” attitude. Older residents say the community spirit and common purpose is similar to that during World War II.
“It wasn’t the main idea but people are also saving a lot of money now on their energy costs,” Charnock said.
For complete article please see: Soaring Energy Costs May Force Low-CO2 Living
AdvertisementsIndiana’s so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was signed into law on Thursday and already one Indianapolis business owner is boasting that he has denied LGBT people service at his restaurant.
According to Pink News, a caller named “Ryan” appeared on Indianapolis’ RadioNOW 100.9 to say that he is already denying service to LGBT people. He declined, however, to give the name of his business.
“I’m 100 percent behind people’s lifestyles, and what they want to do, but I don’t want them to bring that into my place of business, and make other people that are there feel uncomfortable,” he said.
“I grew up Christian, and I believe in man and woman, Adam and Even not Adam and Steve,” he went on. “If a couple comes into my restaurant and makes other people leave my place of business, then I’m losing more money from the people leaving than coming in.”
He told the radio hosts that he has already turned away people who seemed gay to him, but he made up a reason rather than tell them the truth.
“I have discriminated.I have said something was broken in the kitchen and said I couldn’t serve them,” Ryan said. “I told them that the fan was broken and they left.”
He said that he supports the law, but continued to refuse to give the name of his business because, he said, “I’m not ready to come out with that.”
Listen to audio of the call, embedded below:A new Japanese study finds that pigeons have “advanced perceptive abilities” which allow them to recognize beauty in the same way humans do.
The month-long, government-funded study found that the birds were able to differentiate “good” paintings from “bad” ones.
The research team from Tokyo’s Keio University had conducted a previous study that found the birds were able to distinguish between a Picasso and a Mon |
You want orange, I give you orange. You want candy, I give you candy. You want banana, I give you banana. What you want now?”
“Cookies,” the boy said.
“What kind cook-ies you want?” the father said to the boy, not forgetting the customer, and in fact, speaking to the customer, but at the same time speaking to his son, and at the same time speaking to everybody, everywhere-everybody wanting things.
“Cookies, raisins in,” the boy said.
With furious restraint the father almost whispered his reply to his son, but instead of looking at his son he looked at the customer. “I got no cook-ies,” he whispered. “No kind cook-ies. Why you want cook-ies? I got everything, but no cook-ies. What’s cook-ies? What you want?”
“Cookies,” the man said patiently, “for small boy.”
“I got no cook-ies,” the grocer said again. “I got small boy too.” The grocer pointed to his own son. “I give him apple, orange, candy, banana, lots of good things.” He looked the customer straight in the eye, and almost as if he were angry, he said, again, “What you want?”
“My broder’s boy,” the customer said. “He’s got influenza. He cry-he want cookies. ‘Cookies, raisins in,’he say.”
But every man lives his own life and every life has its own theme, so that again the grocer’s son looked at his father and said, “Papa?”
But now the father refused to look at the boy. Instead, he looked at the man whose nephew was ill and wanted cookies with raisins in them. He looked at the man with understanding, with sympathy, and yet with a kind of peasant rage, not against the man but against the world itself, against illness, against pain, against loneliness, against the heart wanting what it can never have. The grocer was angry at himself too because even though he had established this market in Ithaca, California, seven thousand miles from home, he did not have cookies with raisins in them,he did not have that which the sick boy wanted. The grocer pointed at his son and spoke to the man.
“Apple” the grocer said, “orange, candy, banana-no cookies. He’s my boy. Three years old. Not sick. He want many things. I don’t know what he want. Nobody know what he want He just want. He look at God. He say. Give me dis, give me dat-but he never satisfied. Always he want. Always he feel bad. Poor God has got nothing for such sadness. He give everything – world – sunshine -moder – fader – broder – sister – onkle – cousin – house, farm, stove, table, bed-poor God give everything-but nobody happy-everybody like small boy sick with influenza-everybody say give me cookies-raisins in.” The grocer stopped a moment to take a very deep breath. When he exhaled he said very loudly to the customer, “Is no cookies-raisins in.”
The grocer began to move with an impatience and a fury which were almost majestic. First he took a paper bag and snapped it open. Then he began to toss things into the bag. “Here’s orange, very pretty. Here’s apple. Wonderful. Here’s banana. Taste very good.” Now, gently, and with great courtesy and sincere sympathy for the man and for the man’s sick nephew, the grocer handed the bag to the customer. “Take to little boy. No pay. I no want money.” And then again he said very softly, ‘Is no cookies, raisins in.”
“He cry,” the man said. “He feel very bad. He say, ‘Cookies, raisins in.’ Thank you very much, but we already give small boy apple, orange, odder things.” The man put the bag down on the counter. “Sick boy say, ‘Give me cookies, raisins in.’ Apple, orange-no good. Excuse me, I go try chain store. Maybe they got cookies, raisins in.”
“All right, my friend,” the grocer whispered. “You go try chain store-but they no got cookies, raisins in. Nobody got.”
Almost shyly the stranger left the store. For a full minute the grocer stood behind the counter staring at his son. Suddenly he began to speak in his own language, Armenian.
“The world’s gone mad,” he said. “In Russia alone, so near our own country, our own beautiful little nation, millions of people, millions of children, every day go hungry. They are cold, pathetic, barefooted- They walk around-no place to sleep-they pray for a piece of dry bread-somewhere to lie down and rest-one night of peaceful sleep. And what about us? What do we do? Here we are in Ithaca, California, in this great country, America. What do we do? We wear good clothes. We put on good shoes every morning when we get up from sleep. We walk around with no one in the streets to come with guns or to burn our houses or to murder our children or brothers of fathers. We take rides out into the country in automobiles. We eat the best food. Every night when we go to bed we sleep-and then what are we? We arc discontented. We are sfitt discontented.” The grocer shouted this amazing truth at his little son with terrible love for the boy. “Apple,” he said, “orange, candy, banana, for God’s sake, little fellow, don’t do this! If I do it, you are my son, better than me, and therefore you must not do this. Be happy! Be happy! I am unhappy, but you must be happy.” He pointed to the back door of the store which led into the house, and obediently, very sober-faced, the little boy left the store and entered the house.
Now the grocer spent a moment trying to compose himself. At last he believed he was calm enough to speak quietly to the customer in the store, Ulysses Macauley. He turned to the boy and tried to be cheerful. He even smiled. “What you want, little boy Ulysses?”
“Mush.”
“What kind mush you want?”
“H-O.”
“Two kinds H-0, little boy Ulysses. “Regular kind, and quick-cooking kind. Two kinds. Slow, quick. Old, new. What kind your mama want, little boy Ulysses?”
Ulysses thought about this a moment and then said, “H-0.”
“Old kind or new kind?”
But the little boy didn’t know, so the grocer decided for him. “All right, new kind, modern. Eighteen cents, please, little boy Ulysses.”
Ulysses opened his fist and thrust his arm out toward the grocer, who took the quarter from the boy’s hand. The grocer handed Ulysses the change, saying, “Eighteen cents, nineteen, twenty, and nickel-twenty-five. Thank you, little boy Ulysses.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Ara,” Ulysses said. He took the package of oatmeal and walked out of the store. It was very difficult to understand anything. First it was apricots on a tree, then it was cookies with raisins in, and then it was the grocer talking to his son in a strange tongue-but even so it was exciting. In the street the little boy kicked up his heel as he did whenever he was pleased, and began to run home.
By: William Saroyan;
excerpt from his novel: A Human Comedy, where ‘Mr. Ara is a chapter midway through the book.
William Saroyan was a prolific American novelist of Armenian descent during the early 20th century. His works are renown for their organic explanation of the human condition, and allowing for a simplified analysis into the reality of our own existence. His works include over 30 novels, and over 20 plays, some of which are presently studied in middle and high-school curriculums. Some of his works include the Pulitzer Prize winning novel – The Time of Your Life (1939) – which he subsequently refused the honor of, on the grounds that the “arts should not be commercialized.” Many of his works have been adapted into films, such as Hello Out There (1941), The Human Comedy (1943), and Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934). Saroyan was a proud Armenian-American who consistently drew upon the theme of assimilation into the American culture inspired by his upbringing as a child of Armenian immigrants.Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” talk show host Herman Cain, a candidate for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, dismissed the so-called “Stop Trump” movement and argued that if the effort to stop Trump continues, it could break up the GOP and lead to a Hillary Clinton presidency.
“The anti-Trump movement – they are still insanely delusional that they can stop Trump,” Cain said. “The voice of the people is being heard. You can’t come back now and say, ‘OK, I don’t like Trump so I’m not going to get behind the nominee. I think that is foolish and if they break up the Republican Party by continuing to push back, they will be responsible for a Hillary presidency, not the people screaming that they want a leader, a winner and a fighter.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poorWells and Brown campaign together in 2010. Photo by hcwoodward on Flickr.
DC Council chairman Kwame Brown plans to remove Tommy Wells from his chairmanship of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation today. This appears to be naked political payback from February, when Wells published a report on the Lincoln Navigator scandal.
Email the Council or call Brown’s office at (202) 724-8032 to express your disappointment that personal grudges are trumping good policy.
Wells supported Brown’s campaign for chair, but since February, relations between Wells and Brown have been frosty. Brown blamed Wells for the report, which found that Brown violated the law.
Wells had a duty to investigate. This was a major news story, and it fell squarely in Wells’ committee responsibility. Instead, Brown seems to have wanted Wells to simply bury the issue. It shows a serious failing in Brown’s ethical compass when he expects this of colleagues, and those who take the honest route get punished so blatantly.
It’s pretty blatant, too. Brown isn’t rearranging all the committees. He’s just singling out Wells for punishment.
Wells will get the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, generally considered the least desirable post one of the least desirable posts. Mary Cheh, who is still close to Brown and his number two as Chair Pro Tempore, will take over Public Works and Transportation as well as keeping the Department of the Environment. Muriel Bowser, who got Parks and Rec in January because of her support for Mayor Fenty, will get Government Operations.
Committees are rarely shifted mid-term, and only to take responsibilities away from a member facing scandal. This may be the first time in history a committee is taken away midway from a member for being honest.
Brown had the opportunity to alter committees because Harry Thomas, Jr. stepped down from the Committee on Econmic Development amid his own ethical problems. Brown moved economic development into the Committee of the Whole, under his direct control.
Vincent Orange (at-large) wanted Economic Development, but Brown didn’t want to give it to him because of their rivalry in the race for chair (and, perhaps, because Orange has a poor track record on economic development).
Instead, Brown is proposing a new, smaller committee with only oversight of the Department of Small & Local Business Development and some other smaller agencies, and is keeping Economic Development in the Committee of the Whole.
Since Orange has no committee today, there’s no need for any further reshuffling. But apparently Brown is still sore from the report.
Ironically, however, that report could have been the best thing for Brown. It got the issue fully into the spotlight, reducing the long drip of new scandal news. It put a fair amount of blame on the Department of Public Works as well as on Brown.
Had Brown embraced the report, apologized for his missteps, and pushed to fix policies around official vehicles for the future to stop such failures from recurring, he could have put the issue behind him.
Brown had many opportunities to start rebuilding the Council’s reputation. Instead, he has continued to drag it into the gutter. He told colleagues that his own campaign finance scandals didn’t go any deeper, and then they did.
The Council started the year with very high esteem among the populace, after a term of steady and effective leadership under Vincent Gray. Now, it’s widely derided, and rightly so, with many of its members facing some ethical questions.
Now, he’s even transferring the DC Council’s voting seat on the WMATA Board. That’s quite ironic. Last year, before becoming chair, Kwame Brown participated in a secretive committee to study WMATA governance, dominated by the Board of Trade. One of the better recommendations from that committee was to make board appointments based less on politics. Now, Brown is reassigning the post once again based solely on politics, and dirty personal ones at that.
By putting politics over progress, Brown is abandoning a commitment to make transportation better in DC. The people of Ward 7, where Brown himself lives, could suffer. Wells was making improving bus service east of the Anacostia a cornerstone of his chairmanship. He hosted listening sessions in wards 4, 5, 7, and 8, got WMATA to promise technological upgrades for Metrobuses east of the river, and pushed the east of the river Circulator even though it meant losing some service in Ward 6.
Cheh, on the other hand, complained in the budget that the Circulator is going east of the river but doesn’t go to the Palisades. Was that just posturing for her ward, or will she really push for more transportation spending in Ward 3 over other parts of DC?
Cheh is one of the least bad alternatives to head transportation, but it’ll break the forward momentum that’s been built with Council working closely with DDOT. Wells’ staff has a deep understanding of transportation issues, including some carried over from when Jim Graham ran the committee. That institutional memory will likely be lost.
Plus, as Brown’s closest confidante on the Council, Cheh could have tried to talk him out of this move which clearly makes him look petty. Does she also think keeping Brown’s scandals quiet is the top public policy goal for the Council? Or is she sore with Tommy Wells for stymieing her plan to pretend to support the bond tax in place of an income tax, but then try to get both out of the budget?
DDOT is at a crossroads. New Director Terry Bellamy, formerly Gabe Klein’s deputy, could aggressively move to implement the ambitious Action Agenda that Klein put together, including pedestrian safety, bikeshare expansion, cycle tracks, bus priority lanes, real-time bus information, Circulator expansion, performance parking and more.
Or, Bellamy could let inertia win out, not making the tough calls and allowing projects to stagnate when the public isn’t unified for or against them, as they usually aren’t. Wells and his team were well situated to push DDOT to achieve its potential.
By taking Wells off the committee for transparently political reasons, Brown is showing that forward progress in the District isn’t foremost in his mind. Instead, punishing those who don’t cover up his own ethical failings is the priority. At least now, we know exactly what kind of man we have as Chairman.
The Council typically goes along with a chairman’s committee choices, but they all have to vote on the recommendation this morning. Will this Council really stand by and let Brown do this? If they do, each member will be sending the message that it’s appropriate to cover up a colleague’s misdeeds.
What, then, should the public assume is behind each future decision the Council makes? Or the difficult decisions they do not make? Email Brown and the Council or call Brown’s office at (202) 724-8032 to remind them that this unprecedented, vindictive move will further degrade the reputations of Brown, each member who votes aye, and that of the Council as a whole.
Update: Mary Cheh has sent me the following statement:
Kwame decided to reshuffle and make more coherent committee functions. And yesterday he told me of his plan to emphasize the environmental work in one committee, bringing back environment to public works and transportation (stormwater, recycling and waste management, transportation policy, pollution and vehicles, etc. brought together with environmental policy) and he offered the committee to me. I jumped at it and am very enthusiastic.
The argument about making committees more coherent makes little sense when he’s also splitting up the traditional Economic Development functions into smaller committees to limit Vincent Orange. We all know why this one area is being singled out. I’m disappointed that Cheh is defending such an ethically suspect move.Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for discoveries on the circadian rhythm
By Benjamin Mateus
4 October 2017
Life on Earth has adapted itself to the rotation of the planet. Through the study of living organisms, including human physiology, scientists have understood that organisms have developed internal biologic clocks that allow them to anticipate and adapt to daily variations. What had not been known till recently is how this process worked.
On Monday, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists from the United States, Dr. Jeffrey C. Hall, Dr. Michael Rosbash and Dr. Michael W. Young, for their work on the molecular mechanisms that control the body’s circadian rhythm. Their findings help explain how plants, animals, and humans can adapt their biological rhythm to synchronize it with the Earth's rotation.
Dr. Hall received his doctorate in 1971 from the University of Washington and is currently professor emeritus of biology at Brandeis University. Dr. Rosbash received his doctorate from MIT and continued on to the faculty at Brandeis University. Dr. Young received his doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin in 1975 and is a professor of genetics at Rockefeller University in New York.
Their work on fruit flies was able to locate a gene that encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night only to be degraded during the day. When this gene was mutated (or “knocked out”) the fruit flies lost their rhythm. This protein is linked to other cellular processes that produce the “self-sustaining clockwork inside the cell.” These biological clocks function under the same principle in all multicellular organisms, allowing the precise adaptation of the physiology to the various phases of the day. These include our metabolism, behavior, hormonal levels, body temperature and sleep patterns. That is why our well-being is affected if our external environment is not in synch with our inner biological clocks.
Schematically, genes within our DNA are “turned on” by molecular signals. A template of the gene in the form of Messenger RNA (mRNA) is created. The mRNA moves out of the nucleus into the cell’s cytoplasm where the protein for that gene is produced.
At night PER (period protein) accumulates in the nucleus blocking the period gene from synthesizing mRNA for the manufacturing of PER. During the daytime, PER is degraded allowing the process to start again. TIM (timeless protein) is another protein that couples with PER allowing it move into the nucleus where it can inhibit the period gene. DBT (double-time protein) delays the accumulation of the PER protein allowing for adjustments to more closely match a 24-hour cycle. Other proteins have been discovered that allow light to influence and synchronize the clock.
The mechanisms described above for the fruit fly have been further elucidated in mammals and found to be more complex and intricate although basically similar. The circadian rhythm established by the molecular components of the mammalian circadian clock at an organism level sees a high cortisol release in the early morning. From this follows a rapid rise in blood pressure and heightened alertness. By early afternoon best coordination and fastest reaction times are evident. Our body temperature reaches its maximum by sunset. Our blood pressure is highest in the early evening. Later, melatonin is secreted and need for sleep ensues. After midnight we are in a deep sleep, and our body temperature reaches its lowest point.
From these, our sleep patterns are regulated, our feeding behaviors are developed. The core molecular clock components are composed of a dizzying number of genes controlled by transcription/translation feedback loops that oscillate with 24-hour rhythmicity that regulates these seemingly instinctive human activities.
But what happens when we throw a wrench into this elegant evolutionary achievement? In a review published in Circulation Research in 2010 titled “Circadian rhythms and metabolic syndrome,” the authors note that the incidence of Metabolic Syndrome continues to increase in the industrialized world. Though genetic and environmental factors have been known to implicate this spectrum of disorders, evidence suggests that alterations in the circadian rhythm are linked to the pathogenesis of these disease processes as well as many others.
The Metabolic Syndrome is a clustering of medical condition—abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol or triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels—that increase a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The syndrome is a global epidemic affecting 25-40 percent of individuals in the prime of their life.
The Metabolic Syndrome has been connected to the lack of exercise and poor diet which then leads to obesity and the development of the syndrome. There is growing evidence that the introduction of artificial light and lack of sleep leads to behaviors associated with circadian disorders such as the increased sensation of hunger, suppression of our metabolism, and changes in the hormonal signals that tell us when we are full. Epidemiologic studies have implicated “short sleep” in contributing to the risk of acquiring diabetes. Workers with alternating shifts have an independent risk for an increase in their body-mass-index. Prolonged sleep restriction has been shown to impair insulin sensitivity.
A better understanding of the molecular aberrations that lead to metabolic disorders in states of disrupted sleep awaits further investigation and, given its broader implication to human illness, is necessary and urgent in light of the importance of a properly functioning physiology synchronized with its circadian rhythm. For instance, genetic variations in our circadian cellular mechanisms are associated with psychiatric diseases like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Research in this area could afford novel strategies for the understanding and treatment of these illnesses.
Myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death, pulmonary embolisms and aortic aneurysm rupture occur most frequently in the morning. Shift work increases the risk of heart attacks by as much as three-fold in men and women between ages 45-55. The risk of a fatal heart attack increases by 45 percent for people who chronically sleep less than five hours each night. Even transitioning to daylight saving time in the spring carries an increased incidence of a heart attack for the first three days after.
Instead of focusing on the social implications of the disruption in circadian rhythms in human life, the New York Times reports on these Nobel Prize research as novel discoveries for explaining the lethargy and irritability termed “jet lag” from air travel—an area much more interesting to high-income editors and readers than the condition of the working class in America in 2017. More compelling would be in exposing the connection between health and epidemic reports of obesity, diabetes and heart disease with the organization of work and production.
The CDC has estimated that about 84 million (35 percent) US adults get an insufficient quantity of sleep. Approximately 23 percent get less than six hours, and 12 percent get less than five hours. Lack of sleep, like many health issues, has a significant class dimension, as a recent report in the Huffington Post found, disproportionately affecting the poor and underprivileged. Those unable to work reported the lowest rates of healthy sleep. The southeastern US and the Appalachian region were characterized by a lower duration of healthy sleep, and also have higher rates of obesity, serious health conditions, and death.
There has also been a rise in Americans working multiple jobs under pressure of the persistent economic decline in past decades, felt most sharply working people who live paycheck to paycheck. American families work on average 11 more hours per week than they did 30 years ago. Wages for lower-income families have decreased 29 percent and for middle-income families 13 percent in the same period. These economic forces contribute significantly to worsening health conditions.
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from the hashtag-pyrawebs dept
On Thursday morning, the Paraguayan Senate defeated a mandatory data retention bill that would have compelled local ISPs to retain communications and location details of every user for a period of 12 months.
Paraguayan Internet users called the bill "Pyrawebs," alluding to the digital version of pyragües, informers who monitored the civilian population's movements, meetings, political preferences, religious beliefs, and more on behalf of dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled between 1954 and 1989.
an NGO that develops open technology and defends digital rights for free culture on the Internet.
With these kinds of campaigns against mass surveillance, it is difficult to generate resonance on the issue without causing fear that paralyzes people and discourages them from getting involved. Drawing on the Paraguayan notion of 'pyrague' and giving it a modern (even comical) touch by adding "webs" helped give new life to a difficult subject, and also simplified it and made it intelligible to "non-techies".
Another piece of advice could be to place the same amount of importance on community media as on the national press and radio. In the end, the community is who will promote grassroots action -- and this kind of action is always one of a campaign's goals. Additionally, getting international coverage will help to demonstrate the importance of the issue.
One of the most successful initiatives was the Twitter handle #Pyrawebs, which allowed us to send Twitter messages to every deputy in the Chamber, and call for them to reject the bill.
#Pyrawebs trended for four days in Paraguay. On the day of the vote, seven million Twitter users worldwide were talking about it (more than the population of Paraguay).
the supporters of the bill may try to sneak it in again in the future. We will all need to stay tuned and help to fight any such move. The supporters of mass surveillance will try again, but if we stay united our fundamental rights will remain intact.
Although it would be naive to think that the tide is turning, it's heartening to see a few wins against government attempts to formalise and extend surveillance of their populations. The passage of the USA Freedom Act, however flawed and limited it may be, is one example. The various rulings against the UK government are another. While rightly celebrating these, it's easy to overlook other battles being fought elsewhere, perhaps not so high profile, but just as important. Here's one that has been fought for over a year in Paraguay, and which recently concluded in a victory, as the EFF reports:The EFF post links to a fascinating interview with Maricarmen Sequera, the director and founder of TEDIC (Technology, Education, Development, Investigation and Communications), which describes itself as:Along with Amnesty Paraguay, TEDIC played a pivotal role in defeating the data retention bill. In the interview, Sequera was asked what advice she had for other groups facing similar battles:As well as community media, social media played its part too:That hashtag served as a handy rallying-cry during the crucial last phase of the campaign:Although it's often said that Twitter in general, and hashtags in particular, never change anything, it's seems likely that seven million people tweeting about #Pyrawebs made an important contribution to the final result. Another great thing about creating a memorable hashtag is that it can be wheeled out again, at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, that might well be necessary. As the EFF post points out:
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+
Filed Under: paraguay, surveillanceRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday hit back at media attempts to discredit him by bringing up previous “birther” claims.
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the ‘Birther’ controversy,” Trump said at a speech in Washington DC.
“I finished it. I finished it – you know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we want to get back to making America strong and great again. Thank you.”
On Thursday, Trump hinted at what he meant to CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, telling her his planned statement would once and for all lay the controversy behind the “birther” rumors to rest.
“I’m going to be making a major statement on this whole thing and what Hillary did,” Trump told Bartiromo. “But no, she is the one that started it and she was unable or incapable of finishing it. That’s the way it worked out. But I got him to release his birth certificate. So we will have a big statement and I hope you’re going to be watching.”
The Trump campaign had released a statement Thursday night saying, “Having successfully obtained President Obama’s birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States.”
In 2011 Trump admitted to being “skeptical” about Obama’s birth origins, and campaigned for the Commander in Chief to release his birth certificate to the public – which he did – but an in-depth report from Breitbart News shows one of Hillary’s 2008 presidential campaign strategies was to throw Obama’s birth origins into question.
Hillary further stoked the issue in an interview with 60 Minutes, in which she told Steve Kroft that Obama was not Muslim “as far as I know.”
In 2008, Obama also accused Hillary Clinton’s campaign of sending a photo of himself dressed in Muslim garb to the widely trafficked DrudgeReport.com, which published it prominently as its main headline.Biryani is an evergreen classic that really needs no introduction. India offers so much on its culinary platter but the one dish Indians unanimously love indulging in is the mouth-watering biryani. With local and hyperlocal variations having evolved into distinctive styles of biryanis, one is spoilt for options when it comes to experiencing this melting pot of flavours.
The deliciously complex blend of flavours, spices, and aromas in biryani have come to epitomise the zenith of Indian cuisine.
So if you are a die-hard fan of this delicious dish, take things up a notch and tease your taste buds a little more with the story of what makes biryani so extraordinary.
Though it may appear to be a dish indigenous to India, in reality the dish originated quite far away. Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’ and Birinj, the Persian word for rice. While there are multiple theories about how biryani made its way to India, it is generally accepted that it originated in West Asia.
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One legend has it that the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Timur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he arrived at the frontiers of India in 1398. Believed to be the war campaign diet of Timur’s army, an earthen pot full of rice, spices and whatever meats were available would be buried in a hot pit, before being eventually dug up and served to the warriors.
Another legend has it that the dish was brought to the southern Malabar coast of India by Arab traders who were frequent visitors there. There are records of a rice dish known as Oon Soru in Tamil literature as early as the year 2 A.D. Oon Soru was said to be made of rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and bay leaf, and was used to feed military warriors.
However, the most popular story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s beautiful queen who inspired the Taj Mahal.
It is said that Mumtaz once visited the army barracks and found the Mughal soldiers looking weak and undernourished. She asked the chef to prepare a special dish that combined meat and rice to provide balanced nutrition to the soldiers – and the result was biryani of course! At the time, rice was fried in ghee, without washing, to give it a nutty flavour and prevent it from clumping. Meat, aromatic spices, and saffron were added to it before cooking the mix over a wood fire.
The Nizams of Hyderabad and Nawabs of Lucknow were also famous for their appreciation of the subtle nuances of biryani. Their chefs were renowned the world over for their signature dishes. These rulers too were responsible for popularising their versions of the biryani – and mouth watering accompaniments like mirchi ka salan, dhanshak and baghare baingan – in different parts of the country.
The perfect biryani calls for meticulously measured ingredients and a practised technique. Traditionally, the dum pukht method (slow breathing oven in Persian) was used to make biryani. In this method, the ingredients are loaded in a pot and slow cooked over charcoal, sometimes from the top also, to allow the dum or steam to works its magic. The pot, sealed around the edges with dough, allows the steaming meat to tenderise in its own juices while flavouring the rice.
Other than the technique, spices also play a critical role in dishing out a good biryani – some recipes call for a very limited use of spices while others use more than 15 different spices. Meat or chicken is often the main ingredient, though in some coastal varieties, fish, prawns, and crabs are also used. Use of rose water, sweet edible ittar and kewra water in biryani is also common, a practice prevalent since the medieval era.
In the north, long grain brown rice was traditionally used to make biryani. It has today been replaced by the fragrant basmati rice. On the other hand, in the south, biryanis were and are still made using local varieties of rice, like the zeera samba, kaima, jeerakashala and kala bhaat, that lend their distinct taste, texture and aroma to the dish.
In general, there are two types of Biryani – the Kutchi (raw) biryani and the Pukki (cooked) biryani.
In Kutchi biryani, the meat is layered with raw rice in a handi (a thick bottomed pot) and cooked, while in Pukki biryani cooked meat and rice are layered in the handi, where they come together in a marriage of flavours.
Photo Source Left / Right
The evolution of biryani spans many centuries, many cultures, many ingredients and many cooking styles. From an army dish to a dish fit for royalty, the biryani today is a pan-India culinary favourite. Its many varieties reflect the local tastes, traditions and gastronomic histories of their regions of evolution. Here are some lip-smacking regional variants that every biryani lover should know about.
1. Mughlai Biriyani
Photo source Left / Right
The Mughal Emperors were very fond of lavish dining experiences and looked upon cooking as an art. The regal Mughlai biryani fit the bill perfectly. Succulent chunks of perfectly spiced meat, enveloped in kewra scented rice, emanate an irresistible aroma that makes one hungry instantly. This biryani definitely smells and tastes royal!
2. Hyderabadi Biriyani
The world-famous Hyderabadi Biryani came into being after Emperor Aurangzeb appointed Niza-Ul-Mulk as the new ruler of Hyderabad. His chefs reportedly created almost 50 different versions that used fish, shrimp, quail, deer, and even hare meat. While most other biryanis are dominated by their flavoured meat, in the layered Hyderabadi biryani, the aromatic saffron flavoured rice is the star of the dish. Hyderabad was also the place where the Kacchi Akhni Biryani was fine tuned and perfected.
3. Calcutta Biryani
Banished by the British, the legendary gourmet Nawab Wajid Ali Shah tried to recreate his beloved dish in the city of Calcutta. Unable to afford meat due to budget constraints, the local cooks gave the recipe a tweak, replacing meat with perfectly cooked golden brown potatoes – the signature of the Calcutta biryani. Much lighter on spices, this biryani primarily uses a yoghurt based marinade for the meat, which is cooked separately from the light yellow rice. Also, just like most Bengali dishes, the Calcutta biryani has a hint of sweetness hidden in it.
4. Dindigul biryani
A much-loved local favourite, Chennai has many outlets dedicated to serving just the Dindigul biryani. The jeera samba rice used in making this biryani is distinctive and gives it an entirely different flavour. Also, instead of large chunks of meat, Dindigul biryani uses tiny cube-sized meat pieces. Curd and lemon lend the biryani its tangy taste, while the liberal use of pepper leaves its fiery mark on the palate.
5. Lucknowi biryani
Cooked in the royal Awadhi style, the textures of Lucknowi biryani are softer and the spices milder. The first step involves making a yakhni stock from meat that is slow boiled in water infused with spices for about two hours or more. This is the reason why this biryani is more moist, tender and delicately flavoured than other biryanis.
6. Arcot Biryani
Introduced by the Nawabs of Arcot, this biryani originated in the towns of Ambur and Vaniyambadi in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. The biryani is generally accompanied by dalcha (a sour brinjal curry) and pachadi (a type of raita). The best known sub-variety of the Arcot biryani is the Ambur biryani that uses the squat seeraga samba rice, a traditional Tamil Nadu variety.
7. Memoni Biryani
Similar to the Sindhi biryani, this extremely spicy variety is made by the Memons of the Gujarat-Sindh region. Usually made with lamb, yoghurt, browned onions and potatoes, Memoni biryani uses less food colouring compared to other biryanis. This allows the natural colours and flavours of the various components- meat, rice |
must remember that Salem Online has open world PvP. Even though the game isn't in a post-apocalyptic setting, it's very much the same dangerous environment. Law is only enforced by those who care and put forth the effort to bring justice to criminals. In a setting such as this, you may believe it to be a kill or be killed on sight type of thing, but that isn't always the best choice of action or a reliable method of greeting. There are many things which weigh heavily in the outcome of PvP, mostly the skill level and equipment of the person. There is no way you know who it is you are attacking. They may one shot you while you do almost no damage to them. This is a very good reason to be cautious when approaching new players with the intent of bringing them harm.
Your social choices in Salem will have a lot of impact on what you experience with PvP. There is indeed safety in numbers, but keep in mind that not all groups of people are going to be peaceful. One aspect of criminal activity that I believe will play a large part in the survival of criminals is the ability to work together when committing a crime, especially murdering, pillaging, and general banditing. This means you should be wary when traveling alone. I am also sure that not all criminal group activity will be viewed as crimes, because of such options as war. Two different communities which may normally be passive toward strangers, could at some point become rivals and start warring with each other. At this point in time they had better hope they also have allies to back them in their efforts to stave off annihilation. Treaties and alliances will play a huge role in the larger survival picture in the world of Salem. It will be interesting to see if the game can produce a powerhouse city formed by many alliances and collaboration between multiple groups, who will become one. Will they reign with terror or strive to bring peace to every corner of the land?
The fact that you can commit a crime at anytime in any location does not come without it's consequences however. Even if you are careful to do so without being seen or discovered while the crime is in progress, you will leave traces of your presence and actions. In Salem Online, there is a tracking system put in place that allows you to follow a relatively recent trail from the scene of a crime. This will hopefully bring some balance between the forces of good and evil within the community and allow justice to be served. Of course the system has to be balanced for both sides, allowing each the opportunity to prevail in a given situation.
The mechanics and tools are all there to give the players a choice in what role they will play within Salem and it's overall progression. I can't wait to watch how the land evolves with colonization of communities, both good and evil. It will be interesting to participate in this process and know that each action I make has an impact on the overall direction of the world.
I leave you with one question, do you plan on bringing peace to Salem or do you wish to reign evil across the land?
Looking for more information on Salem Online? Check out these links for helpful data!
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Google + - https://plus.google.com/b/113947943718904671295/Nicola Congdon and her mother, Ann Congdon, from Cornwall, England, came up with a novel way to keep their rescue chickens warm: They knit them woolly little sweaters.
And why would a hen need an extra winter layer? Many of the Congdons’ chickens are “battery hens” who’ve spent their lives confined in tiny cages to maximize egg output. The name “battery” comes from the rows of connected cages in a farm, like the cells in a battery. After years cooped up, the hens often struggle acclimatizing to changing weather conditions — they literally lack feathers. (To learn more about the conditions battery chickens typically live in, check out the Humane Society’s report.)
The Congdons have about 60 chickens, including 30 or so former battery hens. The others have been free-range since birth.
“It’s important to make people aware of the poor conditions the hens live in and the fact that they have no feathers when they are retired,“ Nicola Congdon told Mashable. “[The sweaters] keep them warm and make the chickens easy to identify.”
The mom-and-daughter duo are now receiving special requests for sweaters from hen-keepers everywhere, but instead of selling them for profit, the two plan to donate the money to an AIDS orphanage in South Africa.
To learn more, watch this video of the Congdons’ work.
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Let Yahoo Makers inspire you every day! Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest.If you’re looking for sympathy, it helps to be white, male and media-savvy. Throw in charm and brains—especially if your smarts tend toward the tech geek variety—and your online petitions will soon collect more petitions than campaigns against kitten cancer.
These advantages weren’t enough to save Aaron Swartz, a 26-year-old “technology wunderkind” who hanged himself in his Brooklyn apartment on January 11. But they did elevate his suicide from that of a mere “data crusader,” as The New York Times put it, to “a cause” driven by millennial “information wants to be free” bloggers and sympathetic writers (whose corporate media overlords would go broke if people like Swartz got their way).
Swartz, who helped invent RSS feeds as a teenager and cofounded the link-posting social networking site Reddit, was a militant believer in online libertarianism, the idea that everything—data, cultural products like books and movies, news—ought to be available online for free. Sometimes he hacked into databases of copyrighted material—to make a point, not a profit. Though Swartz reportedly battled depression, the trigger that pushed him to string himself up was apparently his 2011 arrest for breaking into M.I.T.’s computer system.
Swartz set up a laptop in a utility closet and downloaded 4.8 million scholarly papers from a database called JSTOR. He intended to post them online to protest the service’s 10 cent per page fee because he felt knowledge should be available to everyone. For free.
JSTOR declined to prosecute, but M.I.T. was weasely, so a federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of Boston, filed charges. “Stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars. It is equally harmful to the victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away,” she told the media at the time.
Basically, I agree. As someone who earns a living by selling rights to reprint copyrighted intellectual property, I’ve seen the move from print to digital slash my income while disseminating my work more widely than ever. Info wants to be free is fine in theory, but then who pays writers, cartoonists, authors and musicians?
I also have a problem with the selective sympathy at play here. Where are the outraged blog posts and front-page New York Times pieces personalizing the deaths of Pakistanis murdered by U.S. drone strikes? Where’s the soul-searching and calls for payback against the officials who keep 166 innocent men locked up in Guantánamo? What if Swartz were black and rude and stealing digitized movies?
But what matters is the big picture. There is no doubt that, in the broader sense, Swartz’s suicide was, in his family’s words, “the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach”—a system that ought to be changed for everyone, not just loveable Ivy League nerds.
Swartz faced up to 35 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. The charges were wire fraud, computer fraud and unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer.
Thirty-five years! For stealing data!
The average rapist serves between five and six years.
The average first-degree murderer does 16.
And no one seriously thinks Swartz was trying to make money—as in, you know, commit fraud.
No wonder people are comparing DA Ortiz to Javert, the heartless and relentless prosecutor in Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables.”
As Swartz’s lawyer no doubt told him, larding on charges is standard prosecutorial practice in everything from traffic stops to genocide. The idea is to give the DA some items to give away during plea negotiations. For defendants, however, this practice amounts to legal state terrorism. It can push psychologically delicate souls like Swartz over the edge. It should stop.
It also undermines respect for the law. As a young man I got arrested (and, thanks to a canny street lawyer, off the hook) for, essentially, riding in the same car as a pothead. Among the charges: “Not driving with a valid Massachusetts drivers license.” (Mine was from New York.) “Don’t worry,” the cop helpfully informed me, “they’ll drop that.” So why put it on? Neither the legalistic BS nor the missing cash from my wallet when I got out of jail increased my admiration for this morally bankrupt system.
The really big issue, however, is sentencing. The Times’ Noam Cohen says “perhaps a punishment for trespassing would have been warranted.” Whatever the charge, no one should go to prison for any crime that causes no physical harm to a human being or animal.
Something about computer hackers makes courts go nuts. The U.S. leader of the LulzSec hacking group was threatened with a 124-year sentence. No doubt, “Hollywood Hacker” Christopher Chaney, who hacked into the email accounts of Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera and stole nude photos of the stars so he could post them online, is a creep. Big time. But 10 years in prison, as a federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced him? Insanely excessive. Community service, sure. A fine, no problem. Parole restrictions, on his Internet use for example, make sense.
Sentences issued by American courts are wayyyy too long, which is why the U.S. has more people behind bars in toto and per capita than any other country. Even the toughest tough-on-crime SOB would shake his head at the 45-year sentence handed to a purse snatcher in Texas last year. But even “typical” sentences are excessive.
I won’t deny feeling relieved when the burglar who broke into my Manhattan apartment went away for eight years—it wasn’t his first time at the rodeo—but if you think about it objectively, it’s a ridiculous sentence. A month or two is plenty long. (Ask anyone who has done time.)
You know what would make me feel safe? A rehabilitation program that educated and provided jobs for guys like my burglar. Whether his term was too long or just right, those eight years came to an end—and he wound up back on the street, less employable and more corrupted than before. And don’t get me started about prison conditions.
A serious national discussion about out-of-control prosecutors and crazy long sentences is long overdue. I hope Aaron Swartz’s death marks a turning point.
COPYRIGHT 2013 TED RALL
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About author Ted Rall is the author of " Ted Rall is the author of " The Anti-American Manifesto." His website is tedrall.comFirst female leader will inherit party riven by infighting and complicated by Nigel Farage staying to shape its EU strategy
Ukip has chosen its first female leader, Diane James, who immediately signalled she wanted Nigel Farage to remain at the heart of the party and moved to sideline some of his critics.
The former businesswoman won the contest with almost half of the vote and the backing of some key Farage allies, including the party donor Arron Banks.
Her election at the Ukip autumn conference means six of the political parties represented at Westminster are led by women. James has already faced calls from some Ukip colleagues to unify the party after months of bitter infighting over Farage’s influence and strategy.
Paul Nuttall, the outgoing deputy leader, said the feuding was a “cancer” eating at the heart of Ukip and called on Farage to step away. But James made it clear that she wanted Farage by her side and she was happy for him to stay on as leader of the party in Brussels, which gives him influence over EU strategy and funding.
“I think both Nigel and I made it very, very plain that there would be help running between us. The legacy he has bequeathed with this party, the experience, the knowledge, I would be nuts to ignore it. But he is not going to be a backseat driver.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nigel Farage makes his farewell speech to party members at the Ukip conference in Bournemouth. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Asked if she would step down if Farage decided he wanted to return as leader, James did not rule out that possibility.
“He made it abundantly clear he doesn’t intend coming back. He has left that door open, I totally appreciate that. But he was clear with his language today he is stepping away from the leadership role and handing that mantle to myself.”
She went on to defend Farage’s controversial “breaking point” poster during the referendum showing a queue of migrants across Europe.
Diane James offers crumbling Ukip a safe pair of hands Read more
“If people don’t want a reality check about the problems with Merkel’s open door migration policy, people in those volumes on those roads, then quite frankly they need a big, big pinch. That picture was absolutely accurate in what it shows and I’ve got no problem with it at all,” she said.
James signalled she was not intending to take a conciliatory approach towards dissenters in the party.
One of her first acts as leader was to tear up the conference agenda in order to remove her rival leadership candidates and Neil Hamilton, the leader of Ukip in the Welsh assembly, from speaking slots on the main stage.
The move immediately triggered a row with Hamilton, a former Tory minister, informed by the press in a corridor that he had been replaced by Nathan Gill, an MEP, with whom he has been having an acrimonious public battle for control of the party in Wales. “This is a rather bizarre change in the programme,” Hamilton said. “It seems a rather bizarre way to unite a party,” he said, before offering to go and find James for a joint press conference.
“I seem to have been replaced by 10 minutes of coffee and five minutes of Nathan Gill. It looks like I’m no longer on the agenda. But I’m still the Ukip member of the assembly in Wales,” said Hamilton.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Diane James at the conference in Bournemouth on Friday. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Jay Beecher, campaign manager for one of the losing candidates, Lisa Duffy, said James’s rivals should have been given a chance to speak and thank their supporters in person. “We accept the membership decision,” he said. “However, what we need is a leader who is going to promote unity. For us to be a successful party we have to come together. It’s a bit of a slap in the face and a bit discourteous.”
But James defended the move, saying: “That is exactly what the new leader is able to do. It’s my prerogative. I chose to change the programme. It’s not a purge.”
She was backed by Steven Woolfe, who told the Guardian: “As a leader, she should be entitled to look at the agenda of a conference like this and put her stamp on it straight away.”
Another problem in James’s inbox is what to do about Douglas Carswell, Ukip’s only MP, who was attacked by Farage on Friday for “doing nothing” for the party. At a press conference, James revealed she had not spoken to Carswell for about three months, including the whole period of the leadership contest.
“If Douglas would like to suggest a meeting, I will happily entertain it,” James said, saying it depended on their schedules but meeting those in and seeking elected office was a priority.
She suggested she would try to stand in upcoming byelections, suggesting she could make an attempt in David Cameron’s former constituency of Witney in Oxfordshire.
The Guardian view on Ukip: after Brexit, what’s the meaning of life? | Editorial Read more
James rose to prominence in Ukip after coming second in the Eastleigh byelection of 2013, before taking on roles as home affairs spokesperson and deputy chair.
As the first Ukip leader since the EU referendum, she faces a battle to keep the party relevant given Theresa May’s promise to take the UK out of the EU and bring back grammar schools.
James wasted no time in delivering a message to the prime minister that Ukip intends to put her under pressure by pushing for a “hard Brexit”.
“From one grammar school girl to another, stop the faff, stop the fudge and the farce. Get on with it. Invoke article 50 and give Ukip the best Christmas present,” she said.
Speaking after the result, James claimed that “threats to the Brexit result are increasing every day”. She listed Ukip’s demands as: “No to soft Brexit. No to single market controls and no to unrestricted freedom of movement into this country. If they come in, they come in on a fair basis.”
Farage warned May that she must pass three tests to make sure “Brexit means Brexit”: regaining control of fishing rights, getting out of the single market and returning to the old British passport.
Female leaders
A record number of the UK’s political parties’ leaders are now female after James’s victory.
James is the latest woman to win an internal contest, with her nearest rival, Lisa Duffy, also a woman. It comes the week after Caroline Lucas returned as leader of the Greens in a job share with Jonathan Bartley, taking over from another woman, Natalie Bennett.
Earlier in the summer, Theresa May took over as leader of the Conservatives – becoming the party’s second female prime minister – after a straight fight against another woman, Andrea Leadsom. Arlene Foster became the first female first minister of Northern Ireland in January as leader of the Democratic Unionist party.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA
Before that, Nicola Sturgeon took over from Alex Salmond as Scottish National party leader and first minister after the independence referendum.
In Scotland, Ruth Davidson heads the Scottish Conservatives and Kezia Dugdale is in charge of Scottish Labour.
However, the longest serving female leader is Leanne Woods who has been at the helm of Plaid Cymru since 2012.
It leaves Labour and the Lib Dems as the only major parties to never have had female leaders – although Labour had Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett in interim positions.
Jess Phillips, the new chair of Labour women in parliament, tweeted: “New generation of women leaders. Still women in the country remain unequal. Labour’s 100 women MPs are the force for progress for women.
“Yes Labour should be embarrassed about women in leadership but we still have the most effective female force in parliament now and in the past.”I guess being Jewish in St. Cloud, Minnesota had something to do with it. Why else would my dad go to such lengths to bring home this odd-smelling fish in the small jar, serve it with Rye Krisps and call it a snack?
When you think about those two factors – Jewish and Minnesota – it’s a little easier to see how the seeds of my herring love affair were sown.
My people have always loved smoked fish. Chubs, whitefish, sturgeon, you name it. If it swims and has scales, chances are my ancestors in Russia and Poland figured out a way to make it last by pickling it (a la gefilte fish, one of the only things to this day I don’t eat) or by smoking it.
But the herring factor makes more sense when you think about my surroundings: Minnesota. Land of Humphrey, Mondale, Lake Wobegon and Rod Carew; and of course, more Swedes than anywhere outside of the mother country. The Swedish American Museum is a major tourist attraction in Minneapolis and the Midsummer Festival is legendary. Marcus Samuelsson even tried to open a branch of Aquavit there, but for some odd reason, it didn’t last. So I knew that Swedish culture was always big in the Twin Cities, but only after traveling to Stockholm did it click: these people not only love pickled herring, they worship it to the point of offering at least four or five different varieties on their menus. They serve it with boiled potatoes, butter and crispy crackers, called knäckebröd and have a fantastic snack, if not a family meal out of it. I had only seen the jars of herring in grocery stores in the U.S. Here, choices are limited to dill, creamed and maybe matjes. But in Sweden, herring is as ubiquitous as hot dogs are in Chicago. There’s even an amazing fried herring stand called “Strömmingsvagnen” near the Slussen train station, just a few minutes’ walk from the Royal Palace, in the same neighborhood where Stieg Larsson plotted his characters in the Millennium Trilogy.
Fortunately for Chicagoans in need of a herring fix, you can do so at Tre Kronor, which will start taking reservations Nov. 1, for its annual julbord (smörgåsbod or Christmas table) where they typically offer about 10 different types of herring.
The thought of actually pickling my own herring seemed as foreign to me as a Wong Kar Wai film. But after a visit to the charming restaurant Fjäderholmarnas Krog, about a 30-minute ferry ride from the center of Stockholm, I learned that conquering my fear of herring prep is easier than I imagined.
PICKLED HERRING
(Recipe from Frida Andersson, Fjäderholmarnas Krog, Stockholm)
PICKLED HERRING STOCK:
½ cup white vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cup water
1.5 oz finely-chopped carrots
1.5 oz. finely-chopped yellow onion
1.5 oz. finely-chopped cerely root
1 tsp mashed garlic cloves
3 tsp allspice
3 pieces of cinnamon
5 bay leaves
5 white peppercorns
1 small piece of horseradish
Bring everything to a boil and then let it cool off.
Take 5 salted herring filets and rinse for about 2-3 hours. It should be slightly salty.
Marinate the fish in the pickling stock
It takes 3 days until the fish is ready and it is very important that you stir the fish one time per day.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: "I'm angry and fed up"
Labour has said it still backs the UK's Trident nuclear weapons after Jeremy Corbyn said "all aspects" of defence would be reviewed if he won power.
The case for renewing Trident was still being discussed, the Labour leader told the BBC, prompting Tory criticism.
But a Labour spokesman said it remained official policy to keep the deterrent.
In the interview, Mr Corbyn said he wanted no more air strikes in Syria but did not rule out a drone strike to kill the leader of so-called Islamic State.
Speaking to Andrew Marr on BBC One, Mr Corbyn - a long-standing opponent of nuclear weapons - said he would never launch a "first strike" attack as prime minister and wanted to de-escalate global tensions, working with other countries including the US, Russia and Iran.
Pressed on whether a commitment to renew Trident would be in Labour's election manifesto, he replied: "We are having that discussion within the Labour Party and we will publish our manifesto in May.
Image copyright PA Image caption The UK's existing nuclear submarines are set to be replaced in the 2030s
"We will have a strategic defence review immediately which will include all aspects of defence. We would then look at the situation at that time."
Nuclear weapons, he insisted, were not a solution to the world's problems, adding: "I have made clear there would be no first use of it and that any use of nuclear weapons would be a disaster for the world."
In other election developments:
Mr Corbyn is the first Labour leader to support unilateral nuclear disarmament since Michael Foot in 1983 - a stance which puts him at odds with the bulk of his party.
Most of his MPs, including his deputy and defence spokeswoman, back the "continuous-at-sea deterrent" while unions say scrapping it would be bad for jobs.
MPs overwhelmingly voted earlier this year to build four new submarines to carry missiles armed with nuclear warheads. They are intended to replace the existing Vanguard fleet from the early 2030s at an estimated cost of £31bn.
Several hours after Mr Corbyn's interview, Labour released a statement saying "the decision to renew Trident has been taken and Labour supports that".
Syria conflict
Expanding on his foreign policy priorities, Mr Corbyn said he supported Nato and wanted to boost the UK's conventional armed forces but would be seeking a better relationship with Russia.
Asked whether he would approve a potential drone strike to kill the leader of the so-called Islamic State group, he said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "not being around would be helpful".
But he said he would first want to see the intelligence available and understand what a move would achieve in terms of ending the conflict in Syria, in which he said innocent civilians continued to die in bombing raids.
On the question of Europe, he acknowledged that the free movement of European citizens into the UK would end after Brexit, since it was an "intrinsic" feature of EU membership.
Asked if he would insist on it ending if he was PM, Mr Corbyn said he would "insist on trade access and see what follows from that".
But he rejected claims that his stance on Brexit was indistinguishable from Theresa May's, saying he was seeking an "intelligent" relationship based on tariff-free access to the single market.
In the domestic sphere, he said he was "fed up" with inequality and under-investment and would use the power of the government to improve housing and education and phase out private contracts in the NHS.
He said he would like to see all grammar schools turned into comprehensives but said this could only be decided at a "local" level.
And asked whether he believed he could win the snap 8 June poll, he replied "watch this space".
The Conservatives said only Theresa May was offering "strong and stable" leadership.
"This morning we learnt that Jeremy Corbyn would refuse to strike against terrorists, dismantle our nuclear defences and fail to control our borders," said Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
Sign-up to get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morningThe main website of The Edge Media Group is currently inaccessible following attacks on its servers.
In a statement, The Edge said that its servers have been under constant attack since yesterday morning.
“Dear theedgemarkets.com readers, our website is down as our servers have been under constant attack since this morning (Monday).
“We are working hard to restore service. Please be patient with us. Thank you for your understanding,” said the statement posted on its Facebook page.
No reason was given for the attacks.
Introduced in October 2014, www.theedgemarkets.com is the main website of The Edge Media Group and consolidates the previous news websites www.theedgemalaysia.com and www.theedgesingapore.com by The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd and The Edge Publishing Pte Ltd.
In September last year, the High Court had quashed the Home Ministry's decision to suspend two publications by The Edge Communications – The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Financial Weekly.
The Home Ministry had issued a three-month suspension notice, believed to be linked to the publications' reports on state-investment fund 1MDB.Earlier this year, after Irrational Games stopped being the development studio that fans of the System Shock and BioShock series had come to know, a group of ex-Irrational developers began talking about what might come next.
"Obviously, we all like to work," Day for Night Games' Joe Fielder told Polygon. "As soon as we were out in the world, I'm sure we just started thinking of ideas and spitballing and whatnot. You definitely think, 'Who would I love to work with further?' In the case of the old crew of Irrational, there are dozens of people."
Fielder worked at Irrational for five years, most recently writing the episodic Burial at Sea downloadable content for BioShock Infinite. He jokes that he was mostly responsible for writing "bad jokes, propaganda and crazy people."
When he and most of the development studio found themselves out of work, a group of them started talking and discovered something interesting: They wanted to make the same kinds of games, experiment with the same kinds of narratives in the same kinds of worlds.
That desire became formalized as Day for Night Games. That group of former Irrational Games developers is creating its first title, The Black Glove, which Fielder told us about ahead of its planned Kickstarter launch next month.
In The Black Glove, players need to alter the past of an artist, a filmmaker and a musical act. They'll do this to improve their work in the present. The first-person game is set in a theater called The Equinox, which, according to the developer, could exist in the past, present or future — assuming it exists at all. As you might expect, changing the past has an effect on the game's narrative and the world in which The Black Glove takes place.
"There are certain games of skill and chance that allow us to interact with what you might call fourth-dimensional space," Fielder said. "The goal is to satisfy the whims of the creator, the critic and the crowd. You're trying to improve the use of these creators' works in the present by changing their past." Characters will offer hints, sometimes in the form of their reactions, about just how a player can accomplish that, and what players do will alter the course of The Black Glove.
"The story will tie directly into the gameplay," he said. "Even a wrong turn, even misinterpreting a hint or just experimenting could produce interesting results. You'll have all these different sites to see, wonders to behold. There'll be large changes to the narrative and to the world around you."
Must Read The final years of Irrational Games, according to those who were there
But who's creating the worlds you'll see? Day for Night Games includes artists like Robb Waters, whose credits include the concept art for BioShock's Andrew Ryan, Sander Cohen and the Splicers as well as BioShock Infinite's Songbird, Motorized patriot and The Boys of Silence. Chad King, a senior environment artist for BioShock, BioShock Infinite and Burial at Sea, created the poster above.
Day for Night Games is withholding many of the details about The Black Glove, including platforms and other team members, until it launches the Kickstarter project next month. Until then, you can follow along with the studio (and maybe learn a thing or two in the next few week, if it gets enough followers) on the developer's official Twitter account.
According to Fielder, the new developer is going the crowdfunding route over the more traditional publisher route, in part because they've been inspired by games like Gone Home and The Stanley Parable.
"There are folks like Steve Gaynor and the folks at Fullbright, who have shown that you can go out there and self-publish and reach the audience that you want to reach," he said.
"I think that games like Gone Home and The Stanley Parable and other games in the last year have really opened the door for what you can do for narrative-focused games. I think it's a really interesting space to explore."It's now 20 years since I owned my first mobile phone, and I can remember quite clearly the excitement of unpacking it from its cardboard container. I savoured it, because I didn't want it to end. It was a mobile phone, something that had been as unthinkable as time travel in my childhood. I wanted to prolong the experience.
I've owned a lot of mobile phones since then, and I've become an unpacking cynic of the first order. Maybe there's just too much stuff too cleverly packaged in my current life, so what was once a rare treat is now a diurnal ordeal in the archaeology of cellophane and polystyrene. I bought a new iPad recently, and it's a wonderful thing, as ever. But on arriving home my first thought was something like, 'Oh bollocks. I've got to fight my way through all that neurotic Apple wrapping-up before I can play with this thing.'
This is a shame, isn't it? New stuff is only new once, and once revealed, it can never be returned to its state of being unknown to you. It's like a conker, or an oyster. Collectors of things such as old toys and watches are obsessed with having their 'pieces' in the original boxes, but it's all a bit fraudulent, really. Once a thing has been unboxed it will forever be unboxed, and merely returning it to its box does not actually make it boxed again, if you see what I mean. You may as well try to become unborn.
There is, obviously, a delight still taken by many in that first unboxing. Unboxing videos are surprisingly popular. I've watched plenty of them, I'll be honest, but I've never tried making one myself. So here is my first attempt, and it's on an automotive subject.
I hope you enjoy it, and I apologise in advance for rambling on a bit. Feel free to respond with your own vids.BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China’s wind and solar power sectors could see their expansion moderating in the coming five years as the government focuses on cheaper hydropower, Ouyang Changyu, deputy general secretary of the China Electricity Council was quoted as saying by local media.
Because of wind and solar power’s high generating costs and weak competitiveness, their development would be curtailed, Ouyang was quoted as saying by Caixin Media at an event on Tuesday organised by the influential industry association.
Hydropower would be the first choice for energy-saving and pollution reduction purposes even though hydropower costs could approach or even exceed thermal power as more hydropower projects are built in remote regions that entail more transmission costs, Ouyang said in the report on Caixin’s website (www.caing.com).
The National Development and Reform Commission has approved a series of new hydropower projects in recent months, in a sign that the government is speeding up hydropower development after an approvals slowdown in recent years because of concerns including environmental impact. [ID:nTOE6AS06F]
China’s rigid and complex power pricing system rewards coal-burning power plants with higher grid feed-in tariffs than hydropower stations. Wind power prices are even higher and solar power prices the highest.
It was not clear whether the government would raise feed-in rates for hydropower projects as an incentive to boost development.
Normal hydropower capacity would grow to 284 gigawatts (GW) and pumped storage hydropower capacity to 41 GW by 2015, and to 330 GW and 60 GW, respectively, by 2020, Ouyang was quoted as saying by the 21th Century Business Herald.
China’s hydropower capacity topped 200 GW in August.
Coal-fired power capacity will reach 933 GW by 2015 and nuclear power is set to rise to 42.94 GW by 2015 and 90 GW by 2020, the newspaper reported, citing Ouyang.
Ouyang headed a research project on the next five-year power industry plan that was expected to be published in the second half of this month after government approvals, the newspaper said.
Development of clean energy including wind and solar power would leap forward after 2020, the report said.
“According to the plan, average retail power prices will rise to more than 0.7 yuan per kilowatt hour (kwh) in 2015 and more than 0.8 yuan/kwh by 2020,” Ouyang was quoted as saying.
In 2009, China’s average retail price was 0.5343 yuan/kwh, excluding some surcharges. (Reporting by Jim Bai and Tom Miles; Editing by Chris Lewis)This article is over 3 years old
Move by comic and actor, who has 92,000 followers on the picture-sharing site, follows his break from Twitter last November
Stephen Fry has quit the social media site, Instagram, telling his fans he was “hounded off” it.
The comic and actor, who has a huge following on social media with 92,000 followers on the picture-sharing website alone, said: “Newspapers, as ever, suck all the joy out of everything. Closing down. It was, briefly, fun. Bye.”
Stephen Fry’s Instagram message
He posted a blank picture to the page which also included the line “Hounded off. Goodbye”.
It is not the first time the entertainer has closed down one of his social media accounts.
Last November he said he had to stop using his Twitter account, which has more than 9 million followers, because it was not safe.
In 2009, he threatened to leave the site because there was “too much aggression and unkindness around”.
Fry, who is fiercely protective of his private life, recently used his Twitter account to reveal he had married his partner Elliott Spencer.
The QI host posted a picture for his millions of followers showing him and the 27-year-old signing a marriage register.
With the picture Fry tweeted: “Gosh. ElliottGSpencer and I go into a room as two people, sign a book and leave as one. Amazing.”A couple of months ago I found out about Clint Ecker’s excellent django app django-chunks, which basically does one thing and that very well: It takes the idea of a django.contrib.flatpages and uses it for small chunks or blocks on a page, like a help section a small “about” part you want to have on every page, yet still keep it editable. All you have to do, is create a model instance, give it a specific name/key/slug and then use a bundled templatetag to include that object into your view.
{% load chunks %}... {% chunk |
is Hellion: “My father Bruce Glover is an actor… His middle name is Herbert. He never liked his middle name Herbert. So as a young struggling actor in New York he would say to himself “I am Bruce H. Glover, Bruce Hellion Glover. I am a hellion a troublemaker.” And that would make him feel good. He told my mother this was his real middle name. When they were married she saw him writing on the marriage certificate Bruce Herbert Glover and she thought ‘Who am I marrying?’ They gave Hellion to me as my real middle name.”
8. Glover’s surrealistic first film, What Is It?, was his way of commenting on the mainstream film industry’s self-censorship: “What Is It? is not a film about Down’s Syndrome but my psychological reaction to the corporate restraints that have happened in the last 20 to 30 years in film making. Specifically anything that can possibly make an audience uncomfortable is necessarily excised or the film will not be corporately funded or distributed. This is damaging to the culture because it is the very moment when an audience member sits back in their chair looks up at the screen and thinks to their self “Is this right what I am watching? Is this wrong what I am watching? Should I be here? Should the filmmaker have made this? What is it?…What is it that is taboo in the culture? What does it mean that taboo has been ubiquitously excised in this culture’s media? What does it mean to the culture when it does not properly process taboo in it’s media?’ It is a bad thing because when questions are not being asked because these kinds of questions are when people are having a truly educational experience. For the culture to not be able to ask questions leads towards a non educational experience and that is what is happening in this culture. This stupefies this culture and that is of course a bad thing. So What Is It? Is a direct reaction to the contents this culture’s media. I would like people to think for themselves.”
9. Glover shoots his films at a 17th-century chateau in the Czech Republic: “I have converted its former horse stables in to film shooting stages. Czech is another culture and another language and I need to build up to complex productions…The sets for my next film productions were in construction for over two years now…These films will be relatively affordable by utilizing the basic set structures that can be slightly re-worked for variations and yet each film will feel separate from one another in look and style yet still cinematically pleasing.”
10. His next film will be a collaboration with his dad: “My father, Bruce Glover, is also an actor who has appeared in such films as Chinatown and Diamonds Are Forever and he and I have not yet acted together on film. The project with my father is the next film I am currently preparing to make as a director/producer. This will be the first role I have written for myself to act that will be written primarily as an acting role, as opposed to a role that was written for the character I play to merely serve the structure.”
11. His favorite novel is Crime and Punishment: “The descriptive ability by Dostoyevsky and his story structure and moral sense is unsurpassed by anything I have ever read.”
12. A lot of his answers were pre-written: “The way I normally answer questions is from a 1600 word document that I have saved from my written interviews over the last 9 years of touring with my live shows and feature films I have directed. This means I can use that resource to answer certain commonly asked questions and respond in more detail to less commonly asked questions.”PocketMail was a very small and inexpensive mobile computer, with a built in acoustic coupler.
History [ edit ]
This was the first ever mass-market mobile email. The hardware cost around USD$100 and the service was initially USD$9.95 per month for unlimited use. Later the monthly fee increased. After the company made a reference hardware design, leading consumer electronics manufacturers Audioxo, Sharp, JVC, and others made their own PocketMail devices. Later a PocketMail dongle was created for the PalmPilot. PocketMail users were given a custom email address or able to synch up PocketMail with their existing email account (including AOL accounts). Although actually a computer, its main function was E-mail. Its main advantages were that it was simple, and that it worked with any phone, even outside the United States. It was a low-cost personal digital assistant (PDA) with an inbuilt acoustic coupler which allowed users to send and receive E-mail while connected to a normal telephone, thus allowing use outside of mobile phone range, or without the need to be signed up with a mobile telephone provider. Popularity of the PocketMail peaked around 2000, when the company stopped investing in new technology development.
In Australia, the company known as "PocketMail" in 2007 stopped marketing the PocketMail service, changed its name to Adavale Resources Limited and now owns uranium mining prospects in Queensland and South Australia.[1]
References [ edit ]Not that many years ago, Pacific Coach Lines had buses on every B.C. Ferries sailing between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen. Now, ridership has dropped so low that the company is seeking permission to provide as few as three round trips daily on the route.
PCL, which is licensed to provide five round trips a day between Labour Day and the end of June, has applied to B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board for permission to amend its minimum route frequency due to a 40 per cent decline in riders between 2010 and 2013.
article continues below
The drop is due to increasing use of public transit, which is cheaper, said PCL spokeswoman Darion Tooley. “It’s devastating, devastating for us, but it’s reality,” Tooley said. “We are a private company and we are not subsidized by one penny from anyone else.”
The downward trend is expected to continue, making the reduction necessary if the company wants to succeed. “We have been doing this since 1960 and have every intention of continuing,” she said.
Ridership for the nine off-peak months dropped to 103,000 in 2013 from 172,000 in 2010 and is projected to drop below 88,000 for 2014, says PCL’s submission to the board. “We love our company but at the same time, there are changes and we have to react to them,” Tooley said.
Many customers switched to public transit after service improved with the opening of Metro Vancouver’s Canada Line in 2010. PCL points out that its service is faster, less crowded and doesn’t require multiple transfers.
The company is also seeking a legal reduction in its minimum service to Vancouver International Airport to three round trips a day from five. Peak season service will remain at a minimum of seven round trips a day.
If the company’s request is approved, PCL won’t necessarily change its schedule immediately, Tooley said.
In 2011, PCL applied to reduce its daily round trips to eight from 13 to 15 during the peak season and to six from seven to nine in the off season. Further reductions were approved in 2013.
The Passenger Transportation Board will consider written submissions from the public received by Oct. 1. Email ptboard@gov.bc.ca, fax 250-953-3788 or write to PO Box 9850 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, B.C. V8W 9T5.
kdedyna@timescolonist.com
- - -
One-way B.C. resident adult fare from downtown Victoria to downtown Vancouver on PCL: $49.25 including B.C. Ferries fare.
Total cost via public transit including B.C. Ferries fare: around $22 to $25
On public transit, it’s $2.50 for a cash bus fare from downtown Victoria to Swartz Bay terminal, plus walk-on adult B.C. Ferries fare of $16.25 (plus fuel surcharge, currently 50 cents) and between $2.75 and $5.50 for bus and Canada Line from Tsawwassen terminal to downtown Vancouver depending on time of day and day of the week.
This story has been edited to correct errors about fares.Matt Russell recently declared that "we are already experiencing the effects of climate change." Russell isn't a pundit or scientist or government official. He is a fifth-generation farmer from Lacona, Iowa, and he is struggling to raise crops in the face of extreme weather. "Scientists have been telling us what climate change looks like. As farmers, we're living it," Russell said.
The climate conversation has changed in this country.
When I started working to combat climate change two decades ago, it was a topic largely for environmentalists and scientists. Now business leaders, former Republican officials, public health experts, religious groups, and farmers have joined in.
Indeed, after reams of scientific evidence have appeared in the news and countless extreme weather events have landed in our communities, the issue has gone mainstream. The vast majority of Americans are no longer debating climate change; they are looking for solutions.
Seventy percent of Americans view climate change as a serious problem and support federal efforts to reduce global warming pollution, according to a recent ABC/Washington Post poll.
Support runs deep and wide. More than two-thirds of residents in 11 purple states including Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas say the Environmental Protection Agency should limit carbon pollution from power plants. That includes 53 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and 87 percent of Democrats, according to a poll conducted by Harstad Strategic Research.
The past few weeks alone reveal the diversity of voices calling for climate action.
Henry Paulson, former treasury secretary under President George W. Bush, wrote an op-ed comparing climate change to the housing bubble. "We're staring down a climate bubble that poses enormous risks to both our environment and economy. The warning signs are clear and growing more urgent as the risks go unchecked."
Paulson launched a climate initiative called Risky Business with Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Former Senior Managing Member of Farallon Capital Management Tom Steyer. Two weeks ago the group released a report concluding that "the American economy could face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change unless U.S. businesses and policymakers take immediate action to reduce climate risk."
Military experts have also been speaking out about climate risk. Retired Rear Admiral David Titley wrote in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette two weeks ago that he "used to be a something of a skeptic about climate change," but later he went on to launch the Navy's Task Force on Climate Change.
What sparked the shift? Titley said, "Over the years, scientific findings on climate change have built to the point where we simply cannot afford to ignore them. And this is true no matter what your politics might be. The climate doesn't care about politics."
Seven Montana veterans cited similar themes when they framed climate action as form of patriotism. Writing in the Ravalli Republic last week, they said it was Americans' shared duty to keep our nation safe and to reduce pollution that causes climate change.
That same current runs through most calls for action: a desire to shield people from harm. Whether it is the four EPA administrators who served under Presidents Bush and Reagan or the Evangelical minister from Pennsylvania's coal country, Americans from all walks of life recognize the need to protect our communities from the hazards of climate change.
The EPA's new Clean Power Plan will help us do that. It will establish limits on our nation's biggest source of carbon pollution: power plants. These are steps most Americans support. Click here to tell the EPA you support them too.
Together we are poised to make real progress against the threat of climate change--now that the age of denial and inaction are over.
Photo credit: Christopher NurpuExplosion kills two Syrians making bombs in Turkey’s south
HATAY
Two Syrians were killed when a homemade explosive device they were building accidentally detonated in the Reyhanlı district of the southeastern province of Hatay on July 6, as Turkish security officials were investigating whether the men had any links to terror organizations.“An explosion took place in a house in the Kanatlı neighborhood of the Reyhanlı district at around 4:30 p.m. Two Syrians, who were wounded while preparing explosives according to the initial examinations, were taken to the hospital,” a statement released from the Hatay Governor’s Office read, while adding that the wounded later succumbed to their injuries.Reports indicated the blast occurred on the second floor of a three-story apartment on Şehit Sedat Pişen Street near the district’s center.The two Syrian men, identified as Usam Isa and Rahmi Hadad, sustained serious injuries, as their limbs were dismembered during the explosion, before they succumbed to their wounds at a local hospital.A third person, a Syrian woman, was also in the apartment at the time of the explosion, the investigation into the incident has revealed, but she survived the blast as she was in the kitchen. The woman, whose identity was not disclosed to the press, was detained.Police also seized a pistol and a silencer while searching the apartment.“A gun and a silencer were seized from the house in the search conducted by security personnel. An investigation into the case was launched and information will be shared on the developments regarding the incident,” the statement from the governor’s office added.Meanwhile, crime scene investigators failed to determine the type of explosive device the Syrians were trying to build but samples were sent to a criminology lab for further tests to provide a definitive answer.The police searched the house under strict security measures and bomb disposal teams were called to the area after becoming suspicious of a car belonging to the Syrians. The car was taken to the police headquarters after it was searched and no explosive device was discovered.According to reports, Isa and Hadad settled in the Reyhanlı house around two months ago. Both had foreign identity cards issued by Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker claimed, and the police were investigating whether they had any involvement with terror organizations.The explosion triggered criticism from the CHP, as the party’s Hatay deputy, Hilmi Yarayıcı, accused the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of turning the country into a “war base.”“This incident is tangible evidence that it is unknown [by the government] which of the nearly 4 million Syrian citizens who seek refuge in our country are actual asylum seekers and which are jihadist killers,” Yarayıcı said, adding that restlessness has evolved into fear in the southeastern province, which shares a border with war-torn Syria and has lately been a target of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rocket attacks.Photo
BARCELONA, Spain — Microsoft is setting itself up as the antiflagship phone maker, at least until Windows 10 comes out.
At the Mobile World Congress here on Monday, Microsoft for the first time showed off Windows 10 for phones and continued its evolving strategy of delivering low-cost Lumia devices that are attractive to emerging phone markets — and the growing prepaid phone market in the United States.
The Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL are brightly colored; can be upgraded to Windows 10 when that mobile operating system finally debuts; and although pricing may vary by carrier, they will start as low as 139 euros, or about $156, for a 3G version and €159 for a 4G LTE model. That translates to phones that are cheap or free with new contracts or on prepaid plans, or affordable enough to be bought outright. The Lumia 640 offers a five-inch display, while the Lumia 640 XL is, not surprisingly, much larger, with a 5.7-inch screen.
The Lumia 640 XL will be available starting in March, and the Lumia 640 comes out in April.
Manufacturers like Motorola and Microsoft have recently been eschewing high-end phones that are usually aimed at status-conscious buyers in the United States, in favor of creating devices that are affordable around the world. About one billion people are expected to be upgrading to smartphones in 2015 alone.
“We’re finding a lot of success,” said Stephen Elop, the executive vice president of the devices division at Microsoft. “Our Q2 results, in terms of the number of actual phones sold, was the largest quarter ever in the history of the Lumia line. And most of those sales were in the lower price tiers, those people who are buying not only in an AT&T or Verizon store but Walmart or Target.”
Microsoft said the Lumia 640 line represented few compromises: Its Qualcomm Snapdragon processor runs at 1.2 gigahertz; it has a high-definition display and a nine-megapixel camera; and it comes loaded with Microsoft services, like a one-year subscription to the personal edition of Office 365 (which can be extended to one computer and one tablet), an included terabyte of OneDrive storage and some free Skype calling.
At a show and in an industry dominated by the release of high-end, high-priced and high-powered phones like the flagship devices created by Apple and Samsung, it is the more accessible models that might find broader success. But as shoppers increasingly choose phones for the services that run on them, hardware with acceptable power and lots of included software might prove a winning strategy over time.
Microsoft also demonstrated some Windows 10 features, focusing primarily on how it keeps information, like search history and reminders, synced across devices and has a reading view for articles on mobile. Users familiar with, say, Google will obviously not find such features particularly groundbreaking, but they will be handy. For example, if you use Cortana to set a reminder on your PC, the reminder will automatically sync to your phone.
Mr. Elop said that the company would not snub the flagship forever and that it would debut high-end Lumia devices once Windows 10 was released this year.
At its news conference in Barcelona, Microsoft also showed off a new Bluetooth folding keyboard, usable with both iOS phones and tablets, Android devices and Windows tablets, as well as a new office suite for small to medium-size businesses, developed with AT&T.
“We also recognize that, particularly in developed markets, that flagship moment is really important,” Mr. Elop said. “We’re committed to the flagship, and you’ll see some beautiful devices later in the year.”
Mr. Elop declined to specify when Windows 10 might be released; the company has said only that it would be in 2015.You probably know a lot about the Etch A Sketch, the classic drawing toy that debuted in the '60s, but do you know how it works? The father-and-son team behind the YouTube channel What’s Inside? decided to take one apart and find out.
After breaking through the outer plastic layer, Lincoln and his dad Dan discovered … a lot of aluminum powder. That silvery dust coats the screen of the Etch A Sketch and is responsible for providing a blank canvas for users. The knobs control a metal pointer that's fitted onto two crossed metal bars.
When you adjust those knobs to create a picture, the metal pointer moves, dragging along the screen and wiping away the metal powder. Those lines you see on an Etch A Sketch are actually just the blank spaces where the aluminum has been swept away. Shaking the toy covers the screen in a fresh coat of powder so the artist can start all over again. Learn more of the toy's inner workings in the video above.
[h/t SPLOID]
Primary image courtesy of YouTube.WOLFSBURG, Germany, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Germany appeared set on Monday to back an ambitious trade accord between the European Union and Canada after the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the ruling coalition, overcame left-wing resistance to the deal within his party.
The SPD decision paves the way for EU member states to approve the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) next month before Brussels signs the accord with Ottawa on Oct. 27.
Left-wing SPD members had argued that CETA would undermine workers’ rights and environmental standards, but party leader Sigmar Gabriel said it represented the EU’s best chance to shape globalisation in the interests of ordinary people.
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“It’s a really good day for the SPD but especially for the implementation of rules for globalisation,” Gabriel told a news conference after two thirds of delegates at an SPD congress backed a compromise deal over CETA.
“Until now globalisation only served economic interests. Now we are finally beginning to take the interests of people and citizens into consideration.”
Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor and economy minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-led coalition, has staked his political future on securing SPD backing for CETA.
Failure at Monday’s congress, held in the carmaking city of Wolfsburg in northern Germany, would have likely scuppered Gabriel’s chances of standing as the SPD candidate for chancellor in national elections due in October 2017.
This might have unleashed a damaging power struggle within the SPD at a time when it is badly trailing Merkel’s conservatives in opinion polls. The coalition’s popularity has also suffered following Merkel’s decision last year to open Germany’s borders to more than one million migrants.
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The compromise forged to win over left-wing critics in the SPD envisages allowing the European Parliament to launch a consultation process before a decision is taken on what parts of CETA should be applied provisionally.
CETA aims to eliminate tariffs on 98 percent of goods immediately and also encompasses regulatory cooperation, shipping, sustainable development and access to government tenders.
It will still require the approval of the European Parliament before taking effect, prior to ratifications by national parliaments which could take five years or more.
In a joint statement, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Canada’s Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said they were committed to making “formal clarifications” on parts of the accord where there are still concerns.
This includes areas such as the delivery of public services, labour rights, environmental protection and an investment dispute settlement mechanism.
SPD critics of CETA see it as a blueprint for a parallel trade deal the EU is trying to negotiate with the United States, which is known as TTIP.
Around 180,000 people took part in rallies on Saturday in seven German cities against both trade deals, police said.National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts Nov. 1, which means there's still time for you to get prepped and ready. NaNoWriMo is an annual writing challenge where the goal is to write a 50,000-word novel in only 30 days.
Now you don't have to take NaNoWriMo seriously. You can just use it as a way to explore a story idea you have. Maybe you'll use it again, maybe you won't.
But the writing coach in me would hate to see you waste yet another draft.
So I highly recommend you plan your story ahead of time. You'll end up with a much better first draft that way.
You plan your story by considering your characters, main plot, subplots, structure and scene architecture -- before you write a single word of your draft.
The rules say you can't write until midnight on Nov. 1, but you can do all the planning and development you want until then. So think about your story and develop an outline you can use to help you write your draft.
Here's what you need to do to make the most of your NaNoWriMo experience:
1. Register
Before you do anything else, be sure you're registered on the official NaNoWriMo website, so you can upload your word count and claim your prizes at the end of the challenge.
2. Develop Your Story Idea
If you want to win the NaNoWriMo challenge and come out with a draft that you can then edit and publish, you'll need to do as much planning and development as you can before the challenge starts on Nov. 1.
These resources will help:
Story Development
Creating Characters
Story Structure
3. Build Your Story Road Map
Now that you've developed your story and your characters, you can dive in and build a scene-by-scene road map for your novel. This helps define what has to happen in your story, when and where.
A road map is more detailed than a simple outline, but an outline can also work. Just make sure you figure out your structure ahead of time. Lack of structure is the number one reason novel drafts don't work.
4. Gather Your NaMoWriMo Survival Kit
Surviving NaNoWriMo isn't just about writing. It's also about handling the obstacles and challenges that pop up during the 30 days (eye strain, a constant craving for chocolate, distractions, etc.).
By having a survival kit ready to go, you're ensuring yourself a better chance at hitting the 50,000-word goal on time. A survival kit can include things like candy, eye drops, a timer, headphones, a reusable water bottle, etc.
5. Even More NaNoWriMo Resources
Want more awesome NaNoWriMo resources? Check these out:
When armed with these NaNoWriMo resources, you've got everything you need to survive the challenge and win too. Just don't forget to upload your final word count by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.
How do you get ready for NaNoWriMo?They’ve also targeted domestic horses. Since the U.S. stopped slaughtering horses for human consumption 10 years ago, a dwindling number of horses are trucked to plants in Canada and Mexico to be killed for meat. In July, the House Appropriations Committee approved budget language that would make it legal once more to slaughter horses in the U.S. For now, a Senate committee vote appears to have blocked this measure.
Polls show the majority of Americans do not favor killing horses, wild or domestic. But lobbyists for the cattle industry and hunting groups do, because horses compete with livestock and game species such as antelope for pasture and water. The Trump Administration’s 2018 budget included a proposal that opens the door for the BLM to save money by selling wild horses for slaughter. The congressional budget proposal would instead allow the BLM to cull young, healthy wild horses. Representatives say the horses would be “euthanized,” the way homeless pets sometimes are.
Here are the myths some politicians, ranchers and hunters are trying to use to justify allowing slaughter plants to reopen and the BLM to kill wild horses and burros. The reality is there are better, more humane alternatives to handle unwanted domestic horses and the growing number of wild horses and burros on the range.
MYTH: Horses can be slaughtered in a humane manner.
Reality: Horses’ instinctive flight behavior and their long necks make it difficult to accurately place the captive bolt gun on their foreheads to bring a quick death. This means they are often not killed on the first try as are cows and other livestock. Especially if the slaughter plants’ workers are inexperienced or the guns are not well maintained, it often takes several attempts, as terrified horses struggle to survive.
MYTH: Slaughter is the best and only way to deal with unwanted domestic horses.
Reality: There are more humane ways to reduce the number of unwanted horses, such as adoption. “We need to find them homes [so that] they have second careers,” says Marty Irby, HSUS senior advisor in charge of the equine department. “It’s very feasible, and it’s being done.” Educating horse breeders so they prevent mares from having too many foals is another way to reduce the number of unwanted domestic horses. Slaughter plants allow those who overbreed to dispose of animals cheaply. The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, now before Congress, would have the opposite effect, by banning both the slaughter of horses in the U.S. and the export of horses for slaughter. Putting animal welfare concerns aside, horses in the United States are not raised for human consumption and their meat contains toxic residues of veterinary drugs.What would happen if August 2 should pass and everyone’s worst fears were realized with the country slipping into default?
On Fox News on Saturday, Powell Financial Group CEO Patricia Powell offered some advice to viewers just in case the unthinkable happens: She said Americans should have cash on hand.
“You know, everybody needs a cash reserve and I’m talking seriously about cash,” Powell said. “Cash dollars in your wallet, not maybe just money in the bank. But you also want money in the bank and not just in a money market fund. None of us know if they default, if they choose to default, whether there’s going to be a credit crunch, whether your credit — whether you’re going to have trouble accessing your credit. You might even have some trouble with your money market funds. So none of us know. Make sure you have cash, cold hard cash.”
And just how much cash? According to Powell, $1,000 would be an adequate amount for most people.
“For most of us, if we had $1,000 in bills in our drawer, we would be fine,” Powell said. “I don’t expect you’re going to need them. But you know what? If you need them, it’d be nice to have.”
Powell also said her clients are holding on to twice the amount of cash they normally would. She pointed to similarities to the market crash in 2008 when Congress failed to pass TARP.Conclusion
(NaturalNews) As the conventional news coverage of Flight 370 becomes increasingly delusional and detached from reality, for the sake of all those families and loved ones still suffering I thought it important to publish athat can help bring the discussion back to some common sense.Let's cover five indisputable facts about governments, radar and aircraft:All the key nations involved in Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 run military radar systems 24/7. This includes Malaysia and India, of course. These radar systems are operated for purposes of national defense, making sure each nation can identify aircraft entering its air space.If you don't believe that military-grade radar systems can track the altitude, direction and speed of a Boeing 777, then you don't believe in radar at all.Beyond the military radar, modern nations also run air traffic control radar systems which work in both "active" (transponder) modes and "passive" mode (requiring no transponder). Although civilian air traffic control systems are generally not as powerful or accurate as military systems, they are nonetheless fully capable of detecting and tracking a Boeing 777.In fact, as any air traffic controller will tell you, their radar systems are fully capable of trackingand other airborne objects which are far smaller than a Boeing 777.Unless equipped with some sort of exotic technology we've never heard of -- like a radar "invisibility cloak" borrowed from the Klingons of Star Trek -- a Boeing 777 has a massive radar signature. The cylindrical fuselage, curved wings and surface controls (flaps, ailerons, rudder) all reflect radar waves with very high efficiency. A commercial Boeing aircraft is not a stealth bomber.The explanation that this Boeing 777 "vanished" from radar simply doesn't hold water. And if the explanation is that "the pilot flew the aircraft at very low elevation to evade radar," then it makes no sense that the pilot would carry out this complex evasion for 4-7 hours and then plunge the aircraft into the Indian Ocean.Furthermore, a suicidal pilotIf he wanted to crash the plane, he could have done it immediately after takeoff, or at any point during the first few minutes of flight. There is no need to evade radar if you wish to consciously crash the aircraft.One of the most ridiculous theories currently being floated around the mainstream media -- and written by journalists who apparently have no education in fundamental physics or flight mechanics -- is that Flight 370 "crashed" into the Indian Ocean and somehow magically remained fully intact!Although it's comforting to think that airplanes are made of incredibly strong steel that can withstand high-velocity impacts with bodies of water, the far more sobering truth is that. Aircraft are not rigid; they flex and bend, even during flight. If you've ever watched the wings during flight, you've no doubt noticed that they have a surprisingly wide range of movement, almost as if the wings are flapping. An aircraft fuselage moves, bends, expands and compresses due to changes in temperature, ambient pressure and structural stress.A large commercial aircraft that crashes into water simply cannot remain intact. While there are some miraculouswhere skilled pilots were able to "land" aircraft on water thanks to near-stall speeds, flaps and amazing flying skills, a full-speed crash into water can never result in the aircraft remaining fully intact. The nose, wings, fuselage and tail would all be torn apart by impact with a body of water.Even many attempted "water landings" still result in huge structural failures of the aircraft, as seen in this photo of a relatively gentle water landing of a flight headed for Bali:An actual crash into water would produce a massive amount of debris, including seats, bodies and other debris easy to spot from satellite imagery or rescue searches.Here's the most astonishing fact of all: because of all the facts stated above, the vanishing of Flight 370 must have required intentional planning and action from at least one government (and possibly more).of what happened to MH370, and it looks almost certain that the Malaysian government is part of this cover-up, as I previously reported The mainstream media is extremely reluctant to ever report on any sort of government cover-up, preferring to pretend that governments are always transparent and honest with the people of the world. Although such an idea is utterly laughable, it remains the default position of the conventional media. That's why the media prefers to run with other theories such as "pilot suicide" or "flight accident," neither of which withstand scrutiny of the facts. (Case in point: If it crashed into the ocean, the black boxes would have been transmitting their location for weeks now, and they would be easy to find.)World governments routinely lie and deceive the public, of course. As a simple example of that, the U.S. government has now been exposed as spying on all the other governments of the world with an above-top-secret NSA spy program revealed by Edward Snowden. Before his revelations, anyone suggesting the government was "listening to your phone calls" was immediately called a crackpot by the clueless conventional media. Now, of course, we all have come to realize that the NSA really is recording, text messages, social media posts and financial transactions. This is no longer a secret. It's not a conspiracy theory. It's business as usual at the highest levels of government. And yes, it's wildly illegal, but it goes on nonetheless.That's why the idea that a government "couldn't possibly have lied about Flight 370" is preposterous. Of course a government could lie about Flight 370. It is far harder for any government to tell the truth than to lie, in fact. And the government of Malaysia no more adheres to truth and transparency than the U.S. government, the Russian government or even the government of China.almost by default. To expect a government to tell you the truth about anything is to live in fantasy land.But if you are crazy enough to believe that governments never lie, then I'm happy to report to you that Obamacare now has 6 million enrollees who have all paid their insurance premiums, the national debt of the USA is rapidly shrinking by the hour, nobody in Washington D.C. ever abuses power, the gun-running conspiracy by California Democratic Senator Leland Yee never happened and your tax dollars are always put to a positive purpose for the betterment of society.Flight 370 most likely did not crash; it was almost certainly taken over (possibly by remote control) and flown to a destination with all passengers alive and the aircraft in one piece.What happens from there is anyone's guess, but the most likely use of such a stolen aircraft is to turn it into a massive airborne weapons delivery system to be outfitted with biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. Believe me when I say this is the real scenario being discussed behind closed doors at the Pentagon. The "pilot suicide" explanation is merely the sucker's version of events for public consumption.Four veterinarians from the Natonal Zoo are heading to Louisiana to help with the oil slick animals that continue to struggle with the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The animals are being cleaned up and then released back into the wild with fingers crossed. Hopefully, they will not return to the fouled areas and become drenched in oil again, but these are nesting and migratory creatures and they have a homing instinct that makes them return to their "territory." They don't carry memories of almost being killed by a thick black soup.
The veterinarians from the National Zoo will be rotating in and out of Houma, La., over the next eight weeks to help at the incident command center there. The first vet left yesterday.
They will be working with the U.S. Coast Guard to help determine where to release the cleaned and rehabilitated animals.
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This BP disaster has dragged on for months now. There is some hope that the flow will be diminishing soon and that a second well will stop the underwater gusher. But for the animals, the tragedy is just beginning.Cats are fun! They're cute, they're soft, and they might actually hate me. Cats don't want to be loved. They want to be worshiped. And nowhere is this worship more prevalent than in Japan: the world's foremost exporter of WTF.
Look at how excited these cats are to be in a film.
My crew and I were doing some film work in Japan late last year, and it seemed like everywhere we looked, there were some crazy cat related antics to film. So naturally, whenever we had any downtime, we took the chance to film it.
What started out as some footage of a cat cafe turned into much, much more. Cat cosplay picture books, cats with actual human jobs, trains decorated to look like cats; the madness didn't stop! I even managed to get some exclusive footage of the white whale of Japanese cat culture: 'Cat Stroller Man'. As I filmed the living carpet of fluff that was overflowing from this eccentric man's buggy, I decided the world needed to see this.
So I extended my stay, commandeered my film crew and scrambled to find all the best cat hotspots we could. We picked up a local host/presenter, and went on a tour into the feline heart of darkness. Cat offices, cat temples, even entire cat neighborhoods; we filmed it all! Some of the cat related silliness we were able to film include:
Cat Island - Japan is home to several cat islands. What exactly is a cat island? Well it's what it sounds like - an entire island overrun by cats! And we captured footage at not one, but two different cat islands.
Cat Cemetery - We stumbled upon a massive cemetery which is known to be home to numerous cats. And the cats didn't disappoint.
Hachi: Japan's Luckiest Cat - Hachi works at a small tobacconist which sells lottery tickets. The store's customers have won great fortunes thanks to Hachi!
Station Master Cat - Nitama is a cat that runs a train station. Why? Well, because it's Japan.
Nameneko - Before internet cat memes, Japan had already mastered the art of viral cat photos. Nameneko is a brand |
center at the exact moment when the Republican Party is itself going to extremes by jamming through a plutocratic tax bill and by orchestrating a campaign to defame special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. The two parties are following a pattern of asymmetric polarization familiar since the early 1990s. The Republicans are moving further right, and are ever more willing to violate longstanding norms, while the Democrats position themselves as a conciliatory party open to bipartisanship. The paradox of the Trump era is that the party that controls all three branches of government is deeply inimical to the democratic system while the party that believes in governance is shut out of power.
But perhaps it is precisely because Democrats have so little foothold in power that they are forced to be more propitiative. In their current exile from power, Democrats need to win over more voters, including many who voted Republican in recent years. And the party thinks it know where to find them: the suburbs. But will this tropism toward the center have the negative side effect of alienating the newly energized Democratic base?Yola, Nigeria - It has been one year since more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram, an armed group which wants to form an Islamic state in the region.
The schoolgirls have been the focus of a worldwide campaign, #BringBackOurGirls, calling for their release.
On the night of the abductions in Chibok, a town in northeastern Borno state, three girls jumped off the moving lorries in which Boko Haram were transporting them.
Al Jazeera met up with the girls and while they have been through a terrifying experience, they do not want to be portrayed as victims. They insist on talking about what they have done since they escaped - focusing on their education.
They are now studying at the American University of Nigeria here in Yola, the capital of neighbouring Adamawa state. They do not want their faces or names revealed in order to protect their families and other girls still in school in Chibok.
Al Jazeera: Do you want to go back to Chibok?
Blessing: Yes. I want some changes in Chibok, like the environment. I want to be a lawyer. I want to fight for justice. Wait, I want to say something to my school friends who are still being held captive by Boko Haram!
Al Jazeera: Of course... go ahead.
Blessing: I will just pray for them that one day there is hope, that one day God will set them free from the hands of Boko Haram.
Mary: Ask me what you asked Blessing... about if I want to go back to Chibok, because I do.
Al Jazeera: Why do you want to go back?
Mary: Because my favourite subjects are physics and biology. The reason is I want to become a medical doctor. To go to Chibok and build clinics and hospitals because we don't have educated doctors there. I will try hard. But it's hard. This new school is nice. We don't have many textbooks in Chibok like here. We don't use laptops in Chibok. We don't do some sports like we are doing here.
Deborah: I want to say something important before I answer your questions. It's for the girls still missing.
Al Jazeera: Please, go ahead.
Deborah: The message is be brave and courageous. Be a hard worker and always believe in God, that whatever you are going through, God is there for you, he will help you. Have ambition that you are great and you were made to be a great person.
Al Jazeera: Someone tried to take education away from you. How do you feel about that?
Deborah: It was said that if you educate a girl you educate the whole nation. It is very important. They haven't stopped me.
Al Jazeera: What is schooling like in Chibok?
Deborah: Not good. That's why I am going back when I graduate. The education there is very poor. So I want to help by building a school. I want to empower women by creating centres that will teach them things.
Al Jazeera: So you want to be a teacher?
Deborah: My favourite subjects are English and biology. I want to be a doctor. I want to save lives of people and help those who are sick but can't pay their medical bills.
Al Jazeera: Do you think you will be able to finish school in peace now?
Deborah: I like this place because of the good quality education we are getting here. We are sponsored to study here. Everything is paid for. It is an exciting, beautiful environment.
There is airconditioning in the rooms, flushing toilets and I have my own bed. I am happy to be here.Within the last five weeks, several people have reported an issue in Chrome that breaks the WordPress admin menu. If you hover the mouse cursor over menu items in the sidebar, they’ll occasionally fall out-of-place.
Using Chrome 45.0.2454.85, I’m able to inconsistently reproduce the behaviour reported in the ticket. Through the process of elimination, users discovered Chrome is the software at fault and not WordPress.
The source of the problem stems from Slimming Paint which is enabled by default in Chrome 45. Disabling slimming paint fixes the issue.
To disable this feature, visit chrome://flags/#disable-slimming-paint in Chrome and Enable the Disable slimming paint option, and make sure the other two Enable options are disabled because they will override the Disable option.
If this sounds confusing, please refer to the following screenshot provided by Samuel Wood.
Chrome’s development team is aware of the issue and is working towards a solution that is marked for release in Chrome 47. Until then, users are encouraged to disable Slimming Paint until Chrome fixes the issue.
Like this: Like Loading...Install SaltStack Without Root Privileges
I found documentation on running SaltStack, both the master and minions, to be lacking. It’s easy to forget how painful not having system access is when you’re use to the power and convenience of simple things like apt and yum, so this guide is intended to be the fresh glass of water to those of you in you-don’t-get-root-because-shutup hell looking for an alternative solution for making things suck less. It is totally doable! For the record, I don’t encourage this kind of behavior, so avoid it if you can.
This guide will use RHEL (or CentOS), but it doesn’t really matter too much - most everything here is distro agnostic. It assumes you have C/C++ compilers ( gcc and gcc-c++ ) and the development libraries for zlib ( zlib-devel ) and OpenSSL ( openssl-devel ). Everything is installed locally and we’ll be installing Salt through pip.
I had the additional hurdle of having no Internet access, so to get around that, I setup a simple HTTP proxy (those batteries are not included here). Should this limitation not apply to you, feel free to skip this step:
export http_proxy=http://1.2.3.4:5678 # use your own proxy, export https_proxy=https://1.2.3.4:5678 # and get the hell off my lawn
Some initial scaffolding:
PY_VER=2.7.11 # make some directories mkdir -p $HOME/usr \ $HOME/src \ $HOME/srv/salt \ $HOME/etc/salt/minion.d \ $HOME/etc/salt/master.d # download requirements curl https://www.python.org/ftp/python/$PY_VER/Python-$PY_VER.tgz \ -o $HOME/src/Python-$PY_VER.tgz curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py \ -o $HOME/src/get-pip.py # extract tarball tar zxf $HOME/src/Python-$PY_VER.tgz -C $HOME/src
Next, Python gets installed locally (e.g. not system-installed Python) along with pip:
# install python cd $HOME/src/Python-$PY_VER./configure -q --prefix=$HOME/usr make make install cd - # add locally installed software to search path echo "PATH=$HOME/usr/bin:$PATH" >>.bash_profile source.bash_profile # install pip python src/get-pip.py
Once the busywork is out of the way, we can get to doing easier things, like installing SaltStack prerequisites:
pip install pyzmq pyyaml pycrypto msgpack-python jinja2 psutil pip install gitpython pip install requests backports.ssl-match-hostname six singledispatch certifi backports-abc tornado futures
Finally, let’s install SaltStack. As of writing this, the lastest version tracked in the Python Package Index is 2015.8.8, and there is no option for installing only salt-master or only salt-minion - it’s all or nothing. Again, this is not an encouraged method, this is a last resort (sorry Papa Roach, no cutting SaltStack into pieces here).
pip install --global-option="--salt-root-dir=$HOME" salt
A quirk I ran into while installing SaltStack via pip was that anything in --global-options gets passed to every package. So, if we one-line all the prerequisities together along with SaltStack, those options get passed to each and every package. Turns out, not every package uses or can even understand what --salt-root-dir=$HOME means, so it’ll error out. Avoid that by doing splitting up the steps just as I have outlined.
Last thing we need to do is configure both the master and minion to run as non-privileged users, and then we can start the daemons:
echo -e "user: $(whoami)
root_dir: $HOME" > $HOME/etc/salt/master echo -e "user: $(whoami)
root_dir: $HOME
master: localhost" > $HOME/etc/salt/minion # cleanup rm -rf $HOME/src salt-master -d salt-minion -d
The complete script put together from this guide can be found here. As always, your mileage may vary. Feel free to leave a comment if you get hung up somewhere in the process or if you have some good tips.
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DisqusMBC SPORTS Plus' new variety show 'Baseball Girls' (working title)!
'sand Ga Eun will show viewers their athletic sides on
'Baseball Girls' ('Girls Who Play Baseball') is a remake of KBS 2TV's 'Invincible Saturday's famous segment 'Invincible Baseball Team'. Subin and Ga Eun will join racing model-turned-announcer Lee Soo Jung and more to compete against other teams on the baseball field. The show will take fans through the team's training and showcase their skills playing in actual games.
[SEEALSO]http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/dal-shabet-to-conclude-their-promotions-for-be-ambitious-make-a-comeback-this-fall[/SEEALSO]
Subin and Ga Eun previously showcased their athleticism on 'Idol Star Athletics Championship' and 'Dream Team 2', and they've also thrown the opening pitch for baseball games. The cast will begin their 2-night-3-day boot camp next week.
'Baseball Girls' will air sometime later this month, so stay tuned!
Tip: fydsThe Dow had its sights on the 22,000 milestone on Tuesday, as stocks continued their record run amid strong corporate earnings.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 72.8 points, or 0.3%, to 21,963, a fresh all-time high. The S&P 500 climbed 6.1 points, or 0.2%, to 2,476. The Nasdaq Composite gained 14.8 points, or 0.2%, to 6,362.
Stocks have consistently hit new record highs in 2017 with investors showing confidence in the Trump administration’s economic and tax policies, particularly an expected cut to corporate rates as part of a broader tax reform plan. The market has also received support from robust profits. Earnings season is in full swing, and positive results from Dow members such as Boeing (NYSE:BA), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) have lifted the blue-chip index over the last week. U.S. corporations are projected to report a second straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth, according to the Thomson Reuters data.
The Dow traded as high as 21,990 during the session, a new intraday record.
Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said investor confidence from healthy earnings may continue to drive stocks higher.
“Fundamentals and earnings drive markets over the long run,” he wrote in a recent note to clients, “and they look to be improving.”
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However, the market’s record run has also increased risk to the downside.
“Historically low rates have helped to prop up equity valuations, but with the Fed looking to raise rates and other global central banks expected to tighten in the coming years, equity investors need to be mindful of the potential impact on valuations,” Lynch said.
Market sentiment also got a boost last week with the first reading of second-quarter GDP. The U.S. economy grew a solid 2.6% during the April through June period, a faster pace than the first quarter’s 1.4% growth.
Consumer spending, which helped fuel economic growth in the latest quarter, slowed in June. The Commerce Department on Tuesday revealed that spending edged 0.1% higher, down from 0.2% in May. Incomes were flat, the worst performance since November.
Construction spending declined 1.3% in June following a modest 0.3% gain in May, according to the Commerce Department.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked lower to 2.253% from 2.292%.
Nymex West Texas Intermediate oil settled $1.01 lower, or 3%, at $49.16 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.7% to $51.80 in recent trading.
In corporate news, shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) fell after automakers reported a weaker month of sales in July.
Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) cut its earnings forecast and announced 280 layoffs, saying it is looking toward new product launches to fuel growth after 2017. Shares were down 8.6% on Tuesday.
Sprint (NYSE:S) rallied 11.1% on the mobile company’s second-quarter profit. Although Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) isn’t interested in a merger, Sprint said it could “strike a deal” soon.A Scottish cathedral has become the first Anglican cathedral in the country to offer weddings for same-sex couples.
St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow is now taking bookings from same-sex couples following a decision earlier this year in the Scottish Episcopal Church’s General Synod.
The clergy of the cathedral have been given permission by the Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway to conduct such services following a unanimous vote to go ahead by the cathedral’s vestry, its board of trustees.
Speaking after the decision, the Provost of the Cathedral, the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth said: “It is hugely exciting to open up wedding services to all couples who want to get married. People at St Mary’s were part of the campaign to allow gay and lesbian couples to get married in Scotland so it is not surprising that we would want to be able to offer such weddings in the cathedral itself.
“St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow is one of the most stunning places that anyone can get married. It is wonderful that more people now have the chance of coming here for their special day.
“I want to live in a world where same-sex couples can feel safe walking down the street hand in hand and in which they can feel joy walking hand in hand down the aisle of a church too.”
The development comes after six of the seven diocesan synods of the Scottish Episcopal Church voted in March for a proposal to amend canon law to allow clerics to conduct marriages for same-sex couples in church. Only the diocesan synod of Aberdeen & Orkney voted against the change.
Clergy who are happy to preside over same sex marriages will be able to nominate themselves, while those who do not wish to officiate at such ceremonies within the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) will not be compelled to do so.
It is expected that people will come from other parts of the UK to be married in Scotland as a result of the decision by the SEC.
Speaking about this, the Provost said: “We already have one booking from a couple coming up from England who can’t get married in their local Church of England parish. We are glad to be able to welcome them and expect there will be many others who will follow them”.
The lay representative of the cathedral congregation, Dr Beth Routledge said:
“St Mary’s Cathedral aspires to be a church which is open, inclusive and welcoming. It feels fantastic to see another step being taken to make that even more real.
“When members of the congregation go to Glasgow Pride later this year, we’ll have a real sense of having helped to bring about greater equality for members of the LGBT communities.”
The booking forms for marriages on the cathedral’s website www.thecathedral.org.uk have been changed to make it clear that all couples can now make a booking.
The Scottish Episcopal Church voted in June to allow the weddings of same-sex couples to be conducted by those clergy who wish to be nominated to do them. The legislation comes into effect on 20 July.
In May, after a vote at its General Assembly, the Church of Scotland instructed officials to examine church laws to propose changes paving the way for same sex marriages - although it is thought it could be up to six years before same-sex Kirk weddings can take place. When they do ministers will be able to choose whether they participate. Last year Pope Francis released a report stating that there were “absolutely no grounds” for considering recognition of “homosexual union” within the Catholic Church.Obamacare — the crowning achievement on Barack Obama’s presidency — has a new critic: former President Bill Clinton.
Campaigning for his wife in Michigan, Clinton unloaded on the impact Obama’s signature legislation has had on insurance and the insured.
“You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden, 25 million more people have health care, and then the people are out there busting it for 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half.
“And it’s the craziest thing in the world,” Clinton said.
But he wasn’t done.
He also told the Michigan audience, “If you were on the other side of this, if you were the insurer, and you say, ‘gosh, I’ve only got 2,000 people in this little pool.’
“Eighty percent of the insurance costs every year come from 20% of the people,” Clinton said.
“If I get unlucky in the pool,” Clinton said, continuing to talk like an insurance company, “I’ll lose money.”
“So they over charge you just to make sure. In the good years, they make a profit out of the people least able to pay it. It doesn’t make any sense,” Clinton said.
“The insurance model doesn’t work here. It’s not like life insurance, it’s not like casualty, it’s not like predictive flood.
“It does not work,” Clinton declared.
The former president acknowledged Obamacare is hurting small businesses.
“The current system works fine if you’re eligible for medicaid, if you’re a lower income working person, if you’re already on medicare, or if you get enough subsidies on a modest income that you can afford your health care,” Clinton said.
“But the people getting killed in this deal are small business people and individuals who make just a little too much to get any of these subsidies,” he said.In Sharqiya, an Islamist stronghold, some place blame for the crime wave on “a lack of religious awareness,” said Mahmoud al Herawy, 51, a member of the ultraconservative Al Nour Party who supports the liberal Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. But crime victims, like Mohamed Ibrahim Yousseff, 63, often pine for the perceived security of the Mubarak era.
Three months ago, Mr. Yousseff saw his son Mahmoud, 29, killed, and another son, Abdullah, 24, crippled when carjackers opened fire with shotguns. A mob of villagers avenged the death by killing and incinerating one of the suspected attackers.
Mr. Yousseff said he would vote for Mr. Shafik, who served as Mr. Mubarak’s last prime minister. “He is a military man who has been raised on discipline,” Mr. Yousseff said, explaining his support for Mr. Shafik.
“It is becoming the culture of the Egyptian countryside to confront thuggery with thuggery, to take matters into our own hands,” he lamented.
Some say Egyptian police officers know only two extremes: the excessive brutality they used to employ, or the timid approach they have taken since the revolution.
Others contend that the lack of effective law enforcement is a grand conspiracy to spread nostalgia for the ousted authoritarian government. Said Sadek, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, argued that the internal security forces had, in effect, gone on an undeclared strike in protest against their public indictment for the repression of the past.
“The Ministry of Interior is trying to punish the people,” he said. “ ‘You want a revolution? Enjoy!’ ”
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Though he said the hysteria was exaggerated, Mr. Sadek acknowledged that he drove with his car doors carefully locked. “A number of my friends had their cars stolen and never recovered.”
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Even Egypt’s best-known politicians have fallen victim to crime. In the last year, the independent presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh; the Muslim Brotherhood ’s parliamentary leader, Mohamed Beltagy; and the liberal political organizer Amr Hamzawy have all been attacked by armed men on or near Cairo’s ring road. Mr. Aboul Fotouh lost his car and ended up in the hospital, Mr. Beltagy lost his car, and Mr. Hamzawy’s girlfriend, an actress, was briefly kidnapped.
Amani El Sharkawi, 25, an English teacher, recalled a cab ride that ended abruptly when her driver saw men with chains and weapons stopping cars on a deserted stretch ahead; the driver threw the car into reverse and drove backward down the highway. “Can you imagine that?” she said.
One evening about two months ago, Rena Effendi, 35, a photographer, entered a cab with a licensed driver in one of Cairo’s wealthiest neighborhoods — as she had done countless times without a thought before. But the driver diverted the car; locking the doors, he pulled a knife and tried to rape her. She fought back until he just took her handbag and left her.
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On Monday, Ms. Effendi said that the police later showed her a suspect who turned out to be using her stolen cellphone with a different SIM card. But they had made no progress in identifying the driver. “It tells me that if they want to find him they could,” she said. “I don’t know if they are looking very hard.”
Sayid Fathy Mohamed, 32, a cabdriver himself, said he was robbed in broad daylight by two knife-wielding passengers and two accomplices with shotguns who pulled up alongside on a motorcycle. They took his car, cellphone and wallet and left him bloody in a field. But the police showed little interest. “They were scared of coming with me to the location of the incident,” Mr. Mohamed said.
So he called his cellphone and eventually negotiated a ransom of about $2,000 for the return of the cab. “People back in my neighborhood collected the money,” he said. “I paid the money and took the car on the spot.”
In Sharqiya, the recent revenge killings began about four months ago in the village of Haryet Razna. Witnesses said Hazem Farrag, 28, stepped outside his family’s storefront auto supply store one night to help defend the young driver of a motorized cart known as a tuktuk from a threatening passenger.
The passenger shot and killed Mr. Farrag, witnesses said, and a mob of villagers beat to death both the passenger and a relative who they said tried to defend him. Then the villagers strung their nearly naked bodies from a lamppost and filmed the spectacle.
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“It was disgraceful,” said Mr. Herawy, 51, an Arabic teacher who said he found the bodies the next morning. “That is not the way to enforce the law.”
Mr. Yousseff, of the village Ezbet el Tamanin, said his sons were shot in February as they tried to intercede in the carjacking of a cousin. They had just left the funeral of another cousin, who was killed in a carjacking just two days before, he said.
“Should we surrender them to the police so they can release him in two hours?” he asked, defending the mob’s killing of one of the suspects. The police have brought no charges against any of the vigilantes. Other communities are banding together to demand law enforcement. Residents of the village of Abu Hammad said the police were initially slow to respond after burglars robbed the home of Hussein Abu Khisha, 50, and kidnapped two children from his family — Ibrahim, 10, and Kareem, 7.
The villagers closed down the main road through town, cutting off traffic. After two days, Mr. Abu Khisha said, the army sent tanks to break up the protests, and after six days the police finally traced the kidnappers’ cellphone to find his children.
Now he has decorated his yard with posters of Mr. Moussa, the former foreign minister who is running as a secular champion of law and order.
The Islamists, often jailed under Mr. Mubarak, just want revenge against the police, Mr. Abu Khisha argued. “They insult the police and talk about all the things they will do to them,” he said. “When you are sick like this, you go to a specialized doctor. You don’t go to a beginner.”#OpVendetta Press Release #AnonymousUK a guest Nov 4th, 2013 3,726 Never a guest3,726Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 2.03 KB ================================================================ #OPVENDETTA PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION - #AnonymousUK #Nov5th #MillionMaskMarch On November 5th, 2013, Anonymous will descend upon government buildings worldwide in a coordinated demonstration of global strength and solidarity. In London, Anonymous UK will march on, and occupy the area around, the Houses of Parliament, peacefully and unarmed, as part of the annual #OpVendetta. Last year over 3000 Anonymous activists marched from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament as part of #OpVendetta 2012, photos and videos of the event showing ideas being shared, plans being made and, for a brief time, anarchy reigning circulated international social networks and media and was the inspiration for the hundreds of marches that will be occurring this year in what has been called the #MillionMaskMarch. This international demonstration is a warning to all governments worldwide that if they try to fuck with Anonymous, or fuck with the internet that is our home we will fuck with them. The free internet is a place without governments, without states, without security agencies. It is an independent, self-governing, self-managing entity. Those who try to censor or control the internet will be defeated. Do not underestimate the internet. Do not underestimate Anonymous, its final boss. While governments continue to squash civil liberties, online or offline, while they continue to imprison whistle-blowers and activists and while they continue to squash the right to protest, Anonymous will not stand quietly by. The current political and economic systems fail to represent the majority of the people, the 99%. The hive-mind is forever ready and prepared for its next fight. Governments are only governments for as long as the people let them rule over them, they will not be our governments much longer. We are Anonymous We are Legion We do not Forgive We do not Forget You should have expected us. ================================================================
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================================================================ #OPVENDETTA PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION - #AnonymousUK #Nov5th #MillionMaskMarch On November 5th, 2013, Anonymous will descend upon government buildings worldwide in a coordinated demonstration of global strength and solidarity. In London, Anonymous UK will march on, and occupy the area around, the Houses of Parliament, peacefully and unarmed, as part of the annual #OpVendetta. Last year over 3000 Anonymous activists marched from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament as part of #OpVendetta 2012, photos and videos of the event showing ideas being shared, plans being made and, for a brief time, anarchy reigning circulated international social networks and media and was the inspiration for the hundreds of marches that will be occurring this year in what has been called the #MillionMaskMarch. This international demonstration is a warning to all governments worldwide that if they try to fuck with Anonymous, or fuck with the internet that is our home we will fuck with them. The free internet is a place without governments, without states, without security agencies. It is an independent, self-governing, self-managing entity. Those who try to censor or control the internet will be defeated. Do not underestimate the internet. Do not underestimate Anonymous, its final boss. While governments continue to squash civil liberties, online or offline, while they continue to imprison whistle-blowers and activists and while they continue to squash the right to protest, Anonymous will not stand quietly by. The current political and economic systems fail to represent the majority of the people, the 99%. The hive-mind is forever ready and prepared for its next fight. Governments are only governments for as long as the people let them rule over them, they will not be our governments much longer. We are Anonymous We are Legion We do not Forgive We do not Forget You should have expected us. ================================================================21 Min read time Share:
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Celebrated dystopian novelist Paul Kingsnorth talks surviving the collapse of civilization as we know it.
Paul Kingsnorth led the way, Gulliver-like, through the Lilliputian orchard he has put in since buying these two and a half acres in the west of Ireland three years ago. “Oh dear,” he said, “something’s dug that up.” He stooped to push back into place a young currant bush that a rabbit had uprooted. It was the deft motion of someone at ease in body and place, a writer with dirt beneath his fingernails. The sapling may be not much taller than his ankles, but the plan is that before long it will help provide the food that he and his family eat all year round; already, they are self-sufficient in the summer, more or less. He knows how to plant a field, how to wield a scythe.
This is all part of a philosophy articulated in Kingsnorth’s essays, and more obliquely in his fiction, that it is too late to save the world, but you can care for one small part of it, enriching both the land and your own life in the process. He has moved here from his native England to put theory into practice. Earlier, playing the good host, he had pointed out the bathroom, saying, “It’s a compost toilet, so just put down some sawdust when you are finished.” This, too, is part of the theory, as outlined in his forthcoming essay collection Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist. Plumbing is symbolic of “a civilisation that wants to wash its hands of its own wastes”; Kingsnorth proposes a new metaphor: “I will deal with my own shit” and, in such noisome contemplation, come to a better relationship with the natural world of which he is a part. As Thoreau had his pond, so Kingsnorth has—to use the English slang—his bog.
There’s an important distinction between ‘the end of the world’ and the end of the way we’re living now; it’s the latter that’s ending.
At forty-four years old, he is the author of two novels, a poetry collection, and three works of nonfiction. He is a founder of the Dark Mountain Project, a movement of creative artists united by a belief that climate change and humanity’s self-destructiveness cannot now be stopped, and a desire to respond to this accepted fate with works that are honest and often darkly beautiful, beautifully dark. His crowdfunded debut novel The Wake (2014), set around the Norman invasion of England in 1066, was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. Film rights have been optioned by Mark Rylance, often described as the greatest British actor of his generation, who plans to play the lead. Paul Greengrass, director of three Jason Bourne films, has been asked to write the screenplay.
“Paul Kingsnorth’s writing has had a huge impact of me,” Rylance said when we spoke on the phone. “I’m drawn by his consideration of what’s valuable in the world, and his challenge to the economic paradigm that we live in. I find his work very helpful in informing my thinking.”
His latest novel Beast (2016)—a sequel to The Wake—will be published by Graywolf Press in August, as will the Confessions collection. I met Kingsnorth on a wet afternoon in late February. We spoke in the living room of his cottage. His dog Quincy dozed in her basket by the fire, and the voices of his children, busy being homeschooled by his wife, Nav, drifted in from another room. Mounted high on one wall was a collection of “green men”—ten faces carved in wood and stone, each surrounded by a corona of foliage, symbolising wildness, rebellion, rebirth. An eleventh was out of sight, tattooed on his right shoulder, its tendrils groping downwards as if toward the light at the end of his sleeve. It is the arm with which he writes, and works a spade; pen and blade, both digging down to the truth of things.
Those inked leaves on pale skin made me think of something he had said earlier as we walked in his fields: “The severing of people away from everything else that lives is the heart of the crisis that we’re in.”
—Peter Ross
Peter Ross: Beast is the middle part of a planned trilogy spanning two thousand years. It is set in the present day and tells the story of Edward Buckmaster, perhaps a descendent of Buccmaster in The Wake, living the life of a hermit and trying to track down a large black animal that he glimpses on the moor. The Wake was striking in that you wrote it in an invented “shadow-tongue,” a mixture of Old and modern English. Beast is written in much more familiar language, but still feels uncanny and unchancy.
Paul Kingsnorth: I’m aspiring to produce the “uncivilised” writing we called for in the Dark Mountain manifesto back in 2009. I think that's more about style and execution than subject matter. If your writing becomes too controlled, not chaotic enough, then you’ve lost one of the fundamental elements of what it means to be an animal in the world. The idea is to write like a mountain hare—or like a mountain. What would it be like to attempt to write from the animal in you, and from the land around you, rather than from the rational, well behaved, civilized person that you are trained to be? Our writing is too civilized now. It’s too rational and realist, too middle class and urban. The kind of stuff that we lay out in mainstream culture as the height of great literature is not saying anything about the state of the world. It’s not saying anything about crumbling civilizations or climate change or extinction, or the complexity of being human in the midst of all that. It’s fake. I’m trying not to be fake.
The thing about these novels of mine, if I don’t make them strange, I’ll bore myself. I can’t imagine writing a third-person realist novel. I think I’d die of boredom.
My writing is also increasingly religious, or spiritual, although “spiritual” is such a horrible New Age word. I am a Zen Buddhist, but that’s not exactly a religion, it’s more a practice. As I get older, the spiritual mystery of life seems to be coming to the fore. It’s right there in Beast, which is a religious book, a quest book. It’s all the way through The Wake as well. I have a strong sense that the earth is alive. I’ve always had this. I remember reading Wordsworth when I was fifteen or sixteen and being really struck by the fact that he was talking about experiences that I had had—when you are up on a mountain and the world opens itself up to you. All the time when I was young, I felt there were mysterious things going on in nature. I believed in fairies and magic and all that. Then you grow up and put all that to one side, but it feels like it’s coming back into my writing as I get older. One of the disastrous stories our culture tells itself is that the world is a machine, and that you can cut it into bits and look at how it works. But it’s not a machine, it’s a great web of life with a strange religious mystery bubbling underneath.
PR: For most of your twenties you were a green activist who believed that by campaigning you could save or change the world. But at some point, around 2008, you stopped believing it was possible to avoid environmental catastrophe. Can you explain how that loss of faith happened?
‘This guy says the apocalypse is coming and there’s nothing we can do, so we should all have a party.’
PK: It wasn’t some blinding flash of light. I came to realize, gradually, that no matter how much information you give people, it doesn’t make much difference. There’s a huge level of psychological denial.
When I worked at The Independent in 1995, I was obsessed with climate change, but nobody on that newspaper was interested and nothing on it ever got published. I remember thinking, “If only we could get climate change on to the front page, things |
on the Trump train after it goes off the rails? Humiliated and publicly whipped during the debt-deal, a subservient McConnell and submissive Ryan still followed Trump's lead. Who would stop him in the White House? The 1930s populists like Steve Bannon and the RNC operatives like Reince Preibus are all gone. Ivanka and company certainly wouldn't object.
Would this require a political leap of a magnitude not yet seen in American politics? Sure. Would embracing socialized medicine do more harm than good? Absolutely. Would this be impossible to pull off? Not at all.
Given a long enough absence of a plan, Trump could go with whatever plan is put in front of him by default. That's an opportunity for Democrats and a potential nightmare for Republicans.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.Glenn Beck
Rupert Murdoch will kowtow to the Chinese. He will lie. He will make promises about maintaining the old standards at a newspaper he’s purchasing and then promptly break them. He’ll assign his journalists to dig up dirt on his business opponents. He’ll slag the Dalai Lama: “I have heard cynics who say he’s a very political old monk shuffling around in Gucci shoes.” And when it suits him, Murdoch will order his journalistic troops to perform the reverse ferret.
But with the shuttering of Glenn Beck’s show on the Fox News Channel, we now know that there is a journalistic sub-basement beneath even the genocidal tyrant.
I have no direct evidence that Murdoch killed the Beck show. Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff wrote last summer of Wendi Deng Murdoch making fun of Beck in front of Murdoch, making him “scowl.” We also understand that the man who runs Fox News, Roger Ailes, wasn’t enamored of Beck. “Half of the headlines say he’s been canceled,” Ailes told the Associated Press in April, when the show got the hook. “The other half say he quit. We’re pretty happy with both of them.” And, of course, other Fox journalists weren’t keen about the prospect that Beck was “becoming the face of the network,” according to a March 2010 Howard Kurtz report.
Whether you view Beck as an “activist” and a “comedian,” as TV analyst Andrew Tyndall puts it in the Kurtz piece, or as a carnival huckster and loopy talk-show host with a chalkboard, as others have, he gave the entire Murdoch empire a case of the willies for much of his stay on the cable channel.
Murdoch ordinarily doesn’t care that much about what “proper” people think of his enterprises. For several years now, he has sandbagged the press, the police, and a variety of politicians and celebrities in the ever-burgeoning U.K. phone-hacking scandal. He doesn’t give a rip when critics denounce Fox News for paying several Republican presidential contenders to appear on-air, thereby incubating their political aspirations, or when they yell at him for donating $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. Bring on the hate, bring on the denunciations. Like the honey badger, Murdoch doesn’t care what others think of him.
But even a nihilist—and nihilism, not conservatism, is Murdoch’s political creed—has his practical limits. And Beck’s show tunneled directly to the space below those Murdochian limits.
I don’t think it’s Beck’s outrageousness that got to Murdoch. If we trust Michael Wolff as a guide to Murdoch’s psyche, Murdoch “absolutely despises” Fox News’ outrageous star Bill O’Reilly, but he likes the money he brings in too much ever to push him out. Also, O’Reilly’s outrageousness never reaches the fetid depths that define Murdoch’s no-go zone. Say what you will about Bill: Even when he’s yelling, his point of view is both comprehensible and internally consistent. You can’t say that for Beck’s Nazi, Hitler, Holocaust, fascism, communism, world-government, Joseph McCarthy, Obama-“racism,” Obama-“affinity”-for-Islam, “Great Awakening,” and end-times riffing.
Charting Beck’s decline in a March 2011 piece for the New Republic, James Downie wrote:
Last November, in a two-part special that indirectly invoked anti-Semitism, he accused liberal Jewish financier George Soros of orchestrating the fall of foreign governments for financial gain. During the Egyptian Revolution, Beck sided with Hosni Mubarak, alleging that his fall was “controlled by the socialist communists and the Muslim Brotherhood.” Beck is now warning viewers not to use Google, accusing the search-engine giant of “being deep in bed with the government.”
Never really adding up to anything, the Beck show had a way of subtracting from itself. Under Beck’s control, his set looked like a crackpot’s headquarters instead of a broadcaster’s command center. Even his skilled delivery, honed by years of apprenticeship and journeyman radio broadcasting around the country, projected like a controlled mental breakdown by the end of his show’s run. (See also Dana Milbank’s document of Beck’s mental squalor, Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America.)
Beck always made of point of being independent of Murdoch’s empire. He has his best-selling books, a website (The Blaze), a magazine, lecture-hall bookings, and probably a nut-fudge concession stand somewhere. If the press wanted to talk to him, they had to contact Beck’s people at Mercury Radio Arts, not the folks at Fox. As several writers have pointed out, Beck’s distance from the Fox mind-meld may have played a bigger role in the killing of his show than the advertiser boycotts and falling ratings. Murdoch craves dependency in his employees. As somebody (damn you, memory!) put it in the recent Bloomberg TV documentary on Murdoch, Rupert is the only person who matters at News Corp. There is no second-in-command or subsidiary power. There is only Rupert. If somebody comes or goes at News Corp., we can assume it’s because he wishes it so.
We can be both comforted and dismayed by the discovery that Glenn Beck marks a space several rungs below Murdoch’s absolute bottom: Comforted by the knowledge that even Murdoch and company are capable of revulsion but dismayed that had Beck taken 10 percent off his fastball, he’d still be pitching.
The show must have confounded Murdoch and his people by the end of its run. Part infomercial, part talk show, part confessional, part lecture, part revival, it wasn’t journalism or even para-journalism. You never knew whether Beck believed what he was saying or whether he was just doing his best to stir the animals up (to pinch a phrase from Mencken). As Ailes told the AP, it’s hard to keep that trick going forever.
Like other recovering alcoholics, Beck projected a warped sense of correctness about his view of the world. For the better part of 30 months, his passion intoxicated a sufficient number of viewers to keep Fox off his back. But instead of becoming more sober, he became less until he was as blitzed as the alcohol-deprived Jack Torrance in The Shining.
For now, Beck is gone. I’ll drink to that. And somewhere tonight, I’m sure Rupert Murdoch is drinking, too.
******
Now don’t all of you people in recovery come after me for those last two paragraphs. Sober up for a minute and keep your views to yourselves. Everybody else can send email to slate.pressbox@gmail.com. All you can drink flows from my Twitter feed 24/7. (Email may be quoted by name in “The Fray,” Slate’s readers’ forum; in a future article; or elsewhere unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)
Track my errors: This hand-built RSS feed will ring every time Slate runs a “Press Box” correction. For email notification of errors in this specific column, type Beck in the subject head of an email message, and send it to slate.pressbox@gmail.com.Thailand E-Payment Trade Association has been officially launched by the members of Thai e-Money holders. The association is supporting the Standard QR Code which is encouraged by Thailand Government.Nowadays, new financial innovations and the increasing smartphone penetration in Thailand, with 40 million smartphones in 2015, 50 million in 2016, and an estimate growth of 80 million in 2021, has made mobile phones a necessity in today's lifestyle and electronics payment has become a daily activity.As a result, electronics payment providers saw it was necessary to band together and then established the Thailand E-Payment Association (TEPA) to upgrade the country's electronics payment industry to the global standards and to boost the confidence in e-payment amongst Thai consumers.The Thailand E-Payment Association (TEPA) was registered as an association on February 5, 2016 with the purpose of supporting the e-payment industry, aiding its members in any disputes, and centralizing the communication and cooperation with third parties. At present, the association has 16 members, both operators of electronic wallets and e-Money card providers. They are:Thai Smart Card Co., Ltd.Advance M-Pay Co., Ltd.Paysbuy Co., Ltd.TrueMoney Co., Ltd.Bangkok Smartcard System Co., Ltd.T2P Co., Ltd.Airpay (Thailand) Co., Ltd.Rabbit-Line Pay Co., Ltd.Fort Smart Service Public Co., Ltd.MOL Payment Co., Ltd.2C2P Plus (Thailand) Co., Ltd.Pay Solution Co., LtdNetbay Public Co., Ltd.Bluepay Co., Ltd.Omise Co., Ltd.Big C Supercenter Public Co., Ltd.Mr. Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, Group CEO of Ascend Group Co., Ltd., as Chairman of the Thailand E-Payment Trade Association: TEPA said "Electronics payment reflects Thailand 4.0 policy and the Cashless Society endeavor of the government. In many countries such as China and India, electronics payment has advanced greatly; in Sweden, cashless society has become a reality. The benefits of going cashless is boundless such as lessening the costs associated with managing cash, lessening the risks in holding on cash, and allowing inspection of every step of the payment process to cut down on corruption."The Thailand E-Payment Trade Association: TEPA aims to promote electronics payment by educating Thai consumers, public and private organizations about the benefits of e-payment. The association will also regulate the members to make sure they strictly adhere to the rules and regulations of the Bank of Thailand and Thailand government, as well as be the voice for members in supporting Thai business.Mr. Punnamas concludes, "I would like consumers and organizations to be opened to new financial innovations, particularly e-payment, which will truly increase convenience and security due to the strict governance from the government and the Bank of Thailand. Consumers and organizations can be confident that all 16 members of the Thailand E-Payment Trade Association: TEPA have been awarded the needed licenses to operate their business legally and vow to serve consumers with quality products and security that is in accordance with the global standards."0 Shares
The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.
A very positive development: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom writes to Secretary Kerry to urge the State Department to provide humanitarian parole for Bangladesh’s secularist writers and activists in danger. CFI and a coalition of other groups did the same in December. (Catch up with the rest of CFI’s policy work from last month in our Advocacy Update.)
As a side note, apparently John Kerry has been referring to ISIS as “above all, apostates,” which seems really, really counterproductive.
So there’s this claim that Bernie Sanders is the first non-Christian to win delegates from a major party’s presidential primary, which seems like it can’t be right, but Joe Lieberman didn’t win any in 2004, so, if true, pretty neat, huh?
Meanwhile, there exists a kind of conspiracy theory around coin-tosses winning the Iowa Caucuses for Hillary Clinton. Don’t you believe it.
John Brockman at Edge marks the 40th anniversary of The Selfish Gene by looking at the legacy of Richard Dawkins:
Dawkins, by building on the work of John Maynard Smith, William Hamilton, George C. Williams, Robert Trivers, and by adding and incorporating his own original, ingenious, and mind-bending ideas, has revolutionized the way we think about science and redefined the role of the public intellectual in western culture. It’s not just about science: it’s who we are, how we are, and even, how we think. In fact, he won’t even claim credit for the idea of the selfish gene. “I simply thought that way of looking at things was an imaginative, vivid way of presenting standard Darwinism. It was a new and different way of seeing it”, he has noted.
The Justice Committee of Virginia’s State Senate approves what opponents are calling a “Kim Davis bill,” which would allow public officials to claim a religious exemption to issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
Aida Alami at NYT reports on the conference of Muslim scholars meant to show a unified front against the persecution of religious minorities, though it still seems as though the nonreligious were not among those who they felt needed to be defended, at least it’s not in the reporting.
Charles Postel at Religion & Politics takes a broad view of religious tolerance in the 2016 election, and places it in the context of campaigns past. He concludes in part:
The GOP is fielding the most spiritually diverse group of presidential candidates in its history. At the same time, these candidates are appealing to religious paranoia and intolerance in ways that are both familiar and unknown.
The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security says the involvement of American Muslims in terrorism doubled from 2014 to 2015. But study author Charles Kurzman notes:
I try to remind readers … that among the threats to public safety that Americans face year in and year out, Islamic terrorism has played a very small role … Even the numbers of disrupted plots remain much lower than the public debate would lead us to believe. And yet it remains the focus of so much of the security discourse in American politics.
Holy crap: Carrie Poppy and Ross Blocher went undercover into the Church of Scientology for their podcast. Holy crap.
Did you know that Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology gets to review the country’s laws? Well it does, and as far as the blasphemy law goes, you won’t be surprised to know that they say they’ll look at it, but not to expect them to change it.
Last year, California enacted a law to nix religious exemptions for required vaccines for kids attending public schools, and it looks like it’s working.
Earth now has a Planetary Defense Officer at NASA, Lindley Johnson. The idea is to focus on asteroids and comets that might collide with us, but I have to assume they’re also watching out for things like Thanos, the Xindi, and the Borg. (Not the Death Star, of course, since that’s in a galaxy far, far away, so there’s no need to worry about it.)
And once we’ve avoided an asteroid, Luxembourg (yes, Luxembourg) wants to be the ones to mine it. (Couldn’t Luxembourg, like, fit on an asteroid?)
This is what it must be for Yosh and Stan Shmenge, the Happy Wanderers, in the afterlife.
Quote of the Day:
Justin Scott, the candidate-quizzing atheist of Iowa, is interviewed by the
Washington Post. He says Ted Cruz’s appearances are “like injecting Christian steroids into these voters,” and when asked about what he’d like to see in terms of a “secular voting bloc” he says:
I’m having internal battles in my head. I want to see all the differently labeled nonbeliever groups come together. We all support this idea of keeping our government secular. We all are part of this movement that doesn’t want to have laws that are dictated by someone else’s religious belief. We want to have a way of life that’s free from discrimination and oppression based on religious beliefs. If we found out that a law was going to discriminate against an entire group of people, we’d be mad enough. But if we found out that law was based in someone’s religious belief, that would cause all of us to slam on the brakes. We could all get involved in that.
* * *
Original image by Shutterstock.
Linking to a story or webpage does not imply endorsement by Paul or CFI. Not every use of quotation marks is ironic or sarcastic, but it often is.
Follow CFI on Twitter: @center4inquiry
Got a tip for the Heresy? Send it to press(at)centerforinquiry.net!
News items that mention political candidates are for informational purposes only and under no circumstances are to be interpreted as statements of endorsement or opposition to any political candidate. CFI is a nonpartisan nonprofit.
The Morning Heresy: “I actually read it.” – Hemant MehtaFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A woman claims that she, her husband and three children were kicked off a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to New York on July 2 without any explanation.
The family's attorney, David Templer, said that his clients, Tamir Raanan and Mandy Ifrah, who live in Brooklyn, were heading home after attending a wedding when their 1-year-old daughter, Eden, began kicking a passenger's seat.
Ifrah said she apologized to the passenger, and they exchanged words before the passenger changed seats.
That's when a flight attendant came over to Ifrah's family and asked them to get off the plane, the family said in a media release.
"The plane, at that point, just turns back around, goes back to the gate and security from JetBlue gets onto the flight and tells me and my family and I to grab our things and get off the plane," Ifrah said in an interview with Local 10 News.
JetBlue said that the adults in the family were making threats, and it was their actions that caused them to be taken off the plane.
Mandy Ifrah and her family were kicked off a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to New York.
"After a verbal altercation that included physical threats and profanities against a nearby customer, the aircraft door was reopened and our airports team politely asked the customers to step off to discuss the situation," JetBlue said in a statement. "The customers refused repeated requests and our crew members deplaned the entire aircraft. Law enforcement escorted them out of the gate area and we provided a refund."
JetBlue said the family was "not removed due to the actions of their children."
"We are investigating whether the customers' behavior warrants restrictions on JetBlue travel, and we thank our crew members for their professional handling of this unfortunate incident," the statement said.
Part of the exchange with the flight attendant in the plane was captured on video, as was their interaction at the gate. In the video, Raanan and Ifrah repeatedly ask for an explanation, and the flight attendant tells them they need to call the airline for further information.
A Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy stepped in shortly after that exchange and defused the situation.
"Ifrah said JetBlue told the family that they would be booked on a flight the next day, but they would need to find overnight accommodations," a media release sent on behalf of the family said. "However, JetBlue did not remove their luggage from the plane, leaving them without clothes and baby supplies."
A flight attendant on a JetBlue flight speaks to Mandy Ifrah's family before they were removed from the plane.
The family claims when they arrived the next morning for their flight, a JetBlue representative told them that they were banned from all future flights while the incident is under investigation. The family also claims they weren't given a reason for the airline's decision.
In addition, the family said that their luggage was not in New York when they arrived home and that it took a week before their bags were returned.
As for JetBlue's account of what happened, Ifrah said it's false.
"That's not true at all," Ifrah said. "My baby must have been kicking the chair. I mean, she's, you know, at that time, she needs a bottle. She’s tired. She’s cranky."
Ifrah said she would simply like an apology from JetBlue.
"It was just embarrassing," Ifrah said. "It was horrible."
Copyright 2017 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.I love League of Legends
Gonna do this in two parts since they both pertain to different things:
Part 1: Boosting
So I guess I should start with the situation that prompted all of this. Yesterday with the QQ booster ban wave, anyone associated with the skype group, QQ names, etc was banned for obvious reasons. These bans are deserved and everyone got what was coming to them. One of those banned was our current support player. This whole process happened immediately after the roster lock for NACS this week, so next week we'll be subbing in Bee Sin again. I'm not really salty about having to use him as a sub over an actual support main, since we could've taken the C9 approach and signed 20,000 subs and we opted not to.
Now, despite the arguably justifiable reasons for our support having boosted 2-3 months ago, he knew what he was doing, and opted into doing it anyways. If I was in his position, I would have done the exact same, but that doesn't really change the punishment for anything. My only issue with this whole situation is that he was cleared by Riot at the start of our season, despite Riot knowing that he had boosted then. If a player is cleared by Riot to play in challenger series, despite knowing that he's done this and been punished for it already, how can you punish him 1 week later with a competitive ruling? The company basically lied to the organization about the player being eligible to play, and they lied to the player about his situation. They basically dangled this fantasy in front of the kid's face and pretended like he had a chance of playing despite knowing full well they were going to kick him out anyways. I don't know if this company has some insane communication issues going on behind the scenes that caused them to change their stance on former elo-boosters playing professionally that caused them to overrule their ruling on the eligibility of him playing, but it's really sad. He basically wasted time he could've spent at another job or opportunity with us because he was told he was okay to play.
To be honest, I'm all for condemning people who are elo-boosting and trying to play professionally. I don't blame people for boosting when you can make enough money to pay for school, but it shouldn't be something that's allowed by pro players. Unfortunately, almost everyone does it or has done it, so if Riot is going to start banning former elo-boosters despite clearing them to play, we might as well expect the entire LCS and CS playerbase to disappear. I think it might be a good idea to start with the players that are currently boosting in LCS and CS, rather than those that have already quit it, especially since they're still actively doing it.
Part 2: Organizations
Alright, so everyone's basically heard at this point that Riot will give a nice tug-job to any team with big financial backing. If you're famous, rich, etc, Riot wants you badly and will do what they can to get you and keep you in. The whole promotion system from CS to LCS, while completely 100% better than the last, was definitely intended to help move towards a franchise system and help make investors feel more secure about getting involved with LCS teams. I don't blame them for wanting to make money by creating a cleaner system, but if you're not apart of the "big boy's club", you're basically treated as an outcast.
So there's pretty much 3 tiers of teams:
1) LCS teams with big names or big sponsors, i.e. Fnatic/TSM/Cloud 9/NRG/etc:
These guys will get really good treatment from Riot. They're likely friends with them, etc and have a lot of pull in the community because of who they know. This is 100% normal and something that will always happen. Nothing negative about this.
2) Average LCS teams: Giants/UOL/Old TiP/etc
They still probably get good treatment from Riot, the on-site people that do player support in the studios are all great so nothing much really changes on this front. They won't have much pull with Riot though, and no one's going to be too upset or try to save them if they drop out unfortunately. This group has been slowly slimming down with recent investors coming in, and will likely be replaced if they don't get good backing, which is good for the sport imo. All LCS teams should have similar treatment.
3) Challenger Series teams: Literally everyone not in LCS that isn't a B team for an LCS org
So here is what Liquid Matt described as the ghetto. Whether you think that's offensive or not, it's 100% true. Unfortunate LCS players will drop down here waiting on their career to die, and young 16 year old kids will sign shady contracts hoping they do well enough to make it out. You're also the guinea pigs for anything that Riot wants to test for LCS. Have fun
Riot doesn't care about the orgs that make up the third tier. They don't care if you get paid unless it's the mandated minimum amount they give out for each season, and even then they may just not do anything. If your org decides to give you a scam contract and fuck you up at the end of the season and not pay you, Riot won't do anything to stop that org or help you. You're told to handle the legal matters yourself, and that org is allowed to keep going. Challenger Series orgs have even tried to keep Riot money meant for players to themselves, and STILL been allowed to stay in competition for CS.
Huma got called out for this by their staff, Riot deemed everything as fine since the players at least got their minimum Riot salary. CW as an LCS and CS team got multiple complaints from ex-players about not getting paid on time, but they left on their own accord, without getting any punishment from Riot. Imagine and Ex Nihilo, the teams Martin Shkreli had a huge involvement in, didn't pay their players. No one heard about that until the random scandal with Shkreli's drug prices came out though. Alicus, probably one of the last people you'd hear me praise, is the one who had to pay the players on Ex Nihilo, but Riot just didn't seem to care I guess. There's teams in LCS now too that have just decided not to pay players, but most players just avoid talking about it because it's a big struggle to handle a lawsuit like that if you don't have a good backing. Imagine being a 16 year old kid in Challenger Series trying to bring a lawsuit to an organization that fucked you over if Riot doesn't even seem to care?
-------------------------------
I don't know, I could probably write a novel on the rest of the shit that just upsets me with Riot and League, but I don't think it's really necessary right now. The only good experiences I've had with Riot have come from people like @vigsworld in player management. I really can't say I've had nice run-ins with the rest of Riot. Most of it has always been unorganized and sloppy, and it really makes me feel demoralized knowing that a lot of the people in charge are usually clueless about how things actually work. I've said in the past multiple times that I think anyone can be apart of esports, but I've never actually meant that in a good way. I just think that the majority of people involved are either extremely incompetent or greedy. I've stayed around in CS to try and help new players handle the shit storm that is professional league, but it's really getting tiring.
Reply · Report PostMaine Supreme Court to Hear Ranked-Choice Voting Case
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has accepted the Legislature’s request to explore the constitutionality of a dramatic election overhaul approved by voters in November.
The court released a schedule for written and oral arguments on Tuesday in response to a request by the Maine Senate to review several aspects of a ranked-choice voting.
Voters in November approved ranked-choice voting for congressional, legislative and gubernatorial races, making Maine the first state to adopt to swap its plurality election system for one in which voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Last week the Senate voted 24-10 to ask the court whether that system jibes with the Maine Constitution. Advocates for ranked-choice voting protested the vote, arguing that the new system is now law. But lawmakers countered that the court should review it before the state spends money to implement ranked-choice voting and to avoid future court battles.
Briefs are due by March 3 and responses to initial briefs by March 17. Oral arguments are scheduled for April 13.
Over 52 percent of Maine voters approved of the change in November.
In a written statement, Republican Senate President Michael Thibodeau, thanked the court of responding quickly to the senate’s request.
“Lawmakers desperately need guidance from the court as we move
forward crafting public policy in order to prevent uncertainty in the outcome
of our future elections,” he said.Redondo Beach residents captured both the men’s and women’s divisions of the 14th annual Village Runner St. Patrick’s Day 5K that attracted 1,500 runners to the city’s beachfront Sunday.
Stewart Harwell, a 33-year old oil and gas engineer, came in first for the men with a time of 15:25.
“It was great racing conditions,” Harwell said. “I’m so excited to win this race. I ran in college at UCSB, but I wasn’t satisfied. I’ve gotten much better in my running as I’ve gotten older.”
Austin Van Biezen, 23, a Cal Poly Pomona student, ran second with a time of 16:02, and 32-year-old Adam Henry of Santa Monica came in third at 16:18.
For the women, Nathalie Higley, 47, topped the field with a time of 18:26, solidifying her title as the oldest female runner to win the race.
“I’ve won this race at least four times,” she said. “This year was hard. I made my move halfway through and I’m just very happy with the win.”
As for running in a morning chill under foggy conditions, she said: “It’s nice not knowing where the top of the hill is. It makes it look not quite as bad.”
Juliana Libertin, a 25-year-old Northwestern University med student, came in second at 19:30, while Linda Jegren, 28, of Stockholm, Sweden, ran in third at 20:20.
More than 150 people donned St. Patrick’s Day outfits to participate in the race’s costume contest. A family dressed as leprechaun wranglers took first place.
South Bay chef, restaurateur and “Top Chef” season 14 winner Brooke Williamson served as honorary host at the event. Williamson also ran the 5K with her husband and their son.
A portion of the proceeds from the race will go toward supporting the Redondo Beach Educational Foundation, as well as local schools and running programs.
“I love the spirit of this whole community, and it’s really demonstrated every year at this race,” Village Runner race director and founder Mike Ward said.The phrase “first-time director” tends to summon up a very specific picture: a bright-eyed kid, perhaps fresh out of film school or graduating from YouTube, a Hollywood outsider looking for an in. Dan Gilroy is, well, not that kid. Nightcrawler (out Tuesday on Blu-ray and DVD; available now on demand) is his feature directorial debut, but the 55-year-old writer/director has been knocking around the business for nearly a quarter-century now; his first credited screenplay was 1992’s Freejack, where he met his future wife, Nightcrawler co-star Rene Russo. She’s not the only familiar name in Nightcrawler’s credits — you’ll also see two other Gilroys, Dan’s brothers, editor John (Salt, Warrior, Pacific Rim) and producer Tony (himself a two-time nominee, for writing and directing Michael Clayton). I asked Dan how filmmaking became, for him, such a family business.
“Our father is a playwright and an independent filmmaker, so we grew up in a household where this was being done,” he explains. “When we were in our 20s, we all moved to New York, and they became bartenders, and we all had random jobs. Tony and I started writing, Johnny started cutting films, and it just evolved; we each sort of found different levels to work at, as we grew older. I married Rene, and Rene and I are very creatively close. She reads all my scripts and gives me ideas on them. So when I finished the script and I wanted to direct it, I gave it to Tony, and Tony very generously said, ‘I’ll produce it.’ And that got the ball rolling, for people to go, ‘OK, well, if they’re willing to risk their time and energy on you, maybe I am as well.’ So it’s crucial to have that first person raise their hand, and Tony was that person for me. And my brother John is one of the best editors alive, and I think the film speaks for itself.”
Indeed it does. Nightcrawler was one of the surprises of the fall, a sharp, stinging, often disturbing, and frequently funny character study of a… well, “sociopath” seems fair. Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an insomniac who stumbles into the world of stringer news photography, freelance cameramen who roam the night looking for crime-scene footage to sell to the “if it bleeds, it leads” morning newscasts. Gilroy says he was fascinated by their world before he even knew what story he was going to tell there.
“I became obsessed with it,” he says. “I thought this was a great idea for a backdrop for a film. And I always thought it was going to be a plot-heavy film: maybe a conspiracy, or a Chinatown. I kept trying different variations of that, and it just wasn’t working the way I felt it could work. I kept putting it to the side over a period of years, and then about two and a half years ago, I started taking the hero character, and I imagined what it would be like if I put an antihero in.”
That antihero makes a strong first impression, with an opening scene of unexpected violence that makes clear exactly who he is, and what boundaries he does and does not have. “I wanted to start off with a violent act,” he recalls. “I did not want a character with an arc. I wanted to break as many narrative rules as a could, so there’s no arc, there’s no redemption, there’s no backstory.” In fact, Gilroy dismisses character arcs as “a narrative fallacy. I don’t know anybody who goes through a major life change, like films present, and somehow transforms. I think we’re pretty much fully formed at a certain point in our lives, and we stay that way for better or worse. So I wanted him to do a violent act at the beginning, so that the audience didn’t think, Oh, he was a nice guy who this job made crazy. That was not what the movie was about.”
What makes Lou more than your typical antihero is the astonishing work Gyllenhaal does in the lead role — it’s a fabulous turn, not telegraphed, but filled with slight indications (a look or laugh held just a beat too long; a motivational phrase spouted with not quite enough sincerity) that something’s way off here.
“He’s fearless,” the director says of his star. “He’s willing to take risks, and I think risks are vital for really any kind of art. So our process was very much one of us saying, I have an idea, and other one, rather than saying My first thought is no… it was, That’s interesting, let’s see if we can try that.” The process appealed to a specific element of Gilroy’s personality: “I gamble. I like the feeling of gambling, and I like to take risks. So I bonded with Jake on that level. Jake came to me and said, You know, I’m thinking of losing weight. Well, 27 pounds later, there’s Jake. It all makes sense now, but that was a big, frightening decision on many levels… to have the chance to work with an actor who is that committed, and that creative, it was just an incredible experience for me. I’m so thankful that I got the chance to work with him, and that he took risks working with a first-time director like me.”
Nightcrawler marks Gilroy’s first time in the director’s chair; it’s also his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Original Screenplay. The Oscars are, of course, an enjoyable spectator sport for those of us who aren’t in the industry, but what does the nomination (and possible win) mean for Gilroy, a working writer/director, on a practical level? “Everybody’s practical levels are different,” he says. “For me, the thing that I want to do next is to write another screenplay, and get another film made, probably independently. So on a practical level, I got most of what I wanted prior to the nomination, in the sense that we got a critical response which was very positive, and commercially we did well, to the point that people will go, What do you want to do next? I got that, which is fantastic.
“The nomination to me goes beyond practicality. It’s just an acknowledgement from your peers, from people you work with, that they appreciate your work. One of the best parts of the whole thing has been going to Q&As and panels, and just meeting people whose work I’ve watched for years, and I had never gotten a chance to meet any of them. Richard Linklater, I’ve become sort of friends with him, and Damien Chazelle. There are very creative, wonderful people to talk to, and that to me has been the benefit from all of this.”, the man who led South Africa past the racial discrimination of apartheid is seriously ill and in the hospital. The nearly ninety-five year old Mandela is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and served as President of South Africa from 1994-1999, the first black man to hold the office. The South Africa he inherited was one buoyed by the hope and optimism of a hard won victory. Through passive resistance and unarmed struggle, the county’s black majority had wrested from the hands of a white majority the reigns of a system where all advantages had been given to the whites and all costs borne by the blacks. South Africa’s revolution from the inequality of apartheid was bloodless, led by a strong charismatic leader, |
device.
Other features new to Android Studio include Cloud Test Lab integration, the App Indexing Code Generation and Test, an IntelliJ 15 Update and GPU Debugger Preview.
Go here to get the latest version of Android Studio.
ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Iranians may blame Ahmadinejad for exacerbating domestic problems, the author writes. Top 5 U.S. misconceptions on Iran
Top five, 10 or 100 lists are standard at the end of the year. Though the Iranian year doesn’t end for roughly two months, given the escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, with threats and counter threats over the Strait of Hormuz — to say nothing of most GOP presidential candidates’ views on what to do about Iran — it might be useful to compile one on the growing Iran crisis, early 2012 here and late 1390 there:
1) More severe sanctions will eventually cause the regime to blink.
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Um, no. Thirty-plus years of sanctions have had no effect on Tehran. None. The regime can’t blink — even if it wanted to. Not after it has spent energy, money and every tool it has convincing its people that the nuclear program is a matter of national pride, that the West wants to prevent Iranians from enjoying the fruits of technological advancement and that their suffering under the sanctions is for the country’s greater good.
The regime’s credibility has already suffered because of the opposition protests in 2009 and 2010. So what would it have left if it caved to foreign demands that even the opposition describes as unreasonable?
2) Increasing sanctions will cause the Iranian people to hate the regime even more, leading to an uprising against the ayatollahs.
No. The Iranian people may blame their government for economic mismanagement, as well as human-rights abuses — but most won’t blame it for U.S. actions. Similarly, Iranians may blame President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for exacerbating domestic problems or creating problems with the West because of his rhetoric. But they don’t blame him for, say, sanctions that prevent Tehran from buying parts for its aging airplanes, which fall out of the sky with alarming frequency.
Think about it: When a nation is attacked, or under severe external pressure, it usually blames the external enemies, not its own leaders. If you factor in the assassinations of scientists on the streets of Tehran and mysterious factory explosions, sanctions and threats may make life miserable for Iranians but are unlikely to cause them to overthrow their rulers.
3) A spark is all that’s required to ignite protests and a revolution. We will “stand” with the Iranian people.
Perhaps. And no, we won’t. But the spark cannot be a foreign one.
Iranians have never, in their more than 2,500-year history, taken the side of a foreign invader. Not even the Arabs, who invaded Persia and forced Islam on its people — which they later altered. Guess who hates the Persians more than anyone else? That’s right, the Arabs.
No, if there is change in Iran, it won’t be brought about by foreigners — or wealthy and well-connected Iranians in exile.
Most Iranians don’t believe that Washington “cares” about them or “stands with them.” After Washington’s long friendship with the shah, they’re not naive.
If America cared, Iranians reason, it wouldn’t be so cozy with dictatorships. It “stood” with Hosni Mubarak — until it decided it should “stand” with the Egyptians in Tahrir Square. It “stands” with Saudi Arabia — while Riyadh oppresses its people and sends troops to put down a popular uprising in Bahrain. Iranian TV fetishized the demonstrations and brutal suppression on that island, home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, much as the Western media fetishized Iran’s Green Movement.
CORRECTION: Corrected by: Bridget Mulcahy @ 01/18/2012 09:05 AM CORRECTION: An earlier version of this piece misidentified the Fifth Fleet.CALPIRG Students Rally for High Speed Rail
It’s no surprise that CALPIRG is a strong supporter of High Speed Rail for California. While the rest of L.A. County was holding their breath on the L.A. County transit tax ballot proposition known as Measure R in 2008, CALPIRG was more concerned with a state bonding proposition that would set aside billions for the California High Speed Rail Project.
Back then, most people thought of California High Speed Rail as the future of transportation for the state. High Speed rail was imagined as fast quiet trains zooming through the country-side connecting the major cities and other attractions. Over the last three years, High Speed Rail has taken a beating in the public, with accusations of incompetence and corruption hurled at the project’s Board of Directors. Nationally, the idea of fast moving trains has become a political hot potatoe because President Obama likes the idea which means that Republicans have to hate it.
For example, these are two headlines that didn’t make the morning headlines roundup: With Little Hope for Near-Term Federal Support, California High Speed Rail Struggles, and Congress Is Broken and CHSR Pays the Price.
But yesterday at Union Station, on the same day that U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer announced a “mark-up” of legislation to renew the federal transportation funding package, a group of CALPIRG’s students rallied to remind voters, and the Senator, that High Speed Rail is a winning proposition for California regardless of what’s going on with the politicians and appointed members of the state CAHSR Board.
“As students, we know that our broken, outdated, and oil dependent transportation system needs to change,” said Josh Joiner, CALPIRG Students Campaign Leader. “With California’s population expected to hit 50 million by 2035, we can’t afford to just keep building more congested highways and airport runways that will cost us more money and keep us stuck in traffic, stuck on security lines at the airport, and ever more dependent on oil. Our transportation system alone consumes more oil than any country in the world besides China.”
Last week, the Senate voted against President Obama’s Jobs Bill, which contained $4 billion in funding for increased U.S. high speed rail capacity. Part of today’s rally was to push for his provision’s inclusion in follow up legislation to be considered by Congress in the coming weeks.
Students members of CALPIRG also asked passerbyers to snap a picture of themself holding an “I love trains” sign to Senators Boxer and Feinstein to show their support for High Speed Rail. The good news is that both Senators have expressed support for High Speed Rail, and other forms of rail travel, in the past with Boxer releasing a press release every time USDOT gives more funds to the California project.Could we just not do that this time around?
Hello humans, it’s me again. I know we don’t always see eye to eye on a lot of things. Okay, most things. But this time I think I’ve got a pretty decent idea, point, argument, thing… so if you could just hear me out this once, I think we’ll all be better off in the long run. Granted, you’ll probably go and ignore the fuck out of me, but I figure it’s best to just give it a shot just in case.
Here’s the thing. I’m not a historian. I’ve never attained a degree in the study of history. But I know a little bit about things that have happened before now. I’ve also heard this phrase thrown around by a lot of folks, many believing it to be incredibly profound wisdom:
“Those who don’t pay attention to history the first time around are doomed to repeat it.”
Or something like that. Anyways, here’s what’s troubling me of late. You see, when you take a gander at the ol’ history of humans, there’s this thing they (you, we) do every few years. It’s just this little, tiny, silly little thing where we MURDER, SLAUGHTER, KILL, RAPE, BOMB, SHOOT, STAB, BURN, INCINERATE, ANNIHILATE AND DESTROY EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE ON THE FUCKING PLANET!!!!
Then we go ‘Alright! That’s enough!’ And we draw up some treaties and we say ‘Okay, that was a bit silly, let’s not do that again for a while.’ And we carry on with our usual nonsense, which is fairly ridiculous in its own way, but not quite as bad as the whole massive massacring, in my not so popular opinion.
Now, here’s my crazy little set of observations, coupled with a teency, weency suggestion.
OBSERVATION THE FIRST! It has been a little while since the last time we all got together and decided we ought to murder everyone on a nice global scale. This appears to have gotten people a little ruffled up wondering ‘hmmm, we haven’t done that in awhile… maybe we should give it another shot?’
OBSERVATION THE SECOND! I’ve heard it suggested several times, by influential and intelligent folks, that we have just gone through the “2nd great depression” and that the only way to get out of a depression is to go and have one of these big ol’ rounds of fisticuffs, because then once we’re all working on killing each other, our money problems are miraculously solved. Just look at dubya, dubya two!
OBSERVATION THE THIRD! I’ve seen a very disturbing trend in recent months to casually suggest that we are inevitably heading very quickly to just this scenario. Either we are going to bomb Iran, or they will bomb Israel, or something will happen in Korea, and then the Russians and Chinese will join forces and the US and Europe will join forces and we’ll have ourselves a nice big ol’ global dust up and that’s just the way it has to be because that’s just the way things are and well shucks that’s just the way it’s gonna be.
SUGGESTION!!!!!!!
Don’t.
Do.
It.
People.
Humans!
All of you! (Us even!) Let’s try something crazy! Let’s just take a minute here and think about maybe giving another idea a shot. Let’s take a different path this time. You know, the path that doesn’t involve nuclear weaponry. The one that doesn’t lead to a country with 2 billion people in it mobilizing the largest standing army in the history of the planet and facing off with the country with the largest arsenal of nuclear and biological weapons ever stockpiled.
Instead! Let’s do anything else! Everything. Oh my, would you look at the possibilities outside of getting all dressed up in uniforms and slaughtering each other for a decade. Why there’s just so many things we could do! Endless really.
You see I’m a big believer in objective truth. That is, I don’t believe anything is true unless it can be proven true when cross-examined objectively, without bias or pre-conceived notions. One of my favorite litmus tests involves imagining you are an alien spacecraft hovering above the planet and taking a good solid look at what’s going on. Under this scenario, I find it very hard to believe that countries exist, anywhere but in our mind. We made them up! We killed each other a long time ago and then we decided on some borders and said ‘If you’re born here you’re different than if you’re born there” and other equally ridiculous assertions. Some of the more popular ones include:
If you were born here you are superior on all counts to anyone who was born there
Some things happened there a long time ago so now we hate anyone born there
If anyone born there ever does ____ we have to kill everyone born there and I’m sure everyone born here can agree
etc. etc.
But the reality is this. If you floated down on your alien craft and took a look at the 49th parallel in North America. You would see a curious, inexplicable sight. You would see structures, fences, towers. You would see guns, patrols, checkpoints. If you looked closer you would see documents, paperwork, anal probes. In the halls of power you would see debates over what to do about this line you could not see. This line you could not measure. This line you wouldn’t know was ever there, unless the humans told you it was there. And no matter how many times they told you, or how passionately they argued that the line was there, that the border existed, that it was a very real and important thing. No matter how stupid they thought you were for not understanding it, you would be right. And they would be wrong.
There is no line.
There never was. There never will be.
There is no here, and there is no there
There is no us and there is no them
So there’s no reason to kill each other by the millions. There’s no reason to think it has to be. There’s no reason to believe it is inevitable.
Not in the real world. Not in the realm of truth.
But humans, truth is not your strong point. I’m not saying it ever was or it ever will be. I’m just hoping… that you’re better than I think you are.
Advertisements“This so-called permanent agreement after 50 days of fire and bloodshed, leaving 400 children murdered, is signed just on the 50th anniversary of the creation of PLO (the Palestine Liberation Organization),” Nathalie Goulet said in an email interview with the Tasnim News Agency.
She was referring to a ceasefire deal between Palestinians and Israel, which was mediated in Cairo and took effect on Tuesday evening.
The truce, which ended seven weeks of Israeli brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip, has called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt and a widening of the territory's fishing zone in the Mediterranean.
Palestinian health officials say 2,142 people, most of them civilians, including more than 490 children, have been killed in the enclave since July 8, when Israel launched an offensive on the coastal enclave of 1.8 million population.
Elsewhere in her comments, Goulet insisted that the State of Palestine should be entitle to enjoy its own “flag, national anthem, currency and territories with safe borders” as a sovereign country.
“The international community has now a duty to resolve the Palestinians’ issues,” she underlined.
On Wednesday, a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) convoy crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip for the first time since 2007, carrying enough food for around 150,000 people for five days.
Eighteen trucks carrying food parcels containing ready-to-eat items such as canned meat, beans, tea and other drinks, made the seven-hour trip from Alexandria to the Rafah crossing, which has been closed since the start of the Gaza blockade in 2007, the WFP said in a statement.An investigation is underway into the resignation of the head of governors at a Yorkshire school who claims he was asked to step down because of his political views.
Scarborough councillor Mike Ward alleges Eskdale School headteacher Sue Whelan asked him to relinquish is role as the chairman of the governing body after he joined the UK Independence Party.
In a statement, coun Ward said he was invited to a meeting with the headteacher after his switch to Ukip was reported in local media.
“She then asked me to resign saying UKIP’s policies were against the ethos of the school.
“I was astonished as politics had never played a part in my time as a Governor but after some soul searching over the weekend and not wishing to cause the school any further issues I tendered my resignation which she accepted.”
Responding to the allegation, North Yorkshire County Council said: “North Yorkshire County Council has received a complaint from a member of the public about the resignation of the chair of governors at Eskdale School in Whitby.
“This is a matter for consideration not by the County Council but by the school’s governing body. We understand that the governing body is taking this complaint seriously and will respond to the complainant.”
The school was referring inquiries about the matter to the county council today.
UK Independence Party deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: ““This is an outrage, Mike has been a dedicated governor for years and it is totally unacceptable that membership of UKIP should be considered to be incompatible with being a governor,” said the party’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall.
“This is discrimination against a conscientious man who has worked tirelessly for the school and it is a disgrace that the head teacher has taken it upon herself to oust him. He purely has the interests of the school and local youngsters at heart.
“There must be a full independent inquiry into this debacle and Mike should be re-instated. He is a former teacher and university lecturer and I’m sure his fellow governors had no problems with his completely unrelated political membership.
“Everyone is entitled to their own political views and I’m sure the other governors have theirs and possibly even belong to a political party but like Mike just concentrate on seeking the best for Eskdale School.”Appearing on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports on Wednesday, Hardball host Chris Matthews sounded the alarm over the left-wing being in disarray: "The Democratic Party is not unified right now. It's coming apart, you can see it, it's devolving. And so everybody – it's every man for himself, every politician for themselves right now."
Matthews made the comments in response to a question by fill-in host Peter Alexander asking about Hillary Clinton's position on the Obama administration's proposed trade deal. Matthews argued: "Intellectually I think she probably is for the trade deal. But the pressure on her from all the Democratic interest groups right now.... does she want to make enemies with organized labor? Probably no."
Continuing to warn of doom for Democrats, Matthews proclaimed:
The Democratic Party, if you care about the party, does well when it's more than the sum of its parts. Under the Clintons, under the Kennedy administration, it was always for something bigger than just a bunch of interest groups. And the minute it becomes just interest groups it gets about 44% and loses the next general election. It has to be for something commanding, something national, something unifying, something, okay, inspiring. It can't just be protect your rear end. And unfortunately, that's what it's beginning to look like lately as the President fades, you know, the President's fading into his later part of his second term. And they're just doing everything for themselves. It makes sense politically. It's not nice to look at, though.
Here is a transcript of the April 22 exchange:AMES, Iowa – Junior point guard Monté Morris announced Friday that he will return to Iowa State for his senior season and will not enter his name into the 2016 NBA Draft.
“After carefully considering all of my options and speaking with Coach Prohm and my family, I have decided to return to Iowa State for my senior season,” Morris said. “Ultimately, it came down to wanting to accomplish a number of things, with earning my degree and continuing my development as a basketball player my top priorities. I want to get stronger and become the best basketball player I can before becoming a professional, and I feel another year at Iowa State can help me do that.”
Morris also noted his appreciation for the fans and the university.
“One of the great things about playing at Iowa State is playing in front of Cyclone fans at Hilton Coliseum. I can't wait to experience Hilton Magic again with my teammates. We will work hard this summer as we try to earn Iowa State's sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. This university and its fans have always been loyal to me and I will always be loyal to ISU.”
Morris, who will turn 21 on June 27, is a Bob Cousy Award finalist and a Big 12 Second-Team selection as a junior. He averaged career highs of 13.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and broke ISU's single-season record with 6.9 assists per game, which was previously held by Jeff Hornacek.
One of the top floor generals in the college game, Morris and his eye-popping 4.47 career assist-to-turnover ratio return to head coach Steve Prohm's program.
“The way Monté handled this process speaks volumes about his character and maturity,” Prohm said. “From our program's perspective we are ecstatic. For me personally, I look forward to continuing to develop our relationship and to help him continue to grow as a player and person in his efforts to reach his ultimate goal of becoming a professional basketball player after the 2016-17 season.”
“Monté has had a terrific first three seasons at Iowa State and I look forward to helping him and his teammates to reach their goals,” Prohm added.
The Flint, Michigan native, enters his senior season with his name etched on a number of Iowa State's career lists. Morris is 26th in scoring (1,133 points), sixth in assists (551), eighth in steals (172) and 18th in 3-pointers made (98). He needs just 115 assists and 40 steals to break Hornacek's school records of 665 career dimes and 211 career steals.
Morris has played in 105 career games and made 86 consecutive starts, the fifth-longest streak in school history.When the Los Angeles Rams drafted South Alabama tight end Gerald Everett, some thought it was a bit of a reach, but it could pay off well.
Similarly, below is a comparison with Everett to other current top NFL tight ends based on their Relative Athletic Scores.
His SPARQ score for athleticism was among the best in the rookie class for his position, ahead of O.J. Howard.
Here are some of the most exciting projections for Everett, who will likely have an immediate impact for Los Angeles next season.
Gerald Everett will lead the Rams in receptions
He ranked top five among tight ends with 29 receptions. During college, he had 107 receptions, which is more than similar collegiate tight end prospects Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham had combined.
Last season with Rams head coach Sean McVay running the offense for Washington, tight end Jordan Reed finished with 66 receptions. That ranked third on the team. As offensive coordinator, McVay also led Reed to the most receptions on Washington in 2015.
McVay was the tight end position coach for Washington from 2011 until 2013. Fred Davis and Reed, both tight ends, finished second on the team in receptions during two of those seasons.
On a team led by McVay now in Los Angeles, it would not be surprising to see Everett take a similar role.
He will lead all rookies in receiving yards
Everett ranked top-three with 418 slot yards and top-five in yards per route run with 2.31. Pro Football Focus also had Everett ranked ahead of Evan Engram, who was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
During 2014, Everett had 292 yards. The following season, he had 575 yards. Last year, he had 717 yards. He got better each year.
This offseason, the Rams lost Kenny Britt as well as Lance Kendricks and Brian Quick. They combined for 159 receptions and 2,065 yards.
With the extra opportunities, Everett may capitalize on that and become a huge target for Jared Goff.
.@PFF_Mike says Rams' Gerald Everett will lead the Class of 2017 in receiving yards by a tight end. Rated him above Evan Engram. https://t.co/RIoyoaMb52 — Joe Curley (@vcsjoecurley) May 2, 2017
College coach says he could have been a running back
This isn’t a prediction as much as it is a fact about the kind of player the Rams now have on their team.
According to Mock Draftable, the player that Everett compares best to athletically is Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, who won the Heisman Trophy when he was with Alabama. Henry was picked with No. 45 overall in the draft, one spot below where Everett landed in 2017.
His college coach wondered if he would be big enough to be a tight end because his weight was low.
While he may not be much of a blocker, running and catching won’t be a problem for Everett at the next level. As such, he could have translated to become an NFL running back to break tackles.
In the interview, Jones tells me he thought Gerald Everett was such an athletic and bruising runner he could’ve been an NFL running back. — Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) May 4, 2017The autumn before last, a friend and I loaded a hefty whitetail into his Prius. I would say we loaded the deer into the back of his Prius, but the truth is that the animal filled most of the car and then some.
That experience got me thinking: What if, at least once in their respective lifetimes, every Prius hauled a deer and every hunter drove a hybrid?
The hunter need not wear camo or blaze orange while driving, though that would help. The deer need not extend beyond the hatchback, though that would be a nice touch, too. (The whitetail shown here would have fit better if quartered.)
There would, naturally, be a carbon-footprint reduction for physical transport of both hunter and hunted.
The biggest impact, however, would be to our collective imaginations.
Seen from the blue end of the conventional American political spectrum, hunters would start to look less like nature-hating Neanderthals. It might occur to more folks that seeking and taking wild food from the land is an ancient, natural, sustainable human practice.
Seen from the red end of the spectrum, environmentalists would start to look less like self-righteous ninnies. It might occur to more folks that devotion to the ecological health and integrity of our earthly home is vital to a sane future. To any future at all for that matter.
Across the entire spectrum, it might occur to more folks that deer-hunting and Prius-driving can be motivated and informed by the same kinds of deeply felt values and commitments.
I can picture all kinds of scenes: stealthy archers slipping out of small, quiet cars, deer being packed in beside cloth “save the planet” grocery bags, Toyota launching the Prius Predator (gun rack optional), and so on.
As appealing as these images are, there is no need to be literal about this. Freshly killed cervids, shiny Prii, and the placement of one into the other are not the point.
What matters is the symbolic juxtaposition of the two.
As millions of hunter, angler, environmentalist hybrids know, we share common values, common histories, and common concerns for the future. United, we wield formidable political power. Divided, we serve those who profit from exploitation.
To meet the ecological, social, and fiscal challenges we face, we need to bridge those divides. We need to blur the simplistic lines between us. We need to challenge our own prejudices. We need to stop playing the antagonistic roles so often scripted for us.
Building on successes there, we might recognize other possibilities, other necessary bridges. We might see, for instance, that we cannot stop at finding common ground among our country’s (overwhelmingly white, male, and aging) hunters and our (also overwhelmingly white) environmental groups.
We might recognize the need to join forces with the environmental justice movement, standing with communities disproportionately affected by toxins, ecological degradation, climate change, and threats to sacred places. We might see the need to join forces with educators who are reconnecting kids of all colors and classes with the outdoors, cultivating future conservation leaders.
We might recognize the need to think beyond the conventional spectra of politics and creed. We might see the need for a movement that calls—as Natural Leaders Network director Juan Martinez put it at TEDx Jackson Hole in 2011—“for breaking down the silos of environmentalism and conservationism and the civil rights movement and feminism…a movement that brings us all together.”
Like Martinez, I don’t care whether you hunt, fish, forage, hike, garden, birdwatch, paddle, climb, or all or none of the above. I don’t care what you eat. I don’t care whether you’re black, white, or brown. I don’t care whether your collar is blue or white or nonexistent. I don’t care whether you’re gay or straight. I don’t care what your gender is (or used to be). I don’t care what your religious or spiritual beliefs and practices are, if any. I don’t care whether you identify as Libertarian, Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Socialist.
If you want a world of wholeness and connection and respect—a world where healthy, sane humans inhabit (and recognize ourselves as participatory members of) healthy natural communities—then we’re on the same team.
We might disagree on this or that. We might need to have hard conversations and do hard work to integrate ideas that seem opposed. But we’re on the same team.
Call our team the Big Tent Greens. Call it the New Nature Movement, as Martinez and Louv do. Call it the Alliance to Blow Stereotypes Sky High. Call it whatever you want.
I’m there.
So is my Prius-owning friend who, contrary to country-song typecasting, is quite capable of skinning a buck. Did I mention that he’s a lifelong hunter?
© 2015 Tovar CerulliYou must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters
— Two members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the chairman of the state House Elections Committee say a program used by the Obama campaign to register North Carolina voters violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the state's election laws.
The system allowed users to fill out and remotely sign a voter registration application using their phone or tablet computer. By signing the device's screen, a user would control a remote pen that applied their signature to paper.
"This particular method has at least the appearance of an attempt to skirt the current law," said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, chairman of the House Elections Committee. The state currently forbids online voter registration.
Gary Bartlett, director of the elections board, said the process met all the requirements for a "wet" signature laid down by North Carolina law. The forms are not submitted electronically but mailed to county boards of election.
"We had legal counsel inside and outside research it, and they came back with the same answer," Bartlett said.
Four of the five current members of the State Board of Elections say they were never informed of the program.
"I think the staff mistakenly interpreted the law. They should have passed it by the State Board of Elections before approving it unilaterally," said Charles Winfree, a Republican lawyer from Greensboro and longtime board of elections member.
Asked if the current board would have approved the program, Winfree said, "No, we would not have approved it, I don't think."
Larry Leake, a Mars Hill Democrat, lawyer and the current chairman of the board, said he did not know about the program until Winfree called him this week.
"Had we been having this conversation 24 hours ago, I would not have known what you were talking about," Leake said. "We're certainly looking into it."
Number of users is unclear
The appeal of a completely automated system is clear. Voters become registered without having to print or mail a form. For those trying to ensure that as many like-minded people are registered as possible, the process removes the obstacles that voters used to paying taxes and water bills online may see as unreasonable.
But critics say it could open the state to voter fraud, allowing those who want to stack voter rolls with fake names to do so from the comfort of home.
Roughly 11,000 of North Carolina's 6.4 million voters – less than 0.2 percent – may have used the system, designed by Allpoint Voter Services in Oakland, Calif., according to the Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank that recently raised questions about system.
"That would be the highest number it possibly could be," Bartlett said.
Once counties receive a voter registration application, nothing marks the source of that application, election staffers said. So there is no notation in the statewide election database that would indicate how many registrations came in through the system.
Leake, Winfree and fellow elections board member Robert Cordle, a Charlotte Democrat, all served in 2011 and 2012 when Bartlett and his staff approved the signature program. The three say they were never told about it, although Cordle said it appeared the staff had proper legal opinions indicating the registration system was valid.
That said, Cordle added, "I think we'd have all liked to have known about it."
Jay Hemphill, a Republican member of the board from Raleigh who was appointed in 2012, said he was also uncomfortable with the system.
"I'm learning more about it, but what I know I'm not comfortable with," he said.
North Carolina law generally prohibits online voter registration systems like those used in states such as Oregon and Utah. In most cases, state law requires voters to sign a physical document that is then delivered to a local board of election.
Veronica Degraffenreid, elections liaison with the State Board of Elections, said staff reviewed the system in 2011 and tested it in 2012. It was her understanding that the remote pen was applying the signature at the same time the user signed the phone, not storing it and applying it to paper later.
"There would be no basis for not processing that signature under the law," Degraffenreid said.
A spokesman for Allpoint could not be reached Friday.
Winfree said that, regardless of whether the signature is applied instantly or there is a time lag, it is clearly being transmitted electronically and the form is being completed online.
"That to me is a distinction without a difference," he said.
System was not well known
Elections board members are not the only ones who said they didn't know this remote signature process existed.
"We would have used it," said Dallas Woodhouse, state director for Americans for Prosperity. His group was active during the election, encouraging voters to vote early by mail through a service that facilitated obtaining and submitting the forms.
Woodhouse said that the board did not advertise that the remote signature system was legal.
"They didn't tell anyone else other than the Obama people," he said, calling that "a moral failure" on the part of the board of elections.
Allpoint received payments, including $25,000 in August 2012, from the Obama campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The Republican National Committee has also paid Allpoint for its voter registration service.
"It's one thing for the DMV or some other government agency to collect these applications. I do have a concern about a vendor that may have a close relationship with a campaign do it," Winfree said.
Bartlett brushes aside this criticism, saying that the board wasn't approving anything they viewed as legally new.
"All this conspiracy stuff is just ludicrous," Bartlett said. "We did not know who Allpoint was working for."
News of the system was reported during the election. A story by The Associated Press ran in The Charlotte Observer and news websites throughout the state. The political and technology news website Tech President also wrote about the system more than once.
Scott Laster, a lobbyist who was executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, wrote to the board in September asking about the program. Don Wright, a lawyer for the board, replied with a legal memo that outlined how the remote signature program worked. Laster replied "Thank you for the information and for the clarification."
In an interview this week, Laster said he still had questions about the system
"It felt like there was more conversation to be had," he said, but at the time, he was too busy to pursue the matter further.
That pursuit may come this spring. Lewis said the House Elections Committee may hold hearings about the matter, and Leake and Winfree said it is possible the state board may discuss the issue.
Program touches a political and practical nerves
Bartlett said Friday that he still thinks the Allpoint program complies with current law. That said, he added that, had he known that board members and lawmakers would be upset, he would have informed them.
Barlett's job often straddles the worlds of practical, nonpartisan administration and political reality. In 2009, he asked Susan Nichols, a special deputy attorney general who consults on election matters, for an opinion as to whether online voter registration programs would be legal. Such voter registration systems would not have used "remote signatures" but rather an all-electronic process.
Bartlett said he withdrew the request after consulting with Nichols and other staff members. As he recalled, online registration may be legal but would have provoked a political firestorm.
Two years later, when Allpoint asked about whether its system would be legal, Bartlett said his staff decided it conformed to current law. Nichols was once again consulted on the legal opinion drafted by Wright and has never indicated she disagreed with it, but she has never formally or legally "concurred" with it.
The issue is wrapped into the politically sensitive topics of voter fraud and voter identification. Republicans have long argued that North Carolina does not do enough to secure the ballot, and GOP legislators are expected to soon move legislation requiring voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls.
The Board of Elections will soon see turnover. Board members' terms will expire in April, and the board now split between three Democrats and two Republicans will flip to GOP control. That new board will be responsible for reordering the election staff.
As for those who registered with the service, anyone who showed up to the polls would have had to show ID as a first-time voter. It is unclear at this point how many of those who registered through Allpoint's system showed up to vote or have since been placed on "inactive" status because local boards of election could not verify their status.
Winfree said his immediate concerns about the Allpoint program are more practical. For example, he said, when someone fills out a conventional voter application, they are subject to perjury charges if they provide false information. It is unclear, he said, whether someone who signs through this electronic process would be subject to the same sanctions.
"If we do it, we need to be really careful with it," Winfree said. "I don't want to do anything that's going to undermine the integrity of the election. It would have to be airtight before I would support it."The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is an ongoing endeavor to map the sky in great detail, with many different goals. One of the larger objectives is to map the structure of the cosmos by determining the positions of galaxies and their relativistic redshift (basically their distance). Using this data and Mathematica, you can plot the information and reveal the structure of the cosmos.
In my spare time, I queried the SDSS website, which is database driven, and in eight separate queries I was able to get all galaxies in the survey out to a redshift of 0.5. According to Wolfram|Alpha, this corresponds to looking back in time 5.02 billion years ago, or a distance of 6.14 billion light years, when the light we’re |
DACA recipients saw their protected status revoked for being involved in gang activity or suspected/convicted of a felony. Due to a loophole in the DACA program, more than 39,000 illegal aliens have been able to obtain Green Cards and more than 1,000 naturalized.Being more transparent.
I'm a relatively private person. Throughout my career producing Twitch and Youtube content there's been numerous times where I've straight up vanished, or the consistency in my content has plummeted. I've always been of the mindset that if I'm dealing with something personal I don't want to bring that into my work and I walk away never saying why.
Last week my mother was admitted to hospital and today she underwent brain surgery. She is the bravest and strongest woman I know and she means the absolute world to me. As you can imagine I haven't handled it anywhere near as well as she has. I can't find joy in making people smile when my own smile is a forced one, and so yet again I've lapsed in producing content.
I feel like the reclusive nature I use to deal with problems like this damages not only my work but also my relationships with the people I love and so I've decided moving forward to try and be more transparent about my life and things happening in it that may conflict with broadcasting. My hope is that it will help me cope better, and it will keep you guys in the loop.
Sam
Reply · Report PostCLOSE Jeff Twiss was found dead from a gunshot wound the day after Thanksgiving, and police say there isn't a clear motive.
Shooting (Photo: The Republic)
A man was found with a fatal gunshot wound on Friday morning at a west Phoenix bus stop, and police are asking the public for help in finding a killer.
Someone called police at about 7:30 a.m. Friday to report a seriously injured person at a bus stop near 51st Avenue and Osborn Road, according to Officer James Holmes, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Police arrived and found 50-year-old Jeff Twiss on the ground and seriously injured from a gunshot wound, Holmes said. Twiss was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Investigators believe someone shot Twiss between sometime Thursday evening and when he was discovered on Friday morning, Holmes said. Detectives have not established a motive, he said.
Police said they have little evidence to work with on this case and are asking anyone near 51st Avenue and Osborn Road on Thursday or Friday who may have information about the shooting to contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or the Phoenix Police Department Violent Crimes Bureau at (602) 262-6141.
Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1y6tCcOHow much of your almond milk is actually made from almonds? A new false advertising lawsuit against Almond Breeze maker Blue Diamond alleges it’s far less than the packaging would have you believe.
Blue Diamond doesn’t list what percentage of Almond Breeze is made from almonds in the U.S., but a U.K. Almond Breeze website says it’s only 2 percent, FoodNavigator-USA reports.
The lawsuit, filed July 14 in New York, doesn’t specify what percentage the average customer would deem acceptable for purchase, but it does say “upon an extensive review of the recipes for almond milk on the internet, the vast majority of the recipes call for one part almost and three or four parts water, amounting to 25-33% of almonds.”
Plaintiffs Tracy Albert and Dimitrios Malaxianis argue in the suit that the product’s packaging, which includes pictures of almonds and the phrase “made from real almonds,” deceives customers into thinking they’re buying a product made mostly from almonds. The lawsuit also claims “that consumers allegedly purchased the product based on the belief that it was a healthy and premium product,” food law attorney David L. Ter Molen told the site.
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When the issue came up in the U.K. three years ago, its Advertising Standards Authority said customers likely understood how much water was needed to create almond milk: “We considered that, whilst consumers might not be aware of exactly how almond milk was produced, they were likely to realize… that the production of almond milk would necessarily involve combining almonds with a suitable proportion of liquid to produce a ‘milky’ consistency.”
In a statement to TIME, Blue Diamond said, “The primary ingredient in nearly all popular beverages including coffee, tea, soda, juice and sports drinks is water. Cow’s milk is 85% to 95% water and the same can be said for most soy and almond milks which is why our brand is not alone in responding to recent claims.”
[FoodNavigator-USA]
Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com.By Christopher R Rice Underground Newz
" registering to vote in more than one place, voting where he didn't live, voting more than once in the same election, and providing false information to election officials," according to an account by Talking Points Memo. A supporter of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was charged with 13 counts of election fraud, including
This sort of misdirection is pretty common, actually. Election fraud happens. Or vote buying. Or coercion. Or fake registration forms. Or voting from the wrong address. Or ballot box stuffing by officials.
DEAD AND STILL VOTING
Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much. But they do agree that voter registration lists across the country are a mess.
A new report by the Pew Center on the States finds that more than 1.8 million dead people are currently registered to vote. And 24 million registrations are either invalid or inaccurate.
The Pew study found that almost 3 million people are registered to vote in more than one state.
Voters also die, which leads to another problem, says Linda Lamone, who runs Maryland's elections.
"If a John Smith lives in Maryland and goes to another state, say on vacation, and dies," Lamone said, "the law of the state where John Smith dies dictates whether or not the Maryland vital statistics people can share that information with me."
An NBC Bay Area Investigation has uncovered thousands of California voters who remain on the voter rolls despite having died several years ago.
That discovery prompted several state and Bay Area election officials to re-examine their records, after our investigation brought this issue to light.
NBC Bay Area used the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File to cross reference with the California state voter rolls using name, date of birth, and similar zip codes to find matches. We found over 25,000 questionable names still on the state voter rolls. A closer look at the data revealed that some of the dead people were not only registered, but somehow, even voted, several years after their death. Sometimes, clerks say the mistake can purely be a clerical error, such as a misplaced signature or an outdated registration list that hadn't been purged. Other times, though, the voting turns out to be fraud, clerks say, where family members vote on their dead relatives' behalf. NBC Bay Area found several other examples, too. People like Sara Schiffman of San Leandro who died in 2007 yet still voted in 2008, or former Hayward police officer Frank Canela Tapia who has voted 8 times since 2005, though he died in 2001. John Cenkner died in Palmdale in 2003. Despite this, records show that he somehow voted from the grave in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. A recent study by the Pew Center on the States found 1.8 million dead people still on the active rolls nationwide. In a close election, 1.8 million votes for either candidate would throw the election and turn the loser into the winner. Source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Dead-and-Still-Voting-177286281.html DEAD PEOPLE AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE REGISTERING TO VOTE ALL ACROSS AMERICA The truth is that election fraud is absolutely rampant in this country, and when someone tries to steal an election they are committing a crime against all of us. Officials in Colorado acknowledged “very serious” voter fraud after learning of votes cast in multiple elections under the named of recently-deceased residents. “Somebody was able to cast a vote that was not theirs to cast,” El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman told CBS4 while discussing what he called a “very serious” pattern of people mailing in ballots on behalf of the dead. It’s not clear how many fraudulent ballots have been submitted in recent years. CBS4 reported that it “found multiple cases” of dead people voting around the state, revelations that have provoked state criminal investigations. At least 86 non-citizens have been registered voters in Philadelphia since 2013, and almost half — 40 — even voted in at least one recent election, according to a legal group that sued to get voter registration records.
VOTING MACHINE FRAUD
I have degrees in both electronics engineering as well as computer science. I am also a computer programmer, network engineer, and business process integration expert. I understand how these machines work from the fundamental level, the electrons flowing around the circuits, the programming, all of the communications, to the final tabulating of the results. I have maintained for more than 20 years now that there is absolutely no way to secure electronic voting. Unless the voter holds in their hand a paper ballot containing their choices and that these can be counted later to verify the electronic result, there is otherwise no way to prevent election fraud. End of story. The vote can be compromised at many points along the way. Not only can the programming code "eat" itself, or remove any trace of itself, the voting machines can also be remotely triggered to effect the outcome. Hiding this function deep inside the electronics and separate from the code. Many programmers may not even consider this aspect of the problem. We must end this fraud if we are to ever regain control of our republic.
ELECTION 2000
The Choicepoint Scandal: “Journalist Greg Palast has shown that the firm cooperated with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, in a conspiracy of voter fraud, involving the central voter file, during the US Presidential Election of 2000. The allegations charge that 57,700 people (15% of the list), primarily Democrats of African-American and Hispanic descent, were incorrectly listed as felons and thus barred from voting. Palast estimates that 80% of these people would have voted, and that 90% of those who would have voted, would have voted for Al Gore.”
The supreme court essentially decided the election by stopping the recount in Bush V. Gore.
All independent recounts show Gore would have won if the supreme court hadn’t halted the counting.
Thousands of black voters were disenfranchised because their names were illegally expunged from the voter rolls.
ELECTION 1960
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
CHICAGO — Stephen Schiller was a 23-year-old law student when he became a member of a secretive team investigating the outcome of the 1960 election.
Schiller, now a retired judge who is 73, joined special prosecutor Morris Wexler's staff in December 1960 to answer a question still debated by historians today: Did
Chicago
Mayor
Richard J. Daley
steal
Illinois
' 27 Electoral College votes for fellow
Democrat
John F. Kennedy
, denying
Richard Nixon
the presidency? Kennedy won the state by 8,858 of 4.7 million votes.
"It was really intense," Schiller recalls. "There were possibly forces of evil out there, and we didn't want them to know what we were doing."
Five decades later, there's no definitive answer. "My sense is nobody really knows and nobody's ever going to know," says Edmund Kallina Jr., a University of Central Florida Kennedy v. Nixon: The Presidential Election of 1960. He believes vote fraud did occur in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois, but not on a scale that changed the outcome. history professor and author of the new book. He believes vote fraud did occur in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois, but not on a scale that changed the outcome.
Bill Daley, son of the late mayor, says his late father "took offense" at persistent speculation that he wielded his political power to engineer "hanky-panky" in the 1960 election.
Kennedy carried Cook County, which includes Chicago, by 318,736 votes — more than double his national margin of 118,574 votes.
"As we've found out in modern times, there are problems or difficulties or anomalies in many elections," he says. "Election days are not pretty."
Bill Daley, 62, was chairman of Al Gore's 2000 Democratic presidential campaign against Republican George W. Bush. A razor-thin margin of 538 votes in Florida decided that election for Bush after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled ongoing recounts unconstitutional.
'SUBSTANTIAL' MISCOUNTS
The country was in an uproar over the legitimacy of Kennedy's win when Schiller went to work on Wexler's inquiry into irregularities in the Cook County vote.
"There was a public sense that things weren't as they should be... having absolutely nothing to do with Kennedy," he says.
Mayor Daley already had a reputation for stuffing ballot boxes and giving ward bosses and precinct captains vote quotas. Two recounts of Chicago-area voting later showed that Democrats had likely stolen tens of thousands of votes, but most were in the Cook County state's attorney race.
Between classes at the University of Chicago and into the night, sometimes until 2 a.m., Schiller joined other members of Wexler's team to conduct interviews and cull through ballots and election judges' tallies. When Schiller misplaced a draft of a report, a supervisor feared someone had broken in and stolen it.
Wexler's report, issued in April 1961, found "substantial" miscounts in the 1,367 precincts it examined, including unqualified voters, misread voting machines and math mistakes. In one precinct, voters asked where to deposit tickets for a drawing for hams. In another, a precinct captain handed out slips of paper entitling voters to free lunches.
Wexler brought contempt charges against 667 election officials, but the cases were dismissed by a Democratic judge. Three people were convicted on criminal charges.
Nevertheless, Kallina says, the repercussions of the 1960 election changed politics — and perhaps contributed to the collapse of Nixon's presidency. He was forced to resign in 1974 after he was linked to a 1972 burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover-up.
After 1960, Kallina says, Republicans mounted massive poll-watching efforts and presidential campaigns focused on winning electoral instead of popular votes. The election fed conspiracy theories in politics and helped fuel partisanship, he says.
"One of the major consequences," he says, "is that you can draw a link... to Watergate in the sense that the lesson Nixon took out of all this is, 'I'm not going to be cheated again. The Democrats play unfairly.' "
Countless numbers of Americans have laid down their lives to give us the right to vote, and the people behind voter fraud are making a mockery of their sacrifices. -SluethJournal
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Dump Trump / Arrest HillarySquare Enix bringing NieR: New Project and more to Paris Games Week
Square Enix has revealed their plans for Paris Games Week, set to happen in just under two weeks over in France. Along with the usual suspects, the company has revealed both NieR: New Project – the next entry in the NieR series revealed at E3 for PS4 – will be on hand along with Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae 2.0.
The full lineup includes:
Just Cause 3
Final Fantasy XV
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Hitman
NieR: New Project
Final Fantasy Explorers
Life is Strange
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below
A new announcement from Square Enix’s Collective project
For NieR, Square Enix will be holding an exclusive presentation at their booth featuring Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro. This event will take place on October 29th at 11:00 local time. Square Enix is promising new information on the game.
Final Fantasy XV will also have a stage presentation of sorts, with Episode Duscae 2.0 playable on the floor. It’s important to remember, however, that there probably won’t be anything major as the next updates on the game are penned in for the end of the year/early next year.
Via: FF Dream.15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management
Kevin Kruse has written one of the best books I’ve ever read on scaling up Time Management. In this book ‘15 Secrets Successful people Know about Time Management’, Author Kruse starts off with introducing the idea of ‘1440,’ and the importance of keeping an eye on our 1440 minutes of the day.
As Kevin states: “We can never get time back again. Unlike money, it is irreplaceable. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.”
This is why this book is a necessity for everyone, because we all have time management issues. By learning how successful people use their time [15 secrets], we can model what works for them and instead of easting our time and invariable our lives, we can gain a greater stake in our most valuable resource.
Now, about this book…
The first secret #1: Time is your most valuable and scarcest resource.
By acknowledging this, we can start to count down the minutes from the moment we wake up. Every minute counts when you are spending time every hour of the day.
Secret #2: Identify Your Most Important Task and then work on it first thing before anything else.
It’s about focusing on your priority tasks, your MITs. As Kevin states, this is a key task-based action plan for defining what is the most important thing, and then getting into it first thing in the morning.
Secret #3: Work from your computer and not a To-Do-List -- Schedule your important tasks using time blocks. You should schedule important items as early in the day as possible.
Secret #4: Procrastination can be beaten when you figure out how to beat your future self.
This chapter delivers great content. Why do we procrastinate? We are fixated on doing things in the future that never get done. By focusing on our present self, we can make choices in the present moment that impacts our future. As Kevin points out, procrastination isn’t about laziness. It is about underestimating the power of the present moment emotions vs. the future emotions.
Secret #5: Accept the fact there will always be more work to do and more that can be done.
So the concept in this chapter is simple. Leave work at 5pm every day. You can work harder but there is always more to do and there will always be something that needs doing.
Secret #6: Always Carry a Notebook.
This chapter talks about the importance of writing down everything in a notebook. This concept isn’t anything knew but, writing ideas down solidifies them in the mind. It makes them more real. Thomas Edison, George Lucas and John Rockefeller all had notebooks where they kept everything.
Secret #7: Email is a great way for other people to put their priorities into your life.
The 321 system is amazing. This chapter is critical in saving time and giving you back a large part of the day that is otherwise wasted. How much time do we spend on email [reading, writing and sending] a day? How about 2.5 hours. That is a lot of time. By getting your email inbox to zero, you can stop wasting time going through email that is redundant.
Secret #8: Schedule and attend meetings as a last resort.
Who doesn’t love [hate] meetings? This chapter gets down to truth about how so much of our time is wasted on useless meeting time and just filling in the day with meetings because that is what we are supposed to do in companies. Here we get good strategies on eliminating the unnecessary meetings, or at the very least, shortening them.
Secret #9: This is all about knowing [and learning] to say NO to most of the things that occupy your time. If it doesn’t support your goals, say NO and move on. I love this concept.
Secret #10: The Powerful Pareto principal. For anyone who is into Time Management this is a principle that cannot be ignored. The author does a great job of showing us how to apply the 80/20 rule to our lifestyle and business. This chapter has other great takeaways such as:
• Develop your skills to be exceptional in a few areas
• Do the most important things exceptionally well
• You can work less, stress less and enjoy more happiness by figuring out the 20% of things that are most important to you.
Secret #11: the 3 Harvard Questions that Save 8 Hours a Week: In this chapter you can outsource the work you don’t have to do and save time by delegating what you can.
Secret #12: Why Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Themes His days. This is a great idea…theme your days to target a specific area of your business. The author provides great examples from John Lee Dumas and Dan Sullivan.
Secret #13: Don’t Touch [Until You’re Ready]. When sorting out email or papers, the golden rule is, touch it once. If it needs to be touched more than that you are wasting time. Either take action on it, file it or throw it away.
Secret #14 is waking up early and getting a kick-start in your day by drinking water, doing exercise or reciting incantations. Kevin uses several key examples from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tim Ferris, Anthony Robbins and John Lee Dumos. This is definitely my favourite technique in the book. Waking up early and taking action gives you the best use of your time and clears your mind for the rest of the day.
The last time management principle, that isn’t really about time management at all, is boosting your energy so you feel better and you can accomplish more in the same amount of time. The book wraps up nicely with 20 additional time saving techniques and strategies.
Getting Down To the Nitty-Gritty on this book:
There are a lot of great time saving concepts in this book. Kevin Kruse does a great job at delivering the content in a simple approach that you can put these strategies into practice right away. I especially love his approach to the “1440” method that reminds us we have only 1440 minutes a day.
You could read this book in less time than that and start to save time while feeling great about the extra energy and motivation. Well-written and an excellent resource for getting more out of your day and your life, check it out and stop wasting time…and your life.
One last thing is, this book comes with a set of fantastic resources for readers to download with convenient links at the end of each chapter as reminders. I love the FREE resources provided.Plattform “Nein” in Europa, 13.02.2017
Wir, in Europa organisierte Oppositionelle gegen die AKP Regierung, darunter revolutionäre, fortschrittliche, patriotische kurdische, türkische, lazische, tscherkessische, assyrische, armenische, alevitische, ezidische, christliche und islamische Instutionen, Intellektuelle, JournalistInnen, AkademikerInnen, Frauen und Jugendorganisationen, sowie Einzelpersonen sind zusammengekommen und haben die Plattform „Nein“ in Europa“ gegründet. Unsere Plattform ist offen für weitere Kräfte und hat das Ziel, gegen das vom AKP-Erdogan Faschismus festgelegte Verfassungsreferendum eine breite NEIN Kampagne in Europa durchzuführen.
Wie allgemein bekannt ist, hat die AKP-Erdogan-Regierung nach den Wahlen vom 7. Juli 2015 das Land in ein Kriegsfeld verwandelt und die genozidartigen Angriffe in Kurdistan fortgesetzt. Der AKP-Erdogan-Faschismus hat den mysteriösen Putschversuch am 15. Juli 2016 zu seinen Gunsten ausgenutzt, um allen Revolutionären, Demokraten, Fortschrittlichen und Oppositionellen zum Schweigen zu bringen. JournalistInnen, AkademikerInnen, GewerkschafterInnen, Vertreter von demokratischen Massenorganisationen, Leitende oder Mitglieder von NGO’s, die Co-Vorsitzenden und Abgeordneten der HDP, BürgermeisterInnen und alle, die jegliche, noch so kleinste Kritik an Erdogan äußerten, wurden inhaftiert. All diesen Angriffe an Oppositionellen folgend möchte die AKP nun ein Referendum durchführen, mit welchem sie den Faschismus institutionalisieren möchte.
Alle Verfassungen seit Gründung der Türkei, insbesondere die Verfassung vom 12. September, sind rückschrittlichen und faschistischen Inhalts. Die rassistische Sichtweise in allen Verfassungen wurde übernommen, die in der Türkei lebenden Nationen, Minderheiten und verschiedene Glaubensgruppierungen wurden verleugnet. Diese Tatsachen wurden bei allen Änderungen der Verfassung vom 12. September, die als “Demokratisierung” verkauft wurden, bewahrt. Auch bei den aktuellen 18 Änderungspunkten werden diese Positionen nicht angetastet. Sollten die Änderungen bei dem Referendum Zustimmung finden, wird das parlamentarische System gänzlich abgeschafft, dafür eine Ein-Personen-Diktatur institutionalisiert.
Die durch die Parteien AKP und MHP geplante Verfassungsänderung sieht ein Präsidialsystem vor, das alle bisherigen Verfassungen der Türkei noch in den Schatten stellt.
Als ob der antidemokratische, faschistische Inhalt der bisherigen Verfassung nicht ausreichen würde, wollen sie mit den Änderungen die Vielfalt der Völker leugnen und stattdessen einen Diktator, dem sich alle beugen sollen, schaffen. Der AKP-MHP-Faschismus möchte alle Machtmöglichkeiten ausschöpfen, um dieses Ziel zu erreichen.
Als die Verfassungsänderung von 1982 durchgeführt wurde, hatten die Putschisten damals dem Volk geraten: “Wenn ihr wollt, dass das Militär in die Kasernen zurückkehrt, müsst ihr dieser Verfassung zustimmen.” Die Gesellschaft wurde offen bedroht, um der Verfassung zuzustimmen. Das führte dazu, dass der größte Teil der Bevölkerung der Verfassung zustimmte, um sich vom Militär zu befreien.
Das Bündnis aus AKP und MHP verhalten sich wie die Militärputschisten vom 12. September 1980. Die AKP‘ler gehen sogar einen Schritt weiter und bestätigen den Staatsterror. Die Aussagen von einigen AKP-Kadern und auch Äußerungen von Erdogan persönlich besagen, “wenn das Ergebnis ein ‘Ja’ sein wird, dann wird der Terror beendet.” Aussagen wie diese, stellen ein Eingeständnis des Staatsterrors dar. Unsere Völker wissen genau, dass die Regierung alle Machtmöglichkeiten und Finanzen des Staates ausnutzt, um den Terror anzuwenden und diesen unter ihrer Kontrolle zu halten. Die Regierenden und der AKP-MHP- Faschismus drohen jetzt dem Volk, um sie zum “Ja” sagen zu zwingen.
Unsere Völker werden nicht auf dieses Spiel hereinfallen, welches dazu dient, den Faschismus zu institutionalisieren.
Wir MigrantInnen in Europa werden “NEIN” zu dieser Verfassungsänderung der Regierung sagen, die keine Besserung zur alten Verfassung darstellt und den ArbeiterInnen und Werktätigen verschiedener Nationen lediglich unbegrenzten Terror verspricht und uns unser Brot wegnehmen will.
Die Gründe für unsere NEIN-Kampagne:
Weil diese Verfassung keine Rechte der ArbeiterInnen wie Streik, Tarifverhandlungen, das Recht auf Arbeit beinhaltet, sagen wir NEIN.
Weil diese Verfassung keine Menschenrechte, sondern ein Diktatursystem vorsieht, sagen wir NEIN.
Weil kein Mensch, weder ein Chef, Ministerpräsident oder der Präsident selbst, nicht wichtiger ist als das Volk, daher sagen wir NEIN.
Weil die Völker und Nationen verschiedener Glaubensrichtungen und Geschlechter nicht von einem Diktator unterdrückt werden dürfen. Wir lehnen die Diktatur eines Menschen und sein System ab und sagen NEIN!
Weil wir gegen eine Verfassung sind, die die unterdrückten Völker, Nationen, Klassen, Glaubensrichtungen und Geschlechter ausgrenzt und den Diktator im Palast bestätigt!
Weil wir für eine Verfassung sind, die für gleichen Rechte für alle Nationen und volle Freiheit für jeden Glauben vorsieht. Weil wir für eine demokratische Verfassung sind, die die demokratischen Rechte für Frauen, die Jugend, Intellektuelle und Völker garantiert. Deshalb sagen wir NEIN zu dieser Verfassungsänderung!
Lasst uns gemeinsam bei diesem Referendum mit NEIN stimmen; für ein demokratisches und freies Land, in dem wir alle gleichberechtigt sind!Climate Change Authority recommends Australia makes aggressive cuts to emissions beyond 2020
Updated
The Climate Change Authority (CCA) has recommended aggressive cuts in emissions beyond 2020 to ensure Australia does its fair share to combat climate change.
A CCA report recommends cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2025 based on Australia's emissions from the year 2000.
This would require significant emissions cuts beyond the current 2020 target of 5 per cent.
Australia's emissions are less than 1.5 per cent of global emissions, but per capita Australia is the biggest emitter of all developed nations.
Our economy can look pretty similar to the way it does today even when we've transitioned to low carbon energy sources. Executive director of ClimateWorks Anna Skarbek
The CCA warned if the Government sat on the sidelines based on Australia's global share of emissions being small, it would be "more self-serving than credible".
"To maintain that posture in the light of increasing international actions to reduce emissions – by developed and developing, big and small countries – makes it even less credible," CCA chair Bernie Fraser said.
"The fact is that Australia stands to be massively affected by global warming whatever its share of global emissions."
While the CCA conceded these were "challenging" targets, its report said many other countries were promising similar levels of emissions reductions.
The CCA previously suggested cuts of between 40–60 per cent by 2030.
But what would such cuts look like in reality?
'Economy can look pretty similar'
Not-for-profit think tank ClimateWorks and the Australian National University conducted a study to look at such a future.
"Our economy can look pretty similar to the way it does today even when we've transitioned to low-carbon energy sources," chief of ClimateWorks Anna Skarbek said.
"We would still have a strong mining sector, a strong manufacturing sector, our household activities such as driving and flying would continue as they are.
"The difference would be that we would use equipment that's powered with low-carbon energy."
Do you know more about this story? Email investigations@abc.net.au
Ms Skarbek said a big change would be seen in the electricity sector.
"We would need to see a move away from fossil fuel electricity to low-carbon electricity," she said.
"Over time that would mean we would completely remove fossil fuel electricity, particularly coal-fired power stations.
"They would be replaced with a combination of renewable energy stations plus battery storage and/or other low-carbon energy sources."
The CCA has not modelled the cost of its recommendations.
ClimateWorks estimated that to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the economy would continue to grow, however at a rate 0.12 per cent slower annually than if there were no climate mitigation.
Previous target recommendations ignored
The CCA previously recommended Australia increase its current 2020 target.
"We haven't got a very good strike rate I have to say," Mr Fraser said.
"We did recommended more ambitious targets... we talked about a [19 per cent] target for 2020 and that didn't get much of a run.
"And we recommended that the large-scale Renewable Energy Target scheme remain at 41,000 gigawatts and that didn't find favour either.
"So that's two strikes – we've stepped up to the plate a third time and we'll see what happens."
The Government said it would announce its post-2020 targets by the middle of the year and that it would consider the CCA's report as part of the process.
The 30 per cent figure is likely to serve as the upper limit of the options presented to Government to take to the UN's climate change talks in Paris at the end of the year.
A taskforce led by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet is putting together those options for the Government.
Submissions to the taskforce close on Friday.
Topics: environmental-impact, environment, environmentally-sustainable-business, business-economics-and-finance, climate-change, australia
First postedPrince Philip to step down from all public engagements from August: Buckingham Palace
Updated
Prince Philip will step down from all public engagements after August, Buckingham Palace has said in a press release.
Key points: Prince Philip will fulfil current engagements but step down from public duties after August
Announcement comes following speculation about health of royal couple
The Duke will continue to be associated with over 780 organisations and charities
The announcement came after an emergency meeting of all royal staff prompted a flurry of speculation about the health of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The 91-year-old Queen and the Duke, who turns 96 next month, have trimmed their workload in recent years but still regularly carry out official duties.
"Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying the Queen," the palace's statement read.
"Thereafter, the Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time."
Prince Philip's recent engagements: April 4: The Duke of Edinburgh presents Kylie Minogue with the Britain-Australia Society Award for 2016 at Windsor Castle
April 7: The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh and members of the Royal Family, attended a Service of Thanksgiving for British photographer Lord Snowdon, who died in January
April 10: The royal couple visited Vimy Ridge in France and toured the trenches ahead of the commemorative service for the Battle of Vimy Ridge
April 11: Prince Philip and the Queen visited Priory View in Dunstable, an independent living scheme for older residents
April 11: Her Majesty and The Duke hand fed a banana one to of the elephants at the UK's ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
April 13: The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh met veterans from Leicester following a Royal Maundy service at Leicester Cathedral
May 3: The Duke opens a new Warner stand at Lord's Cricket Ground in central London
They have both been cutting their workload in recent years, passing on many responsibilities to son and heir Prince Charles and grandsons Princes William and Harry.
Prince Philip conducted 184 official engagements in the year to March 2016, official figures show.
British Prime Minister Theresa May paid tribute to Prince Philip for his contribution to Britain and beyond, his "steadfast support" of Queen Elizabeth, and for his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes.
"On behalf of the whole country, I want to offer our deepest gratitude and good wishes to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh following today's announcement that he will stand down from public duties in the Autumn," she said in a statement on Thursday.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Prince Philip had "dedicated his life to supporting the Queen and our country with a clear sense of public duty".
In a statement, the Opposition Leader said: "We thank Prince Philip for his service to the country and wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement."
Acting Australian Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce commended the Prince for his years of service to the Commonwealth.
"It says something about an individual that they get to the age of 95 before they officially decide to retire — it's something to aim for," Mr Joyce said.
"Her majesty, Queen Elizabeth will continue on tirelessly and we wish her all the very best and maybe they can have a bit more time together at home."
Patronage of charities and causes to continue
The announcement came a day after the Prince, who has a long association with cricket and is officially involved with over 20 cricketing institutions worldwide, opened a new stand at Lord's Cricket Ground in central London.
The palace said he will continue to be associated with the over 780 organisations he is patron, president or a member of, although he will no longer play an active role.
The longest-serving consort in British history (the royal couple will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in November), Prince Philip has no constitutional role other than Privy Counsellor, but is also Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Captain-General of the Royal Marines and Colonel-in-Chief of several British and overseas regiments.
He has a reputation for having a genuine concern for people, which led to the development of The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, which |
office space and restroom facilities with them, flirting with them and giving them gifts." The stress got to be too much for Lenkowski — he suffered a breakdown and in 2013 quit his job.
After Lenkowski left, employees began receiving letters from a Tampa law firm with the title: Surveillance Cameras with Audio in the Female Restroom and Shower at MaintenX International.
O'Hara called a meeting of employees.
"He gathered everyone around and said, 'You know, this isn't something that's going on right now,' '' Olivia Gatliff, O'Hara's stepdaughter and the company's human relations director, testified in a court hearing. According to Gatliff, O'Hara went on to say: "We've obviously checked the bathrooms. There's nothing going on and it's most likely coming from an unhappy ex-employee.' And that anyone that received these (letters) should turn them into human resources."
O'Hara didn't mention Stanton's name nor let on that any employees had been taped, Gatliff said.
In February 2014, an attorney representing Lenkowski gave Tampa police a disc with 142 videos. She explained that her client was afraid to hand them over himself because he feared he had broken the law by not contacting authorities sooner.
Most of the videos showed female MaintenX employees nude, partly nude or dressed. But in two videos, a man could be seen entering a restroom, quickly removing a camera, putting it in a bag and, moments later, removing electronic wires from the same bag. The man was Stanton.
Soon after police received the disc, a detective met with a woman who appeared in 20 of the images.
"She was devastated when she watched the videos,'' the detective wrote in a search warrant that has since been sealed. "She cried and displayed anger for whoever was responsible for this recording without her permission.''
On March 21, 2014, police and FDLE agents raided MaintenX headquarters on N Howard Avenue and arrested Stanton on 123 counts of video voyeurism. O'Hara was in Colorado, so Gatliff said police made her watch the videos to try to identify the women.
"They were graphic images," she later testified.
• • •
Although efforts to pass a federal law against video voyeurism have been unsuccessful, it's illegal in several states. Florida law defines it as a felony in which a person who, "for his own amusement, entertainment or sexual arousal,'' records those in the act of changing or exposing their body when they have "a reasonable expectation of privacy.'' The maximum punishment is five years in prison.
In 2011, two young Bulgarian women found cameras in their Tampa apartment and claimed they were being spied on. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office declined to file charges because the cameras weren't hooked up and there was no recording equipment.
The most notorious case of video voyeurism involved then-ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews. In 2009, she was videotaped naked in her hotel room by a man who posted the images online where they were viewed by millions. He went to prison. In March, a jury awarded Andrews $55 million in her civil case against him and the Nashville Marriott.
Less than a month after Stanton's 2014 arrest — which drew little publicity — prosecutors formally charged him with six counts of voyeurism, a first-degree misdemeanor. Later, the charges were dismissed because the one-year statute of limitations on such misdemeanors had elapsed.
Lenkowski's lawyers asserted in depositions that MaintenX's failure to notify police of the videos when they were found let Stanton avoid prosecution.
In addition to Lenkowski, five women — identified only as Jane Does 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 — sued Stanton, O'Hara, Gonzalez, MaintenX and the company that owns the building. Like Lenkowski, they allege that they've suffered "severe mental anguish'' and other problems because of Stanton's taping and the company's failure to do anything about it.
"Thank God we don't see these cases every day,'' Hillsborough Circuit Judge Paul L. Huey commented at one hearing last year. "It's a tough case.''
Records show that confidential settlements were reached last summer in all cases, except for the women's lawsuit against the building owner.
"I was happy for it to be over, I was happy it finally brought some justice,'' Lenkowski, who is working as an infrastructure engineer for another company, said in a recent interview.
His former boss, Stanton, left MaintenX the day of his arrest because of what company officials called "an accumulation of things,'' not just the criminal charges.
A licensed attorney since 1999, Stanton is the subject of a Florida Bar complaint initiated by lawyers for Lenkowski and the Jane Does. By recording the women without their consent, the complaint says, Stanton violated Bar rules that prohibit lawyers from engaging in conduct involving "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation'' or that "reflect adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer.'
A referee has been appointed to hear facts in the case and recommend a punishment, if any.
In the meantime, the Bar's website shows Stanton in "good standing'' with no disciplinary action against him. He practices in the Tampa Bay area and handles various types of cases, including expungements — the sealing of criminal records, according to a profile on a legal website.
As part of the lawsuits against him, Stanton was deposed last year, but didn't answer a single question except to give his name. Instead, he invoked his constitutional right to remain silent — 162 times.
Contact Susan Taylor Martin at [email protected] or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate.SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police say a woman was arrested after trying to snatch a 2-year-old boy from his parents while they were walking near a popular pier in San Francisco Monday morning.
KPIX reports the family was walking together when a homeless woman approached them in front of the Ferry Building.
Police say the woman was talking to the child when she suddenly began tugging him.
She was being aggressive enough that police got involved.
The child was not injured. The woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping. Her name and age were not released. Police did not return an email seeking further details Monday.
The Ferry Building is in the city’s Embarcadero district along the waterfront and is a major draw for both tourists and residents of San Francisco.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.Kansas City’s LGBT Community Center Announces a Night of Comedy at the Folly
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Featured performers Michael Ian Black, Carson Kressley, Fortune Feimster, Dana Goldberg, and special guest Ty Herndon will descend on the Folly Theater in Kansas City on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 for the annual fundraiser of LIKEME Lighthouse, Kansas City’s LGBT Community Center.
Scheduled to be honored this year are the 2015 recipients of "The Shine A Light" awards - National Honoree, actor Wilson Cruz - and Kansas City Councilperson, Jolie Justus. This is the fourth LIKEME Lighthouse fundraiser. Previously Alan Cummings, Hal Sparks, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Chely Wright, and many other performers visited Kansas City to raise funds for the metro area’s LGBT center.
The mission of LIKEME Lighthouse is to provide a safe and welcoming space where LGBT individuals and their families, friends, and straight allies can come for education, resources, and to build a cohesive LGBT community in the Midwest.
The LIKEME® Organization was founded in March 2010 by country music star Chely Wright, who chose to publicly come out and to advocate for the LGBT community. The LIKEME® board of directors, composed of well-known public figures from across the country who support the LGBT movement, wanted to do more of a grassroots effort and voted to open an LGBT community center for the Midwest. The Kansas City area was chosen for the center, which was named the LIKEME® Lighthouse. It opened its doors in March 2012.
Tickets on sale now at follytheater.org. The LIKEME Lighthouse is at 3911 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64111, and the phone number is 816-753-7770.Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the Health and Human Services secretary, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes from being overwhelmed with unwanted messages, according to a review by The Associated Press.
The scope of using the secret accounts across government remains a mystery: Most U.S. agencies have failed to turn over lists of political appointees' email addresses, which the AP sought under the Freedom of Information Act more than three months ago. The Labor Department initially asked the AP to pay more than $1 million for its email addresses.
The AP asked for the addresses following last year's disclosures that the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency had used separate email accounts at work. The practice is separate from officials who use personal, non-government email accounts for work, which generally is discouraged - but often happens anyway - due to laws requiring that most federal records be preserved.
The secret email accounts complicate an agency's legal responsibilities to find and turn over emails in response to congressional or internal investigations, civil lawsuits or public records requests because employees assigned to compile such responses would necessarily need to know about the accounts to search them. Secret accounts also drive perceptions that government officials are trying to hide actions or decisions.
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday defended use of the email accounts by senior U.S. officials as a traditional practice across government and by previous administrations. Carney said the email accounts aren't secret, even though they aren't disclosed to the public, because their contents fall under congressional oversight and the Freedom of Information Act.
Carney said that having alternative emails makes "eminent sense" and compared senior government officials to news columnists at major publications who provide email addresses for their readers but have alternate email addresses so they are not inundated with unwanted messages.
Carney wouldn't say whether White House officials also use secret accounts, noting that the president's staff, like Congress, is exempt from turning over materials under the open records law. But Carney said that early in his tenure at press secretary, after his email address had been announced publicly, Carney changed his address to avoid being inundated by emails and spam.
"That's a very reasonable thing to do," Carney said.
Agencies where the AP so far has identified secret addresses, including the Labor Department and HHS, also said maintaining non-public email accounts allows senior officials to keep separate their internal messages with agency employees from emails they exchange with the public. They also said public and non-public accounts are always searched in response to official requests and the records are provided as necessary.
The AP couldn't independently verify the practice. It searched hundreds of pages of government emails previously released under the open records law and found only one instance of a published email with a secret address: an email from Labor Department spokesman Carl Fillichio to 34 coworkers in 2010 was turned over to an advocacy group, Americans for Limited Government. It included as one recipient the non-public address for Seth D. Harris, currently the acting labor secretary, who maintains at least three separate email accounts.
Google can't find any reference on the Internet to the secret address for HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Congressional oversight committees told the AP they were unfamiliar with the non-public government addresses identified so far by the AP.
Ten agencies have not yet turned over lists of email addresses, including the Environmental Protection Agency; the Pentagon; and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Treasury, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Commerce and Agriculture. All have said they are working on a response to the AP.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz declined to comment.
A Treasury Department spokeswoman, Marissa Hopkins Secreto, referred inquiries to the agency's FOIA office, which said its technology department was still searching for the email addresses. Other departments, including Homeland Security, did not respond to questions from the AP about the delays of nearly three months. The Pentagon said it may have an answer by later this summer.
The Health and Human Services Department initially turned over to the AP the email addresses for roughly 240 appointees - except none of the email accounts for Sebelius, even one for her already published on its website. After the AP objected, it turned over three of Sebelius' email addresses, including a secret one. It asked the AP not to publish the address, which it said she used to conduct day-to-day business at the department. Most of the 240 political appointees at HHS appeared to be using only public government accounts.Despite putting up the first points and attempting a late comeback, the UCF Knights couldn't overcome the NC State Wolfpack. In the first twenty one minutes of the game the lead had changed hands 4 times with a UCF field goal establishing a score (0-3) followed by an NC State touchdown (7-3), UCF touchdown (7-10), and another NC State touchdown (14-10). After that UCF was never able to retake control of the lead.
The football in this game was imminently watchable. There were only two turnovers in the entire game. NC State lost a fumble and UCF threw an interception. NC State's first touchdown came on a cool trick play where their Running Back Shadrach Thornton threw the touchdown pass instead of the Quarterback. Opening their first drive of the fourth quarter NC State Wide Receiver Bo Hines threw a pass to Quarterback Jacoby Brissett for 20 yards and a first down.
During UCF's comeback run in the fourth quarter, their flirtation with cool an novel plays didn't treat them as kindly. With a single minute and 44 seconds left in the game they scored a touch down bringing the score to 34-27, if they could get another possession they could still win with another touchdown followed by a two point conversion. The UCF Knights went for an onside kick with the hope of getting that one more possession and a chance to score, but NC State recovered and were able to run out the clock to cement their victory. It was a thrilling end to a hard fought game. Turns out these teams in spite of their differences in regular season records and their standing in their conference were rather evenly matched.
The great difference maker in this game was NC State's pair of running backs, Shadrach Thornton and Matt Dayes. Thornton carried the ball for 96 yards and threw a touchdown pass, while Dayes ran for 78 yards and ran in two of the Wolfpack's four touchdowns. By contrast the entire UCF Knights team only managed 82 total yards from running the football.
At the quarterback position NC State Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was efficient averaging 10.1 yards a catch and throwing 15 of his 26 passes successfully racking up 262 yards and a single touchdown. UCF's Justin Holman threw for 291 yards and all three UCF touchdowns, but to do that he had to throw the ball 53 times for which the ball was caught only 23 times by his team averaging 5.5 yards and it was caught by the other team once.
That one interception ended up being incredibly damaging to UCF's chances for success. At the start of the play the ball was smack dab in the middle of the field at the 50 yard line and there were 9 minutes left on the clock.. Holman threw deep, a full 37 yards to NC State Freshman Defenseman Josh Jones who returned the ball those same 37 yards back to the 50 yard line before he was stopped. NC State's following drive didn't end in a score. They ended up punting the ball away, but NC State managed to burn 2 minutes and 47 seconds off of the game clock. By the time UCF had possession of the ball again they were all of the way back to their own 20 yard line and had just under six and a third minutes left. The loss of time and field position that followed the interception critically hindered UCF's chances of getting the win in their fourth quarter comeback effort.
Brissett would end up winning the game's most valuable player award for his solid performance, and UCF wide receiver John Reese ended up winning his team's consolation equivalent after catching 6 balls for 75 yards and all three UCF touchdowns. Here's how this bowl compares to past incarnations:
Together the teams covered 860 yards for the second most in this bowl's history after last year's East Carolina – Ohio Matchup
This was the second best attended with 26,675 in attendance coming in after 2009's matchup between Rutgers and UCF.
UCF now has an all time losing record in this bowl with a win in 2012 over Ball State and losses in 2009 to Rutgers and this 2014 loss to NC State.
By virtue of this being their sole appearance in this particular Bowl game NC State is now undefeated in appearances here.The Pittsburgh Pirates have inherited the Oakland Athletics' penchant for bad luck and for having their accomplishments obscured by October failure. Over the period of 15 seasons from 2000 to 2014, the Athletics stitched together some good scouting and adept roster decisions with revenue-sharing dollars and reached the postseason eight times, an excellent record for any franchise other than the Yankees or Dodgers. But whether it was the Derek Jeter flip play or the strange Eric Byrnes tag play or a blown wild-card game lead against the Royals in 2014, Oakland's stuff didn't work in the postseason (to paraphrase Billy Beane), and the Athletics won only one playoff series -- and even then, in 2006, they were swept in the next round.
Near misses are not celebrated, as the Athletics and now the Pirates have learned. Pittsburgh reached the playoffs in three straight seasons, 2013 through 2015 -- the NL wild-card game, in their case -- and in the latter two seasons, the Pirates were perceived to be perhaps the strongest NL team at the end of the regular season. But after losing in the division series in 2013, the Pirates were shut down in the wild-card game by Madison Bumgarner in 2014 and by Jake Arrieta in 2015, which was like being a golfer in match play and drawing the best versions of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Rather than retreat into seasons of tanking, the Pirates have continued to try to win and have steered into the headwinds of the baseball gods. Last season, Pittsburgh lost two of its best position players to off-field issues, when Jung Ho Kang's career was swallowed whole by his repeated DUIs and Starling Marte was busted for PEDs and missed half the 2017 season. Kang will try to re-establish his MLB career in 2018, although his winter ball performance has been terrible so far, and the Pirates hope and expect a bounce back from Marte -- and they have a nice core of pitching talent, as well as outfielder Gregory Polanco and first baseman Josh Bell. With even a dollop of good luck, Pittsburgh could survive the extremely competitive NL Central and get back to the postseason next year.
MLB offseason From Keith Law's free-agent rankings to all the big moves, we have the MLB offseason covered.
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But just as Oakland general manager Beane always listened on trade offers because he had to, the Pirates' Neal Huntington is expected to take the call of anyone who wants to discuss outfielder Andrew McCutchen and veteran starter Gerrit Cole in a trade. There are market forces in place that might drive those conversations, and provide the Pirates with some interesting and important trade opportunities.
McCutchen, 31, is coming off an excellent bounce-back season, in which he posted an.849 OPS with 28 homers. He will play 2018 for a more-than-reasonable $14.5 million before reaching free agency, and for teams reluctant to invest big dollars in a market filled with outfielders looking for multiyear deals, McCutchen is a nice, cost-efficient alternative for clubs to consider -- and any team that swaps for him this winter would know that it could recoup draft-pick compensation if McCutchen continues to play well and then walks away as a free agent next year.
Pirates fans would be unhappy if the team swapped McCutchen this winter, but the end of his time as a player for them is approaching in any event. He almost certainly will not be with the Pirates in 2019. So Huntington would be remiss to not weigh offers now.
Huntington should do the same with Cole, a 27-year-old client of agent Scott Boras. Cole will be eligible for free agency after the 2019 season, and as Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta seek monster deals, Cole will be a cheaper alternative (in dollars) for teams looking to augment their pitching. It seems as if there's no chance for Pittsburgh to retain Cole with a long-term deal, which means he's likely to be dealt sometime before he hits the open market.
The Pirates would also be wise to take offers on Ivan Nova, who pitched very well in the first half of 2017 before collapsing in the second half (3.21 ERA before the All-Star break, 5.83 after). Nova is under contract for $9.17 million each of the next two seasons, perhaps making him a good value buy for somebody. It would be extremely difficult for the Pirates to part ways with 26-year-old closer Felipe Rivero, who was one of baseball's best relievers last season, but with the cost of relievers skyrocketing (as Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon can attest), Rivero's greatest value to Pittsburgh might be as a trade piece.
The Pirates could keep Cole, McCutchen, Nova and Rivera, of course. But even if they found a great deal for one or two of them, they'd have enough in their lineup, rotation and bullpen to contend, so long as there is reasonable progress among Chad Kuhl, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Tyler Glasnow.
The Pirates continue to be relevant in their division. But they probably need better fortune than they had last year, and a deeper run into October, to be fully appreciated for their consistency in the face of challenging small-budget conditions.
Free agents in demand
A rundown of players well-positioned in the free-agent market because of the unique set of skills they offer relative to others available this winter:
• J.D. Martinez, right-handed slugger: Part of the Angels' thinking in adding another year to Justin Upton's deal is that he would have been one of only two elite right-handed-hitting outfielders among the free agents; the other was Martinez.
Jerry Crasnick reported the other day that Martinez might be looking for a contract in the range of $200 million. While it seems unlikely that he'll get anything close to that because of teams' concerns about his defense, Martinez is probably going to draw a deal worth many tens of millions of dollars.
• Lorenzo Cain, center fielder: The Giants are desperate for a major defensive upgrade in center field, and among free agents, Cain is really the only big-time, everyday player. There might be no better matchup of team and player in the market than this -- if they can agree on a price.
• Addison Reed, reliever: Reportedly, the pitcher turned down an extension overture by the Mets at midseason in 2017, and who could blame him? Reed is the kind of plowhorse, versatile bullpen piece that teams love these days, and he’ll be well-compensated in his next deal. The 28-year-old Reed has appeared in no fewer than 55 games in each of the past six seasons, he holds runners very well, and he was as good against lefties (.662 OPS) as he was against right-handers (.651 OPS).
• Alex Cobb, starting pitcher: He might be the best free-agent starter not named Arrieta or Darvish, and that's a great place to be in the current financial climate. The 30-year-old right-hander is not in a position to command a monster contract in the Strasburg/Scherzer neighborhood, but Cobb is a good pitcher who's now fully recovered from arm trouble, he has been tested in the AL East and he's going to get a good deal -- probably something in the range of five years. He has not been shy in discussing how he wouldn't mind a reunion with Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey, the Cubs' manager and pitching coach, respectively.
• Lance Lynn, starting pitcher: A lot of the market forces that will help Cobb are in play for Lynn as well -- he's a veteran with a solid track record, and fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. Any team that doesn't want to pay the Arrieta or Darvish price tag but still seeks predictable rotation production is going to take a long look at Lynn.
Boone's path to an MLB dugout
Aaron Boone is a friend and a colleague, someone with whom I've worked on Sunday Night Baseball the past two years, so sure, my point of view about his potential as a managerial candidate for the New York Yankees or some other team down the road is skewed by the many hours spent in travel, preparation, and on air together. But that past access means that my perspective is well-informed, more than enough to say this: He will be a great manager someday for some team looking for the next Terry Francona.
He likes people, a characteristic that might seem trite on the page here but is a common denominator in almost all of the longest-tenured managers, from Bobby Cox to Joe Torre to Dusty Baker to Bruce Bochy to, yes, Francona. Some managers resent players, or ignore the clubhouse attendants, or look down on the youngest front-office members, but a lot of the best managers -- not all of them -- have a natural respect for and an interest in others in their world. Aaron shares that trait.
Like Francona, Boone shares in a baseball legacy. Aaron's grandfather played in the big leagues, and so did his father, and so did his brother. He has had a lifetime of running around clubhouses and ballparks, and assessing players and their moods and on-field and off-field challenges. Aaron was a good player for stretches in his 12-year career, and he had periods when he struggled, and any of the best managers would tell you, those experiences in the worst of times might be the most useful in relating to players. Francona wields his own mediocrity as a weapon of self-deprecation, citing his own failures when his players make mistakes, and it helps him connect with everyone.
Francona is pliable in how he considers strategy, open-minded to listen to alternatives if he sees demonstrations of logic and success, and while a baseball lifer like Francona might have an old-school reflex under certain circumstances, he could not have worked as successfully as he has with progressive front offices -- under Theo Epstein in Boston, and Chris Antonetti in Cleveland -- without being open-minded. Francona managed his bullpen and starters differently in the Indians' postseason run of 2016 than he did in Boston's championship seasons of 2004 and 2007.
The Cleveland front office will sometimes bring suggestions to Francona and his response is sometimes, "I understand what you want to do and it makes sense, but just give me some time to get there with the player." Aaron has a similar approach to problem-solving. We've had debates and discussions over personnel decisions or rule changes in which he'll mull over the elements for a week or so, before revisiting. "I agree with you, and here's why," he has said. Or: "I disagree with you, and here's why."
Managers are no longer the all-powerful, dominant forces they once were, and they probably never will be again. Exhibit A: Bruce Bochy is a Hall of Fame manager with three championships in the past eight years, and his longtime pitching coach Dave Righetti was just fired over Bochy's objection.
Front offices shape rosters, and with some teams, the front office dictates lineups and scripts possible pitching moves before each game. Managers have more resources than ever to draw upon in making in-game choices. A lot of the preparation or pregame thought that an Earl Weaver or Tony La Russa mastered is now generated by front offices. The days of the drill-sergeant manager who chews out players (and general managers) and creates change by intimidation is over. A lot of the best managers now excel at interpersonal relationships. This might sicken the ghost of John McGraw, but this is just the way it is.
The most significant daily contributions of the managers for most teams might be in reading the clubhouse and the players in it, and in fostering a positive and fun work environment in which accountability from player to player becomes habit. This is something that the best stats analyst cannot provide; it has to come from the guy leading the room, whether that's the manager or best player.
Terry Francona is tremendous at this, and I think Aaron Boone would be, as well.
• Paul Goldschmidt was the clear front-runner for the NL Most Valuable Player Award at the All-Star break, but a late-season elbow ailment seemed to affect his production -- and yet he is among the final three for NL MVP, more than worthy after he helped to drive the Diamondbacks into the playoffs.
But the choice of Goldschmidt over Joey Votto for the NL Silver Slugger Award among first basemen was one of the more befuddling citation choices in recent years. The Silver Slugger is given to the best offensive player at each position, and more than any award, it is seemingly about pure production, about numbers -- and the statistical difference between what Votto and Goldschmidt accomplished at the plate in 2017 is well-defined:
Stat Goldschmidt Votto OPS.966 1.032 AVG.297.320 OBP.404.454 Hits 166 179 Walks 94 134 Runs 117 106 RBI 120 100 HR 36 36 XBH 73 71
You can build a reasonable argument, rooted in years of precedent, that Goldschmidt is more suited for the MVP because he was the best player on the Diamondbacks, who had a better season than Votto's 70-victory Reds. (I don't agree with that argument, but it’s fair.) The Silver Slugger credentials, however, seem pretty one-sided in favor of the guy who didn't get the award.
And today will be better than yesterday.It's never easy to admit you've made a mistake, but it's a crucial step in learning, growing, and improving yourself. Writer and speaker Scott Berkun's new essay collection, Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, examines, among other things, how to learn from your mistakes. In this excerpt, Berkun discusses four of the most common kinds of mistakes, how to recognize them, and how, in turn, to learn from them.
You can only learn from a mistake after you admit you've made it. As soon as you start blaming other people (or the universe itself), you distance yourself from any possible lesson. But if you courageously stand up and honestly say "This is my mistake and I am responsible" the possibilities for learning will move towards you. Admission of a mistake, even if only privately to yourself, makes learning possible by moving the focus away from blame assignment and towards understanding. Wise people admit their mistakes easily. They know progress accelerates when they do.
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This advice runs counter to the cultural assumptions we have about mistakes and failure, namely that they are shameful things. We're taught in school, in our families, or at work to feel guilty about failure and to do whatever we can to avoid mistakes. This sense of shame combined with the inevitability of setbacks when attempting difficult things explains why many people give up on their goals: they're not prepared for the mistakes and failures they'll face on their way to what they want. What's missing in many people's beliefs about success is the fact that the more challenging the goal, the more frequent and difficult setbacks will be. The larger your ambitions, the more dependent you will be on your ability to overcome and learn from your mistakes.
But for many reasons admitting mistakes is difficult. An implied value in many cultures is that our work represents us: if you fail a test, then you are a failure. If you make a mistake then you are a mistake (You may never have felt this way, but many people do. It explains the behavior of some of your high school or college friends). Like eggs, steak and other tasty things we are given letter grades (A, B, C, D and F) organizing us for someone else's consumption: universities and employers evaluate young candidates on their grades, numbers based on scores from tests unforgiving to mistakes.
For anyone who never discovers a deeper self-identity, based not on lack of mistakes but on courage, compassionate intelligence, commitment and creativity, life is a scary place made safe only by never getting into trouble, never breaking rules and never taking the risks that their hearts tell them they need to take.
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Learning from mistakes requires three things:
Putting yourself in situations where you can make interesting mistakes
Having the self-confidence to admit to them
Being courageous about making changes
This essay will cover all three. First we have to classify the different kinds of mistakes.
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The Four Kinds of Mistakes
One way to categorize mistakes is into these categories:
Stupid: Absurdly dumb things that just happen. Stubbing your toe, dropping your pizza on your neighbor's fat cat or poking yourself in the eye with a banana.
Simple: Mistakes that are avoidable but your sequence of decisions made inevitable. Having the power go out in the middle of your party because you forgot to pay the rent, or running out of beer at said party because you didn't anticipate the number of guests.
Involved: Mistakes that are understood but require effort to prevent. Regularly arriving late to work/friends, eating fast food for lunch every day, or going bankrupt at your start-up company because of your complete ignorance of basic accounting.
Complex: Mistakes that have complicated causes and no obvious way to avoid next time. Examples include making tough decisions that have bad results, relationships that fail, or other unpleasant or unsatisfying outcomes to important things.
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(I'm sure you can come up with other categories: that's fantastic, please share them here. But these are the ones you're stuck with for the rest of this essay).
I'm leaving all philosophical questions about mistakes up to you. One person's pleasure is another person's mistake: decide for yourself. Maybe you enjoy stabbing your neighbor's cat with a banana, who knows. We all do things we know are bad in the long term, but are oh so good in the short term. So regardless of where you stand, I'm working with you. However mistakes are defined in your personal philosophy this essay should help you learn from them.
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Learning from mistakes that fall into the first two categories (Stupid & Simple) is easy, but shallow. Once you recognize the problem and know the better way, you should be able to avoid similar mistakes. Or in some cases you'll realize that no matter what you do once in a while you'll do stupid things (e.g. even Einstein stubbed his toes).
But these kinds of mistakes are not interesting. The lessons aren't deep and it's unlikely they lead you to learn much about yourself or anything else. For example compare these two mistakes:
My use of dual part harmony for the 2nd trumpets in my orchestral composition for the homeless children's shelter benefit concert overpowered the intended narrative of the violins.
I got an Oreo stuck in my underwear.
The kind of mistakes you make define you. The more interesting the mistakes, the more interesting the life. If your biggest mistakes are missing reruns of tv-shows or buying the wrong lottery ticket you're not challenging yourself enough to earn more interesting mistakes.
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And since there isn't much to learn from simple and stupid mistakes, most people try to minimize their frequency and how much time we spend recovering from them. Their time is better spent learning from bigger mistakes. But if we habitually or compulsively make stupid mistakes, then what we really have is an involved mistake.
Involved Mistakes
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The third pile of mistakes, Involved mistakes, requires significant changes to avoid. These are mistakes we tend to make through either habit or nature. But since change is so much harder than we admit, we often suffer through the same mistakes again and again instead of making the tough changes needed to avoid them.
Difficultly with change involves an earlier point made in this essay. Some feel that to agree to change means there is something wrong with them. "If I'm perfect, why would I need to change?" Since they need to protect their idea of perfection, they refuse change (Or possibly, even refuse to admit they did anything wrong).
But this is a trap: refusing to acknowledge mistakes, or tendencies to make similar kinds of mistakes, is a refusal to acknowledge reality. If you can't see the gaps, flaws, or weaknesses in your behavior you're forever trapped in the same behavior and limitations you've always had, possibly since you were a child (When someone tells you you're being a baby, they might be right).
Another challenge to change is that it may require renewing commitments you've broken before, from the trivial "Yes, I'll try to remember to take the trash out" to the more serious "I'll try to stop sleeping with all of your friends". This happens in any environment: the workplace, friendships, romantic relationships or even commitments you've made to yourself. Renewing commitments can be tough since it requires not only admitting to the recent mistake, but acknowledging similar mistakes you've made before. The feelings of failure and guilt become so large that we don't have the courage to try again.
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This is why success in learning from mistakes often requires involvement from other people, either for advice, training or simply to keep you honest. A supportive friend's, mentor's or professional's perspective on your behavior will be more objective than your own and help you identify when you're hedging, breaking or denying the commitments you've made.
In moments of weakness the only way to prevent a mistake is to enlist someone else. "Fred, I want to play my Gamecube today but I promised Sally I wouldn't. Can we hang out so you can make sure I don't do it today?" Admitting you need help and asking for it often requires more courage than trying to do it on your own.
The biggest lesson to learn in involved mistakes is that you have to examine your own ability to change. Some kinds of change will be easier for you than others and until you make mistakes and try to correct them you won't know which they are.
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How to Handle Complex Mistakes
The most interesting kinds of mistake are the last group: Complex mistakes. The more complicated the mistake you've made, the more patient you need to be. There's nothing worse than flailing around trying to fix something you don't understand: you'll always make things worse.
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I remember as a kid when our beloved Atari 260 |
estimation. We may weigh our own Me in the [p. 328] balance of praise and blame as easily as we weigh other people, - though with difficulty quite as fairly. The just man is the one who can weigh himself impartially. Impartial weighing presupposes a rare faculty of abstraction from the vividness with which, as Herr Horwicz has pointed out, things known as intimately as our own possessions and performances appeal to our imagination; and an equally rare power of vividly representing the affairs of others. But, granting these rare powers, there is no reason why a man should not pass judgment on himself quite as objectively and well as on anyone else. No matter how he feels about himself, unduly elated or unduly depressed, he may still truly know his own worth by measuring it by the outward standard he applies to other men, and counteract the injustice of the feeling he cannot wholly escape. This self-measuring process has nothing to do with the instinctive self-regard we have hitherto been dealing with. Being merely one application of intellectual comparison, it need no longer detain us here. Please note again, however, how the pure Ego appears merely as the vehicle in which the estimation is carried on, the objects estimated being all of them facts of an empirical sort,[15] one's body, one's credit, [p. 329] one's fame, one's intellectual ability, one's goodness, or whatever the case may be.
The empirical life of Self is divided, as below, into
Material. Social. Spiritual. Self-Seeking. Bodily Appetites and Instincts Love of Adornment, Foppery, Acquisitiveness, Constructiveness Love of Home, etc. Desire to please, be noticed, admired, etc. Sociability, Emulation, Envy, Love, Pursuit of Honor, Ambition, etc. Intellectual, Moral and Reli - gious Aspiration, Conscientiousness Self-Estimation Personal Vanity, Modesty, etc. Pride of Wealth, Fear of Poverty Social and Family Pride, Vainglory, Snobbery, Humility, Shame, etc. Sense of Moral or Mental Superiority, Purity, etc. Sense of Inferiority or of Guilt
The Pure Ego.
The Sense of Personal Identity.
Now this consciousness of personal sameness may be treated either as a subjective phenomenon or as an objective deliverance, as a feeling, or as a truth. We may explain how one bit of thought can come to judge other bits to belong to the same Ego with itself; or we may criticise its judgment and decide how far it may tally with the nature of things.
As a mere subjective phenomenon the judgment presents no difficulty or mystery peculiar to itself. It belongs to the great class of judgments of sameness; and there is nothing more remarkable in making a judgment of sameness in the first person than in the second or the third. The intellectual operations seem essentially alike, whether I say 'I am the same,' or whether I say 'the pen is the same, as yesterday.' It is as easy to think this as to think the opposite and say 'neither I nor the pen is the same.'
This sort of bringing of things together into the object of a single judgment is of course essential to all thinking. The things are conjoined in the thought, whatever may be the relation in which they appear to the thought. The thinking them is thinking them together, even if only with the result of judging that they do not belong together. This sort of subjective synthesis, essential to knowledge as such (whenever it has a complex object), must not be confounded with objective synthesis or union instead of difference or disconnection, known among the things.[16] The subjective syn- [p. 332] thesis is involved in thought's mere existence. Even a really disconnected world could only be known to be such by having its parts temporarily united in the Object of some pulse of consciousness.[17]
The sense of personal identity is not, then, this mere synthetic form essential to all thought. It is the sense of a sameness perceived by thought and predicated of things thought-about. These things are a present self and a self of yesterday. The thought not only thinks them both, but thinks that they are identical. The psychologist, looking on and playing the critic, might prove the thought wrong, and show there was no real identity, - there might have been no yesterday, or, at any rate, no self of yesterday; or, if there were, the sameness predicated might not obtain, or might be predicated on insufficient grounds. In either case the personal identity would not exist as a fact; but it would exist as a feeling all the same; the consciousness of it by the thought would be there, and the psychologist would still have to analyze that, and show where its illusoriness lay. Let us now be the psychologist and see whether it be right or wrong when it says, I am the same self that I was yesterday.
We may immediately call it right and intelligible so far as it posits a past time with past thoughts or selves contained therein - these were data which we assumed at the outset of the book. Right also and intelligible so far as it thinks of a present self - that present self we have just studied in its various forms. The only question for us is as to what the consciousness may mean when it calls the [p. 333] present self the same with one of the past selves which it has in mind.
We spoke a moment since of warmth and intimacy. This leads us to the answer sought. For, whatever the thought we are criticising may think about its present self, that self comes to its acquaintance, or is actually felt, with warmth and intimacy. Of course this is the case with the bodily part of it; we feel the whole cubic mass of our body all the while, it gives us an unceasing sense of personal existence. Equally do we feel the inner 'nucleus of the spiritual self,' either in the shape of yon faint physiological adjustments, or (adopting the universal psychological belief), in that of the pure activity of our thought taking place as such. Our remoter spiritual, material, and social selves, so far as they are realized, come also with a glow and a warmth; for the thought of them infallibly brings some degree of organic emotion in the shape of quickened heart-beats, oppressed breathing, or some other alteration, even though it be a slight one, in the general bodily tone. The character of 'warmth,' then, in the present self, reduces itself to either of two things, - something in the feeling which we have of the thought itself, as thinking, or else the feeling of the body's actual existence at the moment, - or finally to both. We cannot realize our present self without simultaneously feeling one or other of these two things. Any other fact which brings these two things with it into consciousness will be thought with a warmth and an intimacy like those which cling to the present self.
Any distinct self which fulfills this condition will be thought with such warmth and intimacy. But which distant selves do fulfil the condition, when represented?
Obviously those, and only those, which fulfilled it when they were alive. Them we shall imagine with the animal warmth upon them, to them may possibly cling the aroma, the echo of the thinking taken in the act. And by a natural consequence, we shall assimilate them to each other and to the warm and intimate self we now feel within us as we think, and separate them as a collection from whatever selves have not this mark, much as out of a herd of cattle let loose for the winter on some wide western prairie the [p. 334] owner picks out and sorts together when the time for the round-up comes in the spring, all the beasts on which he finds his own particular brand.
The various members of the collection thus set apart are felt to belong with each other whenever they are thought at all. The animal warmth, etc., is their herd-mark, the brand from which they can never more escape. It runs through them all like a thread through a chaplet and makes them into a whole, which we treat as a unit, no matter how much in other ways the parts may differ inter se. Add to this character the farther one that the distant selves appear to our thought as having for hours of time been continuous with each other, and the most recent ones of them continuous with the Self of the present moment, melting into it by slow degrees; and we get a still stronger bond of union. As we think we see an identical bodily thing when, in spite of changes of structure, it exists continuously before our eyes, or when, however interrupted its presence, its quality returns unchanged; so here we think we experience an identical Self when it appears to us in an analogous way. Continuity makes us unite what dissimilarity might otherwise separate; similarity makes us unite what discontinuity might hold apart. And thus it is, finally, that Peter, awakening in the same bed with Paul, and recalling what both had in mind before they went to sleep, reidentifies and appropriates the 'warm' ideas as his, and is never tempted to confuse them with those cold and pale-appearing ones which he ascribes to Paul. As well might he confound Paul's body, which he only sees, with his own body, which he sees but also feels. Each of us when he awakens says, Here's the same old self again, just as he says, Here's the same old bed, the same old room, the same old world.
The sense of our own personal identity, then, is exactly like any one of our other perceptions of sameness among phenomena. It is a conclusion grounded either on the resemblance in a fundamental respect, or on the continuity before the mind, of the phenomena compared.
And it must not be taken to mean more than these grounds warrant, or treated as a sort of metaphysical or [p. 335] absolute Unity in which all differences are overwhelmed. The past and present selves compared are the same just so far as they are the same, and no farther. A uniform feeling of 'warmth,' of bodily existence (or an equally uniform feeling of pure psychic energy?) pervades them all; and this is what gives them a generic unity, and makes them the same in kind. But this generic unity coexists with generic differences just as real as the unity. And if from the one point of view they are one self, from others they are as truly not one but many selves. And similarly of the attribute of continuity; it gives its own kind of unity to the self - that of mere connectedness, or unbrokenness, a perfectly definite phenomenal thing - but it gives not a jot or tittle more. And this unbrokenness in the stream of selves, like the unbrokenness in an exhibition of 'dissolving views,' in no wise implies any farther unity or contradicts any amount of plurality in other respects.
And accordingly we find that, where the resemblance and the continuity are no longer felt, the sense of personal identity goes too. We hear from our parents various anecdotes about our infant years, but we do not appropriate them as we do our own memories. Those breaches of decorum awaken no blush, those bright sayings no self-complacency. That child is a foreign creature with which our present self is no more identified in feeling than it is with some stranger's living child to-day. Why? Partly because great time-gaps break up all these early years - we cannot ascend to them by continuous memories; and partly because no representation of how the child felt comes up with the stories. We know what he said and did; but no sentiment of his little body, of his emotions, of his psychic strivings as they felt to him, comes up to contribute an element of warmth and intimacy to the narrative we hear, and the main bond of union with our present self thus disappears. It is the same with certain of our dimly-recollected experiences. We hardly know whether to appropriate them or to disown them as fancies, or things read or heard and not lived through. Their animal heat has evaporated; the feelings that accompanied them are so lacking in the recall, or [p. 336] so different from those we now enjoy, that no judgment of identity can be decisively cast.
Resemblance among the parts of a continuum of feelings (especially bodily feelings) experienced along with things widely different in all other regards, thus constitutes the real and verifiable 'personal identity' which we feel. There is no other identity than this in the'stream' of subjective consciousness which we described in the last chapter. Its parts differ, but under all their differences they are knit in these two ways; and if either way of knitting disappears, the sense of unity departs. If a man wakes up some fine day unable to recall any of his past experiences, so that he has to learn his biography afresh, or if he only recalls the facts of it in a cold abstract way as things that he is sure once happened; or if, without this loss of memory, his bodily and spiritual habits all change during the night, each organ giving a different tone, and the act of thought becoming aware of itself in a different way; he feels, and he says, that he is a changed person. He disowns his former me, gives himself a new name, identifies his present life with nothing from out of the older time. Such cases are not rare in mental pathology; but, as we still have some reasoning to do, we had better give no concrete account of them until the end of the chapter.
This description of personal identity will be recognized by the instructed reader as the ordinary doctrine professed by the empirical school. Associationists in England and France, Herbartians in Germany, all describe the Self as an aggregate of which each part, as to its being, is a separate fact. So far so good, then; thus much is true whatever farther things may be true; and it is to the imperishable glory of Hume and Herbart and their successors to have taken so much of the meaning of personal identity out of the clouds and made of the Self an empirical and verifiable thing.
But in leaving the matter here, and saying that this sum of passing things is all, these writers have neglected certain more subtle aspects of the Unity of Consciousness, to which we next must turn.
[p. 337] Our recent simile of the herd of cattle will help us. It will be remembered that the beasts were brought together into one herd because their owner found on each of them his brand. The 'owner' symbolized here that'section' of consciousness, or pulse of thought, which we have all along represented as the vehicle of the judgment of identity; and the 'brand' symbolizes the characters of warmth and continuity, by reason of which the judgment is made. There is found a self-brand, just as there is found a herd-brand. Each brand, so far, is the mark, or cause of our knowing, that certain things belong-together. But if the brand is the ratio cognoscendi of the belonging, the belonging, in the case of the herd, is in turn the ratio existendi of the brand. No beast would be so branded unless he belonged to the owner of the herd. They are not his because they are branded; they are branded because they are his. So that it seems as if our description of the belonging-together of the various selves, as a belonging-together which is merely represented, in a later pulse of thought, had knocked the bottom out of the matter, and omitted the most characteristic one of all the features found in the herd - a feature which common-sense finds in the phenomenon of personal identity as well, and for our omission of which she will hold us to a strict account. For common-sense insists that the unity of all the selves is not a mere appearance of similarity or continuity, ascertained after the fact. She is sure that it involves a real belonging to a real Owner, to a pure spiritual entity of some kind. Relation to this entity is what makes the self's constituents stick together as they do for thought. The individual beasts do not stick together, for all that they wear the same brand. Each wanders with whatever accidental mates it finds. The herd's unity is only potential, its centre ideal, like the 'centre of gravity' in physics, until the herdsman or owner comes. He furnishes a real centre of accretion to which the beasts are driven and by which they are held. The beasts stick together by sticking severally to him. Just so, common-sense insists, there must be a real proprietor in the case of the selves, or else their actual accretion into a 'personal consciousness' would never have taken place.
[p. 338] To the usual empiricist explanation of personal consciousness this is a formidable reproof, because all the individual thoughts and feelings which have succeeded each other 'up to date' are represented by ordinary Associationism as in some inscrutable way 'integrating' or gumming themselves together on their own account, and thus fusing into a stream. All the incomprehensibilities which in Chapter VI we saw to attach to the idea of things fusing without a medium apply to the empiricist description of personal identity.
But in our own account the medium is fully assigned, the herdsman is there, in the shape of something not among the things collected, but superior to them all, namely, the real, present onlooking, remembering, 'judging thought' or identifying'section' of the stream. This is what collects, - 'owns' some of the past facts which it surveys, and disowns the rest, - and so makes a unity that is actualized and anchored and does not merely float in the blue air of possibility. And the reality of such pulses of thought, with their function of knowing, it will be remembered that we did not seek to deduce or explain, but simply assumed them as the ultimate kind of fact that the psychologist must admit to exist.
But this assumption, though it yields much, still does not yield all that common-sense demands. The unity into which the Thought - as I shall for a time proceed to call, with a capital T, the present mental state - binds the individual past facts with each other and with itself, does not exist until the Thought is there. It is as if wild cattle were lassoed by a newly-created settler and then owned for the first time. But the essence of the matter to common-sense is that the past thoughts never were wild cattle, they were always owned. The Thought does not capture them, but as soon as it comes into existence it finds them already its own. How is this possible unless the Thought have a substantial identity with a former owner, - not a mere continuity or a resemblance, as in our account, but a real unity? Common-sense in fact would drive us to admit what we may for the moment call an Arch-Ego, dominating the entire stream of thought and all the selves that may be represented in it, as the ever self-same and changeless [p. 339] principle implied in their union. The 'Soul' of Metaphysics and the 'Transcendental Ego' of the Kantian Philosophy, are, as we shall soon see, but attempts to satisfy this urgent demand of common-sense. But, for a time at least, we can still express without any such hypotheses that appearance of never-lapsing ownership for which common-sense contends.
For how would it be if the Thought, the present judging Thought, instead of being in any way substantially or transcendentally identical with the former owner of the past self, merely inherited his 'title,' and thus stood as his legal representative now? It would then, if its birth coincided exactly with the death of another owner, find the past self already its own as soon as it found it at all, and the past self would thus never be wild, but always owned, by a title that never lapsed. We can imagine a long succession of herdsmen coming rapidly into possession of the same cattle by transmission of an original title by bequest. May not the 'title' of a collective self be passed from one Thought to another in some analogous way?
It is a patent fact of consciousness that a transmission like this actually occurs. Each pulse of cognitive consciousness, each Thought, dies away and is replaced by another. The other, among the things it knows, knows its own predecessor, and finding it 'warm,' in the way we have described, greets it, saying: "Thou art mine, and part of the same self with me." Each later Thought, knowing and including thus the Thoughts which went before, is the final receptacle - and appropriating them is the final owner - of all that they contain and own. Each Thought is thus born an owner, and dies owned, transmitting whatever it realized as its Self to its own later proprietor. As Kant says, it is as if elastic balls were to have not only motion but knowledge of it, and a first ball were to transmit both its motion and its consciousness to a second, which took both up into its consciousness and passed them to a third, until the last ball held all that the other balls had held, and realized it as its own. It is this trick which the nascent thought has of immediately taking up the expiring thought and 'adopting' it, which is the foundation of the [p. 340] appropriation of most of the remoter constituents of the self. Who owns the last self owns the self before the last, for what possesses the possessor possesses the possessed.
It is impossible to discover any verifiable features in personal identity, which this sketch does not contain, impossible to imagine how any transcendent non-phenomenal sort of an Arch-Ego, were he there, could shape matters to any other result, or be known in time by any other fruit, than just this production of a stream of consciousness each'section' of which should know, and knowing, hug to itself and adopt, all those that went before, - thus standing as the representative of the entire past stream; and which should similarly adopt the objects already adopted by any portion of this spiritual stream. Such standing-as-representative, and such adopting, are perfectly clear phenomenal relations. The Thought which, whilst it knows another Thought and the Object of that Other, appropriates the Other and the Object which the Other appropriated, is still a perfectly distinct phenomenon form that Other; it may hardly resemble it; it may be far removed from it in space and time.
The only point that is obscure is the act of appropriation itself. Already in enumerating the constituents of the self and their rivalry, I had to use the word appropriate. And the quick-witted reader probably noticed at the time, in hearing how one constituent was let drop and disowned and another one held fast to and espoused, that the phrase was meaningless unless the constituents were objects in the hands of something else. A thing cannot appropriate itself; it is itself; and still less can it disown itself. There must be an agent of the appropriating and disowning; but that agent we have already named. It is the Thought to whom the various 'constituents' are known. That Thought is a vehicle of choice as well as of cognition; and among the choices it makes are these appropriations, or repudiations, of its 'own.' But the Thought never is an object in its own hands, it never appropriates or disowns itself. It appropriates to itself, it is the actual focus of accretion, the hook from which the chain of past selves dangles, planted firmly [p. 341] in the Present, which alone passes for real, and thus keeping the chain from being a purely ideal thing. Anon the hook itself will drop into the past with all it carries, and then be treated as an object and appropriated by a new Thought in the new present which will serve as living hook in turn. The present moment of consciousness is thus, as Mr. Hodgson says, the darkest in the whole series. It may feel its own immediate existence - we have all along admitted the possibility of this, hard as it is by direct introspection to ascertain the fact - but nothing can be known about it till it be dead and gone. Its appropriations are therefore less to itself than to the most intimately felt part of its present Object, the body, and the central adjustments, which accompany the act of thinking, in the head. These are the real nucleus of our personal identity, and it is their actual existence, realized as a solid present fact, which makes us say 'as sure as I exist, those past facts were part of myself.' They are the kernel to which the represented parts of the Self are assimilated, accreted, and knit on; and even were Thought entirely unconscious of itself in the act of thinking, these 'warm' parts of its present object would be a firm basis on which the consciousness of personal identity would rest.[18] Such consciousness, then, [p. 342] as a psychologic fact, can be fully described without supposing any other agent than a succession of perishing thoughts, endowed with the functions of appropriation and rejection, and of which some can know and appropriate or reject objects already known, appropriated, or rejected by the rest.
To illustrate by diagram, let A, B, and C stand for three successive thoughts, each with its object inside of it.
The passing Thought then seems to be the Thinker; and though there may be another non-phenomenal Thinker behind that, so far we do not seem to need him to express the facts. But we cannot definitively make up our mind about him until we have heard the reasons that have historically been used to prove his reality.
The Pure Self or Inner Principle of Personal Unity.
1) The Spiritualist theory;
2) The Associationist theory;
3) The Transcendentalist theory.
The Theory of the Soul.
The theory of the Soul is the theory of popular philosophy and of scholasticism, which is only popular philosophy made systematic. It declares that the principle of individuality within us must be substantial, for psychic phenomena are activities, and there can be no activity without a concrete agent. This substantial agent cannot be the brain but must be something immaterial; for its activity, thought, is both immaterial, and takes cognizance of immaterial things, and of material things in general and intelligible, as well as in particular and sensible ways, - all which powers are incompatible with the nature of matter, of which the brain is composed. Thought moreover is simple, whilst the activities of the brain are compounded of the elementary activities of each of its parts. Furthermore, thought is spontaneous or free, whilst all material activity is determined ab extra; and the will can turn itself against all corporeal goods and appetites, which would be impossible were it a corporeal function. For these objective reasons the principle of psychic life must be both immaterial and simple as well as substantial, must be what is called a Soul. The same consequence follows from subjective reasons. Our consciousness of personal identity assures us of our essential simplicity: the owner of the various constituents of the self, as we have seen them, the hypothetical Arch-Ego whom we provisionally conceived as possible, is a real entity of whose existence self-consciousness makes us directly aware. No material agent could thus turn round and grasp itself - material activities always grasp something else than the agent. And if a brain could grasp itself and be self-conscious, it would be conscious of itself as a brain and not as something of an altogether different kind. The Soul then exists as a simple spiritual substance in which the various psychic faculties, operations, and affections inhere.
[p. 344] If we ask what a Substance is, the only answer is that it is a self-existent being, or one which needs no other subject in which to inhere. At bottom its only positive determination is Being, and this is something whose meaning we all realize even though we find it hard to explain. The Soul is moreover an individual being, and if we ask what that is, we are told to look in upon our Self, and we shall learn by direct intuition better than through any abstract reply. Our direct perception of our own inward being is in fact by many deemed to be the original prototype out of which our notion of simple active substance in general is fashioned. The consequences of the simplicity and substantiality of the Soul are its incorruptibility and natural immortality - nothing but God's direct fiat can annihilate it - and its responsibility at all times for whatever it may have ever done.
This substantialist view of the soul was essentially the view of Plato and of Aristotle. It received its completely formal elaboration in the middle ages. It was believed in by Hobbes, Descartes, Locke, Leibnitz, Wolf, Berkeley, and is no defended by the entire modern dualistiA mum-of-five from Meir completed the London Marathon wearing three-inch heels.
Natalie Eckert, 37, finished the 26-mile race in 7 hours, 7 minutes and 3 seconds on Sunday April 26.
The fitness fanatic failed to break the world record for taking part in a marathon in high heels.
Natalie, who was wearing a pair of fuchsia stilettoes from Marks & Spencer, was forced to have treatment on her feet at around the seventh mile, making the world record attempt void, as she had to remove her heels.
She said: “I’m a little bit disappointed to not have got the world record.
“When I had to stop and take the shoes off and get treatment in the ambulance, I knew at that point that because I’d taken them off and walked to the ambulance, the world record was gone.”
But, Natalie is still pleased with the money she has raised for two charities, which currently stands at just over £2,000.
Natalie will donate the cash to Asthma UK and Winston’s Wish but says she like to earn more money.
She said: “I’d still like to raise a little bit more.
“People can still donate, I’ve got another six weeks after the event to raise the cash, so I’m looking to bring in a bit more if possible.”
Despite having achieved something most of us can only dream of, Natalie said she had received some criticism on social media.
She added: “It’s been, ‘You didn’t complete the whole marathon in heels, you walked a little bit.’
“But you just let it go over your head.”
People can donate to Natalie’s Just Giving page here.TORONTO - A new study on Canada's clean technology industry warns that, despite outgrowing the rest of the economy, the sector is losing global market share and needs government policy support.
The fourth annual report card by Analytica Advisors found that more than 800 clean tech firms in Canada directly employed almost 50,000 people in 2013, making the industry a bigger employer than the aerospace manufacturing sector, logging industries or pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Yet even with $12 billion in exports of manufactured environmental goods, Canada's share of the booming global market has been in steady decline.
The study finds that among the world's top 24 exporting nations of environmental goods, Canada has been the third biggest loser of market share since 2008, behind only the United Kingdom and Japan.
And the report's author, Analytica president Celine Bak, is concerned Canada's clean technology industry could be following the arc of globally competitive satellite, telecommunication and biotech firms that flowered in Canada only to take root elsewhere in the world.
Bak says her study is a good-news, bad-news report that points to the need for policy co-ordination across federal and provincial jurisdictions to help the industry mature into a globally competitive market force.
"We have a terrific industry that's creating jobs, but our traction in terms of international trade is not as great as it should be because the (global) market is growing so quickly," Bak said in an interview on the eve of Wednesday's report release at the Canadian Energy Summit in Toronto.
"It should be fairly straightforward to take the next step so that the investments that have been made in early research — the investments in development and demonstrations — now are translated into jobs, exports and environmental stewardship."
Debt financing in particular is a problem for a young industry making the leap from research and development to industrial-scale deployment, production and expansion.
Technical risks are endemic.
Michael Delage is vice-president of technology and corporate strategy at General Fusion, a Burnaby, B.C., company that is one of a handful globally working to create a fusion power plant.
"We're still fairly early on — proving out some of the core systems and underlying technologies and some of the fundamental science, that's the stage we're at," said Delage. "The next step is going to be to build a full-scale system. We're a few years out from where we would start that project."
Canadian governments have invested in innovation and helping companies take technology to the point where it can be demonstrated at scale, he said. But a lot of capital may be required to get the technology into a first industrial application, at which point the private sector steps in.
Governments can also help build market conditions for the clean tech industry to gain a domestic foothold, said Delage.
"Just look at carbon policy — it's a bit all over the map across the country. If we we're serious about playing as a team and finding ways to be successful economically, better collaboration on consistent policy would go a long way."
Also on HuffPost:Case Closed
David Simon: The Wire Exit Interview
The Wire is dead. There will be no waiting to see if the new season is going to be approved by HBO executives. There will be no more wondering what's going to happen to beloved characters when it comes back on the air. There will be no more stumbling across those The Wire placards on light posts and parking meters around town when the series is in production. The Baltimore-set and -shot series that debuted in 2002 is officially over following this past Sunday night's series finale. It's over. Finished. Kaput. Long live The Wire.
And it didn't go out with a whimper. The Wire's fifth season--which featured police detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) robbing Peter to pay Paul with investigations, new Mayor Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) already setting his sights on the governor's mansion and making the political compromises to get there, and the almost devastated ex-junkie Bubbles (Andre Royo) struggling to come to terms with himself--has drawn more consistent and hotly debated printed ink and internet bloviating than any season in the series' run. Many daily paper television critics maintained weekly episodes recaps and discussions online, as has New York magazine's Vulture blog and online magazine Salon. More than 130 media outlets previewed, reviewed, or followed the season in their pages and/or on their web sites. When a beloved major character died, some even posted obituaries to their sites. And over at Slate, Atlantic national correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg and Slate Deputy Editor David Plotz maintained a season-long dialog about the show that numbered 62 posts as of press time.
Not all of this attention has been positive--or even levelheaded. And the season's most contentious aspects concern a story line introduced this season, the fictional Baltimore Sun of the The Wire's fictional Baltimore. And just about every aspect of this storyline--from how the newsroom looks to what the staff wears to how they interact in the office to the style discussions held by editors and copy editors to the very way corporate-owned daily newspaper journalism is depicted--has been scrutinized by writers, editors, bloggers, ad infinitum. That this story line includes a reporter who, quite frankly, makes shit up to further his career only added fuel to this constantly smoldering ire.
Much of that criticism has been leveled not only at the show but quite squarely at series co-creator and -producer David Simon, a former city desk reporter for the real Sun. In the past three months he's been called the "angriest man on television" in The Atlantic, and his own career has been used as a keyhole through which to view urban journalism writ large in the Columbia Journalism Review. The tenor of these pieces runs from evenhanded to reactionary, but by and large journalists haven't cared for the journalism thread one bit, and blame Simon's own personal feelings about what happened to The Sun after the Abell family sold it to Los Angeles' Times Mirror Co. in 1996 and Chicago's Tribune Co. bought Times Mirror in 2000. Simon himself jumped into the fray, writing about why he made the show in the February issue of Baltimore magazine and confronting journalism in the March issue of Esquire and in a Jan. 20 op-ed piece in The Washington Post.
But at this point the show isn't just about this final season: We can finally sit back and look at the series as a whole. And what it feels like from the vantage point of many people who call Baltimore home, where the show's fictionalized Baltimore very often far too closely resembled the world in which we live, is a piece of American protest fiction--like what American playwrights and novelists turned out in the 1920s and '30s, like what American movies were in the 1960s and '70s, and like what American songs have been ever since people started singing in this country. It's a suspicion supported by a March 5 Time essay in which The Wire's writing staff--Ed Burns, Simon, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, and Richard Price--collectively and very publicly announced their opposition to the American law enforcement's War on Drugs.
And now that television voice is gone. The series is over and the entire cast and crew have moved on to their next jobs and Simon--and his co-creator Burns--are busy editing their next HBO project, a mini-series based on Generation Kill, Evan Wright's 2004 book about the 2003 Iraq invasion. We'll no longer get to scrutinize the Baltimore in the mirror and debate what the show got right and what it flubbed.
In a modest effort to see some big picture, City Paper caught up with Simon at the end of February over the phone when he was in New York editing Generation Kill, and in an e-mail follow-up while he was working in Los Angeles. What follows is the entire on-the-record interview.
City Paper: How hard was this series to make? And I don't just mean creatively--I'm thinking in terms of just production logistics, because it seems like ever since the series premiered in 2002, it and often you personally have been criticized for what the show represented, and at least since Season 3 the conclusion of every season has brought the pregnant pause of wondering if the show will be continued. And, well, you've turned out--what?--almost 60 hours of TV?
David Simon: Sixty, yeah--well, if you count the The Corner, 66 about Baltimore. But the Wireis 60. A lot of stuff had to go right and a lot of stuff did. I don't want to make more about the struggles with civic Baltimore than I should because if you read the piece in Baltimore magazine, that's it. There was this brief pregnant moment where the mayor was very angry. And he got |
Khutsurauili. “When we were returning along the river we met several men, they were armed and had beards. They told us we are hostages now and must follow them. They threatened they would kill us if we tried to run away.”
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Georgian officials said that one of the government officers killed was a doctor from the Defense Ministry, Vladimir Khvedelidze, while the two others, Solomon Tsiklauri and Archil Chokheli, were members of the special forces of the Interior Ministry.
Officials said an investigation would seek to determine the identities and origins of the militants.
In the town of Telavi, Georgian officials quickly established a high-level crisis management team, led by Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili. Georgia is gearing up for parliamentary elections in early October and presidential elections early next year, and officials seem mindful that voters may well judge on them on the handling of such episodes.
In Russia, officials continued to deal with the aftermath of Tuesday’s bloodshed in Dagestan.
Ravil Gainutdin, the head of Russia’s Council of Muftis, warned that a recent spate of violence, much of it carried out by Muslims against other Muslims, could lead to civil war.
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“The people of Dagestan now need a lot of strength, wisdom and God-fear to keep the situation in a legal realm, prevent a civil war and prevent conflicts from dividing Dagestan’s society,” he said in a statement published on the Internet.
Sheik Gainutdin also recalled the “simplicity, nobility and wisom” of the slain cleric, Sheik Atsayev, who was killed by a suicide bomber.
The Russian authorities identified the suicide bomber as Aminat Kurbanova, a 30-year-old woman who lived in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.I recently made a demo for the p2.js physics engine with a truck and soft wheels, simulating traction. It’s a pretty interesting case, using a few different p2 constraint types. Perfect for a tutorial.
Open the JSFiddle!
World & Materials setup
The first thing we need is the simulation world.
var world = new p2.World({
gravity : [0,-5]
});
Before starting with the vehicle, let’s set up materials. Experience tells me we’re going to need some extra friction for the wheels to get some traction against the ground. For this purpose, we create two Materials and a ContactMaterial. This way we can define a new friction coefficient between ground and wheels.
var groundMat = new p2.Material();
var wheelMat = new p2.Material();
var contactMat = new p2.ContactMaterial(groundMat, wheelMat, {
friction: 30
});
world.addContactMaterial(contactMat);
We will use these two materials shortly, when creating geometry.
Chassis
The chassis is a single rigid body, with a few shapes in it. First, let’s create the Body:
var chassisBody = new p2.Body({
mass: 1,
position: [-0.3, 2.2]
});
world.addBody(chassisBody);
Next step is to add some geometry to it.
// Capsule below the chassis
chassisBody.addShape(new p2.Capsule({
length: 1.8,
radius: 0.6
}), [0.5,-0.4], -0.1);
// First capsule above the trunk
chassisBody.addShape(new p2.Capsule({
length: 1.8,
radius: 0.1
}), [-0.4, 0.6], Math.PI/2);
// Second capsule above the trunk
chassisBody.addShape(new p2.Capsule({
length: 1.8,
radius: 0.1
}), [-0.2, 0.6], Math.PI/2);
// Inclined capsule above the trunk
chassisBody.addShape(new p2.Capsule({
length: 1.8,
radius: 0.1
}), [-1.4, 1], Math.PI/7);
// Main chassis shape
chassisBody.addShape(new p2.Convex({
vertices: [
[3.5, -0.6],
[3.7, -0.4],
[3.6, 0.5],
[3.3, 0.6],
[-3.5, 0.6],
[-3.55, -0.1],
[-3.4, -0.6]
],
width: 7,
height: 1.2
}));
// Top "window"
chassisBody.addShape(new p2.Convex({
vertices: [
[1, -0.5],
[0.3, 0.5],
[-1, 0.5],
[-1.1, -0.5]
]
}), [1, 1.1], 0);
Wheels
For the soft wheel simulation, I chose an approach where the center of the wheel is a circular body, and the outer shell consists out of a number of “links”. The links are interconnected in a circle, and they are also constrained to the center circle so they must move when the inner wheel rotates. Finally the links have a spring connection to the center so they can flex radially.
Let’s break this down. First we create the center circle body.
var wheelBody = new p2.Body({
mass: 1
});
wheelBody.addShape(new p2.Circle({ radius: 0.4 }));
world.addBody(wheelBody);
Let’s add a single link for starters. We use a Capsule shape.
var linkBody = new p2.Body({
mass: 0.1,
position: [0, 1],
angle: Math.PI / 2
});
linkBody.addShape(new p2.Capsule({
radius: 0.05,
length: 0.4,
material: wheelMat
}));
world.addBody(body);
First we need to make sure it can only move radially along an axis from the circle body’s center. For this, we use a PrismaticConstraint. We use the body centers as anchor points and define the slider axis locally in the center body.
var prismatic = new p2.PrismaticConstraint(wheelBody, linkBody, {
localAnchorA: [0, 0],
localAnchorB: [0, 0],
localAxisA: [0, 1],
disableRotationalLock: true,
collideConnected: true
});
world.addConstraint(prismatic);
To keep the links in a circle when the wheel is at rest, we add a DistanceConstraint between the center body and the link. To make the constraint soft, we set a small maxForce.
var distanceConstraint = new p2.DistanceConstraint(wheelBody, linkBody, {
maxForce: 4
});
world.addConstraint(distanceConstraint);
Now we will modify the “link” code so it runs in a for loop and adds more links. We will also make sure the loop adds RevoluteConstraints to connect the link ends to each other in a circular formation around the center body.
// Create a chain of capsules around the center.
var lastBody, firstBody, N=16;
var linkLength = Math.sqrt(2 - 2*Math.cos(2 * Math.PI / N));
for(var i=0; i<N; i++){
// Create a capsule body
var angle = i / N * Math.PI * 2;
var x = Math.cos(angle) - 2.2;
var y = Math.sin(angle);
var linkBody = new p2.Body({
mass: 0.1,
position: [x,y],
angle: angle + Math.PI / 2
});
linkBody.addShape(new p2.Capsule({
radius: 0.05,
length: linkLength,
material: wheelMat
}));
world.addBody(linkBody);
// Constrain the capsule body to the center body.
// A prismatic constraint lets it move radially from the center body along one axis
var prismatic = new p2.PrismaticConstraint(wheelBody, linkBody, {
localAnchorA: [0, 0],
localAnchorB: [0, 0],
localAxisA: [
Math.cos(angle),
Math.sin(angle)
],
disableRotationalLock: true, // Let the capsule rotate around its own axis
collideConnected: true
});
world.addConstraint(prismatic);
// Make a "spring" that keeps the body from the center body at a given distance with some flexing
world.addConstraint(new p2.DistanceConstraint(wheelBody, body, {
maxForce: 4 // Allow flexing
}));
if(lastBody){
// Constrain the capsule to the previous one.
var c = new p2.RevoluteConstraint(linkBody, lastBody, {
localPivotA: [-linkLength/2, 0],
localPivotB: [linkLength/2, 0],
collideConnected: false
});
world.addConstraint(c);
} else {
firstBody = linkBody;
}
lastBody = linkBody;
}
// Close the capsule circle
world.addConstraint(new p2.RevoluteConstraint(firstBody, lastBody, {
localPivotA: [-linkLength/2, 0],
localPivotB: [linkLength/2, 0],
collideConnected: false
}));
Attach wheels to chassis
Now we will constrain the wheels to the chassis. We will let them move vertically and rotate freely using prismatic constraints. We set limits on the constraints so the wheels don’t slide too far away from (or too close to) the chassis.
var c1 = new p2.PrismaticConstraint(chassisBody,wheelBodyA,{
localAnchorA : [
wheelBodyA.position[0] - chassisBody.position[0],
wheelBodyA.position[1] - chassisBody.position[1]
],
localAnchorB: [0,0],
localAxisA: [0,1],
disableRotationalLock: true
});
var c2 = new p2.PrismaticConstraint(chassisBody,wheelBodyB,{
localAnchorA: [
wheelBodyB.position[0] - chassisBody.position[0],
wheelBodyB.position[1] - chassisBody.position[1]
],
localAnchorB: [0,0],
localAxisA: [0,1],
disableRotationalLock: true
});
c1.setLimits(-0.5, 0.4);
c2.setLimits(-0.5, 0.4);
world.addConstraint(c1);
world.addConstraint(c2);
Suspension
To get a suspension-like effect, we create soft distance constraints, that will let the wheels move up and down a bit. A distance constraint is by default very stiff, so we set its maxForce to something smaller to make it soft.
var suspensionA = new p2.DistanceConstraint(wheelBodyA, chassisBody, {
maxForce: 6
});
world.addConstraint(suspensionA);
var suspensionB = new p2.DistanceConstraint(wheelBodyB, chassisBody, {
maxForce: 6
});
world.addConstraint(suspensionB);
Ground plane
At last, we create a ground plane to let the vehicle drive on something. Optionally, we can add some obstacles.
var groundBody = new p2.Body({
position: [0, -2]
});
groundBody.addShape(new p2.Plane({
material: groundMat
}));
world.addBody(groundBody);
Applying engine torque
If you want to apply a torque to the wheels to make the vehicle move forward, it should be done after each physics step. Simply do something like this:
world.on("postStep",function(evt){
wheelBodyA.angularForce += 30;
wheelBodyB.angularForce += 30;
});
Cool! What now?
Play around with the JSFiddle to see the full code. See if you can add some more cool stuff to the vehicle!
Please leave a comment, star p2.js on Github, tweet or retweet if you think this tutorial is useful!Friday, one of the biggest leaks in political history happened and it is only going to get worse for the Democrats. This is not a smear article, these are straightforward facts that are retrieved from the DNC. These are their emails and words, not ones Republicans made up.
WikiLeaks is a gigantic hacking corporation that seeks to end corruption. Even if they have a political preference, they are still reporting facts. WikiLeaks hacked the Democratic National Convention and has released over 20,000 emails between senior and top officials plotting to rig the election for Hillary Clinton.
As you can guess, Clinton has denied all allegations, won’t answer any questions about the matter, and acts like she is shocked. What is even crazier is that Hillary Clinton hired Debbie Wasserman Shultz on the SAME DAY she was fired from the DNC for the email leaks.
There are a ton of emails and many people are still looking through them all, but they reveal that the DNC rigged the election in favor of Clinton in many ways. The DNC would only let news stations like CNN and MSN ask Hillary questions that were pre-approved and written by them, so the media were asking Hillary questions that she basically wrote herself.
The DNC was releasing and promoting stories that hurt Bernie Sanders and ones that made Hillary look good (which I bet was hard). The emails show that the DNC is absolutely terrified of Donald Trump and his movement, too.
The emails also show that Democrats are actually racist, and do not care about minorities like they claim they do. Here’s an email from Rebecca Christopher, a top DNC staffer, saying they need to increase their “taco bowl engagement” with Latino’s.
Here’s an email showing that the DNC was plotting to create a fake Craigslist post for women to work at one of one of Trump’s organizations. They were going to make a fake add suggesting Trump only hires people based on weight and looks. Here’s the email:
Here’s an email from a top DNC member sending out a detailed list of how to get the “Latino vote.” The strategy indicates that because Hispanics are loyal ‘consumers,’ once you get one family member, you’ll have them all.
“Consumer”? That is all Democrats see Hispanics as. Democrats refer to you like you’re a customer that will simply come and go. What a joke and how disrespectful.
Here’s an email from a DNC official trying to pull the transcript from an MSNBC interview DURING the actual interview. The transcripts would have shown the DNC and Clinton working together, and they couldnt show that because it would have destroyed their master scheme.
Again, there were over 20,000 emails and these are just a few. WikiLeaks has come forward and said that they will release another wave of emails that will lead to Hillary Clinton going to jail. The emails will contain information about Clinton and her Foundation.
You MUST share this now because Twitter and Facebook have already been trying to delete these posts so that people cannot see them anymore. Sharing this will show millions of other people how corrupt this system is and how badly something must be done right now.After months of rumors, ComicBook.com has learned that Grant Gustin will appear on Supergirl in his role as Barry Allen/The Flash next month.
Gustin will head to National City on the series' March 28 episode, the details of which haven't yet been released.
"We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making Supergirl – The Flash and Supergirl are teaming up!,” said The Flash and Supergirl Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. “We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit (on top of his already immense workload) and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. and DC for working this out. And finally thanks to the fans and journalists who have kept asking for this to happen. It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone's enthusiasm and support.”
Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bomb attacks killed at least 34 people in Baghdad on Thursday but the Interior Ministry said it would not allow al Qaeda, which it blames for a surge in sectarian violence, to turn Iraq into another Syria.
More than 100 people were wounded in at least eight blasts, one of which was near the “Green Zone” diplomatic complex, part of a wave of bloodshed that has taken the monthly death toll in Iraq to the highest levels in five years.
“Iraq’s streets have become a battleground for sectarian people who are motivated by hatred and religious edicts and daring to kill innocent people,” the Interior Ministry said in an unusually frank statement.
“It is our destiny to win this battle which is aimed at destroying the country and turning it into another Syria,” the ministry said.
Earlier on Thursday the ministry had put the death toll far lower, at three dead and 44 wounded.
Mainly Sunni Muslim rebels have been fighting for more than two years to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite minority support base is a branch of Shi’ite Islam.
Sunni Muslim militant groups, including al Qaeda, have stepped up their insurgency against Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government in the past four months, raising fears of a return to full-blown sectarian conflict 18 months after U.S. troops left.
Police sources said one bomb exploded 200-300 meters (yards) from Baghdad’s international zone, close to Iraq’s Foreign Ministry. Four people died and 12 others were wounded.
The central zone is a highly-fortified area housing Western embassies including the U.S. mission, and the nearby Iraqi ministry has been a frequent target of attacks.
Since the start of the year, attacks using multiple car bombs have become an almost daily occurrence. Religious holidays have failed to stem the slaughter, as bombers at the weekend targeted families celebrating the end of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan.
Each of the past four months has been deadlier than any in the last five years, dating back to when U.S. and government troops were engaged in battles with militiamen.
The government has launched a security sweep to try to round up suspected militants and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday the crackdown would continue.
A vehicle burns at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district August 15, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer
COMMON CAUSE AGAINST AL QAEDA
The civil war in neighboring Syria, which has stoked sectarian tensions across the Middle East, has boosted Sunni insurgents in Iraq who are also benefiting from general discontent in the minority Sunni population.
The Interior Ministry described the conflict last month as “open war” and the United States has said it will work closely with the Iraqi government to confront al Qaeda.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, in Washington on Thursday, told Secretary of State John Kerry that the Iraqi people would not succumb to the violence and the government would not allow a lapse into civil or sectarian war.
“There is a clear determination by the Iraqi leadership that really we’ve been there before, in 2007-2008. We are not going to go there again,” Zebari said at the State Department.
Kerry said the United States would help Baghdad deal with the spillover from the Syrian conflict, including weapons flowing out of Syria into Iraq and from Iraq to Syria, as well as to combat the efforts by al Qaeda and by Syria’s allies Iran and Hezbollah to recruit Iraqis.
“We are committed to helping Iraq to withstand these pressures and to bolster the moderate forces throughout the region,” said Kerry. He also urged Baghdad to address pressing domestic issues that fuel strife.
“There needs to be progress within Iraq on political issues, on economic issues, as well as on the larger constitutional issues that have been outstanding for too long,” said Kerry.
Thursday’s car bombs targeted districts in central, eastern, northern and southern Baghdad, including Shi’ite areas, police said.
Five people died when a bomb exploded near a traffic police station in Baladiyat, in eastern Baghdad, crushing the roofs of nearby vehicles, their wheels splayed on the ground by the force of the explosion.
“Windows were smashed and my children started screaming and running everywhere, smoke and dust filled my house,” said a man wounded by flying shards of glass. He declined to be named.
“The politicians are responsible for the deterioration in security,” he said.
Slideshow (9 Images)
In the al-Shurta al-Rabaa district, a bomb on a tractor trailer carrying gas cylinders killed four people while in Husseiniya, on the capital’s northeastern outskirts, a minibus exploded in a repair shop, killing three, police said.
The Interior Ministry said security forces were cracking down on “hotbeds of terrorism” outside Baghdad, raiding bomb-making factories and recruitment centers for suicide bombers.Motorist pulls man from burning car on Adelaide's Southern Expressway
Updated
A man who was pulled from a burning vehicle on the Southern Expressway, in Adelaide's south, remains in a serious condition at Flinders Medical Centre.
Just after 4:30am an Audi sedan travelling south on the expressway crashed into the rear of a broken down van parked on the left side of the road, about 600 metres north from the Majors Road overpass.
The car caught fire on impact, with the 29-year-old driver from the southern suburbs pulled from the burning wreckage by a passing motorist.
He was the only occupant of the car.
The wreckage on the Southern Expressway has been cleared and all lanes are now open.
Police said the injured driver will be interviewed at a later date and called for witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Topics: road, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
First postedFrom ‘miaow miaow’ to the methspresso machine, Dr Zee has spent years creating new drugs faster than the British government can legislate against. But is he a freedom fighter – or a brainier version of your average dealer?
Dr Zee, the Israeli chemist credited with kicking off the legal highs market in the UK, is showing off his latest invention. Unlike his other discoveries – most notably mephedrone, which caused a media panic in 2009 when tabloids ran scare stories about “miaow miaow” and “plant food” – this one can’t be snorted or swallowed. Instead, it’s a black plastic box that looks rather like a coffee-maker.
“I think maybe we’ll call it the methspresso machine,” he says, while showcasing it on a new BBC documentary, The Last Days of Legal Highs.
The methspresso is more than just a 10/10 pun. It’s Zee’s attempt to get around the British government’s impending Psychoactive Substances bill, which is due to kick in on 26 May. That bill will outlaw not just individual chemical compounds (which cunning chemists including Zee have been circumnavigating with simple tweaks to a substance’s molecular structure), but any substance at all “producing a psychoactive effect in a person who consumes it”.
If anyone knows how to get around drug laws, it’s Zee. Over the past few years, while the UK government struggled to clamp down on the new chemical compounds flooding the market, Zee was creating new ones on a weekly basis – a rate far faster than the government could legislate for.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Legal highs, from Magic Crystals to Cotton Candy Carnage. Photograph: Christian Cargill/BBC/Pulse Films
“My primary motivation is to help people have a good time without breaking the law,” says Zee when we talk. He says he makes a “decent living” from legal highs, but no more than he would have made in his previous job as a scientist and researcher in the pharmaceuticals industry. “My drive comes from the will to create something new, better, legal and safe. The underlying belief of this activity is cognitive liberty. I believe people should be allowed to alter their own state of consciousness and self-medicate, as long as it does not harm others or themselves.”
Zee is a strange interviewee. “How long have we got?” he asks when we first speak on the phone, before embarking on a rather tangential monologue about the media and medical professions. Before I’ve managed to get a proper question in, he tells me he’s got a meeting with his accountant he forgot about and that, actually, we’ll have to reschedule.
Later, he stresses that concocting new drugs is a discovery process not an inventive one: “It’s not nearly as intentional as most people think. The only aspects of a novel molecule I can control are its chemical structure and its legality. But there is no scientific method for predicting what effect it will have on the human body or mind or brain, and whether it will have any effect at all.”
Zee tests every new concoction on himself. “It’s part of my working routine – not part of my private life,” he says. “I make molecule after molecule then try them without prejudice. You have to keep an open mind.”
He claims to try one or two new compounds a week. Isn’t it dangerous, putting himself forward as a human guinea pig?
Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘It’s a lot less dangerous than it seems’ … Dr Zee working on new chemical compounds. Photograph: BBC
“It’s a lot less dangerous than it seems,” he says. “That said, I have a great deal of knowledge that allows me to disqualify potential dangers. I strongly discourage blind self-experimentation without a very deep scientific background. DO NOT try this at home!”
Given that Zee is clearly a capable scientist – he claims to have three degrees in mathematics and previous experience working on the Human Genome Project in Tel Aviv – isn’t there something more beneficial he could do with his skills? He believes his work has positive effects outside of helping people get high: “A number of substances I have discovered are being investigated for the treatment of Parkinson’s, post-traumatic stress disorder and smoking cessation,” he says. “A rather exciting molecule I recently stumbled on feels, in small doses, like alcohol. I have done the necessary toxicological studies and shown it to be much less harmful than alcohol. I am working diligently to develop this compound as a cure for alcoholism and overconsumption.”
So is Zee a force for good, a freedom fighter mocking our draconian and self-defeating drug laws? Or is he a brainier version of your average drug dealer, feeding off the misery and despair of addicts?
Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘A strange workplace’ … Dr Zee in his lab in Amsterdam. Photograph: BBC
In the documentary, we see head shop owners readying chemicals in cement mixers – a heavily regulated industry this is not, and the long-term effects on users are still largely unknown. As for the short-term ones: deaths from legal highs have doubled in the last five years, with hospital admissions rising by 56% over the 2009-2012 period. Last week, five men in Rochdale collapsed after taking legal highs called Annihilation and Cherry Bomb.
Documentary director Tom Costello says he met Dr Zee in his laboratory on an industrial estate in Amsterdam – “a strange workplace: there are bags of white powders on every desk and in every drawer, boards full of strange chemical symbols, and a Breaking Bad-style lab set up where the drugs are cooked up into trays of huge crystals.” He was convinced by Zee’s claims that he wanted to make drug-taking safer and take the trade out of criminals’ hands. “But however convincing I found his arguments, I was surprised by how little he knew about how his drugs were being sold and taken in Britain,” he says. “He’s used the UK as a petri-dish for an experiment which has had real consequences – for better or worse – on the streets of the UK.”
I ask Zee how he feels about people being harmed by taking his drugs? His response is well-formed, with something of a politician’s detachment. “I am saddened by stories of people caught in addictive loops and by stories of people that have incurred any sort of harm from any drug,” he says, adding: “I adhere to my commitment to toxicologically test anything I promote for market, and have data attesting to the safety of my discoveries. Also, keep in mind that tolerance does not occur for substances I have promoted. That said, I’d like to find a way for everyone in society, and society itself, to have a beneficial relationship with psychoactives.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter, who runs the Gypsy Kings head shop. Photograph: Christian Cargill/BBC/Pulse Films
Watching the documentary, you do wonder if Zee – who has “never met anybody addicted to my drugs. I’ve never come face to face with it” – is too far removed from his consumers. Whether it’s weed substitute Spice or cocaine-mimicking Rush, users repeatedly stress that the highs are far greater than the thing they’re supposed to ape. The longterm effects can be equally grim too – we see Glen, 31, whose life has revolved around Spice since he moved on from weed, or Phil, a homeless addict since his teens who ditched illegal drugs for the pleasures of shooting up £40 worth of Magic Crystals in a nearby church every day. These people are clearly trapped in a cycle of addiction – though you could easily argue that they would be regardless of their chosen substance’s easy availability.
In the documentary, drugs minister Karen Bradley say: “It’s causing anti-social behaviour, it’s causing harm to young people and communities want to see these head shops close down.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Phil, who ditched illegal drugs in favour of Magic Crystals. Photograph: Christian Cargill/BBC/Pulse Film
Yet there are counter-arguments. The legal highs business is an £82m industry in the UK, with all the resultant tax income and job creation that brings – closing that down won’t stop people taking drugs, but it will send a lot of users back to the illegal market.
Zee tells me that “similar to the way gay rights or freedom of religion are things our societies were opposed to in the past and are proud of upholding today, so we will be proud of upholding cognitive liberty tomorrow”.
For all this moral talk, you suspect part of him does get a kick out of finding ways to annoy the establishment, who he says place him under “close scrutiny” despite his transparent – and legal – working methods.
Which brings us back to the methspresso machine, Zee’s latest attempt to make recreational drugs within the boundaries of UK law. Using his invention, Zee hopes to sell non-psychoactive substances that people can convert into a psychoactive substance at home (the re-purposed coffee maker will heat the substance in hydrochloric acid for six hours, before converting the resultant brown liquid into powder form – instead of a coffee dripping out, you get drugs).
“I have solved all the major hurdles and have proven feasibility,” he says, when I ask where the project is currently at. “Now, I must work through a sea of tiny details.”
As if it needed saying, he adds: “But I persevere.”
• The Last Days of Legal Highs is on BBC Three on Wednesday from 6pm.- Tempe Police are investigating a shooting that broke out overnight at a party.
Officers say a fight broke out at 4:15AM during a party at a home in the 2300 block of Alameda Drive, near Roeser and 48th Street. They say the victim and two friends were attending the party but were asked to leave; they left, but one of them threatened to return and open fire at the gathering.
When the three people returned and rang the doorbell, two guests at the party answered the door and a fight broke out. One person involved was carrying a knife. Officers say oen of the guests shot the victim.
The victim was taken to the hospital for a gunshot wound; the victim is reportedly in serious but stable condition.
Tempe Police are investigating to learn more details about what led up to the shooting. Police say it's possible the person who opened fire was acting in self-defense.
This is a breaking news story. Stay with Fox 10 News for updates.When Apple started making the iPhone, it used a generic, Samsung-made ARM system that was paired with a PowerVR GPU. Over time, Apple began crafting more and more of its own silicon, thanks to its purchase of various chip design firms. These days, the PowerVR chip on the A10 Fusion is one of very few components that Apple didn't have entire control over.
The decision to dump Imagination was probably inevitable given the company's trend towards control, but there may be another story here. Third-party analysts The Linley Group spotted that the iPhone 7 used the same PowerVR GT7600 GPU that was used for the iPhone 6S. That piece of silicon, while powerful, couldn't sustain its performance for very long and so throttles the component to avoid overheating.
Apple is well-know to be unsentimental when it comes to ditching chip makers when they can't meet performance targets. After all, the company ditched PowerPC CPUs because -- so the legend goes -- Intel's X86 silicon was getting faster while IBM and Motorola dragged their feet.
It's clearly a massive blow for Imagination, which has already said that it's planning to take the matter to the courts. After all, building a graphics platform from scratch is likely to involve using technology that other companies like Imagination has already patented. The famously-secretive Apple is also not going to look favorably upon one of its suppliers going public with this licensing dispute.
Imagination shares down 67% after end of agreement with Apple pic.twitter.com/jBazTt6IjT — Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) April 3, 2017
As TechCrunch explains, the split could spell doom for Imagination, since it relies upon Apple for the bulk of its cash. Even worse, is that the news has already caused Imagination's stock to freefall, dropping between 60 and 70 percent in the last few hours.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is getting a lot of love from voters during his political honeymoon, a new poll suggests. One week after being sworn in, Trudeau is enjoying a 60 per cent approval rating, and almost three-quarters of those surveyed say they are satisfied with the outcome of the Oct. 19 election won by his Liberals.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is enjoying a 60 per cent approval rating, according to a new Forum Research poll, and almost three-quarters of those surveyed say they are satisfied with the outcome of the election. ( CHRIS WATTIE / REUTERS file photo )
“He’s off to a good start,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said Tuesday. “I don’t think the New Democrats (polled) are that disappointed because getting rid of (Conservative prime minister Stephen) Harper was the goal... so I think there is relief after that,” Bozinoff said, noting 72 per cent of NDP voters surveyed are “satisfied” with the election outcome. “The Liberals kind of took the New Democrats’ policies — they did the same thing that (Premier Kathleen) Wynne did (last year). They out-New-Democrat the New Democrats, it’s exactly the same playbook.”
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Using interactive voice-response phone calls, Forum surveyed 1,256 people across Canada between last Wednesday and Saturday. Results are considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Here’s what the poll found: 74 per cent approve of Trudeau’s gender-balanced cabinet, with 22 per cent disapproving and 4 per cent unsure. “That’s what he said he was going to do and there is a big premium these days on doing what you say you’re going to do,” Bozinoff said.
55 per cent of respondents said they would now vote Liberal — up from the 39.5 per cent who actually did on Oct. 19. Twenty-five per cent would vote Conservative (down from 31.9 per cent on election day), 12 per cent would vote New Democrat (down from 19.7 per cent), 4 per cent would vote Bloc Québécois (4.7 per cent), and 3 per cent would vote Green (3.4 per cent).
In terms of which Conservative legislation respondents want the Liberals to repeal or amend first, 27 per cent said Bill C-51, the anti-terror law; 18 per cent said Bill C-24, which gives Ottawa the power to revoke Canadian citizenship for terrorists; 11 per cent said Bill C-36, the law banning soliciting for prostitution; and 8 per cent said Bill C-377, which requires unions to disclose salaries and expenses.
With the Liberals promising electoral reform, 40 per cent said they approve of the existing “first-past-the-post” system, with 34 per cent disapproving and 26 per cent unsure; 52 per cent approve of a proportional representation system, with 23 per cent disapproving and 25 per cent unsure; and 31 per cent approve of a ranked ballot with 38 per cent disapproving and 31 per cent not sure. <bullet> Trudeau enjoys a 60 per cent approval rating with 20 per cent disapproving of the job he is doing, while 20 per cent were not sure. Forty-three per cent of respondents said they are “very satisfied” with the election outcome, 29 per cent said “somewhat satisfied,” 14 per cent said “not very satisfied,” and 14 per cent said “not at all satisfied.” In terms of party affiliation, 98 per cent of Liberals were satisfied compared with 22 per cent of Tories, 72 per cent of New Democrats, 79 per cent of Greens, and 53 per cent of Bloc backers.
Article Continued Below
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who is remaining at the helm of his party despite taking the New Democrats from official Opposition to third place, has a 34 per cent approval rating, with 39 per cent disapproving of his performance and 27 per cent unsure.
Former cabinet minister Peter MacKay leads the pack to succeed Harper as full-time Conservative leader with 29 per cent support. Following him is fellow retiree John Baird (14 per cent), current interim leader Rona Ambrose (14 per cent), ex-ministers Jason Kenney (11 per cent), Michelle Rempel (11 per cent), Kellie Leitch (9 per cent), Tony Clement (7 per cent) and Rob Nicholson (6 per cent).
Like most polls, Forum’s survey is weighted statistically by age, region and other variables to ensure the |
0) 7,965 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
45% Rate of Kids With Low Access 49.19% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 35.2% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
11,962
Kids With Poor Acccess 9,158
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 2,803
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
25,019 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 14,677 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 10,341 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
43.74% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 50.29% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 34.44% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
10,942
Seniors With Poor Acccess 7,381
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 3,562
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
9 Guadalupe, Texas
131,533
Total Population 88,963
Urban Population 42,570
Rural Population
36.38% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 70.25% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 2.5% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
38,276 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 27,615 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 10,661 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
51.61% Rate of Kids With Low Access 70.62% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 2.37% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
19,755
Kids With Poor Acccess 19,503
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 252
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
14,482 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 7,843 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 6,638 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
38.11% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 68.03% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 2.77% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
5,520
Seniors With Poor Acccess 5,336
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 184
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
8 Pueblo, Colorado
159,063
Total Population 137,225
Urban Population 21,838
Rural Population
41.14% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 52.57% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 29.71% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
39,267 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 32,802 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 6,465 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
48.67% Rate of Kids With Low Access 52.9% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 27.21% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
19,112
Kids With Poor Acccess 17,353
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 1,759
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
25,364 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 20,669 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 4,695 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
47.01% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 50.06% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 33.58% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
11,923
Seniors With Poor Acccess 10,346
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,577
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
7 Williamson, Texas
422,679
Total Population 362,407
Urban Population 60,272
Rural Population
39.37% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 57.2% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 21.53% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
122,831 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 107,959 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 14,872 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
53.44% Rate of Kids With Low Access 57.85% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 21.42% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
65,644
Kids With Poor Acccess 62,459
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 3,185
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
40,883 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 34,974 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 5,909 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
50.77% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 56.02% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 19.7% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
20,755
Seniors With Poor Acccess 19,592
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,164
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
6 Cass, North Dakota
149,778
Total Population 135,850
Urban Population 13,928
Rural Population
42.12% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 13.63% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 70.61% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
50,678 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 47,111 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 3,567 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
20.63% Rate of Kids With Low Access 16.82% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 70.92% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
10,455
Kids With Poor Acccess 7,925
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 2,530
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
14,243 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 12,543 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 1,701 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
21.34% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 14.54% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 71.47% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
3,040
Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,824
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,216
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
5 Pinal, Arizona
375,770
Total Population 265,771
Urban Population 109,999
Rural Population
31.76% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 59.06% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 4.47% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
108,289 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 79,996 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 28,293 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
45.55% Rate of Kids With Low Access 60.13% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 4.33% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
49,324
Kids With Poor Acccess 48,098
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 1,226
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
63,778 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 42,258 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 21,520 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
39.45% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 57.17% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 4.66% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
25,163
Seniors With Poor Acccess 24,161
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,002
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
4 Mohave, Arizona
200,186
Total Population 135,128
Urban Population 65,058
Rural Population
41.58% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 54.24% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 28.92% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
37,716 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 28,340 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 9,376 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
46.32% Rate of Kids With Low Access 53.28% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 25.27% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
17,470
Kids With Poor Acccess 15,101
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 2,369
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
48,682 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 32,160 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 16,522 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
47.07% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 55.65% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 30.37% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
22,915
Seniors With Poor Acccess 17,898
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 5,018
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
3 Gwinnett, Georgia
805,321
Total Population 805,321
Urban Population -
Rural Population
34.49% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 34.49% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access % Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
278,836 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 278,836 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) - Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
34.94% Rate of Kids With Low Access 34.94% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access % Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
97,413
Kids With Poor Acccess 97,413
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess -
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
67,421 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 67,421 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) - Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
33.64% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 33.64% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access % Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
22,683
Seniors With Poor Acccess 22,683
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess -
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
2 Navajo, Arizona
107,449
Total Population 32,914
Urban Population 74,535
Rural Population
42.03% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 53.45% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 30.62% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
29,867 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 9,457 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 20,410 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
37.66% Rate of Kids With Low Access 52.92% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 30.58% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
11,247
Kids With Poor Acccess 5,005
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 6,242
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
10,825 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 3,663 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 7,161 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
39.44% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 53.6% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 32.19% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
4,269
Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,963
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 2,305
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
1 Sandoval, New Mexico
131,561
Total Population 99,967
Urban Population 31,594
Rural Population
50.34% Rate of Total Population With Low Access 53.85% Rate of Total Urban Population With Low Access 46.84% Rate of Rural Population With Low Access
Population Urbanization Housing Units
36,606 Estimated Total Number of Kids (2010) 29,663 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Urban Residences (2010) 6,944 Estimated Total Number of Kids In Rural Residences (2010)
53.84% Rate of Kids With Low Access 55.46% Rate of Urban Kids With Low Access 46.89% Rate of Rural Kids With Low Access
19,707
Kids With Poor Acccess 16,452
Urban Kids With Poor Acccess 3,255
Rural Kids With Poor Acccess
13,588 Estimated Total Number of Seniors (2010) 10,455 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Urban Residences (2010) 3,133 Estimated Total Number of Seniors In Rural Residences (2010)
50.86% Rate of Seniors With Low Access 52.07% Rate of Urban Seniors With Low Access 46.83% Rate of Rural Seniors With Low Access
6,911
Seniors With Poor Acccess 5,444
Urban Seniors With Poor Acccess 1,467
Rural Seniors With Poor Acccess
Source: O*NET
Source: O*NET
Source: O*NET
Source: O*NETSweden has an official twitter account, @sweden, which is given over to a different Swede every week:
For seven days, he or she recommends things to do and places to see, sharing diverse opinions, and ideas along the way. After that, someone else does the same—but differently. Follow all nine million of us. Welcome to Sweden.
This week's chosen Swede is... different. Meet Sonja Abrahamsson:
This is a picture of me from last year. Grrororaoroaroaorrryfrog.com/h7s9qikj — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
Sonja is a mother:
Sometimes I just look at my children and think about the time when they had my vagina round their neck. — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
My kids are sleeping now. I can't believe they were kicking each others ass earlier. They are so… sweet and quiet. Like… roses or something — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 11, 2012
Did I just compare my children to roses!? Omg. Roses smells like an old ladys bathroom!! My kids are more like… I don't know. Horses? — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 11, 2012
She introduces us to Sweden's wildlife:
In Sweden its very common to have dead reindeers next to the bread in the grocery store. amenvadfan.blogg.se/images/2009/ds… — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
This swedish bread section is fresh, thinking new. They got a dead bear instead 4.bp.blogspot.com/_LatidzgOVvA/S… — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
In Sweden we are very proud of our nature and beautiful wild life, and we want to honor it in every way we can farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/618181030… — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
And she shares her photoshopping prowess:
This picture makes most swedish people drooling like dogs with rabies. But not me, I don't like strawberries.yfrog.com/h033sjkj — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
I found some pics I've shopped on da computer. This pic I call "hungry gay with aids".yfrog.com/ke3mfwej — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
God bless you, Sonja Abrahamsson, and your own special brand of Swedishness.
Update
Sonja is back, asking:
Whats the fuzz with jews. You can't even see if a person is a jew, unless you see their penises, and even if you do, you can't be sure!? — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
In nazi German they even had to sew stars on their sleeves. If they didn't, they could never now who was a jew and who was not a jew. — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
Once I asked a co-worker what a jew is. He was "part jew", whatever that means. He's like "uuuuh… jews are.. uh.. well educated..?" — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012
I thought it was a good idea to ask the question when so many well educated people all over the world can answer. But no. Bad idea. — @sweden / Sonja (@sweden) June 12, 2012Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is prepared for a potential U.S. attack thanks to a world-class war machine that relentlessly pursues the enemies of the Arab republic on sea, on land and in the air, according to video evidence currently getting wide circulation on pro-Syrian television stations.
The condition of Assad’s Russian-equipped armed forces is unclear after a two-year civil war, and U.S. officials contend that the spirited and forward-looking nation has no appreciable air defenses. But pro-Assad clips show that the London-trained ophthalmologist commands a military force of such reach and power that he will inevitably achieve his father’s long-nourished dream of pan-Levantine unity under a Damascus-centered colossus.
In this three-minute clip from Sama TV, a chorus of grateful voices chants the name of Syria’s army as the widely popular Baathist regime deploys jets, amphibious forces and great warships against Syria’s enemies. Courageous soldiers jump through hoops of flame while the Syrian people unite around the keywords “Homeland,” “Honor” and “Sincerity”.
In another handsomely produced music video, Syria’s tanks, paratroopers, gunships and artillery batteries advance relentlessly, through snow-covered mountains, sub-tropical forests and forbidding deserts, against the terrorists, Zionists and imperialists who lust for the ancient land’s vast wealth and bounty of natural resources.
The videos come as Syria faces challenges from a Sunni uprising that is supported by many Arab states and may soon receive help from the United States. The highly competitive Arab television market reflects this conflict, with many stations strongly opposing the Assad regime and even some supporters, such as Arabic-language RT, toning down their pro-regime coverage lately.
But media loyal to Assad continue to broadcast evidence of Syrian strength, such as this clip from Shaam News Network, in which a patriotic song plays against images of flying rockets and infantry assaults so intense that ignominious defeat is guaranteed for all the foes of Syrian national greatness.
A sense of Syria’s civil as well as martial strength can be seen in this pro-military performance by singer Rami Kazour, set to a flashy modern beat and backed by an eager crowd of Assad supporters. The skills on display could prove important should U.S. President Barack Obama, currently stymied in his efforts to muster support for a military attack, attempt to settle the Syrian crisis by arranging a dance-off.
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1.) Replace lex-bison based parser with handwritten parser in gcalctool
The aim of this application is to change current lex-bison based parser with the handwritten parser. As, handwritten parser are much faster and can be ported to other languages without much trouble, this will help in both, making gcalctool fast as well as portable.
Student: Arth Patel Mentor: Robert Ancell
2.) Integrate GTG to Gnome-Shell
I would like to work on GTG software to integrate him to Gnome-Shell. My idea is to improve the user experience by using an extension, notification system, and add some features to GTG. Read my proposal for more details.
Student: Baptiste Saleil Mentor: Luca Invernizzi
3.) Activity Development for GCompris, especially Music Education
This project will contribute several additional activities to the GCompris educational software designed for children. Special emphasis will be placed on music education activities, although other types of educational activities may be implemented as well.
Student: Beth Mentor: Bruno Coudoin
4.) Completion of the Gnome Sudoku Vala Port
The Gnome Sudoku game, currently written in python, is not up to the standards set out. My project will complete the Vala port, and make sure its easy and worth to play.
Student: Chris Mentor: Thomas Andersen
5.) Smarter Searching in GNOME Shell
Make searching from the Overview in GNOME 3 more intelligent. Order results based on source, importance, and frequency of use. Allow external applications to add their content to the search results.
Student: doshitan Mentor: Rui Matos
6.) GNOME Clock
Work with the GNOME Design Team and Seif Lotfy on GNOME Clock, in order to provide the GNOME community with a clock application. GNOME Clock will allow users to quickly and easily determine the time of day anywhere in the world, helping them keep in touch with family, friends and co-workers. GNOME Clock will also allow users to set alarms so that when time X rolls around they know they need to do Y. A stopwatch/timer will also be included so that users can time themselves and/or others as needed.
Student: Emily Gonyer Mentor: Seif Lofty
7.) Development of a graphical profiler for GNOME
GNOME is currently lacking of a good graphical profiler. My proposal is to extend nemiver by adding a new perspective to add the ability to profile an application with the help of callgrind or perf.
Student: Fabien Parent Mentor: Dodji Seketeli
8.) Documents: Removable devices support
To make GNOME Documents able to manage and view files on plugged in removable devices.
Student: Felipe Borges Mentor: Cosimo Cecchi
9.) libosinfo-based express installation for major OSes
This project involve improving new libosinfo API for automated installations, porting Boxes to use that and implementing support for Debian, Ubuntu and openSUSE (at least).
Student: fidencio Mentor: Zeeshan Ali
10.) GNOME Shell Lock Screen
This project is about implementing the designs exposed in this website, that is, revamping the screen lock by integrating with GNOME Shell.
Student: Giovanni Campagna Mentor: Marina Zhurakhinskaya
11.) Proposal to upgrade the UI of Gcalctool
The main goal of this project is upgrade the UI from its current look to a look that is more reflective of the black, white and grey colour set used throughout GNOME. This will not only create a unified experience throughout GNOME, but will make it much more pleasant for a user to use.
Student: Gopal Krishnan Mentor: Robert Ancell
12.) Collaborative Getting Things GNOME!
GTG provides great user experience for individuals. I would like to implement sharing tasks between users. GNOME will become the first desktop with built-in task sharing. This would made it the desktop of choice for small to medium businesses.
Student: Izidor Matusov Mentor: Ploum
13.) Overhaul the Applications View
Overhaul the Applications View: Remove mode switch, only leaving windows mode in the overview and making the apps view accessible in a different manner. Make the apps view paginated, allowing the user to order their apps in pages. The benefit of the pagination over continuous scrolling would be spatial memory of where launchers are. Add keyboard navigation to windows and apps views. This would increase the speed at which users can traverse these views, and has been a much requested feature.
Student: Joost Verdoorn Mentor: Florian Mullner
14.) Ability to save and load virtual machine boxes
Implementing save and load the VM will enable the user to save the current state of the VM to an on-disk file. Restoring this file will make the VM continue from where it was left off. Saving the VM and it’s state will also provide a way to load the file onto another machine. A part of the proposal is enabling downloadable ready-made VM offering the users remote repository where they could download and use the VM easily.
Student: Jovanka Mentor: Zeeshan Ali
15.) Creation of a new library providing models and widgets to display and choose contacts
Implementation of a new library providing models and Gtk+ widgets to display and choose contacts that could be used by any GNOME application. This will improve IM/Social features in a lot of GNOME application and use Telepathy tubes.
Student: Laurent C Mentor: Guillaume Desmottes
16.) Integration of multiple theme based activities in the existing GCompris suite
Create interactive activities focusing on the science and the miscellaneous sections of GCompris. The project would include two activities theming space, a food related activity and one environment related activity.
Student: Matilda Bernard Mentor: Bruno Coudoin
17.) GNOME Documents UIs for Viewing and Editing of File Metadata
Design and implement (1) a UI to view metadata properties for files in GNOME Documents and (2) a UI for the in-place editing of such metadata.
Student: Meg Ford Mentor: Cosimo Cecchi
18.) Helping on anjuta mades everybody happy
Clang is a compiler front-end for the LLVM compiler. It helps to analyse C, C++, Objective C and Objective C++ code and find mistakes just in time. I want bring Clang magic to anjuta.
Student: Moritz Lüdecke Mentor: Johannes Schmid
19.) GNUcash Android Application
The goal of this proposal is the development of a GNUcash Android application which allows users to track expenses on-the-go and later on import the expenses into the desktop GNUcash program. This will enable users to have more complete oversight of their expenditures which will include expenses which were made in cash transcations. The Android application will be able to export the recorded expenses in the Open Financial Exchange (OFX) which is also supported by the desktop GNUcash for importing data.
Student: Ngewi Fet Mentor: Muslim Chochlov
20.) GXml and GObject Serialisation
This will improve GXml and add support for GObject-XML serialisation. GXml is the product of a 2011 GSoC effort to provide GNOME developers with a more usable XML DOM API than libxml2 provides, but making use of libxml2’s comprehensive functionality by building atop it. While GXml is functional and usable, there is a lot of room to expand to make it more appealing, adding features like XML serialisation of GObjects (the main goal) and improving documentation and refining what’s already there.
Student: Richard Schwarting Mentor: Alberto Ruiz
21.) Lockdown editor
A new lockdown editor for GNOME software, which replaces Pessulus and is easy to use for system administrators. It will have presets for common lockdown scenarios, such as kiosk mode. The work will include writing a new lockdown editor and patching software to implement the needed lockdown features.
Student: Rūdolfs Mentor: Ryan Lortie
22.) Refactor and Rework the Task Editor of Getting Things Gnome
Over the months of the summer, I plan to take the current Task Editor in Getting Things Gnome and rework it so that it will be faster and easier to work with, while also adding needed features such as being able to type in bold or italics, along with fixing many of the current bugs on launchpad’s bug list.
Student: sscheel Mentor: Luca Invernizzi
23.) Revamp of the Activity Journal
The proposed project is about combining support for overviewing and re-finding past, current and future user activities in one user interface. Hence, I will revamp and rewrite the current Activity Journal application ( https://live.gnome.org/GnomeActivityJournal ), which will then be hosted on the GNOME infrastructure. Beyond mapping out a user’s past and current doings, the journal’s UI-metaphor time lends itself to be further leveraged for reminding a user about upcoming stuff.
Student: Stefano Candori Mentor: Thorsten Prante
24.) Improve overall Mac OS X port of Banshee
Banshee’s Mac OS X port needs improvement. There are lots of extensions in the Banshee Communnity Extension repo (BCE) that currently can’t be build and/or used on OS X. Furthermore, hardware support for syncing devices is mostly not present on the OS X plattform. Goal of this project is to work on these items, as well as introduce some OS X specific features like integrating Mac’s media functions, native file dialogs and others.
Student: Timo Dörr Mentor: Olivier Dufour
25.) Voice Control For Banshee
The idea is to add voice control for Banshee media player to improve the accessibility. Many portable media player devices can be controlled using the human voice and it has resulted in the users having a rich accessibility interface. The plan is to let the user do basic controls through his voice which will be helpful for the people who can’t use the normal mouse controls
Student: Udesh Liyanaarachchi Mentor: Alexander Kojevnikov
26.) Get a useful state to Shotwell Faces tool
Last GSoC I started a new feature to Shotwell called “Faces tool”, which consist in the ability to mark that a certain person is in a certain photo, and where is her/his face —i.e. the same you can do, for example, in Facebook. And even my GSoC project was successful, the tool isn’t included in Shotwell stable because it lacks some interesting functionality.
Student: Valentín Barros Puertas Mentor: Lucas Beeler, Adam Dingle
27.) GNOME - Epiphany Browser Synchronization
Users today are accessing the internet through a growing number of devices and computers on a daily basis. As the number of regularly used devices continues to increase, maintaining a consistent state amongst all those devices is an expanding issue. The goal of this proposal is to implement an extensible synchronization API for Epiphany that is data storage agnostic. The first implementation will be synchronizing Epiphany’s bookmarks and history using Firefox Sync Service.
Student: William Ting Mentor: Xan Lopez
28.) Add synchronization to Epiphany, the GNOME web browser
The purpose of this project is to add synchronization of bookmarks, passwords, history and tabs to Epiphany, the GNOME web browser. Epiphany will be able to synchronize with a Mozilla Sync compatible server and thus will be able to synchronize with Firefox. This goal will be achieved with security and privacy respect in mind.
Student: Yann Soubeyrand Mentor: Xan Lopez
29.) Support for Gamepad API in WebKitGTK+ and general gamepad configuration options in System Settings
Gamepads are most known as being the preferred way for game interaction on consoles, but are also used in desktop games. A new wave of such games is coming in the form of HTML applications through the use of Gamepad API. To make these applications first-class citizens in the GNOME environment, I plan to add support for said API to the WebKitGTK+ along with enhancing GNOME System Settings to support configuring gamepad devices.
Student: Žan Doberšek Mentor: Carlos Garcia CamposIn the book publishing world, what's old is new again.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that bookstore sales rose by 2.5% from $10.89 billion to $11.17 billion in 2015, the first such increase in the industry since 2007.
The figures were reported by Publishers Weekly, which also noted that eBook sales declined in 2015 while print sales went up.
The Association of American Publishers spotted a similar trend during the first three quarters of 2015. From January until September of last year, the AAP reported that eBooks were down 11.1%.
The group said most of the decline came in sales of children or young adult books, which saw a 44.8% decline in eBook sales. Paperback sales grew by 13.3% over the same period, according to the AAP.
"When eBooks first appeared, their growth was exponential," AAP spokeswoman Marisa Bluestone told CNNMoney. "While there are many who are still discovering e-readers, I don't think we'll get back to the levels of triple-digit growth the way we did five years ago. That said, eBooks do have a good market share, and are here to say."U.S. regulators say that genetically engineered salmon as safe to eat as wild Atlantic salmon, after completing a preliminary analysis. Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., have genetically modified their salmon so that they eat all year round and grow twice as fast as salmon typically would in their natural environments.
Genetically modified (engineered) salmon is an Atlantic salmon. It has been modified by adding a growth hormone regulating gene from another fish - the Pacific Chinook salmon - as well as an on-switch gene from an Ocean Pout (Zoarces americanus, an eel-type fish) to the Atlantic Salmon's 40,000 genes. The genetically engineered Atlantic salmon eats all year round and gets bigger much more rapidly. Normal Atlantic salmon only feed during the spring and summer.
The aim of the genetic modifications is to speed up the fish's growth, without affecting its eventual size or other characteristics. Normal Atlantic salmon take about three years to reach market size, while the genetically modified one takes from 16 to 18 months.
There is a 10-year ongoing review of an application to allow genetically modified salmon into the U.S. food supply - if approved, it will be the first modified animal to be approved to be sold for human consumption.
Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc. has named their modified salmon AquAdvantage Salmon.
A Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee, which advises the FDA, is holding a three-day meeting, starting on September 19th, 2010, at the Rockville Hilton, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, to decide whether to approve the fish for the U.S. food supply market. Although the Committee's decision/recommendation is not binding, the FDA tends to go along with what they say.
In a press release, Aqua Bounty Technologies informs that:
In addition, the FDA will hold a public hearing on the application of its food labeling requirements and how they might apply to AquAdvantage® Salmon on 21st September at the same location (Rockville Hilton, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland).
This is welcome and exciting news for the Company as we near the end of the detailed and necessary process to receive regulatory approval for our AquAdvantage Salmon. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to understand how the application of our technology will enable the safe and sustainable production of high quality fish. We believe the economic and environmental benefits of our salmon will very effectively help to meet the demand for food from the growing world population.
284 metric tons of salmon per year
One third of Salmon consumed consisted of Pacific salmon, and two thirds was Atlantic Salmon
One third was domestic production and two thirds was imported
60% was fresh salmon, 20% was frozen salmon, and 20% was canned salmon
45% of pacific salmon was canned
Almost no Atlantic salmon was canned
34% of Pacific salmon was frozen
13% of Atlantic salmon was frozen
21% of Pacific salmon was fresh
87% of Atlantic salmon was fresh
Today's news refers to documents released before the meeting by the FDA saying the genetically modified salmon is as safe to eat as normal Atlantic salmon, and that the modified fish wereDr. Ronald Stotish, President and CEO of AquaBounty, commented:According to the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska, Anchorage, during the years 2000-2004, Americans consumed:Americans consumed 130,000 metric tons of salmon in 1989, compared to 284,000 in 2004. This increase was mostly due to the growth in imported farmed salmon.Sources: Institute of Social and Economic Research (University of Alaska), FDA (Food and Drug Administration), Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., Wikipedia.Written by Christian NordqvistConclusions: Continuous glucose monitoring can detect nocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency and hence prevent in these patients an impaired quality of life and even serious adverse effects.
Results: In one patient we identified a hypoglycemic episode at 3:45 a.m. with a blood glucose level of 46 mg/dL, clearly beneath the 95% tolerance interval of minimal glucose levels between 2 and 4 a.m. (53.84 mg/dL). After the hydrocortisone replacement scheme was changed, the minimum blood glucose level between 2 and 4 a.m. normalized to 87 mg/dL.
Background: Hypoglycemia can be a symptom in patients with Addison's disease. The common regimen of replacement therapy with oral glucocorticoids results in unphysiological low cortisol levels in the early morning, the time of highest insulin sensitivity. Therefore patients with Addison's disease are at risk for unrecognized and potentially severe nocturnal hypoglycemia also because of a disturbed counterregulatory function. Use of a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) could help to adjust hydrocortisone treatment and to avoid nocturnal hypoglycemia in these patients.
Background
H ypoglycemia can be a symptom in patients with so far undiagnosed and untreated primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) but also in diagnosed patients with an unsatisfactory treatment. The lack of glucocorticoids increases glucose oxidation and decreases endogenous glucose production, leading to an increased insulin sensitivity.1 Storage of glucagon is inhibited. Patients with Addison's disease often suffer from symptoms reminiscent of neuroglycopenia, suggesting that this disorder is associated with a deficit in cerebral energy supply.2 However, there are few data about hypoglycemia, particularly nocturnal, in patients with Addisons's disease.
Common glucocorticoid replacement is oral |
tradition equipment and an overview of what a role-playing game is, some of my students had never played an RPG before and it took a while to explain to them that they could make their character do whatever they wanted. It’s probably best just to start the adventure.
Playing the adventure
Again, if you’ve never played D and D and don’t know the rules – this will be meaningless. Players arrive at the woodcutter’s house on the map at the top left. Here they find the woodcutter, a tall blond man in his fourties, he’s bitterly upset because his daughter has been kidnapped by goblins and taken into their cave. The woodcutter explains that the goblins live deep in the cave under the mountain in what was once a great dwarven city, now in ruins. Hopefully players will take on the task of rescuing his daughter.
They follow the path around the great lake to the entrance of the cave with two bronze statues of ancient kings standing outside. Inside and after they come to a wooden door which is locked. They can try to smash it down provided anyone has strength of more than 16. If they knock the door will be answered by the four goblin guards inside. Player need to fight their way past them. Players get 200 xp for any goblin they hit.
After the small goblin guard room, players encounter a giant spider. Details of this beast are on the map above. If they kill the spider there are four D6 healing potions in a chest near its web. Anyone who hits the spider gets 200 xp.
Players go through the next door into the gobin king’s throne room. Here there are four goblin guards a nd the goblin king himself to fight. Any player that hits a goblin guard will get 250 xp and anyone who hits the goblin king will get 300xp. The players will find the woodcutter’s daughter tied up in the corner if they win the fight and also some treasure in the chest near the goblin king’s makeshift throne. If they search, they will find the secret door that will quickly lead them back to the woodcutter.
The adventure ends when the players return the woodcutter’s daughter to him. He has no reward to give but players all get 500xp for finishing the adventure. That should give them enough xp to go up a level.
Notes
D and D is perhaps a little too complex for first time role-player, unfortunately it’s the only RPG I know anything about.
Some students will not be able to do this, not because they don’t have the lingusitic skill but because they lack the imagination or creativity.
Links
I looked for other ESL teachers playing D and D only and here’s what I found. There aren’t too many of us.
A blog thread on playing D and D in the classroom http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/273198-d-d-classroom.html
How D and D made me a better teacher http://randomology.org/2011/04/how-dungeons-and-dragons-made-me-a-better-teacher/
Nice ideas on running D and D in your classroom here http://waygook.org/index.php?topic=24517.0The second most common question I get is regarding what can and cannot be expensed as a Trucker. Business expenses are one of the most contested topics that the tax courts hear on a semi regular basis.
The IRS says this as a blanket statement on what does and does not qualify:
“To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary” – Chapter 1 Publication 535 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf)
The tests for reasonable and necessary have been the litmus test for what is and is not necessary, but this is not always a hard and fast rule. One great example of this is when Bruce Springsteen stays at the Four Seasons, he can argue that while it might seem like a lavish expense, he actually has to stay there (or at an equivalent hotel) as he needs the additional security. You want to make sure that you can prove a business purpose for your expense and that it is in line with your industry. So don’t try to be creative and write off a new bass boat as a business expense as a trucker. One commonly claimed expense that most drivers try to claim that they shouldn’t is the home office, which you will have to prove is where your conduct the majority of your work for your employer (in most cases this is your truck).
Here is a quick list of some items that are deductible (whether fully or partially depends on the use):
Cell Phones/ Tablets and Data Plans
Cell Phones/ Tablets and Data Plans Satellite Radio
Satellite Radio TVs
TVs DVD Players/Computers
DVD Players/Computers Wi-Fi fees
Wi-Fi fees Postage
Postage Berth Bedding
Berth Bedding Specific use clothing (Safety Gear, Coveralls, and Sun Glasses, Etc.)
Specific use clothing (Safety Gear, Coveralls, and Sun Glasses, Etc.) Parking Fees
Parking Fees Tax and Accounting Services (My personal favorite expense)
Tax and Accounting Services (My personal favorite expense) Any cookware or appliance used primarily in your truck
Any cookware or appliance used primarily in your truck Maintenance or Repairs on your truck (in some cases you have to amortize these)
Maintenance or Repairs on your truck (in some cases you have to amortize these) All of your fuel and fluids
All of your fuel and fluids Non-Life Insurance (Bobtail, General Liability, Etc.)
Non-Life Insurance (Bobtail, General Liability, Etc.) And several more…
If you have questions whether or not an item is deductible, feel free to contact us or comment below and we will help you determine if you can deduct it.
Thanks and Drive Safe,
DrewIn order to bring to market its new series of ‘Solar Roof’ products, Tesla announced last year that they are bringing together a lot of technologies under one roof at their newly acquired factory in Buffalo, now known as ‘Gigafactory 2‘. It includes tech developed in-house by Tesla, some tech by Panasonic, and tech from SolarCity and its subsidiaries.
The deal is somewhat complicated with a lot of moving parts, which now clearly shows why Elon Musk wanted Tesla to acquire SolarCity since it will simplify the complicated partnership.
Through Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity, they inherited an agreement with the Research Foundation for the State University of New York for the construction of an approximately 1 million square foot manufacturing facility, which is now mostly completed.
The deal is under a Build-to-Suit Lease model. Tesla explains the deal in a SEC filing released this week:
“The Foundation will cover (i) construction costs related to the manufacturing facility in an amount up to $350.0 million, (ii) the acquisition and commissioning of the manufacturing equipment in an amount up to $348.1 million and (iii) $51.9 million for additional specified scope costs, in cases (i) and (ii) only, subject to the maximum funding allocation from the State of New York, and we will be responsible for any construction and equipment costs in excess of such amounts. We will own the manufacturing facility and manufacturing equipment purchased by the Foundation. Following completion of the manufacturing facility, we will lease the manufacturing facility and the manufacturing equipment owned by the Foundation from the Foundation for an initial period of 10 years, with an option to renew, for $2 per year plus utilities.”
That’s a pretty sweet deal, but in return, Tesla has to achieve a series of milestone or otherwise it will have to pay penalities.
Here are the main milestones listed in the filing:
employing a certain number of employees at the facility, within western New York and within the State of New York.
spend or incur approximately $5.0 billion in combined capital, operational expenses and other costs in the State of New York over the 10 years following the achievement of full production.
What is full production at this new factory?
According to the same filing, Tesla expects “approximately 1 gigawatt annually beginning in 2019.” In the past, SolarCity has referred to the factory as having a 1 GW capacity with potential for up to 5 GW, but it looks like they are sticking to 1 GW for now.
The production of solar cells to make modules and tiles (for Tesla’s solar roof) will use technologies developed by Tesla (Glass), SolarCity’s Zep and Silevo (modules and connections), and Panasonic for the cells and the manufacturing.
Tesla explains the agreement in the filing:
“In December 2016, we entered into a Production Pricing Agreement: Phases 1-3 (the Phase 1-3 Agreement) with Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic Corporation of North America and Sanyo Electronic Co., Ltd (collectively, Panasonic). This agreement provides that Panasonic will manufacture custom photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules for us, primarily at Gigafactory 2, and that we will purchase certain amounts of PV cells and modules from Panasonic during the 10-year term, with the intent to produce PV cells and modules totaling approximately 1 gigawatt annually beginning in 2019.”
Panasonic said that it plans to make a $250 million investment in the manufacturing effort.
This deal is somewhat similar to the deal Tesla and Panasonic have at the Gigafactory 1 where they collaborated on the development of a new battery cell, which Panasonic ultimately ends up being the manufacturer under a long-term agreement for Tesla to purchase the output.
In the case of Gigafactory 1, Tesla uses the cells to make its battery packs for cars, Powerwalls, and Powerpacks, while at Gigafactory 2, Tesla will use the cells to make solar roof tiles and modules.
Tesla still expects to start production of the solar roof at Gigafactory 2 in “summer 2017”. The expectations for the product are high since Musk said that Tesla’s solar roof will cost less than a regular roof – even before energy production.When toddlers are getting addicted to iPads, parents spy on their kids on Facebook and teenagers can’t survive 24 hours offline without experiencing withdrawal symptoms it’s hard not to blame technology.
After all, we wouldn’t be experiencing these problems without technology, so it must be technology which causes them, right?
“Fitter, Happier, More Productive”
While the symptoms can be very real, we need to reevaluate the way the understand connected computing in general and Social Media in particular. Many people still frame their online experiences in terms of pre-online existence. For example, we tend to see ourselves as separate from the media we use. When we’re reading a newspaper we’re not not reading a newspaper. When we’re watching television, we’re not not watching television. And when we’re online, we’re not offline, or are we?
Digital Dualism is a term coined by Nathan Jurgenson, founder of the Cyborgology blog and is defined as follows:
Digital dualism is the belief that the on and offline are largely separate and distinct realities. Digital dualists view digital content as part of a “virtual” world separate from a “real” world found in physical space.
Digital dualism is the idea that if only we could detach ourselves from our screens and newsfeeds, we would be fitter, happier, more productive, in short: more human, more real.
The Offline Garden Of Eden
Last year, tech writer Paul Miller decided to test this asssumption by disconnecting one year from the internet and document his experience. According to his own words, he felt that the internet was an “unnatural state” and he “wanted a break from modern life”. So he pulled the plug.
the hamster wheel of an email inbox, the constant flood of WWW information which drowned out my sanity. I wanted to escape.”
At first he felt exhilarated, eager to read more books, meet more people face to face and write more. But when he started receiving readers’ comments by snail mail, dozens per week, he suddenly felt the same stress like when dealing with his email inbox. And it wasn’t much longer before the paradise of an internet-free existence unraveled:
“I abandoned my positive offline habits, and discovered new offline vices. Instead of taking boredom and lack of stimulation and turning them into learning and creativity, I turned toward passive consumption and social retreat”
Instead of wasting time online, he learned to be unproductive offline by watching movies, playing video games, sleeping.
Head-On Collisions With The Man in The Mirror
Since the symptoms always appear alongside technology, we tend to confuse cause and context. We like the idea of “Digital Sabbaticals”, of offline living, of “digital detox”, not because offline life is so spectacular (it’s actually rather bland); we only fantasize about being disconnected because we are so connected.
The great media theorist Marshall Mcluhan prophesized all of this already in the early 60s. He was a popular guest in talk shows and widely discussed, but rarely understood.
Personally, I have been observing my technology and media usage with a critical eye since I started working online full-time. I noticed the stress of Social Media and email, of bad habits and effects on my health such as sitting too long and strained eyes. I experimented with unplugging for one or two days during the weekend. Ultimately, I had to admit, though, just like Paul Miller that “there’s a lot of ‘reality’ in the virtual, and a lot of ‘virtual’ in our reality”.
It’s not possible to make a neat split between being offline and online. When we are online we think about our offline lives and vice versa. Binge watching a new TV series on Netflix is not caused by Netflix. Wasting time on Facebook is not the fault of Mark Zuckerberg. Technology is like a mirror. It just reveals our human nature, and there is nothing more surprising, more humbling than when who we think we are collides with who we really are. Yes, we are often lazier, greedier, angrier and less social than we like to admit – and yes, we are also more ambitious, modest, peaceful and more talkative than we might think.
On a more practical note, the real issue here is not one of offline vs. online, of connected vs. disconnected. It’s simply one of time-management, discipline and practice (sounds fun, right?). There are tons of books and blogs about it. In the end, though, it’s about actually doing something.
UPDATE: see also this short documentary about Paul Miller’s offline year:
–
img: Some rights reserved by Palagret
Why You Can’t Escape From The Internet Has this been helpful?Get the biggest Liverpool 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
Liverpool FC insist Raheem Sterling is going nowhere this summer - despite the unsettled youngster informing Brendan Rodgers that he wants to quit the club.
The Reds are adamant they have no intention of selling the 20-year-old England international, who has two years remaining on his current contract.
Sources close to the player have revealed that he told Rodgers of his desire to move on before the recent 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Carragher: I'd be embarrassed to walk into training if I was Sterling
Sterling wants to leave in search of Champions League football and to play for a club better equipped to compete for trophies. His camp have also accused Liverpool of leaking confidential details about contract negotiations.
However, Liverpool have responded by saying that their position remains unchanged and they don't intend to listen to offers for him this summer.
Sterling and his representative Aidy Ward have agreed to another round of talks with the manager and chief executive Ian Ayre later this week.
Liverpool hope they can convince him that his future remains at Anfield but they are ready to play hardball if he continues to push for a transfer.
Owners Fenway Sports Group refused Luis Suarez's request to join Arsenal back in 2013 when he tried to force through a move to the Emirates and they are ready to adopt a similar approach.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have all been linked with Sterling.
His future has been the subject of intense speculation since he rejected Liverpool's offer of a five-year contract worth around £100,000 per week in March.
The former Queens Park Rangers trainee then gave an interview insisting that he was motivated by trophies rather than money.
Rodgers has always been confident that the contract stand-off would be resolved this summer.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: "We’re still pretty relaxed on it.
“The club will pick it up again with Raheem’s representatives in the summer.
“Everyone wants to win trophies and play in the big competitions. We will just reinforce what our stance has been all along.
“This is the best club for him at this moment where he has the opportunity to play, to fight and to be competitive.
“The owners are very much supportive of that. Raheem won’t be going anywhere in the summer, even if there isn’t a deal agreed.”
Sterling has scored 11 goals this season but his form has slumped dramatically in recent months. He has made headlines for all the wrong reasons after being pictured smoking from a shisha pipe and then inhaling laughing gas.
With Steven Gerrard leaving the club to join Los Angeles Galaxy this summer, Liverpool know they can't afford to lose another key player.Gathering of Dem women turns into angry showdown
Heather Knight, City Insider columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is seen on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Heather Knight, City Insider columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is seen on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Gathering of Dem women turns into angry showdown 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
It was supposed to be like "A League of Their Own," but it's showing shades of "Mean Girls."
We told you recently about an effort by the 18 women running in the June 5 election for seats on the city's Democratic County Central Committee to band together to publish slate cards, hold fundraisers, walk precincts and mentor each other. It was supposed to show that women can change the often nasty tenor of politics.
But the group's most recent meeting devolved into an angry showdown featuring a wagging finger, shouting "Shut up!", accusations of sabotage, a fuming early exit by three members and at least one upturned chair. And former Supervisor Chris Daly wasn't even there!
At issue was some progressive newcomers' inability to pony up the $1,000 they'd all agreed to contribute to publish the slate cards. Those will be going out soon to the roughly 23,000 "perfect women voters" in the city, meaning females who've voted in the past five city elections.
Apparently, Supervisor Malia Cohen told the cash-poor women they had to "pay to play," and attorney Kat Anderson accused them of sabotaging the entire effort. Then somebody accused Anderson of "living in the Marina," which is a fact, but apparently a mean one.
That's when Hene Kelly, a progressive stalwart and self-described "den mother" for the newcomers, told school board member Hydra Mendoza - who was trying to calm everybody down - to shut up and wagged her finger. Then, Kelly upturned her chair (she says that was out of sheer clumsiness) and stormed out of the room with the newcomers, Wendy Aragon and Kelly Dwyer.
"I just didn't want people to be shamed in there or to feel like second-class citizens," Kelly said. "What is this saying about women... they can't help each other? It is breaking my heart."
Aragon said she's definitely not participating in the women's slate anymore.
"It turned into animal farm - it was even worse than watching men fight," she said. "It was mean girl bullying in that room - that's not why I'm here as a woman or here in politics."
Sounds like Kelly is out too. She said, "I am comfortable with being on a slate who wants me for who I am, not because I have ovaries."
Cohen, Anderson and women's slate founder Alix Rosenthal said they'd like all to come together again, but also point out that anybody who can't raise $1,000 doesn't have a shot at winning anyway.
"Running for office is more than a notion," Cohen said. "There's a certain level of organization that has to exist, and part of it has to do with fundraising."
Rosenthal said what happened is a sign of a larger problem in San Francisco politics.
"I think it's a symptom of this male-dominated political system we have where progressives and moderates have been conditioned to hate each other in this city," she said. "We all have to practice kindness."
That three-hour Ethics Commission hearing Monday to launch the investigation into whether suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should be removed from office left far more questions than answers.
The chief one: Just how long will this drag on?
"Two months, 27 days, 14 hours," joked John St. Croix, director of the commission. "It's hard to say, but maybe two to three months from now, it should be resolved."
Well, not fully. That's his guess for when the Ethics Commission will turn over its findings to the Board of Supervisors, which then has 30 days to decide Mirkarimi's fate.
That means the supervisors could be voting right around Labor Day, the traditional start of full-fledged campaign season leading up to the November election in which six seats are up for grabs. It'll take nine votes of the 11-member board to remove Mirkarimi, and his closest friends and political allies are all up for re-election.
Like they say, timing is everything - and the timing couldn't be worse for the progressive supervisors.
Count another former commission member who's irked by Mayor Ed Lee's handling (or lack thereof) of his removal. As we've reported, Police Commissioner Jamie Slaughter and Health Commissioners Jim Illig and Steven Tierney were told by Lee's secretary in phone calls that they were off their boards.
Tom Pier, husband of former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, wasn't surprised. Appointed in 2010 by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to serve on the Human Rights Commission, he, too, got the boot. Right after his wife spoke out in October against questionable voting practices by Lee's supporters during the mayor's race.
"The next day or the day after that, I got a call from some woman in the appointments office who said not only are you not getting reappointed, but she explicitly told me not to attend the next meeting," Pier recalled. "I think people would appreciate a little thank you note or something at least recognizing their services."
Christine Falvey, spokeswoman for Lee, said Pier's term had simply expired and any link between his dismissal and his wife's mayoral campaign "would be pure fantasy."
The recent column on rude Muni riders who won't give up their seats for pregnant women prompted a deluge of response - but no change in the courtesy level on buses.
I was riding an underground train the other day with my toddler. We were standing alongside an elderly man. The seats for disabled people and seniors were filled with hipsters who stayed seated the entire time.
"I wanna get off," my boy said. Yeah, buddy, we know the feeling.
Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer and covers City Hall politics. hknight@sfchronicle.comReopen cases against corrupt leftists
In late November of last year, I cautioned against the dangers of letting loathsome leftists like Hillary Clinton and Lois Lerner walk free from the prospect of investigation by an administration which would not shamelessly shill for them. President-Elect Trump was trying to offer an olive branch, but any offer of peace to the left is sneered at as a sign of weakness, rather as President Carter's good faith gestures to the Soviet Union were snickered at in the Kremlin. The nadir of honesty in the federal government was reached in the hyper-politicized Obama presidency. The IRS was used shamelessly to punish conservative groups. The Department of Justice opened countless "cases" against utterly innocent groups whose offense was to challenge the orthodoxies of leftism. Indeed, it seemed at times as if the Obama administration viewed the whole federal government as little more than a scourge to be used against Americans who did not follow the party line.
That is the one thing no free government can stand. When government is the enemy of much of the people, then government has no moral ground upon which to exercise its power. Conservatives get that, and conservatives do not call for the federal government, when in the hands of Republicans, to persecute leftists. The recent appalling revelations detailed by Thomas Lifson in American Thinker that Susan Rice directed spy agencies to report on the conversations between Trump and his advisers creates an opening for President Trump, which he must seize if he wishes to have a presidency that is not nitpicked to death by petty leftists. President Trump should direct the cabinet secretary of the relevant federal agencies to review the actions of Clinton, Lerner, Rice, and others who held high positions in the Obama administration and who engaged in behavior that reeks of dishonesty, malice, and abuse of power to report whether their conduct appeared to violate federal law. If so, then Trump should ask the attorney general to open criminal investigations, with grand juries that would include a very broad net, particularly trying to force the small fish who lack the money to fight long legal battles and whose false or misleading statement could expose them to intimidating sanctions. The logical development of this would lead to dozens of indictments against corrupt former bigshots like Clinton, Lerner, and Rice. The trials of these creepy and unpleasant folks, none of whom is particularly bright, would become the news story for weeks or months. Convictions would become a major news story right up through the 2018 midterm. Beyond that, convictions would go a long way toward unraveling the myth that somehow Obama was an honorable president who did not abuse his power and who behaved nicely even to those who opposed him. The pattern of appointing and keeping crooks in high federal offices and then defending or excusing their misconduct would become an indispensable part of his legacy. While it is clear what President Trump ought to do, it is not clear what President Trump will do. As one egregious example, Joshn Koskinen, who has given huge campaign contributions to Democrats in federal elections and who shamelessly defended the indefensible actions of Lerner and her gang, is still the IRS commissioner. If a lifelong Democrat partisan like Koskinen, who misled congressional investigating committees and pretended that Lois Lerner and her cronies did nothing, still has a high post in the Trump administration, then why would any of these bad actors worry at all? Indeed, the macabre spectacle of a louse like Koskinen still the head of the IRS under Trump surely emboldens the left, including those small fry that hold the key to unraveling the crimes of big shots who served under Obama. President Trump talks bold. It is time for him to act bold. Draining the swamp was a central promise of his campaign. Now is the time to fulfill that promise.The Miami Marlins are interested in building around Giancarlo Stanton even if he will not sign a long-term deal this offseason, so the Fish are naturally going to have to increase payroll. After what happened in 2012, it would not be difficult for Marlins fans to doubt the value of the Marlins' word in increasing payroll. Remember, the rumors heading into the offseason after the 2012 campaign were that the Fish were retaining Stanton and Jose Reyes as roster stalwarts and bumping payroll from $67 million to $80 million for 2013. Of course, we all remember what happened after that.
So excuse our skepticism when Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports in yesterday's fairly information-laden post that the Marlins' payroll may climb up to $75 million next season.
The Marlins are clearly looking to move forward, not move Stanton. Not now. And barring a complete change of thinking, not in the offseason. In fact, looking forward, the hope is to see the payroll increase to around $75 million in 2015, which would make room for Stanton’s salary, and others.
This is certainly different than what I expected from the Marlins this season, but to be honest, it is not entirely surprising. Jeffrey Loria and the front office may have gone through cyclical changes in their time at the top of the organization, but they have also proven that they would be willing in assisting a winning ballclub and boosting the Marlins' chances if they appear to be contenders.
Except in 2009, when the Marlins traded away Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen in the offseason, then fell just shy of the Wild Card.
And in 2010, when instead of paying into the team to assist in the infield, the club stood pat with their current roster and fell well short of the playoffs again.
So the track record is not exactly stellar, indeed.
Still, Miami is two games back of.500 and not playing like an impressive team, even though they are contending for the second Wild Card at the moment. Are the Marlins really that close to contention, and what can an increase in salary up to $75 million actually get the Fish?
Red Sox interested in Stanton Should the Marlins go a different direction, the Red Sox are interested in trading for Stanton.
It is important to note that some of that salary increase is going to pay for arbitration raises for a number of players. The Marlins already have $14.1 million committed to three players (Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Garrett Jones, and Jeff Baker) next season (this assumes Miami does not pick up Jeff Mathis's $1.5 million team option). The team has seven players who are going to arbitration, most notably Giancarlo Stanton heading into his second arbitration season and Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez going into their first years.
We can make a rough estimate of those players' salaries and see how that bumps the payroll.
Player Arb Year Proj $mil Giancarlo Stanton Arb 2 10 Steve Cishek Arb 2 6 Casey McGehee Arb 3 3.5 Henderson Alvarez Arb 1 3 Nathan Eovaldi Arb 1 2 Mike Dunn Arb 3 2 Donovan Solano Arb 1 0.7
This adds up to a total of $25.2 million in salary. If you added about half a million for 14 of the 15 pre-arbitration players, that would total $7 million. Adeiny Hechavarria is in his third pre-arbitration season, but he earned a Major League contract prior to and is owed at least 80 percent of the $2.2 million he made this past season. The pre-arbitration players should total something like $8.7 million. That leaves the grand total for the expected payroll before any moves is at $50 million.
A $75 million mark would be a hefty step up from where Miami is currently projected. A $25 million increase in payroll would be sufficient in bringing in two mid-tier free agents. Of course, there is a question as to whether free agents of a caliber like James Shields, whom the Marlins are considering, will come to Miami after how Reyes and Mark Buehrle were treated after 2012. But money speaks volumes, and if Jeffrey Loria is indeed willing to offer it, I think the Fish could make out with two solid additions.
The Marlins have pressing needs for infield help at second base, shortstop, and realistically first base as well, but it seems their focus (once again) is on pitching. But the club could still acquire a starter like Shields or Jon Lester on five-year contracts worth $70 million or $90 million respectively and possibly have enough money to offer an infielder like Stephen Drew, J.J. Hardy, Jed Lowrie, or Chase Headley a fair-market deal.
Of course, this is all dependent on whether Miami actually chooses to increase payroll, which is something we will have to wait until the offseason to find out about. They did so this past season, so there is a little precedent. Ultimately, the top priority remains signing Stanton to a long-term contract, so the rest of the speculation may have to wait.Senate Republicans released a new version of their health care bill that would have serious ramifications for women’s health care: It would allow health insurers to offer plans that don’t cover maternity care, no longer require health plans to cover birth control and other preventive services, and make it much more difficult to buy plans on the individual health insurance market that cover abortion.
Among Obamacare’s sweeping changes to the US health care industry were a few with big implications for women’s health. For the first time, insurers were required to cover maternity care, preventive care, and birth control. And they couldn’t charge people more for preexisting conditions, including things like having had a C-section, having irregular periods, or literally just being pregnant.
“They were basically enacted to address longstanding discriminations against women,” said Alina Salganicoff, director of women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The latest Senate plan would relax those requirements. The newest version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act would allow insurers to sell plans on the individual market that don’t comply with the Affordable Care Act requirements as long as they sold at least one plan compliant with ACA rules.
Noncompliant plans don’t have to cover the 10 essential health benefits, including maternity coverage. Nor would they have to cover preventive services, including mammograms, birth control, or well-woman checkups. Those noncompliant plans could also charge people more based on preexisting conditions.
The likely result, experts told Vox’s Sarah Kliff, is that sicker people would stick to the comprehensive, compliant plans. But if more young, healthy people chose cheaper plans, the compliant ones would have fewer customers and become more and more expensive.
But young and healthy women would face a risky choice — between an expensive plan that covers everything and a cheaper but skimpy plan that could, in the long run, end up costing them much more.
Pregnancy could be expensive. Unplanned pregnancy could be catastrophically expensive.
Nearly 6.6 million women bought health insurance through Obamacare’s marketplaces in 2017, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Senate bill is supposed to give them more options, including cheaper, bare-bones plans. Those plans are usually described as being meant for younger, healthier people who don’t have complicated or expensive health issues.
But many younger, healthier women can encounter a very common and expensive health condition: They can get pregnant. Skimpier plans are risky for young women who are trying not to get pregnant as well as for women who want to have children, Salganicoff said.
“If you buy one of those plans that doesn’t include maternity care and you become pregnant, you are essentially uninsured for your pregnancy-related expenses,” she said. “Clearly, these plans are targeted toward healthy, younger people to lower their costs, [but] these are the same women that are at risk for pregnancies.”
Skimpier plans would also be allowed to charge customers for preexisting conditions. In the past, the list of conditions that can make insurance more expensive has included previous C-sections, menstrual irregularities, and urinary tract infections, all common among women.
If a woman is on one of the noncompliant plans and becomes pregnant, Salganicoff said, she should expect to spend a lot of her own money. The cost of giving birth in the US can vary dramatically, but one study in California in 2014 found an uncomplicated birth could cost from around $3,000 to $37,000, and a C-section could cost up to $71,000.
“They will have insurance, but they could be potentially uninsured for all their maternity care and all of their preventive care, including contraceptive coverage,” she said. Salganicoff said it’s paramount that women read the fine print and understand the trade-offs before they purchase a cheap insurance plan.
Once a woman chooses a plan, that’s it — she can’t switch to a better one if she becomes pregnant until the next insurance enrollment period.
“The fact that you get pregnant in July does not allow you to switch to a plan with pregnancy care,” said Adam Sonfield, senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization for sexual and reproductive health and rights. “That assumes you could find a plan that would cover maternity care anyway.”
Theoretically, women who suspect they could get pregnant in the next few years could enroll in the more expensive, Obamacare-compliant plan for a year or two to be safe, but 45 percent of US pregnancies are unplanned.
The costs for women who are actively trying to not get pregnant would also jump dramatically. Birth control pills can cost up to $600 a year. The cost to get an IUD can range anywhere from $187 to $736, depending on where you live.
In 2012, nearly 21 percent of women paid out of pocket for their birth control pills and other contraceptives. Two years later, that had dropped to just 3.6 percent.
Making abortions more difficult to access
People buying insurance on the individual market couldn’t use federal subsidies, tax credits that help people afford insurance, to pay for the skimpier, noncompliant plans. They could only use them to pay for plans that follow Obamacare’s rules, which experts say are likely to become more expensive.
But women who buy those plans could run into roadblocks in another common medical scenario: getting an abortion.
Federal dollars can’t be used to fund abortions, so women who get their health insurance through Medicaid already didn’t have abortion coverage, unless it was a case of rape or incest, or their life was endangered by the pregnancy. The Affordable Care Act allowed private health insurance plans on the exchanges to cover abortions, but they couldn’t use federal money to do so.
The Senate plan would take those restrictions further. Consumers and small businesses would be banned from using government subsidies to buy a plan that covers abortion (again, except in extreme cases).
“With this change, all qualified health plans can’t include abortions,” Laurie Sobel, associate director for women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told Vox’s Julia Belluz last month.
The latest version would also ban people who are using flexible health savings accounts, including accounts provided by an employer, from buying high-deductible insurance plans that cover abortions.
The proposed rules on tax credits are “enough that it seems unlikely you’ll see any plans covering abortion,” Sonfield said.
“They’re trying to put restrictions everywhere they can,” he said. “The goal is to eliminate abortion coverage. To them, it doesn’t look like health care, but obviously, to the women who rely on it, it is.”Tower structure at music venue temporarily closes
Workers put up a stage at White Oak Music Hall on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Houston. Local residents are concerned about the lack of parking in the area. |
a reasoned answer to the question: terrorist or hero? But the more I learned about Brown, the less difficult I found the case. Thoreau and Emerson and those who followed had answered most questions. It was a near-perfect marriage of theory and practice. Even in Massachusetts, words like Thoreau's and Emerson's were not spoken lightly; both men received death threats, and would doubtless have received more were it known that they not only held speeches and raised money for Brown's family, but broke the law by helping one of his co-conspirators escape.
So without the work of a couple of neo-Kantians in Concord, John Brown's soul would have been stopped in its tracks. But likewise, the defence of John Brown was Transcendentalism's finest hour; without it, their praise of self-reliance and civil disobedience can take on the air of the fine disdain for the masses that Harvard education, and residence in the most beautiful town in New England, permit. Joseph Campbell argues that heroes would be nowhere without poets, Carlyle thought that poets are lost without heroes.
John Brown's defenders were not only poets, though they were not the sort of philosophers who think you can give necessary and sufficient conditions for much of anything important. Their writings, however, offer reasons, and I want to turn to three arguments that can be mined from those writings to answer the question: was Brown a hero? In sum, they are three: he was effective, he was committed, and he was of good character.
Being effective, of course, was not entirely in his hands. In his 1909 biography John Brown, W.E.B. Dubois wrote that Brown "did more to shake the foundations of slavery than any single thing that ever happened in America." On the eve of his execution, the Springfield Republican wrote:
"no event could so deepen the moral hostility of the people of the free states to slavery as this execution. This is not because the acts of Brown are generally approved, for they are not. It is because the nature and spirit of this man are seen to be great and noble."
Here the paper unknowingly echoed Brown's own remarks a decade earlier that one Cinque was more effective than three million unhappy victims.
The courage that impressed the North terrified the South, which began to form the militias that would be the base of the Confederate army. Southern newspapers printed cartoons of Brown dressed as Satan, and asserted: "Now that the black radical Republicans have power I suppose they will Brown us all." Lincoln's care to denounce him during the 1860 election was a matter of conviction as well as tactics. But it was Lincoln who would come to put Brown's last words into action. Had Brown's actions, or the war itself, had a different outcome, they would have been differently judged. Benet's answer to his own question - how to weigh John Brown? - was: "Sometimes there comes a crack in Time itself" which is part of what Bernard Williams called moral luck.
If the first reason for judging Brown a hero is the fact that his raid indeed turned out to be the beginning of the end of slavery, the other two factors were entirely in his hands. One was the manner of his death. Brown's clarity and composure made him the paradigmatic Kantian hero - one calmly prepared to die in the cause of justice.
Where it didn't produce awe, Brown's willingness to die was the main source of the allegations of lunacy. The shaky charges of "hereditary insanity" offered in the courtroom to explain his action, and possibly commute his sentence, were refuted by all the available evidence. What seemed to have fuelled the charges was the conviction that such action makes no sense. Thoreau attacked the assumption behind it in his first speech on Brown:
"'But he won't gain anything by it!' Well, no, I don't suppose he could get four-and-sixpence a day for being hung, taken the year round, but then he stands a chance to save a considerable part of his soul - and such a soul! - which you do not. No doubt you can get more in your market for a quart of milk than a quart of blood, but that is not the market that heroes carry their blood to."
Significantly, Nat Turner, who led a far wilder and bloodier revolt in 1837, was never accused of insanity, since it was taken for granted that "every slave hated his bondage." As one historian commented, the assumption that Brown was a lunatic began to recede during the Civil Rights Movement after freedom riders showed that other white people were willing to die for a liberation that had no particular relation to their own self-interest. Emerson's speech "Courage" rued a world "turned upside down. I wish we might have health enough to know virtue when we see it, and not cry with the fools 'Madman!' when a hero passes." Brown's readiness to lay down his life was exemplary, but so was the way that he lived it, and those who judged him a hero were careful in describing it.
This is only part of one of hundreds of texts devoted to analysing Brown's character, which revealed something like consensus: despite later caricatures of Brown as Satan, every Southerner who actually had direct contact with him was impressed by his integrity. Governor Wise of Virginia who ordered his trial, the jailor who oversaw him, Stonewall Jackson - who happened to be present at the execution - all saw him as exemplifying the honour, daring and humaneness which were a Southern gentlemen's pride. All stressed that he lived in private what he preached in public; he was Puritan all the way through. Here is Douglass's report after their first meeting:
"He observed that I might have noticed the simple manner in which he lived, adding that he had adopted this method in order to save money to carry out his purposes. This was said in no boastful tone, for he felt that he had delayed already too long, and had no room to boast either his zeal or his self-denial. Had some men made such display of rigid virtue, I should have rejected it as affected, false, and hypocritical, but in John Brown I felt it to be as real as iron or granite."
Yet what also emerges in several portraits is a wide streak of gentleness. Though not a man of humour, Brown was also not the sort whose dedication to humanity precluded attention to the human beings around him. His extraordinary energy was not only put to building log cabins, but to staying up all night with feverish babies.
Heroes come in wholes
In a century that was obsessed with epistemology, the turn to the victim had another appeal. Despite fake narratives and invented memories, judging someone to be a victim is relatively straightforward. Judging someone to be a hero is infinitely harder - we're not even certain of the criteria, much less how to balance them. Add to that the knowledge of how many claims to heroism have been abused, and it's easy to understand the impulse to leave the whole territory behind. Yet the territory will be claimed by others, if those of us who have the chance to be reflective don't use it. The fact that concepts are abused cannot absolve us of the responsibility to try to use them properly: reinvesting them with meaning, by carefully showing how they might make sense.
Limits of space prevent me from doing more than sketch the sense that can be made here, but if John Brown's case teaches us one lesson, it's that heroes come in wholes. Success makes some of the difference; moral luck plays a role. But we can control quite a lot of the character that takes a lifetime to build. Had John Brown's life been less than exemplary, we'd be queasier about admiring his willingness to leave it. Heroes needn't be flawless; even the hero-besotted Carlyle distinguished heroes from demigods. If we study their lives in detail, we will often find detours, but usually also running threads. The moment when someone decides to leap out of the ordinary and prove her own freedom is prepared by smaller steps.
That moment need not end in death. In Moral Clarity I thought it crucial to portray some contemporary heroes who are very much alive. It's important, however, that all of them took major risks, and that all of them described doing so as bringing them joy. Risk need not be mortal, but it must be more than something you take on the stock market. Thoreau was spot-on in identifying the impulse to call John Brown crazy: every model of homo economicus was helpless to explain him. Here's what unites heroes like Achilles and heroes like Odysseus, for all the differences between them. Achilles (better call him John) takes risks for the sake of others, and if it takes work to decide when this kind of hero is justified, the kind of hero Odysseus stands for is even harder to determine.
Earlier I've argued that Odysseus's combination of vitality and acceptance of fracture make him particularly suited for modern eyes. His way with the Sirens can be seen as a showcase for complex thought and courage. Odysseus's whole life is an attempt to live with varieties of monsters, to get his hands dirty and still come out wholly alive, if never quite whole. However, often Odysseus insists that his miseries are the worst ones, he never resigns himself to being a victim. Beset by force after force that would bring most of us down, what moves us is not his sheer survival but his capacity to be alive - in the very fullest sense, against the silent awareness that few of us are.
It isn't enough to make someone heroic, but without it any hero will be forgotten. Rousseau called it force of soul; Arendt called it love of the world. You can call it charisma, as long as you admit it's just a word to mark all we don't understand.
Being wholly alive means refusing to take your life for granted, to struggle to make meaning from this little bit of time and space that's fallen to you. This means viewing your life as a project - perhaps better, an endeavour. The project needn't be something as grand as eradicating injustice, or even all the injustice in your neighbourhood. But it has to have a different structure than: the sun came up and I consumed this, the sun went down and I consumed that. Had Odysseus been able to see his life that way he would never have left Calypso.
These kinds of heroes make us feel more alive ourselves, convinced for a moment that more things are possible than we'd hitherto dreamed. Heroes take more and they give more, and they thereby serve as standards for how to live in the world instead of merely existing in it. Heroes remind us that life itself is larger than the dimensions we are urged to accept. If heroes do nothing but throw all their weight against the purveyors of resignation - deadly and seductive as any Siren - they do a great deal. At once challenge, threat and offering, they're balance against all the voices that whisper life sucks and then you die - however high- or lowfallutin' the tone. Anyone whose life contains the message that we need not succumb is by that fact alone heroic.
Odysseus is such a person, but can we give him credit for it? We all recognize this property when we see it; earlier ages used words like vital force. It seems both something granted like grace, and grasped like the prize it is. Calling it an achievement outright is unfair, since we don't start this race at the same point. Its ground is something we don't control, be it genetic levels of energy or whatever our mothers did or did not.
Differences between people on this score are clear, alas, in quite young children. But the sense of awe and delight that leads you to taste and explore every bit of the world that comes your way seems to be equally present in most babies. Heroes remind us not only of what we could be, but perhaps of what most of us have been, before whatever forces of disappointment led us to settle for less.
William James's 1906 essay claimed that "strenuous honour and disinterestedness abound everywhere." A hundred years later, it's hard to agree - or even remember the last time words like "honour" and "noble" were used with straight face. There are honourable and noble arguments for being wary of appeals to heroism: we all know how often they've been manipulated and abused. Still we need to separate the fear of manipulation from a less honourable one, namely fear of embarrassment - of looking like a sucker for taking anything so earnest so seriously. Claims to victimhood evoke little embarrassment; claims to heroism make us cringe.
But don't take my word for it - economist Robert Frank writes that: "The flint-eyed researcher fears no greater humiliation than to have called some action altruistic, only to have a more sophisticated colleague later demonstrate that it was self-serving."
Susan Neiman is a moral philosopher and director of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, Germany. She is the author of Evil in Modern Thought and Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-up Idealists. She has also edited (with Hilary Putnam and Jeffrey Schloss) Understanding Moral Sentiments: Darwinian Perspectives?In honour of my brother Ryan, I welcome Ness from One Perfect Day and her lego marble run.
_______________________________________
We recently bought a wooden labyrinth. It’s one of those marble mazes where you tilt the top to move the marble through the maze.
There a lots of holes along the way and the idea is to not let the marble drop through. My five year old loved it – in theory. Unfortunately it was a little too challenging for him and he was becoming quite frustrated. When I suggested that we try to make one out of Lego (his greatest passion in life!) he was thrilled.
How to make a Lego marble maze:
To make a Lego marble maze all you need is a base board and lots of Lego bricks. It’s a pretty straightforward process but here are a few tips that we learned along the way while making ours.
* Start by placing a border of bricks around the perimeter of the board, leaving two openings – this will be your entry and exit points for the marble.
* Next, place your bricks on the base board in the formation of your maze but don’t actually press them into position until you are happy with your design. This will save you a whole lot of trouble if you are half way through and find that the pattern just isn’t working out.
* As you are creating the pathways for the marble, make sure that you are placing the Lego bricks wide enough apart for the marble to roll easily between them.
* We used all red bricks to make our marble maze but it would look great with mixed colours as well. It would also be fun to make patterns with two or three alternating colours (and pattern making is an early maths concept so you’d be adding some extra learning to the play as well).
My five year old absolutely loves the Lego marble maze and we had some fun races to see who could make the marble travel through the maze the fastest. It wasn’t long before the Lego mini figures came out and the dramatic play began. I love that this diy toy is so versatile.
What we learned:
* Fine motor skills
* Pattern making, sequencing, problem solving and planning
*Concepts of direction (left, right, up, down, forwards, backwards)
* Gross motor skills
* Language development and story telling skills (through imaginative play)
Ness lives with her family in Sydney and is the creator of One Perfect Day where she writes about family, food, and playful learning for kids. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Her mantra is “Every day may not be good but there is something good in every day” and she shares those good moments on Instagram.[Rating T13][Romance][Angst][Adventure][AU][Sequel][Complete]
An outstanding addition to the “Of Salt and Steel” saga, in which our rabbit captain and fox pirate, following their great success in “Fox’s Guile,” gear up for another daring mission out at sea. Before they can depart, however, they have to address the friction that’s sprung up between them, or risk having it interfere with the upcoming task. Although not as fast-paced and action-heavy as the previous entry, this sequel more than makes up for it with rich world-building, political intrigue and fantastic character development, including a romance that simply smolders with passion and tension. ~DrummerMax64
Author: RedPen (GardenVatiety)
Description :
Having returned to Zooport a hero, Judith is faced with the most menacing challenge of her life; to seek out the Blackwolf, a pirate of bloody infamy, and deliver him to the Royal Court of Law in chains. The task threatens to claim her life, and many besides, so she is lucky to have a cunning, capable entourage to steer her through the coming trials. However, a coldness has settled over Nick and her; the exhaust of their fears and doubts. And now, in her time of greatest need, Nick is nowhere to be found.
Into The Black
Additional Tags: A storm’s a-brewin’…New Delhi: After Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIT Madras and Jamia Milia Islamia University canceled events on the campus hosting “controversial speakers”, the University of Allahabad today withdrew permission to hold an event to celebrate India’s constitution. The day-long ‘Liberty Festival’ to discuss theatre, poetry and songs celebrating the idea of the constitution, was granted permission to be held in the senate hall by the vice-chancellor (VC) on September 13, who also agreed to be the chief guest. However, permission was withdrawn three days later.
Among the invitees to the event were sociologist Satish Deshpande, actor Maya Rao, singer Sonam Kalra and women’s rights activist Abha Bhaiyya.
However, in an open letter to the VC, joint action committee representative Manish Sharma said that they will continue to hold the event in the front lawns of the venue, knowing very well that they may be attacked by forces “intending to shut us down”.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its students’ wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) allegedly started a campaign to spread rumours about this event on Facebook and other social media platforms. According to the students’ body, pamphlets were distributed maligning the profile of the guest speakers, claiming them to be anti-state and anti-nation. A social media post propagating these rumours said that only the name of the event at Allahabad University (‘Jashn-e-Samvidhan‘) is different from the “anti-national” event at JNU but the content and format is the same.
Sharma, in his letter, states that they were also accused of trying to turn “Allahabad into another JNU” and of spreading hatred amongst students.
Deshpande told The Wire, “This is very disappointing, but sadly, not at all surprising. We are in a worse situation than during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi’s government, because today it is an undeclared emergency. Enormous pressure is being put on university officials across the country to cancel or prohibit every event where anyone other than those singing the praises of the current regime is invited to speak. It is a bitter irony that administrative and police authorities routinely use the real or imagined threat of violent protests by certain student oganisations to impose a ban on the legitimate and peaceful activities of all other organisations. University students and teachers are no longer trusted to – or even allowed to – think for themselves.”
According to the letter, the VC said the permission was being withdrawn following “too much pressure from the Ministry of Human Resources Development” and that there was nothing he can do about it. When asked why permission was given in the first place, the VC said that the permission was for holding this event anywhere in Allahabad.
“Arrangements were made and guests and artists were to arrive from different parts of the country to spend a day of discussion, theatre, poetry, and songs celebrating the idea of the constitution. All of them were carefully selected as they are among the finest in their fields and the festival would have been a rare occasion for the students and teachers of the university to interact with these brilliant minds,” added the letter.
The letter went on to say, “It is only good that now we know for sure that freedom of our institutions is gone for good and even a free mind cannot stand for it. University leaders are fettered from all sides and can be made to eat their own words at the instance of bullies that have overtaken all our institutional and social spaces. It is also an indication that it is only a matter of time that our personal freedom and liberty will also be taken away from us.”
The students’ body did not blame the VC for the last-minute withdrawal and has asked him to attend the event in his personal capacity.
“This is perhaps a trade off intellectuals like you have to make with the ruling powers of the day to be allowed to run our institutions,” the letter said, addressing the VC.
Recently, IIT Madras withdrew permission to hold a series of lectures by documentary filmmaker and human rights activist K. Stali, Delhi University sociology professor Nandini Sundar, and social entrepreneur Adhik Kadam.
In Jamia Milia Islamia, students alleged that the university had denied permission for an event called ‘Shrinking Democratic Spaces in Universities’.From The Telegraph:
Pope sacks the head of his Swiss Guard for being ‘too strict’
Daniel Anrig will no longer serve as commandant of Pontiff’s private army after Pope Francis is rumoured to prefer a ‘less military’ approach to security
He has dismissed and demoted cardinals, bishops and the Vatican secretary of state, and now Pope Francis’s reformist zeal has claimed a new scalp – the head of his own private army, the Swiss Guard.
In a dispassionate one-sentence notice, the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, announced on Wednesday that Daniel Anrig will no longer serve as the commandant of the 500-year-old corps after the end of next month.
No official explanation was given for the decision, but it was widely rumoured that the Argentinean Pope, who has established a warmer, more inclusive style of governance since being appointed pontiff in March last year, found the commander’s manner overly strict and “Teutonic”.
The 77-year-old pope is said to have been appalled recently to have emerged one morning from his private suite of rooms to find that a Swiss Guard had been standing guard all night.
“Sit down,” he told the young guardsman, to which the soldier said: “I can’t, it’s against orders.”
The Pope replied: “I give the orders around here,” and promptly went off to buy a cappuccino for the exhausted soldier.
[…]Brian Shimkovitz. | Photo: Awesome Tapes from Africa on Facebook.
In partnership with The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles: The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles leads the community and leverages its resources to assure the continuity of the Jewish people.
On Brian Shimkovitz's first trip to Ghana as a study abroad student in the early 2000s, he was wandering the streets of Cape Coast after attending a student cultural dance performance when he happened upon a group of young men slaughtering a lamb. "They were slaughtering it in such a way that I was like, 'What are you guys doing?'" recalls Shimkovitz, the Los Angeles-based ethnomusicologist behind blog-cum-record label Awesome Tapes from Africa. "And they said, 'Oh, next door is a rabbi's house, and we're doing Passover, and helping them prepare this lamb.' And I was like, 'Oh word. I'm Jewish. What's up?' They were like, 'Oh cool. Come. There's a mix of people there.' I was the only white person there, but there were people that were African-American, African, and Caribbean. It was a mixture of Rasta, Christianity, and Judaism. It was a mix of rituals; they recited the Shema, and other typical, generic services, but then they also sang Bob Marley songs. They sang Bob Marley songs, they sang Jewish songs, they sang Christian songs, and it was a combo."
Though he was blown away by the culture jam that happened before his eyes, it wasn't until his second trip to Ghana, as a Fulbright scholar, that Shimkovitz began collecting cassette tapes of obscure modern African musicians at Ghanian markets. Shimkovitz has been a total of five times to various African nations now, bringing home suitcases full of tapes each time, which he then digitizes and puts on his blog. In 2016, Awesome Tapes from Africa will celebrate its 10-year anniversary. The blog began modestly: entire albums downloadable directly from the site, and a scan of the tape cover. In 2006, the sounds were revelatory, Shimkovitz introducing Western audiences to diverse musical styles like hiplife and kuduro, which sound at once regionally rooted and globally pop.
Madiodio Gning's "Sultanu Arifine." | Photo: Awesome Tapes from Africa on Facebook.
Now Awesome Tapes is a full-blown record label, releasing cassettes and vinyl records by a mixture of underground gems and African stars. The first release in 2011, of singer Nahawa Doumbia, introduced the West to the Malian megastar, and found her an audience through Europe (Shimkovitz recently linked Doumbia up with Red Bull, who sponsored her European tour). Other albums like a release by South African artist Penny Penny resurrected his once-successful career, having been somewhat forgotten since the 1990s. And one of Awesome Tapes's most unusual and popular releases, "Obaa Sima," by the obscure Ghanian hiplife rapper Ata Kak sounds like music from another planet. The latter inspired Shimkovitz so much that he recently shot a documentary about finding Ata Kak, a film which will soon find a release.
Shimkovitz lives in Downtown Los Angeles, and when I get him on the phone, he notes that it's quiet this time of year for a Jewish guy, when everyone is out of town celebrating Christmas. Shimkovitz grew up with liberally Jewish parents, but no serious spiritual grounding. "I kind of feel guilty for not being spiritual," he says with a laugh. "I don't feel guilty in the way that my parents felt guilty for not being conservative, but I feel guilty for being a person in the world who doesn't pay attention to the potential for god or other related stuff."
Ata Kak's "Obaa Sima." | Photo: Awesome Tapes from Africa on Facebook.
Though Awesome Tapes has had some peripheral brushes with other Jewish artists (Ethiopian jazz and funk player Hailu Mergia shared a stage with Ethiopian-Israeli Jew Ester Rada at a World Music Festival Chicago event once), the label has yet to release any Jewish specific music. In fact, aside from the Smithsonian Folkways compilation album "Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda" (which was nominated for a Grammy in 2005), Shimkovitz has yet to come across much Jewish music in Africa at all, despite several populations of Jews throughout the continent. "Musically, cassettes, I've never come across anything off the top of my head," he says. "I'd have to think a little deeper maybe, but I don't think I've ever come across anything that's overtly Jewish. I have a ton of gospel cassettes, and some of them have references to things that could be from the Old Testament, but nothing that's Jewish per se."
But Shimkovitz's stories from his five trips to Africa are smattered with Jewish experiences, including one trip to the Northern Ethiopian highlands, where the so-called Jews of Ethiopia were located, although Shimkovitz notes that many of them have relocated to Israel. "Now, Ethiopian Orthodox music -- Tewahedo -- it has a lot of connection to Judaism," he says. "I had read a book in college, in my ethnomusicology studies, by a Jewish woman who did research with the Ethiopian Jews up in the mountains, and she had this conclusion-slash-theory that they weren't actual legit Jews; they were just this breakaway sect of Ethiopian Orthodox from a renegade monk who got cast out from Addis Ababa and went up to the mountains and practiced his own style of Orthodox, which over time appeared like Judaism, so when these early Jewish explorer types came across them in the late 1800s, they said, 'Oh, we recognize you guys as Jews. You guys are Jews.' And the [Ethiopians said], 'Yeah, we're Jews. That's right. We're Jews.' It's fascinating that they became Jewish and were adopted by the state of Israel. Not just accepted, but back in the day, when I was in Sunday school, we had to give sadaqah to the Ethiopian Jews."
When we speak, Shimkovitz has just returned from Senegal on a research trip for an Awesome Tapes project that he will announce later this year, but he's also hard at work on a series of events for the 10th anniversary, starting in May, which is technically the 10-year point. "I've organized concerts that involve Awesome Tapes from Africa artists, and then also DJ sets by me," he says. "I'm going to do stuff in Shanghai, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, and New York, and other places."
His planning will get back on track after the end-of-the-year holidays, he says, which have caused downtown to empty out and resemble a ghost town. For now, he's interested in something much more prosaic. "I'm going to go find some Jews to go see a movie with or something," he says with a laugh.
Alhaji Sir. Waziri Oshomah and His Family Traditional Sound Makers' "Happy Christmas." | Photo: Awesome Tapes from Africa on Facebook.
Dig this story? Sign up for our newsletter to get unique arts & culture stories and videos from across Southern California in your inbox. Also, follow Artbound on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.Chapter 7
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a liquidation proceeding available to consumers and businesses. Those assets of a debtor that are not exempt from creditors are collected and liquidated (reduced to money) and the proceeds are distributed to creditors. A consumer debtor receives a complete discharge from debt under a Chapter 7, except for certain debts that are prohibited from discharge by the Bankruptcy Code. To be eligible for a Chapter 7, debtors need to meet certain requirements.
Chapter 11
A Chapter 11 bankruptcy provides a procedure by which an individual or a business can reorganize its debts while continuing to operate. The vast majority of Chapter 11 cases are filed by businesses. The debtor, often with participation from creditors, creates a plan of reorganization under which to repay part or all of his/her debts.
Chapter 13
A Chapter 13, often called wage-earner bankruptcy, is used primarily by individual consumers to reorganize their financial affairs under a repayment plan that must be completed within three or five years, depending on your income level. To be eligible for Chapter 13 relief, a consumer must have regular income and may not have more than a certain amount of debt, as set forth in the Bankruptcy Code.LAST MONTH the leader of the United Kingdom Independent Party, Nigel Farage, was criticised for hiring his German wife as his secretary. Farage, whose political stock-in-trade is anti-migrant rhetoric and Euroscepticism, frequently claims that foreign workers are taking British jobs.
Asked if this wasn’t also true of his wife, he replied: “No, because I don’t think anybody else would want to be in my house at midnight, going through emails, getting me briefed for the next day. Nobody else could do that job. I don’t know anybody who would work those kinds of hours.”
Farage’s office was quickly flooded with job applications from people willing to be paid to do just that.
Beyond the hypocrisy, this story encapsulates much of the contentious debate over migrant workers. Over the past two decades, the proportion of migrants working in OECD countries has increased substantially, and they are now an integral part of the labour market.
In Australia, the 457 visa program has been the focus of debate. In many respects it is among the best-designed programs of its kind, but opportunities remain for exploitation and abuse.
At the end of 2013, about 100,000 holders of 457 visas were working in Australia, and between them they had around 70,000 dependants. More than 30,000 Australian businesses, universities, government agencies and not-for-profits employed 457 visa holders, and even the odd union has used the program in the past. They staff hospitals and clinics, work on mine sites, carry out research, administer offices and cook meals.
Since the 457 category was introduced in 1996, temporary migrant workers have become an integral part of the migration program and labour market. Yet public anxiety about the program remains high, encouraged both by political opportunism and by media coverage of abuses perpetrated by a small minority of employers who find ways to exploit the system.
Now, previously unreleased evidence from a comprehensive survey of 457 visa holders, together with information provided by the immigration department to Senate estimates, can help give us a better understanding of how the 457 visa program operates and where the true problems lie. The timing couldn’t be better: the Abbott government has commissioned another review of the integrity of the 457 program, which is due to report on 30 June.
What this new information reveals about the 457 visa program is emblematic of Australian public policy in general. In large measure the program meets its objectives, but at the margins there are issues that need to be tackled.
In the survey of visa holders, carried out in 2012, 76 per cent of respondents reported that they were satisfied with their current wages and 88 per cent were satisfied with their employer. Only 5 per cent of migrants thought their employer breached obligations under the program. These results counteract the impression that all temporary migrants are powerless and exploited in the workplace and support business claims that the vast majority of employers do the right thing.
But immigration programs should also be judged by what happens on the margins, to those who are vulnerable. And the best proxy for vulnerability is income. For some time the department has reported average salaries in a detailed statistical breakdown; the 2012 survey confirmed departmental statistics that show a median salary for 457 visa holders of between $75,000 and $80,000.
Unlike the departmental data, though, the new survey data allows for a more detailed income breakdown. It shows, for example, that 11 per cent of 457 visa holders surveyed had a salary equal to or below $50,000. This is right on the edge of the “salary threshold” – the minimum salary payable under the scheme – at that time, which was $49,330. (The salary threshold exists because temporary migrants are denied most kinds of government support, including Medicare, and must be paid a sufficient sum to support themselves.) It’s true that the majority of employers paying migrants $50,000 or less are likely to be complying with program rules because migrants who arrived in periods when the income threshold was lower were included in the survey. But it seems almost certain that some workers within this cohort are being underpaid.
Perhaps more concerning is the fact that 21 per cent of those surveyed did not receive any pay increase after working for longer than twelve months, and this is most evident at low-income levels.
Percentage of 457 visa holders without a pay increase, by months of employment
Of those surveyed who earned under $50,000, a full 55 per cent had not received a pay increase despite being in Australia for more than a year.
Holding pay steady erodes the purchasing power of migrant incomes. While the data in the chart above shows that the number of workers whose pay is stagnant falls over time, an identifiable minority had received no increase in income, regardless of how long they had been working.
The Rudd government introduced major reforms in 2009 designed to create pay parity between 457 visa holders and Australians performing the same job. This is know as providing a “market salary.” Formerly, employers could hire migrants at any salary above the threshold, which meant that migrant pay could be substantially out of step with what other workers were earning.
Although the market-salary requirement has helped increase migrant wages, it only applies at the time the visa is first issued. There is no requirement for wages to keep pace with prevailing market salaries, and so some workers find themselves slipping further and further behind. As this new survey data highlights, if all 457 visa holders are to be paid at the same rate as Australians, the scheme needs adjustment.
BUT INCOMES are not the most contentious aspect of the 457 program. The biggest debate is about whether temporary migrants are displacing Australians in the labour market.
When I worked in the immigration department, an earlier version of the chart below was the evidence of choice for refuting claims of displacement. Until mid 2011, the close correlation of job vacancies and 457 visa applications was offered as evidence that employers would use the program more in periods of strong demand for labour, and would use it less as job growth softened. The 457 visa holders were seen to be supplementing Australian workers, not substituting for them.
ANZ job advertisement series and 457 visa primary applications lodged to January 2014
Unfortunately for program advocates (including me), this story appeared to take a wrong turn during 2011. This up-to-date version has only been released in response to Senate estimates questioning; the department stopped using the chart in external presentations around the time the pattern broke down.
Does the divergence between job vacancies and 457 visa activity provide evidence that temporary migrants are indeed “stealing” Australian jobs? The short answer is no. The stolen jobs argument runs counter to the established understanding of how immigrants affect the labour market: labour economists are in near-universal agreement that immigration has a minimal impact on either domestic wages or job opportunities.
In 2006, the Productivity Commission found immigration had a “small yet benign” impact on local incomes, hurting the high-skilled and helping the low-skilled. A comparison study of OECD countries shows Australia is one of three countries where average wages increased by more than 1 per cent between 1990 and 2000 as a result of immigration policy. All of this increase is accounted for by the effect on low-skilled workers, whose incomes on average increased by 4.5 per cent over the decade because of immigration, offsetting the negative impact on highly skilled workers. This extensive research agenda supports the role of migrants as complementary participants in the labour market.
In my analysis, the primary reason for the divergence between job vacancies and visa applications is that migrants are applying for jobs they already hold. Around 50 per cent of 457 visas are now granted “onshore” to temporary migrants who are already in Australia. This share |
we stick together as a group he can’t kill us all.
• Hey, do you like penalty-box-related puns? I hope you do, because you’re about to get three straight minutes of them. According to this song’s Discog page, it was written by Kal Mann, who was best known for “Wild One” and “Let’s Twist Again,” both of which I’m assuming were about this guy.
• “Love is like an ice hockey game / Sometimes, it can be rough.” Um, Kal, nobody calls it ice hockey. I bet they told Schultz the lyric was “a nice hockey” game. Also, I bet Kal Mann got punched a lot.
• Schultz goes through a list of penalty calls, as it becomes apparent that he has no intention of actually singing. He’s just speaking the lyrics in a manner that’s vaguely in time with the music. Do you want to tell him to do better? Didn’t think so.
• Long-time readers will know this is not the only 1970s NHL novelty song to use penalty metaphors as apologetic foreplay — we covered the Triple Crown line’s “Forgive My Misconduct” last year. There’s no nice way to say this: I’m starting to think that mid-’70s NHL players were kind of creepy.
• There’s a weird moment at about 1:15 during the synthesizer solo. They start playing the same P.A. announcer clip from the beginning of the song, but it immediately fades out when Schultz starts “singing” again. This song was done in one take, wasn’t it? I feel pretty comfortable saying it was.
• My favorite sentence from Schultz’s Wikipedia page: “In 1994, he served as referee at WCW Slamboree for the match between The Nasty Boys against Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan.” Well of course he did. Believe it or not, he ended up attacking one of the wrestlers. Does he still have that referee’s shirt? We could use him to handle some of these coach’s challenges.
• And here comes another minute of hockey puns. Seriously, how was this whole thing received in the Broad Street Bullies locker room? Someone must have said something, right? At this point I’m begging for Bobby Clarke to show up and start slashing sound technician ankles.
• For the final minute, Schultz just abandons any pretense at keeping up with the music and goes full spoken-word mode. “Just meet me in the penalty box. The ice is freezing, so come in where it’s warm.” Somewhere in Philadelphia, a newborn baby hears those words on his parents’ stereo and they imprint on his brain. That baby would grow up to be this man.
• The end comes as Schultz starts laughing at his own ad-libs, and the whole thing just devolves into him talking to a producer who is clearly fake-laughing in an attempt to have his life spared.
Sadly, this song spelled the end of Schultz’s music career. He wisely chose to keep his day job.
Have a question for Sean? Want to suggest an obscure player or a classic YouTube clip? Send all your grab-bag-related emails to nhlgrabbag@gmail.com.This story is part of our summer series "Beachcombing," in which KPCC reporters will explore the ecology, economy and culture of Southern California's beaches and coast. Let us know what you think in the comments below or on KPCC's Facebook page.
Sand-burrowing cousins to the roly-poly bugs you played with in the backyard — called isopods —are disappearing from Southern California beaches.
The isopods live in the sandy intertidal zone of the beach. A new study from scientists at UC Santa Barbara finds the tiny crustaceans and their favored habitat in peril, mostly due to coastal development.
Ecologist David Hubbard hops down stairs to one of his favorite secret beaches in Malibu, near the Ventura County line. At the rack line – where tides strand damp kelp and seaweed to dry out in sun — he digs around for isopods. He drops about a dozen in my hand, each a thumbnail across.
“Seen these guys, with all the camouflage on their backs?” he said. I have, I replied, as they tickle my hand. The creatures match the sand in the Zuma littoral cell, dark black and grey and sandy-tan on the side, light on the bottom.
RELATED: Southern California beaches are starving. Do we nourish them enough?
The colors help isopods hide from shore birds; so does burrowing in the sand. Hubbard and UC Santa Barbara marine biologist Jenny Dugan said isopods prefer sand that's neither too wet nor too dry.
“They like sand that's about the consistency of brown sugar,” Dugan said. “If you squeeze it in your hand, you can clump it,” Hubbard added. “If it's too dry, it falls apart. They have to keep their breathing apparatus damp.”
Brown sugar sand puts them squarely in between the high and low tides. Dugan said the crustaceans’ presence means the intertidal zone is healthy.
“Where we find these isopods, these beaches tend to be beaches with higher diversity and higher abundance of other similar animals, so they're an indicator,” Dugan said.
Isopods burrows look like little volcanoes, with a pronounced lip. Hubbard said you can find them on rustic beaches like Crystal Cove in Orange County and Little Dume in Malibu.
“They're abundant on beaches that are not groomed," he said.
But more and more beaches are developed, bulldozer-shaped and machine-smoothed. And Hubbard, Dugan and UCSB graduate student Nick Schooler report that isopods have disappeared from 60 percent of the locations they were historically spotted.
In a new paper, the team looked at data gathered after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, and historic records dating back to a Smithsonian expedition in 1905, to count up where the tiny crustaceans were spotted, and reveal where they’ve been extirpated.
Isopods are resilient, but because they carry their young in pouches they can't relocate.
Difficult to get them back
“They don't have any planktonic larvae that come washing in,” Dugan said. “So when you lose a population of this type of animal it's very difficult to get that population started again.”
Their predators, shore birds, so far have found other snacks. But isopods play another important role: They chomp on kelp, breaking it down to recycle nutrition into the ocean. Dugan said losing the little crustaceans pokes a hole in the food web.
“You don't have that resilience and that net built in,” Dugan said. “The net starts to become very fragile, and based on just a couple of things, once you start to lose the pieces like the isopods.”
That’s not the end of the isopods’ problems. Dugan said they face a growing threat on unmanaged beaches, too, because they don't have much "wiggle room."
Waves are crashing further ashore because of erosion (from development) and sea level rise (caused by climate change). Coastal cliffs and houses mean beaches have no place to retreat, at Malibu’s Broad Beach and other places.
“These are the beaches that are going to be squeezed and narrowed, and this zone will become either very restricted or lost in a lot of these places because the waves will wash to the cliff too many times a year for the animals to survive,” Dugan said.
Dugan and Hubbard are studying Southern California beaches including shore birds, kelp, and yes, isopods – contributing baseline studies to California's marine protected area program.
The state's conservation efforts aim to improve the health of the coastal ecosystem by limiting human impacts to underwater kelp forests and adjoining beaches. If they succeed, the isopods could come marching back onto at least some of Southern California's beaches.John Franklin Enders (February 10, 1897 – September 8, 1985) was an American biomedical scientist and Nobel Laureate. Enders has been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines."[1][2]
Life and education [ edit ]
Enders was born in West Hartford, Connecticut. His father, John Ostrom Enders, was CEO of the Hartford National Bank and left him a fortune of $19 million upon his death. He attended the Noah Webster School in Hartford, and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. After attending Yale University a short time, he joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1918 as a flight instructor and a lieutenant.
After returning from World War I, he graduated from Yale, where he was a member of Scroll and Key as well as Delta Kappa Epsilon. He went into real estate in 1922, and tried several careers before choosing the biomedical field with a focus on infectious diseases, gaining a Ph.D. at Harvard in 1930. He later joined the faculty at Children's Hospital Boston.[3]
Enders died in 1985 in Waterford, Connecticut, aged 88, holding honorary doctoral degrees from 13 universities.[4]
Biomedical career [ edit ]
In 1949, Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, and Frederick Chapman Robbins reported successful in vitro culture of an animal virus—poliovirus.[5] The three received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the ability of polioviruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue".
Meanwhile, Jonas Salk applied the Enders-Weller-Robbins technique to produce large quantities of poliovirus, and then developed a polio vaccine in 1952. Upon the 1954 polio vaccine field trial, whose success Salk announced on the radio,[6] Salk became a public hero but failed to credit the many other researchers that his effort rode upon, and was somewhat shunned by America's scientific establishment.[7]
In 1954, Enders and Peebles isolated measlesvirus from an 11-year-old boy, David Edmonston.[8] Disappointed by polio vaccine's development and involvement in some cases of polio and death—what Enders attributed to Salk's technique—Enders began development of measles vaccine.[8] In October 1960, an Enders team began trials on 1,500 mentally retarded children in New York City and on 4,000 children in Nigeria.[9]
On September 17, 1961, The New York Times announced the measles vaccine effective.[9] Refusing credit for only himself, Enders stressed the collaborative nature of the effort.[9] In 1963, Pfizer introduced a deactivated measles vaccine, and Merck & Co introduced an attenuated measles vaccine.
Honors [ edit ]
Bust of John Enders in the Polio Hall of Fame
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Get the biggest Liverpool 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
Danny Ings’ potential move to Liverpool FC has moved a step closer following Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League.
The Reds are hopeful of completing the signing of the 22-year-old striker when his contract with the Clarets expires this summer, although the club will still need to pay a fee set by a tribunal as he is under the age of 24.
Ings, who scored his 10th league goal of the season in Burnley’s 1-0 win at Hull, has received numerous offers both home and abroad - and even travelled to Spain to speak with Real Socidead boss David Moyes - but is thought to be opting for a move to Anfield.
In pics: Danny Ings - the story so far
Burnley’s victory on Saturday was not enough to save the club from Championship football next season, and now means Ings will be able to sort out his future having previously said his focus was on his side’s relegation battle.
Brendan Rodgers is keen on adding more firepower to his squad next season after struggling up-front throughout, plus confirmation Daniel Sturridge will miss the start of 2015-16 recovering from hip surgery.
Belgian international Divock Origi, a £10million signing from Lille last summer, will also arrive as Liverpool prepare to improve their squad following failure to qualify for the Champions League.An 2013 essay in Weekly Donga, a current affairs magazine, is frank about why South Korean men go play golf in Southeast Asia: “The reason a wife is not happy about her husband leaving for Southeast Asia is because everything is done according to the rule. I will not say what this rule is because everyone knows it.”
That unspoken rule is simple: Golf in Southeast Asia entails paid sex, often a lot of it. Try searching online for “emperor golf” or “19 hole” in Korean, and links to various travel agencies offering package tours to the Philippines, Malaysia or Cambodia fill the screen.
An “emperor golf” or “19 hole” package isn’t just about playing golf in a warm country for cheap. It invariably includes “nightlife and banquet” in the itinerary, for every night during the whole trip. It’s clear to most that this is an allusion to sex trade.
So the news on Mar. 4 that nine South Koreans had been arrested in Cebu for patronizing an escort service raised few eyebrows here. Except the manner in which the Philippines authorities decided to publicize the incident. A local news reporter broadcast the interrogation on Facebook live. The names and ages of the suspects were also released to the media.
South Korean news articles generally withhold names and pictures of criminal suspects (not out of concern for privacy, but because of fear over a possible defamation suit). What the Philippines authorities did was shocking because it brought maximum shame on the accused.
The incident may have something to do with growing diplomatic tension between the two nations. Last year, a South Korean businessman was kidnapped from his home in Manila and killed. Suspects are police officers in the country’s anti-narcotics division.
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has since had to apologize to South Korea. But he and his national police chief have both insinuated that South Korean criminals might be behind the killing. On Feb. 4 Duterte said, “I’ve always heard from intelligence sources that in Cebu, with all due respect to the South Korean government, they are the ones controlling drugs and prostitution.”
The South Korean embassy has strongly condemned the statement. The high-profile arrest of its nine citizens, however, is bound to cause discomfort over the attention on the seedier side of travels to the archipelago, where gambling and sex trades reportedly thrive on South Korean patronage.
Cover image: Dancers at Love and Music bar, Angeles City by Blemished Paradise (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Se-Woong Koo wrote this radar report.We’ve all had some time to stew over the 30-13 loss to the Saints on Sunday. After breaking down some film and looking back on some plays, we’ve compiled 10 key observations from the game. We’ll do our best to include some positives, but guys…I can’t promise anything.
1.) Offensive Line implodes, gives up 6 sacks
The Bears offensive line collectively peed their pants and gave up 6 sacks on Sunday. Somehow they made a mediocre pass rush by the Saints, without their best pass rusher, look out of this world. Without Gabe Carimi and Lance Louis, this offensive line couldn’t block the sun if they were wearing SPF 90. At what point are the Bears going to kick Frank Omiyale in the nards and just insert TE Matt Spaeth? Outside of Carimi, Spaeth may be the only blocker on the Bears who can not only spell the word block, but effectively pull one off.
2.) Gabe Carimi reportedly has dislocated his knee
Reported are coming out that Gabe Carimi reportedly has dislocated his knee. Bears nation collectively let’s out a huge “Fuck.”. Jerry Angelo set this team up for failure by not adding any veteran offensive linemen outside of Chris Spenser, who showed his lack of worth against the Saints on Sunday. Without Carimi and Lance Louis, this offensive line looks strikingly similar to the line of last season. Possibly worse.
3.) Cutler throws ball 47 times, why is Mike Leach calling the plays?
Mike Leach, former Texas Tech coach has to be calling our plays, otherwise there is no excuse for 47 pass attempts from Cutler. We were without Earl Bennett and Roy Williams yet, we still attempted to feed the ball to our rag tag bunch of WR’s. I am all for getting the ball in Dane Sanzenbacher’s hands and as much as I like him, unless we throw it to him all 47 times, I have a serious problem with the amount of pass attempts in this game. We need a more balanced and focused attack. With that said, I move onto my next observation.
4.) Forte proves to be best offensive weapon, Bears don’t feed him the ball.
Matt Forte was the only Bears player who had a good game in my mind on Sunday. Forte had 10 carries for 49 yards, and 10 catches for 117 yards. Forte had 10 total catches, the rest of the Bears WRs/TEs had a total of 9. Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Forte has proven to be our most consistent option on offense yet, when we can’t move the ball, we refuse to just feed him the ball until our offense picks it up? The only reason Matt Forte should EVER have 10 carries, is if that’s the total # he has at the end of the 1st half. I am sickened that he only received 2 carries during the 2nd half of Sundays’ game. I’m talking “Watch Todd Collins throw a football” level of sickened.
5.) Major Wright is Major Wrong.
I was a huge fan of the Major Wright draft pick but, am starting to deviate from that thought process. Wright has been poor over all in pass coverage and gave up a HUGE 79 yard TD pass to Devery Henderson on Sunday. The Bears pride themselves in not giving up the big play and Wright did everything in his power to have that notion dismissed. If the other team’s fastest player lines up in the slot, you must recognize this from the snap of the ball. Henderson split Wright and Conte and pranced into the endzone for an easy TD. Wright had a great pre-season his rookie season and since then has yet to show anything worth keeping him on the roster. Credit goes to Rory Sparrow on our Forum for the Wright/Wrong based headline on #5.
6.) Tim Jennings will lead league in Tackles….shit.
Tim Jennings was 2nd in the team in total amount of tackles with 7. Lance Briggs compiled 10 tackles on the day, Jennings is gunning for the league crown. Tim Jennings isn’t amazing in run support, he gets thrown on and, usually the WR trips while stepping over his limp body, which results in a tackle. Jennings is currently leading the team in tackles with 17. I may actually vomit if I continue.
7.) Kellen Davis will sign Jay Cutler’s death certificate by end of season.
When Jay Cutler was sacked and fumbled the ball, giving the Saints the ball in the red zone, the blame lays 100% with Kellen Davis. Kellen Davis whiffed on a block and allowed the rusher a free shot on a defenseless Jay Cutler. Brees gets the ball in the red zone, then throws a touchdown with ease. This to me is where the game went from “Ok, we have a shot” to “Fuck, when is it over”. When a guy displays effort and makes a bad play, you cannot fault them. When Davis came off the line, it was a lackadaisical attempt at blocking and it resulted in our franchise QB getting laid out and turning the ball over. No soup for you Kellen Davis.
8.) Earl Bennett most productive WR, even after leaving game in 1st quarter.
Outside of Dane Sanzenbacher at least showing he knows the offense, the WR’s played a very poor game. Hester and Knox were non-factors, Sam Hurd in his first game made one nice catch and disappeared. Earl Bennett caught a 9 yard pass in the 1st quarter and left the game. Bennett still had one of the most productive days of all of the WR’s. The starting RB should never have more catches total than the entire WR corps. Forte had 10 receptions compared to Knox/Hester/Sanzenbacher/Hurd/Clutts who all had 9 combined.
9.) Off-Season Additions Contribute Zilch.
This one is a little cheap considering Roy Williams and Marion Barber didn’t play but, our off-season additions were no shows. No stock was put into Amobi Okoye since he’s apart of a rotation but, he had 2 tackles and was the most productive “new” Bear from Free Agency. This is more of a shot at Jerry Angelo not signing any significant free agents, than it is a shot at Roy/Barber for not playing. Chris Spenser displayed a strong knack for not doing a damn thing. It saddens me to know how much money we had to play with in Free Agency and we did nothing with it. Seeing Pro-Bowl G Brian Waters from KC sign with New England and play with them hurts. Just knowing we could have had Waters over this inept group of misfits hurts me deep down.
10.) Sanzenbacher is awesome.
Dane Sanzenbacher played pretty much the entire game and had 3 catches for 33 yards and 1 TD. Seeing SANZENBACHA reel in his first career TD as an undrafted free agent was a pretty good moment. My only gripe involving Dane was that Cutler threw the ball 47 times and Dane only had 3 receptions. Dane had a great opportunity to lead the league in receptions and come up with 47 catches and didn’t answer the call. All jokes aside, Dane showed a strong upside with Earl Bennett out of the game. He also took a huge shot (should have been a flag) from Malcolm Jenkins on an errant pass where he was defenseless. He didn’t play scared after getting blasted either, he continued to go across the middle. Let’s hope to see more of SANZENBACHA in weeks to come. Fan favorite? Fuck yes.
While we have your attention, please take a minute and swing by our Message Boards to discuss Chicago Sports with many other fans. http://chicitysports.com/forumImage copyright Reuters Image caption Lenovo said it was "actively reviewing" its network security
Chinese computer maker Lenovo has become the victim of a cyber-attack following a warning by the US government about software called Superfish.
The Superfish adware program - which offered shopping tips - was shipped on some of the company's notebook devices.
A hacking group called Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for the Wednesday attack via Twitter.
The group has taken credit for several other attacks, including one on Sony.
"One effect of this attack was to redirect traffic from the Lenovo website," Lenovo said in a statement. "We are also actively investigating other aspects.
"We are responding and have already restored certain functionality to our public-facing website."
The firm also said it was "actively reviewing" its network security and would take steps "to protect the integrity of our users' information and experience".
Last week, the computer-making giant said it was offering customers a tool to help them remove the pre-installed software after experts warned that it was a security risk.
The firm then said it had disabled the software because of customer complaints.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption One security researcher said the hackers altered DNS records to redirect traffic
In a later statement, however, the company said it was aware of security risks about the software and was focused on fixing it.
Superfish was designed to help users find products by visually analysing images on the web to find the cheapest ones.
According to one security expert, the hackers managed to hijack the Domain Name Servers (DNS), which convert the web addresses users type into the IP addresses used by the internet.
Cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs wrote that they were able to do so after gaining access to Lenovo's domain name registrar Webnic.
Citing two hackers who he said had been working to expose Lizard Squad, he wrote that the attackers exploited a vulnerability within Webnic to discreetly gain access to its network and then alter the DNS records to divert traffic to where they wanted it to go.
On Twitter, Lizard Squad also released what it said were emails stolen from Lenovo employees and codes used to transfer web domains to other registrars.
Webnic's site was inaccessible but a company representative acknowledged the outage and told Mr Krebs: "We're still in the investigation stage."
On Tuesday, Lizard Squad claimed to have carried out a similar attack on Google's Vietnamese domain, which is also registered with Webnic.The rivalry between AMD and Intel peaked during the first decade of the 2000s, when the companies consistently challenged each other with a stream of chip innovations.
Since then, AMD lost its way, and today it barely registers as a threat to Intel. But the competitive landscape could start changing as early as next year.
Intel’s x86 chips are installed in most PCs and servers, and AMD has been losing market share for years. AMD’s chip technology has fallen behind Intel’s after some ill-advised architectural changes, acquisitions, and manufacturing problems.
Intel’s x86 processor market share was 87.7 percent the fourth quarter of 2015, growing from 86.3 percent a year earlier. AMD held just a 12.1 percent share, falling from 13.6 percent, according to Mercury Research.
But AMD has made some smart moves recently. It decided to cut its reliance on the declining PC market in 2013, something Intel finally acknowledged this week while cutting 12,000 jobs. AMD also has emphasized custom chips and hit paydirt with specialized processors for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
AMD is now poised to threaten Intel’s market dominance. Only time will tell if AMD will be successful, but here are some technologies and business decisions AMD is relying on to better compete with Intel.
Licensing x86 architecture
It’s possible we’ll see PCs and servers using AMD-based chips not made by company, with AMD now licensing its top-line chip architecture. The long-running two-horse x86 race could then include more players, a development bound to hurt Intel more than AMD. Licensing is an easy way for AMD to expand the installed base of its processor technology while generating licensing revenue.
AMD this week licensed its upcoming Zen server chip architecture to THATIC (Tianjin Haiguang Advanced Technology Investment Co. Ltd.), a consortium of public and private Chinese companies, as part of a joint venture.
Lead in graphics
AMD has a valuable asset that Intel doesn’t possess: the world-class Radeon and FirePro GPUs. Graphics processors are hot, with sales of gaming PCs growing in an otherwise slumping market. Intel wants to focus on gaming but only has a good CPU. AMD still has to compete with Nvidia in GPUs, but the company has a combination of hardware technologies that put it in a better position than Intel in virtual reality and gaming.
Versatile CPU assets
If you want an ARM chip for PCs or servers, AMD can make it. If you want x86, AMD has that, too. AMD officials have stressed the importance of versatility many times over the last two years. AMD’s business relies on x86, but the company has stocked up on ARM technology, which could explode into servers and embedded devices in the coming years. Intel makes only x86 chips and doesn’t have its sights on ARM.
Zen CPU
AMD is placing a lot of faith in its upcoming Zen x86 CPU—if it fails, it could take the company down with it. But Zen could be equalizer AMD needs to compete with Intel in CPUs, and it could perhaps attract some enthusiasts over from the Intel camp. AMD claims Zen delivers a 40 percent performance improvement per clock cycle, which is higher than the single-digit gains delivered by recent x86 chips. The first Zen chips for enthusiast desktops will ship later this year.
Servers
The time is ripe for AMD to grow in the server market, where Intel’s superior Xeon chips have destroyed AMD’s Opteron processors. AMD once held a double-digit market share, but then came problems with the faulty and poorly constructed Bulldozer architecture. AMD’s server strategy is now in shambles, and it is relying on the Zen chips for what it calls a “reentry” into the server market. The company will initially target Zen chips at hyperscale servers, then at other systems.
Chinese market
AMD is chasing the booming Chinese server market by licensing its upcoming x86 chip to THATIC. That frees up cash-strapped AMD from committing resources to selling chips in the country. AMD could also use the licensing strategy to sell more PC chips in China, where the company has a committed following among home PC builders.
Custom chips
AMD had to find a new place to sell its processors with PC shipments falling, so it focused on products like gaming consoles, gambling machines, ATMs, and automobiles, all of which require custom processors. The console makers are already coming back to AMD for more processors. AMD is now taking on only larger custom-chip orders that will bring in considerable revenue.Ms. Rosa, 47, a Democrat elected in 2012, was among the most junior members of the Assembly.
Later, outside the courthouse, Ms. Rosa told reporters that she regretted her actions, but she said that her crimes had occurred before she had become a member of the Assembly.
“I didn’t get rich out of my position,” Ms. Rosa said. “I didn’t take any bribes. I didn’t do none of the things that usually you are very used to seeing in the other guys that get in this situation.”
In court, a prosecutor, Howard S. Master, did not explain how the investigation into Ms. Rosa had begun, but he said she had a lawyer appointed to represent her when she became “a target” of a grand jury investigation.
Ms. Rosa’s lawyer, Matthew D. Myers, said after the proceeding: “I think generally they’re investigating a lot of political corruption in this town, and maybe stumbled upon this. I can’t speak for their entire investigation, but obviously, she wasn’t a main target at the start of this investigation.”
The case involving Ms. Rosa is another in a long string of public corruption cases filed in recent years by federal prosecutors involving public officials in Albany.
In January, Eric A. Stevenson, a Democratic assemblyman from the Bronx, was convicted of bribery and other corruption charges; in May, he was sentenced to three years in prison. This month, Malcolm A. Smith, a Democratic state senator from Queens, was granted a mistrial in his trial on bribery and wire fraud charges; Mr. Smith, who has pleaded not guilty, is to be retried in January. And William F. Boyland Jr., a Democratic assemblyman from one of Brooklyn’s prominent political families, was convicted in March of bribery and other charges in federal court in Brooklyn.
In late March, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo abruptly disbanded a panel he had established to investigate corruption in state government and develop reforms that would help deter it. His decision prompted an unusual public rebuke from Mr. Bharara, whose office received the panel’s investigatory files and is now examining the circumstances surrounding its dismissal.Little can be ascertained by watching NFL teams go through workouts in shorts and helmets. Fans desperately want to find reason to believe a player is poised for a breakout season or that their offensive line is ready to take a step forward. The truth is we won’t really know until the regular season begins. Even preseason games are often misleading when it comes to player and team performance. There are some intangibles, though, that are worth paying attention to even at this early stage, and they are painting a promising picture for the Seahawks.
#5 Maturity
It feels like it has taken two full seasons for the Seahawks to adjust to life as the hunted. Becoming the second-youngest team to win a Super Bowl comes at a cost. A team full of brash brawlers who spent their lives trying to prove everyone wrong had done exactly that. Now what?
It does not take being a player to know what winning it all can do to motivation. Lifelong Seahawks fans could not help but feel a thirst quenched when the confetti fell. Speaking personally, I am not sure I will ever be as hungry for a championship as I was before Seattle won their first.
In the years that followed, the Seahawks faced distractions in the form of fame, money, and roster churn. Big contracts were handed out to some, and not to others. Money equals respect in pro sports. Seeing players get respected disproportionately to their contribution and leadership leads to fissures. Those cracks weaken the team core.
This version of the Seahawks is showing signs of growth, patching those cracks, and potentially coming out stronger for it. Kam Chancellor did not have to come back with a good attitude and full participation in the offseason program. There was another path he could have walked that likely would have landed him on another roster, and possibly with more money. Similarly, Michael Bennett could have held the team hostage after he did everything right last year and was not rewarded with a new extension. He did not, and has even lightened his rhetoric. Doug Baldwin led the entire NFL in touchdowns, far outperforming his contract, and has done nothing to take focus away from the team.
All of these men are leaders in that locker room. They are leading with dignity and a focus on team. That has not always been the case the past two years for leaders in this locker room.
#4 Health
Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, and Chancellor were all coming off injury at this time last year. Thomas barely participated in preseason activities. Jimmy Graham and Thomas Rawls are both rehabbing serious injuries, but are reportedly on track to start the regular season. I find that a bit hard to believe, but certainly prefer that outlook to reports of setbacks.
Even if Graham and/or Rawls start the season on the PUP, the team has everyone in good shape that finished the season on such a roll.
#3 Depth & versatility
One of the biggest questions facing Seattle is how they will replace Marshawn Lynch. Rawls was fantastic in his rookie season, but cannot be counted on due to injury. That’s okay because the Seahawks have a treasure trove of runners competing for snaps. I heard whispers inside the organization about how well Christine Michael was doing this offseason, and those have turned into public proclamations last week after mini-camp. Alex Collins, C.J. Prosise, and Zac Brooks are talented rookies who will push both Michael and Rawls for playing time.
Bruce Irvin is gone, but there is an army on the roster to replace him. His starting SAM role is less important than most realize (comes off the field in nickel and dime situations), and the team has a choice of Mike Morgan, Cassius Marsh, Eric Pinkins and Kevin Pierre-Louis to take those snaps.
His nickel pass rushing duties will go to a combination of Frank Clark and Chris Clemons, with sleepers like Ryan Robinson and others waiting in the wings.
An under-appreciated benefit of bringing Clemons back is that he excels in rushing off the right side. Before coming to Seattle, Cliff Avril exclusively rushed off the left side.
It is not a stretch to think the Seahawks will have a better pass rush without Irvin than they did with him.
Cornerback was a big question mark at this time last season. Jeremy Lane was coming off major surgery. Byron Maxwell was gone. Cary Williams was the de facto starter opposite Sherman. John Schneider was forced to trade for depth like Mohammed Seisay. It was not the type of crew we have become accustomed to in the Pete Carroll era. That has changed this season.
Tharold Simon is healthy so far. Lane is back. DeShawn Shead has proven that he can contribute as an edge corner. That does not even get into proven depth players like Marcus Burley or interesting new additions like Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Brandon Browner gives the team options at safety and could slide to corner in a pinch. There is a lot to like here.
#2 Youth
Russell Wilson joked that Pete Carroll texted him after the draft to tell him this class might be better than the 2012 group that featured Irvin, Bobby Wagner, Wilson, J.R. Sweezy and others. Wilson respectfully did not agree. Time will tell.
A source inside the organization shared a similar sentiment to Carroll’s. They love this draft class. That is reason enough for me to love it, sight unseen.
One of the players I’m hearing whispers about who wasn’t even drafted was DT Brandin Bryant. We know very little about him or Quinton Jefferson. If either of those players are impact additions to pair with what appears to be a sure-fire starter in Jarran Reed, this defense will have more young firepower on the defensive line than at any time in the past few years.
Clark comes into his second year with Bennett proclaiming he can be the best pass rusher to ever wear a Seahawks uniform. Tyler Lockett enters his second year after making the Pro Bowl as a rookie. We already talked about the running backs. Nick Vannett is drawing raves at tight end.
Youthful talent coupled with elite veterans is a damn good formula if you ask me.
#1 Hunger
I spoke with Luke Willson a while back and he talked about how the team lost to the Patriots in 2014, but the playoff loss to the Panthers felt like the first time a team had really beat them in the playoffs. It was a reality check.
This is a team with many of their best players entering their prime, and just one ring to show for the immense talent gathered in that locker room. They lost the division title last year. They did not even make the NFC Championship game.
Guys like Browner and Clemons have everything to prove and are junkyard dogs with infectious attitudes. Players like Chancellor, Thomas and even Sherman had seasons below their standards last year. They have something to prove.
When the Seahawks have a chip on their shoulders, the rest of the NFL better watch out.Overview currency Supported date Supported uppercase Supported json Supported limitTo Supported lowercase Supported number Not orderBy Not filter Not async Supported decimal Supported percent Supported A Pipe is a filter applied over a angular expression. This is denoted by the | (pipe symbol) Example Code <!-- Sep 1, 2015 -->
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system,” while using licensing to “encourage a diverse, competitive market that also includes small producers.”
It also spelled out a major role for provincial governments to craft legislation on how recreational marijuana will be distributed and sold in their jurisdictions.
For B.C.’s 10 licensed producers, and the dozens more waiting for accreditation, legalization is a major opportunity.
“We know that we want to be involved in both markets, so that’s something we’re gearing up for now,” said Chris Stone, director of quality assurance at Broken Coast Cannabis Ltd., a mid-sized medical marijuana producer with a facility in Duncan and a staff of 40 employees. “For us, legalization means that there will definitely be an increase in the number of customers.”
The head of a licensed producer of medical marijuana based in Kelowna said his company will expand its workforce to more than 100 from its current 14 if it gets approval to operate in a future recreational cannabis system.
“We’re definitely looking to supply the recreational market,” said John Miller, CEO of THC Bio
Med, “and we know that we’re going to have to scale up to do it.”
Miller also wants dispensaries, which currently source their marijuana either illegally or from patients, to come into one supply chain where licensed producers grow and distribute cannabis.
What will happen to B.C.’s more than 150 dispensaries remains a mystery.
“This is what makes B.C. such an interesting case and an outlier within Canada,” said Valleriani. “B.C. really is the place where the dispensary model has the highest chance of survival in its current form.”
If they are to survive, she said, transforming the system of illicit growers into a transparent, compliant supply chain will pose a major challenge.
The dispensaries have been joined by powerful new entries like the Alliance of Beverage Licensees and the BC Government Employees and Service Union (BCGEU), who want a system modelled on the liquor distribution supply chain.
“We’ve been selling controlled substances responsibly for decades,” said BCGEU president Stephanie Smith.
The BCGEU’s 73,000 public-sector members include BC Liquor Distribution Branch employees. Smith said that setting up a new administrative system for recreational cannabis would be costly and time-consuming, and that the BCGEU is willing to provide “room for all sizes of growers” and distribution through its distribution centres.
What that system will look like ultimately depends on the decisions of the provincial government.
While both the provincial minister responsible for the marijuana file, Solicitor General Mike Morris, and Premier Christy Clark have met with Smith to discuss her organization’s proposal, the government has not yet held public consultations or met with representatives of the province’s medical marijuana dispensaries. Moreover, besides the existence of a cross-ministry working group of deputy ministers, there’s been little indication of what B.C. plans to do.
The province, for its part, says that it’s waiting on federal legislation before taking action.
“We’re going to see what the federal legislation looks like before we take that next step forward,” Morris said in a scrum last week.
At press time, the minister was not available for further comment.
“I don’t believe the current government has done a lot of work on this file to date,” said Mike Farnworth, the NDP’s lead on marijuana issues. “They haven’t talked about it with the legislature, and they haven’t consulted with local government.”
Farnworth, who heads up the marijuana file with his colleague Carole James, favours policies like a minimum age of 19 and a ban on certain edibles like cannabis-infused gummy bears.
“Whatever model is adopted, I think it has to be tightly regulated,” he said. “It’s easier to loosen regulations than tighten them up.”
As for Dobbs, she said she welcomed the task force’s recommendations and wants the dispensaries to be incorporated into a well-regulated system. Moreover, she doesn’t want the independent marijuana businesses to be priced out of the market by the costs of meeting a heavy regulatory burden.
“I’m really concerned that it will become big box too fast and leave out all the cottage industry,” she said. “There’s room for everyone.”
@BIVnewsAP The World Health Organization has declared the Zika outbreak a "global emergency" and put the virus in the same threat category as Ebola. Some American scientists pushed for the emergency status, pointing out that the failure to respond quickly contributed to Ebola's spread.
The Obama administration, however, has downplayed the Zika threat, saying Zika is not comparable to Ebola. The Centers for Disease Control similarly issued calm and soothing assurances.
Zika is not directly comparable to Ebola, which is far more lethal and requires direct contact to spread. But it can be a much bigger problem in the long run.
Why the Zika Virus Spreads so Fast
The primary Zika carrier is the Aedes mosquito, which exists in every continent but Antarctica. Zika outbreaks, therefore, have occurred in South America, Mexico, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
There is little doubt that Aedes mosquitos will eventually bring Zika to US shores, too. Texas and Florida are good candidates for the first infestation. It could spread slowly through mosquito populations. Or one good storm could instantly carry the virus northward.
To complicate things and add to the fear, the CDC reported the first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus in Dallas.
The Zika Threat at the Rio Olympics
Right now, the biggest concern is the infection in Brazil where the Olympics will take place in a few months.
For most adults, an infection is like a mild flu. There may have been a few cases of Zika-related Guillain-Barre, which causes paralysis in adults. The number one fear, however, is evidence that the virus poses particular risks to unborn children.
There appears to be a connection between infection in the womb and various neurological and autoimmune disorders. One of the most crippling birth defects associated with Zika is microcephaly (Greek for "small head").
Anecdotal evidence is compelling. 4,000 Brazilian microcephaly births have been recorded since 2014 when Zika showed up, which is a staggering 25-fold increase.
Not surprisingly, female athletes training in Brazil are being extremely careful. They go outside only when necessary and then fully clothed with bounteous applications of mosquito repellent. Brazilian authorities have also told pregnant women not to come to the Olympic games.
Salvador's government took even more drastic measures. It has recommended to avoid pregnancy until 2018, and I'm sure that we'll see a decline in birthrates.
Brazil fans. Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Long-Term Consequences of the Zika Outbreak
Fertility rates in Salvador are now only slightly below replacement rate. The consequences of this directive could be seen for decades.
Even if birthrates recover after a vaccine is developed, it would produce a mini-baby boom, which causes its own problems.
Imagine the impact of widespread infestation by Zika-carrying mosquitos in countries already struggling with depopulation, such as Japan and South Korea.
Microcephaly is a terrifying disease. Not only does it bring tragedy to entire families, you can't see it coming as you do Ebola, for example. You might not even know you were infected.
I wouldn't be surprised to see birthrates fall well below one child per family in some countries.
Japan's struggle to support an increasingly expensive older population and pay its enormous national debt would be even more difficult, if not impossible. Within a few years, we could see cinematic apocalypse scenarios.
On the other hand, I'm closely following scientists working on biotechnologies almost totally outside of public awareness. They're already making progress toward developing vaccines and cures.
Governments—which are typically obstructive with novel technologies—will have no choice but to ease regulatory burdens and accelerate the development of these new approaches to viruses.
Subscribe to Transformational Technologies
Read about breakthrough treatments, life-saving technologies, and other biotech transformations that promise longer, more fulfilling lives, and also the potential for outsized market returns. Sign up for the Transformational Technologies publication now.A month ago I saw a wall mounted bottle opener at a store. I thought how cool would it be to have something like this on a frig and that something like that would be a perfect birthday gift for a friend. Couldn't find anything good online to buy so like any good maker I took it upon myself to create one. Found a nice wall mounted opener that I liked on amazon. Tried a few different designs and magnets, 3 beers had to be sacrificed in the trial and error process. Finally it took a 95lb force magnet to keep the thing on the frig without popping off when trying to open a bottle.
I liked it so much that I made a second one for myself, now you can too. Enjoy.
ITEMS NEEDED
2x #10 1/2 inch flat head screws and buts
Wall Mounted Bottle Opener
http://www.amazon.com/MAGCAP-Bottle-Catching-Magnetic-Mounted/dp/B014LLDTJC/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1444914695&sr=1-1&keywords=MAGCAP
1x 95lb Magnet
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crown-Bolt-95-lb-Heavy-Duty-Round-Pull-Magnets-96364/203613147?keyword=95+magnetToday is National Watermelon Day! Watermelon is a delicious summer fruit that has become a staple at family picnics and cookouts. Did you know that watermelons are 92% water? No wonder they’re so refreshing!
There are around 300 different kinds of watermelon in the U.S. and Mexico. You can find red, pink, white, and yellow varieties in various sizes and shapes. Watermelons are usually quite large, and many county fairs award prizes for the biggest ones. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest watermelon weighed 262 pounds. To learn more interesting watermelon facts, check out www.watermelon.org.
To celebrate National Watermelon Day, have some watermelon for dessert tonight! Slice it up and eat it plain, cook it on the grill, mix it into a salsa, or blend it into a cocktail. Enjoy!The summer is over and so is your cutting phase. It’s now time to take advantage of the “off-season” to add some size. Well, you’re at the right place, as, in this article, we’ll give you the science of how to build muscle as fast and as effectively as possible!
By the way, if you are interested in taking your physique to a whole new level of muscularity, strength and leanness, make sure to check out how we can help through our online fitness coaching plans!
How to build muscle while losing fat
Before we delve into the main part of the article, let’s first talk about the issue of how to build muscle while losing fat:
Building an appreciable amount of muscle while losing an appreciable amount of fat is, usually, a lost cause.
As we’ve previously mentioned, it’s unlikely that you can pull it off unless one, or more, of the following applies:
So, if none of the above applies to you, then forget about trying to figure out how to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Not because it can’t happen (it can), but because it will take place in such a slow rate that you’ll probably give up before seeing any appreciable visual changes to your body.
Without further ado, here’s a science-based guide on how to build muscle.
How to build muscle with resistance training
Just in case anyone has doubts about this, let’s just emphasize that the single most potent hypertrophic stimulus for muscle is, without a doubt, resistance exercise.
If your primary goal is to build muscle, here’s how you should set up each of the resistance training variables to maximally stimulate muscle growth.
1. Exercise selection and order
To build muscle, pick a couple of exercises for each major muscle group.
These are the exercises you will focus on for, at least, the next few months (unless there’s a good reason to change them), so make sure that they:
work the intended muscle group through a full range of motion
give you the best bang for your buck – this means you should emphasize compound movements
can be performed safely – as a general rule, avoid anything on a bosu ball
give ample room for progressive overload
fit well into the overall training plan
With regards to exercise order, a general good rule-of-thumb is to organize your exercises in a way that training intensity and total training volume are minimally affected.
This means that, where possible, you should:
alternate between upper and lower body movements
alternate between push and pull movements
perform compound movements first and isolation movements last
2. Training intensity and Reps in Reserve (RIR)
Training intensity, essentially, refers to the load you are using for your exercises. A 1RM (Repetition Maximum) load, for example, is the weight with which you can perform a maximum of 1 repetition for a given exercise. A 10RM load is the weight with which you can perform a maximum of 10 repetitions, and so on.
Training intensity can also be expressed as a percentage of your 1RM. For example, a training intensity of 70% of your 1RM will, usually, allow you to perform around 12 repetitions. A training intensity of 85% of your 1RM will allow most people to perform around 5 repetitions.
Reps in Reserve (RIR) refers to the number of repetitions you could do from the last repetition you performed, if you had taken your set to failure. So, for example, if you do 8 reps for a 10RM set, the RIR is 2 (since you had another 2 reps in reserve).
When choosing a training intensity to build muscle, you have to make sure that the load you use:
allows you to accumulate training volume in a time-efficient way
allows you to load and progressively overload that exercise
allows you to minimize risk of injury while achieving the above
To build muscle and with the above in mind, a training intensity of between 65% and 85% of your 1RM (or between around 5 and 15 repetitions) is, usually, ideal for most people, most of the time.
A sensible and commonly employed strategy is to:
use loads between 75% and 85% of your 1RM (5-10 reps) for compound movements
use loads between 65% and 75% of your 1RM (10-15 reps) for isolation movements
With regards to Repetitions in Reserve (RIR), we recommend that you stay 1-2 reps shy of failure for compound movements most of the time. For isolation exercises, you can train to failure on your last set of each exercise.
3. Training volume and frequency
Training volume, strictly speaking, is defined as weight x reps x sets. So 3 sets of 10 reps with 10 pounds equals a training volume of 300 pounds (10 pounds x 10 reps x 3 sets).
Training volume is sometimes also measured in total number of repetitions performed for a given muscle group or total number of sets performed.
Training frequency is, essentially, just a way to organize total volume.
When trying to figure out how much training volume you should be doing to build muscle, it’s important to ensure that the amount of volume you are performing:
is sufficient to cause hypertrophic adaptations at a fast-enough rate
is not so much that it exceeds your recovery abilities
is not so much that it prevents progressive overload from taking place
With the above in mind and in combination with the available research and our practical experience, we recommend that novice and intermediate lifters perform between 6 and 16 working sets for each major muscle group per week.
It’s, generally, good practice to start on the lower end and add volume according to how well you are recovering and progressing.
With regards to training frequency, we recommend that you split the total weekly volume for each major muscle group into 2-3 sessions spread throughout the week, since research suggests that higher training frequencies may result in better muscle size gains than lower training frequencies.
4. Rest between sets and lifting tempo
Remember that, according to research, muscle growth is caused by an increase in the external forces placed upon muscles (i.e. intensity load) as well as by an increase in total training volume.
What this means is that, when planning your inter-set rest periods, you should make sure that:
they don’t negatively affect training intensity (i.e. the weight on the bar)
they don’t negatively affect total training volume
With the above in mind, resting at least 2 minutes between sets is, generally, recommended. Bear in mind that you may need to rest even longer to optimize recovery between sets and maximize performance.
In regards to lifting tempo, although much has been theorized over the last couple of decades regarding time-under-tension, transient hormonal responses to different tempos and so on, research suggests that, within reason, lifting tempo doesn’t really matter.
A generally good approach is to lift the weight explosively (as much as possible) and perform the eccentric part of the movement in a controlled manner.
5. Progression
To get strong and build muscle, it’s vital that progress is made in the gym. This means that total training volume should keep increasing throughout your lifting career.
For novice and early intermediate lifters, simply training with enough intensity and sufficient (but not too much) volume will result in strength and size gains.
A good, general, plan of action with regards to progression is to increase the weight you are using by 5-10% for lower body exercises and by 2.5-5% for upper body exercises for the following workout, when in the current workout you manage to complete all sets of all repetitions with good form.
If you fail to complete your pre-specified number of sets and reps for two consecutive workouts, simply drop the weight by 5-10% and repeat the above process.
Sample beginner routine to build muscle
With the recommendations above in mind, here’s what a routine may look like for a novice lifter looking to build muscle:
Workout A and Workout B would be alternated and performed for a total of 2-3 times per week on non-consecutive days. As mentioned above, inter-set rest would be at least 2 minutes and the exercises would be executed with an explosive concentric and controlled eccentric tempo.
If you are working out at home, you probably don’t have the required equipment to do the workouts above, so checking out this at-home muscle building workout is a good idea!
Part 2 (Nutrition) of the “How to Build Muscle” series
So that’s it for Part 1 of this article series.
If you want to learn about nutrition for muscle growth, check out Part 2 (Nutrition) of the “How to Build Muscle” series!
If you are interested in reading more about the science of training and the manipulation of each training variable, you will definitely enjoy this interview with did with Eric Helms.
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This girl could be the only toddler in the world who hates the songs from Frozen.
Standing by the window, little Eleanor is asked by her dad if she wants to build a snowman, and he then sings the words in tune with the popular movie track.
But instead of giggling gleefully and joining in with the sing-song - like most other kids - Eleanor appears infuriated by his question.
Looking back at her dad, she screams: "No!" before turning her attention back to the window.
Despite attempting to keep a straight face, her dad can't help but dissolve into laughter at his child's hilarious angry reaction.
Lea Michele vomited whole singing Let It Go on Glee
The 10 second video, uploaded to YouTube by Keatyn Smith, has already racked up 520,082 views since it was uploaded on January 25.Entergy's Waterford 3 nuclear plant on the west bank of St. Charles Parish has been given nine months to address shortcomings that let contractors falsify fire inspection records for almost a year. Company officials could face criminal prosecution and fines if they violate a new agreement that Entergy has reached with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The commission said it won't issue a violation notice or civil penalty for the faked inspections, in light of the "significant corrective actions" Entergy already has taken in addition and the targets that the commission has required the company to address in the coming months. "The NRC is satisfied that its concerns will be addressed by making Entergy's commitments legally binding through a confirmatory order," according to a commission letter dated Wednesday (April 6).
"Any person who willfully violates, attempts to violate or conspires to violate any provision of this confirmatory order shall be subject to criminal prosecution... Violation of this confirmatory order may also subject the person to civil monetary penalties."
Nuclear plant contractors faked 10 months of inspection records Entergy's Waterford 3 complex cited by Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff
In disclosing the results of its investigation in December, the commission gave Entergy the opportunity of requesting a "pre-decisional enforcement conference" or an "alternative dispute resolution," before the commission decided on enforcement penalties. Entergy chose alternative dispute resolution, and an agreement was reached in February. The confirmatory order contains the corrective actions that the company must take.
The 15-month investigation of the Waterford 3 plant at Taft indicated that seven contractors knowingly falsified the hourly fire inspection watch logs to indicate that inspections had taken place. The inspections were actually skipped and the records falsified between July 2013 and April 2014, according to the commission.
The hourly fire watch tours are required to assure that no fires break out in parts of the nuclear power plant building where sensitive equipment is located. These areas include wiring and piping that is used to operate the nuclear reactor during accidents or emergencies.
In addition, the investigation found that on Jan. 13, 2014, a contract manager "willfully failed" to provide complete and accurate information about the trustworthiness and reliability of a person applying for unescorted access to Waterford 3 as a fire watch inspector.
Entergy did not dispute those findings.
According to an Nuclear Regulatory Commission report, Entergy has instituted some changes, such as creating a performance monitoring system for the fire watch program and putting a corporate site leader over it. Under that program, the fire watch inspector will be observed at least twice a month, and the hourly fire inspections logs will be cross-referenced with security access data to ensure that areas are being checked.
As part of the confirmatory order, the commission required Entergy to meet certain requirements within a specified time over the next nine months:Social And Emotional Skills: Everybody Loves Them, But Still Can't Define Them
LA Johnson/NPR
More and more, people in education agree on the importance of schools' paying attention to stuff other than academics.
But still, no one agrees on what to call that "stuff."
I originally published a story on this topic two years ago.
As I reported back then, there were a bunch of overlapping terms in play, from "character" to "grit" to "noncognitive skills."
This bagginess bugged me, as a member of the education media. It bugged researchers and policymakers too. It still does.
If anything, the case for nonacademics has gotten even stronger since then. In fact, it has been enshrined in federal law. The Every Student Succeeds Act mandates that states measure at least one nonacademic indicator of school success.
There is also new research indicating that school-based interventions to promote social and emotional skills have large, and long-term, positive impacts: an average of $11 for every dollar invested, according to an analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (which is a supporter of NPR).
But despite all the hoopla there is still — still! — no consensus on how to define these indicators, or even on what to call them.
"Basically, we're trying to explain student success educationally or in the labor market with skills not directly measured by standardized tests," Martin West, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, originally told me.
"The problem is, you go to meetings and everyone spends the first two hours complaining and arguing about semantics."
West studies what he calls "noncognitive skills," although he is not completely happy with that term.
This isn't just a semantic issue, argues Laura Bornfreund at the New America Foundation. She wrote a paper on what she called "Skills for Success" because she didn't like any of these other terms.
"There's a lot of different terms floating around but also a lack of agreement on what really is most important to students."
As Noah Webster, the great American lexicographer and educator, put it back in 1788: "The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities; and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head."
Yet he didn't come up with a good catchall, either.
So, in Webster's tradition, here is a short glossary of terms that are being used to talk about that cultivation of the heart.
According to the Partnership for 21st Century Learning,, a research and advocacy group, these include the "4Cs of critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity," as well as "life and career skills" and "information, media and technology skills."
The problem, says West, is that "if anything, all the evidence would suggest that in the closing decades of the 20th and 21st centuries, cognitive skills became more important than ever." So this term, although it's often heard in business and technology circles, doesn't necessarily signal the shift in focus that some researchers want.
Character education has a long history in the U.S., with a major vogue in the 1930s and a revival in the 1980s and 1990s. The KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) network of charter schools, for example has a curriculum of seven "character strengths": grit, zest, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence and curiosity.
"We're not religious, we're not talking about ethics, we're not going to give any kind of doctrine about what is right from wrong," says Leyla Bravo-Willey of KIPP Infinity in Harlem. "But there are some fundamental things that make people really great citizens, which usually include being kind."
West argues that the use of "character" is inappropriate in research and policymaking because of its moral and religious connotations.
He notes that many of the qualities on the KIPP list — grit and self-control, for example — are designed to prepare students for success. "That's in tension with a traditional understanding of character, which often implies something being good in and of itself — which often includes some notion of self sacrifice," says West.
That distinction doesn't bother Bravo-Willey. She says that the school is responding to parents' own wishes that their children be happy and good as well as successful.
See also: These days you might hear educators talk about the importance of empathy or perspective-taking.
Grit is a pioneer virtue with a long American history — think of the classic Western True Grit. When Angela Duckworth was working on her dissertation in the mid-2000s, she chose the term to encapsulate the measures of self-control, persistence and conscientiousness that she was finding to be powerful determinants of success. It quickly caught on — maybe too quickly, the University of Pennsylvania psychologist told me.
"I'm grateful for the attention, but that gratitude and amazement was quickly replaced by anxiety about people thinking that we had figured things out already." She is worried that grit is being overemphasized: In a 2015 paper, she argued that grit measures aren't ready to be incorporated into high-stakes accountability systems. "I'm also concerned that people interpret my position to be that grit's the only thing that matters."
Grit has attracted a lot of attention, and naturally, that comes with criticism.
In the past two years, some researchers have argued that grit effects have been overblown. Others have argued for more attention to the social context of the trait. A child growing up in the lap of luxury simply faces fewer obstacles. "Grit" may be seen as a way of blaming kids who are struggling for the impact of poor neighborhoods or underresourced schools.
See also: Agency. Anindya Kundu, a doctoral student at New York University who counts Duckworth as a mentor and Pedro Noguera, an eminent scholar of the achievement gap, as an adviser, is investigating a concept called agency. It's like grit, but different.
"Agency is one of sociology's oldest concepts," he says. Basically, it's "the amount of power that a person has to influence their own life."
Agency brings in social context, structural inequality and cultural difference. People who manage to succeed despite growing up in poverty, Kundu has found, guard their own mental health and happiness, taking an optimistic view. They learn how to cultivate networks, both trusted intimates and new mentors. And they form goals and are dissatisfied until they reach them.
Kundu sees his work as being "in dialogue with" grit research, taking in people's social circumstances as well as their inner abilities.
Carol Dweck, the Stanford University psychologist, chose the term "mindset" in 2007 for the title of her bestselling book.
"Growth mindset" is the belief that positive traits, including intelligence, can be developed with practice. "Fixed mindset" refers to the idea that intelligence and other talents are set at birth.
"In my research papers, I had some very, very clunky scientific-sounding term for the fixed and the growth mindset," she says. "When I went to write the book I thought, these will not do at all."
Mindset has caught on tremendously in both the business and education worlds. But Dweck's concern is that it's being used willy-nilly to justify any old intuition that people might have about positive thinking in the classroom.
"When people start thinking, 'I'll make the kids feel good and they'll learn,' that's how something like the self-esteem movement gains traction." That 1980s trend led to lots of trophies but little improvement in achievement.
See also:
Resilience. Pamela Cantor, of Turnaround for Children, began her medical practice in mental health care in poor communities in the Bronx.
"What has been called social and emotional learning is now being expanded to be thought of as: How do children become learners?" she says. Children who struggle with impulse control or attention, she says, very often have faced adversity and trauma.
At the same time, she says, children's brains are especially malleable. In a safe environment and with trusting relationships, they can improve their readiness to learn. This is resilience.
Cantor's organization addresses a lot of the qualities under the social-emotional umbrella, like mindfulness, growth mindset, self-regulation, attachment, executive function and social awareness. But in many ways, resilience is at the heart of what they do.
"Once children have a success behaviorally and they come to recognize that they actually do have control over their behavior and can make better choices, and you acknowledge it, then they make better choices." And then they can learn.
This term is most strongly associated with the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman. He really got this whole field rolling, by analyzing large data sets to show that attributes such as self-discipline and persistence — not just academic achievement — affected education, labor market and life outcomes.
This term is "ugly, broad, nonspecific," argues Carol Dweck — and she is a fan. "I'm the only person who likes the term," she says. "And I'll tell you why: It is a very diverse group of factors and the reason it's been hard to come up with a name is that they don't necessarily belong together."
Martin West at Harvard uses this term himself, but he says he is always careful to acknowledge that it can be "misleading."
"Every skill or trait is cognitive in the sense that it involves and reflects the processing of information of some kind in our brains," he says. And West adds that traditional academic skills more often than not are complements, not substitutes, for the attitudes and personality traits captured by the term "non-cognitive skills."
Social & Emotional Learning. Nobody I spoke with hates this term. And in the past two years, it seems to have gained currency.
"Increasingly teachers who are on the front line say that it's very important to teach kids to be more socially and emotionally competent," says Roger P. Weissberg, chief knowledge officer of the Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning, which promotes the concept and the term nationwide. "Teachers feel, and growing research supports, that it helps them academically, it improves school climate, it improves discipline, and it's going to help them to be college and career — and life — ready."
Harvard has a lab called Ecological Approaches to Social Emotional Learning, or EASEL. Stephanie Jones, who directs the lab, says, "when you get into definition and terminology there are many overlaps" between fields. EASEL is a big taxonomy project to sort out these overlaps and the evidence-based approaches that go with them, for about a dozen skills.
The only problem is that the "learning" part may not be seen as encompassing things that are more like attitudes or beliefs, like growth mindset. And the "social and emotional" part, again, may be seen as excluding skills that are really cognitive in nature.
SEL Stalemate?
Reached this month, two years later, Martin West says we may be ready to declare a winner by default.
"The semantic debates have died down a bit, but more from exhaustion than from progress toward consensus. Most people seem to be using social and emotional (or social-emotional/socioemotional) learning as a catchall."
But Bornfreund is sticking to her guns. "I still refer to them as Skills for Success for short; skills, habits and mindsets for success would be the full descriptor. Because they are both cognitive and academic, and more than character traits, those labels don't fit. I haven't heard any new terms that fit better."
Have you? Reach out to us on Twitter at @npr_ed.Microsoft is releasing a preview of its Internet Explorer successor, Project Spartan, today. The new browser, which will be the default web experience in Windows 10, is part of an update to the PC Windows 10 preview. Microsoft promised faster builds for testers, and it’s delivering on that promise today. After less than two weeks, Windows 10 testers can now download a new build (10049) that will include the Project Spartan browser. If you’re already running a preview version of Windows 10 then it’s available immediately from Windows Update, otherwise you can join the Windows Insider program to test Project Spartan and Windows 10.
While Microsoft demonstrated a variety of Project Spartan features back in January, not all of them are enabled in today’s preview. Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant, is included with features like contextually aware suggestions, and assistance for weather or stock information. While Cortana is present, calendar and flight information won’t be available as part of today’s preview, and the digital assistant is limited to the US for now in Project Spartan. Similarly, an updated Reading View mode is available in the Spartan preview, but roaming across devices and saving offline aren’t available just yet. Both features are planned for the final version of Windows 10 and Project Spartan which will ship in the summer.
You can draw straight on web pages with Project Spartan
One of Spartan’s more impressive features is the ability to annotate notes with a pen. While recently leaked builds of Spartan didn’t feature this, today’s preview will include this new Web Notes function. You can write or type directly on to a webpage, and share the comments through email, social networks, or through OneDrive. Microsoft even supports OneNote too, for easy clipping of web pages and inking comments or notes on them.
Today’s preview is just an early look at Project Spartan, and Microsoft is promising to update its new Windows 10 browser frequently. "Project Spartan will be regularly updated," says Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore. "The team is engaging with customers and partners closely to tune and update plans." Microsoft previously revealed it also plans to support extensions in Project Spartan in a future update, so new features are clearly in the works. Microsoft is also preparing to release a new Windows 10 for phones preview, and it’s likely that Spartan will be included in that release.
Farewell, Internet Explorer
While Project Spartan is a successor to Internet Explorer, Microsoft is still planning to ship its "legacy engine" browser in some versions of Windows 10. The Verge understands that the software giant is currently evaluating a number of different ways to ship Internet Explorer in Windows 10 to those who require it, and that it will be primarily targeted at enterprise customers. Microsoft is not pinning Internet Explorer to the task bar or Start Menu in Windows 10, and Project Spartan will take over. Today’s preview includes that new behavior, and we hear that Internet Explorer could eventually become a Windows feature that you have to enable to get access to the old browser. Internet Explorer itself (the app) might not be fully dead just yet, but Microsoft is killing off the brand name in favor of a new name for Project Spartan, and the company says it’s the future of its browser efforts.VIDEO=> VIOLENT LEFTISTS Pepper Spray Female Trump Supporter During Berkeley Riots
VIOLENT LEFTISTS rioted, looted ATMs, broke windows, torched vehicles and assaulted Trump supporters at the Milo Yiannopoulos speech tonight at the Berkeley campus.
One man was chased down and beat unconscious on the street.
The leftists were chanting, “Beat his ass!” as he lay unconscious on the street.
This brave woman in a Trump hat came to hear Milo speak.
She was wearing a Make America Great Again hat and was being interviewed when a far left thug sprayed her with pepper spray.
Because she supported Trump.
This is today’s Democrat Party in action.
My friend was giving an interview when some coward peppersprayed her #Berkeley pic.twitter.com/CDpEqDsw2A — janey (@janeygak) February 2, 2017
MORE violence……..
Berkeley PD just announced that rioters are surrounded a car, drug the driver out, and are beating him. — Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸 (@Cernovich) February 2, 2017I recently read this article over at DZone about using Java 8 Streams and Collectors to manipulate and perform calculations on a list of integers. I don't intend to start an argument over which language is |
as if there aren’t enough resources for African children, they’re simply being stolen.
Macron’s win in the French election was seen by some as a victory of sorts. The obvious fascism of Le Pen was left behind in the wake of the centrist En Marche! However, on the topic of Africa, Macron is aligning himself more closely with the foolishness of Trump through bypassing this necessary context and simply criticizing the continent and its people. As a president, you ought to know at least a little about politics.
Featured image via Wikimedia CommonsThe(NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The remarkable shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. The portion of the nebula shown, resembling Mexico and Central America, is known as the Cygnus Wall.
A word from the editor [ edit ]
Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus[1] (born in Katowice, 1980) - Short story: I am a geek, otaku, a net freelancer, Mensa member, Singularitarian, Magister Artium in economics since April'04 (Top 10 in my year) and in sociology since April'07, one of Top 50 (or Top 0.0001%) of most active Wikipedians (42nd in March'08 is my best record); as of September'09 I was one of the 59 editors who have over 100,000k edits to English Wikipedia. I registered on Wiki on 10 Apr 2004 (User ID 59,002) but I have been editing since December 2003 as an anon. Oh yes, I am a Pole so read on how to deal with Poles! :>
I love sharing my knowledge and the idea of telecommuting, so Wiki is a 'home quite close to home' for me, also illustrating the truth in saying if you find work you like, you will never work again. Working on Wiki gives me this great feeling of doing something good and useful *now* - anybody can access my work anytime they wish, there are no delays in article publications, no restriction on who has enough money to pay for my work (hmmm, I can see a problem with this in the long run though... :>). I have now seen Wikipedia grow for years, and it is amazing. I am sure that in the near future Wiki will rival Google as the best tool on the web. And, of course, if it is, it should be on Wiki.
My interests concentrate around history (including counterfactual history), political sciences, communication, technological singularity, sociology, economics, and finally, as perhaps a bit more trivial a hobby, all things related to good science fiction. Oh, and games. I am a founding member of the Polish Ludology Association, after all :)
In real life I am a sociologist of new media, having finished my PhD in sociology in August'12. (CoI disclaimer: I am working at the Hanyang University in Korea). What that means is that I try to understand the impact of changes in communication technology on our lives. I am framing myself as a sociologist of the Internet, with a tad of social movement and organization expertise. On a related note, I would like to do some historical research as well, regarding Golden Freedoms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its impact on development of democracy worldwide. I also want to look at the social institution of hobby shops, as I find the omission of gaming communities from Putnam's Bowling Alone quite shocking. A lot of my published research so far has been on - ta - dumm! - Wikipedia (and wikis in general), as I am becoming more and more fascinated by the often asked question: 'how does this thing work?!' :) I am also pioneering the use Wikipedia as a teaching tool.
As of Spring 2013 I am teaching a class of 1-year university students about Wikipedia. Feel free to leave them a message and comment on their progress! I have developed a series of freely licensed Prezi slides for it, check them out, copy and resuse them!
Here are some of my published papers you may find interesting:
In Fall 2016 WMF published a blog about me based on an interview :) Korean TL)
If for some bizarre reason you need to know more about me, just ask. I don't believe anonymity is good for this project.
Interesting article list [ edit ]
Daily FA Reading:The Mikoyan MiG-29 (Russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new U.S. fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.[5] The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1982.
While originally oriented towards combat against any enemy aircraft, many MiG-29s have been furnished as multirole fighters capable of performing a number of different operations, and are commonly outfitted to use a range of air-to-surface armaments and precision munitions. The MiG-29 has been manufactured in several major variants, including the multirole Mikoyan MiG-29M and the navalised Mikoyan MiG-29K; the most advanced member of the family to date is the Mikoyan MiG-35. Later models frequently feature improved engines, glass cockpits with HOTAS-compatible flight controls, modern radar and IRST sensors, and considerably increased fuel capacity; some aircraft have also been equipped for aerial refuelling.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the militaries of a number of former Soviet republics have continued to operate the MiG-29, the largest of which is the Russian Air Force. The Russian Air Force wanted to upgrade its existing fleet to the modernised MiG-29SMT configuration, but financial difficulties have limited deliveries. The MiG-29 has also been a popular export aircraft; more than 30 nations either operate or have operated the aircraft to date, India being one of the largest export operators of the type. In 2013 the MiG-29 was still in production by Mikoyan, a subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) since 2006.
Development [ edit ]
Origins [ edit ]
In the mid–1960s, the United States Air Force (USAF) encountered difficulties over the skies of Vietnam when supersonic fighter bombers like the F-105 Thunderchief which had been optimized for low altitude bombing were found to be vulnerable to older MiG-17s and more advanced MiGs which were much more maneuverable.[6] In order to regain the sort of air superiority enjoyed over Korea, the US refocused on air combat using the F-4 Phantom multi-role fighter, while the Soviet Union developed the MiG-23 in response. Towards the end of the 1960s, the USAF started the "F-X" program to produce a fighter dedicated to air superiority, which led to the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle being ordered for production in late 1969.[7]
At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet response was necessary to avoid the possibility of a new American fighter gaining a serious technological advantage over existing Soviet fighters. Thus the development of a new air superiority fighter became a priority.[5] In 1969, the Soviet General Staff issued a requirement for a Perspektivnyy Frontovoy Istrebitel (PFI, roughly "Advanced Frontline Fighter").[8] Specifications were extremely ambitious, calling for long range, good short-field performance (including the ability to use austere runways), excellent agility, Mach 2+ speed, and heavy armament. The Russian aerodynamics institute TsAGI worked in collaboration with the Sukhoi design bureau on the aircraft's aerodynamics.[8]
By 1971, however, Soviet studies determined the need for different types of fighters. The PFI program was supplemented with the Perspektivnyy Lyogkiy Frontovoy Istrebitel (LPFI, or "Advanced Lightweight Tactical Fighter") program; the Soviet fighter force was planned to be approximately 33% PFI and 67% LPFI.[9] PFI and LPFI paralleled the USAF's decision that created the "Lightweight Fighter" program and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and Northrop YF-17.[10] The PFI fighter was assigned to Sukhoi, resulting in the Sukhoi Su-27, while the lightweight fighter went to Mikoyan. Detailed design work on the resultant Mikoyan Product 9, designated MiG-29A, began in 1974, with the first flight taking place on 6 October 1977. The pre-production aircraft was first spotted by United States reconnaissance satellites in November of that year; it was dubbed Ram-L because it was observed at the Zhukovsky flight test center near the town of Ramenskoye.[11][12]
The workload split between TPFI and LPFI became more apparent as the MiG-29 filtered into front line service with the Soviet Air Forces (Russian: Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily [VVS]) in the mid-1980s. While the heavy, long range Su-27 was tasked with the more exotic and dangerous role of deep air-to-air sweeps of NATO high-value assets, the smaller MiG-29 directly replaced the MiG-23 in the frontal aviation role.
Introduction and improvements [ edit ]
A Soviet Air Forces MiG-29 parked after a display flight at the Abbotsford Air Show, 1989
In the West, the new fighter was given the NATO reporting name "Fulcrum-A" because the pre-production MiG-29A, which should have logically received this designation, remained unknown in the West at that time. The Soviet Union did not assign official names to most of its aircraft, although nicknames were common. Unusually, some Soviet pilots found the MiG-29's NATO reporting name, "Fulcrum", to be a flattering description of the aircraft's intended purpose, and it is sometimes unofficially used in Russian service.[13]
The MiG-29B was widely exported in downgraded versions, known as MiG-29B 9-12A and MiG-29B 9-12B for Warsaw Pact and non-Warsaw Pact nations respectively, with less capable avionics and no capability for delivering nuclear weapons.
In the 1980s, Mikoyan developed the improved MiG-29S to use longer range R-27E and R-77 air-to-air missiles. It added a dorsal 'hump' to the upper fuselage to house a jamming system and some additional fuel capacity. The weapons load was increased to 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) with airframe strengthening. These features were included in new-built fighters and upgrades to older MiG-29s.[14][15]
A Russian Air Force MiG-29UB trainer
Refined versions of the MiG-29 with improved avionics were fielded by the Soviet Union, but Mikoyan's multirole variants, including a carrier-based version designated MiG-29K, were never produced in large numbers. Development of the MiG-29K carrier version was suspended for over a decade before being resumed; the type went into service with the Indian Navy's INS Vikramaditya, and Russian Navy's Admiral Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier.
Mikoyan had developed improved versions of the MiG-29, called MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29SMT. On 15 April 2014, the Russian Air Force placed an order for a batch of 16 MiG-29SMT fighters.[16]
There have been several upgrade programmes conducted for the MiG-29. Common upgrades include the adoption of standard-compatible avionics, service life extensions to 4,000 flight hours, safety enhancements, greater combat capabilities and reliability. In 2005, the Russian Aircraft Corporation “MiG” established a unified family of 4++ generation multirole fighters: the aircraft carrier–based MiG-29K, front-line MiG-29M and MiG-35 fighters.
Replacement [ edit ]
On 11 December 2013, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin revealed that Russia was planning to build a new fighter to replace the MiG-29. The Sukhoi Su-27 and its derivatives were to be replaced by the Sukhoi Su-57, but a different design was needed to replace the lighter MiGs. A previous attempt to develop a MiG-29 replacement, the MiG 1.44 demonstrator, failed in the 1990s. The concept came up again in 2001 with interest from India, but they later opted for a variant of the Su-57. Air Force commanders have hinted at the possibility of a single-engine airframe that uses the Su-57's engine, radar, and weapons primarily for Russian service.[17]
Design [ edit ]
Overview [ edit ]
Sharing its origins in the original PFI requirements issued by TsAGI, the MiG-29 has broad aerodynamic similarities to the Sukhoi Su-27, however, there are some notable differences. The MiG-29 has a mid-mounted swept wing with blended leading-edge root extensions (LERXs) swept at around 40°; there are swept tailplanes and two vertical fins, mounted on booms outboard of the engines. Automatic slats are mounted on the leading edges of the wings; they are four-segment on early models and five-segment on some later variants. On the trailing edge, there are maneuvering flaps and wingtip ailerons.[18]
The MiG-29 has hydraulic controls and a SAU-451 three-axis autopilot but, unlike the Su-27, no fly-by-wire control system. Nonetheless, it is very agile, with excellent instantaneous and sustained turn performance, high-alpha capability, and a general resistance to spins. The airframe consists primarily of aluminum with some composite materials,[specify] and is stressed for up to 9 g (88 m/s²) maneuvers. The controls have "soft" limiters to prevent the pilot from exceeding g and alpha limits, but the limiters can be disabled manually.[18]
Powerplant and range [ edit ]
RD-33 on display at the Air Force Museum of the Bundeswehr
The MiG-29 has two widely spaced Klimov RD-33 turbofan engines, each rated at 50.0 kN (11,240 lbf) dry and 81.3 kN (18,277 lbf) in afterburner. The space between the engines generates lift, thereby reducing effective wing loading, hence improving maneuverability. The engines are fed through intake ramps fitted under the leading-edge extensions (LERXs), which have variable ramps to allow high-Mach speeds. As an adaptation to rough-field operations, the main air inlet can be closed completely and the auxiliary air inlet on the upper fuselage can be used for takeoff, landing and low-altitude flying, preventing ingestion of ground debris. Thereby the engines receive air through louvers on the LERXs which open automatically when intakes are closed. However the latest variant of the family, the MiG-35, eliminated these dorsal louvers, and adopted the mesh screens design in the main intakes, similar to those fitted to the Su-27.[19]
The MiG-29 has a ferry range of 1,500 km without external fuel tanks, and 2,100 km with external tanks.[20] The internal fuel capacity of the original MiG-29B is 4,365 litres distributed between six internal fuel tanks, four in the fuselage and one in each wing. For longer flights, this can be supplemented by a 1,500-litre (330 Imp gal, 395 US gal) centreline drop tank and, on later production batches, two 1,150-litre (253 Imp gal, 300 US gal) underwing drop tanks. In addition, a newer models have been fitted with port-side inflight refueling probes, allowing much longer flight times by using a probe-and-drogue system.[21]
Cockpit [ edit ]
MiG-29 cockpit, 1995
The cockpit features a conventional centre stick and left hand throttle controls. The pilot sits in a Zvezda K-36DM ejection seat which has had impressive performance in emergency escapes.
The cockpit has conventional dials, with a head-up display (HUD) and a Shchel-3UM helmet mounted display, but no HOTAS ("hands-on-throttle-and-stick") capability. Emphasis seems to have been placed on making the cockpit similar to the earlier MiG-23 and other Soviet aircraft for ease of conversion, rather than on ergonomics. Nonetheless, the MiG-29 does have substantially better visibility than most previous Russian jet fighters, thanks to a high-mounted bubble canopy. Upgraded models introduce "glass cockpits" with modern liquid-crystal (LCD) multi-function displays (MFDs) and true HOTAS.
Sensors [ edit ]
The baseline MiG-29B has a Phazotron RLPK-29 radar fire control system which includes the N019 Sapfir 29 look-down/shoot-down coherent pulse-Doppler radar and the Ts100.02-02 digital computer.
MiG-29 nose showing radome and S-31E2 KOLS IRST
The N019 radar was not a new design, but rather a development of the Sapfir-23ML architecture used on the MiG-23ML. During the initial design specification period in the mid-1970s, Phazotron NIIR was tasked with producing a modern radar for the MiG-29. To speed development, Phazotron based its new design on work undertaken by NPO Istok on the experimental "Soyuz" radar program. Accordingly, the N019 was originally intended to have a flat planar array antenna and full digital signal processing, for a detection and tracking range of at least 100 km against a fighter-sized target. Prototype testing revealed this could not be attained in the required timeframe and still fit within the MiG-29's nose. Rather than design a new radar, Phazotron reverted to a version of the Sapfir-23ML's twisted-polarization cassegrain antenna and traditional analog signal processors, coupled with a new NII Argon-designed Ts100 digital computer to save time and cost. This produced a working radar system, but inherited the weak points of the earlier design, plaguing the MiG-29's ability to detect and track airborne targets at ranges available with the R-27 and R-77 missiles.
MiG-29UB on display, showing gunport
The N019 was further compromised by Phazotron designer Adolf Tolkachev’s betrayal of the radar to the CIA, for which he was executed in 1986. In response to all of these problems, the Soviets hastily developed a modified N019M Topaz radar for the upgraded MiG-29S aircraft. However, VVS was reportedly still not satisfied with the performance of the system and demanded another upgrade. The latest upgraded aircraft offered the N010 Zhuk-M, which has a planar array antenna rather than a dish, improving range, and a much superior processing ability, with multiple-target engagement capability and compatibility with the Vympel R-77 (or RVV-AE).
Armament [ edit ]
Armament for the MiG-29 includes a single GSh-30-1 30 mm cannon in the port wing root. This originally had a 150-round magazine, which was reduced to 100 rounds in later variants. Original production MiG-29B aircraft cannot fire the cannon when carrying a centerline fuel tank as it blocks the shell ejection port. This was corrected in the MiG-29S and later versions. Three pylons are provided under each wing (four in some variants), for a total of six (or eight). The inboard pylons can carry either a 1,150 liter (300 US gal) fuel tank, one Vympel R-27 (AA-10 "Alamo") medium-range air-to-air missile, or unguided bombs or rockets. Some Soviet aircraft could carry a single nuclear bomb on the port inboard station. The outer pylons usually carry R-73 (AA-11 "Archer") dogfight air to air missiles, although some users still retain the older R-60 (AA-8 "Aphid"). A single 1,500-litre (400 US gal) tank can be fitted to the centerline, between the engines.
Operational history [ edit ]
While the MiG-29's true capabilities could only be estimated from the time it first appeared In 1977 until the mid-1980s, a combination of persistent intelligence and increasing access afforded by the Soviet foreign sales effort allowed a true appreciation of its capabilities. Early MiG-29s were very agile aircraft, capable of rivalling the performance of contemporary F-18 and F-16 aircraft. However, their relatively low fuel capacity relegated them to short-range air defense missions. Lacking HOTAS and an inter-aircraft data link, and requiring a very intensive "heads-down" approach to operating cockpit controls, the early MiG-29 denied pilots the kind of situational awareness routinely enjoyed by pilots operating comparable US aircraft. Analysts and Western pilots who flew examples of the MiG-29 thought this likely prevented even very good pilots from harnessing the plane's full combat capability. Later MiG-29s were upgraded to improve their capabilities.[22] The Soviet Union exported MiG-29s to several countries. Because 4th-generation fighter jets require the pilots to have extensive training, air-defense infrastructure, and constant maintenance and upgrades, MiG-29s have had mixed operational history with different air forces.[23]
Soviet Union and successor states [ edit ]
The MiG-29 was first publicly seen in the West when the Soviet Union displayed the aircraft in Finland on 2 July 1986. Two MiG-29s were also displayed at the Farnborough Airshow in Britain in September 1988. The following year, the aircraft conducted flying displays at the 1989 Paris Air Show where it was involved in a non-fatal crash during the first weekend of the show.[24] The Paris Air Show display was only the second display of Soviet fighters at an international air show since the 1930s. Western observers were impressed by its apparent capability and exceptional agility. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, most of the MiG-29s entered service with the newly formed Russian Air Force.
Russia [ edit ]
In July 1993, two MiG-29s of the Russian Air Force collided in mid-air and crashed away from the public at the Royal International Air Tattoo. No one on the ground sustained any serious injuries, and the two pilots ejected and landed safely.[25]
MiG-29SMT at the 2011 MAKS
The Russian Air Force grounded all its MiG-29s following a crash in Siberia on 17 October 2008.[26] Following a second crash with a MiG-29 in east Siberia in December 2008,[27][28] Russian officials admitted that most MiG-29 fighters in the Russian Air Force were incapable of performing combat duties due to poor maintenance. The age of the aircraft was also an important factor as about 70% of the MiGs were considered to be too old to take to the skies.[29] The Russian MiG-29s have not received updates since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is because the Russian Air Force chose to upgrade the Su-27 and MiG-31 instead. On 4 February 2009, the Russian Air Force resumed flights with the MiG-29.[30] However, in March 2009, 91 MiG-29s of the Russian Air Force required repair after inspections due to corrosion; approximately 100 MiGs were cleared to continue flying at the time.[31][32] The Russian Air Force started an update of its early MiG-29s to the more current MiG-29SMT standard,[20] but financial difficulties prevented delivery of more than three MiG-29 SMT upgrade to the Russian Air Force.[33] Instead, the 35 MiG-29SMT/UBTs rejected by Algeria were bought by the Russian Air Force.[34][verification needed] Russia placed an order for 16 new-build MiG-29SMTs on 15 April 2014, with delivery expected by 2017.[35]
On June 4, 2015 a MiG-29 crashed during training in Astrakhan.[36] A month later, another MiG-29 crashed near the village of Kushchevskaya in the Krasnodar region with the pilot safely ejecting.[37] A series of accidents in Russian Air Forces happened in 2015 were caused mostly by overall increase of flights and trainings.[38]
Combat [ edit ]
On 20 April 2008, Georgian officials claimed a Russian MiG-29 shot down a Georgian Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle and provided video footage from the ill-fated drone showing an apparent MiG-29 launching an air-to-air missile at it. Russia denies that the aircraft was theirs and says they did not have any pilots in the air that day. Abkhazia's administration claimed its own forces shot down the drone with an L-39 aircraft "because it was violating Abkhaz airspace and breaching ceasefire agreements."[39] UN investigation concluded that the video was authentic and that the drone was shot down by a Russian MiG-29 or Su-27 using a R-73 heat seeking missile.[40]
On 16 July 2014, a Ukrainian Su-25 was shot down, with Ukrainian officials stating that a Russian MiG-29 shot it down using a R-27T missile.[41][42] Russia denied these allegations.[43]
During the first half of September 2017, the Russian Air Force deployed some MiG-29SMT multirole combat aircraft to Hmeymim airbase, near Latakia, in western Syria, becoming the first time the modernized version of the baseline Fulcrum jet was deployed to take part in the Syrian Air War.[44] The MiG-29SMT were involved in bombing missions and secondary strategic bombers escort duties.[45]
Ukraine [ edit ]
Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s in August 2017
In April 2014, during the military intervention in Crimea, 45 Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s and 4 L-39 combat trainers were reportedly captured by Russian forces at Belbek air base. Most of the planes appeared to be in inoperable condition. In May, Russian troops dismantled them and shipped them back to Ukraine. On 4 August 2014, the Ukrainian government stated that a number of them had been put back into service to fight in the war in the east of the country.[46]
During the initial days of the War in Donbass in April 2014, the Ukrainian Air Force deployed some jet fighters over the Donetsk region to perform combat air patrols and show of force flights. Probably due to the limited number of jet fighters available, a MiG-29 belonging to the Ukrainian Falcons display team was spotted armed with a full air-to-air load and performing a low altitude fly by.[47]
In the evening of 7 August 2014, a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29MU1, bort number 02 Blue, was shot down by an antiaircraft missile fired by pro-Russian rebels near the town of Yenakievo, and exploded in midair. The pilot ejected safely.[48][49][50]
On 17 August 2014, another Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29, bort number 53 White, tasked with air to ground duties against rebel positions[51] was shot down by pro-Russian rebels in the Luhansk region. The Ukrainian government confirmed the downing. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by friendly forces.[52][53]
Export [ edit ]
India [ edit ]
India was the first international customer of the MiG-29. The Indian Air Force (IAF) placed an order for more than 50 MiG-29s in 1980 while the aircraft was still in its initial development phase. Since its induction into the IAF in 1985, the aircraft has undergone a series of modifications with the addition of new avionics, sub-systems, turbofan engines and radars.[54]
Indian MiG-29s were used extensively during the 1999 Kargil War in Kashmir by the Indian Air Force to provide fighter escort for Mirage 2000s attacking targets with laser-guided bombs. According to Indian sources, two MiG-29s from the IAF's No. 47 squadron (Black Archers) gained missile lock on two F-16s of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) which were patrolling close to the border to prevent any incursions by Indian aircraft, but did not engage them because no official declaration of war had been issued. The Indian MiG-29s were armed with beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles whereas the Pakistani F-16s were not.[55]
The MiG-29's good operational record prompted India to sign a deal with Russia in 2005—2006 to upgrade all of its MiG-29s for US$888 million. Under the deal, the Indian MiGs were modified to be capable of deploying the R-77RVV-AE (AA-12 'Adder') air-to-air missile. The missiles had been successfully tested in October 1998 and were integrated into IAF's MiG-29s. IAF has also awarded the MiG Corporation another US$900 million contract to upgrade all of its 69 operational MiG-29s. These upgrades will include a new avionics kit, with the N-109 radar being replaced by a Phazotron Zhuk-M radar. The aircraft is also being equipped to enhance beyond-visual-range combat ability and for air-to-air refuelling to increase endurance.[56] In 2007, Russia also gave India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) a licence to manufacture 120 RD-33 series 3 turbofan engines for the upgrade.[57] The upgrade will also include a new weapon control system, cockpit ergonomics, air-to-air missiles, high-accuracy air-to-ground missiles and "smart" aerial bombs. The first six MiG-29s will be upgraded in Russia while the remaining 63 MiGs will be upgraded at the HAL facility in India. India also awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to Israel Aircraft Industries to provide avionics and subsystems for the upgrade.[58]
An Indian Air Force MiG-29UPG
In March 2009, the Indian Air Force expressed concern after 90 MiG-29s were grounded in Russia.[59] After carrying out an extensive inspection, the IAF cleared all MiG-29s in its fleet in March 2009.[60] In a disclosure in Parliament, Defence Minister A. K. Antony said the MiG-29 is structurally flawed in that it has a tendency to develop cracks due to corrosion in the tail fin. Russia has shared this finding with India, which emerged after the crash of a Russian Air Force MiG-29 in December 2008. "A repair scheme and preventive measures are in place and IAF has not encountered major problems concerning the issue," Antony said.[61] Despite concerns of Russia's grounding, India sent the first six of its 78 MiG-29s to Russia for upgrades in 2008. The upgrade program will fit the MiGs with a phased array radar (PESA) and in-flight re-fuelling capability.[23]
In January 2010, India and Russia signed a US$1.2 billion deal under which the Indian Navy would acquire 29 additional MiG-29Ks, bringing the total number of MiG-29Ks on order to 45.[62] The MiG-29K entered service with the Indian Navy on 19 February 2010.[63]
The upgrades to Indian MiG-29s will be to the MiG-29UPG standard. This version is similar to the SMT variant but differs by having a foreign-made avionics suite.[64] The upgrade to latest MiG-29UPG standard is in process, which will include latest avionics, Zhuk-ME Radar, engine, weapon control systems, enhancing multirole capabilities by many-fold.[65][66] As of 2012, Indian UPG version is the most advanced MiG-29 variant.[67] The Director-General of MiG, Sergei Korotkov said, "The most advanced is the MiG-29UPG, implemented in India in collaboration with local industry".[67] The first three aircraft were delivered in December 2012, over two years behind schedule.[68] The IAF is in advanced stages of talks to buy a new squadron of upgraded multi-role MiG-29s from Russia using three-decade old MiG-29s.[69]
Yugoslavia and Serbia [ edit ]
Yugoslavia was the first European country outside the Soviet Union to operate the MiG-29. The country received 14 MiG-29Bs and two MiG-29UBs from the USSR in 1987 and 1988. The MiG-29s were put into service with the 127th Fighter Aviation Squadron, based at Batajnica Air Base, north of Belgrade, Serbia.[70]
Yugoslav MiG-29s saw little combat during the breakup of Yugoslavia, and were used primarily for ground attacks. Several Antonov An-2 aircraft used by Croatia were destroyed on the ground at Čepin airfield near Osijek, Croatia in 1991 by a Yugoslav MiG-29, with no MiG-29 losses.[71] At least two MiG-29 carried out an air strike on Banski dvori, the official residence of the Croatian Government, on 7 October 1991.[72]
The MiG-29s continued their service in the subsequent Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Because of the United Nations arms embargo against the country, the condition of the MiG-29s worsened.[73]
A total of six MiG-29s were shot down during the NATO intervention in the Kosovo War, of which three were shot down by USAF F-15s, one by a USAF F-16, and one by a RNLAF F-16.[74][75] One aircraft, according to pilot, was hit by friendly fire from the ground.[76] Another four were destroyed on the ground.[77] One Argentine source claims that a MiG-29 shot down an F-16 on 26 March 1999,[78] but this kill is disputed, as the F-16C in question was said to have crashed in the US that same day.[79]
An digital representation of a MiG-29B in service with the Air Force of Serbia and Montenegro during Operation Allied Force in 1999.
The Air Force of Serbia and Montenegro continued flying its remaining five MiG-29s at a very low rate after the war with one of them crashing on 7 July 2009. In spring 2004, news appeared that MiG-29 operations had ceased, because the aircraft could not be maintained,[71] but later the five remaining airframes were sent to Russia for overhauling. The small Serbian MiG-29 fleet along with other jets were grounded for four months during Summer 2014 due to a battery procurement issue. The Serbian Air Force operates three MiG-29s as of late 2014, with one airframe grounded due to structural issues.[80]
In late December 2016, the Serbian government confirmed that Russia had agreed to donate six MiG-29s,[81] while Serbia would pay for their modernization to the SMT version. This has increased Serbia's total to 10 aircraft.[82] At the end of January 2017, Serbian defense minister Zoran Đorđević said that eight MiG-29s were to be donated to Serbia by Belarus.[83] In early October 2017, Russia delivered the six disassembled MiG-29s to Serbia by An-124s.[84][85]
Germany [ edit ]
East Germany bought 24 MiG-29s (20 MiG-29As, four MiG-29UBs), which entered service in 1988–1989 in 1./JG3 "Wladimir Komarow" in Preschen in Brandenburg.[86] After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and reunification of Germany in October 1990, the MiG-29s and other aircraft of the East German Air Forces of the National People's Army were integrated into the West German Luftwaffe.[87] Initially the 1./JG3 kept its designation. In April 1991 both 1./JG3's MIG-29 squadrons were reorganised into the MIG-29 test wing ("Erprobungsgeschwader MIG-29"), which became JG73 "Steinhoff" and was transferred to Laage near Rostock in June 1993.
The Federation of American Scientists claims the MiG-29 is equal to, or better than the F-15C in some areas such as short aerial engagements because of the Helmet Mounted Weapons Sight (HMS) and better maneuverability at slow speeds.[88][self-published source?] This was demonstrated when MiG-29s of the German Air Force participated in joint DACT exercises with US fighters.[89][90] The HMS was a great help, allowing the Germans to achieve a lock on any target the pilot could see within the missile field of view, including those almost 45 degrees off boresight.[91] However the German pilots who flew the MiG-29 admitted that while the Fulcrum was more maneuverable at slow speeds than the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-14 Tomcat, and F/A-18 Hornet and its Vympel R-73 dogfight missile system was superior to the AIM-9 Sidewinder of the time, all of the American-made fighters had superior avionics, radar, and beyond visual range missiles. In engagements that went into the beyond visual range arena the German pilots found it difficult to multi-task locking and firing the MiG-29s Vympel R-27 missile (German MiG-29s did not have access to the more advanced Vympel R-77 that equips other nations' MiG-29 |
the election process.[15]
During the 2008 presidential elections, PACE observers included a large group of frankly pro-Azerbaijani MPs. The variant of the statement on elections, prepared by the head of the group of observers Andreas Herkel, containing critical remarks, faced the rejection of the pro-Azerbaijani group consisting of Michael Hancock, Eduard Lintner and Paul Ville. Herkel was forced to declare his resignation if criticism did not go into the statement. During the referendum, which lifted the limits on the number of presidential terms for Ilham Aliyev, four PACE deputies – Eduard Litner, Paul Ville, Khaki Keskin and Pedro Agramunt evaluated the referendum as the progress of democracy.[16] In a constitutional referendum in 2009, term limits for the presidency were abolished. The opposition claimed this to be a violation of the Azerbaijani constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.[17] European Commission said the step "signalled a serious setback".[18]
2013 election [ edit ]
In the 2013 presidential elections held on 9 October, Aliyev claimed victory with 85 percent of the vote, securing a third five-year term.[19] Election observation delegations from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament claimed to have observed a free, fair and transparent electoral process with no evidence of voter intimidation.[20] A day before voting began, however, the Central Election Commission released a new smartphone application intended to allow citizens to watch the ballot counting in real time, and instead the app accidentally showed the results of the election before the election had taken place.[21] The Central Election Commission tried to explain this away by saying that the initially displayed results were those of the 2008 election, even though the candidates listed were from the 2013 ballot.[22] Aliyev's main rivals in the election were Jamil Hasanli and Igbal Agazade. In 2013, Amnesty International called on western leaders to present position on jailed activist which was officially charged with tax evasion and illegal business activity.[23] Ilham Aliyev has been criticized for his illiberal rule[24][25] and sometimes Azerbaijan was perceived as one of corrupt states in Europe by analysts and political commentators.[26][27][28][29]
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is greeted by Ilham Aliyev, August 2004
Observers from the OSCE / ODIHR, led by Tana de Zulueta, spoke of restrictions on freedom of speech during elections, while representatives of the European Parliament headed by Pino Arlacchi confirmed free and fair elections.[30] The European Parliament and PACE issued a joint statement in which they highly appraised the elections. A group of observers from the US House of Representatives also acknowledged fair elections.[31] Varying estimates of the elections led to a scandal. On October 11, the representative of the European Union, Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner Stefan Fule, ignored the assessment of the European Parliament, including in its statement the results of the ODIHR.[32] The Commission on Foreign Relations of the EU discussed the report of Arlacchi. During the discussion, representatives of the “green” condemned the report and said that it discredited the European Parliament. The head of the Socialists’ faction in the EU said that the PACE report cannot be considered reliable at all. It later emerged that a number of EU representatives traveled to Azerbaijan unofficially and on the dime of Azerbaijani organizations, which was regarded by the “European Voice” as “stupidity or corruption”, these trips were labeled “electoral tourism”.[33]
The US State Department in its turn discredited the observers from the House of Representatives, describing the elections as not meeting international standards, and expressing solidarity with the ODIHR's assessment.[34]
2018 election [ edit ]
Aliyev's 2018 inauguration ceremony.
Ilham Aliyev won the 2018 presidential elections with 86.02% of votes.[35]
Foreign policy [ edit ]
Relations with United Nations [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev visited UN Headquarters several times: to attend and address the general debates of the 59th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2004;[36][37] the 65th session in September 2010;[38][39] and the 72nd session in September 2017.[40] During the presidency of Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan was elected as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council from the group of Eastern European states on October 24, 2011 for the term of 2012-2013.[41]
Ilham Aliyev and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, D.C., 30 March 2016
On 4 May 2012, UN Security Council held a high-level meeting on strengthening international collaboration in the implementation of counter-terrorism obligations led by Ilham Aliyev.[42][43][44] During his visits to USA, the president Ilham Aliyev met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on 24 September 2004,[36] on 4 May 2012 with Ban Ki Moon,[45] and on 20 September 2017 with António Guterres in New York.[40] Since the presidency of Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has also developed mutual relations with specialized agencies and bodies of United Nations.
The country was elected a member of ECOSOC for the term of 2003-2005,[46] 2017-2019,[47] and UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2006-2009.[46] President Ilham Aliyev approved Country Programme Action Plan for 2005-2009 between Azerbaijan and UNICEF signed on December 29, 2005.[48]
Relations with European Union [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev has been expanding the cooperation with the European Union (EU) since his presidency. A year after Mr. Aliyev became president, in 2004, Azerbaijan as a southern Caucasus country has been a part of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the EU.[49] Two years later, in 2006, Ilham Aliyev on behalf of Azerbaijan, and Matti Vanhanen, former president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, former president of the Commission, on behalf of the EU signed the Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership.[50]
Ilham Aliyev with Prime Minister of Estonia, President of the European Council, President of the European Commission within EU Eastern Partnership Summit 2017 (from left to right)
In 2009 when the EU launched the initiative, Azerbaijan has been included in the Eastern Partnership Policy.[51] After two years, in 2011, Ilham Aliyev and José Manuel Barroso, Former President of the European Commission, concluded the Joint Declaration on the Southern Gas Corridor.[52]
Ilham Aliyev affirmed the significance of the Joint Declaration in the field of energy cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan during its visit to Brussels in 2013 with the following words: “Of course, energy cooperation is one of the most important components of our relations. I am glad that after the signing, together with President Barroso, of the Declaration on strategic cooperation in the energy sector in Baku at the beginning of 2011, we are currently seeing its practical results. This declaration has played a major role in the implementation of the gas corridor.”[53]
On 6 February 2017, Aliyev visited Brussels, the capital of the EU, for the bilateral and multilateral meetings. He paid official visits to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, with the President of the European Council, Commission President, and the Commissioner for Energy Union.[54] After the visit of President Aliyev, on 7 February 2017, the process of negotiations for a new bilateral agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU has been launched.[55] The end of negotiations process was marked by signing the "Partnership Priorities" between EU and Azerbaijan agreed on July 11, 2018 during Ilham Aliyev's working visit to Brussels.[56][57]
Relations with France [ edit ]
During 12–15 March 2017, President Aliyev made official visit to France[58][59] and met with executive officials of international companies SUEZ, DCNS, CIFAL, Space Systems in the Airbus Defence and Space Division.[60][61][62][63][64] President Aliyev in his meeting with French entrepreneurs stated that illegal activities of some companies in Nagorno-Karabakh is unacceptable and violates international and national laws.[65][66][67] Following his visit, Aliyev met with the French President in the Elysee Palace.[68][69][70] French President Francois Hollande made a press statement that status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not the right option and he hopes that there can be a resumption of negotiations[71] and he urged other co-chairs of the Minsk Group, the United States and Russia, to contribute to this process.[72]
Relations with Russia [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev repeatedly characterized Azerbaijan-Russia relations as strategic partnership.[73][74][75] On 6 February 2004, Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, signed the Moscow Declaration, which stated principles of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia.[76] On 11 August 2004, President Aliyev adopted an Order to held “Year of Russia in Azerbaijan” in 2006 following the decision of Russia to held "Year of Azerbaijan in Russia" in 2005.[77] On February 16, 2005, Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to Moscow and participated in the ceremony of opening the Year of Azerbaijan in Russia..[78] Four months later, in June 14–15, 2005 – Ilham Aliyev again visited Russia and met with Russian president Vladimir Putin within the framework of ninth international economic forum.[79] On 29 June 2006, Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev, former President of the Russian Federation, concluded a joint statement on the Caspian Sea.[80]
Meeting of President Ilham Aliyev with President Vladimir Putin
On November 1, 2017 another meeting took place between Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin in Tehran, the capital of Iran.[81] Ilham Aliyev appraised the relations between two countries with the following words while meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of Russia and Chairman of People's Assembly of Dagestan: “While reviewing the agenda of our bilateral relations at another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, we found out that there is no a single issue that would need solution…Of course, today Russia and Azerbaijan demonstrate high-level good-neighborly, partnership and reliable friendly relations.”.[82]
In his visit to Sochi in early September 2018, Ilham Aliyev met his Russian counterpart and they signed the Joint Statement on Priority Areas of Economic Cooperation between the 2 countries.[83][84] Ilham Aliyev called Russia "very important and valuable partner" during Putin's visit to Baku on September 27 on his invitation.[83]
Ilham Aliyev has built relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church. On 24 April 2010, President Aliyev was awarded with the Order of Glory and Honour, a highest decoration of the Russian Orthodox Church, following the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh 1st class in the past.[85][86] By the Order of Ilham Aliyev, Patriarch Kirill was granted with the "Sharaf" (Honor) medal of Azerbaijan in 2010.[87]
Before the start of a trilateral meeting. With President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev (centre), President of Iran Hassan Rouhani (left) and President of Russia Vladimir Putin
Following the initiative of President Aliyev,[88][89] for the first time[90] the trilateral summit between Russian, Iranian and Azerbaijani leaders was held in Baku in 2016 for purpose of fighting against terrorism, transnational organized crime, arms smuggling and drug trafficking in the region.[91][92][93][94][95] Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia through trilaterally signed declaration pledged to develop the strategic transnational project, the International North-South Transport Corridor, which would run from India all the way to St. Petersburg in Russia, providing a faster and cheaper alternative to existing sea routes.[89][96][97][98][99] The next trilateral meeting held in 2017, the leaders exchanged views on mutual relations in the fields of transit and energy.[100]
Relations with United States [ edit ]
President Ilham Aliyev meeting President Donald Trump during the reception hosted by U.S. President in New York
Ilham Aliyev has sought to expand relations with the US. In this context, he made his first official visit to Washington at the invitation of former US President George W. Bush on April 25–28, 2006. During the meeting, he discussed issues of oil and gas industry, regional and global energy security, transportation, etc. with his American counterpart.[101][102]
On September 24, 2010, Ilham Aliyev met the 44th US President Barack Obama in New York when he visited the US for the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly.[103] Ilham Aliyev's next official visit to the USA has been made within the framework of Nuclear Security Summit at the invitation of Barack Obama on March 31 – April 1, 2016.[104][105][106] Ilham Aliyev held a bilateral meeting with former Vice President Joe Biden. The parties had discussions on counterterrorism and cooperation in various fields. Joe Biden emphasized the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor to strengthen energy security of Europe.[107]
On September 20, 2017, Ilham Aliyev met US President Donald Trump at the reception hosted by latter in the framework of the 72th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.[108]
In his letter to the President Ilham Aliyev on the opening of 24th annual International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference in Baku, Donald Trump mentioned that US is strongly committed to Southern Gas Corridor which ensures energy security of Europe and appreciates Azerbaijan's important role in supporting this global energy security.[109]
Ilham Aliyev and British Prime Minister Theresa May, London, April 2018
Relations with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the joint press conference in November 2017
Ilham Aliyev has extended Azerbaijan's collaboration with NATO, as the country joined the Individual Partnership Action Plan in 2004, which allows the systematisation of bilateral partnerships as well as the coordination of cooperation on any issue of mutual interest. Azerbaijan has completed NATO-Azerbaijan Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) documents for the first (2005-2007), second (2008-2010) and the third (2012-2013) period.[110] Ilham Aliyev introduced Azerbaijan's first IPAP to NATO in Brussels on May 19, 2014.[111]
Ilham Aliyev visited Paris in May 2006 and attended the spring session of NATO Parliament Assembly. In 2006, November 8 he met Secretary-General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels.[112] Ilham Aliyev has visited Brussels several times; he met with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer bilaterally on April 29 before the meeting of North Atlantic Council.[113] During his visit to Brussels in February 2012, Ilham Aliyev was welcomed by Secretary-General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen at NATO Headquarters and they discussed the possible future enhancement of cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO.[114] In 2014, again the President Aliyev met with NATO Secretary General and participated in the meeting of North Atlantic Council as part of his working visit to Brussels.[115]
As the President of the country contributing to the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan, Ilham Aliyev participated at the meetings during NATO Summit in Chicago in 2012 and NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014.[116][117] Ilham Aliyev took part in the session on Afghanistan at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July, 2016.[118][119] On 23 November 2017, President Ilham Aliyev met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels. They discussed the partnership between NATO and Azerbaijan and regional security in the South Caucasus. The Secretary General also appreciated Azerbaijan's contribution to NATO-led “Resolute Support” mission in Afghanistan[120][121]
Azerbaijan's balanced foreign policy and regional importance has allowed top military officers of USA and Russia, Joseph Dunford-the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Valery Gerasimov- Chief of General Staff to decide on their meeting to be held in Baku on cooperation.[122][123]
Relations with Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev repeatedly stated that relations with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are among the priorities for Azerbaijan in foreign policy.[124][125][126] During his presidency, Aliyev met with the Secretary General of OIC for the first time within the framework of the third extraordinary summit of IOC in Mecca city, in 2005[127] In 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, President Aliyev received the Secretary General of OIC in Baku, Azerbaijan.[128][129][130][124] Accordingly, on 6 April 2015, he visited to the OIC Headquarter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and met with Secretary General of the OIC.[131][132] Ilham Aliyev received President of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation in 2006 and 2007 in Baku.[133][134] Furthermore, on September 3, 2006, he participated in the ceremony of Inauguration of permanent headquarters of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for dialogue and Cooperation in Istanbul, Turkey.[135][136]
Following the decision of the fifth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers to declare Baku as Capital of Islamic Culture for 2009, on 27 August 2008, Ilham Aliyev adopted an Order on the Preparation of the International event named "Baku – Capital of Islamic Culture".[137][138] He signed an Order to establish Organising Committee regarding the decision of the sixth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers to designate Nakhchivan city as Capital of Islamic Culture for 2018.[137][139] On 26–27 April 2017, OIC conference on the Role of media in the development of tolerance and mutual understanding was held under the auspices of President Ilham Aliyev in pursuance of the Baku declaration which was adopted by OIC Foreign Ministers at 33rd session.[140][141]
Domestic policy [ edit ]
Cultural policy [ edit ]
Intercultural dialogue was one of priority areas of cultural policy of President Aliyev. In 2008, President Aliyev launched the “Baku Process” initiative for promotion of intercultural dialogue at the Conference of Ministers responsible for Culture under the theme of “Intercultural dialogue as a basis for peace and sustainable development in Europe and its neighboring regions.”[142] While delivering a speech at the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (23 September 2010, New York) President Aliyev announced his intention to organize World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.[143] His initiative was supported by international organizations such as UNESCO, UN Alliance of Civilizations, World Tourism Organization, Council of Europe, North-South Center of the Council of Europe, ISESCO etc.[144][145][146] Starting from 2011, four high level World Forums on Intercultural Dialogue has been held in Baku until 2017[147] Ilham Aliyev by signing a respective decree approved “Conception of Culture of Azerbaijan Republic” on 14 February 2014.[148] Three months later on 15 May 2014, he signed the Decree on the Formation of Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism[149] He also by Presidential decree of 11 January 2016 declared the year 2016 as “the Year of Multiculturalism” in Azerbaijan.[150] Ilham Aliyev characterized the tolerance and multiculturalism as a state policy and lifestyle in Azerbaijan.[151] Under his leadership Azerbaijan hosted seventh Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) under the theme “Living Together in Inclusive Societies, A Challenge and A Goal” on April 25–27, 2016[152] Decree on Approving the State Program for the Protection and Development of Carpet Art in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2018-2022 was signed by Ilham Aliyev on February 28, 2018 in order to protect carpet waving traditions, enhance export potential of carpets and provide more workplaces for the people engaged in this area.[153][154]
Science policy [ edit ]
On May 5, 2004, President Ilham Aliyev signed an Order to establish “Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia” Science Center.[155] Almost four years later, on 10 April 2008, he approved the Decree to constitute the State Commission on Reforms in Science.[156] On October 21, 2009, Ilham Aliyev signed another Order on Establishment of the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.[157] Almost four months later, on 19 February 2010, President Ilham Aliyev approved the Charter of the Science Development Foundation.[158][159][160] On January 14, 2016, Ilham Aliyev by his Decree established the National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.[161] He also established Ganja Branch of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences on December 19, 2012.[162] On November 8, 2016, President Aliyev approved an Order to create High-Tech Park of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.[163][164] Another State Program in the field of science approved by Ilham Aliyev in November 2018 is "2019-2022 State Program on development of distance surveillance services in the Republic of Azerbaijan through satellite".[165]
Humanitarian policy [ edit ]
Under the instruction of Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan sent humanitarian aid to Palestine, Nepal, Djibouti on April 10, 2017, and to Rohingya refugees on September 8, 2017.[166][167][168][169] On 27 February 2012, Vlade Divac, Chairman of Olympic Committee of Serbia and the founder of “Foundation Ana and Vlade Divac,” decorated Ilham Aliyev with the international award of a “True friend of the Balkans” also provision of humanitarian aid and policies among others.[170] Ilham Aliyev co-founded Baku International Humanitarian Forum along with Vladimir Putin. He together with other high-ranked officials of states and international organizations participated in the opening ceremonies and delivered speeches in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth Baku International Humanitarian Forums held in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016 respectively.[171][172][173][174][175] He appreciated the role of the event in the Baku International Humanitarian Forum with the following words: “...humanitarian events send a message to the world that progressive representatives of the world should consolidate their efforts even more closely... The deepening of international humanitarian cooperation can prevent the negative and enhance positive trends to some extent.”[176]
Healthcare policy [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev initiated and signed laws on "State care for people with diabetes" in 2003; "Turnover of narcotics, psychotropic substances and their precursors" in 2005; "Pharmaceutical products" in 2006; "Fight against the disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus" in 2010; "State care of multiple sclerosis" in 2012; "Mandatory child dispensing" in 2013.[177] According to the Decree of the President Ilham Aliyev, The State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan was established on 27 December 2007.[178] Development Concept of “Azerbaijan 2020: vision to the future” which defines maintaining high quality health services to population as major objective was adopted by president Ilham Aliyev on 29 December 2012.[179] In 2016, November 29, Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on “Measures to implement pilot project on application of compulsory health insurance in Mingachevir city and Yevlakh region” two regions of Azerbaijan.[180]
Youth policy [ edit ]
On October 19, 2006, President Ilham Aliyev initiated and signed the order on education of Azerbaijani youth in foreign countries, in which he tasked state bodies to draft respective state program.[181] Accordingly, on 16 April 2007, he by his decree adopted the State program on the study of Azerbaijani youth in foreign countries for the years of 2007-2015.[182] On February 9, 2007, Ilham Aliyev signed an order to declare of 2007 “Year of youth” in Azerbaijan.[183] In 2007, Azerbaijan hosted the event “Youth for the alliance of civilizations” International conference co-organized, at the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation, by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, United Nations Development Program, the Council of Europe and ISESCO.[184] On December 19, 2011, Ilham Aliyev signed the decree on the establishment of the Youth Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan which intends to provide support to youth initiatives.[185] On September 15, 2017,Ilham Aliyev signed the order on adoption of “Azerbaijani youth 2017-2025” state program.[186]
Environmental policy [ edit ]
In Mart 24, 2006, Ilham Aliyev signed an Order on adoption of “National Strategy and Action Plan on Protection and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the Republic of Azerbaijan.”[187] 10 years after, on October 3, 2016, he signed another Order on Approval of the “National Strategy for the Protection and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2017-2020.”[188] On July 8, 2008, Ilham Aliyev signed a Decree on approval of “Standards of vibration and noise pollution that adversely affect the environment and human health.”[189] On October 16, 2009, at the expanded meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of socioeconomic development in nine months of 2009, Ilham Aliyev proposed to declare the year 2010 as the “Year of Environment.”[190] As a follow up to this measures, four months later, on February 18, 2010, he chaired a meeting on environmental problems[191] Within the scope of the “Year of Environment”, the “Azerbaijan for a Green World” international ecological exhibition was held to which President Aliyev attended on September 17, 2010..[192] He established numerous national parks such as Hirkan National Park, Altiaghaj National Park, Absheron National Park, Shahdag National Park, Goygol National Park and others by his Orders.[193][194][195][196][197]
Economic policy [ edit ]
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended Strategic Outlook Eurasia session during World Economic Forum 2018 in Davos
Due to economic policies of Ilham Aliyev, GDP of Azerbaijan between the years of 2003-2016 increased more than 5 times as in 2003, when President Aliyev took office, GDP of Azerbaijan amounted to US$7.276 Billion and was US$37.848 Billion in 2016 according to World Bank data.[198][199] In 2007, March 6 Ilham Aliyev signed the Decree on the Establishment of Special Economic Zones in Azerbaijan.[200] On 20 April 2016, Ilham Aliyev signed a Decree to establish the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication.[201][202] On November 6, 2017, he passed another Decree to establish “Azerbaijan Industrial Corporation” Open Joint-Stock Company.[203] Ilham Aliyev participated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings held in Davos- Klosters, Switzerland in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.[204][205][206][207][208][209] Ilham Aliyev defines the diversification of exports as one of priority direction in the future of national economy.[210] In 2019 WEF meeting, Ilham Aliyev noted that according to 2019 Doing Business report, Azerbaijan's position improved 32 steps and ranked 25th among 190 economies.[209]
Religious policy [ edit ]
On January 10, 2017 Ilham Aliyev by his decree announced the year of 2017 as the year of Islamic Solidarity.[211] Later the same year he signed another decree and allocated funding for organization of measures related to year of Islamic Solidarity.[212] Ilham Aliyev signed three Orders on financial assistance to religious organizations in Azerbaijan in 2014, 2016, and 2017. The financial assistance from the Presidential Reserve Fund has been apportioned among Caucasian Muslims Office, the Archbishop of Baku and Azerbaijan of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Community of Mountain Jews, the Community of European Jews, the Apostolic Prefecture of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Alban-Udi Christian Community.[213][214][215] In 2014 and 2015, Ilham Aliyev approved two Orders on “Additional measures to reinforce the promotion of religious culture, tolerance, interreligious and intercultural dialogue in Azerbaijan.” According to the Orders, 3 million manats (6 million in total) were allocated to the Religious Culture Development Fund from the Presidential Reserve Fund[216][217] On July 17, 2015, Ilham Aliyev allocated 3 million manats from the Presidential Reserve Fund to restore religious historical and cultural monuments in Azerbaijan[218]
National development concept "Azerbaijan 2020: Vision to the future" [ edit ]
“Azerbaijan 2020: Vision to the future” national economic development concept is considered one of major strategic initiatives of Ilham Aliyev for further development of the country. The respective Decree on preparation of this concept was signed by him on November 29, 2011, and the concept itself was adopted on December 29, 2012 by his another Decree.[219][220] The concept provides measures and actions for development of various fields of economy and increase in public welfare by the year of 2020.[221][222] In its messages for Azerbaijan's voluntary Report on implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals the concept of “Azerbaijan 2020: vision to the future” formulated by Ilham Aliyev was described as a strategy which reflects the longer-term national aspirations, opportunuties for investors and the key challenges on the way towards those goals.[223] The similar approach was noted in ther report prepared for World Economic Forum 2015 and published in the Foreign Affairs magazine.[224] The specialised economic magazine "The Business Year" assessed the outcomes of the concept initiated by Ilham Aliyev as a wise designed strategy which planned to secure national economic interests of Azerbaijan.[225] IOn November 2018, lham Aliyev approved the State Program on Increasing International Competitiveness of the Higher Education System in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2023 within the framework of this concept.[226]
Strategic road maps for national economy [ edit ]
President Ilham Aliyev signed a Decree endorsing “Strategic road maps for the National Economy and main economic sectors” on December 6, 2016.[227][228] On January 16, 2017, Ilham Aliyev met with Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of McKinsey&Company, which undertook the preparation of the strategic road maps, within the World Economic Forum in Davos.[229]
Public administration reforms [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev during his public statements regularly stressed that governance and anticorruption reforms are the priority of the state policy and for this purpose his government take administrative steps and institutional measures.[230][231][232][233] Since his presidency in 2003, Ilham Aliyev has adopted 5 anti-corruption policy, public administration reforms documents for the following years: 2004-2006 (State Programme on Fight Against Corruption),[234] 2007-2011(National Strategy on Strengthening Transparency and Fight Against Corruption),[235] 2012-2015 (National Action Plans on Fight Against Corruption and Promotion of Open Government)[236] and 2016-2018 (National Action Plan on Promotion of Open Government).[237] On 3 March 2004, Ilham Aliyev signed decree to enforce Law on Fight against Corruption, established specialised Anti-Corruption Directorate under General Prosecutor Office and within the same decree instructed drafting the statute of another entity Commission on Combating Corruption to be specialised in prevention of Corruption.[238] Consequently, on 1 June 2005, Ilham Aliyev signed decree to enforce the Law adopting the noted Statute.[239] In order to strengthen carried out measures in the field of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing, Ilham Aliyev adopted National Action Plan (2017 – 2019) on Anti-Money Laundering and Fight against Financing of Terrorism on 18 November 2016.[240]
TI's well known report the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) indicates 69% of respondents consider that the government's efforts are effective in the fight against corruption and 71% of respondents agree that an ordinary person can make a difference in the fight against corruption in Azerbaijan.[241][242] Aliyev's government officially alleged that CPI does not reflect carried out anti-corruption measures in the country, such as CPI is composed of sources which are based on expert views.[243] However, government officials claimed to support results of GCB, considering its results are based on survey of citizens.[244]
According to Transparency International's Azerbaijan scores just 30 on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, indicating a serious problem with corruption. On 8 August 2017, Transparency Azerbaijan announced that it had scaled back its operations in the capital city of Baku, because the government would not approve an extension of the funding as it comes from outside the country. According to Transparency International "The blanket ban on foreign grants has brought the country’s civil society to a halt and has dealt a devastating blow to civic initiatives across the board".[245]
ASAN service, which was established by presidential decree in 2012,[246] is internationally recognized for its role in elimination of corruption in public services[247][248] and received United Nation's award on public service delivery.[249] ASAN service is currently researched and applied by world countries[250] such as France which signed a memorandum with Azerbaijan in order to apply practice of ASAN service (mobile service system) in France.[251] In addition, during a meeting with Pakistanian delegation, Pakistani side expressed the integration of ASAN Service model into their government service fields as well. Based on concept of "ASAN service" experience, the government of Afghanistan has established "Asan Khedmat" public service center, which functions under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance.[252][253][254] "ASAN service" is currently researched and applied by foreign countries, including Albania, Italy, Estonia, Republic of Macedonia, Indonesia and others.[255]
Energy and transport policy [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev repeatedly stressed the importance of the development of Southern Gas Corridor and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway at meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers, in his public statements and expressed the commitment of Azerbaijan to these projects.[256][257][258][259] In June 2012 inter-governmental agreement on TANAP project was signed by Ilham Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan[260] TANAP project was launched on 17 March 2015, by President Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili in Kars.[261] TAP and TANAP projects, being the integral parts of Southern Gas Corridor, are supported by Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council which was agreed by President Aliyev and Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič in November 2014[262] In January 2013, in Baku, Ilham Aliyev together with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso signed a Joint Declaration on delivery of Azerbaijan gas to Europe.[263] Ilham Aliyev took part in official opening ceremony of Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) on October 30, 2017.[264][265]
Ilham Aliyev stated that the Lapis-Lazuli Route Agreement[266] by Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Turkmenistan, being a major international trade and transport corridor, will connect Afghanistan to Europe through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.[267]
During his meeting with the President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani in 2017[267] and the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in 2018, Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed the commitment of Azerbaijan to achieve practical implementation of Lapis-Lazuli Route.[268]
International sporting events [ edit ]
Ilham Aliyev is the president of National Olympic Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic since 1997.[269] During his presidency of National Olympic Committee, Azerbaijan hosted some international sports events such as 1st European Games,[270] 4th Islamic Solidarity Games[271] and 42nd Chess Olympiad[272]
On September 8, 2015 Ilham Aliyev signed an order to set up the organizing committee for IV Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku 2017,[273] following the decision of General Assembly Meeting of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation in 2013.[274] The Games continued from 12 to 22 May 2017, and all members of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federations participated in it.[275]
On 17 January 2013, President Aliyev signed an order to establish |
is “expected to receive £1 million each.” Peter Todd, a lawyer who represented many of the claimants, told the Sunday Times (U.K.):
“There has never been a case like this before. The victims of this vaccine have an incurable and lifelong condition and will require extensive medication.”
Unfortunately for Peter Todd and the countless other victims, there has been cases like this before. Neurological damage from vaccines is not a rare occurrence. In fact, the U.S. government has paid out $3 billion and counting to families of vaccine-injured children. Most of which were due to direct neurological damage or complications arising from such damage.
According to The Global Research Project, the GlaxoSmithKline rap sheet states:
“In recent years, GlaxoSmithKline has become known as the company that pays massive amounts to resolve wide-ranging charges brought by U.S. regulators and prosecutors. These included a $750 million payment relating to the sale of adulterated products from a facility in Puerto Rico and a record $3 billion in connection with charges relating to illegal marketing, suppression of adverse safety research results and overcharging government customers. The company also set a record for the largest tax avoidance settlement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.”
If GlaxoSmithKline wasn’t afforded legal and financial government protection status, they would have went under years ago. However, this corporate zombie still damages populations with little oversight and deep pockets to pay for any legal or ethical challenges that get in the way.
Currently, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and other pharmaceutical houses were influential in the passing of California Senate Bill 277 to remove the “parental opposition” that was slowing their product’s revenue stream. What wasn’t disclosed during the senate hearing, or vote following, was that the bill’s author Richard Pan had financial ties to GlaxoSmithKline and Merck. In a fair legal system, this should immediately disqualify the bill and bring serious moral and ethical challenges to Pan’s legitimacy.
This article originally appeared at Natural Society.If I didn’t know how smart and talented Miley is, I might worry about her. But I’ve watched her grow up. So I don’t. She knows what she’s doing. She was very proud of the work she did as Hannah Montana, but people were gonna leave her there forever. And she was just smotherin’ and chokin’ in it. So she felt she had to do something completely drastic. And she did. She made her point, she made her mark, and more power to her. “Wrecking Ball” is a great song. The whole album is great. So I’m hoping that now she can relax and show people how talented she really is. ’Cause the girl can write. The girl can sing. The girl is smart. And she doesn’t have to be so drastic. But I will respect her choices. I did it my way, so why can’t she do it her way?
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Contact us at editors@time.com.There is a clear link between reading for pleasure and gaining a good job
Sporting prowess, playing a musical instrument or computer games make no difference to a young person’s prospects, but there is a clear link between reading for pleasure and gaining a good job, researchers have found.
The study analysed the responses of 17,200 people born in 1970 who gave details of their extra-curricular activities at the age of 16 and their jobs at 33.
Teenagers who read at least once a month were “significantly” more likely to progress to a professional or managerial position than those who did not read.
For girls, there was a 39 per cent probability that they would be in a professional or managerial position at 33 if they read at 16, compared to a 25 per cent chance if they had not.
Among boys, that rose to a 58 per cent chance.
The research also looked at after-school activities such as sports, going to the cinema, concerts or museums, cooking and sewing, but found that none of these had an impact on careers.Investment Charts Bitcoin Valuations
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A collection of useful valuation metrics on Bitcoin.Various price models for Bitcoin.Bitcoin's PE ratio. Detects when Bitcoin is overvalued or undervalued.NVT Ratio optimised to be more responsive, useful as a long-range trading indicator.A Bitcoin under/overvaluation indicator based on Realised Cap.A leading indicator on Bitcoin price based on volume throughput through the blockchain (experimental).A cross sectional view of Bitcoin HODLers over time, shows demand and supply from new and old HODLers.Trace Mayer's ratio to measure Bitcoin price in relation to its historical movement.
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Lennon, Tony and Geoff are back from the diner and are ready to serve you with a course of freshly steamed Star Citizen. First up in Squawk Box we discuss the latest advances in laser technology and find out how far away we are from having a trusty blaster at our side. In CIG News we bring you everything from around the UEE including our weekly Crowd Funding Update, our thoughts on the Ship Pipeline (and a little about Around The Verse episodes 17 and 18), 10 For The Chairman 42 and all the gossip to be had from [REDACTED]’s day taking over the RSI comms channels. In Nuggets for Nuggets we talk all about Origin Jumpworks, and finally we tune into the feedback loop and let you join in on the conversation.
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Where the [REDACTED] is the Guard Frequency logo on the Squadron montage from CitizenCon? The first person to find it and let us knows wins a Guard Frequency T-Shirt, or the complete Wing Commander series game pack from gog.com
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Tales From The Front – Contains a story by ChivalrybeanSell in May and go away, don’t come back until St Leger Day. So goes the old stock market adage and rarely has the first part of that advice been more apposite than this year. The FTSE 100 index peaked on 27 April, just before the general election, and has been on the slide ever since. It is now down more than 10% from its peak, so fulfilling the definition of a correction.
On the face of it, there seems to have been no real reason for the slide in the FTSE 100 over the summer. Markets should have been cheered by the return of a majority Conservative government in the May general election. The economy grew by 0.7% in the second quarter and continues to be boosted by ultra-low interest rates. That, too, should be a source of comfort. Cash and gilts don’t obviously represent a better place for investors to put their money. The crisis in Greece has abated, if only temporarily. Yet the selloff has continued.
Shares in London have fallen by more than they have on Wall Street and there’s an obvious reason for that: when compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the FTSE 100 has a higher weighting of mining and commodity stocks. And that sector has taken a real caning as a result of weaker demand from emerging markets in general and from China in particular.
The jitters in the City have nothing to do with the state of the UK economy and nothing to do with the speculation that Greece might eventually be forced out of the single currency. They have everything to do with concerns that the next global financial crisis has begun in emerging markets.
As ever, the riposte to this suggestion is “it’s different this time”, with good reason considered the four most dangerous words in financial markets. Panglossian investors can always think up a hundred reasons why it’s different this time, up to the moment when reality smacks them in the face.
The optimists argue that China is adroitly easing its way to slower but more sustainable growth, that the fall in commodity prices has been caused by over-supply rather than a shortage of demand, and that the rest of the world has had plenty of opportunity to prepare itself for an increase in interest rates from the Federal Reserve later this year.
The pessimists would say that China’s hard landing is being disguised by dodgy official figures, that oil and metals prices are falling because demand is faltering and that the $1tn of capital that has flowed out of emerging markets in the past year is evidence of a sharp drop in investor confidence.
As Russell Jones and Bimal Dharmasena of Llewellyn Consulting note: “The export-led model has run its course. In many ways, it sowed the seeds of its own destruction, the emphasis on exchange rate competitiveness and foreign exchange reserve accumulation morphing into undue monetary laxity, excessive credit growth, asset price inflation, income inequalities, and malign financial imbalances similar to those built up in the advanced economies pre-2007.”
Many emerging market countries assumed that high commodity prices would last for ever. They spent up to their income, and then some. They now have a twin deficit problem: they are running budget and current account deficits. Capital flowed into emerging markets when zero interest rates in the west set off a search for higher yield in markets that were seen as a bit riskier but still safe. Now those markets are seen as not nearly so safe as they were and a lot riskier than the west.
There are two silver linings to this cloud. The first is that the renewed drop in oil prices will boost the spending power of consumers and cut business costs. The second is that the Fed looks ever more likely to delay its first rate rise from September to December. In part, that’s because of what’s happening in the financial markets. In part, it’s because the dollar is rising on the foreign exchanges, which has the same effect on the economy as an increase in interest rates, by making exports dearer and imports cheaper.
The question investors have to answer is whether this is enough to prevent a stock market correction from turning into a bear market, which is where shares fall by 20%. Should they take heed of the second part of the old saw and come back into the market once the last classic of the flat racing season has been run at Doncaster in the second week of September? Only the brave will consider it. It looks a bigger gamble than a flutter on the St Leger.Almost everyone knows the "Caroline's star"* by now. It's this bright new star, with a vertical streak, that is visible from every corner of New Eden.
* the screenshot of the new star was first published on Twitter by Caroline Grace. Both CCP and players quickly adopted "Caroline's star" as the name for this phenomenon.
But there is more to it than just a few pixels on the sky. It seems that the recent supernova in Jovian space has destroyed almost all stargates in the following regions: A821-A, J7HZ-F and UUA-F4.
Data mining only confirms these findings. When you queried EVE SDE database for Phoebe for jumps between systems in Jove space, you would get 546 jump connections:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM `eve_pho100_dbo`. `mapSolarSystemJumps` WHERE `fromRegionID` IN ( 10000004, 10000017, 10000019 )
546
But now, when you open your map in game and set all jump lines to be shown, you will notice there is no jump connections in Jove space anymore! Also please notice how the epicenter pinpointed by NPCs players in this ingame news item happens to be exactly in the middle of the cleared area.
Querying Rhea Static Data Export only confirms this:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM `eve_rhe100_dbo`. `mapSolarSystemJumps` WHERE `fromRegionID` IN ( 10000004, 10000017, 10000019 )
32
Warning: wild speculation follows
This answers the question why CCP has removed Jovian graphical assets from the game earlier this year. There are no Jovians left. I am probably safe to say that by now all the Jove are gone!
This also let's me believe that the whole "Stargate Building" thing shown by CCP Seagull during the last Fanfest will most likely happen in the post-Jovian regions of space. Of course nothing has been confirmed byt the CCP yet.
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EmailFree online courses to help Australians boost their digital skills Is there someone in your business who’d like to get better at using computers and technology? Tell them about Be Connected! Last updated:
Be Connected is a new program to help all Australians increase their skills and confidence with digital technology.
They have courses to cater for absolute beginners –so if you have someone in your life or business who could use some help with their digital skills, recommend Be Connected!
Be Connected courses
The website has a range of online courses to help anyone get started in using digital technology.
Some of the topics covered include how to:
understand the difference between a computer, laptop, tablet and smartphone
use basic functions on different devices
understand the internet and getting started online
stay safe online and tips to avoid being scammed
shop safely online
make video calls and engage on social media.
There are also new topics on the way, such as how to sell online and how to manage your data usage to avoid expensive bills.In late October, Eddie Rodriguez and his band Los Volcanes were in their label's home base of Corpus Christi, performing Tejano music on Spanish-language television. Save for a handful of suburban clubs, Tejano is an afterthought in the 42-year-old Rodriguez's adopted hometown of Seattle (he's a Brownsville native). But in South Texas, conjunto, the accordion-heavy subgenre of Tejano music and Los Volcanes' specialty, is huge.
A couple weeks after returning home to Normandy Park, a suburb near the Seattle airport, Rodriguez, who sings lead and plays accordion in Los Volcanes, received a call on his cell phone marked "private." Typically, Rodriguez lets private calls go to voice mail, but this time he picked up.
The caller asked Rodriguez to identify himself. He did, and in turn the man on the other end of the line identified himself as Neil Diamond.
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Rodriguez naturally suspected the call to be a hoax. But eventually, he became convinced that he "was talking to a living legend," and asked Diamond if he was sure he had "the right Eddie." According to Rodriguez, Diamond informed him that he'd recently been in Texas performing and doing charitable work, and happened to catch an airing of a Los Volcanes performance on TV.
Diamond played Houston October 14, but there were sufficient holes in his schedule a few weeks later to where he could have returned; Los Volcanes' late-October TV taping was just the most recent of many. Diamond and Rodriguez then spent several minutes discussing the particulars of conjunto, a conversation that ended with Diamond asking Rodriguez if he could send him "some demos."
Rodriguez had his label, Hacienda Records, oblige.
A couple weeks passed before Rodriguez received a second call from Diamond. This time, he informed Rodriguez that there was soon to be a tribute concert in his honor in Los Angeles, and that Diamond was interested in Rodriguez's four-piece playing the gig. But first, Diamond would need Los Volcanes to cut another demo: "Red, Red Wine" — with half the lyrics sung in Spanish and the other half in English.
Rodriguez and his son, Sean, Los Volcanes' drummer, had converted their basement into a recording studio, so laying the track down wasn't a problem. However, says Rodriguez, "I couldn't get a songwriter to give me the lyrics in Spanish, so I did it [myself]."
After shipping the demo to Diamond's people, there remained but one more hurdle to clear: a backstage meeting with Diamond before his January 8 show at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. But as it turned out, a key portion of Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland was closed that week due to flooding. Trains were also canceled, making any form of ground transport impossible.
Rodriguez panicked. He placed a call to Diamond's production coordinator, Same Cole, on the morning of January 8, explaining the circumstances.
"I said, 'Sam, you're not going to believe this,' and he says, 'No, I do believe it — I'm watching the news,'" recalls Rodriguez, who says Cook then got him a seat on a Horizon Air flight so he could make the scheduled rendezvous.
Once at the Rose Garden, Rodriguez was escorted to a backstage area where Diamond was due to eat lunch.
"[Diamond] came in with three guys," says Rodriguez. "He had a wonderful hat on that made me think of Daniel Boone — the raccoon hat that he wore. He walked right up to me, shook my hand and said, 'Eddie, finally we get to meet.' He said, 'This is meant to be, you have to realize that. I go with my spiritual feeling, and I'm going to take you with me to California.'"
Friday, Los Volcanes will perform "Red, Red Wine" at the Los Angeles Convention Center alongside Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Tim McGraw, among others. Each act will perform Neil Diamond songs as part of a red-carpet gala honoring Diamond as MusiCares' 2009 Person of the Year. (MusiCares is a recording industry charity that provides assistance to musicians in need, and Diamond is being recognized for his philanthropic work on behalf of Hurricane Ike victims.) The event is a precursor to this Sunday's Grammy Awards, held at the Staples Center.
If only the story were this simple, it would be the musical equivalent of Rocky. But there's a conflicting account of how Diamond came into contact with Rodriguez that's been making the rounds, one that's been shared on condition of anonymity by sources close to the event. To hear them tell it, when Diamond called Rodriguez, he thought he was dialing another Eddie: Vedder, who made a memorable appearance in Song Sung Blue, a documentary about a husband-and-wife Diamond cover band called Thunder and Lightning that screened at the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival. Diamond's camp and MusiCares declined to comment for the record, and MusiCares would neither confirm nor deny that Los Volcanes were on the bill.
As the alternate version goes, Diamond and Rodriguez each spent several minutes trying to figure out who the other person was. When Diamond realized he had the wrong Eddie, rather than apologizing and calling the right Eddie, he decided to give Los Volcanes the shot of a lifetime.
Rodriguez believes Diamond knew who he was talking to all along. But early in their conversation, Rodriguez remembers Diamond uttering the words, "I'm not calling Eddie Vedder." Whether this was meant as a statement of reassurance (as Rodriguez believes) or confusion is unclear.
What is known is that Diamond invited Vedder to play the same gig — a request that, according to Pearl Jam spokesperson Nicole Vandenberg, was declined due to a scheduling conflict.
That Los Volcanes will be in Los Angeles to perform Friday, though, is thankfully not in dispute.LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Nick Markakis never hit lower than fourth in the lineup during his first season with the Braves in 2015, and Adonis Garcia never hit between Freddie Freeman and Markakis in any of the myriad lineups used by Fredi Gonzalez.
But considering the Braves were the lowest-scoring team in the majors, it shouldn’t be surprising that Gonzalez is ready to try something different this season, especially after what Garcia showed during his first half-season in the majors.
Gonzalez has been using Garcia in the cleanup spot in recent spring-training games, batting him between veteran left-handed hitters Freeman, in his usual No. 3 position, and Markakis in the 5-hole.
“I’m tinkering, you know?” Gonzalez said before Thursday night’s game against the Phillies. “Just so we can break up those left-handers a little bit. In a perfect world I would like to have a right-hander hitting behind Freeman. I like to separate those lefties. And I think that Garcia is a guy who’s capable of being able to scare the opponent a little bit.”
Garcia, as a 30-year-old rookie in 2015, hit.277 with 10 homers and a.497 slugging percentage in 198 plate appearances over 58 games. That included a robust.328 (19-for-58) with five homers and a.638 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers.
“We’re hoping that 10 home runs in 200 at-bats could turn into 18 or 20 in 400 at-bats, or 400-plus at-bats,” Gonzalez said. “That’s the reason I’ve kept him in that position (this spring) more often than not.”
The Braves plan to use Garcia as their primary third baseman, with Kelly Johnson likely to get some starts against tough right-handers.
A Cuban defector and former Yankees minor leaguer, Garcia signed with the Braves as a minor league free agent on April 7, 2015, six days after being released by the Yankees. His 10 homers in 198 plate appearances with the Braves were more than Garcia hit in any minor league season with the Yankees, and seven more than he had in 350 PAs with Triple-A Gwinnett last season.
He followed up his breakthrough performance with Atlanta by hitting.370 with 12 extra-base hits (three hoemrs) and a.948 OPS in 36 games (149 plate appearances) in the Venezuelan winter league.
Gonzalez said he’s limited Garcia’s at-bats lately and given him more rest lately, after the player got about 775 plate appearances combined in the 2015 minor and major league season, plus winter league and the winter-ball postseason (he played for Eddie Perez-managed Venezuela in the Caribbean World Series).
“This guy played all year last year, went to winter ball (in Venezuela) and played two months there, and I didn’t want this to fizzle out come June,” Gonzalez said. “So we’ve been backing him off, just get two at-bats, take a day off, two days off, another two at-bats. It’s a fine line, really, to try and keep him locked in and try and keep him fresh for the long haul.”For some Spurs, tattoos have deep meanings — others not so much
Who on the Spurs sports ink? Who on the Spurs sports ink? Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 47 Caption Close For some Spurs, tattoos have deep meanings — others not so much 1 / 47 Back to Gallery
This is the tattoo culture of the San Antonio Spurs — lots of ink, with deep meaning for players such as LaMarcus Aldridge, David West, Rasual Butler, Jonathon Simmons and even Tim Duncan.
Style is important. But it isn’t the only reason behind many of the tattoos. There is a fair amount of history behind the drawings.
Rasual Butler
Family is the theme behind many of his designs.
Butler recalled his first design, something he got while attending a tattoo party in his hometown of Philadelphia. It reads “Sual,” which is short for his first name.
Butler was 16 at the time, and was concerned his grandfather, Robert Toomer, would discover the tattoo on his left arm. Butler shared a tight bond with his grandfather and thought Toomer would be upset at the decision to get the tattoo without getting permission.
“I covered it for a while, but I knew when I came to the game he was going to see it,” Butler said. “He was like, ‘You got a tattoo? When did you do that? I didn’t sign off.’
“He liked that we would talk about things. (Toomer said), ‘Why did you want to do it?’ I didn’t really know why I wanted to do it. I just knew I wanted a tattoo.”
When Butler was 17, his daughter Raven was born. He got a tattoo of Raven’s name on the right side of his arm. Right below it is her birthday: March 20, 1998.
Butler plans to have more kids. When he does, he said he will get each name tattooed on his ribs.
“That’s going to be a little painful,” he said.
Added Butler: “All my tattoos mean something. I just don’t have any randomness on my body. It has meaning to me.”
Asked which tattoo had the deepest meaning, Butler pointed to the one that involved his parents. Butler’s mother Cheryl, and father Felix Cheeseborough.
The tattoo is of a human heart located on Butler’s lower left arm. That tattoo is detailed, with arteries coming from the heart, and the message, “My lifeline,” written above. His mother’s name is at the top of the tattoo, “pumping blood into the heart,” while his father is in the middle.
“It says C-H-E-R-Y-L,” Butler explained. “The Y is attached to the heart to keep the heart alive.”
Butler then pointed to the part of the tattoo involving his father, who died when Butler was 8 years old.
More Information Tattoo-less Spurs There is plenty of ink in the Spurs’ locker room. But the body-drawing trend doesn’t include everyone. Reserve forward Boris Diaw has a tattoo-free body. “Why would I?” he said. “I have no reason to.” Joining Diaw in the no-ink club are several of his international teammates — Tony Parker, Patty Mills and Boban Marjanovic — along with Kyle Anderson. “I’m scared of needles, so I don’t have time for it,” Anderson said. Marjanovic said he could see himself getting a ring tattoo on his finger should he get married one day. But Anderson couldn’t be sold on the idea. He looked at tattooed teammate Johnathon Simmons and was told about how body art could be used for creative self expression. Anderson just shook his head no. “It’s cool,” said Anderson, “but it’s just not my style.” Jabari Young
“This says, ‘Your death wasn’t in vain because your blood runs through mine’ for my father,” Butler said. “It’s the connection between my mom and my dad. … This (tattoo) is my favorite one. It means the most. It’s the deepest because it’s for my dad who is gone, but my mom is represented in it and so am I.”
Butler is not concerned about how his tattoos will look a generation from now.
“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “For this time of my life, that’s what I wanted to do. It’s about right now. I don’t know what my story is going to be. I don’t know — people don’t like to talk about it — but you don’t know how long you’re going to live. … When I got these tattoos, they all meant something to me. They were at specific times when I needed to express myself and to remember some things, and have some visuals of it. They are tributes basically.”
On a sad note, another tribute will be needed.
Days after he was interviewed, Butler’s grandfather died. Butler said he will pay tribute to Toomer with another tattoo.
“Absolutely,” Butler confirmed. “I got to.”
LaMarcus Aldridge
Tattoos have deep meaning to Aldridge too, especially the one on his left arm that reads “Faith.”
“If I didn’t have faith, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “God kept me confident. God kept me working hard; helped me believe that I belonged here. Coming from where I come from, a lot of people don’t graduate, much less make it to the NBA.”
“Truly Blessed” is designed on Aldridge’s right arm. It’s a tattoo he got while in the 11th grade.
The tattoo triggers a trip down memory lane. The 30-year-old recalled his recruiting status (five-star, No. 16 in the nation in 2004) after playing at Seagoville High School in the Dallas area. Aldridge remembered the process that led him to the University of Texas and said he feels fortunate to be able to play the game he loves, which also allows him to take care of his family on the financial front.
“I just feel like I was blessed,” Aldridge said. “That’s just something I wanted to put out there.”
Aldridge’s chest and back are also covered — the most significant designs again dealing with faith.
“All my tattoos are thought out,” Aldridge said. “I’ve never got a tattoo on a whim. … Most of my tattoos have meaning and (are about) faith. Some guys just go get tattoos because it’s fun, but I didn’t do that.”
Tim Duncan
He put a lot of thought into most of what he estimated are his seven or eight tattoos. It wasn’t always this way, though.
At the end of his first season at Wake Forest, sometime in 1994, Duncan accompanied a few teammates to a tattoo parlor. He figured since he made the trip, he might as well get some body ink.
“I just kind of went with one of the wall pictures and picked something I liked,” Duncan recalled.
The first tattoo placed on the player they call the “Big Fundamental” was legendary magician Merlin.
“It just kind of caught my eye when I was there,” he said. “It wasn’t creative at first, but as you grow into it, you kind of figure out what you want and how you want to do it.”
Among the other tattoos on Duncan: a jester’s head, and the names of his children — Sydney and Draven — designed as anagrams on each wrist.
Duncan had his latest tattoo done over the summer. It covers the right side of his back. This particular tattoo, which required Duncan to sit through a few hours of pain, consists of “different mechanical parts, like biomechanics.”
Asked if he would complete his entire back, Duncan said no. “That’s a lot of pain.”
The 39-year-old isn’t finished, either. Duncan said he plans to continue exploring designs, but is currently taking a break.
“At some point I will (get more tattoos),” he said. “I’ll see something along the way, start putting some ideas together and kind of customize it around that.”
Right now, though, his focus is on leading the Spurs to their sixth championship.
David West
The Spurs newcomer has about a dozen tattoos on his 6-foot-9, 250-pound frame.
The piece of body art that adorns West’s chest is an Ankh, an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph with various meanings related to life. It’s one of his favorites.
“Just another expression,” West explained. “I haven’t gone overboard. I try to keep them coverable.”
Jonathon Simmons
Simmons is the opposite of West. Simmons’ upper body is awash in tattoos, especially the top of his arms, which are covered in flames. The design is unique, so the assumption was there was some reasoning behind this particular art.
That assumption was incorrect, though.
Simmons shrugged, and said the fire flames were just fill-ins, something to put on his body for fun. The design is plain, with no coloring to allow the flames to stand out.
“I’m too dark for that,” joked Simmons, who estimated he has 20 tattoos on his body.
Simmons’ first tattoo was his name, a design he labeled “weak,” prompting him to get more. He explained the pain centered around the tattoo’s location — on his collarbone.
“It’s not that fun getting a needle in your skin, especially some places,” he said. “(The pain) has you about to cry. Not literally cry, but almost.”
jyoung@express-news.net
Twitter: @JabariJYoungImage: Screengrab
Got time for a quick particle physics lesson? Dr. David Kaplan from John Hopkins University narrated this short video in Quanta Magazine explaining why symmetry in the natural world is so important to physicists.
Of course, "symmetry" in physics doesn't mean an object having two sides that mirror each other, but rather, a property of a system that remains the same even after you've transformed the whole system in some way. Understanding which properties of nature are symmetrical is how we make educated guesses about phenomenon we can't observe but which must exist, like the Higgs Boson, which was theorized in 1964 but wasn't confirmed to exist until 2013.
The video is short and accessible, and provides a good example of how much of what we're sure we know about nature is based on filling in the blanks of previous observations.Thought Google had a mountain-sized stack of your up close and personal online habits? Think again, because the omnipresent search king's all-seeing eyes are nothing compared to the Chinese government, which recently enacted stricter regulations to identify free WiFi users. The government-issued monitoring software will cost the cafes and restaurants it targets $3,100, putting small business owners in a sticky situation -- pay up, or shut down the free surfing. An informal survey conducted by the New York Times found not one owner willing to bow to the Republic's pressure, citing the out-of-pocket cost and low number of actual users. It's possible the move to clamp down on anonymous browsing was spurred by recent youth-embraced, social networking -backed uprisings, like the one in Cairo earlier this year. Seems a loophole in China's net management policy allows "laptop- and iPad-owning colleges students and expatriates" -- the very same group behind recent revolts -- to go online undetected. It remains to be seen if the Communist Party will make this new measure widespread, or just restrict it to central Beijing. For their sake, we echo one owner's hope that "official fervor [will]... soon die down."There's no getting around the fact that VR social networks usually make you look kind of silly. At best, you're a lower-resolution version of a Second Life avatar. At worst, you're a horrifying floating devil head. So before we go any further, look at the image above, understand exactly what you're getting into, and walk away if absolutely necessary. It's not going to convince anybody that virtual reality is finally hip.
If you're still reading, that shot is from AltspaceVR, an interesting little virtual world that's officially coming to Samsung's Gear VR today. As we've written before, AltspaceVR is something like Second Life, but it's focused almost exclusively on shared experiences rather than crafting or commerce. The avatars above are stylized in order to avoid any dips into the uncanny valley, but they're surprisingly good at mimicking body language — on Gear VR, your virtual head turns alongside your real one, and you move around a room by staring at a space and tapping to teleport forward.
AltspaceVR can be used for casual socializing, but recently, it's best known for its events. Last year, it organized what was probably the world's first virtual reality Dungeons & Dragons tournament, and it invited journalists to participate in a virtual press conference to announce its Gear VR alpha testing. It regularly holds streaming parties for e-sports tournaments. More recently, it's hosted a virtual reality improv comedy night, and it keeps a calendar of future events on its website.
PC users have been able to use AltspaceVR for some time with the Oculus Rift DK2, and there's been limited testing of it on Gear VR. But this launch makes it far more broadly accessible. It will join a handful of other VR social apps that are currently in testing or released on Gear VR, including Oculus' own social experience and the vTime conferencing system.If you liked Flash Fill for Excel 2013, you're going to love Analyze for Excel. And if you're an Excel user who hasn't heard of either, read on.
Flash Fill is a feature baked into Excel 2013 that enables Excel to fill in information based on examples of what a user wants. As explained in a recent Microsoft Research write up, a user could type a correctly formatted example of names or numbers and FlashFill will automatically fill in the rows below the example with the same formatting. (Microsoft Research and the Office 2013 team worked together on the Flash Fill feature.)
Microsoft Researchers are now working on the follow-up act, known as Analyze for Excel. During a presentation at the recent Microsoft Research TechFest 2013 event -- the part that |
the Paris terror attacks, but the letter was condemned by sections of the Muslim community. Pickles was accused of treating Muslims as in some way “apart” from the rest of British society. Warsi says this reaction graphically illustrated the gulf that has grown between the coalition government and Muslims.
She says: “The reality is if you haven’t cultivated a friendship, if you haven’t fostered trust, then a letter out of the blue to a mosque… with whom government has refused to engage creates a climate where even the most benign of correspondence can become toxic.”
Warsi resigned as a senior Foreign Office minister in August last year, citing the government’s “morally indefensible” policy on Gaza. Her decision was seen as a heavy blow to Downing Street while bolstering her following among British Muslims, although she has waited until now to publicly share her frustrations over the government’s domestic approach to extremism.
“We needed to bring more people into the fold rather than increasingly adopt positions which pushed groups and individuals out to the fringe,” she says.
The government’s strategy towards the Muslim community meant links that might have helped combat extremism and tackle radicalisation have fallen away. Recently, the former head of MI5, Baroness Manningham-Buller, expressed doubts about plans to harden counter-terrorism laws warning that counter-radicalisation had to be led by moderate Muslims.
Warsi says: “We will all fight extremism better if we all feel like we are all in the same team.”
She voices her frustration at the refusal by the coalition to establish a Muslim equivalent of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) which arranges for community figures to share their views directly with the prime minister.
“I’ve argued for a long time that the prime minister should hold a similar event with Britain’s other major faith communities, but sadly this has not been forthcoming,” she says.
She also criticises the attitude of government ministers towards the cross-government anti-Muslim hatred working group, set up in 2012 to ensure Islamophobia receives the same support as previous campaigns to tackle antisemitism, anti-black racism and homophobia.As libertarians we spend much of our time worrying about the misuse of power at the federal level. Local government however can be just as abusive though. Student body governments in particular come to mind. Student body governments have evolved substantially from their humble origins as a way for students to stuff their resumes. Today many student governments have become quasi-private corporations with annual multi-million budgets. One of the reasons that tuition prices are going up is that student governments are increasing their taxes with little opposition. In defense of students, who has time to pay attention to campus politics in between examinations, partying, and other collegiate hijinks? Nominally these student governments are meant to represent the student body at large but, as most governments, they represent the interests of a few interest groups. This creates a strong incentive for redistribution of funds towards these interest groups. Members of student government for their part have a strong incentive to support public work projects, such as new buildings, that they can affix their names to.
If none of this were enough student governments have also increased their role as lobbies for greater subsidies to universities from the state and federal government. This upcoming year the California State Student Association (CSSA) is tackling a new tax, the Student Involvement and Representation Fee, to every one of the estimated 460,000 students in the California State University system. This fee will be used to “advocate for student access to an affordable, high quality education”. The fee itself is small, $2, and one can opt-out* but in principle it is disturbing that students are not only forced to pay for these politicians-in-training, but also have to pay so that these same individuals can lobby for more tax money.
If you are part of the California State University system, or know someone who does, I urge you to opt out of the fee. Opting out will do little to defund the CSSA’s efforts to lobby, but at minimum it will serve as a symbolic gesture that these student governments do not represent the interests of students and are nothing more than a training ground for politician larvae.
*To opt out follow the instructions here.The Treaty is often cited, in discussions regarding the role of religion in United States government, for a clause in Article 11 of the English language American version which states that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." A superseding treaty, the Treaty of Peace and Amity signed on July 4, 1805, omitted this phrase. [2] [3]
It was signed in Tripoli on November 4, 1796, and at Algiers (for a third-party witness) on January 3, 1797. It was ratified by the United States Senate unanimously without debate on June 7, 1797, taking effect June 10, 1797, with the signature of President John Adams.
The Treaty of Tripoli ( Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary ), signed in 1796, was the first treaty between the United States of America and Tripoli (now Libya ) to secure commercial shipping rights and protect American ships in the Mediterranean Sea from local Barbary pirates.
For three centuries up to the time of the Treaty, the Mediterranean Sea lanes had been preyed on by the North African Muslim states of the Barbary Coast ( Tripoli, Algiers, Morocco and Tunis ) through privateering (government-sanctioned piracy ). Hostages captured by the Barbary pirates were either ransomed or forced into slavery, contributing to the greater Ottoman slave trade (of which the Barbary states were a segment). Life for the captives often was harsh, especially for Christian captives, and many died from their treatment. Some captives "went Turk", that is, converted to Islam, a choice that made life in captivity easier for them. [4]
The first U.S. President, George Washington, appointed his old colleague David Humphreys as Commissioner Plenipotentiary on March 30, 1795, in order to negotiate a treaty with the Barbary powers.[8] On February 10, 1796, Humphreys appointed Joel Barlow and Joseph Donaldson as "Junior Agents" to forge a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship".[9] Under Humphreys' authority, the treaty was signed at Tripoli on November 4, 1796, and certified at Algiers on January 3, 1797. Humphreys reviewed the treaty and approved it in Lisbon on February 10, 1797.[9]
The official treaty was in Arabic text, and a translated version by Consul-General Barlow was ratified by the United States on June 10, 1797. Article 11 of the treaty was said to have not been part of the original Arabic version of the treaty; in its place is a letter from the Dey of Algiers to the Pasha of Tripoli. However, it is the English text which was ratified by Congress. Miller says, "the Barlow translation is that which was submitted to the Senate (American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 18-19) and which is printed in the Statutes at Large and in treaty collections generally; it is that English text which in the United States has always been deemed the text of the treaty."[10]
The Treaty had spent seven months traveling from Tripoli to Algiers to Portugal and, finally westward across the North Atlantic Ocean, to the United States, and had been signed by officials at each stop along the way. There is no record of discussion or debate of the Treaty of Tripoli at the time that it was ratified. However, there is a statement made by President John Adams on the document that reads:
President Adams' signing statement
Now be it known, That I John Adams, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the said Treaty do, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accept, ratify, and confirm the same, and every clause and article thereof. And to the End that the said Treaty may be observed, and performed with good Faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the premises to be made public; And I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office civil or military within the United States, and all other citizens or inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfill the said Treaty and every clause and article thereof.
Official records show that after President John Adams sent the treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification in May 1797, the entire treaty was read aloud on the Senate floor, and copies were printed for every Senator. A committee considered the treaty and recommended ratification. Twenty-three of the thirty-two sitting Senators were present for the June 7th vote which unanimously approved the ratification recommendation.[11]
However, before anyone in the United States saw the Treaty, its required payments, in the form of goods and money, had been made in part. As Barlow declared: "The present writing done by our hand and delivered to the American Captain O'Brien makes known that he has delivered to us forty thousand Spanish dollars,-thirteen watches of gold, silver & pinsbach,-five rings, of which three of diamonds, one of saphire and one with a watch in it, One hundred & forty piques of cloth, and four caftans of brocade,-and these on account of the peace concluded with the Americans."[1] However, this was an incomplete amount of goods stipulated under the treaty (according to the Pasha of Tripoli) and an additional $18,000 had to be paid by the American Consul James Leander Cathcart at his arrival on April 10, 1799.[12]
It was not until these final goods were delivered that the Pasha of Tripoli recognized the Treaty as official. In Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America by David Hunter Miller, which is regarded as an authoritative collection of international agreements of the United States between 1776 and 1937,[13] Hunter Miller describes, "While the original ratification remained in the hands of Cathcart... it is possible that a copy thereof was delivered upon the settlement of April 10, 1799, and further possible that there was something almost in the nature of an exchange of ratifications of the treaty on or about April 10, 1799, the day of the agreed settlement."[12] It is then that the Pasha declares in a Letter to John Adams on April 15, 1799, "Whereby we have consummated the Peace which shall, on our side, be inviolate, provided You are Willing to treat us as You do other Regencies, without any difference being made between Us. Which is the whole of what We have, at present, to say to You, wishing you at the same time the most unlimited prosperity."[12]
Article 11 Edit
Article 11 has been and is a point of contention in popular culture disputes on the doctrine of separation of church and state as it applies to the founding principles of the United States. Some religious spokesmen claim that—despite unanimous ratification by the U.S. Senate of the text in English which contained Article 11—the page containing Article 11 is missing from the Arabic version of the treaty.[12] The contemporaneous purpose of Article 11 was to make clear that the United States was a secular state[14] and to reassure the Muslims that the agreement was not with an extension of earlier Christian nations that took part in the Crusades.[15]
Article 11
Article 11 reads:
Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen (Muslims); and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan (Mohammedan) nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
According to Frank Lambert, Professor of History at Purdue University, the assurances in Article 11 were "intended to allay the fears of the Muslim state by insisting that religion would not govern how the treaty was interpreted and enforced. John Adams and the Senate made clear that the pact was between two sovereign states, not between two religious powers." Lambert writes,
By their actions, the Founding Fathers made clear that their primary concern was religious freedom, not the advancement of a state religion. Individuals, not the government, would define religious faith and practice in the United States. Thus the Founders ensured that in no official sense would America be a Christian Republic. Ten years after the Constitutional Convention ended its work, the country assured the world that the United States was a secular state, and that its negotiations would adhere to the rule of law, not the dictates of the Christian faith. The assurances were contained in the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797 and were intended to allay the fears of the Muslim state by insisting that religion would not govern how the treaty was interpreted and enforced. John Adams and the Senate made clear that the pact was between two sovereign states, not between two religious powers.[16]
Historian Anson Phelps Stokes' noted that "those who wished to deny that the United States as a government has any special regard for the Christian religion...[have ] almost invariably failed to call attention to the fact that the treaty was superseded, less than a decade later, by another 'Treaty of Peace and Amity,' signed in Tripoli June 4, 1805, in which the clause in question...is omitted."[17]
The treaty was printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and two New York papers, with only scant public dissent, most notably from William Cobbett.[18]
Later dissent Edit
A prominent member of Adams' cabinet, Secretary of War James McHenry, claimed that he protested the language of Article 11 before its ratification. He wrote to Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Jr., September 26, 1800: "The Senate, my good friend, and I said so at the time, ought never to have ratified the treaty alluded to, with the declaration that 'the government of the United States, is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.' What else is it founded on? This act always appeared to me like trampling upon the cross. I do not recollect that Barlow was even reprimanded for this outrage upon the government and religion."
Translation and Article 11 Edit
Miller's Investigation and Notes
The translation of the Treaty of Tripoli by Barlow has been questioned, and it has been disputed whether Article 11 in the English version of the treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate corresponds to anything of the same purport in the Arabic version.[19]
In 1931 Hunter Miller completed a commission by the United States government to analyze United States' treaties and to explain how they function and what they mean to the United States' legal position in relationship with the rest of the world.[20] According to Hunter Miller's notes, "the Barlow translation is at best a poor attempt at a paraphrase or summary of the sense of the Arabic" and "Article 11... does not exist at all."[12]
After comparing the United States' version by Barlow with the Arabic and the Italian version, Miller continues by claiming that:
The Arabic text which is between Articles 10 and 12 is in form a letter, crude and flamboyant and withal quite unimportant, from the Dey of Algiers to the Pasha of Tripoli. How that script came to be written and to be regarded, as in the Barlow translation, as Article 11 of the treaty as there written, is a mystery and seemingly must remain so. Nothing in the diplomatic correspondence of the time throws any light whatever on the point.[12]
From this, Miller concludes: "A further and perhaps equal mystery is the fact that since 1797 the Barlow translation has been trustfully and universally accepted as the just equivalent of the Arabic... yet evidence of the erroneous character of the Barlow translation has been in the archives of the Department of State since perhaps 1800 or thereabouts..."[12] However, as Miller noted:
It is to be remembered that the Barlow translation is that which was submitted to the Senate (American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 18-19) and which is printed in the Statutes at Large and in treaty collections generally; it is that English text which in the United States has always been deemed the text of the treaty.[12]
However the Arabic and English texts differ, the Barlow translation (Article 11 included) was the text presented by the President and ratified unanimously in 1797 by the U.S. Senate following strict Constitutional procedures. According to the American legal scholar Francis Wharton the original document was framed by an ex-Congregational preacher.[21]It is now a year since I enthusiastically became an early adopter of the Apple Watch. I still wear it every day, although the device has become something rather different to me now. It is not a wow product any longer, the thing I look forward to playing around with on my commute. That part of the experience lasted only a few days. Instead, it has become that quiet companion, the friend who taps me on the the wrist every now and then to tell me something useful. The Watch is the least 'in your face' gadget in Apple's product line. Indeed, I seldom notice it until I can't use it, for example if I forget to bring a charger to my mum's house when I stay over for a visit. I then feel a little lost without it. The Apple Watch, the gadget that started out as a luxury item that I hardly needed but soooo craved, has become indispensable.
Here is what I use my watch for, one year on:
I pay for nearly everything under £30, using Apple Pay.
I commute on the London transport network, using buses, overground and underground rail, and use my watch to touch in and touch out. Indeed, there are days where I don't even see my wallet. London has become an Apple Pay Mecca.
I set timers for everything, whether for the oven or when my students are working under exam conditions and I need to remember to tell them to stop.
The notifications I receive on my watch help me to triage texts. I have turned off notifications for emails because it felt like work was everywhere, including on my wrist, and no one needs that kind of stress!
I get news updates.
I check the temperature before I leave the house to help me decide which coat to wear.
I look at what time it is, which is infinitely more convenient than checking on a phone.
I vary the look of the watch by swapping bands. I love the classic and modern buckles, but also use the sport band on occasion.
When I lose my phone, I activate an alarm to find it, performed with a simple swipe up
I track my steps, if not everyday then most days.
All this essential-ness has not blinded me to some of the more disappointing aspects, and those areas that I think are in need of addressing, either through a software update or the Apple Watch 2 that will likely debut later this year. First and foremost, I think the app-based model is not really appropriate for such a small device. If Apple must continue with this model, then it needs to find a more accessible way for users to interact with them, perhaps via a click wheel format similar to the way contacts are accessed. Moreover, Siri is not great, especially when compared to how fantastic it is on the new Apple TV. I do feel that left handers were an afterthought here, given that the microphone is pointed away from the body when the watch is placed on the right wrist. You can of course turn the watch upside down but that just looks silly.
The device in general is just too slow. Even basic functions like entering your passcode appears sluggish. I don't think it works particularly well as a communication device, although I have taken the odd phone call on it. The watch is at best a reactive rather than proactive tool in this domain. Again, better Siri and voice dictation could help. In addition, the price remains a problem - I am still unsure that the stainless steel option provides good value for money.
The fitness rings are useful but no longer motivational. Apple needs to draw me in again with a few alternative ways to encourage me to exercise. I know, I know, I shouldn't need a tech company to persuade me to lose weight! The TV app is rubbish - I hear a new one is in the works. It couldn't come soon enough. Finally, battery life is good but could be better.
Yet, despite all these complaints, the benefits far outweigh the faults. It is a device that has ever-so gradually integrated itself into my daily routine, so much so that I have re-thought what I say to people who are considering buying one: 'No one needs an Apple Watch', now has the caveat 'but if you get one you will'.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
July 19, 2013, 9:30 PM GMT By Laura Poppick
Two Persian leopard cubs were born in a Russian national park last week for the first time in 50 years, according to a statement from the World Wildlife Fund. The species is endangered.
The Persian leopard is one of the largest leopard subspecies, and the beasts once heavily roamed southwest Russia's Caucasus Mountains and the surrounding region along the southern Caspian Sea.
But heavy poaching and habitat loss in the 20th century landed the animal on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's endangered species list, with only about 1,290 adults now believed to be alive in the wild.
The two newborns were bred at the Persian Leopard Breeding Rehabilitation Center in Sochi National Park, in an effort to help reintroduce the population to the wild. The cubs' parents joined the center in 2012 from Portugal's Lisbon Zoo.
The youngsters are about 6 inches long (15 centimeters), and probably weigh only about 1.5 pounds (700 grams), though the center staff has not yet handled the animals to avoid disturbing them, the head of the breeding center said in a statement.
Leopard cubs typically remain in their den for about two months, feeding on partially digested meat from their mother at first, and eventually developing their own hunting skills.
Those involved in the rehabilitation effort hope this birth could provide a small step forward for the species.
"They will be released into the wild after learning surviving skills, and will start a new population of leopards in the Caucasus Mountains," Natalia Dronova, the World Wildlife Fund's Russian species coordinator, said in a statement.
Follow Laura Poppick on Twitter. Follow LiveScience on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article on LiveScience.NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Danica Patrick prior to the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Patrick finished 39th and the rating was up slightly. (Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) Story Highlights Danica Patrick is focused on NASCAR and isn't interested in testing a Formula One car
Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone recently said the series would welcome Patrick
Patrick said Ecclestone is now a major supporter after once comparing her with a domestic appliance
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Danica Patrick politely rebuffed Bernie Ecclestone's suggestion she race in his series but also seemed amused by the courtship of the Formula One honcho, who infamously disparaged her eight years ago.
"I did see Bernie's comments; they sounded complimentary," Patrick said Friday morning at Bristol Motor Speedway. "It looked like he was kind of acknowledging my ability to drive a car. So, that was kind."
EXCLUSIVE: Danica could change racing on, off track
In an interview on the F1 website in advance of this weekend's season opener at Australia, Ecclestone was asked whether Formula One would have a female driver on par with Patrick within a few years. Ecclestone said he thought the series had the appeal to lure Patrick from the Sprint Cup Series.
"There should be no reason why not, providing that we find a team to take her," he told the website. "Danica would be good to have with one of the teams now. All the things that people worry about -- whether a woman can cope with the G-forces and all that -- she has proven that she can. She's been there and done it. What I think -- and I cannot blame her for it -- is that she will hardly want to give up the exposure she has in the U.S. to come here and maybe not make it."
Indeed, Patrick, who recently became the first woman to win a Sprint Cup pole position and the first to lead the Daytona 500, said she wouldn't test a car unless she was serious about making the switch from NASCAR's premier series, where she is three races into her rookie season.
PHOTOS: Danica Patrick's NASCAR career
"Honestly, I've always said that unless it would be something that I'd want to do for real, as in race a Formula One car, I don't see any point in testing it," said Patrick, who raced in a Formula One ladder series in Europe before entering the Izod IndyCar Series in 2005. "It's a lot of work to get fitted in the car comfortable enough to be able to go drive it. Then as a driver, for me at least, I run the risk of 'What if it doesn't go well?' Then people judge me for that. Unless it was something I was really serious, I wouldn't do."
It's nothing personal, even though Ecclestone said in 2005 that "women should be all dressed in white like all other domestic appliances" when asked about Patrick becoming the first female driver to lead the Indianapolis 500. He later repeated the comment in a phone call to Patrick that apparently was intended as an apology.
Patrick said Friday that Ecclestone since has become a big supporter over the years.
"Bernie has actually sent a lot of messages," she said. "Any kind of big high point that happens in my career, whether it be at Indy or Daytona now, or winning in Japan (in IndyCar). He even sent me a big picture signed by him one time. He's actually been really nice. I don't necessarily think that his comments a long while back are representative of maybe his opinion of me."
She still gets a kick out of it, though.
"I tell you what: I do love domestic appliances," she said. "I love to cook. I love to be in the kitchen. So that's flattering. Those utensils are very important in my life."
Follow Nate Ryan on Twitter @nateryanTimothy A. Carey began his professional life as a preschool teacher. He then obtained a Graduate Diploma in Special Education for the Severely to Profoundly Multiply Handicapped and taught in special schools. His training in special education provided him with the opportunity to focus on
behavior management. He began working as a behavior management advisory teacher in primary schools and then secondary schools assisting both teachers and students to negotiate their school days more satisfactorily. While never relinquishing his passion for teaching, he pursued undergraduate and then postgraduate studies in psychology at the University of Queensland. Along the way he got married in Las Vegas and rode shotgun in a helicopter through the Grand Canyon to start his honeymoon. He also watched the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge as the 20th Century came to an end.
His PhD research investigated the obscure but dramatically important topic of countercontrol-something first mentioned by B. F. Skinner-culminating in the award of a PhD in Clinical Psychology. From that research he has published articles on countercontrol with his friend Tom Bourbon. He has also published a book about a school discipline process with his wife Margaret and has published other articles as well, mostly about the Method of Levels.
With a shiny new PhD he travelled half way round the world to work as a clinical psychologist in Scotland where he set about learning as much as he could about the Method of Levels.
After almost 5 years in Scotland he returned to Australia to take up a position as Course Convenor of the postgraduate clinical psychology program at the University of Canberra. He had obtained an MSc in Statistics at the University of St Andrews while he was in Scotland and he had conducted a series of studies with colleagues about the use of the Method of Levels in clinical practice. This work continues through collaborations he established with colleagues at the University of Manchester. At the University of Canberra, Tim supervised students in both research and clinical practice while the students were completing a Master of Clinical Psychology degree and he taught courses about professional psychological practice and advanced counseling psychology.
He spent nearly 3 years in Canberra before the opportunity to extend his skills and apply his knowledge in new areas arose again. He now holds the position of Associate Professor in Mental Health through the Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. In this position he also works with the Central Australia Mental Health Service. Being able to blend research and clinical practice is one of his favorite things and the challenge of helping to find ways to provide best practice health services in remote Australia is exciting and important.Do Africa's leaders support democracy?
Not according to the results of the African Union summit that closed in Equatorial Guinea on Friday.
The AU summit, held Thursday and Friday in Malabo, indicates that Africa's rulers are more concerned with supporting themselves than in empowering their people to make freely democratic choices.
The question of how the AU should cope with the problem of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi completely dominated the summit.
The African leaders decided that the 53 member nations should not carry out a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for the arrest of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
They said the ICC warrant "seriously complicates the efforts aimed at finding a negotiated political settlement to the crisis in Libya" and would not appropriately deal with outstanding issues of "impunity and reconciliation."
To be fair, the African leaders who assembled for the summit in Malabo, hotly debated the issue into Friday night. Some African leaders were in favor of taking action against Gaddafi and siding with ICC.
But, as expected, they came out in favor of Gaddafi, one of their own. After all, Gaddafi was the driving force in founding the African Union in 2002, which was really re-branding the Organization of African Unity. Gaddafi donated millions of Libya's oil money to the African Union's operating budget year after year. So it is not surprising that the AU decided against enforcing the ICC arrest warrant.
The AU decision means that Gaddafi will be able to travel freely across the continent without fear of being arrested and sent to the Hague.
The African Union similarly refused to act on an arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2009 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The AU went further Friday to defend Bashir. It urged the U.N. Security Council to intervene to stop the ICC's action against Bashir "in the interests of justice and peace" in Sudan.
And it absolved Chad, Kenya and Djibouti of any wrongdoing for having received Bashir since the warrant against him was issued, saying they were "acting in pursuit of peace and stability in their respective regions."
The African leaders complained that the ICC appeared to be targeting the continent, said African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping, after the summit.
"We support the fight against impunity, we do not support impunity, we are not even against the Criminal Court," he said. "We are against the way justice is being rendered because... it looks as if this ICC is only interested in trying the Africans," he said, referring to decisions by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
"Does this mean that in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Gaza, in Chechnya, there is nothing happening there?" asked Ping. "It is not only in Africa that there are problems. So why no one else except the Africans are being tried and judged by this court?"
Ping has a point. The only ICC arrest warrant out against a sitting head of state is for an African leader, Sudan's Bashir. And one of the most prominent trials is against former Liberian leader Charles Taylor. Sure the ICC has also taken action against former Serbian leaders, but it does appear that the ICC disproportionately concentrates its actions against African leaders. To boost its credibility, the ICC must be seen to be more even-handed in its prosecutions.
But the African Union could be a bit more discerning in its actions, too. Was Malabo the best choice for an AU summit? Not if the aim is to encourage decisions in favor of democracy and human rights. The regime of Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has a record of being one of Africa's worst human rights abusers.
Obiang started the summit by warning the international community to mind its own business and stay out of Africa's affairs. With an opening like that from the host, there is little surprise that the African Union summit decided to protect Gaddafi.About
ORIGIN OF THE ODDWERX SPECIES
What if your iPhone or Android phone, or iPod Touch was mobile and socially engaging? OLogic has created the Oddwerx platform to give you just that! The first prototypes debuted last year at Google's developer conference, Google I-O 2011. The initial feedback we received was, can it do more? We went back to the drawing board and made it modular so you could add wheels or tracks, and tied in lots of robotics research software. The Oddwerx was born. We have some great prototypes, you may have seen on CNET, the Daily Planet Show on Discovery Channel, or in the New Scientist. We need Kickstarter sponsors so the Oddwerx can evolve into a production ready-product.
THE BIG VISION
Autonomous consumer robotics has always been limited by computing resources. With the rise of the smartphone, it makes sense to leverage the computing power consumers already own by just turning the smartphone into a mobile robotic platform. As smartphones evolve into more powerful computing devices, robots will be able to evolve with them, since the bulk of the problem solving happens within the phone itself. Robots are the ultimate phone “appcessory”.
There are more details about the overall vision on the Oddwerx Blog: http://www.oddwerx.com/category/vision/
WHY KICKSTARTER?
To make a highly articulated robotic platform that can support carrying a wide array of smartphones and keep the unit costs down, the design screams for injection molded plastics. We are on Kickstarter to raise funds for the tooling and to build an initial run of robots!
WHAT DO YOU GET?
With your $99 pledge you get a Basic Kit to put together the Oddwerx Robot with tracks. You can get the extra parts to do the wheeled robot too for the $115 pledge, and then you can decide which you like best.
Why a kit you ask? Putting the robot together yourself is super easy, makes the robot more affordable and familiarizes you with the process of interchanging its parts. If you really want one pre-assembled, we have a higher pledge amount to cover the costs of doing it for you.
Here is a list of what will come in the box:
Plastic parts for the body, the track holders, sprockets and bogy wheels, and a pair of rubber tracks
A circuit board ready to install into the body
Screws and pins to hold everything together
Two servos used for the robot to be able to get up and down
Two metal gear motors for the drive train + wiring harness
One suction cup to hold the phone to the robot (This allows you to mount the phone to the robot in many different orientations)
Sticky Velcro dot to use instead of a suction cup, in case your phone has a funny, non-suctioncuppable back
Removable 3xAAA Battery Holder (You can use either alkaline or rechargeable cells. Since you can remove it, you could put your own LiPo cell in there instead)
WHY ODDWERX?
As you have probably noticed, there are a couple of “other” smartphone robots out there. Unlike the others, Oddwerx is designed completely from the ground up to be an expandable platform for developing autonomous robotics applications, that can socially engage, and be interactive. If you want an app that is simply an R/C vehicle with video, you can do this in a snap with Oddwerx, however you can do much-much more than that!
ODDWERX PLATFORM FEATURES:
Modular - Tracks and Wheels with interchangeable parts
- Tracks and Wheels with interchangeable parts Multi-Platform - Works with both iPhone and Android phones
- Works with both iPhone and Android phones Small Size - Small enough to fit in a big pocket
- Small enough to fit in a big pocket No wires required - Uses Bluetooth wireless to talk to the robot.
- Uses Bluetooth wireless to talk to the robot. Bi-Directional Data Communication - Since we use Bluetooth, we can read sensors on the robot and issue commands too
- Since we use Bluetooth, we can read sensors on the robot and issue commands too Extendable - Lots of sensors and accessories coming soon
- Lots of sensors and accessories coming soon Hackable - You can make your own sensors, or plastic accessories
- You can make your own sensors, or plastic accessories Developer Library - (more info below)
- (more info below) Support for Open Source and Advanced R&D Robotics
ODDWERX SMARTPHONE APP:
There is one main Oddwerx app that the robot works with right out of the box. This sample app is designed as a demonstration of some of the capabilities of the Oddwerx robot and shows how powerful the platform can be with a good app! Social robots are great. You can get some super ideas for what makes a good one work from the Personal Robotics Group at the MIT Media Lab.
There are two pre-loaded personalities to choose from:
Ike - A wild guy with a thirst for adventure, and romance
- A wild guy with a thirst for adventure, and romance Lucy - A sweet girl with sassy attitude
The apps use an advanced computer vision library combined with the onboard camera in the smartphone to maximize their interface with the world. They are designed to seek out human interaction through the use of face detection and face tracking combined with mobility.
SUPPORT FOR SERIOUS FUTURE EXPANSION:
The Oddwerx are built for expandability. What good is a robot that cannot be adapted to solving lots of highly specialized problems?
FUNCTIONAL ACCESSORIES: The electronics are expandable to add a variety of different sensor options:
Line Sensors for line following and edge detection ( This sensor is the only sensor currently available depending on your Kickstarter pledge level)
for line following and edge detection ( Obstacle Sensors for wall following and obstacle avoidance
for wall following and obstacle avoidance Wheel Encoders for distance measurement and wheel odometry
for distance measurement and wheel odometry Bump Sensors for interacting with the world in a tactile manner
for interacting with the world in a tactile manner Infrared Receiver/Transmitters for interacting remotes and other robots
for interacting rem |
and elsewhere.
Speaking Monday to tourists Monday in St. Peter’s Square, Francis cited massacres in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo as an example of bloodshed that too often has “no weight on worldwide opinion.” He said such massacres have “for some time been perpetrated in shameful silence, without even attracting our attention.”
He recalled the suffering of populations in many parts of the world who are “innocent victims of persistent conflicts.”
On Sunday officials said suspected rebels killed at least 36 people in northeastern Congo, spurring street protests against the ongoing violence. The rebel group has killed at least 500 civilians in the region since October 2014, a local rights group says.Radio-Waves Near Milky Way Core May Hold the Ultimate Proof of Dark Matter Posted on Jun 30, 2011 Twenty years ago, astronomers discovered a number of enigmatic radio-emitting filaments concentrated near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. These features initially defied explanation, but a new study of radio images of the Galactic center may point to their possible source. These mysterious "filaments" of radio-wave emission may hold the ultimate proof of the existence of dark matter, researchers have said. A new report suggests the filaments' emission arises from dark matter particles crashing into each other. (more…)
Five-Year Search leads to Discovery of the Most Distant Known Quasar Powered by a Black Hole Two Billion Times Mass of the Sun Posted on Jun 30, 2011 A team of astronomers has discovered the most distant quasar to date — a development that could help further our understanding of the universe when it was still in its infancy following the Big Bang. This brilliant and rare beacon, powered by a black hole with a mass two billion times that of the Sun, is by far the brightest object yet found from a time when the Universe was less than 800 million years old — just a fraction of its current age. The object that has been found, named ULAS J1120+0641, is around 100 million years younger than the previously known most distant quasar. It lies at a redshift of 7.1 which corresponds to looking back in time to a Universe that was only 770 million years old, only five per cent of its current age. Prior to this discovery, the most distant quasar known has a redshift of 6.4, the equivalent of a Universe that was 870 million years old. (more…)
Hacking DNA: Scientists Generate New Organisms Not Found in Nature Posted on Jun 30, 2011 An international team of researchers has now succeeded in generating a bacterium possessing a DNA in which thymine is replaced by the synthetic building block 5-chlorouracil (c), a substance toxic for other organisms. The genetic information of all living cells is stored in the DNA composed of the four canonical bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). (more…)
Image of the Day: A Spectacular Dwarf Galaxy Posted on Jun 30, 2011 This picture of the the dwarf spiral galaxy NGC 247 was taken using the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. NGC 247 is thought to lie about 11 million light-years away in the constellation of Cetus (The Whale). It is one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way and a member of the Sculptor Group. A team of astronomers is currently looking into the factors that influence celestial distance markers in a study called the Araucaria Project. The team has already reported that NGC 247 is more than a million light-years closer to the Milky Way than was previously thought, bringing its distance down to just over 11 million light-years. Apart from the main galaxy itself, this view also reveals numerous galaxies shining far beyond NGC 247. In the upper right of the picture three prominent spirals form a line and still further out, far behind them, many more galaxies can be seen, some shining right through the disc of NGC 247. This image below of NGC 247 was taken by Galaxy Evolution Explorer on October 13, 2003, in a single orbit exposure of 1600 seconds. The region that looks like a "hole" in the upper part of the galaxy is a location with a deficit of gas and therefore a lower star formation rate and ultraviolet brightness. Optical images of this galaxy show a bright star on the southern edge. This star is faint and red in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer ultraviolet image, revealing that it is a foreground star in our Milky Way galaxy. The string of background galaxies to the North-East (upper left) of NGC 247 is 355 million light years from our Milky Way galaxy whereas NGC 247 is a mere 9 million light years away. The faint blue light that can be seen in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer image of the upper two of these background galaxies may indicate that they are in the process of merging together. Credit: ESOTony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Point guard Rajon Rondo cashed in on July 3, agreeing to a deal with the Chicago Bulls. The team announced Rondo officially signed on Thursday.
Marc J. Spears of ESPN's The Undefeated reported the contract is a two-year, $28 million deal.
“We are very excited to add Rajon to our organization," Bulls general manager Gar Forman said in the Bulls' release. "He is a tremendous competitor and a championship-level player. He is a battle-tested veteran who has been an All-Star and NBA champion. He is a terrific distributor and playmaker who we feel be a great addition to our team.”
Rondo called Jimmy Butler, recently added Dwyane Wade and himself "three alphas" but said the Bulls are "Jimmy's team," per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
Rondo was fantastic in his lone season as a member of the Sacramento Kings, averaging 11.9 points on 45.4 percent shooting and a league-best 11.7 assists per game. He split the 2014-15 campaign between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, averaging only 8.9 points and 7.9 assists per contest in what wound up being one of the worst years of his career.
Rondo made the All-Star team every season from 2009-10 through 2012-13 with the C's. While he didn't earn that honor with the Kings in 2015-16, his per-game stats could have put him into consideration had the Kings been more successful.
It was difficult to know what to expect out of Rondo last season after the Mavs shut him down in the playoffs the previous year, but he often showed flashes of the player he was while leading Boston to an NBA title.
That didn't translate to a great campaign for the Kings from a wins-and-losses perspective—they finished the regular season 33-49—but he earned praise from many, including former Kings associate head coach Chad Iske, according to Jordan Schultz of the Huffington Post (h/t Shahbaz Khan of the Kings' official website): "He's got such leadership qualities. He sees the angles. He sees the shots that are going to open up ahead of time because he knows what's going to open up."
Despite Rondo's bounce-back campaign, there was still some skepticism regarding his value heading into free agency. ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon lumped him in with some less heralded free agents at the position:
Rondo isn't without his flaws, particularly as a shooter. He converted only 58 percent of his free-throw attempts in 2015-16, although his three-point shooting percentage was easily the best of his career at 36.5 percent.
His strength lies in breaking down defenders with his aggressiveness and finding the open man, which worked well for him in Sacramento last season. Bulls star Jimmy Butler should be excited to play alongside a pass-first point guard like Rondo.
DeMarcus Cousins and Rondo formed a dangerous inside-outside combination even in the face of turmoil, with since-fired head coach George Karl struggling to mesh with his players. While Rondo had synergy with Cousins, he ultimately decided to join the Bulls, who will be his fourth team in three seasons, rather than re-sign in Sacramento.
There is undoubtedly some risk involved on Chicago's end, especially after the manner in which Rondo's tenure with the Mavericks ended, but if he performs at the same level he did in 2015-16, he could prove to be a worthwhile investment.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.PHOENIX - A 12 News investigation has revealed that Phoenix Fire Marshal Jack Ballentine personally accepted a $100,000 check while on duty from a philanthropist whose business had failed its fire inspection 11 months earlier.
The money was a donation for the 100 Club of Arizona. Ballentine is a volunteer for the organization, his wife is operations manager and his son is a scholarship recipient.
As 12 News first reported on May 6, the City demoted Ballentine from his position as Fire Marshal and permanently reassigned him to the fire department's Homeland Security section. According to city communications director, Julie Watters, this demotion is one step below his current assignment and Ballentine was placed in a lower-level middle manager position completely removed from the Fire Prevention Division.
RELATED: Jack Ballentine’s disciplinary notice
The City of Phoenix Human Resources Department was assigned to investigate by the Integrity Line Committee, which includes City Manager Ed Zuercher, City Attorney Brad Holm, City Auditor Bill Greene and Toni Maccarone, special assistant to the City Manager. The probe was to determine whether Ballentine abused his position and engaged in conflicts of interest during the fire inspection approval process with local businesses, whether he pressured a business owner to make a donation to the charity and if Ballentine violated any laws, city rules and regulations by accepting the check.
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Although the City demoted Ballentine, the investigation concluded “there was no indication” that the business, the Madison Improvement Club, “received any special treatment in the Fire Marshal’s grant of a fire-code waiver.”
The investigation, conducted by Human Resources Supervisor Larry Lockley, Deputy Human Resources Director Fred Verdugo and Assistant City Attorney Micah Ray Alexander, concluded Ballentine violated the City's personnel rules and the Fire Department Rules of Conduct in his role as a public servant.
Ballentine's salary as Fire Marshal was $96,227. Watters told us in an email there is no immediate impact to his pay. "However, because it’s a lower salary range, the employee may see limited or no future pay increases as a result of the demotion and/or pay which would extend beyond the range of the new lower pay grade."
Watters says an Assistant Fire Chief will temporarily take over the role of Fire Marshal while the Fire Department conducts a national recruitment for the Fire Marshal position.
In August 2007, Ballentine went to work for the Phoenix Fire Department after retiring from the Phoenix Police Department, having served as a homicide detective. He would become director of the fire investigations unit.
Ballentine is well-known as an undercover detective who posed as a hitman for hire. He detailed his chameleon-like life in his book called "Murder for Hire." That book was published in 2009. Ballentine says the proceeds go directly to the 100 Club of Arizona, a charity that helps families of injured and fallen firefighters and police officers.
In 2012, Ballentine was named fire marshal.
He was placed on paid administrative leave in 2014 and the Arizona Department of Public Safety conducted a criminal investigation into a botched arson investigation by fire captains he directly supervised. DPS didn’t recommend criminal charges against Ballentine, but they did for the two fire captains. Subsequently, Ballentine was removed as director of the fire investigations unit.
RELATED: 12 News investigation 'Raked over the Coals'
For the second time in two years Ballentine’s ability to supervise those under him at the Phoenix Fire Department has been cast into serious doubt.
Do not occupy: Business fails fire inspection
On Sept. 20, 2012, the owners of the Madison Improvement Club failed their final fire inspection. The building located at 3802 East Indian School Road lacked a fire sprinkler system. Previously, the location had been a bingo parlor, before the buildings were turned into a yoga studio and restaurant.
Records show owners Mary Swanson and her son Andrew Varela asked for and received an after-hours visit from Ballentine the same day as the final inspection. Fire Protection Engineer Joe McElvaney also attended the meeting.
During his interview with HR investigator Larry Lockley, Ballentine said Swanson and her son were “very emotional” and “begged” for approval. Ballentine also said the owners indicated that if they could not open Sept. 28, 2012, they stood to lose tens of thousands of dollars due to costs associated with advertisements and that 70 employees would be left without jobs. Swanson and her husband Bob Jacques confirmed that was true in an email and letter to 12 News. It also went on to say:
“We understood at that time from our architects that our building was exempt from the standard City of Phoenix commercial requirements for sprinkler systems,” said Swanson. “Indeed, the City of Phoenix permitted our project without any plan for a sprinkler system. This was a great shock to us, given what we had been told before, including by the city.”
After-hours visit from fire marshal
In a written statement on Dec. 20, 2015, Ballentine said he agreed to allow the Madison Improvement Club immediate occupancy with a few stipulations. The owners had to hire a fire sprinkler architect to install fire sprinklers, and submit a plan with acceptable dates for installation and completion. They would also need to hire 24/7 fire watch until the project was approved and would only be allowed to serve cold food and drinks. McElvaney would oversee the project.
The HR investigation revealed no formal records were kept to make sure Swanson complied with the stipulations. However, Swanson would later tell investigators that she complied with the stipulations. The report shows, "One Fire Department staff member indicates that these inspections were completed, but no records exist to confirm this. The lack of documentation may create at least the appearance of favoritism."
It goes on to say, "But as Fire Marshal and as the Fire Department employee who granted the waiver, he had the obligation to not just “trust” Madison but also to “verify” that it complied with the stipulations. Therefore, he should have insisted — and ensured — that inspections were regularly conducted by a qualified inspector and that this information was documented in department records."
Records do show the owners appealed the failed fire inspection, but Ballentine denied it. Though the timeline appears to be in question during the city investigation. Ballentine blamed his administrative aide who he claimed was “performing below standards,” and was removed from her position.
The HR investigator wrote that “One day after his interview, Mr. Ballentine phoned me and confirmed that a formal appeal did occur involving the Madison Improvement Club. In addition, he indicated that during the timeframe in question, his assigned administrative aide was performing below standards and was ultimately removed from her position.”
The Madison Improvement Club opened its doors without delay on Sept. 28, 2012.
On Feb. 12, 2013, the Madison Improvement Club was re-inspected by the city after automatic fire sprinklers were installed throughout the building and passed the final inspection.
PHOTOS: Appearance of impropriety
(Story continues below.)
PHOTOS: Appearance of impropriety <p>Phoenix Fire Marshal Jack Ballentine in his office at the fire administration building.</p> <p>Madison Improvement Club, owned by Mary Swanson her husband Robert Jacques and her son Andrew Varela. </p> <p>Failed fire inspection fror the Madison Improvement Club.</p> <p>Jack Ballentine, a former homicide detective, wrote the book “Murder for Hire” at his fire department office. </p> <p>Jack Ballentine’s book, published in 2009, his story about being an undercover operative where he took on the role of murder conspirator. Ballentine says proceeds go to the 100 Club of Arizona. </p> <p>After failing its final fire inspection on September 20, 2012 the Madison Improvement Club was allowed to open its doors with stipulations on September 28, 2012. </p> <p>Check Phoenix Fire Marshal Jack Ballentine directly accepted from Mary Swanson on July 11, 2013.</p> <p>Jack Ballentine was hired by the Phoenix Fire Department in 2007 to manage the fire investigations unit. </p> <p>The Fire Marshal’s office is adorned with various photos from 100 Club of Arizona events including the Jason Schechterle Scholarship Ball. </p> <p>The fitness center Madison Improvement Club had housed the Amico Bingo Club for decades. </p> <p>After a career of undercover work, Ballentine turned public servant for the Phoenix Fire Department. </p>
Conflicting statements
Ballentine told the HR investigator Swanson and Jacques paid him a visit two months later, in April 2013. According to Ballentine, Jacques wanted to know about his career in law enforcement and “wanted to meet him personally for his support of their business opening.”
During the visit, the couple saw photos from various 100 Club events on Ballentine’s office walls, including the Jason Schechterle 100 Club Scholarship Ball.
Ballentine told the investigator that Swanson informed him she had a foundation and donated to various programs. Then, he told them about his involvement with the 100 Club of Arizona, and that he donated all of the proceeds from his book and income from speaking engagements to the charity.
Ballentine told the investigator he recommended that the couple consider donating to the 100 Club of Arizona if they wanted to donate to an honorable program. He said that he gave them materials for the Jason Schechterle Scholarship Program and contact information for the 100 Club of Arizona.
However, according to the report, Jacques said he had no recollection of this meeting and said there were no other meetings where the 100 Club was discussed. Ballentine told the investigator he didn’t know why Jacques couldn’t recall their discussion about the 100 Club of Arizona.
Ballentine collects $100,000 for a charity with family ties
Ballentine told the investigator that Swanson called him on July 11, 2013, and asked him to come to her business office to answer more questions about the 100 Club. He said he gave her materials about the 100 Club of Arizona and answered her questions, then Swanson wrote him a check from the Swanson Family Foundation to the 100 Club of Arizona for $100,000.
Ballentine said Swanson instructed him that the money was to go toward the scholarship program, and he told the investigator he gave the check directly to the 100 Club of Arizona.
However, where this transaction actually occurred is in dispute, according to the report. Phoenix Fire Battalion Chief Kelvin Bartee told the city investigator he was “100 percent certain” Ballentine told him the transaction occurred at city offices and not at Swanson’s business.
According to the investigator, Jacques indicated that his wife donated the money because she was “emotionally moved” after the deaths of 19 firefighters in the Yarnell Hill wildland fire on June 30, 2013.
Swanson later submitted a statement to investigators confirming that sentiment:
"In June 2013, my husband and I were, like so many people, moved by the tragedy of the Yarnell Fire. We wanted to do something to honor the memories of the 19 firefighters who died in that horrific event, and to help their families. I reached out to Mr. Ballentine, as a firefighter, to express my grief and to see if he had any thoughts on what we might be able to do. At that time, about five months after our dealings had ended with the Phoenix Fire Department, Mr. Ballentine suggested the 100 Club, saying that the club’s executive director could tell me more about what it did. Several days later, I received in the mail a 100 Club informational brochure and a phone call from the club’s executive director. After that, we did some independent research on the 100 Club and decided that we would make a substantial donation."
Abuse of authority alleged
Ultimately, the investigation found Ballentine used his city position for personal gain when he solicited money during work hours and accepted a $100,000 donation from the Madison Improvement Club on behalf of the 100 Club of Arizona.
This is considered a violation of city policy and a violation of the fire department’s Rules of Conduct which state: “All members shall not engage in a conflict of interest to the Department or use their position with the Department for personal gain or influence.”
The investigator concluded, "Mr. Ballentine did not “uphold... the highest standards of ethics,” did not “guard against conflicts of interest,” and did not avoid the appearance of “improprieties in role as a public servant,” as required by the ETHICS HANDBOOK. Mr. Ballentine was involved in activities that could be viewed as conflicting with his Fire Marshal responsibilities. Further, his actions could adversely impact the trust and confidence the public places in both the Office of Fire Marshal, the Fire Department, and the City."
According to records, Ballentine told the investigator that Swanson wanted to buy his lunch on the day he received the $100,000 check but he didn’t think it would be appropriate.
The investigator wrote:
“He appropriately viewed the acceptance of lunch from Swanson through the ethical lenses of conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety. However, it is alarming that in his position as Fire Marshal, he would summarily dismiss the $100,000 donation he received for an organization he strongly supported and who was also a source of financial support for his family through his wife’s employment with the organization.”
Ballentine’s wife Patti began working as operations manager for the 100 Club of Arizona in 2006. 100 Club CEO Angela Harrolle said Patti Ballentine has nothing to do with soliciting donations for the charity.
Harolle did not know if Jack Ballentine delivered the check to the 100 Club or if his wife brought it to the office, because she only became CEO earlier this year.
An unapologetic fire marshal
When asked in retrospect if he would have done anything differently, Ballentine said, “No, I was happy to receive the donation for the 100 Club of Arizona.”
The investigator interviewed high-ranking members of the fire department about the $100,000 transaction.
This is part of what he wrote about those interviews:
During the course of our interviews, I asked McElvaney, Battalion Chief Kelvin Bartee, and Assistant Fire Chief Scott Krushak if they would be comfortable accepting a donation from a business owner for a charitable organization that they supported. Each indicated that they would not feel comfortable doing so and stated that they would direct the business owner to make their donation directly to the organization. They each clearly understood the conflict of interest and/or the appearance of impropriety that would result from engaging in that type of behavior during the course and scope of their employment with the City.
Mark Spencer is the Southwest Projects Coordinator for Judicial Watch, a retired Phoenix Police officer and the former president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. He said the conflict of interest is pretty clear, adding that in his experience, city management is reticent to hold upper level managers like Ballentine accountable for policy violations.
The fire department denied repeated requests for an on-camera interview with Jack Ballentine. And when contacted in person, Ballentine would not answer any questions.
A conflict of interest
However, a letter from Ballentine’s personal attorney John Charland stated that his wife’s salary comes from the general fund and the $100,000 was earmarked for the scholarship fund. Therefore, the donation did not support the Ballentine family financially.
Charland also wrote that “there is no and was no conflict of interest. There was no quid pro quo. There was no exchange of one thing for another, the Madison Club got nothing from the City and in fact the City forced the Madison to pay a very large sum for a fire suppression system that the Madison never expected…”
Charland went on to write that “Mr. Ballentine got nothing from the Madison or from Ms. Swanson and he gave nothing to the Madison or Ms. Swanson.”
However, neither the city investigation nor Charland’s letter mentioned that Ballentine’s son Cody was a 2008 scholarship recipient of the 100 Club of Arizona.
The investigator expressed concern that based on the $100,000 transaction and Ballentine’s responses he raised “significant questions about his ability to effectively carry out those supervisory responsibilities at this time.”
The investigator recommended Ballentine receive additional ethics training and remove himself from any future appeals involving the Madison Improvement Club.
No evidence of wrongdoing by Madison Improvement Club
In the end, investigators concluded “it could not be determined by a preponderance of the evidence that the Madison Improvement Club received any special benefits during the fire-code waiver process.”
The report states:
"[c]onsidering Swanson's statement, the interviews, and the documents reviewed, there was no indication that the Madison Improvement Club received any special treatment in the Fire Marshal's grant of a fire-code waiver. The evidence indicated that Madison did not receive an expedited appeal: they did go through a formal appeal process, which is a Phoenix Fire Code requirement; and they were required to install fire sprinklers after their project failed fire inspection on September 20, 2012."
In her statement, Swanson wrote: “I can say unequivocally that there was no quid pro quo between me and Mr. Ballentine regarding any Phoenix Fire Department certification of occupancy for the Madison property.” Although Swanson and Jacques declined to be interviewed for this article, they told 12 News in an email and a letter that they did not receive special treatment.
What's more, the investigation indicated Swanson, Jacques and Varela followed the fire-code waiver/appeal process, accepted and followed through on several stipulations during the correction period, and completed the required improvements at their location without any special benefit or exception.
The final report indicates based on the interviews and information received, “it could not be determined... that the Madison Improvement Club was influenced by Ballentine to make a donation to the 100 Club of Arizona.” The investigation revealed "inconsistencies" in how the Madison Improvement Club learned about the 100 Club of Arizona. Ballentine told the investigator a visit by the owners to his office prompted the initial discussion.
But in that same vein, the investigation also concluded Mr. Ballentine did not provide any special considerations or fire code benefits to the Madison Improvement Club and he did not influence anyone to make a donation to the charity.
The city HR investigators say this was "strictly an administrative matter and not a criminal one." On June 1, Ballentine appealed his demotion.
Copyright 2016 KPNXIt’s a brave new world in Standard thanks to the banning of Aetherworks Marvel. Without the Cat combo or Marvel decks to kill you on turn 4, midrange creatures are relevant once again. Finding the best way to attack this format is not going to be easy, but some old friends teaming up with some powerful Dragons may do the trick.
Glorybringer is just a fantastic card. If people complain about a card being far too broken for Limited, it’s rare that it just isn’t effective in Constructed. This is a reasonably sized 4-power flying creature for 5 mana, but it also has haste and gets to Flametongue Kavu down a creature every other turn. Being able to attack a Gideon while killing the opponent’s best creature in the same combat step is impressive, and making sure your deck has answers to the Dragon is going to be important going forward.
Glorybringer isn’t the only giant haste creature for 5 mana in the format, however. Enter Reality Smasher, and smash realities it does. A 5-power haste, trample creature is already well above the curve, then add the fact that it takes an extra card from any opponent who tries to remove it. Glorybringer can be taken down by a Grasp of Darkness, but removal like Grasp or Fatal Push just doesn’t cut it against Reality Smasher.
Where there are Smashers, Thought-Knot Seer can’t be too far behind. Thought-Knot has been the poster child for the new wave of Eldrazi that were unleashed in Oath of the Gatewatch. The base stats of a 4/4 creature for 4 are already reasonable, but disrupting the opponent by exiling their best card to never be seen again is ridiculous. Preemptively taking their removal spell or giant creature that could have dealt with the Thought-Knot make it one of the best cards in Standard, Modern, Legacy, and even Vintage.
Matter Reshaper is already an all-star in formats like Modern where cards like Path to Exile exist. In Standard, the Reshaper is almost always locking in value. This is not the creature you want to trade with as they’re going to get rewarded by a free spell, an extra land into play, or a powerful card in hand.
Hanweir Garrison can end the game in a hurry with a swarm of tokens. Garrison plays well with removal spells, but also makes life difficult for opponents who are just trying to survive the giant haste creatures in Glorybringer and Reality Smasher.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance saw her stock go up big time with the banning of Marvel. This was heralded as the next Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and while that obviously didn’t come to fruition, she’s looking better than ever right now. This is a great way to stabilize the board by killing a creature and then cashing in for value turn after turn. Being able to ramp out multiple spells in a turn, draw extra cards, and deal damage to opponents and creatures alike make Chandra a fantastic planeswalker.
The removal suite to complement these Eldrazi is quite strong as red has a number of good options. Harnessed Lightning is the most versatile as the first helps you improve subsequent copies. This deck is already interested in Aether Hub as a colorless land to cast Eldrazi that can still produce red when needed, so that’s an additional bonus.
Magma Spray is the best cheap removal spell, and a great answer to creatures like Matter Reshaper and the various returning Zombies. Sweltering Suns provides a sweeper when needed, and can be cycled when it isn’t. Incendiary Flow offers more exile effects for when they matter, and reach for burning your opponent out. Collective Defiance gives you more damage to the face while also being able to kill a creature or cash in excess cards.
Since you’re playing a “one”-color deck that also needs colorless sources for the Eldrazi, you get to play a couple of cool lands. Hanweir Battlements gives you more haste in the middle of the game or turn your Garrisons into gigantic lethal threats. Westvale Abbey doesn’t have a ton of fodder to get flipped without Garrison already going nuts (which should end the game itself), but can provide its own army in a pinch to create an unstoppable threat.
Mono-Red Eldrazi is a unique way to utilize some of the best cards in Standard that haven’t been seeing much play. With so much direct damage, token making, and haste threats, the Eldrazi can catch any opponent unprepared.
Mono-Red Eldrazi
THE_GUNSLINGERS, 5-0 in an MTGO Competitive LeagueAfter weeks of speculation, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has finally announced the date of the upcoming federal election, saying it was yesterday.
In a televised speech, Mr. Rudd told the nation that an election would be – and was in fact – held on Sunday, August 4th, 2013.
“This afternoon I visited the Governor General,” announced Rudd, “and her Excellency has accepted, on my advice, that an election be held yesterday.
“The time has come and gone for the Australian people to decide on our nation’s future. This election will have been about who Australia trusted to lead it through the new economic challenges which now lie before us.
“The Australian people will be and have been asked to choose between a positive, forward-looking government and an Abbott-led government led by Tony Abbott.”
“Tony Abbott is the leader of the Liberal Party and the Coalition,” he added.
Rudd said that he would’ve liked to announce the date sooner, but it was a weekend and he’s been quite busy adjusting to a new job.
Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott – whose name was mentioned in the Prime Minister’s speech a total of 47 times – did not respond directly to Mr. Rudd, but did release a statement following the speech.
“While this was not the election date we might have anticipated, the Liberal Party and the Coalition remain committed to contesting yesterday’s election,” read the statement. “We will be campaigning hard in the coming days to ensure that we secure all the votes that have already been cast for us.”
Sources close to Abbott have said the party still plans to go ahead with its month-long election campaign, as it had been planning for it for well over a year, and had already purchased a significant amount of billboard space around the country.
Several billboards were already being erected in Brisbane, featuring Tony Abbott’s face next to the slogan “If only we’d known it was yesterday.”
While official election results are not set to be released until later this week, the Australian Electoral Commission said that a total of one votes were cast. It is widely believed that vote belonged to Mr. Rudd.
Due to Australian electoral law requiring every eligible citizen to vote, it is expected that the rest of the population will face a hefty fine for neglecting their civic duties, and Rudd hopes this will provide the revenue necessary for a large series of new policy initiatives.
Mr. Rudd said now that an election had been held, the bitter division of the past few years could be left to heal, and Australia could “get on with the important business of losing the Ashes.”It is evident there is a growing interest in Ripple and its native XRP token. Even though the asset is subject to some volatility right now, there is no reason to despair yet. One of the early investors in cryptocurrency and Ripple is Matthew Mellon. Over the past few years, his investments have certainly paid off. There are quite a few opportunities to make a profit with any investment, but Ripple and cryptocurrency are on a different level.
Matthew Mellon Invested in Ripple Early On
It is quite interesting to see how people look at Ripple in different ways. We are talking about Ripple the project here, and not necessarily its native XRP asset. Ripple technology has been of keen interest to banks all over the world. It is possible large consortia in Asia will implement Ripple technology over the coming years. All of this is made possible thanks to the investors who financially supported the project at an early stage.
One of those investors in Matthew Mellow. A few years ago, people assumed he was crazy when backing Ripple. After all, the technology was unproven, and there seemed to be no immediate need for a Western Union competitor. Then again, WU is a very expensive service and consumers will always look for cheaper alternatives. Ripple fits all of the right boxes to make that dream become a reality.
As a result, Matthew Mellon took some of his own money and contributed to Ripple. It was not his only investment in the world of cryptocurrency and distributed ledgers, though. Over the years, he made quite a few strategic contributions. Fast forward to today, and those investments turned into US$280m. Not a bad investment when starting out with “just” two million a few years prior. Such spectacular returns are virtually unheard of in the financial sector these days.
All of this goes to show strategic investments in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and digital assets still have a ton of potential for financial gains. Granted, no one can predict what the future may hold. For Matthew Mellon, investing in Ripple was certainly a smart decision. The project has seen a lot of positive attention, with more news to be expected later this year. This does not necessarily affect the XRP value, though, albeit that seems to be rather stable as well these days.
Header image courtesy of ShutterstockNike was created to address a new reality of warfare: The front lines had moved to the skies. While the coasts of the United States had traditionally been considered targets, new nuclear-equipped bombers (and later, missiles) made the American heartland equally vulnerable. War planners suspected that a Soviet bomber attack would come over the North Pole and focus on major industrial centers such as Chicago. And the guns previously used to shoot planes proved no match against high-flying bombers.
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Experiments for what became the Nike missile program began in the mid-1940s, but it wasn’t until the early 1950s that the major industrial centers around the United States, including Chicago, had operational battalions of anti-aircraft guided missiles.
Mark A. Berhow, a research chemist with the USDA, happens to be a Nike missile history buff and co-wrote the book “Rings of Supersonic Steel,” which details the history of the more than 300 Nike missile sites that were peppered across the United States.
Chicago, being a major commercial and industrial hub, was among the best-protected cities. It had 22 Nike sites, two of which Berhow says had single radar systems that controlled multiple sets of launchers. Berhow says in the mid-1950s more than 600 Nike Ajax missiles were in the Chicago area. This first-generation weapon was designed to intercept a single bomber. A few year later the Ajax was replaced by the Nike Hercules, which would use a nuclear-tipped warhead to destroy multiple aircraft at once. In other words, the Hercules would use (nuclear) fire to fight (nuclear) fire.
The sites were strategically located to make the Nike Ajax missiles’ ranges overlap, meaning no area around Chicago would lie unprotected. These missiles, though, were not able to shoot down other missiles and it was this flaw that ultimately rendered the Nike obsolete. More on that in a bit.
The problem with Lake Michigan
The Chicago region has held Lake Michigan in high regard (yes, it's both beautiful and useful), but according to Berhow, the lake created a Cold War security challenge, mostly because the radar at the time was limited. “A Soviet Bomber group could actually have flown over the Pole and across Canada, and if it was flying down Lake Michigan, because of the range of the radars, it would have had a difficult time picking it up,” he says.
The theory went that these enemy planes would approach undetected, at least until they were so close to Chicago that nothing could be done about any impending doom. That, Berhow says, is a big reason why the military placed three |
to be more affordable to the broader population in an unconflicted way, without changing the dealer model for gasoline-powered cars.”
At stake in the minds of those opposing Tesla are profits and a way of doing business long-since preserved. They are concerned with the precedents being set by the upstart company, and on principle oppose Tesla having any exemption to rules other makers abide by.
Tesla has argued that selling its electric cars is fundamentally different than selling a conventional car.
“Electric vehicles simply cannot be sold side by side with gas vehicles because they will always be a minority item in terms of sales and service volume,” said Tesla Motors today in a statement. “Existing franchise dealers have an inherent conflict of interest between selling gasoline cars, which constitute the vast majority of their business, and selling the new technology of electric cars.”
Tesla further contended it’s impossible to explain advantages of selling EVs without undermining their main bread and butter business.
“Simple math shows no traditional dealer is incented to sell an electric vehicle with the same enthusiasm as the rest of their inventory,” Tesla’s statement says.
In going at the multifaceted problem with this focused line of attack, Musk and company have hopes that their contentions will be considered and approved by lawmakers in Texas.
House Bill 3351/Senate Bill 1659 – the bills in question – filed by Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) and Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) are intended to as benignly as possible open the way for Tesla to sell and service its cars as it sees fit.
It would allow U.S.-based manufacturers – not imports – of 100-perecent electric vehicles to sell directly to consumers in Texas.
“It’s a very limited classification of exception to current laws and does not harm any existing dealer franchise,” says Tesla.
For further info, Tesla lays out its case on its Web site on this page and explains its distribution and service approach on this page.Not to be confused with Bene Israel, Jews from India
Ethiopian Jews
Beta Israel (Hebrew: בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, Beyte Yisra'el; Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል, Beta ʾƏsrāʾel, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"[4]), also known as Ethiopian Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי אֶתְיוֹפְּיָה: Yehudey Etyopyah; Ge'ez: የኢትዮጵያ አይሁድዊ, ye-Ityoppya Ayhudi), are Jews whose community developed and lived for centuries in the area of the Kingdom of Aksum and the Ethiopian Empire that is currently divided between the Amhara and Tigray Regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Most of these peoples have emigrated to Israel since the late 20th century.[5]
The Beta Israel lived in northern and northwestern Ethiopia, in more than 500 small villages spread over a wide territory, alongside populations that were Muslim and predominantly Christian.[6] Most of them were concentrated in the area around and to the north of Lake Tana, in the Gondar region among the Wolqayit, Shire and Tselemt, Dembia, Segelt, Quara, and Belesa.
The Beta Israel made renewed contacts with other Jewish communities in the later 20th century. After Halakhic and constitutional discussions, Israeli officials decided, in 1977, that the Israeli Law of Return applied to the Beta Israel.[7][8] The Israeli and American governments mounted aliyah operations[9] to transport the people to Israel.[10] These activities included Operation Brothers in Sudan between 1979 and 1990 (this includes the major operations Moses and Joshua), and in the 1990s from Addis Ababa (which includes Operation Solomon).[11][12]
By the end of 2008, there were 119,300 people of Ethiopian descent in Israel, including nearly 81,000 people born in Ethiopia and about 38,500 native-born Israelis (about 32 percent of the community) with at least one parent born in Ethiopia or Eritrea.[13]
Terminology [ edit ]
Throughout its history, the community has been referred to by numerous names. According to tradition the name "Beta Israel" (literally, "house of Israel" in Ge'ez) originated in the 4th century CE, when the community refused to convert to Christianity during the rule of Abreha and Atsbeha (identified with Se'azana and Ezana), the monarchs of the Kingdom of Aksum who embraced Christianity.[14]
This name contrasts with "Beta Kristiyan" (literally, "house of Christianity", referring to "church" in Ge'ez).[15][16] Originally, it did not have any negative connotations,[17] and the community has since used Beta Israel as its official name. Since the 1980s, it has also become the official name used in the scholarly and scientific literature to refer to the community.[18] The term Esra'elawi "Israelites" – which is related to the name Beta Israel – is also used by the community to refer to its members.[18]
The name Ayhud, "Jews", is rarely used in the community, as the Christians had used it as a derogatory term.[17] The community has begun to use it only since strengthening ties with other Jewish communities in the 20th century.[18] The term Ibrawi "Hebrew" was used to refer to the Chawa (free man) in the community, in contrast to Barya "slave".[19] The term Oritawi "Torah-true" was used to refer to the community members; since the 19th century, it has been used in opposition to the term Falash Mura (converts).
The derogatory term Falasha, meaning "landless, wanderers", was given to the community by the Emperor Yeshaq I in the 15th century, and is to be avoided as extremely offensive. Zagwe, referring to the Agaw people of the Zagwe dynasty, among the original inhabitants of northwest Ethiopia, is considered derogatory, since it incorrectly associates the community with the largely pagan Agaw.[18]
Religion [ edit ]
Beta Israel women in Israel
Haymanot (Ge'ez: ሃይማኖት) is the colloquial term for "faith" used in the Jewish religion in the community,[20] although it is also used by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians for their religion.
Texts [ edit ]
Mäṣḥafä Kedus (Holy Scriptures) is the name for their religious literature. The language of the writings is Ge'ez, which also is the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The holiest book is the Orit (meaning "law"), which consists of the Octateuch: Five Books of Moses with Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The rest of the Bible has secondary importance. Sources are lacking on whether the Book of Lamentations is excluded from the canon, or whether it forms part of the Book of Jeremiah, as it does in the Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon.[citation needed]
Deuterocanonical books that also make up part of the canon are Sirach, Judith, Esdras 1 and 2, Meqabyan, Jubilees, Baruch 1 and 4, Tobit, Enoch, and the testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Important non-Biblical writings include: Nagara Muse (The Conversation of Moses), Mota Aaron (Death of Aharon), Mota Muse (Death of Moses), Te'ezaza Sanbat (Precepts of Sabbath), Arde'et (Students), Gorgorios, Mäṣḥafä Sa'atat (Book of Hours), Abba Elias (Father Elija), Mäṣḥafä Mäla'əkt (Book of Angels), Mäṣḥafä Kahan (Book of Priest), Dərsanä Abrəham Wäsara Bägabs (Homily on Abraham and Sarah in Egypt), Gadla Sosna (The Acts of Susanna), and Baqadāmi Gabra Egzi'abḥēr (In the Beginning God Created). Zëna Ayhud (Jews Story) and Fālasfā (Philosophers) are two books that are not considered sacred, but have had great influence.
Prayer house [ edit ]
Synagogue in the village of Wolleka in Ethiopia Modern Synagogue in the city of Netivot in Israel
The synagogue is called masgid (place of worship), also bet maqdas (Holy house) or ṣalot bet (Prayer house).
Dietary laws [ edit ]
Beta Israel kashrut law is based mainly on the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Jubilees. Permitted and forbidden animals and their signs appear in Leviticus 11:3–8 and Deuteronomy 14:4–8. Forbidden birds are listed in Leviticus 11:13–23 and Deuteronomy 14:12–20. Signs of permitted fish are written on Leviticus 11:9–12 and Deuteronomy 14:9–10. Insects and larvae are forbidden according to Leviticus 11:41–42. Waterfowl are forbidden according to Leviticus 11:46. Gid hanasheh is forbidden per Genesis 32:33. Mixtures of milk and meat are not prepared or eaten, but are not banned either: Haymanot interpreted the verses Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21 "shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk" literally, as in Karaite Judaism. Nowadays, under the influence of Rabbinic Judaism, mixing dairy products with meat is banned.
Ethiopian Jews were forbidden to eat the food of non-Jews. A Kahen eats only meat he has slaughtered himself, which his hosts prepare both for him and themselves. Beta Israel who broke these taboos were ostracized, and had to undergo a purification process. Purification included fasting for one or more days, eating only uncooked chickpeas provided by the Kahen, and ritual purification before entering the village.
Unlike other Ethiopians, the Beta Israel do not eat raw meat dishes such as kitfo or gored gored.[21]
Calendar and holidays [ edit ]
The Beta Israel calendar is a lunar calendar of 12 months, each 29 or 30 days alternately. Every four years, there is a leap year which added a full month (30 days). The calendar is a combination of the ancient calendar of Alexandrian Jewry, Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, Abu Shaker, and the Ge'ez calendar.[22][23] The years are counted according to the counting of Kushta: "1571 to Jesus Christ, 7071 to the Gyptians, and 6642 to the Hebrews";[24] according to this counting, the year 5771 (Hebrew: ה'תשע"א) in the Rabbinical Hebrew calendar is the year 7082 in this calendar.
Holidays in the Haymanot (religion)[25] are divided into daily, monthly, and annually. The annual holidays by month are:
Monthly holidays are mainly memorial days to the annual holiday; these are yačaraqā ba'āl ("new moon festival")[26] on the first day of every month, asärt ("ten") on the tenth day to commemorate Yom Kippur, 'asrã hulat ("twelve") on the twelfth day to commemorate Shavuot, asrã ammest ("fifteen") on the fifteenth day to commemorate Passover and Sukkot, and ṣomä mälěya a fast on the last day of every month.[27] Daily holidays include the ṣomä säňňo (Monday fast), ṣomä amus (Thursday fast), ṣomä 'arb (Friday fast), and the very holy Sanbat (Sabbath).
Culture [ edit ]
Languages [ edit ]
The Beta Israel once spoke Qwara and Kayla, Agaw languages. Now, they speak Amharic and Tigrinya, both Semitic languages. Their liturgical language is Ge'ez, also Semitic.[28][29] Since the 1950s, they have taught Hebrew in their schools. Those Beta Israel residing in the State of Israel now use Modern Hebrew as a daily language.
Origins [ edit ]
Oral traditions [ edit ]
Many of the Beta Israel accounts of their own origins stress that they stem from the very ancient migration of some portion of the Tribe of Dan to Ethiopia, led it is said by sons of Moses, perhaps even at the time of the Exodus, or perhaps due to later crises in Judea, e. g., at the time of the split of the northern Kingdom of Israel from the southern Kingdom of Judah after the death of King Solomon or at the time of the Babylonian Exile.[30] Other Beta Israel take as their basis the Christian account of Menelik's return to Ethiopia.[31] Menelik is considered the first Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia, and is traditionally believed to be the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel, and Makeda, ancient Queen of Sheba (in modern Ethiopia). Though all the available traditions[32] correspond to recent interpretations, they reflect ancient convictions. According to Jon Abbink; three different versions are to be distinguished among the traditions which were recorded from the priests of the community.[33]
Companions of Menelik from Jerusalem [ edit ]
By versions of this type, the Beta Israel expressed their belief that they were not necessarily descendants of King Solomon, but contemporaries of Solomon and Menelik, originating from the kingdom of Israel.[34]
Migrants by the Egyptian route [ edit ]
According to these versions, the forefathers of the Beta Israel are supposed to have arrived in Ethiopia coming from the North, independently from Menelik and his company:
The Falashas [sic] migrated like many of the other sons of Israel to exile in Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE the time of the Babylonian exile. This group of people was led by the great priest On. They remained in exile in Egypt for few hundred years until the reign of Cleopatra. When she was engaged in war against Augustus Caesar the Jews supported her. When she was defeated, it became dangerous for the small minorities to remain in Egypt and so there was another migration (approximately between 39–31 BCE). Some of the migrants went to South Arabia and further to the Yemen. Some of them went to the Sudan and continued on their way to Ethiopia, helped by Egyptian traders who guided them through the desert. Some of them entered Ethiopia through Quara (near the Sudanese border), and some came via Eritrea....Later in time, there was an Abyssinian king named Kaleb, who wished to enlarge his kingdom, so he declared war on the Yemen and conquered it. And so, during his reign there arrived another group of Jews to Ethiopia, led by Azonos and Phinhas.[35]:413–414
Kebra Nagast [ edit ]
The Ethiopian history described in the Kebra Nagast relates that Ethiopians are descendants of Israelite tribes who came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, alleged to be the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (or Makeda, in the legend) (see 1 Kings 10:1–13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1–12). The legend relates that Menelik, as an adult, returned to his father in Jerusalem, and later resettled in Ethiopia. He took with him the Ark of the Covenant.[36][37]
In the Bible, there is no mention that the Queen of Sheba either married or had any sexual relations with King Solomon (although some identify her with the "black and beautiful" in Song of Songs 1:5).[38] Rather, the narrative records that she was impressed with Solomon's wealth and wisdom, and they exchanged royal gifts, and then she returned to rule her people in Kush. However, the "royal gifts" are interpreted by some as sexual contact. The loss of the Ark is not mentioned in the Bible. Hezekiah later makes reference to the Ark in 2 Kings 19:15.
The Kebra Negast asserts that the Beta Israel are descended from a battalion of men of Judah who fled southward down the Arabian coastal lands from Judea after the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms in the 10th century BCE (while King Rehoboam reigned over Judah).
Although the Kebra Nagast and some traditional Ethiopian histories have stated that Gudit (or "Yudit", Judith; another name given her was "Esato", Esther), a 10th-century usurping queen, was Jewish, some scholars consider that it is unlikely that this was the case. It is more likely, they say, that she was a pagan southerner[39] or a usurping Christian Aksumite Queen.[40] However, she clearly supported Jews, since she founded the Zagwe dynasty, who governed from around 937 to 1270 CE. According to the Kebra Nagast, Jewish, Christian and pagan kings ruled in harmony at that time. Furthermore, the Zagwe dynasty claimed legitimacy (according to the Kebra Nagast) by saying it was descended from Moses and his Ethiopian wife.
Most of the Beta Israel consider the Kebra Negast to be legend. As its name expresses, "Glory of Kings" (meaning the Christian Aksumite kings), it was written in the 14th century in large part to delegitimize the Zagwe dynasty, to promote instead a rival "Solomonic" claim to authentic Jewish Ethiopian antecedents, and to justify the Christian overthrow of the Zagwe by the "Solomonic" Aksumite dynasty, whose rulers are glorified. The writing of this polemic shows that criticisms of the Aksumite claims of authenticity were current in the 14th century, two centuries after they came to power. Many Beta Israel believe that they are descended from the tribe of Dan.[41] Most reject the "Solomonic" and "Queen of Sheba" legends of the Aksumites.
Tribe of Dan [ edit ]
To prove the antiquity and authenticity of their claims, the Beta Israel cite the 9th-century CE testimony of Eldad ha-Dani (the Danite), from a time before the Zagwean dynasty was established. Eldad was a Jewish man of dark skin who appeared in Egypt and created a stir in that Jewish community (and elsewhere in the Mediterranean Jewish communities he visited) with claims that he had come from a Jewish kingdom of pastoralists far to the south. The only language Eldad spoke was a hitherto unknown dialect of Hebrew. Although he strictly followed the Mosaic commandments, his observance differed in some details from Rabbinic halakhah. Some observers thought that he might be a Karaite, although his practice also differed from theirs. He carried Hebrew books that supported his explanations of halakhah. He cited ancient authorities in the scholarly traditions of his own people.[42]
Eldad said that the Jews of his own kingdom descended from the tribe of Dan (which included the Biblical war-hero Samson) who had fled the civil war in the Kingdom of Israel between Solomon's son Rehoboam and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and resettled in Egypt. From there, they moved southwards up the Nile into Ethiopia. The Beta Israel say this confirms that they are descended from these Danites.[43] Some Beta Israel, however, assert that their Danite origins go back to the time of Moses, when some Danites parted from other Jews right after the Exodus and moved south to Ethiopia. Eldad the Danite speaks of at least three waves of Jewish immigration into his region, creating other Jewish tribes and kingdoms. The earliest wave settled in a remote kingdom of the "tribe of Moses": this was the strongest and most secure Jewish kingdom of all, with farming villages, cities and great wealth.[44] Other Ethiopian Jews who appeared in the Mediterranean world over the succeeding centuries and persuaded rabbinic authorities there that they were of Jewish descent, and so could if slaves be ransomed by Jewish communities, join synagogues, marry other Jews, etc, also referred to the Mosaic and Danite origins of Ethiopian Jewry.[45] The Mosaic claims of the Beta Israel, in any case, like those of the Zagwe dynasty, are ancient.[46]
Other sources tell of many Jews who were brought as prisoners of war from ancient Israel by Ptolemy I and settled on the border of his kingdom with Nubia (Sudan). Another tradition asserts that the Jews arrived either via the old district of Qwara in northwestern Ethiopia, or via the Atbara River, where the Nile tributaries flow into Sudan. Some accounts specify the route taken by their forefathers on their way upriver to the south from Egypt.[47]
Rabbinical views [ edit ]
As mentioned above, the 9th-century Jewish traveler Eldad ha-Dani claimed the Beta Israel descended from the tribe of Dan. He also reported other Jewish kingdoms around his own or in East Africa during this time. His writings probably represent the first mention of the Beta Israel in Rabbinic literature. Despite some skeptical critics, his authenticity has been generally accepted in current scholarship. His descriptions were consistent and even the originally doubtful rabbis of his time were finally persuaded.[48] Specific details may be uncertain; one critic has noted Eldad's lack of detailed reference to Ethiopia's geography and any Ethiopian language, although he claimed the area as his homeland.[49]
Eldad's was not the only medieval testimony about Jewish communities living far to the south of Egypt, which strengthens the credibility of his account. Obadiah ben Abraham Bartenura wrote in a letter from Jerusalem in 1488:
I myself saw two of them in Egypt. They are dark-skinned...and one could not tell whether they keep the teaching of the Karaites, or of the Rabbis, for some of their practices resemble the Karaite teaching...but in other things, they appear to follow the instruction of the Rabbis; and they say they are related to the tribe of Dan.[50]
Reflecting the consistent assertions made by Ethiopian Jews they dealt with or knew of, after due investigation of their claims and their own Jewish behaviour, a number of Jewish legal authorities, not only in modern times, but also in previous centuries, have ruled halakhically that the Beta Israel are indeed Jews, the descendants of the tribe of Dan, one of the Ten Lost Tribes.[51] They believe that these people established a Jewish kingdom that lasted for hundreds of years. With the rise of Christianity and later Islam, schisms arose and three kingdoms competed. Eventually, the Christian and Muslim Ethiopian kingdoms reduced the Jewish kingdom to a small impoverished section. The earliest authority to rule this way was David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (1479–1573), who explains in a responsum concerning the status of a Beta Israel slave:
But those Jews who come from the land of Cush are without doubt from the tribe of Dan, and since they did not have in their midst sages who were masters of the tradition, they clung to the simple meaning of the Scriptures. If they had been taught, however, they would not be irreverent towards the words of our sages, so their status is comparable to a Jewish infant taken captive by non-Jews… And even if you say that the matter is in doubt, it is a commandment to redeem them.[52]
In 1973, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, then the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, based on the Radbaz and other accounts, ruled that the Beta Israel were Jews and should be brought to Israel; two years that opinion was confirmed by a number of other authorities who made similar rulings, including the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Shlomo Goren.[8] In 1977, the law was passed granting the right of return.[7]
Some notable poskim, from non-Zionist Ashkenazi circles, placed a safek "legal doubt" over the Jewish peoplehood of the Beta Israel. Such dissenting voices include rabbis Elazar Shach, Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and Moshe Feinstein.[53][54] Similar doubts were raised within the same circles towards the Bene Israel[55] and to Russian immigrants to Israel during the 1990s Post-Soviet aliyah.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Beta Israel were required to undergo a modified conversion ceremony involving immersion in a mikveh, a declaration accepting Rabbinic law, and, for men, a "symbolic recircumcision".[56] Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira later waived the "symbolic recircumcision" demand, which is only required when the halakhic doubt is significant.[57] More recently, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has ruled that descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity are "unquestionably Jews in every respect".[58] With the consent of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Amar ruled that it is forbidden to question the Jewishness of this community, pejoratively called Falash Mura in reference to their having converted.[59][60]
Genetics [ edit ]
Uniparental lineages [ edit ]
According to Cruciani et al. (2002), haplogroup A is the most common paternal lineage among Ethiopian Jews. The clade is carried by around 41% of Beta Israel males, and is primarily associated with Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan-speaking populations. However, the A branches carried by Ethiopians Jews are principally of the A-Y23865 variety, which formed about 10,000 years ago and is localized to the Ethiopian highlands and the Arabian peninsula.[61][62]
Additionally, around 18% of Ethiopian Jews are bearers of E-P2 (xM35, xM2); in Ethiopia, most of such lineages belong to E-M329, which has been found in ancient DNA isolated from a 4,500 year old Ethiopian fossil.[63][64][65] Such haplotypes are frequent in Southwestern Ethiopia, especially among Omotic-speaking populations.[66][67]
The rest of the Beta Israel mainly belong to haplotypes linked with the E-M35 and J-M267 haplogroups, which are more commonly associated with Cushitic and Semitic-speaking populations in Northeast Africa. Further analysis show that the E-M35 carried by Ethiopian Jews is primarily indigenous to the Horn of Africa rather than being of Levantine origin.[61][68] Altogether, this suggests that Ethiopian Jews have diverse patrilineages indicative of indigenous Northeast African origin for this community.[69]
Autosomal ancestry [ edit ]
A 2001 study by the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University found a possible genetic similarity between 11 Ethiopian Jews and four Yemenite Jews who took part in the testing. The differentiation statistic and genetic distances for the 11 Ethiopian Jews and four Yemenite Jews tested were quite low, among the smallest of comparisons involving either of these populations. The four Yemenite Jews from this study may be descendants of reverse migrants of Ethiopian origin who crossed Ethiopia to Yemen. The study result suggests gene flow between Ethiopia and Yemen as a possible explanation for the closeness. The study also suggests that the gene flow between Ethiopian and Yemenite Jewish populations may not have been direct, but instead could have been between Jewish and non-Jewish populations of both regions.[70] Ancestry from the Horn of Africa is present in Yemenite Jews, albeit at a significantly lower level than the Beta Israel.[71]
The Ethiopian Jews' autosomal DNA has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to Bayesian clustering analysis, the Beta Israel generally grouped with other Cushitic and Ethiosemitic-speaking populations inhabiting the Horn of Africa.[72]
A 2010 study by Behar et al. on the genome-wide structure of Jews observed that the Beta Israel had levels of the Middle Eastern genetic affinity similar to the Ethiosemitic-speaking Tigrayans and Amharas.[73]
Kidd et al. (2011) examined ancestry informative markers among other Ethiopian Jews and found that their population sample was heterogeneous in composition. The genetic markers of each analysed individual were assigned to eight different population clusters according to probability of best fit. Some of the Beta Israel individuals' markers were predominantly assigned to various non-African clusters (primarily to the Middle Eastern cluster, as with the other Jewish populations), whereas other Beta Israel individuals' markers were predominantly assigned to various African clusters (primarily to the cluster associated with Nilo-Saharan speakers). The other Horn of Africa individuals also had heterogeneous ancestry informative marker affinities, but more often possessed comparatively higher probabilities of assignment to the South/Central Asia cluster and lower probabilities of assignment to the Middle Eastern and Nilo-Saharan clusters than the Ethiopian Jew individuals.[74]
A number of other DNA studies have been done on the Beta Israel.[75]
Scholarly views [ edit ]
Early views [ edit ]
Early secular scholars considered the Beta Israel to be the direct descendant of Jews who lived in ancient Ethiopia, whether they were the descendants of an Israelite tribe, or converted by Jews living in Yemen, or by the Jewish community in southern Egypt at Elephantine.[76] In 1829, Marcus Louis wrote that the ancestors of the Beta Israel related to the Asmach, which were also called Sembritae ("foreigners"), an Egyptian regiment numbering 240,000 soldiers and mentioned by Greek geographers and historians. The Asmach emigrated or were exiled from Elephantine to Kush in the time of Psamtik I or Psamtik II and settled in Sennar and Abyssinia.[77] It is possible that Shebna's party from Rabbinic accounts was part of the Asmach.
In the 1930s, Jones and Monro argued that the chief Semitic languages of Ethiopia may suggest an antiquity of Judaism in Ethiopia. "There still remains the curious circumstance that a number of Abyssinian words connected with religion, such as the words for Hell, idol, Easter, purification, and alms, are of Hebrew origin. These words must have been derived directly from a Jewish source, for the Abyssinian Church knows the scriptures only in a Ge'ez version made from the Septuagint."[78]
Richard Pankhurst summarized the various theories offered about their origins as of 1950 that the first members of this community were
(1) converted Agaws, (2) Jewish immigrants who intermarried with Agaws, (3) immigrant Yemeni Arabs who had converted to Judaism, (4) immigrant Yemeni Jews, (5) Jews from Egypt, and (6) successive waves of Yemeni Jews. Traditional Ethiopian savants, on the one hand, have declared that 'We were Jews before we were Christians', while more recent, well-documented, Ethiopian hypotheses, notably by two Ethiopian scholars, Dr Taddesse Tamrat and Dr Getachew Haile...put much greater emphasis on the manner in which Christians over the years converted to the Falasha faith, thus showing that the Falashas were culturally an Ethiopian sect, made up of ethnic Ethiopians.[79]
1980s and early 1990s [ edit ]
According to Jacqueline Pirenne, numerous Sabaeans left south Arabia and crossed over the Red Sea to Ethiopia to escape from the Assyrians, who had devastated the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. She says that a second major wave of Sabeans crossed over to Ethiopia in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE to escape Nebuchadnezzar II. This wave also included Jews fleeing from the Babylonian takeover of Judah. In both cases, the Sabeans are assumed to have departed later from Ethiopia to Yemen.[80]
According to Menachem Waldman, a major wave of emigration from the Kingdom of Judah to Kush and Abyssinia dates to the Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem, in the beginning of the 7th century BCE. Rabbinic accounts of the siege assert that only about 110,000 Judeans remained in Jerusalem under King Hezekiah's command, whereas about 130,000 Judeans led by Shebna had joined Sennacherib's campaign against Tirhakah, king of Kush. Sennacherib's campaign failed and Shebna's army was lost "at the mountains of darkness", suggestively identified with the Semien Mountains.[81]
In 1987, Steve Kaplan wrote:
Although we don't have a single fine ethnographic research on Beta Israel, and the recent history of this tribe has received almost no attention by researchers, every one who writes about the Jews of Ethiopia feels obliged to contribute his share to the ongoing debate about their origin. Politicians and journalists, Rabbis and political activists, not a single one of them withstood the temptation to play the role of the historian and invent a solution for this riddle.[82]
Richard Pankhurst summarized the state of knowledge on the subject in 1992 as follows: "The early origins of the Falashas are shrouded in mystery, and, for lack of documentation, will probably remain so for ever."[79]
Recent views [ edit ]
By 1994, modern scholars of Ethiopian history and Ethiopian Jews generally supported one of two conflicting hypotheses for the origin of the Beta Israel, as outlined by Kaplan:[83]
An ancient Jewish origin, together with conservation of some ancient Jewish traditions by the Ethiopian Church. Kaplan identifies Simon D. Messing, David Shlush, Michael Corinaldi, Menachem Waldman, Menachem Elon and David Kessler as supporters of this hypothesis. [83]
A late ethnogenesis of the Beta Israel between the 14th to 16th centuries, from a sect of Ethiopian Christians who took on Biblical Old Testament practices, and came to identify as Jews. Steven Kaplan supports this hypothesis, and lists with him G. J. Abbink, Kay K. Shelemay, Taddesse Tamrat and James A. Quirin. Quirin differs from his fellow researchers in the weight he assigns to an ancient Jewish element which the Beta Israel have conserved.[83]
History [ edit ]
Ancient history [ edit ]
Political independence (4th century – 1632) [ edit ]
The historical region of Beta Israel
According to the Beta Israel tradition, the Jewish kingdom of Beta Israel, later called the kingdom of Gondar, was initially established after Ezana was crowned as the Emperor of Axum (in 325 CE). Ezana, who was educated in his childhood by the missionary Frumentius, declared Christianity as the religion of the Ethiopian empire after he was crowned. The inhabitants who practiced Judaism and refused to convert to Christianity began revolting – this group was referred to as "Beta Israel" by the emperor. Following civil war between the Jewish population and the Christian population, the Beta Israel appear to have forged an independent state, either in northern western Ethiopia or the eastern region of Northern Sudan. By the 13th century, the Beta Israel have already moved to the more easily defensible mountains to the northwest of the Christianized region of the plains.[84] The kingdom was located in the Semien Mountains region and the Dembia region – situated to the north of Lake Tana and south of the Tekezé River. They made their main city at Gondar, crowned their first king, Phineas, a descendent of the Jewish High Priest Zadok, and started a period of territorial expansion eastward and southward.
During the mid-9th century, the empire of Aksum began a new expansion, which led to an armed conflict between the Empire forces and the Beta Israel forces. The Beta Israel kingdom under King Gideon the fourth managed to defeat the Axum forces. During the battle, King Gideon was killed. As a result, Gideon's daughter Judith inherited the kingdom from her father, and took command.
"Judith's Field": an area full of ruins of destroyed buildings which according to tradition were ruined by the forces of Queen Judith
Queen Judith signed a pact with the Agaw tribes which were pagans. Around 960, The large tribal confederation led by Queen Judith, which included both forces of the Agaw tribes and the Beta Israel forces, invaded the capital of Axum and conquered and destroyed the city of Axum (including many churches and monasteries which were burned and destroyed) and imposed the Jewish rule over Axum. In addition, the Axumite throne was snatched and the forces of Queen Judith sacked and burned the Debre Damo monastery which at the time was a treasury and a prison for the male relatives of the emperor of Ethiopia, killing all of the potential heirs of the emperor.
The Golden Age of the Beta Israel kingdom took place, according to the Ethiopian tradition, between the years 858–1270, in which the Jewish kingdom flourished. During that period, the world Jewry heard for the first time the stories of Eldad ha-Dani, who either visited the kingdom or heard many accounts of it in his own Jewish kingdom of pastoralists, which may have been located in the Sudan (since he speaks of the Mosaic kingdom lying on "the other side of the rivers of Ethiopia" in remote mountains). Even Marco Polo and Benjamin of Tudela mention an independent Ethiopian Jewish kingdom in the writings from that period. This period ends with the rise of the Christian Solomonic dynasty – In 1270 the Christian Solomonic dynasty was "restored" after the crowning of a monarch who claimed descent from the single royal prince who managed to escape Queen Judith's uprising. For the next three centuries, the Solomonic dynasty emperors conducted several long ongoing series of armed confrontations with the Jewish kingdom.
In 1329, Emperor Amda Seyon campaigned in the northwest provinces of Semien, Wegera, Tselemt, and Tsegede, in which many had been converting to Judaism and where the Beta Israel had been gaining prominence.[85] He sent troops there to fight people "like Jews" (Ge'ez ከመ:� |
its challenges, including needing to measure temperature changes so the machine wouldn’t shut down. Further, the public key infrastructure used to secure cryptocurrency transactions is not only difficult for consumers to understand, but also comes with serious consequences in the case of loss or theft.
And the tools available for blockchain are still young and underdeveloped, Tual said. For example, because the economic 'gas' price estimation is off, transactions on ethereum are not as cheap as the industry first touted. Gas is the term for the internal price for making a transaction or running smart contract on ethereum.
Although Vitalik Buterin, the founder of ethereum, has said he’ll fix the issue with various hard forks, according to Tual, he argued a more sensible approach would be to initiate a state channel transaction, where each subsequent transaction and receipt is replaced by the next. This means “there's only one blockchain transaction instead of 147... so it’s way cheaper”.
“Block-ifying things is not straightforward.” Tual said. “But we’ve proved that we can do blockchain development outside a [proof-of-concept] and we’re quite proud of that.”
Other projects
Executives from Oaken Innovations and Bosch also presented automotive applications for blockchain in the IoT space.
Oaken demoed its tollbooth proof-of-concept, which uses IPFA and ethereum to allow Tesla cars to pay automatically at toll booths. The project won first place at a United Arab Emirates-sponsored blockchain hack recently.
“The car goes to the tollbooth and it’s a true machine-to-machine transaction, as they both have ethereum nodes inside,” said John Gerryts, cofounder and CEO of Oaken. “We were able to reduce transaction costs, going from the traditional card models with 2% to 4% transaction fees and reduce that to a 0.1% fee.”
And Bosch demoed its blockchain-based system to prevent odometer fraud.
According to Timo Gessmann, director of Bosch IoT Lab, nearly one in three cars' odometers are manipulated before they are sold. With a lower number of miles on a car, both individuals and car dealers can sell a vehicle for a higher price.
“Odometer numbers can be like a cryptocurrency,” said Gessmann during his presentation at the event.
The company is currently testing the project as a white-label solution, offering certificates that guarantee the odometer reading is correct, because the data has been recorded on a blockchain. The company has also developed CertifiCar, a consumer-facing mobile application that tracks car mileage.
Echoing Tual’s sentiments, Gessman said blockchain-based solutions are not easy builds. Ethereum transaction costs are high and it costs a considerable amount to build trust within consortia sharing data, he said.
The physical-digital link
Nearly all the other demos at the event focused on tracking the provenance of products along the supply chain.
BitSE demoed its work with VeChain to develop unique tags for all sorts of luxury goods.
Currently the company is working with the biggest wine importer in China. The company developed a tag embedded with a chip that sits on the top of the wine bottle. The chip monitors vibrations, temperature and other characteristics throughout the supply chain. And if someone wanted to tamper with the contents inside the bottle, upon opening it, they would destroy the unique tag.
The company also has its blockchain-based tags in luxury brands.
BitSE has more than two million product identities in production running on VeChain. Those products are worth about $450m renminbi, according to DJ Qian, CEO of BitSE.
Qian said that, in June, the company will be announcing a particular luxury brand using BitSE’s tags, which will not only allow consumers and merchants to scan the tags with their phone to verify the authenticity of the piece, but will also allow them to interact with the brand.
Chronicled then presented its tamper-proof crypto-seal for packages, documents and other high-value goods, such as electronics and forensic evidence bags. Sam Radocchia, the chief product officer at Chronicled, said the company has been working with the pharmaceutical industry too.
Filament also demoed a sharing economy handheld drill. The drill contained what Filament calls “the path”, a small Bluetooth-enabled device with a built-in contract that allows people to lease the tool for a specific amount of time. When someone signs a digital lease, the information is sent to the drill and an LED light on the tool lights up green indicating it’s ready for use. When the lease expires, the drill ceases to function.
“It’s kind of gimmicky,” said Filament’s Kumar. “I don’t think we should have a sharing economy for drills [due to their short lifespan]... but our clients are thinking about other industrial infrastructure.”
For instance, many construction companies are wondering if they can not only monetize the leasing of their large equipment, but also monetize the data that’s collected from those machines in use.
Experimentation and governance
While a legal entity has not yet been created, the alliance has set up a working governance structure.
So far, the alliance’s model will have 21 industry board seats with five executive board seats. Two in-person meetings per year will see the board review new proposals and allocate funding. And as the alliance grows, smaller committee working groups will be created to focus on particular niches.
“It was also important to show that there was some validation of the technical idea, that it makes sense to do a blockchain-agnostic IoT-oriented working group,” said Zaki Manian, founder of SKUChain, a DLT startup focused on supply chain, and one of the founding members of the alliance. “The initial thing we put some effort into was a basic proof-of-concept of this idea of a unified registry.”
The unified registry allows companies to put IoT device identities onto a blockchain and give each device its own private key. The API, which the alliance announced about a month ago, allows all these registries on separate blockchains to be unified.
“We clearly demonstrated with limited resources that we can make this work,” Manian said.
And it worked without recreating the wheel, said Nannra. Instead, the group developed a model for portability of identities and interoperability between blockchains.
Yet, the group’s mission isn’t to create standards – Orr thinks it’s too early for that. Instead, the aim is to build an open-source blockchain base layer via which collaborating companies can then compete with the applications built on top, he said.
According to Orr, the group is focusing on getting 15 pilots running in the next 12 months.
Image via Bailey Reutzel for CoinDeskMaine is among the minority of states that still requires voters to register the old-fashioned way: through the mail or in-person. America's most northeastern state does not allow voter registration online.
To register, voters must fill out a voter registration card. They must be at least 17 years old and live primarily in Maine. Voters must provide their social security number or drivers license number with their registration.
Voter registration through the mail closes Oct. 18 for the November election. Voters can register up to election day at their town office or city hall.
While Maine typically votes Democratic in presidential elections, it has a conservative bent. Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, is a Donald Trump supporter, though Republican Sen. Susan Collins recently said she will not vote for Trump, although she isn't voting for Clinton either. Trump has campaigned regularly in the state. An early August poll gave Clinton a 10-point lead in Maine.The Pew Research Center has the results of a recent poll on what people around the world are concerned about. Some points that stood out to me:
“A median of 61% of Latin Americans say they are very concerned about climate change, the highest share of any region.”
“Sub-Saharan Africans also voice substantial concerns about climate change. A median of 59% say they are very concerned”
“Concern about climate change is relatively low in Europe. While a median of 42% report being very concerned, global climate change is not one of the top two threats in any European country surveyed.”
Climate change is the top concern for Chinese people that were surveyed; but only 19% said that they were very concerned (implying that people in China aren’t terribly concerned about any of the issues?)
What’s generally the most interesting to me is the North/South divide on what people are concerned about. Check out the map that Pew offers:
Seems like the people who live in countries or regions that are the most responsible for climate change are also the ones who don’t really care about climate change; and the people who are the least responsible for climate change are the ones who are the most worried about climate change.
This certainly provokes some thought about the nature of capitalism and the way it processes information about externalities and limits. Does the present wealth that comes from the exploitation of carbon energy and the export of ecological externalities to the future create a psychological buffer for those economies, who increasingly are 1) able to incrementally divert their accrued wealth to adapt to climate change, and 2) unwilling to compromise present systems of production and distribution?
But in general, it seems horribly clear that information about climate change and its threat to human civilization is simply not able to permeate capitalism and its institutions, and trigger any kind of feedback response; hence, why those that are on the peripheries are the ones who are most concerned, while those in the core are happy to continue business as usual.
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Tagged: capitalism, climate change, colonialism, environment, imperialismThe stock exchange operator, NASDAQ, has unveiled a unique new service that adds Internet connectivity to solar panels in a bid to increase adoption and fuel industry growth.
NASDAQ is using Blockchain technology and its own platform called Linq to launch this new solar service. Blockchain is a form of financial-based technology related to bookkeeping and electronic transactions.
Last month, the stock exchange giant opened up Linq’s API engine, which allows developers and utilities to sell solar certificates to those wishing to subsidize solar panels.
The certificates work by hard-wiring an IoT-enabled device onto the solar panel array that measures wattage and the power produced into the grid. Using this wattage info, solar power generators can sell their excess power to others.
The certificates can be sent from anywhere in the country, and once cryptographically verified by a financial institution, the power would be available to the builder, developer or anyone that purchased the solar certificate.
The solar panels are connected to the Internet with technology provided by Filament. According to CoinDesk, Filament is a Blockchain startup that has raised $5 Million since 2015 to develop technologies that allow traditional electronic devices to be connected online.
During a live test of the technology, a verified certificate representing solar power generated in the western U.S. appeared live on the screen in New York City, meaning that the western solar power became available on the East Coast immediately upon retrieval.
This new project is still under development but is helpful for builders and developers looking for alternative methods of solar power for their buildings and clients without installing a dedicated rooftop solar array.Islamic State: France launches strikes in Syria, claims up to 90pc of Russian strikes designed to aid Assad forces
Updated
France has said the majority of Russia's air strikes inside Syria have been aimed at supporting president Bashar al-Assad's forces and not targeting Islamic State (IS) militants as Moscow claims.
French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has criticised Russia's recent involvement in the conflict, saying that "80 to 90 per cent" of its air strikes were in support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime, Moscow's long-term ally.
"The Russian military action in Syria over the past 10 days does not target Daesh, their main aim is [to ensure] the security of Bashar al-Assad," Mr Le Drian said.
"We do not consider Bashar part of the solution."
In a second wave of French airstrikes inside Syria, two Rafale jets dropped bombs on an IS training camp, with Mr Le Drian saying the "objectives were accomplished" and vowing more attacks will follow.
As with a first wave of strikes on September 27, the attacks focused on the IS stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria.
"We know that in Syria, in particular around Raqqa, there are training camps for foreign combatants whose mission is not to go fight for IS in the Levant but to come to France, to Europe, to carry out attacks," Mr Le Drian said.
He said France's air strikes were complicated by the fact that IS uses human shields.
"IS organises itself in such a way that children, women and civilians are in the frontline," he said.
"The leaders hide in schools, mosques, hospitals, which makes the job of the [international] coalition difficult."
Russia's defence ministry has been under sustained criticism from the West for its role in the Syrian conflict and denied a claim by a US official that four Syria-bound Russian cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea crashed in Iran.
"Any professional knows that during these operations we always fix the target before and after impact. All our cruise missiles hit their target," ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said.
Iran has refused to confirm or deny the claim.
"We don't confirm" this information, foreign ministry spokeswoman Afkham Marzieh said when asked about the claim.
IS jihadists 'advance on Aleppo' as US rethinks strategy
US president Barack Obama has overhauled Washington's approach to supporting Syrian rebel forces following this year's deeply troubled launch of a US military training program, US defence secretary Ash Carter said.
Mr Carter said the new approach focused more on enabling forces already on the ground to battle IS. The original US military effort sought to train entire units outside Syria, at sites in Turkey and Jordan, and then send them back into the civil war.
"We have devised a number of different approaches," Mr Carter said in London.
Meanwhile, the IS group advanced to the closest it has been to the Syrian city of Aleppo at dawn on Friday, after hours of ferocious fighting, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
"Dozens of combatants were killed on both sides," director Rami Abdelrahman said.
After a night of fierce clashes, IS militants had driven out rebels from the localities of Tall Qrah, Tall Soussin, Kafar Qares and the base of Madrasat al-Mushat by early morning, he said.
The seizure of these positions brought the jihadists to about 20 kilometres from the front line where forces loyal to Mr Assad are positioned, including the Sheikh Najjar industrial zone.
"IS has never been so close to the city of Aleppo, and this is its biggest advance towards" the country's pre-war commercial capital, Mr Abdelrahman said, whose Britain-based group relies on a network of sources on the ground across Syria.
The IS group claimed territory mostly to the north-east of Aleppo, where it controls towns and regions including Al-Bab, one of its strongholds.
The conflict began as an uprising against Assad's rule in 2011 but has splintered into a multi-faceted civil war involving government troops, Western-backed rebels, jihadists and Kurdish forces.
More than 240,000 people have been killed, with four million more forced to flee the country.
Iranian general killed in Syria: officials
Meanwhile, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general has been killed near Aleppo, where he was advising the Syrian army on their battle against IS fighters, the guards said in a statement.
General Hossein Hamedani was killed late on Thursday, the statement said.
Iran is the main regional ally of Mr Assad, and has provided military and economic support during Syria's four-year-old civil war.
In the biggest deployment of Iranian forces yet, sources told Reuters last week that hundreds of troops had arrived since late September to take part in a major ground offensive planned in west and north-west Syria.
Iran denies having any military forces in Syria.
AFP/Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, government-and-politics, defence-and-national-security, syrian-arab-republic, france, russian-federation
First postedArtist's illustration of the New Horizons spacecraft flying by the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019.
NASA's New Horizons Pluto probe isn't done exploring the far outer solar system just yet.
NASA has approved a mission extension for New Horizons, which performed the first-ever flyby of Pluto in July 2015. The spacecraft is now set for a Jan. 1, 2019 flyby of a small object called 2014 MU69, which lies about 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto in the dark and frigid Kuiper Belt.
"The New Horizons mission to Pluto exceeded our expectations, and even today the data from the spacecraft continue to surprise," Jim Green, NASA’s Director of Planetary Science, said in a statement Friday (July 1). "We’re excited to continue onward into the dark depths of the outer solar system to a science target that wasn’t even discovered when the spacecraft launched." [Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures]
Though 2014 MU69 and Pluto occupy roughly the same realm of space, they are very different objects. For example, Pluto is 1,474 miles (2,372 km) wide, whereas 2014 MU69 is thought to be just 13 to 25 miles (21 to 40 km) across.
"This places [2014 MU69] in a key intermediate size regime to better understand planetary accretion," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern wrote in a blog post in April, when the New Horizons team officially submitted the mission extension proposal. "And given its 4-plus-billion-year existence in cold storage so far from the sun, MU69 will be the most pristine object ever visited by any space mission."
New Horizons should come within 1,900 miles (3,000 km) of 2014 MU69 during the 2019 flyby, Stern wrote — about four times closer than the probe got to Pluto during last year's historic encounter.
"If I do say so myself, the flyby of MU69 would be a landmark event, shattering all distance records for deep-space exploration, and yielding an impressive scientific bounty," added Stern, who's based at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
While New Horizons will keep zooming outward, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will stay put at the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, agency officials announced today.
Dawn's primary science mission just ended, and team members had proposed sending the probe on to study an asteroid in the belt called Adeona. But NASA nixed that idea.
“The long-term monitoring of Ceres, particularly as it gets closer to perihelion — the part of its orbit with the shortest distance to the sun — has the potential to provide more significant science discoveries than a flyby of Adeona," Green said in the same statement.
A visit to Adeona would have marked the third cosmic body studied up-close by Dawn, which also orbited the protoplanet Vesta from July 2011 through September 2012. The spacecraft has enough fuel left to keep operating at Ceres through early 2017, mission team members have said.
NASA has also approved mission extensions though fiscal year 2018 for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; Mars Odyssey Orbiter; MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter; the Opportunity and Curiosity Mars rovers; and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, agency officials announced Friday. NASA has also greenlit further support for the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter mission.
These decisions were based on a report by the 2016 Planetary Mission Senior Review Panel, NASA officials said. The extensions are all contingent on the availability of resources, which will be determined by budget processes.
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.Alastair Cook was left with plenty to think about after England's chastening tour of Australia © Getty Images
Alastair Cook, England's Test and ODI captain, has conceded that the team became "insular" and failed to build up a reserve of public goodwill despite a lengthy period of success. After a 5-0 Ashes whitewashing brought an end to Andy Flower's time in charge amid criticism of the team's attitude and style of play, Cook and the new head coach, Peter Moores, are set to embark on a period of rebuilding England's reputation on and off the field.
England went to Australia in search of a fourth consecutive Ashes victory but ended up losing almost every game on tour, as well as several key players. The home side were backed up by feverish support, as Australia united behind Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann in their attempts to regain the urn, and Cook picked up on that strength, echoing comments made by Moores in suggesting that England's new regime would be a more open and accessible one.
"Australia connected with their public very well," he said. "Maybe we became very insular as a side - it worked very well at some points for us but when it wasn't going well we didn't have anything to fall back on. The guys in the dressing room are good people, they are nice guys. The public don't see that enough. Hopefully we can copy Australia a little bit in the way they did it.
"We are very lucky - they [England fans] do support us through thick and thin. Just judging on since I have been back they have been very supportive, disappointed about Australia like we all were but hopefully we can reward them for that support now."
Cook's captaincy, which began with an historic victory in India and included leading England to a 3-0 win over Australia last summer, has also been subject to much scrutiny. Having sat out England's limited-overs trip to the West Indies and not been involved in a disappointing World T20 campaign, he will resume control in an ODI against Scotland on Friday, before the visits of Sri Lanka and India.
He has previously described the changes in the England set-up as providing a "clean break", intimating that now is the time to build a team in his own image rather than continuing to work along the lines established by Flower and his predecessor, Andrew Strauss, but Cook rejected theories that Flower was too controlling.
"I do disagree. What is written and what actually happened is not always accurate," he said. "Anyone who knows me knows I have an opinion and can be quite stubborn. Flower can also be quite stubborn. You are out there in the middle and you have to make decisions as a captain. Just because you consult other people doesn't mean you can't make your own decisions. You still have to make that final decision and are responsible for it."
Although Flower remains with the ECB in a development role, England's power axis now centres on Cook and Moores. Cook played under Moores during his first spell as England coach and the two have been getting reacquainted in between the early rounds of the Championship.
Moores was sacked in 2009 after falling out with Kevin Pietersen, England's captain at the time, and his style was felt to be overly prescriptive by senior players who had experienced success under Duncan Fletcher. Cook said he felt Moores was "harshly treated" at the end of his reign and was confident that the 51-year-old would not make the same mistakes again.
"The meetings with Peter have gone well," Cook said. "It was about getting to know Peter again and hammering out what he thought my values were and me asking him what his were and getting some middle ground, which wasn't too hard.
"He learned from last time and he will do things slightly differently. Five years extra coaching gives you extra experience. We all do things slightly differently but he's an energetic and enthusiastic guy who loves cricket and England. We've got to use that enthusiasm and drive.
"It was going well until the fall out - he'd only been in the job 18 months before the fall out and things changed. When you have grown up in one regime as a senior player and then a new guy comes in, it is difficult - Moores and Duncan Fletcher are obviously completely different guys and have different ideas."
England have cast admiring glances at the work of Stuart Lancaster with the rugby union side and Cook reiterated that they would be looked to as a source of inspiration. "Lessons should be learned from England rugby - huge credit to Stuart Lancaster and the guys for the way they have managed to change things," he said. "I imagine it's taken a hell of a lot of effort and work. But I think just the way they have gone about their business shows how they've improved. Everyone can see the development in their side."
Following the embarrassing defeat to Netherlands at the World T20, England cannot afford to look beyond next week's ODI in Aberdeen. However, the news that Matt Prior will miss Sussex's match against Lancashire beginning on Sunday due to his ongoing Achilles problem is unlikely to have aided planning for next month's first Sri Lanka Test. Jonny Bairstow, who replaced Prior as wicketkeeper in Melbourne and Sydney, is fit after breaking a finger and was named in Yorkshire's squad to face Durham.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.The assertiveness of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy in the Indian Ocean is forcing the government of Narenda Modi to look to modernize India’s naval forces as quickly as possible. This venture, as would be expected, includes overtures to the U.S. (for example, to share technology for India’s next aircraft carrier), but India is increasingly seeking cooperation with Japan as well. India has asked Japan to consider working with India to build submarines and recently announced its plans to purchase Japanese amphibious search and rescue (SAR) aircraft.
Russian-made SAR flying boats had also been considered, but India chose the Japanese option because the Indian defense ministry valued the US-2’s ability to take off and land on waters with high waves. If the export of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force’s US-2 air-sea SAR aircraft to India is realized, it will be the first export under Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new three principles on defense equipment transfers, declared in April 2014.
Aside from defense equipment deals, Japan and India have been working to improve their bilateral cooperation in the fields of maritime security, counter-terrorism, and anti-piracy operations since January 2014, when then-Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony met with then-Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.
At the time, the two defense ministers put off the issue of Japanese US-2 sales to India, but it was given added momentum during Modi’s trip to Japan last September. Modi declared during a joint press briefing with Abe, “We intend to give a new thrust and direction to our defense cooperation, including collaboration in defense technology and equipment, given our shared interest in peace and stability and maritime security.” At the same meeting, Abe and Modi agreed to upgrade “two-plus-two” security talks, increase working level talks on defense equipment and technology cooperation, hold regular maritime exercises, and continue Japanese participation in U.S.-India drills.
Abe and Modi have capitalized on their close personal ties with each other – and the increasingly uncertain external environment created by China’s bellicose foreign policy – to increase security cooperation despite several remaining obstacles, such as the lack of a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement.
Last July, Japan participated in the Malabar exercises, traditionally a bilateral India-U.S. exercise, at India’s invitation. Prior to 2014, the last time Japan had participated was in 2007 and 2009. There is no word yet on Japan’s participation in this year’s exercises — whether India and Japan will stand firm in the face of Chinese criticism of Japan’s participation is a critical test of how strong and resilient India-Japan relations can be in the near future.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Gavin Hewitt: "These are very, very difficult days"
The president of Cyprus is meeting political leaders to hammer out a "Plan B" to shore up debt-laden banks - a condition for securing a huge bailout.
Cyprus's banks, which have been shut all week to prevent mass withdrawals, are to stay closed until next Tuesday.
Politicians have been scrambling to find a way forward after an unpopular levy on bank deposits was rejected by parliament on Tuesday.
The European Central Bank has warned it may halt emergency funding on Monday.
The tax on bank deposits, which provoked street protests, is required for a 10bn-euro (£8.5bn; $13bn) EU-IMF loan.
"A decision on a Cyprus rescue must be made on Thursday at the latest," said President Nicos Anastasiades, quoted by the official CNA news agency.
Mr Anastasiades is putting a proposal to party leaders. It is then expected to go before parliament in the afternoon, according to CNA.
State TV said the plan might include a levy on bank deposits over 100,000 euros.
The previous proposals had also included a levy on deposits between 20,000 and 100,000 euros, which had outraged many Cypriots.
The new plan is also reported to involve nationalising pension funds.
'Good beginning'
Adding to the pressure, the European Central Bank (ECB) has warned that it will continue providing emergency funding for Cypriot banks until Monday, but no longer - unless there is a bailout deal to ensure that the banks can be made financially viable.
One official told the Associated Press that the new Cypriot plan would include "some form" of Russian help, but did not elaborate.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has scorned the eurozone's bailout plan for Cyprus, accusing EU leaders of behaving "like a bull in a china shop".
In Moscow on Thursday he told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that all interested parties, including Russia, should be included in a deal for Cyprus.
The Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris is in Moscow for a second day to negotiate assistance from Russia, which has multi-billion dollar investments in Cyprus.
Mr Sarris said after talks on Wednesday with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that there had been "no offers, nothing concrete," but "a good beginning".
Cyprus has attracted money through its low tax rates, with Russians holding between a third and a half of all Cypriot deposits.
The country is surviving on a lifeline from the European Central Bank Cyprus: Mounting EU pressure
Russian private and corporate assets in Cypriot banks are believed to total about 23bn euro, including many larger deposits, and Russian officials had expressed anger at the bank levy plans.
Analysts say Russia may provide more funding in return for interests in Cyprus' offshore energy fields.
The controversial bank levy had been proposed as a condition for the 10bn-euro bailout. Cyprus was expected to raise 5.8bn euros through the one-off tax on bank savings.
In total Cyprus has been told to find 7bn euros, to make the international loan sustainable for its small economy. In addition to the 5.8bn, Cyprus has to get revenue from privatisations, a capital gains tax increase and a 2.5% increase in the corporate tax rate, currently at 10%, to bring in a total of 7bn euros.
Bankruptcy fears
Monday 25 March is a scheduled bank holiday in Cyprus, and Thursday and Friday have now also been declared bank holidays. The stock exchange also remains closed.
Bank mergers, a bond issue, and more Russian funding have all been mentioned as ways to help the country out of the crisis.
Cyprus' offshore energy fields The 13 exploratory energy blocks south of Cyprus could hold gas reserves of as much as 60 trillion cubic feet, the head of Kretyk, the country's state hydrocarbons company said.
That would be worth about 475bn euros at today's prices according to Bloomberg.
Noble Energy granted first contract to explore Block 12 in October 2008.
Unresolved conflict with Turkey over issue of national sovereignty surrounds the field, dubbed Aphrodite, with Ankara objecting to tenders issued by Cyprus. Sources: Cypriot government, Kretyk, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
One offer of help has come from Cyprus's Orthodox Church, which is a major shareholder in the third-largest domestic lender, the Hellenic Bank.
Archbishop Chrysostomos I said on Wednesday the Church was willing to mortgage its assets to invest in government bonds.
The establishment of a "bad bank" which would take on risky assets held by Cypriot banks has also been mentioned by officials.
The BBC's Mark Lowen, in Nicosia, says Cyprus is a resilient nation and the banks are still giving out cash through machines - although with limits, and some are running low.
Some businesses are now refusing credit card payments, our correspondent reports.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she regretted but respected the Cypriot vote.
She said the eurozone had a duty to find a solution for Cyprus, but added that the country's current banking system was "not sustainable".
Cyprus' banks were left exposed following the debt crisis in Greece and there are fears Cyprus could go bankrupt if they fail.
The bank levy plan was altered on Tuesday to exempt savers with less than 20,000 euros, but a 6.75% charge on deposits of 20,000-100,000 euros and a 9.9% charge for those above 100,000 euros remained.
However, parliament rejected the deal, with 36 MPs voting against it, 19 abstaining and none in favour.For decades, scientists have tried to understand the complex and gruesome relationship between the parasitic emerald wasp Ampulex compressa and its much larger victim, the common household cockroach Periplaneta americana.
At first glance, this parasite-prey relationship seems much like any other: the female wasp stings the cockroach, lays an egg on its abdomen, and once hatched, the hungry larva feeds on the cockroach. However, while most parasitic insects tend to paralyse their victims with a venomous sting, the emerald wasp instead manipulates the cockroach’s behaviour, essentially transforming it into a zombie slave.
With two stings the cockroach is left with the ability to walk, but is entirely robbed of the power to initiate its own movement. The wasp, now tired after administering two stings, regains its energy by cutting off the ends of the cockroach’s antennae, and drinking its blood. Revitalised, it then latches on to the stung cockroach’s antennae and, much like an obedient toddler being lead to his first day of school, the submissive insect follows the wasp’s orders.
In the meantime the wasp also lays an egg on the cockroach, which hatches after three or four days. The hatched larva chews its way into the cockroach’s abdomen, where it proceeds to eat the internal organs in a precise order. This ensures that the docile victim stays alive for the next four days, until the larva eventually forms a cocoon inside it.
With time, the fully-grown wasp emerges from the host’s body and continues this vicious cycle. Through it all, the stupefied roach, although able to move, shows no desire to struggle, flee, or fight, even as it is being eaten alive from the inside.
How to control a roach
This wasp-cockroach relationship has been documented as early as the 1940s, but it wasn’t until recently that scientists have been able to understand how exactly the wasp pulls off this precise behavioural manipulation.
The first sting, administered to a mass of nerve tissue in the cockroach’s thorax, contains large quantities of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), and complementary chemicals called taurine and beta alanine. GABA is a neurotransmitter that blocks the transmission of motor signals between nerves, and, together with the other two chemicals, it temporarily paralyses the cockroach’s front legs. This prevents the cockroach from escaping while the wasp inflicts the second, more toxic sting directly into the roach’s brain.
It is the second sting that turns the cockroach into a zombie, and contains what Frederic Libersat and his colleagues at Ben Gurion University refer to as a “neurotoxic cocktail”. The venom of the second sting blocks the receptors for another neurotransmitter called octopamine, which is involved in the initiation of spontaneous and complex movements such as walking.
Libersat has shown that unstung cockroaches injected with an octopamine-like compound show an increase in walking behaviour. Those injected with a chemical that blocks octopamine, however, show a reduction in spontaneous walking, much like the victims of the wasp sting. Zombie cockroaches were also able to recover from their stupor and walk after they were injected with a chemical that reactivates octopamine receptors.
There is a fine distinction between the ability to walk, and the ability to initiate such a movement. The stung cockroaches in this instance are devoid of the latter, while their skills for the former seem intact, demonstrated by the fact that these poor creatures are entirely capable of walking to the wasp’s nest, but only when being led by the wasp.
Libersat and colleagues investigated this interesting phenomenon by placing stung cockroaches in potentially harmful situations and testing their escape reflexes. They found that cockroaches stung by the emerald wasps were soon deprived of any will to escape to safety even when electrocuted or drowned. However, their motor skills, measured by the contractions of their muscles when subjected to these dangers, were the same as unstung cockroaches, suggesting that the venom affects the decision rather than the ability to walk.
However haunting this behavioural manipulation is, one can’t help but appreciate the ingenuity of this tiny parasite, enabling it to incapacitate a much bigger victim. If the wasp were to paralyse the cockroach, it probably would not be able to carry it back to its lair. If it were to kill the cockroach, it would lose its source of fresh food. It has evolved to develop the most complex and precise weapon to overcome these two obstacles: venom that only targets the specific neural circuits which guarantee that its victim will walk obediently to its tomb, and stay alive while it is being devoured. And with no will to escape, these poor roaches help another generation of terrifying emerald wasps to be spawned.
Sana Suri blogs at http://neurobabble.co.uk.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.Photo: Featured Image - Shutterstock, 1. Memecenter.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 2. Giphy.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 3. Memebase.cheezeburger.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 4. Gifer.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 5. Giphy.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 6. Tenor.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 7. Gfycat.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 8. Gifbin.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Pur |
for his life, she insists that Lakshmana rush to his aid. Lakshmana tries to assure her that Rama is invincible and that it is best if he continues to follow Rama's orders to protect her. On the verge of hysterics, Sita insists that it is not she but Rama who needs Lakshmana's help. He obeys her wish but stipulates that she is not to leave the cottage or entertain any stranger. He draws a chalk outline, the Lakshmana rekha, around the cottage and casts a spell on it that prevents anyone from entering the boundary but allows people to exit. With the coast finally clear, Ravana appears in the guise of an ascetic requesting Sita's hospitality. Unaware of her guest's plan, Sita is tricked into leaving the rekha and is then forcibly carried away by Ravana.[11] Jatayu, a vulture, tries to rescue Sita, but is mortally wounded. At Lanka, Sita is kept under the guard of rakshasis. Ravana asks Sita to marry him, but she refuses, being eternally devoted to Rama. Meanwhile, Rama and Lakshmana learn about Sita's abduction from Jatayu and immediately set out to save her. During their search, they meet Kabandha and the ascetic Shabari, who direct them towards Sugriva and Hanuman. Kishkindha Kanda Edit A stone bas- relief at Banteay Srei in Cambodia depicts the combat between Vali and Sugriva (middle). To the right, Rama fires his bow. To the left, Vali lies dying. Kishkindha Kanda is set in the ape (Vanara) citadel Kishkindha. Rama and Lakshmana meet Hanuman, the biggest devotee of Rama, greatest of ape heroes and an adherent of Sugriva, the banished pretender to the throne of Kishkindha. Rama befriends Sugriva and helps him by killing his elder brother Vali thus regaining the kingdom of Kishkindha, in exchange for helping Rama to recover Sita. However Sugriva soon forgets his promise and spends his time in enjoying his powers. The clever former ape queen Tara (wife of Vali) calmly intervenes to prevent an enraged Lakshmana from destroying the ape citadel. She then eloquently convinces Sugriva to honour his pledge. Sugriva then sends search parties to the four corners of the earth, only to return without success from north, east and west. The southern search party under the leadership of Angada and Hanuman learns from a vulture named Sampati (elder brother of Jatayu), that Sita was taken to Lanka. Sundara Kanda Edit Main article: Sundara Kanda Ravana is meeting Sita at Ashokavana. Hanuman is seen on the tree. Sundara Kanda forms the heart of Valmiki's Ramayana and consists of a detailed, vivid account of Hanuman's adventures. After learning about Sita, Hanuman assumes a gargantuan form and makes a colossal leap across the sea to Lanka. On the way he meets with many challenges like facing a Gandharva kanya who comes in the form of a demon to test his abilities. He encounters a mountain named Mainakudu who offers Lord Hanuman assistance and offers him rest. Lord Hanuman refuses because there is little time remaining to complete the search for Sita. After entering into Lanka, he finds a demon, Lankini, who protects all of Lanka. Hanuman fights with her and subjugates her in order to get into Lanka. In the process Lankini, who had an earlier vision/warning from the gods that the end of Lanka nears if someone defeats Lankini. Here, Hanuman explores the demons' kingdom and spies on Ravana. He locates Sita in Ashoka grove, where she is being wooed and threatened by Ravana and his rakshasis to marry Ravana. Hanuman reassures Sita, giving Rama's signet ring as a sign of good faith. He offers to carry Sita back to Rama; however, she refuses and says that it is not the dharma, stating that Ramayana will not have significance if Hanuman carries her to Rama – "When Rama is not there Ravana carried Sita forcibly and when Ravana was not there, Hanuman carried Sita back to Rama". She says that Rama himself must come and avenge the insult of her abduction. Hanuman then wreaks havoc in Lanka by destroying trees and buildings and killing Ravana's warriors. He allows himself to be captured and delivered to Ravana. He gives a bold lecture to Ravana to release Sita. He is condemned and his tail is set on fire, but he escapes his bonds and leaping from roof to roof, sets fire to Ravana's citadel and makes the giant leap back from the island. The joyous search party returns to Kishkindha with the news. Yuddha Kanda Edit Battle at Lanka, Ramayana by Theby Sahibdin. It depicts the monkey army of the protagonist Rama (top left, blue figure) fighting Ravana —the demon-king of the Lanka —to save Rama's kidnapped wife, Sita. The painting depicts multiple events in the battle against the three-headed demon general Trisiras, in bottom left. Trisiras is beheaded by Hanuman, the monkey-companion of Rama. Also known as Lanka Kanda, this book describes the war between the army of Rama and the army of Ravana. Having received Hanuman's report on Sita, Rama and Lakshmana proceed with their allies towards the shore of the southern sea. There they are joined by Ravana's renegade brother Vibhishana. The apes named Nala and Nila construct a floating bridge (known as Rama Setu)[12] across the sea, using stones that floated on water because they had Rama's name written on them. The princes and their army cross over to Lanka. A lengthy war ensues. During a battle, Ravana's son Indrajit hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana, who is badly wounded and is nearly killed.[citation needed] So Hanuman assumes a gigantic form and flies from Lanka to the Himalayas. Upon reaching Mount Sumeru, Hanuman was unable to identify the herb that could cure Lakshmana and so decided to bring the entire mountain back to Lanka. Eventually, the war ends when Rama kills Ravana. Rama then installs Vibhishana on the throne of Lanka. On meeting Sita, Rama asks her to undergo an Agni Pariksha (test of fire) to prove her chastity, as he wants to get rid of the rumors surrounding her purity. When Sita plunges into the sacrificial fire, Agni, lord of fire raises Sita, unharmed, to the throne, attesting to her innocence. The episode of Agni Pariksha varies in the versions of Ramayana by Valmiki and Tulsidas. In Tulsidas's Ramacharitamanas, Sita was under the protection of Agni (see Maya Sita) so it was necessary to bring her out before reuniting with Rama. At the expiration of his term of exile, Rama returns to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana, where the coronation is performed. This is the beginning of Ram Rajya, which implies an ideal state with good morals. Ramayan is not only the story about how truth defeats the evil, it also teaches us to forget all the evil and arrogance that resides inside ourselves.[13] Uttara Kanda Edit Sita in the hermitage of Valmiki Uttara Kanda concerns the final years of Rama, Sita and Rama's brothers. After being crowned king, Rama passes time pleasantly with Sita. After some time, Sita gets pregnant with twin children. However, despite Agni Pariksha ("fire ordeal") of Sita, rumours about her "purity" are spreading among the populace of Ayodhya. Rama yields to public opinion and reluctantly banishes Sita to the forest, where the sage Valmiki provides shelter in his ashrama ("hermitage"). Here, she gives birth to twin boys, Lava and Kusha, who become pupils of Valmiki and are brought up in ignorance of their identity. Valmiki composes the Ramayana and teaches Lava and Kusha to sing it. Later, Rama holds a ceremony during the Ashwamedha yagna, which sage Valmiki, with Lava and Kusha, attends. Lava and Kusha sing the Ramayana in the presence of Rama and his vast audience. When Lava and Kusha recite about Sita's exile, Rama becomes grief-stricken and Valmiki produces Sita. Sita calls upon the Earth, her mother, to receive her and as the ground opens, she vanishes into it. Rama then learns that Lava and Kusha are his children. Many years later, a messenger from the Gods appears and informs Rama that the mission of his incarnation is over. Rama returns to his celestial abode along with his brothers. It was dramatised as Uttararamacarita by the Sanskrit poet Bhavabhuti.
Versions Edit
Influence on culture and art Edit
Religious significance Edit
Deities Sita (far right), Rama (center), Lakshmana (far left) and Hanuman (below, seated) at Bhaktivedanta Manor Watford, England Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, is one of the most popular deities worshipped in the Hindu religion. Each year, many devout pilgrims trace their journey through India and Nepal, halting at each of the holy sites along the way. The poem is not seen as just a literary monument, but serves as an integral part of Hinduism and is held in such reverence that the mere reading or hearing of it or certain passages of it, is believed by Hindus to free them from sin and bless the reader or listener. According to Hindu tradition, Rama is an incarnation (Avatar) of god Vishnu. The main purpose of this incarnation is to demonstrate the righteous path (dharma) for all living creatures on earth.
In popular culture Edit
Citations Edit
References EditJamal Garhai is an ancient site located 13 kilometers from Mardan city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Research says it was a Buddhist monastery from the first till the fifth century AD at a time when Buddhism flourished in this part of the Indian subcontinent.
This site attracts many researchers from national universities and also tourists from all around the globe. Since its a little far from main Mardan, the ride gets a bit tricky. Different projects are under way to protect the site from being unearthed as it is believed that in the past, numerous parts of the site went missing.
The ruins of Jamal Garhi are believed to have been first discovered by British archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1848.
In 2012, archaeological excavations at the site which were funded by Government of Japan and UNESCO lead to the discovery of coins ageing back to 158-195 AD that supposedly belonged to King Huvisha. These excavations were conducted by a team of students from the Hazara University. A Buddha statue, a terracotta plate with Kharoshti script and five rooms from a two-storey house were also discovered along with traces of a lake.
Some inscriptions found in Jamal Garhi are now displayed at the Peshawar museum.This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Obama administration on Tuesday over the National Security Agency’s secret program to vacuum up the phone records of millions of Americans. The lawsuit comes less than one week after The Guardian and The Washington Post revealed the existence of a secret court ruling ordering Verizon to hand over records of its business customers. This is ACLU attorney Alex Abdo.
ALEX ABDO: This program is a massive and unprecedented grab of information by the intelligence agencies. They’re sweeping up or they’re tracking literally every call made in this country. And the Constitution simply doesn’t allow the government to do that. If it has a reason to suspect a particular American of wrongdoing, then the government should target that American for investigation or surveillance, but they shouldn’t indiscriminately sweep up the calls of millions of innocent Americans.
AMY GOODMAN: The disclosure of the secret NSA surveillance program was based on information leaked by Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who most recently worked inside the NSA’s Hawaii office for the private firm Booz Allen Hamilton. On Friday, President Obama confirmed the existence of the surveillance program.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: When it comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your telephone calls. That’s not what this program’s about. As was indicated, what the intelligence community is doing is looking at phone numbers and durations of calls. They are not looking at people’s names, and they’re not looking at content. But by sifting through this so-called metadata, they may identify potential leads with respect to folks who might engage in terrorism. If these folks—if the intelligence community then actually wants to listen to a phone call, they’ve got to go back to a federal judge, just like they would in a criminal investigation. So, I want to be very clear—some of the hype that we’ve been hearing over the last day or so—nobody is listening to the content of people’s phone calls.
AMY GOODMAN: While President Obama insisted nobody is listening to your telephone calls, many cybersecurity experts say the metadata being collected by the government may be far more revealing than the actual content of the phone calls.
Joining us now from Washington, D.C., is Susan Landau, mathematician and former Sun Microsystems engineer, author of the book Surveillance or Security?: The Risks Posed by New Wiretapping Technologies. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2012.
Susan Landau, welcome to Democracy Now! This may surprise many people, this point that metadata—just, you know, the fact of a phone call, who you called, perhaps where you made the call—can be more revealing than a transcript of the conversation itself.
SUSAN LANDAU: That’s right. That’s because a phone call—the metadata of a phone call tells what you do as opposed to what you say. So, for example, if you call from the hospital when you’re getting a mammogram, and then later in the day your doctor calls you, and then you call the surgeon, and then when you’re at the surgeon’s office you call your family, it’s pretty clear, just looking at that pattern of calls, that there’s been some bad news. If there’s a tight vote in Congress, and somebody who’s wavering on the edge, you discover that they’re talking to the opposition, you know which way they’re vote is going.
One of my favorite examples is, when Sun Microsystems was bought by Oracle, there were a number of calls that weekend before. One can imagine just the trail of calls. First the CEO of Sun and the CEO of Oracle talk to each other. Then probably they both talk to their chief counsels. Then maybe they talk to each other again, then to other people in charge. And the calls go back and forth very quickly, very tightly. You know what’s going to happen. You know what the announcement is going to be on Monday morning, even though you haven’t heard the content of the calls. So that metadata is remarkably revealing.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, John Negroponte, the nation’s first director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush, has defended the surveillance program and the collection of metadata. He described metadata as, quote, “like knowing what’s on the outside of an envelope.” Susan Landau, your response to that?
SUSAN LANDAU: That’s not really true. That was the case when we had black telephones that weighed several pounds and sat on the living room table or the hall table, and you knew that there was a phone call from one house to another house. Now everybody carries cellphones with them. And so, the data is, when I call you, I know that I’m talking to you, but I have no idea where you are. It’s the phone company who has that data now. And that data is far more revealing than what’s on the outside of an envelope. As I said earlier, it’s what you do, not what you say. And because we’re carrying the cellphones with us and making calls all during the day, that it’s very, very revelatory.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Could you explain, Susan, the significance of location data? Can the government map a person’s whereabouts through this metadata?
SUSAN LANDAU: Of course. In fact, all it takes is four data points to be 95 percent sure who the person is. I noticed President Obama said no names, but in fact, if you know four locations, because home and work are often unique pairs for most people, 95 percent location of—of times when you have four location points, you know who it is you’re listening to. So, you follow somebody, and they make calls from work every day, and then one day you notice they’ve made some calls from a bar at the end of the day. And then you discover somebody in middle age, somebody who ought to be working, is now making calls only from home. You know they’ve been fired, even though you haven’t listened to any of the content of the calls.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you about the comments of the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, coming under increasing scrutiny over comments he made to the Senate over the government’s surveillance program. In March, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden questioned Clapper about the NSA.
SEN. RON WYDEN: Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?
JAMES CLAPPER: No, sir.
SEN. RON WYDEN: It does not?
JAMES CLAPPER: Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly.
AMY GOODMAN: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is holding his head as he’s responding to questions from Senator Ron Wyden in March. Well, during an interview this week with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, James Clapper defended his response, saying he had answered the question in the, quote, “least untruthful manner,” unquote. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Senator Wyden called for public hearings to investigate the scope of the NSA’s surveillance of Americans. Wyden said, quote, “One of the most important responsibilities a Senator has is oversight of the intelligence community. [This] job cannot be done responsibly if Senators [aren’t] getting straight answers to direct questions.” Susan Landau, translate what James Clapper said.
SUSAN LANDAU: Well, he said that we’re not getting—that the NSA was not getting data on millions of Americans. But given that Verizon and the other telecos presumably were also sending this information, and they were sending it daily, that does not appear to be true.
Now, what we don’t know, we don’t know a lot of things. One of the things we don’t know is the kind minimization that the NSA did on the data. When you do a criminal wiretap, you’re required to do what’s called minimization. You can listen to the call, but if it’s not the target of the investigation, if it’s not the criminal him or herself, but let’s say their teenage daughter, then you have to shut down the wiretap, and you can pick it up again in a couple of minutes. If it’s the criminal, but they’re talking about going out to buy milk, let’s say, unless you think that’s code for going out to pick up some heroin, you have to shut it down. That’s minimization.
We don’t know several things. First of all, of course, there was a secret interpretation of a law, and that has no place in a democracy. That’s tantamount to secret laws. But we also don’t know what kind of data minimization the NSA was doing, and that’s something that ought to come out in public hearings. That’s very different from exposing sources and methods.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, the secret court order to obtain Verizon phone records was sought by the FBI under a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that was expanded by the PATRIOT Act. In 2011, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden warned about how the government was interpreting its surveillance powers under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act.
SEN. RON WYDEN: When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the PATRIOT Act, they are going to be stunned, and they are going to be angry. And they’re going to ask senators, “Did you know what this law actually permits? Why didn’t you know before you voted on it?” The fact is, anyone can read the plain text of the PATRIOT Act, and yet many members of Congress have no idea how the law is being secretly interpreted by the executive branch, because that interpretation is classified. It’s almost as if there were two PATRIOT Acts, and many members of Congress have not read the one that matters. Our constituents, of course, are totally in the dark. Members of the public have no access to the secret legal interpretations, so they have no idea what their government believes the law actually means.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Susan Landau, that was Democratic Senator Ron Wyden. Could you comment on what he said? He was speaking in 2011.
SUSAN LANDAU: Yes. No, I actually had members of the press call me after his speech and say, “What is he talking about in Section 215?” And I literally had no idea, because it did not occur to me, and maybe that’s my naïveté. It did not occur to me that the government would be collecting the metadata under a secret interpretation.
So what Senator Wyden is talking about is that collection of metadata, and what he’s alluding to is how extremely powerful it is. Currently, our laws, our wiretapping laws, which were passed when phones didn’t move, back in the 1960s and '70s, those wiretap laws protect content, very strongly. You need a wiretap warrant to get at content. But they protect the metadata—the who, the when, the what time, how long a call was for, the location—much less strongly. That needs to be changed. And, in fact, a bill was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act—an updated version of the bill was reported out earlier this year. That's what Senator Wyden is alluding to. The fact that that metadata, now that we carry cellphones, now that payphones essentially don’t exist—there are far fewer payphones than a decade ago, and so one has to rely on cellphones—Senator Wyden is saying that information is very private information. It reveals a remarkable amount about what a person is doing, who they are, whom they associate with, who they spend their nights with, where they are when they travel. All that kind of information is very private, deserves constitutional protection. And yet, under a secret interpretation of the law, it’s in fact being handed over to the government. And that’s what Senator Wyden is saying.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Susan Landau, people like Senator Feinstein are calling for an investigation into what Edward Snowden has done. We’re about to have a debate on whether he is a traitor or a hero. What do you think of what Snowden has done? And what do you think needs to be done? Where should the investigation take place?
SUSAN LANDAU: So, the first thing is whether—what do I think of what Edward Snowden has done. I think of myself as a computer scientist, not a policy or legal expert. I don’t know what I would have done in his shoes, but I do know that what he’s done is opened up a public debate about something that should have been public many, many years ago. We can’t have secret interpretations of law in a democracy.
Where do I think things should go? I think there need to be two investigations. One, I think Senator Feinstein is absolutely right, although I would target things a little bit differently. We’ve developed a surveillance-industrial complex, as has been exhibited to the public now, and I think that’s where Senator Feinstein should concentrate. I think it’s time for a Church-type Committee investigation, under perhaps the aegis of the Judiciary Committee, under perhaps Senator Leahy, but we need an examination of the surveillance laws and what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, what was done illegally, and so on. And it needs to be a broad investigation, the same way it was done in the 1970s under the Church Committee.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you very much, Susan Landau, mathematician, former Sun Microsystems engineer, author of the book Surveillance or Security?: The Risks Posed by New Wiretapping Technologies. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2012. When we come back, a debate on what Edward Snowden has done. Traitor or hero? Stay with us.[Finally] Google Home now Defers to Google Assistant for Reminders, Calls, Texts and More
The Google Home has been one of my favorite purchases in recent memory. When support for third-party integrations was announced, I was excited for the possibilities it would bring for power users like myself. While I’ve been busy tinkering away with getting my own custom voice commands, many regular users of the Google Home have felt frustrated that the home assistant service is unable to perform some fairly basic tasks such as making phone calls, sending text messages, or creating reminders.
What rubs further salt on these wounds is the fact that these basic features are available in the regular Google Assistant that’s (now) present on most Android 6.0+ devices. It would be great if you could continue using these features on your smartphone even though they’re inaccessible on the Google Home, but yet another frustrating feature of the Google Home is that it hijacked every “OK Google” voice command that you initiate when you’re in range. Until now.
On my Google Home, at least, I’ve noticed that the Google Home will now no longer answer questions that it doesn’t support, and instead defer to the Google Assistant on my phone. If I ask it a question like “what is the weather right now” my Google Home will answer, but if I ask it to make a phone call, send a text message, set a reminder, or ask if to do any other command it can’t handle (but Assistant can), Google Assistant on my phone will now handle that command.
I am not sure if this feature has rolled out to all Google Home users, but this is certainly a very welcome change. My Google Home is in my bedroom, so when I ask my Google Home to do something chances are my phone is also in range to hear my “OK Google” prompt. Thanks to this change, I now no longer have to worry that I my Google Home triggered alongside Assistant before asking it to make a phone call, text somebody, or add a reminder.In academia, no, but in the real world perhaps:
Electricity generated by US wind farms fell 6 per cent in the first half of the year even as the nation expanded wind generation capacity by 9 per cent, Energy Information Administration records show.
The reason was some of the softest air currents in 40 years, cutting power sales from wind farms to utilities…
“We never anticipated a drop-off in the wind resource as we have witnessed over the past six months,” David Crane, chief executive of power producer NRG Energy, told analysts last month…
Standard and Poor’s put a negative outlook on bonds issued by two wind farm companies as their revenues tracked wind speeds lower.
“Although our current expectation is that the wind resource will revert back to historical averages, at this time it is unclear when that will happen,” the rating agency said.
Wind generated 4.4 per cent of US electricity last year, up from 0.4 per cent a decade earlier. But this year US wind plants’ “capacity factor” has averaged just a third of their total generating capacity, down from 38 per cent in 2014. EIA noted that slightly slower wind speeds can reduce output by a disproportionately large amount.(CNN) More than a century before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous open letter from the Birmingham jail, another incarcerated champion of civil disobedience penned a powerful missive against racial injustice.
Samuel D. Burris, a free black man, railed against those who enacted laws that allowed slave traffickers to conduct business freely in Delaware.
"They uphold and applaud those slave traffickers, and those inhuman and unmerciful leeches, in their soul-damning conduct, by making the colored people legal subjects for their bloody principles to feast on," wrote Burris, who was languishing in a Dover jail, in a letter published in a June 1848 edition of The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper
On Monday morning, Delaware's governor officially pardoned Burris, an Underground Railroad "conductor" who today is considered a hero for helping escaped slaves find their way to freedom. Burris had been convicted of enticing slaves to freedom.
Markell, surrounded by Burris descendants as he signed the pardon, said the action righted a wrong and was part of the healing process for Delaware.
"It recognizes Mr. Burris' acts not as criminal acts but acts of freedom and bravery in the face of injustice," he said.
Burris' courage is particularly notable because, unlike the white abolitionists with whom he worked, the father of five children and husband to Catherine could be sold into slavery for his actions. He eventually was ordered to be sold into servitude, or slavery, for two periods of seven years each.
"The man put his life on the line and the life of his family on the line to do work that was illegal at the time," said Robin Krawitz, a Delaware State University historian writing a book about Burris. "We can look back and say that our system was wrong. He was not wrong; he was practicing civil disobedience."
The story doesn't end with Burris' conviction.
A white abolitionist posing as a slaveholder purchased the inmate for $500 and eventually spirited him away to safety and to his family in Philadelphia. Burris, undeterred even after having spent 14 months in jail, for a time returned to Delaware and continued to participate in the Underground Railroad.
The pardon was the result of a grass-roots effort that quickly gained traction this year. Among those who lobbied for it are Ocea Thomas, an Atlanta descendant of Burris, and Robert Seeley, who said his ancestor, a white Quaker, helped 2,700 people, including Harriet Tubman, to freedom.
Thomas says when she recently received a call from the governor's office about Markell's decision, she was "overwhelmed with pride" and happy for Seeley, Krawitz and Bev Laing, a state historian who did extensive research on Burris.
Krawitz and Laing, who have researched Burris' life for nearly 20 years, speak glowingly of their subject's selfless actions, faith and moral character. The pardon is bringing more attention to an individual and a chapter in American history about which many know little.
"What would possess someone to do this?" Laing asked. "Whether the Holocaust, or current history, what caused someone to reach out and put their entire life and family on the line for a stranger? That's called a hero."
'A microcosm of the nation'
People often are surprised to learn that Delaware was a slave state before the Civil War. The 1840 census showed 16,916 free African-Americans and about 2,600 slaves in the small state's three counties.
Burris was born in 1813 in the Willow Grove area of Kent County to parents who also were free. The family owned property, and Burris worked as a farmer, laborer and teacher during his lifetime.
"Delaware was a microcosm of the nation -- an industrial North and an agrarian South," Laing said.
While relatively small in number, Delaware slaveholders held outsize power. Their foes were Quakers and Methodists who strongly opposed slavery and worked with abolitionists, including a group in Philadelphia, against the "peculiar institution," a 19th-century Southern euphemism for slavery.
Burris and other free blacks were encouraged to "toe the line" and live with racial prejudice that extended to not allowing them to vote.
Bev Laing, a Delaware state historian, said of Burris: "The first time I saw his signature it was very powerful."
It was against that backdrop that saw Burris became a conductor for the Underground Railroad during the mid-1840s, helping guide slaves on their journey north and transporting them to stations where they could rest. He aided the Hawkins family during a successful 1845 escape to Pennsylvania. While others were arrested, Burris was not charged.
The case against Burris began months after he helped a slave named Maria Mathews (perhaps Matthews). She was taken into custody in January 1847 before they could get on a steamboat in Delaware. Sadly, Mathews was returned to slavery.
Burris, who remained free, faced a grand jury inquiry. He was taken to the jail in the capital of Dover, but he was unable to make bail because authorities raised it after supporters came up with the initial amount.
A jury later that year convicted Burris for aiding Isaac and Alexander, known only by their first names, and an unnamed young woman. He was acquitted in the Mathews case.
Burris received two seven-year servitude sentences. In 1848, he was led to the marble steps of the Old State House to be sold into slavery. The building today houses a museum.
"Delaware was a slave state, the jury was all pro-slavery and Samuel Burris was put on the auction block. He was examined like you do with animals. He was stripped down, his teeth were examined," Seeley said.
Seeley's ancestor is Thomas Garrett, a Quaker abolitionist and Underground Railroad " stationmaster " who provided shelter or a hiding place.
Wins his freedom through a ruse
The sale of Burris was anything but routine.
"There weren't other men who put themselves out to do what he did," Laing said.
The auction, which may have taken place in September 1848, took a dramatic turn: The Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society came up with a novel idea.
Isaac Flint, a Quaker friend of Garrett's, was enlisted to go from Philadelphia to Dover, where no one ostensibly knew him. He carried $500 in his pocket.
Burris did not know of the rescue plan. "He truly believed he was being sent South. Even though (the sentence) said 14 years, it was common knowledge he wasn't coming back," Laing said. Burris' family would have been left destitute had he been enslaved.
It has been recorded that Flint, upon prevailing, whispered into Burris' ear "not to fear, you have been purchased with abolitionist gold." Burris had to serve a few more months in jail before he made it to Philadelphia and rejoined his family.
Even after this close call, Burris returned to his native Delaware to continue helping slaves to freedom.
"A year after he was prosecuted and punished there was a petition to the state Legislature to come up with a punishment that was more severe because the notorious Samuel Burris was still doing the work in the neighborhood," Krawitz said.
With the threat of 60 public lashes looming over his head, Burris gave up his efforts in Delaware, but he did not give up fighting against slavery. It's not known exactly how many slaves he helped, but it likely is higher than indicated in court and historical records.
Burris moved to San Francisco, where he raised about $136 through his church to send to Philadelphia, where it could be used to assist recently freed slaves.
He died at age 50 in December 1863, before the end of the Civil War but after President Abraham Lincoln had issued his landmark Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves in the South forever free.
Burris never took his freedom for granted, writing in The Liberator that "the lowest condition in life, with freedom attending it, is better than the most exalted station under the restricts of slavery."
Confronting history, discussing slavery's legacy
Markell, who acted on a recommendation from the state Board of Pardons, said edicts such as the one he issued Monday are rare.
"This is really an extraordinary case. We don't normally grant pardons posthumously," the governor recently told CNN. "This was an opportunity to right a wrong for a person with steadfast courage who put themselves at risk. It seemed like a good thing to do."
A new sign about Burris' efforts was to be unveiled just outside his hometown of Willow Grove.
That sign will be of interest for those who journey on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a self-guided auto tour that links slave "safe houses" and marks routes in Maryland and Delaware traveled by freedom seekers.
Kate Clifford Larson, author of "Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero," a biography of the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, said the Tubman byway and Monday's action are important -- not only for honoring Burris but also for bringing an entry point for people to talk about slavery and its ramifications.
"We still need to educate not just our young people but all people.... Maybe we won't have these contentious battles over Confederate flags and Confederate monuments. If people knew the truth, how people risked their lives...."
Larson points out that some African-Americans who helped others to freedom were not as fortunate as Burris. "Many were sold and sent to the Deep South."
Markell, who acknowledged he had not heard of Burris before this year, said Delaware has "come a long way" since the days of slavery and the story of Burris is a learning opportunity.
"You do have to confront your history. You don't sweep it under the rug," the governor said. "There are some things to celebrate, some (others) to look at.
"I think this makes it very real," he said. "We study and learn about the Underground Railroad and here we are in 2015. This is when history really comes alive, which makes it more interesting for children."
Thomas, who submitted two letters seeking a pardon for Burris on behalf of her family, is celebrating the legacy of her "Uncle Sam D," as she calls Burris.
"The national and international interest is amazing. I |
given trade. The law requires an hourly rate for construction work performed for public agencies that is well above the state minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, along with benefits, and also higher wages for overtime, weekends or work at night.
The Attorney General thanks the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Office of the Inspector General.
This case was investigated by Investigator Robert Ward, Investigator Mark Fionda, Forensic Auditor Tiffany Coles, and Edward Kennedy, Manager of Special Investigations, of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Office of the Inspector General, under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Jeff Schaffler as well as New York Office of the Attorney General Investigator Luis Carter under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Kenneth Morgan and Deputy Chief Vito Spano.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Meredith McGowan, under the supervision of Section Chief Felice Sontupe and Bureau Chief Terri Gerstein of the Labor Bureau. The case is being overseen by Executive Deputy Attorneys General Janet Sabel and Kelly Donovan.
The charges are accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.Can our sense of free will be true?
Are we free agents? Can we be morally responsible for what we do? Philosophers distinguish these questions and have all the answers. Some say yes and yes (we are fully free, and wholly morally responsible for what we do). Others say yes and no (certainly we are free agents - but we cannot be said to be ultimately responsible for what we do). A third group says no and no (we are not free agents at all; a fortiori we cannot be morally responsible). A strange minority says no and yes (we can be morally responsible for what we do, even though we are not free agents). This view is rare, but it has a kind of existentialist panache, and appears to be embraced by Wintergreen in Joseph Heller's novel Closing Time (1994), as well as by some Protestants.
Who is right? Suppose that tomorrow is a holiday, and that you are wondering what to do. You can climb a mountain or read Lao Tzu. You can restring your mandolin or go to the zoo. At the moment you are reading about free will. You are free to go on reading or stop now. You have started on this sentence, but you don't have to... finish it. Right now, as so often in life, you have a number of options. Nothing forces your hand. Surely you are entirely free to choose what to do, and responsible for what you do?
This is what the Compatibilists think. They say yes and yes, and are very influential in the present day. Their name derives from their claim that free will is entirely compatible with determinism - the view that everything that happens in the universe is necessitated by what has already gone before, in such a way that nothing can happen otherwise than it does. Free will, they think, is just a matter of not being constrained or compelled in certain ways that have nothing to do with whether determinism is true or false. "Consider yourself at this moment", they say. "No one is holding a gun to your head. You are not being threatened or manhandled. You are not (surely) drugged, or in chains, or subject to a psychological compulsion like kleptomania, or a post-hypnotic command. So you are wholly free. This is what being a free agent is. It's wholly irrelevant that your character is determined, if indeed it is.
"And although things like guns and chains, threats to the life of your children, psychological obsessions, and so on, are standardly counted as constraints that can limit freedom and responsibility, there is another and more fundamental sense in which you are fully free in any situation in which you can choose or act in any way at all - in any situation in which you are not panicked, or literally compelled to do what you do, in such a way that it is not clear that you can still be said to choose or act at all (as when you press a button because your finger is forced down on to it). Consider pilots of hijacked aeroplanes. They usually stay calm. They choose to comply with the hijackers' demands. They act responsibly, as we naturally say. They are able to do other than they do, but they choose not to. They do what they most want to do, all things considered, in the circumstances in which they find themselves; and all circumstances limit one's options in some way. Some circumstances limit one's options much more drastically than others, but it doesn't follow that one isn't free to choose in those circumstances. Only literal compulsion, panic, or uncontrollable impulse really removes one's freedom to choose, and to (try to) do what one most wants to do, given one's character or personality. Even when one's finger is being forced down on the button, one can still act freely in resisting the pressure, in cursing one's oppressor, and in many other ways."
So most of us are wholly free to choose and act throughout our waking lives, according to the Compatibilists. We are free to choose between the options we perceive to be open to us. (Sometimes we would rather not face options, but are unable to avoid awareness of the fact that we do face them.) One has options, even when one is in chains, or falling through space. Even if one is completely paralysed, one is still free in so far as one is free to choose to think about one thing rather than another. There is, as Sartre observed, a sense in which we are condemned to freedom, not free not to be free.
One may well not be able to do everything one wants - one may want to fly unassisted, vapourize every gun in the United States by an act of thought, or house all those who sleep on the streets of Calcutta by the end of the month - but few have supposed that free will is a matter of being able to do everything one wants. It is, doubtless, a possible view. But according to the Compatibilists, free will is simply a matter of being unconstrained in such a way that one has genuine options and opportunities for action, and is able to choose between them according to what one wants or thinks best. It just doesn't matter if one's character, personality, preferences, and general motivational set are entirely determined by things for which one is in no way responsible - by one's genetic inheritance, upbringing, historical situation, chance encounters, and so on.
Even dogs count as free agents, on this view. So Compatibilists have to explain what distinguishes us from dogs - since we don't think that dogs are free in the way we are. Many of them say that it is our capacity for explicitly self-conscious thought. Not because self-consciousness liberates anyone from determinism; if determinism is true, one is determined to have whatever self-conscious thoughts one has, whatever their complexity. The idea is that self-consciousness makes it possible for one to be explicitly aware of oneself as facing choices and engaging in processes of reasoning about what to do, and thereby constitutes one as a radically free agent in a way unavailable to any unself-conscious agent. One's self-conscious deliberative presence in the situation of choice simply trumps the fact - if it is a fact - that one is, in the final analysis, wholly constituted as the sort of person one is by factors for which one is not in any way ultimately responsible.
Some Compatibilists add that human beings are sharply marked off from dogs by their capacity to act for reasons that they explicitly take to be moral reasons. Compatibilism has many variants. According to Harry Frankfurt's version, for example, one has free will if one wants to be moved to action by the motives that do in fact move one to action. On this view, freedom is just a matter of having a personality that is harmonious in a certain way.
The Compatibilists, then, say yes and yes, and those who want to say this are well advised to follow them, for determinism is unfalsifiable, and may be true. (In the end, contemporary physics gives us no more reason to suppose that determinism is false than to suppose that it is true.) Many, however, think that the Compatibilist account of things does not even touch the real problem of free will. For what is it, they say, to define freedom in such a way that it is compatible with determinism? It is to define it in such a way that an agent can be a free agent even if all its actions throughout its life are determined to happen as they do by events that have taken place before it is born, so that there is a clear sense in which it could not at any point in its life have done otherwise than it did. This, they say, is certainly not free will or moral responsibility. How can one possibly be truly or ultimately morally responsible for what one does, if everything one does is ultimately a deterministic outcome of events for whose occurrence one is in no way responsible?
These are the Incompatibilists, and they divide into two groups: the Libertarians, on the one hand, and the No-Freedom theorists or Pessimists, on the other. The Libertarians are up-beat. They say yes and yes, and think the Compatibilists' account of freedom can be improved on. They hold (1) that we do have free will, (2) that free will is not compatible with determinism, and (3) that determinism is therefore false. But they face an extremely difficult task: they have to show how indeterminism (the falsity of determinism) can help with free will, and in particular with moral responsibility.
The Pessimists do not think this can be shown. They agree that free will is not compatible with determinism, but deny that indeterminism can help. They think that free will, of the sort that is necessary for genuine moral responsibility, is provably impossible. They say no and no.
They begin by granting what everyone must. They grant that there is a clear, important, compatibilist sense in which we can be free agents (we can be free, when unconstrained, to choose and to do what we want or think best, given how we are). But they insist that this isn't enough: it doesn't give us what we want, in the way of free will. Nor does it give us what we believe we have. But (they continue) it is not as if the Compatibilists have missed something. The truth is that nothing can give us what we think we want, and ordinarily think we have. We cannot be morally responsible, in the absolute, buck-stopping way in which we often unreflectively think we are. We cannot have "strong" free will of the kind that we would need to have, in order to be morally responsible in this way.
One way of setting out the Pessimists' argument is as follows: (1) When you act, you do what you do, in the situation in which you find yourself, because of the way you are.
But then (2) To be truly or ultimately morally responsible for what you do, you must be truly or ultimately responsible for the way you are, at least in certain crucial mental respects. (Obviously you don't have to be responsible for your height, age, sex, and so on.) But (3) You can't be ultimately responsible for the way you are in any respect at all, so you can't be ultimately responsible for what you do.
For (4) To be ultimately responsible for the way you are, you must have somehow intentionally brought it about that you are the way you are.
And the problem is then this. Suppose (5) You have somehow intentionally brought it about that you are the way you now are, in certain mental respects: suppose you have brought it about that you have a certain mental nature Z, in such a way that you can be said to be ultimately responsible for Z.
For this to be true (6) You must already have had a certain mental nature Y, in the light of which you brought it about that you now have Z. (If you didn't already have a mental nature then you didn't have any intentions or preferences, and can't be responsible for the way you now are, even if you have changed.) But then (7) For it to be true that you are ultimately responsible for how you now are, you must be ultimately responsible for having had that nature, Y, in the light of which you brought it about that you now have Z.
So (8) You must have brought it about that you had Y.
But then (9) You must have existed already with a prior nature, X, in the light of which you brought it about that you had Y, in the light of which you brought it about that you now have Z.
And so on. Here, one is setting off on a potentially infinite regress. In order for one to be truly or ultimately responsible for how one is in such a way that one can be truly responsible for what one does, something impossible has to be true: there has to be, and cannot be, a starting point in the series of acts of bringing it about that one has a certain nature; a starting point that constitutes an act of ultimate self-origination.
There is a more concise way of putting the point: in order to be ultimately responsible, one would have to be causa sui - the ultimate cause or origin of oneself, or at least of some crucial part of one's mental nature. But nothing can be ultimately causa sui in any respect at all. Even if the property of being causa sui is allowed to belong unintelligibly to God, it cannot plausibly be supposed to be possessed by ordinary finite human beings. "The causa sui is the best self-contradiction that has been conceived so far", as Nietzsche remarked in 1886: it is a sort of rape and perversion of logic. But the extravagant pride of man has managed to entangle itself profoundly and frightfully with just this nonsense. The desire for "freedom of the will" in the superlative metaphysical sense, which still holds sway, unfortunately, in the minds of the half-educated; the desire to bear the entire and ultimate responsibility for one's actions oneself, and to absolve God, the world, ancestors, chance, and society involves nothing less than to be precisely this causa sui and, with more than Baron Muenchhausen's audacity, to pull oneself up into existence by the hair, out of the swamps of nothingness....
In fact, nearly all of those who believe in strong free will do so without any conscious thought that it requires ultimate self-origination. But self-origination is the only thing that could actually ground the kind of strong free will that is regularly believed in.
The Pessimists' argument may seem contrived, but essentially the same argument can be given in a more natural form as follows. (A) One is the way one is, initially, as a result of heredity and early experience. (B) These are clearly things for which one cannot be held to be in any way responsible (this might not be true if there were reincarnation, but this would just shift the problem backwards). (C) One cannot at any later stage of one's life hope to accede to ultimate responsibility for the way one is by trying to change the way one already is as a result of heredity and experience. For one may well try to change oneself, but (D) both the particular way in which one is moved to try to change oneself, and the degree of one's success in one's attempt at change, will be determined by how one already is as a result of heredity and experience. And (E) any further changes that one can bring about only after one has brought about certain initial changes will in turn be determined, via the initial changes, by heredity and previous experience. (F) This may not be the whole story, for it may be that some changes in the way one is are traceable to the influence of indeterministic or random factors. But (G) it is absurd to suppose that indeterministic or random factors, for which one is ex hypothesi in no way responsible, can in themselves contribute to one's being truly or ultimately responsible for how one is.
The claim, then, is not that people cannot change the way they are. They can, in certain respects (which tend to be exaggerated by North Americans and underestimated, perhaps, by members of other cultures). The claim is only that people cannot be supposed to change themselves in such a way as to be or become ultimately responsible for the way they are, and hence for their actions. One can put the point by saying that in the final analysis the way you are is, in every last detail, a matter of luck - good or bad.
Philosophers will ask what exactly this "ultimate" responsibility is supposed to be. They will suggest that it doesn't really make sense, and try to move from there to the claim that it can't really be what we have in mind when we talk about moral responsibility. It is very clear to most people, however, and one dramatic way to characterize it is by reference to the story of heaven and hell: it is responsibility of such a kind that, if we have it, it makes sense to propose that it could be just to punish some of us with torment in hell and reward others with bliss in heaven. It makes sense because what we do is absolutely up to us. The words "makes sense" are stressed, because one doesn't have to believe in the story of heaven and hell in order to understand the notion of ultimate responsibility that it is used to illustrate. Nor does one have to believe in it in order to believe in ultimate responsibility (many atheists have done so).
The story is useful, because it illustrates the kind of absolute or ultimate responsibility that many have supposed - and do suppose - themselves to have. (Another way to characterize it is to say that it exists if punishment and reward can be fair without having any pragmatic - or indeed aesthetic - justification.) But one doesn't have to appeal to it when describing the sorts of everyday situation that are primarily influential in giving rise to our belief in ultimate responsibility. Suppose you set off for a shop on the evening of a national holiday, intending to buy a cake with your last Pounds 10 note. Everything is closing down. There is one cake left; it costs Pounds 10. On the steps of the shop, someone is shaking an Oxfam tin. You stop, and it seems completely clear to you that it is entirely up to you what you do next: you are truly, radically free to choose, in such a way that you will be ultimately responsible for whatever you do choose. You can put the money in the tin, or go in and buy the cake, or just walk away. You are not only completely free to choose. You are not free not to choose.
Standing there, you may believe determinism is true: you may believe that in five minutes time you will be able to look back on the situation you are now in and say, of what you will by then have done, "It was determined that I should do that". But even if you do wholeheartedly believe this, it does not seem to touch your current sense of the absoluteness of your freedom and moral responsibility.
One diagnosis of this phenomenon is that one can't really believe that determinism is true in such situations, and also can't help thinking that its falsity might make freedom possible. But the feeling of ultimate responsibility seems to remain inescapable even if this is not so. Suppose one fully accepts the Pessimists' argument that no one can be causa sui, and that one has to be causa sui (in certain crucial mental respects) in order to be ultimately responsible for one's actions. This does not seem to have any impact on one's sense of one's radical freedom and responsibility, as one stands there, wondering what to do. One's radical responsibility seems to stem simply from the fact that one is fully conscious of one's situation, and knows that one can choose, and believes that one action is morally better than the other. This seems to be immediately enough to confer full and ultimate responsibility. And yet it cannot really do so, according to the Pessimists. For whatever one actually does, one will do what one does because of the way one is, and the way one is is something for which one neither is nor can be responsible, however self-consciously aware of one's situation one is.
The Pessimists' argument is hard to stomach (even Hitler is let off the hook), and one challenge to it runs as follows. "Look, the reason why one can be ultimately responsible for what one does is that one's self is, in some crucial sense, independent of one's general mental nature (character or motivational structure). Suppose one faces a difficult choice between A, doing one's moral duty, and B, following one's desires. You Pessimists describe this situation as follows. Given one's mental nature, you say, one responds in a certain way. One is swayed by reasons for and against both A and B. One tends towards A or B, and in the end one does one or the other, given one's mental nature, which is something for which one cannot be ultimately responsible. But this description of yours forgets the self - it forgets what one might call 'the agent-self'. As an agent-self, one is in some way independent of one's mental nature. One's mental nature inclines one to do one thing rather than another, but it does not thereby necessitate one to do one thing rather than the other (to use Leibniz's terms). As an agent-self, one incorporates a power of free decision that is independent of all the particularities of one's mental nature in such a way that one can, after all, count as ultimately morally responsible in one's decisions and actions, even though one is not ultimately responsible for any aspect of one's mental nature."
The Pessimists are unimpressed: "Even if one grants the validity of this conception of the agent-self for the sake of argument", they say, "it cannot help. For if the agent-self decides in the light of the agent's mental nature but is not determined by the agent's mental nature, the following question immediately arises: Why does the dear old agent-self decide as it does? The general answer is clear. Whatever it decides, it decides as it does because of the overall way it is, and this necessary truth returns us to where we started: somehow, the agent-self is going to have to get to be responsible for being the way it is, in order for its decisions to be a source of ultimate responsibility. But this is impossible: nothing can be causa sui in the required way. Whatever the nature of the agent-self, it is ultimately a matter of luck. Maybe the agent-self decides as it does partly or wholly because of the presence of indeterministic occurrences in the decision process. Maybe, maybe not. It makes no difference, for indeterministic occurrences can never contribute to ultimate moral responsibility."
Some think they can avoid this debate by asserting that free will and moral responsibility are just a matter of being governed by reason - or by Reason with a dignifying capital "R". But being governed by Reason can't be the source of ultimate responsibility. It can't be a property that makes punishment ultimately just or fair for those who possess it, and unfair for those who don't. For to be morally responsible, on this view, is simply to possess one sort of motivational set among others. But if you do possess this motivational set, then you are simply lucky - if it is indeed a good thing - while those who lack it are unlucky.
This will be denied. It will be said, truly, that some people struggle to become more morally responsible, and make an enormous effort. Their moral responsibility is then not a matter of luck; it is their own hard-won achievement. The Pessimists' reply is immediate. "Suppose you are someone who struggles to be morally responsible, and make an enormous effort. Well, that too is a matter of luck. You are lucky to be someone who has a character of a sort that disposes you to make that sort of effort. Someone who lacks a character of that sort is merely unlucky."
In the end, luck swallows everything: This is one (admittedly contentious) way of putting the point that there can be no ultimate responsibility, given the natural, strong conception of responsibility that was characterized by reference to the story of heaven and hell. Relative to that conception, no punishment or reward is ever ultimately just or fair, however natural or useful or otherwise humanly appropriate it may be or seem.
The problem of free will is like a carousel. One starts with the Compatibilist position... But it cannot satisfy our intuitions about moral responsibility... So it seems that an Incompatibilist and indeed Libertarian account of free will is needed, according to which free will requires the falsity of determinism... But any such account immediately triggers the Pessimists' objection that indeterministic occurrences cannot possibly contribute to moral responsibility... For one can hardly be supposed to be more truly morally responsible for one's choices and actions or character if indeterministic or random occurrences have played a part in their causation than if they have not played such a part... But what this shows is that the Incompatibilists' "ultimate" moral responsibility is obviously impossible... But that means that we should return to Compatibilism, since it is the best we can do... But Compatibilism cannot possibly satisfy our intuitions about moral responsibility....
What should we do? Get off the metaphysical merry-go-round, and take up psychology. The principal positions in the traditional debate are clear. No radically new options are likely to emerge after millennia of debate, and the interesting questions that remain are primarily psychological. Why exactly do we believe we have ultimate responsibility of the kind that can be characterized by reference to the story of heaven and hell? What is it like to live with this belief? What are its varieties? How might we be changed by dwelling intensely on the view that ultimate responsibility is impossible?
One reason for the belief has already been given: it has to do with the way we experience choice, as self-conscious agents confronting the Oxfam box and the cake. And this raises the interesting question whether all self-conscious agents who face choices and are fully self-consciously aware of the fact that they do so must experience themselves as having strong free will, or as being radically self-determining. We human beings cannot experience our choices as determined, even if determinism is true, but perhaps this is a human peculiarity, not an inescapable feature of any possible self-conscious agent. And perhaps it is not even universal among human beings; Krishnamurti claims that "a truly intelligent (ie spiritually advanced) mind simply cannot have choice", because it "can... only choose the path of truth.... Only the unintelligent mind has free will", and a related thought is expressed by Saul Bellow in Humboldt's Gift: "In the next realm, where things are clearer, clarity eats into freedom. We are free on earth because of cloudiness, because of error, because of marvellous limitation." Spinoza extends the point to God, who cannot, he says, "be said... to act from freedom of the will".
Other causes of our belief in strong free will have been suggested, apart from the cake and the Oxfam box. Hume stresses our experience of indecision. Kant holds that our experience of moral obligation makes belief in strong free will inevitable. P. F. Strawson argues that our belief in freedom is grounded in certain fundamental natural reactions to other people - such as gratitude and resentment - that we cannot hope to give up. Those who think hard about free will are likely to conclude that the complex moral psychology of the experience of freedom is the most fruitful area of research. New generations, however, will continue to launch themselves on to the old carousel, and the debate is likely to continue for as long as human beings can think, as the Pessimists' argument that we can't possibly have strong free will keeps bumping into the fact that we can't help believing that we do.
The facts are clear, and they have been known for a long time. When it comes to the metaphysics of free will, Andre Gide's remark is apt:
"Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again." It seems the only freedom that we can have is Compatibilist freedom. If - since - that is not enough for ultimate responsibility, we cannot have ultimate responsibility.
The debate continues, and some have thought that philosophy ought to move on. There is little reason to expect that it will, as new minds are seduced by the problem. And yet the facts are clear. One cannot be ultimately responsible for one's character or mental nature in any way at all. Heraclitus, Novalis, George Eliot, Nietzsche, Henry James and others are not quite right in so far as they say (in their various ways) that character is destiny; for external circumstances are also part of destiny. But the point seems good, and final, when it comes to the question of ultimate moral responsibility.
This article is an edited version of the article on "Free Will" in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Galen Strawson's most recent book, Mental Reality, was published in 1995.❥ ŽＩŽＥＫ＇Ｓ ＬＡＴＥＳＴ ＢＯＯＫＳ：
2016 Antigone Zizek's rewriting of this classic play confronts these issues in a practical way: not by theorizing about them, but by imagining an Antigone in which, at a crucial moment, the action takes a different turn, an Antigone along the lines of Run, Lola, Run or of Brecht's learning plays.
2016 Disparities The concept of disparity has long been a topic of obsession and argument for philosophers but Slavoj Zizek would argue that what disparity and negativity could mean, might mean and should mean for us and our lives has never been more hotly debated. Disparities explores contemporary 'negative' philosophies from Catherine Malabou's plasticity, Julia Kristeva's abjection and Robert Pippin's self-consciousness to the God of negative theology, new realisms and post-humanism and draws a radical line under them. Instead of establishing a dialogue with these other ideas of disparity, Slavoj Zizek wants to establish a definite departure, a totally different idea of disparity based on an imaginative dialectical materialism. This notion of rupturing what has gone before is based on a provocative reading of how philosophers can, if they're honest, engage with each other. Slavoj Zizek borrows Alain Badiou's notion that a true idea is the one that divides. Radically departing from previous formulations of negativity and disparity, Zizek employs a new kind of negativity: namely positing that when a philosopher deals with another philosopher, his or her stance is never one of dialogue, but one of division, of drawing a line that separates truth from falsity.
2016 Against the Double Blackmail: Refugees, Terror and Other Troubles with the Neighbours Today, hundreds of thousands of people, desperate to escape war, violence and poverty, are crossing the Mediterranean to seek refuge in Europe. Our response from our protected European standpoint, argues Slavoj Zizek, offers two versions of ideological blackmail: either we open our doors as widely as possible; or we try to pull up the drawbridge. Both solutions are bad, states Zizek. They merely prolong the problem, rather than tackling it. The refugee crisis also presents an opportunity, a unique chance for Europe to redefine itself: but, if we are to do so, we have to start raising unpleasant and difficult questions. We must also acknowledge that large migrations are our future: only then can we commit to a carefully prepared process of change, one founded not on a community that see the excluded as a threat, but one that takes as its basis the shared substance of our social being. The only way, in other words, to get to the heart of one of the greatest issues confronting Europe today is to insist on the global solidarity of the exploited and oppressed. Maybe such solidarity is a utopia. But, warns Zizek, if we don't engage in it, then we are really lost. And we will deserve to be lost.
❥ ＵＰＣＯＭＩＮＧ ŽＩŽＥＫ＇Ｓ ＢＯＯＫＳ
2017 The Courage of Hopelessness: Chronicles of a Year of Acting Dangerously In these troubled times, even the most pessimistic diagnosis of our future ends with an uplifting hint that things might not be as bad as all that, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, argues Slavoj Zizek, it is only when we have admit to ourselves that our situation is completely hopeless - that the light at the end of the tunnel is in fact the headlight of a train approaching us from the opposite direction - that fundamental change can be brought about. Surveying the various challenges in the world today, from mass migration and geopolitical tensions to terrorism, the explosion of rightist populism and the emergence of new radical politics - all of which, in their own way, express the impasses of global capitalism - Zizek explores whether there still remains the possibility for genuine change. Today, he proposes, the only true question is, or should be, this: do we endorse the predominant acceptance of capitalism as a fact of human nature, or does today's capitalism contain strong enough antagonisms to prevent its infinite reproduction? Can we, he asks, move beyond the failure of socialism, and beyond the current wave of populist rage, and initiate radical change before the train hits?
2017 Lenin 2017: Remembering, Repeating, and Working Through
One hundred years after the Russian Revolution, Žižek shows why Lenin’s thought is still important today
If the most interesting theoretical interventions emerge today from the interspaces between fields, then the foremost interspaceman is Slavoj Žižek. In Incontinence of the Void (the title is inspired by a sentence in Samuel Beckett's late masterpiece Ill Seen Ill Said), Žižek explores the empty spaces between philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the critique of political economy. He proceeds from the universal dimension of philosophy to the particular dimension of sexuality to the singular dimension of the critique of political economy. The passage from one dimension to another is immanent: the ontological void is accessible only through the impasses of sexuation and the ongoing prospect of the abolition of sexuality, which is itself opened up by the technoscientific progress of global capitalism, in turn leading to the critique of political economy.Responding to his colleague and fellow Short Circuits author Alenka Zupančič's What Is Sex?, Žižek examines the notion of an excessive element in ontology that gives body to radical negativity, which becomes the antagonism of sexual difference. From the economico-philosophical perspective, Žižek extrapolates from ontological excess to Marxian surplus value to Lacan's surplus enjoyment. In true Žižekian fashion, Incontinence of the Void focuses on eternal topics while detouring freely into contemporary issuesfrom the Internet of Things to Danish TV series.The distribution of justice was a practice commonly adopted by pirates. Ships operated as limited democracies (for more details, see pirate code) and imposed their ideas of justice upon the crew of the ship that they captured. After capture, the crew would be questioned as to whether they had suffered cruel or unjust treatment from the commander of the ship. Any commanders "against whom Complaint was made" would be punished or even executed. This punishment was not indiscriminately given to all ship's commanders. An "honest Fellow that never abused any Sailors" would be rewarded, and sometimes freed.[1]
This distribution of justice was seen as of profound importance by pirates. Bartholomew Roberts' crew even designated a member of his crew, George Wilson, as their "Dispenser of Justice".[1]
Linebaugh and Rediker describe the early eighteenth-century pirate ship as "democratic in an undemocratic age" as well as "egalitarian in a hierarchical age, as pirates divided their plunder equally, leveling all the elaborate structure of pay ranks common to all other maritime employments." [1] Pirates during this time period "distributed justice, elected officers, divided loot equally, and establish a different discipline. They limited the authority of the captain, resisted many of the practices of the capitalists merchant shipping industry, and maintained a multicultural, multiracial, multinational social order." [1]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
a b c d Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker (2000). "Hydrarchy: Sailors, Pirates, and the Maritime State". The many-headed hydra: sailors, slaves, commoners, and the hidden history of the revolutionary Atlantic. Verso. pp. 162–164. ISBN 978-1-85984-798-5.
Further reading [ edit ]
David Cordingly (1999). "Distributing Justice". Pirates: Terror on the High Seas, from the Caribbean to the South China Sea. World Pubns. ISBN 978-1-57215-264-9.
Marcus Rediker (2004). "To Do Justice To Sailors". Villains of all nations: Atlantic pirates in the golden age. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-5024-8.'Color Of Christ': A Story Of Race And Religion In America
What did Jesus look like? The many different depictions of Christ tell a story about race and religion in America. Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey explore that history in their new book, The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America. The book traces how different races and ethnic groups claimed Christ as their own — and how depictions of Jesus have both inspired civil rights crusades, and been used to justify the violence of white supremacists.
The Ku Klux Klan could not rely on Christian doctrine to justify their persecution and violence, so they had to turn to religious icons. "The belief, the value, that Jesus is white provides them an image in place of text," Blum tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "It gets them away from actually having to quote chapter and verse, which they can't really do to present their cause."
If Blum had to paint a realistic portrait of Jesus, he says he wouldn't be white: "I would probably paint him darkly complected, not pure black, more in a kind of light brownish [color]."
Up until the late 1800s, Blum says Americans were comfortable with Jesus' Semitic roots and depicted him with brown eyes. But as waves of Catholic and Jewish immigrants came to the United States, some Americans "became concerned that it was changing |
over privacy.
The White House’s new cyber-security chief, Howard Schmidt, announced the move to declassify the program in a speech at the RSA conference in San Francisco–his first major public address since assuming the post in January. He said addressing potential privacy concerns was one of the ten initial steps he planned to take. “We’re really paying attention, and we get it,” he said.Donald Trump and Billy Bush.
The election of a Democrat to a Senate seat in one of the most Republican states in the country is the culmination of an extended linear progression of catastrophic decisions, beginning with Donald Trump’s decision to open up the seat by appointing Alabama senator Jeff Sessions attorney general. (That decision, of course, is coming back to haunt Trump in even more painful ways.) It is possible to imagine a similar chain of events, in which Donald Trump’s recorded confession of sexual assault leads to his party’s loss of the House in the 2018 midterm elections.
Trump’s confession, which matched behavior reported by several of his alleged targets, at first seemed so momentous that it would compel him to abandon his position on the ticket. But after the handful of wavering Republicans mostly swallowed or recanted their doubts, allowing Trump to win, it seemed to mean nothing. In fact, the impact simply played out on a time delay.
The simmering rage at the election of an unqualified misogynist over the highly qualified prospective first female president produced a deep backlash in politics and culture. The willingness of Harvey Weinstein’s victims to speak out against him can be traced to that frustration.
The horrific revelations of Weinstein’s systemic abuse unleashed a torrent of allegations against powerful men. At first, the reporting was concentrated in fields with liberal cultures and where female reporters had the best access: entertainment and the media itself. But it is quickly spreading elsewhere, particularly to an institution with high levels of public accountability and male ego: Congress. Reports indicate forthcoming exposés of sexual harassment by some two dozen more members of Congress.
Assume for the sake of argument that men of both parties are equally likely to engage in sexual harassment. That would mean most of the harassers will be Republican. Republicans hold 241 of 435 House seats. And they are disproportionately male; there are 219 male Republicans in the House, and 132 male Democrats. The Senate has 47 Republican men and 32 Democratic men. Republicans are therefore likely to constitute a majority of the reported harassers.
What’s more, the impact of the reports will not be felt equally. It will hurt the majority party much more. The reason is that 2018 is shaping up as a wave election. In wave elections, the out-party usually loses very few seats. It is the in-party that loses. If Democrats are forced to step aside, they can easily be replaced. Republicans who have to step aside cannot. Incumbents pressured into retirement will open up seats that might otherwise not have had competitive races.
The impact of a wave election helps Democrats on both offense and defense, then. If your party is benefiting from a wave, you want to open the field as widely as possible. Losing some of your own members is fine — it’s the best possible year to cycle out your incumbents and put new blood in place. And it’s also the most opportune time to contest seats that might normally be out of reach.
So far, the two parties have responded to allegations of harassment differently. Democrats have turned against their own members facing allegations and forced them to resign, while Republicans — following Trump’s precedent — have largely abstained. But that is not an advantage for Republicans. It is a disadvantage. It forces them to field scandal-tarred candidates, not to mention a scandal-tarred party. You need look no farther than Roy Moore to observe the costs of the tough-it-out approach.
Facing down evidence of harassment with implausible denials may have worked for Trump. But the bill may still come due. It would be fitting punishment if he lost control of one or both chambers of Congress — and became exposed to investigations and oversight — as a result of a cultural reckoning Trump set off himself.Archie Parnell, right, talks with Washington Ray at the Black Cowboy Festival in Rembert, S.C., on Saturday. Parnell won the Democratic nomination in the state’s 5th District. He is seeking the House seat left open by Republican Mick Mulvaney, who joined President Trump’s administration. (Sean Rayford for The Washington Post)
Archie Parnell arrived at the Black Cowboy Festival with an impossible mission — talking politics to people who had paid $20 apiece to eat barbecue and watch horses gallop around a track. He was the local Democratic nominee for Congress, but he’d never run for office before, and shaking hands did not come naturally.
“I’m running for Congress,” Parnell said to a polite but quiet couple sitting down to split a fried turkey leg. “I’d be grateful if you consider me.”
He shook more hands; he started and halted conversations as a loudspeaker blared the name of the next horses and riders. But after he found a rhythm, he won the vote of Reneth Jones, 59, by talking about the Republicans’ plan to gut the Affordable Care Act.
“Man, when you take that away, people are going to suffer,” Jones said.
“We don’t see any compassion in what they do,” Parnell said. “It was a close vote. If you send me to Washington, I’ll be a vote against that bill.”
Archie Parnell talks with potential voters at the annual Black Cowboy Festival on Saturday. (Sean Rayford for The Washington Post)
Parnell, a 66-year-old tax attorney, had been a candidate for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District for just two months. The seat had opened when Mick Mulvaney joined President Trump’s administration, and Democrats, bullish on races in Georgia and Montana, had said almost nothing about it. Georgia’s Jon Ossoff had raised more than $10 million for his June 20 runoff; Parnell, whose election is the very same day, had raised less than one-hundreth as much.
In the wake of the House’s health-care vote, Parnell and South Carolina’s beleaguered Democrats are trying to make Republicans sweat in a district that isn’t making it easy: one drawn to elect a Republican, and with a substantial black population that Democrats struggle to turn out.
While Democrats grow bullish on how a suburban “resistance” can roll back Republicans, Parnell is testing whether black voters can be turned out with a warning that a Republican-dominated Congress is threatening the way they live.
[Klobuchar, others start making 2020 moves — and the base starts making demands]
But with no air cover from national Democrats, Parnell has tried to turn his scrappiness into an advantage. A former congressional staff member who went on to work for Goldman Sachs, he quickly tells people that he had never sought office until the 2016 election got him thinking — and until his hometown mayor told him he would be a good candidate. He showed up to the Black Cowboy Festival wearing a sweater vest; in campaign material, he is pitched not as a partisan Democrat, but as a “tax expert” who wants to fix the ACA and “broaden the base” for tax reform. His most-aired ad mocks his very ordinariness, showing him striding toward the camera in slow motion before he finally tells the narrator to knock it off.
“He’s the one man who’ll solve all your problems, and bring Clemson and Carolina fans together,” the narrator says.
“Wait, what?” Parnell says. “Politicians promise and then don’t deliver.”
Archie Parnell, left, chats with people attending the Black Cowboy Festival in Rembert, S.C., on Saturday. (Sean Rayford for The Washington Post)
Republicans are skeptical, verging on cocky. Last week, they caught their first bad break in the district when their primary ended in a near-tie between Tommy Pope and Ralph Norman, two conservative state legislators. (Norman sought and lost the 5th District seat 11 years ago.) That kicked off a two-week runoff, forcing the candidates to spend money and keeping the state party neutral until it has a nominee.
“Archie Parnell’s a nice guy, and he’s got two weeks of being ignored,” said Matt Moore, the outgoing chairman of the South Carolina GOP. “But he’s going to have a problem getting Democrats mobilized, while Republicans are excited that the House is keeping its promises. I don’t expect us to pull the fire alarm.”
But South Carolina Democrats like to point to Kansas, where a Democrat lost by 7.2 points in a district the last Republican congressman had won by 31.1 points. A swing that size in South Carolina would elect Parnell.
Pope and Norman, whose campaigns did not respond to repeated questions from The Washington Post, have made no statements whatsoever about the Republicans’ American Health Care Act. In their ads, both candidates pledge to repeal “Obamacare,” and in one spot Pope even invokes the image of the 44th president to say “there’s no justice in Washington.”
The upshot is that both GOP campaigns believe that the 5th District is ripe for whoever wins their primary. Mulvaney, in 2010, was the first Republican ever to win the district, which stretches from the suburbs of Charlotte to the exurbs of Columbia. In 2012, it rejected Barack Obama’s reelection by 12.5 points; in 2016, it voted for Donald Trump by 18.5 points.
Parnell’s theory of victory takes that into consideration, and asks what could be done to change the electorate. One reason that 2012 gave the Democrats a closer race was that 28.1 percent of the district’s residents, and a smaller percentage of its voters, are black. South Carolina Democrats, without overselling their chances, are universal on one point: If Parnell can make the electorate resemble 2012, using health care as an issue, he is in the hunt.
“It’ll take a campaign that concentrates on voter turnout, rather than TV advertising, which is what previous candidates have tried and failed,” said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the sole Democrat in the state’s delegation.
Some of the Republicans’ Obama-era gains have come when nonwhite voters sat at home. In polling by Priorities USA, a pro-Democratic super PAC, black voters who did not usually vote in midterms remained less likely to express interest in voting next year than angry white liberal voters. According to a new analysis of the 2016 election turnout, the two states that broke most dramatically away from Hillary Clinton — Wisconsin and Michigan — recorded a double-digit decline in black voter turnout.
South Carolina Democrats have responded by telling black voters that they are facing new and direct threats. In a radio spot that helped Parnell win the nomination — over two little-funded black candidates — Columbia’s black Democratic mayor beseeched voters to send Trump a message. “Donald Trump asked us, ‘What did we have to lose?’” Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin asks in the ad. “Now we know the answer.”
This past weekend, as he stumped across black neighborhoods, Parnell did not get many questions about tax policy. He was not challenged on his Goldman Sachs résumé — something Republicans plan to attack to alienate him from liberals. (Parnell plans to rebut them by saying he was not a banker, but a “policeman” for tax compliance.)
Instead, he was egged on to fight Trump. At several homes near his Rock Hill campaign office, he was stopped and invited in so that voters could rant about the president. One retiree rifled around in his pocket for $5, so he could “start a fund to send Trump to Russia.”
On Sunday morning, Parnell was invited to Faith, Hope & Victory Christian Church in Lancaster, shaking hands on the way in before taking a seat in the first pew. “In the old days, I’d have sat over there,” he said, pointing at the back of the room. “I’m really an introvert.”
Halfway through the sermon, between the hymns and an interpretive dance, Parnell introduced himself to the dozens of rapt voters (and phone-checking teenagers) who came every Sunday.
“Can you imagine an America without Social Security?” Parnell asked. “It would be a very different place, a place I don’t want to live in.”
The congregation was polite, but unmoved. Parnell picked up a fan he had been given, covered in pictures of the first black president.
“Can you imagine the world that we’d be living in without Barack Obama?” he asked. Softly, one congregant said “health care” — and Parnell had his cue.
“I’m glad you mentioned that,” he said. “Actually, this past week, the House voted to repeal Obamacare. If I were there, at that time, I would vote against that repeal. One or two votes make all the difference in the world.”
Read more at PowerPostProsecutors have demanded six years in jail for an ISIS-obsessed Muslim schoolgirl who slit the throat of a German policewoman when she was stopped in a routine check.
The officer nearly died after being attacked by the 16-year-old, who has Moroccan parents.
The girl, identified only as Safia S, was convicted this week of attempted murder and supporting a foreign terrorist organisation.
Safia S (pictured) was said to be furious and frustrated that she could not join ISIS in Syria and took out her anger on a German policewoman
A second suspect, identified as Mohamad Hasan K, 19, was charged with failing to report the planned assault which left the police officer fighting for her life.
Prosecutors are demanding three years behind bars for the German-Syrian national, when sentences are handed down next Friday.
Safia was 15 when she pulled a knife from her clothing in February last year when she was stopped during a routine police check at Hannover main railway station.
Police said later the teenager was 'frustrated' because she could not get to Syria to fight with her jihadist idols.
Prosecutors said at the trial - which was held behind closed doors because she is a juvenile - she was'motivated by members of ISIS in Syria to commit this act'.
Police said at the time: 'As she was politely pulled to one side to confirm her identity a knife appeared lightning quick in her hand and our colleagues had little chance to defend themselves. This was an Islamic attack against our officers.'
One officer suffered a huge knife wound to her throat and was only saved by an emergency operation lasting several hours.
The police spokesman said: 'It is a miracle that she survived at all.
The attacker was ice cold. Her only worry was that her headscarf was rumpled and she wanted to put it straight German police spokesman
'The attacker was ice cold. Her only worry was that her headscarf was rumpled and she wanted to put it straight. It was nothing to her if the police officer lived or died.'
Police said she was radicalised into jihadism in Germany in November 2015 and admitted under questioning she wanted to travel to the Middle East to fight with ISIS.
Although she made it to Turkey, her mother brought her back to Germany.
But ISIS ordered her to carry out an 'act of martyrdom' when she arrived home.
She told Mohamad Hasan K, who was already aware of her trip to Istanbul, about her plans to kill the policewoman but he did not inform the authorities.
Germany endured four attacks within a week in July, including two assaults claimed by ISIS, provoking a furious debate about security and asylum seekers.
Prosecutors say Safia belonged to a network of young followers of ISIS in Hannover.We love finding barn finds and we also love helping those in need, so when we can do both at the same time, it’s a huge plus. Reader Ranger H shared this 1942 Studebaker Coupe, which is being auctioned off at the Kansas MCC charity event on April 13th. This coupe was found parked in a barn and is believed to be unrestored. All the proceeds are going to a good cause. Find it here on the Wichita Kansas Craigslist.
This Coupe looks to be in great shape and should make for a fun project. Cars from 1942 are rather rare as a result of the war and with only 4600 built, it is amazing to find one in this kind of original condition. There aren’t many photos of it, but if you’re in the Hutchinson, Kansas area be sure to stop by and take a look. More info on the event can be found here. Special thanks to Ranger H for sharing this one with us! Would you leave this one is as is, restore it, or modify it?Upscene Productions is proud to announce the availability of the next release of the popular multi-DBMS development tool:
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St. Christopher high school teacher Bill Reid was driving when he noticed a young girl straddling the guardrail. The girl appeared to be considering jumping from the overpass.
Reid immediately pulled over and engaged the girl in conversation while covertly calling 911 from his cell phone. He kept her engaged until police could intervene.
A Sarnia police officer was then able to pull the girl to safety.
Reid praised the local police for their quick action and heroism.
The Observer only learned of Reid’s involvement after receiving an email from someone who knew of the situation.
Reid was reluctant to be interviewed, saying that the real heroes are the police and his fellow teachers, who help young people in crisis situations every single day.
“I’m no hero,” he said. “I just did what anyone would do.”
“I’m humbled by this,” he said, adding that he is just glad that the young woman is safe.
The young woman was taken to Bluewater Health for assessment. She was not injured in the incident.
Reid credits his actions to the crisis intervention training that he received through the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
“(This) was just a microcosm of what guidance counsellors and teachers do daily,” he said. “Just like firefighters and police officers do.”
Reid advocates for education and being able to identify the signs that someone is in crisis.
“The first thing is to be aware. We have to educate ourselves,” he said. “We have to realize that this is an issue and we have to look for the (warning) signs.”
Reid also credits the many colleagues who inspire him, like fellow teachers Tom Slater and Krystal Butler, whose mentorship encouraged him to become a teacher himself.
“Every teacher that’s (here) today,” he said. “They save lives daily.
“It’s about taking the time to let students know that we care.”
liz.bernier@sunmedia.caAdelaide United FC is excited to announce its two squads which will compete for the first time in the PlayStation 4 National Premier League (NPL) competitions in 2015.
Adelaide United will compete in the NPL State League and will feature a senior team consisting of players currently competing in the Foxtel National Youth League, as well as an Under 20’s team.
The Club's entry into the National Premier League competitions enables its players to partake in an ongoing program assisting in the development of footballers.
Adelaide United’s primary focus for its Football Program is to develop its players to become future Hyundai A-League players. With Adelaide United having two teams in the NPL, including a Foxtel National Youth League Team, it allows consistent learning for players throughout a 12 month basis and gives the players the opportunity to be trained, nurtured and taught the Adelaide United philosophy.
Coach of The Adelaide United Youth Team Michael Valkanis said that there is excitement around the club, as this is the first time an Adelaide United Squad will be competing in the local league.
“It’s exciting times for the young players being part of an inaugural squad. This will enhance our young player’s development allowing them to play over 50 games a year by playing in both the Foxtel National Youth League, PlayStation 4 National Premier League and participating in various international tournaments”.
“We have seen how good it has been for youth teams such as Brisbane and Perth who from last year have had their teams participating in their respective state NPL competitions. They have had strong starts in the NYL and have improved a lot since last year”.
“What’s great now about our program is the boys will play in two different environments and having to deal with different variables such as tactics and physical side. In the Foxtel National Youth League the boys play against their peers and presumably the best players from the state that they are from, games are high intensity and tactically different every week as youth teams follow the senior team models”.
“In the NPL they will be playing against men. The physical component will be an advantage to other teams and judging by our friendlies with local teams we have to find different tactical solutions against the local sides as compared to the NYL teams”.
With the NPL starting for the Reds Youth in one weeks’ time, Coach Michael Valkanis believes that they will focus on their own particular style, which has seen the Youth Team play some exciting football throughout the Foxtel National Youth league season so far.
“We, no matter what, will focus on our style, maintaining possession and dominating through possession to create scoring opportunities. We will have an attacking outlook even in defence phase looking to press and get the ball back quickly. To us the ball is everything, it is the most important and we want to have control of it”.
“It’s about training in the one environment and hearing consistent messages that will improve our young players and give them every opportunity to make the next step. Remaining in our environment full time and consistently learning and working with our clubs methodology will help them learn our style and philosophy”.
The Adelaide United Youth Teams also will be wearing a navy blue kit throughout the 2015 National Premier League season. The navy blue kit will feature navy blue shorts and socks in contrast to the Foxtel National Youth League’s all red attire.
“Navy blue along with red and yellow is one of the primary colours of the club and it will give the NPL squad a point of difference to our Foxtel National Youth League and Hyundai A-League teams”, said Adelaide United Chief Executive Michael Petrillo.
“More importantly we finally have the ability to provide a year round program to the best young players in the South Australia. Not only will we be able to provide a clearer pathway to our Youth and Hyundai A-League teams but many of these players will also end up playing for other clubs within the NPL which can only assist to drive the quality of the NPL upwards by having players involved in a full time development program for up to seven years if they start with the current FFSA SAP Program.”
Adelaide United kick-off their NPL State League Season against Adelaide Hawks on Wednesday 18 February 2015 at the Hawks Nest. Kick-off at 7:00pm.
Adelaide United FC 2015 NPL State League Squad: Samed Altundag, Niko Apostolopoulos, Joel De Donatis, Jordan Elliott, Zack Gomez, Michael Gravas, Kristin Konstandopoulos, Nathan Konstandopoulos, Connor Lacey, Thomas Love, Clifford Maina, Alec Maiolo, Daniel Margush, Riley McGree, Guy Miller, Angus Mitchell, Yiannis Nestoras, Mark Ochieng, Adam Piscioneri, Nicholas Polli, Doni Pollock, Jordan Pudler, David Signore, Dylan Smith, Thomas Stokes, Ruon Tongyik, Antoni Trimboli, Ben Warland, Alex Woodlands, Oliver ZafiridisTrue heroes never say die, and that's an idea that certainly rings true for Batman, the DC Comics icon who celebrates his 75th anniversary this year.
Unlike many of his comic book counterparts, Batman is not immortal or gifted with extravagant superpowers - he is just a man, albeit one with a hefty bank balance and a determination to rid his home Gotham City of crime and corruption.
Since his creation in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, he's traversed every form of entertainment imaginable; be it comics, TV, film, music or video games, Batman has left his mark on pop culture in a big way.
The men behind Batman's mask: Keaton, Bale, Affleck, more
Batman 75th anniversary: An A-Z of The Dark Knight
Why has Batman endured for decades? Digital Spy visited London's Orbital Comics to speak to Chris Thompson about the lasting appeal of the Dark Knight. Watch us go through the history of the Caped Crusader - from Kane to Frank Miller, Tim Burton to Christopher Nolan - in the video above.
What are your memories of Batman? Do you have a favourite incarnation? Why do you think he's lasted for 75 years? Join in the discussion in the comments section below!Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption People in Ouagadougou told the BBC's Maud Jullien they did not want Gen Gilbert Diendere in power
Burkina Faso's coup leader has defied an ultimatum to step down, saying his forces will retaliate if attacked.
Army chiefs had given Gen Gilbert Diendere a 10:00 GMT deadline to surrender or face an assault.
The army has ordered anti-coup protesters in the capital, Ouagadougou, to return home, amid fears of fighting.
Gen Diendere seized power last week with the backing of the presidential guard, but the army has remained loyal to the deposed government.
Its troops have entered the capital, vowing to retake it. The European Union (EU) has called on the presidential guard to immediately lay down their weapons to avoid bloodshed.
Army chief of staff Pingrenoma Zagre told France 24 news channel that he was in contact with Gen Diendere, and wanted to avoid conflict.
He added that he was awaiting "instructions" from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) regional body, which had put together a peace plan for the former French colony.
Eleven regional leaders are holding emergency talks in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to discuss it.
At least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the coup in clashes between the presidential guard and protesters.
At the scene: Maud Jullien, BBC Africa
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Both the police and army have opposed the power grab
Gen Diendere seems to be backed into a corner by international and national pressure.
Many people in the capital support the army. However, they feel betrayed by Ecowas' peace plan, which would give Gen Diendere and his troops full amnesty, and allow candidates of former ruler Blaise Compaore to run for presidency in elections to be held by the end of November.
Residents I spoke to say the general has blood on his hands, and he and the presidential guards do not deserve amnesty.
"We are waiting to see what this agreement will be in Nigeria and if it is not acceptable we will take hold of our own destiny. The future of this country belongs to us," one man said.
Why presidential guards stage coups
What is behind the coup?
Burkina Faso's coup: Who's who?
Gen Diendere staged the coup after opposing moves to integrate the presidential guard into the army.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, he said he did not want bloodshed, but would defend himself if attacked.
Earlier, an army officer said talks with Gen Diendere had broken down.
"He wants a fight," said the officer, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Troops from around Burkina Faso have converged on the capital
Gen Diendere says he will step aside once regional leaders endorse the peace plan at their summit.
He has released the interim president and the prime minister, following talks brokered by mediators.
France's ambassador to Burkina Faso, Gilles Thibault, tweeted that interim President Michel Kafando, who was arrested last Wednesday, was now at the ambassador's residence.
Image copyright EPA Image caption Gen Gilbert Diendere (pictured) was a close ally of Blaise Compaore, who was forced from the presidency after a popular uprising last year
In an interview with BBC Afrique, the general apologised to the nation for staging a coup, saying it was "the least we could do".
"Ready to surrender? We are not there yet... We wish to continue the discussions and we say to all that we are ready to implement Ecowas' decisions," said Gen Diendere, who once served as chief of staff to Mr Compaore.
The presidential guard is loyal to Mr Compaore and installed Gen Diendere as the new leader last week - a month before elections had been due in the landlocked country.
Mr Compaore, who was in power for 27 years, was ousted in a popular uprising last year.
The interim president took office to pave the way for democratic elections.And a word about Ensign's scofflaw replacement Sen. Dean Heller...
Brad Friedman Byon 5/13/2011, 2:33pm PT
We don't usually offer much space here to sex scandals, unless, in some cases, they demonstrate, for example, blatantly offensive hypocrisy in regard to everyone else's civil rights (talking to you, disgraced former Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)) --- or, as in the case of disgraced now-former Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), charges of blatant criminality.
The details out of the bi-partisan, unanimously approved 68-page report released late yesterday by the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee --- which usually does absolutely nothing --- referring the Ensign case to the Dept. of Justice and the FEC for criminal prosecution are stunning, and much worse than previously understood.
In their letter to the DoJ [PDF] the Committee's Chair and Vice-Chair, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) respectively, refer the matter...
aided and abetted violations of the one-year post-employment contact restriction,
conspired to violate that restriction,
made false statements to the Federal Election Commission,
violated campaign finance laws, and
obstructed the Committee's preliminary inquiry. [S]howing that Senator Ensign and others:
But even that damning summary of wrong-doing fails to adequately describe the offensive squalor at the heart of this mess, as you'll see below.
Moreover, another reason worth mentioning the whole scandal here: there may be at least one scofflaw still on the loose in regards this matter, still serving in the U.S. Senate --- namely, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), one of the very few involved in this extraordinarily ugly, sad and shameful scandal to have, so far, gotten off largely scot-free despite his apparent role in attempting to cover it all up for his friend Ensign.
Finally, there is still one more reason to mention all of this: to highlight the fact that Ensign has now been replaced in the U.S. Senate by the scofflaw, and lying, former NV Secretary of State Dean Heller. Be sure to read on below for details on him and how he too has been allowed to avoid accountability for years despite having, in 2004, illegally certified the 100% unverifiable e-voting systems now used across the state of Nevada (and also used to elect him to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006.)
Rachel Maddow did a fine job of summarizing the remarkable Senate Ethics Committee report on Ensign on Thursday night, so we'll happily allow her to do so again below, as we're buried in several other stories ourselves at the moment...
* * *
The other point that we've only got time to mention here at the moment: The man named to replace Ensign in the U.S. Senate following his resignation last week is NV's former Republican Secretary of State turned U.S. Representative now turned U.S. Senator Dean Heller.
Heller is, himself, a scofflaw, having illegally certified Nevada's Sequoia touch-screen voting systems with so-called "Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail" as SoS in 2004. We reported on the matter exclusively with Michael Richardson and John Gideon in the 2008 book Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008 as based on our detailed, six-month+ investigation into how Heller blatantly lied to the media and the public about the failed status of the federal testing of those machines, certified them for use in the 2004 election in violation of state law, and how the wholly corrupt U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) helped him cover his tracks in the process.
If any media are interested in that long-ignored story, now that it involves a sitting U.S. Senator, please see the chapter of Loser Take All entitled "The Selling of the Touch Screen 'Paper Trail': From Nevada to the EAC," and otherwise feel free to touch base if you have any questions.
* * *
Please support The BRAD BLOG's fiercely independent, award-winning coverage of your electoral system, as available from no other media outlet in the nation, with a donation to help us keep going (Snail mail, more options here). If you like, we'll send you some great, award-winning election integrity documentary films in return! Details right here...HBO boxing got off to a fast start for 2015 with their first televised card of the year, at least in the ratings. The headline bout between Mike Alvarado and Brandon Ríos peaked at 1.316 million viewers, according to Nielsen, and averaged 1.252 million.
Their second fight in 2013 did an average of 1.182 million viewers, so this was their biggest fight to date in terms of viewers. The first fight in 2012 did 816,000 as a co-feature attraction.
This time, the co-feature between Gilberto Ramirez and Maxim Vlasov did a peak of 946,000 with an average of 820,000.
Ríos (33-2-1, 24 KO) dominated Alvarado (34-4, 21 KO) this time around, stopping him after three rounds of one-way action, while Ramirez improved to 31-0 (24 KO) with a solid if unspectacular decision win over Maxim Vlasov (30-2, 15 KO).
By comparison to these numbers, Showtime's first major card of the year on -- Stiverne vs Wilder on January 17 -- did an average of 1.24 million, and peaked at 1.34 million. It was the fourth-highest rated fight on Showtime ever. The good news is that a pair of interesting and/or attractive matchups both delivered strong numbers on the rival networks to start 2015, and hopefully that trend will stay.
HBO boxing is now off until February 21, when Gennady Golovkin meets Martin Murray in Monte Carlo, with the schedule as always picking up in the spring.Nintendo has detailed an update for Miitomo, its social networking app for mobile devices. The changes being introduced will allow users to add friends in new ways, among other things.
According to a message sent to Miitomo users through the app, the update is "coming soon." The list of additions can be found below.
Send friend requests using e-mail and other methods, allowing you to connect with friends who do not use social media services.
Answer the same questions as others when viewing "All Answers."
Edit a Miifoto from the comments section.
Improved start-up and recovery speeds
Nintendo has announced on April 27 that Miitomo surpassed 10 million downloads, up from 3 million earlier that month. Additionally, the company says those users have created more than 20 million Miifotos.
Nintendo has not shared any details on how much money the game is bringing in with its various microtransactions. Although Miitomo game is free, players can spend real-world money to speed up their progress in unlocking new items.
Nintendo also previously confirmed its next smartphone games. Their official names have not been announced, but they will be based on the Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem franchises.
A total of five smartphone games from Nintendo are due to launch by 2017. These games, all of which will be free, are being produced under the guidance of longtime Mario Kart producer Hideki Konno.
Further ReadingLocal authorities are threatening to yank the license of Anchorage's first approved marijuana store, Arctic Herbery, after a report that the owner gave away free cannabis samples at the store last month, in apparent violation of state and city law.
The Anchorage Assembly unanimously approved a |
2007, but acquisition outcomes in terms of cost and schedule have not improved.” Pentagon cost overruns, always a huge problem, have mushroomed. As the GAO reported, “Total acquisition costs for major defense programs in the fiscal year 2007 portfolio have increased 26 percent from first estimates, compared with 6 percent in 2000.”
I know eyes glaze when government budgets are discussed, but keep in mind that defense spending accounts for more than half of all the federal government’s discretionary spending. In short, funding for all the other stuff we argue about — science research, education, Arabic translators, insuring uninsured children — is minor compared to the waste on these military boondoggles that go unexamined.
Yet nothing else the federal government does involves such waste because we are talking about weapons systems shrouded in secrecy and protected from unwelcome scrutiny by the Teflon coating of “national defense.” Credit the GAO for providing a rare glimpse into the most egregious waste of taxpayer dollars, concluding in its exhaustive, 205-page report:
“Of the 72 programs GAO assessed this year, none of them had proceeded through system development meeting the best-practice standards for mature technologies, stable design, or mature production processes by critical junctures of the program, each of which are essential for achieving planned cost, schedule, and performance outcomes.”
That’s a grade of zero for every major weapons system. Let’s take just one, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a program estimated to be worth $300 billion in sales to its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, the nation’s biggest defense contractor and most generous donor to lobbyists and politicians’ campaigns. The program to build what Lockheed boasts is “the most complex fighter ever built” is also the most expensive, with estimated acquisition costs having increased a whopping $55 billion in just the last three years.
Lockheed need not worry about future profits, because the procurement schedule on this troubled plane has been stretched out to the year 2034. As the GAO says, “currently unproven processes and a lack of flight testing could mean future changes to design and manufacturing processes.” Hey, no problem, Lockheed will just add that to the taxpayer tab. Maybe by 2034, the plane will be ready to go take out Osama bin Laden. Or not.From time to time I write on this blog under the heading “Death Penalty Death Watch,” to highlight news suggesting that capital punishment is on the decline in this country — and stories demonstrating why it should be. This entry, I’m sorry to report, falls firmly in the second category.
Last Wednesday, Alabama scheduled the execution of Thomas Arthur for March 29. I object to the death penalty under all circumstances, but Mr. Arthur’s case is particularly troubling, because it’s possible that he’s innocent.
Mr. Arthur has been on death row since 1982 for the murder of Troy Wicker. He was not an upstanding citizen. At the time of the killing, Mr. Arthur was an inmate at the Decatur Work Release Center serving a sentence for a previous conviction (for second-degree murder). But his character shouldn’t distract us from the facts: No physical evidence linked him to the murder; no murder weapon was found; another man, Bobby Ray Gilbert, confessed to the crime under oath.
DNA testing of evidence in 2009 failed to place Mr. Gilbert at the scene, and a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge ruled that he had lied. This logic seems flimsy. Remember, there’s no DNA evidence proving that Mr. Arthur committed the crime, either.
Mr. Arthur has requested advanced DNA testing of a wig worn by the killer, which could help establish his innocence (or his guilt, for that matter). The Alabama authorities have so far opposed additional testing—despite the fact that Mr. Arthur’s counsel has offered to pay for it and that it could be completed before his execution date.
False confessions are not unheard of. It’s possible that Mr. Arthur really did kill Mr. Wicker. But there’s also ample room for doubt.
In 2008, a United Nations Human Rights Council report on “extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions” stated that Alabama systematically rejects “concerns that basic international standards are being violated” and that government officials “seem strikingly indifferent to the risk of executing innocent people.” Is the state willing to take the risk of proving the UN right?The sensors would track air quality, noise pollution, the weather, and also count people passing through the area by tallying signals from their wireless mobile devices.
Called the “Array of Things,” the plan hatched by the Urban Center for Computation and Data — a joint initiative between the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory — would place sensors at eight intersections along Michigan Avenue next month. Cisco Systems, Intel, Motorola Solutions, Schneider Electric, Qualcomm, and Zebra Technologies donated money and technical expertise to launch the project.
“There’s a research hubris,” Lee Tien, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told VICE News. “There is something callous about not letting people decide if they want to be the subject of this experiment.”
To privacy advocates, the sensors proposed for the Loop and hundreds of other spots around the Windy City are a reminder that Big Data is often the precursor to Big Brother.
To scientists, corporate executives, and government officials in Chicago, installing a new high-tech surveillance system downtown promises to create utopia — a safer, cleaner, and more efficiently run city.
Read more
To scientists, corporate executives, and government officials in Chicago, installing a new high-tech surveillance system downtown promises to create utopia — a safer, cleaner, and more efficiently run city.
To privacy advocates, the sensors proposed for the Loop and hundreds of other spots around the Windy City are a reminder that Big Data is often the precursor to Big Brother.
“There’s a research hubris,” Lee Tien, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told VICE News. “There is something callous about not letting people decide if they want to be the subject of this experiment.”
Called the “Array of Things,” the plan hatched by the Urban Center for Computation and Data — a joint initiative between the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory — would place sensors at eight intersections along Michigan Avenue next month. Cisco Systems, Intel, Motorola Solutions, Schneider Electric, Qualcomm, and Zebra Technologies donated money and technical expertise to launch the project.
The sensors would track air quality, noise pollution, the weather, and also count people passing through the area by tallying signals from their wireless mobile devices.
'Our intention is to understand cities better.'
The researchers aren’t exactly sure what they’ll do with the data their sensors collect. They first want to see what the experiment might yield, reports said. But they believe the information, gathered with city permission, would help officials better manage air quality, traffic, and other issues.
"Our intention is to understand cities better," said Charlie Catlett, a computer scientist and the Urban Center’s director, speaking to the Chicago Tribune. "Part of the goal is to make these things essentially a public utility."
Chicago's "Last Chance High." Watch it here.
The sensors won’t record private information, claimed Catlett. They will only count wireless device signals in the area they are surveilling, not archive the digital thumbprints of those devices, he said. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, who touts Chicago’s tech-friendly business climate but has largely been mum about the surveillance system, is now drafting policy to protect the confidentially of folks tracked by the sensors, the Tribune reported.
Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, wasn’t convinced. “It’s hard for me to believe these aren’t recording anything,” he told VICE News. “The only way you get useful data from anything in life is keeping records of things.”
'It’s hard for me to believe these aren’t recording anything.'
Even if the Array of Things doesn’t keep a record of identities, it will always have the raw data that someone could use in order to track specific behaviors that might allow police, hackers, or others to target individuals, added Tien. He used the analogy of a photographer taking pictures of a crowd. The snapper might not know the name of everyone in the photos. But he’s still collected traces of their whereabouts.
The free market isn't very good at running schools in Chicago. Read more here.
“There is a lot of richness in the data that reveals who people are even if you strip away all of the identifiers,” Tien said.
Hall admitted, however, that the system shows the potential of technology to assess the workings of a big city to glean lessons for improving citizens’ quality of life. The question is whether enough people understand that the system’s benefits probably might come with a price, he said.
“There is this tension between collecting facts about our environment and building new services and theoretical models for research and using data that doesn’t compromise privacy,” said Hall.
Photo via FlickrBloomingdale Trail Park Construction View Full Caption
CHICAGO — The city is about to begin paving the way for the Bloomingdale Trail, the much-awaited elevated path that is planned to run through the Bucktown, Wicker Park, Logan Square and Humboldt Park neighborhoods.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was scheduled to attend the groundbreaking Tuesday for the 2.7-mile trail, which is to be part of the broader five-park system called the 606, according to the Mayor's Office.
Officials said earlier this summer that the 606 would include a skate park and an observatory as well as an event center and stage.
The trail, which has been years in the making, will run along the former train tracks on elevated Bloomingdale Avenue from Ridgeway Avenue on the west to Ashland Avenue on the east. Handicap-accessible ramps will be available every quarter-mile, including in the five entry parks, officials said earlier this summer.
The city announced last week that the contract to build the trail had been awarded to Walsh Construction, which submitted the lowest bid at $53.7 million. The company will start construction on the project within the next few days, according to Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Pete Scales.
The cost of the trail has been estimated at $91 million, and the city said it was being financed with a mix of public and private funds.
Construction will include the repairing of 38 bridges, officials said. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in November 2014.The police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile recounted his story publicly for the first time Friday, 11 months after a viral Facebook Live video of the aftermath brought the world an extraordinarily intimate look at police shootings.
Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled off his glasses and wiped his eyes on the last day of testimony in his manslaughter trial, recounting how a traffic stop turned deadly in about a minute.
“I thought I was going to die,” Yanez testified, with a packed courtroom hanging on his every word. “I had no other choice. I was forced to engage Mr. Castile. He was not complying with my directions.”
Jurors heard testimony from several witnesses this week and are expected to begin deliberations Monday after final arguments.
“I thought it went splendid,” one of Yanez’s attorneys, Earl Gray, said of the defense’s two-day case.
Yanez, 29, is charged in Ramsey County with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm in the July 6 shooting of Castile, 32, in Falcon Heights. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her daughter, then 4, were also in the car. Reynolds live-streamed the aftermath.
Police firearms and training expert Emanuel Kapelsohn held up a replica of Philando Castile's shorts with a gun in the pocket. (In this sketch, Kapelsohn's face is obscured, in compliance with a judicial order.)
Yanez testified that he felt his life was in danger when he saw Castile grab a gun near his right thigh after he had been ordered not to reach for it. Yanez told the court that visions of his wife and “baby girl” flashed through his mind.
Did you want to shoot Mr. Castile? asked Yanez’s attorney, Thomas Kelly.
The St. Anthony police officer began to cry. “I did not want to shoot Mr. Castile at all,” he replied. “Those were not my intentions.”
Yanez testified that four days earlier, he responded to an armed robbery of a nearby Super USA convenience store and watched video of two black men pointing guns at a clerk. Officers were instructed to look out for the suspects.
Yanez was parked in his squad car when he saw Castile drive by on July 6. They made eye contact.
“He gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look,” Yanez said. “It’s a trigger.”
Yanez said that gave him “strong suspicions” about Castile, whom he believed could be one of the robbery suspects. Yanez said Castile had a nonworking brake light, which gave him legal grounds to conduct a “pretext” traffic stop that’s then used to investigate other crimes.
He said he smelled marijuana as he walked up to Castile’s Oldsmobile. He informed Castile about the brake light issue, then asked for Castile’s license and proof of insurance.
Castile handed over the insurance information, which the officer tucked into his breast pocket.
“Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me,” Castile volunteered, according to the criminal complaint filed against Yanez.
“I told him, ‘Don’t pull it out,’ ” Yanez testified in court.
Castile reached to his right and made a C-shape with his right hand, Yanez said, adding that he tried to distract Castile, but “he continued to pull his firearm out of his pocket.”
Kelly tried to head off the prosecution’s cross-examination by asking Yanez why he told his supervisor after the shooting that he “didn’t know where the gun was.”
“I was telling [my supervisor] I didn’t see the gun until I saw one,” Yanez answered. “I didn’t know where it was on Philando Castile’s person.”
Prosecutors have run with the theory that Yanez’s failure to use the word “gun” to alert responding officers at the scene and his language with investigators indicate that he never saw Castile’s gun, which was later recovered from his right front shorts pocket.
Yanez repeatedly used the word “it” and made statements such as, “And, he put his hand around something,” in the conversation with his supervisor and in an hourlong interview with investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) the next day.
The family of Jeronimo Yanez made their way into the Ramsey County Courthouse, Friday, June 9, 2017 as the trial continues in the death of Philando Castile. ] ELIZABETH FLORES ï liz.flores@startribune.com
“You didn’t say firearm,” Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Rick Dusterhoft said of Yanez’s BCA interview.
“Correct,” Yanez said.
“You didn’t say he grabbed a gun,” Dusterhoft said. “… You didn’t say ‘firearm.’ You said ‘object,’ correct?”
“Correct,” Yanez said. “… My mind was all over the place, because I was under a tremendous amount of stress. It was a firearm.”
Yanez was composed and spoke clearly under questioning from Kelly. But he grew mildly defiant when Dusterhoft grilled him for telling the BCA that he saw the barrel of Castile’s gun when he hadn’t.
Yanez asked to handle a replica of Castile’s gun. He stood up, faced jurors, grabbed the gun’s handle with one hand and pointed near his grip. “That’s what I saw,” he said.
“You said ‘barrel’ twice,” Dusterhoft said of the BCA interview.
“What I meant was the slide, the top part of the slide,” Yanez explained.
The family of Jeronimo Yanez made their way into the Ramsey County Courthouse, Friday, June 9, 2017 as the trial continues in the death of Philando Castile. ] ELIZABETH FLORES ï liz.flores@startribune.com
“You appear to be unsure of what you saw,” Dusterhoft said a few questions later. “No,” Yanez said, “I was sure.”
What did Yanez see?
In a dramatic courtroom demonstration earlier in the day, the defense’s use-of-force expert placed the replica of Castile’s handgun into the pocket of a pair of shorts identical to the ones Castile was wearing when he was shot.
The gun filled the pocket, its butt protruding visibly.
“That places the butt of the gun right here where the slash of the pocket is,” said defense expert Emanuel Kapelsohn. “I can just easily reach in with a couple of fingers and the gun is right there.”
Yanez would have “easily” seen the butt of the gun while standing outside Castile’s car, Kapelsohn testified.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Paulsen tried to knock the wind out of Kapelsohn’s display, calling it a “little demonstration.” The replica gun and shorts were previously introduced by prosecutors as evidence.
Kapelsohn said that it took him about one-third of a second to draw a replica gun from identical shorts. An officer typically takes longer — about half a second — to respond to a threat, he said.
Judge William H. Leary III looks on during the questioning of Emanuel Kapelsoh, a use-of-force expert testifying for Officer Jeronimo Yanez.
Yanez had reason to shoot Castile because Castile failed to follow orders, Kapelsohn testified. “He’s justified in [using deadly force], and he’s trained to do so. He’d be remiss if he didn’t do so.”People rate public speaking as one of their greatest fears, usually right between crocodile attacks and terrorism. The miracle of Google Cardboard can help you get over that fear with a little app called Public Speaking for Cardboard. Just fire up the app and you'll be transported in front of an audience to practice your speech as they stare awkwardly at you.
There are two locations available in the app right now, a small conference room with a handful of people (including one lady who won't stop using her iPad while you're talking) and a large auditorium with a few dozen audience members. In both venues is a screen that you can use to show your own custom slides for a presentation, and a timer in front of you to keep track of how long you've been talking. You can look around in 360 degrees, and the app also includes ambient noises to make the experience more real. If it's all too much, you can disable the audience animation.
Public Speaking for Cardboard is a pretty clever app, and the developers are planning to add a few more features soon including additional locations, voice recording, and more direct eye contact in smaller environments. The horror...Ancient civilizations gave us the names of planets in our solar system. But as modern scientists have zoomed in on these bodies and their moons, they have needed to find names for ever more features on their surfaces. Following the tradition of naming planets after Greek and Roman deities, most place names in the solar system are derived from mythology. Thus, mountains, craters, valleys, and other geologic features on Venus come from names for sky goddesses, water goddesses, desert goddesses, war goddesses, or goddesses of love, fate, fortune, and fertility. But sometimes it seems that astronomers get a little tired of always asking their mythology friends for new pantheons to mine for names. Scientists are, after all, just as geeky as any other nerd subculture and they like to stamp the solar system with lesser-known minutiae from their favorite books or devote a crater to a scientific hero. For instance, on Nov. 13 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the name Mount Doom for a peak on Saturn’s moon Titan. According to the Lord of the Rings series, this mountain lies at the heart of Mordor and is the only site where the One Ring can be unmade. Titan is like a geek heaven, with place names coming from both J. R. R. Tolkien’s mythos and Frank Herbert’s Dune series. To come up with such names, members of an IAU task group agree on a theme — let’s say, naming all the craters on Jupiter’s moon Europa after Celtic gods and heroes – and label any known features. As better maps are made of a planet or moon, other people may suggest a name for newly resolved features. The names are reviewed, objected to, debated, and eventually approved and published online. The process isn’t just for scientists; members of the public can submit suggestions as well. Maybe it’s time to start stamping the solar system with places like Westeros and Oz? While we can’t visit these features in person, many have been mapped by our robotic probes. Here we take a look at some images of the geekiest places in the solar system. Above: Titan, King of the Geeks The themes for most of Titan’s features follow the standard mythological criterion. Above you can see the enormous Xanadu region, the bright area just below and to the right of center. Xanadu is named after a legendary palace in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan. But all mountains on Titan are named for fictional mountains in the Lord of the Rings series, while all plains and labyrinth-like features are named for planets in the Dune series. Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Mount Doom All mountains on Titan are named for fictional peaks in Tolkien’s books. In addition to Mount Doom, there is Mount Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo and company travel to fight the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit. Classic rock geeks will also recognize Titan’s Misty Mountains (where the spirits go) which house the Dwarven city of Khazad-dum and the mines of Moria, where the dwarves dug too deep, unleashing the Balrog that — spoiler alert — kills Gandalf. Planets in Frank Herbert’s Dune series provides names for plains on Titan, such as Arrakis Planitia, named for the planet where Paul Atreides becomes Muad’Dib and learns to ride the mighty sandworms. The Chusuk plain and Sikun labyrinth are also named for planets in the Dune series. Images: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Scientists in the Solar System Uber-geek Albert Einstein scores his own crater on the moon for his world-changing Theory of Relativity. Plenty of other revolutionary men and women are honored in this way, including Galileo Galilei, champion Renaissance scientist who uncovered evidence that the Earth goes around the sun among other breakthroughs, and Charles Babbage, who invented the first programmable computer back in 1822. Several female scientists lend their names to craters on Venus, including Irene Joliot-Curie, daughter of Marie Curie, and a Nobel laureate herself. Image: LROC/NASA
Lunar Explorers Our closest companion is the moon, whose features people have gazed upon since the dawn of time. It is only recently that scientists have provided some nerdy names to these places; in particular, lunar craters, which are named for scientists, explorers, and astronauts. Just north from the touchdown spot of Apollo 11 are three small craters, named for the first lunar crew, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, has also been honored with his own crater. Images: LROC/NASA
Engineers on the Moon The internet’s favorite underdog engineer and mad scientist, Nikola Tesla, lends his name to a crater on the moon. His arch-rival (again, according to the internet) Thomas Edison, gets the same, though their craters are kept far from one another. Nerdy viewers may spot H.G. Wells’ crater near Tesla’s. The British father of science fiction also had a French rival, Jules Verne, who gets a crater, too. Image: LROC/NASA
Artists and Authors Plenty of cultured nerds will find all they need on Mercury, whose craters are named after famous artists, painters, musicians, and authors. There are craters named for Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as well as Charles Dickens and William Faulkner craters. But a true geek will be most thrilled to see the literary luminaries of science-fiction and fantasy get their due, with J. R. R. Tolkien crater on Mercury and Edgar Rice Burroughs crater on Mars. Image: NASA
Valleys of Discovery Astronomical nerds will recognize that all valleys on Mercury are named for radio telescope facilities. But even if you’re not a stargazer, you will know the Arecibo telescope. This spectacular facility, which lends its name to Arecibo Vallis, is a pop-culture staple, featured in the movie Contact, the James Bond film and videogame GoldenEye 007, and even an episode of The X-Files. Image: MESSENGER/NASA
Exploration on Mercury Scarps on Mercury are all named for ships of discovery. So Christopher Columbus’ Santa Maria can be found along with Captain James Cook’s Endeavour. Perhaps the nerdiest place name on Mercury comes from Charles Darwin’s ship The Beagle, which was used to collect evidence for evolution. Image: MESSENGER/NASAWith the draft on the horizon, your favorite NBA team will be adding a few new employees soon. So, using a format familiar to anyone who has ever applied for a new job, we asked some incoming rookies a few questions so you could get to know them better. This is the NBA Job Application. Next up is Wade Baldwin IV from Vanderbilt University.
Name:
College:
Position(s) applying for (circle all that apply):
Another player in this draft class I’d like to play alongside is:
A non-athlete who inspires me is:
The most underrated player in the NBA is:
Create-A-Player: You have 20 points to allocate to 6 skill categories for yourself. Rate your game:
The single best piece of coaching advice I’ve ever gotten is:
My best friend would say my best quality is:
My dream NBA Jam duo would be:
Mark your best three shots on the floor:
From memory, draw the Larry O’Brien trophy:
For more NBA Job Applications and additional draft coverage, visit our 2016 NBA Draft page.A man has been arrested and charged after he allegedly spiked a female colleague's drink while they were at work in Sydney's south east.
On "a number of occasions" at work in Kensington, the 26-year-old started to feel ill and believed she had been drugged, she told police.
She suspected her 33-year-old male colleague of putting drugs into her drink, and reported him at Maroubra Police Station on Wednesday.
Officers launched an investigation.
In their inquiries, police obtained closed circuit television (CCTV) footage that allegedly showed the man pouring a liquid into the woman's drink.
He was arrested at his home in Maroubra at 11am on Thursday and charged with tampering with evidence and using poison to injure or cause distress or pain.
Police refused the man bail and he faced court on Friday, where bail was granted.
He will appear in court again on May 24.This is the bi?-weekly open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. Also:
1. Comment of the week is this discussion on the calendar and the solstices, although everyone eventually agreed it was on the wrong track.
2. A while back, everyone donated some money for Multiheaded to be able to get a Canadian visa and escape Russia. Canada refused to grant such a visa and this plan has fallen through. If anybody else has any ideas for how a transgender person might get to a country that tolerates transgender people, please mention them in the comments so Multi can find them.
3. The first chapter of my book Unsong is now online here. New chapters every Sunday, new interludes some Wednesday, subscribe on right hand column of that site if you’re interested.Ho Chi Minh City (CNN) — Most people who travel to Ho Chi Minh City will make the hour or so drive out of town to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
What most won't realize is that right under their feet in the city itself is a subterranean network, smaller but no less remarkable than the claustrophobic tunnels that housed so many Vietnamese fighters during the war.
Down a nondescript alleyway in District 10 is a former family home that, during the mid-1950s, was known as Secret Cellar B. The family that lived there was charged by the revolutionary Vietnamese forces with housing a printing press to produce Vietnamese propaganda posters. To avoid raids, there was only one place to put it: underground.
In one of the sparsely furnished rooms, preserved as they were more than 60 years ago, sits an old teak wardrobe. Open the door, and it offers the entrance to an alternative world, as pivotal to anti-colonial Vietnamese back then as Narnia was to the children of C.S. Lewis' novels.
Tight fit
Visitors to Vietnam can step into the wardrobe and climb down through a hole, around shoulder width, and into the cellar. The tunnel leading to it was excavated to be only as wide as necessary, so the crawl or bum-shuffle through the twisting dimly lit passage remains an uncomfortable experience.
"In 1951 the French and their allies had complete control of the south (of Vietnam), so all the real revolutionary activity would be happening in the north," says Tim Doling, who conducts heritage tours in Ho Chi Minh City.
"They would have a transistor radio (in the tunnels) and they'd be transcribing news of what would be happening in the north. It was to encourage the local people to support the revolutionary movement. "
To ventilate the tiny space, another tunnel was dug leading up to a well, creating a flow of air for those stationed inside.
Excavated between February and May 1952, Secret Cellar B was in operation until 1957 when it was decommissioned because of security concerns and then filled with soil in 1959 to avoid detection. "It's not quite on the tourist trail, yet," says Doling. "But it is a very special place."
More to explore
Today, visitors can access the tunnels only through an appointment made with District 10 Office for Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Elsewhere in the city are other cellars and hidden rooms that played important roles in the efforts by communist Vietnamese to reunify the country, especially as the conflict intensified in the 1960s. Each has a story of ingenuity and bravery behind its creation and operation.
A printing press in the cellar of a house on Gia Phu in District 6 was dug and operated under the cover of clanking machines producing locks for school bags and remained undetected until 1970.
Other cellars were constructed either as munitions dumps (stuffed with arms often moved into the city from rural Cu Chi) or as places to hide revolutionary activists. Some of the locations were downright brazen, such as the house at 91 Pham Van Chi, opposite the District 6 police station and courtroom.
Tunnels under the Independence Palace and Ho Chi Minh Museum, both built on the order of a twitchy South Vietnam president Ngo Dinh Diem can be visited by tourists. But even in these well-known warrens of intrigue, Doling believes that there is more to discover, like a fabled connecting tunnel between the two.
"Ho Chi Minh is a fascinating place and everywhere you look are little nooks and crannies," he says.
"I've always felt that the city is seen as an economic hub where visitors only stay for one or two nights.
"What tourist groups here offer is quite limited so I've be concentrating on trying to research the history to expand the resources for tourism."Image copyright Getty Images Image caption There are areas of England where not even one in five people voted in previous council elections
Fewer than one in five eligible voters in some parts of England previously chose anyone to represent them in local elections, raising fears of a democratic deficit.
BBC News analysis of voting patterns in 2,500 council wards since 2012 shows wide disparities.
Most of the areas where the fewest people voted in recent elections are in the North.
The Electoral Reform Society said it was vital people turned out to vote.
Campaigners are concerned there will be a low turnout again on Thursday 5 May if voters continue to see local authority elections as "less important" than a General Election.
According to data from the commission covering the 2012, 2014 and 2015 council elections:
Liverpool's Central ward had the lowest in the country, with just 1,658 votes cast out of an electorate of 13,091 in local elections in 2012.
Turnout in Liverpool Central only improved significantly when polling day coincided with the General Election, when nearly half of voters returned a ballot.
Hull contained four of the 10 wards where the lowest number of registered voters cast a ballot in the 2012, 2014 and 2015 elections.
Tap here to find out which election is taking place in your area.
Voter apathy 41 wards saw fewer than 20% of the electorate vote in 2012 368,594 were eligible to vote
65,221 returned a ballot that year
4 wards had under 1/5 turnout in 2014, alongside European elections
43% was lowest turnout in 2015, when General Election took place too Getty Images
Get the data here.
Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "These figures show that there is a serious democratic deficit in local elections in England.
"Local authorities are central to running so many services - from adult social care, to waste, schools and transport - and with many getting more powers, it's vital people turn out, hold them to account and have their say."
A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said: "Our research shows that recent home movers, young people, people from some black and minority ethnic communities, and people in rented accommodation are less likely to be registered to vote."
The commission ran a public awareness campaign encouraging people from these groups to go online and register, with more than 1.6 million applications made since 1 February.
Despite the North having some of the least engaged voters, it also contained those at the top end.
The ward with the best turnout overall was Old Laund Booth in Pendle, Lancashire, where 85% of registered voters used their ballot in 2015.
However, the ward has only one councillor and therefore elections only take place every four years.
Of those wards that held elections three years out of four, it was Bastwell in Blackburn that had the highest average turnout, 66%.
Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote, said the Bastwell turnout was encouraging and showed trends such as those seen in Liverpool Central could be reversed.
He said: "When we were in Liverpool there was real, entrenched cynicism among too many individuals. They believe that these civic institutions barely look like the people they are representing and they say it has nothing to do with them, which then makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy as they do not use their vote to change it.
"Bastwell shows things can be turned around and offers us hope. But it has to be bottom up, diverse-led change. Change cannot be from community leaders herding people blindly into the polling booths."
A Liverpool City Council spokesman said the Central ward had a "very large student population", which suggested "a lot of voter apathy among them for local elections".
It worked with the National Union of Students, visiting halls of residence and hired campaign group Operation Black Vote's bus to encourage people to register before the deadline on 18 April.
In the 2012 council elections the national average turnout was 31%. Two years later, when the vote coincided with the European Parliament elections, it was 36%.
And when the vote coincided with the General Election in 2015, average turnout rose to 65%. The lowest turnout in the country last year was Chalvey ward in Slough, where just under 43% voted.
England's most engaged voters Bastwell had biggest average turnout 66% Average turnout over 3 elections 75% Asian/Asian British residents
Bottom 14% for deprivation
Bottom 12% for employment
Bottom 7% for education Getty Images
Ingrid Koehler, senior policy researcher at think tank the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), said: "It's disappointing, but not surprising, that some wards across the country appear disengaged based on voter turnout. It's important to remember that many people, including those who don't vote, have regular interactions with local government - far more so than with central government.
"Still, there are many systemic reasons why turnout in local elections is low. For too long, local government has been treated as the delivery arm of national government. As local devolution progresses, hopefully people will see more reason to make the effort to decide who represents them locally."A Midem panel at the weekend resulted in an awkward few minutes for YouTube's Content Vice President. After an audience member asked Tom Pickett to explain why nothing is being done about YouTube to MP3 ripping sites, a light-hearted moment and resulting laughter only served to further raise temperatures.
A panel at the weekend at what might yet turn out to be the very last Midem, discussed the importance of online video.
“In the golden days of cable TV, music channels killed the radio stars. Now YouTube is the first stop for music consumption among Gen Y. So are you ready to align your strategy with the rules of online video?” the panel asked.
Speakers on the 36 minute slot included Tom Pickett, VP, YouTube Content, Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive of the BPI, Jordan Berliant of The Collective Music Group and Brandon Martinez, Co-Founder & CEO of INDMUSIC. It took quite a while but the topic of unauthorized content eventually raised its head.
It began when the audience was asked for questions, with a man taking to the mic to point out that it is very easy to rip music from YouTube videos
“If you go on Google and just simply put YouTube MP3 the top result is a website where you can put in any YouTube url and take a track straightaway,” the man explained.
“I just wondered what plans in the future Google have in place to just get rid of that because you seem to be able to change ranks of websites daily, but you can’t stop sites showing that allow free downloads.”
The point struck a note with the audience, who clapped in response.
“Certainly, on the Google search side we’re constantly trying to rank appropriately,” Google’s Tom Pickett responded. “Google search is a reflection of what’s out there on the web. I |
already voted to spend. Republicans oversaw the tax cuts, war spending and recession that are the biggest components of the debt, but don’t want to take responsibility. Ending the ceiling would not in any way diminish the Congressional power of the purse.
Mr. Geithner’s proposal is a good one, but it is clear this batch of Republicans will never vote to give up its most powerful leverage.The Greens fear a potential new trade deal with China won't be in New Zealand's best interests.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will be in New Zealand next week to meet Prime Minister Bill English and business leaders. The visit marks 45 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China.
Green Party trade spokesman Barry Coates is hoping for a transparent conversation, saying the Government hasn't been open enough when it comes to making trade deals.
"Unfortunately the agreement with China, as the TPP before it, is not transparent. It really is something that should happen for proper democratic accountability," Mr Coates told Newshub.
It's hoped an upgraded free trade agreement with China will have major benefits for New Zealand exporters. Stephen Jacobi of the International Business Forum hopes it fixes problems in the original 2008 deal, signed by then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.
"Safeguards on our dairy exports, for example. We can't get the full benefit of those tariff cuts when the dairy trade gets too big. We've got some barriers in a whole range of products - particularly horticulture."
Mr Coates wants to ensure the deal isn't too narrow.
"We need to make sure the agreement really benefits all New Zealanders and all New Zealand companies - not just a few exporters."
Mr English, speaking on The AM Show on Monday, said the agreement Labour signed in 2008 has "served us pretty well" to date.
"The agreement's been a lot more successful than was expected back then, so we want to create a bit more room for selling our products there with low tariffs."
But China will have to be "happy" with the agreement too, he says, dampening the Greens' expectations.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal isn't completely dead, says Mr English, who admits he's not sure what the Chinese position on it is.
"New Zealand's view is that we should move along with everyone who's willing. We don't quite know what the Chinese position is. The Japanese are still working out their position, and they're pretty critical to the whole thing."
The TPP is on life support after the US pulled out with the inauguration of anti-globalist Donald Trump as President.
Newshub.In school, there were times our teachers would allow us to make our own cheat sheets. What did or didn’t make it onto that sheet was entirely up to us. If we failed to place an important item that we didn’t remember on that sheet and came across the dreaded question that addressed that missing item, anxiety ensued. Our hearts moved up into our throats, our frustration mounted, and that moment of holding our breath and guessing made the doubt bubble up. But what could you do if you didn’t know the answer?
It stinks to get a wrong answer on a test because it causes you to lose points and affects your cumulative grade at the end of the quarter or semester, which then affects your grade at the end of the year. When relating this to WordPress, one mistake can affect the overall quality or functionality of your website. That is why it is good to have a cheat sheet that covers some common items so that you know what to do when faced with the matter.
Why do You Need a Cheat Sheet?
Just like the cheat sheet you used in class, it helped you move through the test faster and minimized the number of errors that you made. A WordPress cheat sheet gives you quick access to some important and necessary functions, as well as keeps you up-to-date on some of the latest trends and standards.
Some Existing Cheat Sheets
There are some existing cheat sheets that are out there and they are very useful. We are going to put these here because it certainly doesn’t hurt to combine resources into one place so you don’t have to jump around the Internet looking for an answer. Those cheat sheets are:
1. Complete WordPress Cheat Sheet by WordPress
The Complete WordPress Cheat Sheet covers the areas of theme structure, the loop, the category based loop, theme definition, template include tags, WordPress template tags, BlogInfo tags, and navigation menu code.
2. WordPress Help Sheet
The Advanced WordPress Help Sheet gives you code snippets for content only homepages, styling different categories, creating unique images for different categories, styling individual posts, previous and next posts links, site page links, dynamic page titles, query posts, CSS theme details, page template details, the loop, tags cloud, and unique templates for categories.
3. CSS Cheat Sheet by Leslie Franke
This is a CSS cheat sheet that we can put right here for you. It covers everything from syntax and font to borders, position, background, and more.
Make Stunning websites using TemplateToaster WordPress website builder Download Now
4. SEO Cheat Sheet by Moz
This is the ultimate SEO cheat sheet by Moz. In fact, it is four pages long. You can see screen caps of the four pages below and see that it covers a lot of territory. You are able to see the most important HTML elements, URL best practices, HTTP status codes, SEO tips, pagination, Robot Control Syntax, Sitemap Syntax, structured data, rich snippets, multi-language capabilities, responsive design, and much more.
The Ultimate Plugin Cheat Sheet
No all-in-one cheat sheet is complete without specifying the plugins that every WordPress website needs. Those plugins are:
WP Super Cache – This plugin caches your WordPress site, creating static HTML files that are served by Apache, preventing the processing of heavy PHP scripts. In simpler terms, this plugin helps speed up your WordPress website a great deal. Yoast – Yoast is a great SEO plugin. This single plugin helps you SEO optimize your WordPress website by giving you guidance and tools. You can post titles and meta descriptions, clean up permalinks, ensure you have an XML sitemap, clean up the head section of your site, enhance RSS, and much more. Yoast is free but has a premium version. Backup Buddy – Backing up your WordPress website is very important and Backup Buddy can do that for you. If something happens to your website and its content, you can use Backup Buddy to put everything back to where it was. This can save you the headache of having to redesign your website after a crash. Set up backup schedules, store the backups off-site, and restore quickly. Share for SumoMe – Social sharing is everything in today’s world. It has become a key element in a website’s success. The setup is easy and you can place the Smart Share buttons where you need them to be. Sucuri – Sucuri secures your website in that it keeps the site clear of malware, DDoS attacks, and website hacks. If malware has already made its way into your website, Sucuri cleans it up. You get a Website Application Firewall, an intrusion Prevention System, 24/7 incidence response, and continuous monitoring to identify a potential compromise. Gravity Forms – We all need contact forms on our websites. Sometimes we need more. Gravity Forms make having forms on your site easy. You have drag and drop field placement, field modification options, and Gravity Forms can be integrated with PayPal, MailChimp, and other online services.
Figuring out the New in Editor Linking Feature
When the WordPress 4.5 “Coleman” update rolled out, everyone noticed something odd – an in-editor “quick” linking feature. This had some WordPress users scratching their heads. When you click the link icon in the kitchen sink, a new box pops up. You can enter the link into the small box that pops up and says, “paste URL or Type to Search” and then click the arrow to insert. If you click the gear icon, the old linking box is going to pop up. If you decide you want to take that route, make sure that once you enter the URL and anchor text and click “update,” that you don’t touch the linking box that just might still be hanging out on your screen.
There are times when this new linking feature wants to stick inside the editor. You can move on with your work and it may eventually disappear on its own or stick in one spot until you need to use it again.
Now it’s Time to Get to Work
So now that you have access to some of the best WordPress cheat sheets out there, info on the most necessary and best plugins for your site, and you know that you are not alone when Coleman’s linking feature won’t go away, it’s time to put it all to use. You have access to a lot of information right here in one place so that you don’t have to use your precious time scouring the Internet for what you may or may not know you need for your site.CHICAGO, IL - FEBRUARY 24: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel leaves a restaurant after having lunch with U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza on election day February 24, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Emanuel, who is up for re-election, leads the polls, but not with enough votes to avoid a runoff election. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
By Fiona Ortiz
CHICAGO, March 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opened a 10 percentage point lead in his re-election bid against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, an opinion poll on Sunday showed, though his challenger received a hard-won labor union's endorsement that could bring in campaign cash and volunteers.
The Chicago mayor's race went to an unprecedented run-off when well-funded Emanuel, mayor since 2011, failed to clinch the 50 percent of the vote he needed for an outright win on Feb. 24.
Former White House Chief of Staff Emanuel, who has used his campaign chest of more than $10 million to saturate the airwaves, faces Garcia, a veteran Chicago politician who is supported by the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, in the nonpartisan second round on April 7.
Garcia has tapped into disillusionment among some African American, Hispanic and labor union voters who are concerned Emanuel will cut public pensions to solve Chicago's deep budget crisis and who were against the mayor's shutting down of almost 50 underpopulated schools in poor neighborhoods.
However, Garcia has struggled to turn his unexpectedly good performance in February into a serious threat to Emanuel.
A poll published Sunday by Ogden & Fry showed Emanuel claiming 55 percent of the vote, with Garcia at 45 percent. The telephone poll of 920 decided voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.
The race has won national attention as the two Democratic candidates represent two wings of the party. Emanuel, seen as more pro-business, has pulled in donations from hedge fund and Hollywood executives. Garcia has run few television ads and depends on grassroots campaigning.
Both have held back details of how they would cut spending and raise revenue to deal with Chicago's financial mess, including a massive pending leap in yearly payments the city must make to public workers' pension funds.
The Illinois statewide council of the Service Employees International Union announced on Sunday it was backing Garcia, though locals of the SEIU had squabbled publicly over the endorsement.SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Requiem music soars, capitalism’s grand finale. Death by self-inflicted economicus extremis. Undead enemies, wounded zombies, ghouls, ghosts, vampires seek revenge, want blood.
For over two centuries capitalists have been dissecting and replacing body parts on Adam Smith’s theories, patching together a monster Frankenstein Economics. Once it worked for the whole economy. But now the monster is on a rampage, destroying itself, failing the nation that gave it life.
American capitalists are now self-destructing, killing American capitalism, our democracy, and next, the world economy. Cue music: “Thriller:”
Cue music. An ominous fog. The beat of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” consumes the cemetery of economic horrors: “Darkness falls across the land. The midnight hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood.” Crypts in the Adam Smith mausoleum are readied to hold the failing parts of a dying Frankenstein Economics, to hold the doomed parts for all eternity.
Yes American capitalists are now self-destructing, killing American capitalism, our democracy, and next, the world economy. Listen to the beat of “Thriller:”
“They’re out to get you... No one’s gonna save you... from the beast about to strike... The foulest stench’s in the air... The funk of forty thousand years... Grizzly ghouls from every tomb... are closing in to seal your doom... You fight to stay alive... Your body starts to shiver... No mere mortal can resist... the evil of the Thriller.”
For many Americans. Halloween is a holiday of great fun. My favorite. And probably why Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was on my mind when reviewing the new Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson book, “Why Nations Fail.” They see a pattern repeating through history. Nations grow. Wealth concentrates at the top. The elite take steps to protect their wealth. And by closing the very doors that helped them get to the top, nations fail.
This Halloween the same pattern is accelerating with America’s election drama. This time, however, the door may close on super-rich capitalists. They may lose their battle to control our nation. Lose control. Here are seven other signs of this pattern:
1. Capitalists losing control of the Invisible Hand
Adam Smith’s capitalism believed the Invisible Hand would benefit everyone, the entire economy. But capitalists now control Smith’s Invisible Hand, using it to protect their personal wealth, gain more power. Traditional economists keep the pattern alive, like “True Blood” vampire squids surviving from ancient times, still haunting Wall Street.
A pattern reversal emerges in a new book, “Meme Wars: Creative Destruction of Neo-Classical Economics,” edited by Kalle Lasn, publisher of Adbusters. In one column Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz warns that economists in banks, government, universities and the Fed are trapped in capitalism’s Frankenstein Economics mythology. Trapped because myths like efficient market theory and supply-demand are easier to teach than complex environmental issues and long-term population growth. So most economists pretend that the myths work, inventing reasons why.
Moreover, lacking its own scientific basis, today’s Frankenstein Economics uses computer technology, math and physics, while ignoring the latest environmental and behavioral-economics research. As a result, economists are unable to analyze complex global issues, focusing instead on justifying the self-serving behavior of individual capitalists maximizing profits in a competitive marketplace.
2. Frankenstein Economics has a conservative political bias
Stiglitz warns that Frankenstein Economics has a political bias in conservative issues and the profits of corporation shareholders. Economics taught at Harvard University, for example, uses a textbook written by a former member of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors that pushes “a particular ideological view that markets work perfectly.”
Capitalists also view environmental issues as liberal. Teaching any economics courses that are politically biased with a conservative or progressive agenda is dangerous to America’s future, as Acemoglu and Robinson suggest. Future leaders will just keep making decisions on broader public policies, relying on a conservative version of Adam Smith’s theories, failing America as a whole. Time to bury this corpse.
3. Frankenstein Economics relies on disasters, wars, famine, pandemics
Flash forward: The planet is incapable of feeding the 10 billion people projected on Earth by 2050, says Jeremy Grantham, whose firm manages $100 billion. But most economists working for capitalists today ignore the warnings, trapped in their denial bubble with men like the Fed’s Ben Bernanke. Time to reread “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”
Alternatively, it appears that only a disaster of epic proportions, like a global pandemic, will penetrate today’s capitalist mind-set and awaken their conscience.
4. Capitalists misleading us with the Perpetual Growth myth
Capitalism’s Frankenstein Economics is failing our nation with its core myth of Perpetual Growth, which assumes infinite resources with infinite opportunities for growth, profits, income, and wealth. Ad infinitum.
Though rich and brilliant, American capitalists have a childlike, irrational conviction that they can indefinitely mine, fish, dump, produce, grow and extract resources from the planet’s limited supply, without ever paying a steep price or planning for the day the planet’s resources are exhausted.
5. Frankenstein capitalists have short-term-thinking brains
Billionaires, corporate CEO, Wall Street bankers and other capitalists focus narrowly on closing stock prices, quarterly earnings, annual bonuses. Most are alpha-males, aggressive short-term thinkers, while America’s next generation of leaders must have “a historical perspective,” says Grantham. But unfortunately we get as leaders “an army of left-brained immediate doers” which “guarantees” they “will always miss” the next big one.
Stiglitz is right, America must teach an economics that is politically neutral and embraces new environmental and behavioral-economics research.
6. Frankenstein Economics reflects an extreme capitalist ideology
Today, the ideology of philosopher Ayn Rand, in works like “Atlas Shrugged,” is the core of Frankenstein Economics, has replaced Adam Smith’s original ideas as Rand’s extreme ideas have become the conservative political agenda: “When I say ‘capitalism,’ I mean a pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism;” The only system that can make freedom, individuality, and the pursuit of values possible,” leaving “every man free.”
Today Rand’s ideology is not only locked into conservative politics and capitalist economics, it is now embedded in a conspiracy of a super-rich elite and our politicians, a dangerous repetition of the historical pattern Acemoglu and Robinson warn is closing the door to America’s future to protect wealth accumulated in the past.
7. Frankenstein Capitalism losing to China’s new State Capitalism
There is now a big elephant in the room: China’s is planning its future using a hybrid capitalism, while American capitalists are retreating to the past. China’s resources and people dwarf America’s: China will add 300 thousand in the next generation, topping 1.4 billion. America will grow to just 400 million. China’s economy will exceed America’s in a few years. And by 2040 China’s GDP will be 40% of the world versus America’s 14%.
All this gets even scarier when you realize China’s economy is growing faster than ours thanks to the Chinese communist party version, state-planned capitalism.
One final note: In the spirit of Halloween, let’s remember that China now has such a huge stockpile of dollar reserves, over one trillion, they could easily buy a “Thriller” mausoleum from our capitalists, and still have a lot remaining.
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Dedicated to the people of Haiti both in the US and abroad, please except our profound thanks, and know that our thoughts and prayers are with you…
After 228 years as largely unsung contributors to American independence, Haitian soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War’s bloody siege of Savannah had a monument dedicated in their honor. On October 9, 1779, a force of more than 500 Haitian gens de couleur libre (free men of color) joined American colonists and French troops in an unsuccessful push to drive the British from Savannah in coastal Georgia.“We were here in 1779 to help America win independence. “ said Daniel Fils-Aime, chairman of the Miami-based Haitian American Historical Society. “That recognition is overdue.” “To see a monument in downtown Savannah and the commemoration of the involvement of the Haitian Americans, it’s a dream come true.” said Savannah Mayor Floyd Adams Jr. “This will help educate Americans but also Haitian youth about the significant contribution their ancestors made.” “The role of Haitian soldiers in the battle had long been ignored“, said North Miami Mayor Josaphat Celestin. “It means recognition for our efforts, that we were here all along, that Haiti was a part of the effort to liberate America and that they came here as free men, not as slaves,” Celestin said. “We hope this country will recognize this.”
“It’s a huge deal,” said Philippe Armand, vice president of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, who flew to Savannah from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. “All the Haitians who have gone to school know about it from the history books.”
Though not well known in the U.S., Haiti’s role in the American Revolution is a point of national pride for Haitians.
After returning home from the war, Haitian veterans soon led their own rebellion that won Haiti’s independence from France in 1804.
The Siege of Savannah
The Siege of Savannah on October 9th, 1779 presents the Revolutionary War as a world conflict more than does any other engagement of the Revolution. The memory of this battle also reminds us of the fact that significant foreign resources of men, money, and material contributed to the eventual success of the cause of American independence. French, Polish, Native Americans, African slaves, free men of African descent, Germans, Hessians, Austrians, Scots, Welsh, Irish, English, Swedish, and American and West Indian colonials also participated as individuals or whole units in this most culturally diverse battle of the war. For six weeks this diverse force was assembled in three armies to contend for the possession of Savannah. This battle resulted in the largest number of casualties the allies suffered in a single engagement.
The presence of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue as the largest unit of soldiers of African descent to fight in this war is worthy of commemoration. The fact that their number was made up of free men who volunteered for this expedition is startling to most people and surprising to many historians. Their presence reminds us that men of African heritage were to be found on most battlefields of the Revolution in large numbers. As a new and relatively inexperienced unit, the Chasseurs participated in the siege warfare including the battle of September 24th and the siege of October 9th.
The Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint-Domingue served as a reserve unit to American and French forces fighting a British contingent. As battered American and French soldiers fell back, the Haitian troops moved in to provide a retreat.
Twenty-five of their number has their names recorded as wounded or killed during the campaign. Over 60 were captured in the fall of Charleston eight months later. The British Navy captured three transports carrying Chasseurs; these soldiers were made prizes of war and sold into slavery. Other members of this unit were kept on duty away from their homes for many months as part of French garrison forces. A subsequent unit of Haitians was a part of the French and Spanish campaign against Pensacola where they faced some of the same regiments of British troops that their comrades faced in Savannah.
The efforts of Haiti to secure its independence from colonial rule beginning in 1791 are remarkable for the fact that what began as a slave revolt was to ultimately succeed in prevailing over the resources of the French Empire and to form a government of Western Hemisphere Africans. Haiti, much smaller in population than the United States, was attacked by armies as large as those sent against America by Britain. The Haitian victory over the legions of Napoleon was achieved with much less foreign assistance than the United States enjoyed.
Many key figures in the Haitian War of Independence gained military experience and political insights through their participation in Savannah — most notably Henri Christophe, a youth at the time but in his adult years a general of Haitian armies and king of his nation for fourteen years. Many of the Haitian soldiers later fought to win their country’s own war of independence, crediting their military experience in Savannah. Influenced by both the events of the American Revolution and the rhetoric of the French Revolution, the people of Haiti began a struggle for self-government and liberty. The first nation in the Western Hemisphere to form a government led by people of African descent, it was also the first nation to renounce slavery.Sources: Haitian American Historical Society Wikipedia, and the Associated Press
Haiti Relief Coverage Main Page
AdvertisementsThe Unwomanly Face of War. By Svetlana Alexievich. Random House; 384 pages; $30. Penguin Modern Classics; 331 pages; £12.99.
“I AM writing a book about war,” Svetlana Alexievich noted in her diary in 1978. Russian does not have definite and indefinite articles, but Ms Alexievich, at the time a 30-year-old Soviet author, born to a Belarusian father and a Ukrainian mother, did not need one. There was only one war, defining the country at the cost of 20m lives: the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45.
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There had been many accounts, but Ms Alexievich’s “The Unwomanly Face of War”, published in 1985 and released this week in its first post-Soviet English edition, was unusual: an oral history told by women who enlisted in the army straight after school, learning to kill and die before they learned to live or give life. Some tales were blood-curdling—like that of a 16-year-old nurse who bit off the smashed arm of a wounded soldier to save his life, and days later volunteered to execute those who had fled the field. Other stories were heartbreaking, like that of a girl who first kissed her beloved man only when he was about to be buried.
The book was followed by other oral histories of people caught in calamities: the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Chernobyl disaster, the collapse of the Soviet empire. In 2015 she won the Nobel prize in literature “for her polyphonic writings”. For her, the nightmares of the 20th century made fiction impossible. “Nothing may be invented...The witnesses must speak,” she said in her acceptance speech. Her work has been called journalism or history, but it defies easy classification.
Ms Alexievich’s greatest talent may be not writing, but listening and getting witnesses to talk. The book is filled with more than 200 voices. Yet, filtered by “the human ear”, as she calls herself, they vary little in tone or rhetoric. Her book reflects an uneasy relationship between memory, which often involves mythologising, and history as a multitude of dimensions. A memoir is not a reconstruction of the past, but a record of the time when the memoir is produced and of the mental state of the person remembering. As such, Ms Alexievich’s book is a testimony to the late 1970s and early 1980s and the war for memory which she took part in.
The fight for memory began as soon as the war stopped. Stalin feared the feelings the war awoke in his people. (“The only time we were free was during the war. At the front,” Ms Alexievich was told.) Reminders of suffering were cleared off the streets. Crippled veterans who pushed themselves on self-made wheeled platforms with hands—if they had any—were rounded up and sent to a camp on the island of Valaam. Russian prisoners-of-war were sent to the gulag as potential traitors. “Liberation” brought not freedom, but a new wave of repression and anti-Semitic campaigns. “After the Victory everybody became silent. Silent and afraid, as before the war,” one man told Ms Alexievich.
Victory day—the only unifying and truly national Soviet holiday—became part of the official calendar and mass culture only in 1965. Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader from 1964 to 1982, saw the war as the main source of legitimacy for a stagnating system, and covered himself in military medals: Hero of the Soviet Union, Order of Victory. Liberals and the Soviet apparatchiks fought over its memory, and Ms Alexievich was on the front lines. The bleeding memories of her witnesses clashed with the gloss and bombast of the official rhetoric. Her book was published when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, hoping to put a human face on socialism.
Even so, the censor demanded cuts, such as the story of a young partisan woman who drowned her crying baby to avoid alerting German soldiers. Those cuts are restored in the new edition—as are her conversations with the censor, who was particularly scandalised by the description of menstruation on the battle front. “Who will go to fight after such books?” the censor demanded “You humiliate women with a primitive naturalism...You make them into ordinary women, females.”
More important, the battle for memory unfolded in the minds of storytellers themselves. A woman who joined a tank brigade at 16 tells Ms Alexievich “how it was”, only to follow her story a few weeks later with a letter that included an edit of the transcript of their interview—with every human detail crossed out. The suppression of the human and the humane in people was crucial to surviving Soviet life.
Having defeated fascism in Germany, the Soviet Union imported some of its ideas and practices, which bore fruits decades later. Waving the banners of the second world war and holding the photographs of those who perished in it defeating fascism, today’s Kremlin has restored Soviet symbols, declared the supremacy of the state over the individual and annexed Crimea. Unleashing a war against Ukraine, Kremlin propaganda described Ukrainians who demanded dignity as “fascists” and Russian soldiers as “anti-fascist liberators”. The exploitation of the memory of the war has been the central element of modern Russian ideology. It is what makes Ms Alexievich’s work so relevant today.Rolling Stone magazine is drawing fire for putting Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on its cover, in a glam shot that critics say continues to blur the line between fame and infamy.
The picture, which accompanies a story titled "Jahar's World," shows the accused murderer with his long, curly hair tousled and the hint of a goatee, reminiscent of the magazine's iconic shots of rock 'n' roll royalty like The Doors' Jim Morrison. The cover could send a dangerous message to Tsarnaev's warped supporters, according to one critic.
"If they want to become famous, kill somebody," Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin told MyFoxBoston.com.
[pullquote]
The issue, which hits newsstands Friday, depicts an unsmiling Tsarnaev, 19, above a boldface headline, "The Bomber." The story, which features interviews from childhood friends, teachers and law enforcement agents, promises to reveal how a “popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam, and became a monster."
In a blog posting late Tuesday, Rolling Stone detailed “five revelations” in the story by contributing editor Janet Reitman, including Tsarnaev's increasing devotion to Islam while still in high school, as well as his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev's possible mental illness, which the boys' mother decided would be better treated by Islam than by a psychiatrist.
“Around 2008, Jahar’s older brother Tamerlan confided to his mother that he felt like ‘two people’ were inside him,” the blog posting reads. “She confided this to a close friend who felt he might need a psychiatrist, but Zubeidat believed that religion would be the cure for her son’s inner demons and growing mental instability, and pushed him deeper into Islam.”
Rolling Stone issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying their hearts go out to the victims.
"The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens," the statement said.
Supporters of Tsarnaev, who believe in the face of overwhelming evidence that he’s innocent of the charges against him, appeared last week during his federal court appearance in Boston. Some wore T-shirts with phrases like “Free the Lion,” while others held “Free Jahar” signs outside Boston's John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse on Wednesday.
“Give Dzhokhar back his life,” one protester reportedly said.
“If you really cared about the victims you would be more interested in the truth,” said another Tsarnaev supporter.
The Rolling Stone cover quickly drew a negative reaction on social media, as "Boycott Rolling Stone" quickly became a trending Twitter topic in Boston.
"Very rarely does something make me so mad I have a negative tweet, but #BoycottRollingStone," one user posted early Wednesday. "Absolutely unacceptable."
Many other Twitter users indicated they would never purchase another Rolling Stone magazine.
"Way to glorify a madman," another posting read.
The issue also drew condemnation from at least one of Tsarnaev's alleged victims.
MBTA Transit Police Officer Richard "Dic" Donohue, who was allegedly shot and injured by the Tsarnaev brothers as they fled police, said in a statement he and his family felt the issue was "thoughtless at best."
"I cannot and do not condone the cover of the magazine..." Donohue said.
Meanwhile multiple retailers, including some based in New England, have decided not to carry the issue in their stores.
“CVS/pharmacy has decided not to sell the current issue of Rolling Stone featuring a cover photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect,” the Rhode Island-based pharmacy chain said in a statement. “As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones.”
Other retailers who have said they will not carry the issue include Walgreens, Rite Aid, Stop & Shop, the grocery chain the Roche Bros and Tedeschi Food Shops, a Massachusetts-based convenience store chain.
Federal authorities allege that the Tsarnaev brothers planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The explosions killed three people and injured more than 260 others.
Four days later, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who survived a shootout with police during which Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed, was captured following a day-long manhunt in the Boston suburb of Watertown.
Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty last week to 30 counts of a federal indictment. If the government decides to seek capital punishment, Tsarnaev could face the death penalty if convicted on one of 17 counts.
Click for more from MyFoxBoston.com.
FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller contributed to this report.Confused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
1. An anniversary and an awkward path forward
Fifty years ago, Arkansas escaped life as second fiddle.
Frank Broyles had engineered four top-10 finishes in his six seasons in Fayettevile and had brought his Razorbacks to two Sugar Bowls, a Cotton Bowl, and a Gator Bowl. But with five losses to Texas in six years, they had established a ceiling a little bit lower than they would have preferred. But consecutive wins over Oklahoma State, Tulsa, TCU, and Baylor got them to eighth in the country, and a 14-13 upset of No. 1 Texas in Austin gave them a nitro boost in the polls. They shut out five consecutive opponents to finish the regular season undefeated, won the SWC, and knocked off No. 7 Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.
And while the AP gave its national title to 10-0 Alabama before the bowls, the Tide lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl, and Broyles' unbeaten Hogs claimed a national title via the Football Writers Association of America, the Helms Athletic Foundation, and others.
Arkansas is justifiably observing the 50th anniversary of this title team, as evidenced by the cover of this year's media guide (PDF). But the dedication to past success will also serve to shine a dim light on the present, on what could have been and what almost was.
Since 1964, Arkansas has experienced plenty of success: four more top-10 finishes under Frank Broyles, three under Lou Holtz, a run of nine- and 10-win seasons under Ken Hatfield. But for most of the 1990s and 2000s, they lived life with potential but little to show for it. Danny Ford and Jack Crowe combined for one winning season in eight years. Houston Nutt brought success (eight bowls in 10 years after two in the previous eight) but never quite enough of it.
Bobby Petrino came to town and changed everything; from 2009-11, the Hogs won eight games, then 10, then 11. In 2011, they landed their first top-5 finish since Holtz's first season in Fayetteville (1977). The future was bright, and the Hogs began 2012 in the top 10... with John L. Smith leading the way. Petrino's famous motorcycle wreck and mistress cover-up got him sent out of town, along with most of the Hogs' elite hopes. After winning at least eight games for three straight years, Arkansas has won a combined seven since Petrino left.
(This F/+ progression chart is like the graphical personification of a motorcycle wreck and mistress cover-up.)
After the disastrous "Let's hire John L. for one year and see what happens" plan, athletic director Jeff Long pulled off what was, on paper, a great hire: he nabbed Bret Bielema from Wisconsin just after Bielema had secured the Badgers' third consecutive Rose Bowl bid. He is an accomplished coach with a strong identity -- even if he needs to probably stop talking about tempo and health risks -- and he may eventually find success in Fayetteville.
But it's hard to figure out how that's going to happen soon. Granted, every losing program can find hope after Auburn and Missouri went from a combined 2-14 in conference to 14-2 in a single year. But they were each doing something different and unique, especially on offense. Arkansas is running variations of Alabama's offense and LSU's defense, only without the mountain of four- and five-star talent. His first Hogs team could run the ball quite well but couldn't really do anything else; what might year two have in store?
In 1964, Arkansas bounced back from a five-win season to achieve heights it had never before reached. Can the Hogs pull off even half of that turnaround in 2014?
2013 Schedule & Results
Record: 3-9 | Adj. Record: 3-9 | Final F/+ Rk: 87 Date Opponent Opp. F/+ Rk Score W-L Adj. Score Adj. W-L 5-gm Adj. Avg. 31-Aug UL-Lafayette 86 34-14 W 42.1 - 20.0 W 7-Sep Samford N/A 31-21 W 30 |
?” I ask groggily.
“About three hours out.”
I perk up. “From landing?”
“From departure. Got another eight, nine in the air, depending on head-winds.”
I hand him back the bottle. “And you woke me up for that?”
“Couldn’t stand to see you suffering like that. Who was it this time? Lars?”
“James.”
Jake gives this a moment’s consideration. “Figures. James is probably not the one you want to piss off. Even now.”
“Thanks.”
“You need to chill. I was talking to them last week.” Jake gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder. “They’re cool with you, buddy. Bygones be bygones. They were even talking about getting some comp seats for the next stateside show, provided we can arrange wheelchair access. Guys are keen to meet Derek. But then who isn’t?”
I think back to the previous evening’s show. The last night of a month-long residency at Tokyo’s Budokan. Rock history. And we pulled it off. Derek and the band packed every seat in the venue, for four straight weeks. We could have stayed on another month if we didn’t have bookings lined up in Europe and America.
“I guess it’s working out after all,” I say.
“You sound surprised.”
“I had my doubts. From a musical standpoint? You had me convinced from the moment I met Derek. But turning this into a show? The logistics, the sponsorship, the legal angles? Keeping the rights activists off our back? Actually making this thing turn a profit? That I wasn’t so certain about.”
“Reason I had to have you on board again, buddy. You’re the numbers man, the guy with the eye for detail. And you came through.”
“I guess.” I stir in my seat, feeling the need to stretch my legs. “You—um—checked on Derek since the show?”
Jake shoots me a too-quick nod. “Derek’s fine. Hit all his marks tonight.”
Something’s off, and I’m not sure what. It’s been like this since we boarded the Antonov. As if something’s bugging Jake and he won’t come out with whatever it was.
“Killer show, by all accounts,” I say.
“Best of all the whole residency. Everything went like clockwork. The lights, the back projection...”
“Not just the technical side. One of the roadies reckoned ‘Extinction Event’ was amazing.”
Jake nods enthusiastically. “As amazing as it ever is.”
“No, he meant exceptionally amazing. As in, above and beyond the performance at any previous show.”
Jake’s face tightens at the corners. “I heard it too, buddy. It was fine. On the nail. The way we like it.”
“I got the impression it was something more than...” But I trail off, and I’m not sure why. “You sure there’s nothing we need to talk about?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Fine.” I give an easy smile, but there’s still something unresolved, something in the air between us. “Then I guess I’ll go see how the big guy’s doing.”
“You do that, buddy.”
I unbuckle from the seat and walk along the drumming, droning length of the Antonov’s fuselage. It’s an AN-225, the largest plane ever made, built fifty years ago for the Soviet space program. There are only two of them in the world, and Morbid Management and Gladius Biomech have joint ownership of both. Putting Derek’s show together is so logistically complex that we need to be assembling one stage set when the other’s still in use. The Antonovs leapfrog the globe, crammed to the gills with scaffolding, lighting rigs, speaker stacks, instruments, screens, the whole five hundred tonne spectacle of a modern rock show. Even Derek’s cage is only a tiny part of the whole cargo.
I make my way past two guitar techs and a roadie deep into a card game, negotiate a long passage between two shipping containers, and pass the fold-down desk where Jake has his laptop set up, reviewing the concert footage, and just beyond the desk lies the cage. It’s lashed down against turbulence, scuffed and scratched from where it was loaded aboard. We touch up the yellow paint before each show so it all looks gleaming and new. I brush a hand against the tubular steel framing.
Strange to think how alarmed and impressed I was the first time, when Jake threw the switch. It’s not the same now. I know Derek a lot better than I did then, and I realise that a lot of his act is, well, just that. Act. He’s a pussycat, really. A born showman. He knows more about image and timing than almost any rock star I’ve ever worked with.
Derek’s finishing off his dinner. Always has a good appetite after a show, and at least it’s not lines of coke and underage hookers he has a taste for.
He registers my presence and fixes me with those vicious yellow eyes.
Rumbles a query, as if to say, Can I help you?
“Just stopping by, friend. I heard you went down a storm tonight. Melted some faces with ‘Extinction Event.’ Bitching ‘Rise of the Mammals,’ too. We’ll be shifting so many downloads we may even have to start charging to cover our overheads.”
Derek offers a ruminative gurgle, as if this is an angle he’s never considered before.
“Just felt I ought to,” and I rap a knuckle against the cage. “You know, give credit. Where it’s due.”
Derek looks at me for a few more seconds, then goes back to his dinner.
You can’t say I don’t try.
***
I’d been flying when Jake got back in touch. It was five years ago, just after the real-life events of my dream. I was grogged out from departure lounge vodka slammers, hoping to stay unconscious until the scramjet was wheels down, and I was at least one continent away from the chaos in LA. Wasn’t to be, though. The in-flight attendant insisted on waking me up and forcing me to make a choice between two meal serving options: chicken that tasted like mammoth, or mammoth that tasted like chicken.
What was it going to be?
“Give me the furry elephant,” I told him. “And another vodka.”
“Ice and water with that, sir?”
“Just the vodka.”
The mammoth really wasn’t that bad—certainly no worse than the chicken would have been—and I was doing my best to enjoy it when the incoming call icon popped into my upper right visual field. For a moment I considered ignoring it completely. What could it be about, other than the mess I’d left behind after the robots went berserk? But I guess it was my fatal weakness that I’d never been able to not take a call. I put down the cutlery and pressed a finger against the hinge of my jaw. I kept my voice low, subvocalising. Had to be my lawyer. Assuming I still had a lawyer.
“Okay, lay it on me. Who’s trying to sue me, how much are we looking at, and what am I going to have to do to get them off my case?”
“Fox?”
“Who else. You found me on this flight, didn’t you?”
“It’s Jake, man. I learned about your recent difficulties.”
For a moment the vodka took the edge off my surprise. “You and the rest of the world.”
Jake sounded pained. “At least make an effort to sound like you’re glad to hear from me, buddy. It’s been a while.”
“Sorry, Jake. It’s just not been the best few days of my life, you understand?”
“Rock and roll, my friend. Gotta roll with it, take the rough with the smooth. Isn’t that what we always said?”
“I don’t know. Did we?” Irritation boiled up inside me. “I mean, from where I’m sitting, it’s not like we ever had much in common.”
“Cutting, buddy. Cutting. And here I am calling you out of the blue with a business proposition. A proposition that might just dig you out of the hole you now find yourself in.”
“What kind of proposition?”
“It’s time to reactivate Morbid Management.”
I let that sink in before responding, my mind scouting ahead through the possibilities. Morbid Management was defunct, and for good reason. We’d exhausted the possibilities of working together. Worse than that, our parting had left me with a very sour opinion of Jake Addison. Jake had always been the tail wagging that particular dog, and I’d always been prepared to go along with his notions. But he hadn’t been prepared to put his faith in me when I had the one brilliant idea of my career.
We’d started off signing conventional rock acts. Mostly they were manufactured, put together with an eye on image and merchandising. But the problem with conventional rock acts is that they start having ideas of their own. Thinking they know best. Get ideas in their head about creative independence, artistic credibility, solo careers. One by one we’d watched our money-spinners fly apart in a whirlwind of ego and ambition. We figured there had to be something better.
So we’d created it. Ghoul Group was the world’s first all-dead rock act. Of course you’ve heard of them: Who hasn’t? You’ve probably even heard that we dug up the bodies at night, that we sucked the brains out of a failing mid-level pop act, or that they were zombies controlled by Haitian voodoo. Completely untrue, needless to say. It was all legal, all signed off and boilerplated. We kept the bodies alive using simple brain-stem implants, and we used the same technology to operate Ghoul Group on stage. Admittedly there was something Frankensteinesque about the boys and girls on stage—the dead look in their eyes, the scars and surgical stitches added for effect, the lifeless, parodic shuffle that passed for walking—but that was sort of the point.
Kids couldn’t get enough of them. Merchandising went through the roof, and turned Morbid Management into a billion dollar enterprise.
Only trouble was it couldn’t last. Rock promotion sucked money away as fast as it brought it in, and the only way to stay ahead of the curve was to keep manufacturing new acts. The fatal weakness of Ghoul Group was that the concept was easily imitated: Anyone with access to a morgue and a good lawyer could get in on the act. We realised we had to move on.
That was when we got into robotics.
Jake and I had both been in metal acts before turning to management, and we were friendly with Metallica. The band was still successful, still touring, but they weren’t getting any younger. Meanwhile a whole raft of tribute acts fed off the desire for the fans to see younger versions of the band, the way they’d been twenty or thirty years before. Yet no matter how good they were, the tribute acts were never quite realistic enough to be completely convincing. What was needed—what might fill a niche that no one yet perceived—were tribute acts that were completely indistinguishable from their models, and which could replicate them at any point in their careers. And—most importantly—never get tired doing it, or start demanding a raise.
So we made them. Got in hock with the best Japanese robotics specialists and tooled up a slew of different incarnations of Metallica. Each robot was a life-size, hyper-realistic replica of a given member of the band at a specific point in their career. After processing thousands of hours of concert footage, motion capture software enabled these robots to behave with staggering realism. They moved like people. They sounded like people. They sweated and exhaled. Unless you got close enough to look right into their eyes, there was no way at all to tell that you were not looking at the real thing.
We commissioned enough robots to cover every market on the planet, and sent them out on tour. They were insanely successful. The real Metallica did well out of it and within months we were licensing the concept to other touring acts. The money was pumping in faster than we could account it. But at the same time, mindful of what had happened with Ghoul Group, we were thinking ahead. To the next big thing.
That was when I’d had my one original idea.
I’d been on another flight, bored out of my mind, watching some news item about robots being used to dismantle some Russian nuclear plant that had gone meltdown last century. These robots were Godzilla-sized machines, but the thing that struck me was that they were more or less humanoid in shape. They were being worked by specialist engineers from half way round the world, engineers who would zip into telepresence rigs and actually feel like they were wearing the robots; actually feel as if the reactor they were taking apart was the size of a doll’s house.
It wasn’t the reactor I cared about, of course. It was the robots. I’d had a flash, a mental image. We were already doing Robot Metallica. What was to stop us doing Giant Robot Metallica?
By the time I’d landed, I’d tracked down the company that made the demolition machines. By the time I’d checked in to my hotel and ordered room service, I’d established that they could, in principle, build them to order and incorporate the kind of animatronic realism we were already using with the life-size robots. There was, essentially, no engineering barrier to us creating a twenty metre or thirty metre high James Hetfield or Lars Ulrich. We had the technology.
Next morning, shivering with excitement, I put the idea to Jake. I figured it for an easy sell. He’d see the essential genius in it. He’d recognise the need to move beyond our existing business model.
But Jake wasn’t buying.
I’ve often wondered why he didn’t go for it. Was it not enough of a swerve for him, too much a case of simply scaling up what we were already doing? Was he shrewd enough to see the potential for disaster, should our robots malfunction and go berserk? Was it simply that it was my idea, not his?
I don’t know. Even now, after everything else that’s happened—Derek and all the rest—I can’t figure it out. All I can be sure of is that I knew then that it was curtains for Morbid Management. If Jake wasn’t going to back me the one time I’d had an idea of my own, I couldn’t keep on working with him.
So I’d split. Set up my own company. Continued negotiations with the giant demolition robot manufacturers and—somewhat sneakily, I admit—secured the rights from Metallica to all larger-than-life robotic reenactment activities.
Okay, so it hadn’t ended well. But the idea’d been sound. And stadiums can always be rebuilt.
“You still there, buddy?”
“Yeah, I’m still here.” I’d given Jake enough time to think I’d hung up on him. Let the bastard sweat a little, why not. Over the roar of the scramjet’s ballistic re-entry profile I said: “We’re gonna lose comms in a few moments. Why don’t you tell me what this is all about.”
“Not over the phone. But here’s the deal.” And he gave me an address, an industrial unit on the edge of Helsinki. “You’re flying into Copenhagen, buddy. Take the ’lev, you can be in Helsinki by evening.”
“You have to give me more than that.”
“Like you to meet the future of rock and roll, Fox. Little friend of mine by the name of Derek. You’re going to like each other.”
***
The bastard had me, of course.
It was winter in Helsinki, so evening came down cold and early. From the maglev I took a car straight out into the industrial sticks, a dismal warren of slab-sided warehouses and low-rise office units. Security lights blazed over fenced-off loading areas and nearly empty car parks, the asphalt still slick and reflective from afternoon rain. Beyond the immediate line of warehouses, walking cranes stomped around the docks, picking up and discarding shipping containers like they were coloured building blocks. Giant robots. I didn’t need to be reminded about giant fucking robots, not when I was expecting an Interpol arrest warrant to be declared in my name at any moment. But at least they wouldn’t come looking here too quickly, I thought. On the edge of Helsinki, with even the car now departed on some other errand, I felt like the last man alive, wandering the airless boulevards of some huge abandoned moonbase.
The unit Jake had told me to go to was locked from the road, with a heavy-duty barrier slid across the entrance. Through the fence, it looked semi-abandoned: weeds licking at its base, no lights on in the few visible windows, some of the security lights around it broken or switched off. Maybe I’d been set up. It wouldn’t be like Jake, but time had passed and I still wasn’t ready to place absolute, unconditional trust in my old partner. All the same, if Jake did want to get back at me for something, stranding me in a bleak industrial development was a very elaborate way of going about it.
I pressed the intercom buzzer in the panel next to the barrier. I was half expecting no one to answer it and, if they did, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to explain my presence. But the voice that crackled through the grille was familiar and unfazed.
“Glad you could make it, buddy. Stroll on inside and take a seat. I’ll be down in a minute. I can’t wait to show Derek off to you.”
“I hope Derek’s worth the journey.”
The barrier slid back. I walked across the damp concrete of the loading area to the service entrance. Now that I paid proper attention, the place wasn’t as derelict as I’d assumed. Cameras tracked me, moving stealthily under their rain hoods. I ascended a step, pushed against a door—which opened easily—and found myself entering some kind of lobby or waiting room. Beyond a fire door, a dimly illuminated corridor led away into the depths of the building. No lights on in the annex, save for the red eye of a coffee machine burbling away next to a small table and a set of chairs. I poured a cup, spooned in creamer, and sat down. As my vision adjusted to the gloom, I made out some of the glossy brochures lying on the table. Most of them were for Gladius Biomech. I’d heard of the firm and recognised their swordfish logo. Most of what they did creeped me out. Once you started messing with genetics, the world was your walking, talking, tap-dancing oyster. I stroked one of the moving images and watched a cat sitting on a high chair and eating its dinner with a knife and fork, holding the cutlery in little furry human-like hands, while the family dined around it. Now your pet can share in your mealtimes—hygienically!
The fire door swung open. I put down the brochure hastily, as ashamed as if I’d been caught leafing through hardcore porn. Jake stood silhouetted in the dim lights of the corridor, knee-length leather jacket, hair still down to his collar.
I put on my best laconic, deadpan voice. “So I guess we’re going into the pet business.”
“Not quite,” Jake answered. “Although there may be merchandising options in that direction at some point. For now, though, it’s still rock and roll all the way.” He gestured back at the door he’d come through. “You want to meet Derek?”
I tipped the coffee dregs into the waste bin. “Guess we don’t want to keep him waiting.”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s not going anywhere.”
I followed Jake into the corridor. He had changed a bit in the two years since we’d split the firm, but not by much. The hair was a little grayer, maybe not as thick as it used to be. Jake still had the soul patch under his lip and the carefully tended stubble on his cheeks. Still wore snakeskin cowboy boots without any measurable irony.
“So what’s this all about?”
“What I said. A new business opportunity. Time to put Morbid Management back on the road. Question is, are we ready to take things to the next level?”
I smiled. “We. Like it’s a done deal already.”
“It will be when you see Derek.”
We’d reached a side door: sheet metal with no window in it. Jake pressed his hand against a reader, submitted to an iris scan, then pushed open the door. Hard light spilled through the widening gap.
“You keep this locked, but I’m able to walk in through the front door? Who are you worried about breaking in?”
“It’s not about anyone breaking in,” Jake said.
We were in a room large enough to hold a dozen semi-trucks. Strip lights ran the length of the low, white-tiled ceiling. There were no windows, and most of the wall space was taken up with grey metal cabinets and what appeared to be industrial-size freezer units. There were many freestanding cabinets and cupboards, with benches laid out in long rows. The benches held computers and glassware and neat, toy-like robotic things. Centrifuges whirred, ovens and chromatographs clicked and beeped. I watched a mechanical arm dip a pipette into a rack of test tubes, sampling or dosing each in quick sequence. The swordfish logo on the side of the robot was for Gladius Biomech.
“Either you’re richer than I think,” I said, “or there’s some kind of deal going on here.”
“Gladius fronts the equipment and expertise,” Jake said. “It’s a risk for them, obviously. But they’re banking on a high capital return.”
“You’re running a biotech lab on your own?”
“Buddy, I can barely work out a bar tip. You were always the one with the head for figures. Every few days, someone from Gladius stops by to make sure it’s all running to plan. But it doesn’t take much tinkering. Stuff’s mostly automated. Which is cool, because the fewer people know about this, the better.”
“Guess I’m one of them now. Want to show me what this is actually all about, or am I meant to figure it out on my own?”
“Over here,” Jake said, strolling over to one of the freestanding cabinets. It was a white cube about the size of a domestic washing machine, and had a similar looking control panel on the front. But it wasn’t a washing machine, obviously. Jake entered a keypad code then slid back the lid. “Go on,” he said, inviting me closer. “Take a look.”
I peered into the cabinet, figuring it was some kind of incubator. Blue, UV-tinged lights ran around the inside of the rim. I could feel the warmth coming off it. Straw and dirt were packed around the floor, and there was a clutch of eggs in the middle. They were big eggs, almost football sized, and one of them was quivering gently.
“Looks like we’ve got a hatcher coming through,” Jake said. “Reason I had to be here, actually. System alerts me when one of those babies gets ready to pop. They need to be hand-reared for a few days, until they can stand on their feet and forage for themselves.”
“Until what can stand on their feet and forage for themselves?”
“Baby dinosaurs, buddy. What else?” Jake slid the cover back on the incubator, then locked it with a touch on the keypad. “T-Rexes, actually. You ever eaten Rex?”
“Kind of out of my price range.”
“Well, take it from me, you’re not missing much. Pretty much everything tastes the same once you’ve added steak sauce, anyway.”
“So we’re diversifying into dinosaur foodstuffs. Is that what you dragged me out here to see?”
“Not exactly.” Jake moved to the next cabinet along—it was the same kind of white incubator—and keyed open the lid. He unhooked a floral-patterned oven glove from the side of the cabinet and slipped it on his right hand, then dipped into the blue-lit interior. I heard a squeak and a scuffling sound and watched as Jake came out with a baby dinosaur in his hand, clutched gently in the oven glove. It was about the size of a plastic bath toy, the same kind of day-glo green, but it was very definitely alive. It squirmed in the glove, trying to escape. The tail whipped back and forth. The huge hind legs thrashed at air. The little forelimbs scrabbled uselessly against the oven glove’s thumb. The head, with its tiny pin-sized teeth already budding through, tried to bite into the glove. The eyes were wide and white-rimmed and charmingly belligerent.
“Already got some fight in it, as you can see,” Jake said, using his ungloved hand to stroke the top of the Rex’s head. “And those teeth’ll give you a nasty cut even now. Couple of weeks, they’ll have your finger off.”
“Nice. But I’m still sort of missing the point here. And why is that thing so green?”
“Tweaked the pigmentation a bit, that’s all. Made it luminous, too. Real things are kind of drab. Not so hot for merchandising.”
“Merchandising what?”
“Jesus, Fox. Take a look at the forelimbs. Maybe it’ll clue you in.”
I took a look at the forelimbs and felt a shiver of I wasn’t exactly sure what. Not quite revulsion, not quite awe. Something that came in at right angles to both.
“I’m no expert on dinosaurs,” I said slowly. “Even less on Rexes. But are those things meant to have four fingers and a thumb?”
“Not the way nature intended. But then, nature wasn’t thinking ahead.” Jake stroked the dinosaur’s head again. It seemed to be calming gradually. “Gladius tells me it’s pretty simple stuff. There are these things called Hox genes, which show up in pretty much everything, from fruit flies to monkeys. They’re like a big bank of switches that control limb development, right out to the number of digits on the end. We just flipped a few of those switches, and got us dinosaurs with human hands.”
The hands were like exquisite little plastic extrudings, moulded in the same biohazard green as the rest of the T-Rex. They even had tiny little fingernails.
“Okay, that’s a pretty neat trick,” I said. “If a little on the creepy side. But I’m still not quite seeing the point.”
“The point, buddy, is that without little fingers and thumbs it’s kind of difficult to play rock guitar.”
“You’re shitting me. You bred this thing to make music?”
“He’s got a way to go, obviously. And it doesn’t stop with the fingers. You ever seen a motor homunculus, Fox? Map of human brain function, according to how much volume’s given over to a specific task. Looks like a little man with huge fucking hands. Just operating a pair of hands takes up way more cells than you’d think. Well, there’s no point giving a dinosaur four fingers and an opposable thumb if you don’t give him the mental wiring to go along with it. So we’re in there right from the start, manipulating brain development all the way, messing with the architecture when everything’s nice and plastic. This baby’s two weeks old and he already has thirty per cent more neural volume than a normal Rex. Starting to see some real hierarchical layering of brain modules, too. Your average lizard has a brain like a peanut, but this one’s already got something like a mammalian limbic system. Hell, I’d be scared if it wasn’t me doing this.”
“And for such a noble purpose.”
“Don’t get all moral on me, buddy.” Jake lowered the T-Rex back into the incubator. “We eat these things. We pay to go out into a big park and shoot them with anti-tank guns. I’m giving them the chance to rock. Is that so very wrong?”
“I guess it depends on how much choice the dinosaur has in the matter.”
“When you force a five-year-old kid to take piano lessons, does the kid have a choice?”
“That’s different.”
“Yeah, because it’s cruel and unusual to force someone to play the piano. I agree. But electric guitar? That’s liberation, my friend. That’s like handing someone the keys to the cosmos.”
“It’s a goddamned reptile, Jake.”
“Right. And how is that different than making corpses or giant robots play music?”
He had me there, and from the look of quiet self-satisfaction on his face, he knew it.
“Okay. I accept that you have a baby dinosaur that could, theoretically, play the guitar, if anyone made a guitar that small. But that’s not the same thing as actually playing it. What are you going to do, just sit around and wait?”
“We train it,” Jake said. “Just like training a dog to do tricks. Slowly, one element at a time. Little rewards. Building up the repertoire a part at a time. It doesn’t need to understand music. It just needs to make a sequence of noises. You think we can’t do this?”
“I’d need persuasion.”
“You’ll get it. Dinosaurs live for meat. It doesn’t have to understand what it’s doing, it just has to associate the one with the other. And this is heavy metal we’re talking about here, not Rachmaninov. Not a big ask, even for a reptile.”
“You’ve thought it all through.”
“You think Gladius was going to get on board if there wasn’t a business plan? This is going to work, Fox. It’s going to work, and you’re going to be a part of it. All the way down the line. We’re going to promote a rock tour with an actual carnivorous theropod dinosaur on lead guitar and vocal.”
I couldn’t deny that Jake’s enthusiasm was infectious. Always had been. But when I’d needed him—when I’d taken a big idea to him—he hadn’t been there for me. Even now the pain of that betrayal still stung, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to get over it that quickly.
“Maybe some other time,” I said, shaking my head with a regretful smile. “After all, you’ve got a ways to go yet. I don’t know how fast these things grow, but no one’s going to be blown away by a knee-high rock star, even if they are carnivorous. Maybe when Derek’s a bit older, and he can actually play something”
Jake gave me an odd glance. “Dude, we need to clear something up. You haven’t met Derek yet.”
I looked into his eyes. “Then who—what—was that?”
“Part of the next wave. Same with the eggs. Aren’t enough venues in the world for all the people who’ll want to see Derek. So we make more Dereks. Until we hit market saturation.”
“And you think Derek’ll be cool with that?”
“It’s not like Derek’s ever going to have an opinion on the matter.” Jake looked me up and down, maybe trying to judge exactly how much I could be trusted. “So: You ready to meet the big guy?”
I gave a noncommittal shrug. “Guess I’ve come this far.”
Jake stopped at another white cabinet—this one turned out to be a fridge—and came out with a thigh-sized haunch of freezer-wrapped meat. “Carry this for me, buddy,” he said.
I took the meat, cradling it in both arms. We went out of the laboratory by a different door, then walked down a short corridor until a second door opened out into a dark, echoey space, like the inside of an aircraft hangar.
“Wait here,’ Jake said, and his footsteps veered off to one side. I heard a clunk, as of some huge trip-switch being thrown and, one by one, huge banks of suspended ceiling lights came on. Even as I had to squint against the glare, I mentally applauded the way Jake was managing the presentation. He’d known I was coming, so he could easily have left those lights on until now. But the impresario in him wouldn’t be denied. These weren’t simple spotlights, either. They were computer controlled, steerable, variable-colour stage lights. Jake had a whole routine programmed in. The lights gimballed and gyred, throwing shifting patterns across the walls, floor and ceiling of the vast space. Yet, until the last moment, they studiously avoided illuminating the thing in the middle. When they fell on it, I could almost imagine the crowd going apeshit.
This was how the show would open. This was how the show had to open.
I was looking at Derek.
Derek was in a bright yellow cage, about the size of four shipping containers arranged into a block. I was glad about the cage; glad too that it appeared to have been engineered to generous tolerances. Electrical cables snaked into it, thick as pythons. Orange strobe beacons had just come on, rotating on the top of the cage, for no obvious reason other than that it looked cool. And there was Derek, standing up in the middle.
I’d had a toy T-Rex as a kid, handed down from my dad, and some part of me still expected them to look the way that toy did: standing with the body more or less vertical, forming a tripod with two legs and the tail taking the creature’s weight. That wasn’t how they worked, though. Derek—like every resurrected Rex that ever lived—stood with his body arranged in a horizontal line, with the tail counterbalancing the weight of his forebody and skull. Somehow that just never looked right to me. And the two little arms looked even more pathetic and useless in this posture.
Derek wasn’t the same luminous green as the baby dinosaur; he was a more plausible dark muddy brown. I guess at some point Jake had decided that colouration wasn’t spectacular enough for the second batch. In fact, apart from the human hands on the ends of his forearms, he didn’t look in any way remarkable. Just another meat-eating dinosaur.
Derek was awake, too. He was looking at us and I could hear the rasp of his breathing, like an industrial bellows being worked very slowly. In proportion to his body, his eyes were much smaller than the baby’s. Not so cute now. This was an instinctive predator, big enough to swallow me whole.
“He’s pretty big.”
“Actually he’s pretty small,” Jake said. “Rex development isn’t a straight line thing. They grow fast from babies then stick at two tonnes until they’re about fourteen. Then they get another growth spurt, which can take them anywhere up to six tonnes. Of course with the newer Dereks we should be able to dial things up a bit.” Then he took the haunch off me and whispered: “Watch the neural display. We’ve had implants in him since he hatched—we’re gonna work the imaging into the live show.” He raised his voice. “Hey! Meat-brain! Look what I got for you!”
Derek was visibly interested in the haunch. His head tracked it as Jake walked up to the cage, the little yellow-tinged eyes moving with the smooth vigilance of surveillance cameras. Saliva dribbled between his teeth. The forearms made a futile grabbing gesture, as if Derek somehow didn’t fully comprehend that there was a cage and a quite a lot of air between the haunch and him.
I watched a pink blotch form on the neural display. “Hunter-killer mode kicking in,” Jake said, grinning. “He’s like a heat-seeking missile now. Nothing getting between him and his dinner except maybe another Rex.”
“Maybe you should feed him more often.”
“There’s no such thing as a sated Rex. And I do feed him. How else do you think I get him to work for me?” He raised his voice again. “You know the deal, ain’t no free lunches around here.” He put the haunch down on the ground, then reached for something that I hadn’t seen until then: a remote control unit hanging down from above. It was a grubby yellow box with a set of mushroom-sized buttons on it. Jake depressed one of the buttons and an overhead gantry clanked and whined into view, sliding along rails suspended from the ceiling. The gantry positioned itself over the cage, then began to lower its cargo. It was a flame red Gibson Flying V guitar, bolted to a telescopic frame from the rear of the body. The guitar came down from a gap in the top of the cage (too small for Derek to have escaped through), lowered until it was in front of him, then telescoped back until the guitar was suspended within reach of his arms. At the same time, a microphone had come down to just in front of Derek’s mouth.
Jake released the remote control unit, then picked up the haunch again. “Okay, buddy, you know what you need to do.” Then he pressed one of the other buttons and fast, riffing heavy metal blasted out of speakers somewhere in the room. It wasn’t stadium-level wattage—that, presumably, would have drawn too much attention—but it was still loud enough to impress, to give me some idea of how the show would work in reality.
And then Derek started playing. His hands were on that guitar, and they were making—well, you couldn’t call it music, in the absolutely strict sense of the word. It was noise, basically. Squealing, agonising bursts of sheet-metal sound, none of which bore any kind of harmonic relationship to what had gone before. But the one thing I couldn’t deny was that it worked. With the backing tape, and the light show, and the fact that this was an actual dinosaur playing a Gibson Flying V guitar, it was possible to make certain allowances.
Hell, I didn’t even have to try. I was smitten. And that was before Derek opened his mouth and started singing. Actually it would be best described as a sustained, blood-curdling roar—but that was exactly what it needed to be, and it counterpointed the guitar perfectly. Different parts of his brain were lighting up now; the hunter-killer region was much less bright than it had been before he started playing.
And there was, now that I paid attention to it, more than just migraine-inducing squeals of guitar and monstrous interludes of guttural roaring. Derek might not be playing specific notes and chords, and his vocalisations were no more structured or musical, but |
uto. Lumumba was considered the most brilliant of the Congolese leaders. He also spoke out against Western control of the Congo's resources and was thus considered a "communist."
Belgian historians have uncovered compelling evidence showing that Mobuto was acting under instructions from the CIA and the Belgian government.
In 1965 Mobuto himself seized power and, with the backing of the United States, ruled as an absolute dictator until his overthrow by Kabila. Like King Leopold, Mobuto, who re-named the country Zaire, ran the economy for his own personal profit and, like the Belgians before him, left the Congo impoverished.
Excepted from a slightly longer text hereStory highlights John Avlon: GOP seems to have less trouble with what Todd Akin said than the way he said it
He says Akin could lose Missouri race and cost GOP the Senate -- that's the unpardonable sin
He says GOP platform draft would enshrine no abortion stance with no exceptions
Avlon: Real scandal is not just stupidity of Akin's statement, but the policy that undergirds it
"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
It's good to see conservatives stand up for sound science. But beneath the well-deserved thrashing Akin received, I get the sense that political self-interest is driving this debate more than concerns about policy or principle. The problem seems to be less what Akin said than the way he said it.
The political costs are clear: The Republican Party's chorus of disapproval came because Akin stands to lose his race in Missouri and quite possibly cost the GOP control of the Senate. This is the unpardonable sin.
John Avlon
Moreover, the mind-boggling concept of "legitimate rape" could be used in national races to drive a wedge between the GOP and women voters. Republicans want this election to be not about social issues, but the economy -- because that's where they can connect with independents and swing voters.
This is an implicit recognition that the social conservative positions that are effective litmus tests in Republican primary contests are political losers in general elections.
But not wanting to talk about social issues is not the same thing as trying to bridge these divides. Being embarrassed by Akin's comments is not the same thing as condemning those policies.
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Akin was trying to articulate his opposition to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. This is a position that vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan -- primarily a courageous fiscal conservative -- has supported throughout his career, even penning a 1,500-word essay on the subject with the eye-opening title "The Cause of Life Can't Be Severed From the Cause of Freedom."
It is this position that led Ryan to co-sponsor a bill with Akin introducing the term "forcible rape" into the lexicon -- the term Akin says he was awkwardly reaching for when he said "legitimate rape."
Opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest is a standard that Sarah Palin held, but not -- for example -- John McCain. In this same vein, the Romney campaign clarified Monday that its collective position did not include this specific provision. This is good news.
But even as the Akin controversy was escalating -- with a Tuesday 5 p.m. deadline for him to withdraw from the race -- CNN's Peter Hamby reported that the Republican Platform Committee again included in its platform draft support for a "human life amendment" to the Constitution, which would not make exceptions for victims of rape or incest or even provisions for the life of the mother.
So while this position is being roundly decried for political reasons in the case of Akin, it is simultaneously being enshrined in the official Republican platform. It is evidence that the problem is not the policies but the political damage of discussing them in public.
Akin's superficial sin of stupidity was in using the phrase "legitimate rape." But the underlying idea he went on to articulate was at least as stupid -- namely that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
This was an attempt to explain why no common-sense exceptions should be made for victims of rape and incest. While I'd like to suggest that Akin was evincing an ironic belief in evolution -- namely that women's bodies have developed defenses against rapists -- there is little to support such hope.
One of these articulators, attorney James Leon Holmes -- who wrote that "concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami" -- now sits as the chief judge of the Eastern District of Arkansas after being nominated by George W. Bush in 2004.
On the other side of the argument are facts -- namely that some 32,000 women conceive during rape each year, according to a study by the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Good people can disagree about the difficult moral question of abortion. But how some self-described libertarians can pretend that forcing a woman to carry her rapist's child to term is not among the most brutal forms of big government intrusion is beyond me.
That contradiction -- driven by a common sense and common decency -- is perhaps why a Gallup Poll found that 75% of Americans do not support bans on abortion when the woman is a victim of rape or incest. This is an area of broad consensus with the American people, even on this most personal and polarizing issue.
So the real scandal is not just the sincere stupidity of Akin's statement -- it is the policy that undergirds it, enshrined in the Republican National Platform. The problem is bigger than politics, and that's why it is worth discussing in this election, even when Akin is off the front pages.The "Small Steps for Big Change" report, commissioned by The Global Hygiene Council (GHC) is published today, highlighting the alarming burden of preventable infectious diseases in children worldwide and calls for a simple 5-step plan to be implemented by families, communities and healthcare professions to improve everyday hygiene practices and stop children dying from preventable infections.
There has never been a greater focus on the health and wellbeing of children, yet every day, the health of the world's children is under attack from common infectious diseases which could be prevented through improved hygiene practices. According to Professor John Oxford, Emeritus Professor of Virology at the University of London and Chair of the GHC, "It is unacceptable that largely preventable infections such as diarrhoea are still one of the biggest killers of children globally."
The report states that more than 3 million children under the age of 5 years die from infectious diseases each year, almost a million children die from pneumonia each year,1 and more than 700,000 children under the age of 5 years die as a result of diarrhoea. The report also demonstrates the current complacency regarding hygiene practices with over half of families (52%) not increasing surface disinfection at home during the cold and flu season and that 31% of reported foodborne outbreaks occur in private homes.
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"Poor personal hygiene and home hygiene practices are widely recognised as the main causes of infection transmission for colds, influenza and diarrhoea," explains Professor Oxford. "Handwashing with soap has been shown to reduce diarrhoeal deaths by 50% and by developing this 5-step plan, we want to deliver a clear and consistent message about how small changes in hygiene practices could have a big impact on the health and wellbeing of children around the world."
The 5-step plan has been developed by GHC experts, spanning paediatricians, infectious disease specialists, and public health experts from the UK, France, the USA, Nigeria, and South Africa. The 5-steps focus on making small changes such as improved hand hygiene and preventing the spread of infection causing germs in the home and wider community. The potential big changes that might result include halving the incidence of diarrhoea and reducing the incidence and burden of common infections such as, gastroenteritis, colds and influenza in babies and children.
Professor Oxford adds; "Families, communities and healthcare professionals need to acknowledge that improved hygiene is effectively a first line of defence and that adopting better hygiene practices could have a dramatic and positive impact on the lives of young children worldwide."I love Steam’s Family Sharing feature. I’m always a little peeved when I take a step back and notice the fast-paced tech industry ignoring the concept of “family unit” in favor of pushing everything towards individuals with credit cards. This is especially irritating in the gaming world, when you realize that historically, video games were developed and marketed mainly towards kids, and without whom the industry itself might not even exist, today. So I’m always happy to see big companies like Apple, Amazon and Valve taking families into consideration through sharing and parental features.
Back in the “old days”, a personal computer was not seen as the necessity it is today. At best, most families saw it as a glorified mash-up between a typewriter and a calculator. Something that was helpful, but certainly not a necessity. The price tag (in the thousands of dollars) also prohibited the notion of multiple PC’s per household. It simply wasn’t worth the expenditure considering that most of the things that you could do on a PC could also be done manually, albeit slower. The one exception to this may have been gaming. While some early PC games could be somewhat replicated offline (text-based MUDs, point & click story games, card games), some of the more action-oriented games could only be otherwise played at an actual arcade. The notion of blasting asteroids or munching power pellets in the comfort of your own surroundings was new, and heartily embraced by those who had time to spend learning this new craft: kids.
Recall that no households (apart from Silicon Valley CEO’s, perhaps) owned more than a single PC. This meant that a game purchased for a household was installed on the computer and shared between anybody who happened to be using that machine. The game wouldn’t run only for a single user of that PC. How ludicrous! Each and every person who had physical access to the machine also had access to the game. And do you know what? Game companies survived. Even without expecting a family to pay money for each individual kid within a household to play their game, they somehow still thrive today. (Side note: if you did happen to have multiple computers, a single game purchase could be easily installed on each of them. Prior to license keys being a thing, all you really needed for multiple installs was the physical media.)
This is the concept that Steam family sharing mimics with its implementation. The biggest difference between “the good old days” and today is the proliferation of multiple gaming devices within a household. While the “new world” model of selling a software license to an individual user account is good for some things, like recovery or movement of games between devices, it’s very non-family friendly and actually encourages a behavior that is particularly insecure (and, in fact, specifically strongly discouraged via Steam’s anti-phishing recommendations): account password sharing. The only way for kids to play a game purchased by a parent through Steam originally was to share the same account credentials between all family members. Anybody raised in the information age knows that sharing credentials of any kind can lead to really bad results – especially if one of your kids decides to also share those details with his/her friends!
The current family sharing feature was launched in early 2014, and allows account holders to share steam game libraries after a somewhat clunky initial setup. The setup steps require each sharer to physically log into their steam account on every physical computer that the library is intended to be shared on. Further, the sharer must give permission for each user account to be shared with on that physical computer. One stipulation to family sharing is that a “shared” game can only be played by one user account at a time. This makes sense to me from a licensing standpoint, and it also mimics the ‘old days’ of having a single shared game installed on a single computer at a time.
Nearly two years in, I have only one wish for family sharing. While they’ve done a nice job mimicking the sharing policies of old, I believe that it’s possible for Valve to take it a step further and actually improve video game sharing between family members by instituting some simple parental controls. At present when a library is shared with a child, the “sharer” has no control over which games the “share-ee” can download or stream. The entire library is an all-or-nothing proposition. To be completely honest, there are some games in my library that I don’t feel a responsible parent should be sharing with his/her children below a certain age. My library, which contains Plants vs. Zombies and Lego Star Wars, also has several “M” rated games for certain elements that I’d prefer not to just hand over to my pre-teens. A simple solution would be to allow the “sharer” of the library to selectively share games with specific steam accounts. Or use a “share by rating” option that would allow you to exclude all games over a certain rating. Alternatively, it could at least notify you if a certain Steam account has installed or started to stream one of your games. With the current setup, I’m never notified if someone has installed a shared game. I’ve learned after the fact (twice) that one of my kids has installed or started to install what I would consider an inappropriate game only after walking past and observing said game being played/installed. I’d prefer a little proactive parenting to having to react to something that’s already happened without my knowledge.
It’s been almost two years since Steam rolled out family sharing, and there doesn’t appear to be a plan to change its current function. In the tech world, two years without an update is a pretty long time. C’mon Steam, be the industry leader and innovator that we still picture you as! I think it’s time that you stepped up and help parents out a little. After all, the games industry is what it is today thanks to the kids of yesteryear. Let’s help out those same kids as they venture into the gauntlet of parenthood.
*Update: since completing this post, I’ve done some additional research into family sharing. It seems that there are other glaring issues with this feature that I’ve never personally noticed but have been present since initial launch and have gone unanswered/ignored by Valve. For example, “sharing” is done on a per-library level, so two kids cannot play different games out of my library simultaneously. This is certainly an unexpected limitation, and something that should have been corrected within the last 2 years. I question whether it’s even working as intended, as all of the press I remember reading prior to feature launch said that the same game could not be played by multiple accounts simultaneously. I guess family sharing is not as useful as I once thought.
I’m beginning to wonder if this was one of those “pet projects” that gets launched and quickly abandoned after the developer responsible is promoted. It certainly diminishes my confidence in Steam, and makes me less assured about the large number of games in my library. When can we all go back to physical media, again?
all setup for daily use – the 23 year old Apple //c by Blake Patterson on Flickr Creative Commons
Juegos tradicionales by Bea Represa on Flickr Creative CommonsWatching Aaron Rodgers play quarterback is the most satisfying experience that the NFL currently has to offer, so we’re gonna go ahead and keep throwing confetti on him on a regular basis. We’ve been over his arm strength and ridiculous accuracy, but last night’s performance was all about that other thing he does better than any quarterback in the league: moving in and out of the pocket.
Here are two representative plays:
And:
The best thing about both of these clips is the accompanying crowd noise. Everyone in that stadium is completely captivated by even the slightest bit of movement from Rodgers. They react to him scurrying out of the pocket like they’ve just seen a magic trick.
“Magic trick” isn’t really the right way to describe those plays, though, because that descriptor suggests a level of effort and trickery that doesn’t quite fit with what Rodgers is doing. He’s not directly fooling anyone; he’s instantaneously adapting to the environment around him in a way that makes it seem like he can see three seconds into the future.
Even though the first play up there ends in an incompletion, I like it even better than the second one, because Rodgers never once stops looking downfield. He feels both blitzers rush past him; he feels Tamba Hali circling back around on his left side; and he serenely escapes into the one area that was still safe without ever taking his eyes off his receivers. This is what it looks like when a quarterback has completely mastered his position.
Photo via GettyThe topics have been chosen for third and final presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday.
The debate, moderated by Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace, will take place on Wednesday, October 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
The topics selected by Wallace, not necessarily to be brought up in this order, include:
Debt and entitlements
Immigration
Economy
Supreme Court
Foreign hot spots
Fitness to be President
The format calls for six 15-minute time segments, with each 15-minute segment focusing on each of the topics.
The topics are subject to possible changes if there are any news developments before the debate.
Wallace -- one of the nation's most experienced and trusted journalists and anchor of "Fox News Sunday" -- moderated Fox News Channel’s GOP primary debates alongside Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly.
Speaking about being chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates, Wallace said last month that he wants the focus to be on the candidates, not on him.
"If people say, 'it was a great debate and I don't remember you being there,' I will have done my job," said Wallace.This priest may need your prayers because he appears to be in a real pickle.
Father Sean P. Thomson, 52, of Alaska was arrested last week for drunk driving, refusing to take an alcohol test, drugs, carrying a firearm while intoxicated and not telling the trooper he was carrying the handgun.
All this, according to the New York Daily News.
The father had a breath-alcohol content three times the legal limit, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. He is a priest at University of Alaska Fairbanks.
And according to the Daily News account, Trooper Christopher Bitz spotted the parish priest speeding and weaving his pickup truck on a rural highway south of Fairbanks.
The officer described Thomson as disoriented during the traffic stop, according to the police complaint.
Thomson told the trooper about the.357-caliber handgun in the back of the truck, but forgot to mention the pistol in his back pocket, the Daily News reported.
The trooper found the 9-mm. handgun in priest's back pocket and a small bag of marijuana in his sweatshirt, according to the police complaint.
Thomson admitted he was drunk, the officer wrote in the compliant, but the father refused to take another alcohol test, described as more accurate.
Thomson has since pleaded not guilty to the trio of charges and has been released on bail.
Does this father have a prayer of a chance in court?
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The Marine Corps’ scout snipers in Afghanistan could probably use a safety stand-down. Just weeks after news broke that one elite unit of the forward-deployed Marines urinated on the corpses of dead Afghans, a photo has surfaced of another unit posing proudly beside a flag of the Nazi’s killer SS troops. The Marine Corps Times reports:
The stylized “SS” logo appeared in a photograph of the platoon taken in September 2010 in Sangin district, Afghanistan, a hotly contested area in Helmand province. The Marines were with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. The I Marine Expeditionary Force inspector general based at Pendleton was made aware of the “SS” flag photo in November of last year, said Capt. Gregory Wolf, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters. The issue has been addressed with the Marines involved, Wolf said. He did not say what specific action was taken beyond ordering Marines to stop using the logo.
The photo in question is not the only one documenting usage of the logo: A second image (embedded below) shows the SS logo emblazoned on a Marine’s rifle. The Marines’ story is that the unit used the flag “to identify the Marines as scout snipers, not Nazis.” The symbolic appropriation may indeed be unwitting, but witlessness is no more desirable a trait in downrange warriors than malice is.
Why is this making news now? Several Marines who were concerned about the photos contacted Mikey Weinstein (no relation), president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that watchdogs religious intolerance in the armed services. Their behavior, Weinstein told me, “eviscerates good order, morale, and discipline,” in addition to angering non-Americans and alienating survivors of the Nazis’ atrocities. He published the photos on the foundation’s website and sent a letter to Gen. John Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, demanding punishment for the Marines involved. “That flag symbolizes the vile ideology of Hitlerian fascism and sends a menacing signal to religious minorities within the United States armed forces,” Weinstein said.
Walter Plywaski, a survivor of the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz concentration camp in World War II who later became a US citizen and Air Force veteran, expressed disgust at the Marines’ behavior. “The photographs below roil my intestines and break my heart beyond words to express,” he wrote in an email to Weinstein. “I wish I could really believe that these sniper teams innocently combined the view of the United States flag with the central symbol of the murderous SS!”
The Corps says the matter has already been handled internally. “Certainly, the use of the ‘SS runes’ is not acceptable and Scout Snipers have been addressed concerning this issue,” Marine Capt. Brian Block told Politico in a statement today.
But that’s not good enough for Weinstein. “We’re hearing that they may have moved Marines from one unit to another, they may have reprimanded them, they may have given them nonjudicial punishment,” he said, referring to the military’s most lenient administrative form of punishment. “That’s unacceptable. If this is not a court-martial offense, there are no court-martial offenses.”For the first time ever, the Florida Gators will have a Ms. Two Bits on Saturday. Also a first, it won’t be just one, but two of Florida’s best softball players in school history.
2014 National Champion pitcher Hannah Rogers will join arguably the Gators top pitcher of all-time Stacey Nelson at mid-field on Saturday to lead the crowd through the Mr. Two Bits cheer.
Nelson put the Florida Gators softball program on the map as she lead the Gators to their first ever Women’s College World Series appearance in 2008 and still holds program records in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
Gator Country had the honor of talking to Nelson on Wednesday about this opportunity and here’s our question and answer with the excited and honored superstar Stacey Nelson,
Are you excited for Saturday?
“I can’t contain myself I’m so excited for Saturday. I keep telling my mom that I’m going to get a Mr. Two Bits tattoo, I’m just so excited for the opportunity.”
While at Florida were you a fan of Mr. Two Bits?
“I’m an incredibly huge fan of Mr. Two Bits because of the story of how he started the cheer. He started the cheer because the Gators weren’t doing well and the people weren’t cheering positively for the Gators so he decided to start his own. I just think that’s what college sports are all about, camaraderie and positive attitude behind the athletes so that’s why I like Mr. Two Bits so much.”
What does it mean to be the first ever Ms. Two Bits?
“I’m just incredibly honored to have the opportunity. I’m seriously thinking about getting a little fighting gator dressed as Mr. Two Bits tattoo. Really though it’s just an incredible honor to make that history in Florida’s history.”
Attire for Saturday?
“I was speaking to someone and they asked what I was wearing and I thought it was a rhetorical question because yes I’m going to dress like Mr. Two Bits on Saturday. I have to dress like him in order to play the part and in fact I’m shopping for a yellow shirt now.”
Are you planning to practice?
“I bet Hannah (Rogers) and I will rehearse before hand. But my dorkiness is coming out because I already know his routine out there because I use to do it in the dugout a lot when I was playing.”
How did you find out?
“Coach [Tim Walton] called me yesterday [Tuesday]. He sent me a message saying ‘urgent’ and I was thinking he wanted me to pitch to the team because I’m going to be back in town in a couple of weeks too but I was floored by the news when he told me that. I think Hannah had something to do with it because we’ve gotten quite the relationship going because of what she has been able to do with the program. I’m honored to do it with Hannah though.”
Thoughts on how well the team has improved and how proud are you of them?
“The program has grown so rapidly. Coach Walton has only been a head coach 9 years and to see the progress of how when I was there that we were just knocking on the door of the top 25 and to see them now consistently number 1. It’s really everything you could ever want out of your program.”
You’ve been at several events cheering lately is that just you showing pride in your school?
“It’s something magical about you UF and the Gators colors run through my blood. It keeps me coming back to Florida every year and keeps me going to the Women’s College World Series every year as well. Florida is just a family.”
Expectations for Saturday?
“I’m worried about being too excited on Saturday. The super fan in me will come out for sure.”
Final message to Florida fans?
“A very heart felt GO GATORS.”The family that abruptly fled Prestancia home had links to the 9/11 airline hijackers, according to newly released FBI documents and contrary to the FBI's previous statements
Contrary to previous statements made by the FBI to the news media, a family living in the south Sarasota neighborhood of Prestancia had “many connections” to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to newly released FBI documents.
The family, Anoud and Abdulazziz al-Hijji, had links to 9/11 hijackers — including Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, who trained at a Venice flight school in preparation for the assault on New York and Washington, D.C., that killed 2,996.
Anoud al-Hijji is the daughter of Esam Ghazzawi, a powerful Saudi businessman with long ties to the Saudi royal family. The al-Hijjis have denied any involvement or relationship with the 9/11 hijackers.
But the family abruptly left the Prestancia home that they had lived in for six years roughly a week before the 9/11 attacks, leaving behind clothes, food, children's toys and other living essentials.
In the newly declassified documents, the FBI's Southwest Florida Domestic Security Task Force reported that the exit was done “quickly and suddenly.” The family left no forwarding address at the time, according to Realtors and property managers who were interviewed by the federal agency.
After being alerted to the family's hasty exit by nearby residents and investigating the circumstances and participants, the FBI said it concluded that the family had no connection to the terrorists.
“At no time did the FBI develop evidence that connected the family members to any of the 9/11 hijackers,” Steven E. Ibison, the FBI special agent in charge of the agency's Tampa field office, said in a Sept. 15, 2011, statement made in response to media questioning about the al-Hijjis at that time.
But portions of the FBI documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by BrowardBulldog — a journalism organization led by former Miami Herald reporter Dan Christensen, who has been investigating the attacks — seem to directly contradict those statements.
“Further investigation of the (name deleted) family revealed many connections between the (name deleted) and individuals associated with the terror attacks on 9/11/2001,” a portion of declassified FBI documents state.
The agency redacted many of the names in the 31 pages released under exemptions that protect people's names in law enforcement records. But it is clear who the subjects are because the documents specifically cite the al-Hijjis' residence, which was 4224 Escondito Circle in Sarasota's “Estates at Prestancia” development at the time FBI agents were investigating.
Though the FBI stands by its statements, the documents renew questions — previously raised by former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and others — that the U.S. has not fully disclosed the extent of its knowledge about links between the 9/11 attacks and Saudi officials.
A majority of the terrorists who orchestrated and participated in the attacks were Saudis.
The story of the Prestancia home came to the fore again this week because of a story by BrowardBulldog. Christensen and his organization has been litigating with the federal government in an effort to obtain classified FBI reports that illustrate the relationship between the al-Hijjis and the 9/11 terrorists.
Abdulazziz al-Hijji could not be reached for comment, but in email correspondence with The (London) Daily Telegraph a year ago, he strongly denied any involvement in 9/11.
“I have neither relation nor association with any of those bad people/criminals and the awful crime they did,” al-Hijji wrote.
Revelations
Among the more explosive revelations in the BrowardBulldog story is that an unidentified “family member” — purportedly of the al-Hijji family — was a flight student at Venice's Huffman Aviation, according to the FBI documents marked “secret” but with the word since crossed through.
Huffman gained notoriety in the wake of 9/11 as the place where suicide hijackers Atta and al-Shehhi learned to fly. Those two men were in the cockpits when jets slammed into the World Trade Center towers.
The story also references documents detailing a third person on a redacted FBI list as having “lived with flight students at Huffman Aviation” and being “arrested numerous times by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.”
The BrowardBulldog noted that the recently released FBI documents disclosed nothing about Wissam Hammoud, an al-Hijji friend who is now serving a 21-year prison sentence for weapons violations and for attempting to kill a federal agent.
Hammoud, 47, and an “international terrorist associate,” according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, told investigators after his 2004 arrest that al-Hijji may have known some of the hijackers and that he considered Osama Bin Laden “a hero.” Though he acknowledged knowing Hammoud well, al-Hijji denied knowing 9/11 participants or revering Bin Laden in an interview with Christensen last year, the BrowardBulldog reported.
Hammoud was arrested in Sarasota County during July 1995 for driving with a suspended license, according to County Clerk of the Court records. He was subsequently given probation and the case was closed.
Questions
Though much about the allegations and evidence connecting the home in Prestancia to the 9/11 attacks is not new, the matter has lingered because of a lack of closure.
Questions remain, too, for Pat Gallagher, who was among the Prestancia residents who contacted the FBI in the aftermath of the terror attacks after “suspicious activity” — the agency's phrase — at the al-Hijji residence at Escondito Circle, including the family's sudden exit.
Though the house has since been sold twice, at the time it was owned by Ghazzawi, an importer and exporter whose circles included the Bin Laden Group.
Ghazzawi's influence also extends to his children. His 42-year-old son, Adel, is a board member of the New York-based think tank EastWest Institute, which counts the likes of Michael Chertoff, a director of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the Patriot Act, and retired Gen. James L. Jones, a former national security adviser to President Barack Obama, among its members.
The younger Ghazzawi operates Conektas, a firm in the United Arab Emirates that helps multinational companies establish businesses in the Middle East.
Abdulazziz al-Hijji was completing undergraduate work at the University of South Florida when he lived in the Ghazzawi house. He went on to receive a bachelor's in computer science.
FBI records indicate that he took a job after graduation with the Saudi oil concern Aramco in London, though he no longer appears to be working there, BrowardBulldog reported.
Interviewed by the FBI, Anoud al-Hijji said the family's flight was a “regularly scheduled departure.”
But the FBI conducted a substantial investigation centered on the al-Hijji household.
Six weeks after 9/11, agents found that Prestancia's digital scan system had picked up at least two license plates registered to Atta and Ziad Jarrah, another 9/11 terrorist, who had allegedly visited the Escondito Circle house in the months leading up to the attacks. The men purportedly identified themselves to security guards.
But the declassified FBI records say the agency “appears not to have obtained the vehicle entry records of the gated community.”
Graham — the former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee and chairman of the joint congressional inquiry into U.S. intelligence gathering surrounding the terrorist attacks — said he remains convinced that the federal government at several levels has failed to divulge all it knows about 9/11 and its Saudi connections.
He contends that 28 pages of a final report to Congress were censored because they dealt with the Saudi role in 9/11.
Ties
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have had a special and mutually beneficial relationship since 1957, when the Saudi king made a state visit to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
King Saud visited the U.S. with an entourage of at least 60, one of whom appears to have been Esam Ghazzawi's father, Abbas.
At the time, Eisenhower agreed to sell Saudi Arabia up to $500 million worth of weapons in exchange for permission to maintain an airbase in Saudi territory.
The deal did not gel overnight. Abbas Ghazzawi apparently worked on it, after flying into New York from Madrid on Jan. 25, 1957, according to a passenger list kept by U.S. officials. The elder Ghazzawi was accompanied by three other Saudis, including a man who would later serve as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S., Faisal al-Hegelan.
The Ghazzawi family's ties to America grew stronger years later when, in 1970, 17-year-old Esam Ghazzawi married American Deborah G. Browning. Their first child, Adel, was born that year on Nov. 19.
The family later established what has been a long presence in Southwest Florida, through the purchase of a pair of bayfront lots on Longboat Key's Putter Lane. Neighbors had little interaction with the man they referred to as “the Arab.”
“That's what we called him,” said former neighbor Betty Blair. “We didn't know his name. All we knew was his kids were in camp so he came for the summer. Two little boys.”
Esam and Deborah Ghazzawi bought the Prestancia home in September 1995, records show.
Five months earlier, Anoud Ghazzawi married al-Hijji. He was 19 and she was 17, their Sarasota County marriage license shows.
While here, they made an effort to blend in, driving popular cars like a Volkswagen Beetle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Chevy Tahoe.
But they did not stay completely under the collective radar. FBI documents reference a dispute with the Prestancia Community Association over unpaid homeowner dues.
The Ghazzawis were frequent visitors to the al-Hijji household, neighbors, acquaintances and an attorney familiar with the case said.
Carla DiBello knew the al-Hijjis and met Esam Ghazzawi on several occasions. “I remember him being very eccentric. He loved going to big dinners and always had a lot of security,” said DiBello, who now lives in Beverly Hills and is in charge of developing business for Kim Kardashian Productions.
As for how Esam Ghazzawi made his living, “all I know about him was that he worked for the King of Saudi from what Anoud told me, but she was always very secretive about what her dad did for them,” DiBello said.
Ghazzawi is still active in business in the Middle East, and sits on the board of the London subsidiary of EIRAD, which makes connections for global firms.
When United Parcel Service wanted to do business in Saudi Arabia, for instance, EIRAD became its handler.
When the al-Hijjis left Southwest Florida for Saudi Arabia “on or about 08/27/2001,” according to the FBI documents, they flew first to Washington, where they met Esam Ghazzawi.
When Ghazzawi left the U.S., Adel Ghazzawi apparently took over the family's affairs here.
It was Adel, then 30 and an American citizen, who tried to get a Prestancia lien lifted so the house could be sold. The lien came after the series of brushes with Prestancia's community association.
“The HOA had great difficulties with them,” said Jone Weist, at that time property manager for much of Prestancia. “It was nothing criminal, but this is not a neighborhood where you let the grass grow for a month.”
Problems mounted when the family departed in 2001, leaving a large mound of garbage at the curb. Eventually, a foreclosure lawsuit was filed.
When not helping his family, Adel Ghazzawi worked with Conektas, a company that “assists multinationals in developing synergistic relationships with credible partners to successfully penetrate and establish solid businesses in the Middle East region.”
“Adel has a vast wealth of business, family and personal relationships within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” his biography |
-screen is something I've always loved from countless hours playing GoldenEye on the N64, and having previously implemented it for Perfect Dark XBLA, I put this in our initial proposal to Mojang," reveals Paddy Burns. "Persuading any existing game to work with four local players when it's not been designed that way is always a difficult task, but our previous experience was a big help there." Regarding multiplayer performance, we see the 360 can be challenged when it comes to rendering several different points of view. In particular, the frame-rate dips from its target v-synced 60FPS whenever players are nearby each other and overlooking the world from a high point. This results in a stuttering transition to a locked 30FPS, which can be a little jarring, but once the switch has passed performance holds at that lower target. This is really only an issue in specific circumstances, as even with four players running around their own corner of the map 60FPS is an achievable figure. Regardless of these hiccups, the addition of split-screen is a huge coup for the 360 version, offering Minecrafters everywhere a convenient way to turn the game into a social experience. Throughout our tests, we also notice that using this feature doesn't result in any degradation to visual quality (besides the smaller window). Draw distance for new chunks of terrain remains very close to that of singe-player.Contrary to reports in the press, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis did not “freeze” or “put on hold” Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.
In fact, Mattis is doing exactly what Trump ordered—and it is the words of those very orders that will doom the anti-trans plan in court.
In a series of tweets on July 26, Trump announced that the military “will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity.” Then, on August 25, the White House issued a presidential memorandum implementing this new policy.
Sort of. In fact, if you read the memorandum (which few people have apparently done), it actually only changes two parts of current policy. First, it indefinitely suspends the “accession” (i.e. enlistment or drafting) of trans people, which was due to begin on July 1, pursuant to an Obama-era directive issued last year. (More on that in a moment.) Second, the memo prohibits the military and coastguard from paying for trans soldiers’ medical expenses.
In other words, Trump’s bite never matched his bark. The memo did not direct the military to dismiss active-duty trans personnel, as he had earlier promised.
Finally, the memo instructs Mattis to study the issue and provide recommendations—which is exactly what Mattis has said he will now do. The media flurry about Mattis disobeying Trump is simply not true.
But if you read the fine print, you’ll see that—as with the travel ban—Trump has set his own legal mousetrap. Because the exact instructions are that the ban on trans enlistment is set to last “until such time as the Secretary of Defense, after consulting with the Secretary of Homeland Security, provides a recommendation to the contrary that I find convincing.”
That I find convincing?! That kind of rationale may work in authoritarian banana republics, but it’s not going to pass judicial muster. Especially when this new ‘policy’ replaces one that was the result of a yearlong study and a detailed analysis by the RAND Corporation of the effects that trans people would have on military effectiveness and budget. (Answer: next to none.)
That was an actual policy, with concrete data and careful study. And what Trump wants to replace it with? A ban until there’s a “recommendation to the contrary that I find convincing.”
That, like Trump’s recent pardon of the scofflaw sheriff Joe Arpaio, is a demagogic pronouncement directly antithetical to the rule of law.
It is also unconstitutional.
The best analogue to this whole affair is—stay with me for a moment—last year’s Supreme Court case on Texas’s abortion restrictions, Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstadt. The central question in that case was whether there was any plausible scientific rationale for the restrictions Texas had put into place. The answer was clearly ‘no.’ And for that reason, the Supreme Court struck down the restrictions in a surprise decision.
The cases on Trump’s transgender ban will be similar. (The ACLU has already filed, as has Outserve/Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund.) Ultimately, the question will be whether there is a plausible military or budgetary rationale for rescinding the 2016 policy. If none exists, that means the policy is discriminatory, and (most likely) unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.
Now, it is certain that over the next six months, Mattis and his new team of experts—which he says will include political appointees—will indeed cook up some non-discriminatory rationales for excluding trans soldiers. Statistics can be manipulated, and Mattis has already said he’s “not willing to sign up” for the numbers in the RAND report. The new commission will almost certainly find some way to rationalize the ban. But as we saw in Whole Women’s Health, junk science won’t be enough.
Most importantly, Trump’s memo admitting that the deciding factor isn’t objective evidence about the costs and benefits but whether there’s a recommendation “that I find convincing” is a huge smoking gun. It is proof positive, right there in Trump’s best words, that it’s Trump’s fiat that determines this policy. That is not going to pass constitutional muster.
The military and its commander in chief have wide discretion when it comes to questions of military spending, national security, and combat readiness. Time and again, we’ve seen courts be very reluctant to second-guess what military experts have said.
But in this administration, we’ve also seen—time and again—how courts listen closely to what Donald Trump says. And when he says that a policy is based on his own opinion rather than facts; and when he makes statements that elevate himself above the rule of law; and when he persists with his views even in the face of significant evidence that he doesn’t like; and when he does so to the detriment of a vulnerable population, whether Muslim or Mexican or transgender or anyone else; courts draw the line.
That’s what courts do, in a democracy: they ensure that we live under the rule of law, not men. They ensure that demagogues pandering to the basest instincts of their base do not trump the constitution’s guarantees of equal protection. That’s why Donald Trump has lost so many times, and that’s why they are the most important guarantors of our civil society.
Trump’s transgender ban will eventually go down in flames: because once again, Donald Trump has foolishly said what he thinks, and the courts will be listening.President Vladimir Putin has rejected his links to offshore accounts uncovered in the Panama Papers and called the leaks part of Western efforts to weaken Russia.
Speaking in St Petersburg, the President said even though his name did not figure in any of the documents leaked, Western media published the claims of his involvement in offshore businesses.
He went on to describe the allegations as part of a US-led disinformation campaign waged against Russia to weaken its government.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Shape Created with Sketch. World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' 1/15 Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine 2/15 Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraq’s Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the country’s interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 3/15 Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia 4/15 Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi 5/15 Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland 6/15 Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin 7/15 Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 8/15 Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed China’s “Power Queen” 9/15 Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria 10/15 Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria 11/15 Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa 12/15 Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan 13/15 Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan 14/15 Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan 15/15 Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here 1/15 Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine 2/15 Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraq’s Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the country’s interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 3/15 Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia 4/15 Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi 5/15 Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland 6/15 Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin 7/15 Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 8/15 Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed China’s “Power Queen” 9/15 Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria 10/15 Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria 11/15 Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa 12/15 Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan 13/15 Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan 14/15 Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan 15/15 Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here
Mr Putin was not named in the Panama Papers, but the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said some of the Russian President's closest allies are involved in offshore financial schemes.
Earlier this week, the Kremlin blamed "Putinophobia" for claims some of Mr Putin's associates moved millions of dollars through offshore companies in a series of covert deals.
In his first statement on the Panama Papers, Mr Putin said one of his closest friends, cellist Sergei Roldugin, had done nothing wrong. Mr Roldugin was revealed as the owner £1.42 billion in offshore assets.
Over 11.5 million files were leaked from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The documents contain information on 215,000 offshore entities, connected to individuals in more than 200 countries and territories.
The leaks caused the Prime Minister of Iceland to step aside for "an unspecified amount of time" after it was revealed he and his wife had bought an offshore firm in the British Virgin Islands.
Additional reporting by agencies
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Subscribe nowMLG Deimos Profile Joined September 2010 United States 648 Posts Last Edited: 2010-10-08 23:01:45 #2
GenoZStriker Profile Blog Joined February 2010 United States 2638 Posts Last Edited: 2010-10-01 14:12:45 #3 Edit: nvm you posted your second post just as I asked. eSports Prodigy & Illuminati member.
RaLakedaimon Profile Joined August 2010 United States 1563 Posts #4 I was looking at the MLG site and ur post above and cant seem to find if theres a cost for spectators cuz i'd really like to come out and watch some sc2 be played in the dfw, if there is an "entrance fee" how much will that be? thanks
itmeJP Profile Joined February 2010 United States 1101 Posts #5 Woooooooooo the grand finale! Should be an awesome event and can't wait to meet a lot of Dallas gamers! Twitter.com/itmeJP -- Twitch.tv/itmeJP -- YouTube.com/itmeJP
MLG Deimos Profile Joined September 2010 United States 648 Posts #6 On October 01 2010 23:25 RaLakedaimon wrote:
I was looking at the MLG site and ur post above and cant seem to find if theres a cost for spectators cuz i'd really like to come out and watch some sc2 be played in the dfw, if there is an "entrance fee" how much will that be? thanks I was looking at the MLG site and ur post above and cant seem to find if theres a cost for spectators cuz i'd really like to come out and watch some sc2 be played in the dfw, if there is an "entrance fee" how much will that be? thanks
Yes, there will be a cost for spectators.
Spectator passes will be purchased online. Spectator passes will cost $25.00 each. Yes, there will be a cost for spectators.Spectator passes will be purchased online. Spectator passes will cost $25.00 each.
MoreFaSho Profile Blog Joined May 2010 United States 1427 Posts #7 I looked on the website, but I couldn't find info on the 2011 season? Any info on the locations for those events yet? When does the season start? I always try to shield slam face, just to make sure it doesnt work
MLG Deimos Profile Joined September 2010 United States 648 Posts #8 On October 02 2010 00:06 MoreFasho wrote:
I looked on the website, but I couldn't find info on the 2011 season? Any info on the locations for those events yet? When does the season start?
Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season. Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season.
MoreFaSho Profile Blog Joined May 2010 United States 1427 Posts #9 On October 02 2010 00:12 MLG Deimos wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 02 2010 00:06 MoreFasho wrote:
I looked on the website, but I couldn't find info on the 2011 season? Any info on the locations for those events yet? When does the season start?
Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season. Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season.
Typically when is the first event of the season? Typically when is the first event of the season? I always try to shield slam face, just to make sure it doesnt work
[-Bluewolf-] Profile Blog Joined January 2003 United States 597 Posts #10 On October 02 2010 00:26 MoreFasho wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 02 2010 00:12 MLG Deimos wrote:
On October 02 2010 00:06 MoreFasho wrote:
I looked on the website, but I couldn't find info on the 2011 season? Any info on the locations for those events yet? When does the season start?
Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season. Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season.
Typically when is the first event of the season? Typically when is the first event of the season?
From looking at 2008 - 2010 events, it would appear it is usually early April. Sources: 2009, 2010 From looking at 2008 - 2010 events, it would appear it is usually early April. Sources: 2008 The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth.
iNcontroL Profile Blog Joined July 2004 USA 29047 Posts #11 lovvvvvveeee youuuuu Will you guys be promising replays then dropping the ball with Dallas as well or?lovvvvvveeee youuuuu
MLG Deimos Profile Joined September 2010 United States 648 Posts #12 On October 02 2010 00:43 [-Bluewolf-] wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 02 2010 00:26 MoreFasho wrote:
On October 02 2010 00:12 MLG Deimos wrote:
On October 02 2010 00:06 MoreFasho wrote:
I looked on the website, but I couldn't find info on the 2011 season? Any info on the locations for those events yet? When does the season start?
Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season. Season information is usually announced in January/February of that year. There is no information available regarding the 2011 season.
Typically when is the first event of the season? Typically when is the first event of the season?
From looking at 2008 - 2010 events, it would appear it is usually early April. Sources: 2009, 2010 From looking at 2008 - 2010 events, it would appear it is usually early April. Sources: 2008
Last year it was March, but in previous years it was April.
So I'd say typically March or April. Last year it was March, but in previous years it was April.So I'd say typically March or April.
itmeJP Profile Joined February 2010 United States 1101 Posts #13 On October 02 2010 00:58 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
Will you guys be promising replays then dropping the ball with Dallas as well or? lovvvvvveeee youuuuu Will you guys be promising replays then dropping the ball with Dallas as well or?lovvvvvveeee youuuuu
Down Geoff, down! Down Geoff, down! Twitter.com/itmeJP -- Twitch.tv/itmeJP -- YouTube.com/itmeJP
ROOTFayth Profile Joined January 2004 Canada 3326 Posts #14 lol I couldn't go even if I wanted to T_T
petzergling Profile Blog Joined August 2008 535 Posts #15 pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease make it more then 32-64 passes. pleeeeeeeeeeeeaseeeeee Mod Edit: Don't bold your entire post
Tercotta Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Canada 393 Posts Last Edited: 2010-10-01 17:22:38 #16
http://www.mlgpro.com/pro-circuit/2010/ This news pleases me. I thought there wasn't going to be SC2 at Dallas because it isn't listed at the Dallas event page here.
SunDevil Profile Joined March 2010 United States 353 Posts Last Edited: 2010-10-01 19:41:52 #17 So just to clarify, this will not be just the winners from Raleigh and DC with some other invites? The public can actually buy player passes to enter the championship event?
Also, having passes available to purchase before knowing if we need to purchase a pass or not (placing in top 16 overall from DC) or knowing if you'll get an invitation to this event is a little odd, do you have any suggestions regarding that issue? Former IGN eSports StarCraft 2 Division Manager (Alex.IGN TL Account)
MLG Deimos Profile Joined September 2010 United States 648 Posts #18 On October 02 2010 04:40 SunDevil wrote:
So just to clarify, this will not be just the winners from Raleigh and DC with some other invites? The public can actually buy player passes to enter the championship event?
Also, having passes available to purchase before knowing if we need to purchase a pass or not (placing in top 16 overall from DC) or knowing if you'll get an invitation to this event is a little odd, do you have any suggestions regarding that issue?
Yes, passes will be open to the public for purchase.
As for your 2nd question, because of the short time frame between DC and Dallas, the Dallas Passes had to go on sale before DC. Yes, passes will be open to the public for purchase.As for your 2nd question, because of the short time frame between DC and Dallas, the Dallas Passes had to go on sale before DC.
CreeDo Profile Blog Joined February 2010 United States 82 Posts #19
User was warned for this post wtf, try hosting something north kthx.
trancey Profile Blog Joined February 2010 United States 427 Posts #20 On October 02 2010 08:18 CreeDo wrote:
wtf, try hosting something north kthx.
MLG events are usually planned in advance and the Halo following usually determines where most of the events are held :x MLG events are usually planned in advance and the Halo following usually determines where most of the events are held :x
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next AllApple today is holding its iPhone OS 4.0 media preview event where it is expected to show off the next-generation operating system for its multi-touch portable devices and begin offering developers tools to build applications for the new operating system.The event is scheduled to kick off at Apple's Cupertino headquarters at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time, or just about one hour from now. Apple will not be providing live video or audio coverage of the event, and thus observers will have to rely primarily on text and photo updates coming out of the event. Apple will likely post a video recording of the event later today for full analysis. Spoiler-Free notification page for Apple's QuickTime video of the presentation- Audience is seated and music is playing.- Steve Jobs on stage, talking about iPad success. Quoting reviews.- 450,000 iPads sold so far, up from 300,000 on the first day. Best Buy is out of stock, and we're making them as fast as we can.- iBooks: 250,000 books downloaded on first day, now up to 600,000.- iPad apps: 1 million on first day, now up to 3.5 million.- App Store: over 4 billion apps sold, with over 185,000 apps available in the store, 3,500 iPad apps.- Jobs quickly showing off a number of iPad apps.- Moving on to iPhone.- JD Power satisfaction award for three years in a row. 64% share of mobile browser usage.- Over 50 million iPhones sold. Add in iPod touches and we're over 85 million total.- Today is preview of iPhone OS 4.0. Shipping this summer with developer preview today. Over 1,500 new APIs.- Devs now have access to calendar, camera data, Quick Look, SMS within apps, etc.- Over 100 new user features: playlist creation, 5x digital zoom for camera, tap-to-focus for video, Photos app has Places support, home screen wallpapers, spellcheck enhancements, etc.- We'll highlight seven of the features today- Feature #1: Multitasking. We won't be first, but we'll be best. Now demoing. Double-clicking home button pulls up a "dock" showing currently-running apps.- Scott Forstall on stage to explain how they accomplished this while preserving battery life and performance.- Apple has provided seven multitasking services to developers to assist with the functionality- Service #1: Background audio streaming. Demo from Pandora founder Tim Westergren. Claims it took them one day to implement background streaming. Showing Pandora continuing to play while browsing in Safari, on lock screen, etc.- Service #2: VoIP. Can now leave Skype app while still running. Can even see calls come in with status bar on the lock screen. Demoing with Skype's David Ponsford.- Service #3: Background location. GPS apps like TomTom can continue in the background while you exit the app to listen to music. Audio cues overlay other audio. Also a second class of this service uses cell towers for apps like Loopt. For privacy purposes, status bar indicator lets you know if any app (foreground or background) is requesting location. Can also fine-tune approvals for location tracking on an app-by-app basis.- Service #4: Push notifications. 10 billion push notifications served in past 9 months.- Service #5: Local notifications. Rather than requiring third-party server to push notifications, iPhone itself can push within the phone. TV Guide application given as example.- Service #6: Task completion. For apps like Flickr where a photo upload make take awhile, you can now leave the application and task will continue- Service #7: Fast app switching. Application state stored and preserved instantly, freeing up resources when switching.- Now back to Steve for more on iPhone OS 4.0's new features.- Feature #2: Folders. With people downloading more and more apps, we need better organization. Drag and drop apps onto one another to create folders. Automatically names folder based on app categories, but user-editable. Icon becomes a "multi-icon".- Also demonstrating changing home screen wallpaper.- Folders now allow you to see 2,000 apps on your device, up from 180.- Feature #3: Enhanced email. Unified inbox, multiple Exchange accounts, fast inbox switching, threaded views, open attachments with App Store app.- Feature #4: iBooks for iPhone OS. Same as for iPad, same iBookstore. Showing of Winnie the Pooh.- Buy books once and read them anywhere. Wireless syncing of content and bookmarks.- Feature #5: Enterprise. Better email encryption, APIs for better encryption inside apps, wireless app distribution, mobile device management, multiple Exchange accounts, SSL VPN support.- Feature #6: Game Center. We have over 50,000 gaming titles already. Game Center brings social aspect...challenge friends, leaderboards, achievements- Feature #7: iAd. Free apps are great, and we want to help developers make the money they need to survive. Most mobile advertising sucks, and we want to help them keep free apps free. On the desktop, search is where advertising is at. But on a phone, users are in dedicated apps.- Users spend 30 minutes a day in apps. Say an ad every 3 minutes...10 ads per day. We'll be at 100 million devices soon, so that's 1 billion ad opportunities per day.- Apple wants more interaction and emotion than typical mobile ads. Interactive ads currently take you out of the app, but with iAd in the OS itself, you won't have to leave the app. Users are more likely to click since there is no penalty.- Apple will sell and host ads, giving developers industry-standard 60% of revenue.- Demoing Toy Story 3 ad. Everything is done in HTML5. Click an ad and it takes over the screen. Explore the ad...sound clips, video, in-ad purchases, even mini-games. It all plays back right there.- Now demoing a Nike ad with video. Make your own shoes with Nike ID...link to app in the ad. Store locator right there with Google Maps pop-up.- Now a faux Target ad allowing user "build" a dorm room.- That's the demo. Very easy for ad agencies and devs to make the ads, and users are more likely to use them because they stay in the app.- Jobs reviewing new features, all available in developer preview today.- Public release in summer for iPhone 3GS and 3rd-generation iPod touch. iPhone 3G and 2nd-generation iPod touch will run many of the new features, but not all. Multitasking will be one of the ones that won't be supported on those. Original iPhone and 1st-generation iPod touch apparently left out. iPhone OS 4.0 coming to iPad in the fall.- End of presentation, with a short break before Q&A.- Q: How will multitasking affect AT&T network demands? A: Jobs says not sure that's accurate...background data usage will be minimal. Data intensive tasks are things like video that require user attention.- Q: Wireless app distribution is possible for all users? A: Jobs says no. Forstall clarifies that it is enterprise-only, requiring signed certificates.- Q: How will Game Center social network affect Ngmoco and OpenFeint? A: Forstall notes that developers have asked for a unified network, and that's why Apple is providing it.- Q: Will there be an ad approval process for iAd like the App Store? A: Jobs says that there will some boundaries, but hoping that nothing more than a "light touch" will be necessary.- Q: Any changes to Apple's stance on Flash/Java? A: Jobs says no.- Q: Any development tools required for iAds? A: No, with HTML5, they can use whatever tools they want.- Q: No background APIs for things like monitoring Twitter in background? A: We think Twitter and related services work much better with push notifications.- Q: Why no widgets on iPad? A: We just shipped it on Saturday, and we rested on Sunday. Everything is possible.- Further discussion of market for iAd and how users' attention isn't occupied by apps on computers. But on phone things are different. Apple not looking to become worldwide ad agency. Tried to buy AdMob but Google snatched it, so Apple bought Quattro, a smaller but great company. We're learning as fast as we can from them.- Talking about iPhone OS 4.0 compatibility for older devices. Earlier hardware just can't support some of the features like multitasking.- Q: What are you doing to address distracted driving? A: Jobs says that they've done more than most, with hands-free calling and integrated displays and controls for cars.- Q: Any chance of running unsigned applications like on Android? A: Jobs says that because of that ability, there is a porn store for Android, and that's not a place we want to go.- Q: Any surprises on reactions to iPad? A: Jobs says they "still have butterflies" about it. Reaction has been great...a profound game changer. Schiller is surprised by the quality of the applications coming out already. Jobs says that competitors would be hoping for 3500 apps in the first year, and the iPad has that in a week. Building on the base of 85 million existing iPhone OS users helps.- Q: With so much in the App Store, how can developers get their apps discovered? A: Jobs says that the App Store is not part of iPhone OS, and so the server-side stuff can be enhanced constantly. They've added the Genius feature and a lot of third-party sites have sprung up to feature and recommend apps. Game Center will also help the viral spread of apps. And gifting.- Q: Are you concerned that multitasking and other new features not compatible with older devices will alienate existing customers? Will it encourage them to upgrade? A: The growth curve for these products has been very steep, so most of the devices out there are the newer models. The older models will get some great new feature, but will be missing some like multitasking. If they upgrade because of that, fantastic.- Q: How do you close apps when multitasking? A: You don't have to. Jobs says that if you see task manager, you blew it. Users shouldn't have to think about it.- End of Q&ACONTROLS:
Post mortem
Well, it doesn't work in VR, and it doesn't work in a webplayer (maybe this will be fixed in a while, as this is a Unity beta problem). Also, I was two days late, the game should have been done on Sunday. I will therefore, do a truncated video game week this week. Something simple like a text adventure or a puzzle match three thing, or maybe something else?? Overall, I am pretty pleased with how CUBE DEATH PRISON turned out. It has fun mechanics, compelling progression or at least difficulty. And you can play it with your friends if you have enough controllers. I like that I get to make up fun stories for the menu text.
Things I don't think went the best are the sound effects. The sound effects are kind of bad and also repetitive. And there's no music. Another part that is bad is the compatibility. Only Xbox controllers, and that means only windows and then there's the problem with the UI not scaling exactly right for every resolution.
OVERALL SCORE: 92 REINDEER CUBES.
[escape this fate]
Here it is: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B209xEE7EEixbHk4XzNfMUdzeDg&usp=sharing This is my first game a week game! You should know, you'll probably need an 360 controller, or something that fakes your computer into thinking that your controller or keyboard is a 360 controller to play this. Also, it's probably only going to work at full screen at 1920x 1080 or higher, though you can test your luck with this.CUBE DEATH PRISON is a four player cooperative (or not) twin stick shooting game! Murder cubes in the CUBE DEATH PRISON. Collect microcubes to bolster your. Avoid cubes to sustain your cubelust! Circle strafe to morph your true einherjar form!TO APPLY TORQUETO PERPETRATE CUBE VIOLENCETO CHARGE ADVANCED CUBE ARTILLERYTO EXTEND LASER APPENDAGETO CALCULATE GRAVITYTO UNCALCULATE UNGRAVITYTO HALT THE FLOW OF TIMEDarwin WWII tunnels a 'perfect concert hall' to host music festival
Updated
Shakuhachi player Anne Norman was considering the "bureaucracy of lighthouses" when she learned of a potential performance space gouged into cliffs near Darwin Harbour.
She had performed in the Sydney Opera House and churches across Europe, yet she had never played in a 172-metre tunnel.
"I'm a musician and a musician is always looking for a good acoustic," Ms Norman said.
That was how she found herself hitchhiking westwards to Darwin last year for two performances in one of the city's World War II oil storage tunnels.
Built to store the Navy's oil after the bombing of Darwin, the tunnels were only briefly used during wartime before being abandoned and years later turned into a tourist attraction commemorating military history.
As far as venues go, they are damp, sultry and sweaty — but they also create unusual and mysterious sound.
"It's a perfect concert hall," Ms Norman said.
"I've played with a lot of reverb machines. This just beats absolutely everything. You are the recording engineer.
"If you turn laterally in the tunnel, it sounds like a bathroom. Meaningless. If you look down the length of the tunnel, you're setting up a standing wave pattern.
"They are absolutely exquisite. That's why I'm here and continue to keep coming back."
Underground music festival
This week Ms Norman came back to one of the network's longest spaces, "tunnel five", with a cast of singers and musicians for a week-long Festival of Underground Music.
Included in the line-up was West Papuan-born Henk Rumbewas, a Darwin resident, singer and goanna-skin drum player that uses his birthplace's music to bring awareness to its ongoing struggle for independence from Indonesia.
"The first night I came into [the tunnel] I found it amazing," Mr Rumbewas said.
"This is like a loudspeaker. It's a very sensitive tool."
On Thursday night Mr Rumbewas and his young family sung throated calls to a long stretch of listeners seated in camping chairs with makeshift magazine face fans.
Drumming and joy merged when the audience was later called upon to join them in a conga line.
Also performing on Thursday night was Jason Gurruwiwi, a senior Yolngu songman from Galiwinku, and his nephew Guyundula Burarrwanga.
Joined at times by a lone yidaki (didgeridoo), the duo sang to each other from about 30 metres apart along the tunnel; their lyrics about turtles, cockatoos and baby dolphins entwining together as they walked closer to one another.
"This takes my spirit along this tunnel to my people back there," Mr Gurruwiwi said.
The vast majority of the night's performers used wind instruments, including the yidaki and even plastic whirlies.
Ms Norman said these more subtle sounds were needed in a space that, in some ways, was itself a large wind instrument.
"When the yidaki player first came down, I saw the excitement in him. He played so subtly and so beautifully," she said.
"He played some of the traditional bungal and then he waited. He was just mesmerised and listening. He waited 15 seconds. Then he played again. A true musician.
"As a flutist, the control of an air tunnel is what you do. Here I'm controlling an air column that's 172-metres long.
"You have no idea how exciting that is."
Ms Norman said she wanted to keep performing in tunnel five, however one day hoped to top it with a different sort of above-ground venue.
"I've been trying for years to play in lighthouses. But the bureaucracy of lighthouses, you have no idea, with marine authorities, national parks, coastguards, often tourist operators," she said.
"I've wanted to do a gig in lighthouses where the audience sits on spiral stairs to the top and the performer is at the base.
"If you can get me that gig, I'll be all over you |
ce Mews: Francis Bacon's Studio. London: Thames & Hudson, 2001. ISBN 0-500-51034-2
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London: Tate Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-85437-280-7 Hammer, Martin. Bacon and Sutherland. Boston: Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-300-10796-X
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. London: Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-300-12192-X Rothenstein, John (intro); Alley, Ronald. Catalogue raisonnè and documentation, 1964. Francis Bacon. Thames and Hudson
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Schmied, Wieland. Francis Bacon: Commitment and Conflict. London: Prestel Verlag, 2006. ISBN 3-7913-3472-7
. London: Prestel Verlag, 2006. ISBN 3-7913-3472-7 Sinclair, Andrew Francis. Bacon: His Life and Violent Times. London, Sinclair Stevenson, 1993; New York, Crown
. London, Sinclair Stevenson, 1993; New York, Crown Steffen, Barbara; Bryson, Norman. Francis Bacon and the Tradition of Art. Zurich: Skira Editore, 2004. ISBN 88-8491-721-2
. Zurich: Skira Editore, 2004. ISBN 88-8491-721-2 Sylvester, David. Interviews with Francis Bacon. London: Thames & Hudson, 1987. ISBN 0-500-27475-4
. London: Thames & Hudson, 1987. ISBN 0-500-27475-4 Sylvester, David. Looking Back at Francis Bacon. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. ISBN 0-500-01994-0
. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. ISBN 0-500-01994-0 Sylvester, David. Francis Bacon: The Human Body. London: Hayward Gallery, 1998. ISBN 1-85332-175-3
. London: Hayward Gallery, 1998. ISBN 1-85332-175-3 Sylvester, David. About Modern Art: Critical Essays 1948–2000. London: Pimlico, 2002. ISBN 0-7126-0563-0
. London: Pimlico, 2002. ISBN 0-7126-0563-0 Todoli, Vincente. Francis Bacon: Caged. Uncaged. Lisbon: Fundacao De Serralves, 2003. ISBN 972-739-109-5
Lisbon: Fundacao De Serralves, 2003. ISBN 972-739-109-5 Van Alphen, Ernst. Francis Bacon and the Loss of Self. London: Reaktion Books, 1992. ISBN 0-948462-34-5
. London: Reaktion Books, 1992. ISBN 0-948462-34-5 Zweite, Armin. Francis Bacon: The Violence of the Real. London: Thames and Hudson, 2006. ISBN 0-500-09335-0Looking for news you can trust?
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The Obama administration has announced new regulations to make trucks, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles more fuel efficient—a move that could help fight global warming and clean up the unhealthy air we breathe in cities and near highways.
The fuel-efficiency standards, rolled out by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation on Tuesday, will likely require an investment in more expensive vehicles, but those costs will likely be offset by huge savings in fuel—usually the single biggest cost for trucking fleets. Once they’re fully implemented, the new regulations are expected to slash fuel spending by about $170 billion, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.1 billion metric tons and reducing oil consumption by tens of billions of barrels.
Trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles currently account for more than 20 percent of transportation-related fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to the EPA. The new fuel efficiency standards will cover medium- and heavy-duty vehicles through 2027. “Today’s ambitious but achievable announcement is a huge win for the American people, giving us cleaner air, more money saved at the pump, and real benefits for consumers across the supply chain,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.
As part of the upgrade to more efficient vehicles, the Obama administration is encouraging technologies that reduce the amount of fuel that’s lost when drivers idle their engines. That’s a big deal—since idling is responsible for an awful lot of pollution and wasted gas.
Long-haul trucks idle as much as eight hours a day, 300 days a year, resulting in $6,000 annually per truck in lost fuel.
Every year, cars, trucks, and heavy-duty vehicles like tractor-trailers, school buses, and fire engines guzzle more than 6 billion gallons of fuel simply by idling their engines—the same amount used in two weeks of highway driving, and 7 percent of the amount the new fuel efficiency standards will save. People idle for many reasons: to warm their engine oil, or to use heaters or air conditioning. Bus drivers often idle while waiting for passengers to get on and off, and police officers, firefighters, and EMTs do it to power equipment. Because idling causes a lot of particle pollution—about 5,000 tons every year, mostly from diesel engines—many states and municipalities have passed laws to restrict the practice. A few examples:
School buses: In a single day, children can breathe anywhere from 7 to 70 times more exhaust from a school bus than the average resident of an urban area is exposed to. In California, bus drivers are required to shut off their engines when stopped within 100 feet of a school, and they can only idle for 30 seconds before driving away. In Connecticut, bus drivers can be fined up to $500 if caught idling for more than three minutes.
Trucks: According to the EPA, long-haul trucks idle as much as eight hours a day, 300 days a year, resulting in $6,000 annually per truck in lost fuel. Most states have rules about how long trucks can idle, but they are not popular with truckers, who need to maintain a comfortable temperature (or to watch TV) during their required rest periods. Some truck stops have taken matters into their own hands, installing plug-in power stations—which truckers like because it’s cheaper than wasting gas.
Cars: A handful of states restrict car idling to three or five minutes. In Hawaii, idling is illegal in many areas—even for a few seconds—unless you’re servicing your engine, operating auxiliary equipment, unloading or loading passengers, or warming up or cooling down your vehicle. In New York City, City Council members introduced a bill in March 2015 that would have encouraged people to submit videos of vehicles idling longer than three minutes, and to receive a reward if civil penalties result.
Ships: When ships idle at ports, their massive diesel engines produce staggering amounts of pollution. In Los Angeles, for example, ship emissions dwarf those from all the power plants in the region combined. A 2007 study found that particle pollution from oceangoing ships worldwide led to about 60,000 deaths per year. To reduce idling, the Port of Los Angeles recently introduced power hookups similar to those found at truck stops.
To learn more about the air pollution from heavy-duty vehicles—and how it affects our health—check out this Mother Jones investigation.
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My guest today is Carol Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. She is also the author of
Mindset, The New Psychology of Success
. Welcome to OpEdNews, Carol. In the introduction to Mindset, you mention that your students demanded that you write this book. That's pretty unusual. Why did they feel so strongly about this subject?
Mindset
And we're so glad you did. Can you give those who haven't read it yet an idea what it's about?
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It's such a simple concept, really, but revolutionary for all that. Freeing ourselves of that fixed mindset is incredibly liberating, also a bit scary. How do you teach people to radically alter a way of thinking that has been entrenched for so long? Is it a difficult and painful process? Can you give some examples of how this works?
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Nigel Holmes' Mindset Diagram by Carol Dweck
Stories are often more convincing than statistics or cold, hard facts. Can you give a few examples of how the growth mindset concept was introduced with startling results?
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Next Page 1 | 2Hornets extend Cody Zeller’s contract four-years, $56-million
As the midnight deadline approached last night for teams to make extension decisions on rookie contracts, it didn’t look like the Hornets and Cody Zeller were going to come to terms to a contract extension and he would become a restricted free-agent next summer. With under two hours remaining before the deadline, the news came down that Zeller’s contract would be extended over four years, for $56-million.
Rich Cho has now nailed three extensions in three consecutive years (Kemba, MKG, Zeller) as the Hornets future core of players continues to develop. Steve Clifford has built a culture in Charlotte and Michael Jordan and Rich Cho have done what it takes to make sure the players that are bought in stick around for the long-haul.
Earlier yesterday, fellow 2013 draft class big men Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert and Gorgui Dieng all received contract extensions. Adams and Gobert eclipsed the $100-million mark, while Dieng came in at a more pedestrian number of $64-million. Toss out Adams’ and Gobert’s behemoth numbers, as both of those players were expected to get the max extension possible, but Dieng’s number painted a transparent road-map to a solution for the Hornets and Zeller.
In the end, both sides should be happy. For the Hornets, Zeller was the cheapest deal of all of the 2013 draft class contract extensions, and not only that, but this extension makes the first-year of his new salary ($12,584,270) lower than his cap-hold would’ve been as a restricted free-agent – this makes life much simpler for Rich Cho this summer as he will likely be pinching pennies to round out the ’17-’18 roster. Or, will Michael Jordan be willing to creep into the tax to take the Hornets to another level? Another topic for another day.
For Zeller, a player who has been a bit of a positional tweener and a guy who’s recently coming off of knee issues, long-term financial security is of utmost importance. Contrary to some Charlotte fans belief, the Hornets were probably one of very few teams in the league that would take a long-term chance on Zeller, so Cody and his camp probably couldn’t afford to go through this season and into restricted free-agency risking another injury setback, which would have left him in no-man’s-land.
The core of Kemba Walker, Nic Batum, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marvin Williams and Cody Zeller is locked in through the 2019 season and all on rather cap-friendly deals. This is not yet an eastern conference contending core, but with a few breaks and one more difference-maker willing to enter the right situation on a lesser deal, Charlotte is seemingly setup as stable as anyone else in the east.SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on a holiday party on Wednesday at a social services agency in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others before fleeing, authorities said.
Rescue crews tend to the injured in the intersection outside the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California in this still image taken from video December 2, 2015. REUTERS/NBCLA.com/Handout via Reuters
As an intense manhunt for up to three suspects ensued, San Bernardino police reported one “suspect down” in an exchange of gunfire with officers but did not immediately confirm whether the individual was connected to the shooting.
The shooting rampage at the Inland Regional Center about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles marked the deadliest U.S. gun violence since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, in which 27 people, including the gunman, were killed.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said in a televised news briefing three hours after Wednesday’s shooting that the suspects were believed to have made their getaway in a dark-colored sport utility vehicle.
A vehicle matching that description turned up at the shootout with police several hours later, city police spokeswoman Sergeant Vicki Cervantes. She said the number of wounded rose to 17.
With suspects at large, authorities ordered a security “lockdown” of all local schools, as well as city and county buildings, and area hospitals were placed on alert, Burguan said.
Burguan said he knew of no possible motive behind the attack, which unfolded at about 11 a.m.
“We have no information at this point that this is terrorist-related, in the traditional sense that people may be thinking,” he added. “Obviously, at minimum, we have a domestic-type terrorist-type situation that occurred here.”
He said the suspects were armed with rifles.
The shooting unfolded on the campus of the Inland Regional Center, one of 21 facilities set up by the state and run under contract by non-profit organizations to serve people with developmental disabilities, said Nancy Lungren, spokeswoman for the California Department of Developmental Services.
Lavinia Johnson, executive director of the facility, told CNN the suspects opened fire inside a conference building in the complex where a holiday party was being held for county health department personnel.
The conference building sits adjacent to the two larger three-story buildings that house most of the agency’s offices at the complex, Johnson said. Asked whether that meant that the Inland Regional Center staff and clients were safe, she said she understood they were being evacuated.
STRING OF SHOOTINGS
So far in 2015, there have been more than 350 shootings in which four or more people died, according to the crowd-sourced website shootingtracker.com, which keeps a running tally of mass shootings.
The shooting in California comes less than a week after a gunman killed three people and wounded nine in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In October, a gunman killed nine people at a college in Oregon, and in June, a white gunman killed nine black churchgoers in South Carolina.
Gun control advocates, including Democratic President Barack Obama, say easy access to firearms is a major factor in the shooting epidemic, while the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun advocates say the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to bear arms.The votes are in and the result is official: Josep Maria Bartomeu will remain President of FC Barcelona for the next six years as he stormed to victory in today’s election battle, claiming a majority victory over his three opponents. The news came as little surprise, although neither has the level of animosity and disdain directed at Bartomeu for his victory.
As expected, Culés across the globe have taken to social media to voice their discontent, their disappointment at the way the socis have voted. They wanted Joan Laporta to return to the helm; instead, they’ve seen their candidate humiliated and left to fade back into a life of relative obscurity.
When all was said and done, the club could have combined the votes for Laporta, Agustin Benedito and Toni Freixa and the result would have remained the same; Bartomeu was the overwhelming victor – and rightfully so.
Starting with his nearest challenger, Joan Laporta only has himself to blame for his defeat. The former Barça president and fan favourite entered the race late – and in spite of his lengthy hesitance in announcing his bid, his campaign was shallow and lacked any real substance.
A vote for Joan is a vote for La Masia! For UNICEF! And for the Barça of Cruyff and Guardiola!
In truth, a vote for Joan for always just that, a vote for Joan. As much as Laporta proclaimed to be a man of the people, his message wavered more as the campaign trail rolled on, before long even he was beginning to lose track of his key messages.
La Masia? Soon it was less about championing the Sergi Sampers and more about courting Paul Pogba; the French international became a key pawn in Laporta’s bid for power and perhaps serves as the quintessential example of his hypocrisy.
After all, here we had Joan Laporta: the staunch defender of La Masia and the critic of Galactico transfer policy, promising a luxury signing that the club barely required and that the management certainly haven’t demanded. Just how for instance would Pogba’s signing have improved our financials as well, another topic Laporta was so keen to discuss in Tuesday’s electoral debate on TV3?
These were the statements and promises of a desperate man, clutching at straws as he slowly realised just how outmatched he was. His attempts to leech off the popularity of other Barça legends also fell well short of their intended mark.
The unveiling of Eric Abidal as his new Sporting Director was essentially a PR stunt that the majority of Culés wilfully lapped up; yet in practice, it could have been a recipe for disaster. Consider: is Abidal actually qualified to perform the role, and moreover, is he a better option than Ariedo Braida, or Benedito’s candidate, Monchi for that matter?
Leveraging his relationship with Messi was supposed to be a game-changer as well, but at one stage or another, key members of his electoral staff – including Johan Cruyff himself – have at one stage or another done the exact same thing he accused Bartomeu of doing: considering the sale of Lionel Messi.
My personal favourite however had to be his use of the Neymar debacle; isn’t it wonderful just how conveniently and quickly that a career lawyer can forget the difference between "accused" and "convicted"?
It’s true that Bartomeu will stand trial for his actions in this signing, but Laporta was acting as judge, jury and executioner, all but assuming Bartomeu’s guilt – even if experts such as Professor Josep Maria Gay, a PhD in Economics and Law have previously insisted that there the state prosecutors have no case.
And it’s not like Laporta himself presents a squeaky clean image for the club, particularly not with his proposed CEO, Joan Oliver facing trial in relation to accusations of espionage against the players and board members relating to his previous spell at the club.
In elections gone by, Laporta’s shallow manifesto and inconsistent messaging might have been enough to secure another mandate; however, in this instance they merely served to enhance Bartomeu’s campaign.
All throughout the campaign trail, Bartomeu cut an assured figure – his tone and actions were fitting of a President, perhaps more so than they had been during his previous tenure – and his message seldom wavered throughout. He has been responsive to the demands of the management and to the demands of the fans.
Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal may have been signed under unusual circumstances, but they meet the needs of head coach, Luis Enrique. Last year’s signings of Ivan Rakitić, Marc-André ter Stegen, Claudio Bravo, Jeremy Mathieu and of course, Luis Suarez have also proven to be pivotal for the club’s evolution under Lucho.
Fans remain concerned with the club’s relationship with Qatar, and it seems as though Bartomeu is taking steps to rectify this; if rumours are to be believed, a new sponsorship deal with Japanese e-commerce giants, Rakuten could be on the horizon. All this time, Bartomeu has been planning his next moves, staying one step ahead of the curve and slowly but surely, Culés may begin to see the wider picture, just as the socis have today.
La millor candidat para la millor club; per moltes felicitats Josep!Scientists in China have developed an intelligent nanoparticle system that delivers a chemotherapeutic and radiosensitiser drug directly to the nucleus of cancer cells. Tests suggest this intranuclear radiosensitisation technique could intensify the effects of radiotherapy.
Along with radiotherapy, chemotherapy assumes a frontline position in the battle against cancer. However, many drugs fail to enter cancer cell nuclei when they should. This often leads to multidrug resistance in tumours and a diminished response to radiotherapy.
In recent years, scientists have turned their attention to theranostics in a bid to develop multifunctional therapeutic options that diagnose and treat target cells simultaneously. And the system devised by Jianlin Shi of the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics and colleagues certainly falls into the theranostic category.
Central to their system is a new generation of fluorophores called upconversion nanoparticles that convert low energy near infrared radiation into higher energy visible radiation – they are therefore ideal imaging probes. Mesoporous silica containing upconversion nanoparticles were covalently tagged with an amino acid sequence to direct them into the nucleus. A chemotherapeutic and radiosensitising drug called mitomycin C was also attached.
The researchers carried out in vitro studies on a cancer cell line and were able to show that their system killed more cancer cells than free mitomycin C or when the nanoparticles were without the amino acid tag, so only reached the cytoplasm. Further in vivo studies in mouse models proved the system was biocompatible. The most noteworthy results were seen when cancer cells were exposed to high energy x-ray radiation alongside the nanotheranostic treatment. This is thought to come from synergy between the chemo- and radiotherapy resulting in greater DNA damage. In cancer mouse models, treatment with the nanotheranostic system and radiotherapy not only inhibited tumour growth, but most remarkably, resulted in a roughly 60% regression of it.
‘This study illustrates the principle of the “detect-to-treat” strategy and proves highly valuable for various cancer theranostic applications, thus finally fulfilling the ultimate goal of “one drug fits all”,’ explains Shawn Chen, a leading theranostics expert at the National Institute of Health, US. Indeed, the nanoparticles’ combined imaging and therapeutic properties bode well for them initiating a new generation of accurate imaging guided nuclear-targeting nanomedicines.
Shi envisages that the system could eventually be tested in humans. However, he cautions that a number of improvements and preclinical animal tests, ‘such as suitable surface engineering to improve its biocompatibility and attachment of active targeting ligands to enhance the accumulation of the nanoparticles in tumours,’ are necessary.We now have over 493,131 Plus Posts!
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What is T10?
As the name suggests, this is 10 overs-a-side cricket. The organisers haven’t revealed too many of the details, but have committed to ensure all matches end within 90 minutes, with a minimum of two and a maximum of three matches to be played every day during a four-day event.
The Concept
The organisers have reflected on South Asia’s passion for cricket and have come up with a T10 Cricket League in the UAE. The never-seen-before format will see teams playing 10-over per innings matches. Superstars in the gentleman's game will battle it out in the shortest version since the Hong Kong Sixes, with a match lasting exactly 90 minutes.
When and where will it take place?
The T10 Cricket League will be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE from 21st December till 24th December.
Sharjah cricket stadium
The Teams
6 teams will be taking part in the first edition of the T20 Cricket league. The teams are Maratha Arabians, Gujarat Tigers, Pakhtoons, Punjabi Legends, Keralite Kings, Colombo Lankans and Bengal Tigers.
The Owners
Maratha Arabians is co-owned by Parvez Khan, Ali Tumbi and Bollywood actor/producer Sohail Khan. Gujarat Tigers is owned by Hussein Ali and Shafi ul Mulk. Pakhtoons is owned by Habib Khan, while Punjabi Legends is owned by Pakistani legend Inzamam-ul-Haq as well as Intizar-ul-Haq and Rahil Siddiqui. Colombo Lankans and Bengal Tigers have been entered by the Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Cricket Boards respectively.
The Ambassadors
Flamboyant superstars such as Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara have been signed up as brand ambassadors. Their role will not only be promoting the league, but also leading their respective teams.
Pakistani Interest
Misbah-ul-Haq will be leading the Punjabi Legends - a team co-owned by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq, while Shahid Afridi, who has also been picked as the ambassador for the league, will be leading Pakhtoons, owned by Habib Khan. Talks are already underway about holding 10-over matches in Pakistan in the coming years.
Shahid Afridi and Misbah ul Haq will be leading Pakhtoons and Punjabi Legends respectively.
Bollywood Connections
Sohail Khan is the co-owner of Maratha Arabians, which has the support of his brother and the iconic Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. B-Town's gorgeous actress Zareen Khan has been signed up as ambassador for Pakhtoons. The dazzling opening ceremony will include performances from several notable actors and actresses in India.
It's Fun, but it's Cricket
As attractive and flashy may it sound, it is serious cricket at the end of the day! It may have the dose of glamour, but a tinge of competitiveness about it as well. The league costs 51-million - not rupees but dollars. The organisers are in talks to hold it in various countries in the future, including USA, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. There are further indications that the league may be turned into an annual feature for the next 10 years.Jost Capito (centre) won three World Rally Championships with Volkswagen.
McLaren have recruited former Volkswagen motorsport boss Jost Capito as the new overall head of their Formula 1 programme.
The German, 57, will be appointed chief executive officer of McLaren Racing, reporting to chairman Ron Dennis.
Capito will join at an unspecified date to be agreed between McLaren and VW.
Jonathan Neale, who had been in that role following the sacking of Martin Whitmarsh in early 2014, has been moved out of the racing department.
Neale will be chief operating officer of the McLaren Technology Group.
McLaren are aiming to improve their form in 2016 after a dismal first season of their renewed relationship with engine partner Honda last year, in which they finished ninth of 10 teams in the championship.
Despite having arguably the best driver line-up in F1 with former champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, their best result was a fifth place in the Hungarian Grand Prix by Alonso.
Jonathan Neale (left) has been moved out of McLaren's racing department
The vast majority of their 2.5-second a lap deficit to world champions Mercedes was due to the engine, but the team acknowledge the car was also not on the pace of the very best.
They are still rebuilding after two uncompetitive seasons with the standard-setting Mercedes engine in 2013 and 2014.
Dennis described Capito as "an extremely impressive, competitive and ambitious individual" and said he was confident he would "take the McLaren-Honda programme forwards towards grand prix victories and world championship successes".
Capito has most recently headed VW's rally team to three consecutive world titles since 2013 but has also held senior positions at BMW, Porsche, Ford and the Sauber F1 team.
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier remains in his position, which will report directly to Capito.As Bitcoin blocks get closer to full capacity, some members of the community are claiming many of the transactions on the network are nothing more than spam.
Defining a spam transaction on the Bitcoin network is somewhat difficult. In fact, Mastering Bitcoin author Andreas Antonopoulos believes it’s impossible for such transactions to exist.
According to Antonopoulos, the fact that someone is willing to pay the fee associated with a particular transaction means that the transaction is not spam by default. During a meetup at Paralelni Polis in Prague, Czech Republic, Antonopoulos explained his position on spam transactions on the Bitcoin network.
A Top-Down Approach to Spam
Antonopoulos noted there are two approaches that can be taken:
“One is a paternalistic, top-down approach that says, ‘This is what is allowed. This is what is not allowed, and by making a list, we will prevent the network from filling to capacity.’”
In Antonopoulos’ view, this sort of approach would break net neutrality, which he believes applies to Bitcoin; but the reality is that Bitcoin does not work on net neutrality as a requirement. For example, the Eligius mining pool applies a penalty or simply will not mine some transactions it considers to be spam.
Antonopoulos also explained how picking out spam with a top-down approach would cause Bitcoin to miss out on potential new applications of the blockchain. He noted:
“If we start making decisions about what is spam and what is not, we are now choosing the future of Bitcoin and constraining it according to a set of applications that only we can imagine. And the brilliant person who creates the application we can’t imagine ‒ that maybe looked like spam to us ‒ doesn’t get carried across the network because we made the top-down decision to say that transaction is illegitimate.”
If You Pay the Fee, the Transaction Is Not Spam
Antonopoulos said that any transaction a user attaches a fee to is legitimate by definition. He added, “The very act of paying the fee legitimizes the transaction.”
Antonopoulos also explained how the market for block space allows miners to prioritize some transactions over others. He stated:
“Use the market to solve this problem, and allow the market to establish the minimum fee that meets the requirements of supply through the miners and their need for propagating blocks fast, and the demand of the users for the applications they care about. And if you pay the fee, your transaction is legitimate.”
Antonopoulos went as far as to say the existence of this market means there is no such thing as a spam transaction in Bitcoin. He explained:
“There is no spam transaction. There is no such thing as an illegitimate transaction. There are only transactions that did get mined and transactions that didn’t have enough fee to get mined.”
Sometimes Bitcoin Is Not Needed
People want to use the Bitcoin blockchain for many different use cases, but the people who are going to have mostly unconditional access to the blockchain are going to be the ones paying the highest fees. The need for censorship resistance in one’s online transactions is the main use case of the Bitcoin blockchain that is not found anywhere else (outside of altcoins).
As fees rise, the users who don’t necessarily have to use the Bitcoin blockchain will find alternatives. These alternatives could be off-chain iterations of the current Bitcoin network. Those who require the use of a public blockchain will pay the higher fees.Sarah Wasko / Media Matters
President Donald Trump retweeted right-wing troll Jack Posobiec’s tweet to his more than 35 million followers in his ongoing effort to push alternative narratives to distract from his tepid condemnation of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA, that included a fatal act of terrorism. Trump’s retweet shows that he has no qualms in elevating trolls whose arsenals include harassing journalists, peddling conspiracy theories and smears, and pulling absurd, attention-grabbing stunts for self-promotion. And Posobiec’s giddy reaction to Trump’s retweet demonstrates he feels validated by the presidential attention.
In his August 14 tweet, Posobiec appeared to be accusing the media of focusing excessively on Charlottesville at the expense of covering violence in Chicago, IL, against victims he identified as African-Americans (a point he attempted to make by tweeting out local news coverage of crime in Chicago).
Posobiec, formerly associated with the Canadian far-right outlet The Rebel, is a long-time Trump supporter who rode the coattails of the “alt-right” movement and openly identified with it in many now-deleted tweets as the movement ascended to prominence through its support of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Along with Mike Cernovich and other online personalities, Posobiec then attempted to rebrand himself as “new-right” when the “alt-right’s” brand became too closely-linked to outspoken white nationalist Richard Spencer (Spencer once posted an image where he appears with Posobiec in Cleveland, OH, for the Republican National Convention).
Before earning presidential attention on social media, Posobiec took a page out of the right-wing troll playbook of using social media to his advantage. He promoted attention-grabbing stunts masquerading as activism, rode the controversies to increase his visibility and online followers, and eventually used the platform for political access and promotion of personal business endeavors (in Posobiec’s case, a self-congratulatory book about the movement that took Trump to victory).
Posobiec’s long list of absurd, sophomoric stunts include disrupting a theater presentation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that he deemed as promoting political violence, filing a civil rights lawsuit over all-female screenings of Wonder Woman, and trolling a congressional press conference on net neutrality to demand that Democratic senators disavow “satanic” internet pornography.
Like Cernovich, Posobiec justifies his stunts as activism or citizen journalism, even though his brand of journalism has included heavily pushing the “Pizzagate” narrative, a right-wing smear that falsely accused members of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign of being part of a pedophilia ring that operated out of a family-friendly Washington, DC, pizza parlor. Posobiec personally investigated the pizza parlor, and falsely declared that a gunman who commandeered the restaurant because of the ugly smear was a “false flag |
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"You just have to remember their faces and who they are -- and you pack another box," Grimord said.
To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, e-mail us.There is literally nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about the 2014 G1 Climax.
Never in my roughly 30 years as a wrestling fan has a singular event garnered the type of universal praise the likes of which we’ve seen with this tournament. With very little question, this has been the greatest G1 of all time. Many are calling it the greatest tournament period in the history of wrestling, and quite honestly i’m struggling to come up with a counter argument. You’d probably have to go back to the glory days of All Japan to find a great Champion Carnival or Real World Tag League to find something comparable to stack this up against, but even then while you may find a tournament that can match this G1 at the top, it will be hard to find an event that can match the sustained night in, night out consistent greatness, and overall depth of this twelve night, two week odyssey. Out of 120 matches, reviewers are checking in with roughly 25 four star or better bouts, and anywhere between 80-100 three stars or better. That is an unfathomable amount of high level wrestling (our site, with seven reviews done by Bryan Rose, and four by yours truly, rated a staggering 31 bouts 4-stars or higher going into the final night).
It was pretty obvious that this thing was special by about Night 4. It was also pretty obvious by that point that barring a complete and impossible drop in quality, it was going to surpass the 2013 tournament, which in case you’ve forgotten, was the (short lived) reigning “best G1 ever”. This is yet another case of New Japan finding a way to top itself, which this promotion has somehow been consistently doing over the last three years. I remember writing last year at this time that G1 23 was very likely the peak of the hot run. I couldn’t imagine anything being better. I’m tempted to write the same thing again today, but I’ve learned my lesson.
All of this praise, and we hadn’t even gotten to what is usually the best night of the tour, the finals, which if nothing else generally serves as an exclamation point. But in this case, a good night would just be showing off. This final night was chugging along, a perfectly fine show, progressively getting better and better as it got deeper into things, when following a very good semifinal bout Scott D’Amore betrayed Hiroshi Tanahashi and joined the Bullet Club.
Say again?
Scott D’Amore betrayed Hiroshi Tanahash and joined the Bullet Club.
That really happened, reader. I’m not creative enough to make it up.
In what was one of the more surreal angles I’ve ever seen (following an intermission segment that turned out to be the ultimate red herring), Jeff “#JointheForce” Jarrett joined the Bullet Club when he whacked the New Japan hero across the face with one of his balsa wood guitars. Take that, Slapnuts. Throw in the complete absurdity of Scott D’Amore involved in all of this, whose role on this night was to conspicuously carry Jarrett’s guitar case around the Seibu Dome, and you had an angle that was crazy, predictable, unpredictable, surreal, absurd, wacky, nonsensical, incredible, amazing and shocking all rolled up into one.
And you know what? It was all so completely ridiculous that it worked. It sent Twitter into meme shock, and for a few moments mentally took people out of a highly anticipated main even that was over two years in the making. A main event, which to the credit of the competitors, not only earned back the attention of a stunned crowd and iPPV audience, but then proceeded to cap off this amazing G1 with one more Match of the Year contender. Because why the fuck not?
This show was all over the map. The first third, filled with throw away matches, was (predictably) bad, but nobody cared because no one came to see Nakanishi in a six man. If nothing else, the middle portion was very solid, even if a few matches didn’t meet their full potential. Then D’Amore happened, but lost in that will be the fact that Hiroshi Tanahashi and AJ Styles had a great match. The main event was a classic.
All told, this was a wild & wacky show.
1. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado – Nondescript opener here, with a surprise appearance of the returning Taichi, who was creeping around and being Taichi. Everybody did their key spots, and Taguchi pinned TAKA. Exactly what you would expect of this type of match at this point in the show. Get in, get out. **
2. Special 6 Man Tag Match: BUSHI, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Yujiro Takahashi – See above. This was just a match. Yujiro gave BUSHI the buckle bomb & Miami Shine to win it for Bullet Club. BUSHI replaced Togi Makabe, who re-injured his jaw during the round robin stage, and wisely sat this meaningless one out. Despite the spread out schedule, he wasn’t the only person to suffer a serious injury, although a few never came out publicly. **
3. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Shelton Benjamin – This was awful. Shelton did some basic stuff with YOSHI, Yano did his shtick with Iizuka, and then Suzuki fake grappled with Saku until the ref DQ’d him for refusing to break a hold in the ropes. Crowd didn’t care about any of this. DUD
4. Special Tag Match: Jushin Thunder Liger & Captain New Japan vs. Adam Cole & Michael Bennett – Bennett & Cole had matching gear, and ring walked to the most awful over dubbed rock jam of all time. This was easily the best match on the show to this point, worked like an old school traditional North American style tag team match, with CNJ as the babyface in peril. Liger got a huge reaction on the hot tag, and cleaned house. Liger & Cole, who had a pretty decent singles match in NYC, did some more solid work here, making me want to see another singles bout. Mike Bennett was his usual average self. Bennett is so average, Bobby Roode & James Storm think he’s mediocre. For the finish, Maria did the Elizabeth SummerSlam ’88 routine to distract CNJ, who sold it like he’d never seen an (almost) naked woman in his life. Bennett took advantage of the distraction, hit a piledriver, and pinned The Cap’n. Fun match. ***
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish – This was good, not great, and couldn’t sniff the excellent reDRagon vs Young Bucks match from New York, but I still liked it a lot. All four guys were super crisp and did a great job. O’Reilly in particular is having a great year, and looked very good here. Two cool spots were KUSHIDA coming off the top and over the guard rail to the outside with a crossbody, and Shelley breaking up a KOR guillotine choke on KUSHIDA with a double stomp from the top. An interesting dichotomy, as the previous match was a really good example of an 80’s style tag match, and this match was a really good example of a state of the art modern tag bout. Bobby Fish has always been a personal favorite, and I’d like to see more reDRagon in New Japan. ***3/4
Shelley hits a double stomp on O’Reilly to free KUSHIDA from a guillotine choke! #NJPW #G124 http://t.co/Z8iiPNbL3K — LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) August 10, 2014
Intermission. Jeff Jarrett came out to his old TNA music, signed some GFW paperwork, and cut a super generic “i’m so happy to be here” promo. What a sneaky carny. We should have spotted this a mile away, guys.
6. G1 Climax Special Singles Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomoaki Honma – Disappointing match, but keep in mind the bar is set awfully high for Honma bouts. At this point we expect the guy to get beaten near death every time out, and that’s probably not fair. With that said, this had a ton of potential, with Naito playing subtle heel and soaking up the boos, and a spirited forearm exchange, but the Stardust Press finish came out of nowhere, the crowd wasn’t ready, and the finish was super flat. Good match, but nothing special at all, and probably the worst Honma match of the tour. ***
7. G1 Climax Special Singles Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson – Ishii was working with a legit separated shoulder (from somewhere in the middle of the tour), and very early on may have broken his nose. He lost Anderson on a superplex attempt that may or may not have been an intentional spot (playing off of the weak shoulder), but the awkward landing that nearly broke Anderson in half was clearly not planned the way it happened. Very scary. Yujiro yanked the ref out of the ring on a two count, and got serious heat as he worked over Ishii. YOSHI-HASHI of all people ran in for the save, so it looks like that could be Yujiro’s next NEVER defense. I’m totally OK with that. YOSHI-HASHI has shown flashes of improvement, but needs longer showcase matches to truly have a chance to move up. With Yujiro dispatched, Ishii blocked a Gun Stun, and an Anderson head butt backfired as Ishii no sold. The crowd got behind Ishii big at this point, and it looked like he would survive the injuries and pull out the win, but Anderson hit a Gun Stun out of nowhere and finally put him away. This was a rare instance where the interference worked and improved the match. Normally it kills it for me and takes me right out of it. ***1/2
8. G1 Climax Special Singles Match: Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata – As expected, this was an exhibition in violence. I didn’t love the first half of this, but the second half more than delivered. The Shibata spinning back chop to the face thing might be my favorite move in wrestling right now. It always comes at just the right time, and even though you know it’s coming, you still never see it coming. Goto took a shitty G2S bump, but the Penalty Kick was vicious looking and made up for it. This didn’t quite get to where I wanted it to go, and was the worst of the bouts they’ve had against each other, but it was still very good. ***3/4
9. G1 Climax Special Singles Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles – For posterity, Tanahashi won this when he reversed a Styles Clash attempt into cradle. But in a few years, nobody is going to care or remember who won the match. This was the night Double J joined the force. There will be differing opinions on this, just like the night Yujiro cost Kazuchika Okada the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but if nothing else, this was memorable and resonated. Hours later, I still can’t wrap my head completely around it. It was absurd, and on the weirdest of levels, it worked. Lost in all of this was an excellent match. ****1/4
AJ Styles spikes Tanahashi on his head! #NJPW #G124 #Jeeeeezus http://t.co/tkxXDJbfxE
— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) August 10, 2014
10. G1 Climax – Final: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada – For the first few minutes of this, there was a noticeable and heavy cloud of shock in what was a crowd already suffering from big building malaise. Give these guys some credit, because we’ve seen wrestlers fall apart mentally under circumstances similar to this in the past (clears throat, RANDY ORTON, clears throat), but that didn’t happen here. They worked incredibly hard, told a great story, and put together a masterpiece of a bout, likely to go down as one of the five best G1 Finals matches ever (if not the best). Without taking a single thing away from Nakamura, who was great, this may have been my favorite Okada performance yet. Perhaps motivated by a crowd that could have been very easy to lose, perhaps motivated by being handed the company torch after months of being out of the primary spotlight, perhaps motivated by a drive to deliver a memorable match that wouldn’t be lost in the shuffle of the two weeks of memorable matches that proceeded it, Okada delivered big and showed a new level of intensity that he may have been saving for a match just like this one. The closing moments were savage. Okada repeatedly picked up his buddy & stablemate, and repeatedly drove him back to the mat with short clotheslines until annihilating Nakamura with a final Rainmaker that left no doubt. I thought this might be the night that somebody kicks out of the Rainmaker, but not after seeing that sequence, and not after seeing the phenomenal bump Nakamura took. This was a statement by Okada, punctuated by his post match promo, where he spoke with a confidence and intensity we have not seen from him. He yanked the mic from Gedo, praised Nakamura, told Styles he’s coming back for *his* title, dropped a bunch of F-bombs (or whatever letter it starts with in Japanese), and looked like a man who should not be fucked with. To me, this was the definitive Okada moment, and you got the sense he was driven some by reality. If this guy is starting to mature from humble young champion to the hungry GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY, BECAUSE THIS IS MY COMPANY AND I WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR MY SPOT veteran, look out. Taking the title from this man and making him a booking afterthought this past spring may have been the biggest stroke of genius from Gedo & Jado yet. ****3/4
Kazuchika Okada hits the Rainmaker to win the G1 for the second time! #NJPW#G124http://t.co/sXNZLqPSBr — LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) August 10, 2014
Final Voices of Wrestling G1 Climax Pick’em Standings:
(Winners will be contacted shortly with details on redeeming their prizes. Thanks again for all who participated and a huge thanks to our sponsor IVP Videos (www.ivpvideos.com) As a result of the main event match time tiebreaker, the winner of the inagural Voices of Wrestling G1 Climax Pick’Em is… PARKER! 2nd: Andrew Bates 3rd: Bryan RoseI've been on a national manhunt for either an E39 M5 or E60 M5 for the past few months and have finally ended my search.2006 BMW M5 - $25kBlack Sapphire Metallic (475) on Black (Volleder Merino/Schwarz/X3SW)88k MilesSMG1-Owner - BMW lease until 50k then purchased outright - All records - Owner bought a new oneRecent Maintenance:Inspected at BMW - 2 months ago (I'm getting another when I land and pulling codes myself)New ClutchNew TiresTrans FluidDiff FluidBrakes/RotorsIgnition Coils and Spark PlugsMicro FiltersPower Steering FlushMods:100% StockHRE C97 3-piece19x8.5 Front with new(er) Continentals (255/40/19?)19x9.5 Rear with new(er) Continentals (285/35/19?)I'm flying into LAX on Friday and driving up the next 2-3 days back to Seattle through the 101 to SF, 5 to PDX then home to Seattle. This will be my third time making this road trip and hitting all my favorite stops.Any recommendations for how to properly road trip ready this car? I plan on asking a ton of questions after the inspection and paying for an oil change at the very least.EDIT: Checklist for Road Trip1. All Tires (Tread/Wear/Pressure)2. Washer Fluid/Wipers3. Battery?4. Fluids (Oil/Trans/Diff/Coolant/Brake/Power Steering)5. Filters (Cabin/Air)6. Hoses and Belts7. Lights (Front/Side/Rear)8. Food and Water9. Music10. Stop at EAS for some upgradesThe car will be undergoing a routine PPI but I want to be 100% sure.I'm all ears for any recommendations you have. I'd like to have a shopping list ready for when I land so I can get on the road and out of LA as fast as possible.Cheers!36 year old arrested for arson, rioting at May Day protest
Portland Fire & Rescue's Arson Unit arrests Sarah Pugh, of Portland, for setting fires in two intersections during May 1 protests.
Nearly four months after the fact, Portland Fire & Resuce's Arson Unit arrested 36-year-old Sarah Pugh, a protester who had set fire to two intersections during May Day protests downtown on May 1.
Pugh, of Portland, was charged with rioting, arson 2 and reckless burning. She set fires at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Morrison Street and again at Southwest Park Avenue and Morrison Street, according to a news release.
The arson unit had previously arrested Pugh for reckless burning in an unrelated incident in June.
Initially a peaceful rally at Shemanski Park to honor International Workers' Day, the May Day event turned violent following black-clad anarchists taking to the streets in a separate, unpermitted march. The groups clashed with police resulting in damage to downtown businesses and police cars.Rob Ford, Toronto's conservative mayor, is a wild lunatic given to making bizarre racist pronouncements and randomly slapping refrigerator magnets on cars. One reason for this is that he smokes crack cocaine. I know this because I watched him do it, on a videotape. He was fucking hiiiiigh. It's for sale if you've got six figures.
It began like this: We've made fun of Ford before for his bizarre pronouncements and nude pictures. Last week, we got a tip from someone claiming to have a videotape of Ford smoking crack. Would we like to buy it?
Update: Go here to contribute to the Rob Ford Crackstarter. We are crowdsourcing $200,000 to buy and publish the video.
The tipster made the following claims:
• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smokes crack cocaine.
• There is a video of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine, taken within the last six months.
• Rob Ford purchases his crack cocaine from a crew of Toronto drug dealers that service a veritable who's who of A-list...Torontonians? Torontites? Anyway, a lot of prominent people in Toronto purchase and enjoy crack and powder cocaine, and they all buy it from the same folks. The same folks Ford buys it from. Ford's longtime friend, people on his staff, his brother, a prominent hockey analyst, and more.
As evidence of his claims, our tipster provided the photo above. It shows Ford hanging out with a number of people. The gentleman standing to his right, flipping the camera the bird, is Anthony Smith. Smith, a 21-year-old college student, was killed two months ago outside a Toronto nightclub in a gangland-style shooting. A photo, from a CBC story on his murder, is at left. Smith was, according to our tipster, a kid from the same neighborhood as the dealers who service Ford, and the photo was taken while Ford was going to the neighborhood to purchase and smoke crack cocaine.
If you're curious about the photo's veracity, at left is another photo, from the National Post, of Ford wearing the same sweatshirt.
Needless to say, the story intrigued me. I asked the tipster for a screengrab of the video to verify that he had what he claimed to have. He refused. If I wanted to see the video, I was going to have to go to Toronto. He sounded confident enough. Certain things that he told me checked out. So off I went.
Toronto is lovely. Our first effort to meet up, at a Toronto bus station at night, fizzled. The tipster was there, but the person who actually had possession of the video was a no-show. The tipster and I retired to a coffee shop to talk Toronto politics and Rob Ford's curious history—his rise as a sort of oddly drunken, brazenly honest conservative voice in a decidedly liberal and polite city. It was a nice night, but I was beginning to worry I'd been had.
The next morning, I connected again with the tipster. He was going to locate the owner of the video, he told me. Last night, there had been a mix-up. The video was being stored in a safe place, but the person who had access to the safe place had briefly disappeared, and so the owner couldn't get access to the safe place to get the device on which the video was stored. By the morning, however, the tipster and the owner had located the person who had access to the safe place. This was going to happen.
Checkout time was at noon. My flight was at 7:30 p.m. I loitered around downtown Toronto, checking out the mall, until I got the text: We were to meet up at a chain restaurant near the airport. The tipster picked me up from the restaurant and drove me to a housing development. The owner of the video would meet us there.
We sit idling in his car, making small talk. The tipster calls the owner and talks in language other than English. "He'll be right down," he says. Fifteen minutes pass. "Waiting for the elevator," he says. Ten minutes pass. A young gentleman opens the rear door of the car and gets in. The two men speak in a language other than English. The young gentleman immediately exits the vehicle. No video.
The tipster looks at me: "The battery is dead." The young gentleman—the owner of the video—needed to go back upstairs to charge the battery on the device that contained the video. We wait. More small talk.
The owner of the video returns. He thrusts a device, a phone with a touchscreen, in my face. "Can I hold it?" I ask.
"No."
I crane my neck. It plays.
Here is what the video shows: Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, is the only person visible in the frame. Prior to the trip, I spent a lot of time looking at photographs of Rob Ford. The man in the video is Rob Ford. It is well-lit, clear. Ford is seated, in a room in a house. In one hand is a a clear, glass pipe. The kind with a big globe and two glass cylinders sticking out of it. In the other hand is a lighter. A slurred voice off-camera is ranting about Canadian politics in what sounds like an attempt to goad Ford. "Pierre Trudeau was a faggot!" is the one phrase the lodges in my mind. Ford, pipe in one hand and lighter in the other, is laughing, and mildly protesting at the sacrilege. He seems to keep trying to light the pipe, but keeps stopping to laugh. He is red-faced and sweaty, heaving with each breath. Finally, he finds his moment and lights up. He inhales.
Update: The Toronto Star, whose reporters have also seen the video, say that it's Justin Trudeau—Pierre's son and the leader of the Liberal Party in Canada—and not Pierre getting called a "faggot." It's hard to keep all these Canadians apart. The Star also has Ford himself, and not the voice off-screen, making the "faggot" remark, though that's not how I remember it.
In one move, the owner stops the video and draws the device back into his pocket.
"You took this?" I ask.
"Yes."
"When?"
"Within the last six months."
"You're sure it's crack?"
"Yes."
"You've seen him smoke crack before?"
"Yes. Gotta jet."
And he is gone.
So: That was a video of the mayor of Toronto smoking crack. The trouble is, the owner wants money. More money than I am willing to pay. The tipster has already reached out to one other news outlet, a Canadian organization that he refused to name, which offered $40,000. The owner rejected that. He thinks he can get six figures. It's unlikely he's going to get six figures.
But I am going to try. The tipster wants this video out. Rob Ford needs to be held to account. The owner just wants money—preferably enough to get out of town after this blows up, since he doesn't think it will be safe for him. The tipster and I both fear that the owner will try to sell the video back to Ford. That would be a shame.
So if Gawker can't come up with enough money to ring this owner's bell, perhaps we can find a partner. This isn't just the mayor of Toronto smoking crack cocaine, after all: This is Toronto Confidential. There are a host of important local officials wrapped up in this drug ring. 60 Minutes? No. Dateline NBC? No. Inside Edition? No. National Enquirer? No. CNN? Maybe!
Well, no. But when I emailed an acquaintance at CNN this afternoon, laying out much the same information I've offered above and asking for discretion and confidentiality lest we screw up a pretty fucking great story about the mayor of the fifth-largest city in North America smoking crack cocaine on camera, he forwarded the email to his producer. The producer, in turn, asked CNN's Canada reporter about it. The Canada reporter—and this was a pretty fucking big mistake—called a source who used to work in Ford's office. Within 40 minutes, word had gotten back to me that "CNN called Ford's office asking about a crack tape."
And so here we are. The owner still hasn't found a buyer with pockets deep enough to meet his demands. But word is out around Toronto now that the tape exist, and Ford's circle knows about it courtesy a CNN reporter. So, with permission, I am laying out everything I know about the Rob Ford Crack Tape in the hopes that a) everyone knows that Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, smokes crack, and b) this knowledge might hasten the arrival of the Rob Ford Crack Tape on the internet or broadcast television, because really, it is something to behold.
If you want to buy it, let me know. I can put you in touch with a guy.
Ford's office did not immediately respond to an email.
Update: We've received an email from Dennis Morris, a gentleman with a hotmail.com email address purporting to be Ford's attorney. Here is the message. We haven't corrected its formatting.
Greetings;I am a lawyer,and have been contacted by Mayor Ford's office in reference to your indicating you will post a photo of Mayor Ford smoking crack cocaine. Mayor Ford denies such took place,and if such posting occurs,it is false and defamatory,and you will be held legally accountable.In reference to the photo,you wish to publish, Mayor Ford has his photo taken daily,sometimes with others. If the person you mention is now deceased,it is sad,regardless of his alleged background. Please govern yourself accordingly. Dennis Morris.
To contact the author of this post, email john@gawker.com.
[Images via National Post and CBC]Dallas News just reported a promising story about AT&T’s push to transform the Dallas downtown through narrower streets and the conversion of one-way streets into two-ways:
AT&T made the call in October to keep its headquarters in downtown Dallas by spending $100 million on its revamped campus.
But the decision to stay in the city rather than flee to the suburbs was contingent upon several major requests, chief among them the significant alteration of some major downtown streets for a so-called "Discovery District" filled with shops, restaurants and other pedestrian-friendly amenities. [...]
All of the changes are significant, but the shrinking of Commerce Street will probably have the greatest impact. From Houston Street to Cesar Chavez Boulevard, the downtown thoroughfare will go on a so-called road diet, shrinking from four eastbound lanes to three.
A major corporation bends the will of a city to build safer, more walkable streets that will encourage economic growth? Three cheers for that. AT&T is one of many large companies choosing to locate in a downtown rather than on the suburban fringe as corporations once commonly did, in order to provide a more attractive environment for their employees. It’s indicative of a broader shift in America. Dallas News shared this quote from an AT&T executive about the effort:
"We're grateful to Mayor Mike Rawlings and the Dallas City Council for their vision to improve downtown Dallas by supporting the AT&T Discovery District," said John Stephens, AT&T's chief financial officer. "We believe the Discovery District will be a welcome destination for future visitors, Dallas residents and downtown employees and bring multiple benefits to an area that's daily seeing positive changes for everyone."
Of course, let's not forget that there are also plenty of corporations that ask our towns to build low-value fast food restaurants and dangerous streets wide enough for semi-trucks, and local leaders are all too happy to bow to their wishes if it means immediate money in their pockets (not to mention a failure to calculate the true long-term costs.)
I hope more companies follow the lead of AT&T and other downtown-based corporations in deciding to locate in urban centers and helping to craft more economically productive downtowns by nudging local government in the right direction. I'm also thankful that it doesn't require the sway of a national company like AT&T to make that happen everywhere. As Strong Citizens, we should use our voices to advocate to build the sorts of streets, neighborhoods and towns we want to live in, knowing that it will benefit businesses, residents and generations to come.
(Top image from Google maps)Hemp, a member of the cannabis species, was once a major Pennsylvania cash crop used to make rope and other fabrics and it may be once again.
A new law that would create a pilot program for industrial hemp research passed the House unanimously on Wednesday. It follows the passage of similar legislation last month in the Senate.
"This is the very first step on what I hope to be very long and prosperous journey for the people of this Commonwealth," said Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, who sponsored the House bill.
HB 967 will next go to the Senate for concurrence with SB 50 and then on to Gov. Tom Wolf, who has expressed support for reviving the hemp industry.
The push to bring the industry back to Pennsylvania came in the wake of a 2014 federal farm bill that opened the door for states to reauthorize hemp farming.
Hemp was outlawed in 1937 alongside marijuana, but has seen a resurgence in recent decades due to imports from Canada. It can currently be found in everything from clothing to building supplies and dietary protein supplements.
Under Diamond's proposal, industrial hemp could be grown through research programs overseen by the state Department of Agriculture and colleges.
Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook.Natural gas is dominating the headlines. But five years ago it rested firmly on the back pages. The budding issue back then had been how new technologies would keep coal at the top of the energy hierarchy and how its associated emissions could be minimized and its carbon releases buried. What happened?
The energy business is supposed to move at a snail’s pace. And while no one had heard of shale gas 10 years ago, it is now the hot topic. At the same time, the price of such unconventional natural gas has declined precipitously, making it an economic bargain compared to coal. Meantime, the coal sector has been given a number of one-two punches by environmental regulators with the most recent coming in March that nullified any future plants that can’t sequester carbon.
“Regulation is certainly a key,” says Nick Akins, chief executive of American Electric Power, during an EnergyBiz appearance. “It must be consistent and coherent. But decisions are being made and the regulations could change overnight.”
As for AEP, it has chosen to hold off on building a pilot plant that would use carbon capture and sequestration technology. It estimated the cost to be $664 million, roughly half of which was to be paid by the U.S. Department of Energy. It cited the prevailing political landscape, noting that it would be unable to recover its expenses from ratepayers.
“We can’t forget about the customers who are paying the bills and who would authorize this recovery,” says Akins. “There was not any enabling legislation requiring this to be done. We are already dealing with environmental costs and it is very difficult for state utility commissions and customers to pay the additional costs over and above basic infrastructure needs.”
In 2009, the Energy Department awarded AEP $334 million through the Clean Coal Power Initiative to help pay for installation of a commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration system at AEP's Mountaineer coal-fueled power plant in New Haven, WV. The system was designed to capture at least 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from 235 megawatts of the plant's 1,300 megawatts of capacity. The captured carbon, approximately 1.5 million metric tons per year, would have been treated and compressed, then injected into suitable geologic formations for permanent storage approximately 1.5 miles below the surface.
AEP is not the only one having “clean coal” troubles. So is Tenaska Energy, which had been pushing hard for a coal gasification facility that scrubs coal of most of its impurities before turning it into a gas and creating electricity. Exelon Corp., however, is opposed, emphasizing that it would be cheaper and easier to just burn the natural gas, noting that Illinois taxpayers would have to pay $3.5 billion for this deal.
Tenaska, on the other hand, has been trying to get the state legislature there to view the project as a 40-year endeavor. It is adding that Exelon has a vested interest in stopping the construction: Capacity from the coal gasification unit would be bid into the system, making Exelon’s energy offerings less valuable.
Now, though, Tenaska may relent and build a traditional natural gas plant. But it is saying that the same facility could be later modified to gasify coal.
“It makes absolutely no sense to take coal and make synthetic natural gas out of it,” says Paul Grimmer, chief executive of Eltron Research in Boulder, Colo., in a talk with this reporter. “The processes are too expensive. But if you see a huge run-up in natural gas, it may then make sense.”
Duke Energy, however, will be firing up a 618 megawatt coal gasification plant in Indiana this fall. It’s a $3 billion public-private partnership that has gotten a pummeling from its opponents who have said that the price tag just keeps rising. But Duke-Indiana President Doug Esamann told this reporter that the facility will be the state’s most reliable and most cost effective electric generator. It will also have the potential to capture and bury carbon releases.
Meanwhile, Southern Company also has a $3 billion coal gasification effort in Mississippi. Then there’s FutureGen. It’s a $1.1 billion project that is expected to be 200 megawatts -- one that will retrofit an oil-fueled unit in Meredosia, Illinois.
“Gasification has been around for some time,” says John Mead, director of the Coal Extraction and Utilization Research Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, in an earlier talk. “But incremental improvements” in current coal generation technologies are becoming increasingly beneficial.
The Obama administration wants to not just advance coal gasification but also carbon sequestration. To that end, it is providing funds to get 5 to 10 such projects underway. That’s possible within 15 years, says the Government Accountability Office. But technical obstacles still persist that would increase the cost of electricity to consumers by at least 30 percent and potentially as much as 80 percent.
That’s a tough pill to swallow. But President Obama is trying to throw coal-based utilities a life-saving rope, saying that the government will assist with the financing of progressive, new technologies. Some power companies are getting cold feet, however, as natural gas is providing them with an acceptable escape route.Progressive critics enamored of the semantically fraudulent junk label “Islamophobe” are de facto aiding the assassins of free-thinkers, abetting the oppressors of women, and shielding razor-happy butchers slicing off the clitorises of little girls. And at no time do they betray the ideals for which they supposedly stand more than when they call ex-Muslims living in the West “Islamophobe.”
To understand why, let’s examine the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. No one exposes the faulty thinking, moral incoherence and double standards pervading the Western liberal reaction to Islam better than this Somali-born, self-professed “infidel” and “heretic.” Herself a survivor of female genital mutilation, civil war and forced marriage, and, for more than a decade now, the object of Islamist death threats, Hirsi Ali deserves the respect of all who cherish free speech, equality between the sexes, and the right to profess the religion (or no religion) of one’s choosing.
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Brought up a Muslim and once so devout she joined the Muslim Brotherhood, Hirsi Ali deserves, to say the least, a fair hearing when speaking of Islam. Yet in the constitutionally secular United States, Hirsi Ali often finds her views about her former faith treated with suspicion, even contempt. Her media appearances and publications occasion slews of sanctimoniously ignorant commentary from liberal “Islamophobia” scolds. The publicity tour she has been making for her recent book “Heretic: Why Islam Needs a |
that I did not need to make a disclosure on my pecuniary interests register. "This has been confirmed as I have today been advised by the Clerk of the NSW Legislative Assembly that she does not believe that at that time there was a requirement to make a disclosure about such a private trip.
"I held no shadow portfolio responsibilities at the time. I was the Member for Lane Cove and attended in my personal capacity." Ms Ficarra has stood aside from her position as parliamentary secretary to the Premier as well as from the parliamentary Liberal Party until the ICAC inquiry into abuse of electoral funding laws is completed. Counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, SC, said investigators had uncovered evidence of the "systematic subversion of the electoral funding laws of NSW". He said Ms Ficarra, who was also parliamentary secretary to then premier Barry O'Farrell, was part of the scheme and had solicited a $5000 donation from property developer Tony Merhi just days before the March 2011 state election. The inquiry heard her explanations about the donation were not credible. Ms Ficarra "denies the allegations completely", said a spokesman from her office. "We have evidence which we can present which shows she is innocent. Her version of events is truthful and she has acted in good faith at all times," he said.
Since 2009, developers have been prohibited from donating to political parties. Mr Baird immediately asked Ms Ficarra to step aside from her duties as a parliamentary secretary. In his address to the ICAC on Monday morning, Mr Watson said some donations under scrutiny were "merely an attempt to buy access to politicians, and the size of their donation is no more than [the donor's] best guess at the price to purchase a politician's attention". The money was channelled into Eightbyfive, an alleged slush fund set up by Mr Hartcher's former adviser Tim Koelma, which was allegedly used to pay salaries to prospective central coast MPs Chris Spence and Darren Webber. Embattled coal mogul Nathan Tinkler's Patinack Farm horse stud paid $66,000 to Eightbyfive.
Gazcorp, the proponent of the controversial Orange Grove shopping centre development in Liverpool, paid $137,000 to the fund, while the Obeid-linked infrastructure company Australian Water Holdings paid $183,000. Orange Grove was given the green light after the Liberal Party won the state election. The inquiry heard that Mr Hartcher was close to Gazcorp directors Nabil and Nicholas Gazal, the sons of the late Sydney businessman Nabil Gazal. "Mr Hartcher was wont to holiday aboard the Gazals' yacht Octavia at Hamilton Island," Mr Watson said. The inquiry heard that in 2007, Mr Roberts also sailed the Whitsundays with Mr Hartcher and the Gazals.
Mr Roberts took over as energy minister after Mr Hartcher resigned following an ICAC raid of his office last year. Mr Watson said Mr Hartcher "repeatedly granted favours" to Australian Water Holdings and Buildev, which is controlled by Mr Tinkler. The inquiry heard Police Minister Mike Gallacher was on "first-name terms" with Mr Tinkler's associate Ray Williams and Mr Williams texted Mr Gallacher in March 2011 to set up a "lunch or dinner". Mr Koelma is alleged to have run what he described as a "black ops" mission to destroy the head of Sydney Water, Kerry Schott, who was standing in the way of a lucrative public-private partnership for Australian Water Holdings. This allegedly involved making false allegations to ICAC about Dr Schott.
One of the nation's largest developers, Harry Triguboff from Meriton, is alleged to have hidden his donations to the Liberal Party via the Free Enterprise Foundation. Mr Watson said the use of the foundation in this way was "a serious breach of the law, and a serious breach of trust with the voters of NSW". Chief Liberal fund-raiser Paul Nicolaou has agreed in private evidence that the foundation was used to hide money from prohibited donors. It is also alleged that Mr Nicolaou, on the letterhead of the Liberal Party's fund-raising arm the Millennium Forum, urged 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones to use his radio program to destroy Dr Schott's career. Delivering the opening address in Operation Spicer, the Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiry into political fund-raising in the NSW Liberal Party, Mr Watson said the inquiry would show that "a group of persons have engaged in sophisticated, well organised and systematic subversion of the electoral funding laws".
Mr Hartcher allegedly used a law firm, Hartcher Reid, and his own nephew to launder $4000 in donations, dragging them "unwittingly into an illicit enterprise".New Hampshire, the smallest of the swing states with only 4 Electoral Votes at stake, is an odd candidate to be a battleground state. New Hampshire is relatively rich, overwhelmingly White and very pretty, with more than its fair share of whitewashed churches, traditional Main Streets and wooded valleys which look resplendent in the fall. Granite Staters are famed for a flinty, Yankee, libertarianism enshrined in the state’s official motto, “Live Free or Die” and the fact that the state has neither a sales tax nor an income tax. But this is the Northeast and the sort of social conservatism that plays well for Republicans in many other parts of the country plays badly in a state where same-sex marriage is legal. New England is often said to be the most European region of the United States, and that is reflected in a European-style collapse in religious observance in the region over the past generation or so. Gallup in the mid-2000s found that New Hampshire shared the title of least churchgoing state in the Union with neighbouring Vermont, while the state also has one of the highest populations professing no religious affiliation.
Mitt Romney the Massachusetts governor — fiscally conservative but socially moderate-to-liberal — would be a perfect fit for New Hampshire. The small number of polls taken in the state in 2011 showed him with comfortable leads over Barack Obama, which reversed suddenly and dramatically when the Republican Primary forced Romney to the right, with Obama looking comfortable. After the first TV debate, the polls closed again and are indicating a dead heat at present. The RealClearPolitics.com average shows Obama with only a 0.8% lead in the state, although it remains underpolled. New Hampshire, long ignored in presidential elections once its Primary concluded in January, is now a vital battleground. For example, if Mitt Romney fails to make any breakthrough in the Midwest, he can still win – as long as he sweeps the southern and western swing-states and ekes out a win in New Hampshire.
Perhaps no state epitomises the enormous regional shifts in American voting behaviour over the past generation. Once a reliably Republican Yankee stronghold, which voted for the Republican candidate at every Presidential election between 1948 and 1988, the Granite State has voted for the GOP only once since, when it was the only state in the Northeast to opt for George W Bush in 2000. Every county in New Hampshire voted for Barack Obama in 2008, as did all but one county in the whole of New England.
The southeast corner of the state, comprising Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties and centred on Manchester and Nashua, is noticeably more Republican than the rest of the state. This area is less than an hour’s drive into downtown Boston if the freeways are clear, and many native Massachusites have moved across the state line seeking cheaper property and lower tax. The state’s population exploded for a generation, doubling between 1970 and 2000, and although that has since slowed, most of that population growth was concentrated in Boston commuterland. This part of the state also gets its television from Boston, and Mitt Romney is a familiar figure from his spell as governor of Massachusetts in the early 200s.
Between them, Hillsborough and Rockingham counties comprise 56% of New Hampshire’s population, and even in 2008 when Obama won the state by 10 clear points, he won Hillsborough County by only 4% and Rockingham by only 1%. He will do well to win either county this year.
Further north and west, however, the Democratic vote starts piling up, whether in blue-collar towns like Rochester and Somersfield, which powered Hillary Clinton’s come-from-behind Presidential Primary win in 2008, or the upscale retirement villages and college towns of the Connecticut River Valley, which favoured Obama. The short New Hampshire coast is another Democratic stronghold, and perhaps the most curious of them all is Berlin, a working-class former mill town way up north in the White Mountains and just 60 miles from the Quebec border. Despite its name, a majority of Berlin’s residents speak French at home.
The area around state’s capital, Concord, dead in the centre of the state, is often decisive in New Hampshire elections, usually evenly split between the parties when the state itself is competitive, and prone to high swings.
State-level elections are also prone to wild swings here. Republicans were routed from office at every level in the Democratic wave year of 2006 only to sweep to crushing majorities in both houses of the state legislature in 2010, although Democratic governor John Lynch’s enormous personal popularity enabled him to hang on.
Romney almost seemed to have given up on New Hampshire over the summer, spending less than $100k dollars on TV advertising most weeks while Obama was spending around half a million. Republican Political Action Committees also spent patchily on advertising in the Granite State. As so much of the state is covered by Boston TV stations, advertising is expensive here and involves much wasted money spent on advertising to viewers in the reliably Democratic states around. However, Romney’s recent upsurge in polling has seen a little more interest from him and his surrogates. In the week to Tuesday, the Romney campaign spent $355k on advertising here, while Karl Rove’s American Crossroads PAC dumped in a cool $1.47M. Barack Obama hit back with a $1.29M ad buy. Still, ad spending here is relatively low compared to other battleground states and the big PACs are still not showing much interest.
If a narrow Obama win in New Hampshire leads to him squeaking back to the White House for a second term, the Romney campaign may yet live to rue the lack of attention paid to Granite Staters over the summer.The Reserve Bank has now lowered its key cash rate by altogether 175 basis points since it embarked on the current cutting cycle in November 2011. Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement that while the full effects of earlier cuts were yet to be observed, ‘‘the board judged at today's meeting that a further easing in the stance of monetary policy was appropriate now’’. ‘‘This will help to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target over time.’’ Australia's rates are still some of the highest in the world despite the cut. Countries such as the United States and Britain, where rates are near zero, have resorted to other steps to stimulate their economies such as buying large amounts of government debt.
Waiting for the big banks
All eyes will now turn to the big banks and whether they pass on the rate cut in full. The chief executive of the Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA), Steven Munchenberg, signalled this morning that higher funding costs meant banks would not always pass on cuts in full. ‘‘Banks are facing higher funding costs mainly due to the competitive rates being paid on deposits. Prior to the GFC, term deposits were priced on average 200 basis points below the cash rate. Now, they are 20 basis points above the cash rate,’’ he said. ‘‘While interest rates on deposits remain attractive and competitive for savers, when combined with the cost of wholesale funding, deposits continue to put pressure on the overall cost of funds for banks.’’ (The cut is an) early Christmas present that hardworking Aussies deserve. Wayne Swan
The first bank to announce a cut to its mortgage rates, just minutes after the RBA decision, was Bank of Queensland, but the lender held onto 5 basis points, reducing its standard variable mortgage rate by just 20 basis points to 6.51 per cent. Chief executive Stuart Grimshaw said BoQ was conscious of the pressures facing all customers at this time of year, including those with home loans and those with deposits, and believed the 20 basis points cut "would strike a fair balance between the two". Online lender ING Direct passed on the full RBA cut and reduced its variable mortgage rates by 25 basis points, with the change coming into effect on December 24. ‘‘Our funding position has eased recently allowing us to pass on 25 basis points, however, the threat of elevated funding costs has not passed completely,’’ chief financial officer Glenn Baker said. Risks on the downside
Mr Stevens said global growth was forecast to be slightly lower for some time, with risks to the outlook still seen to be on the downside due to the crisis in Europe and continuing fiscal cliff discussions in Europe. ‘‘Recent data suggest that the US economy is recording moderate growth and that growth in China has stabilised. Around Asia generally, growth has been dampened by the more moderate Chinese expansion and the weakness in Europe,’’ he said. The dollar rose more than a quarter of a US cent to as high as $US1.0455 in the minutes after the decision. The rate cut was mostly expected by economists, who cited the softening mining sector and the continued moderating of the Australian economy as reasons why the Reserve Bank would move to lower rates. ANZ currency strategist Andrew Salter said the dollar surged following expectations in the market that the RBA would have issued a more "dovish statement" and that interest rates would have been eased by 50 basis points instead.
Mr Salter said he believed the market had misinterpreted some of the RBA comments as reflecting that it was coming to the end of its easing cycle. "There’s been some decision that’s the case and there were a couple of lines in the statement that alluded to the RBA having put in place a large amount of stimulus in its easing cycle," he said. "And that is obviously prima facie correct, and some in the market have extrapolated that to mean, incorrectly I think, that they’re looking towards ending their easing cycle." He said that while ANZ did not forecast further cuts from the RBA, they expected an easing bias in the forecast horizon. 'Good news for families' While interest rates are at the same level as they were during the financial crisis, federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said in a press conference after the RBA annnouncement that Australia's economic conditions were vastly different.
Mr Swan added that during the financial crisis, global growth was at -0.6 per cent, while the Aussie was about 60 cents. Citing Mr Stevens’ statement, he emphasised that the conditions in the economy this year were running close to trend. Mr Stevens said that indicators suggested that growth was running close to trend over the past year, ‘‘led by very large increases in capital spending in the resources sector, while some other sectors have experienced weaker conditions’’. ‘‘Looking ahead, recent data confirm that the peak in resource investment is approaching. As it does, there will be more scope for some other areas of demand to strengthen,’’ the statement continued. Recent data also showed company profits falling 2.9 per cent in the third quarter, a drop of 0.2 per cent in wage and salary payments in the September quarter, a 2.9 per cent reduction in job advertisements in November, flat retail spending in October and flat house prices in November. Mr Swan said the cut was an "early Christmas present that hardworking Aussies deserve". "When you have an interest rate cut, that's good news for families and good news for business," he said.
However, Mr Swan said he would not be surprised to see official data showing economic growth moderated in the third quarter after above trend growth in the first half of the year. Official national accounts data for the third quarter are due tomorrow. "We've had above trend growth in our economy for the first half of the year. Now we have the national accounts out tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a slight moderation in growth." Not a cheer for everyone The Christmas cheer that may come with a rate cut will not extend to pensioners, self-funded retirees and other older Australians living off their investments, the National Seniors lobby group said. Michael O’Neill, the National Seniors chief executive, said more than one million people fall into this category and could be losing an amount equivalent to 25 per cent of a person’s wages.
‘‘Some pensioners might have $5000, $10,000 or $15,000 put aside in term deposits, so they are impacted through to those would might have substantially more than that and are totally reliant on it,’’ he said. ‘‘So over the past 18 months, we’ve seen a reduction of about 1.75 per cent from about 6 per cent, so it’s over 25 per cent reduction in the interest rate on offer. So for people who are relying on that, it’s almost equivalent to comparing it with people on a wage having a 25 per cent reduction on their wage.’’ More cuts tipped AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said more cuts from the RBA should be expected. "Our assessment remains that the RBA has more work to do," he said. "While the global outlook has improved a bit, the Australian outlook has become more uncertain as evidence continues to build that mining investment, the key driver of Australian economic growth in recent years, is peaking at a time when the rest of the economy is still subdued."
Mr Oliver added that the cash rate would need to fall to 2.5 per cent at the least. "Standard variable mortgage rates will need to fall to around 6 per cent at least, which implies that the official cash rate will need to fall to 2.5 per cent at least," he said. "This is expected to occur during the first six months of next year, with the RBA cutting again in February by another 0.25 per cent." Other analysts doubt the RBA will need to lower rates much further, said CBA senior economist John Peters. Loading
‘‘With rates now well into stimulatory territory (that is, now at the 2009 emergency lows in the immediate wake of the GFC), we think we are nearing, or at the low point, for the current easing cycle," Mr Peters said. Although, further modest policy easing cannot be ruled out in early 2013 if the fourth-quarter consumer price index (due January) is benign and the economy shows further softening in the months ahead.Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was lauded by critics and fans alike on many fronts: it was a better realization of Middle-earth than most thought possible, and it was clear that an incredible amount of detail went into every facet of the films. One particular facet — composer Howard Shore's excellent score — will get its due in April 2015 when the entire trilogy is screened alongside a live orchestra performance at New York City's David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.
The films will be projected on huge screens set above 250 musicians, including a full symphonic orchestra, choruses, soloist, and conductor Ludwig Wicki. The trilogy will be shown and performed two times in total — one film will be shown at 7:30pm each evening from Wednesday April 8th through Friday the 10th. On Saturday the 11th, The Fellowship of the Ring will be shown as a matinee; The Two Towers will follow that evening and The Return of the King will wrap things up on Sunday the 12th at 1:30pm.
It's not the first time such a performance has taken place — the entire trilogy was screened and accompanied by a similar symphony in Lucerne, Switzerland and Munich, Germany, in 2011. Single-film performances have taken place across the world for years, as well — in fact, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers were each performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in 2009 and 2010, respectively. However, this marks the first time the entire trilogy has been performed in the US — and as someone who experienced the Radio City performances, I'd highly recommend anyone interested in symphonic music, film score, or Lord of the Rings look into this event. Single-movie tickets are on sale now, as well as packages for the complete trilogy.
From the archives: Good Vibrations - The Modern Musician (Top Shelf, June 2014)WASHINGTON — President Obama, acknowledging that high-tech surveillance poses a threat to civil liberties, announced significant changes on Friday to the way the government collects and uses telephone records, but left in place many other pillars of the nation’s intelligence programs.
Responding to the clamor over sensational disclosures about the National Security Agency’s spying practices, Mr. Obama said he would restrict the ability of intelligence agencies to gain access to phone records, and would ultimately move that data out of the hands of the government.
But in a speech at the Justice Department that seemed more calculated to reassure audiences at home and abroad than to force radical change, Mr. Obama defended the need for the broad surveillance net assembled by the N.S.A. And he turned to Congress and the intelligence agencies themselves to work out the details of any changes.
“America’s capabilities are unique,” Mr. Obama said. “And the power of new technologies means that there are fewer and fewer technical constraints on what we can do. That places a special obligation on us to ask tough questions about what we should do.”Work Authorization * Please select Can work for any employer Require visa sponsorship Require visa transfer On Student Visa Not Specified
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The outrage machine may be careening out of control.
Advertisers these days are reacting at breakneck speed, distancing themselves from controversy almost as soon as it earns a hashtag on Twitter.
“Right now any time anybody doesn’t like anything, they go to the advertisers and that’s ridiculous,” Angelo Carusone of Media Matters tells HuffPost. As president of the liberal nonprofit, Carusone is intimately involved in the mechanisms at play here. Media Matters was instrumental in the successful campaign earlier this year to get advertisers to drop Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, which ultimately led to the conservative host’s ouster.
It’s fine to be mad at Kelly and to criticize her, Carusone said. The parents of those children killed in Sandy Hook have received death threats because of Jones’ rabid rhetoric. Their anger is well-founded.
Jones is now Jones is now leaking pieces of the interview that make it appear Kelly went easy on him, but the conspiracy theorist’s version of the truth can hardly be trusted on its own. The fact is, we haven’t yet seen the whole interview.
Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images NBC News and anchor Megyn Kelly face displeased advertisers because of plans to air an interview with far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
But trying to scare off sponsors and move the show off the air before anyone even sees it is going too far, Carusone said, echoing comments from other progressive activists HuffPost spoke with for this article. There is a flirtation with censorship happening now that could ultimately endanger free speech on both sides.
It’s worth asking: How did we even get to this place?
Trying to scare away advertisers, historically, has been the province of conservatives. In 1989, the TV show “ThirtySomething” ― an angsty drama about baby boomers struggling to become adults in an era without avocado toast ― lost a reported $1 million in ads because of a scene on the show depicting two men in a post-coital conversation. Much of the pressure came from the conservative, anti-gay American Family Association, now considered a Trying to scare away advertisers, historically, has been the province of conservatives. In 1989, the TV show “ThirtySomething” ― an angsty drama about baby boomers struggling to become adults in an era without avocado toast ― lost a reported $1 million in ads because of a scene on the show depicting two men in a post-coital conversation. Much of the pressure came from the conservative, anti-gay American Family Association, now considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In 1997, advertisers ― again pressured by the AFA ― backed away from Ellen Degeneres’ sitcom after her character came out as gay.
“We don’t think it is a smart business decision to be advertising in an environment that is so polarized,” a spokeswoman for Chrysler said at the time.
But thanks to the growing bravery and activism of the gay rights movement ― with more and more Americans coming out of the closet ― the culture grew more accepting. And by 2000 ― two years into the successful run of “Will & Grace,” which depicted a gay man living with a straight woman ― the left picked up the mantle of outrage and censorship.
By all accounts, the first target of gay rights activists ― including GLAAD, founded in 1985, and other grassroots players ― was another controversial conservative woman. Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a popular radio host in the 1990s known simply as Dr. Laura, had been spewing rabidly anti-gay comments for years: regularly calling gay men pedophiles, for example, and categorizing homosexuality as deviant and unnatural. She was as popular as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity in her heyday.
But in 2000, Paramount gave her a TV show, which CBS picked up, and all hell broke lose.
“We were like, ‘Are you freaking kidding me,’” recalls John Aravosis, a Democratic political consultant who was part of a massive campaign to get the show pulled off the air. Aravosis, who now also edits America Blog, took action. He found an email alert sent by AFA and used it as a model for what he calls a “gay alert.”
“I took their font. I totally mimicked it and sent it to my friends,” he says. This was the early days of email, before inboxes were packed with newsletters and sales alerts from every store you ever shopped at. There was no Twitter, no Facebook, no hashtags. With little competition, his email took off.
“The damn thing went viral,” he says now, noting that shortly after that, he gave a talk at New York University and most of the audience was familiar with it.
Courtesy of John Aravosis The email that went viral and helped take down conservative talk-show host Dr. Laura in 2000.
What happened next is by now a familiar story: Activists mobilized protests in front of CBS affiliates, met with advertisers behind closed doors, got publicity on TV and sent more emails.
Though the show made it onto the air, within a few months it lost about 100 advertisers and was canceled within the year. Dr. Laura went back to the radio until 2010 when she went on a Though the show made it onto the air, within a few months it lost about 100 advertisers and was canceled within the year. Dr. Laura went back to the radio until 2010 when she went on a rant full of racial slurs after being asked for advice by a black woman on how to deal with her racist neighbor.
Media Matters and other activists drew blood, and Dr. Laura left the public airwaves. She now can be found on Sirius satellite radio and refuses to talk to the press.
The “Stop Dr. Laura” campaign was a model for subsequent movements against other conservative TV and radio hosts including Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Limbaugh and, most recently, O’Reilly.
“We unleashed this monster, and sometimes it’s a great weapon for social justice and sometimes it’s people censoring and sometimes it’s both,” Aravosis says.
“With Dr. Laura, we had a track record saying she shouldn’t be on TV,” he says. “In Kelly’s case, I’m not convinced there’s an argument.” She did step into controversy at Fox News (just Google “Megyn Kelly black Santa”), but her track record doesn’t come close to Beck’s or O’Reilly’s. If NBC hired Jones himself, Aravosis says, then there would be a clear case.
“ We unleashed this monster, and sometimes it’s a great weapon for social justice and sometimes it’s people censoring and sometimes it’s both. — John Aravosis, a Democratic political consultant
Advertisers have always tried to steer clear of what’s considered contentious content. In 1952 that meant Lucille Ball and her co-stars on the hit comedy “I Love Lucy” couldn’t say the word “pregnant” on national TV because advertisers told the network they felt nervous about being so edgy.
What’s changed, however, is the frequency and pace with which these battles happen. Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, and the ease of petition websites like Change.org, it’s never been simpler to channel outrage into activism. And with the ascent of Donald Trump, there’s quite a lot of outrage in the air right now.
Experts in the advertising industry say it’s hard to know for sure if the pace of protest has increased this year, but most agree that something more intense is happening.
“There is heightened sensitivity [postelection] to having a brand appear alongside content which itself might be inflammatory,” says B rian Wieser, a media analyst at Pivotal Research.
In the face of mounting controversy ― Sandy Hook parents have In the face of mounting controversy ― Sandy Hook parents have threatened a lawsuit ― Kelly and NBC have reportedly made changes to Sunday night’s program, inviting the parents of children murdered at Sandy Hook to appear and editing the segment to come down harder on Jones.
And for now, NBC is standing by the show and its host.Most people hadn’t heard of a “social justice warrior” until about a year ago, when it emerged as the preferred term among the Gamergate movement for the people they believed to be their greatest enemies. Now, the word has crossed over enough into mainstream use that in August, “Social Justice Warrior” was included in the latest batch of words added to Oxford Dictionaries. The online dictionary from Oxford University Press Most people hadn’t heard of a “social justice warrior” until about a year ago, when it emerged as the preferred term among the Gamergate movement for the people they believed to be their greatest enemies. Now, the word has crossed over enough into mainstream use that in August, “Social Justice Warrior” was included in the latest batch of words added to Oxford Dictionaries. The online dictionary from Oxford University Press defined the phrase as an informal, derogatory noun referring to “a person who expresses or promotes socially progressive views.”
For those following the controversy and its diaspora, that particular addition to the dictionary was interesting. It is very, very difficult to find a reliable accounting of what the phrase actually means, and to whom it refers precisely, and why.
And that’s almost certainly because the word came into the mainstream during Gamergate, an online backlash against progressive influence in gaming which cannot be described neutrally in one sentence. Its supporters say the whole thing was really about ethics in gaming journalism, but the movement gained widespread attention for a subset of Gamergate’s supporters, who conducted several troubling harassment campaigns against women in gaming and journalists.
If the gaming community is taken as a complete, multi-celled organism, then this debate becomes an argument over who gets to control its immune system. To call someone a “social justice warrior” in this context is to label that person as an invading force, a target for the white blood cells. They are unwelcome outsiders, seen as threats to the health of the entire body.
Many gamergaters have taken to explicitly using the language of cancer to discuss their issues with progressive gamers. But looked at another way, by the women and progressives being called a “social justice warrior,” the oncology becomes an autoimmune disorder: the immune system is attacking a healthy portion of its own body. It is, at its heart, an argument over what a gamer is, and who gets to say so.
Here’s how “social justice warrior” became a part of that debate.
When it was a compliment
More than 20 years ago, the term was generally used as a neutral or even complimentary describer. Here’s a clip from a 1991 write-up of a Montreal jazz festival, from the Montreal Gazette:
[Quebec guitarist Rene] Lussier will present the world premiere of his ambitious Quebecois mood piece Le Tresor de la Langue, which juxtaposes the spoken word — including sound bites from Charles de Gaulle and Quebec nationalist and social-justice warrior Michel Chartrand — with new- music noodlings.
“All of the examples I’ve seen until quite recently are lionizing the person,” Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries at the Oxford University Press, said in an interview last month. Because “Social Justice Warrior” is currently only in Oxford Dictionaries — and not in the Oxford English Dictionary itself — lexicographers there haven’t done a full search for its earliest citation. But a cursory search for the phrase turns up several positive uses, spanning from the early ’90s through the early ’00s.
Baptist minister, the Rev. James Obey Sr.’s, 1992 obituary in the Houston Chronicle was titled, “ Social justice warrior dies.” In 2007, “Social Justice Warrior” Monsignor David Cappo was honored with an award. And lawyer-turned filmmaker Ana Kokkinos told a newspaper reporter in 2009 that “what attracted me to law at that age was the idea of being a social justice warrior.”
There are a few negative uses that pop up, like a 2007 anti-multiculturalism editorial in the Baltimore Sun that characterized some workshops for teachers as a place where “presenters instruct teachers to go back to their schools and become social justice warriors.” But the balance is overall positive.
“Social Justice Warrior’s” older siblings
So how did Social Justice Warrior become an insult? Since Social Justice Warrior is still pretty new to lexicographers, |
would enable the segregation of patients according to their thyroid hormone status and the initiation of co-therapy with T3 at the beginning of AD therapy in those patients with the highest thyroid dysfunction.
Discussion
To summarize, we know from various evidence from the litterature that response to ADs can be driven but also altered at various levels (Table 1). Derived from these data, several peripheral or central biomarkers can now enable predicting an increased risk of non-response to AD treatment. They include markers genetic testing (polymorphisms of P450, ABCB1, SERT, NERT, COMT, MAOA, leptin, FKBP5, hsp70, GR, BclI, CRHR1, CRHR2, BDBF, D1, TRα genes, etc), plasmatic dosage (BDNF, cortisol, FKBP51, etc.) or brain imaging. Predictors of treatment response can easily be uncovered by deduction from predictors of treatment non-response: for example, if a poor response to ADs is met in Val allele carriers of the BDNF gene, this also indicates that good response might be achieved in the Met carriers. If poor response is shown in patients having low rostral cingulate activity, high response is observed in patients exhibiting elevated pretreatment rostral cingulate activity.
Based on the potential mechanisms of response to AD, several practical implications may be deducted (see Figure 1). Some of these conclusions have entered clinical routine and are now part of practical recommendations, such as augmentation therapy by thyroid hormones, and are sustained by strong clinical evidence (Shelton et al., 2010). However, other innovative strategies may enter further clinical investigation through randomized controlled studies. Among these new strategies, controlling co-medications, smoking status, or weight, assessing pre-treatment hormonal status combined with dexamethasone/CRH tests and T3 levels, investigating SNPs of specific genes known to be implicated in AD non-response, and the use of brain imaging or EEG to identify brain changes known to predict poor response to ADs are among the most promising. A more systematic referral to therapeutic drug monitoring (plasma concentration quantification) would also be useful as it appears to be largely insufficiently used given the considerable inter-individual variability in the pharmacokinetic characteristics of drugs. It enables the adaptation of the dosage of ADs to achieve the plasma drug concentration that ensures the highest probability of response (Hiemke et al., 2011). New augmentation strategies could also be developed based on the evidence reported in the present review, such as combining monoaminergic treatment with physical activity, cognitive training, stress reduction, P-gp inhibitors, mu opioid receptors agonists, zinc, and drugs targeting hormonal dysfunction (T3, FKBP5 inhibitor, or CRH1 or V1b antagonists). Switching ADs from one ineffective AD to a similar or different class of ADs and from SSRI/SNRIs to TCAs, MAOIs, and non-conventional antidepressant drugs, such as NMDA antagonists, may be other valuable strategies, as well as switching to somatic therapies, such as ECT, rTMS, VNS, or DBS.
FIGURE 1
Figure 1. Mechanisms (in blue) associated with antidepressant therapy resistance and recommendations for clinical practice (in green).
One of the main obstacles to improving care strategies is the wide heterogeneity of patients labeled as suffering from TRD and/or showing insufficient response to conventional AD. This heterogeneity is the consequence of the relatively poor specificity of the criteria for diagnosis, which are still based on clinical evaluation; even the rating scales typically used to assess clinical response exhibit relatively good inter-rater and test-retest validity. Moving toward a more systematic use of biomarkers may improve the characterization of clinical phenotypes of MDD and their biological, imaging or genetic, proteomic and metabolomic correlates (Leuchter et al., 2010). As we have extensively reviewed, although TRD and/or treatment non-response is a considerable challenge to improving patient outcome and preventing severe complications of prolonged depressive states, it represents a unique opportunity to better understand mechanism of action of ADs and thus to better understand the pathophysiology of MDD and improve its clinical characterization. This potential makes research on TRD and/or treatment non-response a high priority for new research developments at both the preclinical and clinical levels.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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of handwritten digits
Yann LeCun, Courant Institute, NYU
Corinna Cortes, Google Labs, New York
Christopher J.C. Burges, Microsoft Research, Redmond
It is a good database for people who want to try learning techniques and pattern recognition methods on real-world data while spending minimal efforts on preprocessing and formatting.
Four files are available on this site:
train-images-idx3-ubyte.gz: training set images (9912422 bytes)
train-labels-idx1-ubyte.gz: training set labels (28881 bytes)
t10k-images-idx3-ubyte.gz: test set images (1648877 bytes)
t10k-labels-idx1-ubyte.gz: test set labels (4542 bytes)
please note that your browser may uncompress these files without telling you. If the files you downloaded have a larger size than the above, they have been uncompressed by your browser. Simply rename them to remove the.gz extension. Some people have asked me "my application can't open your image files". These files are not in any standard image format. You have to write your own (very simple) program to read them. The file format is described at the bottom of this page.
The original black and white (bilevel) images from NIST were size normalized to fit in a 20x20 pixel box while preserving their aspect ratio. The resulting images contain grey levels as a result of the anti-aliasing technique used by the normalization algorithm. the images were centered in a 28x28 image by computing the center of mass of the pixels, and translating the image so as to position this point at the center of the 28x28 field.
With some classification methods (particuarly template-based methods, such as SVM and K-nearest neighbors), the error rate improves when the digits are centered by bounding box rather than center of mass. If you do this kind of pre-processing, you should report it in your publications.
The MNIST database was constructed from NIST's Special Database 3 and Special Database 1 which contain binary images of handwritten digits. NIST originally designated SD-3 as their training set and SD-1 as their test set. However, SD-3 is much cleaner and easier to recognize than SD-1. The reason for this can be found on the fact that SD-3 was collected among Census Bureau employees, while SD-1 was collected among high-school students. Drawing sensible conclusions from learning experiments requires that the result be independent of the choice of training set and test among the complete set of samples. Therefore it was necessary to build a new database by mixing NIST's datasets.
The MNIST training set is composed of 30,000 patterns from SD-3 and 30,000 patterns from SD-1. Our test set was composed of 5,000 patterns from SD-3 and 5,000 patterns from SD-1. The 60,000 pattern training set contained examples from approximately 250 writers. We made sure that the sets of writers of the training set and test set were disjoint.
SD-1 contains 58,527 digit images written by 500 different writers. In contrast to SD-3, where blocks of data from each writer appeared in sequence, the data in SD-1 is scrambled. Writer identities for SD-1 is available and we used this information to unscramble the writers. We then split SD-1 in two: characters written by the first 250 writers went into our new training set. The remaining 250 writers were placed in our test set. Thus we had two sets with nearly 30,000 examples each. The new training set was completed with enough examples from SD-3, starting at pattern # 0, to make a full set of 60,000 training patterns. Similarly, the new test set was completed with SD-3 examples starting at pattern # 35,000 to make a full set with 60,000 test patterns. Only a subset of 10,000 test images (5,000 from SD-1 and 5,000 from SD-3) is available on this site. The full 60,000 sample training set is available.
Many methods have been tested with this training set and test set. Here are a few examples. Details about the methods are given in an upcoming paper. Some of those experiments used a version of the database where the input images where deskewed (by computing the principal axis of the shape that is closest to the vertical, and shifting the lines so as to make it vertical). In some other experiments, the training set was augmented with artificially distorted versions of the original training samples. The distortions are random combinations of shifts, scaling, skewing, and compression.
References
[LeCun et al., 1998a] Y. LeCun, L. Bottou, Y. Bengio, and P. Haffner. "Gradient-based learning applied to document recognition." Proceedings of the IEEE, 86(11):2278-2324, November 1998. [on-line version]
FILE FORMATS FOR THE MNIST DATABASE
All the integers in the files are stored in the MSB first (high endian) format used by most non-Intel processors. Users of Intel processors and other low-endian machines must flip the bytes of the header.
There are 4 files:
train-images-idx3-ubyte: training set images
train-labels-idx1-ubyte: training set labels
t10k-images-idx3-ubyte: test set images
t10k-labels-idx1-ubyte: test set labels
The training set contains 60000 examples, and the test set 10000 examples.
The first 5000 examples of the test set are taken from the original NIST training set. The last 5000 are taken from the original NIST test set. The first 5000 are cleaner and easier than the last 5000.
TRAINING SET LABEL FILE (train-labels-idx1-ubyte):
[offset] [type] [value] [description]
0000 32 bit integer 0x00000801(2049) magic number (MSB first)
0004 32 bit integer 60000 number of items
0008 unsigned byte?? label
0009 unsigned byte?? label
........
xxxx unsigned byte?? label
The labels values are 0 to 9.
TRAINING SET IMAGE FILE (train-images-idx3-ubyte):
[offset] [type] [value] [description]
0000 32 bit integer 0x00000803(2051) magic number
0004 32 bit integer 60000 number of images
0008 32 bit integer 28 number of rows
0012 32 bit integer 28 number of columns
0016 unsigned byte?? pixel
0017 unsigned byte?? pixel
........
xxxx unsigned byte?? pixel
Pixels are organized row-wise. Pixel values are 0 to 255. 0 means background (white), 255 means foreground (black).
TEST SET LABEL FILE (t10k-labels-idx1-ubyte):
[offset] [type] [value] [description]
0000 32 bit integer 0x00000801(2049) magic number (MSB first)
0004 32 bit integer 10000 number of items
0008 unsigned byte?? label
0009 unsigned byte?? label
........
xxxx unsigned byte?? label
The labels values are 0 to 9.
TEST SET IMAGE FILE (t10k-images-idx3-ubyte):
[offset] [type] [value] [description]
0000 32 bit integer 0x00000803(2051) magic number
0004 32 bit integer 10000 number of images
0008 32 bit integer 28 number of rows
0012 32 bit integer 28 number of columns
0016 unsigned byte?? pixel
0017 unsigned byte?? pixel
........
xxxx unsigned byte?? pixel
Pixels are organized row-wise. Pixel values are 0 to 255. 0 means background (white), 255 means foreground (black).
THE IDX FILE FORMAT
The basic format is
magic number
size in dimension 0
size in dimension 1
size in dimension 2 |
angagwa’s spokesman, asserts that this is indeed a core part of his political program. The irony is that Mnangagwa has been known as a stalwart supporter of Mugabe, the land reform and indigenization. The same can be said of other stalwart ZANU-PF members, including Joyce Mujuru, who were forced out by Grace Mugabe and her G40 faction, which has a significant base among young supporters of ZANU-PF. Unlike Grace Mugabe and her supporters, Mnangagwa has the prestige of being a leader of the anti-colonial liberation struggle and having endured the repression of the white minority dictatorship.
Mnangagwa, is, according to some reports, likely to become the new President post-coup. The same reports say that prominent opposition leaders would be placed in subordinate positions in a coalition government to give it international legitimacy. (Several years ago Mugabe himself brought the opposition Movement for Democratic change, MDC, into a similar coalition to try and get the Western sanctions lifted.)
Unresolved questions of decisive importance
The primary question is if this is fundamentally a faction fight inside of ZANU-PF, a preemptive move to settle a long-unresolved question about post-Mugabe succession, or something more? An older generation of liberation war veterans clearly expected to succeed President Mugabe and in their own terms are blocking Grace Mugabe and her group of younger ZANU-PF leaders from solidifying their hold on governance. The coup leader, Gen. Constantine Chiwenga, had warned of military action after the removal of Mnangagwa, who had been rumored for quite some time as a likely next leader for the party. In other words, might the coup retain the essential ZANU-PF strategy just with a different leadership core?
Or will the coup plotters attempt to pursue a new course that could include courting the West and former white settlers? Will they be confronted by large numbers of Zimbabweans who will take action to oppose the coup and defend Mugabe as the legitimate and elected leadership, which one would expect in some form as a measure of the government’s support?
As of now, none of this is clear — nor has the hand of the British and U.S. governments been shown or revealed, or for that matter the position of the South African government, which has a complex and, of late, antagonistic relationship with Zimbabwe’s leadership. But these are collectively the questions that must be asked and answered to assess the political trajectory of the coup.
ZANU-PF is clearly split as are some important social groups like the association of liberation war veterans which supports the military’s action. On the other hand, some opposition figures aligned with Western imperialism have expressed support for it as well, seeing it as an opportunity to realign the country politically and economically. As such, there is ample reason to remain vigilant and wary of the possibility that this coup is designed to return Zimbabwe by force “into the fold” as a country whose exports of food and minerals would be essentially subordinated to the Western economic order’s supply chains.
For Zimbabwe this is a clear inflection point, and given the similar issues facing countries all over Southern Africa, the fallout could have serious reverberations. Beyond the tactical debates on the pace of land reform, a strategic reversal of land reform would clearly be a step backwards in moving the country away from its settler-colonial past into a self-determining future. If that is in the cards it will likely be revealed soon.
That the coup is relying on military action, rather than democratic, popular or constitutional means, gives strategic leverage to Western governments to exact such economic concessions in exchange for recognition.
A key role for progressives and anti-imperialists in the West is to ensure that U.S., UN and British military forces do not use the crisis to insert themselves into the country as a so-called “stabilizing” force.
There is no question that such a violation of Zimbabwean self-determination would return the country to a neocolonial status.When four of the premier talents in the NBA all play for one team, it is pretty difficult to find any lineup combinations among them that aren’t successful. Whether Draymond Green plays more of his minutes with Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant, the Warriors are still probably going to beat your favorite team. The probability that they beat them and how much they beat them by can hinge on these decisions, however. For example, if the Warriors play some of their weaker combinations and don’t get a big lead early, there is a better than decent chance that Draymond gets himself a technical foul, which also increases the chance he gets another one too and winds up thrown out of the game. That’s not conjecture, that’s science; and at that point, your favorite team might actually have a chance to pull off a courageous seven-point loss.
There is a total of 15 different lineup combinations that can be created using Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. Analyzing each one of these different combinations can help in determining which players complement each other the best, what the Warriors’ optimal rotation should be, how opposing teams can best strategize against each combination, and what the overall value of each player is to the Warriors. So, without further ado, here are the best lineup combinations among the Warriors’ core four, ranked one through 15 by Net Rating.
*Note: If one of the four players is not included in the combination, it means that they are off the court at the time. For example, Curry/Durant refers to the times when Durant and Curry are on the court while Draymond and Klay sit.
Curry/Durant/Green/Thompson: +22.6 NETRTG, 120.8 OFFRTG, 98.2 DEFRTG, 74.6 AST%, 53.4 REB%, 60.0 eFG%, 63.9 TS%, 104.92 PACE in 955 MIN
Unsurprisingly, the Warriors are at their best when all of their superstars are sharing the court together. The fact that Golden State has four superstars is crazy enough, the fact that those four superstars all have skillsets that perfectly complement each other makes them unstoppable when those four share the floor. Their defensive flexibility and man-to-man defense makes them impossible to score on. While their unbelievable shooting, constant off-ball action, and absurd passing ability to the tune of a 74.6 AST% make them impossible to stop as well.
For reference, here is how this combination fares with some different players in that 5th spot of the lineup:
Zaza Pachulia: +23.1 NETRTG in 532 MIN
Andre Iguodala: +23.9 NETRTG in 224 MIN
JaVale McGee: +32.1 NETRTG in 126 MIN
At the end of the day, I’m not really sure it matters who you plug into that 5th spot. You could throw Joey Crawford, Riley Curry, or hell, maybe even Anthony Bennett in there, and the team is still going to dominate.
Curry/Durant/Thompson: +18.1 NETRTG, 124.2 OFFRTG, 106.2 DEFRTG, 64.4 AST%, 52.5 REB%, 62.3 eFG%, 65.8 TS%, 108.68 PACE in 172 MIN
When this combination is on the floor, get ready for some fireworks. They play at a scorching pace, and feast in transition. It is the best offensive combination on this list with an OFFRTG of 124.2. The Warriors have a True Shooting Percentage of 65.8% with this combination, which is essentially like getting an open Steph Curry three pointer (157/359, 65.7 TS%) where the defender is 4-6 feet away, every trip down the floor. It’s actually one of the worst defensive combinations on the list, but the insane offense it produces makes it the second-best overall Warriors combination.
Curry/Durant: +16.6 NETRTG, 120.8 OFFRTG, 104.2 DEFRTG, 64.4 AST%, 50.9 REB%, 57.3 eFG%, 61.7 TS%, 104.38 PACE in 213 MIN
The first two-man combination on this list is of course, Curry and Durant. One could make the case that these are two of the best three players on the planet, and the Warriors certainly play like it when they’re out on the floor together, even when Draymond and Klay are sitting.
Curry/Green: +16.5 NETRTG, 112.5 OFFRTG, 96.0 DEFRTG, 69.5 AST%, 53.2 REB%, 55.8 eFG%, 59.1 TS%, 104.32 PACE in 362 MIN
This combination gets the third most minutes on the list. It’s not hard to see why either, as Curry and Draymond’s chemistry goes back a few years now. While the Curry+Dray pick-and-roll will always be effective offensively, this combo, like all of the two-man combos involving Draymond, makes its presence felt on the defensive end, with a 96.0 DEFRTG. It’s pretty crazy to think about how, even when a lot of their firepower is missing, this team has the ability to just completely lock in and frustrate you on the defensive end.
Curry/Thompson: +15.4 NETRTG, 117.5 OFFRTG, 102.1 DEFRTG, 66.0 AST%, 47.2 REB%, 58.6 eFG%, 60.9 TS%, 105.77 PACE in 104 MIN
The Splash Brothers round out the top 5. Now that CP3 has joined Harden in Houston, I’m sure folks like Colin Cowherd and Skip Bayless are licking their chops at the “Best backcourt in the NBA” debates that are about to ensue. Well, even without Durant and Draymond on the floor, the Splash Brothers made the Warriors pretty much unstoppable when they were out there together.
Durant/Green: +14.7 NETRTG, 110.5 OFFRTG, 95.8 DEFRTG, 82.6 AST%, 57.1 REB%, 49.0 eFG%, 54.3 TS%, 94.19 PACE in 32 MIN
It’s hard to put too much credence into these numbers as this combination has the smallest sample size on the list with just 32 minutes. That being said, I’m sure the length and defensive versatility would make this lineup pretty difficult to score against no matter who you played them with and how many minutes you played them. Perhaps this is a combo Steve Kerr could try out a little bit more next season
Curry/Green/Thompson: +13.7 NETRTG, 117.7 OFFRTG, 104.0 DEFRTG, 75.2 AST%, 49.4 REB%, 58.3 eFG%, 61.1 TS%, 104.10 PACE in 542 MIN
Don’t you yearn for the days when this was the scariest combo on the Warriors? This combination that carried the Warriors to a record-breaking 73 wins is now pretty much an afterthought as it ranks as just the 7th best combination on the list. Don’t be fooled however, that still means it has an absurd +13.7 NETRTG. With three years of running Kerr’s system now, it’s clear that these three have perfected it, with a 75.2 AST% when playing together. As 2015 and 2016 made clear, even if KD wasn’t with the Warriors, they would have no trouble scoring the basketball.
Just Curry: +9.1 NETRTG, 110.8 OFFRTG, 101.8 DEFRTG, 60.6 AST%, 51.8 REB%, 55.8 eFG%, 59.4 TS%, 104.38 PACE in 105 MIN
In the 105 minutes Stephen Curry played without Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson this season, the Warriors outscored their opponents by more points per possession than the Spurs, who are the second-best team in the NBA, did all season long. That is preposterous to think about. They didn’t exactly play Warriors basketball in these stretches, with a modest (for them) 60.6 AST%, but Curry seemed just fine fending for himself. When any of the other four were forced to play by themselves, the team really struggled, but Curry had zero issue putting the team on his back. 7 of the top 8 combinations on this list include Curry, the only one that didn’t is pretty much irrelevant because it logged just 32 minutes. Only 1 of the bottom 7 combinations include Curry. As incredibly talented a basketball player as Kevin Durant is, Steph Curry is still the Warriors most important player. The gravity is real, people.
Green/Thompson: +8.7 NETRTG, 101.4 OFFRTG, 92.7 DEFRTG, 78.0 AST%, 47.5 REB%, 49.8 eFG%, 53.6 TS%, 93.75 PACE in 283 MIN
Many people figured that Kerr would stagger Durant’s and Curry’s minutes this season so that one of them was always on the floor. That didn’t quite happen though as the Draymond and Klay combo played together a lot this season without Durant or Curry. They really helped stabilize the early portions of the second and fourth quarters for the Dubs. The Warriors played a very different style of basketball than we are used to seeing from them during these stretches, slowing down to a lethargic pace of 93.75, which is pretty much on par with the Utah Jazz. If you think it’s hard to score on Klay and Draymond when they’re running in transition, imagine how difficult it would be if they slowed the pace down. Opposing teams found out exactly how hard it would be, as they scored just 92.7 points per 100 possessions in those stretches.
Durant/Thompson: +7.7 NETRTG, 108.9 OFFRTG, 101.2 DEFRTG, 64.3 AST%, 50.1 REB%, 56.5 eFG%, 59.2 TS%, 98.28 PACE in 345 MIN
For as much as the Durant/Klay combo played together this season (345 minutes), it didn’t lead to quite the results you think that it would have. A +7.7 net rating is certainly nothing to scoff at, but given the firepower of some of these other two-man combinations, perhaps Kerr should reconsider how he allocates those minutes.
Durant/Green/Thompson: +6.7 NETRTG, 108.7 OFFRTG, 102.1 DEFRTG, 72.6 AST%, 45.5 REB%, 50.0 eFG%, 55.4 TS%, 102.49 PACE in 76 MIN
Perhaps it’s a little surprising to see a 3-man combo this low, but perhaps not, since Curry is not a part of it. It’s hard to interpret too much from just 76 minutes of action however.
Curry/Durant/Green: +5.8 NETRTG, 110.9 OFFRTG, 105.2 DEFRTG, 67.9 AST%, 45.7 REB%, 56.5 eFG%, 60.3 TS%, 108.74 PACE in 185 MIN
This was probably the most confounding combination on the list. A 3-man combination that includes both Curry and Durant in a somewhat significant chunk of minutes, and it winds up being the lowest 2+ player combination on the list. That is truly shocking. The team seems to really struggle rebounding and defending in these instances. They play at a very fast pace and don’t capitalize to the fullest extent, whereas their opposition seems to make the most of their transition opportunities. It is potentially just a case of missing shots they’d normally hit in those circumstances, as when the Warriors normally play at a pace that high, they tend to do much better offensively.
Just Durant: -2.8 NETRTG, 107.5 OFFRTG, 110.3 DEFRTG, 71.1 AST%, 43.8 REB%, 55.4 eFG%, 58.0 TS%, 96.27 PACE in 92 MIN
The actual hardest road for Durant doesn’t look quite as tempting as the one he chose. When Durant is out there all by his lonesome, the Warriors really struggle to stop the opposition from scoring. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors still manage to score relatively well, as Durant is one of the best 1-on-1 players in the world.
Just Thompson: -7.2 NETRTG, 104.4 OFFRTG, 111.6 DEFRTG, 70.6 AST%, 43.8 REB%, 55.0 eFG%, 57.2 TS%, 94.50 PACE in 170 MIN
Just a couple of weeks ago, all of China witnessed what happens to Klay Thompson when you leave him on his own. The results weren’t much different for the Warriors in North America this year. The team actually seems to go to this lineup from time to time, and it doesn’t work out very well. They play at an extraordinarily slow pace and still can’t defend or rebound to save their lives. If Klay ever decides he wants to go be the number 1 option on a different team, the Warriors might want to show him these numbers.
Just Green: -13.5 NETRTG, 88.7 OFFRTG, 102.3 DEFRTG, 92.0 AST%, 46.7 REB%, 46.8 eFG%, 49.7 TS%, 101.75 PACE in 36 MIN
There’s only about 36 minutes worth of data here, but the numbers do tell us something that probably is obvious to most basketball fans. Unless the NBA starts awarding 4 points for nut shots, Draymond Green will never be capable of single-handedly leading an offense to success. That’s not to say he’s not an excellent offensive player, because he is. He sets great screens, is a terrific passer and a pretty good ball handler for his size. He is just most valuable in a complementary role where he is utilizing those skill sets to help star players get open.Read more articles by
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SIX of the top 154-pound fighters in the world spoke to media in Brooklyn on Wednesday ahead of their respective Saturday, October 14 showdowns featured on a Showtime tripleheader live from Barclays Center.
The Premier Boxing Champions event is headlined by “The American Dream” Erislandy Lara defending against undefeated Terrell Gausha plus hard-hitting unbeaten champion Jermell Charlo taking on top contender Erickson “Hammer” Lubin and “Swift” Jarrett Hurd making his first title defence against tough former world champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout.
Here is what the boxers had to say:
ERISLANDY LARA
“I like to do my talking in the ring. On October 14 that’s exactly what I’m going to do. It’s an honor to be headlining on Showtime and we’re looking forward to a great fight.
“I’m excited to be part of this huge card. This is a great event. These are the best guys in the division. It’s a pleasure to be the main event and I look forward to putting on a show.
“Gausha is a good fighter. He’s an Olympian and a guy who wants to win and become world champion. I know what that feels likes, but I also know what it takes. We’ll see how it plays out on October 14.
“I’m excited for this fight. I’ve beat champions, former champions and now I’ll add an Olympian. After I take care of business I look forward to unifying the division.
“My prayers and my thoughts are with everyone down in Houston. I have family and friends who were affected. It’s a sad situation, but Houston has to be strong. That’s why I’m going to have “Houston Strong” on my trunks because we all need to stick together and unite. That’s the way we’ll make it through.”
TERRELL GAUSHA
“I was extremely excited to get the call for this fight. I’ve been working for this my whole career and it’s a great opportunity. Lara is considered to be the best in the division and I want to fight the best. Now is my time.
“I’ll have to make adjustments in there. Obviously with Lara you have to cut the ring off. We have a game plan that I’m going to go in there and execute on October 14.
“I’m fighting a tough competitor. He’s crafty. We all know he has skills. But I’ve prepared for this and I’m going to do what I have to do. I like to do my talking in the ring and I’ll leave it all on the line on fight night.
“I’m a more mature fighter now. I’m a true professional. I’ve been through some things in my career that have helped me leading up to this fight. I’m well-seasoned and ready for the test.
“I’m training with my coach Manny Robles in Norwalk, California and it’s been going really well. We’re adding a few things for this fight but mostly just putting in the same hard work that we always do.
“I’m blessed to be in this position. I feel like all my hard work is paying off now that I’m on a big card like this. I worked hard and I deserve this chance.”
JERMELL CHARLO
“I’m honored to be in Brooklyn. This is another exciting fight card like the last card I was on here. I did what I had to do in April. I let the opponent run his mouth and then I took care of him. I’m going to let that happen again.
“I have to take advantage of this opportunity. I know that I have a lot of advantages but I just need to go seize the moment. He’s a tough, strong fighter who’s going to be ready to take my title.
“It’s interesting to see a guy as young as he is come for a world title. I’ve been here a long time in the pro game. It’s a big stage for both of us. I’ve fought a lot of tough guys up to this point. This is what I’ve been preparing for.
“I want to fight Jarrett Hurd after this. I’d also like to get an opportunity to unify against Miguel Cotto. I want to show the old guard that the Charlo twins are as good as anyone.
“I got my hands full with Ericskon Lubin and I know he comes to fight. He’s a dog, but I’m an animal as well. I’m going to step up and do what I’ve done each time before.
“I’m doing this for Houston. Houston is going through a lot. My friends and family are all affected. It really doesn’t seem real to me. I’m ready to help however I can.”
ERICKSON LUBIN
“This is the fight I asked for. I said I wanted to go the WBC route and when it was officially announced I was really excited. I’ve been training for this since my last fight. I’m even more motivated now to go get the belt.
“I’ve been sparring with bigger guys. Guys who throw one-two combos like Jermell. I’m getting prepared mentally and physically for this fight.
“Jermell has some power. He moves pretty well, but I’ll be prepared for everything. Whether he pressures or boxes me I’ll be prepared.
“I laugh at people who say this is too soon for me. Mike Tyson was 19 when he dared to be great. This is the perfect time for me to show that I’m not a regular 21-year-old.
“This is a stacked card we have here and I’m ready to showcase my talent. I want to prove I’m the best in this division. I think we’re bringing back the era of all fighters going out there and giving it their all each time they step into the ring. I always steal the show and I’m planning to do that October 14.”
JARRETT HURD
“It means everything to be defending my belt on a card like this. I fought here at Barclays Center on the Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter undercard so to be back here against a veteran in Austin Trout is great. I can’t wait to put on a show.
“We’re going to have two buses of fans coming up here. The ‘Swift’ fans will be in the house. It’s going to be a great atmosphere on fight night.
“In my last bout, Tony Harrison won some early rounds by boxing me, so we’ve known that my next opponent is going to try to outbox me. We expect him to move around and use the ring against me.
“This has been a long training camp. We’ve had this bout set for a long time. We’re more than prepared.
“We’ve been training to catch a ‘Trout.’ We’ll put the bait out there and let him come in. If he doesn’t take the bait, we’ll step right in the water and get him out of there.
“I’m going to keep the pressure on him. I’m planning on attacking the body and making sure I cut off the ring. He’s going to be on the move so I have to be prepared.
“My fans can expect a stoppage on October 14. He’s got three losses against great opponents but none have been able to stop him. I’m going to separate myself by being the first to do it.”
AUSTIN TROUT
“This is going to put me back to where I belong. Right back on top. This is for my legacy so this is of the utmost importance.
“It’s an honor to be on a card like this. I’m blessed to be a part of this great lineup of fighters. This place is the new hotspot of boxing and I can’t wait to perform.
“Hurd is tall, he’s a big guy who I think is going to come forward. We’re preparing for the best possible Hurd that there could be.
“I’m ready to take my career to a whole new level. I’ve been in big fights, but none like this. There is so much riding on this fight. He wants to make a name for himself off of my name.
“He didn’t have to take this fight and I’m happy he did. But he messed up. I’m leaving the ring with his belt and his ‘0.’ I want to stake my claim as the best in the division.
“I’m coming home as a world champion. I’ll be a two-time world champion who’s going to unify this division. I’m going to have my hand raised at the end of the night.”
LOU DIBELLA, President of DiBella Entertainment
“This is going to be a sensational show. If you’re a boxing fan this is going to be an amazing show. It’s going to bring some clarity to the division with six talented guys matching off. It’s a boxing fan’s fight and it’s priced that way.
“What boxing needs is the best matchups. Boxing needs shows like this. These are the kind of shows thatShowtime has been showing for the last few years. There is no question that they’re the number one network in boxing.
“This card is about finding out who will be the last man standing in the 154-pound division. It starts on October 14 and it’ll all go down onShowtime.”
STEPHEN ESPINOZA, Executive VP & General Manager,Showtime Sports
“Last week we had the world’s attention for an unprecedented event in Mayweather vs. McGregor. What this sport needs to do to continue to expand is to follow that up with high quality boxing matchups. That’s why this card is so important. It was critical that we had a top to bottom high quality card to capture those people who started paying attention to boxing on Aug. 26.
“Over the last couple of years, Showtime along with Barclays Center and DiBella Entertainment have brought fans the biggest and best fights in boxing. This might be the highest quality card from top to bottom since we started working with Barclays Center.
“This tripleheader will be the 18th, 19th and 20th world title fights this year on Showtime. More than anyone else. More important and meaningful fights than anyone else. This is a talent-rich division we’ve been showcasing for years.
“I’ve never had any doubts about boxing’s future. Boxing is very healthy. All you have to do is look at these six fighters in their prime, taking on top competition. I know that this sport is in very good health.”President Trump could get a lot tougher this week on America's top trading partners.
His administration could slap big tariffs on shipments of steel from other countries, claiming they pose a risk to national security. The tariffs can go as high as Trump wants -- and could easily trigger retaliatory measures by other countries, hurting other American industries.
"This may be the most important trade decision that we've seen in decades," says Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It's extremely significant."
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to announce the results of an investigation into steel imports. Trade experts and Wall Street investors are convinced it's a foregone conclusion: Tariffs are coming. It's just a matter of how high and against whom.
Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the European Union and Japan are among the top steel exporters to the United States. China, which Trump has criticized for cheating on steel prices, ranked 11th last year, and trade experts say it is a likely target.
One key question is whether the Trump administration will impose a tariff on steel from all countries or target specific countries.
Related: Trump meets Modi: Trade, visas and climate change
Another is whether countries will retaliate with their own tariffs on American products, including outside the steel industry -- a trade war that could cost American jobs.
That possibility alarms advocates for U.S. farmers. The American agriculture industry sends a quarter of its products to other countries.
"It is a big deal, and we're very worried about this," says Bob Young, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents 6 million U.S. farmers. "The potential is certainly there for other countries to retaliate."
Related: American CEOs can't get enough of India's Prime Minister
A Commerce Department official said U.S. businesses should "rest assured that Secretary Ross takes a methodical, reasoned approach to all recommendations he makes to the president."
A 1962 law allows Ross to skirt an independent panel of U.S. trade judges and make the call himself on steel tariffs. And by invoking national security, the Trump administration has broad powers to determine how big and wide any tariffs will be.
The administration argues that the United States is too dependent on foreign steel for military equipment and infrastructure like roads and bridges. If steel-producing nations turned against the United States, the argument goes, it wouldn't be able to build tanks and other essentials to defend itself.
The U.S. auto industry is one of the biggest buyers of foreign steel and opposes the tariffs. The Automotive Policy Council, which lobbies for GM (GM) and Ford (F), warned in May that sweeping steel tariffs would mean "American auto sector jobs would be lost."
But steel industry leaders have encouraged Trump to go after foreign competition.
Barbara Smith, president of Commercial Metals Company, a Texas steel producer, said at a Commerce Department hearing in May that her company has closed 30 U.S. locations since 2008 and fired 4,000 workers because of foreign competition. The company has about 8,400 employees today.
Related: U.S. bans imports of Brazilian beef
High prices for American steel and increased foreign competition have driven a big decline in American steel jobs. There are about 385,000 today, down from 624,000 in 2000. Those are workers Trump pledged as a candidate to protect.
American steel advocates accuse China of selling steel at prices lower than the world average to box out U.S. competition. That's known as dumping.
The Obama administration imposed a 500% tariff on some Chinese steel last year to fight the practice. Chinese steel exports to the U.S. plunged almost two-thirds as a result. In total, the U.S. has imposed roughly 200 anti-dumping measures against Chinese steel products over the years.
China has also been accused of sending steel through a middleman to disguise where it's coming from. U.S. companies point out that exports of steel from Vietnam to the United States rose almost 300% just between 2015 and 2016. The Obama administration opened an investigation on the issue in November.
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If Trump imposes tariffs, the World Trade Organization could deem them a violation of global trade laws, which would allow other countries to sue in a WTO court. Past presidents have abided by the WTO, but Trump's trade team has signaled that it may ignore WTO rulings.
In the meantime, the risk of retaliation would be high.
Young, the Farm Bureau economist, says American jobs could be on the line. He says the Chinese could easily slap tariffs on American soybeans, one of the biggest U.S. exports to China. There are about 300,000 soy farms in the United States.
Some world leaders are already putting Trump on notice.
"It will hit us very hard," European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said at a Politico event last week. "We will have to respond in different means."The Rolex Story Hans Wilsdorf and his Amazing Watch Writer's Note: My intent in offering this story is simply to give Rolex wearers an appreciation of the life and passion of the amazing gentleman who created our watch, Hans Wilsdorf. Many of you have never heard his name but owe him a great deal. I am telling this tale in story form and with a bit of poetic license yet based on historic fact. I hope you enjoy it. Hans Wilsdorf was born in Bavaria (Germany) in 1881 to a successful, middle-class family of iron mongers. At age 12, circumstances made young Hans an orphan. His charge was given to an Aunt and Uncle who promptly placed him in a Boarding School in Coburg, Germany about 25 miles away from his home. It was a dreadful existence and Hans was very unhappy. He focused on his school work to survive and became quite proficient at reading, writing and speaking English. This would later become quite useful! One day, Hans decided he had had enough and left the boarding school for Geneva, Switzerland. He found a job working for a pearl merchant. He learned the business and noted that the company actually did not create anything and still made a great profit! The company purchased pearls from various markets then sorted, graded and packaged them for sale to jewelers. This would also prove to be a great lesson to young Hans. Ultimately, Hans got a job with a growing watch company called Cuno-Korten in Switzerland. He was hired because he could read and write English and could answer correspondence from The British Empire and America, the richest nations in the World at that time. While at Kuno-Korten Hans became fascinated with watch movements and their accuracy. This was the beginning of his life-long passion. Hans later found a partner, Alfred Davis, and together they opened their own watch company, Wilsdorf and Davis. Hans convinced a small watch movement manufacturer in Bienne, Switzerland, Aegler, to produce watch movements for him small enough to wear on the wrist. A great visionary, Hans saw the trend to move away from Pocket Watches. Their new watches proved to be very successful. Wilsdorf and Davis first registered the Tradename Rolex in 1908. It means absolutely nothing and is thought to have been inspired by George Eastman who in 1884 decided against naming his camera the Eastman 25 in favor of Kodak. Mr. Eastman is quoted as saying I knew a tradename must be short, vigorous, incapable of being misspelled to the extent that will destroy its identity, and, in order to satisfy the trademark laws, must mean nothing. The brand name Rolex was born! Mr. Wilsdorf continued to be innovative with his watch and was intent upon its high level of accuracy. Then, in 1926 he added a new level of distinction he made it water-proof and deemed it the Oyster. He coined the term due to his frustration in trying to open a tightly closed Oyster! In 1927, Mr. Wilsdorf was looking to make his Rolex watch known around the world. He employed the services of a young London typist named Mercedes Glietz who at the time was attempting to swim the English Channel. Hans announced to the world media that she would be wearing his water-proof Rolex Oyster watch and that she would emerge from the water and his watch would be perfectly on time. This had never been done before. When Miss Glietz stepped from the water, exhausted, after swimming for over 15 hours, her Rolex was right on time. She and her Rolex Oyster made headlines around the world! Rolex has continued to stay in the forefront of the watch world with classic design and innovation, to this day. If you would like to learn more of this incredible watch and its history, I highly recommend the book, The Best of Time, by Mr. James M. Dowling and Mr. Jeffery P. Hess?it is exceptional and was a source for this writing. Writer?s Note: Hans Wilsdorf's passion in life was his Rolex watch. He intended his watch to make the world a better place, through its uses, its accuracy and its beauty. He wanted his watch to be considered a symbol of achievement, not a symbol of status and became agitated if it was referred to as such. His watch was priced just out of reach of the middle-class man meaning, to earn one, one would have to contribute a bit more, work a little harder and reach a bit farther. A Rolex watch is generally significant of a major achievement in its wearer's life. Upon Mr. Wilsdorf's death in 1960, he owned all of Rolex and the Company today is still privately held and overseen by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation which is a Charitable Organization. It is said that the proceeds discretely go to Children's Charities around the world (Mr. Wilsdorf was an orphan) and to cutting edge entrepreneurial endeavors (Mr. Wilsdorf had over 700 patents). You should be extremely proud of that Rolex on your wrist, your achievements to |
the hole without raising taxes, which means cutting spending and leaning on state workers.
"We need a leaner and cleaner state government," Walker said in his budget address to lawmakers. "As we decrease spending, we also increase flexibility so local government and state government have the tools to deal with reduced revenue."
Wisconsin has been roiled by protests in recent weeks as teachers and public workers seek to save their collective bargaining rights.
The uproar began when Walker introduced a "budget repair bill" in mid-February that sought to close a $137 million shortfall for the current fiscal year by preventing most public employees from collectively bargaining on anything but wages. And it would require them to contribute much more toward their medical premiums and retirement accounts.
Union leaders have said they are willing to pay more toward their benefits, but they will not give up their ability to bargain. Workers then descended on the state capitol in Madison, captivating the nation's attention.
The bill remains stuck in Wisconsin's Senate because its Democratic delegation has fled to Illinois, denying the Republican majority the quorum needed to vote. Walker urged the missing lawmakers to return home.
Big budget cuts
Calling his state "broke," Walker crafted a budget that slashes spending by $4.2 billion, or 6.7%. The cuts fall heavily on school districts, counties and municipalities because state aid to them eats up more than half the budget.
State aid to schools would plummet by $834 million, or 7.9%, while districts would be prevented from raising property taxes. The governor estimates that schools will save $1 billion from increasing employee benefit contributions.
Local governments, meanwhile, would see their aid reduced by $96 million, or nearly 11%.
Walker would also cut the state's Medicaid budget by $500 million. He would require certain enrollees to contribute toward their premiums and pay a portion of their medical services.
Meanwhile the University of Wisconsin-Madison would be reorganized into its own entity with a separate board of trustees. That would give the campus more flexibility to allocate resources and set tuition. Overall, though, Walker's budget reduces aid to the public higher education system by $250 million.
Some 21,325 full-time state positions would also be eliminated under Walker's proposed spending plan. Most of the reductions would come from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reorganization.
The budget, however, also includes some areas of investment. Walker wants to put $5.7 billion into the state's transportation system.
"That's money that will create jobs -- now -- and in the future," he said in his speech before the state legislature.
And he is proposing to eliminate capital gains taxes for investors in Wisconsin companies that provide jobs and to provide tax relief for employers who boost their payrolls.
Big assumptions
Walker, however, is making some big assumptions in his budget-balancing plan, experts said.
While the state could shave $300 million off its employee costs by boosting contribution levels, there's no way to know how much local governments will save from doing the same. Several unions have settled contracts recently that don't include increased benefit payments.
"He can't control what goes on at the local level," said Todd Berry, head of the Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance, a non-partisan research group.
Municipalities, counties and schools would have to make cuts across the board to deal with the reduced state aid. School districts would likely lay off personnel and increase class sizes, while local governments would curtail public safety, parks, libraries and other services.
"It will be really tough to find those kind of cuts that the voters won't notice," said Dan Thompson, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.
Although Walker wants to grow the state's economy, his spending plan could ultimately hurt its prospects, said Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of public affairs at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Mixing revenue increases with spending cuts would be less likely to do long-term harm, he said.
The budget now goes to the state legislature, where lawmakers may make changes. Republicans in both houses have stood behind Walker as protesters try to get the collective bargaining measure removed from the discussions. They have the votes needed to approve Walker's recommendations as soon as the Democrats return to Madison.A vulnerability in some popular Netgear routers has gone unpatched for months. Left unchecked, it leaves thousands of home networking devices exposed to full control by hackers, who can then ensnare them in havoc-wreaking botnets. While Netgear has finally released a tentative fix for some models, the delays and challenges in patching all of them help illustrate just how at risk the Internet of Things is—and how hard it is to patch up when things go wrong.
Andrew Rollins, a security researcher who also goes by Acew0rm, notified Netgear about the flaw on August 25, but says that the company never responded to him. After waiting more than three months, he went public with the vulnerability, and the Department of Homeland Security's CERT group released an advisory about it on Friday. Its advice? Pull the plug.
"Exploiting this vulnerability is trivial. Users who have the option of doing so should strongly consider discontinuing use of affected devices until a fix is made available," the CERT notice said. The flaw allows unauthenticated web pages to access the command-line and then execute malicious commands, which could lead to total system takeover.
After initially saying over the weekend that three products "might be vulnerable," Netgear now confirms that eight of its router models (R6250, R6400, R6700, R7000, R7100LG, R7300, R7900, R8000) are affected, including three of the five most popular routers on Amazon. Netgear also declined to comment on why it's taking so long to release a production-grade firmware update."We strive to earn and maintain the trust of those that use Netgear products for their connectivity," the company said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Netgear finally released beta patches for some models, but the company says the fixes have not been fully tested and "might not work for all users." Compounding the issue is that Netgear customers have to install the firmware themselves; the company says it has no process in place to push an over-the-air update, and that customers will have to manually install it on their own. That is, whenever it's officially available.
"It's making them look very incompetent," Rollins says, adding that the vulnerability is "not that hard to fix at all."
Computer science researcher Bas van Schaik published a temporary fix for the vulnerability on Friday. "What surprised me most is that Netgear was notified of this vulnerability months ago, but didn't act," he says. "Given the significant severity of the vulnerability, I find that as appalling as it is baffling."
Users who own affected router models should download a beta patch if available, and implement van Schaik's workaround (which CERT also recommends) if not. The other option is disconnecting the router until Netgear releases a final firmware update.
Internet of Dings
It's unknown how many Netgear routers, if any, have been compromised—though given that the exploit is now public, owners should consider themselves at risk. The incident raises larger issues facing Internet of Things devices, though. Most significantly, how hard it can be to tell if they're compromised, and how hard it is to fix them if they are.
Millions of Internet of Things devices are vulnerable to takeover through one bug or another, and this has increasingly led to the formation of IoT botnets—armies of devices that attackers infect with malware, which then coordinates their actions to mount attacks. Discovering the vulnerabilities in the first place is part of the battle, but the bigger challenge is actually securing them once the bugs are known. People rarely so much as look at their routers, much less interface with them the way they would a PC. And unlike with infected PCs, there's no alert or clear indication that something's wrong. IoT devices are hard to diagnose, and harder still to mend.
"It’s got to get to the level that it’s simple in terms of notification and procedure to upgrade for users, otherwise we end up with the problem we have," says Morey Haber, vice president of technology at the security firm BeyondTrust. "There are many devices that are out there that are complex and not easy to update and people don’t even know it."
And as long as so many devices are vulnerable, attackers will actively look to exploit them. It's a vicious cycle, one that's playing out for many Netgear owners in real time.Israel announced on Army Radio today that they have “appropriated” a large tract of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, confiscating some 579 acres (2.3 square kilometers), which NGO Peace Now referred to as the largest single confiscation of territory in years.
The territory seized is near the Palestinian city of Jericho, and is reportedly slated to be used in the expansion of Jewish settlements in the area, to further prevent the potential of forming a contiguous Palestinian state in the future.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the move as illegal, and urged Israel to immediately reverse the seizure of Palestinian territory in the interest of a comprehensive peace deal. US officials also said the seizure was “fundamentally undermining” the peace process.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon refused to comment on the confiscation to the media, though other ministerial officials insisted the seizure was “in accordance with the decision of the political level.”
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzDr Bekoff, of the University of Colorado, said these rituals prove that magpies, usually seen as an aggressive predator, also have a compassionate side.
The discovery raises the debate about whether emotions are solely a human trait or whether they can be found in all animals.
Previous studies have suggested that gorillas also mourn their dead while rats have empathy and cats form friendships.
Dr Bekoff said he studied four magpies alongside a magpie corpse and recorded their behaviour.
"One approached the corpse, gently pecked at it, just as an elephant would nose the carcase of another elephant, and stepped back. Another magpie did the same thing, " he said.
"Next, one of the magpies flew off, brought back some grass and laid it by the corpse. Another magpie did the same. Then all four stood vigil for a few seconds and one by one flew off."
After publishing an account of the funeral he received emails from people who had seen the same ritual in magpies, ravens and crows.
"We can't know what they were actually thinking or feeling, but reading their action there's no reason not to believe these birds were saying a magpie farewell to their friend," he wrote in the journal Emotion, Space and Society.
Those who see emotions in animals have been accused of anthropomorphism – the attribution of human characteristics to animals.
However, Dr Bekoff said emotions evolved in humans and animals because they improve the chances of survival.
"It's bad biology to argue against the existence of animal emotions," he said.
He also claims to have seen emotions in elephants. While watching a herd in Kenya he noticed an injured cow elephant who was only able to walk slowly.
"Despite her disability the rest of the herd walked for a while, stopped to look around and then waited for her to catch up.
"The only obvious conclusion we could see is the other elephants cared and so they adjusted their behaviour," said Dr Bekoff.Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks.
ON A chilly day in central Melbourne, Cath Bowtell is courting Labor votes. Adam Bandt, a rival Green, campaigns nearby. Both are drawing abuse from a jobless man selling a community newspaper who resents politicians cluttering his patch. But the candidates stand their ground: Melbourne could prove crucial in deciding Australia's tightly fought general election on August 21st.
The ruling Labor Party has held this constituency for 106 years. The incumbent is Lindsay Tanner, the finance minister, who commands a strong following among the educated young professionals who have changed its old working class character. But Mr Tanner announced that he was quitting on the day in June that Julia Gillard unseated Kevin Rudd as Labor leader and prime minister. It was the first act in a soap opera that has since bedevilled Labor's campaign against the conservative Liberal-National opposition.
Polls since then have shown support in this progressive corner drifting to the Greens. Voters are uneasy that Labor dropped plans for an emissions-trading scheme to tackle climate change, and many dislike Ms Gillard's populist approach on asylum-seekers (though it is softer than that of the opposition). As a result, the Greens hope to capture Melbourne as their first-ever seat in the country's lower house. Having enjoyed a majority of 16, some glum Labor folk now talk of a hung parliament: two safe inner-Sydney seats are also under a Green siege. Mr Bandt says that “People seem to think the Labor Party has become more like the Liberal Party.”
For Ms Gillard, battling to avoid the humiliation of a Labor defeat after barely a single term, the Melbourne bind stretches over the country. A poll on August 9th gave Labor a four-point lead over the coalition, once second-preference votes were counted. The real story, though, lies in first votes. Labor's have dropped by almost five points to 38% since the last election in 2007; the coalition's tally is roughly unchanged at 42%. Green support has risen by almost four points to 12%, mostly at the expense of Labor. To stay in power, Ms Gillard will probably have to rely on a preference-vote deal with the Greens.
This was hardly the script Labor's chiefs had in mind when they launched the coup to install Ms Gillard. At 48, her popularity and gift for plain speaking were meant to rescue the government from Mr Rudd's falling poll ratings. The dispatched leader, though, became a bigger media draw than his successor. In pictures of the pair meeting again on August 7th in Brisbane, Mr Rudd's home city, they looked more like two warring relatives than colleagues out to win an election. By the campaign's penultimate week, however, Ms Gillard had started to cut through. She went to resource-rich Western Australia in a bid to calm lingering protests over a new mining-profits tax. And after fielding questions smartly from a national television audience, bookmakers shortened the odds on her being elected Australia's first woman prime minister in her own right.
If Ms Gillard is still straining to convince voters, Tony Abbott, the opposition leader, is faring little better. A competitive, combative figure in the right-wing mould of John Howard, a former long-serving Liberal prime minister, he was hardly considered a serious contender for his party's leadership. He snatched it by just one vote eight months ago. His formal campaign launch on August 9th in Brisbane, before Mr Howard and other Liberal diehards, was big on attack, slight on policy.
If he wins, Mr Abbott promises to ring the leader of the Pacific island nation of Nauru and reinstate a discredited Howard-era policy of dumping boat people there. Ms Gillard, meanwhile, is trying to embarrass Mr Abbott over a plan to pay for a parental-leave scheme by raising company taxes, saying it will only put up costs. Business leaders have attacked his promise to abolish Labor's A$43 billion ($39 billion) fibre-optic broadband project and replace it with a cheaper, lesser one.
Yet Labor has squandered the electoral advantage that might have been its due from keeping Australia out of recession in the global downturn. Ross Garnaut, an economist and former adviser to the Rudd government, argues that income growth from the China-led resources boom will peak this year. He recently attacked both main parties in the election for failing to tackle declining productivity. And neither leader has offered any vision for Australia's relations with its region, especially China, its biggest trading partner.
Selling the economy strongly still remains Ms Gillard's best hope. She will be helped, too, if she can stop her party's infighting and if Mr Abbott manages one of his periodic verbal gaffes. Yet this uncertain mix hints at how this election, more than most, has entertained and dismayed Australians in near equal measure.ONONDAGA, N.Y. -- A worker was killed Tuesday at a nursing home when an elevator descended and pinned him while he was working on another elevator, the New York State Police said.
Troopers responded about 9:07 a.m. to the Iroquois Nursing Home, at 4600 Southwood Heights Drive, in the town of Onondaga, to help emergency responders with a person pinned in an elevator shaft.
State police said 53-year-old Christopher J. Hamelinck was killed while working at the nursing home.
Hamelinck, who was employed by Otis Elevator Company, was at the nursing home Tuesday to do service work on an elevator. While he was in the shaft doing maintenance, another elevator from an upper floor came down and pinned Hamelinck between an affixed steel ladder and a support beam, state police said.
The reason the upper elevator descended is not known, state police said, but incident was "consistent of an accidental death, with no signs of foul play."
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to the nursing home and is investigating. State police said they are also continuing to investigate.Originally Posted by Par12 Originally Posted by
I would like to thank you for these events, one in particular.
Achievement 4: Defeat opponents in the Free For All Arena (September 14 – October 5)
So those people who don't do pvp or have trouble winning against one person, are suppose to enter against 7 other people. Defeat 5 people and repeat it 5 times.
Once again people are being forced to do something they don't like or have trouble with.
So how are these people meant to get this 4th achievement and the coin that goes with it?
It is already bad enough that collecting letters in Sungold Fields and Exeloch will bring every pirate and pker to these places, so another achievement for non pvp players to enjoy.
Perhaps the Turkey event will also happen when Diamond Shores is in conflict or War, making getting the biggest prize pack iimpossible for non-pvp people to get.Oct. 23 (UPI) — First lady Melania Trump made a surprise visit to a middle school in Detroit Monday morning to kick off the White House’s “Week of Inclusion.”
Trump was accompanied on the visit to Orchard Lake Middle School in West Bloomfield by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as part of the first lady’s anti-bullying initiative.
The first lady and DeVos spent time Monday in the school’s Viking Huddle Class — a 6th grade classroom that focuses on social and emotional learning.
Trump was also set to visit 7th and 8th grade students in the cafeteria to promote “No One Eats Alone” — an initiative to stem social isolation by asking students to be more inclusive of others at lunch time.
“As part of my ongoing commitment to the overall well-being of children, I am looking forward to today’s visit,” Trump said in a statement. “By our own example, we must teach children to be good stewards of the world they will inherit.”
“We need to remember that they are always watching and listening. It is our responsibility to take the lead in teaching children the values of empathy and communication that are at the core of kindness, mindfulness, integrity, and leadership.”
var _informq = _informq || []; _informq.push([’embed’]);Phillip Raymond Hernandez is accused of killing his son, 9, with a hatchet on Feb. 26, 2013. Sacramento Police Dept. via CBS Sacramento
(CBS/AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Phillip Raymond Hernandez, of Sacramento, Calif., is behind bars after allegedly killing his 9-year-old son with a hatchet on Tuesday night, CBS Sacramento reports.
Police say a hysterical relative, who was at the family's home, called 911 just before midnight on Tuesday, reporting the boy had died.
When authorities arrived at the home they found Matthew Hernandez dead from blunt force trauma to the head, the station reports. Police were reportedly told the boy's father, 36-year-old Phillip Hernandez, was to blame.
Hernandez was located and arrested about 15 minutes later.
According to Sacramento Police Department spokesperson Officer Michelle Gigante, Hernandez was in the backyard of his home when he grabbed a hatchet, broke through a sliding glass door of the home and stood of his son, who was sleeping on a couch, the station reports. An adult family member heard the crash, came downstairs and tried to stop Hernandez, but was shoved aside. Hernandez then attacked his son, according to reports.
A second son, 12, was also in the home at the time of the incident. He was unharmed and is now in the custody of his family.
The hatchet believed to be used in the killing was recovered at the scene.
Police say they don't know why Hernandez allegedly attacked his son.
Court records reveal Hernandez was in a long custody battle to keep his sons. The children's mother won full custody in 2006 after Hernandez was arrested for allegedly beating her, the station reports.
According to CBS Sacramento, Hernandez was convicted of corporal injury on a spouse and served more than a year in prison. After his release, he fought for custody of his children. He reportedly wrote the judge, "It's been over three years since I last saw them... they are what matter, my view of life is what is important... I love them with all of my heart and I want to give what I didn't have... a father."
In 2009, the boys' mother gave Hernandez custody, saying she wasn't financially able to support them. But in 2012, she fought to get them back.
"He was going through rough times and so we don't know what triggered, but obviously something did and it's a tragedy we all have to deal with," family member Chris Duran said.In 2011, BlackBerry was rumored to be developing a media box to compete against the likes of Roku and Apple TV. While that device never made it to market, it looks like the company did manufacture some units, as proven by pictures posted on the CrackBerry forums. These photos were taken by user "isaac708," who claims he got 10 BlackBerry Cyclones (the device's code name) inside a box full of server stuff from a RIM liquidator. Half of those units came with a remote control, and some of them can actually connect to the internet via WiFi as well as stream videos to a TV using HDMI connection. One of the images he posted even shows the box's user interface with the YouTube and Slacker apps in full view, though Netflix, which is also supposed to be part of Cyclone's repertoire, is nowhere to be seen. While the device's fate is likely up in the air (if it hasn't been scrapped yet) due to the company's ongoing struggles, the pictures after the break should give you an idea of how it looks.
[Thanks, Joel]Current therapies for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder comprise psychostimulants, which block the dopamine transporter and/or stimulate the release of dopamine, leading to a global elevation in extrasynaptic dopamine. These drugs are, however, associated with a series of unwanted side effects such as insomnia, anorexia, headache, stomach problems and potential drug abuse. Recent evidence suggests that the dopamine D4 receptor may represent a selective dopamine target that could mediate cognitive as well as striatal motor processes. In this study we compare the effects of a selective D4 receptor agonist, A-412997, with methylphenidate or amphetamine in preclinical models of efficacy versus abuse liability. Both methylphenidate and A-412997 improved a temporally induced deficit in the rat novel object recognition task at doses 10-fold lower than those stimulating activity. In both cases, procognitive doses were associated with elevated extracellular levels of dopamine and acetylcholine in the medial prefrontal cortex. In contrast to amphetamine, A-412997 did not mediate reward-related behaviour in the conditioned place preference paradigm, a preclinical rodent test used to assess potential abuse liability. Collectively, these data suggest that selective activation of the D4 receptor may represent a target for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder without the potential drug abuse liability associated with current psychostimulant therapies.by
Photo by Toxic5 | DeviantArt
Powerful elites are using the credibility of the US Intelligence agencies to demonize Russia and prepare the country for war. This is the real meaning of the “Russia hacking” story which, as yet, has not produced any hard evidence of Russian complicity.
Last week’s 25-page report, that was released by the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, illustrates to what extent intelligence is being “fixed around the policy”. Just as the CIA generated false information related to Weapons of Mass Destruction to soften public resistance to war with Iraq, so too, the spurious allegations in the DNI’s politically-motivated report are designed to depict Russia as a growing threat to US national security. The timing of the report has less to do with the election of Donald Trump as President than it does with critical developments in Syria where the Russian military has defeated US-proxies in Syria’s industrial hub, Aleppo, rolling back Washington’s 15-year War of Terror and derailing the imperialist plan to control vital resources and pipeline corridors across the Middle East and Central Asia. Russia has become the main obstacle to Washington achieving its strategic vision of pivoting to Asia and maintaining its dominant role into the next century. The Intelligence Community has been coerced into compromising its credibility to incite fear of Russia and to advance the geopolitical ambitions of deep state powerbrokers.
The “Russia hacking” flap shows how far the Intel agencies have veered from their original mandate, which is to impartially gather and analyze information that may be vital to US national security. As we have seen in the last two weeks, the leaders of these organizations feel free to offer opinions on issues that clearly conflict with those of the new President-elect. Trump has stated repeatedly that he wants to reduce tensions and reset relations with Russia, but that policy is being sabotaged by members of the intelligence community, particularly CIA Director John Brennan who appeared just last week on PBS Newshour with Judy Woodruff. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
“We see that there are still a lot of actions that Russia is undertaking that undermine the principles of democracy in so many countries. What has happened in our recent election is not new. The Russians have engaged in trying to manipulate elections in Europe for a number of years… the Russians tried to interfere in our electoral process recently, and were actively involved in that. And that is something that we can’t countenance.” (“Interview with CIA Director John Brennan”, PBS Newshour)
Brennan, of course, provided no evidence for his claims nor did he mention the hundreds of CIA interventions around the world. But Brennan’s accusations are less important than the fact that his appearance on a nationwide broadcast identifies him as a political advocate for policies that conflict with those of the new president. Do we really want unelected intelligence officials — whose job it is to provide the president with sensitive information related to national security– to assume a partisan role in shaping policy? And why would Brennan –whose is supposed to “serve at the pleasure of the president”– accept an invitation to offer his views on Russia when he knew they would be damaging to the new administration?
Powerful people behind the scenes are obviously pushing the heads of these intelligence agencies to stick to their ‘anti-Moscow’ narrative to force Trump to abandon his plan for peaceful relations with Moscow. Brennan isn’t calling the shots and neither are Clapper or Comey. They’re all merely agents serving the interests of establishment plutocrats whose geopolitical agenda doesn’t jibe with that of the incoming administration. If that wasn’t the case, then why would the Intelligence Community stake its reputation on such thin gruel as this Russian hacking gibberish? It doesn’t make any sense. The people who launched this campaign are either supremely arrogant or extremely desperate. Which is it? Here’s an excerpt from an article by veteran journalist Robert Parry sums it up like this in an article at Consortium News:
“The DNI report amounted to a compendium of reasons to suspect that Russia was the source of the information – built largely on the argument that Russia had a motive for doing so because of its disdain for Democratic nominee Clinton and the potential for friendlier relations with Republican nominee Trump. But the case, as presented, is one-sided and lacks any actual proof. Further, the continued use of the word “assesses” – as in the U.S. intelligence community “assesses” that Russia is guilty – suggests that the underlying classified information also may be less than conclusive because, in intelligence-world-speak, “assesses” often means “guesses.” (“US Report Still Lacks Proof on Russia ‘Hack’”, Robert Parry, Consortium News)
Bottom line: Brennan and his fellow spooks have nothing. The report is little more than a catalogue of unfounded assumptions, baseless speculation and uncorroborated conjecture. In colloquial parlance, it’s bullshit, 100 percent, unalloyed Russophobic horse-manure. In fact, the authors admit as much in the transcript itself when they say:
“Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact. Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary, as well as logic, argumentation, and precedents.”
What kind of kooky admission is that? So the entire report could be BS but we’re supposed to believe that Putin flipped the election? Is that it???
What’s really going on here? Why have the Intelligence agencies savaged their credibility just to convince people that Russia is up to no good?
The Russia hacking story has more to do with recent developments in Syria than it does with delegitimizing Donald Trump. Aleppo was a real wake up call for the US foreign policy establishment which is beginning to realize that their plans for the next century have been gravely undermined by Russia’s military involvement in Syria. Aleppo represents the first time that an armed coalition of allied states (Russia, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah) have actively engaged US jihadist-proxies and soundly beat them to a pulp. The stunning triumph in Aleppo has spurred hope among the vassal states that Washington’s bloody military juggernaut can be repelled, rolled back and defeated. And if Washington’s CIA-armed, trained and funded jihadists can be repelled, then the elitist plan to project US power into Central Asia to dominate the world’s most populous and prosperous region, will probably fail. In other words, the outcome in Aleppo has cast doubts on Uncle Sam’s ability to successfully execute its pivot to Asia.
That’s why the Intel agencies have been employed to shape public perceptions on Russia. Their job is to prepare the American people for an escalation of hostilities between the two nuclear-armed superpowers. US powerbrokers are determined to intensify the conflict and reverse facts on the ground. (Recent articles by elites at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institute reveal that they are as committed to partitioning Syria as ever.) Washington wants to reassert its exceptional role as the uncontested steward of global security and the lone ‘unipolar’ world power.
That’s what this whole “hacking” fiasco is about. The big shots who run the country are trying to strong-arm ‘the Donald’ into carrying their water so the depredations can continue and Central Asia can be transformed into a gigantic Washington-dominated corporate free trade zone where the Big Money calls the shots and Capital reigns supreme. That’s their dreamstate, Capitalist Valhalla.
They just need Trump to get-with-the-program so the bloodletting can continue apace.A third of Britons want former Prime Minister Tony Blair to be tried over his decision to invade Iraq alongside the US back in 2003.
According to the latest YouGov poll, 33 percent of respondents said the former Labour leader “knowingly misled Parliament and the public” and should therefore be prosecuted as a “war criminal.”
The poll comes just after a High Court ruling blocked an Iraqi general’s bid to prosecute Blair over his decision to intervene in Iraq.
Abdul Wahed Shannan Al Rabbat sought a private prosecution against Blair, who he accused of committing a “crime of aggression.”
The court, however, argued no such crime exists in England and Wales.
Read more
It backed a previous ruling by the House of Lords that there is no such thing as the “crime of aggression” under British law.
Michael Mansfield QC, representing the Iraqi general, had argued that the international law banning aggressive war applied to Britain too, and that it had already been enshrined in UK law during the Nuremburg trials at the end of World War II.
Former Labour MP George Galloway hit out at the ruling, saying: “If there really is no law against launching an ‘aggressive war’ in England, then the law is an ass.”
“The decision by two High Court judges that Tony Blair cannot be prosecuted for the war in Iraq gives immunity and in perpetuity to any two-bit hustler who gets his or her hands on state power in Britain and lays waste the lives of others and their own country’s vital interests.”
He also backed the claim made by Mansfield that the crime is already part of British legislation.
“In the Nuremberg Trials Britain prosecuted the surviving beasts of German fascism for precisely the crime of launching ‘aggressive war.’
“Even though what the genocidal dictator of Germany did was perfectly ‘legal’ under German law, even though there was no international legal definition of ‘aggressive war,’ Britain rightly tried the Nazi beasts and hanged a great number of them.
Read more
“From that moment onwards the de jure inadmissibility of such wars was established axiomatically in the British legal system.”
The prosecution was based on evidence from the Chilcot inquiry published last year, which looked into the events that led up to the Iraq War.
The inquiry found there was no intelligence to substantiate the claim on which Blair justified the UK’s intervention in Iraq, namely that the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Families of British soldiers killed in the Iraq War also crowdfunded £150,000 (US$194,000) for a forensic analysis of the Chilcot inquiry that could lead to a prosecution against Blair.
The Iraq War cost the lives of 179 British soldiers and potentially tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, while costing the UK economy an estimated £9.2 billion. It is widely held to have caused the bloody sectarian conflict that brought about the rise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).Staffers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) international climate office have been asked to stop using the phrases "climate change," "emissions reduction" and "Paris Agreement," Politico reported Wednesday.
A supervisor at the DOE international climate office asked staff not to use the phrases in memos and briefings within hours of President Trump's Tuesday executive order that reversed many of former President Obama's climate protections, the report said.
The phrases have not been banned outright, but are reportedly part of a list of climate-related terms that are being avoided in light of the Trump administration's attitudes on climate change.
A DOE spokeswoman told Politico that "no words or phrases have been banned" within the office or the department as a whole.
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"We have definitively not received anything on banned words, not even orally," a State Department official told Politico. "But people are doing a lot of reading into tea leaves. People are taking their own initiatives to not use certain words based on hints from transition people. Everyone is encouraged to finding different ways of talking about things. There's a sense that you'd better find a way to delink" from the previous administration's talking points.
Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order asking the Environmental Protection Agency to review the Obama administration’s chief climate rule for power plant emissions, the 2015 Clean Power Plan.This is the reward you reap as an industry. Chase Utley's "slide" that sent Ruben Tejada out on a stretcher with a fractured fibula in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the New York Mets-Los Angeles Dodgers Division Series was within the boundaries of how the game is played and called by the umpires but also clearly dirty and malicious. Just a few weeks ago, everybody fell all over themselves saying Chris Coghlan's slide that sent Jung Ho Kang to the sidelines for the season wasn't dirty. So this is what baseball deserves for letting this nonsense linger 45 years after Pete Rose destroyed Ray Fosse 38 years after Hal McRae crushed Willie Randolph and just a couple of years after they actually did move to protect catchers in home-plate collisions: A stinking heap of controversy, angry baseball fans across the country, casual fans turned off by obvious rules lunacy and a crucial playoff game that turned because baseball has been too gutless to call this the right way.
Look, there was a time when this is how baseball was played, when John McGraw and the famous Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s played baseball with spikes up, looking to draw blood whenever possible. Of course, it also was a time when players would frequently fight umpires or even jump into the stands and brawl with spectators. The remnants of those times still exist today, whether it's that "eye for an eye" mentality in intentionally throwing at batters or runners sliding viciously into middle infielders at second base, even if they're several feet off the bag, several feet past the bag or barreling in more like Kam Chancellor on a running back than a baserunner sliding into a bag.
A new rule would be easy to write: The baserunner must slide directly into the bag. This is how the game is played at the high school and college level, and nobody suffers their manhood as a result. Slide hard, but slide safe.
Now, I can even say that Utley's slide did break the rules and that, in fact, not only should he have been called out (Tejada not touching the bag is another issue completely), but the batter should have been called out, as well.
Rule 6.05 reads:
A batter is out when --
(m) A preceding runner shall, in the umpire's judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play:
Rule 6.05(m) Comment: The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire's judgment play.
Was Utley trying to reach the base? No. Did he leave the baseline? Yes? Was it deliberate, unwarranted and unsportsmanlike? Yes. CALL THE RULE. IT'S ALREADY ON THE BOOKS.
Or you can use Rule 7.09:
It is interference by a batter or a runner when --
(e) If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a b |
viously this one is not loyal or even trying to understand what makes you you...
I feel ashamed some speak like this about you, as I feel you deserve better.. Please note there are fans that do accept you as you are, and not all find more negative sides to you than positive ones..
I felt tempted to react, but as I don't want to start another war, and as you would probably tell me to put my energy in things that do matter, I decided to place my reaction to this insanity here.
I feel disgusted by this, as you probably would too..
Severus, all I can say is that to me, all of this rubbish is just what it looked like: rubbish and lies. To me, you are perfect the way you are. The 'flaws' mentioned are not flaws as such, but merely fantasy made up by the writer, and for the other part just characteristics..the ones some claim to like, but in fact don't have a clue as to understanding why you are as you are..
I do..as you know I share many of your 'flaws', which kept us alive and with our noses up all of these harsh years..
Be well Severus, and know I will always be right beside you, loving and loyal..no matter what happens..
So..before some might think I am starting a war..I am not, just reacting to something I read, and if the author of this thinks I am provoking her.. I am not, this is my opinion, and you don't have to agree with it. (or just send me a PM, let's talk..)
What am I talking about then? This is why I am mad and steaming:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-mrE6p2Ii frCULLHTGjDZGBs7fFs-?cq=1&p;=256
Now I don't know if I have to add here I fully disagree with the content of this, and that I think this whole piece of work should be ignored..(so why don't I?? I just couldn't..I feel ashamed this is on the net, coming from a fan... )
Let's all face it...if you are a fan of Professor Severus Snape..make sure you are a loyal one, and not someone like this..
A true fan is loyal, and don't go thinking I am blinded..
I do know he's not easy..wasn't this what we all liked about him?
I am not denying he has flaws, but we all do, and if you try to understand his character better, you would know/see these 'flaws' are a logical product of the life he has led/still leads.
Besides, some things that are in these two lists...HOW ON EARTH WOULD YOU KNOW FOR MERLIN'S SAKE???
And just one thing: if you truly love Severus, and know him well..how would you think he liked this? Do you like to see his reaction, or don't you care you have probably hurt his feelings (not that he would ever admit)??
*sighs* I hate it when people call themselves a fan and then do this...
Lady Darkness's message for readers: Dear people who read this, if you call yourself a fan of Severus' and devoted, loyal and such:
PLEASE DO HIM AND HIS NAME JUSTICE AND STAND BY HIM, DO NOT HIGHLIGHT OR MAKE UP HIS 'BAD' SIDES IF HE HAS SO MUCH GOOD SIDES.. BESIDES, BEFORE CRITICIZING SEVERUS..YOU MIGHT JUST WANT TO TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR FIRST...are you perfect, without sin??? Well then you should be in the bloody museum, because no one is..
I can't even start to explain how ff-ing ANGRY I am right now, and yes..this DOES mean a war if the author was in my vicinity...
Here is the new filth:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-mrE6p2Ii frCULLHTGjDZGBs7fFs-?cq=1&p;=266
JUST SO YOU KNOW, WHO EVER YOU ARE, AND WHATEVER YOU THINK: NO ONE..ABSOLUTELY NO ONE INSULTS SEVERUS IN THIS WAY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT.. and yes dear..this is what it looks like, so if you are lurking, please stop this filth, as Severus Snape never did anything to you and does NOT deserve your frustration and filthy writing..
Dearest Severus,
This might be my last letter to you..
Not because I stop loving you..I can't do that..ever
Not because I am too weak..or because I found someone..you are still my light..there will NEVER be anyone else but you, and right now I am stronger than ever, dealing with so much sh*t my head explodes.
This might be the last one, because I have to let you go..for you, and for me.
Try to stop me if you do care.. I dare you Severus Snape.. stop me from letting go and tell me you notice me..
Loving you... I will never stop..I just have to move on, I am sure you will see what I mean, that is..if you ever noticed what I go through lately..
I need my strength to fight for my kids..
No more asking, waiting and pleading, no more rituals..at all..
If you want me..stop me
If you don't..let me go.. or tell me you hate me (that makes it easier)
Please understand.. I miss you so much it takes away all my energy and fighting spirit. I only want to be with you, while I should be looking after my kids.. Set my mind free or be there for me..
I dare and beg you...
I am sorry Severus..apparently you were right all along.. I am not the One, and I will never be worthy to be..
Just forget about me..
Always yours..that will never change..NEVER
Be well my Dearest...please forgive me my weaknesses
One day later....
Indeed..that was my last letter..
You already know why I say this..I wish you well with the woman/women of your choice Severus..
Now I know it was never me..if you ever want to know where I am..look for me in the shadows..
I apologize for all the grief I have caused..I did not mean to.
I was selfish, uncontrolled and stupid..
I will move on with you in my heart..that will never change..no one can make me lose that too, not even you Severus...
Be well and happy..I will always love you!
"Hey Rose! Did you know that Severus warned me quite a while back to beware who found out about us believing in him? Plus, more recently, HE told me to beware who I trust/speak to on the computer.
Now I know why.
He is something."
In case the viewer was left unaware of her total devotion to S. Snape, she also posted a photograph of her shrine to the Potions Master.The course of true love never did run smooth. After a time, she felt she was slipping in her devotion to Snape. Days would go by when she didn't post more than a hundred squeeing messages on various Snape fan forums. Eventually she had to renew her vows.But that was not all. No, no, that was not all. Lady Darkness created a forum to discuss Snape with her fellow Snape worshippers. (Severus must be a spiritual polygamist.) Together, they discussed Snape's underwear, his pitiful childhood, Alan Rickman's hotness, James Potter's cruelty, Evanescence lyrics, their self-insert fanfics, and most importantly, Snape's messages for them in their dreams.So many posts there, so little time to boggle at them, but here is a sample.It grieved Lady Darkness that Snape rarely showed up in her dreams, and so often showed up indreams. She made up for this by giving Snapemaniac messages to pass on. For example.Incidentally, Severus Snape is an accomplished poet and Snapemaniac channels the poetry he writes. Check it out And then the letters. Lady Darkness's passionate letters to her spiritual spouse merited a whole forum on their own. Picking one at random.To this and other letters, Severus Snape actually responded. He's registered on the boards, you see. As Professor S. Snape. But such a facade only sometimes contented Lady Darkness, as at other times she spoke longingly of ever getting to talk with Snape.Then, in August, tragedy struck. Tonya/Snapemaniac betrayed the trust of the good and bountiful Severus. Perhaps her heart was not pure enough. Perhaps she was finally getting weirded out by Lady Darkness. But she posted on her LJ an analysis of Snape's faults, ending with the words,The wrath of Lady Darkness was sudden and swift. EXCUSE ME??? was the title of her thread devoted to denouncing Snapemaniac's post.Here one remaining acolyte jumped in with her agreement. Snapemaniac had taken Severus's name in vain, and henceforth her name must be oblivion.Snapemaniac retaliated by posting again about Snape's faults, bringing on threats from Lady Darkness:All things must end.Even passionate internet romances with Severus Snape. On September 19, 2006:andAnd so end the letters to Snape. But not the Snape obsession. The forum and website are still going strong, as are all the other forums where Lady Darkness posts. And what would lost love be without an image of a dead rose to commemorate it?The title of this post is taken from a poem to Severus on the main page of Lady Darkness' webpage.5002 comments and we're done! Thanks everyone for coming! The after-party's at Fandom Lounge.A Navy tradition will end at midnight.
By order of the Navy's top admiral, smoking will no longer be allowed on submarines. The smoking lamp will be no more.
A study convinced Navy brass that nonsmokers were being subjected to too much secondhand smoke despite onboard air purification systems.
The change was announced in April -- time for sailors in San Diego and at other submarine bases to take smoking-cessation classes or get nicotine gum or patches. The Navy estimates that 40% of its submariners are smokers.
"We push our crew every day, 12 to 18 hours a day," said Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Robert McCombs, engineering department boss on the ballistic sub Rhode Island. "Smoking is how they relax. Some people are saying they don't want to stay on subs because they can't smoke."
-- Tony Perry in San DiegoBy IVES GALARCEP
Some marquee MLS matchups and the USMNT CONCACAF Cup roster announcement headline the topics on the latest edition of The SBI Show.
Episode 233 breaks down MLS Week 31, which featured the New York Red Bulls’ impressive win against Columbus, and the Seattle Sounders rally to tie the LA Galaxy. We also discuss Orlando City’s important victory against Montreal, and Sporting KC’s impressive win in Portland.
Co-host Garrett Cleverly and I also break down the U.S. roster for the CONCACAF Cup, including the surprises and what we might see in terms of a starting lineup against Mexico.
Give Episode 22 of The SBI Show a listen after the jump:
What did you think of the show? Which MLS match impressed you the most in Week 31? What do you think of the USMNT roster for the CONCACAF Cup?
Share your thoughts below.Screen Shot 2014-12-21 at 6.56.35 PM.png
West quarterback Travis Waller poses during his jersey ceremony.
(Courtesy of Travis Waller)
Oregon quarterback commit Travis Waller didn't take long to show what he's made of in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
On his first pass attempt of the game, Waller scrambled, took a massive hit and delivered a 92-yard touchdown pass to LSU commit Derrius Guice.
The play was especially impressive because Waller displayed a skill that many dual-threat quarterbacks struggle with: knowing when to run and when to use one's feet to extend a play. Rather than take off for a short gain, the Oregon commit bought time with his feet and kept his eyes downfield, finding Guice for the highlight-worthy strike.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound signal-caller is expected to enroll at Oregon early and be ready in time for spring practices. Waller, who has his mom to thank for his early enrollment, is one of five U.S. Army or Under Armour All-American game participants who are expected to become Ducks ahead of schedule.
-- Andrew Nemec | @AndrewNemecl0wt3ch CEO, Studio 13.37
Registered: Nov 2011 Distribution: Studio 13.37 Posts: 150
Rep:
Studio 13.37 v2.3 released!
Slick, stylish, and modern, with advanced technologies under the hood like a realtime kernel and automatic system tuning at boot, Studio 13.37 pushes the limits of what a Linux-based pro audio studio can do.
New features:
Updates to Ardour (4.4), Aqualung (1.0), Calf (0.0.60pre5), Guitarix (0.33.0), Qtractor (0.7.0), Rosegarden (15.08 ), Rtirq (20150216), Zynaddsubfx (2.5.1), Flash Player (11.2), WINE-rt (1.7.51), and PlayOnLinux (4.2.9)
Added Mozilla Thunderbird
Added Infamous plugins, ArtyFX, x42 plugins, and Helm synthesizer
Updated REAPER auto-install and configuration script to 5.0.4
Upgraded kernel version to 4.1.12-rt13
Support for new Line6 devices, including HD500 etc.
Experimental Mac support
Changed default time zone to America/Pacific
New desktop themes, new backgrounds, including "Relief" by
More eye-candy effects enabled in the dock
Shows a music quote every time you open a terminal
Updates available for existing users.
To purchase, visit the Studio 13.37 website by clicking the image below:
Slick, stylish, and modern, with advanced technologies under the hood like a realtime kernel and automatic system tuning at boot, Studio 13.37 pushes the limits of what a Linux-based pro audio studio can do.New features:Updates to Ardour (4.4), Aqualung (1.0), Calf (0.0.60pre5), Guitarix (0.33.0), Qtractor (0.7.0), Rosegarden (15.08 ), Rtirq (20150216), Zynaddsubfx (2.5.1), Flash Player (11.2), WINE-rt (1.7.51), and PlayOnLinux (4.2.9)Added Mozilla ThunderbirdAdded Infamous plugins, ArtyFX, x42 plugins, and Helm synthesizerUpdated REAPER auto-install and configuration script to 5.0.4Upgraded kernel version to 4.1.12-rt13Support for new Line6 devices, including HD500 etc.Experimental Mac supportChanged default time zone to America/PacificNew desktop themes, new backgrounds, including "Relief" by noneOfUs (used with permission)More eye-candy effects enabled in the dockShows a music quote every time you open a terminalUpdates available for existing users.To purchase, visit the Studio 13.37 website by clicking the image below: Last edited by l0wt3ch; 11-18-2015 at 11:03 PM.Media playback is not supported on this device Krueger
Chairman Ralph Krueger says Southampton are already attracting "huge interest" from managers looking to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino was named Tottenham's new boss on Tuesday and Krueger is hopeful the club can replace him quickly.
"We have the highest-quality managers in Europe knocking on our door," Krueger told BBC Radio Solent.
"It's important we move swiftly. It's in all our wishes not to rush the situation but to have a certain speed."
Krueger continued: "We feel we can move quite quickly to the next step and have a shortlist presented to the public of which managers we are seriously considering."
Les Reed, executive director at St Mary's, is leading the search for a new manager - a process they hope to conclude before this summer's World Cup.
We keep producing players and if you lose a couple, we've got players that can come through and take their places Matthew Le Tissier
Pochettino could be followed out of St Mary's by several key players, with Liverpool pursuing Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren, while Manchester United have made a £27m bid for Luke Shaw.
But Krueger says any player exits will be on the club's terms, with all three tied to long contracts.
"We are in control of the situation, that is important for our fanbase to hear," he added.
"We will not end up with a summer without transactions, but I want to underline they will be on our terms.
"We have the highest available players and their agents knocking on our doors."
Krueger also rejected claims that the club could have done more to keep Argentine Pochettino, saying they did "everything possible" to ensure the 42-year-old stayed at Southampton, including offering him a new deal.
"We did everything in our power," he added. "There was a strong contract on the table and I don't believe that was the issue.
"I don't want to speculate on the reasons for the final decision. We respect and accept it."
The former NHL ice hockey coach also believes fans should be excited about the work being done on and off the pitch, which includes the arrival of a new chief commercial director, a new financial officer and a new marketing head.
He added: "We have 20 people working on scouting and recruitment all over Europe. These people are not out there playing cards. They are working, analysing video, collecting data and are not just doing that for players.
"This same group was involved in finding Mauricio Pochettino. They are out there recruiting, searching and building profiles and they have continued to do that because that is their job.
"I don't believe a club recruits 20 people to work in scouting if they don't want to improve and play European football."
Meanwhile, club legend Matthew Le Tissier has laughed off suggestions the club will go into meltdown following Pochettino's exit, amid rumours of player departures.
"We keep producing players and if you lose a couple, we've got players that can come through and take their places," he said.
"If we do lose a couple, we'll have a lot of money there to go out and spend, so I think, for me, if you appoint a decent manager who is going to use the money wisely, then I don't see any reason why we can't have a similar season to last season."Anchor Revival Hopes Dim
by Paul Bass & David Sepulveda | Jan 5, 2015 4:15 pm
(56) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Arts & Culture, Downtown, True Vote
Yale University Properties tried for two years to help a tenant keep open College Street’s Anchor bar, but the manager just couldn’t meet the rent, officials said Monday. No further rescue efforts are in the cards. The officials—Yale Director of New Haven Affairs Lauren Zucker and Yale University Properties leasing agent John Pollard—described the efforts in an interview with the Independent following an outpouring of public disappointment over the news that the Anchor, a storied watering hole since Prohibition days, served its last drink Sunday night. (The original full story about the closing appears lower down in this article.) Fans of the bar launched an online petition drive Monday to try to save the bar. Yale does not plan to seek a new tenant specifically to continue operating the Anchor as a bar, Zucker and Pollard said. The Moore family, which has owned the Anchor for more than 50 years, has no interest in trying to keep the business going or finding new management for it, one of the principals, Charles Moore, said Monday. “It’s difficult for us to run the business” anymore, Moore said. “If it’s not going to work, the family understands that. We thought we had made all the best decisions for the Anchor. We’re sad to see it going. But so be it. If something better comes along, we’re OK with that. The chapter’s closed. “The bar business is a very dicey business at best. It’s tough on families. It’s tough on relationships.” The Moores had hired David Nyberg’s management company, DWN Enterprises, to run the Anchor. Nyberg signed a lease with Yale in December 2012, Zucker said. “He’s been a very sporadic rent payer since the conception of his lease,” Zucker said. Nyberg failed to make rent payments, then failed to meet the terms of a court-ordered stipulation, Zucker said. She and Pollard said Yale had made “accommodations” with Nyberg to try to help him stay in business; they declined to say what kind of accommodations. (“We’re not going to put out in the press our rent negotiations,” Pollard said. “We don’t disclose people’s business arrangements in the press.”) Nyberg Monday confirmed Zucker’s and Pollard’s version of events. He conceded tthat he had fallen behind on the rent. He said he wishes he could have had more time to try to keep the Anchor open. Nyberg, once an active developer and property manager in New Haven, has been pulling back on his work here. Moore said his attorney and Nyberg’s attorneys are currently discussing unidentified points of contention about the Anchor: “It hasn’t been a smooth road, I’ll say that.” Moore had no comment about the fate of some of the Anchor’s iconic inventory, such as the Rock-Ola jukebox. He added that his family has “always had great relations with Yale.” Pollard said that Yale University Properties will seek a new commercial tenant for the space at 272 College St. He declined to identify what kind of business Yale would like to see occupy the space. Pressed about its preferences for commercial tenants, Pollard said: “We do not emphasize having bars.” “So many factors go into” choosing a tenant, Zucker said, including “credibility, facilities, experience.” Pollard said Yale will not actively seek to find a tenant who would buy the Anchor and keep it going as a bar. Nor will Yale keep the business going on its own, he said: “The university cannot enter into becoming a bar operation.” “We’ve made repeated attempts to rescue the Anchor over the years. We’ve proved that,” Pollard said. “It would be totally inappropriate for me as a broker to try to go out and entice somebody to be the Anchor bar and restaurant,” Pollard said. “You have to let the market dictate that. The first time you put someone into a business that doesn’t work, you’re liable. David Nyberg couldn’t make it work. The Moores want to move on.” Zucker said Yale notified Nyberg’s DWN Enterprises in the fall that it needed to vacate the premises. She said Nyberg asked for an extension through the end of the year to avoid having to fire people during the holidays and to give employees advance notice. Employees ended up not learning of the closing until hours before the final call Sunday. Following is an earlier version of this article: The doors of one of downtown’s storied businesses closed Sunday night, as the Anchor Restaurant served its last drink to the public. At least for now. Behind on its rent, the College Street bar pulled up... well, anchor... after well more than a half-century as a watering hole for actors, poets, and regulars drawn to its sense of history and unpretentious charm (which one admirer boiled down to “lighthouse-shaped lamps, blue vinyl booths and a neon-lit Rock-Ola jukebox”). It was the bar where bartenders from other taverns showed up after finishing their shifts. The word spread on social-media sites Sunday night, with tributes and regrets and calls to meet for a final drink, hushed tete-a-tete, or send-off celebration. But management threw out the last patrons (pictured) shortly after 8 p.m. The Anchor had hit hard financial times and fell “a few months” behind in rent, according to David Nyberg, whose company managed the bar. He said the bar did start repaying the bill, but Yale University Properties, the landlord, decided not to continue renting. “We tried. We want it to continue. Yale hopefully will find an operator” to keep the institution going as the Anchor, Nyberg said. The Anchor’s official permittee was Albert DiCicco (pictured). Reached by phone in Rhode Island Sunday night, Albert’s son said Albert has been ill and wasn’t available to speak. DiCicco was one of the managers with Nyberg, according to Nyberg. Yale spokesman Jim Shelton released this statement: “University Properties entered into a lease with the current owners of the Anchor Bar, who purchased the business from the Anchor’s original owners a few years ago. The current owners have decided not to continue the business.” (Nyberg said the management of the business, not the ownership, changed a few years ago.) “I knew this would all come sooner or later. It’s been an icon all these years,” said Charlie Moore, whose family has owned the Anchor for 50 years. Moore said his family still owns the business. “It’s sad to see it go. But all things run its course.” State records list a “still active” LLC run by Moore and his mother as the business’s owners. Nyberg confirmed that he and DiCicco work for the Moores. In a conversation Sunday evening, Moore offered a snapshot Anchor history. “The bar originally started in Woodmont in Milford on Anchor Beach. That’s where the name Anchor came from. That was back during Prohibition,” he said. “It [was brought] to New Haven in the ‘40s by a man Al Levett. Al Levett sold it to my uncle, Harold Singer. “Harold sold it to my father, Marshall Moore, and his sister, Kathleen Balunas. That was 1963.” Marshall died in 2000. Charlie (who’s now 52) and his mother Dorothea then took over ownership, and have continued owning it since. They hired Nyberg’s company to manage it. “In David Nyberg’s defense, the city of New Haven has not made it a conducive business environment downtown. I’ll single out the parking issue,” Moore remarked. After the bar shut down Sunday evening, patrons stopped to take last-minute photos in front of the New Haven landmark before the restaurant’s neon lights turned off for the last time. “I just lost my job. I’m not really in the mood to discuss this,” remarked one of the bartenders. Beecher Taylor, a comic who has lived in New Haven for five years and is past winner of the Connecticut Comedy Festival, was reaching for a different kind of punch line as he talked about the bar’s closing: “It’s sentimental. It’s a New Haven nightmare. The closing was abrupt and it didn’t give us time to prepare,” he said. Jamie Arabolos, who has tended bar in New Haven establishments for 13 years, arrived too late to gain entrance even though she was familiar with some of the staff. Arabalos sported a red hoodie as rain continued to fall on her and those gathered outside. She called the Anchor “one of the best places to go when we got out of work.” Arabolos warned that “any places bearing vintage or original signs are disappearing forever.” Vicky Allen arrived moments after the restaurant went dark. She said she wanted to come down to “say good-bye.” Allen recalled that she had run bible studies in the bar. “They were always nice and accommodating,” she said. “I just heard and just got out of work. It came out of nowhere for me” said a patron of 11 years, who asked to be identified only as Charlie. Charlie called the Anchor “a different kind of bar where you talk to people and you build relationships here.” At 11 p.m. people were still coming by to pay their respects, taking pictures of the place. and chatting with each other. “I figured on the last night it would stay open until one,” said one. “It’s got a studied decrepitude,” said Roderick Topping of Dwight Street, who has lived in New Haven since 1988. “It’s the old ‘50s New Haven that I never knew. I was appalled when they put in a new carpet.” “This was where I met you,” his friend said to him. “The second time,” he said. “The time you remember,” she said. A man with a beard came by and tried the door anyway, even though he saw the window dark. Two more people came by. They’d heard the news and had come by for a last round, expecting to find it open. They took a picture through the window. Charlie Moore’s favorite memories: Hanging out with Anchor regular Thornton Wilder. “Thornton Wilder and my father were best friends. As a kid, Thornton Wilder was just one of the guys. I never knew he was a double Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was a great friend,” Moore said. The Anchor survived the devastation of most of the businesses surrounding it along College Street in the 1970s. Then, when developer Joel Schiavone rebuilt the district as “Shubert Square” in the 1980s, he made sure to keep the Anchor there. It enjoyed a revival along with downtown New Haven since. Schiavone, an early proponent of the philosophy that came to be known as new urbanism, argued that locally owned businesses—like the Anchor, like Claire’s Corner Copia—rather than chain outlets, give cities a distinctive edge over the suburbs. Schiavone lost his College Street area properties to foreclosure in the 1990s; Yale bought them. In recent years Yale, like other landlords, has been filling downtown storefronts with outlets of out-of-town chains. Click on the play arrow to watch Wally Lamb offer a preview of one of his novels in 2008 at a weekly “Ordinary Evening” reading series in the Anchor basement. Have a favorite Anchor memory? Feel free to post a comment about it. Brian Slattery contributed reporting.
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posted by: Lifer on January 4, 2015 11:20pm Ah well, the place hasn’t been the same since Dee left anyway.
posted by: ADAK on January 4, 2015 11:35pm While it sounds like Yale might have solid grounds not to renew the lease (rent being owed) I sincerely hope they find someone to keep running it as the Anchor. On a side note, all these old neon signs in the city need to be saved! They create a simple, distinct atmosphere to changing cities that might otherwise become vanilla.
posted by: mlpavela on January 4, 2015 11:42pm This is still tragic. It was a great place. All the best to everyone out of work. MP
posted by: NYCcroc on January 4, 2015 11:55pm This is another effed up New Haven act. Some people running things around here have no clue what they are really doing or what they are really destroying. To blame whatever is going on here only on parking is absurd. I am certainly not a fan of New Haven’s parking meter situation however I believe this is more about some sort of blend of lack of proper management, lack of social media promoting of many kinds and landlords that have no understanding or care for a local peoples need and desire for signature historical places. Its our DNA as a society that is being stolen from ALL of us. The landlords found weakness in lack of rent as usual and are going to enrich their own coffers with a new chain store par usual too, like they really need it. Shame on them for stripping our fabulous institutions away … The selfish bastards. I think there is a much bigger story behind all of this and those at hand here don’t want it told. I think we need to dig deeper and save this lonely yet most fabulous historic snapshot of our past before they claim another victim and giggle over some fine wine and cigars… until those next door who serve such can’t pay them either. The right thing to do is find a new owner that knows how to run a fine old bar in the modern world, clean the place up and drop Anchor for many more decades. People please Say something before we loose this forever.
posted by: EastRocker on January 5, 2015 12:11am Had many a great evening, and quite a few afternoons, too. It would be nice if Yale decided to rent to someone who could keep the name and decor, instead of slowly killing the local culture in favor of everything upscale, for once.
posted by: SReilly on January 5, 2015 12:37am NHI. Please please delve deeper and get us real answers about who is really behind this shutdown of a beloved, busy, and beautifully unique downtown institution. Is this Yale!, the owners?, the management?, who?. If this is Yale pushing out businesses, citizens and students need to know. If this is city regulations making it hard to make profitable businesses, we need to know. If a dumb management company just screwed up, that’s crucial to know. Suggesting all these options but not following up with an answer isn’t good. People care about our cityscapes and don’t want them becoming cookie cutter chains. This has happened enough to start getting alarmed and we need to know what the cause is in order to start addressing it.
posted by: NYCcroc on January 5, 2015 1:20am Well said SReilly. There is much more to this story that needs to be investigated. We need to stop this from being destroyed, enough is enough. Funny how no one noticed that the fabulous FIRESTONE neon on Union and Chapel Sts was taken down and replaced with some plastic unreadable modern crap. It was one of the last neons from the 1950s in New Haven. Its gone forever and ironically Firestone is still there. The Anchor will be next if we don’t voice our opinion about what it really means to us all. Pushing out businesses is creating a boring common anywhere USA environment. We need to keep what we have left of our unique visuals and city background at all cost. Even if the landlord doesn’t make more Quarters to add to their Billions. They’ll be better off for our effort to save the Anchor anyway.
posted by: Bradley on January 5, 2015 7:01am I agree with NYCcroc that it is likely that parking was not the reason for the Anchor’s demise. The number of downtown bars and restaurants (chains and independents) has increased steadily in recent years and more are coming.
posted by: sonychka on January 5, 2015 7:27am THE PUB IS THE HUB!! Organize! Collectivize!! We ought do what a group of Cumbrian villagers did. Click the linK to see how a village in rural Northern England, near the Scottish borders, bought back its version of The Anchor. It can be done. It should be done. No crying in our beers over this. Anyone interested in reviewing the model, please respond. If the sentiments attached to The Anchor are anything more than fleeting, consider this model. From the link below:
“...The co-operative ownership model demonstrates one way in which local people can act together to keep a local pub open and thriving. It shows the great value placed on the pub and has provided a focus for community cohesion…” http://www.pubisthehub.org.uk/case-studies/the-old-crown/ http://www.theoldcrownpub.co.uk C’mon people: money where your mouth is!!Organize! Collectivize!!
posted by: Mister Jones on January 5, 2015 7:46am Strangest part of the article: “They hired Nyberg’s company to manage it.”
posted by: LorcaNotOrca on January 5, 2015 8:15am I know this is woefully idealistic and perhaps unreasonable to ever expect, but I wish that in the face of rising rents, special consideration could be given for places that are, well, anchors of their community. An institution that goes back as far as Anchor shouldn’t just be allowed to leave because we lose so much more character and meaning than just some other bar. Especially with everything everyone’s already said - what will likely take its place will be sterile.
I don’t really understand how all those putting in new developments and storefronts, etc. don’t understand how g-damn lame they are. Does no one in that end of the business even get it? Are there actual rules that neon signs must come down?
posted by: robn on January 5, 2015 8:35am The heart of a great bar isn’t the decor or $1 Schaeffers, it’s people like Marshall and Dee. Find a operator with character and you’ll revive this important institution.
posted by: Bradley on January 5, 2015 8:37am SReilly, I agree that further inquiries make sense. But I suspect that it will boil down to (1) the Anchor being unable to pay its rent regularly for reasons specific to its business and (2) the landlord believing that it can find a tenant that can pay its rent. I’ve lived here for 25+ years and have seen lots of local businesses go under (I particularly miss Cutler s). But this a national phenomenon; for example, Harvard Square looks like an open air suburban shopping mall.
posted by: LorcaNotOrca on January 5, 2015 9:34am To say a few kind extra words, I’d add that Anchor was one of those few “everyman” kind of bars. Completely un-pretentious and drew a crowd that included pretty much every demographic. Not quite a dive as it still had class, but it was a class many years old that only got more interesting as the interior and exterior grew more dated. A true original, indeed.
posted by: DingDong on January 5, 2015 10:05am This is a real shame and a true loss for the community. I imagine we’ll get some celebrity-chef chain restaurant (but we can hold out hope for something unique like Ordinary). But I |
always about White people. They keep targeting White people like were are the ultimate evil on the planet.
But to me, at least, their actions speak louder than their words: anti-racist just means anti-White.
H/T White Genocide ProjectIt's that time of the year again. Buckle up. Our injury tracking didn't start properly until August 2013, so all season comparisons can only be made from August 1st - December 31st. This summer we'll be able to do a full season comparison.
Injury count
Arsenal sustained a total of 78 first team injuries in 2014 (January 1st - December 31st).
In the comparable period between August 1st - December 31st, Arsenal sustained 44 injuries in 2014, and 35 in 2013. This means we've had 25.7% more injuries in the league this season compared to last season in the same period.
Injury lengths
So far due to the 44 injuries sustained between Aug-Dec, Arsenal have lost a total of 1,037 days. That means the equivalent of 2.84 years lost in man hours so far in the 2014-2015 season.
Injury types
Of the 44 injuries sustained between Aug-Dec 2014:
27.2% (12/44) were strains (20% last season)
13.6% (6/44) were hamstrings (14.3% last season)
20.4% (9/44) were ankle injuries (8.5% last season)
13.6% (6/44) were knee injuries (8.5% last season)
Monthly breakdown
Some of these injuries are still active, so days lost will be increased over time.We have been hearing for a while that Google is on the verge of releasing the Android 4.4.3 update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and other supported devices, but, so far, the new firmware didn’t hit any of the aforementioned devices.
The first details about the Android 4.4.3 update emerged several weeks ago, when the new firmware was spotted running on a Nexus 5. Soon after the new software version made the first appearance, the folks at Sprint updated their Nexus 5 support page saying that their variant of the smartphone will soon receive the Android 4.4.3 update. The US carrier pulled back the update, changing the support page one more time, saying they are facing issues with the new firmware.
At first, it was believed that the Android 4.4.3 update will only be rolled out for the Nexus 5, as it was meant to fix certain bugs of the terminal’s camera. A Sony Xperia Z Ultra Google Play Edition running Android 4.4.3 KTU72 spotted in Bluetooth SIG logs revealed that the new firmware update will be rolled out to other devices, too. Even though Google didn’t make any official statements regarding the new update, expect Android 4.4.3 to arrive on devices like Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 (2012 & 2013), Nexus 10, and Google Play Edition devices.
The Android 4.4.3 update was also spotted in the “What’s New” section of Google Edu Device Setup app in Google Play Store, where Google listed that the new version of the app arrives with “Support for Android 4.4.3 and non-Nexus Tablets.”
Besides bug fixes and performance improvements, the Android 4.4.3 update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 is also expected to bring a redesigned Phone Dialer. The official @googlenexus Twitter account accidentally tweeted a screenshot of the new Phone Dialer which had a blue bar at the top. The new Phone Dialer that it’s expected to arrive in Android 4.4.3 also appeared online courtesy of an XDA Developers member, who posted a screenshot of the new app, along with a screenshot of Android 4.4.3 KTU84F build running on a Nexus 5.
It’s really hard to guess when the Android 4.4.3 update will be rolled out to the Nexus and Google Play Edition devices, but given the high number of leaks that hit the web over the past few weeks we believe that the new firmware will be pushed to users in the next few weeks.The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was published on 2 December 1997 and received Royal Assent in July 1998. Its key areas were the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex Offender Orders, Parenting Orders, granting local authorities more responsibilities with regards to strategies for reducing crime and disorder, and the introduction of law specific to 'racially aggravated' offences. The Act also abolished rebuttable presumption that a child is doli incapax (the presumption that a person between ten and fourteen years of age is incapable of committing an offence) and formally abolished the death penalty for the last offences carrying it, namely treason and piracy.
The bill had also included changes to change the age of consent for homosexual acts from 18 to 16,[2] however this was removed by the House of Lords and was eventually passed in the Sexual Offences Act two years later.
Main provisions [ edit ]
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders [ edit ]
The Act introduced a civil remedy called the Anti-social behaviour order (or ASBO). These orders are made against people who have engaged in anti-social behaviour which in the United Kingdom is defined as "conduct which caused or was likely to cause alarm, harassment, or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as him or herself and where an ASBO is seen as necessary to protect relevant persons from further anti-social acts by the Defendant".
In England and Wales, the orders are made by the Magistrates' courts and in Scotland by the Sheriff courts. The provisions of the 1998 Act have since been modified by the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.
Sex Offender Orders [ edit ]
In England and Wales, a Sex Offender Order is a similar concept to the Anti-Social Behaviour Order with the key difference being that it is specifically aimed at those people in society that are deemed "sex offenders". The Act allows a police officer to approach the Magistrates' Court and show that he has reasonable cause to believe that there is a need for an order to be made to protect the public from harm. The conditions placed in such an order are those that are needed to prevent harm to the public. The order can be made for a minimum of 5 years unless the court upholds a complaint for the order to varied or discharged.
A breach of a Sex Offender Order renders the person to which the order applies, liable for imprisonment, on summary conviction, for up to six months or on conviction on indictment, up to five years and/or a fine.
The act only applies to those people that are defined as a'sex offender' per Section 3(1) of the act or namely that the person has been convicted of an offence under Part I of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, was found not guilty as a result of insanity, or has been cautioned for such an offence and at the time admitted it or has been convicted of a similar offence in any country outside of the United Kingdom and the offence would have been deemed a sexual offence under UK law.
Parenting Orders [ edit ]
In England and Wales, a Parenting Order is an order made against the parent(s) of a child which has been given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order, has been convicted of an offence, or the parent has been convicted of an offence under section 443 or 444 of the Education Act 1996. Its aim is that parents must adhere to the conditions to stop their child from behaving similarly, failure to do so will lead to their conviction. The order can be made for a period not exceeding 12 months. There are restrictions on orders being made that interfere with the parents' or child's religious beliefs or that interfere with the times which the parent normally attends work or an educational institution. If the parenting order is breached, the parent(s) could be liable to a fine, not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.[3]
Racially or religiously aggravated offences [ edit ]
In England and Wales, Sections 28 to 32 of the Act create separate offences for crimes that were aggravated by the victim's race or religion or presumed race or religion. They did not originally apply to crimes that are aggravated by the offender's perception of the victim's membership of a religion but it was amended by section 39 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
Racially or religiously aggravated assaults [ edit ]
Serious violent offences [ edit ]
Section 29(1)(a) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated wounding or infliction of bodily harm. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits an offence under section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (see grievous bodily harm) which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
Section 29(1)(b) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits an offence under section 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (see assault occasioning actual bodily harm) which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
A person guilty of either of these offences is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both (s.29(2)).
Common assault [ edit ]
Section 29(1)(c) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated common assault. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits a common assault which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
This offence is triable either way.
A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both (s.29(3)).
Racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage [ edit ]
Section 30(1) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits an offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (see also criminal damage) which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both (s.30(2)).
Racially or religiously aggravated public order offences [ edit ]
Fear or provocation of violence and intentional harassment, alarm or distress [ edit ]
Section 31(1)(a) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated fear or provocation of violence. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits an offence under section 4 of the Public Order Act 1986 (see fear or provocation of violence) which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
Section 31(1)(b) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits an offence under section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 (see intentional harassment, alarm or distress) which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
A person guilty of either of these offences is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both (s.31(4)).
Harassment, alarm or distress [ edit ]
Section 31(1)(c) creates the distinct offence of racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. A person is guilty of this offence if he commits an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 (see harassment, alarm or distress) which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
A person guilty of this offence is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale (s.29(3)).
Arrest [ edit ]
Sections 31(2) and (3) formerly provided a statutory power of arrest for offences under section 31(1). They were repealed by section 174 of, and Part 2 of Schedule 17 to, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
Racially or religiously aggravated harassment etc. [ edit ]
Harassment [ edit ]
A person is guilty of an offence under section 32(1)(a) if he commits an offence under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both (s.32(3)).
Putting people in fear of violence [ edit ]
A person is guilty of an offence under section 32(1)(b) if he commits an offence under section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 which is racially or religiously aggravated within the meaning of section 28.
A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both (s.32(4)).
In Scotland, Section 33 amended the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 by inserting a new section 50A. This creates the offence of racially aggravated harassment.
Local authority responsibilities [ edit ]
Each Local Authority[4] in England and Wales was given the responsibility to formulate and implement a strategy to reduce crime and disorder in their area.[5] The Act also requires the local authority to work with every police authority, probation authority, Strategic health authority, social landlords, the voluntary sector, and local residents and businesses. Known as Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in England, and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) in Wales, the Home Office may require any Partnership to supply details of their community safety arrangements.[6]
Other provisions [ edit ]
Section 34 of the Act abolished the rebuttable presumption that a child (defined as a person under fourteen but over the age of ten) is incapable of committing an offence (doli incapax). Section 36 of the Act abolished the death penalty for all offences of treason and for the offence of piracy with violence (under the Piracy Act 1837), replacing it with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Case law [ edit ]
On 28 February 2007, the House of Lords ruled[7] that use of the expletive "bloody foreigner" amounted to racial abuse under the Act, and held that the legal definition of "racial group" went beyond colour, race or ethnic origin to include nationality, citizenship and national origin – even if they were not specified in the words used by the offender. Baroness Hale stated that such conduct was not only deeply hurtful, damaging and disrespectful to the victim, but also to the community as a whole "by denying acceptance to members of certain groups not for their own sake but for the sake of something they can do nothing about".[8]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]Now that HBO’s tech-startup comedy Silicon Valley just finished its second season and has been renewed for a third, its star Thomas Middleditch jokes that he’d like to see his entrepreneur character go through a big transformation sometime soon. “Skip ahead, and it’s almost like a Breaking Bad story,” says the actor with a laugh. “He goes by the name of Heisenberg.” It’s no wonder Middleditch craves some kind of antiheroic arc for the timid Richard Hendricks, considering show creators Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky wrote the role with Middleditch in mind. Although his character probably won’t end up in a shootout with meth dealers anytime soon, the actor says he has enjoyed watching Richard become more comfortable with being a CEO this season. Middleditch recently spoke with AwardsLine about how he implements his improv background on the series and working with some of his closest friends.
Did the technical language of Silicon Valley take any getting used to for you? And did you do anything specifically to prepare to play Richard?
I’m into computers, and have been for a while. I would never call myself a programmer, like what Richard does, and what all of Silicon Valley does is 10 levels above what I can generally comprehend. But I know the world to some degree. So I didn’t do too much preparation other than what’s this person like on an emotional, qualitative level. For the jargon and the language, we actually have a consultant on set who makes sure we say things (correctly). I mean, there are times when it feels like a medical procedural drama.
Has it been fun to see your character evolve into a leadership role this season?
Richard is in a position in the show where the pressure of the company is all on his shoulders. Everybody gets to have fun, and when you come to Richard, he’s rubbing his temple like, “What am I going to do?” I’m usually the character guy, the weirdo guy, so it’s been fun to take on some of that weight. Both myself and the showrunners have always looked for opportunities for comedy, just so he’s not the story guy and every time you need a story, you go to this guy because then that kind of castrates some of the fun of a lead in a show. One of my favorite episodes was where he fights back a little, and you want to pat him on the back and say, “Right on, man. Way to find those balls of yours.”
Mike Judge has talked previously about how Richard’s character has the most of his own experience incorporated into it. Did he give you any insight into that?
Mike used to get panic attacks, and that’s where that whole element of Richard stems from. He was telling me, “This is what it’s like to have a panic attack. Trust me. I wrote it because I used to get them,” and I was like, “OK.”
Silicon Valley reunites Middleditch with his friend from his improv days, T.J. Miller, above left. “We’ve done an improv show for one person,” Middleditch says of their hardscrabble days. “We did this for like a year and a half, just trying to get folks to come see our comedy.”
You and a lot of your castmates have improv backgrounds. Is there any improvisation on set?
It’s not one of those shows where the script is just a jumping-off point, just because it’s so precise and narrative-based and jargon-based. The inmate joining the asylum on that might not be a good idea. We also are pretty fortunate. We get really good, intricately woven scripts. So it’s more about finding little moments for character color, a little exchange, a joke here or there. We’ll mess around sometime in rehearsal because we’ll do a couple of passes before we end up shooting and that’s our quote-unquote rehearsal. We’ll also try stuff when we’re shooting, and then plenty of times someone will come up to us and be like, “Hey, let’s not do that. Let’s stick to the script, and let’s try it one more time.” I’m happy that they’re pretty diligent about it. I’m definitely not frowning on improv, I mean, I’ve been doing it for years. I just think that there’s some styles of comedy that warrant a tighter pace. Sometimes you just need words on a page to memorize.
You’re also working with some of your really good friends. Has that made the experience of being the lead on an HBO series that much better?
Friends or no friends, I’d still be really excited to be on this show. It’s a huge cherry on a pretty awesome cake. I’m not joking—it’s a top-three dream of mine to be on a comedy on HBO and to have it directed by Mike Judge and Alec Berg, and then on top of that, have it be with friends, two of them I’ve known for 10 years. The craziest part is T.J. (Miller, who plays venture-capitalist Erlich) and I used to do these improv shows in Chicago, and we would have to cancel because no one would come. We’ve done an improv show for one person. We did this for like a year and a half, just trying to get folks to come see our comedy. Skip 10 years, and we get to be on this show. I don’t know—I don’t want to sound too cheesy, but it’s just pretty cool.NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged a tougher approach to fighting Islamic State militants than President Barack Obama has pursued, with an intensified air campaign and more U.S. special forces and trainers.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the former secretary of state offered her most expansive view to date on how to counter a growing militancy that launched attacks in Paris last Friday in which 129 people died.
“Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat and destroy ISIS,” she said, using a common acronym for the group, in what amounted to an implicit criticism of Obama, who said days before the Paris attacks that it had been contained.
Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination for the November 2016 election, called for a “new phase” in the fight against Islamic State and outlined an approach that is more hawkish than Obama’s.
Clinton said the United States should increase air strikes and send more special forces to spot targets and get local forces combat-ready, able to reclaim territory lost to militants who have proclaimed a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Turning to options Obama has not adopted, she would impose no-fly zones over Syria and safe zones for refugees.
However, she opposed deploying large numbers of U.S. troops, saying “local people and nations have to secure their own communities.”
“Like President Obama, I do not believe that we should again have 100,000 American troops in combat in the Middle East, that is just not the smart move to make here,” she said.
Instead, she said, “We should be sending more special operators, we should be empowering our trainers in Iraq, we should be... leading an air coalition, using both fighter planes and drones.”
Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who is Clinton’s prime challenger, was unequivocal in his opposition to using more U.S. forces in Iraq.
“I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will never send our sons and daughters to war under false pretense or pretenses or into dubious battles with no end in sight,” he said in a speech at Georgetown University.
Obama has come under heavy criticism in the wake of the Paris attacks for his reliance on air strikes with no capability on the ground to control whatever territory might be cleared of enemy fighters through the use of air power.
The United States currently has 3,400 troops in Iraq and is sending more than 50 more who are special operations forces.
Clinton’s speech came a day after Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said more U.S. ground forces will be needed in Iraq in the wake of the Paris attacks.
Presaging how Republicans plan to take on Clinton, an aide to presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich said it is hard to take Clinton seriously on the issue because conditions in Iraq and Syria worsened when she was Obama’s first-term secretary of state.
“You have to ask yourself what was her role when this was all coming together during the first administration. It’s a little difficult to distance yourself from something that you were basically present at the creation for,” said Charles Mallory, national security director for Kasich’s campaign.
In the battle to counter Islamic State’s propaganda capabilities, Clinton said the United States will need help from American private industry.
Silicon Valley companies, she said, must not view government as its adversary when it comes to formulating counter-terrorism policies, adding that social media companies can help stop terrorism by “swiftly shutting down affiliated accounts.”
“Now is the time to solve this problem, not after the next attack,” Clinton said.
Clinton, who sometimes struggles to relate on the campaign trail, seemed in her element in her hour-long appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Hillary Clinton speaks at a Grassroots Organizing Event at Mountain View College in Dallas, Texas November 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Stone
While parting ways with Obama to some degree, she hewed closely to his decision to resettle as many as 10,000 Syrian refugees as part of the traditional U.S. welcoming role.
Many Republican candidates and more than two dozen state governors have called for a pause in the resettlement program out of fears militants might sneak into the country.
“We cannot allow terrorists to intimidate us into abandoning our values and our humanitarian obligations,” she said.After publishing the Frame Rating Part 3 story, I started to see quite a bit of feedback from readers and other enthusiasts with many requests for information about Vsync and how it might affect the results we are seeing here. Vertical Sync is the fix for screen tearing, a common artifact seen in gaming (and other mediums) when the frame rendering rate doesn’t match the display’s refresh rate. Enabling Vsync will force the rendering engine to only display and switch frames in the buffer to match the vertical refresh rate of the monitor or a divisor of it. So a 60 Hz monitor could only display frames at 16ms (60 FPS), 33ms (30 FPS), 50ms (20 FPS), and so on.
Many early readers hypothesized that simply enabling Vsync would fix the stutter and runt issues that Frame Rating was bringing to light. In fact, AMD was a proponent of this fix, as many conversations we have had with the GPU giant trailed into the direction of Vsync as answer to their multi-GPU issues.
In our continuing research on graphics performance, part of our Frame Rating story line, I recently spent many hours playing games on different hardware configurations and different levels of Vertical Sync. After this time testing, I am comfortable in saying that I do not think that simply enabling Vsync on platforms that exhibit a large number of runt frames fixes the issue. It may prevent runts, but it does not actually produce a completely smooth animation.
To be 100% clear - the issues with Vsync and animation smoothness are not limited to AMD graphics cards or even multi-GPU configurations. The situations we are demonstrating here present themselves equally on AMD and NVIDIA platforms and with single or dual card configurations, as long as all other parameters are met. Our goal today is only to compare a typical Vsync situation from either vendor to a reference result at 60 FPS and at 30 FPS; not to compare AMD against NVIDIA!!
In our initial research with Frame Rating, I presented this graph on the page discussing Vsync. At the time, I left this note with the image:
The single card and SLI configurations without Vsync disabled look just like they did on previous pages but the graph for GTX 680 SLI with Vsync on is very different. Frame times are only switching back and forth between 16 ms and 33 ms, 60 and 30 instantaneous FPS due to the restrictions of Vsync. What might not be obvious at first is that the constant shifting back and forth between these two rates (two refresh cycles with one frame, one refresh cycle with one frame) can actually cause more stuttering and animation inconsistencies than would otherwise appear.
Even though I had tested this out and could literally SEE that animation inconsistency I didn't yet have a way to try and demonstrate it to our readers, but today I think we do.
The plan for today's article is going to be simple. I am going to present a set of three videos to you that show side by side runs from different configuration options and tell you what I think we are seeing in each result. Then on another page, I'm going to show you three more videos and see if you can pinpoint the problems on your own.
Continue reading our article on the effects of Vsync on gaming animation smoothness!!
Battlefield 3 - 2560x1440 - Ultra Settings
Our first video comparison will look at two fixed frame rate runs of a portion of Battlefield 3, one at 60 FPS consistently and one at 30 FPS consistently. The first question I'll want to address is on the hardware behind these "reference" runs. While I will tell you we used Titan cards in SLI for our recordings, the truth it matters very little which configuration we used to get these results, as the goal was to have so much additional performance that we didn't ever worry about frame rates falling below the Vsync rates. By enabling standard Vsync we were able to capture a steady 60 FPS result and with NVIDIA's half-refresh rate Adaptive Vsync I could capture a solid 30 FPS result.
Download the 250MB MP4 from Mega.co.nz
Reports from most users are telling us that you NEED to download these files for a solid comparison!
Battlefield 3 - 60 FPS vs 30 FPS Comparison
You should be able to tell pretty easily that the left hand side of this video is the 60 FPS version and the right hand side is the 30 FPS version. The animation on the left is clearly smoother though neither has any "stutter" or variance in the frame rate. Yes, the right side won't look as good in comparison, but when viewed on its own (cover the left side with a piece of paper) and it should look great in real time and lower speeds.
In data form, this is what this comparison looks like:
The black line is nearly completely static at 16 ms frame times (only a single frame time spike to the higher 33 ms rate) resulting in a completely smooth 60 FPS animation rate on the screen. Our orange line shows the result of Adaptive half-refresh rate settings from NVIDIA's control panel giving us a static 30 FPS (33 ms) animation rate, with one instance of higher / lower frame times.
Our second video will now bring in a typical graphics card configuration with standard Vsync enabled and compare it to the 60 FPS result above. In this case the test is using a single Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition card but again this could be any card, in any game at any settings that has frame rates under the maximum refresh rate of your display for significant amounts of time.
Download the 250MB MP4 from Mega.co.nz
Reports from most users are telling us that you NEED to download these files for a solid comparison!
Battlefield 3 - 60 FPS vs Standard Vsync Comparison
In this video, the 60 FPS result is on the left and the HD 7970 running standard Vsync is on the right hand side. You should be able to see at real time the difference in smoothness between these two different user experiences and it will be more apparent when we slow down the video to 50% and 20%.
What does this look like in data form?
The black line is our 60 FPS static reference video while the orange line represents the standard Vsync run with the Radeon HD 7970 card. What kind of appears as "blocks" of orange on the graph is actually very quick and repeated variation in the instantaneous frame rate of 16 ms and 33 ms. This is due to the the function of Vsync that forces the frame to only be displayed at each refresh cycle of the display. In the first 20 seconds of the game, Battlefield 3 with these settings and this hardware is switching between 60 FPS and 30 FPS pretty regularl,y and because of that you see the differences in animation smoothness above.
What is maybe most interesting is our final video that compares a flat 30 FPS to the same Vsync result shown above.
Download the 250MB MP4 from Mega.co.nz
Reports from most users are telling us that you NEED to download these files for a solid comparison!
Battlefield 3 - 30 FPS vs Standard Vsync Comparison
The left hand side is the static 30 FPS result and on the right again is the Vsync run from the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition. Comparing the video in this case is much more interesting as in my experience there are some divided opinions. In a purely mathematical view the screen on the left should be "smoother" than the animation on the right hand side, even though on average it is running at a lower frame rate per second. However, the Vsync result has variance in frame times and thus you can see some patterns to the frames that don't exist at static 30 FPS or 60 FPS results. It kind of halts, or appears to freeze some times as a result of seeing frames at 16 ms, 16 ms, 16 ms, 33 ms, 16 ms, 16 ms...
Maybe looking at the data will help describe the phenomenon.
Clearly the black line of frame times is the same or slower than every instance of the orange line that represents the Vsync video output. However, the black line is consistently at 30 FPS while the orange line varies between 30 FPS and 60 FPS. Those periods of 60 FPS visuals are definitely smoother than the 30 FPS result (as we showed you in the first video on this page) but the variance in frame rates is actually more noticeable than you might have otherwise realized.
Despite all the arguing back and forth on what the limit of frame rate perception of the human eye is, there is one thing that is true without doubt - the human eye and brain can detect very subtle changes in animations pretty easily. Looking at a five second animation at 55 FPS and then 60 FPS, you'd be hard pressed to tell which is which. But if you see a video running at 60 FPS that suddenly drops to 30 FPS and you can clearly see the effect.
Now comes the real debate - which side of the video above is better? "Better" is a term that has many meanings and I don't have any doubts that there will be variance in answers from our readers across the world. I fall on the side of more static frame rate - consistent 30 FPS performance is better than what we have in many cases with traditional Vsync.
Now, on the next page, we are going to present the same videos and data but without telling you which result is which.The study demonstrates for the first time a new type of magnetocapacitance, a phenomenon that could be useful in the next generation of ‘spintronic’ devices.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Capacitors, electronic components that store and quickly release a charge, play an important role in many types of electrical circuits. They’ll play an equally important role in next-generation spintronic devices, which take advantage of not only electron charge but also spin — the tiny magnetic moment of each electron.
Two years ago, an international team of researchers showed that by manipulating electron spin at a quantum magnetic tunneling junction — a nanoscale sandwich made of two metal electrodes with an insulator in the middle — they could induce a large increase in the junction’s capacitance.
Now, that same research team has flipped the script on the phenomenon, known as magnetocapacitance. In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, they show that by using different materials to build a quantum tunneling junction, they were able to alter capacitance by manipulating spins in the opposite way from “normal” magnetocapacitance. This inverse effect, the researchers say, adds one more potentially useful phenomenon to the spintronics toolkit.
“It gives us more parameter space to design devices,” said Gang Xiao, chair of the physics department at Brown and one of the paper’s coauthors. “Sometimes normal capacitance might be better; sometimes the inverse might be better, depending on the application. This gives us a bit more flexibility.”
Magnetocapacitors could be especially useful, Xiao says, in making magnetic sensors for a range of different spintronic devices, including computer hard drives and next-generation random access memory chips.
The research was a collaboration between Xiao’s lab at Brown, the lab of Hideo Kaiju and Taro Nagahama at Japan’s Hokkaido University and the lab of Osamu Kitakami at Tohoku University.
Xiao has been investigating magnetic tunneling junctions for several years. The tiny junctions can work in much the same way as capacitors in standard circuits. The insulator between the two conducting electrodes slows the free flow of current across the junction, creating resistance and another phenomenon, capacitance.
But what makes tunneling junctions especially interesting is that the amount of capacitance can be changed dynamically by manipulating the spins of the electrons within the two metal electrodes. The electrodes are magnetic, meaning that electrons spinning within each electrode are pointed in one particular direction. The relative spin direction between two electrodes determines how much capacitance is present at the junction.
In their initial work on this phenomenon, Xiao and the research team showed just how large the change in capacitance could be. Using electrodes made of iron-cobalt-boron, they showed that by flipping spins from anti-parallel to parallel, they could increase capacitance in experiments by 150 percent. Based on those results, the team developed a theory predicting that, under ideal conditions, the change in capacitance could actually go as high as 1,000 percent.
The theory also suggested that using electrodes made from different types of metals would create an inverse magnetocapacitance effect, one in which anti-parallel spins create more capacitance than parallel spins. That’s exactly what they showed in this latest study.
“We used iron for one electrode and iron oxide for the other,” Xiao said. “The electrical properties of the two are mirror images of each other, which is why we observed this inverse magnetocapacitance effect.”
Xiao says the findings not only suggest a larger parameter space for the use of magnetocapacitance in spintronic devices, they also provide important verification for the theory scientists use to explain the phenomenon.
“Now we see that the theories fit well with the experiment, so we can be confident in using our theoretical models to maximize these effects, either |
” and “insulting,” but he is innocent of the allegations against him.
It’s not just his abrasive management style that is at play here. It’s also his political power plays, including giving big money to West Virginia politicians who would carry his water: internal memos show that the company and its leader shunned the very regulations under which they were required to live.
And it’s this pride that has put him in the position in which he now sits, not to mention the industry for which he has given his entire life. The defense, in fact, had wanted to argue that the trial is a political undertaking, not a criminal prosecution. The government, though, has called witness-after-witness to discuss Massey’s emphasis on production over safety.
Are such attitudes prevalent throughout the coal industry? There is a long and tortured past between and among the coal companies, the miners and the communities in which they have operated, according to Topper Sherwood, author of Carla Rising, a novel that focuses on the U.S. mine wars. Intense battles took place between the factions starting in 1912 and carried on through 1935, when workers were allowed to unionize.
The labor wars, he continues, were intended to overthrow the “absolute” political and financial power held by the mining companies, which also controlled the governing establishment. County sheriffs, he adds, were collecting two paychecks: one from the pubic coffers and the second from the coal company, all to keep order in the towns where they did business.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the labor movement had gained increasing clout, although it was still subservient to the business class, Sherwood says. While politicians began catering to the blue collar workers, those same elected officials remained loyal to the all-powerful industrial sector. Consider that in the 1950s, coal employed more than 100,000 miners in West Virginia and today that number is less than 20,000, diminishing their bargaining power.
“Don Blankenship is a successor to this world,” says Sherwood, in a Skype interview. “The mindset is embedded in the political and economic culture” of Central Appalachia. “The tools for economic and political control are still very much in the hands of the extraction industry.”
Is there such a thing as an enlightened coal boss? A number of witnesses at the Blankenship trial have testified that they had worked previously at other mine sites owned by other companies. The conditions, they added, were far superior to what they had experienced at Massey.
Regardless of how the verdict turns out, the damage that Massey has done to the coal sector is irreparable. All companies are, in essence, tarred with the same brush. And while the others are on the up-in-up, generally, with regard to minimizing their violations and treating their workers with respect, they are all guilty of spewing the same political venom that has hurt their cause and separated the peoples of Appalachia from the rest of America.
Nevertheless, the battles between mining companies and their labor unions will assuredly continue as market and regulatory pressures come to bear. Today's conflicts center on the continuation of health and pension benefits as the coal sector declines. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 60,000 megawatts of coal-based generation will be closed by 2020, 90 percent of which will happen by 2016.
Altogether, the energy agency says that 1,308 coal plants had existed in the United States in 2012, when 10,200 megawatts were retired — 3.2 percent of the total. Those closures involved smaller and less efficient plants, although over the next decade, it expects larger ones to also shut down. Bottom line: Coal’s share of the domestic market has fallen from 50 percent in 2007 to 39 percent now.
The manifestation? Massey’s new owner Alpha is now in bankruptcy, and it follows Walter Energy and Patriot Coal. And the two largest coal producers, Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, are struggling to keep their heads above water. Their problems, meanwhile, are compounded because their primary utility patrons like American Electric Power, Southern Co. and Duke Energy are cutting bait.
The coal industry might be better advised to pursue a technological course -- investing less money in trying defeat legislation and more money in pollution control equipment, says former Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, in a 2012 floor speech. “It’s not too late for the coal industry to step up and lead by embracing the realities of today and creating a sustainable future. We need a bold partner, innovation and major public and private investments.
“Instead, with each bad vote they give away more of their leverage and lock in failure,” adds Rockefeller, who did not pander to coal interests.
Understandably, the coal sector has underscored what it says is President Obama’s “war on coal” -- the regulations calling for fewer emissions, including carbon dioxide. The real bogeyman, however, may not be the one who now sits in the Oval Office; rather, it may end up being those leaders — both corporate and political — who continue to show disregard and disrespect for federal and state regulations. In other words, the Massey accident did more to wound coal than any environmental or workplace laws ever could.A drastic overhaul of policing and the criminal justice system in Ferguson, Missouri, and the surrounding region is needed to address the unfair treatment of black residents, according to a panel established by the state’s governor after last year’s civil unrest.
The Ferguson Commission on Monday blamed sharp racial disparities, which it said also extended through “housing, health, education, and income”, for turning the St Louis region into a tinder box that was ignited by the fatal shooting by police of an unarmed 18-year-old.
“We know that talking about race makes a lot of people uncomfortable,” the panel said, in a report based on an inquiry conducted over more than nine months. “But make no mistake: this is about race.” The 16-person commission said it had found repeatedly that “our institutions and existing systems are not equal, and that this has racial repercussions”.
The commission was set up by Governor Jay Nixon in November amid protests and riots over a grand jury’s decision not to prosecute Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for killing Brown. Wilson fatally shot Brown following an altercation in a residential side-street on 9 August last year, prompting several nights of clashes between police and protesters.
Among dozens of other recommendations, the panel called for the consolidation of St Louis County’s fragmented police and courts system, under which 60 separate police departments and 81 different courts oversee a little more than 1 million people.
The system, which was criticised by the US Department of Justice earlier this year for systematically penalising African American residents with costly fines and fees for minor offences, was described by the commission on Monday as an “impediment to justice for many of our region’s citizens”.
It called for the merging of police departments and said the Missouri state supreme court should take control of the county courts system in order to reduce it to a smaller network of fewer, larger courts.
The report proposed an extra 24 hours of training per year for police officers, including standardised anti-bias training to encourage better understanding of “implicit bias, racial profiling, fair and impartial policing, cultural and religious responsiveness” along with issues relating to LGBT people, and people with mental illnesses.
Studies have found black motorists are 75% more likely than white counterparts to be stopped by police, while black and hispanic residents were 90% more likely to be arrested than white residents, the panel found.
The commission said a statewide database recording all uses of force by police should be established. States such as California have setup similar systems, partly in response to anger over the lack of a comprehensive national monitoring by the federal government. The Guardian is counting every killing by police in 2015, along with demographic data on the people who died, in a crowdsourced reporting project.
All investigations into killings by police should be taken over by the Missouri attorney general and the state highway patrol, the Ferguson panel said, to avoid potential conflicts of interest during inquiries by local authorities. The investigation into Brown’s death by the county police and prosecutor was viewed with intense suspicion by protesters.
A county-level civilian review board with subpoena power should be established to “investigate potential criminal wrongdoing by officers and to make recommendations for prosecutions”, according to the panel, which also called for smaller civilian review boards in the dozens of municipalities in the St Louis region to monitor police departments.
The commission called for new training in constitutional rights for officials working in the municipal courts system, and proposed a detailed overhaul of such charges and their penalties. A series of reforms, including reductions in some penalties, were introduced to Ferguson’s court last month by the city’s new municipal judge.
Conflicts of interest among officials in the courts system – where people have frequently served alternately as judges, prosecutors and private attorneys in neighbouring jurisdictions – should be banned, the commission found in another recommendation. Many of the reforms would require new laws by state legislators, the panel stressed.A year ago, China Daily gushed with upbeat epithets about the co-operation between the US and China. The relationship was already effective and smooth on trade, Taiwan and global warning. With two firm multilateralists, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, now in power, it would be positively strengthened and constructive, the official mouthpiece opined.
How different the picture looks today – and how wounded the official tone. China sent a deputy foreign minister to negotiate with Mr Obama in Copenhagen, scuppering the deal that not just the US but many other countries wanted. Next came the cyber-attacks on Google. Then the White House approved a decision to sell patriot missiles to Taiwan, announced that Mr Obama would meet the Dalai Lama and lectured China on its overvalued currency. Forget the metaphor of resetting relations, which the US used recently with Russia. Hardly a month goes by when the US and China can resist pushing each other's buttons.
Is China's assertiveness and Mr Obama's hardened attitude all down to economics – to the former's impressive performance during the global recession and the latter's much weaker one? Economists reckon the Chinese currency, which has remained at the same value since July 2008, is undervalued by 25% to 40%. Even on the lower figure, the effect of a correction on the currencies of neighbours like Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan would be major and would collectively help cut the US deficit by $100bn and create 700,000 jobs. Reopening the battle with China over its currency is not a bad move, therefore, as Mr Obama faces difficult midterm elections in November. Both the US and China are trying to power their way forward with export booms and each requires a low valuation of its currency to do that.
But politics matter too. China's foreign policy has become more assertive as nationalism becomes dominant. For all the lip service to multilateralism, China is more hostile to sanctions on Iran than Russia. A nationalist China is, however, more tied into the global economy than ever before. Two-thirds of China's $2.4 trillion currency reserves are held in dollars. If it dumped the US treasury bonds and shares in which these dollars are invested, China could trigger a collapse of the dollar, and world markets, and another global recession. To whom would China be able to export then? Certainly not to the US or the EU. China's key economic interest lies in continuing to fund US debt.
So there are limits to the current US-China jousting. Each is repainting its red lines and stepping over the other's. But at some point national interest says this must stop. Neither of the tetchy twins can do without the other.Advertisement
With all the risks involved in using file sharing networks, browsing unprotected website directories is probably a lot easier and safer. Only when you start doing that do you realise half the stuff that people keep in their website folders (Sports Illustrated magazines!)
Then you start to realise how silly they are for not password protecting those folders and leaving them wide open for the whole world to walk in and take a look!
This might be really old news for a lot of people but I thought I would just quickly jot down the search parameters for finding files in unprotected website directories.
In case you don’t know, an unprotected website directory is a website that doesn’t have an “index” file created for it – index.htm, index.html, index.php. So if you try to access a website directory which doesn’t have a password controlling it or which doesn’t have an index page, you will be able to see a list of all the files and folders that are inside that directory. If you can see that, you can then click on the files and both download them and open them.
Here’s what a typical unprotected directory looks like :
Directories like these will have all kinds of files. Things like pictures, music, video files, documents, you name it.
Now you can do a general search and go through literally hundreds of thousands of these directories. But to do that sort of search is both time consuming and a bit mind numbing. But if you want to do it, just put into the search box (be it Google, Yahoo, whatever) the following search string :
-inurl(html|htm|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size
This will bring up EVERYTHING and you can go hunting for whatever you can find. Good luck.
But don’t you want to be selective? Don’t you want to look for something in particular? Well, if so, you can change the search string to look for ONLY pictures or ONLY music or ONLY video. So….
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wmv|avi)
This will only look for wmv and avi video files. You can easily alter it if you don’t want “wmv” or “avi” or if you want “mpg” instead. You get the idea.
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(jpg|gif)
This will only look for jpg and gif files. Again, you can alter the file formats to suit yourself.
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3)
This will only look for wma and mp3 music files. Again you can easily change the file formats to suit yourself.
Just put the search string you need into the search engine box. Then hit the ‘enter’ button and your results will come up. I guarantee you’ll be hooked for ages trying to see what you can find! You can also put a certain search term after your file format so :
[-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(jpg|gif) “britney spears”]
Obviously you are not going to get perfect results. You are going to have to wade through a lot of irrelevant and useless stuff some of the time but quite often you do find a lot of good stuff too. It’s quite fun peeking into people’s unprotected folders seeing what they have stashed away. Stuff like embarrassing photos, drunken videos, “provocative” material, and much more.
Some people have embedded these search algorithims into software which makes it easier to search for files. One of them is Clickster which I reviewed last May. It searches for MP3’s in peoples unprotected directories and it has a very nice simple GUI.
Some of you might say what right do we have to go browsing through people’s website folders? But look at it this way – these people posted this stuff online – in an unprotected unsecure website folder. It’s as if they are asking for it to be found. They are making no effort to keep it hidden or secure and putting it out on the World Wide Web is the most stupidest thing in the world to do if you want to keep something private and hidden.
So go out there, find it and enjoy it. Oh and let us know in the comments some of the stuff you managed to find in your searches.
Image Credit : dullhunkIn the midst of making the usual (good, and worth repeating) points about how those who shrug at near universal surveillance with the belief that they are decent law-abiding citizens with nothing to hide have no idea at all how many laws there are and whether or not they are breaking them, Moxie Marlinspike at Wired makes a more inspired point about the dangers of law enforcement that is too knowledgeable and efficient:
Imagine if there were an alternate dystopian reality where law enforcement was 100% effective, such that any potential law offenders knew they would be immediately identified, apprehended, and jailed. If perfect law enforcement had been a reality in Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington since their founding in the 1850s, it seems quite unlikely that these recent changes [in marijuana and gay marriage law] would have ever come to pass. How could people have decided that marijuana should be legal, if nobody had ever used it? How could states decide that same sex marriage should be permitted, if nobody had ever seen or participated in a same sex relationship?
....living in an existing social structure creates a specific set of desires and motivations in a way that merely talking about other social structures never can. The world we live in influences not just what we think, but how we think, in a way that a discourse about other ideas isn’t able to. Any teenager can tell you that life’s most meaningful experiences aren’t the ones you necessarily desired, but the ones that actually transformed your very sense of what you desire.
We can only desire based on what we know. It is our present experience of what we are and are not able to do that largely determines our sense for what is possible. This is why same sex relationships, in violation of sodomy laws, were a necessary precondition for the legalization of same sex marriage. This is also why those maintaining positions of power will always encourage the freedom to talk about ideas, but never to act.The Flash’s cast continues to grow as it races toward a second season.
After yesterday’s report that The Flash would add a new romantic interest in the vein of Arrow’s Felicity Smoak, it’s now rumored that a new hero may hit Central City.
As TVLine is reporting, The Flash’s creators are casting a “square-jawed hero in his 30 to 40s.” This mystery man, who would stick around for the entire season, would also be slightly cynical and have an “edge” about him. So, who in the DC Universe might fit that bill? The casting call cites the roll as “John Clark,” who's actually an old-time letterer at DC Comics. But the cheeky reference might offer some hints. Clark has covered several heroes during his DC career, but the ones who could match the description include Geoforce, Hawkman (remember, Hawkgirl will be in Legends of Tomorrow), Doctor Fate, The Spectre, and other Justice Society characters. We did see that Jay Garrick Flash helmet in the Flash's season finale, so perhaps the series is looking for an Earth 2 character?October 26, 2009
To compare the condition of animals to groups of humans that are oppressed is to view the latter through a paternalistic lens, rather than a lens of human liberation.
OUR SOCIETY engages in practices that are cruel toward animals. The spread of capitalism worldwide has seriously shrunk or destroyed the natural habitat of thousands of species, and the routine mistreatment of animals that are raised and used for testing or for food is well-documented.
Capitalism treats animals as a means to an end--as things to be squeezed for as much value as can be gotten out of them. Animals on factory farms are packed together by the thousands, confined in spaces that allow them little movement, and deprived of fresh air and sunlight. Animal waste falls through slats into a collection area below, creating noxious gases. The conditions in these compounds are so toxic that if the exhaust system shuts down, animals quickly begin to die off.
These factory farms are not only harmful to non-human animals. Workers at processing plants labor at breakneck speeds slaughtering animals. One worker at Smithfield Foods' Tar Heel, N.C., plant complained that he is routinely splashed with backed-up hog feces and urine, and that "the human beings are treated like machines."
Columnist: Paul D’Amato Paul D'Amato is managing editor of the International Socialist Review and author of The Meaning of Marxism, a lively and accessible introduction to the ideas of Karl Marx and the tradition he founded. Paul can be contacted at [email protected].
According to the Web Site Sustainable Table, "Man-made lagoons on industrial farms hold millions of gallons of liquid waste, from which contaminants can leach into groundwater." Smithfield, the world's largest pork producer, whose massive hog operations have wiped out small farmers in the U.S., Eastern Europe and Africa, was fined $12.6 million for a toxic spill at a Virginia facility that was twice as big as the Exxon Valdez.
These are all practices that many of us would like to see changed. There is a clear connection between how a rapacious capitalism mistreats animals, how capitalism degrades the environment, and how capitalism cruelly exploits human beings.
Nevertheless, seeking more humane treatment of animals is not the same as calling for "animal rights" or "animal liberation."
WHEN I hear the terms "animal rights" and "animal liberation," some pretty strange scenarios run through my head. Does a mountain lion that kills a deer have a right to a trial by a jury of its peers? Should cows have freedom of assembly, speech and religion? Would my cat be liberated if I tossed him out of the house and stopped feeding him?
An animal rights activist might dismiss my attempt at humor, but there is a point to it. Non-human animals don't possess the biological and physical attributes that would allow them to engage in the activities and behaviors we associate with "liberation" and "rights."
Ben Dalbey, in an unpublished essay, describes a video, produced by an organization concerned with protecting farm animals, that depicts "Maxine's Dash for Freedom":
"Maxine" is described in this Farm Sanctuary video...as having "escaped" from a New York City slaughterhouse. She was then "rescued" by police and firefighters, who found her wandering the streets, taken to an animal shelter, and then taken by the Farm Sanctuary to greener pastures. In reality, we don't know whether "Maxine" escaped, got lost, was let go by a human, or fell off the truck, because she can't tell us. All she does in the video is sit in her cage and chew straw. It is the humans from the Farm Sanctuary who have imparted to "Maxine" a human name, a "will to live," and an ability to "escape" from the slaughterhouse, which she does not have. What is clear in the video is that "Maxine" demonstrates a "will" not to get onto the truck that will take her to the farm sanctuary. Here, because it is a human who always has and always will decide what is best for Maxine, her "will" is ignored. She--like all cows--must be pulled by ropes, prodded and enticed with food to go where the humans want her to be, whether that is the slaughterhouse or the Farm Sanctuary.
Though there is a basic biological continuity between all living things, there is also a qualitative difference that separates humans from other animals.
Animals have evolved and adapted to particular ecological niches, each possessing certain physical and behavioral attributes that allow them to survive in a particular habitat. Human beings have evolved certain attributes--a large brain, upright gait, dexterous hands, and, along with that, language and technology--that allow them to adapt to different environments by making those environments adapt to their needs. All species evolve and change, biologically speaking; only humans evolve culturally and socially.
Indeed, the only reason we can have this discussion about animals is because we have something they don't have--language. The fact is that dogs cannot domesticate us. By extension, they cannot "liberate" themselves or demand "rights" from us, either; they can't even formulate what a right or a demand is, Chicken Run notwithstanding.
Hence, realistically, when anyone speaks of rights or liberation for other animals, what they are really talking about is how humans behave toward animals. Human beings are, to a large extent, arbiters of the fate of other animals (for good or ill), a fact that sets us sharply apart from them.
I SAW a poster the other day that read: "racism=speciesism=sexism."
Speciesism is "a prejudice or attitude of bias towards the interests of members of one's own species, and against those of members of other species," says Australian animal rights activist Peter Singer, whose 1975 book Animal Liberation is credited with starting the modern animal rights movement. Those who believe that the needs and interests of the human species take precedence over those of other species is a "speciesist."
Animal "equality," in this scenario, is not equality between other animals and humans (obviously, we could grant cows the right to vote and to bear arms, but it wouldn't matter much), but "equal" treatment by humans of humans and animals.
All living things are "speciesist." The web of life on our planet consists of different species struggling to survive, many by eating other species. The fact that human beings have the capacity, unlike any other species, to create a hierarchy of being, and make decisions about what living thing is legitimate or not legitimate to eat, is itself proof that there is a qualitative divide between human beings and other animals.
In his essay "All Animals are Equal," Peter Singer urges "that we extend to other species the basic principle of equality that most of us recognize should be extended to all members of our own species."
The equation of racism and sexism with the treatment of animals is to trivialize the former.
Consider some of the campaigns organized by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Its 2008 "Wrong Meeting" video shows a hooded Klansman attending a kennel club meeting to talk about "breeding to achieve a master race"--equating the breeding of dogs with the Klan's white supremacism. A few years earlier, the group ran a "Holocaust on your plate" campaign that compared the Nazi Holocaust during the Second World War to the slaughter of animals for food.
Non-human animals are helpless and, as I pointed out earlier, incapable of organizing and fighting for their rights. To compare the condition of animals to that of women, Blacks and other groups for freedom and equality is to view the latter through a paternalistic lens, rather than a lens of human liberation.
The astonishing logic of the idea that "all animals are equal" is revealed in a statement by Susan Rich, PETA's outreach coordinator. When questioned about who she would rescue in a lifeboat if the choice were between a baby and a dog, she answered: "I might choose the human baby or I might choose the dog."
Sometimes, the peculiar "speciesism" of the animal rights advocates comes through--that is, the elevation of other species over humans. For example, PETA co-founder Ingrid Newkirk said in 1990, "Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the earth."
EarthFirst! co-founder Dave Foreman made a similar point in a 1991 interview for Sports Illustrated: "If it came down to a confrontation between a grizzly and a friend, I'm not sure whose side I would be on. But I do know humans are a disease, a cancer on nature. And I also know I am far more interested in the plight of the spotted owl than I am in a logger in Oregon. I have a problem with glorifying the downtrodden worker."
Hitler and his closest associates were also very concerned with the welfare of animals. He personally ushered through a Law on Animal Protection in 1933 that read in part, "It is forbidden to unnecessarily torment or roughly mishandle an animal." Luftwaffe chief Herman Goering, who was head of the German Humane Society (!), issued a ban on vivisection (later modified), announcing that violators would be placed in concentration camps. Goering also restricted hunting, and forbid the boiling of live lobsters.
His concern for killing living things did not extend to Jews, Gypsies, gays, communists and Slavs.
Of course, many young activists who gravitate to animal rights activism don't do so because they elevate animals above people, or have contempt for the working class, but because they are concerned about how capitalism degrades all living things. Such a concern is not to be pooh-poohed.
But in order to put that concern in the right perspective, we need to insist on the essential differences between human beings and other animals, and reject the idea of "animal liberation."Photos by Chris Young/CP and David Matthew/Getty
A 20-page document obtained by VICE shows the Ontario government's framework to sell legal weed contradicts what its own Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is saying about enforcement and the black market.
Last month, Ontario revealed that come next year, it will be selling recreational weed through an LCBO-controlled monopoly, with 40 retail stores to start, followed by 80 in 2019 and 150 by 2020. During the announcement, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said illegal pot dispensaries should consider themselves "on notice" and will be shut down through a proactive enforcement strategy. Ontario also opted to ban all public consumption of cannabis except at private residences and to push the legal age for purchasing and consuming weed up to 19, even though the federal government has set the legal age at 18.
However, VICE has obtained an internal briefing titled "Impacts of Cannabis Legalization on Police" that was presented by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (MCSCS) to the Future of Policing Advisory Committee on August 2, 2017. The MCSCS has confirmed the report's authenticity. Many of its points contradict both the policies laid out by Ontario and the federal government.
Dispensaries/organized crime
For all the tough talk from the province, the MCSCS report quite bluntly states "the illegal market will not disappear once cannabis is legalized (e.g. Illegal dispensaries will continue to operate)." In Toronto, the province has said there are 60-80 currently in operation. Many have pointed out that a mere 40 government stores to service a population of 13.6 million is unlikely to make a dent in the black market. It seems the government agrees.
Criminal justice system
One of the federal government's key promises has been to ease the burden of prohibition on the justice system. The federal Liberals' website states that "arresting and prosecuting these offenses is expensive for our criminal justice system" and that prohibition "traps too many Canadians in the criminal justice system for minor, non-violent offenses." However, the MCSCS document clearly says, there's an "anticipated increase in enforcement capacity pressures due to cannabis legalization." This is hardly a surprise, considering the federal government has already promised $274 million for policing and border enforcement related to cannabis legalization, but nonetheless it shows the province is fully aware that legalization won't clear up the backlog in criminal justice system.
Minimum age
Ontario has chosen 19 as the minimum age for purchasing and consuming weed and is also prohibiting people under the age of 19 from possessing any weed, even though the federal weed framework says youth could possess up to five grams without being charged with any crime. According to the MCSCS report there are several issues with Ontario's chosen route. It could force youth under 19 to continue to rely on the black market, and it could result in "border hopping" if the minimum ages differ between provinces. To that end, Quebec last week announced that it will go with 18 as the legal age for buying and consuming weed. The report also said creating a separate provincial offence for youth caught with weed will result in "increasing the complexity in enforcing for police officers." In other words, it will create a further burden on the criminal justice system.
Difficulties in enforcement
Enforcing both the medical cannabis and recreational cannabis regimes. (No specifics were given, however, one can guess there will be challenges in differentiating between the two when it comes to things like possession, growing, and public consumption.)
Issues with "trying to accurately measure 30 grams of dried cannabis or equivalent in public." Thirty grams of possession in public is the legal limit set out by the feds.
"Deciphering when social sharing of cannabis does not constitute the facilitation of a drug transaction." So, how are cops going to distinguish between people sharing drugs versus selling them to each other?
Enforcing the ban on public consumption and impairment "given the different mediums of cannabis that can be consumed (e.g. edibles)." It's pretty easy to eat a gummy bear without attracting the cops' attention.
The MCSCS briefing outlined a number of aspects of legalization that will be tough for cops to enforce including:
Public consumption
While the Ontario government has said public consumption will be banned everywhere but at private residences—weed lounges will also be barred—the MCSCS briefing suggests that's not a good idea. "Banning cannabis consumption in public could increase the risk of users turning to other mediums (e.g. edibles) which could lead to stronger impairment/effects," it says.
Growing
Under the federal plan, Canadians outside the medical regime will be allowed to grow four plants at home. Possession of more than than four harvesting plants could result in 14 years of jail. The MCSCS report said these plants could be "an additional source for organized crime." It also said it will be difficult to enforce the home grow ops because most police services "lack capacity for the anticipated magnitude of increased enforcement" and because you can't go into people's homes without search warrants. Another issue, the report says, is people could be criminalized for small amounts of overproduction.
Driving impairment
The report says drug screeners only test for presence of the drug, not impairment.
VICE reached out to Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General for an interview, citing contradictions between this report and Ontario's legalization rollout plan. In response, Emilie Smith, a spokeswoman for the MAG sent a statement saying the ministry established a "dedicated secretariat" to coordinate the province's weed rollout that draws from the skills of 16 ministries, including the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
"The Ministry of the Attorney General developed, in close collaboration with partner ministries, a safe and sensible approach that focuses on the promotion of public health and safety, including road safety, the protection of young people, prevention and harm reduction," the statement said.
The MAG declined to take specific questions on this document.
Canada is slated to legalize weed by next July.
Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.The ease with which self-described democratic states embroil themselves in torture continues to be illustrated by the manner in which agencies of the Canadian state, from spies to judges, have wedged open a door to legitimize complicity in a practice that both domestic and international law ban outright.
Before dismissing that paragraph as preposterous, it is worth considering that two federal inquiries into the torture of Abdullah Almalki, Maher Arar, Ahmad El Maati, and Muayyed Nureddin revealed a sinister level of Canadian complicity in torture, from which no accountability or systemic changes have emerged. Further, damning documents reveal Canadian knowledge of and culpability in the renditions and torture of Benamar Benatta and Abousfian Abdelrazik. Meanwhile, the Federal Court, while accepting CSIS memos acknowledging that secret trial "security certificate" cases are based largely on torture, continues with hearings that could result in deportations to torture. That latter possibility is courtesy of a 2002 Supreme Court of Canada decision that left open the possibility of such complicity in torture under "exceptional circumstances."
Outrage over Canadian involvement in torture remains fairly muted, especially as each new revelation of deepening complicity is met by government officials not so much with shamefaced promises to keep our hands clean, but rather bald-faced justifications in the name of security. Indeed, as in the U.S., there appears a growing Canadian effort to justify as legal and legitimate that which is neither.
Part of that process of legitimization -- accepting torture as a normal course of social and political events in much the same mundane way we would assess price drops in overseas markets -- is now firmly fixed at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). As we learned last month in a declassified memo, CSIS runs a thinly disguised torture committee, using the more group hug-like moniker of the Information Sharing Evaluation Committee.
According to a formerly secret August 2011 memo from CSIS Deputy Director of Operations Michel Coulombe, a group of six people sit around the table and shoot the breeze about information coming across their desks that may have come from torture (or, to use their preferred term, "mistreatment"). Their task is to decide whether to act on the fruits of torture and whether to share information that could lead to the torture of someone else. This may sound familiar, because it's exactly what CSIS and the RCMP were already found to be up to in the decade following 9/11. Rather than ending such practices, they've developed an Orwellian process whereby they justify doing what they are not supposed to do, with subsequent Public Safety memos from Vic Toews to the Canadian Border Services Agency and the RCMP outlining the same process.
All of these documents clearly state that the "Government of Canada does not condone the use of torture," but then proceed to justify involvement in torture.
So what does the Gang of Six do when they decide whether they have to defy the law by getting down and dirty with torture? Their list of sources to consult starts with "CSIS databases," a less than objective or reassuring source of information which the departed Inspector General of CSIS, Eva Plunkett, slammed in her November 2011 report as "unreliable." (Her position has since been eliminated to save $1 million, while the War Department continues to spend upwards of $2 million on Viagra).
CSIS is then to look at their "foreign arrangements" as well as "assurances" that have been received by the foreign entity. In deciding whether to turn someone over to the Gestapo or to share information with those who turn the screws, CSIS must decide whether the Gestapo's promise not to torture someone can be taken at face value (this practice of "diplomatic assurances" has long been condemned as another disgrace that erodes further the outright ban on torture).
CSIS can also check the human rights reports from DFAIT (the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade). DFAIT was found to be complicit in torture by two federal inquiries (and their memos with respect to the torture of Abdelrazik, detained in Sudan for years, illustrated similar culpability |
, where the goateed manager on duty -- a striking figure in his yellow button-down shirt, gold bracelet and gold cross necklace adorning his exposed chest -- intermittently glanced up at the TV as the governor spoke.
The man, known as "George the Greek" or "G the G" to others at the diner, offered a succinct response when asked for his opinion about Christie: “Asshole.”
After adding upon further reflection that it would be amusing to watch Christie and fellow GOP candidate Donald Trump “go at it” in the debates, G the G made a prediction about the governor.
“He’ll be one of the first ones to jump out [of the race],” said G the G. “I just think people will see right through him. When everyone starts realizing how bad New Jersey is, and even Republicans here don’t want him, how’s the rest of the country going to feel about him?”
From his seat at the bar, Bill, a salesman who was in town for business from Portsmouth, New Hampshire -- the first-in-the-nation primary state where Christie intends to stake his claim to take up unofficial residence in the coming months -- offered his own assessment of the candidate's strengths.
“I bet he could do a big fat cannonball,” said Bill, who declined to give his last name.
What might end up being Christie's biggest hurdle, as he tries to take his act out of New Jersey and onto the national stage, is exactly the sort of sentiment expressed in this diner Tuesday. When asked how they thought Christie will fare in his White House bid, several of the employees and patrons at the Plaza Diner alluded to New Jersey’s stubborn unemployment rate and sorry fiscal state as additional reasons why the governor could be in for a mighty struggle.
But it was Bridgegate -- and the ensuing questions that the scandal raised about Christie’s leadership style and temperament -- that remained the primary point of criticism, even for those who don’t live here.
“I think with that bridge, he knew exactly what he’s doing,” said Lou Defillipis, who was in town from Queens to meet with an insurance agent.
“I think he’s loud,” said Defillipis' wife, Gloria.
The views on Christie weren’t universally negative. A server named Viviana, who also declined to give her last name, had some faint praise for the governor.
“He’s better than that other clown,” she said.
You mean Trump?
“Yeah."
Though there were a variety of opinions on what might be Christie's biggest liability as a candidate, everyone who spoke with The Huffington Post here on this particular day more or less agreed on one point: Christie’s hopes of becoming the nation’s 45th president seem about as good as the chances that New Jerseyans will start keeping their opinions to themselves.
“I don’t think he can win,” said Sheldon Cuffy, who was sitting at a booth. “The bridge thing is going to come back to haunt him.”
As Cuffy glanced over his check, his dining companion volunteered a slightly more nuanced take on Christie’s odds before getting up to leave.A prominent Kremlin critic and Russian opposition figure who has been in a coma since last week has been diagnosed with “acute poisoning by an undefined substance”, his wife has said.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, 35, who works for Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia foundation, had been in Russia to screen a documentary film about his friend Boris Nemtsov, the opposition leader and former deputy prime minister who was gunned down near the Kremlin in 2015.
Kara-Murza was about to fly back to the US for his daughter’s eighth birthday when he woke up at 5am on Thursday with an accelerated heartbeat and difficulty breathing. He remained in a stable but critical condition on Tuesday in a medically induced coma, his wife, Yevgeniya, said.
The Guardian view on the killing of Boris Nemtsov: a watershed for Russia | Editorial Read more
Kara-Murza was taken to the same hospital in 2015, when he was diagnosed with acute kidney failure in connection with poisoning and only just survived. He later said it had been an attempt to kill him for his political activities. The symptoms were the same in this latest attempt on his life, his wife told the Guardian.
The family has sent blood samples to laboratories in France and Israel in an attempt to identify the poison, which they were unable to do last time.
On Tuesday she said Donald Trump, who said in an interview this weekend that he respected Vladimir Putin, should realise that a true leader would not allow people to be “poisoned because of their beliefs”.
When Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said during the interview that “Putin’s a killer”, Trump defended the Russian leader: “We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?”
“President Trump should realise that Putin is not a friend; he is a killer,” she said. “Putin is a killer and should be dealt with accordingly.”
Alexander Litvinenko: the man who solved his own murder | Luke Harding Read more
The Kara-Murzas live in the US with their three young children, but he frequently returns to Russia. Together with Nemtsov, he helped organise street protests against Putin and co-authored a 2013 report about corruption in preparations for the president’s prized Sochi Olympics.
Kara-Murza had shown the documentary in several Russian cities and was preparing to release it online, his wife said, adding that her husband had decided to continue with his activism despite the 2015 poisoning.
“He still believed his presence in Russia was more useful because he continued with his documentary,” she said. “If he can get back to normal, which we pray for, we’ll see what now, because his documentary is done. It’s going to be his choice but I know [his work] will still be connected to Russia.”
Kara-Murza is not the first Putin critic to have been poisoned. Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London in 2006 after drinking tea that was found to be laced with polonium-210, a the radioactive substance. An inquiry last year said two Russian agents had murdered Litvinenko and that the hit was “probably approved” by Putin.On July 12, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour issued a proclamation declaring the final week in July to be "Mississippi Craft Beer Week." Like Alabama’s in early June, Mississippi Craft Beer Week ties together a number of beer-centric events intended to spread the word about the craft beer movement.
In the proclamation, Barbour recognized the "three distinct producers: brewpubs, microbreweries, and regional craft breweries and," here’s where it gets really interesting, "let us not forget our homebrewing enthusiasts," who, might I add, must break state law if they are to practice their hobby. That’s right. Mississippi and Alabama are the only two states that don’t legally allow the practice of homebrewing, so the fact that Gov. Barbour recognized a rogue group of lawbreakers is a hopeful sign that the state is headed toward more beer-friendly laws in the near future.
Many great beers were born in homebrewers’ kitchens, and laws making the practice illegal stifle opportunities that the state’s would-be brewers might otherwise have, such as the Samuel Adams Longshot contest.
Since 1996, Samuel Adams employees have competed in their own homebrew competition, and the Longshot contest is a chance for both employees and everyday homebrewers to show off their brewing know-how. Winners get their beers brewed at the Samuel Adams brewery and distributed in a mixed six-pack that has recently shown up on store shelves along the Alabama Gulf Coast.
The current Longshot pack includes two bottles each of a lemon pepper saison, a barleywine and an English-style old ale.
With the heat of summer bearing down, I opted to start with the saison. The style was originally brewed as a refreshing, low-alcohol choice for Belgian farmworkers during harvest season, and this version makes it easy to see why. Created by Jeremy White, a Sam Adams IT tech, the saison smells heavily of lemon, but the flavor is more balanced and nuanced. It’s spiced with grains of paradise, which give the beer a nice peppery note that melds well with the sweetness of the malt. If you’re looking for a refreshing summer beer and want to try something other than pilsners and wheat beers, you’ll be well-served by this saison. (6.4 percent alcohol by volume)
"Old Ben" ale, an English-style old ale brewed by homebrewer Michael Robinson from New Hampshire, was next. Sam Adams says this beer was created "to enjoy on cold nights or as an after dinner treat," so I waited until dark and cranked up the AC before giving it a try. Rich and malty, this old ale filled my mouth with the flavors of fresh bread and barely a hint of hops. At 9 percent ABV, it’s strong, but it’s not at all bitter, so if you avoid the hoppiness of India Pale Ales, you may find a friend in this old ale.
I finished the evening with the biggest beer of the bunch, a barleywine created by Ben Miller of New Mexico. Barleywines are often well-served by aging the beer for a year or more, but this one was young and delicious, with a strong aroma of citrusy American hops that came across more in the smell than in the flavor. Deep fruit notes are the star of this show, and a rich, mouth-coating texture leads to a long-lasting aftertaste that evolves with each sip. Like the old ale, I suggest you save this one for a nightcap or, if you want to experiment, stash a bottle away and open it up in January to see how the flavor has evolved. (9.8 percent ABV)
Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch homebrewed his first batch of Boston Lager in his kitchen more than 25 years ago, and it seemed like a long shot that his brewery would become the largest craft beer producer in America, but it did.
And now Mississippi and Alabama each have a week dedicated to craft beer.
Talk about a long shot.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “womenomics” program, which aims to put more females in managerial positions in companies across the archipelago, ignores the most fundamental issue preventing women from being promoted within the workplace: sexism. Just encouraging companies to promote women isn’t going to fix this problem.
Japan’s sexism is infamous internationally, and I’d even rank it as one of the scourges of the nation. Fortunately, it’s a problem that can be tackled through education. So why isn’t anyone doing this?
Sexism is endemic in homes, schools, universities and workplaces. From a young age, boys see women objectified in manga, anime and the Japanese tabloid sports pages. Men grope women on trains and stalk them. With such treatment of women being so common, is it any wonder more career women aren’t promoted to senior managerial positions? If women are denigrated outside the workforce, how are they supposed to survive and thrive within it — especially in a male-dominated workplace?
Rules on sexual harassment, formed to protect women, are a start, but why is sekuhara a purely judicial subject? Why are we waiting for guys to be taken to court and told that what they are doing is wrong?
I’ve endured overt sexism myself during my 20 or so years here. In addition to men asking me about my breast size and the color of my pubic hair, the following exchange took place just the other day.
I was talking to a male friend in his 30s about a new pudding that is gaining popularity in this part of Japan. It’s made from shonyū, the milk heifers produce just after they calve. This nutrient-rich milk is said to account for the dessert’s rich taste. The guy looked at me and said, “Oh, is it made from the milk from your breasts?”
I was shocked that he would say such a thing and I reprimanded him for it. He replied with “It’s just a joke,” as if that made it OK. Disguising a comment as a joke doesn’t make the comment any less sexist (or racist or bigoted). Needless to say, he didn’t understand what the big deal was.
Another time, I was with a female university student. Some middle-aged males were sitting near us, and they clearly thought she was cute. They asked her, jokingly, “What color underwear are you wearing today?” Embarrassed for her, I apologized and told her to ignore them. She said, “Oh, it’s OK,” seemingly accepting them as “men acting like men.”
We ignored their continued taunts for an answer, but now, I wish I had rebuked them. By ignoring lewd comments, we are effectively condoning the behavior.
I used to think it was just older men who were afflicted with this male solipsism, and that it was a generational problem. But now I know better. It’s that the older men are emboldened after having spewed degrading epithets for so long. This has become ingrained in their treatment of women.
In addition, Japanese women are so accustomed to this treatment that they think it’s normal. I would like Japanese women to know that this is not normal and not acceptable. As women, we need to speak up.
There are many Japanese men — hopefully most — who would never say such things to women. These men need to speak up for women too, so as not to contribute to this silent conditioning of men and dehumanization of women. This is so basic, it’s not even about unequal opportunity or unequal pay. It’s about mutual respect.
Men need to be called out on their behavior before it reaches the judicial stage. Women, with the help of men, need to raise the bar on proper behavior. Only by challenging these behavioral patterns will things get better.
We can start tackling the problem through public education and by addressing those men who don’t understand what they’re doing wrong, or who don’t know where to draw the line. And to be fair, women must be clear about not crossing that line either.
I offer the following guidelines for men dealing with women, inside or outside the workplace. Men: memorize them! Women: Pin them up on the wall for men to see!
Subjects off-limits when talking to women:
• Breasts and other female body parts, including shape, size, etc.
• Body: shape, size or weight (including weight gain or loss)
• Bras, panties and other undergarments
• Beauty, or lack thereof
• Sex, including sexual appeal or the lack of it
You might add to this list depending on your own situation and environment, but this is a start. Women will never be able to reach their true potential in the workforce if men don’t treat them with more respect.
Your comments and Community story ideas: community@japantimes.co.jpWhy Optimo are legends of the underground
Arusa Qureshi
28 June 2017
DJs influenced by Twitch and Wilkes tell us what the legendary club night and duo have meant to them over the years
Optimo are celebrating 20 years of being top of the game with a one-off massive all-day gig in Glasgow that highlights their ability to put together a stellar lineup. We spoke to some of the acts both involved with the gig, or inspired by Optimo, to give them the chance to explain why Optimo are so influential.
On their influence
Nightwave: Optimo are a huge inspiration to me, both musically and generally as people. They are both extremely humble, open minded, supportive, and approachable. They are a musical encyclopaedia and a party powerhouse, I am constantly learning new things from them and their love of music and the whole culture continually inspires me. They are true pioneers.
Sofay: It's clear they both have an insane knowledge when it comes to dance music, but it is often the more abstract sounds in their sets and radio shows that inspire me. Their sets sound personal, sometimes they are dark, sometimes they are euphoric, sometimes they are silly. It is that playfulness that is so influential to my DJing.
The Black Madonna: They absolutely represent and inspired one of the most important turning points for me as a DJ. It was because I heard Optimo that I began to believe the wider scope of music that I loved could work in a club.
On what makes an Optimo club night special
Aurora Halal: Optimo are simply badass. The last time I saw them they were blending Slayer's 'Angel of Death' into Italo and making everyone scream with joy. What they do is a pure expression of human connection and that's what it's all about.
Nightwave: Anything goes – it's about having the best time and not sticking to a strict policy. It takes everyone on a journey and exploration of new sound and energy. It educates people without being pretentious, it brings everyone together in a really special way and that is rare these days. It's what true club culture was all about.
Sofay: My first experience of an Optimo party was going to one of their infamous Hogmanay soirées. Watching live bands play on the dancefloor in a packed out, sweaty club is fun for everyone and they know that – they've always understood what their club is about and they never veer away from that.
Solid Blake (Apeiron Crew): When I started going to Optimo nights, most of the other nights I was going to were a lot of fun, but in this really rowdy way. Optimo was always a great party, but the fun was more free, inclusive, and perhaps more respectful towards the music than I was used to.
On why Optimo have endured 20 years after their first night at Sub Club
Sofay: What I like so much about them is how nothing is too cool or too uncool: there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure record. You could hear Madonna and Iggy Pop then some disco white label or rare Japanese record that you might never hear again. It's not pretentious, it's punk – something that is very rare and hard to find in the dance music scene in Glasgow.
The Black Madonna: Creativity, perseverance, exploration. And, of course, Glasgow itself is so very special. There's no place on earth more perfect for this experience.
Solid Blake (Apeiron Crew): Over these 20 years, Jonnie and Keith have continued to interact with younger people in the scene, educating them in many ways, but more importantly, being willing to learn from them too. This attitude has kept what they do fresh and interesting as new people come through.
On being a part of the Optimo 20 lineup
The Black Madonna: At the risk of embarrassing myself, it's something I would have dreamed of ten years ago and laughed if you'd told me it was possible. I am honoured to celebrate them!
Solid Blake (Apeiron Crew): Optimo and their Sunday nights at the Sub Club were so fundamental to my education in music growing up. Coming back to Glasgow always has a lot of meaning for me, and especially now to come and play the kind of event that I'd have been first in the queue to buy a ticket for back in the day feels really special.
Optimo 20, SWG3, Glasgow, Sun 6 Aug.Cross-posted from Elizabeth Warren Website
Stunned that we live in a world where the Supreme Court of the United States of America would even consider putting the interests of big corporations before the fundamental rights of American women.
Stunned that the Court would establish precedent for one enormous slippery slope on letting employers deny individuals health coverage for any medical treatment.
Today, my Democratic colleagues and I are fighting to do what the Supreme Court failed to do: to protect the basic rights of American women and families.
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In 2012, Republicans tried to pass the Blunt Amendment -- legislation that would allow employers and insurance companies to deny women's health care services -- even birth control -- based on any vague moral objection.
When the Blunt Amendment failed, the Republicans resorted to hostage-taking. Remember last year's government shutdown that nearly tanked our economy? That all started with a GOP threat to get Democrats to change the law so employers could deny coverage for birth control.
Led by Senators Patty Murray and Mark Udall, we've just introduced a new bill -- the Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act. The bill reverses the Supreme Court's decision by making it clear that employers cannot deny access to any of the health benefits required by the ACA -- not immunizations, not blood transfusions, not HIV treatments, and not birth control -- while preserving reasonable accommodations for religiously exempt employers.If we're going to respond to Hobby Lobby, it's got to be through a legislative fix. And if the Republicans won't fight for the women they represent, then we're going to take that fight to them. Let them explain why they think employers should decide what health care a woman can get covered by her insurance.I cannot believe that in 2014 I have to send you an email about protecting access to birth control. We've got a lot of other big problems in our country to tackle right now.Millions of people still haven't recovered from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. More and more young people are drowning in student debt. Too many workers are struggling to stay out of poverty on a minimum wage, and millions of others are struggling to save for retirement. Seniors keep getting told they're going to have to get by on less.Just look at the facts:
When Democrats wouldn't cave and the government shutdown backfired, the Republicans turned to their conservative friends on the United States Supreme Court -- five justices who are among the top 10 most pro-corporate justices to serve in the last half-century -- to do what Congress and the American people would not: give corporations rights to determine women's access to health care coverage.
We cannot stand by while the radical right of our country conducts a full-scale assault on women's rights and basic health care.
Help us fight back against the Hobby Lobby ruling. Sign up now to show your support for the Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act.
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This is 2014, not 1914 -- and we've had enough.(Recent Entries) (Archive) (Friends) (Profile) (Crisper Than Thou)
08:05 am - Dream: The Annoying Dead
We were looking at houses. This one seemed just about right - good size, nice yard, nearby shopping - and we were starting to talk price when C looked out the window. "Is that... a zombie?" She pointed: a shambling form had emerged onto the street from a yard on the other side, draped in torn clothes, twitching and grunting in an all-too-familiar way.
The realtor made a horrified face. "Oh... no! Certainly not. This is a nice neighborhood. There's no..." but just then, one of the neighbors came down the street in their car, striking the lurching form in the side and scattering it into pieces all over the place. The realtor put her face in her hands. "The city will have that cleaned up in no time, I promise," she tried hopefully. C shook her head and I nodded in agreement. "We're going to keep looking."
Call us livists if you want to, but you know it's true: once a neighborhood starts getting one or two of the Dead, it's just a matter of time before the whole place is overrun. Humanity - living humanity, I mean - had been forced into a perpetual, irritated nomadic existence, always having to sell at a loss and buying somewhere else every time the Dead ruined another nice place.
The last place we'd lived, it had gotten so that you couldn't even go out to your car to leave for work without mussing up your clothes and stumbling down your own driveway, groaning and spitting, pretending to be one of them so that they wouldn't rise from where they were all lying around - on your porch, in your flowerbed, draped over the hood of the car, in the gutter - and make a sudden lunge for your throat.
Sure, you could shoot them in the head. But their putrescent remains were like a beacon for more of their kind. And there were sometimes unfortunate social side-effects of that solution. Once, at a Mardi Gras street party, two hideous, reeking figures had shambled out of the dark at me. "Are you alive?" I asked, repeatedly, but all they could do was mumble and shake. When one reached for me, I drew and put a pair of.45s into each of their heads. All the fresh red blood had been a tremendous shock and the crowd began to scream. They weren't Dead, they were just too drunk to make any sense. Manslaughter. That had been a pretty bad time, but at least there was a valuable lesson demonstrated: don't get so incapacitated in public that people can't distinguish you from a walking corpse.
Anyway, as C and I got back in our car, I looked around and saw, yeah, the Dead were already here: in the dark shade of that tree, underneath that SUV, tucked in among those bushes. They were craftier, here, hiding themselves more effectively. You might not see them until you were right next to them and then they'd be right on top of you. Were we losing this war? Were they going to keep getting better and better at blending in until we could no longer spot them? I tried not to think about. We'd keep looking. We'd keep looking until we'd found a place where the Dead could never go. That's all we wanted.
Really, I think, that's all anyone wants anymore.
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For consideration: sub-conscious metaphors for the economyNot all of us can be professional athletes. While 1/10 of 1% of us combine natural talent with plenty of hard work to live that lifestyle, the rest of us schlubs are stuck living life vicariously through the exploits of our favorite athletes while we brush the potato chip crumbs off of our shirts. Our collective desire to “be like Mike” further fuels the lifestyles of our favorite sports figures, as they ink lucrative endorsement deals for sandwiches, razors and everything else under the sun. Consumers eagerly fall in step, as these products tacitly promise a slice of our favorite celebrity’s lifestyle. What else can you expect from the official hair dye of Keith Hernandez?
Unfortunately, the barrage of ridiculous celebrity endorsements conditions everyone to turn a cynical eye to every retired coach who smiles at the camera while holding a package of erectile dysfunction pills. The jaded among us realize that most of these endorsements are just the result of athletes looking for an extra payday to further cushion their bank accounts in the twilight of their careers. It’s a safe bet that most celebrities don’t interact with the products they endorse beyond the freebies they get as an endorser. For an antidote to that cynicism, look no further than San Diego’s Saint Archer Brewery.
When Saint Archer opened for business in mid-2013, they offered a slice of the action athlete’s lifestyle with every glass of their Pale Ale, Blonde Ale and IPA. Unlike companies that pay athletes to promote their brands, Saint Archer is actually owned by a group of pro surfers, skateboarders and snowboarders. With talented brewers like Kim Lutz (formerly of Maui Brewing) and Yiga Miyashiro (formerly of Pizza Port), they set out to brew the kind of beer that they all actually liked to drink after a long day on the slopes, waves and half-pipes.
Saint Archer is a case study in the power of social media. The team of celebrity owners brought with them an army of followers on Twitter and Instagram. Social media has been so successful for Saint Archer that they’re currently in middle of a massive round of expansions that will raise their production capacity from 16,800 barrels to 30,000 barrels per year, and there’s more expansion on the horizon. They’ve also expanded their portfolio of offerings beyond their initial three beers to include a Double IPA, Scottish Export, Coffee Brown and eventually what Miyashiro calls “a very small” barrel-aging program.
Just what does the expansion mean for Saint Archer Brewery? Josh Landan, president of the brewery, joins us to answer a few questions.
Paste: Saint Archer has an eclectic cast of pro athletes. How did this whole thing come together?
Josh Landan: I was a filmmaker before all of this. I started making films when I was 18 for a guy named Taylor Steele, who is one of the more influential surf filmmakers of the last 50 years. I started filming for him, and from there I made about eight movies and a few more surf and snowboard documentaries. I met a lot of my friends through those films, and they just happened to be some of the best surfers, skaters and snowboarders in the world.
My manager was a guy named Pat Magnarella, who also manages Green Day and the Goo Goo Dolls. I was always interested in the business end, and I got to talking to my friends about their endorsement contracts and things like that. That led to me managing athletes, really just my friends, and helping them with their contracts and things like that.
I was in Puerto Rico with my friend [pro surfer] Taylor Knox, and there are always alcohol companies that are trying to get into action sports. Whether it’s Bud, Miller-Coors, Corona or Pacifico, they’re always trying to capture our culture. There were a couple of opportunities for Taylor Knox, which weren’t really a fit. I said to Taylor, “if you’re not going to be a part of energy drinks, which you don’t drink, why not be part of a beer?”
For me, that’s when the light bulb went off. I thought “why hasn’t there ever been a craft beer -or any beer at all— that came from us as in the action sports world?” Everyone drinks beer, whether it’s one every six months or one every day. It was the one thing that we all enjoyed doing together. There’s nothing better than hanging out with your friends, having a barbecue and drinking some beers.
The next weekend I was with Mikey Taylor, who’s a pro skater and my best friend, and I said we should do a beer company together. I didn’t know what it would take, and I didn’t really care. I said let’s give [pro skater] Paul Rodriguez a call, and that was four years ago. So four years ago Saint Archer was born, and it’s been a long but super-fun road ever since.
Paste: So you had no experience in the brewing industry?
JL: I was never a brewer. I was just like everybody else, and enjoyed drinking beers with my friends. We’d always wanted to do a company together, so what better idea than to do a company with a product that we all enjoy together? We could have done anything else, but beer is something that we’re all passionate about. We associate beer with having a good time, so why not do that? I don’t associate buying shoes with having a good time.
Paste: What is Saint Archer’s philosophy when it comes to beer?
JL: We want to make the best beer that we can of the styles that we like to drink. That’s not just speaking for me, that’s speaking for Yiga and Kim who are responsible for brewing the award-winning beer that we have coming out of here. We launched the brand with three of the most generic beer styles out there: a blonde, an IPA and a Pale Ale, but that’s what the majority of beer drinkers drink. A majority of beer drinkers don’t drink coffee browns and 9% Double IPAs. The day-to-day drinkers are drinking sessionable beers, so that’s what we really focused on.
Paste: Which of your beers are you most proud of?
JL: It was fun for us to finally win some awards, even though we’ve only been in business for about a year. We won gold medals at the San Diego International Beer Festival for our White Ale and Pale Ale. Those categories aren’t easy, so it’s a huge accomplishment for us. Along with that, our Double IPA won silver, and our Blonde won bronze. For all of the work we’ve done, that’s my proudest accomplishment.
Paste: How does Saint Archer fit in with the busy San Diego craft beer scene?
JL: The nicest place going is still up at Stone, and their places just make all of the rest of us look bad since they’re so gorgeous. Stone has really been an ideal partner. Steve Wagner has been a mentor to me. They agreed to distribute Saint Archer before we even had beer in the market. Stone kind of went against the grain in the late 90’s with Arrogant Bastard, and Steve kind of saw that in me, since I wanted to go beyond building a brewery by building a brand.
Paste: You’re undergoing some major expansions, what can we expect in the future?
JL: We’re in the middle of a big expansion, but my focus isn’t other states. We’re all born and raised in California, and California is near and dear to our hearts. Fortunately for us, we’re able to sell all of our beer in Southern California, and we launch San Francisco on October 1. We’re not planning on getting out of California anytime soon, we want to sell it all right here, and that would be ideal.
We just took over an additional 6,000 feet, and that’s almost all taken up. Our next expansion is going to get us up to 55,000 barrels, so we’re going to need the 10,000 feet of space next to us. Getting us to that level in the course of two years is pretty nuts. I never thought we’d sell this much beer. I’m always looking at the spreadsheets, and I’m constantly asking, “is this right?”SALT LAKE CITY — Whenever a team changes coaching candidates, there is sure to be a large list of names that get discussed.
Welcome to the life of a Utah Jazz fan. With every day it seems that more and more coaching candidates are being thrown around on Jazz-related stories and fan blogs, bringing the list of potential candidates that have been mentioned to 29 (accurate as of May 1). Now, with the NBA playoffs adding to that mix of candidates, the number will likely grow to include at least a handful of other names.
With that, it is important to mention some coaches who will not coach the Jazz, to make the daily water-cooler talks just a tad bit simpler.
1. Mark Jackson
If Golden State loses to the Los Angeles Clippers, there is good reason to believe that Jackson could become available on the open market. However, don’t bet on him getting a call from Utah management. Sure, he might have some wins with the Warriors on his resume, and sure he might be ranked third all time on the assists total, but his behavior in his one season playing for the Jazz might have eliminated him already.
Photo: Associated Press
There’s good reason to believe Utah fans would be more excited by Derek Fisher being the head coach than Jackson, and it is due to his allegedly adversarial relationship with former point guard John Stockton and former head coach Jerry Sloan — two franchise icons. Additionally, Jackson has had personality clashes with his coaching staff at Golden State, including current Kings coach Mike Malone and Brian Scalabrine.
2. Larry Brown
No coach in the history of basketball has loaded up the moving vans more than SMU coach Larry Brown. Brown, who has been employed by nine NBA franchises as a head coach (Denver, New Jersey, San Antonio, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York and Charlotte) has long been known as a basketball nomad, and one who is known for being able to develop talent. He’s also been an effective manager of difficult personalities, bringing teams that included Mark Jackson, Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace to deep playoff runs.
However, for a Utah franchise known for valuing consistency, Brown isn’t a long-term option coach because he’s never been anywhere long term. Also, his age (73) is sure to also be a strike against him.
3. Hubie Brown
Basketball fans everywhere have either adored/hated Hubie Brown, who is known more for his television work than his coaching success. However, Brown has won a Coach of the Year award for leading Memphis to the playoffs in 2004 and has coached three different teams to playoff berths (Atlanta, New York, Memphis). Some local fans have always felt a kinship with Brown, as he was a college roommate with former Jazz head coach/general manager Frank Layden. However, Brown is 80 years old and has myriad health concerns over the years. The Jazz need a coach who will be with the franchise for quite some time; Hubie isn’t that guy and is best served soliloquizing over the “painted area” on NBA telecasts.
4. John Stockton
Of any franchise in the NBA, Jazz Nation gets more excited than any other at the prospect of bringing former greats back into the fray. Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton has gotten a moderate amount of play in fan blogs and stories related to the Utah coaching search, and has kept a strong relationship with the franchise going into his retirement. Stockton is an interesting case as his basketball IQ remains strong, his work ethic is widely lauded, and he currently serves as an unofficial “training-camp” instructor for young players looking to pick his brain on how to be a successful NBA point guard.
However, Stockton has no NBA bench experience, and the reason the Jazz won’t hire him will be the same reason they didn’t hire Jeff Hornacek to be head coach when Jerry Sloan abruptly retired — they both had no bench experience. It isn’t about where prospective coaches get bench experience, or what position they hold on a bench, but they need to have bench experience in either college or the NBA. In the coming years, it should not surprise fans to see Stockton step into a coaching role of some sort. However, the lack of bench experience will hold him back from being a head coach in the short term. But any NBA franchise would welcome him as an assistant.
5. Mike D’Antoni
D’Antoni is a coach who is suddenly on the market after resigning as the Lakers' head coach and is a name that popularly bounces around NBA circles. D’Antoni is good at utilizing a certain type of talent in NBA circles, being a team that can run the floor and shoot well from distance. However, he does not do well with coaching traditional post players (like Jazz bigs Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter), and he has not been known as a great defensive mind.
Photo: Associated Press
Additionally, while D’Antoni has been lauded by players around the league for his likability, he has also been fired twice (Phoenix, New York) and didn’t get a contract extension from Lakers management. The question is, do the Jazz really want to take a guy who has failed three other places?
6. Sidney Lowe
Talk has circulated of the Jazz keeping some members of the Ty Corbin coaching |
arms and surrender. Police said they made 30 arrests.
It marked the second death in two days in Ukraine`s tinderbox east, where a pro-Kiev supporter was stabbed to death in the city of Donetsk late on Thursday.
Tensions have spiralled in the region ahead of Sunday`s vote in Ukraine`s southern peninsula of Crime on whether to secede from Kiev and switch to Kremlin rule.Sen. Marco Rubio speaks Tuesday night at Florida International University in Miami. (Paul Sancya/AP)
Returning to the Senate for the first time in a month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he expects to return to life as a private citizen in January with no political goals on the horizon.
“I’m not going to be anybody’s vice president. I’m just not gonna — I’m not interested in being vice president. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way. I’m not going to be vice president. I’m not running for governor of Florida,” Rubio said, dismissing speculation about his future.
It wasn’t quite Richard Nixon’s declaration — “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, gentlemen, because this is my last press conference,” he declared after his 1962 loss in the California governor’s race — but Rubio wanted to dismiss every possible chance of running for another office for at least some time into the future.
Clearly exhausted from a yearlong bid for the presidency, Rubio, 44, sighed and took several deep breaths throughout the seven-minute press briefing outside the meeting room of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“I’m going to finish out my term in the Senate over the next 10 months. We’re going to work really hard here, and we have some things we want to achieve,” the one-term senator said. “And then I’ll be a private citizen in January.”
[Rubio was lifted by 2010 wave. But he was swamped by the ‘tsunami’ of 2016]
That means that Republican leaders should not bother trying to get him to reverse course and run for reelection to his seat in November. Instead, Rubio gave an all-but-formal endorsement of his friend, Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who is among the crowded field of contenders for the Republican nomination to succeed Rubio.
“The lieutenant governor is a good friend of mine,” Rubio said regarding his support in the Senate race.
Some viewed the race to succeed his state’s term-limited governor, Republican Rick Scott, as a natural spot for Rubio in 2018. His distant second place finish to Donald Trump in the Florida presidential primary Tuesday, however, leaves some doubt about how strong his standing is in his home state.
As his campaign staff members tweeted pictures of cleaning out their offices, Rubio said he had no thoughts about how to organize his 169 delegates gained in the early primaries and whether he would try to back one of the remaining candidates to put Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) or Ohio Gov. John Kasich over the top to knock off Trump at the Republican convention in Cleveland in July.
“My campaign barely ended 48 hours ago. So I haven’t thought through that. It’s certainly not anything we’re planning on,” he said.
In a call with his supporters in Minnesota — the lone state to give him a victory on the crucial March 1 Super Tuesday collection of primaries and caucuses — Rubio said Cruz was the “only conservative” left in the race.
On Thursday, he said that was merely his own opinion of the three candidates left and that he had no endorsement yet to make.
“I don’t have anything to announce today,” he said, explaining that Cruz is the most conservative candidate left in the race. “I like Governor Kasich. I just – that was my opinion.”
Rubio remains bewildered by the buzz saw that Trump was in the campaign — his “little Marco”dismissal of Rubio still burns — and is still grappling with what happened.
“It’s a very unusual year,” he said. “People are going to write books about this year. There’s going to be a lot of political scholarship on what exactly is happening.”
[Inside Rubio’s collapse: A fateful decision that helped unravel his campaign]
He said that his support of the Senate’s 2013 comprehensive overhaul of immigration and border laws was clearly unpopular with some voters but was not decisive in knocking him from the field, given that a dozen other candidates with more conservative positions on the issue dropped out before him.
“It was a factor, but at the end of the day, if you look at how we performed in some of the many places, I don’t think it was the reason why I’m not still in the race,” he said.
In a nod to the authors of the “Game Change” book about the 2008 campaign, Rubio even joked that maybe he would make a good bit of money writing his own tell-all account of this year’s race.
“It might be a good idea, though, you never know, all these guys are making movies out of their books,” he said.In the run-up to June 23, the daily performance of sterling against the dollar was viewed as a key barometer of how likely it was that the UK electorate would vote to stay in the European Union.
As opinion polls wavered, so sterling moved accordingly.
So closely aligned were the two that as the campaign came to a close, some – wrongly as it turned out – took the strength of the national currency as a firm indicator of the eventual outcome.
Indeed the pound popped as high as $1.50 in the hours immediately after the polls closed that night, following early indications that the Remain camp had won by a narrow margin.
But when those indications turned out to be wide of the mark, so sterling fell,...Enlightened 'Minecraft' Character Denies Existence Of Game Designer
186.124.100.126:56895—An enlightened, freethinking NPC on a lightly modded Minecraft server announced Monday that he denies the existence of Notch and the team at Mojang, explaining that he doesn’t see any evidence of design in the clearly designed game world around him.
“My current working theory is that this digital landscape spontaneously created itself around 20 billion years ago, with no input from any kind of magic game designer in the sky,” he told a gathering of villagers in a coffee shop. “The evidence of order and tightly designed game mechanisms are merely random, chaotic patterns. Your lives are all meaningless.”
When other NPCs disagreed, pointing out that the carefully coded game design was powerful evidence that a higher intelligence named Notch created in 2009, the anti-designer activist was ready with an answer.
“If this ‘Notch’ is real, why doesn’t he just reveal himself? The idea of a ‘creator’ is simply wishful thinking for weak-minded people who can’t come to terms with the fact that we are alone on this server,” he added. “If we could just abandon the shackles of that Dark Ages way of thinking, just think how much progress we could make.”
At publishing time, the anti-designer NPC had begun calling anyone who confronted him with the clear evidence of design all around him as a “science denier.”FOR competence and integrity, few organizations command more respect in Washington than the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. As health care reform makes its way through Congress, the budget office’s assessment of how much various elements might cost may determine the details of legislation, and whether it ultimately passes. But when it comes to forecasting the costs of reform, the budget office’s record is suspect. In each of the past three decades, when assessing major changes in Medicare, it has substantially underestimated the savings the changes would bring.
In the early 1980s, Congress changed the way Medicare paid hospitals so that payments would no longer be based on costs incurred. Instead, hospitals would receive a predetermined amount per admission, based on the patient’s primary medical problem. This encouraged shorter stays, led to fewer diagnostic services and reduced administrative costs. The Congressional Budget Office predicted that, from 1983 to 1986, this change would slow Medicare hospital spending (which had been rising much faster than the rate of inflation) by $10 billion, and that by 1986 total spending would be $60 billion. Actual spending in 1986 was $49 billion. The savings in 1986 alone were as much as three years of estimated savings.
Why was the budget office so far off? It had projected that the new payment strategy would increase hospital admissions, because hospitals would maximize their payments by admitting patients who were less severely ill and discharging them quickly. In short, they would make up money with faster turnover. But in the first year of the new payment system, admissions, which had been increasing, actually declined by 3.5 percent. By the third year, they had declined by 15.9 percent. It may be that the declining admissions resulted from a new and stronger program for reviewing admissions.
But the Congressional Budget Office was correct in assuming that hospital stays would grow shorter. In the first three years of the payment system, the length of Medicare patients’ hospital stays, which had been decreasing by 1 percent to 2 percent a year, fell by 17 percent. The new system also led hospitals, for the first time in decades, to cut their work forces — by 2.3 percent in the first year alone.
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In the 1990s, the biggest change in Medicare came with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, a compromise between a Republican-controlled Congress and a Democratic administration. At the time, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that, from 1998 to 2002, the act would reduce Medicare spending by $112 billion — a 9.1 percent reduction. Part of that — $36 billion worth — would come from paying skilled nursing facilities and home health care services a set fee per patient. But only a tiny fraction of the savings, about $100 million, would come from better monitoring of fraud and abuse on the part of health care providers, according to budget office projections.
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The actual savings turned out to be 50 percent greater in 1998 and 113 percent greater in 1999 than the budget office forecast. Overall spending increased just 1.2 percent from 1998 to 2000, rather than 5.6 percent, as was projected. With increased monitoring for fraud and abuse, hospitals billed less aggressively. Spending for skilled nursing facilities, which had increased by 38 percent per year from 1988 to 1997, did not increase at all in 1998 and 1999. At the same time, spending for home health care services, which had been rising at the rate of 25 percent a year, fell by 52 percent. In fact, Medicare spending fell so much that Congress increased payment levels to hospitals and other providers in 1999 and 2000.By Ida Jooste, Internews
The resurgence of Ebola in Liberia in late June 2015, seven weeks after the country had been declared Ebola free, put a spotlight on how the disease is transmitted, and brought the issue of sexual transmission to the forefront. With this shift away from coping with a national health emergency to dealing with what may now be a “new normal,” different public health messages are required for the people of Liberia.
While new targeted behavior campaigns are being crafted, Liberians will have many questions about when and how Ebola is sexually transmitted. Journalists on the ground will need to find ways to tell that story.
There are helpful linkages to be found in HIV storytelling, but local media will need to address the fact that, unlike HIV-AIDS, the science on sexual transmission risk in Ebola is incomplete.
Ebola is both a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and not one. These stories should not provoke fear, but should communicate the need for safe sex.
“Through viral sequencing we are trying to establish the mode of transmission of the most recent (November) cases. Just as in July, we are also looking to see if it was the same viral strain present in Liberia in 2014”, says Tolbert Nyenswah, the Head of Liberia’s Incident Management System (IMS). “Of course, sexual transmission is a possibility in both cases,” he added.
Nyenswah is a co-author of a New England Journal of Medicine (NEMJ) article titled Molecular Evidence of Sexual Transmission of Ebola Virus, which reports on the examination of semen and vaginal-secretion samples collected from survivors in Liberia in March and April 2015. The case report describes one case of human-to-human EBOV transmission through sexual contact.
A pilot study, also published in the NEMJ, Ebola RNA Persistence in Semen of Ebola Virus Disease Survivors showed Ebola is able to live longer in the testes than previously known. Among the samples, Ebola virus RNA was detected in the semen of 11 of 43 (26%) men 7 to 9 months after the onset of disease. The authors recommend that the risk of sexual transmission of the Ebola virus should be further investigated.
Columbia University epidemiologist Stephen Morse was quoted in a “Popular Science” article, Why testicles are the perfect hiding spot for Ebola saying that he hoped the large numbers (of survivors) will make it easier to figure out when it’s safe for Ebola survivors to return to a normal sex life. “People may want to have children–they may have lost children, and want to go back to normal as soon as possible,” said Morse.
This is one of the questions researchers hope to answer in a National Institutes of Health study involving more than 7,000 people who survived Ebola in Liberia for up to five years as they investigate the long-term health effects of Ebola virus disease. Researchers will seek to determine how survivors can still transmit the virus; also whether those they infect will present with Ebola symptoms and if survivors are at risk for illness in the future.
Though messaging guides during the West African Ebola epidemic all made reference to the possibility of sexual transmission – via bodily fluids – recommendations for changing sexual practices were not a priority for communications during the height of the crisis.
Rania Elessawi, Communications for Development Specialist at UNICEF in Liberia says during the days of the dying all normal human interaction just paused. No kissing, no hugging. What happens in people’s private lives was not even talked about. “Ebola changed the way we loved,” said Elessawi.
The success of the Ebola response, Elessawi says, was that people kept learning as the epidemic unfolded, and kept adjusting and changing the behavior change communications strategy, too.
The epidemic is now at a phase of much less handling and touching of patients and dead bodies in medical settings and at funerals where Ebola virus, present in bodily fluids, had been the primary mode of transmission.
“Now, the focus in behavior change messaging must shift to the realities of sexual transmission”, says Nyenswah of Liberia’s Incident Management System (IMS).
The UNICEF messaging guide for Ebola puts it this way:
Ebola survivors do not have Ebola, but it might be possible that Ebola can spread through doing man and woman business even after testing Ebola free. To make sure Ebola Survivors protect the people they love, they must use a condom correctly every time they do man and woman business. Make sure the survivor throws the used condom into the toilet or burn it.
For now, the WHO (interim) advice on the sexual transmission of the Ebola virus disease includes this guidance:
Until such time as their semen has twice tested negative for Ebola, survivors should practise good hand and personal hygiene by immediately and thoroughly washing with soap and water after any physical contact with semen, including after masturbation. During this period used condoms should be handled safely, and safely disposed of, so as to prevent contact with seminal fluids.
All survivors, their partners and families should be shown respect, dignity and compassion.
These two pieces of advice alone indicate the complexity and intimacy of communications and education around Ebola.
Even with this new emphasis on human-to-human transmission through sexual contact, the question of Ebola’s origins refuses to go away. As before, during the height of the crisis, journalists will need to do their best to answer it.
Communicating the Complex Science of Ebola’s Origins to Shed Light on Human Transmission
The viral detective story in Liberia (as told in Part 1 of this post) has helped us understand more about the chain of human to human infections than has ever been known about Ebola, but, for many, the original question: “where does Ebola come from?” remains of concern. In other words, how exactly does zoonotic transmission – the chain of viral transmission from animals to humans – work?
There has been no shortage of attempts to come up with answers.
Karl Johnson, former head of the Viral Special Pathogens Branch at the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), interviewed for a July 2015 article in National Geographic, said that “despite arduous efforts by some intrepid scientists, Ebola virus has never been tracked to its source in the wild.”
And yet there is a widespread popular assumption – in Africa and elsewhere — that fruit bats were the source for the latest Ebola outbreak.
A 2005 article in Nature, titled “Fruit Bats as Reservoirs of Ebola virus” is the primary source for assertions that the Ebola virus resides in fruit bats, even though the authors made it clear their findings were inconclusive. Robert Swanepoel (now retired) who headed up the Special Pathogens Unit at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg showed the virus survived in a single spider and in an insect eating bat. But Swanepoel is quick to add that his findings were proof of principle This means the study’s experimental approach – injecting Ebola virus into a range of plant and animal species, then testing if it would take hold – provided a strong signal that bats could be reservoir hosts but it was unable to draw conclusive evidence. The gold standard in science would be to be able to grow the virus in the lab from the viral fragments found in fruit bats.
Screening those samples back at his lab in Johannesburg, Swanepoel found no evidence of Ebola. So he tried an experimental approach, one that seemed almost maniacally thorough. Working in NICD’s high-containment suite—biosafety level 4 (BSL-4), the highest—he personally injected live Ebola virus from the Kikwit outbreak in 1995 into 24 kinds of plants and 19 kinds of animals, ranging from spiders and millipedes to lizards, birds, mice, and bats, and then monitored their condition over time. Though Ebola failed to take hold in most of the organisms, a low level of the virus—which had survived but probably hadn’t replicated—was detected in a single spider, and bats sustained Ebola virus infection for at least 12 days. One of those bats was a fruit bat.
“Journalists have to resist the temptation to oversimplify the complex and to provide answers where only theories exist”, says Jon Cohen, a staff writer for Science. “Pinpointing the origin of emerging diseases is a tricky business. A frightened public logically wants to know where a virus came from to protect people. But all too often, scientists only have clues — in the case of Ebola, bats seem like a logical source, and the first known case played in a tree that harbored bats.”
A WHO Fact sheet describes multiple possible animal sources for the transmission of Ebola to humans:
Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
The Skoll Global Threats Fund hopes to create awareness and solutions around this transmission chain and the fact that “humans and animals increasingly share virulent viruses due to loss of green belts, global warming and poverty, raising the risk of highly disruptive pandemics.”
In simple language: it is widely accepted that there appears to be a link between the threatened habitats of chimpanzees and our shared susceptibility to Ebola. Fruit bats could be agents in spreading the virus from chimpanzee to chimpanzee, to other wildlife populations and perhaps even to humans.
Information Tools for Liberian Journalists
In an attempt to help journalists answer the question “where does Ebola come from?” Internews asked WHO veterinarian and epidemiologist Dr Maarten Hoek to explain this science to a group of environmental journalists in Liberia. He methodically took the journalists through Evolution 101, explained why and how diseases “jump” species and how it happens with greater ease if those species are closely related. He explained how the majority of diseases known to man are zoonoses, i.e. they jump from animals to successfully infect humans, reproduce and then transmit human-to-human. Ancient examples are tape worm, malaria and the common cold. HIV, SARS and MERS are more recent examples, and they jumped from chimps, bats and camels respectively.
One journalist in the Internews training told Hoek plainly: “As an environmental journalist I believe it, but as a person, I don’t. We have always eaten bush meat and bats. The forest has been there and is still there. Where does this Ebola really come from?”
Indeed, the Liberian landscape is lush forest, a sea of green. The valleys and gorges do not appear denuded to the naked eye.
In response to such skepticism, Dr. Hoek pointed to evidence of the decline in the quality and diversity of forest ecosystems. Further, he explains, improved roads and infrastructure are the blessing and curse of development. Whereas a viral infection such as HIV, might have flourished and remained in remote villages, killing all its hosts, our greater connectivity transports both humans and diseases near and far.
A World Bank 2010 report indicates about a third of Liberia’s roads are over-engineered relative to traffic levels. And, the 2014-15 West African Ebola outbreak demonstrated how quickly Ebola could spread once it reached urban centers.
In PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Kathleen Alexander and colleagues provide a comprehensive outline of the interplay of dynamics that contributed to the Ebola outbreak in an article titled What Factors Might Have Led to the Emergence of Ebola in West Africa? A key dynamic discussed was the spillover of the virus to humans from wildlife – with bats as likely carriers. They also quote evidence that in West Africa, human movement is considered a particular characteristic of the region, with migration rates exceeding movement in the rest of the world by more than seven-fold. Solid science, but it still doesn’t make this story – as it relates to Ebola – easy to tell.
I asked Jon Cohen of Science for advice on how Liberian journalists might tackle these complexities. “Our job is to tell it like it is, nothing more”. Cohen says as long as journalists explain – in simple language – that with Ebola, analysis of the viral genetic material gives it a fingerprint of sorts that links it to Ebola viruses seen earlier in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We know that viruses frequently pass from bats to humans, and there are documented cases of Marburg, Ebola’s close relative, likely infecting people who went into caves inhabited by Marburg-infected bats. We also have a documented case of Ebola moving from a dead chimpanzee to a human who handled the animal”.
Where is Ebola going?
Where is our understanding of the virus taking us? In a simple phrase: to more questions, more inquiry. There are more than 13,000 survivors across the three most affected countries in West Africa: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Scientists, the journalists who report the science and the communities affected are set to learn much more about the long-lasting effects of Ebola virus disease. And with this comes better insights on how to care for Ebola survivors, who strain from ongoing health problems. Many experience stigma, causing them to live in shame and fear. In an effort to prevent another Ebola crisis, the scientific community is working on developing an Ebola vaccine, of which they are cautiously optimistic, as is evident from current scientific discussion. See also http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/effective-ebola-vaccine/en/
Reporters in West Africa have been learning on the move, whilst living through a most devastating health emergency. Some have been in personal danger; many have been a truth link for their audience, separating gossip from genuine Ebola news. They have had to learn a whole new Ebola science lexicon, and have navigated reportage about issues that span death, dread, confusion, hope and aid politics. It’s too early to say that the dust has settled. But there has been time to think through the stories of the aftermath, to consider how Ebola has exposed the failings in the health system in Liberia and other West African countries – and what needs to be done to address that.
Moses Geply, an Internews trainee journalist in Liberia who is in the Local Voices journalism network, says he and colleagues are ready for this next phase of journalism that makes meaning of what happened in their country.
“This was a first-time health emergency for Liberia, so the mantra was: people won’t understand about this virus, how it spreads, and the medicines used to counteract it”, says Anahi Iacucci of Internews. “But what we learnt here is that really, it is not that difficult to transform a complex matter into something simple, you just really need to work very hard and find the right way to do it.”
Ebola is not over until it’s over. It may never be over. And we are just beginning to learn how to report on Ebola – including answering difficult questions about the origins of this disease.
Now the journalists living and working in Liberia need to make meaning of these new insights for their audiences. Not just the facts, but also what these facts mean – for the sake of their own safety, for their ongoing sense-making of this new and devastating disease.
The views expressed in this post belong solely to its author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of PLOS.
Read Part 1: Where Does Ebola Come From? Communicating Science as a Matter of Life and Death
New on PLOS NTDS: Potential Impact of Sexual Transmission on Ebola Virus Epidemiology: Sierra Leone as a Case Study (May 2, 2016)
Ida Jooste is a health and science journalist, the recipient of some twenty international and South African media awards on science and development issues. She is the Global Health Media advisor at Internews, where she leads health media training programs and serves as advisor to advance country-specific science journalism ventures in Africa and Asia. Internews is an international non-profit organization that partners with journalists, information advocates and civil society organizations around the world to ensure the free flow of trusted information.The FC Holden lovingly cared for by Anthony Dacks and wife Kathy will soon be pulling the equally loved caravan through outback NSW
For some Australians, taking a road trip includes a luxurious motor home, equipped with many mod-cons like state-of-the-art kitchens, satellite television and lounge suites.
However, for one couple from Tathra on the New South Wales far south coast, a little history will travel with them on their outback journey.
They'll be headed west in a superbly restored 1959 FC Holden which will be pulling a 1968 caravan built in Germany.
Anthony Dacks spent eight years convincing his neighbour to sell him his two-tone station wagon.
"Finally he let me have it for a reasonable price on the assurance that I would restore it lovingly back to its original condition."
At the time, the vehicle was registered, but it he says it still needed still a lot of care.
"The paintwork had to be stripped back, the engine was reconditioned, for the sake of having it brand new again."
For Anthony, putting in so much time and effort on a car manufactured in Australia was a surprise, as he originally did his apprenticeship as a motor mechanic with Volvo.
"As time and tables turn, opportunities present themselves and opportunities make themselves available, you've got to grab it and go with it."
The car has had only three owners including Anthony and his wife Kathy, clocking up just over half a million kilometres.
Behind the FC Holden is a German-made caravan.
"The exterior was in very bad disrepair, the interior was pretty good. The blinds had always been kept drawn. Internally we had to re-varnish it, the original upholstery is in there, the original fittings are still in there."
In keeping with the period, at the rear of the van is a large window which when opened reveals a table setting that reflects the time that the caravan was in its heyday.
On the dining table are bone-handled knives from the period, lace doilies covering the milk jar, cups and saucers and a maple syrup tin.
"We've tried to keep it as close to the period as possible, so people can take a step back in time and enjoy what people have enjoyed over the years."
Both the car and caravan are fully registered.
"I like to go when I want to go. I don't like to be restricted."
That applies to Easter when they head first to Parkes in the state's central west to be part of a heritage car club rally, before heading to Adelaide and then back up to Broken Hill.
"It tows along a bit slower than everyone else, but you get to see a lot more," Mr Dacks said.
"You always get a wave. Every now and then you will get a photograph and every now and then you'll get the kids at the window peering and you'll get videos as they go past and you get a lot of thumbs up.
"It is heaps of fun."It'll be a fun Christmas in the Ncube household this year after the family's father, Titus, hired a hooker to service him in a hotel room but then found out his callgirl was also his daughter.
The married father-of-three, collapsed to the floor while his daughter, 20, fled the hotel in tears.
Zimbabwean Ncube told media (why would you?) he was having marital problems and decided to rent a room in a local hotel, followed by an afternoon of dirty sex with a prostitute.
Having been caught, he was extremely repentant. “I am sorry for what I did. I spoke to my wife and daughter. I apologised for my actions as I just wanted my family back.
"My daughter has stopped doing what she was doing and is going back to school next year," he said.
"My marital problems are not over, but we have a counsellor who is helping us to get over this most difficult period.”
His wife Rosemary, who must have the patience of a saint, said: “If it were not for my children, I could have divorced him a long time ago. But because of the trauma that divorce has on children, I decided to stay.”We’ve been curious about Neverwinter for some time now. Cryptic Studios is behind MMOs like City of Heroes, Champions Online, and Star Trek Online, and the team is now trying its hand at the Dungeons & Dragons universe. With new publisher Perfect World backing them, we were curious how the game is shaping up for its release in the first half of next year, and we chatted with lead producer Andy Velasquez to get the scoop.
What sets Neverwinter apart from other online role-playing games? Do you think of it as an MMO or something different from that?
We’re absolutely an MMO. We’re a free to play, action combat MMO. Those are the key touchstones for what we think will set us apart. With free to play, obviously the MMO market is skewing heavily that way. We’re trying really hard to approach developing this game the same way we would a subscription game. We’re trying to buck those preconceived notions out there from players that free to play is crappy, or free to play is eastern-style money-grubbing stuff. We’re developing a fun game in the same way that we developed our previous subscription models. We just believe that this is the right way to monetize moving forward with our genre.
Action combat is our big focus for the moment to moment gameplay. We’ve made here at Cryptic Studios four MMOs that have done more traditional combat. So our take on action combat is obviously an in-vogue thing to be doing right now for MMOs. We feel like we’re approaching it in a more sure way. Other MMOs that are doing action combat take MMO-style combat in gameplay and skew it faster by lowering cool downs or changing to mouse-look targeting. We’re trying to make a fun action combat game and just happened to put that in an MMO setting instead of a third-person, single player RPG. In our totally biased opinion we feel that when we play our game versus Guild Wars or Tera, it feels more like an action game. And obvioiusly, D&D is a big pull for us. We’re in the Forgotten Realms, which is the most famous of all the D&D subworlds. There’s Dragonlance and Greyhawk and all of this other stuff. Forgotten Realms is where Drizzt and Wulfgar, all these iconic characters come from. The surrounding area is where Baldur’s Gate took place, so we’re able to leverage all that lore and built in fanbase a lot with this product.
You’re also coming off of the legacy of a previous existing franchise in Neverwinter Nights. What elements would you say the game shares with Neverwinter Nights?
To be clear, we’re not Neverwinter Nights 3 or anything like that. We happen to take place in the same city of Neverwinter. We do, like you mention, get to call upon all the same backstory and lore. You’ll see locations that if you’re a big fan of Neverwinter Nights 1 or 2. It’s the same with the Neverwinter woods; we have zones that take place out there, there will be a lot of contextual similarities. In terms of the gameplay experience probably the biggest key we took from those games was our foundry system, which is user generated content. Those games had huge followings with their Aurora toolset, people modding the game and offering out new modules constantly and there’s still, last we checked, thousands of people still playing Neverwinter Nights 1 mods. So we have in our game the Foundry, which we just revealed at the last PAX. We did behind the scenes demos of it and showed people how users can make content in our toolset that other MMO players will get to play right in our persistent world. So you can imagine if you played WoW or something that running around doing a Blizzard made mission right next to someone else whose running around doing a mission that you have made in that world. So that’s a big take away from that first series of games.
Are there some limits on that tool set? I remember that aurora toolset within Neverwinter Nights was pretty expansive in terms of giving a lot of options to people. Where do you guys think you fall in that sphere?
So, our approach to the Foundry has been accessibility first, but power as well. The thing with the Aurora toolset is that they’re all so complicated you have to watch hours and hours of tutorials just too even make anything. So what we wanted to do is strip that away a little bit. I think there have been a couple of videos that we put out that show a little bit of editing, but you’ll be able to see how easy it is to get in and move things around. We’re really trying to make it so you don’t have to watch those hours and hours of tutorials. That’s not to say we are shirking away from giving people a lot of control. Say you want a particular kit and you have a bunch of L turns and T turns and straight hallways and you can snap them together like Legos and you drop in what monsters you have in there. You can change the text on those monsters, and you can change the name of those monsters. The approach to how the user interfaces all this is that we’re really trying to push that accessibility angle, but still have a lot of that power and control that people will be expecting coming from that legacy of the Aurora toolset.
What’s the story line going on with Neverwinter? I know the realms have the big kind of shake up when they moved to 4th edition with the Spell Plague. Give me a little since of what you guys are exploring in terms of the story line with this game.
It’s actually cool because we get to work with Wizards of the Coast constantly on this. We have a weekly phone call where we get to nerd out about like, “Wouldn’t it be cool if Valindra did this?” We have a main overarching storyline that has to deal with Valindra Shadowmantle.
From the R. A. Salvatore Neverwinter books?
Yeah she’s messing around in those books a little bit too and she’s in the Neverwinter campaign guide and that’s one of the things that were I was mentioning before; we get to draw on the IP a lot. It’s really awesome because our characters are the same characters that you know from these ancillary products as well, and we get to explore them even further. If you are a fan of those books then you will see Valindra and be like, “Oh that’s the chick that Drizzt was running up against!”
So she is your main villain?
She is the main villainess, and the cool thing it that she’s kind of the one that drives the over arching story line, but then we also get to send you to a bunch of different places that we’re calling our adventure zones. So you go to, for example, the Neverwinter Woods and interact with the Uthgardt Barbarians and so you’ll get a pocket of gameplay there that’s about four hours or so that deals with that story line. That will all then tie back into the main thing with Valindra, but we have tons and tons of those little vignette-like storylines that are happening throughout the progression of your character through to the next level.
What’s the big threat here? What’s Valindra out to do?
She is trying to raise a Dracolich; if you read the Drizzt books there was something going on with the Dread Rings and Thay is trying to wipe out all of humanity – she has some involvement in that plot.
[Next up: How does Neverwinter match up with D&D rules, and how will the game be monetized?]
Games like World of Warcraft and The Old Republic have established the idea of competing factions. Are you planning on one of a number of different factions and you’re kind of aligned, or is everybody on the same team? How does that work?
There are not factions that you make immediate decisions about at the beginning of the game; you are not of the Horde or Alliance faction or something like that, everyone comes into Neverwinter basically answering the call of an adventurer to explore and help the city, so it’s equal footing there.
But there are some factions and groups that you might join up with – is that how it would work?
We haven’t specifically started talking about in what ways there might be other faction related stuff yet.
How have you approached implementing fourth edition D&D rules into an interactive video game setting?
That’s been a really interesting challenge for us. One of the things that D&D Online has done, the other Dungeons & Dragons game, is they took a literal rule-set translation, although I think they used 3.5. And to be clear, we’re not specifically a fourth edition game – we are a Dungeons & Dragons game. So we use a lot of the same name-space and we use a lot of the emotional context of what the power |
animals discovered escape routes and rushed to break free.
“The adults moved toward the stern and began to escape over the net. They did it in an amazing way: a killer whale would come right up to the floats, and then roll over its back, upside down,” a crew member later recalled, in a written account of the capture. “At the same time, the young animals dashed to the ship’s bow and tried to force through [any gaps].”
The net emptied fast, but the hunters lucked out. One youngster’s pectoral fin got stuck between a float and the steel rope at the top of the net. The divers on deck, paid to jump into the water and help lift captured animals onto the boat, were scared by the killer whale’s might; they froze until other crew members reportedly forced them into action. When the nets lifted, another body appeared—a small one. Tangled deep down in the net, the calf had died. “Being busy with the first one, we didn’t notice the other one and it drowned,” the crew member said. They cut the net and dumped the body into the ocean.
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A video of the ordeal shows another whale getting entangled in the net as it attempts an escape. As the whale splashes and struggles, ramming its head against the floats, one captor yells, “It’s tangled, it’s tangled! It will drown!” A second crew member calmly replies, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll get another one.”
This 2003 hunt for killer whales off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east, the first capture in Russian waters for commercial purposes, echoes earlier hunts oceans away. In the 1970s, aquariums—from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Orlando, Florida, to Mexico City—scrambled to net killer whales in European and North American waters. As star marine megafauna, killer whales lured in a paying audience who, at the time, thought little of how the animals lived or that performing for the crowd might not keep the animals free from boredom. Eventually, public sentiment shifted. First against hunting, then—helped along by American documentaries Keiko: The Untold Story in 2010 and Blackfish in 2013—against whales in confinement, period.
Whales remain in captivity in the West, but facilities have been closing over the past few years. In Russia, as well as China (which buys whales from Russia), more facilities have been opening. “The general public in China and Russia is a bit out of step with the Western sensibilities in terms of animals,” says marine mammal scientist Naomi Rose of the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, DC. “They are where the Western world was 40 to 50 years ago.”
Killer whales in the Sea of Okhotsk and surrounding waters off Kamchatka, are caught in a different zeitgeist than their cousins an ocean away, and it’s killing them.
In China, the marine theme park industry is surging. According to a 2015 report prepared by the China Cetacean Alliance, Ocean Theme Parks: A Look Inside China’s Growing Captive Cetacean Industry, China has 39 operational ocean theme parks, housing 491 cetaceans from 11 different species, and it’s building 14 more parks. “The Chinese don’t capture killer whales, but they are willing to pay a pretty penny for them,” says Erich Hoyt, codirector of the Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP) and a research fellow with the United Kingdom’s Whale and Dolphin Conservation. The cost of a live killer whale is, at minimum, US $1-million, a price tag that gives Russian whalers more than enough incentive.
In 1999, Hoyt, who has researched whales and dolphins all over the world, started FEROP with two collaborators, codirector Alexander Burdin and Japanese researcher Hal Sato. It began as a pilot research project on the killer whales inhabiting the northwest Pacific Ocean, a group that wasn’t being studied at all. He brought Russian scientists onboard and trained them in photo identification and other techniques.
Monitoring captures of any kind is very difficult in Russia. The Kamchatka Peninsula, which occupies 370,000 square kilometers, is essentially a wild frontier. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Sea of Okhotsk to the west, and the Bering Sea to the northeast, the peninsula is reachable only by plane, boat, or helicopter. Kamchatka has historically been a few man’s land, rich with wildlife and fish, and where hunting and fishing have always been a part of life. Whale hunting is illegal in Russia today, except for members of the indigenous tribes that live along the coast of the Chukchi and Bering Seas. Government regulations, however, permit capturing whales for “scientific, cultural, and educational purposes,” within an allowable quota. According to FEROP, regulators often ignore the quotas recommended by the organization, advice that’s based on scientific facts established by marine mammalogists. In the past, when FEROP recommended a quota of zero, the regional fisheries managers at the Pacific Fisheries Research Center (TINRO-Center) and the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography—which view marine mammals, including whales, as a fishery resource—allowed around 10 captures.
Today, three captured killer whales perform in shows at the new Moscow aquarium, Moskvarium, which opened in 2015. Russian killer whales have also been sent to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, one of the world’s largest aquariums, in Zhuhai, in China’s Hunan Province: two in 2013, five in 2014, and two in 2015. The whales were finally shown to the public in February. Some of the whales remained unseen for two years before they were put on display for the public, making animal rights activists all over the world worry that some may have died, unable to adjust to captivity, Rose said. Luckily, all the animals were still alive. “Assuming, of course, that these nine orcas are the original nine, which can’t be confirmed,” Rose notes.
It will be hard for the general public to understand the killer whales’ true fate through the haze of entertainment without educational efforts in both countries. Westerners might be more informed of the ethics of keeping killer whales in captivity, but that knowledge is fairly recent. Throughout most of history, the human interpretation (at least in the Western canon) of these creatures and their behaviors has been exceptionally flawed: killer whales have been cast as brutes, a distasteful animal in the realm of animal stories, more foe than friend, more bully than buddy. Education, and, ironically, captivity helped change perceptions.
Orcinus orca was slower than other marine mammals, such as dolphins, to earn the love and affection of humans. Interestingly, some killer whale populations eat dolphins and some don’t, but modern science lumps all killer whales and dolphins into the family Delphinidae. Killer whales are top marine predators: the largest grow up to 10 meters long, weigh up to 10 tonnes, gobble up to 130 kilograms of fish a day, and chase prey at 50 kilometers per hour. Our ancestors saw these creatures as deadly sea beasts—orca means “a whale” and Orcinus means “belonging to the realm of the dead.”
In his book Orca: The Whale Called Killer, Hoyt traces humans’ fear of these animals from antiquity to modern day. The dolphin-loving Greeks weren’t fond of the dolphin-eating killer whales. Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote of them as the ultimate predators, “an enormous mass of flesh armed with savage teeth.” During the Middle Ages, killer whales were seen as sea monsters. In 1862, Danish zoologist Daniel F. Eschricht examined the stomach contents of an adult male killer whale and claimed he found pieces of 13 porpoises and 14 seals. Hoyt notes that whalers reported witnessing packs of killer whales attacking and taking bites of other whales, often several times their size. Scientists aboard whaling ships described finding parts of every other kind of whale inside killer whales’ stomachs. Such accounts further fed the perception that the whales were insatiable predators.
Yet, depending on the population and its environment, killer whales’ diets, behaviors, and social ties differ. The Kamchatka killer whales fall into the same two distinct groups as whales in the northeastern Pacific. Some are resident whales, pods that have rigid societal ties and mostly feed on fish. Others are transients: their travel patterns bring them closer to rocky shores; their societal ties are more flexible; and they feed primarily on marine mammals, including seals, porpoises, dolphins, and sea lions. Currently, both killer whale types are classified as the same species. There have been talks about splitting them into separate species, but any big changes would require an in-depth examination of killer whale populations worldwide. There’s still a lot to learn about the animal’s characteristics and behaviors, and FEROP is working hard on that in Kamchatka.
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Every summer, FEROP group members leave their respective home bases in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere, and head for Russia’s eastern shores, where they set up a research camp in the wilds—large tents that fit their beds, tables, and equipment. During July and August, they venture out on small inflatable boats, looking for killer whale pods. FEROP member Olga Filatova says the team knows the whales by sight—or more specifically, by the shape of their fins, the saddle patch behind the fin, and by scars and notches individual whales accumulate over time. The creatures are tolerant of the scientists’ scrutiny. “We don’t know if it’s because killer whales got used to us or because we got better at getting close to them without disturbing them,” Filatova says.
Social mammals that live and travel in family pods, killer whales hunt, eat, and socialize together. Off Kamchatka (as in the northeast Pacific), the oldest female typically leads a pod of resident whales, and calves remain with their mothers for life, Filatova says. “When the oldest mother dies, her daughters become the matriarchs of their own families—and the old family splits up,” Filatova says.
The scientist often draws parallels between humans and the marine mammals, especially when it comes to social learning—an important part of killer whale society. Insights gained by Filatova and her colleagues from observations in the wild beyond Russia are complemented by lab work, most notably by Lori Marino, a cetacean neuroscience researcher involved with groundbreaking research on dolphin and whale cognition.
Marino, a researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia for 19 years, is an expert in animal behavior and intelligence. As part of her research she investigates whale brains post-mortem.
When a cetacean, such as a killer whale, beaches itself or dies in an aquarium, Marino preserves the brain in formaldehyde until it loses its jelly-like consistency and hardens enough to be placed in an MRI machine. Marino uses the MRI to digitally slice through brain structures so she can view their proportions, spatial locations, and interconnections. From that, Marino forms hypotheses and conclusions about killer whales’ brain functions, such as communication, perception, and even emotion.
Killer whale brains are larger and in some ways more complex than ours. An average human brain weighs about 1,300 grams while an average killer whale brain weighs 5,000 grams. This year, Marino’s research group discovered that, unlike humans who have only one auditory system in their brains, dolphins have two—one that they use for echolocation and one for some other form of communication. Marino thinks killer whales likely have a similar second system, too.
It’s possible that the needs of killer whales demand a more complex brain structure than humans. Compared to us, killer whales have a more developed paralimbic lobe located next to the limbic system, the brain’s emotional center. “That tells you that they have very strong emotions—and those emotions play out in everything from the relationship between family members, mother-child, to the strength of the bonds in the pod,” Marino says. As highly emotional creatures, killer whales might experience emotions on a different level than we do and their behavior suggests they are more socially bonded to each other than humans are to each other. “You can see that their brain elaborates on emotions in some way that’s not necessarily done in humans.”
Killer whales also have one of the most complex neocortices on the planet. The neocortex is involved in high-level cognition such as self-awareness, problem solving, and intellect. “When you look at their brain and especially the neocortex, you find that it’s more convoluted than in humans,” says Marino. It’s apparent that something in the animals’ evolutionary past demanded a degree of cognitive sophistication.
Generally, we tend to view animals as intellectually inferior to us. But what we do wrong, Marino says, is that we set ourselves as a benchmark. “If we use humans as the measuring sticks of intelligence for all other animals, the animals will have to fall short because they’re not humans,” Marino says. “If orcas were doing the rankings, humans would never measure up to being an orca.”
After the fouled 2003 capture, the hunt for killer whales in Russia’s far east seemed to stop for a while. But in 2012, the captures resumed. A young female killer whale, named Narnia by her captors, was taken from the Sea of Okhotsk to a facility in Nakhodka, a port city to the south, relatively close to North Korea. A year later, a young male, a young female, and an adult female, possibly their mother, were caught in the same area, joining Narnia in her Nakhodka holding pen. The newly arrived trio initially refused to eat, but some observers report that Narnia started bringing them fish and convinced them to start feeding—one prisoner helping out others.
Narnia eventually ended up at the Moskvarium, and the two youngsters were supposedly shipped to China, although the paper trails of captive killer whales in Russia are often hard to verify. While there are different opinions on when the whales arrived, everyone agrees the Chimelong facility now has nine killer whales. During the journey, animals are confined to tanks in which they can’t turn around. “Planes used to be the main way, but now trucks are used most often,” says a China Cetacean Alliance representative in China, who didn’t want to be identified. “Some aquariums are in southwestern China or southeastern China [and] the journey can take up to four or five days.” While the Moscow aquarium was being built, two captive killer whales, Narnia and Nord, lived in rusted (at least on the outside) water cisterns for months until their enclosures were ready, says Oxana Fedorova, who founded the activist group Save Dolphins, which monitors all captive dolphins, killer whales, and belugas in Russia. The third killer whale, named Malvina, arrived in time for the grand opening. Later, the Moskvarium renamed her Juliette.
Capturing the whales for display, as distasteful as it is to Westerners, poses an even darker threat: extinction. The transient killer whales of eastern Russia are the most threatened by the captures because there are fewer of them compared to resident killer whales, and because they’re easier to snatch since they feed closer to shore. Of the few thousand killer whales inhabiting eastern Russia, only a few hundred are transient. The quotas don’t differentiate between the two. “At that rate, they may just capture all of them,” Filatova says, meaning that the population could collapse if captures continue unabated.
Other marine mammals, such as resident killer whales and belugas, may not be facing extinction, but they share a similar fate: more and more aquariums are being built, mostly—and rapidly—in China. Marine parks and shows make great attractions. Enamored and awed by the creatures, most people fail to realize the animals’ plight. In the news, training facilities are portrayed as caring institutions, marine mammals as happy, and their arrivals as celebratory events.
“The public in China is not very aware of the suffering of the marine animals just like the public in the Western world in the 1980s,” says the China Cetacean Alliance rep, adding that the organization tries to educate both adults and children about the problem. Fedorova echoes that, explaining by email that to change the situation, one must change the public’s mindset, which is no easy task. “I’ve been asking myself the question, ‘What would be [the] best awareness strategy?’ for a long time and I always come to the same answer: that we have to have enough resources to work in different [audiences],” she says. “It’s important to work with kids and adults at the same time, especially in Russia, because [the] majority of people there just don’t know the truth.” Fedorova adds that in the past few years, Save Dolphins has had opportunities to adopt captive dolphins, but was held back. “We simply don’t have a place we can take them, like a rehab center.” The group has begun the work to create a rehabilitation center for the marine mammals.
In 2016, it looked like Russia’s transient killer whale population could avoid catastrophe. Hoyt posted on Facebook that they may be included in Russia’s Red Book, a list of designated endangered animals, according to a draft order from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. “The draft order needs to have final approval from government, but if successful will mean that no more transient killer whales are allowed to be captured for commercial purposes,” Hoyt wrote. Fedorova has a more pragmatic take on it. If the Russian government includes transient killer whales in the Red Book, the protected status may help stop legal captures, she says. “The only problem is that nobody is monitoring captures … and if there is no control in place, Russian people will most likely falsify their statements,” Fedorova says. She thinks real change will only happen when the general public stops patronizing marine amusement parks (a long shot), rehab centers are built, and enough scientific data exists to prove the need for whale conservation in Russian waters—but that is still a long time away.
A whale friendly future looked even further away on February 17. Fedorova learned that the Russian killer whales were added to the Red Book (pending completion of the approval process)—and yet, at the same time, they were allowed to be hunted again. The capture quota for 2017, originally set to zero last November, was raised to 10. “TINRO, the Russian Pacific Fisheries Research Centre, has announced a revised quota of 10 orcas, same as in previous years. Press conference in Vladivostok just confirmed it,” Hoyt posted on his Facebook feed in February. That means more animals will be snatched from their families to do “circus acts” for human amusement, Hoyt wrote. “It’s time for the show to stop.”
For now, it seems, the show will go on. Only days later, on February 24, the Chimelong killer whales made their public debut.Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic has revealed deep divisions within the squad, saying some players used witchcraft against their own team-mates.
The Serbian made his claim in a leaked report on the Black Stars' failure at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, where they were beaten by eventual winners Zambia in the semi-finals.
"We all need to help in changing some players' mentality about using 'black power' to destroy themselves, and also make sure we instil discipline and respect for each other," the coach said.
In a report delivered to the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) executive committee, Stevanovic added: "After losing to Zambia, there arose so many accusations amongst the players.
Some players played to achieve personal fame, prominence and excellence Kwesi Nyantakyi GFA President
"I have learnt great lessons from African football and also about Ghanaian players' behaviour on and off the field.
The coach did not name any specific players in that part of the report and the GFA is refusing to comment on the matter, saying it does not discuss any issues arising from leaked documents.
"It has always happened, but players have used it to protect themselves and normally in search of luck," Sarfo Gyami, who was a member of the Ghana side at the 1992 Nations Cup, told BBC Sport.
"I have never heard of a situation when players have used it against their own colleagues. That is a very bad situation."
The image of Ghana's team during the Nations Cup was one of unity, with videos and pictures being beamed from the camp in Franceville of players holding late night prayer and singing sessions as a sign of their strong bond.
But both Stevanovic and GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi say there were deep divisions.
"During the competition we observed that some players played to achieve personal fame, prominence and excellence to the detriment of the team," Nyantakyi said at a press conference earlier this week.
"We also had complaints from some senior players, accusing some of the junior ones of disrespect."
Stevanovic's position is under serious threat, with the GFA reviewing his contract and due to make a decision on his future in two weeks.
However, he will lead the squad when they play Chile in the United States on Thursday.An Idiot Abroad Season 3 Premiere Date Set For Science Channel By Kelly West Random Article Blend An Idiot Abroad, and while those of us in the U.S. have to wait for Season 3 to make its debut here, on the bright side, Science has confirmed that they will be premiering the third season of the show early next year. And we have the episode descriptions for the three installments.
An Idiot Abroad is an unscripted travel series that follows Gervais' pal Karl Pilkington as he treks across the globe, reluctantly having adventures, meeting the locals, trying foods and complaining about things that bother him. Science doesn't actually title Season 3, The Short Way Round in their announcement, as it's titled on Life's Too Short star Warwick Davis (of Willow and the Harry Potter movies). Season 3 will have Pilkington and Davis following in the footsteps of Marco Polo, traveling from Italy to China.
It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of dynamic Davis and Pilkington have as travel companions. Given Karl's nerves, perhaps having a partner with him throughout his trip will help boost his spirits. Or else, maybe Warwick will give Karl something new to complain about.
Season 3, which has already begun airing in the U.K., will premiere Saturday, January 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Science Channel. For those of you who want a few more details about what's ahead, below are the episode descriptions, beginning with Karl and Warwick's visit to Venice, Italy. Episode One
Saturday, January 19 at 9 PM ET/PT
Ticket for two please; Karl Pilkington's got company for his latest adventure. The prospect of “holidaying” with Warwick doesn't fill Karl with joy, but, regardless, Ricky sends the pair off to their first pit-stop: Venice, Italy. Nerves are tested when Warwick takes Karl to a masked ball, where they enter the inaccurately-named Pleasure Machine, before Karl moves on to his wish-list, test-riding a jet-pack. Things don't go to plan and, with Warwick proving less than sympathetic, Karl gets his own back with the help of some balloons.
Episode Two
Saturday, January 26 at 9 PM ET/PT
It's time to hit the road as Karl and Warwick's journey continues via India, one of Karl's least favorite destinations from his previous travels. To get Karl in the right frame of mind to appreciate the country properly, Warwick introduces Karl to laughing yoga, before they land roles in a Bollywood movie. This may be Warwick's area of expertise, but Karl embraces the opportunity to showcase his natural rhythm.
Episode Three
Saturday, February 2 at 9 PM ET/PT
It’s the final leg of the journey and Karl and Warwick’s relationship is tested to the limit as they prepare to make their way to China. First there are a few loose ends to tie up in India – Karl has some unfinished business with the Spider Sisters that Warwick gets dragged into. With tensions running high, the duo arrives in the Far East where Ricky has arranged a couple of eye-opening excursions, including a (short-lived) cruise along the river Yangtzi, and some quality time with a panda at the Sichuan Panda Sanctuary. Those across the pond have already seen the start of the third season of Ricky Gervais', and while those of us in the U.S. have to wait for Season 3 to make its debut here, on the bright side, Science has confirmed that they will be premiering the third season of the show early next year. And we have the episode descriptions for the three installments.is an unscripted travel series that follows Gervais' pal Karl Pilkington as he treks across the globe, reluctantly having adventures, meeting the locals, trying foods and complaining about things that bother him. Science doesn't actually title Season 3,in their announcement, as it's titled on Sky1. The subtitle is likely a nod to Pilkington's travel companion in the new season (if not the briefness of the season, which only consists of 3 episodes). Joining him on his adventures isstar Warwick Davis (ofand themovies). Season 3 will have Pilkington and Davis following in the footsteps of Marco Polo, traveling from Italy to China.It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of dynamic Davis and Pilkington have as travel companions. Given Karl's nerves, perhaps having a partner with him throughout his trip will help boost his spirits. Or else, maybe Warwick will give Karl something new to complain about.Season 3, which has already begun airing in the U.K., will premiere Saturday, January 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Science Channel. For those of you who want a few more details about what's ahead, below are the episode descriptions, beginning with Karl and Warwick's visit to Venice, Italy. Blended From Around The Web Facebook
Back to topLeaving out an important detail or two
Media's new fake horror: Trump threat to jail Hillary endangers democracy!
Part of me wonders if they would have done this without the p****-grab tape having come out first, but then the rational rest of me says... of course they would. It’s what they do. I’m sure you’ve seen this, but just to set the context. The freakout by the media is both predictable and uniform. A liberal Facebook friend put it like this:
“Threatening to jail our political opponents is apparently something we do now.” CNN came forth with a list of dictators like Putin, Pinochet and Mugabe who jailed political opponents. Over at PRI’s The World, they think democracy is at death’s door with Trump’s declaration. And so it goes across the board.
The dishonesty in all this is simply stunning, as if Trump was threatening to put Hillary in jail simply for being his political opponent. I didn’t see any of these people fret that democracy was threatened when the FBI, under pressure from the Justice Department and the White House, conducted a sham investigation of Hillary’s clear and obvious criminal behavior and refused to enforce the law because of her political prominence. That was perfectly fine, but Trump vowing to actually enforce the law against a lawbreaker is a threat to the republic. This is why you can’t take the media’s coverage of any debate or of the campaign in general as reliable or authoritative. They will twist everything that happens to suit their preferred narrative, no matter what the facts are. Hillary illegally endangering national security in order to hide her Clinton Foundation/State Department pay-to-play operation? Nothing to see here! Trump threatening to prosecute her for it? Democracy is over! But they’re on a mission to make sure Trump doesn’t win, and they’ve made no bones about it, so what else do you expect. Any time you read the media between now and Election Day (and surely beyond that), you have to read it like it’s the Democratic Party newsletter. Because for all intents and purposes, it is.
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Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain
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Please adhere to our commenting policy to avoid being banned. As a privately owned website, we reserve the right to remove any comment and ban any user at any time.Comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence and death, racism, anti-Semitism, or personal or abusive attacks on other users may be removed and result in a ban.-- Follow these instructions on registeringLike many federal employees, Eric Rohlfing will be watching President Trump on Tuesday night as he addresses a joint session of Congress. Specifically, the chemist will be listening carefully for clues to his future employment status. Rohlfing is the leader of a unique science and technology start-up agency tucked inside the Department of Energy, and he and his staff have been trying to convince the new administration to keep it alive.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, or ARPA-E, provides seed money for hundreds of high-risk energy-related projects stuck between research and commercialization. And this week, the fruits of these grants are on display at the annual ARPA-E Summit in National Harbor, Md., a few miles outside Washington. A cavernous convention hall bustles with far-out ways to cool, heat, convert, conserve, or invent energy—all of which could soon be on the chopping block, as Trump discusses how he plans to cut $54 billion from various domestic programs and shift money to the Department of Defense.
Sitting at one table in the convention hall are the Berkeley engineering professors crafting custom chairs and footbeds that keep you warm at the office without turning up the building’s heat. Or the giant harvesting machine that Purdue researchers converted into a robotic sensor—one that can tell which kinds of corn varieties will produce the best ethanol. Then there’s the Iranian-born computer scientist who has devised an optical interconnector to boost the energy efficiency of giant super-computers.
Like Rohlfing, they are all wondering if the new Trump administration—and the yet-to-be confirmed Secretary of Energy Rick Perry—will dismantle or defund their projects. “We just heard about the new Trump budget and the possible cuts to renewable energy,” says Payman Samadi, a research scientist at Columbia University who works on an ARPA-E funded project with several academic partners. Last month, Trump transition team officials were preparing budget cuts to DOE science and research units based on a pre-existing blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, according to The Hill.
Most of DOE’s money goes to work on the nation’s nuclear weapons and national laboratories, commanding a total budget of $30 billion. Of that sum, ARPA-E and its research grants only account for $291 million. “We’ve been working for a long time,” says Samadi. “Hopefully, there is still a lot of support.”
Other researchers who receive money from ARPA-E say they may switch their focus from saving energy and protecting the planet to keeping America safe. The military needs good batteries so its soldiers and sailors can fight long distances from home without a recharge, just as consumers want a long-lasting laptop.
Alternative fuels and more efficient devices aren’t just environmentally friendly energy-savers. They can also be seen as a way to protect against the unstable countries that provide so much of the world’s oil. That might be the ticket to obtain government funding in the Trump administration’s anti-climate, anti-environment era, according to Craig Evans, CEO of ESS, a small startup based in Portland, Ore., that is building container size iron-salt storage batteries.
“What the DOE is trying to do is make a cleaner and more sustainable environment,” says Evans. “But if going down the safety route and energy security route is the best avenue, then we’ll use it.”
US Rep. Mark Takano, who represents Riverside, Calif., told the crowd of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs at the summit that he has adopted a similar pragmatic stance with his anti-environment colleagues in Congress. In fact, he’s part of a group of like-minded House members that focus on promoting battery storage technology, a Capitol Hill caucus that includes Republican climate-deniers as well as fellow Democrats.
“We may justify it under national defense,” says Takano. “You can take the point of view that batteries are good for renewables, but even if you are part of the climate change denial front, you can find strong support to move the industry forward.”
In either case, it will likely be a few weeks before ARPA-E’s Rohlfing knows whether his agency will get the budget axe, survive as an angel investor for immature tech projects, or shift its focus to defense-related energy. The Senate might vote to confirm Perry this week; then, the tough decisions will begin.
In the meantime, Rohlfing says he’ll be using data to make his case that the little agency that could is worth keeping. Since its launch in 2009, 74 of ARPA-E’s grantees have attracted $1.8 billion in private money, while 56 formed new companies. “We will tell our story and will advocate for it as strongly as we can,” said Rohlfing. “That’s my job.”Ancient Olympic discus throwers likely wouldn’t stand a chance against their modern-day counterparts.
Photograph by Thinkstock.
The Games of the XXX Olympiad are under way in London, with China and the United States taking the early lead in the medal count. Last week, Slate visualized Olympic competitions between 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century athletes. How would the ancient Greeks, who invented the Olympic Games, compete against today’s athletes?
Probably not well. Ancient athletes could have held their own in the first modern Olympic Games of 1896. Phayllos of Croton, for example, hurled the discus 95 feet in the Pythian games around 500 B.C. Although that distance is approximate—Greeks measured distance in actual human feet—it would have put him in the running for a medal at the 1896 Olympic competition. Phayllos probably would have bested American Robert Garrett’s 95.6-foot throw if he had used modern tools and techniques. Ancient hurlers likely used a heavier discus and took only a three-quarter turn before releasing it, rather than the two-and-a-quarter turns that modern athletes use. Variations aside, Phayllos wouldn’t have stood a chance against 21st-century athletes: The current world record is more than 243 feet.
Historians have puzzled over records from ancient long-jump competitions. Athletes posted distances of well over 50 feet—nearly double the current world long-jump record. Many classicists assume that the event was actually a triple jump, although that still puts the ancients surprisingly close to the modern record. The ancient competition was quite different from the modern version, however. The Greeks probably started from a standstill and swung handheld weights, known as halteres, to provide momentum on takeoff and allow them to extend their feet farther forward on landing.
Variations in preparation also make it difficult to compare ancient and modern Olympic prowess. Ancient Greeks trained specifically for the games for only a few months, and they may not have practiced individual events much during that time. The philosopher and physician Galen recommended playing catch, sometimes while riding on the shoulders of a fellow athlete. Weightlifting was rare because the trainers worried about overdeveloping certain muscles and creating an imbalance in strength. Athletes experimented with a wide variety of diets, including meat-, cheese-, and fig-heavy regimens. Bizarre elixirs were common, and most athletes seem to have used “cursing tablets” to hex their opponents before the games commenced. One aspect of training hasn’t changed: The ancients fiercely debated the value of sexual abstinence during the days before competition.
Ancient Olympians were also probably exhausted at the start of the games because they had to walk 36 miles just to get from Elis, the city that administered the games, to Olympia. The Greeks would have scoffed at modern athletes’ hand-wringing about fatiguing themselves in the opening ceremony.
For all their scientific training and dietary preparation, modern athletes wouldn’t want to compete directly with the ancients, who were not above cheating. Men gifted with boyish looks lied their way into the youth competitions. Although finger-breaking was illegal, a wrestler became known as “Finger Man” for his habit of crushing his opponents’ digits at the beginning of each fight. Deaths were not uncommon. One pugilist had his victory overturned because the manner in which he beat his opponent to death was too savage for even the ancients.
Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer.
Explainer thanks Robert B. Kebric of the University of Louisville, author of Greek People; David Gilman Romano of the University of Pennsylvania, author of Athletics and Mathematics in Archaic Corinth: The Origins of the Greek Stadion; and Judith Swaddling of the British Museum, author of The Ancient Olympic Games.Hello! This is a first post in a series that will outline the challenges and remedies for making an accessible app in Firefox OS.
First you may ask, accessible to whom? Good question. Accessibility is a very broad term. There are many reasons why Firefox OS would not be available to an individual. In this series we will focus on making apps that are accessible to blind users.
Secondly you may ask, how does a blind person use a Firefox OS device? They can’t. At least not yet. The accessibility team at Mozilla is focusing on bringing together the right tools and integrating them into Firefox OS to make that happen. Namely, we are working on a screen reader.
Thirdly you may ask, how does a blind user use a touch screen smartphone? Very efficiently. When the iPhone 3GS was introduced, it came with a screen reader. Today, iOS devices are very popular among blind users. With a few simple gestures, the entire feature-set of a smartphone becomes available to visually impaired people. This video highlights how that is done with the iPhone:
In Firefox OS we are working on a screen reader with a very similar interaction model to both iOS and Android’s solutions. The main design principal is to allow the user to explore the display with their touch without directly affecting the state of the underlying apps. To interact with an application, for example to activate a control, the user first finds the control by “feeling around” on the screen and then double-taps to activate it. In addition to exploring by touch, the user could flick left or right to advance through the UI in a linear fashion. That is the basic idea, there are many more features and gestures that a user could learn |
. Valiant happily enters Toontown with Dolores, and Roger with Jessica, followed by the other toons.
Cast Edit
Characters Edit
Production Edit
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Reception Edit
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Notes Edit
^ The New York Times in 1991, who subsequently issued an [2] Publications of the film's accounts since then indicate that the exact production cost of the film was $58,166,000,[3] including the production overhead which came to a total of $7,587,000, putting the net cost at $50,587,000.[4] The budget has been commonly reported as $70 million, including byin 1991, who subsequently issued an erratum to state that both Amblin and Touchstone insist the budget was "about $50 million".Publications of the film's accounts since then indicate that the exact production cost of the film was $58,166,000,including the production overhead which came to a total of $7,587,000, putting the net cost at $50,587,000.
References EditWednesday’s joint announcement on defence policy by ministers Harjit Sajjan and Marc Garneau covered a lot of ground. A sweeping new vision of what the Canadian Armed Forces will be able to do was accompanied by a 70 per cent increase in the defence budget over the next decade. It logically followed a foreign policy statement yesterday by Minister Chrystia Freeland, which had many surprises in it. As a result, new military ventures into the areas of space-based sensing and communications, cyber security and self-guided vehicles will be keys to the future for the military.
PAUL WELLS: Chrystia Freeland explains the world for you
While the increase in the budget—from $18.9 billion today to $32.7 billion in the 2026-27 fiscal year—is significant, the number of new programs, increases in personnel numbers and ambitious equipment procurement will severely test the ministers’ claim that their policy is “fully funded.” By adding 3,500 people to the regular force and 1,500 to the reserve force, and not reducing the massive defence portfolio of bases and lands, the budget will be almost certainly be confronted by challenges.
Will the money go as far as it’s forecast? Frankly, it is hard to be optimistic.
Among the most urgently needed of the proposed changes is a comprehensive approach to health and wellness while in uniform, plus ongoing support during the transition back to civilian life. The number of bad news stories about gaps between salary stops and pension starts, provincial health service shortfalls and lack of capacity in local medical practices for former service members has clearly stung the government into action. It was long overdue. Because of the complexity of this wide-ranging issue, it may be the most challenging of all the changes announced today.
Probably the most immediately impactful component of the new policy is a commitment that the cost of deployed operations will no longer come from in-year funds. This will provide immediate and significant relief for military budget managers that had been plagued with making difficult choices over cuts to a myriad of training, maintenance and supply items to pay for “the primacy of operations.”
The change agenda for the military to become an agile organization capable of engaging in a wide range of activities in this unpredictable world was contrasted by obvious loyalty to legacy capabilities. Warships, fighters and armoured vehicles will all be procured in large numbers, and at a huge cost. While the announcement made no comment on Cold War force structure, the commitment to preserve the tactical capacities so prized from that era was made abundantly clear.
Neither was there any explanation about how the Canadian military will become a leader in global affairs. Long a supporter of alliances and coalitions, Canada’s military contributions have always been designed as bolt-on additions to first British and then American force structures; our allies’ military and informational power enabled the entire activity, and Canada went along as required. The defence policy features no mention of the significant logistical upgrading that would be required so that Canada could be self-reliant and self-sufficient at the end of long supply lines. Canada’s experiences in Afghanistan showed the cost and difficulty of undertaking tasks in a remote location; minor logistical improvements resulted, but only enough to get by. To lead in global affairs would require a vastly expanded logistical capacity to enable and sustain operations. The adage that “amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics” is especially appropriate in this regard.
And the policy doesn’t seem to account for potential events. If strategic changes force Canada to undertake military operations in the far western Pacific or in the high Arctic, the entire logistical orientation of the armed forces will be taken and shifted either 90 degrees (to the North) or 180 degrees (to the West). Both theatres of operation would be maritime in nature without established support bases for our use. Apart from a mention of more space-based surveillance and satellites for communication in high latitudes, there was no detail on how a major operation would be supported. Clearly, while the future is viewed as unpredictable, some outcomes are too difficult to even contemplate.
Glaringly absent from the announcement, too, was any linkage between Canadian defence policy and industrial policy. To be truly capable of leading, Canada will have to become self-sufficient industrially, militarily and intellectually. Without a national industrial base and supply chain, Canada and its military will remain dependent of foreign suppliers and their production schedules. Our officers must diligently plan and rigorously practice the role of leading operations, which have come to us only infrequently. Our intelligence services will have to be significantly expanded and the professional education system radically reformed to change the organizational culture of the military. Currently, external limitations dictate our strategic options and freedom of action. Moreover, our own self-image as contributors shapes the type of tactical actions we are capable of performing.
During my testimony before the defence review committee in October, I urged a three-phase plan to enable our current military structure before contemplating expansion. First, we must replenish shortfalls in supplies, spare parts and ammunition. Our military is too small to have even a single unit inactive due to shortages of simple things. Second, we need to right-size the infrastructure so that the military can shift its entire force structure from an east-facing orientation to any other direction. Neither the Atlantic or Pacific bases could support the entire naval fleet, robbing it of the inherent advantage of sea power: mobility. Third, we need to get the force structure right. Look at future trends and then decide where to put the organizational emphasis. Be sure that funding distribution is adequate for the change. At a minimum, 27 per cent to 29 per cent of the budget needs to go to capital procurement if major change is envisioned—a full 10 per cent increase over current levels. These adjustments are necessary before attempting generational change, and it is not clear to me that the new budget meets this test.
A new threat, a change of government or an economic recession could undo all of this, as it has done many times in the past. The last plan to significantly reform the Canadian military promised advanced combat aircraft, a marine regiment and three armed polar-class icebreakers. None of it came to pass and the same could easily happen again. It is easy to be skeptical of the new Liberal defence policy, but it is also too early to say that it will never work. But what is certain is that hard choices lie ahead between the past and the future—and the promised budget increase is not enough to pay for plans that adhere to both.
Ken Hansen, who retired from the Royal Canadian Navy in 2009 at the rank of Commander, is an independent defence analyst and owner of Hansen Maritime Horizons. He is a member of the Science Advisory Committee for Atlantic Oceans Research Enterprise, and a contributor to the Security Affairs Committee for the Royal United Services Institute.Cameron Crowe wrote about them. Pacman Jones makes them reign. And Kraft sells them in packages of 8, 16, and 24. Yet, Adam Dunn still can’t manage to hit them. I’m speaking of singles, of course.
Adam Dunn is a great power hitter. No one denies that. He has eight seasons of 35+ home runs and is on pace to do that again this year. But something Adam Dunn is not good at getting is a single. He has 16 right now. That is one less than the amount of home runs he has. Somebody send Adam Dunn the Tom Emanski videos, please.
Based off of projections, Adam Dunn will amass 41 singles this year which is eight less than the number Barry Bonds hit in 2001 – a major league record. That year, Bonds was walked 177 times, including 35 times intentionally, so we can give him a pass (no pun intended). Adam Dunn is projecting to only 72 walks. The AL record for fewest singles is 53 – by Mark McGwire, 1991 – so Adam has even more records of futility to avoid.
Another noteworthy record Adam could approach this year is the 200 strikeout plateau, a planetary surface only three men have landed upon- including Dunn just last year. And if it weren’t for the White Sox basically sitting him during the last third of the 2011 season, Dunn would have broken that record. In fact, if the team would have continued to play him he would have had the lowest recorded average in history for a qualifying batter with a scorching.159 average. Luckily for Dunn, the Sox were smart and sat him as he finished a measly six plate appearances shy.
The fact of the matter is this: Dunn is getting paid $15 million this year to get on base 28% of the time and to play DH. That’s $937,500 for a single. As a designated hitter – who only occasionally plays the field – he unbelievably has a negative WAR. To help him in his futility, other White Sox players seemed to have pledged to accompany him in his terribleness, with both Paul Konerko and Jeff Keppinger joining him in the bottom seven WARs, with Keppinger as the worst overall qualified baseball player. It’s no wonder nobody wants to go watch the Sox when they come into town (they lead the league in fewest road attendance). They are absolutely terrible.
Given, Dunn has been hot of late and could turn things around. However, the three most recent years might suggest otherwise. It might be time to go another route, Chicago.
(A rare Adam Dunn single)
[YouTube, Baseball Almanac, Baseball Reference, ESPN]Tim Drake is my favorite Robin. This is partly due to Tim being Robin when I first started seriously reading Batman comics. He had just started wearing the new costume, and I thought that it was the coolest thing. Tim is also the one Robin who is most like Bruce. Tim is the best fighter, having trained not only with Bruce, but with other masters like Lady Shiva. He's the smartest and best detective, having become Robin because he figured out Bruce's secrets and worked his way into the team. And he's just so grim and determined at times that he's downright scary. If any of the Robins should become Batman someday, I think that Tim is the most qualified. Anyway, this commission is amazing. Ron has become one of my all-time favorite Bat-artists, and he's never even drawn a Batman comic (yet!). Tim looks all superhero ninja-like here, caught in the light and yet ready to knock someone's jaw off with his staff. DC, get smart and hire Ron for one of the main Bat-books NOW. As usual, a huge thanks to Ron for another superb piece of art.
If you like this piece then please do go buy some books featuring Ron's work in either physical or digital format and/or go commission him yourself.Being the Master Distiller of a mega-brand of bourbon has its perks. Jimmy Russell, the steady hand behind Wild Turkey, not only has the distinct pleasure of working with his son, Eddie (Associate Master Distiller), but also has the chance to stake his territory on the bourbon landscape. His latest release, Russell's Reserve Small Batch Single Barrel, brings to the market one authoritative vision of what bourbon ought to be. And it's a vision we can get behind.
This release's name is a mouthful, and a confusing one at that. You can't get any smaller batch than a single barrel, so why not call it the single barrel and leave it at that? The acronym RRSBSB won't do anyone any favors either, so let's just call it the Single Barrel for the sake of this review, shall we?
Taking position as the top shelf Wild Turkey product, this bottling surpasses the Russell's Reserve Small Batch 10 year in both proof and price. But there are a few important decisions that were made in the production of this bourbon that are a bit unusual. Aged in very heavily charred barrels (char #4, or alligator char), the Single Barrel is released without any age statement. One could cynically approach this decision as a means to cover a distillery's lack of aged stocks, but an added benefit of going NAS (No Age Statement) with a single barrel program is the ability to pull individual barrels at their prime and not be restricted by the age of a truly special barrel. However, the best of both worlds would be putting barreling and bottling dates on individual bottles, which they've chosen not to do. Another interesting decision is the high-proof of this release—at 110 proof, it fulfills a lot of drinker's demands to keep triple-digit Turkey on the market. Most importantly, this whiskey is not chilled filtered.
Understanding Chill Filtration
What is chill filtration, and why does it matter to you, the whiskey drinker? The process is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Chill filtration, a standard practice in the industry, is when whiskey is chilled to temperatures below freezing and filtered to remove fatty acids and other "impurities," such as proteins and esters. It's done to create a stable whiskey that won't cloud when chilled, say with the addition of a few ice cubes. But chill filtration also has the unfortunate side effect of robbing the spirit of some of its body and complexity of flavor. Many Scotch distillers and some new bourbon distillers are beginning to release non-chill filtered whiskeys, but it's always exciting to see more releases, especially from influential sources.
Russell's Reserve Small Batch Single Barrel
Good decisions like skipping the chill filtration are one thing, but great whiskeys are another thing. Will the Single Barrel make its makers proud?
Pouring a deep, dark bronze, the immediate aroma of this bourbon is full of charred oak, with subtle cinnamon and baking spices. The taste is surprisingly smooth considering the high proof, with typical Wild Turkey cinnamon up front, just enough wood to balance the caramel sweetness, and hints of mint and rye spices a welcome addition to the complexity. The finish is sweet and lingering, with pineapple and licorice. The bourbon opens up with a tiny splash of water and becomes richer, deeper, chewier, and the sweetness and bitter wood blend even more harmoniously. It's a high class effort.
The only downside on this release is the pricing: at MSRP of $50 a bottle, you could buy almost two and a half bottles of the benchmark Wild Turkey 101. But as a reasonable splurge bourbon, the Single Barrel is in a class all its own.
Whiskey sample provided for review consideration.
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.News in Science
Study suggests dinosaurs not cold-blooded
Theory debunked Dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded, a finding that could debunk one of the most commonly-held images of the extinct giants.
Researchers in Spain and Norway report in the journal Nature they had found tree-like growth rings on the bones of mammals, a feature that until now was thought to be limited to cold-blooded creatures... and dinosaurs.
They also found evidence that dinosaurs probably had a high metabolic rate to allow fast growth - an indicator of warm-bloodedness.
"Our results strongly suggest that dinosaurs were warm-blooded," says lead author Meike Koehler of Spain's Institut Catala de Paleontologia.
If so, the findings should prompt a rethink about reptiles, she says.
Modern-day reptiles are cold-blooded, meaning they cannot control their body temperatures through their own metabolic system - relying instead on external means such as basking in the sun.
While the dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded, their other characteristics kept them squarely in the reptile camp, says Koehler.
Palaeontologists have long noted the ring-like markings on the bones of cold-blooded creatures and dinosaurs, and taken them to indicate pauses in growth, perhaps due to cold periods or lack of food.
The bones of warm-blooded animals such as birds and mammals had never been properly assessed to see if they, too, exhibit the lines.
Koehler and her team found the rings in all 41 warm-blooded animal species they studied, including antelopes, deer and giraffes.
The finding "eliminates the strongest argument that does exist for cold-bloodedness" in dinosaurs, she says.
The team's analysis of bone tissue also showed that the fast growth rate of mammals is related to a high metabolism, which in turn is typical of warm-bloodedness.
"If you compare this tissue with dinosaur tissue you will see that they are indistinguishable," says Koehler.
"So this means that dinosaurs not only grew very fast but this growth was sustained by a very high metabolic rate, indicating warm-bloodedness."
A comment by University of California palaeontologist Kevin Padian that was published with the paper says the study was the latest to chip away at the long-held theory that dinosaurs were cold-blooded.
"It seems that these were anything but typical reptiles, and Koehler and colleagues' findings remove another false correlation from this picture."Political support for the Kermadec marine sanctuary hangs in the balance after Labour and the Greens both suggested they won't support it if the Government doesn't get iwi support.
The opposition parties voted in support of the bill.
But now the legislation has been delayed while the Government negotiates with the Maori Party and Te Ohu Kaimoana over the 620,000 square kilometre sanctuary.
The Maori Party says it's a breach of Maori property rights and has threatened to walk away from its confidence and supply agreement.
Greens co-leader Metiria Turei says the party "reserves all rights" in terms of how it votes.
"We're very disappointed the Government has made such a mess of the sanctuary process and is delaying it until the negotiations are done," Ms Turei says.
"We certainly don't support breaches of the Treaty and it's clear there's been a breach of the process in working with iwi Maori on the Kermadecs, the Government could have done a better job.
"There is no choice, the question is we want to make sure there is marine protection in the EEZ and the Kermadec Sanctuary goes ahead, and the only way we can be sure of that is when there is iwi support. We want both and believe both is possible."
Earlier, Labour leader Andrew Little made it clear his party would only decide how it would vote once negotiations between the Government and the Maori Party had reached a conclusion.
Ms Turei says: "The Government has left the whole country in a mess. Nick Smith has made a terrible hash of this incredible opportunity for the sanctuary."
Asked why the Greens took so long to realise there was a potential Treaty issue, Ms Turei said the process problems had become more apparent in the last few weeks.
Environment Minister Nick Smith won't take part in the negotiations between the Maori Party and the Government – Bill English will instead do that job.
Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says it's pleasing the Government is "finally" listening to Maori on the issue.
Nick Smith Source: 1 NEWSIt’s the big question. Possibly Joachim Löw’s biggest decision in terms of selection, it is also the choice which generates the most intense debate among fans. Does Mario Gómez, FC Bayern München’s goal machine, lead the line for Germany at Euro 2012, or does the old head Miroslav Klose, who scored nine goals in six games in qualification for the tournament, still top the pecking order?
Because of lingering doubts over Klose’s fitness, Gómez possibly has the edge at the moment. Polish- born Klose has had few periods of sustained fitness all season, and missed the last two months of the campaign through injury. Gómez, however, has been ever-present and prolific for both club and country. In terms of raw statistics, Gómez has scored 54 goals in the Bundesliga over the last two seasons, and 21 in 22 Champions League ties over the same period, including five hat-tricks this campaign. He has replicated his club goalscoring form at international level too, netting in eight of his last ten appearances for his country. He also provided the sort of game-changing performance which could prove crucial in an international tournament, bailing out a below-par Germany in a 2- 1 win in Austria in qualifying with two goals, one of which was the last-minute winner, in one of the biggest individual contributions to Germany’s 100% qualifying record.
Looking at just the numbers, there’s little argument against Gómez’s inclusion. But despite the 27 year-old’s superb form, Klose has still plenty to offer in alternative. His intelligence, link-up play, technique, power and work rate are all superior to that of Gómez, and over the past couple of years the national side has tended to play better with him in it. He still possesses good pace too, especially for a man who turns 34 on the day of Germany’s first fixture.
Take the 3-2 friendly win over Brazil in August. With the two strikers playing 45 minutes each, it provided a crude snapshot into how the team operates with either up front. After an awkward 45 minutes with Gómez leading the line, Germany were a far more fluid attacking unit after Klose came on, and scored three times in the second half. Klose had a hand in the opening goal, successfully chasing a ball which had appeared lost and back-heeling smartly to set up a penalty.
Then Klose starred as Germany crushed Group B opponents the Netherlands 3-0 in November. The Dutch may have been missing their biggest attacking threats, but their defence was ripped apart by the devastating combination of Klose, Thomas Müller and Mesut Özil. The win was reminiscent of the side’s marvellous attacking displays against England and Argentina in South Africa. The wavelength and understanding between the trio was unplayable, and responsible for all three goals. Germany are possibly at their best when these three are on song.
With both strikers staking impressive claims for the starting position, the most sensible course of action might be to rotate the two, certainly in the initial stages of the competition. This might suit Klose well, with questions remaining as to whether he is fully fit yet. Picking him for every match may not be possible.
Equally, relying solely on Gómez would be to the detriment of the team. He is an instinctive footballer rather than an intelligent reader of the game. He works hard for the team but link-up play is not one of his greatest strengths. It’s possible that Bayern München struggled at times last season because of their inability to adapt or change successfully with Gómez in the team. They particularly struggled against teams who play high-energy pressing games, losing four out of five matches against Borussia Dortmund and Mainz. (Of course, this was not Gómez’s fault, but intelligence and ball control are such important assets against sides like these.)
So using both strikers will probably be necessary for Löw. It could be a great asset for him too, because Germany can do what Bayern couldn’t this season: alter their style depending on the opponent or situation. Against a pressing side like Spain, or defensive sides more difficult to break down, picking Klose would seem the smart move, because of his intelligence, better physicality and the link-up play he provides with Özil and Müller; whereas Gómez’s greatest strengths could be against more open sides, where he might get scoring chances, or in tight matches where he can use the opportunistic striking abilities he is more capable of than Klose.
Either way, it’s a safe bet that club form can be discounted as Löw looks to select his main striker. Germany’s most effective team during the tournament might just include the more complete Miroslav Klose. That said, Gómez has filled in well in Klose’s absence with a fine international scoring run of his own, so much so that it’s possible Gómez’s goals for Germany could win him the battle, for the first match at least. “His [recent] ratio helps him and the team”, trainer Löw said after the Israel game.
But all indicators seem to suggest that rotation will be the best policy. Löw seems to have the luxury of choosing slightly different but effective options for certain matches. Not playing every game could benefit Klose. And crucially for tournament play, it will help keep Germany unpredictable, something which, factoring in their wealth of options behind the striker, could be their greatest asset. “It’s an incredible advantage that we are so strong up front”, mused Klose at Tuesday’s press conference.
Whereas Löw has spoken more decisively on selections for other positions, he has indicated he doesn’t see a pecking order for his two main strikers. Most tellingly, he said: “It’s good for the team to know that Miro and Mario can always score goals, no matter which of them plays. That is very important because we will absolutely need both of them if we want to achieve something here.”If you get in line early enough at 99 Cents Only on a day when it’s celebrating a new store opening or some other special occasion, you can get a new Philips flat-screen TV for a buck and change. During the holiday season last year, Volkswagen sold three factory-fresh Jettas for just $5,995 each on Gilt.com, the Web’s leading site for deeply discounted designer goods. In the age of Groupon, everything’s always at least 50 percent off. It’s never been easier to own stuff, and yet for millions of consumers, ownership is becoming as obsolete as newspapers. The costs are too high, the benefits too negligible.
Zipcar, the urban car-share pioneer, tripled membership numbers in 2009. But as fast as car-sharing is growing, it’s failing to keep pace with bike-sharing, which is reportedly the fastest growing form of transportation in the world. New Yorkers renting out spare space in their homes are making upwards of $1,600 a month. These factoids come from the 2010 book What’s Mine Is Yours, in which business consultant Rachel Botsman and serial entrepreneur Roo Rogers rebrand “renting” and “sharing” as “collaborative consumption” and position it as the cure for “outdated modes of hyper-consumption” that have left America with seven times more personal storage facilities than Starbucks outlets.
Just a few years ago, President George W. Bush was still touting “the ownership society” as the surest path to prosperity and personal autonomy. But that was before we could easily search our cellphones for the nearest power drills, sedans, and spacious Manhattan closets for rent. What we really want, sharing evangelists suggest, is access, not ownership. And when we can use the mobile Web to pinpoint sharable goods, the burdens of ownership—which include maintenance, storage, and eventual disposal—begin to outweigh the benefits in many cases.
Sensing a sea change in which people abandon their cars and turn their garages into DIY Holiday Inns, several venture capital firms, among them Google Ventures and Sequoia Capital, are pouring money into start-ups that specialize in what a May Fast Company article described as “underused asset utilization.” Similarly, Web-based peer-to-peer rental platforms are inspiring a new wave of micro-entrepreneurship among people with underused assets of their own. At Relay Rides, a car-sharing service that helps individual car owners rent their vehicles to others, some owners are making upwards of $600 a month. At Airbnb.com, which allows homeowners to rent space to travelers, a guy who lives across the street from a busy park in San Francisco is renting access to his bathroom for $10 a day.
In What’s Mine is Yours and The Mesh, a 2010 book by the online commerce pioneer Lisa Gansky, Web-facilitated renting is presented in utopian terms. It will use resources more effectively and thus produce less waste. It will lead to more durable products and more responsive companies that specialize in long-term customer relationships rather than one-time flings that end at the cash register. It will lead to greater social connectivity—as we develop deeper relationships with our neighbors’ Jetskis, we’ll also develop deeper relationships with our neighbors. It will end our mindless, unsatisfying overconsumption.
In both books, the material life is generally presented in negative terms. We fill our lives with “stuff” rather than “the things we really care about.” We suffer from “insatiable consumerism” and “mall-fueled conformity.”
But luckily for those of us who find great pleasure and meaning in what What’s Mine is Yours dubs the “frenetic quest for personality identity through brands, products, and services,” collaborative consumption may turn out to be a somewhat greater agent for hyperconsumption than its evangelists imagine. Think about San Francisco’s bathroom entrepreneur. Before he started renting out his toilet, park visitors could either wait in line at the park’s public toilets or perhaps pee on someone’s garage door. Neither of these options has an explicit fee attached to it. The entrepreneur is creating new opportunities to consume services.
Meanwhile, as Ben Franklin might have said, a penny saved on car payments is a penny spent at Etsy. This is the real opportunity collaborative consumption presents: It gives consumers the opportunity to more efficiently allocate their resources and thus free up money to make additional purchases.
Much of the prosperity we enjoyed throughout the 20th century occurred because the cost of food dropped enormously. In 1874 the average family spent more than half its budget on food. Today food takes up only around 10 percent of the average family bill. When butter and eggs got cheaper, people could suddenly spend their bread elsewhere, and their increased buying power led to new products, new industries, and cheaper prices for everything as demand for all these new goods increased.
Yet as the price we pay for food was dropping, the price we pay for our cars and our houses was on the rise. “From 1950 to the mid-1980s, the amount allotted for housing and cars doubled from 22 percent to 44 percent of [the average American family’s] budget,” the urban studies maven Richard Florida writes in his 2010 book The Great Reset.
To a certain extent, the drop in food prices was catalyzed by people divesting themselves of ownership: They sold their farms and moved to the cities. Now collaborative consumption platforms such as Zipcar and Airbnb can reduce the cost of our cars and shelter by allowing us to rent when we might otherwise purchase or make the assets we do own less costly by renting them out to others.
While cars and shelter may qualify as utilitarian necessities, many of the categories suited to collaborative consumption are best described as luxuries. There isn’t much reason to rent anything you use often or that costs less than a couple hundred dollars. But designer shoes that go for $1,000, high-end sporting equipment, a condo in the Dominican Republic?
Not many people can shell out $80,000 for a vintage Hermes crocodile handbag on eBay. But at Avelle.com, you can secure one for a month for $1,950. While this figure hardly conjures visions of responsible consumerism or even conspicuous thrift, it does represent a step forward in the democratization of luxury. Similarly, platforms like Airbnb are an excellent inducement to live beyond one’s means. If you’re in the market for a new apartment and you really love the one with an extra big living room and a view of the ocean even though it’s about $500 a month out of your price range, well, those features will also make it more attractive to potential lodgers.
The emergence of new rental markets is also likely to exert a downward pressure on existing products and services. If the Web has taught us anything, it’s that consumers are quite generous in what they will tolerate if the price is right. The thousands of amateur hoteliers now offering couches and air mattresses in New York City and Paris for as low as $20 a night have the potential to undermine the prices that hotels charge in the same way that people who create content for free have changed the business model of Hollywood and the news industry. A space on the floor in someone’s living room flop house may not have all the amenities of Motel 6, but if it’s clean enough and safe enough and reliable enough to attract consumers on an ongoing basis, it will create competition for legacy hoteliers that will in turn create new waves of innovation and price reduction.
How is the Four Seasons going to compete with the ever-enterprising Kardashian clan when they start offering package deals—a night in their pool cabana, plus access to their jewelry and SUV collections—in an effort to generate revenue after Hollywood collapses entirely? Conscientious, environmentally correct consumption never sounded so frivolous, or so fun.
Contributing Editor Greg Beato writes from San Francisco.KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian protesters stood their ground on Wednesday after an overnight sweep by riot police and their leaders dismissed an offer of talks from a president they say must quit for favoring ties with Russia over the European Union.
Pressed by Europe and the United States, which condemned the destruction of a protest camp in central Kiev, President Viktor Yanukovich offered to meet opposition leaders to find a way out of a crisis that blew up last month when he yielded to pressure from Moscow and spurned a free trade deal with the EU.
But his opponents, whose supporters continued to occupy the capital’s City Hall, rejected his invitation and stuck to demands that the president and his government resign.
The authorities had made their most forceful attempt so far to reclaim the streets, sending in battalions of riot police with bulldozers to clear Independence Square. There were scuffles and arrests but police did not enter the nearby City Hall and by morning they withdrew from the streets.
Within hours, after meetings with U.S. and European Union officials who had urged him to compromise, Yanukovich asked his opponents to meet him to negotiate a way out of the impasse:
“I invite representatives of all political parties, priests, representatives of civil society to national talks,” he said in a statement that also called on the opposition not to “go down the road of confrontation and ultimatums”.
One protest leader, Oleh Tyahnibok, dismissed the move as “a farce and a comedy”, while Arseny Yatsenyuk, a leader of a major opposition party, said there should only be talks once their demands had been met. These include the resignation of the president and government and a release of prisoners.
In some of the strongest comments from Washington so far, the White House spokesman urged Yanukovich to listen to the people and resume Ukraine’s integration with Europe: “Violence of this sort that we have seen on the streets of Kiev is impermissible in a democratic state,” he added.
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of “disgust” at the use of force and a spokeswoman for his department said Washington was considering sanctions against Ukraine, among other options - a move that could further sour relations with Russia, which says the West is trying to browbeat Kiev to weaken Moscow.
At stake is the future of a country of 46 million people, torn between popular hopes of joining the European mainstream and the demands of former Soviet master Russia, which controls the flow of cheap natural gas needed to stave off bankruptcy.
PROTEST CAMP
At the main protest camp on Independence Square, pop stars, politicians and priests had pleaded with police not to shed blood. The interior minister called for calm and promised that the square would not be stormed. But even after the police left the streets, Vitaly Klitschko, a world boxing champion who has emerged as one of the main figures of the opposition, said the overnight action had “closed off the path to compromise”.
“We understand that Yanukovich has not wish to talk to the people and only understands physical force,” he said.
The interior ministry appealed for restraint, however, and the police action stalled after day broke, with temperatures in the snowbound city stuck well below freezing. Some riot police left to cheers from lines of protesters.
At City Hall, demonstrators had sprayed police with water from a hose and had lobbed a Molotov cocktail from a window into a police truck before the officers finally withdrew.
On the square, protesters, many wearing hardhats in orange, the color that symbolized a successful popular revolt against a fraudulent election in 2004, had listened to prayers and a plea from national pop icon Ruslana: “Do not hurt us!”
Some protesters held mobile phones in the air like candles and sang the national anthem, while church bells rang out from a cathedral a mile away, as in times of danger centuries ago.
“He is spitting in the faces of the United States, 28 countries of Europe, 46 million Ukrainians,” opposition leader Yatsenyuk said of Yanukovich during the night. “We will not forgive him this.”
The eventual police withdrawal was greeted with euphoria.
“We are seeing that truth does exist, that it is worth fighting for. It is a small victory, but these small victories will lead to big victories,” said protester Serhiy Chorny.
Pro-European integration protestors build new barricades in Independence Square in Kiev, December 12, 2013. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk
BANKRUPTCY LOOMS
The crisis has added to the financial hardship of a country on the brink of bankruptcy. The cost of insuring Ukraine’s debt against default initially rose 30 basis points, before falling back after the police withdrew from the streets.
It now costs over $1 million a year to insure $10 million in state debt over five years - showing investors think it is more likely than not Ukraine will default in that time.
European leaders say the trade pact with Ukraine would have brought investment. But the country’s Soviet-era industry relies on Russian natural gas, giving Moscow enormous leverage.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Wednesday he had told European leaders they would need to provide Kiev with 20 billion euros in aid for Ukraine to sign the stalled pact with Brussels. He promised that a meeting with Russian officials set for December 17 would not include talks on joining a Moscow-dominated customs union, a major worry for the opposition.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland were both in Kiev, as part of a diplomatic campaign to lure Ukraine back westwards.
Nuland visited protesters before meeting Yanukovich on Wednesday. After two hours of talks with the president, she said she |
to merging perfection with the now in physicality and the time it will take to manifest this perfection depends upon humanity. While some people will definitely be changed immediately when the energy wave comes in September, others will struggle to know what hit them. Prepare yourselves now with the intention that you have no limits to what you can do with this energy.
Find out more about preparation and “Wave X” in my interview with Dr. Simon Atkins. Simon will be returning to the Cosmic Awakening Show August 27 with an update!
https://youtu.be/jHZfvbqkkKI
Michelle Walling is a Certified Holistic Life Coach, webmaster, writer, and and Radio Host on In5d radio’s The Cosmic Awakening Show. As a truth seeker, she is committed to share her experiences with the world. Michelle has joined forces with Gregg Prescott as an admin for the In5d Facebook page, as an assistant for In5d Events, and as a contributing author for In5D. All of Michelle Walling’s articles and radio appearances can be found on her database CosmicStarseeds.com. Holistic Counseling sessions can be booked through her website MichelleWalling.com. The truth about the holographic nature of the matrix and how we are going to dissolve it can be explored on her website Howtoexitthematrix.com. Michelle’s personal Facebook page can be found here.
Source: In5D
Related:Story highlights Police say they are looking for four suspects
The victim suffered from serious but non-life-threatening injuries
A temporary lockdown has been lifted
One person was hospitalized Saturday after a shooting at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, authorities said.
The university was temporarily locked down Saturday night, but the lockdown was lifted about half an hour later.
University police advised students to stay indoors.
The victim, Devine Eatmon, 21, suffered from serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
"Officers determined that one or more subjects discharged firearms in a grassy area near McCain Hall on the campus," the Greensboro Police Department said in a statement. "The victim, who was a considerable distance from the suspects, was struck by one round."
Police said they are looking for four suspects. No more information was immediately available.Victims Tiffany York and Michael Roark
The families of two teenagers shot to death execution-style in the Georgia woods in 2011 by a gang of American soldiers trying to cover up their criminal enterprise and delusional plot to overthrow the government took the first step today in a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Army.
Charging the Army with a long list of negligent acts, the families are seeking $15 million for each murdered loved one: Tiffany York, 17, a high school junior, and her boyfriend, Michael Roark, 19, a former soldier who was discharged three days before he was killed.
The Army’s negligent acts and omissions – particularly its handling of an earlier investigation into the death of the gang ringleader’s wife – “directly and foreseeably caused the deaths of Claimants' children,” says the document.
The young sweethearts were murdered by members of an antigovernment militia called FEAR, or Forever Enduring Always Ready. FEAR was made up of active-duty soldiers stationed at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Ga. Roark served with the gang members.
All told, 11 people, most of them current or recently discharged soldiers, have been arrested in connection with the gang and the murder in the woods on Dec. 5, 2011. Six members of the gang have pleaded guilty, including Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, the ringleader, who was sentenced in civilian court in July to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Aguigui, 22, is also facing an upcoming court martial in military court for the murder in July 2011 of his 24-year-old wife, Sgt. Deidre Aguigui, an Army linguist who was five months pregnant when she died. Isaac Aguigui was initially questioned by Army investigators but was not held long. A military autopsy proved inconclusive.
Within weeks of his wife’s death, Aguigui received a $500,000 life insurance policy and used much of the money, prosecutors say, to fund his militia that stockpiled nearly $90,000 worth of military-grade weapons. But it wasn’t until April 2013, after a civilian medical examiner ruled the death a homicide following a new look at the autopsy reports, that Aguigui was charged with his wife’s murder.
“I wish we wouldn’t have to file a lawsuit,” Brenda Thomas, the mother of Tiffany York told Hatewatch today. “I wish things would have been handled differently back in July 2011. I wish the Army had done its job. But I feel someone needs to be held accountable for the Army’s negligence.”
Brian C. Brook and Matthew J. Peed, the lawyers for the families, filed what is known as an administrative claim, an official notice of the family’s intent to sue the military in six months unless the Army pays the $30 million or agrees to a settlement.
A spokesman at Fort Stewart did not immediately respond to a Hatewatch request for comment.
Much of the wrongful death claim revolves around the death of Aguigui’s wife and the Army’s handling of the investigation. Military police were apparently skeptical of Aguigui’s story and said the death scene appeared to have been “staged.” Yet nothing was done for more than a year.
“Despite the wealth of incriminating evidence,” the complaint charges, “the Army negligently failed to even classify Sgt. Deidre Aguigui’s death as a homicide, much less arrest and prosecute Pvt. Isaac Aguigui for her murder until April 3, 2013, almost two years later. … Incredibly, both the April 3, 2013 arrest and the July 26 referral [for a court martial] appear to have been supported by evidence that was known or available to the Army prosecutors well before December 5, 2011, the date when Claimants’ children were murdered.”"People feel misled, deliberately lied to and that a business they've so lovingly supported for many years has lost its way," one critic wrote. "I feel that my hard-earned money has been used for purposes that are unethical, cruel and out-of-alignment with my values."
The couple replied in the Hollywood Reporter, "I don't think there's any organization on the planet that's done more to promote a plant-based diet than us. We've moved it from a dogma to a genre. We serve 28,000 meals a week in all of our enterprises. We've done nothing but a plant-based diet at our restaurants and we're being attacked. It doesn't make sense."
They're right. A successful boycott, one that shut down Cafe Gratitude or significantly decreased its business, would almost certainly result in more animals being eaten, and would entail vegans training sustained fire on meatless kitchens even as other restaurants served ducks, pigs, cows, chickens, goats, lambs and whatever fish is being sold as sea bass these days.
It's one thing to feel betrayed. It's another to react by undermining your own cause.
But I guess another name for this kind of irrational behavior is human nature. The protesting vegans at odds with the Engelharts are not so different from movement conservatives who treat moderate Republicans with the disdain one might assume they'd reserve for unrepentant Communists, or campus social justice activists who turn their backs on an ally because he perpetrated an unwitting microaggression, or Democrats who feel angrier at Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders than Donald Trump, or cops who hate whistle-blowing colleagues more than criminals.Hillary Clinton would sell out her own daughter to ensure her seat in the Oval Office, but don’t think other women’s children aren’t good enough for her to use.
“When I think about keeping Americans safe, obviously I think about terrorism,” Clinton shared with her supporters at a rally in Sanford, FL on Tuesday. “But I also want to protect Americans from the epidemic of gun violence that is stalking our country.”
After attempting to highlight her political achievements as Secretary of State, Clinton went on to let the crowd know that if elected, she’ll do everything she can to make America safer for sweet, innocent kids like Trayvon Martin.
“I cannot come to Sanford without talking about Trayvon Martin,” she lamented. “It’s heartbreaking that this young man all he did was go to a cornerstone, bought a pack of Skittles and walked back home in the rain. And his life was cut short.”
In February 2012, Martin was shot and killed after he attacked neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman. The media largely buried the fact that at the time of his death, Martin had been suspended two times that school year – once after he was caught with a burglary tool along with a dozen items of female jewelry and a second time after getting caught with marijuana and a marijuana pipe. Offenses that could have gotten Martin arrested. Following a highly publicized trial, Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in 2013.
Hillary also used the “33,000 people a year die from guns” statistic to browbeat the crowd into doing “a better job”.
“You see, I believe we have a fundamental human — even a moral obligation — to protect our children no matter who they are or what zip code they live in. We have a moral obligation to reduce gun violence and that will require us to stand up against systemic racism and promote justice and equality and criminal justice reform.”
The funny thing is, I agree with her. I absolutely agree that we have a fundamental human right and moral obligation to protect our children – that’s why I carry.
Clinton went on to speak out of both sides of her mouth, trying to convince the crowd there is “no conflict between the Second Amendment and common sense gun safety measures” before boldly declaring that with their help and “the help of responsible gun owners”, she will stand up to the gun lobby and “save lives”.
Since “the gun lobby” is comprised of responsible gun owners, I’m not thinking she’s going to get a whole ton of support there."The Muffin Man" Punch cartoon from 1892 A muffin man, illustrated in acartoon from 1892 Nursery rhyme Published c. 1820
"The Muffin Man" is a traditional nursery rhyme or children's song of English origin. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7922.
Lyrics [ edit ]
The most widely known lyrics are as follows:
Do [or "Oh, do"] you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives on Drury Lane?
Yes [or "Oh, yes"], I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Yes, I know the muffin man,
Who lives on Drury Lane.[1]
Origins and meaning [ edit ]
The rhyme was first recorded in a British manuscript circa 1820, that is preserved in the Bodleian Library with lyrics very similar to those used today:
Do you know the muffin man?
The muffin man, the muffin man.
Do you know the muffin man
Who lives in Drury Lane?[1]
Sheet music for Harry King's setting of the song (1889)
Victorian households had many of their fresh foods delivered, such as muffins, which were delivered door-to-door by a muffin man. The "muffin" in question was the bread product known in the United States as English muffins, not the much sweeter cupcake-shaped American variety.[2] Drury Lane is a thoroughfare bordering Covent Garden in London.
The rhyme and game appear to have spread to other countries in the mid-nineteenth century, particularly the US and the Netherlands.[1] As with many traditional songs, there are regional variations in wording; for example, another popular English version substitutes "Dorset Lane" for Drury Lane,[1] while in the Dutch version (entitled Zeg ken jij de mosselman), mussels are substituted for muffins, and Scheveningen for Drury Lane.[3]
In Volume 5 of his contemporary account of the London Prize Ring, Boxiana, published in 1829, Pierce Egan writes of an attempted fix (or "cross") of a match scheduled for October 18, 1825, between Reuben Marten and Jonathan Bissel ("Young Gas"). Young Gas refused to take the bribe and one week later identified the person who offered him £200 to throw the fight as a "Mr. Smith, a muffin-baker in Gray's Inn Lane." Young Gas also identified the "gentlemen" who employed the muffin-baker to act as go between, but those gentlemen denied involvement claiming they did not have "the slightest knowledge of the muffin-man."
Game [ edit ]
Iona and Peter Opie observed that, although the rhyme had remained fairly consistent, the game associated with it has changed at least three times including: as a forfeit game,[clarification needed] a guessing game, and a dancing ring.[1]
In The Young Lady's Book (1888), Matilda Anne Mackarness described the game as:
The first player turns to the one next her [sic], and to some sing-song tune exclaims: "Do you know the muffin man? The muffin man, the muffin man. Do you know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane?" The person addressed replies to the same tune: "Yes, I know the muffin man. The muffin man, the muffin man. Oh, yes, I know the muffin man, who lives in Drury Lane." Upon this they both exclaim: "Then two of us know the muffin man, the muffin man," &c. No. 2 then turns to No. 3, repeating the same words, who replies in the same way, only saying, "Three of us know the muffin man," &c. No. 3 then turns to No. 4, and so on round the room, the same question and answer being repeated, the chorus only varied by the addition of one more number each time.[4]
Verses beyond those described in the book have been sung. For example, the song may be concluded, "We all know the Muffin Man..."Ottawa police have dismantled a large indoor marijuana grow-op and seized more than a million dollars worth of drugs after executing two warrants Tuesday.
Tactical officers raided two locations on Speers Crescent and Richmond Road Tuesday.
Drug unit officers seized 957 marijuana plants from Speers Crescent and 4,971 grams of dried weed. The estimated value of both seizures totals $1,006,710.
Police also seized three vehicles; a 2013 BMW, a 2006 Toyota minivan — both seized as offence-related property — and a 2011 BMW X6 that was seized as a proceed of crime.
Thien An Huynh, 46, of Ottawa has been charged with production of a schedule-II substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and theft of electricity over $5,000.
Thuy Dieu Nguyen, 35, also of Ottawa, was also charged with possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000.
Both were released on a promise to appear.
syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhyThe Islamist State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has beheaded seven men and three women to frighten residents resisting its advance in northern Syria, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Wednesday.
ISIS militants have taken control of 325 of 354 villages around the northern Kurdish town of Kobani, near the Turkish border, the Observatory said.
“They’re killing us on the Turkish border; that makes us very angry. There’s no humanity from Turkey, no humanity from Europe or anywhere else in the world,” Maslum Bergadan, who fled to Turkey, was quoted as saying by Reuters. He said two of his brothers had been captured by ISIS fighters.
The United Nations on Thursday said ISIS has committed mass killings, kidnapped women and girls and used them as sex slaves and employed children as fighters, in systematic violations that may amount to war crimes.
SIS forces committed serious and gross human rights abuses “with an apparent systematic and widespread character,” said the report
“These include attacks directly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, executions and other targeted killings of civilians, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against women and children.”
Last Update: Friday, 3 October 2014 KSA 01:46 - GMT 22:46People Are Still Buying Super Street Fighter IV On Nintendo 3DS
By Ishaan. December 23, 2014. 3:31pm
When the Nintendo 3DS launched back in 2011, one of the few decent games available for it at launch was Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, a very competent port of Super Street Fighter IV, complete with online play.
After Capcom released Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, the company went on to ship 1.1 million copies of the game, which is pretty good for a late handheld port. What’s impressive, though, is that three years later people are still buying the game.
From July – September this year, 3DS owners picked up another 100,000 copies of the game, bringing total sales to 1.2 million. That’s a very impressive figure, considering that this is the first version of Super Street Fighter IV, and hasn’t been updated since its initial release. It has none of the added content from Arcade Edition, 2012 or Ultra Street Fighter IV, but it has seen fairly healthy long-term sales regardless.
As to why the game has sold as well as it has on the 3DS, this is pure speculation on our part, but one reason could be the touch screen controls available in the game. Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition allows you to map a variety of moves to four virtual buttons on the 3DS’ bottom screen. This allows you to execute moves like fireballs and other Specials with relative ease, and makes the game more about planning and strategizing, rather than struggling to perform moves in the first place.
It’s an equalizer that helps level the playing field, even if you aren’t an incredibly dedicated player, and this probably helps attract people to the 3DS version, especially since online multiplayer works fairly well. Beyond that, it helps that there are over 40 million 3DSes out in the wild, and that Street Fighter is a relatively mainstream brand.
Source: Capcom Investor WebsiteBy: John Browne Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Last week the Bundesbank (the German central bank) surprised markets around the world by announcing that it will repatriate a sizable portion of its gold bullion reserves held in France and the United States. To many, the news from the world's second largest holder of gold signaled a growing, if clandestine, mistrust among central banks, possibly fueled by diverging policy goals. The Germans have attempted to tamp down the alarm by highlighting the myriad of logistical, practical and historical reasons that qualified the announcement as unremarkable. But the size, scope, and timing of the move makes it hard not to draw more strategic conclusions.
Coming during a time of supposed central bank cooperation, the decision to withdraw billions of dollars of bullion was bound to raise eyebrows. At present, Germany has official gold holdings of some 3,396 tonnes. 1,500 tonnes resides in New York and 374 tonnes in Paris. Between now and 2020, Germany will repatriate 674 tonnes of gold - 300 from the Fed in New York (valued at $17.9 billion) and the entire 374 tonne allotment from Paris (valued at $22.3 billion). Although financial leaders like Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have said that gold "is not money" and senior investors like Warren Buffet have described it as "a barbarous relic," the movement of gold nevertheless makes a strong emotional impact. Is such a response justified?
Coming during a time of supposed central bank cooperation, the decision to withdraw billions of dollars of bullion was bound to raise eyebrows. Although financial leaders like Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have said that gold "is not money" and senior investors like Warren Buffet have described it as "a barbarous relic," the movement of gold nevertheless makes a strong emotional impact. Is such a response justified?
Following World War II, the threat of a sudden Soviet invasion convinced many Western European nations to diversify their gold holdings abroad, particularly overseas to the U.S and the UK. Today, Germany holds only 31 percent of its gold within the Bundesbank. Of the remainder, 45 percent is held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, 11 percent with the Banque de France in Paris, and 13 percent with the Bank of England in London. But now that the Russian military threat has dissipated, the Germans have rightly reevaluated its dispositions.
For decades, central banks have been secretive about their gold holdings. Despite this, few doubt the published aggregate gold holdings of central banks. But serious questions arise as to the precise ownership of the gold held in the vaults of central banks and some commercial banks. To the astonishment of many German citizens and international observers, the Bundesbank admitted some years ago that it had not held an audit of its gold holdings for decades, if ever. (See my prior commentary on this subject)
The developed nations of the world have adopted a form of Keynesian economics that has created a world awash with debased fiat currency supported by seemingly unsupportable mountains of official debt. In such a world, it is understandable that German citizens feel their nation's gold should be held at home. Such sentiment could spread. Holland's CDA Party already has asked that their nation's 612 tonnes, or metric tons, of gold be repatriated from the U.S., the UK and from Canada.
Some question whether such sentiments will spread and expose even a shortage of physical gold in hitherto trusted vaults. In addition, in a world where trust in central banks is waning fast, central banks themselves may become mistrusting of each other.
At the same time, central banks in the developing world, particularly in China and Southeast Asia, are accumulating gold, as are nations like Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. China is now the world's largest producer of gold worldwide, but she retains her production and even buys more on the open market. This has occurred even while no major central banks are selling significant amounts of gold. The Bank of England's disastrous selling campaign in the early years of the current century, in which it sold hundreds of tons below $300 per ounce, is no doubt a controlling factor.
The unwillingness of central banks to part with their hoarding of gold, highlighted by Germany's repatriation, contrasts starkly with the central bank policies of the 1970s and 1980s, when concerted efforts were made to de-monetize gold, which could only be done through active selling. Does this change reflect a growing and shared distrust of fiat currency by sophisticated private investors who hoard gold?
The repatriation of even a part of Germany's central bank gold holdings, especially if followed by other nations such as Holland, should be regarded with concern. Today, no central bank would dare to risk rocking the central banking boat. But as the Keynesian economies have slid towards financial disaster, any increase in central bank gold repatriation could indicate a real fear by the great insiders — central banks.
A particularly interesting aspect of the announcement that has been largely ignored is the extraordinarily lengthy seven year time period in which the Germans expect to receive back their gold. The 300 tons they're repatriating from the New York Fed reflects just five percent of the more than 6,700 tons held there. It strikes many as unusual that the Fed would need so much time to deliver what should be a manageable withdrawal.
John Browne is a Senior Economic Consultant to Euro Pacific Capital. Opinions expressed are those of the writer, and may or may not reflect those held by Euro Pacific Capital, or its CEO, Peter Schiff.
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint JavaScript 1.15 KB // Designed to be run in the console at http://www.madeon.fr/adventuremachine // For best results, start a sound, wait until the loop is just about to restart, and then run the code. function MadeonRandomizer ( ) { var drums = $ ( '.button.drum' ). not ( '.inactive' ) ; drums. splice ( drums. length / 2, drums. length / 2 ) ; var sounds = $ ( '.button.sounds' ). not ( '.inactive' ) ; sounds. splice ( sounds. length / 2, sounds. length / 2 ) ; var bass = $ ( '.button.bass' ). not ( '.inactive' ) ; bass. splice ( bass. length / 2, bass. length / 2 ) ; var interval ; function chooseRandomFrom ( buttons ) { return buttons [ Math. floor ( Math. random ( ) * buttons. length ) ] } function randomize ( ) { if ( Math. random ( ) <.25 ) chooseRandomFrom ( drums ). click ( ) ; if ( Math. random ( ) <.75 ) for ( var i = 0 ; i < 3 ; + i ++ ) chooseRandomFrom ( sounds ). click ( ) ; if ( Math. random ( ) <.25 ) chooseRandomFrom ( bass ). click ( ) ; } this. start = function ( ) { randomize ( ) ; interval = setInterval ( function ( ) { randomize ( ) ; }, 4500 ) ; } this. stop = function ( ) { clearInterval ( interval ) ; } } var madeonRandomizer = new MadeonRandomizer ( ) ; madeonRandomizer. start ( ) ;
RAW Paste Data
// Designed to be run in the console at http://www.madeon.fr/adventuremachine // For best results, start a sound, wait until the loop is just about to restart, and then run the code. function MadeonRandomizer() { var drums = $('.button.drum').not('.inactive'); drums.splice(drums.length / 2, drums.length / 2); var sounds = $('.button.sounds').not('.inactive'); sounds.splice(sounds.length / 2, sounds.length / 2); var bass = $('.button.bass').not('.inactive'); bass.splice(bass.length / 2, bass.length / 2); var interval; function chooseRandomFrom(buttons) { return buttons[Math.floor(Math.random() * buttons.length)] } function randomize() { if (Math.random() <.25) chooseRandomFrom(drums).click(); if (Math.random() <.75) for (var i = 0; i < 3; +i++) chooseRandomFrom(sounds).click(); if (Math.random() <.25) chooseRandomFrom(bass).click(); } this.start = function() { randomize(); interval = setInterval(function() { randomize(); }, 4500); } this.stop = function() { clearInterval(interval); } } var madeonRandomizer = new MadeonRandomizer(); madeonRandomizer.start();But I also hate being told what to do. I feel like I’m constantly being bossed around. By my boss. By the government. So yeah, let’s get rid of the word bossy. I’m all for hashtagging BanBossy. But why stop there? While we’re at it, here’s a list of other words long overdue for a ban. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has been popping up all over my Facebook News Feed ever since she unveiled her campaign to ban the word bossy. I for one would actually love to be called bossy, because it might imply that people see me as boss material, or at the very least someone worth paying attention to, or listening to, or not ignoring completely when I politely leave post-it notes asking not to take any of my good Mexican glass bottle Cokes out of the fridge.
1. Hairy
I remember when I was a little kid and my family would go on vacation every summer, it would always be a shock to see my dad put on a bathing suit and take off his shirt to jump in the pool. Because it’s not a sight we were used to seeing around the house. Now that I’m a grown man, I feel that same instant recoil, the jolt of disbelief every time I step in front of the mirror on my way into the shower. Nobody told me when I was a little kid exactly what I was in for as an adult.
And even though I try my best at manscaping to a degree of acceptable manageability, every once in a while someone will say something to me like, “Dude, your hands are fucking hairy.” I just smile and try to act casual, but I really want to grab them on the wrist, pull them in close, look them dead in the eye and say, “It’s not just my hands. It’s everywhere. And it’s getting worse. Help me.” Please, it’s time to #BanHairy.
2. Lanky
Here’s a word with absolutely no positive connotations whatsoever, yet it’s thrown around casually, like a term of endearment, the way you’d call a loveable yet disheveled looking puppy mangy or mutt. You might not think lanky is that big of a deal, but you try being a 160-pound high school sophomore who, after a very intensive growth spurt, rockets up to six foot three almost overnight. Would you be able to control the trajectory of your limbs at all times? Do you think it’s easy to constantly not trip while walking or running?
Fast forward ten years and you’re waiting tables for a living. You’ve filled out somewhat, but your arms and legs are still disproportionately long, and the effect is only pronounced when the restaurant can’t seem to find a waiter’s uniform that fits just right. Then there are the accidents, the spilled glass of wine, the five or so dropped platter plates in the kitchen. Just try it, I dare you, see what happens if you say lanky. This applies also to gangly, klutzy, and spastic, OK, but it’s long overdue that we #BanLanky.
3. Clingy
Listen, I don’t think that I’m spending too much time calling you. I just love you so much. Is there something wrong with showing my affection? Yes, after you explained to me how embarrassed you were after I sent that barbershop quartet to serenade you at the office for Valentine’s Day, I get it, that it was maybe too big of a gesture. But if you’d only synch our Google calendars like I’ve been telling you we should, I’d have known that you were in the middle of a really important presentation, I could have waited until later in the day.
And look, I’m behaving myself here, on the Internet. I’m not doing those big public displays of love on the Internet anymore, where I write your full name in the middle of the article, tag you, and then post it all over your Facebook wall. I get it, personal space, boundaries, all of those things the lawyer highlighted in the subpoena, OK, I know how to read. Baby, just give me a call and we can talk about it, OK? Baby? Just don’t call me clingy, OK? We’ve seriously got to #BanClingy.
4. Spicy
Here’s a word that, in its quest to be everything, ultimately winds up meaning nothing. Actually, it’s worse than nothing, it’s doing a disservice to language. It’s like, I went to a Vietnamese place last night with my brother. After I ordered my food, the waiter warned me, “Oooh, that’s pretty spicy.” I told him, “That’s OK, I like spicy.” My brother then put in his dish, to which the waiter said the same thing, “That’s very spicy.”
Ultimately both of our dishes packed about as much heat as a packet and a half of “mild” sauce from Taco Bell, but as we sat there and wondered if maybe the chefs watered down the seasoning because they didn’t think we could handle it, we both recalled different experiences in which dishes marked as “spicy” were served so hot as to be practically inedible. And that’s the problem with spicy. That bag of BBQ Fritos over there is labeled “spicy,” but so is that ghost pepper that would render my tongue immobile. We need more words, vocabulary that’s better able to describe the various degrees of heat. Until then, there’s no option but to #BanSpicy.
5. Lucky
It’s just like Obi Wan said in the middle of Episode IV: “In my experience, there is no such thing as luck.” It’s all skill. Like when I was playing my friend Matt in a game of HORSE last week, he was destroying me. Left-handed shot from the point. H. Three point shot on one foot. H-O. By the time he cornered me all the way to H-O-R-S, I didn’t have any choice. So I started pulling my junk shots out. Slam-dunk. H. Matt’s a lot shorter than me and can’t reach the rim. H-O. Another dunk. And another. H-O-R-S for the tie game.
“You lanky motherfucker!” Matt was pissed. (#BanLanky.) “This is beyond cheap, Rob. I bet you ten bucks you can’t win on a real shot. A three-pointer.” Ten bucks? I couldn’t resist. “You’re on.” And yeah, I don’t have much of an outside shot, but for whatever reason, this one just sailed in, a total swish. And Matt, he hits maybe nine out of ten, a great shot, he missed this one, a brick. Of course I gloated a little, I mean, it’s a competition. And as he handed over the ten singles, he commented, “What a lucky shot.” You know what Matt? It wasn’t luck. It was skill. I don’t always hit those shots, but that one was a perfect three. OK? You can’t take that victory away from me by calling it lucky. Because it wasn’t. And now look. Everybody’s reading about this on the Internet. And they’re all hearing about what a baby you were. I won, fair and square. #BanLucky.With no perceptible opposition from the Obama administration, Congress has quietly downscaled Washington’s ambitions for the final year of the Afghan war, substantially curtailing development aid and military assistance plans ahead of the U.S. troop pullout.
As congressional appropriators put the final touches on a huge spending bill in recent weeks, they slashed Afghanistan development aid by half and barred U.S. defense officials from embarking on major new infrastructure projects. After making a bid last year for $2.6 billion worth of “critical” capabilities such as mobile strike vehicles for Afghan security forces, the Pentagon agreed it could do with just 40 percent of what it had sought.
The Obama administration had long hoped to bring the Afghan war to a dignified conclusion this year and viewed the president’s State of the Union speech Tuesday as an opportunity to describe the end of America’s longest war as a foreign policy success. But Washington’s appetite to remain engaged in Afghanistan appears to be eroding precipitously, in large part because of how poisonous its relationship with the country’s president has become.
The prevailing sentiment in Washington toward President Hamid Karzai, who has thus far refused to sign a security agreement that would keep U.S. troops and funding in Afghanistan beyond 2014, was even codified in the Afghan portion of the spending bill, which was drawn up without significant public debate.
“The bill prohibits the obligation or expenditure by the United States government, of funds appropriated in this or any other act, for the direct personal benefit of the President of Afghanistan,” appropriators wrote, an unprecedented move that President Obama signed into law last week.
U.S. officials said the cuts and restrictions might appear starker than they actually are because agency heads will retain significant flexibility to use unspent funds from previous years or draw from other sources. But many see the reductions as the unmistakable end of an era of wartime largesse.
“I think this reflects a congressional mood and will have an impact on the ultimate levels of support,” James F. Dobbins, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in an interview.
Referring to Karzai’s position on a security agreement, Dobbins said, “This is an example of the price Afghanistan is paying for delay.”
Overall, the cost of the Afghan war will not decline substantially this year. Congress set aside $85.2 billion for military operations, roughly the same amount as last year. Although the number of U.S. troops has dropped considerably over the past year, the cost of the war remains high because shutting down bases and moving equipment back to the United States is expensive.
Lawmakers allocated $1.1 billion for assistance to Afghanistan, 50 percent of the $2.1 billion the Obama administration sought, which would have kept spending at the same level as last year.
White House spokeswoman Laura Lucas Magnuson said that even with the reductions in funding, Washington will “continue to provide Afghanistan with significant levels of assistance.”
“We believe that sustained, significant support for Afghanistan’s government and its people is critical to maintaining the gains of the past decade and ensuring that terrorists are never again able to use Afghan soil to attack the homeland,” she said in an e-mailed statement.
America’s multibillion-dollar effort to reconstruct Afghanistan has become increasingly controversial in recent years due to slipping support for the war, rampant corruption in Afghanistan and myriad examples of poorly conceived and shoddily built projects.
On Friday, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction issued a critical audit of the State Department’s $223 million initiative to bolster the rule of law in Afghanistan. The report said that after contractors were unable to deliver on their promise to implement a nationwide case management system for the courts, they altered the contract to say it would be operational in only seven provinces.
“Unfortunately, waste, fraud and abuse has too often been the result when it comes to the billions we’ve spent in Afghanistan,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), chairman of |
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“The initiative sends a clear message to youngsters, reminding them that they belong to a community which welcomes them once they come of age,” he told Corriere.
“It also reminds them how important cultural consumption is, both for enriching yourself as a person and strengthening the fabric of our society.”
Shape Created with Sketch. The world's most beautiful libraries Show all 30 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The world's most beautiful libraries 1/30 Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2/30 Stuttgart City Library 3/30 Liyuan Library in Beijing, China 4/30 Bibliotheque Interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne, Paris Franck Bohbot 5/30 The main hall of the Strahov library in Prague Moyan Benn, Flickr 6/30 'Biblioteca Vallicelliana, Rome Franck Bohbot 7/30 'Biblioteca Angelica, Rome Franck Bohbot 8/30 The library of Trinity College, Ireland Benoit Doppagne, Getty Images 9/30 Bibliotheque Mazarine, Paris Franck Bohbot 10/30 Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris Franck Bohbot 11/30 Bibliotheque de l'Hotel de Ville, Paris Franck Bohbot 12/30 'BNF, site Francois-Mitterrand, Paris Franck Bohbot 13/30 Bibliotheque Sainte Genevieve, Paris Franck Bohbot 14/30 The Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen 15/30 Stift Admont - Bibliothek, Austria 16/30 The State Library of New South Wales (also known as the Mitchell Library) in Sydney, Australia Christopher Chan, Flickr 17/30 Melk Monastery Library, Austria 18/30 Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Portugal 19/30 Bibliotheque du Senat, Paris Franck Bohbot 20/30 The library of the French National Assembly in Paris Francois Guillot, Getty Images 21/30 Wiblingen Monastery Library, Germany 22/30 Beinecke Rare Book Library in New Haven, USA 23/30 George Peabody Library, USA 24/30 25/30 26/30 27/30 Abbey Library, Switzerland 28/30 Jose Vasconcelos Library, Mexico 29/30 The Library of El Escorial, Madrid, Spain 30/30 Central Libary of Vancouver, Canada 1/30 Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2/30 Stuttgart City Library 3/30 Liyuan Library in Beijing, China 4/30 Bibliotheque Interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne, Paris Franck Bohbot 5/30 The main hall of the Strahov library in Prague Moyan Benn, Flickr 6/30 'Biblioteca Vallicelliana, Rome Franck Bohbot 7/30 'Biblioteca Angelica, Rome Franck Bohbot 8/30 The library of Trinity College, Ireland Benoit Doppagne, Getty Images 9/30 Bibliotheque Mazarine, Paris Franck Bohbot 10/30 Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris Franck Bohbot 11/30 Bibliotheque de l'Hotel de Ville, Paris Franck Bohbot 12/30 'BNF, site Francois-Mitterrand, Paris Franck Bohbot 13/30 Bibliotheque Sainte Genevieve, Paris Franck Bohbot 14/30 The Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen 15/30 Stift Admont - Bibliothek, Austria 16/30 The State Library of New South Wales (also known as the Mitchell Library) in Sydney, Australia Christopher Chan, Flickr 17/30 Melk Monastery Library, Austria 18/30 Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Portugal 19/30 Bibliotheque du Senat, Paris Franck Bohbot 20/30 The library of the French National Assembly in Paris Francois Guillot, Getty Images 21/30 Wiblingen Monastery Library, Germany 22/30 Beinecke Rare Book Library in New Haven, USA 23/30 George Peabody Library, USA 24/30 25/30 26/30 27/30 Abbey Library, Switzerland 28/30 Jose Vasconcelos Library, Mexico 29/30 The Library of El Escorial, Madrid, Spain 30/30 Central Libary of Vancouver, Canada
18-year-olds will be able to claim the fund through an app, downloading vouchers to their phones that can be used at online and physical stores.
The Italian government is planning a similar bonus for 2017, which will grant teachers €500 to spend on their professional development.President-elect Donald Trump on Fox News Sunday. Fox News President-elect Donald Trump brushed off concerns that he's not participating in the traditional daily intelligence and national security briefings that presidents hold every day.
In a rare post-election interview that aired Sunday, Trump argued for why he did not need to receive regular classified intelligence briefings on national security and foreign affairs, saying he told intelligence officials to only brief him when a situation the intelligence community is monitoring changes.
"I get it when I need it," Trump told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace.
"I'm, like, a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years," the president-elect added. "I don't need that. But I do say, 'If something should change, let us know.'"
Trump emphasized that Vice President-elect Mike Pence was receiving daily briefings.
"In the meantime, my generals are great — are being briefed. And Mike Pence is being briefed, who is, by the way, one of my very good decisions," Trump said, referring to his decision to pick Pence as his VP. "They're being briefed. And I'm being briefed also."
He continued:
"But if they're going to come in and tell me the exact same thing that they tell me — you know, it doesn't change, necessarily. Now, there will be times where it might change. I mean, there will be some very fluid situations. I'll be there not every day, but more than that. But I don't need to be told, Chris, the same thing every day, every morning — same words. 'Sir, nothing has changed. Let's go over it again.' I don't need that."
The interview also came days after Trump garnered widespread criticism among national security experts by condemning a Washington Post report which said that the CIA found Russian intelligence agencies meddled in the US election to help the Republican presidential nominee.
Critics argued that the president-elect was attempting to undermine the intelligence community's credibility.
In Sunday's interview, Trump refused to acknowledge the report's credibility, dismissing claims that Russia attempted to help Trump by hacking the emails of top Democrats and selectively leaking them.
"I think it's ridiculous," Trump said of the Washington Post report. "I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it. I don't know why and I think it's just — you know, they talked about all sorts of things. Every week it's another excuse."03.02.2016, 22:31 by Mare
Here is single sided design for prototyping with 20 pin microcontroller STM32F070. This MCU is interesting due to:
small size in TSSOP housing
low price
interesting periphery: ADC, USARTs, timers, USB device!, etc…
Here’s the design. I will post some interesting USB projects in the future based on this board.
This is 1:1 artwork of the PCB for DIY toner transfer PCB production
Assembly drawing, PCB layout, schematic and parts list
Main components (beside caps, resistors and SMD LED) are:
LUMBERG 2410 07 USB PLUG, 2.0 TYPE A, RIGHT ANGLE, SMD: farnell 1308875, cca. 1EUR
STM USBLC6-2P6 ESD Protection Device, farnell 1295310 cca. 0,2EUR
8MHz SMD Crystal, e.g. ABRACON ABMM2-8.000MHZ-E2-T, farnell 1611803, cca 0,5EUR
STM32F070F6P6 32 Bit Microcontroller, Value Line, ARM Cortex-M0, 48 MHz, 32 KB, 6 KB, 20, TSSOP: farnell 2488284, cca 1EUR
NCP1117-3.3, Low drop 3,3V regulator, cca 0,3EUR
It is not as cheap as arduino or some other chinese prototiping boards, but it is definetly good substitute for microcontroller/FTDI combination.
After assembling and checking all components, this mini USB dongle should appear as DFU device in windows. Just download the DfuSe application from T H I S L I N K. The STM32F070 shows up in DfuSe:
Stay tuned for some interesting projects based on this little “gizmo”.
Update (October 2017):
here is altium project with slightly updated PCB with stronger pads: STM32F070-minidongleIDPA Board issues change to Point Down penalty
IDPA
Last week at the World Championship awards banquet, I announced that the IDPA Board of Directors has elected to increase the Point Down penalty from a half second to 1 second. The BoD is comprised of two MA shooters (both Founders of the sport) and one EX with a combined total of more than 57 years of IDPA experience. This decision was made to keep the sport aligned with the founder's intent of valuing accuracy over speed. As concealed carry holders, which many of our members are, we are responsible for every round that leaves our gun, and IDPA needs to reflect that in our practices. I met with some of the Area Coordinators recently to share this information and the feedback received from them was very positive. There is no hard timetable for this change. Classification scores and other areas will need to reflect the change, and we are already working with some of our scoring vendors on this change. More information will be available as the work progresses and we will make updates on this via the Tactical Journal and Tactical Brief. Share this article:
North Carolina pastor bringing a gun to worship
WJZY-TV
A Charlotte, North Carolina pastor has finished her concealed carry class and says she will now bring a gun to church as she preaches. Pastor Brenda Stevenson of New Outreach Chritian Center says the Charleston Massacre, where nine were killed inside a church, is one of many shootings that made her decide to take her own protection.
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Self-defense inside the home: Avoiding over-penetration
Guns.com
Situation and terrain determine self-defense tactics and nowhere is this more evident than when firing a gun inside a closed environment like your home. Accordingly, a self-defense minded gun owner needs to first take into account where he lives (suburban house, farm, studio apartment etc.) and then assess the location and materials used in its construction. These factors will help determine your choice of gun and round you keep for home defense.
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Disengaging a thumb safety on the draw
Gun Digest
While becoming less predominant in firearms designs, there are many great examples of pistols that include a thumb safety. Of course, for those who choose to carry a handgun outfitted with this feature, there is an extra consideration. In particular, when in the draw sequence is it appropriate to disengage the safety?
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Women, guns and violent attackers
America's First Freedom
Through the leadership of pioneering women who serve as an inspiration for young and old, Helen Reddy's "I am woman, hear me roar," resonates. Today women are not only embraced for defying stereotypes, they are celebrated! But what about a woman who chooses to defend herself using a gun?
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Training vs. practice: There is a difference
Shooting Sports USA
It has been said that when one is given no time to think, they will react as they have been trained. Training is performed under the watchful eye of a qualified instructor or peer. Practice is the performance of knowledge or skill already attained.
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The 7 best handguns for a beginner shooter
Outdoor Hub
For those of us who have been shooting firearms most of our lives, the simple act of using a rifle, shotgun, or pistol is not that big of a deal. For the beginning shooter, it can be extremely intimidating until he or she actually does it. Handguns offer the beginning shooter a level of confidence that can't really be explained, but it can be enjoyed. More beginners become hooked from shooting handguns than you'd think possible, and there are some great choices for shooters of all levels available.
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TSA covers do's and don'ts of traveling with a firearm
Knoxville News-Sentinel
Have gun, will travel. The Transportation Security Administration wants gun owners to know there's a right way and more than one wrong way to carry firearms on commercial flights. The worst way is showing up at the security checkpoint with a firearm.
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So you want your wife to shoot guns?
Ammoland
Writes Sarah Carling: "There are two things I'm guaranteed to hear when I'm at the range alone as a woman, the first is 'does your husband shoot' and the second is 'I wish my wife wanted to shoot.' My answers to the first question is simple, yes my husband shoots, in fact he taught me to shoot and is my biggest supporter as I improve my firearms training and skills. My response to the second thing is a lot more complicated."
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Protecting America's children
Bearing Arms
School shootings shock us because schools are supposed to be safe havens from guns. Bold signs in school zones declare they are "Gun and Drug Free," but as we know, signs and laws don't stop criminals. That's what makes them criminals. So why don't we arm our teachers to protect our children?Coles has opened a new front in its food price war but this time its larger rival, Woolworths, is not the target.
The company is now offering $1 per litre milk through more than 600 Coles Express outlets Australia-wide in what is seen as a direct attack on the traditional corner shop - a sector which is already suffering in the cross fire supermarket giants’ food price war.
Cheap milk at Coles Express is seen as a direct attack on the corner store. Credit:Paul Harris
Coles has not added its $1 bread to its convenience store offering but did cut the price of its Coles brand bread from $2.49 to $2.30.
According to a recent report from industry research firm Ibis, consolidation is inevitable in the same way that Coles and Woolworths have cornered the supermarket sector.First part of Agency’s 800+ page risk report contents that decrease in geomagnetic activity causes an increase in death-related telepathy
In late 2016 then-President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order on geomagnetic storm preparedness. His plan, co-chaired by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, focused exclusively on guiding the country through damages to our power grid, which could cause an estimated $12 trillion in damages.
Apparently the Central Intelligence Agency took the issue with lack of concern over solar flare-induced psychic phenomena, however, dedicating part of its 824 page risk report on it.
The first part of the document, released to Michael Morisy, is entitled “Geomagnetic Factors in Subjective Telepathic, Precognitive and Postmortem Experiences.” It’s just as bizarre as one might expect.
Citing multiple other studies, the report contends that a decrease in geomagnetic activity causes either the occurrence or just the memory of an occurrence (it’s unsure which), of increased telepathy, but only about death and other crises.
There’s a chart and everything.
A quick Google search shows that, typically, theories of this sort are reserved for blogs describing the effects of solar flares on human spirituality, claiming a side effect of headaches, anxiety, and hot flashes. These effects are also studied by The Carlini Institute for Therapy, Research, and Transpersonal Education, which extolls the benefits of “Quantum Soul Aligning” and alternative healing techniques.
So while the CIA did spend time discussing more scientifically-sound theories later in the report, that first section reads more like a Reddit thread than your average government document.
Read the full report embedded below, or on the request page.
Image via Pacific Air ForceBy Anne Perry
Posted on May 19, 2016 in Books with tags Book Covers, Daniel Polansky
We’re delighted to announce that we’re publishing Daniel Polansky’s new novel, A City Dreaming, in October! Read on to find out what it’s all about… and see the extraordinary cover.
M is a drifter with a sharp tongue, few scruples, and limited magical ability, who would prefer drinking artisanal beer to involving himself in the politics of the city. Alas, in the infinite nexus of the universe which is New York, trouble is a hard thing to avoid, and now a rivalry between the city’s two queens threatens to make the Big Apple go the way of Atlantis. To stop it, M will have to call in every favor, waste every charm, and blow every spell he’s ever acquired – he might even have to get out of bed before noon.
Enter a world of wall street wolves, slumming scenesters, desperate artists, drug-induced divinities, pocket steam-punk universes, and hipster zombies.
Because the city never sleeps. But is always dreaming.
A City Dreaming is fantasy for the 21st century, presenting a world we know… alongside one we don’t.
Without further ado: the cover for A City Dreaming, by our own wonderful (award-winning!) Ben Summers:
A City Dreaming publishes 6 October.
Americans, rejoice: Regan Arts will be publishing A City Dreaming on 4 October!Rules Let Corporate Cash Fund Party Conventions
Lindsay Mangum, NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
What About the Libertarians? While Republicans and Democrats use host committees to raise most of the money for their conventions, Libertarians outsource their entire affair. Read more about how the party funds its convention.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
In Depth Read the Campaign Finance Institute's 2004 report, 'The $100 Million Exemption: Soft Money and the 2004 National Party Conventions.'
Think back to the 2004 presidential nominating conventions — the point when the candidates delivered their acceptance speeches — and then freeze that picture in your mind. Almost nothing there was paid for by the parties. Not the podium. Not the rent for the convention hall. Not the air conditioning or sound system. Not even the balloons and confetti.
Most of the money was raised outside the campaign finance system with unlimited contributions from corporations, rich individuals and unions. That's because the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission, in effect, say paying for a political convention is not a political act.
For the Republicans, just about everything was paid for by a charity called the New York City Host Committee 2004. The Democrats in Boston had a similar charity and a chamber-of-commerce-type organization.
While the parties didn't pay for the convention, they did determine how the money was spent.
Skirting Bans on Corporate Cash
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as McCain-Feingold, bars parties from taking corporate money. But the host committees for their conventions still can.
These committees are independent groups with the stated goal of promoting the host city. In exchange for the parties choosing Minneapolis and Denver for their conventions, the host committees agreed to raise more than $50 million to pay for much of the conventions' price tags. Most of it will come in large donations from businesses, wealthy individuals and labor groups.
"It is a loophole," says Steve Weissman, associate director for policy at the Campaign Finance Institute. "It's a way that unlimited contributions get into the federal system — back into the political parties — after a law was passed that said, 'Well, we're trying to get rid of that.'"
While charities are barred from intervening in elections, the IRS doesn't consider paying for a convention to be a form of intervention.
"The IRS uses the same criteria to determine tax-exempt status, regardless of whether the organization is vying for the Olympics, a political convention or some other special event," says IRS spokeswoman Nancy Mathis.
Relieving the 'Government's Burden'
Such competitions often require cities to pay for part of the event. If the city agrees, that becomes something the IRS calls a "burden of government." A charity can be formed to relieve such a burden.
"This lessening-the-burden-on-local-government rationale is quite threadbare," says Francis Hill, a law professor at the University of Miami.
She believes paying for overtime for police or garbage collectors is a reasonable burden for a local government to take on, but funding an event that highlights one candidate running for president is not.
"The host committees are, I believe, conduits for the financing of a political class of professional politicians who want to have a big, showy convention," Hill says.
The way in which host committees raise money bolsters her argument. An early draft of the Minneapolis host committee's donor packet offered those giving more than $5 million a golf outing and dinner with Republican leadership.
The golf outing and dinner were removed from later editions of the packet. A spokeswoman for the committee said there were enough activities scheduled already.
The host committee in Denver reportedly offered similar access to donors, but a spokesman for the committee said it would not "engage" in this story.
"Congress could end this — simply by passing a law. But they've shown no will to do so," Weissman says.
The Federal Election Commission also has blessed this method for funding political conventions. Over the years, it has relaxed the rules on who can give to host committees. Originally, only businesses based in the host city could contribute. In 1994, eligibility was extended to firms with branch offices there; by 2003, anyone could contribute.
Another issue is that the major parties will get about $17 million this year in federal grants for their conventions. This public funding was a Watergate-era reform: Having large companies pay for conventions looked like a corrupting influence on the parties.
"They only get the public money on the grounds that they're foregoing the private money. But, as we've seen, they are getting the private money," Weissman says.
However, watchdog groups appear at a loss for how to respond. They could sue to force the federal agencies to change how laws are interpreted, but that's difficult and expensive. And they say other campaign finance issues are higher on their priority lists.“It will probably be the only time in my life when I have no responsibilities, didn’t owe anyone any money, didn’t have staff that I had to worry about. Absolute freedom to do what I want. I wasn’t going to use that to make a sequel to a reasonably well-received puzzle-platformer.”
I’ve asked Volume lead Mike Bithell if he’s been worried about over-reaching himself. 2012’s Thomas Was Alone was one of several break-out indie hits around that time – a era of Steam that many of today’s PC developers are increasingly worried they’ve missed the boat on – but it was a simple game.
It was, as the man says, a reasonably well-received puzzle-platformer, and it blew up because it was charming and funny, effectively anthropomorphising the textureless, two-dimensional rectangles it starred thanks to well-judged narration and very human writing. Volume, by contrast, is a full-on, 3D stealth game which will ship with around 100 levels, features an array of tricsky sci-fi items, has a full level editor and has hired Andy Serkis to voice its lead villain. Conceptually, it’s a huge leap.
“Obviously I’ve pushed myself outside of my comfort zone,” states Bithell, “so it is a bigger game and maybe it’ll fail miserably, but we’ll see. For me it was worth trying, because everyone was “make Thomas Was Alone 2, make Thomas Was Alone 2” and that just strikes me as such a boring second project.”
More Thomas isn’t off the cards (“I genuinely do have an idea for a sequel now, but I didn’t have that idea two years ago”), but had he gone for a sequel straight away, “it would have literally been the continuing adventures of these rectangles”. He knows it would have sold, and he knows that he would be richer for it, “but fuck that. It’s not why I’m doing this.”
He’s making Volume because he loves stealth and because he loves early Metal Gear Solid. He wants to make something accessible and thrilling rather than technical and punitive, however. Save points are scattered across each level and reload near-instantly, so getting caught by a guard rarely means losing more than a few seconds of progress. You don’t get docked points for getting spotted or reloading too many times either – the aim is to enjoy figuring out your own way to solve the puzzle, not to meet painstaking requirements.
“I want you to feel like you’re the cool kid in the room, the clever kid, the informed kid who knows what you’re doing,” Bithell explains. “I want tension and fear, but also it’s about making you feel clever, and the quickest way to do that is communication. You look at the screen and you’re like “right, there’s a locker up there, he’s going there, I can see this..”
To this end, Volume has a minimalist look, lots of semi-translucent blocks and abstract, polygonal characters. There’s an in-fiction reason for this – you’re effectively inside a VR simulator as part of an elaborate plan to rob from the rich – but really it’s there to serve making a comprehensible, non-distracting place which you can plan a route around. “The less texture, the less detail, the more you pull that back, the more you get to the reality of the space.”
I last played Volume at EGX last year, and to be quite frank I bounced off a little. It seemed fiddly, it looked a little too assembled from prefab parts and it felt like some much-needed fluidity was missing. It’s worth stating that I was playing it on a busy show floor with people queuing behind me for their turn with it, and this meant I couldn’t entirely relax into its pace. It’s not a frantic game, and like Thomas Was Alone it boasts laconic British voice-overs. It’s not chill out as such, but Borderlands 2 it certainly ain’t.
It might well have been the wrong place to play it, but even so I’m relieved to find that Volume’s latest version has come along enormously – something Bithell acknowledges too. If last Summer it felt like a work-in-progress, now it feels like a game close to completion. There are clear visual rules, the crispness and sheer surfaces look appropriately stylised, and character movement is in that agile sweep spot between creeping and dashing.
I found the controls cumbersome last time too, but more intuitive now. I’m using a gamepad rather than keyboard and mouse now, which may help a little, although Bithell’s determined that “it has to feel good on keyboard and mouse because I’m not going to assume people have a gamepad” For all the crispness of the presentation, it’s very much an analogue game to control – a character to steer rather than point, tracing an organic route around patrolling guards, and setting up elaborate ricochet routes for noisemaker gadgets with a nudge of the thumbstick.
I’m not yet entirely certain what the heart of Volume is – the essential stealth? The pith’n’gag-strewn dialogue? The gadgets? – but certainly the latter are what YouTube videos will be made of. “I want to encourage people to use items rather than stockpile them for a boss fight that never comes,” says Bithell. A gadget picked up on one level can be used limitless times (thought does have a cooldown), but won’t carry over to the next map, plus you can only have one gadget equipped at once, so make the best of it.
There’s the aforementioned noisemaker, the Bugle, which you can set off at any point along its ricocheting path in order to make a guard walk over an investigate. This means you can direct them to fairly specific places in fairly specific angles, even to the point that you might deliberately lure them into the same room as you, pass within a hair’s breadth of your hiding place but then turn to the far corner so you can escape out into the corridor they were otherwise guarding.
Then there’s there tripwires, which create a line between any high wall and any other high wall, and with the right timing can stun a guard for long enough that you can dash into (and maybe out of) a hitherto inaccessible area. Where conventional stealth wisdom tells us that such an item should strictly be used to catch someone out on their patrol route, Volume positively encourages letting guards spot you, give chase and then have them plough straight into your trap. Alternatively, you could use the dash-gadget to sprint right past guards, reaching a savepoint with milliseconds to spare. They might catch you moments later, but when the game reloads they’re back in their original position, unaware, and you’re safely at that savepoint. This is a valid way to play: these systems exist to be exploited. (Also it beats having replay the entire level from the start whenever you fail; they might be fairly short, but you do need to swipe every jewel in them to unlock the level exit, which wouldn’t be much fun to repeat over and over).
As much strategy comes from being seen as it does from working out how not to be seen, and I suspect it’s also where Volume’s going to be the most entertaining. My favourite moments in, say, Hitman games are not those where I’ve aced a level, but those where I got myself into hot water, ended up in this mad chase and somehow got myself out of it through a mixture of strategy and wild luck.
Those felt like accomplishments, and it’s that sort of free form, ad-hoc, messy level solution that Volume seems to be offering as much as it is perfect runs. It’s hard not to see a little of Gunpoint, another member of that wildly successful class of 2012-2013, in here – clear mechanics, but relax the rules. Let the people play how they want to play.
How this works out across 100 levels – only some of which comprise the core campaign, with the rest providing a starter pack for what’s planned to be a legion of community-made maps – remains to be seen. What’s fluid and adaptable in one or two maps might become routine across a dozen, what’s an opportunity to look like the cool kid in the room in an early map might be a frustrating exercise in unforgiving precision in a later one. But in what I played, the ethos seemed right: stealth for everyone, stealth that will never descend into killing, stealth that leads to funny or thrilling vignettes which feel entirely personal.
In this, most of all, Volume is an enormous step up from an entirely linear platformer about coloured rectangles. “We’ll see if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew”, says Bithell. “It feels to me that it’s working, that people are enjoying it. I haven’t got illusions that it’s the future of videogames, but I think it’s a good game. I think for people like me who like the old school stealth, it’s taking that and then extending on it. I’m happy with it.” I hope we will be too.A TEENAGER has been attacked and bottled in the back of the head by a group of men outside a Swindon pub.
The incident happened while the 19-year-old man was waiting to get a taxi home when the fracas broke out in the car park behind the Mail Coach Inn.
He was taken to Great Western Hospital and also suffered an injury above his eye, police have said.
The father of the boy is now making a desperate appeal online for any witnesses who saw the attack at 1.25am on Saturday to contact the police. The post on Facebook has had nearly 400 shares.
He said: “He was bottled to the back of the head and kicked in the face by a gang of men when trying to go home in a taxi outside the Sir Daniel Arms.
“My boy was lucky he can look after himself and that the police were present when this happened. He said the four or five guys that attacked him were probably in their 30s and of Eastern European background.
“He was being kept in overnight in hospital as a precaution. He was lucky the police were literally there when it happened and saw that this was unprovoked attack at the back of the Mail Coach."
He added: “Thank you for all the support and sharing the status, myself and my boy are very humbled by the support. I got to see him today and thankfully his jaw is not broken and his cuts will heal.
“However I do want these people to face justice so that this doesn't happen again.”
Police couldn’t confirm if anyone had been arrested or questioned and said investigations into the assault were continuing.
Anyone with information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.Trump met with health insurance executives and discussed Republicans’ efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, apparently only now becoming aware that the party hasn’t been able to come up with a plan because health care is “an unbelievably complex subject.”
Later that evening, when CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Sanders to respond, the senator laughed and shook his head, recalling the long legislative battles it took for progressives to pass the ACA.
”Well, some of us who were sitting on the health education committee, who went to meeting after meeting after meeting, who heard from dozens of people, who stayed up night after night trying to figure out this thing ― yeah, we got a clue,” Sanders said. “When you provide health care in a nation of 320 million people, yeah, it is very, very complicated.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders mocks President Trump saying nobody knew health care is "so complicated" https://t.co/TpQI6mVjDI https://t.co/xTaFEnVsCB — Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 28, 2017
The senator laid into the GOP for repeatedly delaying introducing a replacement, despite pledging for years to repeal the law.
“Maybe now, maybe the president and some of the Republicans understand [that] you can’t go beyond the rhetoric,” he said. “’We’re going to repeal the Affordable Care Act, we’re going to repeal Obamacare, and everything will be wonderful!’ A little more complicated than that.”
Trump on Tuesday morning reiterated his discovery about the issue.
“You know, health care is a very complex subject,” he said on “Fox and Friends.” “If you do this, it affects nine different things. If you do that, it affects 15 different things.”
But Trump claimed that he has a “really terrific” replacement plan in the works.
“It’s going to be something that’s going to be really respected,” he said.
When asked on Monday about Trump’s presidency so far, Sanders said he was “stunned, really, every day.”Investing in transit projects is expensive, but doing nothing to address growing gridlock would prove even more costly to the Twin Cities economy.
That’s the thought Minnesotans should keep in mind as they consider the nearly $500 million increase in the estimated cost of the proposed 13-mile Bottineau light-rail line (also called the Blue Line Extension) that would travel from Target Field in downtown Minneapolis to near Target’s corporate campus in Brooklyn Park.
The revised $1.48 billion price tag is not the result of any mismanagement by the Metropolitan Council, which would build and operate the line. The higher cost reflects the additional data now available after 15 percent of the engineering and environmental work has been completed. Previous estimates were based on just 1 percent of that work being finished. Much of the spike is due to added infrastructure, including seven new bridges and an additional station. There’s also more mitigation needed for areas with wetlands or contaminated soils. Other factors include incorporating the project into an Olson Hwy. redo, as well as the need for more light-rail cars. Inflation plays a factor, too. Funding would come from the Federal Transit Administration (49 percent), the Counties Transit Improvement Board (31 percent), Hennepin County and the state (10 percent each).
The state share appears to be the most problematic. In fact, the Legislature has not fully funded the 10 percent for the proposed Southwest light-rail line (also called the Green Line Extension), which is further in the development process than Bottineau. The 2016 session may be a make-or-break time for Southwest, and that outcome could impact Bottineau as well.
Meanwhile, business leaders have identified workforce development as their key challenge. The next generation of talent has multiple options on where to grow careers and families, and surveys have repeatedly shown that transit options are important to this group. The Twin Cities area has fallen behind peer regions such as Denver and Seattle in transit investment. And anyone familiar with driving in the metro area these days knows that growth cannot be accommodated with a status-quo system.
Most Republican lawmakers oppose light-rail expansion, arguing that ridership is too low to support the investment. They should listen more closely to their constituents in business, who counter that this region needs a healthy transit system to compete.
Those legislators who flatly reject rail need to offer alternatives that go beyond simply adding more lanes. Those who have voiced support for bus-rapid transit (BRT) as an alternative should offer a vigorous funding and implementation plan. Gov. Mark Dayton told an editorial writer that he’ll ask the Met Council to review other ways the Bottineau corridor could be served. But, he cautioned, the status quo should not be an alternative.
“The cost of doing nothing — in terms of opportunity costs, in terms of congestion, travel times, |
can now send a path as a call to action and never code any push notification logic in the app again. Painless migration
Let’s say you want to migrate from volley requests to retrofit. Since your requests are defined in a YAML file anyway, all you need is to change the underlying router plugin & network layer implementation. Actually, nothing stops you from migrating straight to iOS since YAML contains no java code.
Let’s say you want to migrate from volley requests to retrofit. Since your requests are defined in a YAML file anyway, all you need is to change the underlying router plugin & network layer implementation. Actually, nothing stops you from migrating straight to iOS since YAML contains no java code. A/B Testing + Live Override
Once you have established your router configuration map, you can have many permutations and sideload them from the app’s asset folder or over the air. You can sideload parts of configuration, e.g. change mapping of a single path. You can do all of this while app is running.
Route Anything!
Check out the sample NanoRouter app. See how we used AbstractRouter<O, P> with NanoHTTPd and turned Android into a web server.
Last but not least, the default page served by that web server is a more detailed article on using AbstractRouter. Plus, it contains extra optimization tricks on reducing router loading times. Suffice to say we make it 10 times faster — if you’re a curious creature be sure to check git out.The Light Years: Edmonton's Neon Heritage
If you took a stroll down Jasper Avenue in the middle of the 20th century, you'd swear you were on the Las Vegas Strip. For decades, neon dominated Edmonton's night sky. The dancing signs are seared into our minds: the glowing white milk bottle from Silverwood Dairy, the searing natural gas flame on Jasper Ave, the dancing pigs from the Pig N' Whistle Restaurant, and the persistent newspaper Mike's News Stand reader, swinging his foot and smoking his cigar.
As the city brings Canada's first neon museum closer to reality, CBC Edmonton has scoured the archives to bring dozens of neon signs back to life. We've also ventured around the city, looking for the neon signs that endure. Click the map below to take a trip down memory lane, or discover the neon lights you never knew existed. Have we missed any? E-mail mckennan@cbc.ca to submit your favourite neon signs. Include the address and, if possible, a picture.Do you want to fight back against attacks on healthcare? Then join the Green Party of New York State and healthcare activists across the country at the health care justice demonstration at Trump Tower on January 13th. This demonstration is critical. The National Single Payer Health Care Strategy conference is taking place in NYC just as Trump is preparing to take office and has vowed to take on health care as one of his top priorities. So join us as we will gather outside of Trump Tower to put forth a positive vision for health care justice, and to fight for Single Payer health care.
What: Health Care Justice Demonstration at Trump Tower
When: Friday, January 13, 4pm-5pm
Where: Trump Tower 5th Ave. between 56th and 57th Sts.
Who: People who want to fight against the attacks on health care reform, and fight for Medicare for all.
RSVP at our GPNY events page!
The demonstration will kick off a two-day conference that is hosted by the Labor Campaign for single payer. Single payer health care is an issue that the Green Party has been consistently committed to. If you would like to develop your skills and knowledge to more effectively organize in support of health care for all then you should consider attending. You will learn great organizing skills, and learn more about the challenges and opportunities the single payer movement will face in 2017.
Registration for the National Single Payer Health Care Strategy Conference is $85 for the weekend. Learn more and register for the conference here.
The Green Party Of New York will not be able to provide transportation to get people down to NYC for the demonstration or conference. If you are interested in joining us in New York City, and need more information, have any questions, or would like help setting up a carpool please contact Mary House through email; mary@gpny.org or on her cell; 315-243-7748.
In Solidarity,
Green Party of New York State
http://www.gpny.org/The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects and protests the comments expressed by Admiral Kurt Tidd, commander of the United States Southern Command, which lay the groundwork for an attack on Venezuela under the aegis of the false doctrine of collective regional security.
On Thursday, April 6 2017, Admiral Kurt Tidd declared that: “…The growing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela could eventually compel a regional response”. This affirmation, aimed at creating uncertainty and instability in the country, is framed within the interventionist order of a group of governments that are harassing and relentlessly hounding Venezuela through the construction of false assumptions accompanied by operations in the media and fraudulent processes within the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS).
This is nothing new. This is exactly the same script that has been repeated by the spokespeople and regional executioners of the interventionist plan against Venezuela to justify their avaricious ambitions with regards to our resources, seriously threatening the peace of our homeland.
Just as his predecessor John Kelly, who at the end of 2015 voiced false opinions about the political, economic and social situation of the country, which without a doubt formed part of the well-known script for interference and provocation to justify, in the name of humanitarian reasons and the subterfuge of a “regional response”, a future military intervention in our territory whose real objective is simply to overthrow the legitimately elected government.
It is particularly worrying that such declarations are being made in this moment, when a ferocious international attack is being carried out against Venezuela through the General Secretary of the OAS and a cohort of countries allied to the US government, which undoubtedly form part of the same plan under development to dominate our people.
We alert the international community to the plan which is underway to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela, contravening the United Nations’ Charter and its principles and aims. This is a call to the peoples of Our America in the face of these serious occurrences against our country.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects this latest act of interference, which is against the principle of the self-determination of the people, and ratifies its unshakeable commitment to the institutions of the Bolivarian Republic to defend its liberty, sovereignty and the independence of the nation, as part of the historic legacy of our liberators.
Caracas, April 7th, 2017Bob Weir will be the sole guest on this Thursday night’s edition of CBS’ The Late Late Show, which airs at 12:35 a.m. ET/PT.
The founding Grateful Dead singer/guitarist will be interviewed and will perform during the program.
Pop/blues star John Mayer will be the evening’s guest host. Mayer has been known to regularly include Grateful Dead songs in his concerts’ set lists, including “Friend of the Devil.”
The Late Late Show is featuring a series of guest hosts during the interim between the recent exit of Craig Ferguson and the debut this coming March of new host James Corden.
Expect Weir to chat about The Grateful Dead’s recently announced Fare Thee Well reunion shows, which are scheduled for July 3, 4 and 5 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The concerts will celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary and also are expected to be the last shows the surviving original Dead members will play together.
Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann will be joined by special guests Trey Anastasio of Phish, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti.
Visit Dead50.net for all the details about the gigs.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved
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Cover image courtesy minds-eyeMr. Graves became known for taking all his roles seriously, injecting a certain believability into even the campiest plot. He appeared in westerns like “The Yellow Tomahawk” (1954) and “Wichita” (1955); a Civil War adventure, “The Raid” (1954); and gangster movies (“Black Tuesday,” 1954, and “The Naked Street,” 1955). He played earnest scientists in science fiction/horror films: “Killers From Space” (1954), “It Conquered the World” (1956) and “Beginning of the End” (1957, about giant grasshoppers in Chicago). There was also cold war science fiction anti-Communism: “Red Planet Mars” (1952).
Other movies included “East of Sumatra” (1953), “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” (1953), “A Rage to Live” (1965), “Texas Across the River” (1966), “Sergeant Ryker” (1968), “The Ballad of Josie” (1968), “The Five-Man Army” (1969), “The Clonus Horror” (1979), “The Guns and the Fury” (1981), “Savannah Smiles” (1982), “Number One With a Bullet” (1986), “Addams Family Values” (1993), “The House on Haunted Hill” (1999) and “Men in Black II” (2002).
In 1955 Mr. Graves began his career as a television series regular as the star of “Fury,” a western family adventure series about a rancher named Jim Newton, his orphaned ward and the boy’s black stallion. It ran until 1960 on NBC, helped pioneer television adventure series and solidified Mr. Graves’s TV credentials.
Some of his hundreds of television credits include “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Whiplash” (1961), “The Dean Martin Show” (1970), the Herman Wouk mini-series “The Winds of War” (1983) and “War and Remembrance” (1988), “Fantasy Island” (1978-83) and “7th Heaven” (1999-2005). He served as the host or narrator for numerous television specials and performed in television movies of the week like “The President’s Plane Is Missing” (1973), “Where Have All the People Gone” (1974) and “Death Car on the Freeway” (1979).
Mr. Graves played his most famous television character from 1967 to 1973 in “Mission: Impossible,” reprising it from 1988 to 1990. He was Jim Phelps, the leader of the Impossible Missions Force, a super-secret government organization that conducted dangerous undercover assignments (which he always chose to accept). After the tape summarizing the objective self-destructed, the team would use not violence, but elaborate con games to trap the villains. In his role, Mr. Graves was a model of cool, deadpan efficiency.
Photo
But he was appalled when his agent sent him the script for the role of a pedophile pilot in “Airplane!” (1980). “I tore my hair and ranted and raved and said, ‘This is insane,’ he recalled on “Biography” in 1997. Some of the role’s lines (“Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”) looked at first as if they could get him thrown in jail, never mind ruining his career. He told his agent to tell David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, the director-producers, to find themselves a comedian. He relented when the Zucker brothers explained that the secret of their spoof would be the deadpan behavior of the cast; they didn’t want a comedian, they wanted the Peter Graves of “Fury” and “Mission: Impossible.”
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Mr. Graves used his familiar earnest, all-American demeanor in service of some of the comic movie’s most outrageous moments. He reprised the role of Captain Oveur in “Airplane II” in 1982.
Starting in the mid-1980s Mr. Graves was the host of a number of television science specials on “Discover.” In 1987, he became the host of the Arts and Entertainment Network’s long-running “Biography” series, narrating the lives of figures like Prince Andrew, Muhammad Ali, pioneers of the space program, Churchill, Ernie Kovacs, Edward G. Robinson, Sophia Loren, Jackie Robinson, Howard Hughes, Steven Spielberg and Jonathan Winters.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
In 1997, Mr. Graves was the subject of his own “Biography” presentation, “Peter Graves: Mission Accomplished.” In 2002, Mr. Graves was interviewed for a special about the documentary series, “Biography: 15 Years and Counting.”
Mr. Graves won a Golden Globe Award in 1971 for his performance in “Mission: Impossible” and in 1997, he and “Biography” won an Emmy Award for outstanding informational series.
In 1998, he joined his wife, Joan, in an effort to get Los Angeles to ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers from residential areas, testifying before the City Council, “’We’re all victims of these machines.”
In addition to his brother, he is survived by his wife, Joan Graves, and three daughters, Amanda Lee Graves, Claudia King Graves and Kelly Jean Graves.In one of the fastest rulings in a trial court, a court in this Punjab town on Thursday convicted and sentenced a rapist to 10 years jail -- just nine days after the charge-sheet was filed.Additional District and Sessions Judge JS Bhinder convicted Jai Prakash Diwedi, alias Pawan Dubey, of Uttar Pradesh, for the kidnapping and rape of a minor girl of a village in Garhshankar sub-division of Hoshiarpur district, and sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.The victim, aged 17 years and two months at the time of the crime, used to work in a factory in Ludhiana, 90 km from Hoshiarpur, when she was kidnapped and threatened by the accused in May last year. She was taken to New Delhi, where the accused raped her for 15 days, threatening to kill her younger brother if she told anyone about the rape.The accused later abandoned her at a bus stop in Delhi.The charge-sheet was filed in the court by Punjab Police on January 2 this year. After cross-examination and arguments, the court decided the matter and sentenced the accused to 10 years rigorous imprisonment on the ninth day of the trial.The defence counsel had argued that the victim had gone with the accused on her own and had not been raped. They claimed that she had had consensual sex with the accused. However, based on the documents that showed her age to be under 18 years, the court ruled that she being a minor, her consent, which was obtained under fear, was legally not tenable.The court also imposed a fine of Rs 90,000 on the convict."After the filing of the charge-sheet in the court, the matter was decided within 8-9 days. This is one of the fastest trials in the country," said additional public prosecutor T.S. Grewal. Hoshiarpur district police chief Sukhchain Singh Gill said: "The efforts of police and the judiciary have resulted in this case being decided in such a short time."This year's 52nd issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine announced on Wednesday that it will publish the newest chapter of Hiromu Arakawa's Silver Spoon in next year's ninth issue on January 27. The manga went on hiatus in May, shortly after returning from a hiatus in April.
Arakawa announced last year that she would slow the pace of her manga due to the health of a family member declining. The manga's 13th compiled volume revealed in June that the climax of the manga's story will be "imminent."
Arakawa revealed in April that family member's medical treatment is finished, so she is relieved. She added that she can't become negligent however, so little by little, she will continue to draw manga while watching over her family member.
Arakawa created Fullmetal Alchemist before penning Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon won 2012's Manga Taisho (Cartoon Grand Prize) and Booklog awards, and 2013's Shogakukan Manga Awards in the boys' category.
The first season of the anime adaptation of the manga aired on Fuji-TV's Noitamina late-night programming block in summer 2013 and the second season premiered in January 2014. Aniplex USA released both seasons on home video, and Crunchyroll streamed the first and second seasons of the anime. A live-action film adaptation opened in Japan in March 2014.Sanders says Iowa gives campaign a kick-start
MANCHESTER, N.H.- Bernie Sanders says his razor-thin contest against Hillary Clinton in Iowa is giving his campaign a "kick-start."
The Democratic presidential candidate says it shows the American people that "this is a campaign that can win."
Sanders tells reporters traveling aboard his flight to New Hampshire early Tuesday that his message of addressing wealth inequality resonated with voters in Iowa. He predicts it will resonate in the early voting states of New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
Polls show the Vermont senator leading Clinton in New Hampshire. But Sanders isn't saying whether he considers anything less than victory there a successful outcome. He says his campaign is in it "for the long haul" and predicts that "we are going to win some states, we are going to lose some states."Once there was and there was not … that place 100 years ago that my ancestors survived, where teenaged boys were dressed as girls, young women married off to foreigners and infants given up to Kurds so that they would all be spared. Those handful of survivors, who wanted to live at any cost, did just that so that I could be here, typing on a Mac, having you as my audiences, living in a clean, well-lit room and enjoying a front row seat to world history.
When those survivors lost their parents, siblings, homes, mental health and happiness, they found themselves in orphanages in Aleppo or Karantina, the quarantined garbage dump in Beirut. They found themselves with no belongings, no sense of place or self, and with no closure for the crimes they witnessed. But they marched ahead, rebuilt their lives and made us promise to be ‘Armenian.’
My grandparents didn’t have anything to show for their lives before the death marches. They had no photographs, no gold crosses, no physical, tactile, tangible remnants of their past or the pasts of the generations that came before. Somehow their forced detachment from material things became part of my DNA, leaving me overwhelmed and uncomfortable with the idea of owning or collecting things.
The younger of my two sisters started a bullet collection after fighting began in Beirut. She scoured the streets for spent bullet shells and exchanged them with friends from the neighborhood. My collection was of Matchbox model cars I would buy for 10 Lebanese pounds when I was given an allowance.
When there was no electricity, when cow carcasses were floating in sea across the street from our home, when school was cancelled and there were shortages of food and fuel, I abandoned my model cars and my sister abandoned her bullet collection the day our parents spared us from an uncertain future and moved us temporarily to safety in the U.S.
In my new life in Tennessee and then California, I didn’t start collecting things like others my age. I didn’t save stamps or coins or souvenirs. I didn’t buy comic books or make mementos of ticket stubs from the movies that were like religious experiences in my youth.
Before there was MTV and CNN, I would get lost in the world of make-believe through the silver screen and then write about those experiences in spiral-bound journals. These volumes of meticulously handwritten, artful penmanship piled up over the years and became the only collection I had for decades.
I began journaling on Pearl Harbor Day in 1979 -- long before the date became synonymous with the Gyumri Quake -- as an assignment for Mrs. Dias’ English class at Hamilton Junior High School. I kept these notebooks as my only keepsakes from my existence before there were personal computers, blogs, the internet and Facebook.
Decades later, in New York City, as a wiser and self-critical, self-aware adult, I couldn’t carry the burden of notebooks full of childish musings with miniature doodles in the margins. I didn’t want to have these carton boxes traveling the world with me, so I forced myself to tear the pages from the notebooks and throw them down the garbage chute of a building owned by the man who is now making a mockery of the place that for millions of refugees like me was a haven from the chaotic world of war. Had I known this man with his Twitter vitriol and verbal diarrhea would be the leader of the free world, I wouldn’t have rented a room from him or dumped my personal history into the 9th floor garbage chute of one of the buildings on Riverside Blvd that bears his name.
This diatribe about the separation of self from belongings, for me, is rooted in how my ancestors walked away with only the clothes on their backs, and how my family left Beirut with only one suitcase. Not wanting things is not unique to me. It’s a shared trait by millions, including one Vietnam veteran whom I interviewed on the streets of downtown Fresno in the mid 1990s. He explained how vets like him couldn’t stand the idea of being boxed in a room and how they preferred the streets.How To: Differentiate Real From Fake Breasts
Page 2 of 2
Too far apart
If you can fit your fist between her breasts, they're probably fake. The doctor should have scraped the pectoral tendons to give them a more natural emplacement, but he didn't.
Asymmetrical nipples
True, you don't always see nipples through clothes, but if she's wearing a see-through top, a really tight shirt or even if it's just a little cold out, take a glance at them. Nipples are seldom perfect, but a bad boob job may put them too high, too low, or not pointing in the same direction.
Stretch marks
This usually stems from the surgery. Skin stretches as we grow, but stretched skin can also leave marks — usually little red lines. If she went too big or her doctor wasn't that great, you might spot the stretch marks.
However, if she's a yo-yo dieter, she may have gained and lost a bunch of weight, which would also cause stretch marks. Watch out for this.
Disproportional body
You can usually tell if her breasts are fake by comparing them to the rest of her body. Although there is the rare woman who has a smoking body and unusually large natural breasts, more than a few women make the mistake of going too large. Fortunately, these women are easy to spot. If she has a dancer's body and breasts like a porn star, that could be a good indication. If you have your doubts, check them out while she's moving. If they're fake, they won't follow her body movements. For example, if she waves to a friend, they stay put.
She's too confident
Confidence comes in two flavors:
The crude: She wants to flaunt her new assets. That can be anything from the way she dresses — emphasizing her breasts with low-cut, revealing and bra-less attire, to talking about her breasts — if she's really bold.
The prude:She got them done, but she doesn't want people to know. She'll be proud of her appearance, but she'll steer attention and conversation away from her breasts. In other words, she'll look great, but she won't dress or act like the hottest girl in the room.
Watch out for the enemy of the detector
The padded bra
A padded bra does two things that fake boobs do: It enhances size and it fights gravity.
In the case of a padded bra, a trained eye can see how the breast fills it. If it is filled out and looks very firm, then there's a good chance that they're fake. That likeliness drops if the bra is too small and is overfilled. Then again, in that case, fake breasts will still keep a good shape whereas the real ones might overflow in the bra.
The stuffed bra
This the equivalent of a guy putting a sock in his pants. They do give a nice overall shape to the breast, but the guy will be disappointed with the real deal.
female body inspector
While it's fun to wonder about the different women you see, it's probably not a good idea to spend all of your time trying to stare at women's chests trying to figure out if hers are real or fake. Look at a couple of faces every now and then.
Anyway, in the end, does it really matter? Find a woman you like, give her your best line, and find out for yourself if they're real or fake. Or, hit up a strip club for practice.The messages were said to have been sent on 11 September 2001 A website has published what it says are 573,000 intercepted pager messages sent during the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Wikileaks says it will not reveal who gave it the messages - some of which are from federal agencies as well as ordinary citizens. Internet analysts say they believe the messages are genuine but federal authorities have refused to comment. The attacks on 11 September 2001 left nearly 3,000 people dead. The messages are being published over a 24-hour period, ending at 0800GMT on Thursday. They are being released simultaneously on Wikileaks and social networking site Twitter. 'Live' broadcast The website is broadcasting each message at the time it was sent originally in 2001. The first message was from 0300 local time (0800 GMT), five hours before the first attack in New York and the last 24 hours later. The messages are not all about the attacks. Some are mundane questions about what people are having for lunch. However, many are about the deadly plane attacks and range from people trying to find out if their loved ones are safe, to government messages, to computer server errors. They include messages such as This is Myrna, I will not rest until you get home, the second tower is down, I don't want to have to keep calling you after every event. Pls just go home
President has been rerouted won't be returning to Washington but not sure where he will go
Bomb detonated in World Trade Ctr. Pls get back to Mike Brady w/a quick assessment of your areas and contact us if anything is needed New York's fire and police departments said they could not comment on whether messages purportedly sent from them were genuine while the US Secret Service refused to comment. Pager company USA Mobility said it was troubled by the alleged interceptions, the Associated Press news agency reported. Wikileaks allows people to anonymously post documents on the web, saying its aim is to promote transparency. It was created in 2006 by dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and technologists from the US, Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Wikileaks spokesman Daniel Schmitt said the messages were submitted anonymously to the site several weeks ago. He told Associated Press: "From the context information that the source provided we have strong reasons to believe that this is valid data." He said the messages would help provide a fuller picture of what happened that day.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionKenya is annually losing an average of 100 of its 2,000 lions due to growing human settlements, increasing farming, climate change and disease, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.
"Lions have a special place in Kenyans' livelihood and conservation efforts," said Paul Udoto, a spokesman for the organisation.
"Other than being the symbol for national strength, they are among the Big Five, a major attraction for visitors to Kenya."
There were 2,749 lions in Kenya in 2002 and their population dropped to 2,280 by 2004 and to roughly 2,000 today, according to KWS figures.
"The trend of lion population decline is disturbing and every effort needs to be made to ensure that Kenya either stabilises its population at the current population of 2,000 lions or increases the numbers to an ecologically acceptable level," said Mr Udoto.
"Quick and decisive actions need to be taken to create public awareness as well as formulation of national guidelines on lion conservation and management in the long term."
Drought has pushed lions closer to waterholes near to human settlements, which themselves are increasing at "very high rates", according to KWS.
"There is no doubt that the numbers are in freefall. I'd be surprised if they even last as long as 20 years," said Laurence Frank, project director of Living With Lions, a Kenya-based conservation organisation.
"When I first came here 30 years ago, you would always hear lions roaring across the ranglands at night and see their tracks in the morning. Now that is very rare.
"The reason is simple, lions eat cattle, and as the numbers of people grow, the numbers of cows increase. Alongside that there are ever more efficient ways, including poisoning, to kill lions."
Monday's warning came as conservationists were finalising work on a fresh strategy to save the animals which is due to be launched next month.
Part of the fight-back will include tracking lions fitted with radio collars in the Amboseli area in southern Kenya, close to the border with Tanzania.
Wildlife officials in Tanzania face similar challenges in protecting their lions, but there is far less human encroachment on the animals' habitat there than in Kenya.Hideki Yukawa ForMemRS[1] FRSE (湯川 秀樹, Yukawa Hideki, 23 January 1907 – 8 September 1981), was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate for his prediction of the pi meson.
Biography [ edit ]
Physics is a science that has made rapid progress in the twentieth century... I desire, as I did in the past, to be a traveler in a strange land and a colonist in a new country. (from the foreword to his autobiography)
He was born as Hideki Ogawa in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto with two older brothers, two older sisters, and two younger brothers.[2] He read the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean, and later Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu. His father, for a time, considered sending him to technical college rather than university since he was "not as outstanding a student as his older brothers". However, when his father broached the idea with his middle school principal, the principal praised his "high potential" in mathematics and offered to adopt Ogawa himself in order to keep him on a scholarly career. At that, his father relented.
Ogawa decided against becoming a mathematician when in high school; his teacher marked his exam answer as incorrect when Ogawa proved a theorem but in a different manner than the teacher expected.[2] He decided against a career in experimental physics in college when he demonstrated clumsiness in glassblowing, a requirement for experiments in spectroscopy.[2]
In 1929, after receiving his degree from Kyoto Imperial University, he stayed on as a lecturer for four years. After graduation, he was interested in theoretical physics, particularly in the theory of elementary particles. In 1932, he married Sumi Yukawa (スミ). In accordance with Japanese customs of the time, since he came from a family with many sons but his father-in-law Genyo had none, he was adopted by Genyo and changed his family name from Ogawa to Yukawa.[2] The couple had two sons, Harumi and Takaaki. In 1933 he became an assistant professor at Osaka University, at 26 years old.
In 1935 he published his theory of mesons, which explained the interaction between protons and neutrons, and was a major influence on research into elementary particles.[3] In 1940 he became a professor in Kyoto University. In 1940 he won the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy, in 1943 the Decoration of Cultural Merit from the Japanese government. In 1949 he became a professor at Columbia University, the same year he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, after the discovery by Cecil Frank Powell, Giuseppe Occhialini and César Lattes of Yukawa's predicted pi meson in 1947. Yukawa also worked on the theory of K-capture, in which a low energy electron is absorbed by the nucleus, after its initial prediction by G. C. Wick.[4]
[Once I had published my seminal 1934 paper on particle interaction] I felt like a traveler who rests himself at a small tea shop at the top of a mountain slope. At that time I was not thinking about whether there were any more mountains ahead. [conclusion of his autobiography]
Yukawa became the first chairman of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1953. He received a Doctorate, honoris causa, from the University of Paris and honorary memberships in the Royal Society,[1] Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the International Academy of Philosophy and Sciences[citation needed], and the Pontificia Academia Scientiarum.
He was an editor of Progress of Theoretical Physics,[5] and published the books Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (1946) and Introduction to the Theory of Elementary Particles (1948).
In 1955, he joined ten other leading scientists and intellectuals in signing the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, calling for nuclear disarmament.
Yukawa retired from Kyoto University in 1970 as a Professor Emeritus. Owing to increasing infirmity, in his final years he appeared in public in a wheelchair. He died at his home in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, on 8 September 1981 from pneumonia and heart failure, aged 74. His tomb is in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto.
Solo violinist Diana Yukawa (ダイアナ湯川) is a relative of Hideki Yukawa.[citation needed]
Recognition [ edit ]
Yukawa with family in 1949
Bibliography [ edit ]
Profiles of Japanese science and scientists, 1970 – supervisory editor: Hideki Yukawa (1970)
– supervisory editor: Hideki Yukawa (1970) Creativity and intuition: a physicist looks at East and West by Hideki Yukawa; translated by John Bester (1973)
by Hideki Yukawa; translated by John Bester (1973) Scientific works (1979)
(1979) Tabibito (旅人) – The Traveler by Hideki Yukawa; translated by L. Brown & R. Yoshida (1982), ISBN 9971950103
See also [ edit ]Democratic National Committee (DNC) interim chairwoman Donna Brazile on Sunday disputed President Obama’s claims that Russian cyber hacking stopped after he told Russian President Vladimir Putin to “cut it out.”
“No, they did not stop. They came after us absolutely every day until the end of the election. They tried to hack into our system repeatedly,” Brazile told ABC’s “This Week.”
In his last press conference of the year on Friday, Obama said he told Putin at a conference in September that there would be consequences if the attacks did not stop.
“And in fact, we did not see further tampering of the election process. But the leaks through Wikileaks had already occurred,” he said.
Brazile said she was “disappointed” that the Democratic Party was “under constant attack.”
“We never felt comfortable. We didn’t know what was coming next. And, you know, this is not just about computers; this is harassment of individuals, it’s harassment of our candidates, harassment of our donors,” she added. “We had stolen information, personal information. People were personally harassed.”One of the things I truly love about living in London is the fact that cycling is by far the most efficient form of transport available. During the working day or at weekends, London becomes a grid locked mess with no chance of getting anywhere quickly by car, bus or taxi. It is at these times when the bike becomes the king of the road.
A bike like mine above is able to maintain a relatively easy 20 mph, while being able to overtake stopping buses or slip through the traffic to the front of the traffic lights. Best of all, the bike will take you exactly where you want to go – from point A to point B not needing to walk from train/ tube stations or having to daisy chain methods of transport to get where you want to go. Finally, the bike will get you where you want to go for free (beating the ever rising cost of public transport), will steadily improve your health and will over time help you learn your way around the city without relying on tube maps.
Below are my top tips for cycling in London:
1. Helmet / Gloves
These are not required – but certainly help your body from wear and tear / potential damage in an accident and I would recommend having gloves as a minimum due to the calluses that form without them.
2. A good lock
London is notorious for bike theft (in fact that bike has now been stolen, but I’ll get to that another time) and the minimum I would recommend is two locks at all times, one strong D lock like a kryptonite lock to go through the frame and the back wheel and then a cable / wire lock to go through the frame, front wheel and D lock. This when secured to a strong traditional bike locking point should prevent most bike thefts from happening.
3. A Handlebar Phone Holder / Google Maps
This may sound a bit crazy, but one of the best things I used on my bike was my handlebar mount for my iPhone 5s. This would let me use Google Maps with car or bike turn by turn navigation to easily navigate the entire city! Some people gave me a strange look when they heard my bike audibly saying ‘Turn left in 400 yards’ but it was the best way of navigating on the bike and helped me learn a lot of routes over time so I didn’t need it anymore.
4. Critical Mass / Bike Groups
One of the great things about cycling in London is the cycling communities that exist. Critical Mass is a cycling event that happens every month on the last Friday. They meet under Waterloo Bridge down near South Bank and then cycle ( |
see how the indictment changes the ability of the President to do his job. There is a process for this to go forward, and I trust it will happen."
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include additional comment from Grassley.Because I’ve bored lately and got curious about Roy’s animations given to him in his SSB4-iteration~ and surprisingly enough, I’ve found some interesting ones that I’ll showcase now.
Firstly, his taunt, specifically the Up Taunt. It’s always looked quite triumphant to me along with being bit familiar. Turns then out that it’s actually based on the cutscene illustration from Binding Blade where Roy draws Sword of Seals the first time.
Now to another one which is his Forward Smash. It’s infamously powerful, but after seeing the origin of the animation, it might not be such a surprise.
As Roy gets promoted to a quite a broken class of Master Lord in FE6, his animations change quite a bit, becoming the following (also a basis to his ranged and Critical animations)
This has been incorporated to his Forward Smash, mainly the part where he swings down to strike his enemy. It’s right up there in the anticipation pose and the initial swing:
To the hard-hitting slash which even doubles as the freeze frame bonus that akin to him staying still after ending his attack.
And here’s the freeze-frame in action.
Now compare that to the original animation.
Pretty cool, eh?
Finally, this concerns his jump animation. First, let’s take look at Marth’s:
As fans would remember, both Marth and Roy shared the same jump animation back in Melee.
However, here in SSB4, Roy’s jumping animation looks noticeably different:
Take a good glance on how his hand is curled to a fist as opposed to Marth’s being open like in the past.
As of late we got to see prototype artwork for FE-games in the FE 25nth Anniversary Book, including that for Binding Blade. One of the artworks had Roy also doing a jumping motion while his also having his fist curled:
Yeah, it’s pretty easy to love Smash Bros at times.And finally, in New York, David Paterson has been sworn in as governor, replacing Eliot Spitzer. Paterson becomes New York’s first African American governor and the first blind governor in the country. During his speech Monday, Paterson made no mention of Spitzer.
bq.David Paterson: “Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born in the borough of Brooklyn. I was educated on Long Island. Harlem is my home. This is where I learned love for family and appreciation for community. I have confronted the prejudice of race and challenged the issues of my own disability. I have served in government for over two decades. I stand willing and able to lead this state to a brighter future and a better tomorrow. Let me reintroduce myself. I am David Paterson, and I am the Governor of New York State.”
In what might be a first, Paterson admitted on his first day in office that he and his wife have had extramarital affairs. In an interview with Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News, Paterson and his wife acknowledged that they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.About us
The idea for Vege Project was born in 2013 through Haruko Kawano’s desire to create vegan options at her university (Kyoto University). Since, vegan options have been introduced to the menu list of every university in Kansai and Hokuriku regions that are run by Coop. Also more and more university’s cafeterias follow this movement with students’ collaborations.
Today, Vege Project Japan embodies the same vision “Vegetarian/Vegan lifestyle made easier” with wider horizons. Because it is quite difficult to choose veggie lifestyle in Japan though the concept of vegetarianism/veganism is important, we are making Japan more vegetarian/ vegan friendly place.
What we do is introducing vegan options to universities, restaurants, cities, making veggie map, giving certification label, running VEGETIME the veggie web media and organizing vegan events.
We have been involved in creating more veggie “choices” in Japan.The former Germany international goalkeeper has stated his belief that die Roten could face some strong competition from the current champions in the remainder of the season
Visit our Euro 2012 microsite for all you need to know ahead of Friday's draw and beyond - team profiles, stadium guides, even which hotels are best to stay in!
Oliver Kahn believes that Bayern Munich will face a tough test to shrug off Borussia Dortmund in the race for the Bundesliga title.Bayern comfortably led the way in the German league only two weeks ago, but they have since dropped to third spot in the table after losses at home to Dortmund and away against Mainz."Borussia Dortmund have what it takes to be a very serious contender again this year. It looked like Bayern were going to win the league rather easily only two weeks ago, but they have helped BVB back in the race," Kahn was quoted as saying by Bild."Dortmund have a huge advantage if they are going out of the European competitions and can solely focus on the Bundesliga. This could mean that Bayern won't win the league as easily as many expected not too long ago."Bayern are currently trailing Dortmund by one point, with the Bavarians' next match at home to Werder Bremen on December 3.Friday, August 11, 2017
ZANZIBAR TOWN, ZANZIBAR—According to a report in United Arab Emirates-based The National, a team of researchers led by archaeologist Mark Horton from the University of Bristol has uncovered the foundations of two early-17th-century Portuguese churches on the island of Zanzibar, which lies off the coast of Tanzania. Horton and his colleagues, including archaeologists from Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, made the discovery while excavating an 18th-century Arab fort in Stone Town, the oldest quarter of the island's main city, Zanzibar Town. In typical fashion for settlements that have weathered multiple periods of rule by successive colonial powers, the dig at Stone Town has revealed layers of occupation, including that of the Portuguese, who effectively controlled the East African coast between 1500 and 1698, when they ceded Fort Jesus in Mombasa to Omani Arabs. In addition to the church foundations, the team has also found several Christian burials, including that of a woman—possibly a nun—with a sacred heart medallion around her neck. According to Horton, while historians have long held that Stone Town is only a few centuries old, the team has identified archaeological deposits that could extend back a thousand years. To read more about archaeology in East Africa, go to "Stone Towns of the Swahili Coast."Kevin Seconds Interview 3/19/13:
By Jon Pebsworth
Jon: I’ve been fortunate enough to have met you and seen you play many times over the years. One of my first punk shows was 7Seconds at Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach around 1987. It was an epic night for me… Do recall those days? It was many years after 7Seconds started but still fairly early in your long career; do you by any chance remember that show? Or do you remember the days of Fenders and Goldenvoice?
Kev: I remember those Fender’s shows like they happened last week. We played there many times and despite some of the crazy violent shit that took place there and back then, i’ll always have a warm spot in my heart for that place and those gigs. up until playing those Goldenvoice shows, we had never played for more than 200-300 people when all of a sudden, there we were in L.A. playing in front 3,500, 4,500 kids. It was nuts but it rules.
Jon: I met you officially during my years at SideOneDummy. We worked together on the artwork and release of “Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over.” I love that album. I remember really enjoying talking to you on the phone and working on this record with you. What are your memories of this era of your band? I would consider this your “Warped Tour” era. I remember you guys playing Warped Tour in the 90’s and starting with SideOne around that time. How was that experience for you and the guys?
Kev: It was a sort of re-birth for us, to be honest. We had still been playing and touring a lot but we hadn’t done a record in a few years and we had no idea whether people would still care or not. We had been with a few labels but didn’t really have a label home by 1997, 98 and no one seemed particularly interested in us. We thought about starting up our own label which I STILL think would have ben a good idea but there was a lot of apprehension based on all the craziness surrounding my old label Positive Force so when Joe and Bill approached us about doing something on Side One Dummy, the timing was perfect. We had known Joe for years and liked him a lot and at the time, the label was just small enough but definitely on the rise, to make sense for us.
As for the Warped Tour, we had a blast. We got to play every day with some of or favorite bands (Bouncing Souls, H2O, Lunachicks), had some great shows sharing the stage with the likes of Avail and Agnostic Front, and we loved the community aspect of the tour itself. That said, by the time the tour ended, we were beyond thrilled to be jumping back into our van and playing clubs again.
Jon: I have recently seen you play solo a few times. I saw you in Fullerton at the Slide Bar where your wife sang some amazing backups and Kepi played drums. I love the solo stuff you have done on Asian Man Records and listened to the CD you gave me close to 50 times now with my girlfriend, who loves you. I remember thinking during your set that night about the 7Seconds lyric, “I’m gonna stay young until the day I die” and thinking what an awesome moment this is… Kevin is the real deal and he was for real when he sang that lyric both then and now! It was and is very inspiring to me. Can you tell me a little about your motivation now and what inspired you to continue on with music?
Kev: In all honesty, and as cliche as it may sound, without music running through me, I have no idea who I’d be or where I’d be in my life. It’s that one thing that I have always felt I was decent at and it has filled so many holes and voids in my 50-plus years on this planet and I’m always deep in it. I want to be. I HAVE to be. But as I get older, it has become harder and harder for 7Seconds to get out and tour like we used to and yet, I STILL LOVE TOURING! hahaha. It’s been a part of me for 30-some years. What the hell else am I going to do at this point that brings me this much happiness?
Jon: Can you tell me about how your solo records came to be and how they came to be on Asian Man? I am friends with Mike Park and have mad respect for him as I’m sure you do. Did he approach you about doing these records or did you goto him? What is the recording process for a Kevin Seconds solo album?
Kev: I’ve known Mike for probably 20 years now and have always loved and respected him as a person. Back in the late 90’s, 7Seconds went out on the road with Skankin’ Pickle and we had the time of our lives. We just REALLY hit it off with those guys. From then on, Mike and I stayed in touch, mostly on the Internet, and sometime in 2001, he played at the True Love, Allyson and I’s old coffeehouse and Matt Skiba came up from the Bay Area with him. That was the first time I had met Matt and I guess on the ride back to the bay that night, the two of them discussed the idea of Matt and I doing a split album together. I loved the idea. I wasn’t super familiar with Alkaline Trio at that time but I had heard some demos or saw some live videos of Matt playing solo and I loved what he did. Mike released the record on Asian Man and as far as I know, it has done really well. Shortly after that, I asked Mike if he would be interested in releasing a solo album of mine and he he was down. But I have to say, it’s been nothing but pure joy working with Mike and making records for Asian Man. I’ve had some shitty experiences with other labels, especially regarding my solo output, and Mike has always been wonderful to work with. As you know Jon, he’s the real deal. I love the guy!
Jon: Can you tell me really quick about the first solo record and what it took for you as a musician to get into that mode?
Kev: I started playing solo shows, just me and an acoustic guitar in 1989 or so. I was living on and off with my ex-girlfriend in NYC and she bought me an acoustic guitar and somehow, I got the balls to busk on a few street corners and even in the subways there for a couple of week. I didn’t do it as often as I would have liked and I never really got a feel for the system or etiquette of busking down there but it did allow me to grow some confidence, playing on an acoustic guitar in front of people and I ended up making about 70 bucks total…hahaha. Randy Now at City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey offered me a solo slot, opening for Dramarama, and I just went for it. It was pretty bad but it got the ball rolling for me. A few weeks later, he asked me to open for Ween there and it just has never really stopped since.
But I didn’t get the courage up to release a true solo record until around 1997 when I did the Stoudamire album on Cargo Records. I went in and recorded a lot of the instruments myself. I had Allyson sing on some songs and my friends Brent Spain and Chris Carnahan play drums and bass, respectively, and I just made a fun little acoustic-based folk-pop record that very few people bought…hahaha.
Jon: When 7Seconds first started, what was the punk scene like? I have an early 7” of yours on blue vinyl and you looked so cool with the war paint under your eyes and me and my friends were so into the whole “California” punk sound with melodies and such. You were there and were a major part of what became such a memorable sound to this day. How do you look back on those days and did you have any idea you would come to influence so many bands that came after you? Even bands on the east coast like H2O have acknowledged your band as being a major influence.
Kev: I’ve loved every single second of being in 7Seconds. Even when band members left, or when all the stupid violent shit was going on at our shows, it has all made a lasting impact on my life and has shaped me into the human that I am today, good and bad. It’s an honor to still be asked to play shows, especially when bands we love ask us to play with them. How can you not love that? But the old days, as tough and harrowing as they often were, were amazing. I wasn’t even sure I was going to survive them, to be honest. I just rolled with it and tried staying true to what was important to me, to us.
Jon: Clearly you are a lifelong hero in punk rock and also have a genuine love for the music and lyrics you write weather they are you and an acoustic guitar or with 7Seconds. Do you feel satisfied and proud of your accomplishments? What do you have in store for the future? Can we hope to see another 7Seconds album? Will there be more solo stuff? Do you have any other projects in the works?
Kev: I suppose that pride is what I feel when I think back on all the records and tours and shows and friends we’ve managed to make over the past 33 years. I just love that, for the most part, I’ve gotten to do so many of the things that I always wanted to do as a kid and have managed to even make a living doing it. I’ve met amazing people and have seen places I would have never seen had I not been in this band. I never forget that. I can’t and I don’t want to. I can’t really think of any true regrets I have regarding my time with 7Seconds. Maybe I would have had us record albums a little differently. Maybe I wouldn’t have had us take such long breaks in between records and tours like we have. Maybe I wouldn’t have slept with strange punk rock girls in cities here and there…hahaha. But seriously, it’s been an amazing run.
As for future stuff, yes, there are many plans in the works for both me and for 7Seconds. The band has an album’s worth of new songs that we’ve been working on and fine-tuning and hoping to get released sometime in 2013. It has to happen. It’s driving us crazy and we’d like to hit the road with new material to play for people. I don’t even care that there’s a REALLY great chance that zero percent of people out there want to hear a new 7Seconds record. We’re going to do one, anyway.
I’m always writing and working on new solo tunes and touring like a madman. I have a shitload of brand new songs I wrote and have recorded in my trusty green Ford Econoline van and would like to see that come out by summer of this year. I’ve also got a handful of 7 inch vinyl projects I’m working, for a couple of different smaller labels. I’m very excited about that.
Jon: Lastly, where can we see you next? I know you do a lot of touring still. You play tours where you play in peoples’ living rooms! How is that going and can you play at my place in North Hollywood on the next trip?
Kev: I’ve got a few things coming up in the next couple of months, West Coast stuff mostly. I’m even doing a few shows on the acoustic stage at this year’s Warped Tour.
7Seconds has a club show at Punk Rock Bowling in May and then we go to Europe in July for a couple of weeks. Our main goal though is NEW FUCKING ALBUM. Once we get that finished, we’ll do as much touring as 3 40 year olds and 1 50 year old can do.
For more info and tour dates’ goto:
www.kevinseconds.comYou’d be forgiven for thinking Valve had forgotten all about Half-Life, but it turns out at least one person at the company’s HQ is still working on the series—or at least checking in from time to time—because the original game got patched today.
It’s nothing big. There’s no “Fixed market anticipation for HL3 by announcing HL3", for example. But it’s nice that somebody has taken user feedback, gone back in and made some tweaks to keep a 1998 video game running nicely on modern hardware.
The fixes, if you’re interested, are:
Fixed crash when entering certain malformed strings into the game console. Thanks to Marshal Webb from BackConnect, Inc for reporting this.
Fixed crash when loading a specially crafted malformed BSP file. Thanks to Grant Hernandez (@Digital_Cold) for reporting this.
Fixed malformed SAV files allowing arbitrary files to be written into the game folder. Thanks to Vsevolod Saj for reporting this.
Fixed a crash when quickly changing weapons that are consumable. Thanks to Sam Vanheer for reporting this.
Fixed crash when setting custom decals
Alongside the original Half-Life, a bunch of titles using the same engine—like the expansions Blue Shift and Opposing Force—have been updated as well.More than 12,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year. Hundreds more may go undiagnosed because of the widespread use of a screening test that the Food and Drug Administration has not approved for detecting the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes nearly all cervical cancers.
Some of the largest national labs have for a decade routinely used test kits that contain a preservative, BD SurePath, that is approved for Pap tests but not HPV testing. The labs continue to use the tests despite a June 8 FDA warning that HPV tests using SurePath can produce false negatives and national guidelines that call for using only FDA-approved tests, an Arizona Republic investigation has found.
The result: Women may be told they are free of HPV when, in fact, they aren’t. Such a misdiagnosis can allow the virus or cancer to become established and more difficult to treat.
Both the FDA and the test’s manufacturers have been aware of the false-negative problem for years.
During a woman’s annual gynecological exam, most doctors take a single sample that labs can process for both Pap and HPV tests. But few gynecologists have been aware that their diagnoses may be based on potentially faulty HPV lab results.
“Those of us out here in the trenches have no idea; we just use whatever the lab gives us,” said Kathleen Fry, a former Scottsdale gynecologist who moved to Colorado in October. Like almost every gynecologist interviewed for this story, she was unaware of the issue with SurePath before being contacted by The Republic. She said she uses a competing product, ThinPrep, that is FDA-approved for both Pap and HPV tests.
More than 81 million American women were given Pap tests, HPV tests or both in the past three years, as part of their routine gynecological exams, according to surveys by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SurePath accounts for about a third of the HPV tests, or about 3 million a year, estimated Michael Farmer, a market analyst who specializes in the pathology and histology laboratory markets. Because no federal agency tracks HPV testing, hard data on SurePath’s rate of false-negative HPV tests isn’t publicly available. However, extrapolating from the findings of a Johns Hopkins University study suggests a thousand or more women tested each year using SurePath may be told they are HPV-free when they are not.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 12,100 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, and about 4,200 will die from it
SurePath was submitted to the FDA for approval for HPV testing at least three times in the last 10 years, either by TriPath Imaging, the company that developed SurePath, or by Becton, Dickinson and Company, which acquired TriPath Imaging in 2007. TriPath conducted large-scale trials in 2002, 2004 and 2006 as part of its effort to gain FDA approval. Each time, the application was withdrawn.
Neither Becton Dickinson, based in Franklin Lakes, N.J., nor the FDA would say why the applications were withdrawn. But it is not unusual, according to Mark Stoler, a Virginia pathologist, editor-in-chief of Diagnostic Molecular Pathology and editor of the International Journal of Gynecologic Pathology, who said it often happens after it becomes apparent that the FDA is likely to deny an application.
Federal regulators and the companies have been aware of a false-negative issue for years, as they have gathered data for the FDA applications. The Arizona Republic could find no evidence that they had alerted labs, gynecologists or patients about this issue until last summer.
On June 8, Becton Dickinson, in collaboration with the FDA, sent a bulletin to laboratory customers stating SurePath is not FDA-approved for use with the most common HPV test, hybrid-capture II. “Use of the SurePath sample may under certain conditions produce false-negative results … (that) could lead to inappropriate patient management and potentially compromise patient safety,” the bulletin stated.
Becton Dickinson didn’t reveal the rate of false-negative results in the bulletin or in response to questions from The Republic. Because of gaps in federal law, when labs use medical products, such as SurePath, for non-FDA-approved purposes — which is permitted by law — there is little oversight to ensure those tests are providing accurate results. (See accompanying story.)
New cervical-cancer screening guidelines issued in March of 2012 by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force may actually increase the risk that a false-negative HPV test poses because they recommend less-frequent screening, according to doctors involved in developing the guidelines. The new guidelines call for “co-testing” most women between 30 and 65 using both Pap and HPV tests, but only once every five years or alternatively screening with Pap alone every three years. Though the guidelines specifically recommend using only FDA-approved tests for HPV tests, laboratories continue to use SurePath for such tests.
Most leading national labs would not explain to The Republic why they use SurePath despite the warning. But each kit costs labs between $1 and $2 less than alternatives that are FDA-approved for HPV tests.
Becton Dickinson executives referred questions to company spokeswoman Colleen White. She provided two written responses regarding HPV testing, stating that “because it is not an approved use, it is not appropriate for BD to discuss that use. In the U.S., we market and promote only the FDA-approved use of our SurePath test.” That use is for Pap tests, which detect cancerous and pre-cancerous cells.
“We searched our database of complaints, service requests and inquiries, and found no reports of false negatives,” White added. Her statement, however, also said that the company does not ask labs for or evaluate their “test validations of any kind, including those evaluating false negative rates.”
White wrote that “based on recent study results, a mutual decision was reached by BD and [the] FDA” to send out the bulletin. She noted that Becton Dickinson’s June bulletin recommended that when SurePath is used for Pap tests, doctors should collect a separate sample for HPV testing using an FDA-approved medium.
The victims
Pathologists who spoke to The Republic described cases in which women who were tested using SurePath died of cervical cancer or had to undergo a radical hysterectomy after as many as three tests that failed to detect HPV over several years.
A recent cervical-cancer screening study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, included data on more than 17,000 women who were tested for HPV using the SurePath preservative. Out of the eight women in that group who turned out to have cancer, six had recorded at least one negative HPV test in the prior 2/ 1 years. The study’s lead authors did not respond to repeated e-mail and phone inquiries about the findings.
Any test can produce false negatives. But given the warnings from the company and the FDA, labs that use SurePath for HPV testing “are potentially putting women at risk by increasing the likelihood of false negatives,” said Phil Castle, a former investigator at the National Cancer Institute.
“I have seen pathology specimens from a patient who, unfortunately, is now actually dead of cervical cancer,” said Marshall Austin, director of cytopathology at Magee-Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. He said the woman who died waited five years before getting screened again after a false-negative HPV test. Austin said he knows of 10 other women who were diagnosed with cervical cancer after false-negative HPV tests using SurePath.
Austin said a woman in her 30s had two negative results from HPV tests using SurePath in less than four years, and didn’t get follow-up care for “equivocal” or inconclusive Pap results because, like 40 million Americans, she lacked health insurance. She survived, he said, but had to undergo a radical hysterectomy and other procedures.
He would not disclose any of the women’s identities, citing privacy concerns. Becton Dickinson did not respond to questions about these allegations.
“Everybody’s afraid to talk about these cases at their institutions. These cases are out there, but they aren’t being noticed and systematically studied,” Austin said. “Nobody is looking back systematically to find these women with negative results several years before they were diagnosed with cancer. I have no doubt that if we could get access to the laboratories’ databases, we could find these women.”
While Becton Dickinson’s June 8 bulletin to laboratory customers didn’t explain the “certain conditions” that produce false negatives, pathologists familiar with the issue say the problem relates to DNA samples degrading more quickly in SurePath than in FDA-approved test alternatives.
Stoler, the former president of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, said he believes the FDA issued its June 8 warning because of concerns about a significantly higher rate of false negatives with SurePath than with approved test media.
A warning goes unheard
The bulletin may have not reached those who need the information for their patients. The letter went to laboratories — and only to laboratories. Gynecologists in 11 practices across the country interviewed by The Republic, along with two national gynecological associations, said they were unaware of the bulletin five months after it was issued.
Sharon Achilles, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh, noted in a recent e-mail exchange with a colleague that laboratories have not been passing Becton Dickinson’s warning along to gynecologists. “That’s what makes it dicey,” she said of the company’s notice.
Achilles raised the issue this fall on a listserv for family practitioners. “Nobody had heard of it,” she said. “I got a lot of reaction, a lot of people e-mailing to ask if there’s any documentation of this.”
Spokeswomen for the two largest medical associations for women’s doctors, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, told The Republic that their leaders, staff and members were not aware of the risk of false negatives with SurePath, and hadn’t seen or heard about the Becton Dickinson bulletin.
At the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, which doesn’t use SurePath for HPV testing but will process such tests for outside clinics or doctors, lab directors said they hadn’t seen or heard about the bulletin until The Republic provided them with a copy.
Three of the nation’s five largest laboratory chains declined repeated interview requests to discuss their use of SurePath for HPV testing: Laboratory Corp. of America, based in Burlington, N.C.; Aurora Diagnostics, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and Sonic Healthcare USA, the U.S. unit of Australia-based Sonic HealthCare Ltd. ARUP Laboratories, a large regional lab based in Salt Lake City, also declined comment.
The Republic obtained a letter from ARUP Laboratories’ medical director, Robert Schlaberg, to the lab’s clients in which he noted the Becton Dickinson bulletin and indicated that ARUP had done its own “validation study” on SurePath for HPV tests.
Schlaberg declined to respond to questions about any concerns, or whether ARUP had taken steps to address them.
Of the other national laboratory companies, only Quest Diagnostics, of Madison, N.J., and Bio-Reference Laboratories, of Elmwood Park, N.J., responded in detail to questions from The Republic.
Sonic’s director of marketing communications, Nicole York, said in a statement, “We have reviewed literature and completed validations for the media we use. Furthermore, we have preanalytic handling in place that is appropriate to detect HPV in the media.” She said the company would not respond further.
In a written statement, Quest spokeswoman Wendy Bost said that Quest only began offering HPV tests using SurePath after completing its own validation study in 2003. Federal regulations don’t require laboratories to perform clinical validations, which compare test results to patients’ actual outcomes. But Bost stated that Quest’s study did include a clinical validation, “which is a step beyond the regulatory requirements.”
Bost wrote that, according to data from Becton Dickinson, false negatives only become an issue after a sample is held eight weeks. Quest usually performs the tests within 48 hours, she said. Other studies that have been published and peer-reviewed in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, the Journal of Virological Methods, Cytopathology and elsewhere, have found that HPV DNA samples in SurePath begin degrading much sooner, in some cases within as little as 24 hours.
Many gynecologists told The Republic their practice has been to await Pap test results before deciding whether to have the lab run an HPV test from the same test-kit sample. If the Pap test shows abnormal cells, then the gynecologist will ask to test the original sample for HPV. That typically means a four- or five-day delay, sometimes more, between collecting a cervical swab and running the HPV test, doctors said. Prior to 2012, national guidelines stated that “evidence was insufficient” to recommend co-testing Pap with HPV, that is, running both samples at the same time.
Quest, in writing, stated, “We’ve discussed this issue with clients that have had any questions or concerns.” Bost declined to say which clients or how many had raised questions or concerns. She declined to provide a copy of Quest’s validation study, which has not been published. Bost said validation studies typically are not published because they’re considered proprietary.
Jim Weisberg, Bio-Reference Laboratories’ medical director, said his company hadn’t known about the false-negative issue before receiving the bulletin from Becton Dickinson. He said Bio-Reference, of Elmwood Park, N.J., continues using SurePath, but has switched 90 percent of its clients from using hybrid-capture II tests to a different test, Roche genotyping, that isn’t known to have the false-negative concern. For the remaining clients, those who don’t want to switch, the company has set a 10-day window for doing the tests.
David Wilbur, director of clinical imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, and professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, said he doesn’t see any reason for “unwarranted consternation” about SurePath’s stability. However, Wilbur also said that “we stick to testing immediately because we’re aware of this issue.... I can’t speak for what other laboratories do.”
Reach the reporter at bob.ortega@arizonarepublic.com.China is putting a face on the economic pessimism it accuses of helping weaken the yuan and the economy: billionaire investor George Soros.
A front-page commentary published in some editions of People’s Daily on Tuesday appeared to warn Mr. Soros would lose any bets he made based on a recent prediction that hard economic times for China are “unavoidable.”
Other state media followed suit. Denouncing “radical speculators,” China's official Xinhua News Agency dismissed the famed currency trader’s view as “the same prediction several times.” The Global Times, in its English edition, asked, “So why are so many Western pundits and media outlets so intent on talking China down?”
The rhetorical shots come as China is making broader efforts with market interventions and rule adjustments to offset the impact of its slowest growth rate in a quarter century, shore up grinding stock markets and stem surging capital outflows. China’s state-run media regularly note concerns the economy is cooling, but they tend to highlight positive aspects of what the government describes as a broad economic restructuring.
The uniformity and prominent placement in government-run media of the challenges to foreign critics, including economists quoted by Western newspapers, appear to suggest growing concern in Beijing that negative sentiment is spreading.
State media warnings directed at private individuals like Mr. Soros are rare. But his legend as an investor stems from a career making profitable currency bets – both real and rumored – that are widely studied in China. It comes just as China’s central bank is taking steps to limit flight from the Chinese yuan by its huge middle class.
Suspicion in China that Mr. Soros is now placing bets against the yuan follow comments he made last week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. “A hard-landing is practically unavoidable,” Mr. Soros told Bloomberg Television. “I’m not expecting it, I’m observing it.”
“Declaring war on China’s currency? Ha,” said the People’s Daily commentary, which appeared in the overseas edition, a newspaper aimed at Chinese living outside China. The paper serves as the official purveyor of Communist Party views, and the commentary was authored by a researcher at China’s Commerce Ministry. It wasn’t published in the domestic editions, though it did appear online.
Similar words appeared in other key state media. Multiple news items published by Xinhua raised concerns Mr. Soros would back up his view with powerful bets of a plunge in the yuan or the Hong Kong dollar. "If Soros really does that this time, he will definitely lose money,” economist Li Daokui told Xinhua. “I am worried for him as a friend.”
On social media, many commentators doubted even a rich investor like Mr. Soros could alter Chinese fundamentals, with one saying he “might be able to bully a small country.” Others injected humor, including a widely circulated joke that cast doubt China has the firepower to fight a savvy billionaire following bloody losses in its stock market.
Blaming international currency speculators isn’t a surprise, according to another well-known investor, Jim Rogers, who says they “always” get faulted for market turmoil no matter where, despite evidence that domestic investors are typically a more powerful force. “Everybody looks for a scapegoat,” he said by telephone from Singapore.
Still, Mr. Rogers, a one-time partner of Mr. Soros, says his concern is that China’s slowdown is getting unfair blame for global difficulties, which he says stem from indebted governments in the U.S., Europe and Japan. “I see serious economic problems in the world, worse than we saw in 2008,” said Mr. Rogers, noting that he remains an investor in China’s yuan and listed stocks. “It’s clear these problems didn’t start in China.”
Almost three years ago, Mr. Soros had predicted China was headed for economic hard times – and much of the view was reported by the country’s state media at the time.
Speaking in April 2013 at the Boao Forum, an event the Chinese government styles as its version of Davos, Mr. Soros said the country’s banking system was troubled, its transition to the consumer-led economy wouldn’t be easy and that slower growth could sap confidence, all of which could “precipitate a hard landing.” Mr. Soros added, “The current growth model can continue for another year or two, but not for a decade.”
--James T. Areddy, with contributions by Yang Jie. Follow James on Twitter @jamestareddy.The soldier felled at the National War Memorial was "fearless" and would've held his post even in the face of an imminent threat, his family said in their first public statement since the shooting that rocked the nation's capital.
"Nathan loved the army. He had a strong unwavering devotion to duty; he understood what it meant to sustain freedom," Corporal Nathan Cirillo's family said in the statement, released Friday evening, just before Cpl. Cirillo's body was returned to his hometown of Hamilton |
voters into the process. A recent Gallup poll showed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Bachmann generating the highest “positive intensity” among Republicans, which is based on the difference between strongly favorable and strongly unfavorable opinions. (Mr. Huckabee, too, is looking as if he’s leaning against running.)
On the minus side for Bachmann, she has a fairly thin political resume – two terms in the US House and three terms in the Minnesota Senate. She can be polarizing. And she has a tendency to misspeak, as with her recent assertion that the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord took place in New Hampshire. And then there was that embarrassing unofficial State of the Union response for the tea party in January, when she appeared to be looking off camera.
Still, she has nothing to lose by running for president, analysts say. She can liven up the debates and carry a torch for the small-government, low-tax tea party movement. And if she falls short of the nomination, she can still run for reelection to the House.
“She will be a well-funded candidate; that isn’t her problem,” says Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. “Her problem is that most Republicans are going to understand that if they nominate her, they have a small chance of winning in November.”
Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., sees the enthusiasm in polls for people like Bachmann and Palin as a sign of the tea party’s exasperation with President Obama.
“They enjoy charismatic flamethrowers who are indulging their hostility,” Mr. Schier says.
As for Romney, the wealthy former businessman could argue that he’s saving his fundraising firepower for the second quarter of 2011. But in reality, any prospective candidate wants to post strong numbers in each quarter.
“He’s a weak frontrunner,” says Mr. Sabato. “It’s not like he’s in the position of a Ronald Reagan [in 1980] or George H. W. Bush [in 1988].”German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a news conference with Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis, Tunisia, March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives took a one point lead over the Social Democrats (SPD) in the latest poll conducted by Emnid for the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, with nearly seven months to go before federal elections.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its CSU Bavarian sister party gained one percentage point to reach 33 percent support, compared with an unchanged 32 percent for the SPD in a poll of 1,403 people taken from Feb. 23 to March 1.
The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party gained one percentage point in the poll to reach 10 percent, while the ratings for the Left party and pro-environment Green party were unchanged at 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
The Free Democratic Party lost one percentage point compared to the last poll to reach 6 percent, just above the 5 percent threshold needed to take seats in parliament.
The increase for Merkel’s conservatives came after a surge in support for the SPD that followed its nomination of former European Parliament President Martin Schulz as its candidate to challenge Merkel in the Sept. 24 national election.
Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term in the election, leads a coalition government made up of the CDU/CSU and the center-left SPD, but Schulz is hoping to win enough votes to form a new government with smaller allies.
The unexpectedly strong gains shown by the SPD - and the CDU/CSU’s slide - have prompted some German media to write about “Merkel fatigue” and what they see as the chancellor’s lack of enthusiasm for this year’s campaign.
“Angela Merkel suddenly seems like one of those dinosaurs that was incapable of adapting in time, and could only hang around limply waiting for its own extinction,” wrote Jakob Augstein, a columnist for Der Spiegel magazine, in Sunday’s edition.
But the new Emnid poll and others taken over the past week showed Merkel’s conservatives have now stabilized and are now polling neck-and-neck or just ahead of the Social Democrats.The singer said that he is constantly in awe of the transcendental beauty of Black women across the globe.
Trey Songz was singin’ a different love song tonight.
The “Trigga Reloaded” singer opened up to ESSENCE about the transcendental beauty of Black women everywhere.
“I was raised by Black women,” Trey said. “I love Black women. I didn’t have a male figure in my life; I had my mother, all my aunties. The strength of them gave me a certain strength.”
The crooner went on, saying that Black women were “everything” to this world. He recalled his recent journey to Africa, praising our wide range of diversity.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see,” he said. “Just the differences in all of us, from the texture of our hair to the color of our skin. There are so many different things that are beautiful about Black women.”
We think you might’ve found your next single, Trey.With the latest update to Adobe Premiere Pro CC, you are now able to create open captions as well as closed captions without the need to ever leave the NLE. If you are in need of a quick and easy way to subtitle your work, this is something that’s definitely worth a look!
Closed Captions Made Easy
Premiumbeat’s Jason Boone has just released a video tutorial in which he discusses the new captioning capabilities in Adobe Premiere Pro CC. This update makes it possible to not only create open captions (which are nothing more than burnt in subtitles) as well as the so-called closed captions, which the viewer is able to toggle on or off as well as switch between different languages. Well, if someone had the patience to type them all into the editor, that is.
How to Create Closed Captions
The process is really pretty straight forward. It can be broken down in 4 simple steps:
insert captions (new item > captions) and choose your video setting
choose your captions format (closed or open captions)
edit captions (writing, formatting, timing)
export (burnt in or sidecar file)
That’s it, really. You no longer need a third party tool for this task, at least if the available settings meet your needs in terms of formatting options and so on. The options are quite limited, but to my mind subtitles don’t need to be super fancy.
Conclusion
Watching the video above, the process seems to be very simple and straight forward. But in the end, we’re talking about a tiny plugin within a NLE, and I’m not entirely sure if I would want to create closed captions for a 90min piece that way. Maybe other third-party solutions like MacCaption (CaptionMaker on Windows – website) might be the more efficient tool when it comes to projects with a lot of text. On the other hand, the closed caption tool is deeply integrated within Premiere Pro and it comes as a free update, while the MacCaption software starts at $1,095 up to a whooping $6,235. That’s only reasonable if you are doing A LOT of professional work on a daily basis.
What do you think? A much welcomed feature or something you don’t really need? Let us know in the comments section below!
source: Premiumbeat.comBreaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
May 24, 2015, 2:17 PM GMT / Updated May 25, 2015, 12:10 AM GMT
John Nash, winner of the Nobel prize in economics and the subject of the movie "A Beautiful Mind," was killed with his wife Saturday in a car crash in New Jersey, according to state police.
Nash and his wife, Alicia, were traveling in a taxi on the New Jersey Turnpike in Middlesex County when it hit a guardrail, killing both at the scene, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Gregory Williams said Sunday morning.
The cab driver and a person in another car involved in the crash were brought to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Williams said.
Actor Russell Crowe, who played Nash in the movie based on the 1998 biography, tweeted Sunday morning, "Stunned... my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family. An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts."
Nash earned his Ph.D from Princeton University in 1950, and "the impact of his 27 page dissertation on the fields of mathematics and economics was tremendous," according to the school. Nash later returned to work for the university.
"John's remarkable achievements inspired generations of mathematicians, economists and scientists who were influenced by his brilliant, groundbreaking work in game theory," said Princeton's president Christopher L. Eisgruber Sunday.
Nash, 86, married Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Lardé in 1957, but two years later, while she was pregnant, he was afflicted with "mental disturbances," according to a short autobiography on the Nobel Prize website. Their son, John Charles Martin Nash, was born shortly after Nash was admitted to the hospital for schizophrenia treatment.
After a time in the hospital, Nash wrote he reverted to "thinking of myself as a human of more conventional circumstances and return to mathematical research." He was awarded the Nobel Economics Prize for his research in game theory in 1994.
He and his wife had divorced in 1963, but stayed close and were remarried in 2001, according to his biography.
Nash and his wife had recently traveled back from Norway, where he received the 2015 Abel Prize, awarded to outstanding mathematicians, Tuesday from Norway’s King Harald V.Over the weekend, Google released an updated version of a previously heavily redacted Federal Communication Commission (FCC) document that now reveals startling details about the company's Street View project.
The new information indicates that, contrary to what the company had maintained, there were several employees and at least one senior manager who knew of the data gathering occurring within the Street View project.
The passages make frequent reference to an unnamed programmer, dubbed "Engineer Doe," who was intimately involved in developing the data collection tool for Street View. The document states that, in response to the FCC's letter of inquiry (LOI), "Google made clear for the first time that Engineer Doe's software was deliberately written to capture payload data." And, according to the document, the engineer's software tool "would collect payload data that Engineer Doe thought might prove useful for other Google services."
Based on previous reports, these facts aren't much of a revelation. However, the real meat of the document lies in its detailing of who knew what and when regarding Street View data collection. On page 15 of the 25-page document, the FCC says that "As early as 2007 and 2008, Street View team members had wide access to Engineer Doe's Wi-Fi data collection document and code, which revealed his plan to collect payload data... Engineer Doe specifically told two engineers working on the project, including a senior manager, about collecting payload data. Nevertheless, managers of the Street View project and other Google employees who worked on Street View have uniformly asserted in declarations and interviews that they did not learn the Street View cars were collecting payload data until April or May 2010."
These details come several days after Google agreed to pay the $25,000 fine imposed by the FCC related to the matter.
Speaking to the LA Times, Google spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said, "We decided to voluntarily make the entire document available except for the names of individuals While we disagree with some of the statements made in the document, we agree with the FCC's conclusion that we did not break the law. We hope that we can now put this matter behind us."
That may be wishful thinking. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) recently asked the Department of Justice to step into the Google Wi-Fi data collection issue, arguing that a recent $25,000 fine doesn't go far enough.
Heavy Internet and Wi-Fi users unfamiliar with the document detailing the FCC's efforts to extract information about Google's Street View project may want to take a look at the findings. The report includes examples of what the FCC deemed inappropriate data gathering by the Street View program in France, the Netherlands, and Canada. One passage cites a 2010 report from Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada(OPC), in which sample payload data that Google collected in Canada was examined. The Payload data in Canada included "complete email messages, along with email headers, IP addresses, machine hostnames, and the contents of cookies, instant messages and chat sessions."
Toward the end of the document, the FCC concludes, "For more than two years, Google's Street View cars collected names, addresses, telephone numbers, URLs, passwords, e-mail, text messages, medical records, video and audio files, and other information from Internet users in the United States."
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.The Nihonium element approved last week by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry with the atomic number 113 is believed to have “severe isolationist characteristics” and is “extremely resistant to foreign bodies”.
Scientists from the Japanese government-backed Riken research institute who successfully created Nihonium say it demonstrates external signs of respect towards alien entities, but a complex mix of reactions deep within the element are triggered if foreign particles stray too close.
“Nihonium is a rare element that repels any particle with a different physical appearance to itself,” said one researcher.
“It also has a half-life that lasts twenty seconds, without fail, on the dot.”
The research team says the Nihonium element exists in a state of isolation and thrives in environments of excessive pressure.
“Its electrons, which have masculine characteristics, work overtime in an endless cycle outside the nucleus while the protons ensure order is maintained inside the nucleas by keeping its family of neutrons organized and tidy.”
Scientists believe the Nihonium element self-destructs after it realizes it is associated with having a “half-life”.
The team of Japanese researchers have raised some concerns that the Nihonium element, which has the atomic symbol “Nh” on the periodic table, has been positioned directly next to “Cn”.
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Liberals rejoiced when Michele Bachmann announced her intention to retire from Congress at the end of 2014. Bachmann will no longer be around to carry the tea party banner in Congress. But she’s almost guaranteed to be replaced by another far-right conservative. Minnesota’s 6th District skews heavily Republican—voting 56 percent for Romney in 2012. Whichever GOPer emerges from the primary should easily waltz to a general election win in November. And that successor could either be a Bachmann clone or Minnesota’s own version of Grover Norquist.
The race is between two candidates from diverging wings of the Republican Party: There’s Tom Emmer, the social conservative who hews closely to Bachmann, and Phil Krinkie, a small-business owner whose mission in life is to block tax increases. A key vote for the nomination comes this week. Minnesota’s primary isn’t until August, but candidates are traditionally handpicked at summer conventions by the state party, while the primary is a mere formality. Local precincts will hold caucuses on Tuesday to elect delegates to the state convention, determining which candidate has the edge.
Emmer, a failed gubernatorial candidate from 2010, closely replicated the Bachmann model. For his first major bill after he entered the Minnesota House in 2005, Emmer proposed that the state medically castrate sex offenders. That was just the beginning of a career defined by extreme views. He’s unsure when quizzed about evolution. He favors harsh immigration laws—Arizona’s punitive 2010 law was a “wonderful first step.” He thinks a minimum wage for restaurant staff is a silly concept: “With the tips that they get to take home, they are some people earning over $100,000 a year,” Emmer said during his 2010 campaign.
Exempting Minnesota from federal laws was Emmer’s pet cause as a legislator. He proposed the Firearms Freedom Act, an implausible bill that would have declared Minnesota exempt from federal gun laws. He then took that a step further, introducing a bill that said Minnesota must ignore any federal law unless a supermajority approved each measure. “A federal law does not apply in Minnesota unless that law is approved by a two-thirds vote of the members of each house of the legislature and is signed by the governor,” his bill read. None of these measures succeeded, but they charmed the Bachmann wing of Minnesota’s Republican Party.
Despite that track record, his national reputation centered on his staunch anti-LGBT views during his 2010 campaign. He had been at the forefront of pushing amendments to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage and palled around with Bradlee Dean, a Christian radio host know for praising countries that execute gay people. When Target donated $150,000 to a pro-Emmer PAC (Best Buy and 3M—other Fortune 500s based in Minnesota—also chipped in) in 2010, LGBT groups rallied against the donation and launched a boycott of Target, which later apologized for the donation.
Emmer should be the front-runner for the nomination after reaching statewide notoriety during his run for governor. But his failure in that race left a bad impression among many Minnesota Republicans. He lost to Democrat Mark Dayton, a politician previously known for his truly inept single term in the US Senate, in a year primed for a GOP win (the party gained majorities in both houses of the state Legislature that year). When Emmer ran for one of the state’s slots on the Republican National Committee the following April, he failed to even make it off the first ballot.
His main opponent might present an appealing alternative for a state Republican Party trying to repair its image after major losses in 2012. Phil Krinkie, a fellow former House member, is equally conservative but emphasizes a different agenda. Where Emmer is the descendant of Jerry Falwell, Krinkie takes his cues from Grover Norquist—with his obstinate opposition to tax increases. (A third candidate, Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah, has struggled to raise money and lacks Krinkie and Emmer’s statewide recognition.)
“Krinkie is from the first wave of the rote right-wing Republicans, the first wave of people who voted the party line no matter what. And Emmer is just pre-tea-party,” says Sarah Janecek, a lobbyist and Republican activist. “There really isn’t much difference between Krinkie and Emmer on the issues. This is more about personality, reputation, past history.”
Krinkie, owner of a heating and air conditioning business, served in the state House from 1991 to 2006. During that time he formed the Fiscal Conservative Caucus, a coalition of fiscal hawks who opposed any and all efforts to raise taxes. His nickname in the state capitol was “Dr. No.” He was a particular thorn in the side of former Gov. Jesse Ventura, at one point personally filing a lawsuit to block Ventura’s effort to expand public transportation. His biggest national media hit to date came in 2001, when Bryant Gumble interviewed him on CBS about Ventura’s decision to announce XFL games.
Krinkie lost his seat in 2006 to a Democratic challenger by a scant 55 votes. But in 2007 he became president of the Taxpayer’s League of Minnesota, a group that mirrors the model of Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. The group gets legislators to sign pledges against raising taxes. “They were really the organization that drove the no new taxes line, and if you do raise taxes we will get rid of you,” says Janecek. But the Taxpayers League does more than offer basic encouragement on resisting tax increases: It also keeps Republicans in check on a whole host of conservative ideals. Beyond tax increases, its 2013 scorecard ranking legislators include demerits for lawmakers who supported bills that allowed child care providers to unionize, votes to implement health care exchanges in the state, and environmental studies.
Krinkie ran for this same congressional seat in 2006 but lost the nomination to Bachmann. “Between Krinkie and Bachmann, the claim can be made that the race now features both the Legislature’s most fiscally conservative and socially conservative members,” Minnesota Public Radio said when he entered the race. Last time the GOP sided with the social wing. After eight years of Bachmann and Emmer’s embarrassing run for governor, the fiscal side might win out.A customer purchased a “Live Free or Die” wood plaque and a “Legalize Gay Marijuana” bumper sticker at the Free State Bitcoin Shoppe in Portsmouth, New Hampshire using an encrypted digital currency called ZCash. The cryptocurrency is the most private money ever created, relying on a complex mathematical principle called a “Zero-Knowledge Proof”. Essentially this customer took some digital cash, locked it in a box with a secret key, and sent the shop the key. There is no discernible trail left. No observer can look up the transaction on the blockchain, not even those who know the sending/receiving addresses. Pretty slick! Here’s what it looked like:
This marks yet another turning point for human freedom. An evolution on the creation of bitcoin, this new cryptocurrency offers features and advantages that bitcoin simply doesn’t. While many are still holding fast to the promises of failing Federal Reserve Notes, others are seeking alternatives and building more reliable systems that make extortion far more difficult. Learn more by following the Free State Bitcoin Shoppe on Twitter and by joining their email list.LISTEN: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Guinness World Records will reportedly allow Seahawks fans to take another run at a noise record when the team takes on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, Dec. 2.
Joe Tafoya, the former player behind the first effort to break a noise record at CenturyLink, tweeted out that Guinness says if fans and the organization are behind it, Seattle can take another shot.
Just heard from Guinness World Records. We are ok to make another attempt on MNF if the fans & organization want. #Volume12 — Joe Tafoya (@JoeTafoya) October 15, 2013
Seahawks fans briefly held the record for the “loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium” after hitting 136.6 decibels in the Sept. 15 game against the San Francisco 49ers, topping the old record of 131.76 set at a soccer match at the Turk Telecom Arena in Istanbul, Turkey.
But last Sunday, Kansas City Chiefs fans hit 137.5 decibels, putting fans at Arrowhead Stadium atop the 12th man as loudest fans in the NFL. It took Chiefs fans until the fourth quarter to hit the record.
“In the fourth quarter, they got to 135.4, and that’s where we thought they were going to finish,” said the adjudicator from Guinness, Philip Robertson. “Heads dropped, but then the fans really started working together.”
KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neil says he thinks the new record isn’t quite fair.
“We were responding to the game,” says Don. “It wasn’t artificial. I’m wondering why Kansas City got to do it that way.”
Don says Seahawks fans didn’t even know they broke the record until they got home, while Chiefs fans got to see the meter on a huge video screen. They were also prompted, while the 12th Man was merely reacting to the game.
He also says it wasn’t the loudest he’s ever heard the stadium on the day the 12th Man broke the record.
“If you went back to the time when we really launched Beast Mode… that’s probably the loudest I’ve heard it at CenturyLink,” says Don.
He also recommends a rematch during the Saints game.
It looks like it’s up to the Seahawks organization and the 12th Man to decide if they’re ready to take back the title.Image copyright Police Scotland
Police have released CCTV images of a woman they want to trace as part of an investigation into an attack that left a 21-year-old man permanently scarred.
The man was left with several cuts to his face after the assault in Ye Olde Inn at Davidson's Mains in Edinburgh.
The attack took place at about 21:00 on Saturday, 22 August.
Officers said anyone who recognised the woman from the images should contact them immediately.
Det Sgt Andrina Cunningham said: "The victim sustained some painful injuries to his face, which are likely to leave permanent scarring and our inquiries into this attack are ongoing.
"We are keen to trace the woman pictured in the CCTV footage as part of this investigation and anyone who recognises her is asked to contact police immediately.
"In addition, anyone with any further information relevant to this incident should also get in touch."UPDATED
The role of Black Lives Matter in Ivy League ‘fragility’
WASHINGTON, DC – When Yale University students publicly berated Nicholas Christakis for four hours over his wife’s views about Halloween costumes in 2015, the national backlash against their behavior missed a “darker scandal,” according to a new mini-documentary.
The Ivy League school has transformed into an “administrative squid monster” that prioritizes the satisfaction of student whims through an ever-expanding bureaucracy, in the words of Silence U Part 2.
It’s the sequel to filmmaker Rob Montz’s mini-documentary about his alma mater Brown University, released last summer, and it largely follows the Montz-narrated structure of the first Silence U.
Montz gave a preview screening of his latest work Monday night, followed by a panel discussion with a Yale alum who contrasted today’s campus climate with that of the mid-2000s.
Other Yale alumni, including a 2016 graduate who witnessed the Christakis shoutdown, shared their experiences from the audience. The film will debut on WeTheInternet.tv March 21, followed by screenings in Los Angeles.
The recent violent protest at Middlebury College against libertarian scholar Charles Murray shows that campus attacks on free speech are “not right-wing sensationalism” but evidence of institutional “rot,” Montz said to introduce the screening.
Don’t ruin your future by saying ‘controversial things’
The documentary portrays a university that has drifted far from its 1974 Woodward Report, a defense of freedom of expression against justice-minded suppression in the Vietnam era.
It begins with footage of the angry crowd around Christakis, then the master of the Silliman residential college, defending his wife Erika’s views.
Also a professor and associate master of Silliman, Erika Christakis had recently challenged an administration email about rules against “appropriative” Halloween costumes. The documentary shows a photo of the student who filed the initial complaint against her – dressed in an appropriative Aladdin costume for Halloween.
Out of dozens of students who had publicly defended Erika, only one student agreed to appear in the documentary, Montz narrates. Grace Pan says she was accused of violating her status as a “queer woman of color” for expressing her unexpected views.
The other students “don’t want to jeopardize their ascension into America’s ruling class,” Montz narrates, quoting one student who said there’s no professional benefit to saying “controversial things.”
Nicholas Christakis, a sociologist and physician, was a peculiar figure to target, according to his Yale colleague Douglas Stone: His research is saving lives around the world. A photo shows a younger Nicholas, who is of Greek descent, with his nonwhite siblings.
In the crowd footage, a student scolds Nicholas and says “now I want your job to be taken from you.” As Montz narrates, “these are moves of power, not moves of reason.”
The student protesters next target a free-speech conference that was happening on campus at the same time the Christakises became radioactive.
One makes it into the room to lunge toward and shout down Foundation for Individual Rights in Education President Greg Lukianoff, who had filmed some of the interactions between Nicholas and students.
Lukianoff’s offense was apparently joking that the students who yelled at Nicholas had acted as if he had “burned down an Indian village.”
Montz reminds viewers that this is the home of the Woodward Report.
‘Cookies and puppies’ over intellectual rigor
What’s behind this shift? University of Pennsylvania Law Prof. Amy Wax, a Yale alumna, says the school has become an “entertainment warehouse” for students.
A video montage shows the plethora of non-academic social activities Yale offers, including a promotional video full of student choreography.
Former Yale English Prof. William Deresiewicz, whose bestseller Excellent Sheep scolded the Ivy League for producing students who couldn’t think critically, blames the increasing number of administrative offices that cater to students’ every whim.
He points to the presence of four dean-level Yale officials in the crowd that berated Nicholas Christakis, none of whom spoke up. They included the author of the original Halloween costume email, Senior Associate Dean Burgwell Howard.
It’s this non-academic bureaucracy that Montz terms the “squid monster,” which is “chowing down on the very heart of the university.” He cites the university’s $50 million faculty diversity initiative, a direct response to the fall 2015 protests.
Showing social media postings from Yale offices, Montz narrates that administrators seem more interested in handing out “cookies and puppies” than promoting intellectual rigor.
Interspersed with footage of offended students yelling, Yale President Peter Salovey says days after the Christakis shoutdown that the community shares the same values.
‘A lot of the liberals on campus didn’t want to debate’
The crazy thing about the Halloween costume debacle is “there’s no history of racist Halloween costumes” at Yale, 2006 alum and journalist Jamie Kirchick said on the post-screening panel.
“It was the same email that he wrote at Northwestern!” he exclaimed: Howard had held a similar position at the suburban Chicago university in the middle of an actual costume controversy. (In a report on Howard’s 2015 exit, The Daily Northwestern notes his new role in an ambitious Yale effort: growing undergraduate enrollment by 15 percent in a single year.)
Yale was a different place in the George W. Bush administration, Kirchick recounted. Students twice hosted the controversial Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, a vocal critic of “radical Islam,” with no attempted shoutdowns.
But there were clues as to who was interested in intellectual exchanges, he said: Conservatives dominated the Political Union, a debating society. “A lot of the liberals on campus didn’t want to debate. They were out protesting,” said Kirchick, author of the new book The End of Europe.
Then-Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway wasn’t interested in debating either, according to Montz. In footage that didn’t make it in, students surround Holloway – a black professor of African-American history – and call him a “race traitor” for not swiftly condemning Erika Christakis.
“In that moment” Holloway could have challenged the ignorance of students with his “vast intellectual arsenal,” yet days later he joined with President Salovey in apologizing and announcing the new diversity initiative, Montz said.
Yale has “the best minds on planet earth,” he continued, and the “administrative apparatus” won’t let them challenge their students with controversial ideas.
(left to right: Kmele Foster, Jamie Kirchick, Lou Perez, Rob Montz)
“Yale certainly is a business” and if students wanted intellectual rigor, “then this business would in fact serve them,” said Freethink Media partner Kmele Foster, who made the North Korean propaganda documentary Juche Strong with Montz.
Instead, it’s full of students who know full well there are “categories of things we cannot discuss” without threatening their careers, so they avoid the conversation, said Foster, who co-hosts the libertarian podcast The Fifth Column.
Foster said Yale students were culturally ignorant in their offense at certain Halloween costumes. “All culture is appropriation … you are borrowing from various places,” he said, noting that’s why he purchased an outfit resembling a monk’s robe.
But the main goal of “the church of antiracism,” as Columbia linguist John McWhorter calls the loose-knit movement, is to “come out against anything that seems racially insensitive … even if we overcorrect,” Foster said.
And the focus on race is obliterating more important discussions about class imbalance in the Ivy League, said Montz, recommending the nonfiction book The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.
It tells the story of a black Yale student whose brilliance couldn’t overcome his rough upbringing in Newark, which isolated him from the privileged majority at Yale, black and white.
‘They need students to be unhappy to justify their expansions’
Yale alumni in the audience also shared their perspectives.
2003 graduate Peter Somerville said “the customer service mindset takes over” in students when tuition is so high – the sticker price will be $69,000 next year.
It’s paying for the so-called squid monster, said Montz. Pointing back to the violent Middlebury protest in response to a social scientist whose work students had never read, he said that administrators “need students to be unhappy to justify their expansions.”
2016 graduate Ugonne Eze pointed to another factor: the pursuit of “social cachet.”
Students who don’t express “the right ideas” can’t attain the high-level connections they need to justify their Ivy League educations. They are “radicalized” by their peers, and they speak the language of intersectionality and oppression by the time they graduate, Eze said.
The only dissent to the prevailing orthodoxy is expressed by the “far right,” he said, and “you don’t want to be affiliated with the crazy guy” who invited Milo Yiannopoulos to campus.
Kirchick confirmed that he, unlike the leaders of the black, Latino and LGBT associations, was never tapped to join an exclusive Yale group.
But as a young Jewish student, he did attend a campus speech by an antisemitic black writer who had been invited by a black dean – the same person who would condemn the Christakises a decade later. “It was a really important stage in my development as a young man,” Kirchick said.
Black ‘hyperbole’ and white hesitance
The Yale Halloween freakout can’t be analyzed outside the growing influence of the Black Lives Matter movement at that time, said Foster. A young black woman who yelled at Nicholas Christakis that “we are dying” was using the “vernacular” of the movement.
It speaks to the perception of black people that they are “at a unique risk” even in safe settings, and the BLM movement only heightens their “fragility,” Foster said. Perhaps Yale has now decided that this “hyperbole” around offensive words is “the new boundary line.”
Kirchick chimed in that white people are loath to tell a black person “you’re being ridiculous,” regardless of the circumstances: Everyone is afraid of being called racist.
And professors don’t want to challenge illiberal students, because “these kids cycle out every four years anyway,” said Montz, claiming that a “relatively small slice” of the professoriate is actually egging on raucous student protests.
UPDATE: The original title of the documentary that Montz gave The Fix will not be used when it officially debuts. Its name will be Silence U Part 2. The article has been amended accordingly.
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IMAGE: Greg Lukianoff/YouTube, ABC News/YouTubeMerry Christmas everyone!Apologies for the month-long hiatus, some delays along with OWC and school exams have had me put this off for longer than I had wished to. Loved voting has returned as a Christmas treat and starting in 2018, my goal is to have these polls run as timely as possible.This week will run similarly as it had to last month as we're still working around the new website's features in making this possible. Strawpoll links have been created for each individual map, which you can vote on now to see your favorite maps enter the Loved category!We are still playing around with an approval rating required for a map to qualify, though the last group results had their cap set atHere are these week's nominees for osu!standard!Circle People has kindly offered to make regular map showcase videos if you want to see what each map is about and why it was nominated!Use the timestamps in the description to jump to whatever mode you're interested in!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Map selection provided by Toy and Kaifin by Onisakura by DoKito by Snow Note by Zapy by Smoothie by Necroh by cRyo[iceeicee] by BarkingMadDog by Guy by fanzhen0019 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Link to threads for other modes:Conor McGregor seemed poised to throw down with just about everyone Friday.
Hours after a tense confrontation and Twitter beef with Tyron Woodley, McGregor had verbal altercations with both Woodley and Khabib Nurmagomedov backstage at the UFC 205 ceremonial weigh-ins Friday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York.
UFC Español tweeted both videos afterward.
With Woodley, McGregor seemed to be shouting at him while waiting in line to get on stage for the weigh-ins. McGregor called him a "woman" with his "camera phone" and said Woodley was a "bitch," piggybacking on what he said earlier on Twitter.
Nurmagomedov seemed to be the aggressor in the situation with McGregor, though it was hard to tell since the video only showed what was likely the tailed of the argument. Security got between the two men.
McGregor could end up facing both Woodley and Nurmagomedov in the future — just not at UFC 205 when McGregor challenges for the lightweight title against Eddie Alvarez on Saturday at MSG. Woodley, the welterweight champ, could be in McGregor's sights if he beats Alvarez to make history as the first UFC fighter to hold two belts at two different weight classes at the same time. Woodley defends his belt against Stephen Thompson this weekend.
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov meets Michael Johnson on Saturday and a win there could cement him as the No. 1 contender at lightweight. And McGregor could very well be the lightweight champion soon enough.UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday as credible.
Syria is one of Russia’s top weapons customers. The United States and European Union have suggested the U.N. Security Council should impose an arms embargo and other U.N. sanctions on Syria for its 14-month assault on a pro-democracy opposition determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
But Russia, with the support of fellow veto power China, has prevented the council from imposing any U.N. sanctions on Syria and has refused to halt arms sales to |
Havilland plant in Toronto on December 15, 1967, and taking to the air three weeks later. Scrolling down the fact sheet, I pieced together its history, beginning with more than a decade of jungle flying in Suriname, and followed by a move to Canada’s West Coast in the 1980s, brief turns with an Alberta skydiving operation and an Edmonton mining company, a couple of stints in mothballs, and eventually its sale to Westcoast Air in 1997. I could also see that it had been damaged in a hard landing in 1989, although on my thirty-five-minute flight to Vancouver it showed no ill effects from the accident or its advanced years. Taking off into a brisk headwind, it climbed to 1,500 feet above the Strait of Georgia, skimming over the trees in Stanley Park on final approach, and settling to a stop within seconds of touching down on the gunmetal waters of Vancouver’s Coal Harbour.
The archive shows that most Twin Otters retire gracefully, although many of the older ones—about 30 percent of those on file—have either been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in accidents, a high rate of attrition compared with that of mainstream aircraft such as the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320. “It’s usually not the fault of the airplane,” observes the archive’s co-founder, Neil Aird, an aviation artist who lives in Kingston. Unlike 737s or A320s, Twin Otters spend much of their working lives flying on the razor’s edge, where an inexperienced or overzealous pilot can quickly plow them into a jungle hillside or bury them up to their withers in unstable polar ice.
Another network of enthusiasts tracks the movements of Twin Otters around the world. Most of the planes they stalk are unexceptional workhorses, but a few qualify as celebrities. Spotters in western Canada might catch a glimpse of C-GKBG, the Twin Otter owned by Kenn Borek Air of Calgary, which flew to the South Pole in April 2001 to evacuate an ailing American physician from the Amundsen-Scott research station. In doing so, it became the first and only plane ever to land in the total darkness and minus 60° temperatures of the polar mid-winter. It was guided to the snow-covered landing strip by barrels of burning trash. Twelve years later, Dr. Ronald Shemenski, himself a private pilot, wonders whether his pancreatitis justified the risks. “I kept feeling I was not rescued but kidnapped,” he says, “but you can’t take away anything from what the pilots and that plane did.” The Twin Otter that retrieved him has flown back and forth to Antarctica many times since. Last January, it took part in the search for another Kenn Borek–owned Twin Otter that crashed into an icy mountainside in the Queen Alexandra Range, killing a veteran pilot and two younger crew members.
Vacationers in Costa Rica can take a ride in another famous Twin Otter: the plane that was sent to pick up US congressman Leo Ryan from his ill-fated mission to Guyana in 1978 to investigate the Jonestown suicide cult. Ryan and four of his party were shot to death at an airstrip as they tried to flee, but the patched-up TI-AZC survived to fly again. Today it takes tourists on eco-flights over the rainforest.
The most road-worn Twin Otter was probably number 543, built in 1977 and used as an island hopper in the Caribbean by Winair until it was retired in 2002 after 132,000 landings, having delivered some of the richest people on earth onto some of the shortest commercial runways on earth.
The Twin Otter was not supposed to be the airplane it turned out to be. The truth is that de Havilland Canada got lucky, and so, in time, did the entire Canadian aerospace industry.
As a Crown corporation during World War II, after building thousands of trainers and Mosquito combat planes, de Havilland Canada needed to reinvent itself for peacetime. Returning to civilian life as a subsidiary of its British parent, the company turned its attention to designing and building single-engine STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft for use in the Canadian North. Bush plane operators loved the legendary DHC-2 Beaver, first flown in 1947, and its larger cousin, the DHC-3 Otter, introduced in 1951. The ability of both models to haul passengers and cargo in and out of short, rough airfields also caught the eye of military users, particularly the United States, which bought 240 Otters, and close to 1,000 Beavers, about two-thirds of the entire twenty-year production run. Both saw extensive action in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
In 1963, Russ Bannock, de Havilland Canada’s director of military sales and later its president, was returning from one of his regular trips to Vietnam to inspect the technical and maintenance operations the company ran for the US Army. He later told Fred W. Hotson, author of The de Havilland Canada Story, that on the long flight home he kept turning over in his mind a conversation with one particular general. While the army liked its Otters, the general said, it would be interested in a version with more capacity. He also thought that for safety’s sake and greater heft, two engines would be preferable to one, and that in crosswinds a tricycle undercarriage would provide better stability than the Otter’s tail wheel. Bannock sketched out some ideas and presented them to de Havilland engineers when he got back to Toronto.
The company, by then owned by Hawker Siddeley in the United Kingdom, had experience in designing and building twin-engined STOL planes for military use. The DHC-4 Caribou had been flying since 1958, and a younger, turbine-powered sibling, the DHC-5 Buffalo, was in development. Canadian bush plane operators such as Max Ward had long craved bigger payloads and the safety of multiple engines. Just outside of Montreal, Pratt & Whitney Canada was developing a new turbine engine, the PT6A, which delivered more power with less weight than piston engines. With the stars aligned and the deep pockets of the US military squarely in their sights, de Havilland Canada’s board of directors gave the Twin Otter the green light. Work on one prototype and four test aircraft began immediately. On April 29, 1965, the prototype was rolled out of de Havilland’s plant in the northern Toronto suburb of Downsview. Three weeks later, test pilots Bob Fowler and Mick Saunders flew the airplane for the first time.
The prototype, the one so unceremoniously banished to the annex of the air and space museum in Ottawa, performed well, but the business plan crashed and burned. The Pentagon had expressed an interest in buying 100 Twin Otters, but almost in the next breath caved in to lobbying by US manufacturers and decided it didn’t need a plane with STOL performance after all. The key factor for the army now was cost, which opened the field to cheaper homegrown competitors. A worried de Havilland began looking for new customers.
As it happened, the stillbirth of the military Twin Otter coincided with the first wobbly steps of the US commuter airline business. Air taxi operators in the northeast, the Midwest, and southern California who had been plying increasingly busy routes with a mixed bag of small, aging, piston-powered planes looked inside the Twin Otter’s boxy but comparatively spacious cabin—big enough for nineteen passengers, but small enough not to require flight attendants or a lavatory—and saw profits. Pilgrim Airlines of New London, Connecticut, and Air Wisconsin of Appleton, Wisconsin, each anted up the $300,000 it took to buy early examples. An air taxi operation in Houston that later became Metro Airlines was the first to take full advantage of the Twin Otter’s STOL capabilities, constructing its own 760-metre runway at NASA’s Clear Lake space centre, and shuttling customers to and from Houston’s two airports on seventy-five daily flights, some as short as nine minutes.
The early success of the US commuter business bred dozens of new feeder lines, with names like Westair, Newair, Commuter Air, and Golden West. It was the dawn of today’s hub-and-spoke air travel system, which links small regional and big international airports. It evolved on the back of the humble little twin-engined plane from Canada. Half of the Twin Otters sold in the first three years ended up working commuter routes, so dominating the US market that the plane became the benchmark for the Federal Aviation Administration’s new certification standards for commuter aircraft.
In the early 1970s, specially outfitted eleven-seat models served as the mainstay of Airtransit, the experimental Canadian government–funded service, which shuttled commuters between a 610-metre runway fashioned out of a parking lot at the Expo 67 site in Montreal and Ottawa’s Rockcliffe Airport, a short cab ride from Parliament Hill. By the middle of the decade, the Twin Otter was the preferred island hopper in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. Norway designed an entire system of thirty-five regional airports around the airplane’s short-field capability. The feeder line idea also caught on in Europe and the UK. Low-cost British carrier Flybe, through its partner Loganair, still uses two Twin Otters to serve the small Outer Hebrides island of Barra, where the runway is the beach (it is the only scheduled service in the world where arrivals and departures are governed by the tides).
By the time the last de Havilland–built Twin Otter rolled off the production line in 1988, it was the bestselling plane of its type anywhere, toiling wherever there was a market for air travel but a shortage of runway. Finally living up to its original billing, it also became a darling of the military. Twin Otters, including four flown by the RCAF, still serve in a dozen air forces worldwide.
University of Toronto historian Michael Bliss earned the eternal scorn of the Avro Arrow subculture when he panned The Arrow, a 1997 cbc miniseries, in a review for Time. “At its best,” he wrote, “The Arrow plays to Boys Own magazine fantasies about scientific miracles and to nationalist longings for what might have been if only the Canadian government had given engineers and designers a blank check.” His charge that bad management had allowed the cost of the Arrow project to spin out of control enraged Elwy Yost, the usually affable host of TVOntario’s now defunct Saturday Night at the Movies and a former Avro employee, who called it the stupidest thing he had heard in four decades.
Bliss nevertheless fired point-blank at some of the most cherished beliefs in the Arrow canon. Among them: the Arrow’s superior performance. It was only superior on paper, he declared. It had not been tested enough to earn its bragging rights in flight, much less combat.
Another bit of dogma The Arrow perpetuates is the notion that cancelling the plane’s production drove a stake through the heart of the Canadian aerospace industry. There is no question that Diefenbaker crushed the dream that Canada could become a world player in the design and manufacture of high-performance military aircraft. And there is no question that his government’s decision doomed Avro, its workforce, and dozens of other companies that were part of the Arrow supply chain, forcing many of the best aeronautical minds in the country to flee for Britain and the US space program. Nevertheless, rumours of the industry’s demise proved to be highly exaggerated. Just ask the 170,000 Canadians who earn their living today building things that fly or parts for things that fly.
The cancellation of the Arrow turned out to be a dose of tough love from Diefenbaker’s Conservatives, forcing the Canadian aerospace industry to exit the military playing field, where it had little real chance of competing, and regroup on one where it could. And it was the Twin Otter, the stalwart offspring of a bush plane, that pointed the way.
Before the Twin Otter, Canadian-made passenger planes were typically designed elsewhere and built here under licence. The noisy, piston-powered North Stars—produced by Canadair in Montreal and flown by Trans-Canada Air Lines, Canadian Pacific, and British Overseas Airways Corporation in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s—were hybrids built from American-designed Douglas C-54/DC-4s and DC-6s and fitted with British engines. Canada’s one serious venture into the airliner business, the ambitious Avro Jetliner program of the late 1940s, was barely airborne before the company’s masters in the federal government grounded it so Avro could focus on building the CF-100 jet interceptor. The Twin Otter’s unexpected success as a commuter carrier revealed an emerging market for an alternative to the big, runway-gobbling 707s, DC-8s, and Electras from the US. Canadian manufacturers have been dominant players in the short- and medium-haul niche ever since.
When Twin Otter production ceased in 1988, de Havilland was owned by Boeing, and one theory holds that the stop-work order was Boeing’s way of expressing displeasure with the decision by Brian Mulroney’s government to buy Airbuses for Air Canada. Another says Boeing simply had no appetite for building small airplanes. In any event, by 1988 de Havilland was deeply involved in the production of two new short-haul passenger planes, the four-engined, fifty-passenger Dash 7, and the twin-engined, thirty-six-passenger Dash-8. In Montreal, Canadair, sold by the Mulroney Tories to Bombardier in 1986, was adapting its hugely successful Challenger business jet into the twin-engined Canadair Regional Jet, which evolved into the most successful plane of its type: 1,395 aircraft in six models were delivered by 2012. All told, de Havilland and Bombardier have sold nearly 1,150 Dash-8s in four versions. There is a bit of the Twin Otter in every one of them.
Bombardier has mined the regional niche to become the third-largest builder of passenger planes in the world, after Boeing and Airbus. Overall, Canada’s aerospace industry is the fifth largest on the planet, generating more than $22 billion a year, which puts it ahead of Russia, Japan, Brazil, and China. Seventy-seven percent of its revenues come from sales of commercial aviation products, compared with a global average of 46 percent. Aerospace research and development pumps $1.6 billion a year into the economy, making it the second-largest R&D sector in the country.
In all, 700 Canadian companies ply this business, exporting 80 percent of what they produce. The biggest players are really big. Bombardier’s aerospace division alone accounts for more than a third of the industry’s sales and employs 35,500 people worldwide. CAE Inc. of Montreal is the world’s largest manufacturer of computerized flight simulators, with production and training facilities in thirty countries and a global workforce of 8,000. US-based Bell Helicopter Textron Canada builds virtually all of Bell’s commercial helicopters at its plant in Mirabel, Quebec. Pratt & Whitney Canada, established in 1929, is one of the world’s largest aircraft engine builders, claiming 50,000 power plants in service in over 200 countries, thanks in no small part to the PT6A turboprop it developed in the 1960s. Among the first companies to buy the PT6A in quantity: de Havilland Canada, for its new Twin Otter.
David Curtis returned from the Paris Air Show with eleven new orders for Viking’s Twin Otter 400. His airplane may be the big kid in the nineteen-seater niche right now, although it is far from alone. A newer version of the Czech-built Let L410, a long-time Soviet bloc workhorse, is now certified to operate worldwide. The Swiss aerospace and defence company RUAG has restarted limited production of the German-designed Dornier 228 after a fifteen-year hiatus. But a deal de Havilland cut four decades ago may yield the biggest challenge of all. In his Otter and Twin Otter book, Sean Rossiter reports that de Havilland sold some Twin Otters to China in the 1970s. As part of the deal, Chinese inspectors came to Toronto to see how the planes were made, ostensibly so operators could keep them flying once they were delivered. In the mid-1980s, the state-owned Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation unveiled an aircraft that bore more than a passing resemblance to the ones those visiting inspectors had been studying. It was christened the Twin Panda.
Harbin, now part of an aerospace mega-conglomerate, has introduced a major upgrade, the Y-12F Aircar, designed to be certified in the West and compete head-to-head with the Twin Otter. It has American avionics and a version of the same engine that powers Viking’s plane, but its landing gear retracts for better aerodynamics and more speed, its cabin is roomier, and with lower production costs its sticker price will no doubt be competitive.
Maybe it was the prospect of trying to showcase his airplane in the shadows of the Boeings, Airbuses, and Bombardiers at the Paris Air Show, or maybe it was the frustrating business of just getting there, but Curtis bristled when I suggested that Canada’s status as the world’s number five aerospace nation was quite an accomplishment. “It’s true,” he said. “Canada punches way above its weight from a population point of view. But just about every country in the developed world wants to be a leader in aerospace. You can’t sit around and say, ‘Woo-hoo—we’re number five,’ because there are probably ten other countries behind you that want to be in front of you.”
Curtis would be the first to admit that building and selling airplanes is always a bit of a crapshoot, especially in a world economy still wobbling from the great recession of 2008–09, but I can’t resist a little crystal balling. If Viking makes good on its plan to build Twin Otters for at least the next ten years, and if they last as long as the oldest de Havilland-built Twin Otters still in service, it is conceivable that those planes will still be flying in 2070. That means the Twin Otter could be in continuous service for more than a century. If that isn’t enough to encourage us to embrace the Twin Otter as Canada’s true sweetheart of the skies, I don’t know what is.DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A Douglas County jury has convicted two people accused of waving Confederate flags, using racial slurs and carrying weapons, disrupting a black child's birthday party.
Jose Torres and Kayla Norton were members of Respect The Flag, a group that had been demonstrating in defense of the Confederate battle flag in July 2015 when they drove past the party.
Their sentencing is set for February 27.
In a written statement, District Attorney Brian Fortner said people had tried to make the case about the defendants' First Amendment rights to display the battle flag. But in the end, he said, it wasn't about that at all.
"Instead, this case was about a group of people riding around our community, drinking alcohol, harassing and intimidating our citizens because of the color of their skin," Fortner said. "Many people from all over this area were so alarmed by this behavior and fearful that something bad was going to happen that they called 911 to report it."
Fortner said that, after stopping at the child's birthday party, members of Respect the Flag pulled a shotgun and pointed it at party-goers, used racial slurs and threatened to kill people at the party.
"I will simply not tolerate this type of behavior in our community," he said. "All of the charges were based on threats to kill others and the pointing of the shotgun. This is behavior that even supporters of the Confederate Battle Flag can agree is criminal and shouldn't be allowed."
Assistant District Attorney David Emadi emphasized the racial nature of the incident.
"This case was about the fundamental right that all people in our community have to live free from fear that at any moment they will be assaulted, threatened, and possibly killed simply because of the color of their skin," he said.
The incident happened in the aftermath of the June 2015 shooting deaths of nine worshipers at a black church in Charleston, S.C. The case focused attention on shooter Dylann Roof's obsession with the Confederate battle emblem and led to backlash against the public display of the symbol.
Members of Respect the Flag had claimed that people at the Douglasville party threw rocks at them as they were driving by in a convoy, prominently displaying the flag.
Several other members of the group also were indicted by a grand jury for their actions that day.
Image via PixabayCredit: DC Comics
Credit: Tony Daniel (DC Comics)
Spoilers ahead for Batman and Robin Eternal #1
Like any good comic book, Batman and Robin Eternal #1 has a final page with some surprising implications for the story to come in DC's weekly series. Over the next six months, the character's will try to solve the mystery surrounding the first issue's final scene.
Yet the thickening plot isn't the most shocking aspect of the issue's cliffhanger ending.
It's that image.
Batman holding a gun... a smoking gun.
And even more shocking: Batman apparently (we'll see) killing someone with a gun.
Credit: DC Comics
For several decades now, Batman has pretty consistently hated guns. Ask any loyal reader and they'll probably all say the same thing — Batman doesn't carry a gun, doesn't use guns, and could even be described as having a fear of guns.
Yet accurate Batman historians will point out that Batman has used a gun in the past. In fact, his origins are filled with example of him using a gun.
So what gives with Batman and guns? As Batman and Robin Eternal #1 (in an issue littered with guns) puts a firearm back into Batman's hand, Newsarama decided to take a look at the history of Batman and guns — and we went to a few Batman experts to gain perspective on why the hero evolved into a character who never uses them.
Pulp Roots
"What a lot of people forget is that Batman originally had guns," explained Brian Azzarello, who's written Batman for comic books and film and is currently co-writing Batman with Frank Miller for Dark Knight III: The Master Race. "Batman was pulp, born and bred. Other than wearing a cowl, that character was a pulp character."
Credit: DC Comics
The idea of Batman as a pulp hero was echoed by Dennis O'Neil, who wrote and edited Batman from the '60s through the '90s. O'Neil said that although the character was introduced May 1939 in Detective Comics #27, his origins can be traced to earlier pulp heroes.
Credit: DC Comics
"Bill Finger openly admitted that his main source of inspiration was [the 1930's pulp character] The Shadow," O'Neil said. "And of course, as Jim Steranko once said, The Shadow didn't believe in the death penalty; The Shadow was the death penalty. Those blazing.45 automatics that he whipped out."
In fact, O'Neil said he's seen evidence that "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," the first Batman story, "was lifted pretty directly from a Theodore Tinsley Shadow story that appeared a couple of years before."
Early Gun Use
During 1939 and 1940, in both Detective Comics and later his own title, Batman, the character was shown carrying and using a gun.
"There's an incident [in Batman #1] where a bad guy is escaping and Batman dives on him with an airplane and machine guns him," O'Neil said. "And Batman has some dialogue in that panel that's like, 'I hate to do this, but it's necessary.'"
Credit: DC Comics
"In another story [from Detective Comics #35], on the splash page, he's carrying an automatic, but it does not show up in the story itself," O'Neil said, adding that there were several other instances of Batman either carrying or firing a gun during the first couple years of his existence, though rarely at actual human beings.
Credit: DC Comics
"I think once or twice in that first year, he was shown with a firearm. And I think what that's about is that they didn't really know what they had," O'Neil said. "The character was very much in intensive evolution mode, for about the first year. And it's right and proper that that be. One of the reasons that the character has lasted is that he has changed with the times."
Neal Adams, the legendary Batman artist and writer who frequently worked with O'Neil, agreed that the character's use of firearms was a product of him being undeveloped.
"Nobody seemed to care much about it," Adams said of Batman's early gun-toting. "Bill Finger and Bob Kane, who did Batman, had Batman actually regularly shoot a gun.
"But in Batman, I believe, issue #4, they discontinued Batman carrying a gun and I think Batman even commented that he doesn't carry guns," Adams said. "But that was 20 issues into Detective Comics, because Batman started there. So he was still carrying a gun for a couple years at the beginning."
No More Guns
There's no definitive source for the reason Batman stopped carrying guns, but the important thing to note about the decision is that an editorial note in Batman specifically stated that "The Batman never carries or kills with a gun," according to Adams and O'Neil.
Credit: DC Comics
"They not only decided to do it, but they codified it," Adams said. "The conversation in the comic was, yeah, we don't carry guns."
Adams said he believes the decision was made by Whitney Ellsworth, an early DC editor. "There was a discussion, I'm told, a discussion around the office about the idea of Batman not carrying a gun," Adams said. "Superman did not carry a gun. Wonder Woman didn't carry a gun. Why is Batman a stone killer? It just seemed uncomfortable for everybody at that time. I can't go back in time, and I can't speculate on it, but I would have agreed [that Batman shouldn't use guns], if I were there at that time. He's certainly got enough weapons, he certainly scares people, and he does all these things that Batman needs to do – why does he pull out a gun and plug somebody?"
"Another theory," O'Neil added, "is that Vin Sullivan, who was the editor, didn't want Batman to carry firearms. I don't know if that's covered in any of the histories or not. Vin Sullivan is comics' forgotten man. His name pops up all the time, but I know nothing about him except that he started his own company in 1948."
Whoever decided it, subsequent editors have respected the law laid down in those early Batman years, that the character never uses guns.
"By the time my merry men and I were running the franchise, by that time, it was established that Batman was not a gun-toter, and I like that," O'Neil said. "Even if it had not been a given of the character, if it had not been, by that time, established for 25 years, I might have done it anyway."
The modern rationale for Batman not carrying a gun — and even hating guns — is that he witnessed his parents' murder by one.
Credit: Lee Weeks (DC Comics)
Paul Levitz, long-time DC writer, editor and former president and publisher, said it just made sense for the character. "In the days when I was editing Batman, it seemed like a natural character facet to have him hate guns, given the horrific gun violence he had witnessed as a child," he said.
But Levitz said the 1940's decision is important because it makes Batman a superhero. "Every writer and editor has their own take, of course, but it probably was an important development in separating him as a super hero from the pulp traditions of characters like The Shadow, who used guns as freely as the villains in their stories."
Azzarello agreed. "The genesis of [Batman] was changed once Superman and the Flash and some of these more superpowered characters started being written," Azzarello said. "It took that Batman out of what was essentially a pulp world.
Exceptions to the Rule
Of course, Batman and Robin Eternal #1 isn't the first time Batman has picked up a gun since the early days. Not only have alternate versions of Batman carried guns, but even main Earth Batman has been shown with a gun — even firing at people — from time to time.
One of the more notable gun-carrying Batman stories was "Batman Year Two" in Detective Comics #575-578. Published on the heels of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the story written by Mike W. Barr briefly established that Batman kept the gun that killed his parents, and he was determined to use it to avenge them.
Credit: DC Comics
"I'm 76 years old, so my mind's not working so well anymore," O'Neil laughed, trying to remember the story that was published early in his tenure as a Batman editor. "It doesn't seem like the type of story I would have been comfortable with.
"But Mike always wanted to do that. He wanted to emphasize certain elements of the character," O'Neil said. "And my policy with writers was, if I cannot give them a very firm, well-reasoned argument not to do something, then they get to do it. If I don't like it, that's not a sufficient reason."
That said, the gun-toting Batman story didn't stick for very long. By the early '90s, "Year Two" had been eliminated from continuity.
Credit: DC Comics
In one of the most recent examples of Batman with a gun, Final Crisis by writer Grant Morrison featured the hero confronting Darkseid with a gun. "I made a very solemn vow about firearms," he says, but then pulls out a gun and adds, "but for you, I'm making a once-in-a-lifetime exception."
Why Batman's Rule Works
Yet for the most part, Batman's one steadfast rule is no guns. And it's something that makes Batman who he is today.
"People have tried to sneak guns into the Batman mythology, but I think it's unfortunate because it does change the character," Adams said. "Batman has replaced the gun. He's replaced the gun with his costume and his ability to terrify gangsters for that little, short second where he can disarm them.
"Batman is one of the greatest trained athletes in the world, so he knows everything you need to know about disarming somebody," Adams added. "And Batman does have armor in his costume. So he has all the weapons necessary to do the job without a gun."
O'Neil said that during his tenure as Batman editor, they even portrayed Batman as having an "almost-phobia" of guns.
Credit: DC Comics
"Our rationale was that Batman's parents were killed by gun violence, and that that gave him a kind of phobia about guns, but more than that, it gave him the realization that killing is something that can't be undone, and he might make mistakes, which is one of the compelling arguments against capital punishment.
"So he didn't carry guns because he intensely disliked them and he was afraid that they would enable him to make a mistake that he couldn't unmake.
"Also, footnote to all of that, in my reading of it, he was almost scarier because he didn't use guns," O'Neil added. "He was so formidable that he didn't need guns. Don't f-- with the Batman, 'cause he'll tear you apart with his hands and he won't bother to pull a gun."By Paul Radu, Mihai Munteanu, and Iggy Ostanin
The bank theft was so outsized and bold that citizens of the Republic of Moldova came out in the streets this past May by the thousands to protest: “We want our billion back!”
They used the number — US$ 1 billion – that news accounts reported had gone missing from three Moldovan banks in November of 2014. Unsure who to blame, the protestors denounced the government, politicians, banks and organized crime.
The theft was a serious setback for Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, with a gross domestic product of only US$ 8 billion and an average wage of US$ 200 per month.
It set off chaos in the local banking system and led to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund suspending financial aid to the country earlier this year. The European Union also froze funding for Moldova until a new government was formed. These moves prompted fears that the country might default on its international obligations.
The protestors last spring, outraged as they were, didn’t know the half of what had been done to them. The November billion was just the latest outrageous crime in a massive, decade-long series by criminals who use this small, Eastern European country as their personal bank.
They also didn’t know that police could have shut down the ring years ago when they confiscated key company stamps and documents central to the corruption ring. But higher-ups stepped in and prevented arrests. The police returned the stamps and documents — which were then used six years later to launder huge sums.
Moldova’s problem goes way behind a single audacious theft. It involves a transnational nexus of government workers, organized criminals and businessmen, all of them untouchable despite their crimes.
A police investigation continues but it seems nobody in the government or law enforcement has had the knowledge, skill, or desire to get at the root of the problem.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) analyzed tens of thousands of records, and found that the same people who stole the bank money operated a seemingly unrelated, large-scale, money laundering operation that laundered more than US$ 20 billion, much of it from Russian and Russian state companies, over the past seven years.
“The main authors of the theft are not in Moldova, they are in the east,” said former Prime Minister Ion Sturza in a television interview. “Moldova laundered Russian Federation money.”
The Vanishing Billions
Moldova is a tiny country squeezed between the interests of Russia and the European Union. Despite or perhaps because of its rampant poverty, it has grown into one of the biggest money laundering hubs on the continent.
Billions in black money flow annually through local banks. Moldova is a proxy – most of the money flowing through its banking system is not Moldovan. But the process has corrupted Moldovan society and wreaked havoc on the country’s politics, economy and judiciary.
The November billion vanished after the banks gave loans to companies owned by people whose identities remain hidden in a maze of offshore corporations. The borrowers took the money and ran. The collapse of these loans was a serious blow to a Moldovan banking sector already buffeted by corruption scandals:
The Magnitsky Affair began in 2007 when US$ 230 million was stolen from the Russian budget. Eventually, the money was routed through a group of Moldovan banks; some of it was traced to high-end real estate in New York City.
The Russian Laundromat, uncovered by OCCRP in October of 2014, was much bigger, passing US$ 20 billion in stolen Russian funds through some of the same Moldovan banks en route to Europe.
The Moldovan government did try to trace the missing billion. In January 2015, it hired the private global due-diligence company, Kroll Inc. Kroll’s first report was leaked to the public by Andrian Candu, the Moldovan Parliament’s president, just days before the mass protests. It revealed little about who ended up with the money, further deepening the mystery.
Following the Kroll report, the Moldovan authorities placed Israeli-born businessman Ilan Shor under house arrest. Shor’s name had been mentioned in the report in connection with the bad loans. Shor runs Banca de Economii bank (the bank involved in the Magnitsky case and one of the three banks robbed) and a football club in Moldova.
Police are still investigating Shor and consider him a suspect in the theft, but they are unsure of his role. He says he’s innocent. In June, he was elected mayor of the small town of Orhei in Moldova.
A major stumbling block for investigators was the fact that in November 2014, right after the theft, an armored transport vehicle carrying 12 sacks of bank documents related to the fraud was stolen and burned in what looked like a well-executed plan to erase any trail that might have led back to the organizers.
This was deja-vu.
The same thing happened in the Magnitsky case, when a truck carrying bank records related to that theft crashed and burned, impairing the ability of the Russian law enforcement to investigate.
The Raiders and the Stamps
The fondness for using Moldovan banks for crime dates back a decade. The mid 2000s were wild years when the local police were overwhelmed by both the advanced money laundering techniques the fraudsters developed and by rampant corruption in their own ranks.
A confidential 2011 Moldovan police report summarized that: “Our investigations and analysis indicate that an organized group specialized in ‘raider’ attacks against large companies operates on the territories of Moldova, Ukraine and Russia. Between 2005 and 2010, this group used decisions issued by courts in Moldova, Ukraine and Moldova to get more than US$ 100 million.”
(A raider attack is the hostile and illegal takeover of a company, sometimes achieved through violence and sometimes through forgery, fraud or corrupt court decisions).
In some cases the raiders were only interested in extorting large sums from companies. A typical scheme might involve getting corrupt judges in Moldova or Ukraine to issue judgments in the raiders’ favor in cases where they claimed fictitious debts from state-owned commercial entities.
Using the court-approved debt as a basis, they could legally take over the company.
The report details a few such cases at length, but one in particular, Penal Case 2008030181, seeded the huge money-laundering tsunami that crashed over the country in the following years.
The Lost Opportunity
In July 2008, Moldovan law enforcement officers were working a relatively small $4 million fraud case when the investigation led them to 67 Bucharest Street in the center of the Moldovan capital of Chisinau. They raided three offices there and confiscated six desktop computers full of files.
It was all pretty routine, until they located three paper boxes under one desk that contained “an imposing number” of official rubber stamps belonging to companies registered in exotic offshore locations.
Two of the stamps were related to the fraud they were investigating, but the rest meant nothing to them: Mirabax Limited, Liberton Associates, Felina Investments, Albany Insurance, Caldon Holdings and many other companies, including some based in the US state of Delaware or the United Kingdom.
Some belonged to |
the times and that means every race you go to from January to October, is flat out. It was a big ask for last year’s riders to perform for the entire season so that meant we started having low periods during the season where we still had to race and that doesn’t do anyone any good.â€
“So what we have tried to do is introduce more riders, add more versatility in the team with more strength in-depth so that we can rotate the core of the team within the rotation of the team. So now we can have two rotations; the core of the team and the whole of the team. Hopefully, with that we can then balance motivation, form and racing at the right time.â€
I then asked Roger were any of the signing of riders to do with the British scene having two types of racing, circuit and the longer road races?
“Maybe it is me†he replies “but I never won a bike race because I could ride a bike for eight hours or nine hours, I won bike races because I could ride very fast over ten minutes. You win bike races by riding fast over ten minutes whether that’s in a criterium or up the Poggio at the end of a 315k Milan San Remo.â€
“For me, it’s the mentality of a rider. If you think you can’t ride crits because you think you’re a road rider or vice versa, then you won’t be able to do it. But, if you take the Sky way of thinking, a crit race is a one hour threshold effort, which they do on a mountain within a stage race. If you break it down to what the event asks of your body, they are not too dissimilar (road races and crits).â€
“I believe physically they can do it, mentally maybe not but that is a thing we need to change with education. I’d be wrong though just to force it so that is why we have added some rotation so we can rotate more for the mind rather than the body.â€
Roger Hammond and a passion of his – cyclo-cross. He was also rather good and dominated the British champs for many a year on top of having been a World Champion (Junior).
It is a view I’ve never heard said before and shows what a breath of fresh air Roger is to the scene here in Britain. Roger is perhaps a rider’s manager or coach rather than a manager’s manager. Some one acutely aware of what it takes to win races as a rider & team. The learning curve for Roger is managing his riders and team as well.
Part of that is knowing when to race his riders and right now with the British season not due to get into full swing until April, his job is holding his riders back. Which is why Roger’s team is going on it’s training camp now rather than January.
“My guys are ringing me up all the time asking ‘when are we going on camp’, and my reply is ‘what’s the point of going too early?’. Just because everyone else is doing it in January, I don’t see the point of that. So we are doing the camp laterâ€.
“They are chomping at the bit to get started but what would the point of that be? To win the Eddie Soens? It’s a nice race to win but I’d much prefer them to win a stage in the Tour of Britain in September rather than win Eddie Soens and then be on their knees in September. That’s the idea anywayâ€.
“You have to try some different ideas. Sky got a lot stick for going to Tenerife and living on a mountain for a month before the classis but the criticism was because it went wrong for them. Had they won every classic, I can tell you what every other pro team would be doing this year! So unless you try these things and experiment, then how do you make that advantage over everyone elseâ€.
Liam Holohan walks towards the stage to be grilled by Matt Stephens.
Roger admits he had things to learn during last season having been a pro in Europe for so long. “The one thing I lost not being in the UK for a long time was not knowing the riders personally. So over the last year, I got to do that, their mentality, what they wanted from their careers, where they were now.â€
“We have addressed the changes needed and I hope I have some guys now that have the mentality to move forward. For me, the thing about this team’s success is how many riders go on and moves up to the next level and becomes a better bike riderâ€.
“They have got to want to be better bike riders; I can’t make them want to do it. I am looking for that mentality and that mentality is that of a winner. It has to be because they can’t get to where they want to be without winning.â€
I then asked about two star signings, riders who won races in 2013 and showed themselves at the front of bike races. Mike Northey and Tom Scully, both from New Zealand.
Roger explained how in British races they can’t use race radios which means when the riders leave the start, he has very little say in what happens.
“I can’t have an input and we really lacked last year a guy who had the confidence, the ability and character to be an on the road leader so I ended up forcing that onto people who weren’t comfortable with it.â€
“I never liked it as a bike rider. It takes a very special person, and that’s why those guys get a lot of money because they have a lot of pressure, and they still have to perform as a bike rider and there are very few of them out there.â€
“So, in that respect, we have the guys who have the ability and I think Mike Northey is a fantastic bike rider, very nice temperament and I think he will be a huge asset to the team. Tom (Scully) comes with his own assets.â€
“He has a winning mentality and winners breed winners and that’s what we want this year. I’m not saying we’re going to win this or that but what we want is for the guys to achieve their dreams and winning has to become part and parcel of that because that is how they differentiate themselves from the other 900 pros in Europe trying to get that one job they want.â€
“We just want that nice, winning, get on with it, mentalityâ€.
One of the top riders in the Tour Series last year without winning a round, Tobyn Horton.
The team have also signed some more young riders such as Scott Davies who is a first year senior and Tom Stewart who has had two seasons on the road and was so outstanding, Raleigh picked him up mid 2013 to ride for them. They join the likes of the rather shy Alex Peters who did some great rides in 2013 including getting in the Tour of Britain team.
“It was a fantastic debut year for Alex†says Rogers “and that is what the team is about. It is about developing these guys. Each one of the riders has their story. Tom Scully has his like why is he riding with us when I think he should be riding World Tour?â€
“It’s because he snapped his leg, his career was delayed and he was left on the shelf because he’s ‘too old’. That’s’ not right so we want to give these guys the opportunity to come back and start again.â€
“Tom Stewart started late and was a mountain bike rider. Does that means he’s a bad bike rider? Of course it doesn’t. It means he started late so we’re giving that guy the opportunity to develop into a World Tour rider and take that career path. They all have the potential to further their career and improve.â€
“I am really looking forward to working with this guysâ€.
The youngster in the team Scott Davies. Last year it was  Alex Peters (centre) but in 2014, Scott is the one coming out of the junior ranks into the senior racing.
A season as a DS – ‘green as’ says Roger
Roger certainly seems to have thought carefully about his signings and has had the backing of his sponsors to have the resources to bring them to the team. But what about the job of managing. Anyone who has planned their own season, hotels, bikes, spares, food, etc etc, there is so much to the job of a DS/manager that it can quickly over come a person.
I have seen former pro riders struggle but Roger, whilst admitting it was a steep learning curve, admits he has a lot of help from his sponsors when it comes to some of the logistics of the job.
“It was a huge learning curve last season and I said at the same time last year that even though some one can ride a bike fast sometimes, that doesn’t mean you can manage a group. I was green as but I am enthusiastic about bike racing.â€
“I know where those guys need to be so I am combining the mentality of a British rider and the mentality of a European pro. I’m trying to change their mentality to thinking how they need to be for them to get to where they want to be (Europe). Because they all want to be there but they all have the British mentality so we’re trying to forget that.â€
“Yes, we are competing here but I’m trying to bring that different mentality and experience to the UK scene.â€
“I learned a lot last year. I never had so many emails in my entire life! I had to learn to type and learn about logistics as well as other tricksâ€.
“There were tricks I learned as a bike rider like I had my poem for packing my kit so I never forgot anything like my shoes and I had my structure for getting to the airport so in my whole career, I never missed a flight. All those tricks in my career, I’m having to use in this one like how do I cope with 15 riders asking for 15 different things at 15 different times of the day and remember them allâ€.
“So last year was about developing that and I made lots of mistakes. But hopefully I have learnt from them. I had a short career as a road bike rider so one thing about being a successful bike rider during that time is you learn from those mistakes.â€
“The difference between a bike rider and manager was as a rider, whatever I put in was directly reflected in my results and performance. Now, with me, what I put in isn’t necessarily reflected in the result.â€
“So that was what I had to get my head around. I can only give them as much as I can and once the gun goes at the start, I’m out of control and I don’t like being out of control! So I have had to learn to adapt to that as well.â€
It was only a ten minute interview but it was also a fascinating one. As Roger said when we finished, ‘that’s the theory, ask me again at the end of the season’.
The riders and Roger get a briefing from Matt Stephens on the launch
Just the very fact he has signed the riders he has for similar money to what they were offered elsewhere says a lot about the respect he commands from those riders. For sure, he has his theories and other managers will have their own views on them but there is no denying he has riders who are proven winners and as such, Roger’s team should on paper, have a more successful year.
The team are off on Saturday morning to Majorca for a training camp so their wait for that first season win in Britain will have to wait. We did see some of the riders competing last weekend in Lancs at the Clayton Spring Classic but there was no fairy-tale beginning.
Maybe that will come later on in March in some national B races after they return from Majorca or perhaps in April for the first Prem of the season, the two day and ever so grippy Tour of the Reservoir. That is, says Roger, the first big race for them as a team.
“We tried to go for the Tour of Normandy and for a three day in Belgium but we’re a new team and don’t have a lot of heritage so that makes it difficult. You see British teams getting the invites to Europe but they are the guys who have been around a long time like John Herety who was manager of the national team and then Rapha so he has 20 years head start on us, and the same with Raleigh who have the heritage.â€
“There are a 146 continental teams in the World so we are up against it. So I’ll have to call in my favours but I prefer to use them later on when the season is well under way. We did Taiwan in 2013 and we had the option this year but it’s too early for the British riders.â€
“They’d come back and then have six weeks before they raced again so I’ll save that money and use it in June and July when we can profit from itâ€.
Thanks to Roger for the interview. A pleasure as always.
Watch out for the name Tom Stewart in 2014. He’s made great progress in two seasons and he may well go on and move up another level with Roger’s help.
Madison Genesis 2014 – The Riders
Ian Bibby
Scott Davies
Pete Hawkins
Matt Holmes
Liam Holohan
Tobyn Horton
Dom Jelfs
Mike Northey
Alex Peters
Tom Scully
Chris Snook
Tom Stewart
Andy Tennant
One of the team’s top riders, Ian Bibby talks to Matt whilst Peter Hawkins stands rock steady (good jaw line Peter!)!
Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)
Other News on VeloUKfreshly ground coffee...
Sound simple? It sure can be. But I'm willing to bet that most of you still need to be shown what bad coffee looks like before you can identify the good stuff.
I've been in the coffee industry for quite some time, and I'm not one of those baristas who holds his hard-earned coffee knowledge close to the chest. A lot of the time, I hear these folks referred to as "snobs," but I generally try to avoid that word. Most of the time, they're just burnt-out baristas, my brothers-in-arms too broken down by years of double-shifts and crazy bosses to spread the gospel of good coffee. I'm sure you've come across some of these poor baristas in your favorite cafe: the dude with sunken eyes and beanie who smirks when you order espresso in a to-go cup. Or the tattooed college grad who snaps back when you ask to modify an order. These guys mean no disrespect. But too often they have looked on in horror as their handcrafted beverages are ravaged at the condiment counter: a delicate cup of Ethiopian coffee one instant, a cream-and-sugar-freighted abomination the next. All they really want is for you to be aware of a few key facts about the stuff they prepare for you. Ironically, these guys are sometimes the least likely to offer them up. That's where I come in, if you don't mind.
Any self-respecting barista should be concerned primarily with quality. It's the cornerstone of the industry. Each shift is a battle against inferior drinks and inferior product. But if there is one notion, one overarching fallacy about coffee that the consumer must come to understand, it is that dark roast coffee is not only bad, but it is disrespectful.
Yep. Dark roast is terrible in more ways than one. Sorry folks. Your oily, burnt French and Italian roasts are the antithesis of what today's coffee should be. It's not your fault that you've been told to enjoy this stuff for so long. The Big Guys, in the early 2000's (and well before, in fact), redefined the cafe scene by utilizing this greasy roasting profile for a couple of reasons. For one, coffee roasted darker and longer is easier to produce consistently on a mass scale. Plus, roasting it for as long as they do reduces its mass. That makes it cheaper to ship all over the world.
Because coffee is a sensitive, fragile plant, a good farm devotes an unspeakable amount of manpower and resources in order to produce a quality lot. Farmers must pay specialized processing facilities to prepare the raw fruit before it even leaves the country of origin. Superior quality Arabica strain only grows at higher altitudes, so often times these hand-picked cherry are hauled down the sides of mountains upon the backs of mules and the heads of laborers. We as baristas, roasters and consumers must honor that. It is the very least we can do. When these valuable beans are roasted into dark, smokey blends, we begin to lose sight of how this product is supposed to taste -- what it is supposed to be in the first place.
By the time the coffee reaches the shores of the United States (or elsewhere, certainly) an importing company has already bought and sold the beans to a roasting company. And at this point, things can go horribly wrong, very quickly. For example, these precious, expensive little beans may be ruined straight away if they are not stored in a dry, climate-controlled facility. Worse, they could end up in a batch of dark roast somewhere. All of that effort spent preserving the integrity of the coffee can be erased in a matter of seconds.
There are dozens of amazing micro-roasters across the United States these days. Many of them offer online ordering, and can deliver coffee to your door within 48 hours of its roast time. Look for an organization with a dedicated "green buyer," a person whose job it is to travel the equator and build relationships with the farmers from whom they buy. These companies generally won't even offer anything like French roast coffee; they know too much about where the product is from and how far it has traveled. In short, they respect it too much to roast it poorly.
Obviously, not all coffee companies decide to spend the necessary effort to ensure quality. Macro-roasting companies, ones even bulkier than the aforementioned Big Guys and who dominate the grocery store aisles, roast millions of pounds per year. They know that their costumers won't (can't?) demand a higher quality bean, so they are more likely to blend the pricy Arabica with lower-quality robusta coffee. They buy just about anything. They grind it up and put a "best if used by" date on the container. Ouch.
Henceforth, dear reader, you shall seek bags of whole-bean coffee upon which the following pieces of information are readily available: where the product was grown, when it was harvested, and most importantly, when it was roasted. Fresh drip coffee, the stuff you may use in your press pot or Cuisanart coffee machine, should be no more than a week "off roast." Once you grind up a coffee bean, its volatile oils and aromas will begin to dissipate immediately. And so after even a few minutes, ground coffee is compromised beyond recognition. That is why, along with your first bag of Good Coffee, you shall invest in a quality burr grinder for your kitchen. Your days of purchasing pre-ground coffee are over.
You're going to want to give that Mr. Coffee a really solid cleaning, while you're at it. A great bag of fresh coffee can come out tasting like mud and sticks if you've used a coffee machine layered in months of cooked-on, French-roasty oils. And I'm confident that after a few bags of Good Coffee, you'll be posting your auto-drip machine in the "free" listings on Cragslist. Soon, you may buy yourself some snazzy manual-brewing equipment in order to fully harness the awesome flavor of your new favorite beans.
You are alive during a time when the demand for superior coffee is at an all-time high, and its supply is at an all time low. Remember, the best coffee in the world grows around the equator, at altitudes of more than 5,000 feet. Climate change has already damaged these ecosystems beyond repair; there will never be as much coffee in the world as there is today. While the cafe scene teeters on the brink of mainstream, a veritable gold-rush of information threatens to inundate the consuming populace. Suddenly, everyone wants to be a barista. Suddenly, everyone wants access to coffee know-how. By all means, go out and seek answers to your questions. But first and foremost, you must discover your source for bags of fresh, lightly roasted coffee.Get the biggest daily news 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 pair of super-rich American technology gurus are planning to undergo surgery to install experimental implants directly into their brains.
The two men are currently trying to find a doctor willing to perform this untested and highly risky procedure, The Mirror has learned.
If they survive the operation, the men hope to be able to directly communicate with the primitive forms of artificial intelligence currently being developed in labs across the world.
But critics and conspiracy theorists fear these pioneering implants are the first step towards creating a society where every human is plugged into "the matrix".
Zoltan Istvan, a U.S. Presidential candidate, personally knows both of these would-be bionic men.
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
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He is the global leader of the Transhumanist movement, which believes human beings should use technology to artificially boost their intelligence or physical prowess.
In an interview with The Mirror, Istvan said: "I have friends who are buying tickets to Central America to perform this kind of surgery.
"I know two people who are doing this, but it's secretive because even getting a doctor to do this in Central America is difficult."
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One of the pair is planning to visit a doctor in Honduras, whilst the other will journey to Eastern Europe, Istvan said.
He did not name the men, because it is feared that American authorities may try to stop them from travelling abroad to undergo surgery.
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"They work in AI and it would be the very first time someone got an implant specifically to use brain waves to connect with rudimentary artificial intelligences," Ivstan added.
"The technology will allow them to carry out basic conversations. That's how far this telepathy idea has come."
They have been planning the operation for three years, but have not been able to find a doctor to do the brain surgery.
"The real trick is finding a doctor to perform this and keeping themselves safe," Istvan added.
Academics and conspiracy theorists have issued many warnings about the potential implications of brain implants and transhumanism in general.
Francis Fukuyama, the thinker renowned for heralding 'The End of History' a few years before it began again when 9/11 sparked the war of terror, famously named transhumanism as one of "the world's most dangerous ideas".
(Image: REX)
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In an interview with the Big Issue published last week, the notorious David Icke (pictured above) took a break from claiming shape-shifting lizards ruled the world to make an astonishing warning about brain implants.
"What this has all been heading towards is ‘implantables’, where the devices are inserted under your skin and start to affect human consciousness from a central grid," he suggested.
"The people in charge have always been massively outnumbered and their greatest fear is the human race waking up, but once they’re able to alter our thought processes from a central computer it’s game over.
"That’s the biggest threat we’re facing over the next few years.”EXCLUSIVE: HBO has put in development drama series MaddAddam, executive produced by Oscar-nominated Black Swan helmer Darren Aronofsky through his Protozoa Pictures banner. The project, based on Margaret Atwood’s book trilogy Oryx and Crake (2003), Year Of The Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013), is being developed as a potential directing vehicle for Aronofsky. MaddAddam marks the first project to come out of the three-year first-look deal the filmmaker and his Protozoa Pictures inked with HBO in January.
The story in the MaddAddam books, part of Atwood’s self-described genre of “speculative fiction,” is set in the mid-21st century in a world where corporations have taken over for governments and the genetic modification of organisms is perversely ubiquitous. It centers on the events before and after a Waterless Flood that wipes out almost all of the world’s population and follows an extensive cast of characters, including those responsible for the apocalypse and those struggling to survive it. Producer Brandi-Ann Milbradt, who is engaged to Aronofsky, brought the project to Protozoa and will serve as executive producer alongside Aronofsky and his longtime collaborator, Protozoa Pictures president Ari Handel. Atwood serves as consulting producer. Aronofsky and his team are currently meeting with writers.
Aronofsky is coming off the success his most recent feature, biblical epic Noah, which has grossed $345M in worldwide box office. On the feature side, his Protozoa Pictures also has a deal with New Regency, also inked in January.Google The telecommunications giants Verizon and Charter Communications are exploring a combination, The Wall Street Journal's Shalini Ramachandran, Ryan Knutson, and Dana Mattioli report.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam approached officials "close to Charter," according to the report, and is working with bankers to explore a potential deal.
The talks are preliminary, the report said.
Charter's shares surged about 10% in Thursday's premarket trading on the news.
Bloomberg later reported that McAdam specifically approached the CEO of Liberty Media, an investor in Charter, about buying the company — but that no advisers had been formally hired on either side. Charter is among as many as 10 different takeover targets Verizon is considering, the Bloomberg report said.
Verizon has 114 million wireless subscribers, while Charter has 17 million cable customers and 21 million broadband customers.
Both Charter and Verizon declined to comment on the report.
Combining with Charter would give Verizon a much larger footprint in home broadband and pay TV than it has with its Fios business. Charter Communications bought Time Warner Cable last year and rebranded it as Spectrum. It is now one of the largest US providers of internet and cable TV.
The move could also bolster Verizon's recent digital content acquisitions such as AOL and the impending $4.8 billion Yahoo deal that's expected to close in the second quarter.
Markets Insider
Read the full Wall Street Journal report»Bryan Singer to direct pilot for X-Men TV series
Following the announcement yesterday that the pilot for their upcoming X-Men TV series would be moving into production, FOX has now announced the first episode of their planned show will be directed by none other than four-time X-movies director Bryan Singer. Singer has been involved with the feature film franchise since its debut, directing the first and second films in the core series and the two most recent entries (X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse) as well.
Singer does have a history of directing television, having directed the first two episodes of House, M.D. along with the pilot of CBS’ Battle Creek. He will also executive produce the series alongside Jim Chory, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb and Lauren Shuler Donner. Matt Nix (Burn Notice, FOX’s upcoming APB) is writing and will also serve as EP.
RELATED: Legion is Unrelated to the X-Men Movies, But New FOX Series Is
The still untitled X-Men TV series will focus on two ordinary parents who discover their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive. The series will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television, with 20th Century Fox handling physical production.
“Developing a Marvel property has been a top priority for the network–and we are so pleased with how Matt Nix has led us into this thrilling universe,” said FOX’s David Madden of the show last year. “There’s comic book adventure, emotional and complicated relationships, and a rich, existing mythology from which to draw. With the brilliant production crew behind this project, it has all the makings of a big, fun and exciting new series.”
What X-Men characters would you like to see appear on this new X-Men series? Is there anyone from the films who you would you like to see reprise their roles? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Microsoft has received 20 submissions in the $268,000 contest it hopes will result in new security technologies being baked into Windows, a company security strategist said Tuesday.
The "BlueHat Prize" contest, which debuted in August 2011, offers $200,000 as a first prize, $50,000 for second, and a subscription to Microsoft's developer network for third place. The three winners will be flown to Las Vegas this July, when Microsoft will announce the results at the Black Hat security conference.
Microsoft collected 20 entries before the April 1 deadline, said Katie Moussouris, a senior security strategist lead at Microsoft, on a company blog yesterday.
Between now and Black Hat -- which runs July 21-24 -- Microsoft will evaluate the submissions and pick winners, Moussouris said.
BlueHat Prize was not a bug bounty system, where vulnerability experts are rewarded for uncovering specific flaws in software -- but instead was designed to prod researchers to invent novel technologies that would protect Windows from entire classes of memory bugs.
When Microsoft rolled out BlueHat Prize last year, some experts assumed that the company was after a technology or technique to defeat or at least deflect exploits of "return-oriented programming," or ROP vulnerabilities.
ROP bugs can be used by attackers to sidestep current Windows anti-exploit technologies like ASLR, or address space layout randomization.
All submitters -- not just the winners -- will retain intellectual property rights to their work, but must license their technologies to Microsoft on a royalty-free basis. Entries had to provide a prototype 2MB or smaller that ran on Windows and was developed using the Windows SDK (software developer kit).
The licensing provision makes BlueHat Prize an economical way for Microsoft to acquire new security ideas. Even if half of the entries are duplicates or simply not up to snuff, Microsoft could procure 10 technologies or techniques for under $27,000 each, or less than a quarter what Google paid two researchers last month for vulnerabilities and associated exploits in its Chrome browser.
"It's a cheap way to pay someone else to innovate," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security, in an interview today.
"Google and others pay for vulnerabilities," added Storms. "Microsoft has never done that. Instead they're pay for innovation. So instead of paying someone to break their stuff, they are paying someone to make it better."
A panel of Microsoft employees from the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), the Windows group and Microsoft's research arm will judge the entries.
In another blog last week, Moussouris said that the quantity and quality of the entries -- up to at that point only 10 -- had "exceeded our expectations."
She did not name the participants, but did say that they included security researchers "with great track records," individuals or teams from academia, and others.
From her account, most contributors worked close to the April 1 deadline: Half of the 20 total submissions were filed in the last nine days of the contest, and one squeezed in under the wire with just nine minutes to spare last Saturday.
In fact, Microsoft rejected a submission that missed the deadline by just eight minutes. Moussouris cited "fairness to the others" as well as Washington State contest rules as the reasons why the company wouldn't bend.
Although there's virtually no chance that anything Microsoft receives from BlueHat Prize could make it into Windows 8 -- this year's upgrade will likely reach the "release to manufacturing" milestone just weeks after the contest winners are revealed -- the company could roll some of the technologies into a Windows 8 service pack next year, Storms said in a 2011 interview when BlueHat Prize debuted.
Microsoft has done something similar in the past: In mid-2004, it revamped Windows XP's security with Service Pack 2 (SP2).
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His e-mail address is gkeizer@ix.netcom.com.
Read more about security in Computerworld's Security Topic Center.
This story, "Microsoft Acquires 20 New Windows Security Ideas for $13,400 Each" was originally published by Computerworld.Different rules apply August 19, 2014 |
I want to tell you a story about the difference between knowing and understanding.
Over the weekend, my ten-year-old son and I had just finished eating supper at a diner near our house. The multiple TVs in the diner were all showing cable news coverage of the Ferguson situation. On the way out, we passed an African American mother talking to her son, a child around my boy's age, seated in a booth near the front door.
The boy asked his mother, "So I should just put my hands in the air?"
"Yes," his mother said. "Just put your hands in the air."
"If I put my hands in the air, will the police not shoot?" he asked.
"Probably not, but you can't be sure. Some people say you should just kneel or lie down, don't ask questions, just get down on the ground."
"If I lie down on the ground, they won't shoot?"
"Probably," she said.
I recognized the exhaustion in that “probably”—a parent trying to explain a fundamentally unfair fact of life in the most neutral terms possible, so as not to make a child prematurely paranoid or cynical or bitter, and realizing that there are no words with which to do such a thing. After my son and I left the restaurant, though, I was disturbed by a mental image of this small boy dropping face-down on the ground at the sound of a cop's voice—thinking just maybe he wouldn't get shot. I thought of Oscar Grant, who was detained by police on a BART platform on New Years Day, 2009, and got shot in the back anyway. To death.
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"Is that what you're supposed to do? Get down on the ground?" my son asked.
He'd heard about Ferguson. It was everywhere.
I said, "Not necessarily. Some police want you to put your hands up. Some don't ask you to do that. It depends. I guess the main thing is to just do what the police officer tells you to do. Don't make any sudden moves."
"Can the police just shoot people?" he asked. He seemed genuinely worried.
"They're not supposed to just shoot people," I said. "There are supposed to be rules about when you can and can't shoot a person. Sometimes mistakes happen and people who shouldn't get shot do get shot. And there are other times when..."
And I trailed off because I realized I was evading the real issue.
"It happens, and it's horrible," I told my son," and in a lot of cases the reasons why some people get shot and others don't get shot are unfair, or they don't make sense, but you...." I trailed off again.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"White people just aren't as likely to get shot by police," I told him.
"Why is that?"
"There are a lot of reasons why that's true, and we'll talk about them later, but that's the bottom line," I said. "It's not right, but it's the truth. That's what that woman was telling her son about."
My mind added:...in a conversation that most white dads would not be having with their white elementary school-age sons.
Why didn't I say this out loud to my son? I don't know. Something was holding me back.
Maybe it was the fact that my son has friends of different races and ethnicities, and I didn't want to burst what I thought was an idyllic bubble, if indeed he lived in one, which he probably doesn't.
No, that wasn't it.
I wasn't protecting my son from anything. I was protecting my son's image of his father, or what I imagined that image to be.
And I was protecting myself from myself. I was lying to myself about myself.
I was reminded of something my best friend, a skinny Irish guy from Bay Ridge, told me. He was hanging out with his dad one afternoon. Out of the blue his dad told he should always be grateful for the greatest gift his dad and mom ever gave him.
"What gift is that?" my friend asked.
"Your white skin," he said. "If you're white in this country, you're ahead of the game. You get more chances. You get more second chances. That's the gift your mother and I gave you—and we didn't have a damn thing to do with it!"
My friend's dad was being bitterly sarcastic. But he was also being honest about white privilege.
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I believe that there's a difference between knowing something and understanding it. You know how you'll try to communicate something very important to you to another person and sometimes they'll wave you off with an impatient, "I know, I know"? That's knowing: I got the gist, filed it away, I don't need to think about it again. Knowing is comprehension; understanding is deeper because it comes from empathy or identification.
All of which is a wind-up to say: having grown up in a mostly black neighborhood near Love Field airport in Dallas, and having been a diligent liberal for most of my adult life, I already knew there was such a thing as white privilege, and was properly horrified by it, but I didn't truly understand what it meant, on a deep level, until |
, 1930, 1931 and 1932 (he studied at King’s College, Cambridge). He was twice a winner of the British Chess Championship, in 1938 and 1956.
He represented England in the Chess Olympiad six times, in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1954 and 1958. At the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alexander had to leave part-way through the event, along with the rest of the English team, because of the declaration of World War II, since he was required at home for codebreaking duties.
He was also the non-playing captain of England from 1964 to 1970. He was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the International Master for Correspondence Chess title in 1970. He won Hastings 1946/47 with the score 7½/9, a point ahead of Savielly Tartakower.
His best tournament result may have been first equal (with David Bronstein) at Hastings 1953/54, where he went undefeated and beat Soviet grandmasters David Bronstein and Alexander Tolush in individual games. Alexander’s opportunities to appear abroad were limited as he was not allowed to play chess in the Soviet bloc because of his secret work in cryptography. He was also the chess columnist of The Sunday Times in the 1960s and 1970s.
Many knowledgeable chess people believe that Alexander had Grandmaster potential, had he been able to develop his chess abilities further. Many top players peak in their late twenties and early thirties, but for Alexander this stretch coincided with World War II, when high-level competitive opportunities were unavailable.
After this, his professional responsibilities as a senior cryptanalyst limited his top-class appearances. He defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in one game of a team radio match against the Soviet Union in 1946, at a time when Botvinnik was probably the world’s top player. Alexander made important theoretical contributions to the Dutch Defence and Petroff Defence.
White “Alexander, Conel Hughes” — Black “Botvinnik, Mikhail” [ECO “C18”] Result “1-0″[Radio]
In 1946, Alexander managed to win a game against Soviet Grand Master Mikhail Botvinnik, who was arguably the top player at the time. Botvinnik became the sixth World Champion in 1948. Botvinnik then held the title, with two brief interruptions, for the next fifteen years, during which he played seven world championship matches.[Wikipedia]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8.
Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qa5 10. Rb1 Qxc3+ 11. Bd2 Qc7 12. f4 Nbc6 13. Nf3 Bd7 14. Ng5
Rxg5 15. fxg5 O-O-O 16. Qxf7 Qxe5+ 17. Kd1 Nf5 18. g6 Ne3+ 19. Kc1 Qe4 20. Bd3
Qxg2 21. Re1 Ne5 22. Qf4 Nf3 23. Re2 Qh3 24. Bxe3 e5 25. Qf7 dxe3 26. g7 Qg4
27. h3 Qg1+ 28. Kb2 Qg3 29. Bg6 Nd4 30. g8=Q Rxg8 31. Qxg8+ Kc7 32. Qh7 Kd6 33.
Bd3 e4 34. Qh6+ Kc7 35. Rxe3 Qe5 36. Ka2 Nf5 37. Qg5 Be6 38. Be2 d4+ 39. Reb3
b5 40. Qd2 d3 41. Bg4 1-0
While replaying the game, I discovered that Botvinnik had horribly blundered at move 22. Amazingly, Alexander missed the opportunity to end the game right then! Alexander played 23. Re2 which is a good move, but certainly not the best. Actually, 23. Ba5 is devastating and Black has no choice but to resign on the spot.
This mistake does not seem to have been noticed until now. [The Radio Match Great Britain – URSS (1946)] For the chess players among you, Komodo 8 rates 23. Ba5 at + 8.3 and 23. Re2 at +3.3; Houdini (4X64A) rates the moves at +13.4 and +3.9 respectively. Finally Deep Fritz (14 X64) rates these moves at +9.2 and +2.2.
The reason is obvious. The threat of Qc7 (Checkmate) is very powerful. And the natural response — Black pawn c6 — fails because of Bishop a6 — Checkmate. The only answer would have been 23. … e5. And then 24. Qf6 leaves the Black without a fighting chance. Even a genius can have a bad day.
In popular culture
Alexander appears as a supporting character in the 2014 film The Imitation Game, portrayed by actor Matthew Goode.
Synopsis: In THE IMITATION GAME, Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal.
REFERENCES
Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander vs Mikhail Botvinnik — Chessgames.com
URS-BCF (1946)
French Defense: Winawer. Poisoned Pawn Variation General (C18)· 1-0
=
Key figures in UK Sigint: Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander — GCHQ Official websiteFar more exciting than a walking treadmill or elliptical machine, this infinite rock wall brings the challenges (and hard exercise) of scaling sheer cliffs right into your local gym or living room.
The Climbstation can be rotated between a slope of 15 degrees and negative 49 degrees, simulating everything from relatively generous slopes or dizzying upside-down climbing experiences.
The device can also rotate through different slopes, speeds and durations on demand, in response to programmatic difficulty levels or in a pre-selected sequence. As in typical bouldering rooms at climbing wall centers, a mat placed below the device will cushion any fall.
Between climbs, users can swap out 90 holds that come with each machine between 600 potential positions, dynamically changing the landscape from one session to the next to keep things interesting and challenging.
The mid-five-figure price tag will be enough to put off casual users, but could also be sufficiently low for these to start showing up not just at the homes of the rich and famous but also at regional fitness centers – a great way for recreational climbers or professionals located far from mountains to train or simply stay in shape.Blank Club Owner Shutting Venue, Opening New, Unnamed Rock Club In SoFA District
The Blank Club is dead; long live the Blank!
Last week, as soon as I saw Corey O’Brien standing on the southeast corner of First and San Salvador—right outside the former F/X The Club—I knew what was happening. Through the open doors workers could be seen cleaning up some old debris and hosing things off. It was clear. After nearly 12 years of operating The Blank Club with his partners, O’Brien was about to begin a brand new live-music adventure with some new investors inside the old F/X building, which had been the Pussycat Theatre before, and The Usual, the Spy and Angels in the years following F/X’s closure.
It is with a tinge of sadness, that I report The Blank Club will close for good on Jan. 31, 2015. The name will be retired and O’Brien’s new, yet-to-be-named club will open by the beginning of March. It was not a sudden decision. While the Blank has been the only venue of its kind in San Jose for years, everyone knows it simply isn’t big enough. While it’s miraculously managed to host many legendary shows over the years, there was no real backstage, no real place to load-in and the stage itself was way too small for national touring bands. Looking back over the last 12 years, I was very lucky to see Lemmy Kilmister, the Damned, GBH and the Buzzcocks on that stage.
After awhile though, with production costs going through the roof, and with more and more national touring bands expressing grief over the less-than-ample conditions, O’Brien says he finally came to a decision. The era of the Blank Club was not going to last much longer. It must eventually come to an end and he needed to move forward on his own to find a more suitable venue. The old F/X building has been empty for seven years, and while it will be expensive, O’Brien says it will be worth it.
I had to get the skinny in person, so I showed up at The Blank Club on the afternoon of Dec. 4, during non-operating hours, to ask O’Brien what was going on. He said the place simply wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
“We don’t have what we need here,” O’Brien told me. “The stage is too small, there’s nowhere to stage gear, the green room is back behind the bar, upstairs. If we want to do major touring bands, we needed a bigger room. San Jose needs a real, mid-sized club. We don’t have one here.”
Opening a new live music venue in the SoFA District—in the same building where alternative music fans saw countless bands 24 years ago—will add a much-needed component to the street. The area is already making a serious comeback and opening the F/X building again is going to work wonders for music-based nightlife.
The former F/X is the only building still empty at the intersection of South First and East San Salvador—an area once referred to by San Jose nightlife junkies as “The Four Corners.” Original F/X owner Fil Maresca said a new rock club in that space will be transformative: “To see that marquee lit up again is going to make a serious difference in the neighborhood.”
When 400 South First Street was called F/X, from 1989-1995, it regularly jammed that building with numerous national touring acts. No Doubt, Helmet, the Melvins, Jesus Lizard and countless other bands gigged there, back when they were nobodies. This unfolded in-between huge dance nights, themed events and all sorts of performance-based revelry. It’s an amazing space for all sorts of events in addition to live bands, which is why O’Brien is looking forward to opening its doors in 2015. Especially since he was one of the original regulars who drank at F/X when it first opened 25 years ago. He even DJed there.
But even though he now has over a decade of memories at 44 S. Almaden Ave., O’Brien reiterated that he is not relocating the Blank Club to another venue. The new club will be just that: a new club.
“The Blank Club is here, at this location,” declared O’Brien, as we continued to stand there during non-operating hours. “To do something else, it isn’t the Blank Club. The Blank Club’s here. It’s going to be different over there, so it needs a different name.”Sporting Kansas City has signed 28-year-old defender Marcel de Jong, the club announced on Monday. A member of the Canadian Men’s National Team, de Jong will occupy an international roster spot pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and P-1 Visa.
“We continue to look to add experience in the players joining our roster,” Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes said. “Marcel’s time in the German Bundesliga and with the Canadian Men’s National Team will bring excellent experience to the team.”
“I am happy to be here and I am looking forward to a great season with Sporting Kansas City,” de Jong said. “I hope that we can do well and achieve our goals.”
De Jong has 31 appearances for Canada with two goals since his international debut at age 21 in 2007. He has represented his country at each of the past three CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments, as well in 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying.
A dual citizen of Canada and Netherlands, de Jong began his youth career with PSV Eindhoven before signing professionally with Helmond Sport in 2004. After two years in the Dutch second division – and scoring against Italy at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands – de Jong joined Roda JC in the top flight Eredivisie in 2006.
De Jong made the move to Germany following four seasons with the Miners, highlighted by a run to the 2007-08 KNVB Cup final, when he signed with FC Augsburg in 2010. His initial season with FCA culminated with promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time since the team was founded in 1907 and the club maintained first division status for each of the past four campaigns.
In total, de Jong has logged more than 225 club appearances over his past 10 professional seasons in Netherlands and Germany. He joined Sporting Kansas City on trial last month for the second leg of the team’s 2015 preseason in Tucson, Arizona and appeared in four matches at outside back.
Sporting Kansas City will kick off the team's 20th season at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday at Sporting Park in a nationally televised match against the New York Red Bulls on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes. Single-game tickets are now on sale via Ticketmaster.com for the club's first 10 of 17 regular season home matches in 2015 while supplies last.
VITALS
Marcel De Jong
Position: Defender
Number: 71
Born: 10/15/1986
Height: 5-9
Weight: 170
Last Club: FC Augsburg (Germany)
Hometown: Valkenswaard, Netherlands
Birthplace: Newmarket, Canada
Citizenship: Canada, Holland
Instagram: @marcel91011To paraphrase the classic line from Spinal Tap, if great companies go to 10, Wegmans goes to 11. This East Coast supermarket chain is a 90+ year-old, family owned business doing almost $6 billion a year in sales. Major research firms and the media routinely name Wegmans the best supermarket in the country, and it has a cult-like following.
But "Best Company in the World"? Admittedly a mighty bold, sweeping statement and intentionally dramatic, but not entirely sensationalistic. The truth is, I don't know how a company could be better.
Just so you know, I have no personal involvement, investment, agenda, or business interest in the subject company. But Wegmans is headquartered in my hometown. And I shop there. A lot. Everyone here does.
Wegmans exists in a rarefied atmosphere. Reaching the billion-dollar mark as a private company is one of the most difficult feats in business -- there are only a few hundred in the country, and Wegmans is the 55th largest, based on Forbes' 2010 list. Add to that the accomplishment of approaching a century in business, and you're probably getting into lottery odds.
So how did this 77-store grocer achieve such greatness, and how does it continue to operate at such a consistently extraordinary level? Its recipe for success contains ingredients that any company -- from MomPopShop to ColossusCo -- can use to be the best it can be:
Be an extraordinary employer: Wegmans has been on Fortune magazine's "Best Places To Work" list since the list started in 1998. In 2005, it was named the best place to work in America. This is not luck; it is a relentless, passionate effort to make sure that every one of the company's 41,000 people is happy, well cared-for, and given extensive avenues for growth. Wegmans' employees enjoy flexible scheduling, broad career track opportunities, and eligibility for the company's lauded scholarship program, which has to date given over $81 million in educational assistance to more than 25,000 employees. The company's family-friendly approach even offers such unusual benefits as adoption assistance.
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone working there who's not smiling and eager to please. This translates to low turnover and happy customers who shop longer and buy more.
Create an amazing customer experience: Wegmans has become a genuine tourist destination in the communities it serves. To many people, shopping there is as much entertainment as it is errand. The environment is like an enormous, impeccably merchandised open-air market, in stark contrast to the cold, white linoleum and fluorescent environment that has defined the industry for generations. Unlike in those sterile supermarkets, nobody rushes from aisle to aisle trying to get the shopping done as quickly as possible. People move slowly and look around, as if in an art gallery. Customers relax at exotic tea bars, choose from multiple eat-in options, take home chef-prepared meals, even custom-blend their gorp of choice at a trail-mix bar. The company constantly experiments with unique, "experiential" store features, all focused on customer convenience, newness, and excitement.
Pioneer new ways of doing things: Wegmans is always ahead of the curve. It was instrumental in the development and implementation of bar code standards and practices in the early '70s, among the first to use electronic discounts and loyalty cards, reinvented grocery store design and merchandising, and "bought local" long before it became a trend. The company constantly looks for ways to use technology -- from the interactive recipe/shopping list feature on its website to an iPhone app that organizes the shopping list by store aisle -- to enhance the customer experience.
Be a force for good in the community: Wegmans is known for its philanthropy and community involvement. In addition to the earlier-mentioned scholarship program, the company supports countless causes and events in its expanding geographic realm. The company associates its name with "goodness," both inside its stores and out, further solidifying the loyalty of those who work and shop there.
What makes this all the more impressive is that Wegmans is still a genuine family business. On any given weekend it is not uncommon to see CEO Danny Wegman pushing a cart, doing his shopping, talking to employees and shoppers. Customers are fiercely loyal and will tell you they feel like Wegmans is "their" store. Actor Alec Baldwin spoke on David Letterman about his mother's refusal to leave upstate New York because there are no Wegmans stores in Los Angeles.
Wegmans has, in short, made itself beloved and irresistible, and has deservedly reaped the rewards of its magic. So is it the Best Company in the World? Feel free to challenge the title.
Photos courtesy of WegmansHIGHLAND PARK, NJ-- As Phil Murphy and Kim Guadagno became the nominees for their respective parties for the general election in November, gubernatorial candidate Seth Kaper-Dale wasted no time in bringing their flaws to light.
While hosting an online town hall, Kaper-Dale was asked, "What makes your platform better than Phil Murphy's?" His response, "Everything makes my platform better than Phil Murphy's. And I mean that." He continued, "The fact that a Goldman Sachs billionaire...is the so-called 'progressive candidate' is offensive...we have people who can hardly make it in this state...he does not believe in single payer medicare for all…because he is a friend to the health insurance industry…"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2017
Kaper-Dale for Governor
www.kaperdaleforgovernor.com
Contact:
Rishi Mehta, 732-895-0777 info@kaperdaleforgovernor.com
Kaper-Dale is a strong advocate for single-payer medicare for all.
Kaper-Dale, whose platform includes raising the minimum wage to $15, ending mass incarceration and the legalization of marijuana, has gained national attention for his work with Indonesian refugees who sought asylum in his church.
Kaper-Dale will face-off against what his Communications Director defined as, "A corporate billionaire, and a Christie-redux," in the general election in November.
The two were nominated primary elections in which only approximately 13% of eligible voters participated. In Murphy's case, he was nominated with less than half of the voters in the Democratic Primary.
Overwhelming support was most recently shown for Kaper-Dale when he asked Facebook supporters for $10,000 in a week, up until the day after the primary, and not only met, but exceeded his goal.Ask any college football fan about rivalries, and the long-standing friendly (okay, not so friendly) “hatred” between Michigan and Ohio State will undeniably make their list. The annual matchup, once ranked by ESPN as the top rivalry in sports, dates back to 1897 with over 100 gridiron battles since.
But Michigan and Ohio once went to war — real war, with militias and, perhaps, maybe even bayonets and horses.
Ohio became a state in 1803. Two years later, the U.S. government formed the Michigan Territory, a pre-statehood area encompassing the modern states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and parts of North and South Dakota. But map-making at the time wasn’t all that great. Maps were best guesses as to the true geography and topograpy of the area, and when reality struck in late 1834 or early 1835, it turned out to be different than what the maps suggested. A nearly 500 square mile strip of land between Michigan and Ohio, dubbed the “Toledo Strip” after the major city in the area (seen above), was suddenly in dispute. Both sides wanted the land, particularly because it was increasingly clear that the location of what would later be Toledo was perfect for a port city, and therefore, an economic boon awaited the ultimate owner.
In April of 1835, President Andrew Jackson attempted to stave off the conflict. Unfortunately, he, too, was conflicted. He asked his attorney general to investigate whether Michigan’s or Ohio’s claim was, legally, correct, but quickly realized that Ohio — like now — was a “swing state” in the presidential election. He decided that it’d be best to appease Ohioans and give them the Strip, hoping to entice them to vote for the Democratic candidate in the 1836 election. But Jackson’s attorney general reported back with contrary findings, concluding that Michigan’s claim would carry the day. Jackson decided to try and pull an end-around, asking to simply re-survey the line (with the expectation that the new survey would put the Strip in Ohio). Michigan, flatly, said no.
Unable to settle the issue amicably, the two sides raised militias and entered the area, with the Michigan forces on one side of a key river in the area, and Ohio’s on the other. Thankfully, few shots were fired, and the rare exceptions were warning shots aimed at the sky. The only bloodshed in the entire months-long skirmish ocurred on July 15, 1835, when Joseph Wood, a Michigan sheriff, went into Toledo to arrest Benjamin Stickney, a Ohioan major, for trespassing on Michigan soil. One of Stickney’s sons (named Two — really) stabbed Wood with a pen knife; the wound was not fatal.
With hostilities overblown and subject to eruption, Jackson tried again to resolve the conflict. In June of 1836, he signed into law an act which would allow the Michigan territory to become a state, under the condition that it ceded any claim to the Toledo Strip to Ohio. (Michigan would get most of what is now known as the Upper Peninsula
as part of the deal, as well.) But Michigan again refused, and it seemed like an escalation of the war was likely. Ohio had authorized $300,000 to raise its militia; per the Michigan Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, Michigan one-upped Ohio by authorizing $315,000 for similar efforts.
This last action ended up causing the “war” to end — not because Michigan now had the better militia, but because it had more debt. As Michigan.gov notes, the Michigan territory was teetering on bankruptcy at the close of 1836 and, not being a state, was not eligible for “a five percent commission on the sale of federal lands” which would have netted Michigan roughly half a million dollars. WIkipedia further notes that the federal government was running a budgetary surplus at the time, and $400,000 was to be distributed to the states — and Michigan wasn’t one yet.
On December 14, 1836, Michigan accepted Jackson’s terms. In January, it became the 26th state in the Union. And a month earlier, in the presidential election? Martin Van Buren, a Democrat (like Andrew Jackson), won — but not because of Andrew Jackson’s efforts in Ohio. Ohio’s electoral delegates ended up voting for William Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate.
Bonus fact : While Martin Van Buren won the Presidency, his running mate, Richard Mentor Johnson, failed to win the Vice Presidential election outright. That year, there were 294 available votes in the Electoral College; to win, a candidate needed 148 or more. Van Buren received 170 and won the Presidency without controversy. But the 23 electors from Virginia who voted for Van Buren refused to also cast their ballots for Johnson. Johnson received only 147 votes, and fell one shy of the 148 needed. As required by the Constitution, the election then went to the U.S. Senate, which ended up electing Johnson anyway.
From the Archives: Taking a Bullet for Your Client: Another story from Ohio in the 1800s, this one involving a guy who probably shouldn’t have been using a gun.
Related: “The Toledo War: The First Michigan-Ohio Rivalry” by Don Faber. Four stars on three reviews.DiCaprio beat Eddie Redmayne, Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon and Michael Fassbender to take home the best actor gong for his role in The Revenant at the 88th Academy Awards.
Hollywood heartthrob DiCaprio beat Eddie Redmayne, Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon and Michael Fassbender to take home the best actor gong for his role in The Revenant at the 88th Academy Awards.
If "The Revenant," directed by Mexican Alejandro Inarritu, wins best picture, it would mark the first time in Academy Awards history that a filmmaker directed two best picture winners in a row.
ySTANBUL (CyHAN)- After sweeping the Golden Globes for best film, best director and best actor, "The Revenant," which hits Turkish theaters this week, is full on ready for the Oscar race.
At times, The Revenant feels less like a man-vs-nature Western and more like high-concept torture porn.
The Revenant is an unrelenting revenge thriller |with Leonardo DiCaprio in mesmerising form
Selon un recent communique du [beaucoup moins que]Conseil du Marche Financier[beaucoup plus grand que], le Consortium Tuniso Koweitien de Developpement (CTKD) a porte sa participation dans le capital de la societe Telnet Holding a 27,67% et ce, suite a l'acquisition en date du 12 aout 2015, d'une part de 22,32% des droits de vote de ladite societe, revenant a Mohamed Frikha (principal fondateur de Telnet Holding).
As a result, readers who enjoy intriguing, supernatural suspense like Katie Alender's Bad Girls Don't Die (Disney Hyperion, 2009) will find themselves disinterested in The Revenant.
Eidos Interactive, a leading worldwide developer and publisher interactive entertainment software, today announced the availability of Cinematix Studios' Revenant for PC CD-ROM.
Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach lauded Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio for his Best Actor win in the 88th Academy Awards for his performance in The Revenant.
Below the line is shaping up as a war between "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "The Revenant.Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
TORONTO -- One of Google's sister companies will help build a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto's waterfront.
Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, won a competition to partner with Waterfront Toronto to develop the project -- named Sidewalk Toronto -- as part of the Quayside neighbourhood.
Tuesday's announcement, headlined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will see Google Canada move its headquarters to anchor the development in the city's port lands area.
"This will create a test bed for new technologies in Quayside," Trudeau said. "Technologies that will help us build smarter, greener, more inclusive cities which we hope to see scale across Toronto's eastern waterfront and eventually in other parts of Canada and around the world."
Few specifics of the development were available, but Sidewalk said the area will be a hub for urban innovation built "from the internet up" that will tap into Toronto's tech sector to ultimately "improve the quality of city life."
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, touted both Toronto's multicultural population and Canada's immigration policy as part of the reasoning for choosing the country's most populous city for a US$50-million investment.
"You guys are the home for immigrants -- excellent," Schmidt said. "Try to remember that technology is powered by immigrants. I need to tell some people in America, so please continue."
Schmidt said he met with Trudeau shortly after the 2015 federal election. He said Trudeau came to him and said Canada wanted to be the next Silicon Valley, the world's leading technology hub in California.
"I hear this a lot from politicians, but somehow I believed him," Schmidt said.
So Sidewalk Labs bid on the waterfront project.
"This is the culmination on our side of almost 10 years of thinking about how technology could improve the quality of people's lives in the ways that have been defined already, whether it's inequality and access and opportunity and entrepreneurship," Schmidt said.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the development won't just be another technology park. Mayor John Tory said the project will also allow companies to address problems such as housing affordability and mobility issues.
Several months ago, the federal, provincial and municipal governments announced a $1.25 billion flood protection and waterfront revitalization investment in the same area.'Giving Tuesday' to Launch Season of Generosity After Black Friday and Cyber Monday
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Standing in contrast to the commercialism and consumerism that grips retailers and Americans during the holiday season, the national #GivingTuesday initiative hopes to inspire a season of selflessness and generosity amid Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
"We were thinking from the beginning – Black Friday, Cyber Monday – we have two days that are good for the economy. What about adding a day that's good for the soul?" shared Henry Tims, Deputy Executive Director of the historic 92nd Street Y (92Y) in New York City, with The Christian Post.
Spearheaded by 92Y and the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday has attracted more than 1,000 partners in all 50 states – including nonprofits, small businesses, church groups and major retailers – in joining hands to help make Nov. 27 "a day of generosity that will impact millions of people," according to a press statement.
#GivingTuesday organizers also have been working alongside a core group of founding partners to rally Americans to "get out and give" on Tuesday. Core partners include the American Red Cross, JC Penney, The Salvation Army and several other organizations and businesses.
Americans are being called on through #GivingTuesday to give of their time and their resources to help those in need – to essentially continue the kind of generosity that has been seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, especially along the nation's East Coast.
The outreach from Sandy has shown just how generous Americans truly are, according to Aaron Sherinian, Vice President for Communications and Public Relations for the U.N. Foundation.
"We are people who give to our communities, through our churches, through our volunteer organizations, and one thing that we've found this year... is that when the going gets tough, the tough start giving," he said.
"That's something people often lose sight of," added Tims. "We always talk about how America is falling down the rankings in education, or falling down the rankings in science. But America is No. 1...the most generous country in the world. Part of the DNA of America is philanthropy, and this is a real chance to celebrate that philanthropic spirit."
At GivingTuesday.org, visitors can find an exhaustive list of proposals from campaign partners sharing ways in which participants can volunteer on Nov. 27. Groups or individuals unsure of ways to make an impact can find inspiration at the campaign website's "Ideas" page, as well as platforms to donate online.
Sharing how the initiative's "army of Social Media Ambassadors" help educate volunteers and participants in how to give and "give smarter," Sherinian noted that a major part of launch day involves people "showing and sharing in the moment through photos, through posting where they are and what they're doing, so that people can get a sense for just how much giving goes on in our country after a weekend that's all about shopping and taking and receiving and consuming."
Organizers hope that #GivingTuesday will become, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a staple of the holiday season, a day to "activate and celebrate giving across the country."
"We're really asking people everywhere to think about what they're going to be doing on #GivingTuesday, whether that's having a conversation with your family around giving, around a family gift, around volunteering, whether it's making a personal commitment to volunteer or (make) a donation. We're really asking everyone everywhere to consider marking #GivingTuesday as a day to give, just as in the same way we mark Black Friday to get a deal," said Tims.
The 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center founded in 1874, is a Jewish organization that welcomes and reaches out to people of all racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds. The United Nations Foundation was created in 1998 with a $1 billion gift from entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner. The organization, a public charity, connects people, ideas, and resources to help the U.N. solve global problems.Next year’s Winter Olympics are set to be held in the Earth’s den of inequality—Sochi, Russia, to be exact—but that’s not stopping a few powerful gay athletes from voicing opposition to a suggested boycott of the Games.
Though his outward flamboyancy could land him in a Russian prison under a new Russian law that forbids tourists from showing “gay propaganda,” 29-year-old Johnny Weir refuses to hang up his figure skates in the face of bigotry. The decorated Olympian announced this week that he plans to compete next year.
‘The fact that Russia is arresting my people, and openly hating a minority and violating Human Rights all over the place is heartbreaking and a travesty of international proportions,” he said, “but I still will compete.”
He noted that the last time an Olympic boycott was organized during the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the only people affected were athletes that were denied the opportunity to compete. “I respect the LGBT community full heartedly, but I implore the world not to boycott the Olympic Games because of Russia’s stance on LGBT rights or lack thereof,” he added.
Weir is also encouraging other athletes, both gay and straight, to compete in next year’s Games, and asks fans to “support the athletes”:
“I beg the gay athletes not to forget their missions and fight for a chance to dazzle the world. I pray that people will believe in the Olympic movement no matter where the event is being held, because the Olympics are history, and they do not represent their host, they represent the entire world.”
Also on board to compete is openly gay Kiwi speed skater Blake Skjellerup, who says he will be wearing a rainbow pin while in Sochi. “For me it’s less about taking a stand and more about just being myself,” he said. “I have no interest in going back into the closet in Sochi…this is not about defiance. This is me standing up for what I believe in.”
After coming out in 2010, Skjellerup says he’s taking this opportunity to become a role model for the community. “If that gets me in trouble,” he said, “then so be it.”Pressure from the US ahead of Thursday's European Parliament vote on granting terror investigators access to international bank transfer data had been intense. Adam Szubin, the US Treasury Department official in charge of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, travelled to Brussels and Berlin to lobby for the agreement last week and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had even brought up the issue with the EU's new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
To no avail.
On Thursday, the European Parliament voted 378 to 196 to strike down the agreement, which had already gone into effect on the strength of a late November approval by European Union interior ministers. There were 31 abstentions.
The parliament would like to see the deal renegotiated to include greater safeguards for civil liberties and to address European privacy concerns. In addition, the EU would like to see any deal include permission for European investigators to access US bank data.
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger welcomed the results of the vote, saying "the citizens of Europe have won a victory today." She said the European Parliament vote strengthened "not just data protection, but democracy in all of Europe."
'Payback'
Martin Schulz, Social Democratic floor leader in the European Parliament, added that it was "payback for the autocratic behavior" of European interior ministers.
The deal would have allowed US authorities to continue monitoring bank transfers handled by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). The Belgium-based company, which conducts some 15 million transfers each day, recently moved data from US-based servers to European soil, requiring the US to obtain permission from the EU before gaining access to the information.
Immediately after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the US launched a secret program to monitor international bank |
indifference, with fans weary of losing teams and hearing from rich owners about how they needed a new stadium to compete with the rest of the league in terms of revenue. However, with the exception of Los Angeles, each of those cities reversed course. Missing the NFL, they eventually agreed to pay on average an extra $225.3 million in costs for a new stadium, relocation reimbursements and perks such as new facilities to get a team back than they would have had to spend to keep their original franchise. Related: When NFL teams move, cities left shaken | Canepa: Relocation fee(s) needs to be exorbitant The regret not only cost cities in the pocketbook, but also tarnished their image, Catuzzi said. “By not having the ability to hold onto something, whether you lose General Motors or lose the Oilers, it’s a negative slap at your ability to maintain or grow,” he said. “So I’m sure people looked at it that way, ‘how the hell would you lose a team?’” By next year at this time, San Diegans may be asking that same question. After the 2015 season, the Chargers can get out of their lease at Qualcomm Stadium and move to Los Angeles in an effort to boost their earnings. If numbers from Forbes magazine are to be trusted, the average NFL team had operating income of $53.3 million last year and the median was $42.8 million. The Chargers were at $39.9 million, good for 18th out of the 32 franchises. Chargers stadium: Complete coverage While the threat of losing the team may be new to San Diego, it’s played out many times since the 1980s. However, of all the places that lost their teams, no city provides a better parallel to what’s happening in San Diego than Houston. Start with this: In the late 1980s, Oilers’ owner Adams got Harris County to spend about $65 million to add about 10,000 seats to the Astrodome, including club seats and luxury suites. Less than a decade later, he asked for an entirely new stadium. Sound familiar? What happened in Houston Let’s start in the 1980s, a time when multiuse stadiums were commonly shared by baseball and football teams. The Bengals and the Reds played at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Pirates and the Steelers played at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams called old Busch Stadium home. In San Diego, the Chargers and the Padres shared Jack Murphy Stadium. And in Houston, the Astros and Oilers were tenants at the Astrodome. The Oilers were at a big disadvantage. The Astros owned the company that managed the stadium, and got the bulk of concession and parking revenue, even from Oilers games. Bud Adams, owner of the Oilers, wasn’t pleased. “He had a bad deal,” said John Williams, who covered the stadium issue for the Houston Chronicle. “He said, ‘I’m now looking at a world of football where all these teams are getting their own stadiums, I need to have some improvements.’” Adams wanted the Astrodome expanded, with club seats and luxury suites so he could better compete with other teams. After a tough negotiation — in which he shopped the team in Jacksonville, Fla. — the public agreed and expanded the dome. / AP Photo/Michael Stravato 11/12/1995 - Nearly half the seats were empty in Houston's Astrodome as the Houston Oilers play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Nov. 12, 1995. Oilers owner Bud Adams has cited lack of fan interest as one of his reasons for moving the team to Nashville, Tennessee. 11/12/1995 - Nearly half the seats were empty in Houston's Astrodome as the Houston Oilers play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Nov. 12, 1995. Oilers owner Bud Adams has cited lack of fan interest as one of his reasons for moving the team to Nashville, Tennessee. (/ AP Photo/Michael Stravato) Back story: Reporting on costs of regaining the NFL Unlike Alex Spanos, who shocked public officials when he said the Chargers needed a new stadium three years after Qualcomm’s expansion, Adams was clear from the start: The upgraded Astrodome was only going to satisfy him for a decade, and then he’d need a new venue. In truth, he didn’t even wait that long. Within seven years, Adams went back to City Hall. Adams approached Houston and Harris County officials about a new stadium. Houston Mayor Bob Lanier was adamant: No public money. “The mayor told him, ‘no, we’re not doing that,’ probably thinking he wouldn’t leave or maybe thinking he didn’t care if he left, and did not agree to build a new stadium,” said Robert Eckels, Harris County judge from 1995 to 2007.
Adams didn’t have any political allies, and a proposal to build a venue with the Rockets also never caught on. So, with several years remaining on the Oilers’ lease at the Astrodome, he signed a deal to move the team to Nashville. The Music City put up nearly $207 million in public funds to build LP Field, home of today’s Oilers, now called the Tennessee Titans. A Major League City One of the first things people think of when another city comes to mind is its professional sports teams, says George Belch, who co-founded San Diego State’s sports MBA program. The biggest difference between now and generations past is which sport people think about. “Major league status used to mean you had Major League Baseball, but the NFL has far exceeded baseball in popularity,” Belch said. “Now I think being a ‘major league city’ means you have an NFL team. You’re really hard-pressed to find any major cities that don’t’ have an NFL team.” As noted, Catuzzi said east Texas took the loss of the Oilers hard, and it hit in many ways, including luring business. Eckels, a Texans season ticket holder, disagreed. He said having the NFL is a luxury, but even without it Houston remains the vibrant energy capital of the world and a home to NASA. Still, the NFL was so missed by the public that Houston, Oakland, Cleveland, St. Louis and Baltimore all clamored to get Sunday football back into town, backing their desire with money. After the Cardinals left St. Louis in 1987, the Los Angeles Rams moved there in 1995. The Raiders moved back to Oakland that same year, while the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens in 1996. Cleveland got the new Browns in 1999, and the NFL expanded again in 2002 with the Houston Texans. Belch said San Diego wouldn’t be as devastated as Cleveland or most of the other cities. “The beaches will still be here. The great weather will still be here,” he said. “But I really think you would lose a piece of the city’s identity.” Paying up to get a new team In 1996, before the Oilers left, Houston voters narrowly passed a referendum that allowed taxation of rental cars, hotel rooms and event tickets to pay for new stadiums. The measure created the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, which managed the financing of the facilities. Eckels said he made a handshake deal with the late Adams that if a vote for a new stadium in Nashville failed, the Oilers would stay. After the Tennessee vote passed, Eckels said Houston’s new goal was to bring back the NFL. First, the region had to take care of its own. The Astros, who with the Astrodome expansion felt the facility was no longer baseball friendly, said they needed a new stadium. The team also threatened to leave, including to Louisville, but worked out a deal for what is now called Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston, with groundbreaking in 1997. The Padres made the same argument about the expanded Qualcomm Stadium being bad for baseball when they asked voters for a new ballpark in 1998, with Petco Park opening in 2004. With the Astros deal inked, there was still the issue of luring back the NFL. Enter Bob McNair, a longtime Texas businessman and owner of Cogen Technologies, which he sold to Enron for $1.5 billion. Houston competed with Los Angeles to be awarded the NFL’s 32nd franchise. Catuzzi, of the sports commission, and other public officials accompanied McNair to the 1999 NFL owners meetings in Atlanta, where McNair got the league to commit to Houston after a failed attempt by Los Angeles. McNair offered the NFL almost double what he had expected to pay: a record $700 million expansion fee, including extra money to host the Super Bowl. “He was talking about how the team was going to cost $400 million and the stadium was going to cost $400 million, and he just couldn’t afford to pay for a stadium,” Eckels said. Fee aside, a stadium still had to be built. And therein lies the biggest difference in retaining an NFL team, versus what it takes to get a new one. Eckels said Oilers owner Bud Adams had just wanted a basic open-air facility, which may have cost $300 million. To get the NFL back, Harris County had to build what was then considered the most advanced stadium at the time, with a retractable roof. The original cost estimate was $417 million, with $342 million coming from taxes on hotels, rental cars and events, plus $50 million personal seat licenses. The total project cost came in at $519 million. “We would have cut a better deal between the Oilers, and it would not have been as big or as elegant a stadium as we wound up with,” Eckels said. “I would have much preferred to have kept the Oilers here just because of the history the team had with the city. We grew up together if you will, and San Diego is the same way.” In all, Houston built three new major sports stadiums for $1.1 billion, most recently the NBA’s Rockets’ new home, the Toyota Center, opening in 2003. The worst deal ever In 1988, the Cardinals football team moved from St. Louis to Phoenix after the city would not build them a 70,000-seat stadium. Seven years later, St. Louis enticed the Los Angeles Rams to move east in what was one of the worst deals the public ever made to lure a team, said Matt Parlow, a sports law professor at Marquette University in Wisconsin. “The complication is a city is not negotiating with a team that would have to leave. They’re negotiating with a team that would have to relocate,” he said. “The costs are greater in that regard.” To pay for the Edward Jones Dome, the city, county and state floated $256 million in revenue bonds, covering the entire cost. But that’s not all. The Rams received all $74 million generated from personal seat licenses, all of the revenue from club seats and suites, and three-quarters of stadium advertising revenue. In exchange, the Rams pay $250,000 in rent, and $1 million in admissions taxes, Parlow reported in the University of Miami Business Law Review. He wrote that the deal improved the worth of the Rams franchise, but cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars as the return wasn’t even 10 percent of the governments’ annual expense.It’s turned into a remarkably short summer for Chris Bourque. The left winger, MVP of the 2009-10 Calder Cup playoffs for the Hershey Bears, leaves Tuesday for Russia. His new KHL club, HK Atlant, already has begun training camp for the 2010-11 season.
“I don’t know much about what I’m going into,” Bourque said Sunday.
What he is leaving behind made the decision to reject a qualifying contract offer from the Washington Capitals extremely difficult. Bourque said he was torn by his affection and loyalty to Bears president-GM Doug Yingst, his teammates and the Hershey community versus what was best financially and developmentally for his hockey career.
“It was actually a really hard decision for me, and it was hard to tell Doug,” Bourque said. “Washington offered me a two-year deal. It was pretty good money. But they pretty much didn’t have plans for me to be in Washington, and I want to be in the NHL.”
Bourque said he asked the Caps for a trade. When that didn’t happen, he finalized a two-year deal with HK Atlant believed to be worth $500,000 per season.
“It’s money that I definitely couldn’t turn down,” Bourque said. “It’s life-changing money that I haven’t been able to get.
“I couldn’t sleep for a week. It was a really hard decision. The decision doesn’t just affect me. It affects my family, my friends, my teammates.”
HK Atlant is based near Moscow, Bourque said, and he knows new teammates Jeff Hamilton, a long-time AHL player, and Jan Bulis, a long-time NHL player who also is a former Capital. The second year of the deal is at his option.
Bourque, 24, won three Calder Cups in five seasons with Hershey. In addition to being this year’s Calder Cup MVP, he has been team season MVP and an AHL all-star.
“Development-wise, I didn’t think there was much else I could do in the AHL,” Bourque said.
“Maybe I felt too comfortable there. The organization and people were so great, it made it so much fun to play there. Maybe moving onto a new place will give me that boost I need to make it to the next level.”
Bourque said his ultimate plan is to return to North America and make another bid to play in the NHL. Washington retains his NHL rights.
“It’s definitely not anything against the organization,” Bourque said. “It’s something I needed to do. It’s going to help me financially. It’s something I couldn’t turn down. I hope people don’t look at me differently because of it. It’s something I would never change, the last five years in Hershey. Maybe somewhere down the line, I’ll have a Hershey Bears uniform on again.
“Thank everybody in the Hershey community for everything. The fans, the training staff, the front office, my teammates, the media. They made it so easy for me to go to the rink. I have so many good memories playing in Hershey. I had a blast. It’s definitely going to be five years that I remember and cherish, for sure.”Of all the investment fads and manias over the past few decades, none have been as big of a fizzle as the craze for nanotech stocks. Ten years ago, venture capitalists were scrambling for investments, startups with “nano” in their names flourished and even a few nanotech funds launched hoping to track a rising industry.
And today? Nobody in the stock market gets excited about the phrase “nanotech” anymore. Which is strange, because nanotechnology itself – that is, the science and engineering conducted on a molecular scale, measuring less than 100 nanometers – is yielding applications and products in a number of industries, just as its more sensible supporters have long predicted.
Back in 2005, the year when nanotech mania peaked, a gold rush mentality took hold. There were 1,200 nanotech startups worldwide, half of them in the U.S. VCs invested more than $1 billion in nanotech in the first half of the decade. Draper Fisher Jurvetson had nearly a fifth of its portfolio in the nanotech sector, and Steve Jurvetson proclaimed it “the next great technology wave.”
With investors still feeling the hangover of the 2000 dot-com bust and a subsequent collapse of biotech stocks two years later, there was a strong appetite for a new wave of technology. In 2000, President Bill Clinton doubled U.S. investment in nanotechnology, and President George W. Bush authorized billions more in 2003.
Speculators began flocking to materials, chemical and pharmaceutical companies that claimed to be doing work on the nanoscale, prompting other companies to rewrite their business descriptions to embrace nanotechnologies. Nanotech became, briefly, a magical buzzword.
Companies that invested in nanotech, like Harris & Harris and Arrowhead Research, were publicly traded, offering stock investors access to a portfolio of nanotech plays. Stock indexes like the Lux Nanotech emerged, as did ETFs based on them, allowing another ground-floor entryway for small investors who wanted in on the next big thing.
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Ten years on, precious few of the nanotech stocks and venture-backed startups have delivered on their investment promise. Harris & Harris and Arrowhead are both trading at less than a tenth of their respective peaks of the last decade. Invesco liquidated its PowerShares Lux Nanotech ETF in 2014, after it underperformed the S&P 500 for seven of the previous eight years.
And many of the surviving companies that touted their nanotech credentials or put “nano” in their names now describe themselves as materials companies, or semiconductor companies, or – like Arrowhead – biopharma companies, if they haven’t changed their names entirely.
That kind of corporate rebranding shows more than how severe the investor backlash to the nanotech hype was. It also illustrates what really happened to nanotechnology over the past ten years. Nanotechnology, as some voices tried to explain years ago, wasn’t an industry. It was a broad field where engineering and science on a molecular level was begging to take root. It never became an industry itself because the technology behind it enhanced and improved many different industries.
According to Google Trends, searches on “nanotechnology” have steadily trended downward to between 15% and 20% of the levels of a decade ago. Searches for “nanotech” – the catchy buzzword preferred by investors – have grown even quieter. And yet each year there are more interesting applications that wouldn’t be possible without nanotechnology.
One better-known example is semiconductors, which began employing a 65-nanometer manufacturing process in 2007. Intel this year announced a processor with transistors measuring 14 nanometers, small enough to fit 1.3 billion transistors on a chip, and is pushing for a 10-nanometer process.
Meanwhile, research for new drug therapies are increasingly relying on molecular-level science, while gold nanoparticles are being developed as way to diagnose and treat cancers. Touchscreens, LEDs, displays, batteries, water desalination, energy efficiency – all are areas that are benefiting from nanoscience, with products already in the market or approaching there. IBM, for example, is looking into carbon nanotubes as a promising alternative to silicon, which isn’t useful in transistors below 10 nanometers.
Nanotechnology never had its Facebook, its multibillion dollar blockbuster IPO that made clear how a new technology is changing the world. Instead, it’s enabling a lot of mostly incremental change in older industries. It may not be as visible as a social network, but it’s even more widespread. Most of the investments, however, have been coming not from VCs but from governments or deep-pocketed, diversified giants like IBM or GE.
And while Facebook, like the most celebrated of Silicon Valley’s startups, went from idea to ubiquitous product in less than a decade, most nanotechnology applications taking much longer to find a market. That’s much longer than the five-to-seven year lifespan of many venture funds, let alone the quarter-to-quarter mentality of many publicly traded companies.
But given that the field is only a couple of decades old, it’s not bad. And it’s in line with what nanotechnology’s more sober advocates have been predicting all along. Even if a lot of antsy, speculative investors wished it had been otherwise.
See the Human Body Under a Microscope Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited Reprinted with permission from Science is Beautiful © 2014 by Batsford, an imprint of Pavilion Books Company Limited 1 of 10 Advertisement
Contact us at editors@time.com.The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) resolution signaling robust U.S. support for Israel should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decide to launch a military strike against Iran.
“Our bond with Israel is deep. We have no better friend in that part of the world than Israel,” said Graham when the legislation was introduced last month. “Last year President Obama told the people of Israel, ‘We have your back.’ Our resolution builds upon that statement and makes it clear that we will stand with Israel should Israel be forced to protect itself from Iran.”
Retired military experts have long cautioned against such an attack on Iran, claiming that a strike aimed at disabling Iran’s nuclear capabilities would require a military effort greater than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.
The Senate resolution is the latest measure bolstering U.S. support for Israel. It stated that “if the Government of Israel is compelled to take military action in legitimate self-defense against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the United States Government should stand with Israel and provide, in accordance with United States law and the constitutional responsibility of Congress to authorize the use of military force, diplomatic, military, and economic support to the Government of Israel in its defense of its territory, people, and existence.”
Israel and the U.S. have both made clear that Iranian nuclear enrichment for the purposes of creating a nuclear weapon could trigger a military invasion.
For pro-peace Americans who would like to see a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff, the latest resolution is disheartening.
“The Senate action to greenlight military strikes is not binding, but it is a key and necessary step towards another disastrous war of choice,” writes Dr. Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council in an email to supporters Thursday.
The passage of the Senate resolution occurs as the House Foreign Affairs Committee debated a bill calling for “additional human rights and economic and financial sanctions” on Iran. It went through committee markup Wednesday but has not yet seen a vote in the full House.
Human rights organizations report that sanctions have had a damaging effect on the Iranian civilian population, creating increases in food prices and shortages of medicine. In a July 2012 statement, the Iranian Hemophilia Society informed the World Federation of Hemophilia that the “lives of tens of thousands of children are being endangered by the lack of proper drugs” because of the sanctions.
Iran and a coalition of world powers, including the U.S., have continued talks over Tehran’s nuclear enrichment activities, but they have so far failed to yield any significant breakthrough that could ease the tension. The latest round of negotiations, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, last month, was attended by the group known as the “P5+1” — the U.S., Russia, China, U.K., France and Germany — as well as Iran.NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman sued JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo Corp. for fraudulently using a mortgage database system for foreclosure filings, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The lawsuit against the country’s three largest banks, and MERSCorp., owner and operator of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, was filed in the New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
Read more at GlobalPost: Big banks avoiding debit card fees
“The mortgage industry created MERS to allow financial institutions to evade county recording fees, avoid the need to publicly record mortgage transfers and facilitate the rapid sale and securitization of mortgages en masse,” Schneiderman said, Reuters reported.
According to Schneiderman’s complaint, MERS allegedly eliminated the public’s ability to track property transfers since they are maintained in the private registry instead of in the local county clerk’s office, the WSJ reported. He alleges the system is filled with inaccuracies, which makes it very difficult to verify the chain of title for a loan or a current noteholder for many properties.
“The banks created the MERS system as an end-run around the property recording system, to facilitate the rapid securitization and sale of mortgages,” Schneiderman said, Bloomberg reported. “Once the mortgages went sour, these same banks brought foreclosure proceedings en masse based on deceptive and fraudulent court submissions.”
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden sued MERS last year for allegedly running deceptive trade practices, Bloomberg reported. According to the WSJ, more than 70 million loans nationally have been registered in MERS. About 30 million of them are currently active, Schneiderman said.
Read more at GlobalPost: US to sue banks over mortgagesInterim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose hosted a question and answer session at Twitter headquarters Tuesday afternoon.
So, Conservative leader Rona Ambrose’s Twitter Q&A was a train wreck…
So, Conservative leader Rona Ambrose’s Twitter Q&A was a train wreck…
Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose hosted a question and answer session at Twitter headquarters Tuesday afternoon.
Hey everyone, I’ll be @TwitterCanada HQ tomorrow for a Q&A. Send your Qs using #AskAmbrose. Hope to hear from you! pic.twitter.com/caZi4r2cPC — Rona Ambrose (@RonaAmbrose) February 29, 2016
How did that go?
Well, you can’t say there wasn’t a reaction:
Unfortunately for Ambrose, you can’t say the reaction was positive either.
Here is a sampling of some of the questions that helped #AskAmbrose become the top trending hashtag in Canada:
Am I old stock or new stock? #AskAmbrose — Rabie Abdelhamid (@RAA353) March 1, 2016
On the day that Harper was found in contempt of Parliament, what was the mood in cabinet? #AskAmbrose — StumpyJoChilds (@StumpyJoChilds) March 1, 2016
In #elxn42 your party stirred up anti-Muslim sentiment & there were acts of violence against Muslims & mosques. Are you sorry? #AskAmbrose — Andrew Tumilty (@AndrewTumilty) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Please explain why your government cut off medical help for refugees. — Fern Hill (@fernhilldammit) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Why didn’t you support the investigation of #MMIW while you were in office? Why the change now that you’re in the opposition? — Michael O’Connor (@spaceandguns) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose if I declare my uterus a corporation will #CPC stop trying to regulate it?#prochoice pic.twitter.com/zzgwZeClbE — Kathy Dawson (@blueskies366) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose hey @RonaAmbrose why did your government create an “enemies list” & audit charities that countered your ideology?#cdnpoli — PatRiotChick (@PatOndabak) March 1, 2016
#askAmbrose will you be continuing to push the illegal attack on unions and tradespeople if elected? If so, why? #C377 #C525 — Jonathan Sprung (@rightsprung) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Can you backup the absurd Tory “math” on fed govt workers’ sick leave? #cdnpoli — James Cavalluzzo (@tendercomrade) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Why did your party spend so much time closing down internationally recognized science stations? — Chris (@Cosmic_dwarf) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Does the CPC officially acknowledge that climate change is real and its effects hurt both the economy & environment…yes or no? — Univrsle (@univrsle) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Do you admit your party’s obsessive focus on resources hurt Canada’s manufacturing base, leaving us vulnerable to an oil shock? — CANADALEK (@CANADALEK) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Why does the CPC think that cutting taxes is the solution for everything? — Douglas Connors (@calmecam) March 1, 2016
#AskAmbrose Ms @RonaAmbrose why did #CPC sell GM shares @ a lost & funding was withheld from Vets and First Nations? #MagicBudget #cdnpoli. — Just a voter (@VStheRhetoric) March 1, 2016
@RonaAmbrose #AskAmbrose I forgot my Gmail passwd. Can CSIS send it to me? — diddly-squat (@diddlyskwat) March 1, 2016
Who was the bigger disaster as a Minister: Leona Aglukkaq or Julian Fantino? #AskAmbrose — StumpyJoChilds (@StumpyJoChilds) March 1, 2016
That didn’t go so well.
Photo: Facebook.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Today's economic condition could likely be seen as "the most wrenching since the end of the second world war," wrote former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in the Financial Times on Monday.
The U.S. financial crisis won't end until housing prices stabilize, but that won't happen for months, wrote Greenspan.
The models used by the finance industry to determine risk and measure economic strength are too simple to fully account for human responses, he said. "We cannot hope to anticipate the specifics of future crises with any degree of confidence," he wrote.
However, Greenspan said that he hoped the fallout would not take away the finance industry's ability to regulate itself. Market flexibility and free competition are the most reliable safeguards against economic trouble, he said; the system which is supposed to guard against unanticipated losses will need to be overhauled.Manager Lloyd McClendon simply can’t keep running Ackley out there, not on a team as offensively challenged as the Mariners. Not when Ackley is hitting a mind-boggling.043 with runners in scoring position, and.103 with runners on base.
That the curtain is closing on the Dustin Ackley era in Seattle, such as it was, seems inevitable.
He now induces that level of visceral scorn reserved only for the most desperately struggling Mariners. Not quite Chone Figgins territory, but descending quickly.
What is more difficult to fathom is how it got to this point, where every time Lloyd McClendon writes Ackley’s name in the lineup, it seems to be either a reprieve, or a last rite.
Ackley arrived with so much promise as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2009 draft, a worthy consolation prize once the Mariners fell out of the opportunity to draft Stephen Strasburg. I remember talking to North Carolina coach Mike Fox and others right after the draft, and hearing Ackley’s sweet left-handed swing compared with the likes of George Brett and Wade Boggs. No one doubted he was going to be an impact player.
I remember the excited anticipation when Ackley was called up in June 2011 — too soon, of course, but no one wanted to think that at the time. I vividly recall the Sunday game, his third in the majors, when a sold-out crowd at Safeco went bonkers as Ackley drilled a seventh-inning triple off lefty Cole Hamels (who was 9-2 at the time) and scored a key insurance run in a 2-0 victory.
He looked great that half-season, poised for the stardom that seemed preordained. The very peak of Ackley’s Mariners’ career might well have been opening day of 2012, when he homered against the A’s in Japan (though few in Seattle stayed up to watch the game in the wee hours of the morning).
At that precise moment, everything seemed possible for Ackley — All-Star games, batting titles, a long and prosperous career. But it quickly fell apart in 2012, leading to a troubling season in which Ackley hit.226 and seemed powerless to stem the tide.
Maybe it was just growing pains, right? But Ackley showed up the following spring with an awkward-looking new batting stance, and the same old inconsistency. In fact, other than occasional spurts of prowess that merely accentuate what could have been, Ackley has been mired in a slump that now extends into its fourth season. Long enough, in fact, to be deemed not a slump at all, but rather the essence of Ackley. At some point, you are what your stats say you are.
It’s a shame, because Ackley warrants more than his share of empathy. For one thing, the Mariners haven’t done him any favors along the way, first by hurrying him to the majors, then by switching his position for a second time, and moving him all around the batting order.
Ackley, in turn, has grappled with confidence, by his own admission.
It can’t be easy to be a prodigy all your life, and then suddenly be in the midst of a constant struggle. I talked to him at length in the spring of 2014 about how beneficial he had found a book called, “The Mental Side of Baseball,” by Harvey Dorfman, in honing his mental approach.
But that doesn’t seem to have taken, either. Ackley is mired in another whopper of a slump, one that has made him a lightning rod of fan restlessness over the Mariners’ lackluster start.
Since homering three times in Seattle’s first seven games, Ackley is batting.154 with just three extra-base-hits, all doubles. He’s driven in a mere four runs over those 83 plate appearances, unacceptable for a corner outfielder (now dabbling in center while Austin Jackson is out).
McClendon simply can’t keep running Ackley out there, not on a team as offensively challenged as the Mariners. Not when Ackley is hitting a mind-boggling.043 (1 for 23) with runners in scoring position, and.103 (4 for 39) with runners on base.
The original plan was to platoon Ackley because of his success hitting right-handed pitchers. But Ackley is batting just.189 against righties, so there’s no reason not to give Justin Ruggiano or Brad Miller or Rickie Weeks or someone else — Stefen Romero? A player to be acquired? — an extended shot in Ackley’s outfield spot. Particularly with Jackson due back soon.
When he was hired before the 2009 season, general manager Jack Zduriencik was ruthless in dumping high-profile mistakes (or perceived mistakes) from the previous regime.
Shortly after his arrival, Zduriencik traded Bill Bavasi first-round choices Jeff Clement, Brandon Morrow, Phillippe Aumont and Josh Fields.
When it’s your own guy, however, there’s much more of an emotional investment. It’s not easy to concede that the No. 2 pick (in a draft that also produced Mike Trout) is a bust. Particularly one in whom the Mariners have invested so much time, energy — and money (a reported $6 million signing bonus).
Mind you, I’m not ruling out the possibility that Ackley can still blossom into a productive player. Baseball’s funny that way. But it might take being removed from the direct pressure of having to live up to being the No. 2 pick. In a Mariners season that needs a jump-start soon, they can’t keep waiting for Ackley to break out.
For Ackley’s own good, and the Mariners’, it sure looks like a change of scenery would be beneficial.Due to peak oil and peak everything else, the economy will never recover—it will only get worse and worse. We must all realize this.
If what I’m about to say sounds overly dramatic, it’s because the truth is so shocking. Within 10 years, the global economy will begin a steep decline—that is, a deep and ever-deepening recession. Virtually every aspect of the modern economy depends on the availability of cheap liquid fuel, cheap energy (from fossil fuels), and cheap other resources. Literally everything is about to get more and more and more expensive, and in certain parts of the world, many things are going to just plain run out. And it’s not just fossil fuels—there are dozens of resources (including water) that are about to become extremely scarce.
* * *
“In July 2008 oil prices spiked 50 percent higher than the previous inflation-adjusted record, set in the 1970s. As a result of that price spike, the global airline industry went into a tailspin, and the auto industry has been on life support ever since.
...
While the oil price run-up was hardly the sole cause of the ongoing world economic crisis, it has effectively imposed a limit to any possibility of “recovery”: as soon as economic activity advances, oil prices will again spike, causing yet another financial crunch.
...
Instead of being a continuation of the upward trajectory we have all grown accustomed to, the 21st century is destined to be one long downward glide punctuated by moments of financial, political and geopolitical panic. And in retrospect, we’ll all probably eventually agree that our descent began in 2008.”
Richard Heinberg, Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines
* * *
If you think there is some technological magic bullet to solve oil shortages (say, algae biofuel), think again. We’re way too short on the resources we would need to make it work—we’re way too short on all of it:
* * *
“It is no happenstance that so many [resource] peaks are occurring together. They are all causally related by the historic reality that, for the past 200 years, cheap, abundant energy from fossil fuels has driven technological invention, increases in total and per-capita resource extraction and consumption (including food production), and population growth. We are enmeshed in a classic self-reinforcing feedback loop:”
Richard Heinberg, Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines
* * *
As you may well be aware, capitalism cannot solve this problem—only exacerbate it. And it’s not just a question of the greed of individuals, either. The system itself puts relentless pressure on anyone with decision-making power to promote short-term corporate profit at all costs. The corporations that make any attempt to |
, and some fear, something similar could happen in Syria.
“The challenge for Syrian Kurds is the ambiguity of the Trump administration regarding whether it wants to maintain a residual U.S. military presence in Syria for years to come to wage a counterterrorism operation,” says Nicholas Heras, a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New American Security.
However, Ilham Ahmed said the Kurds here in Syria do not fear an outcome similar t0 that in Iraq, and said events there have not created more distrust toward the Americans among Syrian Kurds. “I think the [Iraqi Kurdish] referendum was not welcomed by the Americans and it came at an inappropriate time,” she said.
“Not only the U.S., but international public opinion was opposed to the referendum—but one Kurdish party decided to continue this process, and led to this unfortunate result,” she added.
The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria has said it is ready to negotiate over autonomy with the Syrian government and emphasize that they do not want to separate from Syria, unlike the Iraqi Kurds that wanted to build an independent state.
Two teenage Kurdish fighters in the city of Kobani, Dilbirin and Azadi, say that it’s possible that the U.S. will stop its support after ISIS is finished. But they note that troops of the YPG and the SDF are battle-hardened, having seen a lot more combat in recent years than the peshmerga fighters of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, and they say they do not fear their enemies. “Peshmergas, they left their positions and run,” said Dilbirin, “but we never give up our positions.”
Daily Beast Senior National Security Correspondent Spencer Ackerman reports from the United States:
The U.S. military on Tuesday stopped short of declaring Raqqa liberated. Col. Ryan Dillon said the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, the U.S.’s proxy for ground combat in Syria, said ISIS was “on the verge of a devastating defeat.” But while Dillon suggested the terror group’s defeat was certain, what follows in Raqqa sounded like anything but.
Dillon estimated that 95 percent of the city has been captured by the SDF. Following an estimated 400 ISIS fighters surrendering or being captured over the past month, about 100 fighters remain in the city—forces expected to form “pockets of resistance” that Dillon anticipated the SDF will encounter in the weeks and months ahead.
But even as the SDF takes the city, the dense presence of explosives ISIS threaded through its erstwhile capital poses a persistent threat. Dillon described the recent discovery of 550 IEDs, 1,800 mortars, 101 suicide vests, and 11 IED factories in Raqqa. Already they have yielded significant casualties, including the commander of the Raqqa Internal Security Forces, who triggered the IED that killed him Monday during a foot patrol in the city.
But even as “ISIS is losing its grip,” in Dillon’s phrase, little is known about who will control Raqqa in the terror group’s aftermath.
In April, SDF militiamen established a preparatory local council of civilians to immediately provide services to Raqqa post-liberation. Its immediate priorities, Dillon said, are to restore essential services to the remaining civilians, including the provision of electricity, water and sanitation. U.S. Special Operations forces, formally “advisers,” but functionally in the thick of combat, will be on hand to advise the IED clearance. Some 1,600 “local recruits,” Dillon said, have enlisted to serve as functional police for the city.
But if the council is a bridging mechanism for Raqqa’s post-ISIS governance, it is unclear where the bridge leads. Senior U.S. officials told The Daily Beast in July that they did not plan to return Syrian territory to Bashar Assad’s government. But Donald Trump has since acceded to a Russian-Iranian-Turkish process to end the Syrian civil war on Assad’s terms, and none of those larger regional forces favor a Kurdish-led autonomous outpost in Syria. Congressional sources tell The Daily Beast they have not been informed of any administration plan for the ultimate disposition of the city.Story highlights Vatican spokesman says Pope's remarks not "a personal attack"
Donald Trump at CNN town hall: Pope is a "wonderful guy"
Trump's GOP rivals largely stayed away from the brouhaha
(CNN) Nobody wants to tangle with the Pope -- not even Donald Trump.
One of the more unlikely battles to jolt a presidential campaign emerged Thursday when Pope Francis said Trump is "not Christian" if he wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump, true to form, shot back that the pontiff's comments were "disgraceful."
But by Thursday evening, the GOP front-runner was doing something unusual: de-escalating a fight.
"I don't like fighting with the Pope," Trump said at a GOP town hall in South Carolina hosted by CNN. "I like his personality; I like what he represents."
Trump called the Pope a "wonderful guy" and blamed the day's drama on the press.
Read MoreWhen a some-time lover and full-time friend dies in a climbing accident, Litsa Dremousis is left to deal with the aftermath: the loss of a soul-mate, the apartment filled with little ambushes in the form of objects from the relationship, and the difficult task of understanding what it was that made this person she loved repeatedly risk his life. And she’s also left to wond
When a some-time lover and full-time friend dies in a climbing accident, Litsa Dremousis is left to deal with the aftermath: the loss of a soul-mate, the apartment filled with little ambushes in the form of objects from the relationship, and the difficult task of understanding what it was that made this person she loved repeatedly risk his life. And she’s also left to wonder how to feel.
Altitude Sickness by Seattle writer Litsa Dremousis is an important addition to the conversation about the social responsibilities and emotional consequences of climbing-related tragedies and a funny, furious, and heartbreaking personal story.
Blurbs:
"Whether through snark or anonymity, the Internet has made emotional nuance a rare commodity in 2014. Litsa Dremousis consistently proves herself to be unafraid to reverse this trend. Whether it's love, lust, sex (different than the previous two), illness, or raw anger, she explores what it means to allow yourself to truly feel (or not) in the context of a tragic loss. It's fascinating, risky, and honest. You should download Altitude Sickness immediately if not sooner."
—Sean Beaudoin, author of The Infects and Wise Young Fool
"As a journalist, Litsa Dremousis is no stranger to unflinching honesty,
but as a memoirist, she truly bears all. Not as much a recount of the tragic loss of a loved one
as a meditation on the merits and consequences of thrill-seeking, Altitude Sickness understands the alchemical manner in which grief and anger are inseparably linked. Written with equal parts
tenderness and cynicism, Dremousis's exploration of love and mortality will leave you gasping."
-Samuel Sattin, author of League of Somebodies
"Litsa's sentences are precise, brutal, and reek of love, beauty, and integrity. Reading 'Altitude Sickness' I had all kinds of feelings: I envied Neal's his partner's love, and I got mad at him for leaving her behind. But more importantly I kept thinking this is not prose, this is poetry, plain and simple. An intense dose of confronting life, love, and death. I am grateful this book exists."
—Maged Zaher, author of The Revolution Happened and You Didn't Call Me, Thank You for the Window Office, Portrait of the Poet as an Engineer, winner of the The Stranger's 2013 Genius Award for LiteratureNashik: After holding protests in several districts across Maharashtra, members of the Maratha community will take out a silent kranti morcha here tomorrow demanding reservations in educational institutes and government jobs.
The community, pre-dominant in Maharashtra politics, has been taking out silent marches in various towns of the state over last one month, following the rape and murder of a girl at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district two months back. The victim girl was a Maratha, while the culprits were Dalits.
According to the organisers, nearly 15-20 lakh people are expected to take part in the morcha that will begin at 10 AM from Tapovan here tomorrow and traverse through Panchavati karanja, Victoria bridge, Ravivar Peth, Tilak road, M G road and end at the District Collectorate office.
City police has already made arrangements for diverting vehicular traffic using ring routes and are also sealing some routes by created "no vehicle zones" in view of the massive morcha. Also, adequate police force has been deployed for the purpose.
Earlier, the Maratha rallies in Navi Mumbai, Akola, Latur and Nanded drew huge crowds.
The community leaders have been demanding scrapping of the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), saying that it is grossly misused, and also reservations for Marathas in educational institutes and government jobs."It's a good location. It's a couple of blocks from the GO station," he said, referring to the new James Street North station.
That street's renewal is starting to "spill on Barton and it's heading east," Farr said.
The Ward 2 councillor said he hears adjacent lands have been amassed for housing and there is interest in building a medical office on the Hamilton Strip club land.
The strip club landowner, a numbered company, couldn't be reached for comment.
Fulgenzi said tentative plans are for medium-density townhouses to be built.
With city tax incentives, the new GO station nearby and the coming LRT line, "It looks like it'll be a very good project for our company," he added.
The city has twice owned 245 Catharine St. N.
Once was when it was abandoned after the Joyce & Smith Company that operated an electroplating business there when bankrupt in the 1990s.
The second time was in 2005 after the city sold the property to an owner, who eventually fell behind in property taxes and payment of property standards and environmental fines.
While the last owner did some remedial work, there were still concerns in 2010 of contamination on the site.
The city tore down the industrial building four or five years ago and put the property up for sale again under tax arrears in 2013, but there were no takers, said city tax director Larry Friday.
That changed in a more recent attempt to sell.
"This time, all of a sudden, people were interested. We got a number of calls. Some said they'd pay the outstanding taxes," Friday said.
The 28,314-square-foot property — with 133 feet of frontage onto Catharine — sold for $295,000. The money covered unpaid penalties, property standards, tax arrears and the building demolition.
The city recovered all of its costs, Friday said.
Carmela Fragomeni
Carmela Fragomeni is a reporter with The Hamilton Spectator. Email | Twitter
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St. Catharines man, 27, dead after car hits concrete pole on Queenston RoadNIAMEY (Reuters) - French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday world powers must tackle instability in Libya but he stopped short of openly backing the military intervention called for by regional powers in the Sahel.
France's Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attends a news conference in Paris October 3, 2013. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Speaking shortly after meeting Le Drian in Niamey, Niger’s president, Mahamadou Issoufou, reiterated calls for an international military intervention in Libya, a position supported by several other African leaders concerned about the impact of the country’s lawlessness on the region.
The leaders of Mali and Senegal have called for action by the West in Libya to end to chaos they say stems from the 2011 intervention that helped oust Libya’s longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
While two rival governments compete for legitimacy in Tripoli, Libya’s desert south has become a stronghold for armed groups, some with links to al Qaeda.
“Libya is chaos today and it is a breeding ground for terrorists that threaten the stability of Niger and, further afield, France,” Le Drian said in Niamey.
“We think that the moment has come to ensure that the international community tackles the Libyan problem. I think this is also what President Issoufou believes,” he said.
Le Drian had on Thursday visited a French military base at Madama, a remote fortress town at a crossroads of desert trade routes in northern Niger, near Libya’s border.
Underscoring the scale of the task faced by French troops, the base is some 10 days’ drive from Niger’s capital and is battered by winds of up to 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour.
Le Drian said the location of the Madama deployment of some 200 men was key as it would allow troops to intervene in Niger quickly and efficiently, highlighting how France’s intervention against Islamists in Mali in 2013 has mutated into a broader, regional mission to hunt down Islamists across the Sahel.
However, France has so far ruled out a direct military action in Libya and Le Drian said nothing to change that position during a trip to visit some of the 3,200 troops in the region this week.
Issoufou said the Sahel was “paying the price” for the political mess left behind after NATO military action helped remove Gaddafi and direct Western action was needed to fix the situation.
“I don’t see how armed terrorist militias are going to bring about reconciliation in Libya,” he said.South Australian scientist Jeremy Krieg was born in 1977 into a loving Christian-Lutheran family, as a descendent of German Lutherans who had migrated to the newly-founded colony of South Australia in the 1840s.
“I am the eldest of three children and my parents instilled in all three of us the importance of Christian values and a love for God,” states 40-year-old Greek Orthodox priest Father Jeremy who also holds university degrees in electrical engineering and mathematical physics/pure maths.
After completing his studies, the young scientist worked as a software engineer for the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) and later for a local internet start-up company, however, at the age of 28, Krieg found himself challenging his faith, as a result of someone who had lapsed in theirs.
“I became ashamed of myself because in spite of a higher education that had equipped me to answer advanced physics, maths, and engineering problems, I struggled to answer some of the deeper questions about my faith; a faith that was supposedly an important part of my life.
“It was then that I resolved to become more educated and ultimately to learn the truth about the faith and – if necessary – to change my life to accommodate whatever truth I discovered,” reveals Father Jeremy in a candid interview with Neos Kosmos.
Unbeknown to him, Krieg’s journey to Orthodoxy had just begun.
Father Jeremy says what drew him to Orthodoxy was mainly the fact that the Orthodox Church does not compromise on its values and beliefs to satisfy the masses.
“At the beginning of my spiritual journey, I had a preconception of the Christian world being divided into Roman Catholic and Protestant camps. I had always held a high view of the Sacraments, but I rejected the idea of a Pope.
“In my limited view of the Christian world, Lutheranism seemed like the only real place that I belonged, yet even in Lutheranism, there were teachings that I was not comfortable with, that did not resonate as true. It was during this time that I discovered the Orthodox Church and my horizon suddenly expanded,” he says.
The young scientist decided to formally commence studying theology in an attempt to learn more and investigate his own Lutheran tradition further.
“Protestants are accustomed to thinking of the Christian world according to the so-called ‘branch theory’: the Church is like a tree, and each denomination a branch on that tree. While each denomination had its own errors, as long as they agreed on the essential doctrines, they would still be part of the tree.
“The problem with this, as I soon began to realise, is that the denominations cannot even agree on which doctrines are the essential ones and as a consequence, they continue to widen the circle in the name of inclusiveness, by watering down the faith.
“The Orthodox Church, in contrast, makes the bold claim that it is the one and only original Church that Christ Himself founded and it alone has preserved the fullness of the faith undefiled and has declared that all the other denominations are in error and have at some point split from this original Church.”
Initially, Krieg started attending the local Lebanese (Arabic-speaking) Orthodox Church under the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
In 2005 he was accepted into the Orthodox Church via Holy Baptism and began to attend fellowship groups for young adults at the Holy Monastery of St Nectarios (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia), run by parish priest Archimandrite Fr Silouan Fotineas.
Two years later, Father Jeremy met his wife, now Presvytera Ioanna Krieg, whose migrant parents originate from Pontos and Ipeiros. The couple were married in 2009 on the Sunday of Saint Thomas.
“Throughout this journey, I felt my relationship with God deepening and therefore I decided, in consultation with my wife, that I wished to serve God in whatever capacity He laid out for me. I involved myself in parish life at St Nectarios, joining my wife on the parish committee, teaching Sunday school and chanting,” explains Father Jeremy.
The couple’s involvement came to the attention of Bishop Nikandros of Doryleon, who in late 2011 asked Krieg if he wished to become ordained.
“Knowing that in Orthodoxy our bishops are guided by the Holy Spirit to make such decisions, and with the guidance of my spiritual father, I accepted the call,” says Father Jeremy who is the first non-Greek clergy of the Archdiocese in South Australia, and only the third in Australia.
“With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, I was ordained to the Diaconate at the Holy Monastery of St Nectarios, on 12 May 2012 by His Grace Bishop Nikandros of Doryleon. I was ordained to the priesthood by His Grace later that same year, at St Nectarios, on the feast day of St Nectarios (9 November). I served as an assistant priest at St Nectarios and at other parishes of the Archdiocese mostly on weekends in a volunteer capacity, while keeping my day job as an engineer.”
Father Jeremy served the Archdiocese in a full-time capacity and was also appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Greek Welfare Centre SA, St Philothei.
In both roles, the determined priest tries to converse with many Greek parishioners in their native language and he reveals that his Greek is improving daily with the help of a very special teacher.
“While I was able to read Greek through my theological training and experience on the chanter’s stand, speaking modern Greek was another skill altogether, therefore, I study Greek together with my four-year-old daughter who came into this world less than one month after my ordination to the priesthood, on the feast day of St Stylianos and she was named in his honour.
“For me, it was a tremendous blessing that Styliani was the first child that I ever read the eighth-day and 40-day prayers for, as an Orthodox priest. She was also the first child that I baptised.”
As to whether it has been an easy transition from science to Orthodoxy, Father Jeremy seems to really be enjoying being the ‘Αυστραλό’ (Australian) priest.
“Everywhere I have been, whether in South Australia, interstate or abroad, I have always been wholeheartedly received by my fellow clergy and laypeople, even though I am a ξένος (foreigner)” explains Father Jeremy.
“In fact, I think that the sheer novelty of me being an Αυστραλός often causes them to overlook my many weaknesses, when people would have been less forgiving if it were my fellow clergy.
“I also find that simply being the Αυστραλό priest, in a way that words alone could not achieve, is often a good way to reach out to cradle Orthodox and to motivate them to think more deeply about their ancestral Faith, because Orthodoxy is not just for Greeks, Serbs, Russians, Romanians and so on, nor should we remain Orthodox simply because we are Greek and that’s what Greeks unfortunately do.
“We should remain Orthodox because we recognise that it is the true Faith and is the fullest expression of God’s love on this Earth.
At the same time, Father Jeremy admits that the path has been difficult at times, but nevertheless it’s not an isolated one.
“The language barrier is an obvious issue, although over time I have come to realise that this is not as big a problem as many believe it to be, but generally, any time someone wishes to change their life, take a new direction, join a new community, or make new friends – these are difficult steps.
“So, if I could give my humble advice to anyone who is contemplating taking this path, I would caution them of these difficulties, but I would also point out the rewards that eventually come to those who endure these difficulties and counsel people to keep their mind fixed on the end goal.
“I hope for others to look at me and fellow Australian priest father Daniel (the second non-Greek Orthodox priest in SA) and feel inspired to investigate religious matters further, grasping the fact that the religion we serve doesn’t separate people in categories; on the contrary, Orthodoxy belongs to everyone.
“It is Christ in His purest form on this Earth and there is no higher reward than finding the truth,” concludes Father Jeremy.Are you sick of being told what to eat, drink, and do? Then this is your lucky day! Here are ten things that people tell you are bad but actually have healthy aspects to them. In future when someone whines at you – you can point them in the direction of this list and have the last laugh! So onwards, the ten things that are healthier thank you think.
10 Ice Cream
Ice-cream is a low GI (glycemic-index) food. This means that it is a slow sugar release food that keeps you satisfied for a longer period of time than a high GI food. For that reason, you are less likely to binge after eating ice-cream. 75 grams of Ben and Jerry’s Cookies and Cream ice-cream contains only 114 calories compared to a slice of cheesecake with 511 calories. Furthermore, ice-cream is made of milk which contains many essential nutrients and vitamins. 1 cup of milk contains up to 30% of a man’s daily recommended intake. Other nutrients in ice-cream are biotin, iodine, potassium, selenium, vitamins a, b12, D, and K. Studies show a possible link between milk consumption and a lowered risk of arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer.
Interesting Fact: In the 5th century BC, the ancient Greeks sold snow cones made with fruit and honey in the markets of Athens.
9 Dirt
Throw away the rubber globes! Dirt is back in vogue! Remember the days where kids played in dirt, food was served with bare hands, and straws didn’t come in individual wrappers? It turns out – they were healthier days than our modern sterile ones! Early childhood exposure to bacteria, viruses, and parasites has been found to give a massive boost to our immune systems, making us less likely to get sick when we do come in to contact with various bugs. Research has found that children with a dog in the home are less likely to suffer allergies, and regular social interaction can reduce the risk of leukemia by up to 30%. Those are statistics not to ignore – so throw away the anti-bacterial cleaners and get dirty!
Interesting Fact: There are as many as 10 times more bacterial cells in the human body than human cells! The vast majority of these are harmless.
8 Stress
Stress is universally considered a bad thing – in some cases people have successfully won lawsuits against companies for work-related stress. But, what most people don’t know is that a little stress goes a long way to making us healthier. In short doses, stress can help boost the body’s immune system. In the first stage of stress (the “alarm” stage – often known as the “fight or flight” response) the body produces cortisol – a stress fighting hormone which has many benefits to the body. Stress can give a feeling of fulfillment – when this is the case it is called “eustress” as opposed to “distress”.
Interesting Fact: The term “stress” and the mental properties of it was not known before the 1950s. Until that time it referred simply to hardship or coercion.
7 Caffeine
Not only is coffee tasty, it is a mild stimulant with many medical uses. Caffeine contains a muscle relaxant that is very beneficial to people with bronchial problems – it can alleviate the symptoms of asthma. Additionally, caffeine releases certain fatty acids in to the blood stream that become a useful source of fuel for muscles. It even seems that the only serious side-effect to too much caffeine is a small amount of body-weight loss – a danger if you are anorexic. Caffeine should be avoided by people with fecal incontinence as it loosens the anal and sphincter muscles.
Interesting Fact: Caffeine can be toxic to animals, in particular dogs, horses, and parrots. It also has a much more significant effect on spiders than humans.
6 Red Wine
Red wine contains a group of chemicals called polyphenols (once called Vitamin P) which have been found to be very beneficial for health. They reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Wine has also been found to be an effective anti-bacterial agent against strains of Streptococcus (found most often in the human mouth) which can help reduce infections. Some wine varieties have extra health benefits; Cabernet Sauvignon appears to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition to the benefits already listed, wine is chock full of antioxidants which play a huge role in the health of the human body. The wines found to have the greatest benefits are found in the South of France and the Sardinia region of Italy.
Interesting Fact: Wine originated in the regions of Israel, Georgia, and Iran, around 6000 BC.
5 Chocolate
As a result of recent research into chocolate and health, it appears to be something of a panacea (cure-all) – coupled with the great taste and mood enhancing properties, it might be seen as a wonder drug! Cocoa or dark chocolate improves the overall health of the circulatory system, it stimulates the brain, prevents coughs, prevents diarrhea, and may even be an anti-cancer agent. Like coffee, chocolate is toxic to many animals. A BBC study indicates that melting chocolate in your mouth increases brain activity and the heart rate more intensely than passionate kissing, with the effect lasting four times longer after the activity ends. Eating regular small quantities of chocolate reduces cholesterol and the chances of a heart attack. Sign me up for some of that medication!
Interesting Fact: Chocolate has been used as a drink since at least 1100 – 1400 BC.
4 Cannabis
Cannabis is said to be beneficial for over 250 conditions. For this reason it is legal on prescription in a number of Western countries. Cannabis is believed to help with arthritis, asthma, depression, glaucoma, and pain. It is also reported to be a good treatment for constipation. Cannabis is also useful in dealing with the sideeffects of treatments for cancer, AIDS, and hepatitis. Cannabis has been used medicinally for over 3,000 years! Strangely, the cultivation and use of cannabis is outlawed in most countries.
Interesting Fact: Evidence of the use of cannabis as a non-medicinal drug exists as charred seeds found in Romania dating back to the 3rd millenium BC.
3 Beer
The moderate consumption of beer has been associated with the lowered risk of head disease, stroke, and mental decline. In addition, brewers yeast (used in the production of beer) contains many nutrients that are carried through to the final drink: magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and B vitamins. For this reason, beer is sometimes referred to as “liquid bread”. In 2005 a Japanese study found that low-alcohol beer may contain strong anti-cancer properties. Contrary to popular belief, a “beer belly” or “beer gut” is not produced by the beer, but rather overeating and lack of exercise.
Interesting Fact: Beer is one of the oldest beverages – dating back to the 6th millennium BC.
2 Smoking
Often referred to as “Smoker’s Paradoxes”, there are a number of therapeutic uses of nicotine or smoking. For example, smokers are less likely to need surgery to provide extra blood to their heart after an angioplasty, the risk of ulcerative colitis is reduced, and it even interferes with the development of Kaposi’s sarcoma (a type of cancer of the lymphatic endothelium). Perhaps most surprisingly, is that there are connections to smoking and a reduction in allergic asthma. There is also a large body of evidence to suggest that smokers have a dramatically reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Nicotine is currently being investigated as a treatment for ADHD, and Schizophrenia.
Interesting Fact: Tobacco smoking has been a practice of humans since at least 5000 BC.
1 Pornography
Amidst the loud angry cries against pornography, a few serious scientific studies have been performed on the subject. It seems that men and women who view pornography, have improved sex lives, better sexual knowledge, and an overall better quality of life. Surprisingly, one study found that the more that pornography is viewed, the greater the improvements. In an extensive study performed in Australia, the majority of married respondents stated that they believed that pornography has had a positive effect on their marriage. While clearly not always linked to pornography, studies have found that men who had fewer orgasms were twice as likely to die of any cause as those having two or more orgasms a week.
Interesting Fact: Pornography (and the anti-pornography movement) as it is understood today is a concept of the Victorian era (19th century) which was extremely moralistic. Sexual imagery was not taboo before that time.
Sources:
1. Alzheimer’s disease is associated with non-smoking by Carol Thompson
2. Impact of Smoking on Clinical and Angiographic Restenosis After Percutaneous Coronary by Cohen, David J.; Michel Doucet, Donald E. Cutlip, Kalon K.L. Ho, Jeffrey J. Popma, Richard E. Kuntz
3. Smoking Cuts Risk of Cancer by United Press International
4. Caffeine: Perspectives from Recent Research by P.B. Dews
5. Using spider-web patterns to determine toxicity by R. Noever, J. Cronise, and R. A. Relwani
6. From psychological stress to the emotions: a history of changing outlooks by R. S. Lazarus
7. Effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive function in women. by Stampfer MJ, Kang JH, Chen J, Cherry R, Grodstein F.
8. Beer as liquid bread: Overlapping science by Bamforth, C. W
9. A dynamic partnership: celebrating our gut flora by C. L. Sears
10. Dairy’s Role in Managing Blood Pressure by the National Dairy Council
11. Ice Cream – What’s in a Scoop? by Pat Kendall
12. The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age by Richard Rudgely
13. Medical Use of Cannabis in California by Dale Gieringer
14. Dark Chocolate Could Help Hearts by Emma Ross
15. Chocolate can do good things for your heart, skin and brain by Marjorie Ingall
16. Chocolate better than kissing by BBC News
17. Polyphenols and disease risk in epidemiologic studies by Arts, I.C. and P.C. Hollman
18. Antibacterial Activity of Red and White Wine against Oral Streptococci by Daglia, M.; A. Papetti, P. Grisoli, C. Aceti, C. Dacarro, and G. Gazzani
19. Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine Reduces The Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease by ScienceDaily
20. From red wine to polyphenols and back: A journey through the history of the French Paradox by D. W. de Lange
21. Now that’s what you call a real vintage: professor unearths 8,000-year-old wine by David Keys
22. Vice or Virtue? The Pros of Pornography by Matthew Hutson
23. Study concludes porn can be good for you by Nick Grimm
24. Sex and Death, Are They Related? by the British Medical Journal
Follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter so you don't miss out on our latest lists.You know him as the Scarlet Speedster, the Fastest Man Alive, and probably a whole host of other superlatives. That’s right, we’re talking about the Flash. We’ve mined through his many iterations and pulled what we consider to be essential reading for the character.
We’ve gone back to the Golden Age for Jay Garrick and the Silver Age for a jog with Barry Allen. This list will probably be at least a bit controversial, we’re well aware. So what we hope to accomplish here is to give you a sampling of all the flavors in the Flash mythos from heart-wrenching to gut-busting. Lace up your shoes, and let’s get going!
FLASHPOINT by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert
While the New 52 might be contentious amongst comic book fans, most agree that what started it, FLASHPOINT, gave readers a lot to look forward to. It begins as such: Barry Allen goes back in time to stop the murder of his mother from ever happening. However, things aren’t as Barry would’ve hoped as his reality has been replaced by one besieged with betrayal, tragedy, and war. Needless to say, this wasn’t one of Barry’s shining moments.
What makes this book stand out, though, is that this is a large-scale story about the Flash. It highlights his importance. Scope aside, the magic of this story is that it cuts right to the heart of Barry Allen’s character. In FLASHPOINT, Geoff Johns crafted a strikingly intimate story amidst the backdrop of the post-apocalyptic future. It never dives into mawkishness, though; just the opposite, in fact. What FLASHPOINT does best is that it addresses Barry’s tragic origins. In doing so it develops him past them to create a new, more refined motivation. It’s the perfect set-up for the New 52. Now whether it capitalized on it… that’s for another article.
THE FLASH (1987-2009) #134 — A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE FLASH by Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, and Paul Ryan
As with many superheroes, the Flash is a mantle. It’s an identity that belongs to no one specific character. Sure, we talk a lot about Barry Allen (for good reason), but there have been Scarlet Speedsters before him and there will continue to be after him. One such character, the original, is Jay Garrick, a character who’s frequently overlooked despite his many contributions. Jay Garrick, in addition to being a straight shooter and a real stand-up guy, also founded the Justice Society of America (JSA). He’s the classic, quintessential superhero with the war-time ideals and convictions of a firm morality. However, given his Golden Age origins, an era known for somewhat dinky storylines, his contributions to the mythos gets downplayed. One such story that doesn’t forget about our gilded hero is A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE FLASH.
Written by prolific comics writer Grant Morrison, it tells the story of Jay, subbing in for a recuperating Wally West and visiting him, Nightwing, and other friends all while also battling the classic Flash enemy, Captain Cold. It’s not a landmark book by any means, but it’s a solid story by a great writer who manages to capture the essence of Jay’s character without getting too sentimental.
So why is this our pick for Jay? Because it lets you see, regardless of his nostalgic origins, why he’s still such an important part of the Flash mythos.
FLASH OF TWO WORLDS by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, and Julius Schwartz
For new readers, comic book continuity can be a confusing thing to get a grasp of. What seems like a simple pen and ink drawing in one instance can warp into a complex tableau when you scratch the surface a little. Contributing to the confusion is the multiverse concept which originated in, you guessed it, FLASH OF TWO WORLDS. It’s a simple concept: what would happen if two Flashes, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, somehow interacted with one another? This is the story that created the multiverse, which led to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, which changed the face of comics forever. FLASH OF TWO WORLDS is a humble story; it didn’t set out to alter the status quo. Through the moxie of its creators, though, it did and it’s because of this that it winds up here as an essential read.
THE FLASH: REBIRTH by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver
Not to be confused with the most recent 2016 Rebirth run on the character, THE FLASH: REBIRTH served as Barry Allen’s long-awaited resurrection. You may be thinking by this point, “Why so many Barry Allen titles?” Put simply, many of the Flash’s best stories have been about Barry. Yet THE FLASH: REBIRTH isn’t just on this list for providing a good plot or a landmark event. What Geoff Johns did here was find what makes Barry tick. Johns understands the character on a fundamental level and, as a result, made a compelling case for his resurrection.
THE FLASH AND GREEN LANTERN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, Tom Grindberg, Barry Kitson, and Dick Giordano
Everyone loves a good buddy cop story, right? Well has DC got one for you! Hal Jordan is brash, lively, and more than a little reckless as the Green Lantern. Barry Allen is, by contrast, modest and a bit more by the books. They’re total opposites but, in spite of their |
workers, and a resume that seems tailor-made for Perry's core constituency of extreme conservatives. Rick Perry’s reign in Texas may be coming to an end, but an Abbott governorship would continue the era of hardline conservative policies. In some ways, the current attorney general might move the state more to the right. Perry, after all, mostly catered to the whims of business, pushing for slush funds like the Texas Enterprise Fund that he could use to offer companies incentives for relocating to Texas. Crony capitalism was the norm. While Perry’s politics have morphed repeatedly, often bending to benefit donors and special interests Abbott is perceived to have more of a guiding political philosophy—which likely means more conservative policies, more of the time.
Abbott is a compelling figure for conservatives. Like Ted Cruz, he’s an articulate lawyer who can give a thoughtful defense of Tea Party policies. A former state Supreme Court justice, he’s got a long record of conservative positions on everything from abortion rights to tort reform. Most importantly, he’s got a great sense of political timing. Abbott has built a reputation among movement conservatives both in Texas and across the country. He's done so by suing the Obama administration more than two dozen times, almost always on red-meat issues that appeal to the both the Texas GOP base and the national conservative groups that write big checks.
"I go into the office, I sue the federal government and I go home," Abbott said, characterizing his job to the Associated Press this year. Among legal scholars, he's most famous for winning a 2005 Supreme Court case that allowed the state to display the Ten Commandments in front of the state Capitol, but since then he’s become a frequent face on Fox News for his opposition to Obama policies. Most recently, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion gutting a key provision in the Voting Rights Act that required certain states (including Texas) to get election law changes pre-cleared by the feds, Abbott waited just two hours before announcing the state would begin implementing a voter ID law and redistricting maps that the D.C. District Court found to be discriminatory. Abbott's announcement helped confirm concerns from progressives that Republicans would use the Supreme Court decision to put suppressive voting measures in place. It also helped garner him media attention.
That was only the most recent of Abbott's attention-getting moves. In addition to defending the state’s most controversial laws, like banning funding for Planned Parenthood, Abbott has also gone on the offensive. During the 2012 election, he threatened to arrest international elections observers if they came to Texas polling places. He’s launched six different suits against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority in state matters. In a radio interview with NPR-affiliate KUT, Abbott justified one of his biggest EPA fights over the agency’s regulation of greenhouse gases in the state, by explaining "It's almost the height of insanity of bureaucracy to have the EPA regulating something that is emitted by all living things." (As The Texas Observer's Forrest Wilder wrote in response, "Don’t worry about that leaking sewage plant. It’s just all-natural feces!")
Abbott's politics are just as conservative as Perry's, but his style is notably different. While he's just as Texas-born and bred, Abbott's a lot less twangier and a lot more serious than Perry. Instead of hyperbolic statement served up with a good deal of charm, Abbot is known for caution. For instance, as a profile in the Texas Tribune noted, Perry made huge waves at the National Right to Life conference when he said that Wendy Davis, the state senator who killed an abortion ban, should "learn from her own example" as a woman raised by a single mother. By contrast, Abbott, who spoke later, didn't even mention Davis.
Abbott's personal story is also quite different from Perry's. Where the current governor focuses on his humble roots in rural West Texas, Abbott grew up in the suburbs of Dallas, a popular track star who served as copy editor of the yearbook. But his life was far from easy. His father died when he was 16, and then, in a freak accident when he was 26, a tree fell on Abbott while he was jogging, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
While Abbott is the top contender for governor, the path isn't totally clear. Though he has a much lower profile, Tom Pauken, the former chair of the state GOP and chair of the Texas Workforce Commission, had already announced his intention to run. Pauken is no moderate either—one of his primary issues is getting rid of the school funding mechanism that sends some funds from wealthy school districts to poor ones—but he has always styled himself as an outsider. Less than half an hour after Rick Perry announced he would not seek re-election as governor, Pauken released a statement that claimed Abbott "represents an Austin that has grown stale with insiders inheriting promotions whose primary allegiance is to those who write the big checks." The critique seemed more relevant to Perry’s tenure than Abbott’s. (Perry, after all gave his big announcement at a Catepillar dealership owned by one of his biggest contributors—while bragging about making special interests “uncomfortable.”) Nonetheless, Pauken’s remarks revealed a willingness to get negative that could make the race rockier for Abbott. Even so, Pauken is seen as a long shot, trailing both in money and political power.
So what, Democrats and Republicans alike will ask, about Wendy Davis? Since the state senator’s high-profile filibuster of the abortion ban, Democrats have begun clamoring for the Fort Worth Democrat to jump in the race. While it's hard to see any path to a statewide Democratic victory in 2014, a recent poll showed Davis faring better against Abbott than Perry, although Abbott still led her 48-40 in a possible matchup.
While the odds are that Abbott will dominate the race, he's still not a sure thing. For one thing, he still hasn't even announced. If memory serves, in 2011, the presumed frontrunner waited until the last minute to announce his bid for president. His name was Rick Perry.
Oops.My love affair with rediscovering french toast continues. Last week it was Apple French Toast, a pile of french toast dripping with self saucing stewed apple syrup. The week before it was Parmesan French Toast (insanely delicious!). This week it’s french toast sticks – eat it with your fingers (tick), tastes like cinnamon doughnuts but a whole lot healthier (double tick)!
I’m loving coming up with fresh takes on french toast! Growing up I always adored french toast but it was always the classic version drowning in syrup. When I was in uni, I discovered how good it was to pile bacon onto it, and yes, still drown it in maple syrup. I used to call this a “Heart Attack On A Plate”. This was before the day when “sweet and salty” became all the rage and everyone I made this for were dubious until they took their first mouthful – then they were converted for life.
I digress. Back to these French Toast Sticks. Two big things it has going for it:
1. Food you eat with your fingers. Need I say anymore?
2. Tastes like cinnamon doughnuts. I can’t admit to any of my friends that I secretly love cinnamon doughnuts, deep fried puffy goodness dusted with sugar. It’s on my list of what I call “Dirty Foods”, food that is oh-so-bad-for-you-I-know-I-shouldn’t-eat-but-secretly-love. Throughout this blog there is no doubt that I will be disclosing many of my favourite Dirty Foods. You will probably be horrified. Or maybe not. Maybe a lot more people than I think secretly love KFC Popcorn Chicken.
The key to french toast sticks that are stiff enough to pick up without flopping is to use stale bread and to use a block loaf you can cut yourself into thick slices (the thicker the sticks, the less they flop). This is the way I like my french toast sticks, but if you don’t have a stale block loaf, it still tastes just as delicious using pre-sliced sandwich bread, it will just sag a bit when you pick it up.
I really do recommend using stale bread where possible for french toast – any french toast. It makes a huge difference because fresh bread soaks up too much egg mixture – even if you dunk it in really quickly – and you’ll end up with french toast that is soggy on the inside.
This recipe only takes about 15 minutes to make, and is super easy. French Toast you can eat with your fingers – something that no kid, big and small, can possibly resist! – Nagi x
Cute spins on French Toast
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates. Cinnamon French Toast Sticks Pin 153K Yum 384 Email 154K Shares 4.85 from 20 votes French toast you can eat with your fingers and tastes like cinnamon doughnuts! Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Servings: 2 -3 Hover over "Servings" value to reveal recipe scaler Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats Ingredients 4 thick slices white bread, preferably stale (Note 1)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
Salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
3 tbsp butter
Maple syrup to serve (optional) Instructions Remove crust of each slice, then cut each into 3 equal thick batons.
Combine the eggs, milk and a pinch of salt in a bowl large enough to roll the bread sticks in.
Combine the cinnamon and sugar on a plate.
Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a large pan over medium high heat.
Roll the sticks in the egg mixture quickly (do not soak them), shake off excess and place in pan. Cook in 2 batches.
Turn to cook each side until golden.
Immediately transfer to the plate with the cinnamon sugar and roll to coat. It's important to do this quickly while they are hot straight out of the pan so it sticks.
Melt remaining butter and cook the remaining french toast sticks.
Serve immediately with maple syrup to dunk the sticks in. Recipe Notes: French toast is best made using stale bread. Fresh bread soaks up too much egg mixture, making it soggy on the inside and your sticks will flop when you pick them up. 2. It is best to use a loaf so you can cut thick slices as the thicker the sticks are (and the staler the bread is), the stiffer the sticks are (ie. they won't flop when picked up using fingers). 3. Nutrition assuming this serves 3: 1. Cut the slices thick enough so when you cut the crusts off then cut into 3 batons, the slices are thick, square batons about 1.7 cm / 2/3" thick.French toast is best made using stale bread. Fresh bread soaks up too much egg mixture, making it soggy on the inside and your sticks will flop when you pick them up.2. It is best to use a loaf so you can cut thick slices as the thicker the sticks are (and the staler the bread is), the stiffer the sticks are (ie. they won't flop when picked up using fingers).3. Nutrition assuming this serves 3: Nutrition Serving: 140 g Calories: 332 kcal Carbohydrates: 51.2 g (17%) Protein: 9.2 g (18%) Fat: 11.5 g (18%) Saturated Fat: 4.8 g (24%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 6.7 g Cholesterol: 126 mg (42%) Sodium: 449 mg (19%) Fiber: 1.2 g (5%) Sugar: 22.6 g
More Tasty French Toast Recipes
SaveSaveAll Time Low are featured in the upcoming movie, Fangirl, which is premiering Saturday, October 3 on ABC Family. The flick, which stars Kiernan Shipka and Meg Ryan, tells the tale of a 15-year-old girl who is head-over-heels for her favorite band, All Time Low. When she is provided with a two-day deadline for a final film project, she meets the task by combining her passions for something truly special.
Video: Watch All Time Low perform “Jasey Rae” with Set It Off’s Cody Carson
Watch a trailer below and be sure to tune in this weekend!
Fan Girl – Commercial The movie we’re in with Kiernan Shipka and Meg Ryan, Fan Girl, is premiering Saturday night, October 3rd on ABC Family! Check it out! #FanGirlMovie Posted by All Time Low on Thursday, September 24, 2015
Watch more:The cavernous shaft created at the entrance to London's Thames Tunnel by eminent 19th-century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel is set to be transformed into a performance venue.
London architecture studio Tate Harmer has designed a new staircase that will, for the first time in 150 years, allow the public to access the sunken shaft in Rotherhithe – the original entrance to the world's first underwater tunnel, which now forms part of London's Overground rail network.
The so-called "sinking shaft" was the first completed project by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who at the time was working for his father Marc Isambard Brunel.
It was flooded with visitors when the Thames Tunnel first opened in 1843, but from the 1860s onward, once trains started running through the tunnel, the space was used only for ventilation.
The Brunel Museum – which is dedicated to the legacy of both Brunels – has now unveiled plans to reopen the shaft to the public where it will become a venue for music performances, theatre and events.
Tate Harmer will install a new freestanding cantilevered staircase, completely independent of the historic structure. Described by the team as a "ship-in-a-bottle design", the staircase will allow visitors to walk down to the space.
It will be accompanied by a redesigned public entrance.
"It's a rare honour to work in such an important historical setting," said architect Jerry Tate. "We had to respect and protect Brunel's legacy while providing people the opportunity to enjoy the space in new and exciting ways."
The shaft marked the first stage in the construction of the Thames Tunnel, which was originally designed to allow horse-drawn carriages to pass under the River Thames between Rotherhithe and Wapping.
It was later sealed with a concrete floor, and in 2007 was closed to be refitted with new train tracks that allowed it to become part of the London Overground network in 2010.
The tunnel measures 11 metres wide, six metres high and 396 metres long and was created using a tunnelling technique developed by Marc Brunel and patented by Thomas Cochrane.
Related story Freshwater bathing pond to open in London's King's Cross
The Brunel Museum occupies the tunnel's former Engine House, immediately west of the sinking shaft. Once open, the space will form an extension of the museum's existing facilities.
"[Isambard Kingdom] Brunel was a showman as well as an engineer, and I'm sure he would have approved of holding performances in this new underground gallery," said museum director Robert Hulse.
"This will be one of the first exciting steps in the Brunel Museum's ongoing plans to preserve Brunel's first project and his enduring legacy for the enjoyment of the public."
Isambard Kingdom Brunel went on to develop SS Great Britain, the longest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854, and designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, although it wasn't completed until after his death.The protesters, however, are demanding an end to all new oil and gas operations.
"Oil is wrecking our climate and we need to wean ourselves off oil," Amanda Larsson, campaigner for Greenpeace told Newshub at the protest.
"The oil industry was hoping to come here and quietly make plans to drill more oil on land and sea here in New Zealand. We've shone a spotlight on that and not let them make those plans quietly, because we're here to say that if we're to have a future, oil can have no future."
The protest is being co-ordinated by the People's Climate Rally, who say it's significant that the event is being held in Taranaki.
"Taranaki has long, bitter experience with the environmental, health and personal impacts from oil and gas activities including drilling, flaring and fracking. For many Māori this is seen as a continuation of colonisation," spokesperson Emily Tuhi-Ao Bailey said in a statement issued by the People's Climate Rally.
Minister of Energy and Resources Judith Collins was due to give the opening address and announce the Block Offer at 9am.
She tweeted that the protesters preventing the kaikaranga from entering the venue, but Greenpeace and Shaun Keenan, the leader of Ngāti Te Whiti's delegation, say that's not true.
"Greenpeace has stopped Ngāti Te Whiti kaikaranga from entering the Petroleum Conference. #totally disrespectful", Ms Collins tweeted, referring to the woman who calls visitors onto a marae or venue at the beginning of a pōwhiri.In a recently released report titled “Wi-Fi Positioning Systems: Beware of Unintended Consequences” – by Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, and Kim Cameron, a leading digital identity expert – indicates that availability of mobile device WiFi Media Access Control (MAC) in plaintext over the air can lend itself to mapping the device at various locations, which can potentially cause privacy concerns for the device owner.
While releasing the report, referring to the popularity of smart mobile devices, the commissioner said: “Mobile devices are becoming more crucial in our daily lives, with people now carrying them and using them practically everywhere.”
Also, considering the use of unregulated WPS (WiFi positioning systems) she explained that, “Whenever an individual uses location-based services on his or her mobile device, a unique identifier of nearby traceable WiFi access points called a Media Access Control (MAC) address is relayed.” Indicating the consequences of this, she then added, “This raises privacy concerns because this location information may be compiled into a profile of an individual over time, such as where they have travelled to, shopped, eaten or banked.” Further, due to the availability of device WiFi MAC over the air, she warned “MAC addresses are core to current networked communications. But with minimum time and resources, one may be able to associate MAC addresses of mobile devices to physical addresses and then to a specific individual.”
Looking into the warnings and privacy concerns raised by the commissioner, it can be understood that similar to Ethernet, every WiFi capable device is assigned a unique, persistent identifier in the form of a MAC address to take part in networked communication. However, the WiFi MAC is available in plaintext over the air in packets related to ongoing WiFi communications, network broadcasting, or network probing.
With the availability of the device’s unique WiFi MAC over the air, a wardriving expert with sufficient resources (to sample WiFi data) can easily establish the device (and, by relation its owner) association with multiple locations. This can potentially reveal a lot of personal information about the device’s owner.
Advertising of the WiFi MAC also forms the basis of WiFi Positioning Systems, which at its core consists of a database of geo-tagged fixed WiFi Access Points indexed by their WiFi MAC addresses. Whenever, a WiFi capable device requests/uses services based on WPS, data such as a device’s own WiFi MAC and nearby traceable Access Points MAC are being relayed to the WPS service providers, who then use this information in conjunction with an available WPS database to determine the approximate location of the device.
Many groups/companies are involved in building the WPS database using techniques, such as wardriving, for commercial purposes. The database is then usually shared with third parties for location-based services and advertising. However, since the collection, maintenance, and use of WPS data and associated applications may not come under the existing regulatory environment, there can be potential privacy concerns for users of WPS services. These concerns can arise due to the fact that the devices, and by association, the device owner’s movements at various places can be profiled over a period of time. Such profiling can reveal quite a bit of personal information without the knowledge of the device owner.
Adding to WPS privacy concerns, the privacy commissioner also said, “Furthermore, depending on future developments, it may even be possible that individuals using geolocation services could inadvertently report the MAC address (and, simultaneously, location) of mobile devices belonging to friends, family or co-workers – creating an unintended 'unknowing informant' model of data collection.”
This means that due to the availability of WiFi MAC addresses of nearby devices, it may happen that an individual can inadvertently relay these addresses while using the WPS services on his/her device, thereby making it possible to reveal nearby devices' (in effect, the device owner’s) location information also. This can be considered as a privacy breach for such device owners when they are not participating in location-based services. Also, such unintended location mapping can potentially reveal personal information about them. At the same time, the individual relaying such additional information becomes the ‘unknowing informant’.
After outlining the privacy concerns, the commissioner advocated the use of certain practices such as, "Privacy must be designed into WiFi positioning systems to prevent unintended consequences," she said. It was also emphasized that “In no case, should the MAC address of end-user devices be collected or tracked without the consent of the owners of such devices.”Sections of the Ottawa airport are now wired with microphones that can eavesdrop on travellers’ conversations.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is nearing completion of a $500,000 upgrade of old video cameras used to monitor its new “customs controlled areas,” including the primary inspection area for arriving international passengers.
As part of the work, the agency is introducing audio-monitoring equipment as well.
“It is important to note that even though audio technology is installed, no audio is recorded at this time. It will become functional at a later date,” CBSA spokesman Chris Kealey said in a written statement.
No audio is recorded at this time. It will become functional at a later date
But whenever that occurs, the technology “will record conversations,” the agency said in a separate statement in response to Postmedia News questions.
Meanwhile, as many as 88 of the new high-definition video cameras are to be ready this summer.
Once the Ottawa equipment is activated, signs will be posted referring passersby to a “privacy notice” that will be posted on the CBSA website, and to a separate help line explaining how the recordings will be used, stored, disclosed and retained.
Already, though, the union representing about 45 CBSA employees at the Ottawa airport is concerned personal workplace conversations and remarks could be captured and become part of employees’ official record, Jean-Pierre Fortin, national president of the Custom and Immigration Union, said Friday. He added that the union only learned of the audio-recording development this week, after the Ottawa Citizen began making inquiries.
The CBSA statement said that audio-video monitoring and recording is already in place at other unidentified CBSA sites at airports and border points of entry as part of an effort to enhance “border integrity, infrastructure and asset security and health and safety.”
That recording equipment may also be linked to a federal initiative to help CBSA combat organized crime and internal smuggling conspiracies at big Canadian airports.
A 2008 RCMP report said at least 58 crime groups were believed active at major airports, typically by corrupting airport employees or placing criminal associates in airport jobs to move narcotics and other contraband to and from planes.
The Customs Act was amended in 2009 to allow for the creation of “customs controlled areas” within airports, starting with those in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, followed by Ottawa and other international Canadian aerodromes.
A crucial aspect of the change are proposed regulations giving border services officers expanded powers to question, examine and search airport workers and travellers, both domestic and international, within the designated areas.
The controlled areas at Macdonald-Cartier International include the areas surrounding aircraft that have arrived in or are about to leave Canada; the primary inspection area where all travellers must report to a border services officer; the secondary inspection area where border services officers conduct further examinations of travellers and goods; as well as certain holding and departure areas at the airport.
The Treasury Board requires government departments to conduct a “privacy impact assessment” before establishing any new or substantially modified program or activity involving personal information. The assessment is then reviewed by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
The office this week said it is reviewing a CBSA privacy assessment for the customs controlled areas.
But, “we have not received a privacy impact assessment regarding audio-video monitoring at the Ottawa airport,” said spokeswoman Valerie Lawton. “If the CBSA were to introduce audio-video monitoring, our office would expect a full privacy impact Assessment, which we would review and make (non-binding) recommendations as necessary to protect privacy.”
An official with the Ottawa International Airport Authority had no comment on the CBSA installations, saying the two organizations are distinct and separate.Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world
Your iPhone can now track details of your sex life – but it can’t tell the difference between gay sex and straight sex.
Apple yesterday launched the latest version of its operating system, iOS 9, changing and upgrading a number of apps.
The new version of iOS brings new features to the company’s built-in Health app – which can be used to track everything from weight and height through to your diet.
However, it also includes a new section called ‘reproductive health’ – which allows users to track their sex lives.
It explains: “Sexual activity can affect both physical and emotional health.
“A record of sexual activity may be useful in relation to other records of physical and emotional health.”
It even creates a handy graph showing how many times you had sex on a certain day, if you’re going for a record – though it sadly doesn’t link up with Grindr.
However, the app does not allow you to distinguish between different types of sex, or between sex with men and women.
It instead offers only the options ‘protection used’, ‘protection not used’, and ‘unspecified’.
The app can also track the quality of your cervical mucus, if you’re into that.
The smartphone has obviously become more sex-positive in recent month – earlier this year Apple apologised for a supposed ‘bug’ that caused Russian Siri to refuse to discuss homosexuality.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently opened up about his decision to come out as gay, saying: “It became so clear to me that kids were getting bullied in school, kids were getting basically discriminated against, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents and that I needed to do something,
“Where I value my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for the people.”New archaeological evidence suggest that contrary to previous belief that the Romans far from co-existing peacefully with the locals, ejected them by force in order to build the 73-mile divide of the Hadrian’s Wall.
The Unesco World Heritage Site stretches from the Solway Firth in the west to Wallsend on the river Tyne in the east.
Construction was ordered by the Emperor Hadrian and started in 122 AD. It was Roman Britain’s most ambitious building project, designed primarily to mark the northern limit of the Empire.
Castel Sant'Angelo, the mausoleum of Hadrian in Italy
For decades, archaeologists struggled to date the indigenous communities around the wall because the site yielded very few artefacts.
The only way of dating these Roman and pre-Roman Iron Age settlements was to excavate what little there was.
Since the 1970s, when serious excavation began, experts believed the local population living in the shadow of the wall had actually flourished under the Roman invaders.
But the new evidence suggests the Roman legions actually cleared a 10-mile stretch in front of the wall by force, the Independent reported.
By using carbon-dating techniques archaeologists have been able to pinpoint the chronology of the local settlements far more accurately than in the past.
More than 60 radiocarbon dating tests were undertaken on Iron Age settlements between 2002 and 2008 around the Newcastle area, giving the most complete sample ever of Iron Age settlements north of the wall.
Data from the investigation, led by Nick Hodgson at TWM Archaeology is said to be one of the biggest discoveries about the way in which Hadrian’s Wall shaped the country.
Dr Matthew Symonds, an expert on the wall and editor of Current Archaeology, said: “These new excavations suggest these settled farming communities... survived the first Roman appearance in the area. But it’s only when Hadrian’s Wall is built that they suddenly seem to go out of use.
The findings are set to be published in Current Archaeology.There's Russian Collusion, President Trump's a Racist, and the Sky Is Green
Once upon a time, there was a cruel, nasty ogre, "The Donald," who dreamed of becoming king. But The Donald had no claim to the throne. Princess Hillary was next in line. Hillary was royalty, and he was just a disgusting ogre. No one would ever see him as king. Desperate, the ogre went to Putin, the dark one, to help him. The sorcerer agreed to help in return for half the kingdom. The dark one then cast a spell that reached every corner of the land, every mountaintop and valley. This spell made the people see the ogre as royalty and Princess Hillary as a witch. The people rallied to the ogre and made him king of the realm. Then they banished the witch to obscurity.
It happened, really! I saw it on CNN. Okay, not exactly, but closer than you'd think. Fast-forward to our government's own fairy tale, that Donald Trump enlisted Vladimir Putin's dark magic to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. This myth is just as fantastic, as implausible as the tale of the ogre yet treated as gospel by our government and their media. Oh, at first it was no more believable than the ogre-princess fable. Trump-Putin was a total non sequitur to Trump's campaign, to his life. It didn't fit with the man we saw roll from city to city to rally voters, who faced down enemy press to get his message out, who refused special interest money and funded his own campaign. Yet the left, script in hand, staged performance after performance. The left hammered the plot home: Russia, Russia, Russia. And even though most Americans know the story's a farce, the plot continues to play out. The left takes a scalp here and there, General Flynn's resignation an early win. Then leftists clear the way for their coveted "special counsel" when Attorney General Sessions's swamp muscle memory moves him to recuse himself from the phony Russia investigations. Finally, they score a home run with an independent counsel, Bob Mueller, to investigate the crime. Except there is no crime to investigate – never was. This whole Russian conspiracy is the MOAG – the Mother of All Gaslighting. Now, our precious government-media has been gaslighting us for years: fake polls with Hillary trouncing Trump, a united front to deny the existence of voter fraud, and the list goes on. But at least polls and votes actually do exist; there's a basis in reality to build on. With the amorphous Russia meme, there's not even that. Now, there are some people who are incredibly resistant to gaslighting, Lou Dobbs among them. Recently, Lou went off on his guest, Tom Dupree, over the mind-numbing Russian insanity. Tom: Well, as long as the special counsel's investigation is hovering over this White House, I agree with you: it kind of sucks the oxygen out of the room. Lou shouting over Tom: There's no cloud of uncertainty! Here's the certainty! There has been no evidence, and the FBI has been on it for over a year! Seventeen intelligence agencies, and they can't tell us there's collusion between the Trumps and the Russkies? Are you kidding me? Tom (Joker grin firmly in place): But Bob Mueller hasn't been on the job that long, Lou. I'm willing to give him a chance and let him do his job. Let's see what he says. And there it is: 17 intelligence agencies confirmed there's no there there? Let Bob do his job. The FBI spent a year investigating this farce and came up with zip? Let's see what Bob says. Multiple congressional committees keep coming up empty? Let's see what Bob turns up. No facts, no evidence? No problem – let's see what Bob can find. Translation: lack of evidence and zero proof of a connection don't kill the storyline. The show must go on. However, even with "Bob" on the case, it appears that these subversives are having trouble framing the President for Russia. Too many FOPs (Friends of POTUS) are successfully refuting the charge. So it's on to Plan B: "Trump's a white supremacist." Using the Charlottesville's riot between the Alt-Right and Alt-Left, our government and media again pull a scenario from their rear ends to support their drive for impeachment. They blow up the incident, turn it into a race war, and blame it all on the president. How? Well, like the Russia campaign, the racist charges revolve around what's not there. When the president makes a statement on Charlottesville, they rail that the president never specifically voiced disgust and revulsion for Nazis and the KKK. So the president tries again, calls out the bigots by the exact names dictated by the left, but alas, too little, too late. Third time's the charm: the president makes a last stab at getting his lines right but makes things worse when he goes off teleprompter and says there were two sides fighting, that the blame should be shared. The left explodes: the president made Antifa the moral equivalent of Nazis and white supremacists. Antifa people were there just to stop the hate. They're the good guys. Oops – unfortunately for the left, turns out Antifa's activities were identified as domestic terrorism back in 2015. Then, after Charlottesville, Antifa goes off script and shows up at Berkeley brandishing metal poles, bike locks, and mace for yet another random beat-down. This story highlights the fact that these thugs show up at conservative events to violently shut them down. The speaker doesn't have to be a white supremacist, doesn't even have to be white. Any old conservative will do. So here we are: a Russian scandal that never was and a racist president convicted by words he never said. These are classic examples of gaslighting, where the abusers push a completely false reality to make people doubt their own knowledge and perception. Gail Saltz, M.D., a psychiatrist, explains it like this: [Gaslighting] is like someone saying the sky is green over and over again, and at first you'll be like 'no, no. Then over time the person starts to manipulate you into saying 'I guess I can't really see what color the sky is.' It's just this sense of unreality. So what can you do to defeat gaslighting? Don't participate. Turn off the TV. You don't need it to keep up with the news because they gave up on actual journalism a while back. Don't indulge friends, neighbors, or co-workers who have bought into fake news. If they're on board with the fiction, don't argue or try to defend the truth. Simply explain that you don't deal in fantasy and change the subject. If they won't let it go, turn away. You'll never change their perception, but you can save your own sense of reality and salvage your personal peace of mind by opting out. Meanwhile, our precious government and their lapdog press will continue to tell us facts are facts, no denying the mountain of evidence. There's absolutely Russian collusion; President Trump is a white supremacist; and yes, the sky is green.Football Federation Australia (FFA) has confirmed significant changes to the Hyundai A-League Salary Cap and Player Roster framework with the release of the 2015/16 Hyundai A-League Player Contract Regulations.
The changes are aimed at giving clubs more flexibility in assembling and retaining squads, rewarding youth development and long term player loyalty while significantly increasing the capability of clubs to invest more money on its Player Roster.
The following changes have been implemented:
· A Loyalty Player allowance has been included to give clubs a sliding scale of Salary Cap relief for players who have played between 5-10 years at the club. The total amount that can be spent on Loyalty Players is $200,000 outside the Salary Cap.
· Clubs can pay a Mature Age Rookie outside the Salary Cap to encourage talented players in the National Premier Leagues. This player must be over the age of 21, not played in a fully professional competition for the last 18 months and last played football in Australia. This player must be paid at least the Minimum Salary.
· The existing Home Grown Player allowance outside the Salary Cap has lifted from $150,000 to $200,000. Each Club can include three players who started their careers with the Club, either through the Youth System of the Hyundai A-League squad.
· The two Marquee Players (which sit outside the Salary Cap) can now be two foreigners, two Australians or one Australian and one foreigner. This has changed from Two Marquee Players whereby at least one must be Australian.
· Salary Cap Banking will allow clubs to carry over money not spent inside the Salary Cap in the previous two seasons to the following season, up to 105% of the Salary Cap in the relevant contract year.
· The Salary Cap floor (minimum amount that needs to be spent) lifts from 85% to 90%.
· The length of the maximum stint for a Guest Player has increased from 10 to 14 weeks.
· The Minimum Annual Salary for players aged over 21 years has risen from $51,000 to $55,000.
“The Player Contract Regulations changes offer significantly increased salary opportunities for players as well as providing flexibility and rewards for clubs who plan their roster around Marquee Players, youth development and long term loyalty to its players,” said Head of Hyundai A-League Damien de Bohun.
“These changes will allow clubs to bring talented players through their expanding youth systems, retain cult heroes like Melbourne Victory’s Archie Thompson and continue to search for Marquee and Guest Players that can add impact to the continued growth of the Hyundai A-League.
“We believe these changes allow flexibility for the Hyundai A-League clubs with different objectives and structure the opportunity to build their rosters to suit their individual needs, while adding benefits at both ends of a player’s career.
“On top of these changes, FFA continues to work with the PFA to finalise a Collective Bargaining Agreement that will ensure player salary growth increases in line with the growth of the sport |
: Blink 108782 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 2 spell: Repel Missiles 108798 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 1 spell: Corona 109403 | D:21 | Killed Boris 109403 | D:21 | Reached skill level 1 in Summonings 109863 | Zot:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Realm of Zot 110911 | Zot:2 | Reached skill level 5 in Summonings 110940 | Zot:2 | Noticed an orb of fire 110979 | Zot:2 | Killed an orb of fire 111464 | Zot:2 | Reached skill level 27 in Fighting 111572 | Zot:2 | Reached skill level 1 in Charms 112415 | Zot:3 | Got a slimy bronze ring 112614 | Zot:3 | Reached skill level 5 in Charms 113467 | Zot:4 | Identified a +2 cloak of preservation (You took it off a pale draconian on level 4 of the Realm of Zot) 115513 | Lair:2 | Identified the ring "Fysaxzy" (You found it on level 3 of the Realm of Zot) 115580 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 6 spell: Haste 116181 | Vault:8 | Entered Level 8 of the Vaults 116222 | Vault:7 | Reached skill level 10 in Charms 116248 | Vault:7 | Reached skill level 1 in Spellcasting 116835 | Vault:8 | Noticed a guardian serpent 116946 | Vault:8 | Noticed a golden dragon 116966 | Vault:8 | Noticed an iron dragon 116973 | Vault:8 | Killed a golden dragon 116991 | Vault:8 | Killed an iron dragon 117071 | Vault:8 | Noticed a deep elf annihilator 117101 | Vault:8 | Killed a deep elf annihilator 117632 | Vault:8 | Noticed a quicksilver dragon 117640 | Vault:8 | Killed a quicksilver dragon 117640 | Vault:8 | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting 118001 | Vault:8 | Noticed a golden dragon 118012 | Vault:8 | Killed a golden dragon 118016 | Vault:8 | Noticed a quicksilver dragon 118027 | Vault:8 | Killed a quicksilver dragon 118122 | Vault:8 | Noticed a deep elf high priest 118129 | Vault:8 | Killed a deep elf high priest 118137 | Vault:8 | Got a brightly glowing tin ring 118350 | Vault:8 | Noticed a golden dragon 118370 | Vault:8 | Killed a golden dragon 118389 | Vault:8 | Noticed a pulsating lump 118389 | Vault:8 | a human changed into a pulsating lump 118956 | Vault:8 | Noticed a quicksilver dragon 118974 | Vault:8 | Killed a quicksilver dragon 118995 | Vault:8 | Got a silver rune of Zot 119251 | Vault:8 | Noticed a golden dragon 119481 | Vault:8 | Noticed a shining eye 119494 | Vault:8 | Noticed a deep elf death mage 119503 | Vault:8 | Killed a deep elf death mage 119843 | Vault:8 | Identified the ring "Beruysm" (You found it on level 8 of the Vaults) 120503 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 4 spell: Control Teleport 120511 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 6 spell: Deflect Missiles 120911 | Pan | Entered Pandemonium 120913 | Pan | Noticed Hecoeqau the pandemonium lord 121305 | Pan | Killed Hecoeqau the pandemonium lord 122020 | Pan | Noticed Dixi the pandemonium lord 122031 | Pan | Killed Dixi the pandemonium lord 123395 | Pan | Found a gateway to a ziggurat. 123488 | Pan | Noticed Weahaah the pandemonium lord 123507 | Pan | Killed Weahaah the pandemonium lord 124248 | Pan | Noticed Guill the pandemonium lord 124263 | Pan | Killed Guill the pandemonium lord 124292 | Pan | Got a demonic rune of Zot 125270 | Pan | Reached skill level 10 in Spellcasting 125748 | Pan | Got a sparkling book 125921 | Pan | Noticed Strakoen the pandemonium lord 125932 | Pan | Killed Strakoen the pandemonium lord 125959 | Pan | Got a pitted copper ring 126054 | Pan | Entered the realm of Mnoleg. 126054 | Pan | Noticed Mnoleg 126070 | Pan | Gained mutation: You have a fast metabolism. 126076 | Pan | Killed Mnoleg 126076 | Pan | Reached skill level 15 in Charms 126193 | Pan | Identified the ring "Tylyqer" (You found it in Pandemonium) 126456 | Pan | Got a transparent cloak 126460 | Pan | Identified the +1 cloak of the Harvest (You acquired it in Pandemonium) 126745 | Pan | Identified Sif Muna's Tome of Excruciating Stones (You found it in Pandemonium) 127101 | Pan | Got a glowing rune of Zot 127146 | Pan | Entered the realm of Cerebov. 127913 | Pan | Noticed Cerebov 128838 | Pan | Killed Cerebov 129181 | Pan | Got a fiery rune of Zot 129714 | Pan | Noticed Inta Xen the pandemonium lord 129759 | Pan | Killed Inta Xen the pandemonium lord 129961 | Pan | Gained mutation: You are frail (-10% HP). 131271 | Pan | Noticed Pohuwil the pandemonium lord 131279 | Pan | Killed Pohuwil the pandemonium lord 132287 | Pan | Noticed Peixem Goorph the pandemonium lord 132303 | Pan | Killed Peixem Goorph the pandemonium lord 133204 | Pan | Noticed Guthriyr the pandemonium lord 133787 | Pan | Killed Guthriyr the pandemonium lord 134514 | Pan | Entered the realm of Gloorx Vloq. 134515 | Pan | Noticed Gloorx Vloq 134547 | Pan | Killed Gloorx Vloq 134569 | Pan | Got a dark rune of Zot 135180 | Pan | Noticed an ancient lich 135180 | Pan | Found a gateway to a ziggurat. 135180 | Pan | Noticed an ancient lich 135722 | Pan | Got an ichor-stained plate armour 135723 | Pan | Identified the cursed +1 plate armour of the Armoured One (You found it in Pandemonium) 136270 | Pan | Found a gateway to a ziggurat. 136612 | Pan | Entered the realm of Lom Lobon. 137216 | Pan | Noticed Lom Lobon 137241 | Pan | Killed Lom Lobon 137253 | Pan | Got a magical rune of Zot 138055 | Pan | Reached skill level 15 in Spellcasting 138061 | Pan | Noticed Egras the pandemonium lord 138071 | Pan | Killed Egras the pandemonium lord 138700 | Pan | Noticed Zest the pandemonium lord 138717 | Pan | Killed Zest the pandemonium lord 138751 | D:24 | You pass through the gate. 139211 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 5 spell: Silence 139690 | Tomb:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Tomb of the Ancients 139758 | Tomb:1 | Reached skill level 1 in Hexes 142005 | Vault:7 | Fell from the grace of The Shining One 142005 | Vault:7 | Became a worshipper of Zin the Law-Giver 142005 | Vault:7 | Acquired Zin's first power 142005 | Vault:7 | Acquired Zin's second power 142005 | Vault:7 | Acquired Zin's third power 143018 | Hell | Entered the Vestibule of Hell 143018 | Hell | Noticed Geryon 143080 | Hell | Killed Geryon 143162 | Hell | Reached skill level 5 in Hexes 143402 | Hell | Found a gateway to the decaying netherworld of Tartarus. 143456 | Hell | Found a gateway to the freezing wastes of Cocytus. 143482 | Hell | Reached skill level 27 in Armour 143578 | Hell | Found a gateway to the ashen valley of Gehenna. 143641 | Hell | Found a gateway to the Iron City of Dis. 143904 | D:27 | Donated 5664 gold pieces to Zin 143942 | D:27 | Acquired Zin's fourth power 144718 | Dis:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Iron City of Dis 146446 | Dis:2 | Reached skill level 10 in Hexes 148280 | Dis:4 | Reached skill level 15 in Polearms 150356 | Dis:7 | Entered Level 7 of the Iron City of Dis 151071 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151101 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 151134 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151168 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 151169 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151188 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 151189 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151206 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 151554 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151563 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151567 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 151588 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 151607 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 151616 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 152213 | Dis:7 | Reached skill level 15 in Hexes 152885 | Dis:7 | Noticed an iron dragon 152937 | Dis:7 | Killed an iron dragon 153754 | Dis:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 153759 | Dis:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 154075 | Dis:7 | Noticed Dispater 154137 | Dis:7 | Killed Dispater 154396 | Dis:7 | Got an iron rune of Zot 154703 | D:26 | Bought a scroll of remove curse for 66 gold pieces 155844 | Coc:1 | Entered Level 1 of Cocytus 161764 | Coc:7 | Entered Level 7 of Cocytus 162691 | D:22 | Noticed a deep elf conjurer 162694 | D:22 | Killed a deep elf conjurer 165689 | Coc:7 | Noticed Antaeus 165707 | Coc:7 | Got an icy rune of Zot 166071 | Coc:7 | Killed Antaeus 166607 | Geh:1 | Entered Level 1 of Gehenna 168564 | Geh:3 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 168570 | Geh:3 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 170500 | Geh:5 | Noticed a soul eater 170505 | Geh:5 | Killed a soul eater 170949 | Geh:5 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 170953 | Geh:5 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 171187 | Geh:5 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 171209 | Geh:5 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 172070 | Geh:5 | Got a pitted jade ring 172072 | Geh:5 | Got a blackened book 172098 | Geh:5 | Got a crude wooden ring 172918 | Hell | Identified the ring of Tosot (You found it on level 5 of Gehenna) 172919 | Hell | Identified the ring "Psoinnae" (You found it on level 5 of Gehenna) 172931 | Hell | Identified the Catalogue of Darkness and Boosts (You found it on level 5 of Gehenna) 173092 | Geh:7 | Entered Level 7 of Gehenna 173396 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 173399 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 173432 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 173437 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 173793 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 173798 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 173972 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 173979 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 174333 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 174341 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 174359 | Geh:7 | Noticed Asmodeus 174359 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 174377 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 174388 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 174456 | Geh:7 | HP: 10/267 [Asmodeus/blast of hellfire (23)] 174458 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 174460 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 174462 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 174465 | Geh:7 | HP: 9/267 [efreet/bolt of fire] 174468 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 174757 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 174757 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 174771 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 174780 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 175210 | Geh:7 | Got a shimmering ivory ring 175216 | Geh:7 | Got a glistering book 175232 | Geh:7 | Identified the ring of the Eleven Eyes (You found it on level 7 of Gehenna) 175235 | Geh:7 | Identified the Collected Works on Unholy Magic and Changing (You found it on level 7 of Gehenna) 175357 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 175358 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 175762 | Geh:3 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 175766 | Geh:3 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 175804 | Geh:3 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 175811 | Geh:3 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 176095 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 176381 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Brimstone Fiend 176389 | Geh:7 | Killed a Brimstone Fiend 177130 | Geh:7 | Noticed a Pit Fiend 177130 | Geh:7 | Noticed an efreet 177142 | Geh:7 | Killed Asmodeus 177148 | Geh:7 | Killed a Pit Fiend 177149 | Geh:7 | Killed an efreet 177313 | Geh:7 | Got an obsidian rune of Zot 177403 | Geh:7 | Paralysed by the effects of Hell for 6 turns 178374 | Tar:1 | Entered Level 1 of Tartarus 182671 | Tar:6 | Gained mutation: You are very frail (-20% HP). 183557 | Tar:7 | Entered Level 7 of Tartarus 185707 | Tar:7 | Noticed the Serpent of Hell 185726 | Tar:7 | Killed the Serpent of Hell 185752 | Tar:7 | Noticed Ereshkigal 185939 | Tar:7 | Killed Ereshkigal 186240 | Tar:7 | Got a bone rune of Zot 186242 | Tar:7 | Got a levitating book 186244 | Tar:7 | Got a glittering jade ring 186892 | Hell | Identified Sif Muna's Guide on the Compass (You found it on level 7 of Tartarus) 186935 | Hell | Identified the ring of Phyzau (You found it on level 7 of Tartarus) 187177 | Crypt:2 | Received a gift from Zin 187177 | Crypt:2 | Lost mutation: You are agile (Dex +1). 187177 | Crypt:2 | Lost mutation: Your mind is acute (Int +1). 187177 | Crypt:2 | Lost mutation: You have a fast metabolism. 187177 | Crypt:2 | Lost mutation: You are very frail (-20% HP). 187177 | Crypt:2 | Lost mutation: You are frail (-10% HP). 192377 | Tomb:3 | Entered Level 3 of the Tomb of the Ancients 195361 | Tomb:3 | Got a golden rune of Zot 196240 | Vault:6 | Bought the Volume of Mutagenic Aid for 540 gold pieces 196244 | Vault:6 | Learned a level 2 spell: Swiftness 196817 | Zot:5 | Entered Level 5 of the Realm of Zot 197582 | Zot:5 | Reached skill level 27 in Polearms 197987 | Zot:5 | Noticed an ancient lich 197994 | Zot:5 | Noticed an orb of fire 197995 | Zot:5 | Killed an ancient lich 198019 | Zot:5 | Killed an orb of fire 198387 | Zot:5 | Noticed an orb of fire 198392 | Zot:5 | Noticed an orb of fire 198393 | Zot:5 | Noticed an orb of fire 198396 | Zot:5 | Noticed an orb of fire 198396 | Zot:5 | Noticed an ancient lich 198443 | Zot:5 | Noticed an orb of fire 198701 | Zot:5 | Killed an orb of fire 199023 | Zot:5 | Killed an orb of fire 199288 | Zot:5 | Killed an orb of fire 199656 | Zot:5 | Killed an orb of fire 199679 | Zot:5 | Killed an orb of fire 200179 | Zot:5 | Got the Orb of Zot 200202 | Zot:5 | Killed an ancient lich 200822 | D:15 | Noticed Nuocuschi the pandemonium lord 200836 | D:15 | Killed Nuocuschi the pandemonium lord 201216 | D:4 | Noticed Rauthaha the pandemonium lord 201221 | D:4 | Noticed a tentacled monstrosity 201323 | D:$ | Escaped with the Orb!
RAW Paste Data
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.10.3-5-gf0cc9df character file. 8605546 Blue the Conqueror (level 27, 149/296 (302) HPs) Began as a Naga Fighter on Aug 25, 2012. Was a High Priest of Zin. Escaped with the Orb... and 15 runes on Aug 26, 2012! The game lasted 11:46:22 (201323 turns). Blue the Conqueror (Naga Fighter) Turns: 201323, Time: 11:46:22 HP 149/296 (302) AC 57 Str 20 XL: 27 MP 43/43 EV 4 Int 22 God: Zin [*****.] Gold 7983 SH 43 Dex 12 Spells: 9 memorised, 28 levels left Res.Fire : +.. See Invis. : + S - +6,+8 Blessed Trishula {god gift} Res.Cold : + + + Warding :.. X - +10 plate armour of the Cicada {rC+} Life Prot.:... Conserve : + y - +3 elf large shield {rC+} {god gift} Res.Acid. : +.. Res.Corr. : + W - +0 helmet of Yssulich {+Rage Int+3 Dam+2} Res.Poison: + Clarity :. j - +2 cloak {rCorr, Cons} Res.Elec. : + Spirit.Shd :. F - +1 pair of gloves of the Labyrinth {god gi Sust.Abil.:.. Stasis :. o - +3 lightning scales {sslith, rElec} Res.Mut. : + Ctrl.Telep.: x Z - amulet of resist mutation Res.Rott. : + Levitation :. P - ring "Shrio" {Hunger- rF+ rC+} Saprovore :... Ctrl.Flight:. l - ring of sustenance @: quick, extremely resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy A: spit poison, constrict 1, see invisible, deformed body, poison resistance, slowness 2 a: Spit Poison, Recite, Vitalisation, Imprison, Sanctuary, Renounce Religion, Evoke Berserk Rage }: 15/15 runes: decaying, serpentine, slimy, silver, golden, iron, obsidian, icy, bone, abyssal, demonic, glowing, magical, fiery, dark You escaped. You worshipped Zin. Zin was exalted by your worship. You were full. You visited 17 branches of the dungeon, and saw 111 of its levels. You visited Pandemonium 1 time, and saw 21 of its levels. You visited the Abyss 1 time. You visited 1 Labyrinth. You visited 2 bazaars. You visited 3 portal chambers: sewer, ice cave, trove. You collected 16319 gold pieces. You spent 2344 gold pieces at shops. You donated 6012 gold pieces. Inventory: Hand weapons S - a +6,+8 Blessed Trishula (weapon) {god gift} Armour j - a +2 cloak of preservation (worn) o - the +3 lightning scales (worn) {sslith, rElec} (You acquired it on level 5 of the Swamp) It insulates you from electricity. y - a +3 elven large shield of cold resistance (worn) {god gift} F - the +1 pair of gloves of the Labyrinth (worn) {god gift, rC+ Dam+3} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 12 of the Dungeon) It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+3). It protects you from cold. W - the +0 helmet of Yssulich (worn) {+Rage Int+3 Dam+2} (You found it on level 11 of the Dungeon) It affects your intelligence (+3). It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+2). It lets you go berserk. X - the +10 plate armour of the Cicada (worn) {rC+} (You found it on level 6 of the Pits of Slime) It protects you from cold. Magical devices a - a wand of digging (6) b - a wand of digging (9) d - a wand of digging (7) r - a wand of teleportation (0) G - a wand of invisibility (3) L - a wand of teleportation (9) Comestibles s - 20 bread rations u - 2 royal jellies w - 8 meat rations Scrolls g - a scroll of silence p - 6 scrolls of magic mapping q - a scroll of fog t - 2 scrolls of remove curse v - 7 scrolls of identify z - 3 scrolls of recharging I - 4 scrolls of blinking Jewellery c - an uncursed ring of life protection i - an uncursed amulet of stasis k - the ring of the Grey Skies {rN+ MR} (You found it on level 6 of the Pits of Slime) [ring of life protection] It increases your resistance to enchantments. l - a ring of sustenance (left hand) m - the amulet of the Sun {Cons rN+} (You found it in a treasure trove) [amulet of conservation] It protects you from negative energy. H - an uncursed ring of teleport control P - the ring "Shrio" (right hand) {Hunger- rF+ rC+} (You found it on level 5 of the Elven Halls) [ring of sustenance] It protects you from fire. It protects you from cold. Z - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck) Potions e - 4 potions of restore abilities f - 5 potions of speed h - a potion of brilliance A - 5 potions of curing C - 4 potions of magic D - a potion of might E - 6 potions of berserk rage K - 7 potions of resistance O - 3 potions of invisibility Books n - the Volume of Mutagenic Aid (You bought it in a shop on level 6 of the Vaults) Spells Type Level Fulsome Distillation Transmutation/Necromancy 1 *Swiftness Charms/Air 2 Ozocubu's Armour Charms/Ice 3 Passwall Transmutation/Earth 3 Ice Form Ice/Transmutation 4 *Deflect Missiles Charms/Air 6 Orbs of Power B - the Orb of Zot Skills: O Level 27 Fighting O Level 27 Polearms O Level 27 Armour - Level 15.0 Shields - Level 10.2 Traps & Doors - Level 15.5 Spellcasting + Level 26.6 Hexes - Level 19.1 Charms - Level 6.1 Summonings - Level 7.3 Necromancy - Level 18.0 Invocations - Level 10.0 Evocations You had 28 spell levels left. You knew the following spells: Your Spells Type Power Failure Level Hunger a - Summon Butterflies Summ ######... 1% 1 None b - Blink Tloc N/A 24% 2 None c - Repel Missiles Air/Chrm #######... 1% 2 None d - Corona Hex ######## 0% 1 None e - Haste Chrm ########. 1% 6 Honeycomb f - Control Teleport Chrm/Tloc #######... 3% 4 None g - Deflect Missiles Air/Chrm #######... 50% 6 Honeycomb h - Silence Air/Hex #######... 1% 5 Sultana i - Swiftness Air/Chrm #######... 1% 2 None Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations Branches: Dungeon (27/27) Temple (1/1) D:4 Orc (4/4) D:11 Elf (5/5) Orc:3 Lair (8/8) D:12 Swamp (5/5) Lair:3 Slime (6/6) Lair:6 Snake (5/5) Lair:5 Vault (8/8) D:19 Blade (0/1) Vault:5 Crypt (5/5) Vault:3 Tomb (3/3) Crypt:2 Hell (1/1) Dis (7/7) Hell Geh (7/7) Hell Coc (7/7) Hell Tar (7/7) Hell Zot (5/5) D:27 Altars: Ashenzari Cheibriados Elyvilon Fedhas Kikubaaqudgha Makhleb Nemelex Xobeh Okawaru Sif Muna The Shining One Trog Vehumet Xom Yredelemnul Zin Beogh Shops: D:5: [ D:11: (!= D:21: ( D:25: ([ D:26: ((? Orc:4:?(/* Elf:1: +*! Elf:5: [ Snake:1: + Snake:3: [ Snake:4: [ Snake:5: [ Vault:2: % Vault:3: * Vault:6: + Portals: Hell: D:21 D:22 D:23 D:24 D:25 D:26* D:27 Abyss: D:21 D:24 D:25 D:27 Pan: D:24 Ziggurat: D:11 (3360 gp) D:18 (3050 gp) Annotations D:8 exclusion: oklob sapling Crypt:4 exclusion: curse skull Crypt:5 exclusion: curse skull Coc:7 exclusion: 2 ice statues Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations You cannot wear boots. You can spit poison. You can use your snake-like lower body to constrict enemies. Your serpentine skin is tough (AC +9). You have supernaturally acute eyesight. Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body. Your system is resistant to poisons. You cover ground very slowly. Message History There is a stone staircase leading down here. Casting: Swiftness Confirm with. or Enter, or press? or * to list all spells. You feel quick. A kobold comes into view. It is wielding a club. The kobold shouts! The kobold throws a poisoned dart. You block the poisoned dart. You see here a poisoned dart. You closely miss the kobold. You constrict the kobold. You kill the kobold! No target in view! No target in view! You see here a club. Things that are here: an orcish club; a club Your divine stamina fades away. There is an open door here. There is a staircase leading out of the dungeon here. Are you sure you want to win? You have escaped! ##.#####.####.##..# #.# #.####.###.##### #.# #..#..<..#.....# #.##########.#######.# #....+.............+.# #.#.#####.#####.####.# #.#.#####.#####.####.# #.#....'.........'...# #.##.#######.######.## #.##..#.....@.....'.# #.##########.######## #.# #.# #.# #.# #.# ##'############ #.# #..##.......... ##.#########.###.#########.................[........ ##.#############.######### #.# ###?????? There were no monsters in sight! Vanquished Creatures Antaeus (Coc:7) Asmodeus (Geh:7) Cerebov (Pan) Gloorx Vloq (Pan) Mnoleg (Pan) the royal jelly (Slime:6) Ereshkigal (Tar:7) Dispater (Dis:7) 3 ancient liches 7 orbs of fire the Serpent of Hell (Tar:7) 10 greater mummies Saint Roka (Snake:3) 3 curse toes Norris (Elf:5) 2 Killer Klowns (Zot:5) Mara (Vault:3) Margery (Snake:4) Mennas (Swamp:5) Geryon (Hell) 6 golden dragons An illusory Mara (Vault:3) 4 electric golems Xtahua (D:20) A profane servitor (Pan) Frederick (D:27) 9 pandemonium lords 16 Pit Fiends Nikola (Elf:5) A player illusion (Vault:3) 22 Brimstone Fiends 5 titans 21 Orb Guardians (Zot:5) 2 deep elf blademasters (Elf:5) 17 acid blobs 15 liches 8 shadow dragons An acid blob (shapeshifter) (D:26) A quicksilver dragon (Vault:8) 2 ghost moths Kirke (Elf:5) 2 eldritch tentacles 19 Ice Fiends 7 storm dragons 6 sphinxes 19 Shadow Fiends Aizul (D:20) 6 ghouls Donald (Swamp:5) An orc warlord (Orc:2) 9 iron dragons 14 Executioners 14 frost giants 14 bone dragons 14 azure jellies Wiglaf (Snake:1) 16 fire giants 38 balrugs 17 tentacled monstrosities A draconian zealot (Zot:3) An angel (Abyss) 4 draconian annihilators A quicksilver dragon skeleton (Geh:7) 3 spectral krakens (Tar:7) 2 draconian shifters 46 stone giants 24 cacodemons 6 green draconians A draconian caller (Zot:5) 5 deep elf annihilators (Elf:5) 2 white draconians 3 grey draconians A dire elephant (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) Jozef (D:11) 5 greater nagas (Snake:5) 2 red draconians 5 mottled draconians 4 black draconians 4 yellow draconians Azrael (Snake:1) 3 purple draconians 5 pale draconians 21 blizzard demons 8 Green Deaths 3 human skeletons 14 deep elf sorcerers (Elf:5) 15 ettins 65 reapers 3 vampire knights 5 deep elf death magi Snorg (D:16) 2 deep elf master archers (Elf:5) 44 yaktaur captains A great orb of eyes (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 4 dragons (shapeshifter) 15 mummy priests 3 ettins (shapeshifter) A minotaur (Lab) 3 great orbs of eyes 12 dragons 29 vault guards A storm dragon zombie (D:19) 8 anacondas 8 salamanders 11 death oozes 26 ice dragons 8 death cobs An anaconda zombie (Abyss) Erica (D:11) 2 storm dragon skeletons A golden dragon zombie (Geh:7) 21 hydras 2 hydras (shapeshifter) Josephine (D:10) 5 deep elf demonologists 2 golden dragon skeletons 13 ogre magi 2 anaconda skeletons 14 shadow dragon zombies 8 lorocyprocas 4 rakshasas A sphinx zombie (Vault:3) 20 iron dragon zombies 8 death yaks 9 deep elf high priests 15 alligators 4 stone giant zombies A frost giant zombie (Coc:7) A fire giant zombie (Crypt:3) 16 hell hogs 43 deep trolls 2 iron dragon skeletons 4 sphinx skeletons 8 very ugly things 19 shadow dragon skeletons An emperor scorpion (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 2 draconians (shapeshifter) 21 centaur warriors 5 stone giant skeletons 30 sun demons 2 death drakes (Zot:5) 3 frost giant skeletons 4 fire giant skeletons 2 orc high priests An alligator snapping turtle zombie (Crypt:1) 23 iron trolls 31 hell knights 202 skeletal warriors 46 ice devils 5 shadow wraiths 70 soul eaters 41 deep elf knights 21 flayed ghosts A sea snake (shapeshifter) (D:27) A dire elephant skeleton (Tomb:1) 26 shadow demons A death drake (shapeshifter) (D:20) 7 giant orange brains A black draconian zombie (Crypt:4) A mottled draconian zombie (Dis:4) 5 unseen horrors 21 naga warriors A purple draconian zombie (Crypt:4) A giant orange brain (shapeshifter) (D:19) 4 wizards 2 white draconian zombies 3 red draconian zombies A death yak zombie (Crypt:4) 4 sea snake zombies A green draconian zombie (Tomb:3) 5 grey draconian zombies 5 iron troll zombies 3 yellow draconian zombies 4 ice statues 38 orc knights A mottled draconian skeleton (Tar:5) A hill giant (shapeshifter) (Vault:7) 53 large abominations 4 alligator snapping turtle skeletons A swamp dragon (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 3 green draconian skeletons Pikel (D:5) 12 necromancers 3 black draconian skeletons A grey draconian skeleton (Coc:6) 5 sea snake skeletons 3 lindwurms (shapeshifter) 6 pale draconian skeletons 3 siren zombies 4 white draconian skeletons 32 hill giants 3 death yak skeletons 2 yellow draconian skeletons (Pan) 4 death drake zombies 5 iron troll skeletons 4 orc sorcerers 13 giant amoebae 2 minotaur zombies 4 harpies (D:24) 10 griffons 19 moths of wrath 5 flaming corpses A stone giant simulacrum (D:18) 2 catoblepas zombies 2 guardian serpents (Abyss) 3 red wasps 18 cyclopes A spiny worm (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) A red wasp (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 29 hellions A death drake skeleton (Dis:3) 9 shining eyes 3 siren skeletons 3 trapdoor spiders 2 spiny worms A stone golem (Pan) 9 red wasp zombies 28 black mambas 2 trapdoor spider zombies A spectral guardian serpent (Crypt:3) 3 elves (shapeshifter) 2 hydra skeletons 2 ettin zombies 21 ice dragon zombies An alligator zombie (Crypt:5) 2 fire crabs An elephant slug (Lair:6) A moth of wrath (shapeshifter) (Vault:5) 151 slime creatures 15 phantasmal warriors 2 guardian serpent skeletons 23 sixfirhies A yaktaur (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 4 spiny worm zombies An alligator skeleton (Pan) 5 eyes of devastation 57 hellwings A slime creature (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 3 wolf spiders 12 spiny frogs A dragon skeleton (D:18) 69 orange demons A hill giant zombie (Vault:1) 19 ice dragon skeletons 11 elephants A spriggan zombie (Crypt:4) 3 griffon skeletons An eye of devastation (shapeshifter) (Vault:8) 2 giant firefly zombies 82 yaktaurs A black mamba skeleton (Coc:7) 68 guardian mummies 35 tormentors 12 feature mimics 2 queen ant |
, Vazquez's career mark of 64.4 ranks 29th, which puts him in bona fide Hall of Famer territory.
Obviously, DRA is still being developed and far from complete as a stat. But decades from now, when we establish better pitching stats, we may find Javier Vazquez Hall of Fame-worthy. Then the future statheads might laugh at the people who excluded one of the best pitchers of the aughts from the ballot.MANILA- The arrest warrant for Senator Leila de Lima is a "positive development" following the filing of drug cases against her last week, a member of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said.
VACC General Counsel Atty. Ferdinand Topacio said the arrest warrant is only the latest "positive development" in the government's campaign against illegal drugs.
"Slowly but surely, the wheels of justice continue to grind against Senator Leila de Lima. The issuance of a warrant of arrest is but the latest in a series of exceedingly positive developments in the war on drugs...," Topacio said in a statement Thursday.
A Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Thursday ordered the arrest of De Lima for her alleged involvement in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) illegal drug trade.
Presiding Judge Juanita Guerrero of Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 signed the order to issue an arrest warrant against De Lima.
Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted De Lima for violating sections 5 and 22 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act pertaining to the sale, administration, dispensation, distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs.
One of the complainants against De Lima is the VACC.
"We are confident that we can count on the continued vigilance and hard work of all our partners in the criminal justice system in order to bring the drug trafficking cases against Sen. De Lima to its final conclusion: her imprisonment for the rest of her life," Topacio said.The first use of the nickname “Fighting Irish” for Notre Dame sports teams may have been in 1909, when legend says that a player’s speech at the halftime of a football game against Michigan inspired a furious comeback. He reportedly yelled to his teammates — with names like Dolan, Kelly, Glynn and Ryan: “What’s the matter with you guys? You’re all Irish and you’re not fighting worth a lick.” The news reports that picked up the story attributed the victory to the Fighting Irishmen.
Knute Rockne buying a copy of Collier’s, for which he wrote a series of articles in 1930
According to historian and author Murray Sperber, the most widely accepted explanation of how the nickname settled on Notre Dame sports teams is more gradual but still dramatic. During the 1910s and 1920s, stereotypes and ethnic slurs were openly expressed against immigrants, Catholics and the Irish. The press often referred to Notre Dame teams as the Catholics — or worse, the Papists or Dirty Irish — because the school was largely populated by ethnic Catholic immigrants, many of them Irish. University leaders bristled at such descriptions, and school publications called the team the Gold and Blue or the Notre Damers.
This was also the Knute Rockne era, when the Notre Dame football team first put the small private school on the national map. Rockne’s teams were often called the Rovers or the Ramblers because they traveled far and wide, an uncommon practice before the advent of commercial airplanes. These names were also an insult to the school, meant to suggest it was more focused on football than academics.
Rockne may have been Norwegian, but he had the Irish flair for storytelling and drama. A natural salesman, he hired student press agents to tell the team’s story. Some of them began using the “Fighting Irish” nickname to characterize the underdog tenacity of his teams. They found a way to turn the derisive taunt, with its suggestion of drunken brawling, into an expression of triumph. Some students came to cherish the nickname. By owning the epithet, they transformed it into a symbol of pride. In the 1960s, the same process would be repeated for the leprechaun, which had traditionally been an English caricature of the Irish. Now, it’s the team mascot.
Still, the nickname “Fighting Irish” was embraced by some and opposed by others by the time de Valera visited Fenway and Notre Dame. In a 1919 Scholastic issue, a letter appeared from an alumnus who criticized the nickname because many players were not of Irish descent. Others rushed to defend the phrase, with one alum writing, “You don’t have to be from Ireland to be Irish!”
In the early 1920s, the press began to pick up the “Fighting Irish” nickname to characterize the never-say-die spirit of Rockne’s teams. One of Rockne’s former press agents, Francis Wallace, popularized the term when he became a columnist for the New York Daily News.
A little-known event occurring in 1924 may have inadvertently contributed to Fighting Irish lore. In a recent book, alumnus Todd Tucker describes how Notre Dame students violently clashed with the anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan in that year. A weekend of riots drove the Klan out of South Bend and helped bring an end to its rising power in Indiana at a time when the state’s governor was among its members.
Finally in 1927, university president Rev. Matthew Walsh, C.S.C., decided that the “Fighting Irish” was preferable to the school’s more derisive nicknames. He said in a statement, “The university authorities are in no way averse to the name ‘Fighting Irish’ as applied to our athletic teams… I sincerely hope that we may always be worthy of the ideal embodied in the term ‘Fighting Irish.’”
Today, Notre Dame has the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, with distinguished scholars of Irish language, literature, history and society. Notre Dame has an international study program in Ireland, and the campus is the largest center for the study of the Irish language outside Dublin. Above all, Notre Dame was shaped, and is still influenced, by the resiliency and deep thirst for learning of the Irish people.
That ideal was eloquently described by Ireland’s President Mary McAleese at Notre Dame’s Commencement in 2006:New Delhi, Nov 28: Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit today said that Pakistan is ready for a dialogue with India on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference which is scheduled in Amritsar, Punjab next week. Earlier this week, the visit of de facto Sartaj Aziz for Heart of Asia (HOA) conference was reported to be a curtailed one.
In an exclusive talk with Aaj Tak, Basit said that the schedule of Pakistan’s foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz is not cast in stone and if there was an offer for talks from the host nation, then it would be accepted by Pakistan. Basit was also reported saying, “We can delay talks for months or even for years. But ultimately, a solution to the problems between India and Pakistan can only come through dialogue, and therefore, both nations must sit and discuss all the issues that confront them.”
Earlier this month, Aziz said that Pakistan will hold a dialogue with India only if the Kashmir issue is on the agenda. As per reports by Aaj Tak, Basit said that Pakistan’s democracy is a matured one in which the era of military coups is over and an equilibrium has been set. “The voice of the people and democracy is becoming stronger. There’s no question of a military coup in the future,” Basit said.(ALSO READ: Heart of Asia conference: Sartaj Aziz likely to curtail India visit, skip bilateral dialogues)
As per reports, Aziz would be accompanied by Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Abrar Hussain and senior MoFA official Mansoor Khan. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will not be attending the HOA conference due to ailments and India is likely to be represented by MoS for external affairs M J Akbar.
The Heart of Asia conference is scheduled to be next week in Amritsar and will last from December 3-4. The meet will not only explore peace and stability in Afghanistan, but also underscore the value of restoring connectivity and achieving prosperity. Foreign ministers of 14 countries are expected to participate in the conference. Aziz on November 25 said that Pakistan was ready for a dialogue with India on the condition that Kashmir dispute was part of it.
Pakistan’s adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaz Aziz had earlier said that unlike India, that had sabotaged the SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in Amritsar, India, on December 3.Skip to comments.
Tumblr page claiming to be Chelsea bomber's'manifesto' being vetted by NYPD
NY Daily News ^ | September 18, 2016 | Rocco Parascandola, Jason Silvertein
Posted on by CivilWarBrewing
The NYPD is vetting a Tumblr page claiming to be the manifesto of the New York City bomber and threatening more explosions to come, a police source said.
The page, called Im the NY Bomber, claims to be written by the person who planted bombs in Chelsea Saturday night.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com...
TOPICS:
Front Page News
News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
bombing
chelsea
lgbt
newyork
nyc
rahami
terrorism
False flag, 100%. An attempt to set up Trump to pin this on 'Islamic terrorism' but he didn't take the bait. He called it "a bombing" Note that Hillary immediately criticized Trump for calling it a bombing right after SHE called it a bombing. She was PREPARED to criticize him for pinning it on 'Islamic terrorism' but he didn't take the bait. FALSE FLAG, PEOPLE!
To: CivilWarBrewing
“It was the Video”!
To: CivilWarBrewing
Why was it ok for Hillary to call it a bomb but not Trump?
To: CivilWarBrewing
weather underground/alinsky?
To: CivilWarBrewing
Let me clarify why I think this is a false flag: 1) Bomb goes off
2) Trump blames Islamists
3) Hillary criticizes Trump for jumping the gun "BEFORE THE FACTS ARE IN"
4) Bomber turns out to be 'LGBT protester'
5) Trump ends up being wrong, looking like an Islamophobic knee jerker Anyone buying? Trump didn't take the bait, though. He only called it "a bombing"
To: CivilWarBrewing
Trump did a good job not taking the bait, for sure. Still not sure the page is legit. Could be some crank taking advantage of the press, or Muzzies doing it to confuse the enemy (like blaming 9/11 on Israel).
To: CivilWarBrewing
Muzzie terrorist? They probably should be looking on Grindr instead of Tumblr.
To: CivilWarBrewing
this will turn out to be a homo who is trying to pin this on those ‘evil conservatives’ and trump supporters. Totally fake ‘manifesto’
by 8 posted onby reaganaut (I'm looking forward to Trump as President. I'm an Evangelical and I vote.)
To: CivilWarBrewing
I am sure they are going to create an incident that can be pinned on a Trump ‘deplorable’.
To: CivilWarBrewing
What’s even worse is the untinkable.... was it a set up from the get go?
To: CivilWarBrewing
Let me clarify why I think this is a false flag: Bomb goes off Trump blames Islamists Hillary criticizes Trump for jumping the gun "BEFORE THE FACTS ARE IN" Bomber turns out to be 'LGBT protester' Trump ends up being wrong, looking like an Islamophobic knee jerker Anyone buying? Trump didn't take the bait, though. He only called it "a bombing" Perhaps that explains why Hillary went after him for calling it "a bombing," followed closely by her calling it "a bombing." They were all ready to attack him for jumping the gun before the facts are in, and he didn't. So they went ahead with their attack anyway, but left out the accusation.
To: jersey117
"Set up"? THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!! Why would Hillary criticize Trump for calling it a bomb? Because SHE STUCK TO HER SCRIPT THAT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO CRITICIZE HIM FOR BLAMING IT ON ISLAMISTS "BEFORE THE FACTS WERE IN" but he didn't take the bait. She STUPIDLY stuck to her preplanned false flag script ANYWAY!!!
To: Steely Tom
You got it! Thank you.
To: CivilWarBrewing
So someone who claims to be gay decides to express how upset he is that people look down upon the LGBT community, plants a bomb in one of New York City's most LGBT-friendly neighborhoods. Makes absolutely perfect sense. /sarcasm
To: CivilWarBrewing
Yeah. I think it was a set up too. Find this guy and find out who paid him. Expect the FBI to come in and “take control”.
by 15 posted onby virgil (The evil that men do lives after them)
To: CivilWarBrewing
more info Includes text of so-called manifesto. Probably a hoax.
To: virgil
He’ll disappear like Mateen’s wife.
To: CivilWarBrewing
It also distracts from yesterday’s military fiasco in Syria. Obama’s butt should’ve been flamed to a crisp for that.
by 18 posted onby virgil (The evil that men do lives after them)
To: CivilWarBrewing
False flag, 100%. An attempt to set up Trump to pin this on 'Islamic terrorism' but he didn't take the bait. Highly unlikely that anyone on the left would falsely claim credit for an attack which hurts one their main causes, LGBT. I'd say it's more likely a hoax, attention-seeking nut case falsely claiming credit, lone wolf(s) Jihadi bomber attempting to distract, or a legit claim from a lefty acting alone, not part of the organized LGBT movement.
by 19 posted onby ETL (God PLEASE help America...Never Hillary!)
To: CivilWarBrewing
Its common sense to call it a bombing..the device went BOOM therefore its a bombing..even Mayor DeStupido called it a bombing this morning..but I really doubt this loon online is the terrorist, so he did it because he is upset at the way homos are being treated so he sets off a bomb..my spidey senses tell me this isnt the guy
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FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John RobinsonRogers Park car explosion View Full Caption
ROGERS PARK — A car believed to belong to rapper Bang Da Hitta was intentionally set ablaze about 4 p.m. Saturday, police said, and witnesses said an "incendiary device" caused an explosion in the car.
"We heard this pop, then we looked up and saw this explosion," said Don Gordon, who was gardening at the time with his family in the 1200 block of West Lunt Avenue. "These flames were shooting outside of the window of the car; it was quite unnerving."
Police said a fire to the car was intentionally set around 4 p.m., but said incendiary devices were not used to ignite it. The incident is gang related, police said. An investigation is ongoing. Gordon and other witnesses said the car was attacked.
Craig Gernhardt, who also lives on the block, said he saw rapper Keith Hayer — aka Bang Da Hitta — who's known for publishing provocative music videos that disparage rival gang members, run to his burning car while the fire department extinguished the flames.
Gernhardt took several photos of the burned-out car.
"Seeing it on TV when it happens in Baghdad is different than when it happens 100 feet away under your nose — it's a little more intense," Gordon said.
Gordon said he saw a white car flee the scene after the initial explosion.
"It's a war zone," he said.
A post on Hayer's rap persona Facebook page read: "Owow Yall Blow Up Carz.. But B---- We Blow Up Bodyz.. I Aint F--- Up Bout It Tho."
Gordon said police arrived about a minute after he called 911 to report the attack.
"It was definitely some type of incendiary device that did this," he said.
Gordon said he worried about the safety of other people living in the neighborhood.
"All that was was a warning," he said. "What happens next time? Does this end up like Devon?" he said, referring to the fatal shooting of bystander Wil Lewis in July.
"I mean, what the hell?" Gordon said. "We've got to do something."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:Thinking Critically About Tolkien
The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have had a tremendous impact on fantasy fiction and, arguably, on popular culture. Renowned for the scope and rigor of its conception, Tolkien’s Middle Earth is familiar to many as an exemplar of the fully-imagined secondary world, replete with language, history, and a complex mythological (if not moral) landscape. World-building of such detail provides a potentially powerful framework for fascinating story-telling – and indeed, the epic quest of the Fellowship of the Ring set the mold for generations of subsequent adventure stories.
Yet for all its influence and entertainment value, The Lord of the Rings is not beyond critique. Here I would like to share a few thought-provoking criticisms from other authors I respect. My intent is not to negate your enjoyment of Tolkien, but to enrich the way you think about what you read and how it relates to the “real world” in which you live. That, at least, is the impact these ideas have had on me.
The quotes I’d like to relay share a concern with the worldview and political structure evident in the quasi-medieval culture of Middle Earth. Plots are driven by conflict and conflicts can reasonably emerge from the social environment characters occupy. It is not necessarily the society of Middle Earth itself that these authors object to, I think, but the way in which Tolkien aligns thematic elements of good and evil – of propriety and upheaval – with elements of that setting.
Consider Fantasy and revolution: an interview with China Miéville, conducted by John Newsinger, from the autumn 2000 issue of International Socialism Journal. Miéville is an author closely associated with the “New Weird” and a vocal observer of real-world social issues. Here, he fingers Tolkien’s romanticization of feudalism, a recurring theme in fantasy criticism:
If you look at stereotypical ‘epic’ or ‘high’ fantasy, you’re talking about a genre set in magical worlds with some pretty vile ideas. They tend to be based on feudalism lite: the idea, for example, that if there’s a problem with the ruler of the kingdom it’s because he’s a bad king, as opposed to a king.
In a January 2002 Socialist Review article titled Tolkien – Middle Earth Meets England, Miéville elaborates on the problem of simplistically categorizing characters as good or bad:
Tolkien wrote the seminal text for fantasy where morality is absolute, and political complexities conveniently evaporate. Battles are glorious and death is noble. The good look the part, and the evil are ugly. Elves are natural aristos, hobbits are the salt of the earth, and – in a fairyland version of genetic determinism – orcs are shits by birth. This is a conservative hymn to order and reason – to the status quo.
And all dwarves love gold!
Miéville does temper his critique. He has kind things to say about the Lord of the Rings movies (then just released) – “Jackson beefs up Tolkien’s rizla-thin women, turning them into actual characters” – and even admits admiration for aspects of the original:
it would be churlish to claim that there’s nothing to admire in the book. The constant atmosphere of melancholy is intriguing. There are superb, genuinely frightening monsters, and set pieces of real power.
But the bottom line is clear. Miéville admires the world-building, and embraces the inventive modes of story-telling possible with fantasy, but feels let down by the direction of Tolkien’s vision:
He established a form full of possibilities and ripe for experimentation, but used it to present trite, nostalgic daydreams. The myth of an idyllic past is not oppositional to capitalism, but consolation for it. Troubled by the world? Close your eyes and think of Middle Earth.
China dismisses most charges of escapism as genre snobbery – “just because [non-genre] books pretend to be about ‘the real world’ doesn’t mean they reverberate in it with more integrity” (ISJ) – but, ultimately, faults Tolkien for exactly that – escapism. Or, more accurately, for making too little of the liberating opportunities afforded by literary escape.
Next I’d like to recommend J.R.R. Tolkien vs. The Modern Age, a 2002 essay by David Brin. Only an excerpt is available online, but the full text can be found in Through Stranger Eyes, an interesting collection of essays, reviews, and other non-fiction by Brin.
Brin’s critique affirms Miéville’s concern with the backwards-looking undercurrents of The Lord of the Rings. He extends this argument and situates it in historical context with a comparison of Romanticism and Enlightenment ideals.
He also asks the unsettling question of whether fantasy fans may, somehow, develop a misplaced fondness for the archaic social order familiar to their favorite characters:
Indeed, the popularity of this formula [LOTR’s] is deeply thought-provoking. Millions of people who live in a time of genuine miracles – in which the great-grandchildren of illiterate peasants may routinely fly through the sky, roam the Internet, view far-off worlds and elect their own leaders – slip into delighted wonder at the notion of a wizard hitchhiking a ride from an eagle. Many even find themselves yearning for a society of towering lords and loyal, kowtowing vassals.
I don’t think I’ve ever yearned for that, but I certainly root for the good guys to crush the bad. That’s almost instinctive. Brin wonders: what does this moral partitioning reinforce in our own worldview when used for dramatic effect in fiction? The device is hardly unique to The Lord of the Rings, of course, but once more the hapless orcs serve as an example:
The urge to crush some demonized enemy resonates deeply within us, dating from ages far earlier than feudalism. Hence, the vicarious thrill we feel over the slaughter of orc foot soldiers at Helm’s Deep. Then again as Ents flatten even more goblin grunts at Saruman’s citadel, taking no prisoners, never sparing a thought for all the orphaned orclings and grieving widorcs. And again at Minas Tirith, and again at the Gondor Docks and again… well, they’re only orcs, after all.
There is a strain of dismay with industrialization in Tolkien’s work. This is understandable, considering the threat mechanization poses to traditional Shire-like lifestyles –
the good guys strive to preserve and restore as much as they can of an older, graceful and ‘natural’ hierarchy, against the disturbing, quasi-industrial and vaguely technological ambience of Mordor, with its smokestack imagery and manufactured power-rings that can be used by anybody
– but Brin offers a compelling rebuttal to Tolkien’s tactic of nostalgic withdrawal:
The planet was certainly less abused when our numbers were kept low by poverty, starvation and disease. Now we must replace those old corrective forces with new ones – knowledge, foresight, and self-restraint.
So say we all.
•
I think it’s charming that Miéville, an avowed “active revolutionary socialist”, and Brin, a champion of the Enlightenment tradition and pragmatic American know-how, find so much common ground in their critical readings of Tolkien – and also in their use and espousal of the fantastic and the futuristic as lenses to perceive our path through the present.
•
I hope you agree with my initial assurance that the critiques I’ve shared here do little to detract from the stories they dissect. If this post has exposed you to any new ideas, or nudged you to consider what you expect from fiction, or perhaps even caused you to articulate a rebuttal of your own against any of the charges recounted here, then I consider it a success.
I do not think the quotes I’ve selected do justice to each author’s arguments (least of all Tolkien’s), so please consider reading the source materials in their entirety. If you haven’t read The Lord of the Rings, start with that!
For Tolkien criticism of a different sort – more reverential, perhaps, but rife with insight into the structure and function of fiction – check out Corey Olsen’s extensive Tolkien Professor podcasts.
Posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2012. Tags: books, reviews.Increased physical activity associated with lower risk of 13 types of cancer
A new study of the relationship between physical activity and cancer has shown that greater levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing 13 different types of cancer. The risk of developing seven cancer types was 20 percent (or more) lower among the most active participants (90th percentile of activity) as compared with the least active participants (10th percentile of activity). These findings, from researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the American Cancer Society, confirm and extend the evidence for a benefit of physical activity on cancer risk and support its role as a key component of population-wide cancer prevention and control efforts. The study, by Steven C. Moore, Ph.D., NCI, and colleagues, appeared May 16, 2016, in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Hundreds of previous studies have examined associations between physical activity and cancer risk and shown reduced risks for colon, breast, and endometrial cancers; however, results have been inconclusive for most cancer types due to small numbers of participants in the studies. This new study pooled data on 1.44 million people, ages 19 to 98, from the United States and Europe, and was able to examine a broad range of cancers, including rare malignancies. Participants were followed for a median of 11 years during which 187,000 new cases of cancer occurred.
The investigators confirmed that leisure-time physical activity, as assessed by self-reported surveys, was associated with a lower risk of colon, breast, and endometrial cancers. They also determined that leisure-time physical activity was associated with a lower risk of 10 additional cancers, with the greatest risk reductions for esophageal adenocarcinoma, liver cancer, cancer of the gastric cardia, kidney cancer, and myeloid leukemia. Myeloma and cancers of the head and neck, rectum, and bladder also showed reduced risks that were significant, but not as strong. Risk was reduced for lung cancer, but only for current and former smokers; the reasons for this are still being studied.
“Leisure-time physical activity is known to reduce risks of heart disease and risk of death from all causes, and our study demonstrates that it is also associated with lower risks of many types of cancer,” said Moore. “Furthermore, our results support that these associations are broadly generalizable to different populations, including people who are overweight or obese, or those with a history of smoking. Health care professionals counseling inactive adults should promote physical activity as a component of a healthy lifestyle and cancer prevention.”
Leisure-time physical activity is defined as exercise done at one’s own discretion, often to improve or maintain fitness or health. Examples include walking, running, swimming, and other moderate to vigorous intensity activities. The median level of activity in the study was about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, which is comparable to the current recommended minimum level of physical activity for the U.S. population.
There are a number of mechanisms through which physical activity could affect cancer risk. It has been hypothesized that cancer growth could be initiated or abetted by three metabolic pathways that are also affected by exercise: sex steroids (estrogens and androgens); insulin and insulin-like growth factors; and proteins involved with both insulin metabolism and inflammation. Additionally, several non-hormonal mechanisms have been hypothesized to link physical activity to cancer risk, including inflammation, immune function, oxidative stress, and, for colon cancer, a reduction in time that it takes for waste to pass through the gastrointestinal tract.
Most associations between physical activity and lower cancer risk changed little when adjusted for body mass index, suggesting that physical activity acts through mechanisms other than lowering body weight to reduce cancer risk. Associations between physical activity and cancer were also similar in subgroups of normal weight and overweight participants, and in current smokers or people who never smoked.
The study was a large-scale effort of the Physical Activity Collaboration of NCI’s Cohort Consortium, which was formed to estimate physical activity and disease associations using pooled prospective data and a standardized analytical approach.
“For years, we’ve had substantial evidence supporting a role for physical activity in three leading cancers: colon, breast, and endometrial cancers, which together account for nearly one in four cancers in the United States,” said Alpa V. Patel, Ph.D., a co-author from the American Cancer Society. “This study linking physical activity to 10 additional cancers shows its impact may be even more relevant, and that physical activity has far reaching value for cancer prevention.”
The National Cancer Institute leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH’s efforts to dramatically reduce the prevalence of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI website at http://www.cancer.gov or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®The launch of Bitcoin on the Chicago CBOE Futures Exchange earlier on in the week, showed that cryptocurrencies are increasing legitimately among the professional investment community. The move followed announcements from Nasdaq, which is the world’s second largest exchange that they too will offer similar crypto derivatives.Most of the traditional investment world is incredibly sceptical about cryptocurrencies, with many believing that they concept and venture will fail. In a recent interview, Lloyd Blankfein, who is Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs said Bitcoin would not work out thanks to its fluctuating value. Institutional investors on the whole do not like taking risks and instead look for long term, stable returns. Not only are cryptocurrencies unstable, they also have strong links to the dark web and crime. So, how can this gap be bridged? We first need to look at the legitimacy. Whilst cryptocurrencies are often seen to be illegitimate, this is not always the case. It is merely different. Everything has to start somewhere, so it is important to begin with appreciation.The second point to look at is the risk involved. In fact, there are so many different cryptocurrencies hat there are plenty that offer far more stable, longer returns. Bond is a great example of this – its aim is to reduce risk and enable traditional investors to enter the world of cryptocurrency with confidence and reassurance. Finally, the third gap is trust. Cryptocurrency is decentralised and essentially unregulated, which puts traditional investors off. Cryptocurrencies need to transparently demonstrate what their unique selling points are; their strategy, and what the risks are, right from the beginning. In truth, the entire concept is alien to traditional investors. By focusing on the three above points, it would enable a relationship between traditional and crypto investors to be born. It requires work from both parties, but is not at all impossible and can most definitely be achieved.Oregon Lottery Director Jack Roberts, fired Tuesday by Gov. Kate Brown, said Wednesday that Brown axed him after he took steps to protect a high-ranking agency employee who claimed her supervisor had harassed and intimidated her.
Brown is free to fire and hire state agency directors as she wishes. Her communications director said unspecified "management problems" prompted Brown to seek a new lottery director and denied Roberts' firing was connected to his putting the supervisor on leave.
Roberts, a Republican and former state labor commissioner, agreed Brown had the right to dismiss him and is not trying to get the job back.
But he said the governor's office questioned his management only once: When Brown's chief of staff, Kristin Leonard, asked him Monday afternoon to reinstate the employee accused of harassment. The next day, without further discussion, Leonard told Roberts to resign or he would be fired, Roberts said.
Roberts provided The Oregonian/OregonLive with an account of recent events at the Oregon Lottery, an agency of about 400 employees that Roberts ran for 21/2 years after former Gov. John Kitzhaber asked him to take the job:
Jack Roberts served as director of the Oregon Lottery for 2 1/2 years, after former Gov. John Kitzhaber asked him to take the job. He is a Republican and had served as state labor commissioner for eight years. On Tuesday, Gov. Kate Brown fired him, citing management problems.
Last week, Roberts said, the agency's human resources director, Janell Simmons, told him the agency's deputy director, Roland Iparraguirre, had harassed and intimidated her during a confrontation, leaving her in tears.
On Monday, when Iparraguirre returned from an out-of-town conference, Roberts said he put Iparraguirre on paid leave so Simmons could feel safe while her allegations are investigated. Roberts said he also asked retired Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz to investigate the allegations.
Simmons, through a lottery spokeswoman, said Wednesday she could not comment on a personnel matter. Iparraguirre, who is still on leave, could not be reached for comment.
Later Monday, Roberts said, Leonard called and said Brown and her staff wanted Roberts to reinstate Iparraguirre.
Roberts said he explained why he did not want to: As a former labor commissioner, he knew the recommended practice after a credible report of harassment against a supervisor is to put the alleged harasser, not the person claiming to be the victim, on leave.
Roberts said Leonard cautioned him that might not apply in this instance, because Iparraguirre might have "whistleblower status."
Roberts said he was stunned because Iparraguirre had never complained to him about any agency misdeeds. Roberts said he pressed Leonard to tell him what Iparraguirre had "blown the whistle on," but she did not tell him.
Leonard then suggested that she and Roberts discuss the case with a state human resources officer and a state lawyer Tuesday, Roberts said. Also Monday, DeMuniz called him and agreed to investigate Simmons' claim, Roberts said.
At the Tuesday meeting, he said, without any other discussion of agency matters, Leonard told Roberts that the governor "wanted to go in a new direction" and that he should resign.
Roberts said he asked whether he would be fired if he declined; Leonard said yes. Roberts ultimately chose to be fired, reasoning that he did not wish to lie about his true reason for leaving.
Kristen Grainger, Brown's communications director, said Wednesday that she could not go into detail about the reports of personnel problems and "chaos" at lottery headquarters that reached the governor's office. But she said Roberts was not fired for declining to reinstate Iparraguirre.
The governor's office did not ask Brown's handpicked interim director, Barry Pack, to reinstate Iparraguirre, nor has Pack reinstated him of his own accord.
Officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Administrative Services are reviewing personnel matters in the executive offices at the lottery, including claims of intimidation, Grainger said.
"Any time there is an allegation of bullying or harassment, the governor is going to look into it," she said. "That's unquestionable."
Grainger said she could not say more about the problems and complaints. But, she said, "our goal is to resolve those. Was the deputy causing some of those problems or not? That's one piece of a larger puzzle."
She said Brown also wanted someone she chose as lottery director, not someone chosen by her predecessor.
"She needs a leadership," Grainger said, "that is going to go the same way she wants to go."
-- Betsy HammondGigaTux is proud to announce the immediate availability of a new Linux distribution, Mageia 2, on its VPS Linux hosting platform.
GigaTux is the first VPS provider to offer Mageia 2 for automatic installs on any VPS system and this has been confirmed as running in a very stable manner on GigaTux's Xen platform. Deployments are automatically performed using the DTC control panel interface, which GigaTux have patched to enable support for Mageia.
Mageia 2 was released on 22nd May 2012 and is the second stable release of the community distribution that was originally forked from Mandriva Linux. The Mageia organisation is completely community-driven with no commercial oversight dictating its future. As a fork of Mandriva, a long-standing distribution with a huge community of users, every feature expected of a Linux distribution is available. Originally, Mageia was forked because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Mandriva distribution, but now it has grown into its own solid distribution in this second release.
Mageia 2 is immediately available for deployment on GigaTux's servers in the UK (London), USA (San Jose and Chicago) and Germany (Frankfurt). All servers run on Xen with hard disks in a RAID-10 configuration and two Intel Xeon CPUs each.
To sign up, visit GigaTux's Linux VPS pagesOne of the non-profits Humble Bundle has proudly supported is charity: water, an organization devoted to |
or using extremely high resolutions to show off or increase picture quality. Where a new flatscreen may have a resolution of 1080p(1920 pixels wide by 1080 tall) a game may only run at 720p(1280x720) or even less. This in turn forces the television to scale the image up to its native res. Doing so can not only result in a drop in picture quality but it also takes time to do this processing and introduces a delay; Those in the fighting game and rhythm game communities should already be aware of this. New consoles attempt to mediate this delay by either scaling the image itself before sending it to the display or by offering an adjustment to take the delay into account and bring things back into sync. Older games are not so lucky, and their much lower resolutions require more processing. CRTs get around this not only by being older and having been made expecting these older signals, but also just on the way the technology works. Alright, so just go out and get any old CRT and I'm good, right? Nearly any CRT Television made in the mid 90's on back will give the benefits mentioned in the above paragraph: No scaling and no input lag; More recently produced models can also do the same but it is at that point where you run into High Definition(100hz and/or 480p compatible models) which run into the same scaling pitfalls as flat screens. That said, not all CRTs are created equal, and different sets will offer more options, more inputs, or better picture quality. Inputs and Signal types In order for a TV to display anything, they have to be connected to a game console in some way. Most people will know right off of the yellow, red and white cables that most systems have come with standard for the past 20 years or the small box that screwed into the back for even longer. These are known as composite and RF(radio frequency) respectively The first sends video data on the yellow cable and stereo audio along the red and white; RF sends both the video and audio all on the same cable, in the same way to old OTA(over the air) television would be. This is the reason that you would always have to tune your television to a certain channel when using it, as the TV just saw it as another broadcast channel. Both of these work well enough, but definitely leave something to be desired in terms of picture quality and there are other options that attempt to meet this request. The signal type known as S-Video(also Y/C) breaks down the video signal into two parts, one consisting of a black and white picture, luma and one with the color information, chroma(chrominance). This separation, while seemingly insignificant, removes most if not all color bleeding and "dot crawl". Most if not all people will see this as more than enough and leave their search for quality right there, but there are still higher quality choices of video transmission that one can make use of for their videophile needs and the one we're after is RGB. RGB breaks the video up even further into 3 if not 4 separate channels; One for each primary additive color, Red Green and Blue, and in the case of most game systems, a signal to keep the picture in sync. This not only gives you great color separation but also more vibrant colors than offered by S-Video. Europeans will know of this as RGB SCART, and is based on the same inner-workings as the VGA signals generated by PCs. Component video, which should be a bit more familiar to people thanks to 6th and 7th gen systems is also split up in a similar manner with comparable quality, but is really only available on said 6th and 7th gen systems. So what CRT is good and which should I get- If you're aiming for quality, there are several companies that have made good models and so long as you avoid bargain brands such as Sylvania and Memorex, you shouldn't run into too much trouble. Specific brands in particular to keep and eye out for are: [List of Brands] ----Placeholder Information. To be redone/reworded at a later date---- Brand wise, you mainly want to avoid bargain brands. They uses cheap chinese tubes and parts of dubious quality and with just about all CRTs you’ll find these days being in the second hand market, there are just much better choices that can be had at the same price point, be that free or otherwise. The big names, for the most part, are big for a reason and that reason is because they are at the very least decent: Sonys are a safe bet and a personal favorite. Their 90s sets offer a very nice picture but aren’t likely to have component outside of a few high-end late models. The silver “FD/WEGA” flat faced sets of the 2000s will in most cases have component and often s-video depending on the model. As with all flatfaced models, you do have to worry about geometry quirks and linearity issues, but this is on a set by set basis and something you’d hopefully be able to see when testing it out. Some people find Samsung’s sets to be a bit lacking in quality, but my experiences with them have been decent. Both of these have been relatively small sets (20’’ and under) from the 90s so maybe their large or newer models have problems, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen. While I have little first hand experience with JVC, they were one of Sony’s biggest competitors in the consumer market and made some fine offerings on the professional end as well. Toshiba, Panasonic, and Philips are other brands that are safe calls with good offerings. While not seen as often, NEC and Mitsubishi are both quality manufacturers. They’re much more likely to be found in a search for PC CRTs than TVs though. --End Placeholder-- The above manufacturers are all a safe bet when looking for a good TV for retro gaming. Many on /crt/ are rather partial to Sony due to the aperture grille technology they used in their tubes and the style of image it produces, where others prefer the shadowmask seen in most other tubes including those used in arcade machines; The final choice comes down to personal taste and choice. Returning back to the topic of inputs, for NTSC(US) sets, nearly anything made since the early 90s will have composite inputs with S-Video coming in towards the end of the decade and component soon after. RGB never saw much use outside of professional environments in the US, with Europe being much more fortunate. RGB SCART came into prominence in the 80s and stuck around ever since. SCART in and of itself is only a connector, not a signal standard itself; The connector can potentially carry composite, RGB, and though not often supported, S-Video. If a television has only one SCART input, chances are that it will support RGB, though sets with multiple SCART inputs may only support RGB on one. Don't think that this means that if you're in the states or somewhere else without SCART that you can't make use of RGB; One can purchase devices to transcode RGB losslessly(that is without quality loss or input lag) to the component much more commonly found in these places. Another option is to purchase an RGB monitor RGB Monitors, Presentation Monitors and PVM/BVMs- Up until this point, all talk has been about televisions; That is a CRT paired with a tuner capable of displaying broadcast programming. Monitors drop the tuner and focus only on dedicated video sources. These can range anywhere from small Commodore monitors that went with various home PCs in the 80s to massive 40'' behemoths for use in conference rooms. Further more, monitors may support anything from just plain old composite to the oddest variety of RGB imaginable and more. On top of this signal support, they often offer features and customizability beyond that of televisions. As with consumer sets, many different companies produced these sets, but they can be broken down into groups- RGB Monitors -CRTs for use with home PCs such as the Commodore 64, Atari, Amiga and others -Can support composite and s-video, some models RGB -Shadowmask -~20'' and under -Usually mono audio if any -May be compatible with digital RGB (EGA/CGA) Presentation Monitors -Primarily made by Mitsubishi and NEC -Used in conference rooms in a similar use to projectors and the like -~27'' and up -Can support composite, s-video, RGB and PC level RGB -Large number of inputs -Shadowmask -May have stereo audio | built in power amplifier -Build quality Professional Video Monitor/Broadcast Video Monitor -CRTs intended for use in editing/mastering video for broadcast and film, monitoring of security camera systems and various medical uses -Manufactured by Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Ikegami and others -Various sizes ranging from 5'' to 32'' [5'', 8'', 14'', 20'', 25'', 29'', 32''] -Can support composite, s-video, RGB, component and other commercial formats -Aperture Grille(Sony, rebranded Sonys sold as Olympus) | Shadowmask(Others) -May have mono audio | power amplifier -Build quality Your ability to acquire these monitors depends on the area you live in, how much you're willing to spends and generally just being in the right place at the right time. RGB monitors have about the same chance to pop up on your local craigslist or equivalent regardless of location, with areas with large populations obviously more likely. Presentation monitors can also be found within the same general guidelines, with them being more likely in areas with big business headquarters. PVMs and BVMs seem to be most plentiful in the NYC tri-state area and Southern California and areas with significant amounts filming, broadcast and video production companies. If you're not willing to wait around to get lucky, and have some money to burn, ebay comes into play. Many electronic and medical surplus companies can be found on ebay, moving old stock from companies that have replaced them with newer alternatives. This opens up quite a selection for purchase.
RAW Paste Data
[ETERNAL CRT PASTEBIN] Version 0.02 What is a CRT CRTs or Cathode Ray Tubes were the first affordable way of viewing video in one's own home. They were also the leading means of viewing broadcast television and most other sources of video imaginable for the past 80 years. This has given the technology an incredible amount of time to mature and still sees wide use a large number of homes around the world. Why CRT? Despite being displaced in recent years by various flatscreen technologies such as LCD, Plasma and more recently OLED, there are still quite a number of reasons to still use the older and "dated" option that is CRT. The commonly spouted benefits to using CRTs such as color reproduction, black levels, contrast and viewing angle, have been slowly encroached on by advancements in the aforementioned flatscreen tech and while they still hold true, these are not the main reason why you should make a CRT your choice of retro gaming display. Much talk these days with gaming is given to display resolution and scaling, from a new console not having enough power to meet the perceived standards of the day or using extremely high resolutions to show off or increase picture quality. Where a new flatscreen may have a resolution of 1080p(1920 pixels wide by 1080 tall) a game may only run at 720p(1280x720) or even less. This in turn forces the television to scale the image up to its native res. Doing so can not only result in a drop in picture quality but it also takes time to do this processing and introduces a delay; Those in the fighting game and rhythm game communities should already be aware of this. New consoles attempt to mediate this delay by either scaling the image itself before sending it to the display or by offering an adjustment to take the delay into account and bring things back into sync. Older games are not so lucky, and their much lower resolutions require more processing. CRTs get around this not only by being older and having been made expecting these older signals, but also just on the way the technology works. Alright, so just go out and get any old CRT and I'm good, right? Nearly any CRT Television made in the mid 90's on back will give the benefits mentioned in the above paragraph: No scaling and no input lag; More recently produced models can also do the same but it is at that point where you run into High Definition(100hz and/or 480p compatible models) which run into the same scaling pitfalls as flat screens. That said, not all CRTs are created equal, and different sets will offer more options, more inputs, or better picture quality. Inputs and Signal types In order for a TV to display anything, they have to be connected to a game console in some way. Most people will know right off of the yellow, red and white cables that most systems have come with standard for the past 20 years or the small box that screwed into the back for even longer. These are known as composite and RF(radio frequency) respectively The first sends video data on the yellow cable and stereo audio along the red and white; RF sends both the video and audio all on the same cable, in the same way to old OTA(over the air) television would be. This is the reason that you would always have to tune your television to a certain channel when using it, as the TV just saw it as another broadcast channel. Both of these work well enough, but definitely leave something to be desired in terms of picture quality and there are other options that attempt to meet this request. The signal type known as S-Video(also Y/C) breaks down the video signal into two parts, one consisting of a black and white picture, luma and one with the color information, chroma(chrominance). This separation, while seemingly insignificant, removes most if not all color bleeding and "dot crawl". Most if not all people will see this as more than enough and leave their search for quality right there, but there are still higher quality choices of video transmission that one can make use of for their videophile needs and the one we're after is RGB. RGB breaks the video up even further into 3 if not 4 separate channels; One for each primary additive color, Red Green and Blue, and in the case of most game systems, a signal to keep the picture in sync. This not only gives you great color separation but also more vibrant colors than offered by S-Video. Europeans will know of this as RGB SCART, and is based on the same inner-workings as the VGA signals generated by PCs. Component video, which should be a bit more familiar to people thanks to 6th and 7th gen systems is also split up in a similar manner with comparable quality, but is really only available on said 6th and 7th gen systems. So what CRT is good and which should I get- If you're aiming for quality, there are several companies that have made good models and so long as you avoid bargain brands such as Sylvania and Memorex, you shouldn't run into too much trouble. Specific brands in particular to keep and eye out for are: [List of Brands] ----Placeholder Information. To be redone/reworded at a later date---- Brand wise, you mainly want to avoid bargain brands. They uses cheap chinese tubes and parts of dubious quality and with just about all CRTs you’ll find these days being in the second hand market, there are just much better choices that can be had at the same price point, be that free or otherwise. The big names, for the most part, are big for a reason and that reason is because they are at the very least decent: Sonys are a safe bet and a personal favorite. Their 90s sets offer a very nice picture but aren’t likely to have component outside of a few high-end late models. The silver “FD/WEGA” flat faced sets of the 2000s will in most cases have component and often s-video depending on the model. As with all flatfaced models, you do have to worry about geometry quirks and linearity issues, but this is on a set by set basis and something you’d hopefully be able to see when testing it out. Some people find Samsung’s sets to be a bit lacking in quality, but my experiences with them have been decent. Both of these have been relatively small sets (20’’ and under) from the 90s so maybe their large or newer models have problems, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen. While I have little first hand experience with JVC, they were one of Sony’s biggest competitors in the consumer market and made some fine offerings on the professional end as well. Toshiba, Panasonic, and Philips are other brands that are safe calls with good offerings. While not seen as often, NEC and Mitsubishi are both quality manufacturers. They’re much more likely to be found in a search for PC CRTs than TVs though. --End Placeholder-- The above manufacturers are all a safe bet when looking for a good TV for retro gaming. Many on /crt/ are rather partial to Sony due to the aperture grille technology they used in their tubes and the style of image it produces, where others prefer the shadowmask seen in most other tubes including those used in arcade machines; The final choice comes down to personal taste and choice. Returning back to the topic of inputs, for NTSC(US) sets, nearly anything made since the early 90s will have composite inputs with S-Video coming in towards the end of the decade and component soon after. RGB never saw much use outside of professional environments in the US, with Europe being much more fortunate. RGB SCART came into prominence in the 80s and stuck around ever since. SCART in and of itself is only a connector, not a signal standard itself; The connector can potentially carry composite, RGB, and though not often supported, S-Video. If a television has only one SCART input, chances are that it will support RGB, though sets with multiple SCART inputs may only support RGB on one. Don't think that this means that if you're in the states or somewhere else without SCART that you can't make use of RGB; One can purchase devices to transcode RGB losslessly(that is without quality loss or input lag) to the component much more commonly found in these places. Another option is to purchase an RGB monitor RGB Monitors, Presentation Monitors and PVM/BVMs- Up until this point, all talk has been about televisions; That is a CRT paired with a tuner capable of displaying broadcast programming. Monitors drop the tuner and focus only on dedicated video sources. These can range anywhere from small Commodore monitors that went with various home PCs in the 80s to massive 40'' behemoths for use in conference rooms. Further more, monitors may support anything from just plain old composite to the oddest variety of RGB imaginable and more. On top of this signal support, they often offer features and customizability beyond that of televisions. As with consumer sets, many different companies produced these sets, but they can be broken down into groups- RGB Monitors -CRTs for use with home PCs such as the Commodore 64, Atari, Amiga and others -Can support composite and s-video, some models RGB -Shadowmask -~20'' and under -Usually mono audio if any -May be compatible with digital RGB (EGA/CGA) Presentation Monitors -Primarily made by Mitsubishi and NEC -Used in conference rooms in a similar use to projectors and the like -~27'' and up -Can support composite, s-video, RGB and PC level RGB -Large number of inputs -Shadowmask -May have stereo audio | built in power amplifier -Build quality Professional Video Monitor/Broadcast Video Monitor -CRTs intended for use in editing/mastering video for broadcast and film, monitoring of security camera systems and various medical uses -Manufactured by Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Ikegami and others -Various sizes ranging from 5'' to 32'' [5'', 8'', 14'', 20'', 25'', 29'', 32''] -Can support composite, s-video, RGB, component and other commercial formats -Aperture Grille(Sony, rebranded Sonys sold as Olympus) | Shadowmask(Others) -May have mono audio | power amplifier -Build quality Your ability to acquire these monitors depends on the area you live in, how much you're willing to spends and generally just being in the right place at the right time. RGB monitors have about the same chance to pop up on your local craigslist or equivalent regardless of location, with areas with large populations obviously more likely. Presentation monitors can also be found within the same general guidelines, with them being more likely in areas with big business headquarters. PVMs and BVMs seem to be most plentiful in the NYC tri-state area and Southern California and areas with significant amounts filming, broadcast and video production companies. If you're not willing to wait around to get lucky, and have some money to burn, ebay comes into play. Many electronic and medical surplus companies can be found on ebay, moving old stock from companies that have replaced them with newer alternatives. This opens up quite a selection for purchase.Accused of letting impressionable students see pornographic pictures as she browsed the web in her classroom, former Connecticut school teacher Julie Amero dodged felony charges last Friday by agreeing to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge and surrendering her state teaching credentials, according to the Hartford Courant.
But if a soon-to-be released forensic report (.pdf) about her hard drive is accurate, Amero's guilty plea is hardly justice – since the school computer had adware, the anti-virus software on the computer had been discontinued, and the technical testimony at her trial was amateurish and flawed.
Amero, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Connecticut, was arrested after students in her class reported that they'd seen pornographic images on her computer screen on Oct. 19, 2004. Amero said the computer wouldn't stop sending pop-ups and that she didn't know what to do with the computer.
In January 2007, she was convicted of four felony pornography charges and faced up to 40 years in prison.
Computer security experts, including Alex Eckelberry of Sunbelt Software, read about the case and immediately suspected Amero was the victim of rogue software and an overzealous prosecutor. He and a crack team of computer forensic experts examined the hard drive for the defense on a pro-bono basis.
Based on their March 2007 report, the judge in the case set aside the conviction in June 2007 — essentially granting Amero a new trial and raising hopes the prosecution would drop the case.
Threat Level received an advance copy of the report, which hasn't been publicly released.
Among its findings:
The school's IT manager told the jury that the anti-virus software had been updated with new virus definitions in early October, just days before the incident. But according to the system’s antivirus update log, signatures were last updated on Aug. 31, 2004. Those signatures were from June 30, 2004, which was the last update Computer Associates ever made for that product.
The computer had no anti-spyware or firewall software. It also lacked any pop-up blocking technology.
On Oct. 12, 2004, an adware program, newdotnet, was installed onto the system, likely at the same time someone installed a 'free' Halloween screen saver. The IT manager told the jury he didn't know if adware or spyware was on the computer, and the police's forensic investigator falsely told them that there was no evidence of uncontrollable pop-ups. In fact, the forensic report found pages that reloaded more than 20 times in a second.
The jury was told that one adult web page had a red link on it, indicating that Amero had clicked on it. In fact, the computer she was using turned visited links a green color and the HTML on the web page specified that link be red for every visitor.
Prosecutors argued that Amero should have shut off the computer and by not doing so, endangered her charges at the Kelly Middle School.
Eckelberry, who led the tech team on Amero's behalf, said in a blog post that Amero wasn't in condition to endure another trial.
Amero pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge and has to pay $100 fine.
Photo: Tanya Ryno
See Also:WASHINGTON, D.C. – B. Todd Jones, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), today announced he will depart to pursue opportunities in the private sector. Jones’s resignation becomes effective March 31.
“ATF employees are hard-working, dedicated individuals who serve the public to make our nation safer every day,” said Jones. “I have seen firsthand their extraordinary commitment to combating violent crime, ridding the streets of criminals, and leveraging all available resources to keep our communities safe.”
“I will truly miss leading and working side-by-side with these men and women in their pursuit of ATF’s unique law enforcement and regulatory mission,” Jones added.
Jones was nominated by President Barack Obama for the position of ATF director on Jan. 24, 2013. On July 31, 2013, Jones became the first ATF director in history to receive Senate confirmation. As Director, Jones led the nearly 5,000 ATF employees whose responsibilities include enforcing firearms and explosives laws that protect communities from violent criminals and criminal organizations.
Prior to becoming ATF’s permanent Director, Jones served as the acting ATF Director starting Aug. 31, 2011. While serving as the acting director of ATF, Jones was also the U. S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, a post he held from Aug. 7, 2009, until his confirmation as ATF Director.
ATF Deputy Director Thomas E. Brandon will serve as Acting Director after Jones departs. Brandon was appointed Deputy Director of ATF in October 2011.
Brandon has more than 26 years of experience with ATF. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Director, Brandon served as the special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division beginning in March 2011, and special agent in charge of the Detroit field division from January 2008 until his assignment to Phoenix.
A law enforcement professional, Brandon began his ATF career in 1989, with Detroit as his first office assignment. Rising through the ranks at ATF, he served in many management positions including the position of chief of ATF's National Academy, in Glynco, Ga. His vast experience ranges from participating and leading firearms and explosives enforcement operations to supervising arson investigations.
ATF is a unique law enforcement agency in the Department of Justice that protects our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products. We partner with communities, industries, law enforcement, and public safety agencies to safeguard the public we serve through information sharing, training, research and use of technology.
###Memorial Placed for Student Killed in Allston Fire Suddenly Removed
The family of Binland Lee wants to know why flowers and photos of their daughter were taken away.
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Photos and flowers placed at the site where a house fire erupted in Allston last year, killing a Boston University student and injuring 15 others, were mysteriously removed this week. Now, the family is asking for the public’s help to get them back.
Mei Kwong, the mother of Binland Lee, 22, who died on April 28, 2013, when the “careless disposal of smoking materials” led to a three-alarm blaze at the Linden Street apartment building where she lived, traveled from New York this week to commemorate her daughter’s death one year after the tragedy.
Mei, along with friends, former roommates, and other family members, spent roughly $1,000 on flowers and other gifts to create a temporary memorial for Binland outside of the condemned building where she died, before they placed them at the scene on Monday.
Just hours after the family assembled the small remembrance in honor of Binland, someone removed them, however. More troubling, according to the family, was the fact that the memorial included pictures of Binland that were given to her mother as a graduation gift, which are also now gone. “The copies of the photos were the only versions Mei had. The photography company only keeps files of the photos for one year, so we are no longer able to order more prints. Mei desperately wants the photos returned, which we know is unlikely,” said Cait McAndrews, a friend of the girl’s family. McAndrews briefly lived in the same apartment building as Binland just months before the fire destroyed it. The two were close, and “did everything together” when they shared an apartment.
McAndrews spoke to Boston on behalf of the family due to a language barrier. But the family posted a distraught message to a Facebook page dedicated to their daughter after they discovered the items were missing this week. “We left the memorial for about two hours to add more flowers and candles to the memorial, and when we returned the memorial had been completely removed and the yard raked. We searched nearby trash bins and could not find any sign of the missing flowers and photographs,” the family said in a statement. “If you have any information regarding the stolen items, please contact us or Boston University Police Department. We will not let this keep us down. We love Binland and will continue to honor her.”
McAndrews said her friend, Binland, was killed in the house fire two weeks before she was supposed to graduate from BU last year. She said the incident has been hard for the family, who lives in New York, and this particular situation has not made it any easier—especially on the anniversary of the girl’s death. She said they think the building’s owner removed the items, because the area where the flowers, stuffed animals, photos, and candles were placed was raked over cleanly to make the yard appear undisturbed. McAndrews said she tried to reach out to the landlord in charge of the property to try and get information, but the person who answered the phone hung up on her on more than one occasion.
According to a Boston Globe article published at the time of Binland’s death, 19 people lived in the building at 87 Linden St. “A city ordinance prohibits more than four unrelated undergraduate students from sharing a dwelling; officials said at least six of the 19 residents were BU students,” the report said. As a result of the fatal fire, property owner Anna Belokurova was cited by the city for running an illegal rooming house.
Binland’s death put a microscope on housing safety regulations in the city, and brought up questions about overcrowding issues at certain properties where students live.
While she can’t be sure, McAndrews believes that Belokurova may have had someone sweep up the items to keep people from being reminded of the tragedy last year. “We think she is just trying to protect her reputation, but we think she was embarrassed and didn’t want to bring any more attention to it,” she said.
Several calls placed by Boston to Belokurova went straight to voicemail Wednesday afternoon. A message was left on her phone.
McAndrews said the family just wants the photos of Binland returned, since they don’t have any other copies. “My whole role is to bring as much solace to Binland’s family as I can. I just want to help them grieve. And if that means putting a memorial in front of the house, I don’t think that’s too much to ask happen,” she said.
The family returned to the site this week, prior to heading back to New York, to put up another memorial in their daughter’s name.Night mode
Tempo de leitura: 12 minutos
Ontem estava jantando vendo Jornal Nacional quando passou a notícia de que o “presidente” do Zimbábue tinha finalmente sido apeado do poder. O povo comemorava nas ruas, sem querer pensar no amanhã (o novo presidente é o braço direito do Mugabe). Numa fração de segundo, durante a reportagem foram mostradas imagens da “casa” do presidente, onde ele estava em prisão domiciliar nos últimos dias.
Eu me impressionei com o nível de suntuosidade e pensei em escrever sobre isso. É absolutamente incrível como um país que mantém seus cidadãos na pobreza como a Nigéria, que teve talvez a mais monstruosa inflação do planeta Terra, (com notas de dez trilhões de dólares!) e onde tantas pessoas passam fome, não tendo acesso ao mínimo do saneamento Básico, seu presidente-ditador caquético e genocida não tem vergonha naquela cara feia dele de viver dessa maneira nababesca.
De acordo com a maioria das medidas, a África Subsaariana (SSA) continua a ser a região menos competitiva do planeta, presa entre os refluxos e fluxos de ciclos de commodities e mudanças de paradigmas globais.
Apesar de ter desfrutado de sua melhor década de crescimento econômico registrado de 2002 a 2012, os países africanos continuam a povoar os níveis mais baixos do Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano de 2016 (IDH), que mede aspectos-chave do progresso humano, como expectativa de vida, renda per capita e educação. Embora o Zimbabué seja rico em minerais, muitas pessoas ainda vivem abaixo da linha de pobreza, na miséria.
Um em cada dois africanos ainda vive em extrema pobreza, e a África ultrapassou a América Latina como a região mais desigual do mundo. No Zimbábue, 27% das crianças com menos de 5 anos têm problemas de crescimento, com 9% em estado grave por causa de desnutrição, segundo a Pesquisa Demográfica e de Saúde do Zimbábue de 2015. Há quem culpe outros países pela merda (como o proprio governo do Mugabe faz). Mas há quem culpe os diamantes.
Foi o economista britânico, Richard M. Auty, que cunhou o termo “maldição dos recursos”, que liga a doação de recursos naturais, como o petróleo e os minerais, como vemos em muitos países africanos, ( no caso do Zimbábue, os diamantes, lítio e outros minerais valiosos) para retardar o desenvolvimento, a corrupção e o autoritarismo.
Curiosamente, o Zimbábue, que já foi um dos países mais avançados da África. Hoje, graças ao comunismo, vive o completo caos econômico e social. Os números são chocantes, e o país foi completamente destruído, com hiperinflação que ultrapassa os seis dígitos, desemprego quase total, violência crescente e com a fome se espalhando rapidamente.
Mugabe pertencente à uma tribo denominada shona, filho de um fazendeiro local, foi educado numa escola de jesuítas. Foi professor primário na antiga Rodésia, Zâmbia e Gana entre os anos 1942-1949 e 1955-1960. Possui diplomas de inglês, História e Educação nas mais prestigiadas universidades africanas e obteve uma licenciatura em Economia na Universidade de Londres.
Robert Mugabe virou um líder importante desde a década de 1960, quando assumiu como Secretário Geral a União Nacional Africana do Zimbábue (ZANU), com uma retórica marxista-leninista. Ele fugiu do país, então Rodésia, em 1976, para lutar em Moçambique, e retornou como um herói, sendo eleito em 1980. Desde então está no poder, adotando medidas claramente autoritárias, controlando a mídia, intimidando a oposição e concentrando poder. Já em 1982, usando milícias treinadas na comunista Coreia do Norte, ele trucidou o braço militar da ZAPU (União do Povo Africano do Zimbábue), que fazia oposição ao seu governo. Em 1987 o cargo de Primeiro Ministro foi abolido, e Mugabe assumiu como presidente, ganhando poder adicional. Foi reeleito em 1990 e 1996, assim como em 2002, através de uma fraude escancarada. Sua política tem sido totalmente tribal, com um discurso racista contra a minoria branca, assim como uma constante retórica anti-imperialista e anti-ocidental, a conversa fiada de sempre que estamos acostumados a ver em países como Venezuela e Cuba.
Grande parte da mídia ocidental ainda evita chamar de racismo as medidas de Mugabe, que expulsaram os poucos brancos do país, tomando suas propriedades na marra. Até mesmo os grupos de Direitos Humanos evitam o uso da palavra “racismo” quando comentam as atrocidades de Mugabe, como se o ódio contra os brancos “burgueses” não fosse racismo. Em 1991, o coronel Mengistu fugiu da Etiópia, onde deixou um rastro de sangue, e conseguiu asilo político do seu amigo Mugabe. Em 1994, foi convocado a comparecer, como principal responsável pela tragédia etíope, diante de um tribunal, mas Mugabe recusou a extradição do líder comunista. A rede de cumplicidade entre os diferentes líderes comunistas sempre foi enorme, e todos os membros contribuíram para o avanço internacional desse regime assassino.
As medidas socialistas de Mugabe lançaram o povo do Zimbábue na completa miséria. A receita foi a mesma de toda nação comunista: ele nacionalizou várias indústrias ao mesmo tempo em que expropriava várias terras dos seus proprietários originais, aumentou os impostos, determinou controle de preços, enfim, foi alastrando o controle estatal sobre os diversos setores da economia, além de limitar drasticamente os demais direitos civis. Em resumo, Mugabe é uma espécie de F |
an easy to use interface that simplifies the token creation process.
. Easy Waves token creation for virtually anyone wanting to partake in creating one. Waves provides an easy to use interface that simplifies the token creation process. Decentralized exchange. DEX allows users control of their own funds, no withdrawal limits, and purchased cryptocurrency immediately appears in the Waves wallet balance. The exchange also has a very low fee.
. DEX allows users control of their own funds, no withdrawal limits, and purchased cryptocurrency immediately appears in the Waves wallet balance. The exchange also has a very low fee. DEX upgrade. Waves recently upgraded their user interface of DEX which integrates TradingView charts.
Waves recently upgraded their user interface of DEX which integrates TradingView charts. Partnership. Waves announced that the company is working together with Deloitte’s CIS department and several big market players on a self-regulatory body for ICOs. This regulation that this alliance is working on will set out to develop ground rules for all ICOs and not just those to be created on the Waves platform.
Waves Cons
Limited customization. Although waves provides a very user-friendly token creation process, they currently offer very few customizations for it. Maybe they will update their process in the future, allowing more customization to take place.
Although waves provides a very user-friendly token creation process, they currently offer very few customizations for it. Maybe they will update their process in the future, allowing more customization to take place. Limited Gateways. DEX doesn’t have enough payment gateways which limits their ability to become more global. In addition, there are some problems and issues that arise with the payment gateways which can hurt user experience.
DEX doesn’t have enough payment gateways which limits their ability to become more global. In addition, there are some problems and issues that arise with the payment gateways which can hurt user experience. ICO reputation. Currently, there isn’t a reputation system in place for ICO’s.
. Currently, there isn’t a reputation system in place for ICO’s. Few coin options. DEX lists very few coins/tokens with high demand.
Where can you buy the Waves coin?
The waves coin is being sold on Binance. I recommend that exchange because I personally use them. If you need additional help with this, check out my guide on how to buy ALT coins.
*NOTE* If you are looking for a cryptocurrency exchange providing the best crypto-to-crypto rates on the market, check out Changelly. Note that exchange times may vary depending on network congestion.
Conclusion
The Waves platform offers a very attractive token creation system for everyone. They are trying to integrate new ways to buy coins with payment gateways. This is another notable platform to watch as digital currencies continue to grow in popularity.
Their decentralized exchange offers other different options for people who want more control over their coin exchanges. While waves is still developing, it could become a major competitor to Ethereum, and maybe Bitcoin (BTC) in the distant future.On efficacy and ideology: Zero Dark Thirty and the ethical justification of torture 0
“The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule.” -Walter Benjamin
Kathryn Bigelow’s film Zero Dark Thirty was met with both large audiences and waves of criticism for how the film depicted, and seemingly endorsed, the use of torture. While it’s not surprising that a film about the War on Terror and the assassination of Osama Bin Laden has provoked controversy, what is rather troubling is that the majority of critics have chosen to focus their critique on the film’s questionable suggestion that information obtained through torture lead to finding Bin Laden, precluding any substantial ethical debate about the practice of torture itself.
The ideological force of the film takes hold in the way that it frames the debates surrounding torture within the language of efficacy and utility. When critics come to make ethical claims that solely rely on the values of efficacy and utility, or on how well specific means produce desired ends, they’ve already ceded great amounts of discursive territory and failed to question torture in ways beyond whether it is “effective” or “useful”. In this modality of critique, efficacy comes to be the dominant ethical register and largely determines the positions one can assume in the spaces of ethical contestation.
Efficacy becomes deeply ideological in this sense, in establishing a singular frame for thinking about torture and in obfuscating the plurality of ways a debate about torture could potentially take place. The questions of efficacy and utility always already contain assumed values and ideal outcomes, and suppress more fundamental formations of critique. This approach greatly impoverishes our ability to think about whether these practices are ethical in necessarily more complex and nuanced ways, and fixes their presence as a normative practice in our political landscape.
Since the U.S.’ War on Terror began a little over a decade ago, torture has transited from being politically unthinkable to being the modus operandi. It is no longer a question of if we should torture, but rather under what circumstances and with what techniques. This is illustrative of a significant historical shift in that way we think about what constitutes the ethical treatment of human bodies that has largely escaped analysis, and is representative of how the ethical frameworks produced by the War of Terror have thoroughly permeated our ways of thinking.
September 11th, 2001 marked the beginning of a rapid historical process of ethical and political decoding in which our collective worldviews cascaded into cycles of distortion and rearticulation. The radical expansion of the state’s power to indefinitely detain, torture and assassinate individuals under Bush’s presidency was shocking at the time for its unprecedented disregard of international human rights and its willingness to bypass constitutional protections. This dramatic movement operated to essentially shift the territories of ethical and legal thought and legibility.
These measures, that at the time appeared radical and only justifiable within the logic of a state of exception, have in many ways restratified into a new stable political reality during Obama’s presidency. Obama’s policies have reterritorialized and recoded these ethical and legal shifts into a new normative political present through the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), renewal of the Patriot Act, continued operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities, as well as other measures.
In this process, we’ve eclipsed the questions of whether the practices of torture, targeted assassinations, and indefinite detention should be an accepted part of our political life, and instead are left with the inadequate questions of efficacy and utility which already assume these practices’ ongoing place in history.
The arguments in favor of the increasing use of drone strikes often rely on similar logics of efficacy and utility, claiming that the bombings are more precise, put fewer U.S. pilots at risk, and cost taxpayers less, while failing to question whether the strikes should be happening in the first place. In these discursive shifts, we can no longer interrogate with “why”, but instead are left circumscribed to the details of “how”.
The frames of efficacy and utility are often helpful in ethical discussions because they reveal the way certain decisions have the capacity to generate different kinds of material consequences. In combination with other approaches, utilitarian modes of analysis are capable of helping us make more ethical choices in our political lives. The problem arises when the lens of efficacy supersedes all others, as they have done in the conversations about torture in Zero Dark Thirty. Here, the questions of calculability and numerability come to displace broader historical and social approaches of constructing ethical frameworks that are not legible in the registers of efficacy or utility.
Ethical arguments in support of torture most often fall back upon fantasies of “ticking time bomb” scenarios, in which torture becomes the necessary evil required to spare innocent lives from impending terroristic violence. The problem with the frames of thought engendered by “ticking time bomb” style justifications is that when one looks to legitimize their actions on the basis of speculative dystopian (or utopian) outcomes, one finds that every means is permissible in response to these unverifiable ends.
The “ticking time bomb” framework is similarly ideological to the critiques of the representation of torture in Zero Dark Thirty in that it takes one of many potentialities and asserts it as an ongoing certainty, curtailing our ability to think outside of questions of utility. Ideology manifests precisely when we mistake something that is political for something that is natural, or posit something that we are capable of changing as something that is immutable.
As philosopher Brian Massumi has aptly made clear, a politics of potentiality that assumes a discrete “knowability” or “objective measurability” always function to produce the very conditions it wishes to repress, and as a result always confirms its own hypotheses, thus retroactively justifying whatever measures were taken.
In this way, torture can be historicized as preventing any given number of unknown atrocities, appealing to the Rumsfeldian “unknown unknowns” that constantly threaten but are never present. In this instance, since the threat is always already assumed to be present, every response is already figured as maximally efficient: either the act of torture prevented the terroristic violence from occurring, or it failed to stop the terrorist act and we simply needed more torture to prevent it. In both scenarios, torture was justified, efficient and useful.
The “ticking time bomb” imaginary and Zero Dark Thirty produce bodies that are simultaneously one-dimensional (without subjectivity or history) and in need of torture. In the presence of such terrifying and omnipotent bodies that are perpetually setting our existential destruction in motion, torture emerges as the only sensible response. Being situated in this sensibility, the singular question that remains is how we are to respond, producing the context in which only torture is legible as ethical.
Because the imagined terrorist both holds the promise of our destruction and the capacity to save us, it ceases to be a body and instead becomes a container of utility, an object of fantasy that exists solely for the enactment of various strategies of violence. This is how we ideologically arrive at being preoccupied with the efficacy of torture techniques, instead of about the complex ethical dimensions of torture itself.
In rearticulating a body with agency and subjectivity as simply a container for utilitarian decision-making, we evade all of the necessary ethical questions demanded of us. The fact of being alive in a finite world, and sharing that world with other ineradicably different living beings, requires that we recognize others in all of their own distinct histories, complexities and embodiments. An ideology of efficacy abstracts the lives and bodies of others into simply being the variables of assorted calculations, and allows us to enact violences sprouted from these ideological fantasies onto these abstracted but still material bodies.
The “ticking time bomb” frame and Zero Dark Thirty also obfuscate the way in which torture is now a pervasive and common practice, and is by no means a “last resort” tactic used only in the most extreme of cases. As Ramzi Kassem’s writing on Zero Dark Thirty has made clear, the film’s excusatory framing of torture as an abhorrent, but ultimately necessary tactic that was required in the search for Bin Laden masks the way in which the practice of torture continues in many U.S.-run prisons around the world in the contemporary moment.
In the end, whether or not torture is an effective means of gathering intelligence doesn’t meaningfully enrich our critical capacities nor quell the ethical objections one could levy against the practice of torture. Even if information gleaned from torture had definitively led to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, this would not constitute an ethical justification for torture or assassination. While something that resembles “efficacy” must of course be a part of our ethical considerations, it must not come to foreclose other equally necessary approaches to our complex and nuanced political present.
In acknowledging the deeply ideological position that “utility” and “efficacy” have come to occupy in our ways of thinking and acting in the world, there is an opportunity to radically defamiliarize our ethical approaches and make the practice of torture the object of revitalized critique. Just because the practice of torture has become normative and largely inflected by the ideology of efficacy, this does not mean that we cannot act to uproot these assumptions and galvanize our cultural and political movements to rearticulate meaning and critique in relation to these practices.
The struggle against torture must undoubtedly start in challenging the framing of ethics as singularly being a question of efficacy or utility, and in asserting the constellations of ethical frames that are necessary in the imagining of and the fight for a more ethical world.
“It is not that what is past casts its light on what is present, or what is present its light on what is past; rather, image is that wherein what has been comes together in a flash with the now to form a constellation.” –Walter Benjamin
Ian Alan Paul is an artist and theorist living in the Bay Area of California. Ian’s current research focuses on queer-feminist critiques of human rights discourses. He received his MFA and MA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2011 and is in the process of completing his PhD in UC Santa Cruz’s Film and Digital Media Studies program. He can be found on twitter at @ianalanpaul and his work is online at www.ianalanpaul.com.Nobel economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is fond of mocking his critics for being ideologues rather than economists. In contrast, Krugman's own policy prescriptions, he assures us, are based wholly on sound economic science.
Case in point is the theory of liquidity traps, which goes back to Keynes. An economy is said to be in a liquidity trap when the central bank is powerless to stimulate economic growth because the public demand for liquidity has become limitless. This could happen when interest rates have been driven down to zero, a situation in which people may prefer holding cash to consuming or investing.
Krugman has argued that the rules of the policy game are different in a liquidity trap. In normal times, when short-term interest rates are positive, governments can and should rely on monetary policy – cutting rates - to stimulate economic activity if output is running below capacity. There is no need for extra government spending to substitute for deficient private demand – what we call fiscal stimulus. The private sector can do the job on its own with an appropriate level of interest rates. But if rates are at zero, and need to go lower, the central bank is out of ammunition. The government must step in with higher spending, even if it means running large budget deficits.
While in no way disproving the theory, recent years have shown, however, to Krugman's admitted surprise, that the so-called zero lower bound on rates is not, in fact, a lower bound. Central banks in Europe and Japan have experimented with negative rates and have found that they have thus far not driven banks to hoard cash in vaults (as a means to avoid paying the central bank to hold their balances). So the lower bound is actually somewhere below zero. And although we don't have much experience with negative rates, we have seen that going negative pushes down the exchange rate – which is stimulative. In that regard, at least, it clearly works.
Of course, the U.S. Federal Reserve, as well as central banks in Europe and Japan, have also used quantitative easing (QE) at the zero "bound" – buying up longer-term assets in the market to push down those rates. The evidence of its effectiveness is the 2.2% U.S. GDP growth rate in 2013, a year in which there was a massive fiscal crunch from spending cuts and tax increases. Krugman had called that year a "test" for the view that monetary policy was still effective at the zero "bound," a test he was sure it would fail. It passed with flying colors.
With the Fed having raised rates in December, the zero bound – for whatever it might have meant – is gone in the United States. This should mean Krugman, if he is truly following economic science as he claims to understand it, abandoning his calls for fiscal stimulus.
Yet he is not only still advocating a big increase in government spending, he is calling for government intervention to boost wages and union bargaining power. He further says that " mercantilism makes a fair bit of sense" in this environment. Yes, mercantilism – import barriers, export subsidies, and the like. Bring on the trade war.
Krugman justifies all this by arguing that we are still in a topsy-turvy liquidity-trap world because rates are "near zero." Yet whatever debate we might have about the effectiveness of negative rates and QE, there can be no debate over whether we are in a liquidity trap. We are not. When the Fed's policy rate is above zero, by any amount, it means that it has determined (rightly or wrongly) that – given the current stance of government fiscal and other policies – the appropriate rate for the economy is positive. Not zero or negative. Importantly, this also means that if the government does significantly increase spending, as Krugman wants, the Fed will react to the higher level of demand by raising rates more rapidly than it would otherwise have done. This will counteract the higher government spending; such effect is known as "monetary offset," a concept which Krugman considers uncontroversial. Thus calling for fiscal stimulus with positive interest rates is the logical equivalent of wanting to eat more because you are a little bit pregnant. It makes no sense: you cannot be a little bit pregnant, nor can you be in a liquidity trap when rates are positive.
All of this suggests that liquidity traps are no more than a theoretical fig leaf for policies – more government spending, government wage setting, import barriers - that Krugman supports for other reasons. And he shouldn't have any problem acknowledging that. The name of his blog, after all, doesn't even mention economics. It is called "The Conscience of a Liberal."
Benn Steil is director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order.Public opposition to a plan by an Australian mining company, Lynas, to build a rare earth refinery in Pahang, Malaysia, was on show at a protest outside Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on May 20.
Lynas plans to ship ore from its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia, through the port of Fremantle, to Malaysia. There it will be refined to extract rare earths, which are widely used in the manufacture of computers and electronics.
The refinery will produce about 230,000 tonnes of solid waste a year. The waste, containing radioactive thorium and a range of heavy metals and toxic substances, will be dumped in Malaysia.
Malaysian Socialist Party MP Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, told Green Left Weekly there was strong community opposition to the Lynas rare earth refinery plan.
“This whole Lynas deal has been done in a very non-transparent way,” he said. “They’ve already made a deal to bring this ore from Australia to refine here in Malaysia, then export the rare earths, then keep the waste here.
“It has been done without consulting people yet it is almost like a done deal. They have already built the factory and it is quite close to a highly populated residential area.
“The people of Malaysia have made their opposition to this sort of project very clear.
“About 20 years ago in Bukit Merah, there was a similar refinery set up to process [local] tin mine tailings and refine rare earths from it. The major issue is the thorium in the residue, which is going to remain radioactive for years.
“The local people went to court and finally stopped the whole exercise.”
Jeyakumar said it was “not on [for] Lynas to try and do this now in Pahang, without consulting people and without resolving the issue of how to keep radioactive waste safely.
“People are going to mobilise. You can see this is an issue that is getting people very agitated.”
Dr T Jayabalan, an environmental activist and an occupational health and safety consultant working at Malaysia's National Poison Centre, told GLW that 55,000 signatures were collected for a petition against the Lynas rare earth refinery, precisely because of the earlier experience with a similar project.
He said: “During the course of operations of the previous Mitsuibishi-run rare earths refinery in Bukit Merah (in the state of Perak), the local people suffered many health problems such as miscarriages, leukemia, cancer and lots of other illnesses.
“People mobilised [and] were able to take the case to court and ultimately prevailed after a 12-year struggle forcing the factory to close down. Mitsubishi was forced to clean up the whole area, which was contaminated.
“Now the same sort of plant is being set up in the state of Pahang, very close to a residential area, using basically the same operation extracting rare earths from ore exported from Australia.
“These rare earths are found in deposits with transuranics such as thorium, with a half-life of 14 billion years, [along with] uranium with a shorter life and radium.
“All these are found intimately bound with these rare earths. In extracting them, what they do is get the rare earths and then leave a residue of concentrated thorium, uranium, radium and a whole lot of other highly toxic material including lead and arsenic.
“The rare earths will be taken by Lynas to be sold and shipped off to other countries. This will be very profitable because 95% of rare earth refinery is done in China. No other country wants to experiment with this sort of process.
“Somehow Lynas was able to sell this idea to Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which wants foreign direct investment at any cost. So they facilitated the setting up of this factory."
Jayabalan said the Malaysian government had given Lynas a 12-year tax-free status.
“In other words", he said, “it doesn’t even have to pay royalties. And they will only create 200-300 jobs.
“Hasn’t the Malaysian government learned anything from what happened in Bukit Merah? We don’t need these few hundred jobs and we don’t need the waste.
Jayabalan also said “there are also a lot of other chemicals that are used in the refining process and it uses large volumes of water. Dangerous gases and hazardous chemicals will be released into the land, air and sea.
“At the end of the day, nobody will buy our palm oil, nobody will want to come as tourists here, the fishermen will not be able to sell their produce and a whole range of other things will be destroyed just to for a few crooked businessmen who cannot do the same thing in Australia because of tighter safety laws.
“There has been deception and there have been lies. At first this company said that the waste material was not radioactive. It is ‘zero radioactive’, they said.
"Then they changed their story to it is only radioactive to the workers and that it was just like background radiation.
“So we suggested that they send back the waste to Australia but they say no way can we take the waste back.”
Jeyakumar told GLW: “The Socialist Party of Malaysia thinks that this campaign feeds into the broader campaign against nuclear energy.
“The Malaysian government has a plan to open two nuclear reactors in the 2020s. They are allocating 20 billion ringgit to do that. So we think this campaign is a precursor to a broader campaign for safe alternatives to coal and gas.”Young Exoplanet Highlights Migration Theories
If our Solar System had a ‘hot Jupiter’ that migrated inward after Mars, Earth and Venus had formed, would any of the terrestrial planets have survived? It’s a question worth pondering given how many hot Jupiters we’ve turned up, raising the question of how these planets form in the first place. One possibility is formation in situ, close to the parent star. But there is also an argument for migration, with planets forming in cooler regions further out in the system and migrating inward as a result of interactions with the protoplanetary disk or other planets.
Perhaps the planet known as K2-33b can help us with some of this. It is no more than 11 million years old, in an orbit that creates a transit every 5.4 days. With follow-up observations by the MEarth arrays on Mount Hopkins (AZ) and at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, researchers led by Andrew Mann (University of Texas at Austin) have been able to determine that K2-33b is a Neptune-class world some five times the size of Earth, orbiting at a distance of about 8 million kilometers. The host is an M-class star several million years old.
“Young stars tend to be very blotchy, with starspots that can mimic a transiting planet. Our observations ruled out stellar activity and proved that the Kepler signal came from a bona fide planet,” says Elisabeth Newton of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), co-author of a study slated to appear in the Astronomical Journal. “We were also able to measure the planet’s size and orbit more accurately.”
High resolution imaging using the Keck II instrument and Doppler spectroscopy at McDonald Observatory in Texas also confirmed the planetary nature of the detection. Two teams went to work independently on this world, the second led by Trevor David (Caltech), using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to validate the planet. The hope of both is that K2-33b will help us understand planet formation, particularly since the parent star still retains portions of its disk material, a fact confirmed by the Spitzer instrument. Caltech’s David comments:
“Astronomers know that star formation has just completed in this region, called Upper Scorpius, and roughly a quarter of the stars still have bright protoplanetary disks. The remainder of stars in the region do not have such disks, so we reasoned that planet formation must be nearly complete for these stars, and that there would be a good chance of finding young exoplanets around them.”
Image: K2-33b, shown in this illustration, is one of the youngest exoplanets detected to date and makes a complete orbit around its star in about five days. These two characteristics combined provide new directions for planet-formation theories. K2-33b could have formed on a farther out orbit and quickly migrated inward. Alternatively, it could have formed in situ. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt.
Given K2-33b’s proximity to its star, migration would have occurred early indeed, or else the planet is an indication that giant planets actually form this close to their host. Mann’s team points to these possibilities and sketches a course of future research. From the paper, which is to appear in The Astronomical Journal:
The upper limit on K2-33b’s age provided by its ≃11 Myr stellar host suggests that it either migrated inwards via disk migration or formed in-situ, as planet-star and planet-planet interactions work on much longer timescales… This discovery makes it unlikely that such long-term dynamical interactions are responsible for all close-in planets. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the dominant migration or formation mechanism for close-in planets given the sample size and incomplete understanding of our transit-search pipeline’s completeness.
That’s a telling point, for selection effects may be at work here — K2-33b may have an atypical history that made its detection easier for a planet of this age. To learn more, we need to widen the search:
A full search of all young clusters and stellar associations surveyed by the K2 mission, with proper treatment of detection completeness is underway. This, along with improved statistics provided by the TESS and PLATO missions, will provide an estimate of the planet occurrence rate as a function of time. Trends (or a lack of trends) in this occurrence rate could set constraints on planetary migration timescales.
Publishing in Nature, Trevor David’s team takes note of K2-33b’s peculiarities, which could indeed point to the planet being an outlier:
Interestingly, large planets are rarely found close to mature low-mass stars; fewer than 1% of M-dwarfs host Neptune-sized planets with orbital periods of < 10 days, while ∼ 20% host Earth-sized planets in the same period range. This may be a hint that K2-33b is still contracting, losing atmosphere, or undergoing radial migration. Future observations may test these hypotheses, and potentially reveal where in the protoplanetary disk the planet formed.
What we do have indisputable evidence for is that a large planet can be found at a small orbital distance not long after the dissipation of the system’s nebular gas. Given the short timescales available here, the paper argues, tidal circularization of an eccentric planet or planet-planet or planet-star interactions cannot explain K2-33b’s current orbit. Formation in place or migration from within the gas disk remain as possibilities. We have a lot of work ahead to figure out just how unusual this planet is, and whether or not it is still in the process of adjusting its orbit.
The papers are Mann et al., “Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) III: A short-period planet orbiting a pre-main-sequence star in the Upper Scorpius OB Association,” accepted at The Astronomical Journal (preprint); and David et al., “A Neptune-sized transiting planet closely orbiting a 5–10-million-year-old star,” Nature, published online 20 June 2016 (abstract).Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Jeff Mcintyre.
Learning basic cooking skills was not a priority for me while growing up. The transition from a fully fed teenager to a totally independent and clueless in the kitchen college freshman was painful. I quickly lost my appetite for fast food and frozen dinners. Luckily, something about outdoor cooking had always intrigued me. I began reading about grilling techniques and quickly got hooked. Grilling introduced me to the art of preparing great meals. Today I consider cooking one of my greatest passions.
There is good reason why pork ribs are such a dominant fixture on the competition grilling circuit. Cooking delicious ribs shows a great command of the barbecuing process. This may sound intimidating, but the best thing about cooking ribs is that it comprises a series of simple steps you can master and reap the delicious benefits.
How to Purchase Pork Ribs
Pork Ribs are widely available at your local supermarket, meat market, or wholesale grocer like Costco. If you are a Costco member, I highly recommend purchasing ribs there. They offer high-quality meats at an affordable price.
Although there are seemingly endless types of pork ribs with a variety of labels, in reality there are only three types to consider.
Baby Back Ribs
These ribs are commonly referred to as loin ribs, back ribs, or Canadian back ribs. Taken from the top of the rib cage between the spine and the spareribs, baby back ribs are shorter and meatier than spareribs and take less time to cook.
Spareribs
Referred to as spareribs or side ribs, these ribs are taken from the belly side of the rib cage, below the baby back ribs area and above the sternum. Spareribs yield less meat than baby back ribs and contain more fat.
St. Louis Style Ribs
These are spareribs with the sternum bone, cartilage, and rib tips removed. After being cut, St. Louis style ribs have a rectangular shape.
How to Prepare the Ribs
Rinse and Cut
It may seem obvious, but this needs to be pointed out. The first step is to rinse the ribs under running cold water; making sure to get rid of any loose meat, fat, or bone particles. After rinsing, blot the slab dry with paper towels.
Cut off any dangling pieces of meat or fat. If these pieces are kept on the slab, they will burn and leave burn marks on your ribs.
On the bone side of the slab, you will notice a tough membrane covering the bones. Remove this membrane by getting between it and the meat at the wider end of the slab and ripping it off all the way to the narrow end.
Marinate
Although the effectiveness of marinating pork ribs is debatable, I like to marinate them for a few hours before cooking as follows:
Place the ribs in a large, non-reactive roasting pan or a large bowl
Pour 3 to 4 cups of apple cider vinegar over them; enough to cover the ribs completely
Cut and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon directly into the bowl
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours
Apply a Dry Rub
Applying a dry rub to your ribs is essential. The combination of salt, sugar, herbs, and spices will enhance the meat’s flavor, add some heat, and help promote a tasty surface crust. Use the following rub, make your own, or go with your favorite store-bought variation.
This recipe makes about 1 cup. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands. Store the remaining rub in an airtight jar away from heat or light; it will keep for at least 6 months.
Ingredients
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika (hot paprika for an extra kick)
3 tablespoons black pepper
4 tablespoons salt (preferably coarse salt)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons celery seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Remove marinated ribs from the fridge and blot dry with paper towels. Apply a thin layer of vegetable oil to the ribs. The flavors in most dry rubs are oil soluble so this step will help the rub penetrate the surface of the meat. Apply a generous amount of the rub to both sides. Finally, wrap the ribs in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Let’s Grill!
In this article, I describe the process of grilling spareribs with smoke on a gas grill. The meaningful differences when using a charcoal grill are in the way you set up your grill and how you apply the woodchips for the smoking process.
The only difference when grilling the different kinds of ribs is the cooking time; baby back ribs tend to cook a bit quicker due to their lesser fat content.
Grilling on indirect heat.
Ribs grill best with wood smoke and by cooking them slowly at low heat. We achieve this consistent low heat by grilling our meat indirectly. This simply means we turn up the heat on one side of the grill and we lay our meat down on the opposite side.
Indirect grilling on a gas grill.
Setting up your gas grill is pretty simple. If you have two burners, turn one of them on and leave the other one off. If you have three burners, turn off the two burners on the edges, or if you are having issues maintaining your goal temperature of 225 degrees, turn one of the edge burners on and leave the other two off.
Smoking with woodchips on a gas grill.
Smoke flavor makes your ribs even tastier! Simply follow the steps below and you will marvel at how rewarding it is to grill with smoke.
Purchase woodchips at home improvement stores or where you can buy a grill. My preferred woods to smoke with are hickory and mesquite. Both woods yield strong flavors quickly. Placing wood chips directly on the flame will cause them to catch fire and burn out quickly; producing a messy pile of ashes and very little smoke. House the woodchips in something that won’t burn; and will not produce toxic chemicals when under high heat. You have two options:
Purchase a woodchip smoker box — a onetime purchase that will set you back less than $20. These boxes are sturdy, durable, and work very well. Use foil. Use the simple technique shown in this video to house your woodchips.
I have used both methods and find making your own “smoking pouch” with foil works just fine. I suggest starting with making your own smoker pouches and stick with this method if it suits your needs.
Most grilling experts recommend soaking woodchips (typically in water, but you can also use wine, beer, whiskey, and even fruit juice) for at least an hour prior to usage. Then drain and place them in your smoking pouch or smoker box.
Time to Turn Up the Heat!
Now that everything is ready, it is time to turn the burners on and play with fire! Place your smoker box or foil smoking pouch directly on top of one of the burners you will be using (refer to the indirect grilling instructions above). Turn the burner you placed your smoke box or smoking pouch on to maximum heat. Wait until you see some smoke coming out of the grill (waiting is key as opening the lid to check will only delay the process by letting the heat escape). Once you see smoke emitting from the grill, turn the burner to medium-low and place the slab of ribs on the grate over the burner not in use. Remember we are cooking slowly on indirect heat. Maintain a temperature of 225 to 235 degrees throughout the cooking duration. Eventually the woodchips will burn out; however, continue cooking the ribs without smoke until they are done. Your ribs will have picked up lots of flavor from the 45 minutes or so of smoke.
You will need a spray bottle. Spray bottles are available for purchase in the gardening section of most grocery stores. Fill the spray bottle with a small amount of apple cider vinegar. Every 30 minutes or so, lift the lid of the grill and spray a bit of the apple cider vinegar directly on the ribs to coat them and prevent them from drying out. The ribs should be fully cooked within 4 to 5 hours. About 20 minutes before the ribs are done, spread a coat of your homemade or favorite store-bought BBQ sauce onto the ribs. Even better, try my favorite homemade BBQ sauce recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups of ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 tablespoon of your favorite barbecue rub (optional)
2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
2 chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (optional)
Combine all ingredients (except the garlic cloves) in a nonreactive saucepan and slowly bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low/medium and add the garlic cloves. Let sauce simmer at least 15 minutes then remove the garlic cloves. Transfer the sauce to clean jars and store in the refrigerator. The sauce will keep for a couple of months.
Check for Doneness
The biggest obstacle with checking ribs for doneness is that you cannot use a meat thermometer. The thermometer will not read accurately because you cannot probe the meat deep enough without hitting the bone. Bones emit heat and will give an inaccurate reading. Despite this limitation, there are a number of ways to check your ribs for doneness:
Stick a toothpick between two bones. If it goes in and out of the meat without resistance, they are done.
Cut the bone on the end off and taste it for doneness.
Cut into the meat with a knife and check to make sure there is no pink juice near the middle of the meat.
Try these ribs and tell me how good they are! Once you have given these ribs a try, I would |
for this reason, I feel that the accompanying flaws of “Existentialism is a Humanism” are a source of some (though by no means a significant amount) of the antagonism of academic philosophy toward Sartre.
Further, I would concede some of the weaknesses others have raised about Sartre. For instance, the following sentence from “Existentialism is a Humanism” shows (like the video linked above) how his utilization of the work of earlier philosophers often leaves something to be desired: “Contrary to the philosophy of Descartes, contrary to that of Kant, when we say ‘I think’ we are attaining to ourselves in the presence of the other, and we are just as certain of the other as we are of ourselves.”
If this is true, it is only trivially true as a consequence of the act of saying, which would be implicitly absent from the formulation of this topic by Descartes or Kant. I would even agree to some extent with Sartre’s ideas here about grasping identity through intersubjectivity, but Sartre’s misapplication of key philosophical forebears, at best, makes his point less clear to his audience and, at worst, serves to discredit him.
Existentialism, to me, is a position which clarifies certain (initially uncomfortable) truths about absurdity, identity, and the nature of freedom (even if I think that freedom, however apparently radical, may be presently confined to phenomenological concerns). So, when someone tells me that existentialism does not give us the tools to build a functioning society, I am inclined to agree.
I think other areas of philosophy and science are needed to establish and uphold society. These areas may engage with or be informed by existentialism, but they are not identical to existentialism. I certainly do not see that as a problem for the value of existentialist thought, but it does make efforts to force such breadth on the field somewhat dubious.
Freedom as a Moral Goal:
The particular formulation of humanism presented by Sartre in this essay is what I want to talk about, because it is dubious in the aforementioned way. More precisely, the abstract idea of freedom on which Sartre attempts to base his moral system in “Existentialism is a Humanism” is insufficient for a number of reasons, listed hereafter.
First, Sartre fails to produce any actual moral conundrum which seeking to maximize freedom could solve. His examples are always choices between one’s own happiness and that of one or more others, generally at the original one’s expense. Yet there is nothing there upon which to establish a code of conduct for a society.
If, for instance, the question were to arise in the court of Sartrian existentialism, of whether a man is right to steal food or other goods in the quest of increasing his own freedom, is the judge to declare the accused to have been sincere in his invention of self, and therefore innocent? If a person should behave only in such a way as to represent humanity, then they can behave in any way whatsoever, provided there is no governing principle beyond the vague increase of freedom. It seems as though Sartre wants to have his Kantian cake, as it were, and also eat it.
Second, the notion of maximizing freedom is so vague and abstract in Sartre’s piece that there is no way of gauging whose freedom is paramount. Clearly, acting in a way that increases one’s freedom or the freedom of others is beneficial, but what about cases where one’s freedom comes at the cost of the freedom of others?
If, for instance, one is being taken to jail, and could increase one’s own freedom by rapidly limiting the physical freedom of their guards, is one right to do so? Is the freedom of one person as valuable as the freedom of another? Is the freedom of two people more valuable than the freedom of one person? These are questions which Sartre’s idea of the pursuit of freedom fails to adequately address, yet which would have an answer in a functioning moral system.
Last, freedom for freedom’s sake makes no logical sense as a goal. Freedom is how something is accomplished. One is able to act because one is free. If one uses that freedom to maximize one’s freedom, one will be left with a further question: now that I consider my freedom to be maximized, how am I to act? Am I to act? Sartre’s emphasis on obtaining and not repressing or oppressing freedom ignores these questions of what to do with the freedom one obtains, which feeds itself back into the first two concerns.
The final irony of the situation is that it is Sartre himself who lends, in the figure of Roquentin from his novel Nausea, the image of absolute freedom as ultimately unattainable. One may imagine a society which adopts Sartre’s existentialist morality, and then imagine that society in the distant future, as it grows arbitrarily close to having achieved some sort of absolute freedom: the inhabitants would be indolent creatures afraid to move a single muscle, like Roquentin in his room, for fear that the action would limit their freedom while acutely aware that not moving may do the same. Indeed, one can hardly imagine a society of more anxious individuals than one wherein the accumulation and maintenance of freedom is the singular and primary concern.
Conclusion:
So, existentialism’s concern with freedom itself is not sufficient to constitute a humanism as desired by Sartre. Still, all I am trying to show is that Sartre takes the system farther than it ever needed to go. Existentialism raises serious concerns which thinking people have to navigate, but it does not in itself solve the issues of morality. I still find much value in the first half of “Existentialism is a Humanism,” and I still completely agree with the sentiments in Sartre’s concluding paragraph.
I would make the following analogy. Suppose I were to formulate or formalize a system of thought concerning how to write prose well, and call it the ‘Gemsbokian approach.’ If someone were to say to me, “Your Gemsbokian approach does not tell me how to make sure I spend my spare time writing prose,” I would certainly not feel obligated to offer a response under the title, “The Gemsbokian Approach is a Productivity Maximizer.” I would be content to say, “That’s true, but has nothing to do with my ideas.” If the system’s clarifications and utilities are myriad, it does not need to fulfill every relevant purpose to the task of writing in order to be valuable.
And yet, Sartre insists in this essay that existentialism contends the pursuit of freedom is a sufficient condition of moral action. This may simply be a result of the tenacity with which he intends to meet the declarations of his dissenters. At any rate, I agree far more with Sartre when, in much of his other writing—including much of “Existentialism is a Humanism”—his claims are more geared toward a phenomenological approach to coping with or understanding existence, contingency, guilt, death, and, yes, freedom. And I find him most agreeable when I’m reading his literary works.
Works Cited:
Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism Is a Humanism.” Trans. Philip Mairet. Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman. Meridian, 1989. Web.On-track, Formula 1 can be an awful lot of fun - all the more so when team-mates toss each other into the gravel trap while imperious children steal the day - but in truth some of the very best action takes place well away from the tarmac. It's no wonder that Daniil Kvyat was halfway through an episode of Game of Thrones when he received the phone call telling him he was to be ousted at Red Bull in order to make way for the phenomenon that is Max Verstappen - the politicking of Westeros must feel like a home away from home given the daily cut-throat deals that take place in the F1 paddock.
How, though, to get all that wonderful flavour across in a video game? Codemasters' F1 games once half-heartedly tried it, though starting down a slowly filling email inbox was never going to quite relay the drama of the real thing. It's only now with Motorsport Manager, an all-new venture for Guildford's Playsport built upon the foundations of a successful mobile game with the help of Sega, that the more devious side of F1 is done some sort of justice.
You'll manage sponsors and their own respective objectives on top of everything else.
If you've played the mobile game, you'll be familiar with the fundamentals - you're running a team, taking care of recruiting drivers and engineers and delving into a tech tree that underpins the development of your car. It's all been retooled thoughtfully for its debut on PC, Mac and Linux, though - this isn't the mobile game with a few bits of extra bodywork thrown on, and instead is a totally new beast, built from the ground up. As you'd expect from a team that's able to lean on the expertise of Football Manager dev and Sega stablemate Sports Interactive, it's a slick and neatly optimised brand of management that's on offer here.
So you'll carry out familiar tasks in a much prettier arena, the races themselves presented in glorious tilt-shift style, the action playing out as if it's on a well-furnished toy track. Strategies must be picked, tire compounds and pit stops considered as you work your way up through various fictional teams across seasons that visit various fictional but recognisable tracks (though the Grand Prix that takes place in Guildford is a thing of pure and wonderful fantasy).
That's the race day side of Motorsport Manager, and at present it looks smart, fun and pleasantly stylish (plus seeing the Sega logo printed on the sidewall of a chunky F1 tire is enough to send the heart of any child of the 90s aflutter). True to the sport itself, though, it's what happens outside of a Sunday afternoon that really interests me.
It's possible to spend a practice session nailing your pit-stops. You might not get to know the track so well, but your mechanics will be like lightning come race day.
There are all kinds of delicious politics at play in Motorsports Manager, be that poaching a star driver and their engineer for your team or - and this is the truly special stuff - lobbying the powers that be to bend the rules in your favour. Find a race on the calendar that's not playing to your strengths? Vote to have it ditched from the next season, and perhaps look forward to having a little more say if your team's based on a certain Maranello outfit. Chanced upon an engine development that's putting your opposition in the shade? Then watch out - next year's rules, as decided by your contemporaries, may well find you starting the season with your hands tied.
What fun Motorsport Manager promises to be, and when it launches this September as the F1 season hots up - providing Lewis Hamilton stops walking under ladders and breaking mirrors and whatever else he's been up to that's contributed to his terrible run of luck - it's set to be a fine foundation that might finally eclipse Microprose' excellent Grand Prix Manager, a game that still thrives today thanks to generous mods. Motorsport Manager's Steam Workshop will hopefully see it blossom once it's in the hands of the community, adding more recognisable names and maybe even moving beyond the world of open wheel single seaters. A full season of WEC complete with multi-class racing and endurance tests? Now that's something I'd dearly love to play.By late last week, the country’s leaders had succeeded in quelling the massive demonstrations that challenged their legitimacy. But the widespread feeling of discontent — even among those who had no part in the protests — was likely to pose a lingering challenge to leaders’ attempts to move quickly past the vote and return life to normal.
There were further signs on Saturday that the opposition was running out of options in its attempts to nullify the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which has been confirmed by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Expediency Council, headed by former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, issued a statement that called the supreme leader’s decision the final word on the election, although it did say the government should investigate voting complaints “properly and thoroughly.”
Mr. Rafsanjani has been one of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s strongest critics and one of the most ardent supporters of Mir Hussein Moussavi, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s chief rival in the election. But after the vote, the former president had been quiet, and many Iranians had hoped he would broker some compromise behind the scenes.
And although an opposition Web site carried a new message from Mr. Moussavi, the first in several days, he did not present any new plans for resistance. He instead reiterated demands for a new election, which the government has rejected.
At the same time, those in the opposition were increasingly fearful for the hundreds of government critics who have been jailed.
Amid rumors that the government was beginning to force confessions — a tactic leaders have used in the past to tarnish dissidents’ reputations — the IRNA news agency reported that a jailed journalist had said reformist politicians were to blame for the recent protests.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
The journalist, Amir-Hossein Mahdavi, was the editor of a reformist newspaper close to Mr. Moussavi that was shut down before the election.
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Mr. Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, responded Saturday to statements by President Obama, who made his most critical remarks of the Iranian leadership on Friday, when he called the government’s crackdown “outrageous” and said the prospects for a dialogue with Iran had been dampened.
Mr. Ahmadinejad suggested that Washington’s stance could imperil Mr. Obama’s aim of improving relations, according to the ISNA news agency.
“Didn’t he say that he was after change?” Mr. Ahmadinejad asked. “Why did he interfere?”
On Saturday, security forces were still on the streets, but uniformed guards had replaced the most feared forces, the Basij paramilitary members, who were involved in many of the beatings and shootings of demonstrators, and the hard-line Revolutionary Guards in their camouflage outfits.
The shops on Baharestan Square, which was the scene of the latest clashes on Wednesday, and on Haft-e Tir Square, where the paramilitary forces attacked people a day earlier, were open Saturday. But shopkeepers said business was limping.
“We used to sell nearly $2,000 a day,” said a woman at an Islamic coat shop on Haft-e Tir Square. “But since the election, our sales have dropped to $900 a day.” She gave only her first name, Mahtab, citing fear of retribution.
Like many others who spoke, Mahtab said she was depressed by what she had seen since the election. She said that she was not a political person and had not even voted June 12, but that the repression on the streets was “beyond belief.”
“I am disgusted, and wish I could leave this country,” she said.
She said she had seen a paramilitary officer outside the shop hit a middle-aged woman in the head so hard that blood streamed down the woman’s forehead.
When Mahtab and her colleagues tried to leave the shop to go home, she said, the forces began clubbing them while shouting the names of Shiite saints. “They do this under the name of religion,” she said. “Which religion allows this?”
Daily life has also been affected.
Although people are still going to work, some parents have been reluctant to take their children to day care, fearing that unrest on the streets would prevent them from picking up their children. University exams have been postponed and many families have traded parties for small get-togethers, where the election is a constant topic of conversation.
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“People are depressed, and they feel they have been lied to, robbed of their rights and now are being insulted,” said Nassim, a 56-year-old hairdresser. “It is not just a lie; it’s a huge one. And it doesn’t end.”Promotion of Islam trumps all other items on the Leftist agenda. This aggressive censorship won’t be limited to Facebook, and bodes ill for the future.
“Facebook Bans Gay Magazine Critical Of Islam,” by Chris Tomlinson, Breitbart, June 17, 2016:
Facebook has banned the page of gay magazine Gaystream after they published an article critical of Islam in the wake of the Orlando massacre.
The social media platform has again been censoring pages that criticise Islam. Facebook banned the page of gay magazine Gaystream after the publication wrote an article attacking people for defending the attitudes of the religion towards homosexuals.
Journalist and editor-in-chief of Gaystream, David Berger, claimed that the site had blocked the magazine’s page because of an article that sharply criticised Green party activists who “played down the causes of the attack,” Junge Freiheit writes.
Mr. Berger claims that not only was the Facebook page deactivated, but his personal account was also shut down for 30 days after he posted an article he had written called: “Cologne professional Homos scale new stage of Islam-masochism.” In the article, he heavily criticised the Cologne Gay Museum director Dr. Brigit Bosold who told German media she was more afraid of straight white men than Islamic radicals and migrants.
“Whoever had thought the culmination of masochism and Islam-appeasement by left-green professional homosexuals was already achieved, will now be mistaken: it becomes even more masochistic and perverse,” Mr. Berger wrote.
The article which prompted the banning of Gaystream is unknown, as Facebook did not give the magazine any specific examples of how they had broken the terms of service of the website.
Multiple articles have come out on Gaystream following the massacre in an Orlando night club that killed 49 people this past weekend. One of the articles pointed out the fact that before the shooting a radical Imam had spoken out about homosexuality in the city and advocated the death penalty for LGBT individuals.
British-born Imam Farrokh Sekaleshfar gave a talk in March in which he stated that death is the sentence for homosexuality and that “we have to have that compassion for people. With homosexuals, it’s the same. Out of compassion, let’s get rid of them now.”
Gaystream and David Berger single out German Justice Minister Heiko Maas as being behind the censorship of their site on Facebook. Mr. Maas teamed up with the Amadeus Antonio Foundation who are led by ex-stasi operative Anetta Kahane. The organisation is tasked with stamping out “xenophobic” comments online across social media platforms and works in tandem with those platforms to shut down pages and user accounts….I recently posted a brief video to Instagram (see here) that showed me hitting a speed bag that was mounted inside of a power rack. In the time since, I’ve received several questions about the platform and how it was constructed. With that in mind, I will use this brief entry to summarize both how and why I opted to build such a platform. It is a very simple solution for those who have limited space in their gym.
Speed Bag Platform
In the video below, you can see the platform in action. You can see how it rests on the safety bars of the rack. It takes a matter of seconds to put the platform up. It’s also easily stored against the wall when not in use.
Origins and Instructions
Several years ago, I created the platform as a strength training tool. It was used solely for loading heavy odd objects such as sandbags.
Years later, I wanted to mount a speed bag in the gym but didn’t have any space on the wall for installation. That’s when I came up with the idea of adding a speed bag to the platform that I had already created for loading.
The platform was built from 2×4 inch wood. There are six pieces that were cut to the length of the rack. There are also short strips that run perpendicular on the bottom of the platform to keep it in place. One strip on each end rests just outside the safety bars of the rack (see below).
The speed bag swivel is mounted to a piece of 3/4 inch plywood. It measures two feet long and two feet wide. In the topmost picture of this entry, you can see how the plywood has been screwed into four strips of 2×4 inch wood.
The top of the platform consists of carpet. I stapled it on top many years ago. It was put in place to prevent wooden splinters from potentially tearing my sandbags. A carpeted top isn’t necessary if you are building a platform solely for the speed bag. I still find it useful however as I load a few 45 pound plates on top of the platform when I’m hitting the bag. The extra weight creates a more stable platform which results in a faster rebound. The carpet helps to prevent the plates from sliding as the platform shakes.
Additional Benefit
Another benefit of this platform is that it can be mounted to any height. All that you need to do is move the bars up or down on the rack. Some might not see this as a plus but it’s great if you have younger athletes. My own son began hitting the speed bag when he was only a few years old.
With a traditional platform, he wouldn’t have been tall enough to hit the bag. With my homemade rack, I can set it a few feet high and he can practice on his own.
Final Thoughts
If you are like me and enjoy hitting the speed bag, a homemade platform might be ideal if you already own a power rack. The lumber cost will be minimal. All that you need to do is cut a few pieces of wood and sink a few screws. The end product is just as good as the more expensive commercial models that we use at the boxing gym. It’s always nice to have something that’s just as good for a fraction of the cost.
If you have any additional questions about the platform’s construction, feel free to comment below.
Comments
commentsTwo UFO sightings have been reported to the local San Antonio NBC affiliate this week. One witness captured video of bright orbs floating in the sky, while another witness captured images of bright lights that appear to streak across the sky. Authorities say the lights are most likely Chinese Lanterns.
In WOAI News 4’s video report, two of the witnesses are convinced that what they witnessed was extraterrestrial. One witness said, “It was scary, but it was awesome too at the same time. Because you’re like seeing something; not knowing if you’re going to get zapped.”
She continued, “There is some kind of life out there and for some reason they are coming by.”
Another witness also expressed concern. She sad, “I think this is a scary situation when you got things flying in the sky you can’t explain.”
The first sighting was on Sunday. The witness says she saw the lights in the sky and informed her neighbor. She took pictures while he caught the lights on video. The lights were seen by another San Antonio resident the next night. This witness took pictures of the lights with her phone.
A representative from Join Base San Antonio, where the Air Force serves as the lead agency, said that the lights were not any of their aircraft. They suggested that the lights were Chinese Lanterns, which would account for the bright orbs. The streaking could be due to movement of the witness’s phone while she took the pictures.
You can watch WOAI’s report here.
Popular Posts:When music-subscription service Rhapsody spun out of former joint-venture parents RealNetworks and MTV Networks early last year, vice president of finance Michael McGinn faced a major challenge: building a finance team from scratch to support a business that was well under way. “Things needed to work right, and right away, because we already had hundreds of thousands of retail customers, and 100 employees who were used to getting a regular paycheck,” McGinn recalls.
To make the effort go more smoothly, McGinn made a leap that sounds almost too good to be true for finance executives at smaller companies: he outsourced most of his finance and accounting (F&A) work.
McGinn was initially skeptical of outsourcing, assuming that it was “most viable for huge multinational firms with high transaction volumes.” But making it work at Rhapsody “has been easier than expected,” he says. While he hired a controller and an accounts payable clerk into the company’s Seattle headquarters, all of Rhapsody’s transaction processing — including payroll, receivables, payables, and account reconciliations — is now done in India, courtesy of outsourcing firm Global Upside. What’s more, McGinn was able to get additional resources for the first six months, then scale back as things settled down, with no penalties.
All in, McGinn estimates that he gets about five full-time employees in India for the price of two U.S.-based employees, plus the option of scaling up or down as necessary.
Striking an outsourcing arrangement to cover fewer than 10 employees used to be nearly impossible. For one thing, “it’s not very profitable for [outsourcers] to serve smaller firms,” says Phil Fersht, CEO and head of research at HfS Research, a firm that advises companies on outsourcing strategies. For another, the energy required stateside to manage the relationship with an outsourcer might overwhelm any savings. “The rule of outsourcing is that if you’re not saving 30% or more, it’s not worth doing,” Fersht says.
Now, however, thanks to the maturity of the industry and more-easily deployed technology, it’s becoming increasingly viable for firms with smaller staffs to send all or part of their F&A work offshore, at rates much lower than they would pay domestically.
Declining Cost
In general, the price of F&A outsourcing has decreased between 6% and 8% a year for the past two years, according to a recent study by Alsbridge, an outsourcing advisory firm. Market competition is the major driver of the decline, with outsourcing providers taking smaller profit margins in order to win business (and becoming more efficient themselves in the process). “It used to be that there were only a few companies in this space — Cap Gemini, Accenture, Genpact — but now there are 15 to 20 real players,” says Dennis Winkler, director at Alsbridge and co-author of the study.
The movement toward the middle market is already happening, though much of that market is untapped, according to a recent report by HfS Research. The average value of an outsourcing contract fell from $30 million in 2004 to $18 million in 2010, a decrease the report attributes not only to “increased competitiveness and falling price points, but also [to] the increased number of engagements being signed with organizations in the $750 million to $3 billion revenue category.”
All told, that portends good opportunities for even smaller firms, especially since on a per-employee basis “the price point doesn’t change tremendously between a very small contract with only 10 people and a very large one with 1,000 people,” says Alsbridge CEO Ben Trowbridge. He estimates that the average cost per offshore finance employee is between $18,000 and $28,000 per year, compared with $70,000 (including benefits) for U.S. finance workers.
Established F&A outsourcing providers aren’t necessarily racing to see how small they can go, but at least one, Xerox ACS, is in the process of rolling out more offerings to companies with under $1 billion in revenues. “We’re certainly seeing activity pick up in the small and medium market,” says Richard Dobbs, managing director of finance and accounting services at ACS.
The key to making F&A outsourcing work for lower volumes of work, says Dobbs, is for ACS “to create as standard an offering as possible, and host it in the cloud where [smaller companies] can plug into it.” Unlike with large companies, where ACS works within existing systems and processes, “this is the opposite,” says Dobbs. “We’re saying, ‘Here’s our process, and you need to adapt to it.’ That allows us to scale.”
Other outsourcing firms use different business strategies but arrive at the same place. Ragu Bhargava, co-founder of outsourcing firm Global Upside and a former CFO, says his firm works with clients’ existing technology, accessing it remotely, and that it’s the mix of large and small that makes his margins work. He began taking on clients in start-up mode when he realized they typically have less urgency around their transactions, allowing his firm to layer in once-a-week requests with the overnight requests from other clients. “Because we have a fair number of larger clients, we’re able to use smaller clients’ work as fillers between jobs,” he says.
Currently, Global Upside’s largest client is a company with about $1.5 billion in revenues; its smallest is a start-up with six employees that uses less than 20% of a full-time finance employee’s hours. That’s fine with Bhargava, but he’s hopeful that at some point that will translate into even more business. “We take these clients on with the expectation that we will grow with them,” he says.
Obstacles
Despite the advantages of offshore outsourcing, most companies still prefer the domestic version. A CFO magazine survey of more than 150 finance executives last fall showed that only about a third outsource any finance work, and the vast majority of those — 83% — keep it firmly onshore.
Why aren’t more companies considering offshore outsourcing? Experts say some of the obstacles are the same as those for outsourcing in general — such as political sensitivities, loyalties to current employees, and concerns about data security.
For Rhapsody’s McGinn, who had a clean slate when it came to employees, the distance and time difference between Seattle and India were among his top concerns, but he says both have turned out to work for him rather than against him. “The reality is that [the distance] is a good thing, because it requires us to be more well-defined about our communication process,” he says. “And there’s almost an exact 12-hour time difference, so I’ll have three or four e-mails in my inbox in the morning, asking for approvals. They work while we sleep.”
As for data security, McGinn says “the contract is pretty clear that [Global Upside employees must] treat our data as if it were theirs.” Also, Rhapsody maintains control over all data, which resides in Seattle, along with hard copies of items like invoices.
Rhapsody has now grown enough that it is looking to hire additional staff in the United States. But that’s not a problem, says McGinn, since “our agreement with Global Upside allows us to scale up or down. And if we want to bring the work back in-house, we have the flexibility to do so with no penalty” — and with support through the transition from the outsourcer, McGinn says.In the olden days, at the turn of the century, it was hard to come by vaguely-racist bigotry in our day-to-day lives. Back then you had to go and visit your grandparents a few times a year, and sit there quietly while they talked about the coloured folk in the corner shop and how you couldn’t walk to Sainsbury’s to buy your Daily Mail without being robbed by a gang of Asians. Then somebody built Twitter, and then Richard Dawkins joined.
@RichardDawkins is the increasingly erratic comedy creation of a bored Oxford Professor called Richard Dawkins. One of the best science writers of the last few decades, Dawkins has succeeding in crafting an online character that ironically parodies the more militant tendencies in capital-A Atheism, serving as a useful reminder for all of us to be more nuanced and tolerant.
Or at least that’s the kind interpretation. The alternative is that one of Britain’s leading intellectuals really has degenerated to the point where he believes that the following is an intelligent argument:
All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though. — Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 8, 2013
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people have found this offensive. It contains no meaningful criticism of religion, nor can it reasonably imply any – there are many reasons why the residents of North Africa or the Middle East win less Nobel prizes than Cambridge scholars, just as there are many reasons why more men than women win Nobel prizes. And ‘designated religion’ is a long way down that list. Besides, on what planet are Nobel Prizes the best metric for achievement or progress?
No, this is simply a statement about Muslims - all Muslims – and a spectacularly bigoted one at that. “Dark age achievements undoubted,” Richard kindly acknowledges, “But since then?” Well, since then I’d imagine a lot of Muslims have achieved a great many things, and many of them without the benefits of a Cambridge education.
What’s frustrating is the practiced naivety with which Dawkins and his supporters defend bigotry like this. “It’s a simple statement of fact,” people protest, but of course there’s no such thing. All statements are made in a context: if I were to create a Tumblr linking to stories about black people who did dumb things, each story might simply be a ‘statement of fact’, but that wouldn’t detract from the inherent racism of such an exercise.
“Islam isn’t a race,” is the “I’m not racist, but...” of the Atheist movement, a tedious excuse for lazy thinking that is true enough to be banal while simultaneously wrong in any meaningful, real-world sense. Yes, congratulations, you can read a dictionary. Well done. But it’s possible for a statement to be both true and wrong. “Homeopathy worked for me” is one example (as is its inverse): it may genuinely make people feel better, emotionally or through the placebo effect; but it doesn’t work in any medical sense.
Take immigrants, even though many people would rather we didn’t. A lot of people like to say that you can’t talk about immigration without being accused of racism. To follow the binary logic of Dawkins’ defenders, this is clearly nonsense. ‘Immigrant’ is not a race, so how on Earth can you be racist about an immigrant? Except that of course when people talk about ‘immigrants’, often they have a very particular type of immigrant in mind, and the segregation of immigrants into ‘desirable’ and ‘undesirable’ tends to occur along lines of class and race - Canadians are far more welcome in Britain than Nigerians. ‘Immigrant’ is not a race, but discourse about immigration can still sometimes be racist.
The same holds true for ‘Muslim’, a term thoroughly linked in the public imagination to a particular set of ethnicities. Plug the term into Google Images, and what do you see? Hmm, yes, thought so. Sam Harris fell face-first into this trap with his infamous suggestion that, "we should profile Muslims, or anyone who looks like he or she could conceivably be Muslim,” an idea clearly inspired by watching Team America: World Police after one too many fizzy drinks. Yes, Islam is not a race, but only the profoundly ignorant would suggest that discourse about ‘the evil Muslims’ doesn’t veer into racism on a depressingly regular basis.
When Dawkins talks about ‘Muslim’ Nobel prizes over the years, he is not simply criticising a religion; he is attacking a group of people in a fairly well defined geographical area, associated with a particular set of ethnicities. He contributes to racially-charged discourse through his choice of dubious facts, the exaggerated and inflammatory language he uses to describe them, and the context within which he presents them. In short, he is beginning to sound disturbingly like a member of the far right – many of his tweets wouldn’t look out of place on Stormfront. Whatever the motives behind it, one wonders how much further he can continue down this path before the tide of opinion turns firmly against him.
Dawkins remains a powerful force in atheism for the time being. Increasingly though, his public output resembles that of a man desperately grasping for attention and relevance in a maturing community. A community more interested in the positive expression of humanism and secularism than in watching a rich and privileged man punching down at people denied his opportunities in life. That, ultimately, is the tragedy of Richard Dawkins - a man who knows the definition of everything and the meaning of nothing.Photo credit: The Goldwater
||| The Goldwater |||
WikiLeaks has unveiled the global hacking program that claimed the CIA hacked iPhones and Microsoft Windows, the whistle-blowing organization also claimed that CIA worked with MI5 to turn Samsung TVs into microphones.
Julian Assange said that WikiLeaks will unveil confidential documents from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as part of its mysterious Year Zero series. WikiLeaks has issued the release and it claims that the CIA has been carrying out a global covert hacking program that exploits the US and European companies, adding that the CIA was using hacked mobile phones and vehicle control systems in modern cars to carry out assassinations.
WikiLeaks claims that these include Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows and even Samsung TVs, which it says are turned into covert microphones. Assange was scheduled to speak about Year Zero on Facebook today, but a live stream of the event was hacked. It is not yet clear when the event has been rescheduled to.
In a statement published on its website, WikiLeaks also claims that the attack against Samsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the UK’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, adding that Weeping Angel, which was developed by the CIA’s Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), infests smart TVs, thus transforming them into covert microphones. The organization says that after infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a Fake-Off mode so that the owner can falsely believe the TV is off while it's not, meanwhile it records conversations in the room and sends them over the internet to a covert CIA server.
The CIA also planned to hack cars and trucks so that it could carry out undetectable assassinations. The organization claims that from October 2014, the CIA was seeking ways of infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks to enable them to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations, adding that the CIA’s Mobile Devices Branch developed numerous ways of hacking and controlling popular smartphones remotely.
WikiLeaks claimed that these include iPhones, which has a 14% market share and Google Android which is used to run most smartphones around |
example, when Zaphod's great-grandfather discusses his great grandson's career-to-date, he explains that Zaphod cannot escape his destiny now the improbability field "controls you".
Karey Kirkpatrick, who with Adams adapted the novel for the screen in 2005, described the improbability drive as a "plot contrivance machine", allowing Adams to construct elaborate plotlines based on coincidences that would, in other narratives, be considered too improbable to be believed.[2]
Phargilor Kangaroo Relocation Drive [ edit ]
The Phargilor (or Penargilon) Kangaroo Relocation Drive appeared in Fit the Sixth of the radio series—it can also be heard on BBC Sound Effects No. 26: Sci-Fi Sound Effects. The drive allows, in an emergency, a ship to be ejected suddenly through the fabric of space time and come to rest far from the starting point, with the pilot rarely having time to plot where the ship will end up. Ford and Arthur use this drive to escape from the Haggunenons.
Photon Drive [ edit ]
The Photon Drive or Conventional Photon Drive is the standard drive that the Heart of Gold utilizes when the Infinite Improbability Drive is not in use. It is discussed briefly in the first book after an episode about the Infinite Improbability Drive, where it states that "The Heart of Gold fled on silently through the night of space, now on conventional photon drive". Little is known about the Photon Drive, as it is only mentioned four times over the course of the entire series, once in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, twice in the novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and once in the novel Mostly Harmless.
Weapons [ edit ]
Kill-o-Zap blaster pistol [ edit ]
The Kill-o-Zap is a weapon first appearing in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, wielded by the police from Blagulon Kappa when they come to Magrathea to arrest Zaphod. It is referenced throughout the series in the role of a standard and widespread brand of raygun.
In the novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe it is described in more detail:
The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with.'
In the novel Life, the Universe and Everything, the group arms themselves with Kill-o-Zap guns against the Krikkiters. Arthur "fumbled to release the safety catch and engage the extreme danger catch as Ford had shown him. He was shaking so much that if he'd fired at anybody at that moment he probably would have burnt his signature on them."
In the 2005 movie adaptation, the gun has a sophisticated look. It is more of a white sphere that covers the hand and has a trigger on the inside. This version is wielded by Marvin.
Point of View Gun [ edit ]
The Point of View Gun is a device created by Douglas Adams for the movie version[3] of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; it does not appear in any of the previous versions of the story.[4]
According to the film, the gun was created by Deep Thought prior to its long pondering of the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. When used on someone, it will cause them to see things from the point of view of the firer (the Guide says that it "conveniently, does precisely as its name suggests"). According to the Guide's entry on it, though the gun was designed by Deep Thought, it was commissioned by the Intergalactic Consortium of Angry Housewives, who were tired of ending every argument with their husbands with the phrase: "You just don't get it, do you?"
This neatly mirrors the Total Perspective Vortex, an earlier plot device from the radio series and second novel, created by the character Trin Tragula to show his wife the whole infinity of creation and herself in relation to it.
Humma Kavula wants to obtain the gun in order to expand the influence of the religion he heads. He agrees to trade it with Zaphod Beeblebrox for the coordinates to Magrathea, but takes Zaphod's second head as collateral instead, as Zaphod doesn't have the gun at the time. When the gun is discovered inside Deep Thought, it is playfully used by Ford Prefect and Zaphod on one another, and eventually taken by Trillian who, wanting answers from Zaphod about how upset she was over Earth's destruction, uses it to interrogate him until he does so (In the movie adaptation, Zaphod authorised the destruction of Earth, thinking he was simply being asked for his autograph for a fan, and was completely unaware why Trillian was angry with him when she discovered this on Vogsphere). Following this, Zaphod threatens to fire the gun at Trillian, to which she scathingly replies that she is "already a woman" (implying that the gun only works on men, mainly because it was commissioned specifically by housewives, but also because women are sympathetic and thoughtful of others, and therefore can already see things from another's point of view).
Near the end of the film, Marvin the Paranoid Android uses the gun to save the crew of the Heart of Gold from hundreds of Vogons. After the Vogons see things from Marvin's chronically-depressed point of view, they all collapse, no longer finding a point to life.
There are seven holsters for Point of View Guns inside Deep Thought, but only one actual gun. The rest of the holsters are empty. At the end of the movie Arthur Dent possesses the gun, and Zaphod has not yet turned the gun over to Humma Kavula.
QUEST [ edit ]
Quite Unwieldy Experimental Sublimation Torpedo, an experimental anti-god missile used by Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz to attack the god Thor in the novel And Another Thing.... The Vogons bought the device from Zaphod, who reveals that he installed a lawnmower engine on it in a scheme to defraud them.
Supernova bomb [ edit ]
Featured in Life, the Universe and Everything, the supernova bomb is "a very very small bomb" that resembles a cricket ball, and is the greatest weapon of mass destruction ever created in the history of the universe. Initially designed by the supercomputer Hactar for the Silastic Armourfiends of Striterax, who had demanded that it create an "Ultimate Weapon" but forgot that computers take instructions literally, the bomb creates a path through hyperspace that connects all major suns together into one gigantic supernova, effectively destroying the entire universe. Hactar deliberately designed the bomb with a flaw that rendered it useless; when the Silastic Armourfiends discovered this, they smashed the computer into dust and then destroyed themselves through constant warfare.
Hactar's particulate form wrapped itself around the idyllic planet Krikkit, isolating it from the rest of the universe, and gradually re-engineered its society until they could recreate the bomb and fulfill Hactar's program. The Krikkiters were defeated in the Krikkit Wars, racial memories of which would lead to the invention of the game cricket on Earth. Billions of years later, they built Hactar's flawed bomb and tried to deploy it, leading to their discovery of the computer's influence on their evolution. Trillian noted that it was impossible for the Krikkiters to be smart enough to build this weapon on their own, yet stupid enough not to grasp that it would destroy them if they used it. Hactar created a fully functional duplicate of the bomb and hid it in a travel bag belonging to Arthur Dent, who very nearly caused it to explode before stopping it by accident at the last second.
Personal items [ edit ]
Crisis Inducer [ edit ]
A watch-like device that can create an artificial crisis situation of selectable severity, in order to sharpen the wits of the user. Carried by Lintilla in Fit the Eleventh of the radio series.
Digital watches [ edit ]
Earth's population are described in the first novel as "so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea." When Arthur Dent temporarily loses his left arm as a consequence of the Infinite Improbability Drive, he panics upon realising he can no longer operate his digital watch. Hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings built the supercomputer Deep Thought in part to comprehend why people spend so much of their lives wearing digital watches. In the 1970s, when the series was first composed, digital watches were the height of techno-fashion. For the 2005 movie The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, references to digital watches were replaced by mobile telephones.
Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses [ edit ]
Designed to help the wearer develop a relaxed attitude to danger. The lenses turn completely black at the first hint of trouble, thus preventing the wearer from seeing anything that might alarm him/her. Appeared in episode 3 of the TV series and in chapters 5 and 6 of the novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Thinking Cap [ edit ]
A special helmet that Zaphod Beeblebrox uses in the film adaptation. It is possibly an old-fashioned device, as stated by Ford Prefect that it was used when ship captains needed to concentrate. It is basically a helmet with a trigger device on top that resembles an automatic citrus juicer, which is why it is powered by common lemon juice. The effects of the thinking cap, in Zaphod's case, last about 10 minutes per lemon. On Magrathea, Arthur Dent negatively remarks to Ford's trust in Zaphod's ability at making guesses by angrily replying "Go with the hunch of a man whose brain is fuelled by LEMONS!?" After Ford starts the Thinking Cap, Zaphod (who was very groggy from having his second head removed by force) immediately was able to walk straight and think smarter than usual, and ten minutes later he could still walk, but was back to his normal, over-the-top self.
Towels [ edit ]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy states that a towel is the most important item a hitchhiker can have. It also mentions that "to know where one's towel is" means to be in control of one's own life. It describes the towel as a multipurpose tool which can be converted into such things as a sail for a makeshift raft, a gas mask, a blindfold and a weapon for hand-to-hand combat. Resourceful hitchhikers have enhanced their towels in highly exotic ways, including embedding complex circuitry; Roosta, who Ford Prefect says "really knows where his towel is", fortified his towel with yellow stripes high in protein, green stripes with vitamin supplements, pink flowers of wheatgerm extract, and other areas containing barbecue sauce and anti-depressants. Ford Prefect, a traditionalist, has so far only reinforced his towel's seams, which enabled him to use it as a rope to stop himself from falling to his death. In the TV series, towels move of their own accord during hyperspatial jumps, and the amount they've moved allows an experienced hitchhiker to calculate the distance he has travelled. The towel was useful in the film version a handful of times, mainly by Ford. For example, while on the homeworld of the Vogons, he started to wave it around in front of a group of Vogons, who screamed and ran away. He also used it while attempting to cross the beach infested with shovel-like creatures which feed on thought. Another time, he used it to pull the pipe from the Vogon ship, attempting to increase the range of his ring.
The emphasis on towels is a reference to Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe by Ken Walsh, which inspired Adams' fictional guidebook and also stresses the importance of towels.[5]
When Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster was launched into space on the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018, it carried a towel amongst other items.[6][7]
Other technology [ edit ]
Breathe-o-Smart was the "sexier and smarter" in-building climate-control air-conditioning technology (in the novel Mostly Harmless) that sparked the Great Ventilation and Telephone Riots (of SrDt 3454).
One of the smartest features of the Breathe-o-Smart is that it cannot possibly go wrong. So. No worries on that score. Enjoy your breathing now, and have a nice day.
The horror erupted when three simultaneous events happened: Breathe-o-Smart Inc issued a statement "best results were achieved by using their systems in temperate climates", the breakdown of a Breathe-o-Smart system on a particularly hot and humid day putting hundreds of office staff into the street where a rampaging mob of long distance telephone operators who had got so twisted by the repetitiveness of their work that they had finally taken to the streets with megaphones—and rifles.
In days of riots, every single window was smashed, to cries of "Get off the line, asshole!" and a variety of animal noises.
So now, all (mechanical or electrical or quantum-mechanical or hydraulic or even wind, steam or piston-driven) devices are now legally required to carry this text:
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.
Sub-Etha is an interstellar faster-than-light telecommunications network used by hitchhikers to flag down passing spaceships. The primary hitcher's tool is known as the Electronic Thumb, a short black rod that can be used to contact passing ships and ask to be let on board. Ford also carries a Sens-O-Matic, a device for monitoring ships' Sub-Etha signals, and learns from it that the Vogons are on their way to demolish the Earth. Sub-Etha is used throughout the Milky Way for any kind of data transmission, such as listening to the news or updating the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy itself. The name is a reference to the ether, which was once believed to be a medium filling the universe.
Total Perspective Vortex [ edit ]
The Total Perspective Vortex is allegedly the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected.
When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it there's a tiny little speck, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here."[8]
Located on Frogstar World B, the machine was originally invented by Trin Tragula in order to annoy his wife. Because she was forever nagging him for having no sense of proportion, he decided to invent something that would show her what having a sense of proportion really meant. Unfortunately the shock of being placed in the Vortex destroyed her brain, but Trin Tragula's grief was tempered by the knowledge that he had been right and she had been wrong. In Adams' words, the Total Perspective Vortex illustrated that "In an infinite universe, the one thing sentient life cannot afford to have is a sense of proportion."[9] Gargravarr, a disembodied mind, is the custodian of the Total Perspective Vortex.
The machine produces a virtual reality model of the entire universe by means of the axiom that any piece of matter is affected by all other matter. The Vortex reconstructs the universe through computer processing of a high-resolution scan ("extrapolated matter analysis") of a piece of fairy cake. In the words of the Hitchhiker's Guide,
...since every piece of matter in the Universe is in someway affected by every other piece of matter in the Universe, it is in theory possible to extrapolate the whole of creation—every Galaxy, every sun, every planet, their orbits, their composition, and their economic and social history from, say, one small piece of fairy cake.[10]
Only Zaphod Beeblebrox is reported to have survived the Vortex unscathed (and then to have eaten the small piece of fairy cake). When it showed him the "You Are Here" marker, Zaphod correctly interpreted the Vortex as simply telling him that he was the most important being in the universe. This is due to the fact that he entered the Vortex in an artificial universe, which had been specially created for his benefit (thus making him the most important being in it) by Zarniwoop. After emerging from the artificial universe's Total Perspective Vortex, Zaphod ate the piece of fairy cake, saying "If I told you how much I needed this, I wouldn't have time to eat it."
In the radio series The Quintessential Phase, the ideas behind the Total Perspective Vortex and the Guide Mark II are used to combine story lines from all of the radio episodes. This allows many of the plot lines from the divergent versions of the story to be wrapped up by the radio series' conclusion.
The Total Perspective Vortex was referenced as the name of an achievement for the 2016 video game No Man's Sky, which uses procedural generation to deterministically produce a virtual universe containing 18 quintillion (1.8 x 1019) planets.[11]
In real life, astronauts and cosmonauts experience a version of this phenomenon when in orbit and after their space experiences known as the Overview Effect.
Wikkit gate [ edit ]
Not to be confused with Wicket gate
The Wikkit Gate is an artifact featured in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
The Wikkit Gate is a universal symbol among the diverse cultures of the Galaxy of the basic ideals of civilisation. The Galactic Government therefore chose to model the key that could unlock the envelope of Slo-Time surrounding planet Krikkit after a Wikkit Gate. The gate was destroyed, then the various parts re-animated as different objects around the universe. It is composed of:
A Steel Pillar of Strength and Power (Marvin's leg, but only after it had been replaced by a scrap metal merchant)
A Wooden Pillar of Nature and Spirituality (the reconstituted ashes of the cricket stump that was burnt in Melbourne, Australia to signify "the death of English cricket")
A Perspex (Plexiglas) Pillar of Science and Reason (Argabuthon Sceptre of Justice, renamed the Plastic Pillar in the U.S. version of the books)
A Golden Bail of Prosperity (The Heart of Gold's heart of gold—the Infinite Improbability Drive that powers the starship)
heart of gold—the Infinite Improbability Drive that powers the starship) A Silver Bail of Peace (the Rory Award For The Most Gratuitous Use Of The Word "Fuck" In A Serious Screenplay, changed to "Belgium" in the U.S. version)
According to the novel, the sport of cricket as played on Earth is a tasteless reminder of the Krikkit Wars, and the cricket wicket is a highly distorted racial memory of the Wikkit Gate. The novel describes the "bit where the little red ball hits the stumps" as being particularly offensive.
Artificial intelligences [ edit ]
Publications [ edit ]
Bartledanian story book : A very dull book, once read by Arthur Dent, in the novel Mostly Harmless. It chronicles the events of a Bartledanian whose unassuming apathy towards his life's happenstances is so complete that the lack of a working source of drinking water eventually leads to his death of dehydration. As a typical example of Bartledanian literature, the book reaches its conclusion not by bringing a satisfying end to the narrative, but simply by stopping at the 100,000th word.
: A very dull book, once read by Arthur Dent, in the novel. It chronicles the events of a Bartledanian whose unassuming apathy towards his life's happenstances is so complete that the lack of a working source of drinking water eventually leads to his death of dehydration. As a typical example of Bartledanian literature, the book reaches its conclusion not by bringing a satisfying end to the narrative, but simply by stopping at the 100,000th word. Bathsheets in Space by Werdle Sneng, Fit the Eighth of the radio series.
by Werdle Sneng, Fit the Eighth of the radio series. Big Bang Theory - A Personal View, The by Eccentrica Gallumbits (the triple breasted whore of Eroticon Six) in the novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
by Eccentrica Gallumbits (the triple breasted whore of Eroticon Six) in the novel. Celestial Home Care Omnibus : A spacy version of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ; though not as popular as the Guide.
: A spacy version of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, in the novel ; though not as popular as the Guide. Dr Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveller's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations : This book deals with grammar in time-travel situations. Most readers get as far as the Future Semi-Conditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional before giving up, and indeed recent editions of this book have been left blank past this point to save on printing costs, in the novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
: This book deals with grammar in time-travel situations. Most readers get as far as the Future Semi-Conditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional before giving up, and indeed recent editions of this book have been left blank past this point to save on printing costs, in the novel. Encyclopedia Galactica : A book of this name appeared in Isaac Asimov’s short story "Foundation", and it is mentioned in the Hitchhiker's Guide books as a rival to the Guide, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is noted as being slightly more expensive than the Guide and lacking the advice "Don't Panic!" on the cover.
: A book of this name appeared in Isaac Asimov’s short story "Foundation", and it is mentioned in the Hitchhiker's Guide books as a rival to the Guide, in the novel. It is noted as being slightly more expensive than the Guide and lacking the advice "Don't Panic!" on the cover. Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Sex But Have Been Forced To Find Out : Oolon Colluphid's latest book, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
: Oolon Colluphid's latest book, in the novel. Fifty More Things to do in Zero Gravity : Also 53 More Things to do in Zero Gravity, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ; not as best-selling as the Guide.
: Also 53 More Things to do in Zero Gravity, in the novel ; not as best-selling as the Guide. Heavily Modified Face Flannels by Frat Gad, Fit the Eighth of the radio series.
by Frat Gad, Fit the Eighth of the radio series. My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles : a collection of poetry composed by the Azgoth poet master Grunthos the Flatulent, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (called Zen and the Art of Going to the Lavatory in the TV series).
: a collection of poetry composed by the Azgoth poet master Grunthos the Flatulent, in the novel (called in the TV series). Oolon Colluphid's God Trilogy : a trio of philosophical blockbusters in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, consisting of the books Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes and Who is this God Person Anyway? They aren't as controversial as the Guide. In the 2005 movie, the books are depicted by the Guide has having on their covers, respectively: the astrological symbol for Mars, representing males; the symbol for Venus, representing females; and a question mark.
: a trio of philosophical blockbusters in the novel, consisting of the books, and They aren't as controversial as the Guide. Siderial Daily Mentioner : The publication that sent a journalist to the trial where Prak was injected with too much truth serum, in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
: The publication that sent a journalist to the trial where Prak was injected with too much truth serum, in the novel. Siderial Daily Mentioner's Book of Popular Galactic History : Tells us that the night sky over the planet Krikkit is the least interesting sight in the entire Universe, and life in the Galaxy must be space-sick, time sick, history sick or some such thing.. and stupid, in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
: Tells us that the night sky over the planet Krikkit is the least interesting sight in the entire Universe, and life in the Galaxy must be space-sick, time sick, history sick or some such thing.. and stupid, in the novel. Songs of the Long Land : The book of poems that Lallafa had to travel back in time to write (again), in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
: The book of poems that Lallafa had to travel back in time to write (again), in the novel. Sqornshellous Swamptalk : A mattressy lexicography, in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
: A mattressy lexicography, in the novel. Ultra-Complete Maximegalon Dictionary of Every Language Ever, The :...is not worth the fleet of lorries it takes to cart its micro-stored edition around in, in the novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
:...is not worth the fleet of lorries it takes to cart its micro-stored edition around in, in the novel. Veet Voojagig's Story : The story of the lost biros, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
: The story of the lost biros, in the novel. Well That About Wraps It Up For God : Oolon Colluphid's fourth book, in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
: Oolon Colluphid's fourth book, in the novel. You and Your Planets: Gail Andrews' book whose astrological advice leads to the destruction of Earth by the Grebulons, in the novel Mostly Harmless.
See also [ edit ]Most science books available to Utah students are old enough to run for Congress and remember when the Cold War was a fearful reality. On Wednesday morning members of the House addressed the issues facing Utah public education system, most notably the apparent long term neglect of library upkeep.
“Utah school libraries have been neglected, due to diminishing funds, over the last few years,” said Cheryl Smith, a former Granite School District Library Director.
Studies have shown over the last few decades that schools with current and well kept books correlate with improved math, science and critical thinking scores. These findings include score improvements in students who do not have access to books at home.
During the hearing, Smith mentioned a question posed earlier during the interim by Representative Steve Eliason (Republican – Sandy) on whether WPU (Weighted Pupil Unit) funds could be used in other areas if library collections were deemed up to date. Smith replied that she was “…Willing to bet [his] social security check that they’re not.”
Smith went on to point out how outdated Utah’s school libraries are, with the average year of publication of science-related book being 1979. Smith chalked up the average age to when school library funding was turned into block grants, thus requiring them to compete with other programs like Special Education.
Fawn Morgan, a recently retired librarian of 25 years at Layton High, bemoaned the state’s lack of current reading material available to students. “The one thing I was embarrassed about, really embarrassed, was despite my diligent effort on my part [over the course of twenty years], I hadn’t been able to improve my collection,” said Morgan. “I have to tell you that I think I did all the right things: I went out for grants, I repaired those books, I came up with ways to access free materials, but with all of that work and all of that effort, I had only improved it from twelve years old to ten years old,” continued Morgan.
Current funding for improving Utah school libraries sits at $1.5 million, whereas in 2012, it was $2 million. The average cost of a library book is $24 and, according to Smith, best practices in the field encourage purchasing a new book per student yearly. Currently, the funding puts library funds at $0.90 per student.
Senator Howard Stephenson (Republican – Draper) responded to Smith’s input, citing that no standards or measurements were used for the funding, making it an entitlement similar to class size reduction funds. Smith then responded that school libraries do have to adhere to a standard, however, the standards were also “woefully out of date.” Smith said that based on her surveying of district supervisors throughout the state, they would be in favor of using metrics and standards to regulate how funding is distributed.
Representative Lyle Hillyard (Republican – Logan), commenting on Smith’s brief, said “…These groups to come to us time and time again, this is only one of many groups [that are] very worthwhile, but why are we at the state level making that decision of allocation. Why don’t we just take the money, put it in a block grant to the elected school board and say ‘you make the decision.’” Hillyard continued, saying “I represent three school district and one may say ‘school libraries are real important’ and want to double the funding, I may have another school district who say ‘no school nurses or school counselors are more important.’ […] I understand we raise the taxes and it violates a principle I really believe in, I think the person that spends the money ought to raise the taxes.”The UK population is projected to become the largest in the EU The UK population is set to become the largest in the European Union, according to a report. It is expected to increase from its current figure of 61 million to almost 77 million in 2060 - a rise of 25%. This would make it the largest population in the EU, ahead of the projections for France (72 million) and Germany (71 million). The EU's statistical office Eurostat also predicts the EU population will be 506m in 2060, up from 495m in 2008. It is expected to peak at 521m in 2035 but then decline. The report predicts the average age of the EU population will rise, due to "persistently low fertility and an increasing number of survivors to higher ages". The proportion of the population aged 65 or above in the UK is projected to reach 24.7% in 2060, from 16.1% in 2008. The number of Britons aged 80 or above is expected to reach 9% in 2060, compared with the current figure of 4.5%. If the projection is correct, 42.1% of the UK's population would be above retirement age - that proportion is currently 24.3%. Ahead of the UK, the largest population growth within the EU is expected in Cyprus (+66%), the Irish Republic (+53%), Luxembourg (+52%). A Home Office spokesman said: "Projections such as these are proof that we are right to be carrying out the biggest shake-up to the immigration system for a generation. "Centre-stage is our new Australian-style points-based system, which means only those we need can come here to work or study." Strategy call Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said the figures showed it was "essential we develop a coherent strategy to deal with population growth". He added: "This strategy must bring together policy on issues from the family to border control, housing to skills and planning to immigration control. "We not only need to ensure that our population grows at a more sustainable rate but that we also prepare properly for that sustainable rate of growth. "The government have shown that they have no answers to the challenges we face by failing to plan for our increasing population - this makes them part of the problem, not the solution." Alasdair Murray, director of think tank CentreForum, said the projection should not be considered a certainty. He said: "Population statistics are predicted by using recent figures so this report will have used the statistics of immigration in the UK in the last few years. The level is high so the prediction will be high. "There are signs that immigration in this country is starting to tail off. If you were to do this again in 2010 or 2011 I think it would be different. "A more realistic assessment would be to consider the two factors of birth rates and immigration rates together when predicting population."
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StumbleUpon What are these?A rogue landlord who exploited over 100 tenants has been jailed. Tahir Khaliq, 49, who ran a chain of letting agency firms from his office in Bury, Greater Manchester accepted holding deposits from multiple prospective tenants for the same same property then claimed they all failed credit checks and kept the cash.
During his trial at Bolton Crown Court, it was revealed that Khaliq also falsified home insurance claims and left many tenants living in squalid properties.
Khaliq is previously know for sharp practice. In 2012 he was the subject of a Channel Five ‘Cowboy Traders’ investigation into one of his firms Lancashire Lettings.
Perhaps his most lucrative scam was deliberately failing credit checks for prospective tenants and pocketing their holding deposits. Khaliq asked prospective tenants who wished to rent one of his properties to pay a holding fee/deposit of £200 to £400 to take a property off the market.
However, unknown to the tenants, money was collected from several other prospective tenants all hoping to rent the same property. Once the money was collected, Khaliq informed them that they had failed credit checks and refused to refund their money. He further instructed his staff to participate in the scam ordering them to accept but never return the holding deposits.
Khaliq also arranged for fake home insurance claims to be submitted with fabricated quotes and invoices with the help of employee Paul Dickinson.
Prosecutor Andrew Thomas told the court the “blatant” insurance scam worked by submitting genuine-looking but inflated quotes from two invented firms.
The prosecutor also revealed that Khaliq used the pseudonym ‘Jack Daniels’ in these transactions in a bid to hide his identity from complainers.
Mr Thomas said: “It was blatant dishonesty. Lies were told to fob off those who wanted their money back.
“Many of the victims were vulnerable people, mainly people on low incomes who were struggling to obtain adequate housing.
“Many of the tenants were on housing benefits and not well off and very often vulnerable because of financial circumstances or other difficulties.”
“Lies were told about two things: who was living in the property and the fabrication of estimates and invoices for repair work.
“Internal emails showed Paul Dickinson was the author of the bogus documents and Mr Khaliq was involved.
“In reality the works were done by their own handymen at a fraction of the cost.”
A third scam also saw Khaliq and Dickinson collect rent for 119 properties they managed on behalf of liquidators Ernst and Young – which a court heard they failed to pass on.
Khaliq also instigated a council tax avoidance scheme perpetrated against Bury and Bolton councils. He also arranged for counterfeit accountant letters to support a £3million Co-op Bank loan application.
Khaliq admitted two counts of making an article for use in fraud, two of conspiracy to commit fraud, one of theft and three counts of fraud. He has now been sentenced to 45 months in prison and has been ordered to pay back £100,000 and pay court costs of £125,000. He was also disqualified from being a company director for 10 years.
During sentencing, Judge Graeme Smith told Khaliq: “You instigated and directed several different fraudulent schemes.
“Though some were directed at institutions such as banks and insurance companies, one of them caused harm to those in a vulnerable position.”
Dickinson, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, admitted theft and six counts of fraud and was given a two year suspended sentence. He was also ordered to pay £24,280 and prosecution costs of £15,000, was disqualified from being a company director for six years and told to complete 240 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Graeme Smith told Dickinson he was suspending his sentence so he could dedicate his spare time to his 10-year-old twin sons – one of whom is seriously ill.
The Renters Alliance helps renters with bad landlords and letting agents. If you have a story you would like to share, please contact the National Renters Alliance through our website or email us at contact@nralliance.co.ukTim Duncan alleges that he has lost more than $20 million to a former financial adviser, but the 15-time All-Star said it won't influence his decision as to whether or not he returns to the San Antonio Spurs next season, according to a report.
"Luckily I had a long career and made good money," Duncan told Bloomberg.com in an interview published Wednesday. "This is a big chunk, but it's not going to change my life in any way. It's not going to make any decisions for me."
Tim Duncan alleges that a former financial adviser lost nearly $20 million of his money. "I trusted someone. I was wrong about it. I got screwed over for it," Duncan told Bloomberg.com. "I'm not mad at myself for that." R. Widner/NBAE via Getty Images
The losses amount to more than 15 percent of his after-tax career earnings. The five-time NBA champion, who averaged 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds this season, turned 39 in April and has yet to announce if he'll return for a 19th NBA season. His contract expires when the free agency period begins July 1.
Tony Parker told the San Antonio Express-News on Wednesday that he's talked to both Duncan and Manu Ginobili, and he believes they'll be back for one last ride.
"I think they're both going to play one more year," Parker told the paper. "I'm trying to be positive.... Now it's their decision. It's a very personal decision."
Duncan filed a lawsuit in January contending that a series of investments from 2005 to 2013 enriched Charles Banks but were losing propositions for the two-time NBA MVP, including Banks secretly withholding 20 percent of the return on Duncan's loan -- approximately $7.5 million -- to Gameday Entertainment, for which Banks serves as chairman |
large. He sees OtherPeople are part of a huger problem threatening his own country and civilized society.
He knows that People are moral, ethical enlightened. People are also true friends to his own country.
Finally, this commander says, “The way to fight evil is not by placation. You fight evil by facing up to it and defeating it.”
We’ll call him Donald. And may G-d continue to give him strength.
Fishel Jacobs is an American rabbi, martial artist, retired officer (Major) in the IDF and law enforcement, a published author of numerous best selling non-fiction books and speaker in demand. (PowerRabbi.com)Impaler drifted in sideways toward an unused section of the dock. Her grapples fired and chewed holes in the evercrete. A couple of them hit rotten patches and tugged loose as soon as they started to crank taut. The hovelolader backed off slightly in a mound of stirred-up water and shredded belaweed. The grapples wound back and fired again. Something behind me wailed. At first, some stupid part of me thought it was Virginia Vidaura finally venting her pent-up grief. A fraction of a second later I caught up with the machine tone of the sound and identified it for what it was - an alarm. Time seemed to slam to a halt. Seconds turned into ponderous slabs of perception; everything moved with the lazy calm of motion underwater. - Liebeck, spinning away from the water's edge, lit spliff tumbling from her open mouth, bouncing off the upper slope of her breast in a brief splutter of embers - - Murakami, yelling at my ear, moving past me toward the grav sled - The monitor system built into the sled screaming, a whole rack of data coil systems flaring to life like candles along one side of Sylvie Oshima's suddenly twitching body - Sylvie's eyes, wide open and fixed on mine as the gravity of her stare drags my own gaze in - The alarm, unfamiliar as the new Tseng hardware, but only one possible meaning behind it - And Murakami's arm, raised, hand filled with the Kalashnikov as he clears it from his belt - My own yell, stretching out and blending with his as I throw myself foward to block him, hands still bound, hoplesessly slow - And then the clouds ripped open in the east, and vomited angelfire. And the dock lit up with light and fury. And the sky fell in."If the Marxist teaching were to be accepted as the foundation of the life of the universe, it would lead to the disappearance of all order that is conceivable to the human mind. And thus the adoption of such a law would provoke chaos in the structure of the greatest organism that we know, with the result that the inhabitants of this earthly planet would finally disappear. Should the Jew, with the aid of his Marxist creed, triumph over the people of this world, his Crown will be the funeral wreath of mankind, and this planet will once again follow its orbit through ether, without any human life on its surface, as it did millions of years ago. And so I believe to-day that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. In standing guard against the Jew I am defending the handiwork of the Lord."
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through...all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through...all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution." Aldous Huxley, Tavistock Group, California Medical School, 1961
And I quote...Levi Woodbury was the first Justice to have formally attended a law school.
The Constitution of the United States does not require that any federal judges have any particular educational or career background, but the work of the Court involves complex questions of law – ranging from constitutional law to administrative law to admiralty law – and consequentially, a legal education has become a de facto prerequisite to appointment on the Supreme Court. Every person who has been nominated to the Court has been an attorney.[1]
Before the advent of modern law schools in the United States, justices, like most attorneys of the time, completed their legal studies by "reading law" (studying under and acting as an apprentice to more experienced attorneys) rather than attending a formal program. The first Justice to be appointed who had attended an actual law school was Levi Woodbury, appointed to the Court in 1846. Woodbury had attended Tapping Reeve Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut, the most prestigious law school in the United States in that day, prior to his admission to the bar in 1812. However, Woodbury did not earn a law degree. Woodbury's successor on the Court, Benjamin Robbins Curtis, who received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1832, and was appointed to the Court in 1851, was the first Justice to bear such a credential.[2]
Associate Justice James F. Byrnes, whose short tenure lasted from June 1941 to October 1942, was the last Justice without a law degree to be appointed; Stanley Forman Reed, who served on the Court from 1938 to 1957, was the last sitting Justice from such a background. In total, of the 114 Justices appointed to the Court, 48 have had law degrees, an additional 18 attended some law school but did not receive a degree, and 47 received their legal education without any law school attendance.[2]
Four or more Justices [ edit ]
Three Justices [ edit ]
Two Justices [ edit ]
One Justice [ edit ]
University or college trained [ edit ]
These justices were educated at the equivalent of what would today be an undergraduate level, but did not receive legal education at the graduate level, the model under which law schools in the U.S. are currently organized.
No university legal education [ edit ]
Some justices received no legal education in a university setting, but were instead either trained through apprenticeships or were self-taught, as was common with many lawyers prior to the mid-20th century.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Donna Brazile admitted in a revealing essay published Friday in Time that she did send emails to the Clinton campaign with town hall topic questions ahead of the events.
In the essay titled, "Donna Brazile: Russian DNC Narrative Played Out Exactly As They Hoped," Brazile discusses her belief that the Russians deliberately interfered with the Democratic party and the Clinton campaign to sway election results, and calls for an independent commission to investigate. Brazile also accuses the Russians of "selectively releasing" emails that "made it look like I was in the tank for Secretary Clinton."
>> Read more trending stories
As Brazile discusses the October release of emails by Wikileaks that appeared to show she forwarded town hall questions to the Clinton camp, she writes that among the many that she did in her role with the Democratic party was to "share potential town hall topics with the Clinton campaign." Brazile writes that her job was to make “all Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen. But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret."The flow of illegal weapons to Belgium is well-known | Getty EU gun control plans under fire There are about 81 million illicit firearms across the EU.
The European Union made headlines with new gun-control rules this week, but experts say implementing them across the 28 member counties could prove a moving and potentially hazardous target.
Case in point: A decommissioned firearm in Denmark means the weapon has been sawed in half. In Netherlands, its parts have been welded together. In Slovakia, decommissioned guns can easily be restored to kill.
“The Commission took a couple of steps more than I expected. I think this is direct result of [the attacks in Paris],” said Nils Duquet of the Flemish Peace Institute, adding that national police report seeing more military-style guns.
While Europeans tend to see the debate on gun control as a U.S. preoccupation, especially in the aftermath of mass killings, there are as many as 81 million illicit firearms across the European Union, according to a Commission study last year.
Dealing with deactivated weapons will be the first and almost immediate change to the 2009 EU guns directive. The other proposals, including a ban on semi-automatic weapons, will have to be debated and approved by the European Parliament and Council.
Lawmakers should brace for strong resistance from hunters and sportsmen, who fear it will seriously restrict legal owners.
“It seems to be that the Commission now wants to show quick activism after these terrible attacks, but they are going too far,” said Hans Schollen, a lawyer and president of a German sporting association, the VDS.
One of the amendments, for example, calls for “stricter rules to ban certain semi-automatic firearms, which will not, under any circumstance, be allowed to be held by private persons, even if they have been permanently deactivated,” according to a Commission press release.
What’s more, the guns directive doesn’t offer immediate solutions to the most pressing problem of improving coordination and information sharing among law enforcement so guns can be more easily tracked.
Interior ministers from across Europe met Friday in Brussels to discuss security and information sharing, and the illegal guns trade.
This reactivation of firearms has long been an issue in Europe, with guns moving from countries with lax rules in Central and Eastern Europe to countries like France and Belgium, which both have strong gun laws.
The flow of illegal weapons to Belgium is well-known. Over the last couple of years, national police forces have observed an uptick in the number of military-style weapons like AK-47s being used by criminals and terrorists. The weapons usually come to Western Europe from the Balkans in small quantities, but move easily between countries in the EU Schengen zone.
Cédric Poitevin, an arms researcher with the Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security, said the rules for deactivated guns, which take effect in three months and must be enforced in every member state, will raise the standards for how countries decommission weapons. They will bring many EU countries — particularly those in Eastern Europe — into line with the guidance of international organizations like the International Commission for the Proof of Small Arms.
However, some of the other proposed changes to the directive seemed vague, Poitevin said. Along with semi-automatic weapons, there are proposed directives on how guns will be marked so they can be traced, on more information sharing between member states about weapons registries and “tighter rules on the online acquisition of firearms.”
“It’s a real challenge for member states to control online acquisition of firearms,” Poitevin said. “They say they’re intending to do this, but they don’t say anything about how they’re going to do this.”
Hans von der Burchard contributed reporting.Police in Melbourne said they arrested the driver of a vehicle that careened into pedestrians and Christmas shoppers in Australia’s second-largest city on Thursday, injuring more than a dozen people.
A man rammed a car into pedestrians and Christmas shoppers in a bustling area of Australia’s second-largest city on Thursday, injuring at least 18 other people in an act police said was deliberate.
Police in Melbourne said they arrested the 32-year-old male driver of a white four-wheel-drive Suzuki at the scene, along with another man. Four people were critically wounded, said Premier of Victoria state Daniel Andrews, and another 15 including the driver are in stable condition. Police said the incident was likely not terrorism.
The unnamed driver was alone in the car and is Australian of Afghan descent, with some history of assault, drug use and mental illness, Shane Patton, acting chief commissioner of the Victoria state police, said at an evening media briefing.
“He is under arrest for what we allege is a deliberate act,” Mr. Patton said, adding that the incident is being treated as an isolated event. “At this time we do not have any evidence for any intelligence to indicate there is a connection with terrorism. However, we continue to support this investigation without counterterrorism command to ensure that there isn’t that connection and that there is no ongoing threat.”
The second man, 24, was in possession of a bag containing three knives and remains in custody after being seen filming the events on his phone at the scene. But Mr. Patton said it was unlikely he had any relation to the driver.
Witnesses said the vehicle accelerated after running a red light and plowing into pedestrians at high speed adjacent to Flinders Street Station, one of Melbourne’s busiest transportation hubs.
Mr. Patton said the Suzuki pulled on to tram tracks running parallel to the train station, drove through an intersection and into the pedestrians. The driver was captured by an off-duty police officer soon after his car crashed into a post next to a tram stop in the center of the street.
Both the officer and the driver—who Mr. Patton said resisted arrest—were taken to a city hospital for treatment.
“To describe this as a lone wolf incident is not probably not apt,” Mr. Patton said. “This is an horrific incident where a person drove directly at pedestrians. It is a crime and we will be fully exploring that. One of the key aspects we are exploring is in respect to mental health backgrounds and drug use in respect of this individual.”
Commander Russell Barrett of Victoria Police told reporters earlier in the day that while police believed the act was deliberate, a motivation was unclear.
A witness who gave his name as Lachlan told Australian media that he saw a man he believed to be the driver as he was detained by police, dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt and appearing nearly unconscious.
Vehicle Attack A car mowed down pedestrians in central Melbourne, adjacent to one of the city’s busiest transportation hubs. Car stopped Flinders street station Note: Path and location are approximate. Source: Google Earth (image); Victoria Police (path).
“The police arrived and dragged him from the car. There was a cop with a big gun, an [assault rifle] pointed at him,” Lachlan said.
The site will remain an active crime scene, state police said. Victoria Police said it would provide a strong presence into the night in central Melbourne.
The attack occurred near the location of a similar events in January, when a driver plowed through a pedestrian mall, killing four people and injuring 20 others. That act wasn’t terrorism-related.
The January incident, coming after terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.K. in which attackers used vehicles to mow down pedestrians, prompted Australia’s government and police countrywide to strengthen defenses in an effort to guard against vehicle-based attacks. Concrete or metal poles were erected at popular locations and more armed police have been patrolling the nation’s streets.
Earlier this month, police in Sydney began patrolling with military-style rifles for the first time. Other deterrent measures have included fences and additional installations of CCTV cameras, as well as improved screening procedures across the country.
Heavily armed officers had parts of central Melbourne locked down after Thursday’s incident, which occurred at the start of rush hour at about 4:30 p.m. local time, during the busy Christmas shopping period.
An ambulance-service spokesman said at least 13 people had been transported to hospitals.
“The intersection was full of pedestrians and he just plowed through,” one bystander, who gave his name only as Jim, told Australian television. “The only thing that slowed him down was him hitting pedestrians. There was no braking, there was no slowing down.”
Another witness, liquor-store attendant Elton Hindoli, said the incident occurred near a tram stop and that one man dragged from the car by police appeared to be unconscious.
“He hit the people, then crashed into the tram area in the middle of the road,” he told Melbourne radio.
“What occurred on Flinders Street this afternoon was an act of evil and an act of cowardice,” Premier Andrews said.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Twitter: “As our federal & state police & security agencies work together to secure the scene and investigate this shocking incident our thoughts & prayers are with the victims & the emergency & health workers who are treating them.”A new breed of entrepreneurs in the country stands ready to take advantage of a “first wind" effect that is driving the possibility of disproportionate returns in the consumer sector. There are four key trends that have picked up pace in the past decade and are contributing to this effect.
• Greater self-confidence: There is a new confidence in India, powered by a combination of rising incomes, the success of large Indian companies and a stronger sense of cultural identity. This confidence is translating into enthusiasm for Made for India products that are rooted in our history, culture and traditions. This is a complex phenomenon that cannot be dismissed as chest-thumping patriotism. Neither does it translate into pride in everything Indian, nor an unwillingness to examine our very real social and economic challenges. Instead, this is a confidence fed by the belief that our problems can and will be fixed in one or two generations, and by us.
A corollary of this self-belief is that a product or service that truly resonates with the Indian consumer is more likely to be embraced by her. In the past, indigenous products with an Indian feel and flavour were frequently discounted and rarely occupied premium positions in the consumer mindscape. That is no longer the case. Given product and service purity and an ability to convey these credentials to the consumer, an Indian brand can make deep inroads into both mind and market share.
Examples of this new kind of Indian company are easy to find around us. Companies such as Hector Beverages, the maker of traditional Indian beverages under the Paper Boat brand, and adventure gear maker Wildcraft India. They possess a very Indian ethos but have successfully combined this with modern narratives—around packaged beverages in the case of Paper Boat and outdoor adventure with Wildcraft—that appeal to their respective target groups. In the past, researchers would tout Gujarat as an unusual case study of a state where Indian brands were embraced and multinational ones less revered. What was true for Gujarat is becoming true for the rest of India.
• Confidence to take on the mighty: This underlying consumer confidence is infecting entrepreneurs as well those who, armed with ideas and capital, are increasingly more willing to shun safe niches and take on global Goliaths. We have seen this in the snacks category, for example, where companies such as Balaji Wafers, ITC and Prataap Snacks (Yellow Diamond) have introduced disruption and are emerging as market leaders in a category largely shaped by PepsiCo India over the past few decades. These three companies have challenged Pepsi’s position with its core offerings (chips and snacks) through business model innovation, a ‘world-class approach to product quality, taste and innovation’, and a willingness to experiment.
The aggression shown by Patanjali Ayurved in some of the categories where it has seen success—such as toothpaste and honey—is in a similar vein.
Interestingly, traditional Indian consumer goods companies such as Dabur and Haldiram’s, with a strong foothold in the Ayurvedic products and snacks categories respectively, have not shown the same chutzpah.
Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint
• A globally aware and influenced citizen: Even as traditional customer segments are becoming clichéd and less relevant in today’s India, we are seeing several global trends seeping into our society—earlier than expected given our consumer evolution stage. In food, for instance, India is embracing global ideas and practices regarding nutritive value, freshness and sourcing of ingredients (organic/natural/herbal) ahead of time. The slower growth of colas, as compared to juices, at a relatively nascent stage of the beverage market in India is a classic example of how we are leapfrogging category evolution. These trends are widespread and can be seen across India, although in varying degrees and forms. It could involve a middle-income household choosing Patanjali’s ayurvedic toothpaste over standard brands, or a more affluent one making the shift from conventional packaged juices to a “cold-pressed" juice such as from RAW Pressery. The driver is the same, but its manifestations vary. In apparel, we have seen a movement from ‘unorganized’ to ‘organized’, which has created successful ethnic brands such as BIBA, W or Global Desi. However, on the flip side, the “mix ’n’ match" fusion sensibility that they have enabled could also make it harder for them to stay differentiated and compete with the likes of Zara and H&M.
• The MNC conundrum of ‘think global, act local’: One of the factors for the extraordinary success of early multinationals in the consumer space in India was the freedom given to the local unit to shape the agenda and the market. This was the era of Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever)—the time when it fought Nirma with Wheel, and launched Fair & Lovely. Happily, for Indian entrepreneurs, this era ended when the country became an important and relevant part of the global business scene. The new era is defined by the notion of ‘thinking globally—from a product and value proposition perspective’ and ‘acting locally from an execution’ perspective.
Given that it is not always easy for multinational companies to implement or sustain this mindset across products and markets, it creates a white space for a smart entrepreneur. Take the example of deodorants where a rank outsider like Fogg became the market leader in 24 months, disrupting the category with the insight that the Indian male preferred a perfume over a deodorant. Once this option was available to him in an Indian product, he no longer had to settle for global products.
Similarly, while Hindustan Unilever continues to dominate the fairness product market, its now reluctant association with the category could create openings and white spaces for other companies.
The late launch of products such as moong dal and bhujia by Pepsi under their core brand umbrella of Kurkure in 2015 (a full 15 years after the launch of their chips business) is another example of refusing to think local. This kind of hesitation—while perhaps understandable for a large global multinational company with an extensive footprint—does create opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs armed with confidence, talent and capital.
We believe that the ultimate winners in any consumer category in India will be those who can ‘think and act’ local without compromising on product and service standards.
Over the next few years, we believe that there will be an extraordinary opportunity to create Made for India brands on the back of products custom-designed for the Indian consumer. The total market capitalization of the Indian consumer sector (multinational companies and old Indian brands) is currently at $157 billion and expected to grow to $378 billion in 10 years. This is the opportunity that is there for the new-age consumer entrepreneur to tap and exploit.
There is clearly enough of a first-wind effect in play to help launch them. Their flight and journey beyond that will be driven by the choices they make.
V.T. Bharadwaj is Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors.
(Disclaimer: Paper Boat, Wildcraft, Yellow Diamond, RAW and Fogg are brands owned by Sequoia portfolio companies.)
This article is the first in a three-part series on consumption trends in India and the potential opportunities they present for companies.By Printus LeBlanc
The FBI has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. Half the country is upset at the handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation and the announced outcome on July 5, 2016. The other half of the nation believes the Comey cost Clinton the election by declaring the FBI was reopening the investigation following the discovery of more emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer. And now it looks like the former FBI Director may have perjured himself.
What is perjury? Perjury is considered a crime against justice. These are crimes against “Justice” itself. These offenses include bribery, contempt of court, and perjury. The penalties for these crimes can be severe.
These offenses carry substantial penalties, including imprisonment. 18 U.S.C. 1621 states, “in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true; is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
There are three general federal perjury laws. 18 U.S.C. 1621, outlaws presenting material false statements under oath in official federal proceedings. 18 U.S.C. 1623, bars presenting material false statements under oath before or ancillary to federal court or grand jury proceedings, and finally 18 U.S.C. 1622 (subornation of perjury), prohibits inducing or procuring another to commit perjury in violation of either Section 1621 or Section 1623.
There is also a false statement statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. It outlaws false statements within the jurisdiction of a federal agency or department.
Perjury is very hard to prove. Not only do you have to show the person in question is lying, but it must also be determined the person knew the information was false. If someone misremembers or thought a blue shirt was black, that does not make it perjury.
The question being asked is, did James Comey perjure himself?
Following the exoneration of Mrs. Clinton, Comey was summoned to Capitol Hill to answer questions in September of 2016. The exchange between Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.) and Comey was particularly interesting:
Rep. Ratcliffe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director, did you make the decision not to recommend criminal charges relating to classified information before or after Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the FBI on July the 2nd?
Mr. Comey. After.
Seems like the right way to run an investigation. Collect all the facts from all the witness, then make a judgment. However, it didn’t end there.
The Senate continued to investigate the matter and found something that directly contradicts what Comey stated under oath. Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Charles Grassley (R-Neb.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sent a letter to the new Director of the FBI Christopher Wray asking for more documents and information. Part of the letter states, “According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton. That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts.”
As you can see this is clearly not what Comey stated before Congress.
The question becomes, was this misstatement intentional? At the very least it requires another trip to Capitol Hill for Comey and more questions. Is it a good idea to circulate a draft exonerating the person being investigated before the FBI interviews the person? Did Comey draft a statement stating his recommendation to indict Clinton? The whole episode has destroyed the trust the American people have in the FBI. It is up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take control and restore the reputation of the FBI.
Printus LeBlanc is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.School administrators at The Villages Elementary School of Lady Lake were in for quite a surprise this week when they were informed what was on the roof of the school.
The West Lake school had just released students who walk home Tuesday and was about to release students to go to the parent pick-up line when Principal Dave Bordenkircher's phone started ringing.
"I received a couple of calls from some of our parents who were in our car-rider line, and they said 'there is a monkey on the roof,'" Bordenkircher recalled. "I went out there and sure enough, there he was. I couldn't believe it."
Bordenkircher had to see for himself, so he walked outside, and sure enough a tan rhesus monkey was on the roof of the school. Under the watchful eye of parents, who were snapping photos of the primate, and administrators who couldn't believe what they were seeing, the monkey jumped down, scurried across the parking lot, crossed Rolling Acres Road, and disappeared into the woods.
"He was very calm and was just walking back and forth," Bordenkircher said. "I think when he felt there was too many people out there, he just hopped off the roof."
However, Lady Lake Animal Control Officer Denise Williams warned that rhesus monkeys are dangerous.
"They're hostile by nature," Williams said. "If you smile, look or stare at them, they'll more-than-likely attack."
The monkeys also carry a strain of a strain of the herpes B virus, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease is rare in humans but is typically transmitted through animal bites. It can result in severe brain damage or death.
Williams said she received a call by radio from a crossing guard who noticed the animal crossing the street.
She said that the monkey is more than likely wild, as pet monkeys are not allowed within the town limits of Lady Lake. Rhesus monkeys can travel several miles per day and with the seasons changing, it may have been migrating to find food, Williams said.
Although not native to the state, there is a surprising population of monkeys in Central Florida. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that the monkeys were first spotted in 1930, and had escaped from a tourist attraction in Silver Springs — which is about 25 miles north of the school.
Over time, the population has grown and roams Lake, Seminole and Marion counties, often in the canopies of trees.
Rhesus monkeys are native to Central and East Asia. Due to their opposable thumbs and quick wit, Williams said they are nearly impossible to trap because they can get out of most things they can get into.
"Most people don't notice them, and if they do it's such a quick glimpse they usually don't realize it," Williams said.
South Florida has populations of vervet and squirrel monkeys, which also escaped tourist attractions, FWC said.
In the halls of the school however, people can't stop talking about the monkey business.
"There has been a lot of chatter about that," Bordenkircher said. "We haven't seen him since."
rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5927PORTLAND, Ore. – City officials said Thursday that they will re-open an investigation into reports of hazing within the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s maintenance facility.
The renewed investigation comes a day after an article published by our news partners at Willamette Week that details a personnel investigation into employee hazing.
The report described incidents ranging from employees being bound with duct tape, to others getting welts from projectiles shot out of an air compressor.
City commissioner Dan Satlzman, who oversees the bureau, said he was “shocked and appalled” by the behaviors detailed in the report.
Saltzman told KATU’s Bob Heye that he would be reopening an investigation into the hazing incidents at PBOT with the goal of firing those who were responsible.
The commissioner said he signed disciplinary order, but was unaware of the extent of the hazing until the WW article came out.
"I was only aware of a few slices of that in the discipline letter I signed. The full breadth of it really shocks and appalls me, as I said. I think it's appropriate for this employee to be terminated," Saltzman said.
The renewed investigation could take weeks or up to a month to complete.
Russ Wilkinson, a former PBOT employee, filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries on March 23 claiming that he was fired in retaliation for taking part in the first hazing investigation.
Wilkinson’s complaint alleges that the person responsible for the hazing incidents was his former co-worker Jerry Munson. Munson’s brother, Lee Munson, is acting director for PBOT’s maintenance, the complaint said.
The WW article says employees felt they couldn’t report the incidents because of a culture where “you can’t snitch” on others in the bureau.
In his BOLI complaint, Wilkinson said that he asked for and received a transfer to a different PBOT department in January because co-workers harassed him for being a whistleblower. He was fired by PBOT a month later.
Wilkinson's complaint contends his firing amounts to "unlawful employment practices" and that the city "retaliated against me" by firing him.
Commissioner Saltzman says the renewed investigation will take a second look at that, as well.
PBOT released a statement saying in part, "we did take appropriate action to address this situation. Employee safety is of paramount concern to us, and we are taking steps to address the issues of hazing and bullying raised by this incident."
KATU News reached out to PBOT officials for an on-camera interview, however they declined our request.Paul Molitor's baseball intelligence and situational awareness helped make him a Hall of Fame player. Now the Twins are counting on their new manager to pass that knowledge on to his players.
Baseball IQ sounds like a nebulous term, though. What does that even mean? Don't most people in major league baseball know a lot about baseball?
Three high-profile Twins players were asked for specific examples that illustrate Molitor's advanced baseball intelligence:
Joe Mauer
"I was in A-ball. He was roving around [the minor league system]. I remember I was hitting third. I was sitting at the top of the dugout just next to him.
"He watched the pitcher throw seven or eight warm-up tosses. By the second pitch of the game, he knew every pitch the guy was throwing. That kind of opened up my eyes. I was 18, 19 years old at the time. I was like, 'You know what, I'm going to be around this guy and try and learn as much information as I can.' "
Brian Dozier
One day Molitor asked Dozier about his routine before the start of a road series. Dozier told him that he studies video of opposing pitchers that series and takes batting and infield practice.
Molitor gave Dozier a new routine, one that he followed as a player. It started with him getting to the ballpark early to study the field because conditions change throughout a season.
"First things first, he would take out five or 10 balls and roll them down the third base line from home plate just to see which way the grass was leaning that day," Dozier said. "Just to kind of see which way it was sloping that day. If he had to put down a drag bunt, he knew if he had to be closer to the pitcher or hit it harder to third, how thick the grass was."
Then Molitor moved to first base. He'd take an imaginary 14-foot lead and study the cut of the grass.
"The cut on the grass at first base is different at every park," Dozier said. "He would get his lead and then visualize where that cut on the grass is right beneath his feet. So he would know the cut of the grass is at my right foot in a 14-foot lead. He would say, 'OK, this is where my lead is tonight.' "
Does the cut of grass matter that much?
"One bunt every week adds up," Dozier said. "That's 23 more hits. That can make you a.280 hitter. He tries to find ways around everything to get that edge. The list goes on and on. That's why he has one of the best IQs that I've ever been around."
Glen Perkins
At spring training a few years ago, Molitor took a group of pitchers to first base to discuss base running.
"I know if I'm on first base, something went horribly wrong," Perkins said. "It would have been easy to not pay attention because, 'Ah, this doesn't apply to me.' "
Instead, Perkins found himself enthralled by Molitor's lesson about how to study outfielders' positioning and whether they're righthanded or lefthanded because that could mean the difference in an extra base.
"You need to know if they're righthanded or lefthanded so if they're running to a gap to get a ball, that they're going to have to turn and throw," Perkins said, recalling Molitor's message. "You have to know who is hitting, know where those guys are playing [in the field].
"All these little things he was talking about with pitchers about taking an extra base. We're probably never going to get on base, let alone take an extra base. But hearing him coach, hearing him talk about things he saw and thought about when he played, it was amazing. It was very entertaining listening to him and his thought process on the field."Jedidiah Becker for redOrbit.com — Your Universe Online
Take a glance at the arc of human civilization. As just a few notable achievements, you might start with the discovery of agriculture before moving on to survey the architectural marvels of the ancient world, the revolution of Gutenberg´s printing press and finally landing on the modern ubiquity of rapidly evolving computer technology. This view tends to give a sense that the human intellect may have a nearly limitless potential to master nature — Hannah Arendt´s Homo faber, “man the creator.” And that may well be the |
, and not only have jobs but also make an above-average income. So why aren’t they marrying the women of Promises I Can Keep? Well, first of all, they’re unlikely to meet those women: both the women of Promises I Can Keep and my friends typically spend time around people of their own class background. They probably don’t even use the same dating sites.
Even if they do meet, they might not be particularly interested in each other. My friends probably don’t want to help raise two or three children that are not genetically related to them, and they certainly don’t want to raise children with someone who thinks not spanking is neglectful. They probably don’t want to devote a significant fraction of their income to helping their wife’s poor relatives fix their cars and pay the rent. They don’t want a partner who thinks that homeopathy is an appropriate treatment and that her new husband is due to God rewarding her for donating to her church. They would like a partner who reads books and blogs and who is able to participate in a discussion about trolley problems or Magic: the Gathering. I don’t know the culture of the women of Promises I Can Keep well enough to know what their dealbreakers about my friends are (see: spending time around people of your own class background), but I’m pretty sure they also have them.
To be clear, these are all totally reasonable preferences to have! In fact, it is good to have these preferences! You should marry someone whom you can talk to and who shares your interests and values and worldview; you shouldn’t raise children with someone unless you agree on parenting philosophy, at least in broad strokes; if you’d feel super-resentful about some aspect of your relationship, don’t get in the relationship. (Of course, it’s also great if you do want to help raise your partner’s children and help their impoverished relatives.) But it does mean that my friends and the women of Promises I Can Keep are unlikely to have happy relationships with each other.
For every man who can’t find a partner, there is approximately one woman who also can’t find a partner. (This is pretty obvious in the Promises I Can Keep case, which is balanced by a large number of incel or situationally homosexual men from those neighborhoods, who are in prison.) However, it is very unlikely that you will be able to have a happy relationship with her, or otherwise you already would. Sorry.
V.
The other important aspect of the incel problem is shyness. In my anecdotal experience, it is hard to overestimate the importance of shyness in keeping incel people of the sort who are likely to read this blog post incel.
Lots of incel people don’t have many friends to begin with, so they don’t get a lot of opportunities to meet people they might want to date in the first place. The odds are very much not in their favor. Even if they do have friends, lots of incels are shy specifically about flirting: they’re afraid of being seen as creepy or making people feel uncomfortable; they don’t know what to do, and it’s frightening. It is extremely common in my experience for incels to be so scared of flirting that they accidentally give off I-am-not-enjoying-this-please-stop body language, which means that even getting hit on isn’t necessarily a solution; interested people are likely to notice that they’re uncomfortable and disengage.
Incels are often advised that confidence is attractive. I’m not sure if this is true in the general case, but for incels I think that becoming more confident will, in fact, increase their chances of getting laid. This isn’t because people find confidence attractive (although many people do), but instead because incels are constantly self-sabotaging because of their own insecurity. Of course, being confident in your own attractiveness as an incel is sort of like trying to fly by tugging firmly on your shoelaces.
This is another reason why you can have both women and men who can’t find a romantic partner. If they never meet each other because they’re both holed up in their rooms reading the Kingkiller Chronicles, if they never hit on each other because they’re afraid of coming off as creepy, or if one of them works up the nerve to flirt with the other only to flee because they assume the other’s terrified body language is a rejection, you can have two people who would have a quite happy relationship both be lonely.
VI.
The worst part of the incel problem is how hard redistribution is.
Like, it’s super-easy to redistribute money. You take it from rich people and give it from poor people. There are, of course, implementation problems, but the principle is simple.
But you can’t really redistribute love.
If it were possible, I would happily take the Caring What We Can Pledge to give ten percent of the love and care I experience to those in need. But I can’t. My husband and my friends love me; there is no way to make their love for me become love of someone else. And I’ve learned that providing emotional support to someone out of obligation, when I don’t like them as a person, leads to burnout which leaves them worse off than they were when they started. Besides, most people want to be loved for themselves and not treated as an object of pity.
It still saddens me.
AdvertisementsThe humble banana almost seems like a miracle of nature. Colourful, nutritious, and much cherished by children, monkeys and clowns, it has a favoured position in the planet’s fruitbowls. The banana is vitally important in many regions of the tropics, where different parts of the plant are used for clothing, paper and tableware, and where the fruit itself is an essential dietary staple. People across the globe appreciate the soft, nourishing flesh, the snack-sized portions, and the easy-peel covering that conveniently changes colour to indicate ripeness. Individual fruit—or fingers—sit comfortably in the human hand, readily detached from their close-packed companions. Indeed, the banana appears almost purpose-designed for efficient human consumption and distribution. It is difficult to conceive of a more fortuitous fruit.
The banana, however, is a freakish and fragile genetic mutant; one that has survived through the centuries due to the sustained application of selective breeding by diligent humans. Indeed, the “miraculous” banana is far from being a no-strings-attached gift from nature. Its cheerful appearance hides a fatal flaw— one that threatens its proud place in the grocery basket. The banana’s problem can be summed up in a single word: sex.
The banana plant is a hybrid, originating from the mismatched pairing of two South Asian wild plant species: Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Between these two products of nature, the former produces unpalatable fruit flesh, and the latter is far too seedy for enjoyable consumption. Nonetheless, these closely related plants occasionally cross-pollinate and spawn seedlings which grow into sterile, half-breed banana plants. Some ten thousand years ago, early human experimenters noted that some of these hybridized Musa bore unexpectedly tasty, seedless fruit with an unheard-of yellowness and inexplicably amusing shape. They also proved an excellent source of carbohydrates and other important nutrients.
A seed-packed wild musa (banana)
Despite the hybrid’s unfortunate sexual impotence, shrewd would-be agriculturalists realised that the plants could be cultivated from suckering shoots and cuttings taken from the underground stem. The genetically identical progeny produced this way remained sterile, yet the new plant could be widely propagated with human help. An intensive and prolonged process of selective breeding—aided by the variety of hybrids and occasional random genetic mutations—eventually evolved the banana into its present familiar form. Arab traders carried these new wonderfruit to Africa, and Spanish conquistadors relayed them onwards to the Americas. Thus the tasty new banana was spared from an otherwise unavoidable evolutionary dead-end.
Today, bananas and their close relatives, the starchy plantains, grow in a number of different varieties or cultivars. Among temperate palates, the most familiar is the Cavendish, a shapely and sweet-tasting dessert banana. This is the banana found in the supermarkets, splits, and milkshakes of the developed world. It is exported on an industrial scale from commercial plantations in the tropics. Every Cavendish is genetically identical, possessing the same pleasant taste (which is somewhat lacking in more subtle flavours according to banana aficionados). They also all share the same potential for yellow curvaceousness and the same susceptibility to disease.
Although there are numerous other banana and plantain varieties cultivated for local consumption in Africa and Asia, none has the same worldwide appeal as the Cavendish. While these other varieties display more genetic variability, all come from the same sterile Musa hybrids which so delighted our forebears thousands of years ago. Likewise none of them have enjoyed the benefits of the frenzied gene-shuffling facilitated by sexual congress.
Stuck with the clunky, inefficient cloning of asexual reproduction, the sterile banana is at a serious disadvantage in the never-ending biological arms race between plant and pest. Indeed, it is a well-established fact that bananas are particularly prone to crop-consuming insects and diseases. A severe outbreak of banana disease could easily spread through the genetically uniform plantations, devastating economies and depriving our fruitbowls. Varieties grown for local consumption would also suffer, potentially causing mass starvation in tropical regions.
Banana bunches in protective isolation.
This scenario may seem preposterous, but researchers all over the world are earnestly exploring the possibility. The custodians of the beloved banana are all too aware of the potential for a banana apocalypse— because it has already happened in the fruit’s past. And the next time could be much worse.
Until the middle of the twentieth century, most bananas on sale in the developed world belonged to the Gros Michel cultivar. These bananas were sweet and tasty and didn’t spoil too quickly, making them eminently suitable for commercial export. Old-timers contend that in flavour and convenience, the Gros Michel outshone even the current top-banana, the Cavendish. Yet from the early twentieth century, large plantations of ‘Big Mike’ proved increasingly fertile ground for a fungal leaf affliction known as Panama disease. Affected crops would soon deteriorate into rotting piles of unprofitable vegetation. As the century progressed, commercial growers found themselves in a desperate race against time, making doomed attempts to establish new plantations in disease-free areas of rainforest before the fungus arrived.
In the 1950s the Vietnamese Cavendish came to the rescue. Banana companies delayed switching from Big Mike for as long as possible due to the necessary changes in growing, storage, and ripening infrastructure, and many producers teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. As Big Mike started pushing up daisies, banana plantations frantically reconfigured, and by the mid 1960s the changeover was largely complete. The distinct—and now extinct—taste of Big Mike was quickly lost to the fickle public memory. Cavendish was king.
It has done a sterling job in the intervening years, yet now the Cavendish is starting to struggle in its own contest against contagion. In the 1970s a disease named Black Sigatoka was beaten back with enthusiastic applications of pesticide, but more recently a new strain of the original bane of the banana has threatened the plantations. Since 1992 a vigorous, pesticide-tolerant strain of Panama disease has been wiping out bananas—including previously resistant crops of Cavendish—in Southeast Asia. It has yet to reach the large commercial plantations in Latin America, but most banana-watchers believe that this is only a matter of time.
A navel orange and its underdeveloped siamese twin
Opinions differ on how long the Cavendish can survive the new onslaught, and on the best way to tackle the threat. This time, unfortunately, there is no obvious back-up variety waiting in the wings. So far, banana science has provided scant few approaches for improving disease resistance. One method involves the traditional techniques of selective breeding: although banana plants are clones, very occasionally they can be persuaded to produce seeds through a painstaking process of hand pollination. Only one fruit in three hundred will produce a seed, and of these seeds only one in three will have the correct chromosomal configuration to allow germination. The seeds are laboriously extracted by straining tons of mashed fruit through fine meshes. Research stations in commercial banana growing countries, such as Honduras, engage large squads of banana sex workers for such tasks, and to screen the new plant varieties for favourable characteristics.
Another fruit subject to such human-assisted reproduction is the ubiquitous navel orange. It, too, was the result of a serendipitous mutation, this one from an orange tree in Brazil in the mid-1800s. Each orange on this particular tree was found to have a tiny, underdeveloped twin sharing its skin, causing a navel-like formation opposite the stem. These strange siamese citruses were much sweeter than the fruit of their parent trees, and delightfully seedless. Since the new tree was unable to reproduce naturally, caretakers amputated some of its limbs and grafted them onto other citrus trees to produce more of the desirable fruit. Even today navel oranges are produced through such botanical surgery, and all of the navel oranges everywhere are direct descendants—essentially genetic clones—of those from that original tree.
As for the Cavendish, its last best hope may lie in genetic modification (GM). The University of Leuven in Belgium is a world centre in banana research due to its colonial connections with Africa. Belgian banana scientists have become skilled in using DNA-transfer to introduce disease-resistance genes directly into the plant’s genome. These less labour-intensive methods promise a way to develop stronger, fitter, happier and more productive bananas.
"Fruity Flash" by José Mª Andrés Martín. Prints available.
In 2007, Ugandan field trials of the first Leuven uber-banana were announced, although public distaste of the idea of GM foods may impede its long term success. And in Honduras, researchers have developed a banana cultivar named ‘Goldfinger’ through traditional selective breeding methods. Although it has enjoyed some public acceptance in Australia, it suffers from the drawbacks of a distinctly different, non-Cavendish flavour, and a longer maturation time. If nothing else, these advances offer hope that science will one day overcome the unfortunate sexual inadequacies of the banana. Let us hope so, otherwise the resulting bananageddon will ensure that the Cavendish goes the way of Big Mike, and future generations of fruit lovers will have to find some other curved yellow food to complement their ice cream.- Advertisement -
James Kwak has the best idea I've heard this week: solve the toxic asset problem by give those assets to bank executives as bonuses.
As Kwak writes:
Why not say that all bank compensation above a baseline amount - say, $150,000 in annual salary - has to be paid in toxic assets off the bank's balance sheet? Instead of getting a check for $10,000, the employee would get $10,000 in toxic assets, at their current book value.... That would get the assets off the bank's balance sheet, and into the hands of the people responsible for putting them there - at the value that they insist they are worth... think about the incentives: talented people will flow to the companies that are valuing their assets the most realistically (since inflated valuations translate directly into lower compensation), which will give companies the incentive to be realistic in their valuations.
Of course, there's an argument that the executives' base salary should be paid in toxic assets as well. Since these fatcats don't seem to be motivated to run their companies well so as to save the economy and the people, maybe having their own salaries on the line will motivate them. But if you believe that is too harsh, at least demand that their bonuses be paid in this way.
Share this idea with your elected officials in Washington."Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver on Sunday took aim at InfoWars founder Alex Jones, slamming the conspiracy theorist for the products he sells to fund his show.
Oliver pointed out Jones spends nearly a quarter of his show peddling products to his listeners like Combat One moist towelettes and Wake Up America Patriot Blend coffee. Other products that Oliver highlighted included one that had trace amounts of “comet” and a “Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonInviting Kim Jong Un to Washington Howard Schultz must run as a Democrat for chance in 2020 Trump says he never told McCabe his wife was 'a loser' MORE rape whistle” that came with a free “9-11 Was an Inside Job” bumper sticker.
Oliver said that about two-thirds of funding for Jones’s show comes from selling the products and that Jones often tells listeners that he can barely keep the show going unless they buy the products on his site. Jones told NBC’s Megan Kelly during an interview last month that it costs $45 million to $50 million to run InfoWars.
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“Jones would have you believe every penny they earn is being plowed back into a show that looks like it’s being filmed on a low-budget porn parody of itself,” Oliver said, adding that Jones owns multiple Rolex watches.
Oliver also pointed out that the medical expert Jones often brings onto the show to help market the products, Dr. Edward Group III, claims to have a degree from MIT but actually attended Texas Chiropractic College.
“This man does not look like a MIT alumnus, he looks like a fifth-year senior at the university of falling off a surfboard,” Oliver joked.
Watch the full segment in the video above.A Greek F-16 fighter jet crashed into other aircraft on the ground during NATO training in southeastern Spain Monday, killing at least 10 people, Spain's Defense Ministry said.
Another 13 people were injured in the incident at the Los Llanos base, which sent flames and a plume of black smoke billowing into the air, the ministry said in a statement. Seven were in serious condition, one person was treated and released from hospital, while the conditions of the five others were not disclosed.
Most victims were not believed to be Spaniards but military personnel from other NATO member countries participating in the program, according to a Defense Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry rules preventing him from being named.
Based on initial reports, there were no US personnel killed but an unknown number were treated for minor injuries, said Air Force Lt. Col. Vanessa Hillman, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Nine of the injured were Italians taking part in the training course, the Italian defense ministry said in a statement. Seven suffered slight injuries but the conditions of two were still being assessed at a hospital.
The two-seat jet was taking off but lost thrust and crashed into an area of the base where other aircraft involved in the NATO exercise were parked, the Spanish Defense Ministry said. The Italian statement said "numerous" helicopters were damaged.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was "deeply saddened by the crash of a Greek fighter jet at the Los Llanos base in Spain, which has caused many casualties."
He did not specify their nationalities in a statement, but called the crash "a tragedy that affects the whole NATO family."
The Spanish ministry said the jet that crashed was taking part in a NATO training exercise called the Tactical Leadership Program.
The 10 NATO countries that participate in TLP are Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States.
According to a US Air Force Website, TLP was formed in 1978 by NATO's Central Region air forces to advance their tactical capabilities and produce tactics, techniques and procedures that improve multi-national tactical air operations.
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The first TLP course took place at Fuerstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany. It has been held at the Spanish base since June 2009.
The Los Llanos base is near the southeastern Spanish city of Albacete, about a two and a half hour drive from Madrid.Saaremaa-based Estonian boat manufacturer Baltic Workboats has delivered its first boat made for the U.S. market, a Pilot 1500 WP wave-piercing boat, to the Port Everglades pilot center, which serves some of the world's biggest freighters and cruise ships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
"The U.S. market is a relatively tight-knit market, the gaining of entry into which has not been easy," Baltic Workboats CEO Margus Vanaselja said in a press release, adding that the company attached all the more value to this breakthrough as a result. "We have gained new experience and see very great potential here. This is confirmed by the big interest in other boats of our model range."
According to Vanaselja, the company will be taking part in the International Workboat Show in the U.S. this week to showcase its product offerings.
Also demonstrative of positive feedback and interest on the American market is an invitation the Estonian company received to give a presentation at a conference of the American Pilots' Association, where the company can showcase its entire range of pilot boats, said Joel Rang, head of sales and marketing at Baltic Workboats.
The company has invested more than €1 million over the years in developing the Pilot 1500 WP, currently one of the most state-of-the-art workboats. The boat comes with a remote administration system that enables one to follow developments on the boat from shore.
Baltic Workboats is an Estonian capital-based company which produces steel and aluminum workboats. The company's product portfolio includes pilot and patrol boats, ferries, tug boats, catamarans as well as other kinds of workboats.
The company, whose revenue increased 11.5 percent to €27 million in 2016, employs approximately 200 people.From tiny seeds, allegations that Usenet provider Giganews is actually an FBI-run operation spread far and wide last week. Now, in an attempt to quieten the wild claims and maintain privacy, Giganews sister company Data Foundry has sent a DMCA notice to the Internet Archive to have a several stored files removed.
On the morning of September 11, 2014, TorrentFreak was greeted with one of the most unusual emails we’ve ever received.
Sent from an alleged former employee of Giganews who identified himself as Nick Caputo, the email contained serious allegations about his former employer. Caputo told us that he’d begun working at the company in 2009 and as a “huge pirate” he loved to help people download “all the rich multimedia content they could.” But that was just the beginning.
The email outlined Caputo’s rise through the company through two quick promotions in two-and-a-half years. However, it quickly descended into allegations that far from being a straight-down-the-line newsgroup provider, Giganews is in fact an FBI-run operation. Caputo says he discovered this after getting into a dispute with the company about removing child abuse material and elevating his complaint to the FBI.
TorrentFreak decided not to run with the story, despite clear indications that Caputo is who he claimed he was. The story, which had plenty of detail, just didn’t hold up on its own. There was plenty of ‘evidence’ provided but the problem was that none of it added up to a level of proof that we’d be prepared to stand behind.
But four days later and after being contacted by Caputo, Cryptome published the email and documents originally sent to TorrentFreak and possibly others.
The story quickly spread around dozens of sites including Reddit and HackerNews forcing Giganews to respond, acknowledging that Caputo was indeed a former employee but denying the allegations.
“This is a hoax. These allegations are 100% false,” the company wrote.
“Unfortunately, since his termination, the poster has periodically posted versions of this information online. Sometimes, he tries to misrepresent himself as our CEO and sometimes he posts as himself.”
With Giganews criticizing Cryptome for publishing the allegations, Caputo it seemed was not giving up. The archive of evidence originally offered to TF found itself uploaded to Internet Archive from where Caputo hoped it would be spread far and wide.
However, according to a new email published by Cryptome, that has now been brought to halt by the issuing of a DMCA notice.
Subject: archive.org item subject to copyright claim
From:”Internet Archive”
Date:Sep 18, 2014 9:41:11 PM Hello, Access to the item at https://archive.org/details/giganews-fbi has been disabled following receipt by Internet Archive of a copyright claim submitted on behalf of Data Foundry, Inc (datafoundry.com). The claim was submitted with information and statements requested by Internet Archive’s Copyright Policy (posted at https://archive.org/about/terms.php near the bottom of the page). If you have questions regarding the claim, please let us know. Sincerely, The Internet Archive Team
While Giganews clearly thinks the contents of the archive are defamatory, one has to dig into the details to see where the company has a copyright claim over the file.
That can be found in a dump of employee contact details which documents show were obtained from Data Foundry’s intranet. Each employee card has a photograph attached and those are likely to have been taken by a company employee in company time.
Also included in the dump is a Giganews appraisal of Caputo’s performance during 2010. It was authored by a manager and the rights to the form will most likely sit with the company. While Giganews would probably write something different today, four years ago the company felt that Caputo was “the go-to guy” for getting stuff done on nights, ranking his overall performance as “exceeding” the standard required.
“Giganews is in the impossible position of proving a negative,” the company said in a statement.
“If we say our list of employees does not include any FBI employees, then they must be ‘using false identities.’ If we say the named FBI operatives don’t look like any of our employee photos, ‘the pictures must have been altered.’ Even the denial itself is used as further evidence of the truth of the accusation. In a court of law, such an accusation would never stand up to scrutiny, but on the Open Internet, opinions can be formed by only a few words on a popular website.”
Whether the allegations will now calm down and go away is anyone’s guess, but a DMCA notice to one of the many sources of the file is unlikely to make it disappear forever.FLASHBACK: Obama Credits 1965 Selma March for Inspiring His Birth… In 1961
Barack Obama marched with New Black Panthers at the Selma rally in 2007.
Shock Photos!
New Panther National Chief Malik Zulu Shabazz is seen speaking at the rally on the left. Then Obama speaks to the Selma crowd at the same rally.
This was the same visit to Selma where Obama credited the 1965 marchers with empowering his black father and white mother to marry… Obama was born in 1961. He was off by 4 years when the Selma march took place. But, it made a good speech.
Here is his political speech inside the church.
Michelle Malkin reported:
*Obama has as much trouble with numbers as he has with maps. Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement: “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.” Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965. His spokesman, Bill Burton, later explained that Obama was “speaking metaphorically about the civil rights movement as a whole.”Kyocera
Kyocera keeps on coming with smartphones designed to withstand general abuse as well as life's hazards. The entry-level Kyocera Hydro Wave, announced Wednesday, will call both T-Mobile and MetroPCS home.
Military specification ratings IP57 and 810G ratings, mean that the Hydro Wave protects its inner hardware against dust, water, drops and more. Kyocera also designed the 5-inch qHD display to work with your wet fingers, which is perfect for swimming pool selfies and making calls from splashy terrain.
Powered by the current Android version, 5.1 Lollipop, the Hydro Wave's hardware is humble, like the 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.
In terms of cameras, the back of the phone has a 5-megapixel sensor capable of recording 720p video, while the front houses a 2-megapixel shooter. Rounding things out, the smartphone comes with WiFi Calling, VoLTE and HD Voice support.
T-Mobile will carry the Hydro Wave starting July 22 with a $150 price tag. Customers interested in splitting up costs can do so at a rate of $6.25 per month for two years. MetroPCS sales start a few days later on July 27 offering an instant rebate that drops the price down to $39.A group of immigrants who oppose the monarchy and have refused to become Canadian citizens because it involves swearing allegiance to the Queen will not have a chance to make their case in the Supreme Court of Canada.
The top court declined on Thursday to hear a constitutional challenge from three permanent residents in the Toronto area who have refused to swear the citizenship oath, meaning they cannot become Canadians and vote. As is customary, the court did not offer reasons for its decision.
Immigrants seeking citizenship are required to swear to "be faithful and bear true allegiance to Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, her Heirs and Successors," an oath the three people say violates their constitutional rights to freedom of expression and religion.
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They were trying to challenge an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling issued last August that the group was wrong to take the oath literally. That decision, citing previous Canadian court rulings, held that new citizens are not swearing allegiance to the Queen herself and that "the reference to the Queen is symbolic of our form of government and the unwritten constitutional principle of democracy."
That ruling, written by Justice Karen Weiler for the three-judge appeal panel, also held that a citizenship ceremony does not violate the appellants' freedom of expression because "they have the opportunity to publicly disavow what they consider to be the message conveyed by the oath" after they take it.
That's the odd course of action being considered by at least one of the appellants, University of Toronto math professor Dror Bar-Natan, a Princeton-educated Israeli and U.S. citizen who has lived in Canada since 2002.
"I think it is silly," he said of the notion of taking a vow and then publicly disavowing it. "I misunderstood the law in Canada. I thought vows had meaning."
While his wife and two university-aged sons have taken the oath, he has refused despite being eligible for citizenship. He acknowledges that the role of the monarchy is only a "minor thing" in Canada, but says swearing allegiance to a hereditary head of state still offends him.
"It used to be slaves were slaves, peasants were peasants, royalty were royalty," Prof. Bar-Natan said. "Much of it got erased, but a little bit remains, and I find this little bit extremely disturbing."
The other permanent residents behind the case include Irish-born retired journalist Michael McAteer, who has lived in Canada since 1964, and Simone Topey, a Rastafarian who claims swearing the oath to the Queen would violate her freedom of religion.
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Peter Rosenthal, a lawyer for the group, argues it is unfair that native-born Canadians – significant percentages of whom oppose the monarchy, according to polls – are not required to betray their views and swear allegiance to the Queen.
His clients' only options are swearing oaths they intend to disavow, or trying to persuade the federal government to change the law. While the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien contemplated rewriting the oath in the 1990s, a change now is unlikely given the monarchist bent of the Conservatives under Stephen Harper, who have restored the word "royal" to parts of the armed forces and ordered portraits of the Queen displayed in embassies.
Government lawyers on the oath case last year argued those who oppose Canada's "foundational constitutional structure" should not be entitled to become citizens and vote. A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander welcomed the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case, calling the oath a "pledge of mutual responsibility."
The Harper government is involved in another legal battle over the rules of citizenship ceremonies, vowing to challenge a recent Federal Court ruling that overturned a ban on wearing the face-covering niqab by Muslim women while taking the citizenship oath.NEW DELHI: Making high-speed Internet available to millions of Indians who travel through railway stations everyday, the Indian Railways’ arm RailTel which provides Internet services as RailWire via its extensive fiber network, today announced the launch of free high-speed public Wi-Fi service in partnership with Google at Mumbai Central. The project was announced last September during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Google headquarters in Mountain View.Google has committed to work with Indian Railways and RailTel to expand the network quickly to cover 100 of the busiest stations by end of this year and will eventually roll out the service in 400 railway stations across India. Even with just the first 100 stations online, this project will make Wi-Fi available to millions of Indians - who pass through railway stations every day, making it the largest public Wi-Fi project in India and among the largest in the world by number of potential users, according to a statement by the company.Railwire Wi-Fi will be available to any user who has a working mobile connection on a smartphone. Users will be able to easily stream a high definition video while they're waiting, research their destination, or save some videos for offline viewing, download a book or a new game for the journey.Commenting on the launch, chairman and managing director of Railtel RK Bahuguna said, "Our intent was to fulfill Indian Railways vision of providing Railway passengers access to high speed Internet through our Optical fiber communication network. Affordable smartphones have made it possible for the common men to experience the power of Internet. With our partnership with Google, we are very confident of rolling out a robust, scalable service at Railway stations in the near future."Speaking at the launch, Rajan Anandan, VP & Managing Director, Google South East Asia and India said, "We're delighted to launch India's first high speed public Wi-Fi service in partnership with Indian Railways. Bringing affordable Internet access to millions of people is an important part of making the Internet both easily accessible and useful for more than 300 million Indians who are already online, and the nearly one billion more who are not. By end of this year over 10 million people will be able to enjoy this experience at 100 stations spread across the country."Holy crap! My Santa gave me, at a rough approximation, all the things. Besides all the cool stuff just for me--Gravity Falls Journal Number Three (which I've been wanting for a LONG time), the Total Rickall card game (can't wait to try it out with friends), and two packages of Reese's Cups (one of which is already GONE)--Santa hooked up the other members of my household as well! I mentioned that my wife loves trying out local seasonal snacks, and Santa sent her four goodies. As for the furry residents, there's a bag of treats and a couple of dingle balls for them to chase around. (I'm grateful now, but when three a.m. rolls around and the kitties are going nuts, we'll see.)
I also loved the hand-drawn decorations on the box, as well as the handwritten notes on and in the box. Those personal touches always make me happy :-) If I had to make one complaint, however, I'd say my Santa is crazy for apologizing that (s)he "couldn't do more with [my] gift." Seriously, if this is your minimal, what do you do when you want to go all-out, give a guy your kidney? ;-) Santa, your first exchange was perfect, and my wife and I could not be happier. Welcome to Redditgifts, and I hope your Santa tried to be as awesome to you and your family as you were to me and mine. Merry Christmas, my friend!A New Mexico firefighter, Matthew Sanchez, has resigned from the city's dispatch centre after telling a 911 caller who was trying to keep alive a gunshot victim to "deal with it yourself."
"An internal investigation has been initiated," Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey said Monday in a statement. "I am taking the allegation very seriously."
The call was made after Jaydon Chavez-Silver, 17, was shot in June as he watched other teens play cards at a friend's house in Albuquerque. He later died. Police have not named a suspect and have made no arrests.
'I am keeping him alive!'
In the recording obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, the panicked caller snaps at the dispatcher for repeatedly asking whether Chavez-Silver is breathing.
During the call, the female says, "I am keeping him alive!"
Sanchez asks, "Is he not breathing?"
The caller responds, "Barely!"
She is then heard frantically encouraging Chavez-Silver to keep breathing.
"One more breath! One more breath!" she is heard telling the teen. "There you go Jaydon. One more breath! There you go Jaydon. Good job! Just stay with me, OK? OK?"
The dispatcher then asks again, "Is he breathing?"
The female responded, "He is barely breathing, how many times do I have to (expletive) tell you?"
"OK, you know what ma'am? You can deal with it yourself. I am not going to deal with this, OK?" the dispatcher says.
It seemed from the tape that Sanchez hung up on the caller in mid-sentence.
"No, my friend is dying..," she said as the call ended.
A spokesman for Jaydon's family said they're astonished at the call, but want to focus on finding their son's killer.Lynne Murray says:
I like to read urban paranormal novels in part because the heroines demonstrate their power in a very literal way. The magic used in these stories, which causes visible effects, is sometimes accompanied by fictional “power words.” This post is about real-life power words.
I can’t write from first-hand experience about wounds inflicted by bullies. I don’t have the deep wounds of those who were literally battered and verbally attacked on a daily basis, often under the eyes of uncaring adults.
However, I do remember the day I stopped doing yoga in front of people because I was attacked by someone I trusted and thought of as a friend. The parallel sprang into focus when I ran across a Facebook post from Lauri Owen attributed to Don Miguel Ruiz:
People think that a spell sounds something like “Abracadabra.” Mexican shaman Don Miguel Ruiz proposes that real magic spells sound more like “nice girl |
to what happened under Stalin:
Of course, millions could not escape Stalin’s Great Terror. Included among those affected by the purges were hundreds of thousands of children whose parents disappeared into the bowels of Lubyanka. Made orphans by the state, these children of “enemies of the people” became wards of the state. The lucky were taken in by brave relatives or merely dispatched to “children’s homes” (detdomy / детдомы); the less fortunate were swept up into the network of children’s prison labor camps that had emerged in the the mid 1930s. [2]
I offer that HR2232 is the slipperiest of all slopes heading in the direction of everything un-American, un-Constitutional and definitely posturing drumbeats of totalitarianism, which is defined as
a political system in which the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible. [3] [CJF emphasis added]
Either Congresswoman Wilson’s American dream has turned into a nightmare affecting everyone or she’s been visited by too many Big Pharma lobbyists. If ever there were a proposed piece of legislation that needs to be opposed, HR2232 is it!
Instead of HR2232, there is legislation that definitely needs to be introduced:
Make the U.S. CDC/FDA responsible for performing safety tests, independent of Big Pharma and vaccine manufacturers, confirming all vaccines are guaranteed not to cause cancer or birth defects or impede fertility and prevent reproduction. Prohibit vaccines from containing Thimerosal [49.6% ethylmercury], aluminum in any of 4 formulations, formaldehyde, plus other toxic and cancer-causing chemicals or neurotoxins during any stage of vaccine manufacture. Prohibit Big Pharma from gifting members of Congress political campaigns.
Just in case readers need a reminder about what’s at stake with vaccines, and forced vaccinations, the folks at Vaccine Liberation Army created a public service PowerPoint presentation that drives home serious issues that federal and state health agencies constantly push under a “consensus rug” or as coincidental.
Slide 30 points out something very interesting—and even factual about vaccines; the information is taken from none other than St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital “Inpatient Visiting Guidelines.” [4] Here’s what St Jude’s has to say: Slide 30 points out something very interesting—and even factual about vaccines; the information is taken from none other than St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital “Inpatient Visiting Guidelines.” [4]
For an immune-suppressed child, the risk of infection from a live, attenuated virus vaccine is small compared to the risk of infection from exposure to someone with a vaccine-preventable disease. It is still recommended for your immune suppressed child:
To avoid contact with a person who has a rash after recently receiving the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine.
To avoid contact with a person who has received an intranasal flu vaccine within one week. This applies only if your child is severely immune suppressed, such as in the hospital after a recent bone marrow transplant. There is no similar risk with the inactivated, injectable flu vaccine.
If a household contact (infant) has recently received rotavirus vaccination, all family members should wash their hands thoroughly and frequently after contact with the vaccinated infant, especially when changing diapers.
Household contacts should not receive the oral polio vaccine. Note that the oral polio vaccine is not used in the United States. [4]
What does that tell you? It says unequivocally that recently vaccinated individuals can spread the very diseases they have been vaccinated against! So, if vaccines were so ‘safe’ and ‘fool-proof’, why should parents be concerned about unvaccinated children? It’s the vaccinated who are spreading diseases and also contracting the very diseases for which they have been vaccinated. Here’s some interesting spin about whooping cough, which readers may find somewhat amusing for its apparent attempt at ‘circular’ logic. Wikipedia defines circular logic as “a logical fallacy in which the reasoner begins with what they are trying to end with.”
On slide 11 we see every parent’s worst nightmare: a vaccine-induced adverse event. The photograph below is that of Ian Gromowski. This poor child died at 47 days old, never having left the hospital after a severe reaction to his Hepatitis B shot—a vaccine that is medically unnecessary unless the birth mother tested positive for Hepatitis B, in my opinion. Hepatitis B is contracted via dirty street drugs needles and sexual activity!
The USA has now reached what Dr. Benjamin Rush, MD, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, feared when he said, “The Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for medical freedom. To restrict the art of healing to one class will constitute the Bastille [famous French prison in 1700s] of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic.” The USA has now reached what Dr. Benjamin Rush, MD, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, feared when he said, “The Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for medical freedom. To restrict the art of healing to one class will constitute the Bastille [famous French prison in 1700s] of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic.”
Congresswoman Wilson’s HR2232 seems to fit that definition.
References:
[1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2232/text
[2] http://scottwpalmer.com/stalinism/blog/childrens-world
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism
[4] http://www.stjude.org/stjude
Resource:
As whooping cough grows, study finds vaccine wanes
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/as-whooping-cough-grows-study-finds-vaccine-wanes/The nonprofit owner of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville filed for bankruptcy, blocking a foreclosure auction that was scheduled to take place late last month and leaving in flux the ultimate fate of the space museum and neighboring Wings & Waves Waterpark.
The Michael King Smith Foundation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 26, court documents show. Lisa Anderson, trustee for the foundation, said in the filings that the foundation still owes more than $2.2 million to Portland-based Hoffman Construction Co.
The foundation and Delford Smith, the late patriarch of the Evergreen operation, already paid the company in excess of $150 million for "development and construction services related to the museum campus and its surroundings," Anderson said in the filing.
Anderson said the foundation had been negotiating to sell its assets to satisfy its debt with Hoffman but could not close the transactions before a Jan. 27 foreclosure sale involving the space museum and waterpark. Hoffman refused to postpone the foreclosure sale, which had already been rescheduled multiple times, beyond that date, Anderson said. The foreclosure sale does not involve the aviation museum.
"As a result...the foundation was forced to file this bankruptcy case," Anderson said in the filing. "The foundation intends to propose a plan that will pay its creditors in full and preserve assets in a way that will continue to support the museum."
Anderson estimated that the foundation owes a total of $9.2 million to secured creditors and less than $40,000 to unsecured creditors. The foundation estimated its assets between $100 million and $500 million.
The museum was the public face of Smith's for-profit aviation company, Evergreen International Aviation. That company provided aviation services to the U.S. government, among other clients. Its collapse in 2013 resulted in years of ongoing fallout and left questions about whether funds were improperly mixed between the nonprofit and for-profit operations.
The Internal Revenue Service examined the operations at the request of the Oregon Department of Justice in 2014. A lawyer for the museum said in December of that year that "the IRS is happy."
Read more about the Evergreen fallout:
California wine giant buys former Evergreen buildings in McMinnville
Property at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum faces foreclosure auction
-- Luke Hammill
lhammill@oregonian.com
503-294-4029
@lucashammillOntario’s Liberal government has a problem with watchdogs.
Like all grown-up democratic governments, it recognizes the need to have independent agencies tasked with keeping an eye on its activities. The public expects it after all. And Ontario has the full panoply: an auditor general to keep an eye on programs, an ombudsman to protect the public interest, even a financial accountability officer to double-check the government’s budget numbers and ensure they’re credible.
The problem is that all these independent operations seem to have swallowed the idea that they’re independent, and have a mandate to question the activities of elected leaders. It’s very vexing for the Liberals, which don’t like being challenged, and have a lot to hide. Under Premier Kathleen Wynne they’ve reacted by steadily reducing the powers of the watchdogs, rewriting their mandates, dropping them or simply ignoring their advice and complaints.
LeClair knows he’s being messed around; he wouldn’t have gone public if he didn’t.
The latest irritant emerged Tuesday in the form of Stephen LeClair, the financial accountability officer. Truth be known, the Liberals never wanted a financial accountability officer able to study their books. They were forced to create the office by the New Democrats, in return for NDP support during Wynne’s minority government. Even after accepting the deal, the Liberals stalled
as long as possible before hiring LeClair to fill the position. Now, he says, they’re doing all they can to starve him of information.
The tricks are endless, he told a news conference. Ministries refuse to release figures on the basis that they’re commercially sensitive. Of course they are: pretty much every financial issue the government touches is commercially sensitive in one form or another.
Or they pretend that the information LeClair wants is subject to cabinet confidentiality. “The ministries argue that virtually any projection concerning future provincial revenue and spending is a cabinet record because it is subject to future cabinet deliberation,” he said.
The excuse is accurate, but it’s also baloney. Checking such figures is precisely the definition of LeClair’s job. Refusing to share the numbers he needs is like refusing to provide information on farms and food to the minister of agriculture.
LeClair knows he’s being messed around; he wouldn’t have gone public if he didn’t. But, like other Ontario watchdogs, he’s up against an entrenched government that has been too long in office and no longer feels compelled to explain itself except under cases of extreme duress.
LeClair must also be aware that the Liberals tend to respond to complaints like his with a muzzle. Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk got the muzzle treatment when Wynne grew annoyed at the restrictions put in place on government advertising. The guidelines, which were written by the Liberals themselves a decade earlier, were meant to ensure the government couldn’t raid the public purse to fund self-serving political ads lauding it for its wisdom and generosity.
The rules proved so effective they got in the way of the Liberals’ desire to do just that. Wynne’s people were eager to praise themselves for proposing a new Ontario-only pension plan, even though it won’t actually be introduced for several years. To get around the rules, they simply stripped Lysyk of the power she had to enforce impartiality.
“In effect, the amended act now requires our office to ‘rubber-stamp’ all advertising submitted to us,” Lysyk complained. The Liberals ignored her. The pension ads were quickly launched, timed to coincide with a parallel ad buy in which Wynne was featured, expressing her great concern that Ontarians needed a pension scheme — just like the one her government was introducing — to safeguard their retirement.
At least Lysyk kept her job. Former ombudsman Andre Marin was eventually pushed from office after years of unearthing embarrassing revelations about Liberal boondoggles. Former premier Dalton McGuinty tried to rid himself of the turbulent and outspoken Marin, complete with a government-backed whisper campaign aimed at smearing him at a time his contract was up for renewal. But McGuinty ran up against a wall of opposition and was forced to retreat, giving Marin a second five-year term to continue upsetting Liberal apple carts. Wynne finally managed to squeeze him out last fall, after reluctantly agreeing to an extension when the Liberals couldn’t settle on a qualified replacement. Marin is now suing the legislature and his former office, claiming he was led to believe he would be granted a third term.
Wynne’s dislike of oversight was in plain view during the sale of shares in Hydro One. In a report last year, Lysyk revealed that consumers had been overcharged $37 billion on their power bills from 2006 to 2014. Guess what happened next? When the Hydro One sale was unveiled, Lysyk, Marin, LeClair and five other “independent” officers were told they would have their powers to keep watch on the Crown utility severely curtailed.
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They protested, publishing a public letter criticizing the move, but were again ignored. Deputy Premier Deb Matthews shrugged off the complaint, claiming that as a publicly traded company Hydro One would have a “different kind” of oversight: an internal ombudsman who will report to the Ontario Securities Commission rather than the legislature, and won’t likely be holding any embarrassing press conferences.
The muzzle is firmly in place, and LeClair is just the latest to feel its effect. “They are saying that they’re an ‘open government,’ and I’m saying ‘well, let’s have the information to show that you are open,’” he said Tuesday. It’s good that he said it, but he shouldn’t hold his breath waiting for the Liberals to comply.
National Post“The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence… silence gives us a new perspective.” –Mother Teresa
When I think about plants, chatterbox isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
But below the surface of human perception, plants constantly engage in lively and informative conversations with one another. Damaged maple tree saplings, for example, release odorous chemicals into the air to alert their neighbors to amp up defenses against herbivores. Using root systems as organic phone lines, garden pea plants warn their surrounding greenery of impending drought. Plants may even be able to communicate through sound — young corn plants grown in water make a clicking noise that reroutes neighboring roots towards themselves.
Plants constantly chat to share information about their environment. It’s a wealth of knowledge, and we may finally have a way to listen in.
By embedding nanoscale carbon microtubes into the leaves of ordinary spinach plants, an MIT team of bioengineers transformed the Popeye staple into 3-in-1 bionic sensors. The plants automatically soak up explosives in the ground water, concentrate and analyze the sample and relay the data wirelessly to camera-equipped smartphones, while alerting the user with an email.
By changing the nature of the microtubes, the system can be rewired to detect dopamine or other similar molecules in their water, soil and air.
“Our goal in this work is to show that plants can signal [environmental] information to us,” says study author Min Hao Wong to Singularity Hub. Although the team worked with spinach, the technique can be applied to any living plant to customize it into an information-emitting machine, he says.
Why Plants?
Evolution dealt plants a pretty bad hand — they can’t move around to forage for food or evade potential threats. To deal with it, plants are exquisitely attuned to minute changes in their environment. Their extensive root system constantly sucks up groundwater, capturing and taking up any chemicals that happen to be in the water source or surrounding soil, and transports it all up to their leaves.
“Plants are very good analytical chemists,” says lead author Dr. Michael Stranos. And they’re self-powered, using only the sun as their energy source. These properties make plants compelling platforms to automatically extract and detect low concentrations of chemicals in the environment, he says.
The problem is how to do so.
Several previous studies used genetic engineering to give plants an extra gene or two to boost their analytical skills. In 2011, a team modified tobacco plants so that they lost their vibrant green color (“de-greening”) upon detecting TNT in the soil. Similar plants have also been engineered to suck up and concentrate mercury from their surroundings as a cheap way to deal with the toxic waste.
These GMO plants are easy to grow and adopt for widespread use, but they often rely on a biological response — de-greening or wilting, for example — which could take hours or days. To really achieve real-time monitoring, the scientists needed another strategy.
Here’s where carbon nanotubes come in.
Back in 2011, Stranos and his team developed a series of tiny carbon sensors that can be customized to detect a wide range of chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, the explosive TNT and sarin gas, a chemical weapon that wreaks havoc on the nervous system.
The sensors contained two components: a single-walled carbon nanotube that emits near-infrared signals, linked to a chain of molecules that captures the target chemical. Binding of the chemical quenches the tube’s florescence, which can be detected by a camera and analyzed.
Lean green machines
In the new study, the team started with carbon nanotubes that responded to picric acid, a common component of explosives.
Using a needleless syringe, they gently painted a solution containing the nanotubes onto the spinach leaves, which were absorbed into the meaty part of the leaf where photosynthesis takes place.
The team then doused the roots with water spiked with the explosive chemical. After about 10 minutes — the amount of time needed to transport water from root to leaf — they used a camera (with its infrared filters removed) to pick up changes in near-infrared emission. The camera was connected to a Raspberry Pi, which was programmed to periodically send out email alerts.
The Raspberry Pi system is low cost, portable and requires very little energy use, making it perfect for the field, explain the authors in their paper.
Within 10 minutes, the detector reported a drop in near-infrared light from the nanotube sensor, suggesting that it had successfully captured picric acid.
The self-contained, automatic system really pushes “the interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems,” says Dr. Matthew Baker, an analytical chemist from the University of Strathclyde who was not involved in the study.
Supercharged detectors
Some tweaks still need to be made before the bomb-detecting bionic spinach can be tested in the real world. For example, at the moment the camera needs to be placed within three feet to reliably capture a signal, although the team is working on expanding that distance.
Nevertheless, plant nanobionics is likely here to stay.
“We deliberately designed the platform using low-cost electronics, which allows cost-effective scalability,” says Wong. He envisions eventually planting bionic plants in urban areas, crop fields or even common households to help detect and alert us of contaminants in our environments.
The sensors could also be “turned inward” to monitor the plant and prove to be invaluable to precision farming, says Wong.
And he’s willing to bet on it. Last year, Wong started a company called Plantea that offers nanosensors as a monthly subscription to farmers to help them optimize crop growth conditions and monitor plant health.
And that’s just the start. The approach may eventually lead to nanobionic plants with boosted photosynthesis abilities that monitor multiple chemicals simultaneously or transmit radio signals.
“When you have man-made materials infiltrated into a living organism, you can have plants do things that plants don’t ordinarily do,” says mechanical engineer Dr. Michael McAlpine at the University of Minnesota (he was not involved in the research).
“Once you start to think of living organisms like plants as biomaterials that can be combined with electronic materials, this is all possible,” he says.
Image credit: Min Hao WongLinebacker Xavier Woodson-Luster
ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders have signed S Erik Harris and LB Xavier Woodson-Luster, the club announced Tuesday.
Harris joins the Raiders after spending the 2016 season with the New Orleans Saints, seeing action in four games. Prior to signing with New Orleans, Harris played three seasons (2013-15) for the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, totaling 79 tackles, three interceptions, three sacks and four fumble recoveries in 42 games. Harris was waived by the Saints on Sept. 1, 2017.
Woodson-Luster rejoins the Raiders after being waived by the club on Sept. 2. He originally signed with Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas State in May 2017 and spent training camp with the team. Woodson-Luster appeared in 47 games with 37 starts at Arkansas State, finishing his career as the school’s all-time leader with 293 tackles.The electoral history of Bernie Sanders includes the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses, and elections as United States Senator from Vermont, United States Representative from Vermont's at-large district (1991–2007), and Mayor of Burlington (1981–1989).
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States/Territories won by Secretary Clinton (34): Alabama, Arkansas, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Northern Marianas Islands, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
States/Territories won by Senator Sanders (23): Alaska, Colorado, Democrats Abroad, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming
States with Margins of less than 5% (10): Connecticut, New Mexico, South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, and KentuckySufferin’ sapphism! This week on Psychotronic Netflix, we’re waving a rainbow flag and inviting Ian McKellen and k.d. lang to our white parties and softball games with ten noteworthy flicks featuring LGBTQ themes available on Netflix streaming! We don’t care where on the Kinsey scale flicks lie, as long as they give us some of the lurid sleaze or genuine talent we crave. Links on the box art!
10. Skeletons (1997)
This David DeCoteau film was originally supposed to be helmed by Ken Russell, but the story of a journalist (Ron Silver) investigating the case of a gay man accused of murdering his lover is certainly still worth a look. With Christopher Plummer, Dee Wallace, James Coburn, Paul Bartel and Dennis Christopher.
9. Schoolgirl Hitchhikers (1973)
You can’t do a psychotronic film list with lesbian themes without getting a little sleazy, and Jean Rollin’s typically oddball flick about, well, schoolgirl hitchhikers who wander into a vacant town certainly fits the bill nicely.
8. Burnt Money (2000)
Two lovers go on a crime spree and avoid the cops in Marcelo Pineyro’s 1965-set Goya Award-winning Argentinian thriller based on a true story with enough twists to satisfy most crime film buffs.
7. Streamers (1983)
One of Robert Altman’s underrated ’80s films is this tale (based on David Rabe’s play) of four soldiers during the Vietnam era that deals with war, homophobia and racism in a fairly blunt manner, featuring Matthew Modine, Michael Wright and David Alan Grier.
6. Girls Will Be Girls (2003)
Sometimes you’ve just got to go for full camp, and you can’t beat Richard Day’s joyously bad taste flick about the trials and tribulations three aging actresses, played by Jack Plotnick, Clinton Leupp and Jeffrey Roberson as their respective drag personas, Evie Harris, Coco Peru and Varla Simonds. If the characters themselves weren’t ladies, they’d have been sure to make our 50 Most Fascinating Gender-Benders of Psychotronic Film list.
5. Lianna (1983)
John Sayles’ early work about a married woman who begins to have an affair with her female teacher features all the traits of the writer/director’s best work — fascinating, multi-dimensional characters treated with genuine humanity.
4. Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Pansexual glam rockers are the subject of Todd Haynes’ visually amazing flick, as journalist Christian Bale tracks down what happened to a missing musician (Ewan McGregor) featuring thinly-veiled portrayals of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan and others. With Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette and Eddie Izzard.
3. Stranger by the Lake (2014)
A genuinely haunting thriller about a gay cruising park in which a young man becomes enamored with someone whom he knows is a murderer. Check out our review here.
2. The Living End (1992)
Gregg Araki’s second feature is low-budget, often shoddy and fairly amateurish, but there’s an anger about his film involving two newly HIV-positive men on a nihilistic crime spree that’s rarely seen in indie films. With Mary Woronov.
1. Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Peter Jackson’s follow-up to DEAD ALIVE is one of his most intimate films, a dreamline true crime drama based on a friendship between two young girls that becomes intimiate… and violent. With Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet.Just one day after the Baltimore Police Department released a directive affirming citizens’ right to videotape police officers performing their duties in public, police appear to have violated the policy.Scott Cover sent us the link to this video he shot from his cell phone in the wee hours of Saturday morning in rainy Federal Hill. Cover said he happened upon police officers arresting a man outside a bar and decided to record the scene.(Cover said he was prompted in part by remembering recent news coverage about the new video policy, which was released just ahead of a Monday federal court hearing in the case of a man filming an arrest at the 2010 Preakness Stakes.)In Cover’s video, the officers can be heard telling him, forcefully, to leave. A female police officer crosses the street to approach him, with what appears to be pepper spray in her hand, warning him that “you’re going to go to jail.”Read more here: www.baltimorebrew.com/2012/02/12/video-baltimore-police-threChinese hackers have found a way around widely used privacy technology to target the creators and readers of Web content that state censors have deemed hostile, according to new research.
The hackers were able to circumvent two of the most trusted privacy tools on the Internet: virtual private networks, or VPNs, and Tor, the anonymity software that masks a computer's true whereabouts by routing its Internet connection through various points around the globe, according to findings by Jaime Blasco, a security researcher at AlienVault, a Silicon Valley security company.
Both tools are used by Chinese businesses and by millions of citizens to bypass China's censorship technology, often called the Great Firewall, and to make their Web activities unreadable to state snoopers.
The attackers compromised websites frequented by Chinese journalists as well as China's Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, Blasco discovered last week.
As long as visitors to those websites were also logged into one of 15 Chinese Internet portals - including those run by Baidu, Alibaba and RenRen - the hackers were able to steal names, addresses, sex, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers and even the Internet cookies that track other websites viewed by a user.
To get around the Tor and VPN technology, the attackers relied on a server software vulnerability that China's top companies apparently didn't patch, Blasco said.
While Blasco and others have not been able to pinpoint the identity of the hackers, the list of targets and the sophistication of the attacks suggest they may have been directed by the Chinese government.
"Who else could be potentially interested in this information and go to such lengths? Who else would want to know who was visiting Uighur websites and reporters' websites inside China?" Blasco said in interview. "There's no financial gain from targeting these sites."
Since taking power in late 2012, President Xi Jinping has shown a personal interest in how the Internet is managed, by creating and leading a committee responsible for Internet governance.
He has also given broad powers to the newly formed Cyberspace Administration of China, which has in turn targeted Internet celebrities who influence online opinion, increased blocks on foreign websites and sought to project China's influence over the Internet internationally.
In the past few months, the Chinese government has blocked sales and disabled the protocols of VPNs. It also hijacked Internet traffic flowing to Baidu, China's biggest Internet company, using it to overwhelm and knock down websites like GitHub that carry content China's sensors deem hostile, including content from The New York Times.
Activists and security experts advised Chinese Internet users to protect themselves from state-sponsored surveillance by using Tor and VPNs, and foreigners inside China have long done so. But Blasco's discovery suggests that Beijing's Internet censors have found a way to render those tools useless.
"There's a growing sense within China that widely used VPN services that were once considered untouchable are now being touched," said Nathan Freitas, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard and technical adviser to the Tibet Action Institute.
The Cyberspace Administration of China did not return requests for comment.
Blasco said the Uighur and press-related sites had been compromised with a "watering hole attack" in which attackers find a way to hide malicious code in websites frequented by their targets and then wait for their victims to come to them. Once people visit those sites, that code gets injected into their Web browsers.
The technique has been used by governments and hackers for surveillance and to steal passwords.
What made the attacks particularly serious, Blasco said, was that as long as the victims were logged into China's 15 top Web services - including major portals like Baidu, Taobao, QQ, Sina, Sohu, Ctrip and RenRen - the attackers could identify them and siphon off their personal digital information, even if their victims were logged into Tor or a VPN.
They did this with the aid of a particularly serious vulnerability that the 15 Web services in China apparently never patched.
The vulnerability, known as JSONP, is not new. It was publicized in a Chinese security and Web forum around 2013, about the same time forensic evidence suggests attackers used it to target Muslim Uighur websites and nongovernmental organizations' sites, Blasco said.
By not patching this hole, Blasco said, major Web portals like Baidu and Taobao, a subsidiary of Alibaba, effectively neutered the only privacy protections available to Web users inside China.
"The equivalent would be if law enforcement was able to exploit a serious vulnerability in Facebook to deanonymize users of Tor and VPNs in the United States," Blasco said. "You would assume Facebook would fix that pretty fast."
It is not clear, given the severity of the vulnerability and its discovery some two years ago, why so many of China's top Web portals did not fix it.
A Baidu spokesman said the company did try to deal with the problem.
"To the best of our knowledge, our earlier efforts were successful in preventing any serious leak of personal use data. But in light of this further information, we have decided to implement a more aggressive and thorough fix across Baidu for the JSONP vulnerability," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for Alibaba also said the company was now moving to deal with the problem. "Alibaba Group takes data security seriously and we do everything possible to protect our users," said Robert Christie, vice president of international media at Alibaba.
"Many companies in our space have faced this issue, and once we discovered this issue, we moved swiftly to address it. We have found no evidence that any user information has been compromised," he said.
Researchers say the complexity of the attack and the lack of digital fingerprints indicate that someone with significant influence had to have been directing it. Otherwise, "there must be a cybercriminal out there with pretty significant access to China's Internet infrastructure," Freitas said.
© 2015 New York Times News ServiceImage caption A worldwide shortage of organ donors has put pressure on many transplant clinics
Prosecutors are investigating an organ donor scandal in the east German city of Leipzig in which doctors allegedly manipulated an organ waiting list.
Three doctors have been suspended at the Leipzig University Clinic's organ transplant centre.
German media report that 38 patients with liver problems were falsely listed as dialysis cases in order to shorten their wait for a transplant.
Competition between transplant centres may be to blame, experts say.
There is a worldwide shortage of organ donors - a factor that may have exacerbated competition.
The board director at the Leipzig clinic, Wolfgang Fleig, said he could not rule out that money may have changed hands in the Leipzig scandal.
All the cases in the scandal concern liver patients, and all but one of the alleged manipulations took place in 2010 and 2011.
According to Frank Ulrich Montgomery, head of the German Medical Association, the irregularities are now "history" because supervision has been tightened. "Never has transplant medicine been as secure as it is today," he told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. But he also said any previous malpractice should be cleared up.
The German Medical Association is the main federal body representing medical practitioners.
Other irregularities
Germany's MDR radio says the scandal is particularly bad news for Saxony, the state where Leipzig is located, because it has many patients urgently in need of transplants.
The head of Germany's Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, was quoted as saying half of the country's transplant centres should be shut to end damaging competition between them. Successful organ transplant programmes boost the prestige of clinics.
The German broadcaster ARD says there are 47 such centres in Germany, but last August they were all brought under a single supervisory body.
The health ministry says 10 centres have been checked so far and three other cases of irregularities were found.
It is not clear if there is any link between the Leipzig scandal and manipulations uncovered previously in Munich, Regensburg and Goettingen.Street cred: Being good at table tennis is an important life skill – increasingly so for New Yorkers, who risk frequent tabular face-offs while trying to negotiate the sidewalk-cafe tables littering every sidewalk.
Who’s good? Go on, guess... don’t worry, it’s not racist. Correct: China.
The basics: The first to score 11 points (with a two-point lead) wins. It's the best of seven games in singles and the best of five in team events. For further details, ask any 14-year-old.
Athlete to watch: Take your pick from the Chinese team, which boasts five of the world's top six men's players and four of the women's top six.
Almost useless fact: Ping pong was banned in the Soviet Union between 1930 and 1950 because it was thought to be harmful to the eyes.
As featured in: 'Everything You Know is Pong: How Mighty Table Tennis Shapes Our World', a collection of ping-pong musings with contributions from writers including Nick Hornby and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. Or you could watch 'Forrest Gump'.
Do say: 'World number-one Wang Hao is arguably the finest exponent among the new wave of players favouring the penhold grip.'
Don't say: 'Argh, my eyes, my eyes!'The captain of an alleged pirate ship accused of fishing illegally in Antarctic waters clapped and cheered as his vessel sank off the West African coast overnight, an indication that the ship had been deliberately scuttled, according to Sea Shepherd activists.
In what was described as a "weird and surreal" experience, Sea Shepherd crew members have now rescued 40 people from the alleged poaching vessel, the Thunder, which the conservation group had been pursuing for nearly four months from the Southern to the Indian and Atlantic oceans.
Captain Peter Hammarstedt, the director of ship operations for Sea Shepherd Australia, told Fairfax Media from the deck of the Bob Barker, a Sea Shepherd vessel, that the Nigerian-flagged Thunder was now "3800 metres below the surface of the sea".
Crew members from the Thunder had been towed on life rafts to the Bob Barker's sister ship, Sam Simon, where they were being given food, water and medical attention before being taken to Sao Tome, in the Gulf of Guinea, where the crew would be handed over to local law enforcement authoritiesImage caption Ms Akther hopes to continue her studies using her left hand to hold a pen
Human rights groups in Bangladesh have demanded a severe punishment for the husband of a young woman who allegedly cut off most of her right hand.
Police say Rafiqul Islam, 30, attacked her because she pursued higher education without his permission.
They say Mr Islam, a migrant worker, admitted to the crime shortly after returning home from the Gulf.
However there has been no independent confirmation from the suspect that he carried out the attack.
The incident is one of a number of acts of domestic violence targeting educated women in recent months.
Police say that Mr Islam, who works in the United Arab Emirates, tied up his 21-year-old wife, Hawa Akther Jui, earlier this month. He then taped her mouth and cut off the five fingers.
'Severe consequences'
Doctors say the fingers cannot be re-attached and it appears that Ms Akther will have to live with permanent disfigurement.
Image caption Rafiqul Islam is reported to have confessed to the crime
"After he came back to Bangladesh, he wanted to have a discussion with me. Suddenly, he blindfolded me and tied my hand," Ms Akther told the BBC from the town of Narsingdi.
"He also taped my mouth saying that he would give me some surprise gifts. But, instead he cut off my fingers."
She said her husband, who is not well educated, did not approve of her enrolling in a college for higher studies.
During their earlier telephone conversations, she said, he warned her of "severe consequences" if she went against his word.
"Doctors said my fingers could be re-attached |
, in order to protect their copyright and especially to prevent any dilution, saturation, or distortion of the universes and people portrayed in their works.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, creators of the Liaden universe, strongly oppose fan fiction written in their universe. "I don’t want “other people interpreting” our characters. Interpreting our characters is what Steve and I do; it’s our job. Nobody else is going to get it right. This may sound rude and elitist, but honestly, it’s not easy for us to get it right sometimes, and we’ve been living with these characters...for a very long time... We built our universes, and our characters; they are our intellectual property; and they are not toys lying about some virtual sandbox for other kids to pick up and modify at their whim. Steve and I do not sanction fanfic written in our universes; any such work that exists, exists without our permission, and certainly without our support."[56]
In an author's note in The Ringworld Engineers, Larry Niven stated that he was finished writing stories in the Known Space universe, and that "[i]f you want more Known Space stories, you'll have to write them yourself." Internet writer Elf Sternberg took him up on that offer, penning a parody[57] in which members of Niven's hyper-masculine Kzin species engage in gay sex and BDSM. Niven responded by denouncing Sternberg's story in the introduction to Man-Kzin Wars IV (Baen Books, 1991) and issuing a cease-and-desist for copyright violation. To date, Sternberg holds that the story is constitutionally protected parody,[58] while Niven maintains that it is a copyright violation that lies outside of protected speech,[59] though he has not legally pursued the matter further.
Some authors have said that they wrote fan fiction before they were published, or are pro-fan fiction. Naomi Novik has mentioned writing fanfic for television series and movies,[60] and says she'd be thrilled to know that fans were writing fanfic for her series (though she also said she'd be careful not to read any of it); Anne McCaffrey allowed fan fiction, but had a page of rules[61] she expected her fans to follow; Anne Harris has said, "I live for the day my characters get slashed";[62] Tamora Pierce stated on her website that she began writing Lord of the Rings and Star Trek fanfiction and has no issue with fanfictions based on her works, provided they are non-profit. Author Cassandra Clare was a popular Harry Potter fanfiction author before she published her first novel.
Changing and selective policies [ edit ]
Copyright holders may have been changing their policies towards fan fiction.[63] Some companies like CBS[64] and Lucasfilm Ltd.,[65] which had been historically hostile to fan fiction, changed parts of their model in order to be more fan friendly. This included trying to encourage fan works and integrating them into official sites.
When not hosting the fan fiction or being openly tolerant of existing fan sites, companies created partnerships with other companies like FanLib to aid them in the task. The reaction from fans to such alliances and interference in their activities has been mixed, with some people thinking that it violates the basic rules of fan fiction communities.[66] Those fans seem to be increasingly in the minority, as acceptance of such interference is tolerated because of the positives that can result.[67]
The attitude of copyright holders toward incorporating fan fiction into the canon varies. Some copyright holders, such as the BBC in the case of Doctor Who, have mechanisms to allow for unsolicited submissions of stories into the official canon, and it is also the case that the writers of canon stories have sometimes been recruited from the ranks of fan fiction writers. In the case of the Doctor Who novels published by Virgin Books, once the BBC reclaimed the license to publish novels regarding the Doctor, many readers immediately categorized all the Virgin New Adventures as non-canonical fan fiction.[citation needed]
Legal issues with fan fiction outside the United States [ edit ]
In Great Britain, Discworld author Terry Pratchett, up until the point of his death in 2015, emphasized that he was careful not to read fanfics, and had voiced the opinion that "everything works if people are sensible" and didn't mind "so long as people don't put it where I can trip over it". However, Pratchett emphasized that the Discworld and all its characters are ultimately his intellectual property, and stressed that "it is not a franchise".[68]
Neil Gaiman, another English author who has written such works as Stardust, Coraline, and American Gods, says he does not mind fan fiction as long as the author notes that the characters are the intellectual property of another and so long as the fiction is not for profit.[69]
In addition, fanfiction is legal in the UK following passage into law of an exception to copyright for the purpose of caricature, parody, or pastiche.[70]
In countries such as Russia and China, where copyright laws are more lenient or less well enforced, it is not uncommon to see fan fiction based on the work of popular authors published in book form. Sergey Lukyanenko, a popular science fiction author, went as far as to incorporate some fan fiction based on his stories into official canon (with permission of the writers of the said fan fiction). Perhaps the most famous case, however, is Dmitri Yemets' Tanya Grotter book series, a "cultural response" to Harry Potter, which provoked a lawsuit from J. K. Rowling.
In Japan, the dōjinshi subculture is similar to a combination of the United States subcultures surrounding underground comics, science fiction fanzines, and fan fiction. The dōjinshi artists rarely secure the permission of the original creator. Many dōjinshi works are manga-format fan fiction, which in Japan is, while not strictly legal, generally tolerated and usually encouraged, being looked upon as a form of free advertising or a breeding ground for new talent, most famously the group CLAMP and Love Hina author Ken Akamatsu.
See also [ edit ]The Yellow Jackets are ready to get some fresh new swag.
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Georgia Tech Athletics. Members of the 2014 Georgia Tech football team celebrate after a touchdown. Sean Labar HERO Sports @seanlabaracc
When I think of Russell Athletic, an image of worn-out, sweat-stained middle school football pants immediately comes to mind. This was one of the early sports apparel companies, founded in 1902, and a staple in my middle school locker room.
The problem? In an ever-changing world of sports clothing, gear and accessories, Russell has remained stagnant while giants like Nike, Under Armour and Adidas have dominated the space.
In July 2008, Georgia Tech signed off on an exclusive deal with Russell but as each year passes, the Jackets' community gets more and more frustrated with the agreement.
MORE: These Four Classic Football Video Games Have Stood The Test Of Time
Joey Weaver, a writer for Georgia Tech's SB Nation site, detailed the downfalls of the contract between Russell and the ACC program.
"When it comes to being the athletic apparel provider for one of the top athletic departments in college sports, Russell Athletic sucks," Weaver said. "If you're someone who likes cool uniforms in various sports, clothes that have your team's logo on them, or even just cheering for teams that don't place unnecessary recruiting restrictions on themselves, you know this."
This is an old video from 10 years ago but it really encompasses everything that comes to mind when I hear "Russell Athletic."
Weaver goes on to release an actual PDF of the full agreement between Russell and the GT athletic department.
I'm not going to list every qualm that was mentioned, but some of this stuff is both funny and baffling.
- Russell also agrees to help market Georgia Tech through means like using logos and imagery in marketing collateral and industry trade shows, linking from their website to ramblinwreck.com, and by using reasonable and best efforts to increase the presence of GTAA licensed apparel at retail.
Ramblinwreck.com is the official website for Georgia Tech athletics and when Weaver searched that term or "Georgia Tech" on the Russell website, there were zero results. He went on to say there isn't a section on the Russell site that looks like an obvious link to Georgia Tech.
That was certainly interesting, but Weaver's next finding was even better. He pointed out this line first:
- Use reasonable best efforts to increase the presence of GTAA licensed apparel at retail.
"A quick check of the official campus bookstore's online apparel offering doesn't show a shred of Russell-branded items with the first 6 pages of search results (72 items), and search shows only 2 items claiming Russell Athletic as the manufacturer (as compared to 26 Nike-branded items and 73 Under-Armour branded items," Weaver said.
Well, this seems odd.
Weaver closes this section out by drawing attention to one final line of the contract.
- Designate GTAA as Russell's first "performance institution." Russell will utilize GTAA athletes and facilities as a performance lab for testing new product concepts and/or innovations.
"I've hardly seen anything suggesting that what Russell is providing to Georgia Tech as 'innovative'," Weaver said.
He makes a solid point. The Yellow Jackets haven't exactly presented flashy alternate uniforms or rocked state of the art cleats in recent history. The picture below is kind of typical of what we are used to seeing.
The Georgia Tech football team celebrates after a win during the 2016 season. Photo -- Georgia Tech Athletics
The piece closes out looking toward the future. The current agreement runs until July 1, 2018, but apparently Jackets current athletic director Todd Stansbury has already made it abundantly clear his athletic teams will be switching over to a provider from the "big three," also known as Nike, Under Armour and Adidas.
Catchy apparel goes a long way in today's college sports landscape. I met with the Virginia Tech equipment manager last year, and he explained the rigorous practice of meeting with coaches and administrators to hash out uniform ideas and color schemes. A Nike rep comes several times a year with new ideas and almost everyone in the athletic department is involved in the decision making process.
Devon Hunter looks TOUGH in a Virginia Tech uniform. What do you guys think????? #ThisIsHome #757Hokies pic.twitter.com/mXXAtBwf5i — HokieNation™ (@HokieNation2O17) August 22, 2016
On college football social media accounts from Michigan to Oregon, there are photos and videos when new gear is released. Virginia Tech's top-rated recruit this season, Devon Hunter, got a chance to reveal the Hokies custom alternate uniform for last year's Battle at Bristol during his official visit. Kids love swag.
So why has Georgia Tech been hesitant to advance? It's baffling. The Jackets are the only Power-5 program in the country that still uses Russell. There are 128 total FBS football teams and only three others use Russell. GT joins The Arena Football League, the Harlem Globetrotters and Little League Baseball as the premiere organizations that use the ancient apparel company.
It just doesn't make sense.
If one thing is for certain, the backlash from the Jackets community is leading to a change sooner rather than later. Until then, we will see the same basic GT uniforms we have become accustomed to.The five most affordable systems all have flat fare structures, with minimum wage earners in Beijing only needing to work seven minutes to afford the fare for an average journey in the city. London's tube system was the most expensive network, as shown in the chart below. Its fare for the average trip required almost 54 minutes' work on the minimum wage. Melbourne ranked 10th, requiring just over 24 minutes of work on minimum wage to cover the average fare. Sydney buses ranked 7th (23 minutes) and Sydney trains came 13th (27 minutes).
The average distance travelled by public transport in each city is closely linked to population density and city design. "Greater density may mean, for example, that a customer does not need to travel as far to access the economic and social opportunities that the travel offers," according to the report. In London, for example, the average bus or train journey is less than two kilometres. By contrast, the average train trip in Sydney was 17.1 kilometres – more than eight times longer – and the average Sydney bus trip was 6.7 kilometres in 2011-12. As seen in the chart above, Australian cities made up four of the five most affordable public transport networks when ranked by the time a minimum wage earner would need to work to travel one kilometre of the longest possible journey.
Sydney trains ranked 2nd behind Beijing rail, with minimum wage earners needing to work for just under 11 seconds to cover the cost of travelling one kilometre on this ticket. Beijing workers needed just over 10 seconds to cover the cost of travelling the same distance. Melbourne ranked 3rd (11.8 seconds) while Sydney Buses ranked worst of the Australian cities, coming 19th (50.3 seconds). Australian public transport networks cover far larger distances than many European and American networks, the report found. Brisbane and Sydney trains offered the longest trips – more than 250 kilometres – compared with 67 kilometres on the London Underground, 40 kilometres on the New York subway or 32 kilometres on the Paris metro or bus network. When it comes to short trips, shown above, Beijing Bus and Rail were the most affordable, with minimum wage earners needing to work only seven minutes to afford the cheapest fare.
By contrast, London's minimum wage earners need to work more more than 42 minutes to afford the cheapest fare. Melbourne offers the worst value for money out of Australia's capital cities by this measure, while Sydney buses offers the best. "With the short trip ranking, those cities with flat fares – New York, Chicago, Portland, Vancouver, Toronto – all come out the worst," said NineSquared director, Robin Barlow. "Flat fare cities … penalise people to take short trips, effectively. But if you take long trips, it's fantastic."
Value for money? The report set out to investigate whether Australia really did have the most expensive fares in the world, as often claimed in media and other reports. "Fares across the country are not particularly high by international standards," Mr Barlow said. "We may have expensive public transport, but we also have pretty high wage rates so the two need to balance out against each other." However, he noted that the report looked only at ticket prices without considering the quality of each transport network offered.
"There's tension between providing a high-frequency, quality service …. and the fare you pay. We've only looked at one side of it," Mr Barlow said. It's a critical omission, according to transport experts. "To say you're getting value for money in an Australian city is questionable," said University of Melbourne senior lecturer in transport planning, John Stone. "[The report] says that's not what it's looking at, but then I think it's missed the main point."
Public transport in cities such as Vienna, Berlin and Munich offered residents an alternative to owning a car, he said. "Whereas what we're marketing in Australian cities is something that might get you to work if you happen to be lucky enough to live and work along the rail line. It doesn't give you 24-hour-a-day access." He said the widely cited argument that Australian cities lack the population density to support a competitive public transport system was "an excuse". "You only have to go to Vancouver or Toronto to show that's not the case. In global cities with comparable density in the suburbs, public transport does compete because they concentrate on making sure people can make connections between suburban services and fast radial services."
One of the biggest problems in Sydney was a fare structure that "penalised people financially" for transferring between buses and trains, Dr Stone said. And both Melbourne and Sydney needed to simplify their bus routes to encourage fast, effective transfers. "Suburban bus routes in both cities were developed by private companies aiming to link as many possible destinations within their own service, to maximise their own ridership at the expense of competing operators," Dr Stone said. The result was a slow, complicated system that duplicates much of the rail network. "We've got a lot of buses travelling a lot of kilometres with very few people on board … That sort of inefficiency means it's never going to be possible to put in the frequencies needed to attract people to public transport."Reef Island in Tuvalu
Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu.[1][2] It has a surface area of about 3 km² with a population of 481 (2012 census).[3]
History [ edit ]
On 9 May 1824 a French government expedition under Captain Louis Isidore Duperrey of the ship La Coquille sighted Nanumaga.[4]
The US Exploring Expedition visited in 1841.[5]
Louis Becke, who later became a writer, became the resident trader for the Liverpool firm of John S. de Wolf and Co. on Nanumaga from about April 1880 until the trading-station was destroyed later that year in a cyclone.[6][7] Becke later wrote The Rangers of the Tia Kau[8] that describes a shark attack at the Tia Kau reef between Nanumea and Nanumaga.
The population of Nanumaga from 1860–1900 is estimated to be between 300[9] to 335 people.[10]
Nanumaga Post Office opened around 1925.[11]
In 1986 it became a centre of debate when Pacific archaeologists discovered the submerged Caves of Nanumanga, and found what they argued was the remains of fire created by pre-historic inhabitants.
Geography [ edit ]
There are three lagoons, the largest, Vaiatoa, having four islands. There are mangrove trees, native broadleaf forest and coconut palms. The island has an oval outline, with the longer axis oriented north-south. A fringing reef surrounds the whole island, which makes local fishing and transport into and out of the island difficult.
In March 2015 Nanumaga suffered damage to houses, crops and infrastructure as the result of storm surges caused by Cyclone Pam; 60-100 houses were flooded and the health facility suffered damage.[12][13]
Capes [ edit ]
Cape on the north: Te Kaupapa
Cape on the south: Te Papa
Villages [ edit ]
At the 2012 census the population of the villages was:[3]
Tokelau with 245 people;
Toga, also spelled Tonga with 236 people.
The junior school is Lotohoni Primary School.
Transportation [ edit ]
There are a few paths.
Politics [ edit ]
Nanumanga is one of the eight constituencies in Tuvalu, and elects two Members of Parliament. Following the 2015 general election, Monise Lafai and Otinielu Tausi were returned to parliament. In the previous parliament Tausi had been elected as the speaker of the parliament on 3 March 2014.[14] He had returned to parliament as a result of the Nanumaga by-election, 2014.[15]
2015 election results [ edit ]
The Tuvaluan general election, 2015 was held on 31 March.[16][17]
Nanumaga constituency results Party Candidate Votes %
Notable local people [ edit ]
Otinielu Tausi served as the speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu from 2003 until 2006, then again from March 2014 onward, and been the deputy prime minister of Tuvalu.
Tuau Lapua Lapua is a Tuvaluan Olympic weightlifter. At the 2013 Pacific Mini Games, Tuau Lapua Lapua won Tuvalu's first ever gold medal in major sporting competition in the men's 62 kilogram snatch. (He also won bronze in the clean and jerk, and obtained the silver medal overall for the combined event.)
References [ edit ]Ancestry
Early life in Boston
Philadelphia
Inventions and scientific inquiries
Musical endeavors
Glass harmonica Franklin is known to have played the violin, the harp, and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a string quartet in early classical style. While he was in London, he developed a much-improved version of the glass harmonica, in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around. He worked with the London glassblower Charles James to create it, and instruments based on his mechanical version soon found their way to other parts of Europe.[87] Joesph Haydn (a fan of Franklin's enlightened ideas) had a glass harmonica in his instrument collection.[88] Beethoven wrote a sonata for the glass harmonica.[89][90]
Chess
Franklin was an avid chess player. He was playing chess by around 1733, making him the first chess player known by name in the American colonies.[91] His essay on "The Morals of Chess" in Columbian magazine in December 1786 is the second known writing on chess in America.[91] This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for the game has been widely reprinted and translated.[92][93][94][95] He and a friend also used chess as a means of learning the Italian language, which both were studying; the winner of each game between them had the right to assign a task, such as parts of the Italian grammar to be learned by heart, to be performed by the loser before their next meeting.[96] Franklin was able to play chess more frequently against stronger opposition during his many years as a civil servant and diplomat in England, where the game was far better established than in America. He was able to improve his playing standard by facing more experienced players during this period. He regularly attended Old Slaughter's Coffee House in London for chess and socializing, making many important personal contacts. While in Paris, both as a visitor and later as ambassador, he visited the famous Café de la Régence, which France's strongest players made their regular meeting place. No records of his games have survived, so it is not possible to ascertain his playing strength in modern terms.[97] Franklin was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1999.[91] The Franklin Mercantile Chess Club in Philadelphia, the second oldest chess club in the U.S., is named in his honor.
Public life
Virtue, religion, and personal beliefs
Slavery
Death
The grave of Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Franklin suffered from obesity throughout his middle-aged and later years, which resulted in multiple health problems, particularly gout, which worsened as he aged. In poor health during the signing of the US Constitution in 1787, he was rarely seen in public from then until his death. Benjamin Franklin died from pleuritic attack[200] at his home in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 17, 1790, at about 11:00 pm.[201] He was aged 84 at the time of his death. His last words were reportedly "A dying man can do nothing easily.", to his daughter after she suggested that he change position in bed and lay on his side so he could breathe more easily.[202][203] Franklin's death is described in the book The Life of Benjamin Franklin, quoting from the account of John Jones:... when the pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthume, which had formed itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had power; but, as that failed, the organs of respiration became gradually oppressed; a calm, lethargic state succeeded; and on the 17th instant (April 1790), about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three months.[204] Approximately 20,000 people attended his funeral. He was interred in Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. In 1728, aged 22, Franklin wrote what he hoped would be his own epitaph: The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and Amended By the Author.[205] Franklin's actual grave, however, as he specified in his final will, simply reads "Benjamin and Deborah Franklin".[206]
Legacy
See also
ReferencesMichelle Parise is a diligent note-taker. She also doodles a lot.
When she's on the phone, or sitting at her desk, she writes down parts of the conversation and usually includes a doodle or two.
Michelle Parise (Pascal Chiarello)
It's a creative outlet for her. She writes her diary entries like short stories.
It's a practice she kept up as she became a wife, and a mother. And it was an outlet that helped her cope after she found her husband was unfaithful to her, and as her marriage fell apart.
Those notes helped Parise tell the stories in her new CBC podcast, Alone: A Love Story.
Alone is about the heartbreak, confusion, compromise and sense of loss that come with betrayal. It's beautifully written and produced.
You can find the audio to all 10 episodes of the podcast, and also find pictures of Parise's doodles and notes in her blog posts at Alone: A Love Story.
(Alone/CBC)
Parise spoke with Day 6 host Brent Bambury about her experience and her stories, an interview you can hear by clicking on the 'Listen' button just above this text. However, we weren't able to include their entire conversation in this week's show, so we thought we'd include a few of the omitted questions and answers here:
BRENT: This is your story, but this is also the story of the person who betrayed you. So what did you believe you owed your ex-husband when you decided to tell this story?
MICHELLE: I feel like I owed it to him not to tell too much of his story, because that's his story to tell. So I was really careful about the things I said and didn't say. There are a lot of things I didn't put in there because I don't think it's my place to do that. I don't want to stick it to him at all.
(Michelle Parise)
Obviously I co-parent with him, so I think he's a good person and a good parent to our daughter. So basically, I really wanted to be truthful to the moments — in so much as I could be truthful to them — because they are only my side of the moments. I wanted to make it more about my experience of what happened rather than about what he was thinking and his motivation, because I can't guess at that and that's not my story to tell.
BB: Did you feel you had to ask his permission to tell this story at all?
MP: No. I didn't.
BB: How did he react when you told him you were making a podcast?
MP: He's always been quite supportive of my writing and my art. He saw early drafts of some of the chapters. I don't even want to paraphrase what he said to me because I feel like that's a private conversation that we had.
He's supportive of me and always has been in that sense.
(Michelle Parise)
BB: Your dad also makes an appearance [in the podcast] and you say that when his marriage with your mom ended, he went into a spiral of grief. Do you think there was something about your grief that came from that experience or was an echo of that experience?
MP: I don't know, Dr. Brent. That's really interesting. I don't want to talk too much about details of that, but he really went in a bad way. I have a huge family and there's tons of divorce — even though we're Catholic. I saw jilted people act in crazy ways and do bad things or fight. Not my dad, but just in general.
All I saw at the end of that was: if you're angry and you're hurt, and you can win in court and you can win custody, and you can win a house and you can win money, or whatever, you haven't won anything. Because the other person doesn't want to be with you anymore.
I knew I was not going to do that. That was instinctual. I was just immediately like: 'We are working together to split this house and this family and move across the street from each other for my daughter.'
A quotation from Michelle Parise in her Sept. 21, 2017 interview with Day 6.
BB: How did your dad and the rest of your family respond to Alone?
MP: Well, he hasn't heard it yet. I tried on several occasions to have a conversation with him about it, but he kind of talked over me and brushed it aside.
I basically wrote him an email where I said: 'Listen, I know you're going to be proud of me, but at the same time you're probably going to be disappointed or embarrassed. And I'm sorry, but I talk about sex quite openly. I talk about drinking. I talk about smoking. And I swear a lot. You've been such an influence on me as a writer and you've just been this important person in my life. I hope that even if you're disappointed and embarrassed, that you're still proud of me and you're still OK with it.
The only conversation we've had so far is that he's really upset that I swear so much.
To hear the full interview with Michelle Parise, download our podcast or click the 'Listen' button at the top of this page.The VideoLAN project has released version 1.1.9 of its VLC media player, the free open source cross-platform multimedia player for various audio and video formats. According to the developers, the tenth release of the 1.1.x branch of VLC is a maintenance and security update that addresses several issues found in the previous update from the end of March.
VLC 1.1.9 addresses a previously reported buffer overflow vulnerability when playing MP4/MPEG-4 files. This could be exploited by an attacker, for example, to execute arbitrary code on a user's system. For an attack to be successful, a user has to open a specially crafted media file. The latest release also updates the Libmodplug library, also known as the ModPlug XMMS Plugin, for Windows and Mac OS X to correct a highly critical buffer overflow vulnerability that could have been exploited when users opened a specially crafted S3M file.
Other changes include fixes for more than a dozen Mac OS X interface bugs and the inclusion of the Growl notification software, as well as various translation and script updates. All users are advised to update as soon as possible.
Further details about the maintenance and security update can be found in the official release announcement and on the What's new in 1.1.9 web page. VLC 1.1.9 is available to download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux from the project's home page. VLC is released under version 2 of the GNU General Public License.
See also:
Heap corruption in MP4 demultiplexer, security advisory from VideoLAN.
(crve)Muslim televangelist Dr Zakir Naik says he has never done a rebellion or conducted terrorist acts against humans all his life. — Bernama pic
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 ― Indian preacher Dr Zakir Naik has denied allegations that he is a terrorist amid investigations against him for terrorism in India.
The Muslim televangelist said instead that those who accused him of being a terrorist could be “terrorists” themselves, as those who inflicted the perception of terrorism on the human mind could be considered “terrorists”.
“I have never done a rebellion or conducted terrorist acts against humans all my life. I only deliver a message of peace to people,” Dr Zakir told Malay daily Sinar Harian in an interview at its Karangkraf office in Shah Alam yesterday.
“There are certain quarters who do not want peace in this world. So, they make baseless allegations against me,” he added.
On India’s five-year ban on his organisation, the Islamic Research Foundation, Dr Zakir said he was ready to go to court, but only in an international or Malaysian court.
“I ask the Indian government to prosecute me in an international court or in Malaysia,” he said.
India reportedly banned the Islamic Research Foundation for five years starting last November, with the authorities considering prosecuting the televangelist for terrorism based on the testimonies of terror convicts who said they had been motivated by his speeches.
In his interview with Sinar Harian, Dr Zakir also rejected the Terengganu state government’s land offer to set up a research centre.
“I can’t accept it. I’ve received similar offers from other countries but I did not accept them.
“I’m worried that if I should accept the offer here, other countries would feel offended. I don’t want my good relations with these countries to be affected just because of this,” he said.
The Terengganu state government offered last year islands in Tasik Kenyir to Dr Zakir to set up an Islamic research centre.“What Chabad has achieved in the last 15 years is quite remarkable,” said Mark Rosen, noting the movement’s explosive growth on U.S. college campuses from 35 in 2000 to 187 today.
By Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman
eJewish Philanthropy
Gregg Gilbert, a graduate of the University at Albany (SUNY ‘99) said Chabad on Campus introduced him to Judaism.
“The fact that I live in Israel now, keep kosher and try to lead a Torah life – this is a testament to the impact of Chabad,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert’s story is more common than one might have thought, according to a new study, released this morning by the Hertog Foundation. The 132-page report defines for the first time who comes to Chabad on Campus, what it is that Chabad actually does with college students, and what impact Chabad involvement has on the post-college lives of young Jewish adults.
Written by Brandeis University Professor Mark Rosen in conjunction with Steven Cohen, Arielle Levites and Ezra Kopelowitz, the report is based on qualitative research at 22 campus Chabad centers and surveys from over 2,400 alumni under the age of 30, which analyze 1,898 measures of Jewish engagement.
“What Chabad has achieved in the last 15 years is quite remarkable,” said Rosen, noting the movement’s explosive growth on U.S. college campuses from 35 in 2000 to 187 today.
“Anyone interested in understanding Jewish innovation should take a look at Chabad,” he said.
Rosen and his team have been working on the report for three years; the study was commissioned by Hertog in 2013. They spent the first six months identifying participating schools, one year conducting surveys and interviews, and a year-and-a-half analyzing the data and writing the report.
“I kept rewriting and revising as I gained a deeper understanding of what was going on,” said Rosen. “It took a while to tell Chabad’s cohesive story.”
WHO AND WHAT
Chabad attracts students from all Jewish backgrounds, including Orthodox (11%), Conservative (39%), Reform (32%), non-denominational (10%), and other (7%). The majority (80%) of student participants have had no previous experience with Chabad.
The Chabad curriculum varies greatly from campus to campus and could include classes ranging from Judaism 101 to Talmud study. Chabad rabbis and rebbetzins discuss the performance of mitzvahs and Chassidism to questions about life, God, love and marriage.
“We offer value and substance,” explained Rabbi Hershey Novack, who with wife, Chana, runs the Rohr Center for Jewish Life at Washington University in St. Louis. “We offer … meaning and purpose, and that’s why students choose to come back.”
Novak said that beyond formal classes, Chabad on Campus tries to role model “Jewish family” for students, striving to be a home away from home. According to the study, this generally includes the rebbetzin demonstrating how to bake challah and run a kitchen, practical skills many of the female students interviewed appreciate.
“It is hoped that warm memories of Shabbat meals will inspire Shabbat observance and keeping kosher years later when students have their own homes and families,” wrote the authors.
David Weinstein, a student at St. Louis University (SLU) said he spends at least seven hours a week at Chabad. He described the curriculum as, “You just sit down and talk, there is not much too it.” But he noted the informal environment has taught him how to interact with people he doesn’t know and to start/maintain conversations with diverse individuals.
JEWISH ENGAGEMENT
The students who gain the most in terms of increased Jewish engagement are those students who were raised Reform or without a denomination. The survey looked at 18 measures of post-college Jewish engagement and involvement including religious beliefs, practices and affiliation (frequency of lighting Shabbat candles, synagogue membership); friendships, community involvement and learning (volunteering for a Jewish organization, donating to a Jewish organization); dating and marriage (importance of dating Jewish, choosing a Jewish spouse); Israel (emotional attachment); and being Jewish (importance), among others.
“Participation at Chabad during college fosters a greater involvement with mainstream Jewish life [after college],” according to the researchers.
Among Reform Jews who showed a high level of participation with Chabad (16%), the surveyors saw improvement in engagement across all 18 measures. Among non-denominational Jews with a high level of Chabad participation (24%), surveyors saw improvement in engagement across 16 of 18 measures. Conservative Jews with high participation levels also saw improvement across all 18 measures, but to a lesser degree than their Reform counterparts.
Dating and marriage: Among those with high involvement with Chabad, 73% of Orthodox, 63% of Conservative, 37% of Reform and 61% of those raised with no denomination said “dating Jews is very important.” Some 75% of Orthodox, 69% of Conservative, 51% of Reform and 53% of non-denominational reported that “most or all the people dated in the past year were Jewish.”
While only 16% of those interviewed were married, they were more likely (82% of students with one Jewish parent and 92% of students with two Jewish parents) to have married someone Jewish if they were more frequent participants at Chabad during college.
Attachment to Israel: Students who |
64.65%
Here we see where the Same-Side Press suffers the most. While the Passive 1-3 allows just 59.74% of its successful entries against to pass the ZEFR qualifications, the Same-Side Press is almost five percentage points higher, at 64.65%. That weakness nullifies any advantage gained from forcing more dump-ins, because those dump-ins are more likely to be retrieved against a Same-Side Press versus a Passive 1-3.
Obviously, there's only so much stock we can put in data from one NHL team. It's certainly not enough to advocate for one forecheck to be intrinsically superior to all others, or one to be fatally flawed. But it does give us new theories to ponder on a league-level, and for the Flyers, a road map to making their current penalty kill more efficient in the neutral zone. On Thursday, I'll return to this data when I provide my overall recommendations for optimizing the penalty kill in Part Four. Tomorrow, however, I'll break down the data from the other aspect of a penalty kill -- defensive zone play.If you come to Brawl In Cell Block 99 with a backpack full of sociopolitical concerns, you’ll find plenty over which to get upset. The film is two-plus hours of anachronistic machismo, gleefully stomping across the imaginary line that separates the latest Scott Adkins punchfest from more “acceptable” mainstream fare. And stepping over that line tends to catch the attention of touristy concern trolls in a way that the standard B-action stuff manages to avoid. But in the brazen ignoring of that arbitrary boundary, writer/director S. Craig Zahler’s new film positions itself as a masterful, willfully misanthropic throwback. It will be upsetting or even maybe offensive to viewers unaccustomed to this level of onscreen savagery, but for those in tune with its wavelength, Brawl In Cell Block 99 is an audacious, assured, and abundant helping of pulp exploitation that’s not to be missed.
The film's premise is old-school film noir by way of Edward Bunker: ex-con Bradley Thomas (Vince Vaughn) runs out of patience with the straight and narrow failing to pan out, and after being fired from a local garage decides to work for a drug dealer pal to give his wife and himself the kind of life that following the rules was supposed to deliver. 18 months into the gig a drug pickup goes very south of okay, and soon Bradley is looking at a seven-year prison stretch. Once inside, Bradley is given an ultimatum by a crime lord with a grudge: find a way to kill a prisoner located in a different, maximum security prison, or the lives of Bradley's wife and unborn baby are forfeit.
The above synopsis is roughly the first half of the film; from there we follow Bradley as he enacts an INCREDIBLY violent plan to get himself transferred first to the new, rougher prison, and then inside the nightmarish, titular Cell Block 99 in search of his target. What happens inside 99 will remain unspoiled here, but one note of criticism: “Brawl” is so tame a description as to be wildly inaccurate. Brace yourselves.
Much like 2015’s Bone Tomahawk, Zahler is uninterested in your snappy 2017 pacing; his story moves on a slow, stubborn, deliberate path, and time expands and contracts to suit the director's focus. Some viewers will find the pace frustrating, but watching Zahler luxuriate in his dialogue-driven character moments is as rewarding as all the single-take bone snapping that brings the film home. Character actors familiar and new fill Zahler’s frame and it’s a joy to watch them bounce off one another, both verbally and pugilistically. Vaughn is - no-shit - mesmerizing, clearly relishing the role of this southern samurai stomping through Staten Island. The film introduces Bradley on a very bad day, and presents him at the outset as a wholly violent man, but one who prefers to vent his rage on inanimate objects. (A scene in which Bradley tears his wife’s car to pieces, then calmly chats with her about the course of their marriage, manages to both terrify and evoke empathy.) But true to the title, Vaughn can brawl, and it’s refreshing to see him presented not as some gym-hard specimen, but as a Robert Mitchum-esque slab of meat whose main defensive move seems to be "take the punch full to the face." Poke around Vaughn’s CV and you’ll see an actor who’s constantly trying to break out of a box; this might be the role that convinces everyone else to get on board. Seen by enough people, this is Vaughn’s Pulp Fiction moment.
He’s ably supported by Jennifer Carpenter as his wife Lauren, Udo Kier as an underworld fixer, and Don Johnson (who will get most of the critical attention as an Arpaio-esque prison warden), but Mustafa Shakir as a boxing-obsessed prison guard and Willie C. Carpenter as a fellow inmate also shine in small but crucial roles. The cast, like the film itself, rides a line between B-movie archetypes and something more nuanced, and the effect is singular.
Ditto the film’s vintage-sounding R&B soundtrack, which is in fact new material co-written by Zahler and Jeff Herriott, and recorded by acts like the O’Jays and Butch Tavares. Full disclosure: upon not recognizing the songs, I simply assumed it was a collection of deep cuts and rarities. But Zahler’s penchant for world-building extends to viewers’ ears - including the most nauseating foley work heard onscreen since...well, since Bone Tomahawk. Punches land like cannons and bones crack like split tree limbs, but of all the sounds that set the screening audience on edge, there’s a...well, a scrape that will haunt you.
When Bone Tomahawk unleashed Zahler’s blend of old-school storytelling, colorful dialogue and boundary-pushing violence into the world two years ago, there was a perhaps well-intentioned urge to christen the director as "the next Tarantino", to hand him some other filmmaker's mantel to take up. With Brawl In Cell Block 99, it's now safe to declare Zahler isn't the "next" anyone. He's the first S. Craig Zahler, and his odes to noble misanthropy and righteous violence are sung in a key no one else is even trying to hit.US says Iranian hand in Iraq could turn out well
WASHINGTON / BAGHDAD
Shi’ite fighters fire their weapon during clashes with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Salahuddin province March 3. Reuters Photo.
Iran’s direct support for an Iraqi push to dislodge the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group from the northern city of Tikrit could turn out to be “a positive thing” if it does not inflame sectarian tensions, the top U.S. general has said.The statement by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on March 3 reflected the delicate balance Washington is trying to strike between limiting Iranian influence and allowing Iraqi leaders to determine their own path to defeating ISIL.U.S. officials have said Iraq did not ask the U.S. to provide air support for the Tikrit offensive, even though the U.S.-led military coalition has been conducting airstrikes in much of Iraq since August and has deployed hundreds of U.S. soldiers to try to regenerate an Iraqi army that collapsed last June, The Associated Press reported.Dempsey said Iran and its proxies have been operating inside Iraq since 2004, but the Tikrit campaign signals a new level of involvement.“This is the most overt conduct of Iranian support, in the form of artillery and other things,” Dempsey said in response to questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Frankly, it will only be a problem if it results in sectarianism.”The Iraqi army said March 4 that its strategy for retaking the jihadist stronghold of Tikrit is to surround the city before launching an assault.On March 2, the Iraqi security forces and a variety of allied fighting units launched the biggest ground operation yet against the Islamic State group in Iraq.Backed by jets and helicopters, the 30,000-strong force is moving in from three main directions, their progress slowed by suicide bombers, sniper fire and booby traps.A senior commander said operations were currently focused on preventing IS from launching more attacks and cutting supply lines to stop reinforcements and weapons from reaching Tikrit.The next step will be to “surround the towns completely, suffocate them and then pounce on them,” Lieutenant General Abdel Amir al-Zaidi told AFP.Iraqi forces have yet to retake Ad-Dawr and Al-Alam, towns south and north of Tikrit respectively which command access to the city.“Our forces are advancing gradually, although slowed by roadside bombs and sniper fire,” another lieutenant general involved in the operation said.Morning cryptocurrency fans, I was up late last night reviewing US Dollar Tether (USDT). It is a currency that I have used for around two years and have been very happy with it. However, there have been some wholesale changes to it, so it is worth recapping. I have also been careful about storing too much value in this currency. This is blog about my current thoughts and findings on this currency.
So for beginners, US Dollar Tether is a cryptocurrency that has a specific purpose; to retain the same value as a normal US Dollar. Cryptocurrencies are notoriously volatile, it’s one of the reasons why myself and many other people trade them.They are volatile because their values are socially constructed based on a range of perceptions, I posted a blog relating to this here. So they often drastically change in value based on world events, technology updates, announcements or developments. There is also general hysteria, which seems to be gripping the cryptocurrency sector at the moment and something called “pumping and dumping” – which is another story. Anyway, it is the aim of USDT to avoid these drastic changes in value and provide the benefits of traditional fiat money: a relatively stable store of value, with the benefits of cryptocurrency: instant and flexible global payments. There also seems to be a secondary benefit: as it is technically not a real USD the exchanges are not required to meet strict money laundering and Know Your Customer (KYC) restrictions. This benefits exchanges like Poloniex that only trade in cryptocurrencies.
So how does US Dollar Tether achieve its aim of a stable cryptocurrency at parity with the US Dollar? Well this actually relates to another the other blog where I discussed how we value ‘community currencies.’ USDT aims to achieve parity with the US Dollar through being ‘backed’ 1-for-1 with real US Dollars. This is done through its parent company Bitfinex – which is one of the world’s largest Bitcoin exchanges and based in Taiwan. Within its bank account it holds $1 for every 1 USDT in circulation. According to Coinmarketcap as of today, there are 127,493,815 USDTs in circulation, which in theory means there is $127,493,815 in Bitfinex’s bank account. In theory anyone holding 1 USDT could go to Bitfinex and demand it be swapped for $1. Why I repeat “in theory” – well this is the bit that investors must be careful with. The whole point of cryptocurrency is to be able to exchange value without requiring the consent of a central institution. This is why Bitcoin is used on darkweb markets, because there is no central institution able to restrict its exchange. Relying on Bitfinex to ensure that there is the corresponding number of USD in a bank account is relying a range of institutions to ensure the value of USDT. Not only are we relying on Bitfinex, we are relying on its bank and also the US Government. Also, in the small print of Bitfinex Terms and Conditions it actually states; “There is no contractual right or other right or legal claim against us to redeem or exchange your Tethers for money. We do not guarantee any right of redemption or exchange of Tethers by us for money. There is no guarantee against losses when you buy, trade, sell, or redeem Tethers.” Although this could just be to ensure they meet legal requirements.
Considering the different institutions that are needed to ensure the parity of US Dollar Tether must be remembered when trading with it. What gives it is price stability is also a major point of weakness. This was highlighted in two separate incidences recently. The first was when a financial audit of Bitfinex in March found a large discrepancy between USDT is circulation and USD in its bank account. The companies response was based on the quote above. I am torn about the implications of this. The entire banking system operates on a “fractural reserve” – which means that there although everyone’s money is in theory in the bank, most of it is actually being lent out. It works because not everyone wants to draw out their money at once, unless it’s a bank run, and that’s when it goes to s**t. Bank runs are avoided by the state guaranteeing deposits, that would definitely not be the case for Bitfinex. But it may be ok as not everyone wants to exchange their USDT for $1 at the same time, and even those who do, USDTs are currently in high demand. According to Coinmarketcap the third biggest exchange is USDT/USD at Bitfinex, but this was only 7.62% of total volumes over the last 24 hours. In theory, as long as Bitfinex have that $16,031,100 available, there is the perception of stability that ensures the value of the total $127,493,815. The second area of concern is the USD. Remember, even if a USD is sitting in a bank account in Taiwan, it is still technically under the control of the US Government. This is what geopolitical analysts describe as an extension of an “sovereignty regime through a currency process” – which basically means that if you use a currency, you abide by the issuers rules. So having $127,493,815 sitting in a bank account in Taiwan means it could be frozen by the United States and its wider financial network. This is what has been witnessed in April, where the wider financial network is restricting the ability of USDT to function. This restriction only applies to Taiwan > USA transfers, as depositors in Taiwan are still able to withdraw their funds. I wonder if the US Government will seek to pressure the Taiwanese Government to restrict withdrawals in the Taiwan – a true sovereignty regime would be demonstrated then.
Ok, what to take from all of this? Firstly it is an interesting example of how cryptocurrencies are valued and are developing. However, I do worry about the short-medium term stability of the USDT in its current format. As it is reliant on Bitfinex, in theory it could be shut down overnight, that would have drastic consequences for the value of the USDT. Potentially if the USD backing is removed, the USDT would still hold some value, as people do use it. However, it would just be open to the same volatility of other cryptocurrencies and there would be no guarantee it would keep a value of a dollar. I would tread carefully when using it. Do not hold a huge amount of value in USDT, maybe just use it for short term trading strategies. Be wary that there are a couple points of failure that could undermine its value and its ecosystem. Hope this was interesting. Happy trading.Leprosy cases in Florida are higher than normal, and experts are blaming armadillos.
WJAX-TV reports that nine cases have been reported across Florida so far this year, already nearly matching the state's average of 10 cases per year, according to the Department of Health.
Dr. Sunil Joshi, president of the Duval County Medical Society, says each case this year has involved people who were in direct contact with armadillos.
According to the Center for Disease Control, armadillos are the only animal to carry leprosy, a bacterial disease that affects the skin and nerves. The disease can be spread through saliva.
The most recent diagnosis for leprosy came in Flagler County three weeks ago.
Joshi says these occurrences are still very rare, but urged people to stay away from the animal.Eoperipatus totoro is a species of velvet worm of the Peripatidae family.[1]
Taxonomy [ edit ]
The first specimen was caught in Cát Tiên National Park, Vietnam by P.V. Kvartalnov, E.A. Galoyan and I.V. Palko from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre in November 2007.[2] This velvet worm was described for the first time in 2010 by Vietnamese researchers Thai Dran Bai and Nguyen Duc Anh.[3] But formal description was made only in June 2013 by a team led by Georg Mayer and Ivo de Sena Oliveira from the University of Leipzig, Germany. The type specimen was a male caught in 2009 by Peter Geissler from the Alexander Koenig Research Museum. Found in the Crocodile Lake area of the Park, it is so far the only velvet worm described from Vietnam, although at least one other undescribed species lives in the country.[4] Before 2013, only three valid species of Eoperipatus were recognised in Southeast Asia, and E. totoro as a distinct species was confirmed using detail data from scanning electron microscopy and molecular analysis (mitochondrial COI and 12S rRNA sequences).
The generic name Eoperipatus is derived from an Ancient Greek combining form of ēṓs, meaning "dawn", and peripatos, meaning "walking about". The specific name totoro was requested by the collectors of the first specimen, who were reminded of the caterpillar-like Catbus from the Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro.[5]
Description [ edit ]
Unlike other velvet worms, Eoperipatus totoro has uniquely shaped hairs on its body surface. The body length is up to 2.5 inches (6 cm). These worms spend most of their lives inside moist soil, in rotting logs or under rocks. They come out only during rainy season, and therefore, are not easily seen. They can spit out jets of sticky glue, by which they capture small prey for food. They eject a net of glue from two appendages on their back. The glue is composed of a mixture of proteins in which prey can be entangled.[4] Diagnostic features include distinct types of scales on the ventral side of the body, the inner structure of the circular pits on the male genital pad, and the position and size of the anal gland pads in males.[5]A good amount of E-mail and even some old fashioned 'Snail-mail' flows into the inboxes of TomatoBubble.com & The Anti-New York Times. We don't always have a chance to respond, but we do read and reflect upon every single incoming message. In addition to the fan mail (and the vicious hate mail -- which we also enjoy!) interesting items pertaining to news and history also come in. Much of it is news to us and greatly appreciated. But there is also no lack of hoaxes and falsely attributed quotes floating around the alternative news community.
One day, a reader called our attention to a sentence which he claimed appeared in the New York Slimes back in 1914. It was said to be from an obituary for a prominent, make that extremely prominent, Zionist leader named David Wolfsohn (sometimes spelled Wolffsohn). The brief write-up closed with this stunning statement of admission:
"... he (David Wolfsohn) pleaded for greater unity among the Jews and said that eventually they must conquer the world." (emphasis added)Deadline: December 16, 2014
Payment: 1 cent a word or $25 maximum upon publication
BLIGHT Digest is a dark fiction and horror magazine debuting October 7th, 2014 from One Eye Press, the publisher of Shotgun Honey (Crime) and The Big Adios (Western). Featuring 10 harrowing stories from emerging and established writers, BLIGHT Digest will be produced in both print and digital formats and available through Amazon.com and our website.
Current Submission Window:
September 16, 2014 – December 16, 2014
What we are looking for?
Well written stories that play out the human experience against unimaginable and terrifying odds. Dark fiction that defined more by the story than the splatter. We are open to supernatural, psychological and physical fear.
What we aren’t looking for?
Do not try to shock us with excessive gore, rape and brutality. We are not looking for any sexually explicit stories, be it with a human or a creature of fantasy. We are not looking for tame, but there has to be an actual story in the stories.
The Guidelines:
Word Count: Between 2000-5000 words.
Submissions: No multiple submissions, original stories preferred, but we will consider reprints for stories having been out of print for 18 months or longer.
Review Period: Please allow us 8 weeks to respond to your story before revoking or sending your story elsewhere. Our editors will make every effort to respond expediently.
Editing: Submit well edited work.
Formatting: Indented, double space, single paragraph returns, no special fonts or styling other than bold or italics. We recommend you follow Indented, double space, single paragraph returns, no special fonts or styling other than bold or italics. We recommend you follow this guide by William Shunn.
File Formats: Submit stories as.doc,.docx or.rtf files.
Payment: 1 cent a word or $25 maximum upon publication. Serials are considered multiple submissions and will be paid accordingly.Yasser Arafat died on November 11, 2004, of a mysterious ailment. His enemies spread the rumor he had AIDS: David Frum, with typical classiness, claimed he had contracted AIDS as a consequence of having sex with his bodyguards. Now, however, it has been revealed Arafat was poisoned: the cause of his death was exposure to very high levels of polonium-210 [pdf], a rare radioactive substance. An investigation conducted by Al Jazeera showed Arafat’s personal items, released to the media organization by his widow, contained several times the normal level of polonium that would normally be detected on such items. The Palestinian leader’s terminal symptoms were similar to those experienced by victims of polonium poisoning: the substance targets the gastrointestinal tract and the subject wastes away.
Arafat’s Ramallah compound had been bombed several times by the Israelis, and they had the place surrounded – yet still he persisted. They couldn’t get him out. Worse, his plight was becoming a metaphor for the condition of his people, who were – and still are – prisoners in their own land. A former adviser claimed he was poisoned by the Israelis, who detained the Palestinian ambulance used to deliver Arafat’s medications to the Ramallah compound. At the time, one tended to write this off as a purely polemical exercise: in light of the new evidence, however, the question has to be asked.
Simply by continuing to exist in the face of such a sustained assault, Arafat was defeating the Israelis every day. They had to get rid of him. Did they? We’ll never know for sure, but it is worth noting that Israeli threats to kill him preceded his untimely death by less than a year. As is well-known, Israeli intelligence has carried out numerous assassinations: it is simply another tool in their international operations, one they have never hesitated to utilize. A passport-falsification scheme involving New Zealand, Britain, France, Spain, and a number of other countries was widely believed to have been meant to equip the Mossad’s crack team of assassins, who could slip into – and out of – target areas at will.
The Israelis hated Arafat with a particular passion, for two reasons:
1) His longevity – The Palestinian movement is thick [pdf] with factions, but thin when it comes to recognizable leaders. Arafat was the principal leader, and no one since his death has achieved his stature. He was a political survivor, having lived through numerous assassination attempts, and deflected the schemes of internal enemies to displace him. Simply by sticking around for so long, he became a living symbol of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination – and that is one big reason why the Israelis got rid of him.
2) His secularism – The Israelis encouraged the growth of groups such as Hamas in the beginning, in order to split away the more religious elements from the decidedly secular Palestine Liberation Organization/Fatah, which Arafat headed. It is easy to sell the Palestinians as crazed jihadists when a group like Hamas or Islamic Jihad is the most visible champion of their cause: the secular PLO presented the Israelis with a public relations problem. There’s another reason for the Israelis to have knocked him off.
One aspect of this case is extremely odd: polonium-210 is the same poison Alexander Litvinenko was dosed with. Litvinenko, a former KGB official, converted to Islam, joined the Chechen rebels, and became an associate of Boris Berezovsky, the notorious Russian oligarch wanted on charges of embezzlement in his home country. Litvinenko and Berezovsky are the Russian version of 9/11 Truthers: they believe practically every terrorist attack on Russian cities has been “staged” by Vladimir Putin in order to keep him in power. When he became ill, Litvinenko charged the Russian spy agency with poisoning him – although that seems highly unlikely.
Polonium-210 isn’t something you can buy off the shelf at your local Walmart. It isn’t even something a mad scientist might cook up in his home lab. About 100 grams are produced each year for specialized technical uses. The only entities with access to this sort of thing are state actors, or, at least, a private organization with very substantial resources at its disposal.
What’s interesting is that a diplomatic cable, dated Dec. 26, 2006 and published by WikiLeaks, details the conversation of a US diplomat with Russian spook Anatoly Safonov in which Safonov claims the Russians told the British about the importation of “nuclear materials” into London during the Litvinenko affair – and were told that the whole thing was “under control before the poisoning took place.” In the course of the same conversation, Safonov – Putin’s chief representative on terrorism-related matters – went on to describe a number of threats and their possible sources:
“Safonov noted the daunting number of countries that posed particular terrorism threats, mentioning North Korea, Pakistan, South Africa, Libya, Iran, India, and Israel (sic?). He described a range of dangers, stressing the more immediate threats posed by nuclear and biological terrorism, but also acknowledging the risks of chemical terrorism.”
While the use of “sic” is meant to indicate our diplomat’s incredulity at the inclusion of Israel in this list, what we now know about how Arafat died should tear away the blinders from several sets of eyes – yes, even at the US State Department.
NOTES IN THE MARGIN
I note with sadness and a real sense of loss the departure of Scott Horton, the host of Antiwar.com Radio, from our staff. We wanted to keep him on, but we just couldn’t afford him anymore. Times are tough, but this is a big blow: Scott’s interviews with the Big Names in the foreign policy universe are always informed, and in his inimitable style he always laced his programs with humor and a keen intelligence. I can’t even begin to tell you how much he will be missed, but that’s life these days, unfortunately.
Read more by Justin RaimondoLacking human offspring of my own, I used to carry around a half-dozen images of classic neuroscience data in my wallet's beat-up plastic photo binder, and would show them off to strangers at parties. (Never got me a phone number, so much for geek-chic.) Each one had its own story, its own personality, and I was more than happy to reel off its bullet-pointed achievements to anyone charitable enough to listen: "This one basically launched the modern study of the olfactory system," and so forth. If I hadn't met my editor at Abrams I might be self-publishing a line of bumper stickers by now.
I was inordinately fond, and yes, a little proud, of my wallet collection; looking back this might have been a kind of coping mechanism for the distinctly unglamorous life of the neuroscience PhD student and the countless solitary hours paying dues in a dark microscope room. But what really got me up in the morning, day after day, was the privilege of encountering the gorgeous structures that lie right beneath the lens. I may be biased, but neuroscience is a truly spectacular field to look at.
Elegance often begets meaning and understanding. In a fit of candor, Nobel laureate Richard Axel once pronounced that "science without enchantment is nothing!" In my new book Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century (Abrams), I examine this special relationship, and share the images and stories I have come to love--many of which were, until now, only available to people in the field. In making the case for the raw aesthetic appeal of neuroscience data, I focus on the powerful ideas that have given us this striking visual vocabulary. For without them we would own none of the tools we deploy to illuminate the magnificent architectures of the brain--nor the hard-won facts we have carved out of this devilishly complicated organ. Centuries of imagination, technology and conceptual ammunition have endowed us with a legacy of exceedingly elegant concepts, techniques and process that are just as worthy of our appreciation as the objects that they create (or fail to). Neuroscience, meet conceptual art.Dark-web drug transactions increased 50 percent between 2013--the year the FBI shut down the Silk Road--and January 2016, according to a new report from the United Nations.
The Silk Road may be dead, but the dark web drug economy is very much alive.
"While drug trafficking over the darknet remains small, there has been an increase in drug transactions of some 50 per cent annually between September 2013 and January 2016 according to one study," the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime notes in its annual report on global illicit-drug trends. "Typical buyers are recreational users of cannabis, 'ecstasy,' cocaine, hallucinogens and [novel psychoactive substances]."
The increase in dark web transactions post-Silk Road has been documented before. "After Silk Road was taken down by the FBI in October 2013," the RAND Corporation reported last year, "it was only a matter of weeks before copycats filled the void." As of 2016, the research group had counted 50 "so-called cryptomarkets and vendor shops" where anonymous buyers and sellers could conduct transactions using Bitcoin and PGP encryption. (Several sites are now also accepting the cryptocurrency Ethereum.)
Boston College sociologist Isak Ladegaard, meanwhile, noted a massive increase in sales directly following the arrest of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht in late 2013. In a recent interview with Wired, Ladegaard theorized that media coverage of the case essentially served as earned marketing for the dark web.
More observations from the UN's report:
While Global drug trafficking cases increased only slightly from 2013 to 2015, the Global Drug Survey of 2017 found the amount of product moving through the dark web has increased dramatically. Roughly 8 percent of global drug users acquired an illicit substance through the dark web in 2017, up from 4.7 percent in 2014. Perhaps due to the passage of the Psychoactive Substances Act in 2016, the UK has seen the biggest increase in crypto sales: In 2016, 18.3 percent of British users acquired drugs on the dark web, while 25.3 percent of users have in 2017. These numbers are probably off, but the trend is likely real. (Crypto buying is down slightly in the U.S.)
"Vendors in countries in Asia seemed to be more involved in the wholesale business, while retail sales were dominated by vendors in North America and Europe." As I noted in my piece on steroids, Asia is a dominant supplier of raw chemicals used in making America's illicit drugs. (Americans tend to think of Mexico as our biggest supplier, but it's really just an intermediary.)
Silk Road was, in hindsight, a relatively small operation. "Overall, the value of transactions in the eight markets that dominated the darknet in January 2016 was 2.6 times greater than that of transactions on the Silk Road market in September 2013, which dominated the darknet at that time." This is also not surprising. If Silk Road taught the drug community anything, it's not to put all of your Bitcoin supply in one dark wallet.
Heroin is not a popular dark web drug: "When compared with the overall distribution of drugs in the United States and European Union markets, methamphetamine and heroin appear to be underrepresented on the darknet, while 'ecstasy' and 'psychedelics' (hallucinogens) are overrepresented in sales over the darknet."
Cross-marketing between the open web and the dark web isn't mentioned in the U.N. report, but that may have been noted elsewhere. Several open web steroid forums, for instance, feature user handles shared by dark web vendors. Users will post in the open forums about new products--but not actually sell them there--because it's easier to market to a wide audience on the open web.
I haven't seen anything quite so brazen in forums for other drugs, but posters in other places suggest to neophytes that setting up a cryptomarket account, buying bitcoin through conventional channels, and then tumbling that currency into a dark web account is a wiser (if more laborious) choice than trying to score mystery pills at a rave.
I suspect the dark web is at least partially responsible for the increased availability of unadulterated MDMA. We know there's a correlation thanks to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. But the U.N. report has little to say about the purity of dark web drugs versus street drugs.
Ecstasy Data, which facilitates testing of MDMA and LSD, has reported a large increase in samples of "pure" MDMA over the last decade. Between 2004 and 2011, less than a quarter of the samples tested by the group contained unadulterated MDMA. But purity has steadily increased since 2012, with nearly half of the samples tested this year and last coming back as uncontaminated by other stimulants or dissociatives. That's probably a function of dark web market and more awareness on the part of users and the advancement of harm reduction strategies.
The big takeaway from the U.N. report is that the drug war continues to be a massive failure, and even though the dark web has made drug buying safer--and even drug use safer--it is still inferior to a regulated market with clear product data.Two former top Maoists who had undergone vasectomy as young men while with the rebels, quietly underwent a reverse operation at a private hospital in Raipur this month.
Maoist commanders frequently force sterilisation on cadres before they wed. But this is possibly the first case in the country of ex-Maoists opting for vasectomy reversal surgery.
The younger of the two men, 22-year-old Shriram, surrendered before police in August. He had been forced to undergo vasectomy at the hands of a quack just before his wedding in 2008, when he was only 18.
Dharam Singh Tulwai (28) surrendered in September 2010. He had had sterilisation surgery six years ago, at the age of 20, soon after his wedding. A prominent doctor and social activist did the operation, Tulwai said.
Shriram was a platoon commander; Tulwai an area commander at the time of surrendering. Their wives, Maoists themselves, had surrendered earlier.
The two Gond tribal couples, who now hope to welcome children into their lives, spoke to The Indian Express at an undisclosed location. "I feel so excited now. My wife always taunted me, 'tum kisi kaam ke nahi rah gaye ho'. I now look forward to becoming a father soon," Tulwai said as his wife Aishwarya stood smiling shyly.
Shriram and Sunita both belong to Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. They fell in love while with the Maoists. Freed from the many restrictions they faced, the couple now aim to reclaim their lost family life as soon as possible.
"Whenever I visited my village, even when I was with the Naxals, villagers and relatives asked about nasbandi. I can now tell them that I will be a father soon," Shriram said.
The Chhattisgarh Police hit upon the idea of surgery while talking to the surrendered Maoists. "I could sense their resentment, that even after coming back, they can't have children. I asked them if they wanted vasectomy reversal surgery and they agreed immediately. This is the first case in Chhattisgarh, probably the first in India," Durg IG R K Vij said.
Tulwai said Maoist leaders did not want cadres to be slowed down by children. "If they notice someone in a relationship, they often force them to marry. But even after the wedding, husband and wife are not allowed to be together always," he said. The topmost rung of the Maoist leadership is, however, exempt from vasectomy, Tulwai said.
In January 2012, four men among seven surrendered Maoists told a press conference that they had been forced to undergo vasectomies. Kanker SP Rahul Bhagat had called it "human rights violation of the worst kind". Maoists leaders have on several occasions denied forcing cadres to undergo sterilisation surgery.
"This is probably the most important component of Naxal rehabilitation rehabilitating their families," Vij said. The word is spreading, he said; several other surrendered Maoists have expressed a desire to have their vasectomies reversed.
Please read our terms of use before posting commentsAs Oxford University's bigwigs and donors cheered their boat race victory from their launch last Saturday, their delight was interrupted by a blatant fundraising speech from the vice-chancellor, Andrew Hamilton. Now, surely, he said, they should donate. I hope they give not a penny until that university has found the courage to face down the government on fees and gone properly independent, which is wholly within its rights.
If Oxford will not stand up for university autonomy, who will? The long road to scholastic subservience to the state began under Margaret Thatcher in 1988 and is approaching denouement. So far the only fixed point in the decline has been the gutless, whining, leaderless cowardice of university vice-chancellors and |
erequisites
You need Java 8 installed on your system. That's it :-)
Download and Run
The Chronix showcase consists of two parts. Pick the latest releases of the Chronix Server (download) and an example JavaFX application (download) for time series exploration. Unzip the Chronix Server (it contains one week of operational time series data), the JavaFX application is an executable Java archive.
Just use the following instructions:
chronix@chronixDB:~$ mkdir chronixShowcase
chronix@chronixDB:~$ cd chronixShowcase
chronix@chronixDB:~$ wget https://github.com/ChronixDB/chronix.server/releases/download/v0.5-beta/chronix-0.5-beta.zip
chronix@chronixDB:~$ unzip chronix-0.5-beta.zip
chronix@chronixDB:~$ cd chronix-solr-6.4.2/
chronix@chronixDB:~$ chmod +x bin/solr
chronix@chronixDB:~$ export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/
chronix@chronixDB:~$./bin/solr start
Started Solr server on port 8983 (pid=3591). Happy searching!
chronix@chronixDB:~$ ▋
Chronix is now running on localhost:8983. Now we can start the JavaFX application. Download the executable jar from GitHub and start it from the console:
chronix@chronixDB:~$ cd chronixShowcase
chronix@chronixDB:~$ wget https://github.com/ChronixDB/chronix.examples/releases/download/v0.5-beta/chronix-timeseries-exploration-0.5-beta.jar
chronix@chronixDB:~$ java -jar chronix-timeseries-exploration-0.5-beta.jar
Setting up Chronix with a remote solr to URL http://localhost:8983/solr/chronix/
Checking connection to solr. Result true.
chronix@chronixDB:~$ ▋
With the running JavaFX application, you can query Chronix for time series data. For example, a simple query that delivers all time series data whose name contains Load is name:*Load*. Just enter the query term into the text box at the top and hit Shift + Enter to retrieve the result. To compute the maximum, minimum, average of that result you add a filter query metric{max;min;avg} in the second text box and press again Shift + Enter. To check if the average load (name:*Load*avg) has a positive trend you can use metric{trend} in the filter query text box. You start the analysis by pressing Shift + Enter. The queries described and shown in the screencast represent only a few simple queries, check out our examples repository for more details.Attention, attention! We have a new venue and new format!
Our old venue, The Wig & Pen, is relocating to ANU's Llewellyn Hall. They have been forced to relocate due to their old building's impending demolition.
We are taking this opportunity to re-locate, and re-invigorate Green Drinks Canberra!
Our next event will be at our new venue:
Tuesday 9 September 2014
at King O'Malley's Irish Pub, Civic
And introducing our new format for Green Drinks Canberra.
Each event, at 6:00pm, we will pause the room's freeform conversations for the Sixty Second Soapbox! Each person, if they choose, will have the opportunity to speak for up to 60 seconds (mercilessly enforced!) This is a great way to share information about upcoming events, to find collaborators for projects, or to share interesting news.
We hope that the Sixty Second Soapbox will encourage people to use Green Drinks Canberra as a must-attend monthly hub for sustainability networking in the ACT.
We want to be the event that you visit to learn about the other events which are happening around Canberra. We want to be the event that you visit to meet the other people doing important things around Canberra.
Please forward this email to invite your sustainability-minded friends and colleagues, who will want to know about Green Drinks Canberra's revamp.
I will send a reminder email about the next event in the days leading up to 9 September.
Cheers,
Stuart McMillen
Green Drinks Canberra organiser / cartoonist King O'Malley's is extremely close to the City Bus Station. We hope that this central location suits the maximum number of Canberrans.And introducing ourfor Green Drinks Canberra.Each event, at 6:00pm, we will pause the room's freeform conversations for theEach person, if they choose, will have the opportunity to speak for up to 60 seconds (mercilessly enforced!) This is a great way to share information about upcoming events, to find collaborators for projects, or to share interesting news.We hope that the Sixty Second Soapbox will encourage people to use Green Drinks Canberra as afor sustainability networking in the ACT.We want to be the event that you visit to learn about the other events which are happening around Canberra. We want to be the event that you visit to meet the other people doing important things around Canberra.Please forward this email to, who will want to know about Green Drinks Canberra's revamp.I will send a reminder email about the next event in the days leading up to 9 September.Cheers,
Llewellyn Hall. They have been forced to relocate due to their old building's impending demolition. More info We are taking this opportunity to re-locate, and re-invigorate Green Drinks Canberra!Our next event will be at our Green Drinks Canberra is a monthly event for socialising and professional networking, created for those interested in environmental sustainability and eco-efficiency. Green Drinks is your must-attend monthly hub for meeting other people doing important things, and learning about other events happening around Canberra. Venue: King O’Malley’s Irish Pub, 131 City Walk, Canberra New venue as of September 2014! (meet in The Snug: the room up the stairs, behind the venue's main bar) Date rule: the second Tuesday of each month. RSVP: Not required. Cost: free entry, pay for own drinks/food. Start time: 5:30pm until whenever. Arrive at a time that suits you. Sixty Second Soapbox: At 6:00pm, we pause the room's freeform conversations for the Sixty Second Soapbox. Each person, if they choose, will have the opportunity to speak for up to 60 seconds (mercilessly enforced!) This is a great way to share information about upcoming events, to find collaborators for projects, or to share interesting news. Mailing list: Join our monthly email newsletter. (We promise we will not spam you). This is an event for environmentally-minded Canberrans who meet for a monthly drink. An excellent way to:
• meet like-minded people
• make friends and contacts
• learn about interesting projects / organisations from around the Canberra area
• discuss and collaborate on projects
• stumble upon 'eureka' moments
Essentially, the aim is to be a social think-tank with the environment as the common denominator. Green Drinks are agenda-free and non-politically aligned (read more). Individuals from businesses, not-for-profits, government, academia, and community groups welcome, as well as those with personal projects! Primary contact channel is via our email mailing list. Be sure to join it! We are also on Facebook and Meetup. To contact the organiser with a question/request not covered by this page, email greendrinkscanberra@gmail.com (inbox checked only once per month). Future events: 9 December 2014
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- 12 attendees, kicking-on to a stand up comedy gig afterwards 13 Augus t 2013 - 25 attendees
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9 April 2013 - 50 attendees! First event of 2013, after a change of organiser. Green Drinks Canberra: Inclusive. Informal. Freeform. Friendly. Monthly. Networking.Team Blanco has announced via Twitter that their leader Robert Gesink has pulled out of the Giro d'Italia.
"Blanco Update: @RGUpdate did not feel well during and after the time trial. In consultation with the medical staff he won't start anymore." Related Articles Gesink: I'm in good form
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Gesink disappointed with Giro d'Italia performance
Gesink came into the race as a contender for the podium and came through the first week skirmishes unscathed and in third place overall.
However last year’s Tour of California champion wilted in the mountains, and despite appearing to recover in recent days, the Dutchman dropped out of the top ten after yesterday’s mountain time trial, lying 12th, 10:19 down on Vincenzo Nibali.Much has been speculated about the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first stand-alone film of the Star Wars universe, but now, we finally have answers -- sort of.
While the cast and crew gathered at a panel moderated by The Force Awaken'sGwendoline Christie during Day 1 of the Star Wars Celebration on Friday, one question remained: Will there be an opening crawl?
WATCH: Gwendoline Christie Makes Powerful, Emotional Tribute to Victims of Bastille Day Attack at 'Star Wars' Celebration
ET's Ashley Crossan, on the scene at the London event, got a chance to get the scoop straight from Lucasfilm President and Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards.
"You know, we're in the midst of talking about it, but I don't think these films will have an opening crawl," Kennedy said of the possibility that Rogue One would include the familiar Star Wars trope. "I think that's what we kind of telegraphed at the beginning of the event today."
Edwards left the question a bit more up in the air. "I think basically there's a lot of things that I probably can't talk about, is probably the safest way to answer that," he joked. "The idea is this film is supposed to be different than the saga films...the whole crawl of it all -- it's funny people are fascinated on that."
Fascinated may be an understatement in this situation. Reports of reshoots on the film this summer have many fans alarmed that Rogue One may not follow the familiar formula of the Star Wars trilogies -- the crawl just one of many beloved mainstays.
While reshoots were always part of the plan, according to Edwards, whether or not the film will have a crawl is decidedly uncertain.
"This film is born out of a crawl. The thing that inspired this movie was a crawl and what was written in that," Edwards said. "There's this feeling that if we did a crawl, then it'll create another movie. And so the honest answer is you'll have to wait and see."
NEWS: 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Behind-the-Scenes Look Promises Badass Action and Plenty of Aliens
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on Dec. 16.
For everything you need to know on the upcoming Star Wars flick, watch the video below.With Russia’s hopes for détente with President Trump dashed by his missile strike on Syria, the Kremlin looks askance at visiting Secretary of State Tillerson who it feels played the Colin Powell role for his boss, says Gilbert Doctorow.
By Gilbert Doctorow
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Moscow was supposed to prepare the way for a Trump-Putin summit either as a self-standing event or on the sidelines of the next G-20 meeting in Germany. The hope was that the summit would consolidate the turn toward normalization of relations that President Trump had promised in his electoral campaign.
But the 180-degree reversal in the foreign policy of the Trump administration marked by the launch of a missile strike on Syria last week changed the expectations for Tillerson’s visit dramatically, to the point that one of the most widely respected Russian political observers, Director of the Near East Institute Yevgeny Satanovsky, questioned why Tillerson’s visit is still on.
“It is not clear why Tillerson is coming,” Satanovsky said. “There is no reason at all for him to be received by Putin. Maybe it’s enough for him to talk to Maria Zakharova [spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs], perhaps with [Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov.”
Satanovsky’s pessimism was largely shared by other experts and officials who appeared on the most popular Russian TV news programs, including the talk shows Sixty Minutes, Evening and Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, News on Saturday with Sergey Brillyov, and News of the Week with Dmitry Kiselyov. Always popular with their Russian audiences, these shows drew in remarkably high visitor rates on the internet as posted on youtube.com, between a quarter million and half a million visits each.
Following President Trump’s missile strike on a Syrian air base on April 6, pressure grew on President Putin to respond with his own muscle-flexing. However, the Kremlin’s immediate response was restrained. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs simply announced the suspension of the 2015 Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on deconfliction. That agreement put in place communications channels within the region and rules for conduct meant to prevent and/or resolve incidents between the Russian and U.S.-led coalition forces operating in Syria.
By the evening of April 7, the popular Russian state television talk show Sixty Minutes informed its audience about two essential facts regarding the U.S. missile strike. First, the level of damage inflicted on the Syrian air base at Shayrat turned out to be minimal, totally out of keeping with what one might have anticipated from 59 Tomahawks launched by U.S. naval vessels in the Mediterranean.
Rossiya 1 war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny presented footage he and his camera crew had taken at Shayrat just hours after the strike. It was clear that the landing strip itself was undamaged, that many hangars were similarly intact, and that the structural losses were limited to six out-of-date MIG23s that were being reconditioned and to some roadways and buildings of minor significance. The report also noted that a relatively small number of Syrian military personnel and civilians were killed and wounded.
Poddubny noted that not all of the cruise missiles seemed to have reached the target. Later news broadcasts clarified that only 23 of the 59 Tomahawks reached Shayrat.
The second fact, which tempered Russian anger about the attack, was news that the United States had given two hours advance warning to the Russians. This would have enabled them to withdraw any of their military personnel on the site and to avoid casualties that would call for retribution and spark a direct military confrontation.
But if the sting of the attack and its anti-Russian message were attenuated, there was from the outset some confusion among Official Russia over what message the strike was intended to deliver and to whom. There was also a great deal of interest in exploring the reasons for Donald Trump’s policy reversal on Syria and on Russia and interest in identifying the influencers behind the move so as to better understand what might come next and what to do about that.
Already in Sixty Minutes, the first authoritative view on what happened was put forward by Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party. For political reasons, i.e., policy disagreements with the current government, Zyuganov is a rare guest on Rossiya 1 and was likely invited on to rally unity among the Russian people in the face of the new threats and dangers coming from Washington.
His reading of Trump’s TV appearance announcing the missile strike was that the President looked “broken,” now in the thrall of the mafia that had been running the U.S. before his accession to power. Zyuganov noted that for once Trump was reading his text from a teleprompter and his voice seemed to be unsteady, highly emotional.
What Drove Trump
The discussion of what motivated Trump to act on Syria expanded later in the evening on a special edition of the Vladimir Solovyov talk show. The microphone was offered first to Vyacheslav Nikonov, chairman of the Duma Committee on Education who is better known in international circles for his years at the head of the NGO Russian World, sponsors of the Russian diaspora.
Since the U.S. presidential election in November 2016, Nikonov has appeared regularly on Rossiya 1 as a consistent advocate of Donald Trump in the expectation of very positive changes in U.S. foreign policy. But he was now caught out.
Nikonov said Trump was responding to popular outrage over pictures of children gassed to death that were featured on U.S. mass media so it appeared to Americans that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was poisoning his own people. However, if the villain in the piece was the media for an exploitative presentation, Nikonov acknowledged that there were aspects that were more generally disturbing, in particular, that Russian servicemen could have been on the base under attack. It seemed as if the right hand in America did not know what the left was doing and these contradictions do not bode well.
Igor Morozov, member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, reminded the Solovyov audience that the idea of attacking Syrian military infrastructure was not something dreamed up at the last second by the Trump administration. Its author was General James Mattis when he was U.S. Commander in the Middle East in 2013 and was removed for promoting policies that contradicted President Obama’s desire to withdraw from war operations in the region, taking down the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now Mattis is the Secretary of Defense and the cruise missile attack on the Shayrat air force base comes from his playbook.
In News on Saturday, host Sergey Brilyov remarked how ineffective the U.S. missile strike was in military terms, suggesting that it must be seen as a “signal” And that raised the question of a signal to whom? By process of exclusion, Brilyov recommended to his audience two possible addressees: China and the United States itself.
For Chinese President Xi, news of the American strike on Syria was delivered by Trump in the course of the state visit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The blunt warning was that if Xi does not help to rein in the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, the United States would act on its own as it had just done in Syria.
But in Brilyov’s view the more important audience for Trump’s gesture was within the United States, within the political establishment, where he was fighting a desperate rearguard battle for his domestic policies against resistance from both hardline Republicans opposed to his foreign policy objectives and the whole of the Democratic Party.
Dmitry Kiselyov, Russia’s most senior news presenter, characterized Trump as a “tabula rasa,” without any experience in international politics who was now using America’s vast military potential to create a very dangerous situation. On his News of the Week program on Sunday evening, Kiselyov featured war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny reporting again from the Shayrat air base and explaining how it was once again operational.
Poddubny also showed off the piles of canisters at the base which appeared in previous telecasts from the air field and were claimed by some Western media to represent the chemical warfare munitions stored there by the Assad regime. He carefully explained that these containers are standard issue and are used to load all kinds of munitions onto fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, so that they have no relation whatsoever to chemical weapons which were nowhere to be seen at the base.
Kiselyov detailed at length the about-face of U.S. foreign policy on Syrian “regime change” and the reversal on efforts to join with Russia to fight terrorism. Now, objectively, the United States was fighting on the side of the terrorists. All of this meant that Trump would fail as a “deal maker” with Russia, that it was improbable he could patch things up with Russia.
Kiselyov called the U.S. President’s action “impulsive” and unsupported by facts. It was done in the context of U.S. domestic political warfare. Trump’s entourage was changing, with strategic political adviser Steve Bannon being shunted to one side and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner rising in prominence.
Kiselyov reserved special scorn for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nicki Haley. He pulled up on screen both her accusations against Assad and the riposte from Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Vladimir Safronkov that the United States was afraid of an independent investigation into the chemical incident in Idlib because it would not support their narrative.
Kiselyov concluded his reportage on the U.S. attack with harsh words, condemning what he called a prima facie case of U.S. aggression. It was not a reaction to any concrete event but was taken “due to the total failure of Donald Trump’s policies at home.”
But he said Russia would react with reason and caution: “It is clear no one intends to declare war on the U.S. But we cannot let this whole affair pass without practical response.”
Specifically, he called for the U.N. Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate the situation in Syria. They are the people who oversaw the removal and destruction of Assad’s chemical arsenal and production facilities, for which they won a Nobel Prize for Peace. Now they should be put back to work, he said.
Finally, Kiselyov ran a short interview with Yevgeny Satanovsky that summed up nicely the thinking of his peers: “All U.S. foreign policy actions are based on domestic political considerations. That is why they are so idiotic.”
The discussion of Trump’s missile strike continued on the Sunday Evening show of Vladimir Solovyov. After pointing to rumors of U.S. plans to destroy the North Korean regime with a similar attack, the host kicked off the discussion with a neat summary for his panel of how the U.S. is approaching world governance today: “The U.S. by itself decides which countries can exist, which cannot; which leaders will rule and who must be liquidated. The U.N. Security Council is not needed. The U.S. decides on its own what to do.”
A Cornered Trump
Alexei Pushkov, who was until September 2016 the chairman of the Duma Committee on Foreign Relations and is now chairman of the upper chamber’s Committee on Information, delivered a programmatic statement to explain what he believed happened:
“Trump is operating in a specific set of circumstances. The harder it is for the U.S. to manage the world, the more it tends to throw international rules to the wind. Trump has little opportunity to escape from the existing policies.
“The key question [regarding the chemical gas event at Idlib]: why would Assad use chemical weapons against this small town? He is winning the war. No one in the West has asked this question. Whose interests were served by this chemical event? It is good for American hawks, for [Sen. John] McCain, for the neighboring states which want to overthrow Assad. But it holds no advantages for Assad.
“We have not long ago heard [former National Security Adviser] Susan Rice and [former Secretary of State] John Kerry say that all of Assad’s chemical weapons were destroyed. So where did Assad get these bombs?
“Per The New York Post, Tillerson is coming to Moscow to deliver an ultimatum on removal of Assad. If he comes here with an ultimatum, then the talks will head into a dead end. The experience of the last three years shows that the language of ultimatum does not work with Russia.”
The microphone was then turned over to Yevgeny Satanovsky, a leading expert on the Near East who was more specific in his recommendations on what Russia must do now:
–Clean up the province of Idlib, or at least the city of Idlib, driving out the Al Qaeda fighters who are now installed there so that an independent investigation can begin into what happened leading to the poison gas deaths.
–Since the U.S. clearly wants to take the Assad government’s sole remaining enclave in Eastern Syria at Dar Ezzor and turn it over to the terrorists, Russia must do its best now to break the blockade there
–Tillerson must be approached very carefully. See whether he has come to negotiate or just to conclude with a press conference at which he tells the media that Russia is hopeless, that the U.S. cannot work with Moscow, and that the U.S. will now deal with North Korea and everywhere else on its own.
Among the other panelists on the Sunday Evening show, retired Lt. General Yevgeny Buzhinsky dealt with the question of the forewarning which the Russians received from the United States before the missile launch, saying:
“Trump is sitting on two stools. This is very sad. Yes, the U.S. gave us one and a half hours, maybe two hours of advance warning of the attack. But how?
“There are several lines of communication between us. There is a Chief of General Staff to Chief of General Staff line, which is very fast. This was not used. Instead they used a line of communications set up by the 2015 Deconfliction Memorandum of Understanding, at the regional level, between Americans in Jordan and Russians in Syria.
“The message on the impending attack was sent to the U.S. command in Jordan in the middle of the night and the duty officer was in no rush to forward it to his Russian counterpart in Syria. The duty officer there sent it to Moscow, to the Ministry of Defense, which also did not rush to respond or to pass the message to the Syrians. Net result: the two hours was barely enough for the Russians to take necessary precautionary measures. The Russian Ministry was furious.”
No doubt this explains why the first Russian reaction to the whole affair was to suspend the Deconfliction Memorandum.
The Chemical Canard
Yakov Kedmi, another panelist on Skype from Tel Aviv, offered insights into why the allegations of a Syrian government chemical weapon attack was nothing more than a canard, an unfounded rumor.
Kedmi is a former Soviet citizen, one of the first Soviet Jews to demand and finally receive permission to leave the country for Israel at the end of the 1970s. In Israel he joined the intelligence services where he had a full career. Until three years ago, he was persona non grata in Russia but has since established a niche on Russian television as a valued expert on Middle East security questions.
He said: “What is strange here is that if the Syrians used this [air] base to attack Idlib with chemical weapons, then there should be a bunker of such weapons at the base. That would be very easy to detect using the intelligence means available – satellite images, drones, etc.
“Israel follows all movements of munitions to and in Syria going to Hezbollah. We know which trucks are carrying what and where. The United States surely knows the same about what interests it. Yet when speaking of the attack on the base the Americans did not identify any bunker or location for such weapons. Supposedly they are still looking. This shows it is a canard.
“As for the Israeli government, they say Amen to whatever stupidities the Americans say. That is the situation in our country.”
Overall, Official Russia seems to have calmly adopted the cynical interpretation that Donald Trump bombed the Syrian air base on the basis of a manufactured pretext in order to gain the upper hand in his bitter fight with hardline Republicans and the entire Democratic Party over Russia-gate and to advance his domestic political agenda.
If this interpretation is true and is eventually revealed to the American people, they are not likely to appreciate Trump’s cynicism. If he launched a missile attack on Syria based on a lie, Trump would have squandered his political capital with those who voted for him and for his promised pro-détente foreign policy. It is now improbable that he will win them back.
At the same time, Trump has not shed for long the dogs that have been snarling and nipping at his heels. Already Sen. McCain has blamed the supposed chemical attack on Trump’s earlier repudiation of “regime change” in Syria.
Donald Trump’s moral standing was never very high, even among his supporters. But the recruitment of former Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson was seen as a victory for decency. Tillerson’s prepared remarks delivered at the opening of his confirmation hearings were crystal clear and bracing. He alluded to his training as an engineer who always followed the facts where they led him.
However, by loyally carrying the water for his boss on the alleged Syrian chemical attack, Tillerson has also damaged his credibility, drawing comparisons to Secretary of State Colin Powell who presented President George W. Bush’s bogus case for invading Iraq to the United Nations.
Patently, in this current matter of state importance, indeed a matter that bears on war and peace, Tillerson did nothing to establish the facts. Now, he brings his tattered credibility to Moscow where he will face Russian officials who no longer believe that they can trust the Trump administration.
Gilbert Doctorow is a Brussels-based political analyst. His latest book Does Russia Have a Future? was published in August 2015The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was no consensus. There is no clear consensus on this article's notability, or whether it is synthesized information. Both sides present strong arguments, but at the end of the day I don't feel that the community has a chance of currently determining which outweighs the other. — Coffee // have a cup // beans // 00:10, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
This page has been deleted twice already and renamed once, so I think it's worth discussing whether or not we want to keep this latest incarnation. My personal opinion is that the article is merely synthesis of various statistics, and does not reflect a coherent topic of coverage sufficiently distinct from violence. In theory, you could create any number of articles of the type "Violence against X", for example, Violence against 20–30 year olds, but in most cases, the scope is not going to be sufficiently distinct from violence. The reason we have a Violence against women article is because there is a large body of theory and research devoted to this as a distinct phenomenon. Same with Child abuse. In other words, there are many reliable sources devoted exclusively to those subjects and the subjects are distinct encyclopedic topics. As the vast majority of violence is perpetrated by and against men, there is no need for a separate article devoted to that (just as there is no need for articles devoted to Violence against adults or Violence during war). Kaldari (talk) 22:29, 24 February 2015 (UTC)
*Comment The article that was previously redirected is here [1]. That article was mostly about domestic violence and it was redirected to Domestic violence against men. We have articles like Violence against women in Guatemala and Domestic violence in Peru with many more for each individual country. But not for Men? Really? The article that was redirected was not the same article. Please look at content. The article is sourced with research articles published in peer reviewed journals, so this is clearly a topic of interest for research scientists.USchick (talk) 23:12, 24 February 2015 (UTC)
Keep. Educational and encyclopedic. Good introduction to sub articles referenced in links in the article. Nice use of structure and organization to frame key topic points. Could use expansion with additional secondary sources, particularly with an emphasis on scholarly and academic source coverage. — Cirt (talk) 23:34, 26 February 2015 (UTC)
An article that consists entirely of synthesis cannot be encyclopedic in Wikipedia's sense of the word. It might be informative for you, but the sources do not discuss violence against men as defined in the article ("violence that is aimed at men and caused at least in part by their being men"). They discuss male rape, war violence, etc. without saying that men hurt other men because the victims are men. --Sonicyouth86 (talk) 16:04, 3 March 2015 (UTC) That definition wasn't included in the article when Cirt!voted. The original definition in the lead section was violence directed primarily or exclusively at male persons, which is essentially the same definition that appears in Violence against women. Someone re-worded the definition. It might conceivably be changed again before the end of this AfD, and it is entirely permissable to!vote on the basis that it should be. James500 (talk) 23:20, 3 March 2015 (UTC)
Delete for the reasons given by Kaldari, & for the same reasons given in the first two deletion debates. Just because an article is encyclopedic & has lots of citations doesn't make it notable (plus, the last section in the article has nothing to do with violence against men). I'm not quite sure why the third debate had so many more comments than the first two — reeks a bit of canvassing to me. Domestic violence against men already exists, no need to have this second page — and the fact that the talk page on that article has become a forum for weird misogyny makes me quite suspicious of the motives behind creating this one. Not sure why we need to have this same conversation repeatedly. CircleAdrian (talk) 07:30, 27 February 2015 (UTC)
Could you please cite the "weird misogyny" you're referring to? I'm not seeing it on that talk page, and most of the discussion appears to be many years old anyway. 76.64.13.4 (talk) 16:54, 28 February 2015 (UTC)
Keep per Cirt. NRVE says that a topic should not be deleted on grounds of notability if it is likely that adequate coverage exists. I am under the impression that there is so much literature on violence that the no one could read all of it. In view of volume of literature on violence, the breadth of the sub topic, and the fact that the distinction between men and women is an obvious one, I infer that it is likely further coverage exists. The expression "violence against men" itself seems to appear in quite a lot of sources in GBooks, GScholar and so forth. In any event, I am inclined to view the topic as inherently notable. I don't think that the analogy with an article on violence against persons aged 20 to 30 is valid, because dividing a topic into men and women, or into adults and children, is obvious, whereas the age range suggested appears arbitrary, there being, as far as I am aware, not much difference, in terms of biology or social position, between persons aged 29 and 31. I am not convinced by the "vast majority" argument either. I am not convinced, for example, that a vast majority of 78% of homicide victims is vast enough (I don't know if this figure is applicable to other forms of violence). If that number was 99%, I might think differently. In any event, I can think of sub topics that are clearly distinct from their parent topics despite forming the vast majority of their parent topics, such as the distinction between civil and criminal law. Without prejudice to the questions of notability and forking, I think this is a plausible redirect to Violence, of which it is a sub-topic. Since neither original synthesis, nor non-notability, nor unnecessary forking are, as far as I am aware, grounds for revision deletion, they are not grounds for the deletion of a plausible redirect either, so the page is not eligible for deletion on those grounds (WP:R). I think I should also point out that the correct procedure for original research is to transwiki it to Wikiversity using the import process, followed, where appropriate, by deletion under CSD A5, rather than sending it to AfD. I think that Violence against adults, mentioned in the nomination, should be redirected to Violence (without prejudice to future expansion). I don't think it is an obviously implausible topic, as there is, for example, an offence of allowing or causing the death of a vulnerable adult in England. Even the topic of violence during war isn't obviously out of the question since I am under the impression that it is quite possible to have a war without violence. In fact, at one point, it was extremely common for armies, instead of fighting each other, to engage in manouveres that I think have been described as a form of "shadow boxing" designed to bankrupt the other sides treasury. I also take the view that topics should normally be redirected to their parent topic rather than a sub-topic. A redirect to an article on domestic violence seems to imply that is the only or primary form of violence against men. James500 (talk) 08:27, 27 February 2015 (UTC)
Keep I try to base my decisions on what minimizes harm to the encyclopedia, while maximizing benefit. In this instance, I see very little, if any, harm in letting this article remain. On the other hand, removal of the "Violence Against Men" while retaining "Violence Against Women" could be percieved (rightly or wrongly) as discriminatory and agenda-driven to an outside observer. It is not enough to act with integrity and without bias... one must also APPEAR to act with integrity. Particularly with a project which depends on outside voluntary funding, appearances matter, and there is alredy plenty of fodder for the "Wikipedia is biased" crowd, in the media and elsewhere, without dishing more up to them on a silver platter... that this AfD was initiated by the creator of Wikiproject Feminism |
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J Intern Med 1993 ; 233 : 269 – 75. 177 Lindeberg S Berntorp E Carlsson R Haemostatic variables in Pacific Islanders apparently free from stroke and ischaemic heart disease–the Kitava Study. Thromb Haemost 1997 ; 77 : 94 – 8. et al.. 178 Lindeberg S Berntorp E Nilsson-Ehle P Age relations of cardiovascular risk factors in a traditional Melanesian society: the Kitava Study. Am J Clin Nutr 1997 ; 66 : 845 – 52. et al.. 179 Lindeberg S Eliasson M Lindahl B Ahrén B. Low serum insulin in traditional Pacific Islanders—the Kitava Study. Metabolism 1999 ; 48 : 1216 – 9. 180 Agmon-Levin N Bat-sheva PK Barzilai O Antitreponemal antibodies leading to autoantibody production and protection from atherosclerosis in Kitavans from Papua New Guinea. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2009 ; 1173 : 675 – 82. et al.. 181 Frostegård J Tao W Georgiades A Atheroprotective natural anti-phosphorylcholine antibodies of IgM subclass are decreased in Swedish controls as compared to non-westernized individuals from New Guinea. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2007 ; 4 :7. et al..:7. 182 Matsuura E Atzeni F Sarzi-Puttini P Is atherosclerosis an autoimmune disease?. BMC Med 2014 ; 12 : 47. et al.. 183 Bethony J Brooker S Albonico M Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm. Lancet 2006 ; 367 : 1521 – 32. et al.. 184 Miguel E Kremer M. Worms: identifying impacts on education and health in the presence of treatment externalities. Econometrica 2004 ; 72 : 159 – 217. 185 Wammes LJ Mpairwe H Elliott AM Yazdanbakhsh M. Helminth therapy or elimination: epidemiological, immunological, and clinical considerations. Lancet Infect Dis 2014 ; 14 : 1150 – 62. 186 Woo KS Chook P Raitakari OT Westernization of Chinese adults and increased subclinical atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 1999 ; 19 : 2487 – 93. et al.. 187 Tahapary DL de Ruiter K Martin I Helminth infections and type 2 diabetes: a cluster-randomized placebo controlled SUGARSPIN trial in Nangapanda, Flores, Indonesia. BMC Infect Dis 2015 ; 15 : 133. et al.. 188 Summers RW Elliott DE Urban JF Jr Jr Trichuris suis therapy for active ulcerative colitis: A randomized controlled trial. GaCanada fears a huge surge in asylum seekers crossing the border from the United States, putting political pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of a 2019 election, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The number of migrants illegally entering Canada more than tripled in July and August, hitting nearly 7,000. Haitians, who face looming deportation from the United States when their temporary protected status expires in January 2018, accounted for much of the inflow.
Two sources familiar with Canadian government thinking said citizens from El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, who are slated to lose their U.S. protected status in early 2018, may also head north.
“There is concern we’ll see a huge increase, mostly from Central America,” said one source.
{snip}
Most new arrivals are going to the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, sparking protests from opposition politicians and anti-immigrant groups.
Trudeau’s Liberals need to gain support in Quebec to offset expected losses elsewhere ahead of an October 2019 election.
{snip}
Ottawa has hardened its tone in recent days, warning people not to cross the border since they could well be deported.
{snip}
A Reuters poll in March found nearly half of Canadians want to deport people who are illegally crossing from the United States.
A Haitian-Canadian Liberal legislator is due to visit Miami on Thursday, home to a large expatriate community, in a bid to persuade people to stay put.
{snip}
Some of the Haitians are in temporary housing, including Montreal’s Olympic Stadium and at least two tent camps near the border.
{snip}
Original Article
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We don't have detailed instructions on how to make it, as we sort of figured it out as we went and didn't keep notes, but if you look at the video below, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of the design, and we'd be happy to answer any questions about it that you have. There's a bit more info on Steve's blog at
Useful links:
The motor controller -
The arduino code -
The wireless nunchuk library -
The turret is a simple remote-controlled airsoft gun. Vertical and horizontal motion is powered by a pair of scavenged drill motors, the body is built from off-brand Lexan, the control computer is an arduino, the controller is a wireless Wii Nunchuk, and the gun is a cheap battery-powered uzi-style airsoft gun from the grocery store down the street.We don't have detailed instructions on how to make it, as we sort of figured it out as we went and didn't keep notes, but if you look at the video below, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of the design, and we'd be happy to answer any questions about it that you have. There's a bit more info on Steve's blog at http://collegetheoretically.blogspot.com/2012/09/remote-controlled-airsoft-gun-turret.html and http://collegetheoretically.blogspot.com/2012/12/loose-arduino-turret-writeup.html Useful links:The motor controller - http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/2503 The arduino code - https://github.com/stevenorum/ArduinoTurret The wireless nunchuk library - https://github.com/stevenorum/ArduinoNunchukAs I noted yesterday, a columnist in the Washington Post suggested that Barack Obama should offer a Supreme Court seat to Hillary Clinton as a way of convincing her to leave the Presidential race.
Well, it seems I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a bad idea.
Ann Althouse was positively apoplectic:
Now, why did WaPo publish this? Miller was a special assistant to Senate Majority Leader Howard H. Baker Jr. and he has a book about the Senate, but he sounds like a complete fool here. His notion that Hillary Clinton belongs on the Supreme Court is just: Everybody seems to think she’s pretty smart. And it doesn’t even matter that she has no judicial experience and has never done anything to indicate that she is any sort of a legal scholar or has anything like a judicial temperament.
Not only that, following Miller’s advice would, she argues, turn the Supreme Court into another partronage job:
Miller thrills at the prospect of law as a raw political battle. Democrats who respect the rule of law and want rights to be taken seriously should not cheer at that spectacle. And conservatives will once again get strong traction arguing — as McCain did the other day — that their judges are the ones who are faithfully subservient to the law. I know liberals don’t believe that, but they must present themselves as wanting judges who bring legitimate interpretative skill and diligence to their task and operate independently from politics. Or all is lost.
James Joyner, while calmer than Althouse, agrees that Miller’s idea is pretty silly:
There’s no way Obama appoints Clinton to the Supreme Court. For one thing, she’s too old. She’d be at least 61 and presidents want someone who’ll be on the Court 20-30 years. Further, why would he award such a prize to someone who has given him so much grief? He’s certain to be the nominee at this point. Sure, presidents have given the VP nod to bitter rivals. But the vice presidency is a subordinate position, not an independent power base.
And Jazz Shaw at The Moderate Voice says this:
There have been dark eras in our country’s judicial history when presidents have used the Supreme Court as a sort of dumping ground for troublesome political rivals, absent any previous experience or qualificaitons for the job. One would hope, however, that those days are long since past. The words written by our SCOTUS justices will echo through the ages and be used as a basis for decisions coming generations from now. Those seats are not a suitable answer to provide a politically expedient solution to thorny intra-party squabbles.
Fortunately, this seems to be little more than the fantasy of one former Senate staffer who managed to get column space in the Post. In the real world, Obama doesn’t strike me as a person dumb enough to give someone like Hillary a job that actually matters.A plot of land in Almaden Valley that was slated for housing decades ago could be set aside for open space if allowed to be rezoned.
San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis, who represents District 10, is pushing for the parcel at the northeast corner of Almaden Expressway and Coleman Avenue to be rezoned from residential to open space.
The property was acquired piece by piece in the early 1990s, when plans were in the works to build multiple single-family homes. Those plans changed several times and more recently called for 27 affordable and market-rate homes. But the original environmental assessment has expired, Khamis said, and now he wants to save the land for residents’ use.
“The city wanted to build low-income housing and I had refused to allow any housing to be built,” Khamis said in an interview. “Originally a 27-unit complex was slated to be built there and I said no to it, and now I’m saying no to the bridge housing that would be proposed by the housing department, which owns the land.”
Khamis cited several reasons in a memo why he believes the site is no longer suitable for development, including inadequate setbacks and traffic hazards near the site off Almaden Expressway.
“Cars enter and exit directly from Almaden Expressway at a place where the width of the road narrows due to the Guadalupe Creek bridge, just beyond a VTA bus stop, and within the pathway of the free right turn from Coleman Avenue,” Khamis wrote.
Because the speed limit has increased to 50 mph along that stretch and there’s no space for an acceleration or deceleration lane, Khamis wrote that “residents would be expected to turn 90 degrees from the driveway and nearly instantaneously reach expressway speeds.”
Plus, the community already designated the area as open space in the city’s General Plan 2040, “ a natural designation, given that the site is bordered by two riparian corridors that provide habitat to native wildlife,” he added.
The rezoning proposal has been postponed until next month while the city figures out whether to repay the housing department approximately $2 million for the land or arrange a land swap elsewhere.
“They said that if you (rezone) then the housing department has to be repaid the price for which they purchased it,” Khamis said. “They wanted to find out where to get the money from or what land to swap that the city owns.”
Khamis said he’d like to see an extension of Almaden Lake Park built if rezoning is approved.
“I have ideas but they all require money,” he said. “I’m already authorized to build a trail there that’s being built right now that will connect to the rest of the park. That’s my dream, I hope it will happen. This would be a big step in the right direction.”
Housing department staff could not be reached for comment. The proposal is expected to go to the City Council in September.Search called off for 3 US Marines who crashed off Australia
FILE - In this April 22, 2015 file photo, a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey comes in for a landing at Miami International Airport before a presidential visit, in Miami. Search and rescue operations were underway for three U.S. Marines who were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 while trying to land. Twenty-three of 26 personnel aboard the aircraft have been rescued, the Marine base Camp Butler in Japan said in a statement. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
SYDNEY (AP) — U.S. military officials called off a search and rescue operation on Sunday for three U.S. Marines who were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia while trying to land.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps suspended the rescue operation and launched a recovery effort instead, the Marine base Camp Butler in Japan said in a statement, essentially confirming the military does not expect to find the missing Marines alive.
The Marines’ next of kin had been notified, and Australia’s defense force was assisting the Americans with the recovery effort, the statement said.
The MV-22 Osprey had launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard and was conducting regularly scheduled operations on Saturday when it crashed into the water, Camp Butler said. The ship’s small boats and aircraft immediately responded in the search and rescue efforts, and 23 of 26 personnel aboard the aircraft were rescued.
“Recovery and salvage operations can take several months to complete, but can be extended based on several environmental factors,” Camp Butler’s statement said. “The circumstances of the mishap are currently under investigation, and there is no additional information available at this time.”
The Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but flies like an airplane. They have been involved in a series of high-profile crashes in recent years.
The aircraft was in Australia for a joint military training exercise held by the U.S. and Australia last month in Shoalwater Bay in Queensland state. The Talisman Sabre exercise, a biennial event between the two nations, involved more than 30,000 troops and 200 aircraft.
Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said Saturday’s incident occurred off the coast of Shoalwater Bay.
“I can confirm no Australian Defence Force personnel were on board the aircraft,” Payne said in a statement.
Payne said she had spoken with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis “to offer Australia’s support in any way that can be of assistance.”
A White House official said President Donald Trump had been briefed by chief of staff John Kelly on the mishap of an aircraft off the east coast of Australia.
In 2015, a U.S. Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Hawaii, killing two Marines. Last December, a U.S. military Osprey crash-landed off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa. Its five crew members were rescued safely. And in January, three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the “hard landing” of an Osprey in Yemen.Miguel’s Jr. is so confident in the quality of its burritos, it’s going to give them away so Orange County customers can compare them to the competition.
From June 29 to July 5, the Corona-based Mexican chain will give away free Famous Burritos to each customer who presents a receipt from any other fast food Mexican restaurant at its Orange, Costa Mesa and Tustin locations.
Miguel’s Jr., which has 11 Inland Empire locations and 3 locations in Orange County, is rolling out the promotion as part of its “Eat Better” campaign of promoting “real food” using “traditional family recipes.”
Miguel’s Jr. was founded in 1975 as a spinoff of the Miguel’s casual restaurant in Corona. It touts its never-frozen ingredients and no-filler recipes from the founding Vasquez family as hallmarks of the brand.
“We’re not afraid of the competition–let’s see whose burrito is best,” said Steve Rezner, Miguel’s director of marketing. “I like our chances.”(Note: this is the second part of a review of Denno Coil. The first part can be read here.)
It was slightly embarrassing last week, when I sat down to write a post about the Denno Coil art book I picked up in Tokyo, when I realised I’d never actually finished reviewing the series. In fact, it had been so long since I penned the first part, that I had to go back and re-read it to see exactly what i had said:
With still 14 more episodes left to watch I can firmly say that, unless it seriously jumps the shark, Denno Coil is set to be a remembered as a true classic in anime TV history.
Famous last words?
Luckily not. In the remaining 7 or so hours of Denno Coil I can gleefully say no sharks are jumped and no fridges nuked. Even towards the end, when the main narrative starts to worrying lurch towards hints of the paranormal and mysticism it pulls it all back in the final episodes, revealing the truth to be a story of corporate buyouts, cover-ups and experimental software that would make William Gibson proud. In fact, to try and describe the series as Count Zero meets Pokemon directed by Hayao Miyazaki would be to do it’s elegance and originality a huge injustice, but there’s more than a drop of truth to the analogy. Never before has a story about children – and primarily aimed at them – held such strong and prophetic hard sci-fi credentials.
But it’s not just the main story arc that makes DC a classic of storytelling. It holds off on it’s biggest reveals until the very end, and in lesser hands than those of Mitsuo Iso the season could easily have fallen into the trap encountered by so many 26-run series; the tedium of the filler episode. But even the stand alone stories told here are classics of the genre, with highly polished gems like The Last Plesiosaur and Daichi’s Hair Begins to Grow as standout episodes. Even A Record of Living Things, the now obligatory re-cap episode, this time told throw the eyes of a main character’s younger brother, remains a personal favourite, due to it’s witty scripting and the ever impressive character development that is one of the show’s crowning triumphs.
And of course its not just the writing that impresses – the animation is faultless throughout. The immaculate character design is only rivaled by, and often beautifully contrasts with, the futuristic yet believable rendering of the systems of the augmented reality world the show portrays. Virtual pets, user interfaces and black market tools are all presented in such a consistent, feasible and elegant way that the viewer can’t help but feel that all of this is somehow inevitable – a high accolade indeed for any work of science fiction, regardless of medium or perceived demographic.
There’s still no word on whether a second season is to follow, but surely considering it’s critical success and the bevy of awards it earned there must be pressure from NHK for more. Perhaps director Iso and Madhouse have decided the magic cannot be repeated and it’s memory is best left unsoiled, and perhaps they are right. Or more depressingly, perhaps the current faltering financial status of the Japanese animation industry can’t afford to make another such polished, intelligent and less obviously commercial production. Either way, if you haven’t experienced DC yet, make it the top of your list of must-sees. Don’t let it’s apparent childlike appearance put you off, Denno Coil is a masterpiece of not just the anime medium but the science fiction genre as a whole.ST. PAUL, Minn. - A jury on Friday found a Minnesota police officer not guilty of manslaughter in the death of a black motorist.
Defense attorneys contended the 29-year-old Latino officer was scared for his life and was justified in shooting 32-year-old Philando Castile. Jeronimo Yanez shot Castile five times last July during a traffic stop in a St. Paul suburb, just seconds after Castile informed him he was carrying a gun.
Prosecutors insisted Yanez never saw a gun and had plenty of options short of shooting Castile, an elementary school cafeteria worker they say was never a threat.
Philando Castile's girlfriend livestreamed the gruesome aftermath of the shooting on Facebook. The video was shared widely, and included Diamond Reynolds' statements that Castile hadn't been reaching for his gun. Castile had a permit for the weapon.
Videos of police shootings show power and peril of live streams
Speaking after the verdict was announced, Philando Castile's mother expressed outrage.
"My son loved this city, and this city killed my son," Valerie Castile said. "And a murderer gets away? Are you kidding me right now?"
Castile said she was disappointed in the judicial system in Minnesota.
"The system continues to fail black people, and it will continue to fail you all," she said.
Castile and her spokeswoman, Judge Glenda Hatchett, both thanked Ramsey County Attorney John Choi for bringing the charges and the prosecution for their work in the courtroom.
Hatchett called Castile's death "tragic and needless" and said Castile was compliant with the officer's orders, "as his mother taught him."
"This time, there should have been, in our opinion, a very different outcome," Hatchett said of the verdict. "Because if Philando Castile can die under these circumstances, let's be clear, each of you could die under these circumstances."
Castile's sister Allysza Castile, 24, spoke tearfully of her brother as a "good man -- you never heard him raise his voice."
“I’m very, very disappointed in the system here in Minnesota.“ – Philando Castile’s mother says after #YanezVerdict pic.twitter.com/oWsW8pgvcs — WCCO - CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) June 16, 2017
"For those jurors to not have enough human empathy and conscience to just do the right thing, that just baffles me," she said.
A member of the jury called deliberations "very, very hard" and said he thinks the panel delivered the right verdict.
Dennis Ploussard said the jury was split 10-2 early this week in favor of acquittal for Yanez. Ploussard said jurors spent a lot of time dissecting the "culpable negligence" requirement for conviction. He said the last two holdouts eventually agreed on acquittal.
Ploussard wouldn't identify the two holdouts, but says they were not the jury's only two black members. The rest were white, and none were Latino.
Ploussard declined to say whether he thought Yanez acted appropriately. He said the jury sympathizes with the Castile family.
The jury was handed the case on Monday. On Tuesday, jurors requested another look at dashcam video captured by Yanez's squad car that shows the shooting of Castile. On Wednesday, the judge told jurors to continue deliberating Wednesday afternoon, indicating they may have been struggling to reach a verdict.
Philando Castile CBS Minnesota
The squad-car video shows a wide view of the traffic stop and the shooting, with the camera pointed toward Castile's car. While it captures what was said between the two men and shows Yanez firing into the vehicle, it does not show what happened inside the car or what Yanez might have seen.
The squad-car video shows Yanez approaching Castile's car and asking for a driver's license and proof of insurance. Castile appears to give something to Yanez through the driver's side window. Castile is then heard saying, "Sir, I have to tell you, I do have a firearm on me." Before Castile finishes that sentence, Yanez has his hand on his own gun and is pulling it out of the holster. There is shouting, and Yanez screams "Don't pull it out!" before he fires seven shots into the car.
The jury also watched a replay of the video that Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, livestreamed on Facebook beginning seconds after Castile had been shot.
Defense attorneys highlighted inconsistencies in Reynolds' statements to investigators to try to raise doubts about her honesty.
The city of St. Anthony announced Friday it would dismiss Yanez from its police force, despite the acquittal.
The city says it concluded the public "will be best served" if Yanez no longer works for the city. The statement says the city plans to offer Yanez a "voluntary separation" so he can find another job.
The city says Yanez will not return to active duty.America's most highly regulated housing markets are also reliably the most progressive in their political attitudes. Yet in terms of gaining an opportunity to own a house, the price impacts of the tough regulation mean profound inequality for the most disadvantaged large ethnicities, African-Americans and Hispanics.
Based on the housing affordability categories used in the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey for 2016 (Table 1), housing inequality by ethnicity is the worst among the metropolitan areas rated "severely unaffordable." In these 11 major metropolitan area markets, the most highly regulated, median multiples (median house price divided by median household income) exceed 5.0. For African-Americans, the median priced house is 10.2 times median incomes. This is 3.7 more years of additional income than the overall average in these severely unaffordable markets, where median house prices are 6.5 times median household incomes. It is only marginally better for Hispanics, with the median price house at 8.9 times median household incomes, 2.4 years more than the average in these markets (Figure 1).
The comparisons with the 13 affordable markets (median multiples of 3.0 and less) is even more stark. For African-American households things are much better than in the more progressive and most expensive metropolitan areas. The median house prices is equal to 4.6 years of median income, 5.5 years less than in the severely affordable markets. Moreover, for African-Americans, housing affordability is only marginally worse than the national average in the affordable market.
Things are even better for Hispanics, who would find the median house price 3.8 times median incomes, 5.1 years less than in the severely affordable markets. This is better than the national average housing affordability.
Among the four markets rated "seriously unaffordable," (median multiple from 4.1 to 5.0) the inequality is slightly less, with African-Americans finding median house prices equal to 2.2 years of additional income compared to average. The disadvantage for Hispanics is 1.5 years.
In contrast, inequality is significantly reduced in the less costly "moderately unaffordable" markets (median multiple of 3.1 to 4.0) and the "affordable" markets (median multiple of 3.0 and less).
The discussion below describes the 10 largest and smallest housing affordability gaps for African-American and Hispanic households relative to the average household, within the particular metropolitan markets. The gaps within ethnicities compared to the affordable markets would be even more. The four charts all have the same scale (a top housing affordability gap of 10 years) for easy comparison.
able 2 illustrates housing affordability gaps by major metropolitan areas. There are also housing affordability ranking gap tables by African-American households (Table 3) and Hispanic households (Table 4).
Largest Housing Affordability Gaps: African American
African-Americans have the largest housing affordability inequality gap. And these gaps are most evident in some of the nation's most progressive cities. The largest gap is in San Francisco, where the median income African-American household faces median house prices that are 9.3 years of income more than the average. In nearby San Jose ranks the second worst, where the gap is 6.2 years. Overall, the San Francisco Bay Area suffers by far the area of least housing affordability for African-Americans compared to the average household.
Portland, long the darling of the international urban planning community, ranks third worst, where the median income African-American household to purchase the median priced house. Milwaukee and Minneapolis – St. Paul ranked fourth and fifth worst followed by Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Chicago (Figure 2).
Largest Housing Affordability Gaps: Hispanics
Two of the three worst positions are occupied by the two metropolitan areas in the San Francisco Bay Area. The worst housing affordability gap for Hispanics is in San Jose, a more than one-quarter Hispanic metropolitan area where the median income Hispanic household would require 5.0 years of additional income to pay for the median priced house compared to the average. Boston ranks second worst at 3.9. San Francisco third worst at 3.3 years. Providence and New York rank fourth and fifth worst. The second five worst housing inequality for Hispanics is in San Diego, Hartford, Rochester, Philadelphia and Raleigh (Figure 3).
The San Francisco Bay Area: "Inequality City"
Perhaps no part of the country is more renowned for its progressive politics and politicians than the San Francisco Bay Area. Yet, in housing equality, the Bay Area is anything but progressive. If the African-American and Hispanic housing inequality measures are averaged, disadvantaged minorities face house prices that average approximately 6.25 years more years of median income in San Francisco and 5.60 more years of median income in San Jose.
Moreover, no one should imagine that recent state law authorizing a $4 billion "affordable housing" bond election will have any significant impact. According to the Sacramento Bee, voter approval would lead to 70,000 new housing units annually, when the need for low and very low income households is 1.5 million. The bond issue would do virtually nothing for the many middle-income households who are struggling to pay the insanely high housing costs California's regulatory nightmare has developed.
Smallest Housing Affordability Gaps: African-American
Tucson has the smallest housing affordability gap for African-Americans. In Tucson, the median income African-American household would pay approximately 0.4 years (four months) more in income for the median priced house than the average household. In San Antonio, Atlanta and Tampa – St. Petersburg, the housing affordability gaps are under 1.0. Houston, Riverside – San Bernardino, Virginia Beach – Norfolk, Memphis, Dallas – Fort Worth and Birmingham round out the second five. It may be surprising that eight of the metropolitan areas with the smallest housing affordability gaps for African-Americans are in the South and perhaps most surprisingly of all that one of the best, at number 10, is Birmingham. (Figure 4).
Smallest Housing Affordability Gaps: Hispanic
Among Hispanic households, the smallest housing affordability gap is in Pittsburgh, where the median priced house would require less than 10 days more in median income for a Hispanic household compared the overall average. In Jacksonville the housing affordability gap for Hispanics would be less than two months. In Baltimore, Birmingham, St. Louis and Cincinnati, the median house price is the equivalent of less than six months of median income for an Hispanic household. Detroit, Memphis, Virginia Beach – Norfolk and Cleveland round out the ten smallest housing affordability gaps for Hispanics (Figure 5).
Housing Affordability is the Best for Asians
Recent American Community Survey data indicated that Asians have median household incomes a quarter above those of White Non-– Hispanics. This advantage is also illustrated in the housing affordability data. Asians have better housing affordability than White Non-– Hispanics in 37 of the 53 major metropolitan areas (over 1 million population).
The Importance of Housing Opportunity
Housing opportunity is important. African-Americans and Hispanics already face challenges given their generally lower incomes. However, by no serious political philosophy, progressive or otherwise, should any ethnicity find themselves even further disadvantaged by political barriers, such as have been created by over-zealous land and housing regulators.
Wendell Cox is principal of Demographia, an international public policy and demographics firm. He is a Senior Fellow of the Center for Opportunity Urbanism (US), Senior Fellow for Housing Affordability and Municipal Policy for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (Canada), and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for Demographics and Policy at Chapman University (California). He is co-author of the "Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey" and author of "Demographia World Urban Areas" and "War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life." He was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, where he served with the leading city and county leadership as the only non-elected member. He served as a visiting professor at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, a national university in Paris.
Table 2 Housing Affordability Gap by Ethnicity: 2016 53 Major Metropolitan Areas (Over 1,000,000 Population) Median Multiple (Median house price divided by median household income) MSA Median Multiple: All Households Median Multiple: African-American African American Housing Affordability Gap in Years Ranked Most to Least Equal: African-American Median Multiple:
Hispanic Hispanic Housing Affordability Gap in Years Ranked Most to Least Equal: Hispanic Exhibit: Median Multiple: Asian Exhibit: Median Multiple: White Non-Hispanic Atlanta, GA 2.95 3.83 0.88 3 3.65 0.70 13 2.30 2.45 Austin, TX 4.00 5.69 1.69 19 5.04 1.04 24 3.23 3.52 Baltimore, MD 3.29 4.75 1.46 12 3.64 0.34 3 2.60 2. |
magazine, The Week, reported:
On January 12 Indian intelligence officials in Calcutta detained 11 foreign nationals for interrogation before they were to board a Dhaka-bound Bangladesh Biman flight. They were detained on the suspicion of being hijackers. "But we realized that they were tabliqis (Islamic preachers), so we let them go", said an Intelligence official.
The eleven had Israeli passports but were believed to be Afghan nationals who had spent a while in Iran. Indian intelligence officials, too, were surprised by the nationality profile of the eleven. "They say that they have been on tabligh (preaching Islam) in India for two months. But they are Israeli nationals from the West Bank," said a Central Intelligence official. He claimed that Tel Aviv "exerted considerable pressure" on Delhi to secure their release. "It appeared that they could be working for a sensitive organization in Israel and were on a mission to Bangladesh," the official said. 72 (emphasis added)
What were these 11 Israelis doing trying to impersonate Al Qaeda men? Infiltrating?...perhaps. Framing?...more likely. But the important precedent to understand is this: Israeli agents were once caught red handed impersonating Muslim hijackers!
This event becomes even more mind boggling when we learn that it was Indian Intelligence that helped the US to so quickly identify the "19 hijackers"! On April 3, 2002, Express India, quoting the Press Trust of India, revealed:
Washington, April 3: Indian intelligence agencies helped the US to identify the hijackers who carried out the deadly September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, a media report said here on Wednesday. 73
Ain't that a kick in the ass?!! Did you catch that? The Indian intelligence officials that were duped into mistaking Israeli agents for Al Qaeda hijackers back in 2000, were the very same clowns telling the FBI who it was that hijacked the 9-11 planes! Keep in mind that Indian intelligence has an extremely close working relationship with Israels Mossad because both governments hate the Muslim nation of Pakistan. 74
Now about Mohamed Atta, you know, the so-called "ring leader". There are a number of inconsistencies with that story as well. Like some of the 7 hijackers known to be still alive, Atta also had his passport stolen in 1999, 75 (the same passport that miraculously survived the WTC explosion and collapse?) making him an easy mark for an identity theft. Atta was known to all as a shy, timid, and sheltered young man who was uncomfortable with women. 76 The 5 foot 7 inch, 150 pound architecture student was such a "goody two shoes" that some of his university acquaintances in Germany refrained from drinking or cursing in front of him. How this gentle, non- political mamma's boy from a good Egyptian family suddenly transformed himself into the vodka drinking, go-go girl groping terrorist animal described by the media, has to rank as the greatest personality change since another classic work of fiction, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Atta, or someone using Atta's identity, had enrolled in a Florida flight school in 2001 and then broke off his training, making it a point to tell his instructor he was leaving for Boston. In an October 2001 interview with an ABC affiliate in Florida, flight school president Rudi Dekkers said that his course does not qualify pilots to fly commercial jumbo jets. 77 He also described Atta as "an asshole". 78 Part of the reason for Dekker's dislike for Atta stems from a highly unusual incident that occurred at the beginning of the course. Heres the exchange between ABC producer Quentin McDermott and Dekkers:
MCDERMOTT: "Why do you say Atta was an asshole?"
DEKKERS: "Well, when Atta was here and I saw his face on several occasions in the building, then I know that they're regular students and then I try to talk to them, it's kind of a PR - where are you from? I tried to communicate with him. I found out from my people that he lived in Hamburg and he spoke German so one of the days that I saw him, I speak German myself, I'm a Dutch citizen, and I started in the morning telling him in German, "Good morning. How are you? How do you like the coffee? Are you happy here?", and he looked at me with cold eyes, didn't react at all and walked away. That was one of my first meetings I had." 79
This is eerily similar to the way in which Zacharias Moussaoui (the so-called "20th hijacker") became "belligerent" when his Minnesota flight instructor tried to speak to him in French (his first language), at the beginning of that course. The Minnessota Star Tribune reported on December 21, 2001:
"Moussaoui first raised eyebrows when, during a simple introductory exchange, he said he was from France, but then didn't seem to understand when the instructor spoke French to him. Moussaoui then became belligerent and evasive about his background, (Congressman) Oberstar and other sources said. In addition, he seemed inept in basic flying procedure, while seeking expensive training on an advanced commercial jet simulator." 80 (emphasis added)
It truly is an amazing twist of fate that both Atta and Moussaoui both had American flight instructors who spoke German and French respectively. Even the great Mossad could not have foreseen such a coincidence! The real Atta would have been able to respond to his instructors German small talk and the real Moussaoui would have been able to respond to his instructors French small talk. Atta just walked away and Moussaoui threw a fit! Neither responded because neither could. They were imposters, whose faces were probably disguised by a make up artist. Their mission was to frame the two innocent Arabs who were probably targeted by the Mossad at random.
The imposter was able to create a new Atta by using Atta's stolen passport from 1999 - the same passport that floated safely to the ground with a few burnt edges on 9-11. These strange inconsistencies tend to give support to Mohammed Atta's father's claim that he spoke over the phone with his son on September 12th, the day after the attacks. 81 Could a group of professionals have abducted and killed the real Atta in the days following the 9-11 attacks? Mossad agents, posing as "art students" were arrested after conducting some type of operation in Hollywood, Florida, the same small town that Atta stayed in! 82 So what happened to the real Mohammed Atta? To quote his grief stricken father: "Ask Mossad!".
So who, if not the "19 Arabs" was on those planes? Thats the million dollar question! There are a number of alternative scenarios. Could some Israelis have been fanatical enough to have volunteered for such a suicide mission? Odd as that may sound at first, it is not out of the realm of possibility. The fact is, hard-core Zionist extremists have proven themselves to be every bit as fanatical, (more so), than Arab extremists.
A nation which can produce thousands of bloodthirsty Zionist extremists, Irgun war criminals, Mossad terrorists who blow up occupied buildings, assassins who kill Israeli Prime Ministers in full view of policemen, and crazed killers who have carried sickening massacres of Arab women and children; would surely be capable of recruiting a few fanatics willing to sacrifice for "the cause". This theory becomes even more plausible when we consider that only the pilots would have needed to know that the planes were on a suicide mission.
Still dont think Israel is capable of producing suicidal terrorists? Have you already forgotten the case of Dr. Baruch Goldstein?. Goldstein was a New York doctor and resettled in Israel. On February 25, 1994, Goldstein walked into a crowded Arab mosque in the occupied West Bank. With hundreds of worshippers kneeled in silent prayer, Goldstein sealed off the exit, and opened fire with a rapid-firing assault rifle, killing 29 and wounding many more. Goldstein, a father of four, was finally stopped and killed when the frenzied crowd overpowered him. With as many as 800 worshippers packed into the mosque, Goldstein surely could not have been expecting to come out alive. This was clearly a suicide attack. And what did Goldsteins mother have to say about her sons suicide attack? The Boston Globe revealed:
"The mother of Baruch Goldstein, the Jewish settler who massacred about 40 Palestinians in a Hebron mosque a week ago, says she is proud of her son. "I always thought to myself, When would someone get up and do such a thing? And in the end, my son did it," Miriam Goldstein told the weekly Shishi newspaper." 83
It gets even more sickening than that. Baruch Goldstein has become a folk hero among many of the crazed side-locked settlers who have encroached upon the West Bank. They have turned Goldsteins gravesite into a memorial and set up a website to honor his murderous deed! Look what these fanatics posted on the Goldstein memorial website:
Over the years, the grave has become a site of pilgrimage. Numerous people from all over the world come to pray and honor his (Baruchs) memory. 84
(emphasis added)
One has to wonder if some of Goldsteins admirers were flying those planes on 9-11. There is one interesting side note here which may or may not be of any significance. One of the two Israelis who died aboard the hijacked planes was Daniel Lewin - who was aboard the first plane to crash into the Twin Towers. The Haaretz News Service of Israel revealed that Lewin, was a one-time officer in the Israeli Defense Forces elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. 85 Oddly enough, Lewins name is missing from CNNs comprehensive September 11 Memorial website.
Another possibility is that some other group of "patsies" was recruited for the operation. Perhaps some anarchists, or some leftover Marxists who thought they were going to bring down western capitalism. Or perhaps, the hijackers were another group of angry Arabs who werent even aware of who their true handlers really were or what the broader strategic aim of the mission actually was. In the dark world of covert operations, agents are often kept ignorant of who it is that orchestrating the show.
Admittedly, these scenarios are speculative, but one thing that is not speculative is this: the hijackers were not the 19 men whose faces were shown on our TV screens!
GOLDSTEIN STILL ALIVE: AL NAMI AL SHEHRI AL OMARI AL GHAMDI AL GHAMDI AL-MIHDHAR
WHO PROVIDED THE PROTECTIVE COVER FOR THE 9-11 OPERATION?
On October 26, 1999, the famous golfer Payne Stewart boarded a private Learjet in Florida and left for Texas. Shortly after takeoff, Stewart's jet veered sharply off course and began heading northwest. All contact with air controllers was lost. Within 15 minutes of having gone off course, US fighter jets had already intercepted the jet. Everyone on board was likely dead due to depressurization. These fighter jets were dispatched by NORAD, the branch of the US air force whose job it is to monitor and defend US airspace 24 hours a day. NORAD maintains a huge array of land based radar systems and has fighter jets on alert 24 hours a day so that they can respond to a crisis. The jets escorted the doomed airplane until another group of Air National Guard jets took over the escort mission. Finally, Stewart's jet ran out of fuel a crashed in South Dakota. The quick reaction time and military precision with which NORAD intercepted and escorted Stewart's jet was impressive, and exactly what one would have expected from the greatest military power in world history. 86
But on 9-11, the same NORAD which had so effortlessly intercepted Stewart's jet in 1999, was nowhere to be found during that two hour period between the first planes going off course and the last one crashing in a Pennsylvania field. How is it possible that the airspace between Boston and Washington DC, an area which contains the political and economic heart of the nation, was left completely defenseless? The second plane to hit the New York had flown off course without communication for 40 minutes. On its way to New York, it actually flew within a few miles of McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey, after the first tower had already been hit! And how is it possible that Washington DC was left undefended (long after the New York attacks) when Andrews Air Force base is within car driving distance? The air force jets which did finally arrive were too late. Was this due to NORAD's incompetence, or was the order to scramble the fighter jets deliberately delayed so that the terror attacks could take place. Given NORAD's impressive performance in the 1999 Payne Stewart disaster, this would suggest that someone high up in the Air Force establishment may have issued stand down orders to some of our Air Force bases. Remember, the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board is headed by Zionist Richard Perle and his gang of warmongering lackeys.87 The civilians on this board wield the power to promote career minded Generals and Admirals. Is it really that hard to believe that a highly placed military leader could have collaborated with the true 9-11 planners?
What makes the Air Force's slow response even more outrageous and suspicious is that previously mentioned Newsweek article which revealed that several Pentagon leaders (Defense Policy Board?) cancelled flight plans for September 11 due to security concerns.88 There were other warning signals too which were reviewed earlier. In light of all these warnings, why wasnt NORAD and it's armada of fighters placed on an even higher alert than they already are? There is only one logical answer to these questions: Certain Pentagon leaders were "in on it".
General Hamid Gul, a former Director of Pakistani Intelligence hit the nail on the head with his analysis:
"The attacks against New York and Washington were Israeli engineered."
"The attacks started at 8:45, and four flights are diverted from their assigned air space and no Air Force fighter jets scramble until 10:00. Radars are jammed, transponders fail and no IFF - friend or foe identification - challenge. In Pakistan, if there is no response to an IFF, jets are instantly scrambled. This was clearly an inside job. Will this also be hushed up in the investigation, like the Kennedy assassination?" 89
This raises another troubling set of questions. Surely the masterminds of the 9-11 operation would have taken the time to learn something about US air defense procedures. They would therefore have realized that hitting New York City with jets hijacked from Boston would have been difficult. New York is about 30 minutes away by airplane and jumbo jets fly very slowly when compared to US fighter jets that can crack the sound barrier. Even with a 15-20 minute head start, NORAD's jets could have easily intercepted them, especially the second plane, which took a longer route to New York and flew way off course for 40 minutes. Why choose Boston's airport and jeopardize the success of the operation? Wouldn't it be safer to just hijack planes from New York's Kennedy or La Guardia Airports? Or even Newark, NJ which is just across the river. Any plane hijacked from either of those three busy airports would have been unstoppable. Even a plane from Philadelphia's Airport would have been much closer to the target than far away Boston.
The planners were no dummies. They must have counted on receiving protective cover and a window of opportunity by someone high up at US Air command. Why else choose Boston? In addition to the protection that the planners were to receive from certain Air Force elements, there is another plausible theory for choosing Boston's Logan Airport as well as United and American Airlines planes. It should be noted that the firm which provides security at Boston's Logan Airport and also Newark Airport, and also works extensively with United and American Airlines, is a company called Huntleigh USA. 90 Claiming that Huntleigh USA's airport security was grossly negligent on 9-11, family members of some of the victims are suing Huntleigh. 91 Huntleigh USA had been acquired by ICTS International in 1999. ICTS is controlled by two Israelis; Ezra Harel and Menachem Atzmon. 92 In short, security at Boston's Logan airport was handled (or mishandled) by an Israeli controlled company. Is there a connection here? Could agents have been infiltrated into Logan Airport under Israeli owned Huntleigh's cover? It's quite possible. In the days following the 9-11 attacks, Israeli security professionals began aggressively marketing themselves in order to gain more airport security jobs. 93 Americans should be grateful to have such wonderful allies who care about our airport security so much!
Could some of the failure of our defense systems be attributed to a cyber attack from computer hackers? Our defense and intelligence systems are very dependent upon technology. A well coordinated attack on these systems may also have contributed to our inability to expose and prevent the attacks. There is one group that has the capability to attack our military computer systems.
In July of 1999, Haaretz (Israel) ran a story headlined: "Hackers Using Israeli Net Site to Strike at Pentagon": Haaretz reported:
"An Israeli Internet site is being used by international computer hackers as a base for electronic attacks on US government and military computer systems, according to Pentagon officials who were quoted in a Washington Timnes report yesterday."
"According to the Times, the real danger to US national security is the threat posed by foreign intelligence services or governments that could launch electronic warfare against the United States" 94
And look what the US Department of Justice wrote in this 1998 press release:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "The Department of Justice, in conjunction with the FBI, the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, announced today that the Israeli National Police arrested Ehud Tenebaum, an Israeli citizen, for illegally accessing computers belonging to the Israeli and United States governments, as well as hundreds of other commercial and educational systems in the United States and elsewhere." 95
No doubt about it. Covert elements in Israel have been targeting the US militarys defense systems for some time now. This could very well have been yet another instrument played during the great orchestrated concert of 9-11.
LEFT: BUSH: "LET US NEVER TOLERATE OUTRAGEOUS CONSPIRACY THEORIES."
RIGHT: GENERAL HAMID GUL: "CLEARLY AN INSIDE JOB."
THE CURIOUS COLLAPSE OF THE TWIN TOWERS
The government/media approved version of events insists that the fires in the World Trade Center burned so hot that they caused steel supports to melt and buckle, thus triggering a total collapse of the towers. This is a strange theory for a number of reasons:
1. The architects who designed the World Trade Center designed it to withstand the direct impact and fuel fire of a commercial airline crash. Aaron Swirsky, one of the architects of the WTC described the collapse as "incredible" and "unbelievable." 96
Lee Robertson, the project's structural engineer said: "I designed it for a 707 to hit it. The Boeing 707 has a fuel capacity comparable to the 767." 97
2. The history of high-rise building fires provides no case histories of buildings collapsing due to steel beams melting from a fire.
3. The collapse of both towers were both perfectly symmetrical and methodical. The straight down collapse was identical in appearance to a well engineered, controlled implosion. A demolition company could not have done it better. Now that we know that all one has to do to bring a tall building straight down is set a fuel fire in it, the well trained experts who work for demolition companies should all be out of a job by now!
Even a layman with no explosives background should be able to see this. But many specialists in the explosives and structural engineering have also made this observation and commented on these inconsistencies. After the WTC collapse, the Vice President of New Mexico Tech, Van Romero, gave an interview to the Albuquerque Journal. He stated plainly that he believed that the WTC collapse was too methodical and that explosive devices must have been placed in key points of both buildings. Romero said:
"It would be difficult for something from the plane to trigger an event like that. It could have been a relatively small amount of explosives placed in strategic points. One of the things that terrorists are noted for is a diversionary attack and a secondary device." 98
In that same interview, Romero revealed that he was in Washington DC when the attacks took place. He and a colleague were there to discuss defense research programs for New Mexico Tech. A few days after his interview, Romero abruptly changed his opinion and told the Albuquerque Journal that he no longer believed that bombs brought down the towers. 99 Romero, who relies upon the Zionist occupied Pentagon for funding, had suddenly flip-flopped and joined the "melted steel" theorists.
There is more than just my own common sense and Romero's expert opinion to support the belief that the towers were imploded from within. Several witnesses and survivors reported hearing bombs going off inside the World Trade Center. Louie Cacchioli is a firefighter with Engine 47 in Harlem, New York. Cacchioli told People Magazine the following:
"I was taking firefighters up in the elevator to the 24th floor to get in position to evacuate workers. On the last trip up a bomb went off. We think there were bombs set in the building." 100
Now this whole controversy between the "melted steel" scenario and the detonation scenario is one that could be very easily resolved. All we have to do is dig up the steel beams and examine each and everyone of them. If an explosive device caused the steel to fail, there will be tell-tale indications for the engineers to see. But if it was intense heat that caused the steel to "melt" or "buckle", there will be tell-tale signs of that as well. All we have to do to put an end to this controversy is to closely examine the steel. Right?
Well, don't hold your breath. That's never going to happen. Thanks in large part to Time Magazine's "Man of the Year 2001", New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the steel beams were quickly recycled before investigators even had the chance to look at them! A media darling and lifelong supporter of Israel, Saint Rudy Giuliani made sure that the "smoking gun" evidence was destroyed and right quick too. Much of the steel was recycled in America, but an additional seventy thousand tons of WTC steel was sold to Metals Management - a New York company with a jewish (Zionist?) president named Alan Ratner. Ratner then turned around and shipped the WTCs steel to China and India for recycling! 101
China Radio Internationals English Edition also reported:
"New York's Metals Management is among the firms taking steel from the huge project to clear Ground Zero. The company says it has bought 70,000 tons of scrap from the ruined twin towers. Some of the scrap has been shipped across the Pacific to Asian, including China and India. Among the consignments of scrap are the "very dense" steel girders from Ground Zero, which could finally yield 250,000 to 400,000 tons of scrap for recycling. " 102
Imaine that! The largest criminal investigation in history and the investigators weren't even permitted to see the most important evidence of all - the steel! During the time that Saint Rudy and Ratner the Recycler were destroying evidence, many of the most respected engineers in the country complained not only about the recycling, but also about the Federal government's suffocating control of their investigation. On December 25, 2001, the New York Times ran a story about the frustrations of some of the engineers who were called in to study the cause of the collapse:
"Interviews with a handful of members of the team, which includes some of the nation's most respected engineers, also uncovered complaints that they had at various times been shackled with bureaucratic restrictions that prevented them from interviewing witnesses, examining the disaster site and requesting crucial information like recorded distress calls to the police and fire departments..." 103 (emphasis added)
They made their concerns known publicly. Bill Manning, editor of the 125 year old Fire Engineering magazine, noticed a strange difference between the WTC investigation and other major fire investigations in New York Citys history. Manning wrote:
"Did they throw away the locked doors from the Triangle Shirtwaist fire? Did they throw away the gas can used at the happy land social club fire?...That's what they're doing at the World Trade Center. The destruction and removal of evidence must stop immediately." 104
One investigator told the New York Times:
"This is almost the dream team of engineers in the country working on this, and our hands are tied," said one team member who asked not to be identified. Members have been threatened with dismissal for speaking to the press. "FEMA is controlling everything," the team member said. 105
Dr. Frederick W. Mowrer from the Fire Engineering department at the University of Maryland told the New York Times:
"I find the speed with which important evidence has been removed and recycled to be appalling." 106
Finally, the Times story made this interesting little revelation about St. Rudy the Recycler:
"Officials in the mayor's office declined to reply to written and oral requests for comment over a three- day period about who decided to recycle the steel and the concern that the decision might be handicapping the investigation.." 107
It is a very odd form of science that the government and some of its house scientists practice these days. Without a shred of physical evidence, these modern-day alchemists have been able to "prove" their theory fire caused the towers to collapse. This appears to be yet another monstrous lie. Why else would you destroy the "melted steel"? Ask Rudy.
LEFT; EXPLOSIVES EXPERT VAN ROMERO: "THE COLLAPSE WAS TOO METHODICAL."
RIGHT: SAINT RUDY THE RECYCLER AT A PRO-ISRAEL RALLY. HE WAS ALSO NAMED "MAN OF THE YEAR" BY ZIONIST CONTROLLED TIME MAGAZINE..
THE MIRACLE OF PASSOVER
Not just Americans were murdered on 9-11. Nearly 500 foreign nationals from over 80 different nations were killed in the World Trade Center. 108 As a center of world trade and finance this is not surprising. It is also commonly known that many Israelis work in the field of international trade and finance. The laws of probability dictate that among the nearly 500 dead foreign nationals, from over 80 different nations, there should have been a considerable number of Israelis. But the number of Israeli dead was suspiciously low, especially when we consider the report, contained in the September 12 Jerusalem Post, that the Israeli embassy in America was bombarded on 9-11 with calls from 4000 worried Israeli families. 109 George Bush had told the US Congress that he also mourned the deaths of foreign citizens including "more than 130 Israelis". 110 But Bush was either misinformed or he was lying. The actual number of Israeli dead at the WTC was far less than 130. It was far less than 100. It was far less than 50. It was far less than 25. It was far less than 10. It was. zero! 111A That's right! ZERO Israeli nationals lost their lives in the WTC while citizens from over 80 different nations, including such powerhouses of world trade and finance as Granada, Bermuda, Ireland, and the Philippines, all lost people in the WTC.
*(One Israeli was killed aboard each of the flights that crashed into the WTC. None were killed in the WTC itself.)
We learned earlier about the employees of the Israeli instant messaging company Odigo, who were anonymously informed of the attacks two hours before they took place. 112 Even more intriguing than the Odigo warnings was the narrow escape of 200 employees of an Israeli government run company called Zim Israel Navigational. With over 80 vessels, Zim Navigational is the 9th largest shipping company in the world. Just one week before 9-11, Zim Navigational moved out of its World Trade Center offices with over 200 workers. 113A, 113B
Company spokesperson Dan Nadler said: "When we watched the pictures, we felt so lucky. Our entire US operations were run out of the 16th floor." 114A,114B
Zim moved to Virginia. Nadler added that the aim of the sudden move "was to save on rent". 115A, 115B Somehow the claim that a major global shipping firm, backed up by government money, needed to save a few bucks on rent lacks credibility. And oh what perfect timing!
So who tipped off Zim? Who tipped off Odigo? Who tipped off those Pentagon officials? Who tipped off those Israeli workers in New York? I think it's safe to say it wasn't Osama Bin Laden.
LEFT: BUSH COMMEMORATES 9-11 AT A DECEMBER 11 WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY. ISRAELI FLAG WAS USED AS HIS PROP.
RIGHT: ZIM NAVIGATIONAL MOVED OUT OF WTC 1 WEEK BEFORE 9-11. ZIM CLAIMS IT COULDN'T AFORD WTC RENT!
FRAMING BIN LADEN
Within minutes after the attack, a parade of politicians and "terrorism experts" appeared on every TV channel all claiming that the attacks were the work of Osama Bin Laden. The Bush administration claimed that it had evidence linking Bin Laden to the attacks which it would release to the public in a matter of days. They never did. Just like they never provided any evidence that he blew up the US embassies in Africa in 1997. The entire case against Osama Bin Laden was based on nothing but the repeated claim that he was the culprit for the embassy bombings and for 9-11. Demands were placed upon the Taleban government of Afghanistan turn Bin Laden over to the US or face an attack (we established earlier that US military action had already been planned since June). 116A,116B The Taleban offered to turn Bin Laden over to a neutral party if the US provided any evidence to them that he had anything to do with the 1997 US African embassy bombings or the 9-11 attacks. The evidence was never presented to the Taleban for two reasons:
1. There was never any evidence, not even circumstantial
2. The war to replace the Taleban with a US puppet government was already in motion. The 9-11 attacks served as the perfect excuse, the "incident" to win the support of the American people and kick off the war.
Three months after the attacks, and with the bombing of Afghani peasants in full swing, the US had still not provided one shred of evidence to link Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda "network" to 9-11. People in foreign countries were beginning to ask questions. Then one day, the Pentagon claimed that some unnamed source found a video tape in Afghanistan. The Bush gang began dropping hints in the media that this video shows Osama Bin Laden bragging and admitting his role in the attacks. How convenient! And how improbable. The "mastermind" of 9-11, who was so brilliant that he pulled off 9-11 without being detected, was careless enough to leave a "confession video" laying around to be discovered by the US!
The video was shown on the news with English subtitles. Bin Laden's voice was so barely audible that even viewers in Arab nations had to rely on the Pentagons translated subtitles! An obedient American (Zionist) news media accepted the Pentagon story and translation without question. A few Arab media whores were even trotted out to vouch for the tapes authenticity. Aha! This is the "smoking gun" they assured us. But this too is another vicious lie.
On December 20, 2001, the German TV show Monitor (the "60 Minutes of Germany") found the translation of the "confession" video to be not only "inaccurate", but even "manipulative". 117 Dr. Abdel El M. Husseini and Professor Gernot Rotter made an independent translation and accused the White House translators of "writing a lot of things that they wanted to hear but cannot be heard on the tape no matter how many times you listen to it." 118
Even more compelling than the revelations of the European press are the actual images of the "confession video". Every photo previously taken of Osama Bin laden shows gaunt facial features and a long thin nose. The Pentagon video of Bin Laden clearly shows a man with full facial features and a wide nose. Examine the pictures side-by-side for yourself if you don't believe it. The differences in facial features will jump right out at you. 119
Would the Pentagon leadership be capable of such deception? Why not?! They were capable of allowing 9-11 to happen weren't they? The Pentagon itself has even admitted the existence of a special department established for the purpose of planting false stories in the media in order to carry out strategic objectives. The very Zionist and very pro-war New York Times broke a story in February 2002 which revealed that the Pentagon has plans to deliberately provide false stories to the press as part of an effort to influence policy. The Pentagon set up the Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) for this purpose. A Zionist Air Force General named Simon P. Worden was chosen to head this criminal effort. 120 Worden's boss is Douglass Feith, another dedicated Zionist who serves as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. How dedicated of a Zionist is Feith? The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) honored Feith and his father at an award dinner in 1999. So Ill let ZOAs 1997 press release you about Feith:
"This year's honorees will be Dalck Feith and Douglas J. Feith, the noted Jewish philanthropists and pro-Israel activists. Dalck Feith will receive the ZOA's special Centennial Award at the dinner, for his lifetime of service to Israel and the Jewish people. His son Douglas J. Feith, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, will receive the prestigious Louis D. Brandeis Award at the dinner." (121)- (Google usues enter: feith zionist organization award)
There you have it! The Zionist Air Force General who runs the Pentagons media disinformation department, reports directly to a Zionist Pentagon boss who was a recipient of the "prestigious" Louis Brandeis Award. Brandeis, a former Supreme Court judge, was one of the key Zionist powerbrokers who helped influence Woodrow Wilson into joining World War I as part of the Zionist-British Balfour deal we learned about earlier.
One year has passed since the 9-11 attacks and the FBI has not uncovered any Al Qaeda cells in the United States nor has it found any paper trail. The London Times reported:
"Thousands of FBI agents have rounded up more than 1,300 suspects across America since September 11, but they have failed to find a single Al-Qaeda cell operating in the United States...Tom Ridge, Director of Homeland Security could not explain why none had been caught." 122
In April of 2002, FBI director Robert Mueller - the same Robert Mueller who admitted that several hijacker identities were in doubt due to identity thefts- made this stunning announcement:
"In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper - either here or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere - that mentioned any aspect of the September 11 plot." 123
Predictably, Directors Ridge and Mueller attribute this total lack of any evidence to the skill of the Al - Qaeda "terrorist network". If you've read this far you should know better. The reason that the US has been unable to uncover a shred of evidence to link Al Qaeda to 9-11 is because....Al Qaeda didn't do it!
WILL THE REAL OSAMA BIN LADEN PLEASE STAND UP?
LEFT: PENTAGON'S "CONFESSION" VIDEO BIN LADEN
RIGHT: KNOWN IMAGE OF BIN LADEN
WHISTLEBLOWERS. WHISTLEBLOWERS. WHISTLEBLOWERS.
THE FBI AGENTS WHO TRIED TO PREVENT 9-11
The FBI's field agents are "the good guys". It's the ass kissing, spineless careerists at the top who have corrupted the agency. In the critical weeks and months leading up to that fateful day, numerous clues were picked up by loyal FBI field agents. Some of these agents were so alarmed at what they thought was an unfolding terror plot, that they tried to convince their superiors to investigate deeper. These agents were either ignored, threatened, or fired.
Each of these FBI agents thought that they were on the trail of an Arab terror plot and unless they've read this paper, they probably still believe so. We can forgive them their ignorance if they haven't realized yet that the trail they were on was not that of Arab terrorists, but rather Mossad agents impersonating Arab terrorists. (much more on that later!) The essential point is that these agents were on to something big that someone didn't want them to digging into.
There is FBI Special Agent Robert Wright. The public interest law firm Judicial Watch is representing agent Wright. Wright claims that he was met with retaliation and threats from his bosses and from the Justice Department who told him they wanted his probes to go no further. 124 Wright maintains that if his investigation had been allowed to continue, the attacks could have been prevented.
There is FBI agent Coleen Rowley. The gutsy Rowley wrote a 13 page letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller in which she actually accuses the director of her own agency of "a subtle skewing of the facts". 125 Rowley's letter also charged that the agency refused to react to evidence of a pending terror plot. According to Rowley the FBI's obstruction was so blatant that her and some of her fellow agents jokingly speculated that key FBI personnel must have been moles working for Osama Bin laden! 126 Rowleys main point of contention was the agencys failure to go after Zacharias Moussoui, the "20th hijacker", even after his flight school instructor reported his suspicious behavior to the FBI. Moussoui you will recall was the French Algerian who couldnt speak French to his flight school instructor.
There is FBI agent Sibel Edmonds. Edmunds was an FBI wiretap translator. She claims that another FBI translator was working for the Mossad and that the Mossad also |
A collection of package recipes for Redox.
@dlrobertson Added documentation for Gentoo Linux. Details here.
@sajattack Added recipes for vim, jansson and ssh. Details here.
, and. Details here. @sajattack Made a quick fix to the ssh recipe. Details here.
recipe. Details here. @xTibor Added recipe version to vttest recipe. Details here.
recipe. Details here. @sajattack Fixed vim.patch. Details here.
. Details here. @sajattack Change ssh recipe to use custom branch of newlib. Details here.
recipe to use custom branch of. Details here. @jackpot51 Updated pkgutils. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Fixed prboom recipe. Details here.
recipe. Details here. @sajattack Created jansson.patch in the jansson. Details here.
in the. Details here. @xTibor Added periodictable recipe. Details here.
recipe. Details here. @jackpot51 Cleaned up LLVM build in Rust recipe. Details here.
@jackpot51 Improved build speed of Rust recipe. Details here.
@jackpot51 Fixed llvm-config path. Details here.
path. Details here. @AgustinCB Fixed xz recipe. Details here.
recipe. Details here. @jackpot51 Cleaned up compilation of Rust. Details here.
@jackpot51 Added version for ca-certificates. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Disabled LLVM ninja build, Enable compilation of codegen tests. Details here.
Orbtk
The Orbital Widget Toolkit. Compatible with Redox and SDL2.
@BojanKogoj Added clear() to Grid and example. Details here.
pkgutils
Redox Packaging Utilities.
@jackpot51 Removed dependency resolution in tar.gz package case. Details here.
package case. Details here. @jackpot51 Made a change to retrieve dependency list from repo. Details here.
@jackpot51 Retrieve dependency list from repo. Details here.
Orbterm
Orbital Terminal, compatible with Redox and Linux.
@jackpot51 Fixed an issue when resizing smaller than cursor. Details here.
@jackpot51 Updated ransid. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Fixed enter character, update ransid. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Updated ransid. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Updated to git ransid. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Updated to git ransid. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Added resize event. Details here.
@jackpot51 Released version 0.3.0. Details here.
Orbutils
The Orbital Utilities. Compatible with Redox and SDL2.
@chebykinn Migrated to redox_users in orblogin. Details here.
in. Details here. @AleVul replace userutils with redox_users in orblogin. Details here.
ransid
Rust ANSI Driver - a backend for terminal emulators in Rust.
@jackpot51 Fixed overflow. Details here.
@jackpot51 Improved vt100 compliance. Details here.
compliance. Details here. @jackpot51 Improved vttest performance. Details here.
performance. Details here. @jackpot51 Released 0.3.7. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Improved parsing of nested control characters. Details here.
@jackpot51 Used VTE for lower level state machine. Details here.
@jackpot51 Added test pattern. Details here.
pattern. Details here. @jackpot51 Handled parameters. Details here.
@jackpot51 Fixed ESC D and ESC E behavior. Details here.
and behavior. Details here. @jackpot51 Fixed some wrapping behaviors. Details here.
@jackpot51 Fixe CSI m. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Implemented titlebar. Details here.
@jackpot51 Released 0.4.0. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Disabled xenl. Details here.
. Details here. @jackpot51 Released 0.4.1. Details here.
@jackpot51 Released 0.4.2 - Which fixes cursor before printing char. Details here.
@jackpot51 Released 0.4.3 - Fixing pb. Details here.
Users
Redox OS APIs for accessing users and groups information.
@goyox86 Initial commit. Details here.
@goyox86 Added LICENSE and README. Details here.
@goyox86 Tweaked comments. Details here.
@goyox86 Tweaks README. Details here.
@goyox86 Updated README. Details here.
@goyox86 Updated Cargo.toml. Details here.
@goyox86 Made some renaming and improved docs. Details here.
@goyox86 Moved Group users field to be a vector of String s. Details here.
field to be a vector of s. Details here. @goyox86 Implemented AllUsers iterator. Details here.
Userutils
User and group management utilities.
@goyox86 Migrated to the new redox_users crate, some refactoring and docs. Details here.
crate, some refactoring and docs. Details here. @goyox86 Updated README and some more documentation tweaks. Details here.
Coreutils
The Redox coreutils.
@goyox86 Migrated to the new redox_users crate. Details here.
Newlib
A fork of newlib from git://sourceware.org/git/newlib-cygwin.git with Redox support
@sajattack Removed include of nonexistent endian.h file. Details here.
@sajattack Added all the headers necessary for openssh to compile. Details here.
to compile. Details here. @sajattack Replaced glibc headers with newlib ones where possible. Details here.
headers with newlib ones where possible. Details here. @sajattack Removed ioctl.h and revert netdb.h for breaking ncurses and bash. Details here.
and revert for breaking ncurses and bash. Details here. @sajattack Removed un.h for breaking openssl. Details here.
for breaking openssl. Details here. @sajattack Added ssh dependencies. Details here.
dependencies. Details here. @sajattack Implemented scandir() and alphasort(). Details here.
New contributors
Since the list of contributors are growing too fast, we’ll now only list the new contributors. This might change in the future.
Sorted in alphabetical order:
If I missed something, feel free to contact me @goyox86 or send a PR to Redox website.AP Microsoft has invested $300 million in a joint venture with Barnes & Noble.
The plan is to spin out the "Nook" e-reader business from Barnes & Noble, along with its College business.
Microsoft's $300 million investment is worth a 17% stake in the new company, which means it's valued at $1.7 billion.
Amusingly, Barnes & Noble's entire market cap was $792 million at the time of the investment.
Barnes & Noble's stock is up 80% in pre-market trading.
Barnes & Noble will own the rest of the company, and the new tablet focused company will still have a relationship with Barnes & Noble bookstores.
In January Barnes & Noble announced that it was exploring options to spin out its Nook business. At the time it appeared as though the Nook business was unprofitable. Barnes & Noble said sales of the Nook Touch were worse than expected and investment in the Nook business is dragging on earnings.
There's a lot to unpack here. Here are some of the things to think about:
Microsoft now has a stake in a company that is on a path to become a rival. The Nook Tablet, much like the Kindle Fire, is an entry level tablet. We doubt this new company is going to settle for making just Nook e-readers and entry level tablets. Eventually it will have a full blown tablet that rivals Windows 8 tablets.
Nook has forked Android for its tablet operating system. Again, this means Microsoft is investing in a rival platform, unless the new Nook company plans to ditch Android and use Windows 8 for its tablets. That seems unlikely. We assume it would take a lot of work to rebuild the code from scratch.
Microsoft and Barnes & Noble were in patent lawsuits until recently. They've settle their patent disputes and are now partners.
This is Microsoft's mode of operation lately. It is really into partnering with companies. Look at its deals with Facebook, Nokia, and now Barnes & Noble. It's much better than trying to build out an e-book business.
More to come, click here for the latest.
And watch below for a brief video explainer:The well-timed news is out: the 2000-2009 decade is likely to become the warmest since records began in 1850. The U.N. weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), presented fresh statistics on the second day of climate conference in Copenhagen.
The decade 2000-2009 "is very likely to be the warmest on record, warmer than the 1990s, than the 1980s and so on," said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the WMO at a news conference.
These data present pretty solid evidence of global warming. And that provides a compelling argument for the transformation of our fossil fuel based economies to clean and sustainable renewable energy economies. And yet for me, rising sea levels and drowning polar bears do not present the first motivation for this positive change. I read in the paper that a potential climate deal in Copenhagen "will likely bear a big price tag."
That's exactly the wrong kind of thinking. Global warming is not an expensive threat. It is not a potential loss. On the contrary. Humanity stands on the threshold of an era of unprecedented opportunities. In the past decades, many innovative new technologies have become available and affordable that can transform our current economies based on polluting fossil fuels into sustainable renewable energy economies. This transformation will provide millions of new jobs. It will halt global warming. It will create a more fair and just world. It will clean our environment and make our lives healthier. In other words, the problem of global warming presents an inspiring opportunity to make our world a better place.
That's why at Ode Magazine we have decided to publish a special issue called "The Solutions We Need Now." This special edition is being distributed in a print run of 75,000 to delegates, influencers and activists in Copenhagen. This issue presents breakthrough solutions like "atmospheric mixing" by Australian naturalist Jay Harman and electricity generation from salt water by Dutch scientists. Moreover the special edition features action plans by well-known authors as Al Gore, Lester Brown, Hermann Scheer, Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken and Gunter Pauli.
This special edition is now available here for free to everyone. The ideas, plans and people that we need to transform our economies into sustainable societies are already widely available. Their stories need to be told more and more for the world to change. So spread the good news and let the solutions begin!Targeting The Immune System May Help Stop The Itch Of Eczema
Enlarge this image toggle caption Meredith Rizzo/NPR Meredith Rizzo/NPR
People with moderate to severe eczema may benefit from new treatments that significantly reduce the intense itching that comes with the scaly skin disease.
A study published Wednesday finds that the antibody nemolizumab, given as a monthly injection, not only reduces itching significantly but also clears up many of the patches of dry, inflamed skin that are part of the disease. It appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"At 12 weeks there was very significant improvement," says dermatologist Jon Hanifin of the Oregon Health and Science University. "Not 100 percent, but patients were delighted not to have the itching that was keeping them up at night."
The study was done in 216 patients with moderate-to-severe eczema to determine the best dose of nemolizumab. They were randomized to receive either a placebo or a low, moderate or high dose of the drug, injected once a month.
Those who got the low dose reported a 44 percent reduction in itching, using a scale of 1 to 10. Patients who received moderate doses reported a 60 percent reduction in itching, while patients getting high doses reported 63 percent less itching.
"There was a consistent improvement across the dosing range and the best one was the moderate dose," says Hanifin. "So we may be able to treat patients with smaller doses" [than we thought.]
Eczema, also called "atopic dermatitis," is caused by a malfunction in the body's immune system, leading to a loss of the proteins needed to form a protective skin barrier.
About 35 million Americans are estimated to have some form of the disease. The majority have mild cases which are usually helped with moisturizers to prevent dry skin and sometimes prescription medications to reduce inflammation.
But about 10 percent of patients have moderate to severe eczema which, according to Hanifin, is a "conservative estimate."
For these patients, the severe itchiness can make it nearly impossible to sleep and the creams typically used to soften dry skin and relieve itching may not work very well. They often have to take time off work and see several doctors before finding one that can help treat the chronic disease.
In an editorial accompanying the study, pediatrician Lynda Schneider, who directs the Allergy Program at Boston Children's Hospital, says the new medication is uniquely promising because it targets the need to scratch. "If you can target the itching, this makes a big difference."
"If patients aren't scratching they are not disrupting the skin barrier," she says. When the barrier is broken, bacteria can pass through the skin, exacerbating the scaly rash. Therapies like this one that boost the immune system and help treat moderate to severe eczema are an exciting advance, Schneider says.
Nemolizumab is one of several drugs being studied in a new class of medications for eczema that act on the immune system. Researchers have focused in particular on the role of cytokines — chemicals that are released when the immune system kicks into gear in response to a bacterial or viral invader.
In eczema and other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks itself. Cytokines called interleukins are released, which block the production of proteins that are needed to keep the skin's barrier properties intact.
Nemolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody developed to block the production of these interleukins and prevent the loss of the protective proteins.
The study's design and analysis was paid for nemolizumab's maker, Chugai Pharmaceuticals. A note in the article says the academic authors, which include Hanifin, vouch for the "completeness and accuracy" of the data.
Another drug, Dupilumab, works in a similar fashion and is undergoing a final review at the Food and Drug Administration. A decision whether to approve could come within weeks or months.Ibn Battuta in Egypt, painting by Hippolyte Leon. The Moroccan Muslim traveller and scholar, had a few things in common with Trump.
NOT since Ibn Battuta, travelled the Middle East in the 14th century has anyone set out with higher ambitions that Donald Trump. Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan Muslim traveller and scholar, had a few things in common with Trump. He reached what is now Saudi Arabia. He went to Jerusalem. He even had a keen eye for nubile ladies — there were a few wives, not to mention a Greek slave girl to be groped. But there the parallels end. For Ibn Battuta was sane.
Yet now we know that Trump thinks he’s touching the three monotheistic religions because he’s going to Riyadh, Jerusalem and then the Vatican (not quite in the Middle East but what’s a hundred miles for a guy like Trump). A few problems, of course. He can’t go to Holy Makkah because Christians are banned and the old king of Saudi Arabia represents a head-chopping Wahabi autocracy some of whose citizens have paid for — and fought alongside — the dreaded IS which Trump thinks he is fighting.
Then when he goes to Jerusalem, he will meet Benjamin Netanyahu who hardly represents world Jewry and plans to go on thieving Arab lands in the West Bank for Jews, and Jews only, whatever Trump thinks. Then he’ll turn up at the Vatican to confront a man who — great guy though he may be — only represents Roman Catholics and doesn’t much like Trump anyway. Ibn Battuta was away from home for around a quarter of a century. Thank heavens Trump’s cutting that back to three days.
Of course, he’s no more going to be talking to “Islam” in Saudi Arabia than he is “Judaism” in Jerusalem. The Sunni Saudis are going to talk about crushing the “snake” of Shia Iran — and we must remember that Trump is the crackpot who shed crocodile tears over the Sunni babies killed in Syria last month but none for the Shia babies killed in Syria a few days later — and hope they can re-establish real relations between their execution-happy kingdom with the execution-happy US. Trump might just try to read UN rapporteur Ben Emmerson’s latest report on the imprisonment of human rights defenders and the torture of “terror” suspects in Saudi Arabia. No. Forget it.
Anyway, the king is no imam. Any more than Netanyahu is a rabbi. But Jerusalem will be a great gig because Trump will be able to ask Netanyahu for help against IS without — presumably — realising that Israel bombs only the Syrian army and the Shia Hezbollah in Syria but has never — ever — bombed IS in Syria. In fact, the Israelis have given medical aid to fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, which is part of Al Qaeda which (maybe Trump has heard of this) attacked the United States on 9/11. So maybe the Vatican will be a relief.
Of course, Trump might have dropped by Lebanon to meet Patriarch Beshara Rai, a Christian prelate who at least lives in the Middle East and who might have been able to tell Trump a few home truths about Syria. Or, since Trump would be “honoured” to meet the Great Leader of North Korea, he might even have shocked the world by dropping by for a couple of hours with Bashar al-Assad. At least Ibn Battuta got to Damascus.
But no, Trump is searching for “friends and partners” to fight “terrorism” — something which has never, of course, been inflicted on Yemen by Saudi Arabia or on Lebanon and the Palestinians by Israel. Nor will it be mentioned by the boys and girls of CNN, ABC and all the US media titans who will — in the interest of promoting their importance by pretending that their president is not mad — grovellingly follow their crackpot president around the region with all the usual nonsense about “policies” and “key players” and “moderates” (as in “moderate Saudi Arabia”) and all the other fantastical creatures which they inject into their reports.
Oh yes, and Trump also wants to bring “peace” to the Holy Land. And so he will move from the king of head-choppers to the thief of Palestinian lands and end up with the poor old Holy Father who is wisely giving the president only a few early-morning minutes before his weekly general audience. Since the Pope described Trump’s views as “not Christian” — an unsaintly thing for Pope Francis to say of a mentally ill man — and Trump called the Pope’s words “disgraceful”, this is not going to be a barrel of laughs.
But then again, the Pope shook the hand of the Sultan of Egypt only a week ago, the equally saintly Field Marshal President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, whose coup overthrew an elected president and who now “disappears” his enemies. Trump should be a piece of cake after that. Ibn Battuta, by the way, got as far as Beijing in his travels but was never “honoured” to meet the “smart cookie” who was ruling in Korea (which did actually exist in the 14th century).
But being a verbose chap, Ibn Battuta did record his homecoming in these words: “I have indeed … attained my desire in this world, which was to travel through the Earth, and I have attained this honour, which no ordinary person has attained.” That’s a real “honour” by the way. But you couldn’t fit Ibn Battuta into a tweet.
—By arrangement with The Independent
Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2017The report that the Homeland Security Department plans raids against illegal immigrants was widely attacked Thursday by liberals, but it did pick up one prominent supporter — Donald Trump.
Indeed, the Republican presidential front-runner went so far as to credit himself for the proposal, which has not been officially approved.
In a tweet Thursday evening, Mr. Trump expressed all-capital-letters incredulity that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “to launch large-scale deportation raids.”
He not only said it was “about time” for the operation, but began his tweet by saying “Wow, because of the pressure put on by me …”
Ironically, a statement by the immigrant-rights group America’s Voice, which was harshly critical of the proposal, agreed with Mr. Trump’s assessment of the driving force.
“The plan raises the ugly specter of the very mass roundups and deportation advocated by several candidates running for the GOP presidential nomination—most notably Donald Trump,” the group said in a statement earlier Thursday.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Last year, Star readers identified reforming the development charge system as one of their top 10 big ideas. This week, we check in on what, if any, progress has been made. A provincial bill making its way through Queen’s Park is promising change to the development charges system, but Toronto councillors are skeptical of its impact.
The rules for how much a city can charge, and where it can spend the revenue, are outlined in Ontario’s 1997 Development Charges Act. ( Toronto Star )
Every time a new building rises in the city, it affects the surrounding infrastructure. Sewage systems, water and electrical grids have to deal with increased demand. If the building is residential, it will also increase the number of people taking public transit or driving on local streets. All these things cost the city money, so it charges a development fee each time it issues a building permit, to recoup the cost of the added strain on city infrastructure. “The municipality is pushing the cost of building new infrastructure to accommodate new development onto the developer,” said Aaron Moore, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg who studied development charges extensively in Toronto.
Article Continued Below
The rules for how much a city can charge, and where it can spend the revenue, are outlined in Ontario’s 1997 Development Charges Act. One critic of the current system is Councillor Kristin Wong-Tam, who represents the development-heavy ward of Toronto-Centre Rosedale. One issue she cites is the fact the current system lets developers pay only when the first building permit is issued, which can happen years after the city has approved the land for rezoning and started planning for growth in the area. “The planning for growth … has to be done years in advance. We can’t wait until building permits are issued,” Wong-Tam said. Bill 73, introduced by Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin, called the Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, would make many changes to the original Development Charges Act. Among them would be adding transit to the list of services that don’t qualify for a 10 per cent discount when their part is calculated in the charges. But some councillors aren’t happy with the bill and say more could be done to revamp the system. Justin Di Ciano, who represents Ward 5, spoke against Bill 73 in a speech this month. He said that rather than being subject to provincial rules, Toronto should get its own development charges act, because of the unique challenges the city faces.
“We are so unique, being Canada’s largest city. To take an act to address all municipalities across Ontario is highly inadequate,” Di Ciano said. In June, council passed a motion proposing about 30 changes to Bill 73. Wong-Tam said there’s been no response from the province so far.
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“I’d hate to think the province is going to go through this charade of pretending to do something when they clearly haven’t addressed, specifically, the very legitimate concerns that the City of Toronto has,” Wong-Tam said. McMeekin said he’s received hundreds of proposals for changes in the bill, and he doesn’t recall the Toronto proposal specifically. He added that responses he’s gotten to the bill have been mostly positive. “Where we can, we try to strike a balance. That balance will invariably provide some positive response … and in some cases perhaps not. That’s just the way government works,” he said.Getting started in documentary filmmaking is a lot like getting started in narrative filmmaking -- most of the time you're just picking up gear that is cheap and readily available to you. But, if you're looking to find out what the pros are using, PBS's POV, the longest-running showcase of documentary films on TV, asked working documentarians about the tools and equipment they used in their projects. Continue on to check out an infographic -- a comprehensive equipment list of the cameras, lenses, microphones, and post-production software (and more) used by the pros.
Buying or renting gear is a major commitment. I know that when I first started out, I wrestled over what equipment to buy, because when you're using every extra penny to purchase or rent, you don't have the luxury of "trying stuff out". So, knowing what other working filmmakers are using takes out much of the vetting process that most of us can't afford in the beginning.
POV asked 147 filmmakers, including directors, producers, cinematographers, and editors with varying levels of experience about what they used to make their films. Probably one of the most pressing questions any of us had when we first started out was, "Hey, what'd you shoot that on," and that's the first question POV answers -- what cameras are being used in doc filmmaking?
DSLRs, because of their size and portability, are definitely an industry favorite. However, the Canon C300, which has a similar form factor, is still the camera of choice for most documentarians -- narrative filmmakers are also known to use it (the Palme d'Or winning film Blue is the Warmest Color used two of them).
Choosing a microphone is one of the most important decisions you'll make in terms of gear. Sennheiser mics, namely the MKH 416, make up 54% of what documentarians use in the field, followed by Zoom products (H4n). Being the owner of both a Sennheiser and H4n, the great sound of the Sennheiser makes for great formal interviews, while the H4n performs well in the field.
Check out the infographic to see what kinds of NLEs, color correction software, accessories, and a bunch of other tools documentary filmmakers are using. (Be sure to take a good look at "Other Equipment Filmmakers Love" -- a lot of good tools you might've not thought to use. Thanks to Matías for sending this our way!)
For all of the documentary filmmakers, does the list reflect your choices for your films? What equipment is missing from the list that you'd recommend?
Link: POV's 2013 Documentary Filmmaking Equipment Survey -- POVHighlights
• Humanitarian needs in western Mosul remain high, with shortages of food and water being reported. Although some areas of western Mosul are accessible to humanitarian partners, regular water supply has been very severely impact by the conflict resulting in serious shortages of water supplies of acceptable quality.
• Since the start of the operation in western Mosul on 19 February, an estimated 275,000 displaced people have passed through the Hammam al Alil screening site as of 9 April, according to the Government of Iraq.
• The cumulative number of IDPs since the beginning of the Mosul Operation on 17 October 2016 has reached beyond 436,000 people as of 9 April, according to the government. The government reports that 91,000 individuals have returned to eastern Mosul, and around 345,000 people are currently displaced as of 9 April.
• Camp construction and site expansion is rapidly accelerating to meet the humanitarian needs of people newly displaced from western Mosul city. According to the CCCM Cluster, some 273,162 people (54,000 families) are currently being sheltered in camps and emergency sites, with the remainder in host communities and informal sites. There are currently 5,994 fully serviced plots available for immediate use in four priority locations and six other locations, as of 9 April.
• Since the start of military operation in Mosul last year, over 6,340 people have been referred to hospitals in Mosul and neighboring Governorates; 1,683 cases have been treated at TSPs in western Mosul alone.
Situation Overview
Since the start of the Mosul Operation on 17 October 2016, the Government of Iraq has reported that as of 9 April a total of 436,000 people from Mosul city and its surrounding areas have been displaced. An estimated 91,000 people have reportedly returned to their areas of origin as of 9 April 2017, leaving an estimated 345,000 people currently displaced.
Since military operations in western Mosul city began on 19 February 2017, the Government of Iraq reports that 275,000 people have been displaced from western Mosul alone, as of 9 April. This past week saw an average of some 6,500 people displaced from western Mosul city transit through the Hammam al Alil screening site per day.
Camp construction continues to rapidly expand to meet the humanitarian needs of people fleeing western Mosul.
According to the CCCM Cluster, some 273,162 people (54,000 families) are currently being sheltered in camps and emergency sites, with the remainder in host communities and informal sites. As of 9 April, there were 5,994 fully serviced plots available for immediate use by approximately 40,000 people.
Emergency packages of food and water continue to be distributed to newly arriving families at the Hammam al Alil screening site, with water also being distributed at muster points. Since the beginning of the Mosul Operation, emergency response packages of ready-to-eat food rations, emergency water supplies, and hygiene and dignity to address the needs of 1,895,000 people affected by the Mosul crisis have been distributed.
Trauma care continues to remain a critical concern, especially near the front lines. Since 17 October last year, over 6,340 people have been referred to hospitals in Mosul and neighbouring Governorates, with 1,816 cases from western Mosul alone since 19 February. As of 9 April, 1,640 cases have been treated at Trauma Stabilization Points (TSPs) near frontline areas of western Mosul city.
In the past week several sources, including media outlets, have alleged the use of chemical mortar rounds in the Yarmouk and Matahin neighbourhoods of western Mosul city. WHO, through the Directorate of Health, is assisting with the care of civilians from these areas who have displayed symptoms consistent with exposure to a toxic chemical.
Water continues to remain a significant humanitarian concern in Mosul city. In eastern Mosul city water shortages persist, and humanitarian partners continue to truck 2.3 million litres of water per day to 26 neighbourhoods to supplement municipal supplies. In western Mosul city, many neighbourhoods also face chronic shortages of clean water, with many people drinking untreated water. The number of children with diarrhoea who have been displaced from western Mosul has risen and is of increasing concern. These shortages of clean drinking water have likely been exacerbated by ISIL’s recent attacks on the Badush water treatment plant, western Mosul’s largest functioning treatment plant. The extent of the damage from these attacks is not yet known.
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has distributed 12,350 hot meals and bottles of water to families passing through the Aqrab checkpoint (Scorpion Junction), in addition to 500 ready-to-eat meals. IRCS has also distributed some 7,500 hot meals and bottles of water in Hammam al Alil 1 camp.
Humanitarian partners are developing contingency plans to scale up assessment and response activities, should a mass evacuation of civilians from ISIL held areas in western Mosul city occur. A number of scenarios have been developed to assist this preparation.By Tony Cartalucci
While the Western media attempts to portray the sudden influx of refugees suddenly appearing out of nowhere at Europe’s gates, the reality is that for years they have been gathering in expansive, well-funded refugee camps in Turkey.
Image: Turkey has eagerly invited 2 million refugees into their country to stay at camps funded by upward to 6 billion USD, not out of altruism, but to use refugees together with the US, NATO, and the EU, as a geopolitical weapon.
In fact, Turkey has brought in over 2 million refugees with a suspiciously eager “open door” policy and has spent upward to 6 billion USD on building and maintaining these immense camps. They have done so as part of a long-standing strategy to justify creating “safe havens” in northern Syria – essentially NATO invading and occupying Syrian territory, protecting their terrorist proxies within Syria’s borders so that they can strike deeper toward Damascus and finally topple the government of President Bashar Al Assad.
US plans to carve out a “safe haven” or “buffer zone” in northern Syria stretch back as far as 2012 – before a real crisis even existed. In their “Middle East Memo #21,” “Assessing Options for Regime Change,” it was stated specifically (emphasis added):
An alternative is for diplomatic efforts to focus first on how to end the violence and how to gain humanitarian access, as is being done under Annan’s leadership. This may lead to the creation of safe-havens and humanitarian corridors, which would have to be backed by limited military power. This would, of course, fall short of U.S. goals for Syria and could preserve Asad in power. From that starting point, however, it is possible that a broad coalition with the appropriate international mandate could add further coercive action to its efforts.
Brookings would elaborate upon this criminal conspiracy in their more recent report titled, “Deconstructing Syria: Towards a regionalized strategy for a confederal country.” It states (emphasis added):
The idea would be to help moderate elements establish reliable safe zones within Syria once they were able. American, as well as Saudi and Turkish and British and Jordanian and other Arab forces would act in support, not only from the air but eventually on the ground via the presence of special forces as well. The approach would benefit from Syria’s open desert terrain which could allow creation of buffer zones that could be monitored for possible signs of enemy attack through a combination of technologies, patrols, and other methods that outside special forces could help Syrian local fighters set up. Were Assad foolish enough to challenge these zones, even if he somehow forced the withdrawal of the outside special forces, he would be likely to lose his air power in ensuing retaliatory strikes by outside forces, depriving his military of one of its few advantages over ISIL.Thus, he would be unlikely to do this.
Unfortunately for US policymakers, little justification or public support underpins any of these plans to intervene more directly in Syria in pursuit of what is obviously regime change dressed up as anything but.
Bring in the Refugees
However, in hopes of solving this lack of public support, the West appears to have taken a huge number of refugees created by its years of war upon the Middle East and North Africa, and suddenly releasing them in a deluge upon Europe. The Western media itself implicates Turkey as the source of these refugees, and reports like that from the International New York Times‘ Greek Kathimerini paper, in an article titled, “Refugee flow linked to Turkish policy shift,” claims (emphasis added):
A sharp increase in the influx of migrants and refugees, mostly from Syria, into Greece is due in part to a shift in Turkey’s geopolitical tactics, according to diplomatic sources. 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 These officials link the wave of migrants into the eastern Aegean to political pressures in neighboring Turkey, which is bracing for snap elections in November, and to a recent decision by Ankara to join the US in bombing Islamic State targets in Syria. The analyses of several officials indicate that the influx from neighboring Turkey is taking place as Turkish officials look the other way or actively promote the exodus.
This wasn’t done until after years of staged terror attacks across Europe, in attempts to ratchet up fear, xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia. Every attack without exception involved patsies tracked by Western intelligence agencies in some cases for almost a decade. Many had traveled to and participated in NATO’s proxy war on Syria, Iraq, and Yemen before returning home to carry out predictable acts of violence.
Image: Even Western “international” organizations find it difficult to hide NATO’s role in the refugee crisis with most migrants transiting through NATO-destroyed Libya, and NATO-member Turkey.
In the case of the infamous “Charlie Hebdo” massacre, French security agencies followed the gunmen for years – even arresting and imprisoning one briefly. This surveillance continued up to but not including the final six months needed for them to plan and carry out their final act of violence. When asked why French security agencies ended their surveillance of known terrorists, they cited a lack of funds.
With Europeans intentionally put into a state of fear at home and in hopes of eliciting support for wars abroad NATO appears to now be undulating Europe with a tidal wave or refugees intentionally accumulated and cared for in Turkey either to flood back into NATO-established safe zones in Syria or into Europe to extort from the public backing for further military aggression.
The Big Reveal
The Huffington Post’s article, “David Cameron Facing Pressure To Bomb Islamic State In Syria After Lord Carey Calls To Group To Be ‘Crushed’,” in covering the political discourse in England provides us with the final reveal of what was really behind this sudden “crisis.”
Image: The Western media ensures that articles discussing the possibility of using the refugee crisis as justification to further decimate Syria includes lots of pictures of desperate refugees struggling to burst into Europe.
It states (emphasis added):On Saturday, the United Kingdom suffered its second terrorist attack in only a few weeks. Three assailants rammed a van into pedestrians on the very central London Bridge in London, killing seven and wounding 48 (21 are fighting for their lives in the hospital at this time). According to The Telegraph, the police fired an “unprecedented” 50 bullets in order to neutralize the attackers, as it was believed they were wearing suicide vests. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack.
In the aftermath, British Prime Minister Theresa May has called for stricter regulations on the Internet. According to May, international agreements should impose tougher surveillance online, force Internet providers to participate in counter-extremism actions, and make it more difficult |
with another VCA compressor made by Roger Foote, called the Foote Control Systems P3S ME. Together, there’s very little I can’t do in terms of dynamics.
The other current fave is my Buzz Audio REQ 2.2 ME with Elma switches. It’s almost always the thing I start with. It’s got an uncanny way of rebalancing elements in a mix without affecting too much else. It’s very transparent and open sounding, and it’s as surgical as it is broad brush strokes. Tim Farrant, the designer, is a lvl70 wizard as far as I’m concerned because there’s some magic in this EQ, and hearing is believing. The other interesting aspect of this particular EQ is in employing a pair of steel core transformers that can be put into the signal path which adds harmonic distortion of varying degrees, chosen with a 6 position switch. It can really beef up the low end on material that feels weak. There’s been quite a few times where this sounded a lot better than trying to EQ the lows.
In mastering, my basic philosophy is “do no harm”, and typically that means doing as little as possible, while doing just enough to accomplish the task. It’s an art in subtlety. The most important part of my job is listening, not processing. And sometimes the best thing is nothing. Knowing when to do nothing is important. Just because I have nice tools, doesn’t mean they’re always needed. But because I know my tools so well, when I hear what needs to be done, I know immediately what to do.
Software
I’ve been using Max/Msp for nearly 12 years. I started using Max when I needed a way to travel and do live music overseas without hauling all of my equipment with me. And it quickly became invaluable in the studio as a signal processor and sequencer. I mostly create algorithmic sequencers based on all sorts of wacky ideas I have that I can’t accomplish in a typical DAW. Mooquencer is an algorithmic sequencer I developed years ago that I’m always modifying and tweaking and its core functions have found their way into a lot of my music. I prefer working in Max for the flexibility of tailoring the software to exactly my needs at any given moment, and for its ability to realize a concept with just a few sleepless nights. Daily, it serves as the backbone for logging all the equipment settings for my analog mastering chain.
I’m not so into the plug-in thing, not because I don’t think they sound good, because they really do, but they don’t inspire fun the way hardware does. And when I’m having fun, it influences my decisions. You can hear that it in my work. Plug-ins are very clinical in use, and I think you can hear that in the way that you use them. But I still value them greatly, and they do get used on practically every project in some way, even if just as a final brick-wall limiting stage. Sometimes I’ll need to really dig deep with a parametric EQ to remove some errant frequency and that’s when I reach for DMG Equilibrium or FabFilter Pro-Q.
Workspace and Environment
First and foremost, my workspace must be perfectly in order. I can’t get down to business if there’s a mess in the studio. I know that works for some people, but I’m not one of them. I keep the studio pared down to just the essentials. If I don’t often need it, it gets put out of sight, in a closet or a drawer. I try to be as minimal as possible as I find clutter distracting and annoying. I also hate dusty gear and start each day by vacuuming and dusting the studio.
Another importance is natural diffused light. My mastering room has two windows that have an opaque thin material that lets a lot of light in, but can’t be seen through. And it’s great when the space has a good view of something. My last two rooms have had really great views of the city and surrounding mountains and it’s great to take breaks and look out upon the world.
Ergonomics are incredibly important. Having a Sterling Modular desk vastly improves my workflow by putting all the important equipment front and center so I can stay in the sweet spot when making critical decisions. I’m always moving gear around in the desk in an effort to perfect the location of each piece and how I find myself interacting when them as a whole. It’s a constant evolution. If I find myself hindered by something on a consistent basis, I make changes. Right now I feel like it’s about as good as it can get, but I’m about to add another piece of equipment to the mastering chain, and I have a feeling that’s going to throw things way off for a little bit!
When I was living in San Francisco, I felt more stressed, more uptight. I could feel the pressure of the city and I’m certain that influences the work directly. In order to get the best out of myself in the studio, I need to be relaxed. Living in Oakland turned the stress factor down quite a bit, and that lets me focus more on the love of what I do.
I’d love to have a studio out along the rugged coast of Northern California where the redwoods meet the ocean. That’s my dream location. I just hope I can figure out a solid Internet connection when that happens. I move an unbelievable amount of data back and forth every month!
After Hours
Honestly, after a full day of work, the thing I want to hear most is silence. Working on music for eight to twelve hours a day leaves little energy left for other music, so I have to be very thankful that much of the music that comes in for mastering is enjoyable to listen to. I actually feel incredibly lucky to work for the artists that I do and I’m continually amazed at the music they make. It’s also important to give my ears a break after a full day so I can come back in the following day with fresh ears and a fresh perspective. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t listen to anything else ever. I have so many friends that make music, I’m usually just checking out their SoundCloud pages when I can find the time.
I can and do listen to Mp3’s but there’s something that bothers me about them when compared to Apple’s AAC format. Mp3, even when encoded with the best codecs, still has a perceptible loss in imaging and depth, as well as a softer high-end. Sometimes, in rare cases, the softening of highs can help an overly bright song, but it’s a terrible way to balance things since so much else is compromised. Sadly, whatever Mp3 codec and settings SoundCloud uses for streaming sounds the absolute worst to me. If I’m going to listen to lossy formats, I prefer them to be AAC, and especially MFiT AAC, which is Apple’s new “Mastered For iTunes” format, and isn’t just a bunch of marketing hype. It’s a real effective way of eliminating distortion from clipping at the decoding stage. You end up losing about a dB of overall level, but the fidelity is greatly increased and it’s completely worth it in every way to me. I really just wish we were all listening to uncompressed music, but I think that’s still a ways off due to the incredible bandwidth needed for streaming raw audio.
– AudibleOddities Mastering
– Download: Twerk – Living Vicariously Through Burnt Bread (Mille Plateaux 2003)"Inkjet Color Printing by Interference Nanostructures"
ACS Nano
From dot-matrix to 3-D, printing technology has come a long way in 40 years. But all of these technologies have created hues by using dye inks, which can be taxing on the environment. Now a team reports in ACS Nano the development of a colorless, non-toxic ink for use in inkjet printers. Instead of relying on dyes, the team exploits the nanostructure of this ink to create color on a page with inkjet printing.
Current technologies blend dyes — think CMYK or RGB — to print in color. But these substances can harm the environment. Some dyes are toxic to marine life or can react with disinfectants like chlorine and form harmful byproducts. An alternative to dyes involves changing the nanostructure of materials so that they reflect light in particular ways. An example of this kind of coloring by light interference is found in nature: Squids can modify the nanostructure of their skin to mirror back their surrounding environment, creating a natural camouflage. Previous research has investigated printing color by light interference, but these attempts have required high-temperature fixing or specialized printing surfaces. Aleksandr V. Yakovlev, Alexandr V. Vinogradov and colleagues at ITMO University wanted to develop a nanostructure color printing technology that is “greener” and can be printed on a wide variety of surfaces.
The team found that a colorless titanium dioxide-based colloidal ink was the best suited for the job. It does not require high temperature fixing and can be deposited on many surfaces. The researchers can control the color produced on surfaces by varying the thickness of ink deposition from a normal inkjet printer. Creating a vibrant color red with this method and this very narrow angle of coloring remains a challenge. This method, however, has generated the first reported “green” ink that is both safe for the ecosystem and does not fade from UV exposure, the researchers say.
The researchers acknowledge funding from the Russian government’s Ministry of Education and Science and ITMO University.Imagine 3-year-old Rodney McGruder climbing on top of a bicycle for the first time.
What do you see? His father helping him onto the seat of a children’s bike with training wheels? McGruder wearing pads and a helmet?
That’s what McGruder’s mother, Rodine, wishes she remembers. Instead, she recalls McGruder pushing his older brother’s 10-speed Huffy to the top of their driveway in Washington D.C. and using concrete steps to reach the seat.
As he balanced himself, his parents panicked. Their son was trying to zoom downhill without training, protection or supervision.
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“I started screaming, ‘Rodney! No! No! No!’ ” McGruder’s mother says now. “He just looked at me and said, ‘Calm down, mom. I got this. I can do this.’ My husband and I stepped back. We were holding each other.
“He took off and I didn’t know if he even knew where the brakes were. I looked at my husband and said, ‘You’ve got to go catch my baby. My baby can’t fall.’ But he didn’t fall. He was looking at us like we were crazy. He took off and never stopped.”
In many ways, that story mirrors McGruder’s basketball career at Kansas State. When he committed to the Wildcats out of high school, many wondered if he would be able to adjust to life in a college town halfway across the country. Even if he did, there was no guarantee he would prosper on the basketball court.
He was not the crown jewel of his recruiting class. Other members of his AAU basketball team, the DC Assault, were more highly regarded. First came current NBA forward Michael Beasley. Next was Jamar Samuels. Then there was McDonald’s All-American Wally Judge.
McGruder, though talented, never had that kind of hype.
Throw in the departures of the assistant who recruited him, Dalonte Hill, the man who coached him, Frank Martin, and his best friend, Judge, before his senior year and there were plenty of reasons to doubt his future.
Today, he is K-State’s best player and unquestioned leader. The senior wing just helped the Wildcats win their first conference championship since 1977 and is preparing to play in his fourth straight NCAA Tournament. He will leave K-State as one of the program’s best players, ranking in the top 10 of career points and rebounds.
All while making good grades and avoiding trouble.
He became a consistent force for his team during an inconsistent time.
• • •
Maybe a different path would have been easier, but that didn’t interest McGruder.
As the youngest of four children, he learned by watching. One of his brothers played football, so McGruder tried linebacker. The other took up boxing, and McGruder saw toughness up close at his fights. His sister played basketball and taught him how to dribble. He watched all three develop into high school athletes and choose jobs over sports and college.
He wanted more, quitting football at a young age to focus on basketball. He was so serious about the sport that he joined a traveling team and asked his parents if he could transfer to Arlington Country Day, a basketball-centric school in Florida, as a senior.
His parents were reluctant, but decided that if he accomplished a long list of goals, which included making the honor roll, he could go.
“He has always caught on fast,” said McGruder’s father, Rodney Sr. “He was able to master anything he put his mind to. He did everything we asked, so we had no choice but to support him and let him go. He’s just so persistent. When he really wants something, he goes out and gets it.”
His parents were also unable to argue when McGruder told them he was going to play basketball at K-State.
“He likes to focus, so he figured the farther he was away from friends and distractions, the better off he would be,” McGruder’s father said. “Even back home when friends were around, he would always try to distance himself from them. He didn’t want to hang around the wrong crowd. He wanted to be a leader.”
By all accounts, McGruder has matured into one of those.
“Rodney means everything,” said sophomore guard Angel Rodriguez. “He’s our go-to guy. He’s the most experienced guy we have on our team. He leads by example. He’s always working hard before, after and in practice.”
• • •
Above all else, McGruder is serious. That’s what makes him a good leader.
He often keeps to himself, spending evenings at home or in the gym. He doesn’t have many hobbies, dedicating his life to religion, basketball and family.
He is quiet, preferring to lead by example rather than calling team meetings. He thinks wins speak louder than words.
So much so, that he is one of the few athletes at K-State without a Twitter account.
“Twitter is nothing but trouble,” McGruder said. “My sophomore year, we banned Twitter, because of things that were said on there. People want to speak their mind on Twitter. I would rather just tell someone face to face or talk it out with my friends than put it out there on some website.
“It’s not me. I’m not into social media.”
But that doesn’t mean he is oblivious to the thoughts and needs of those around him. He listens, and offers help when he can.
Last year, he heard one of the team’s student managers, Sean Frye, was having problems with his roommates. Frye complained of around-the-clock arguments. McGruder offered a solution: They could share an apartment.
“He called me one day and said his roommate was willing to move in with other friends if I wanted to live with him,” Frye says now. “It was unexpected. I never even asked for that. But it made my life a whole lot better. It just shows how loyal a guy he is.
“He’s never been that vocal of a guy, but he has taught me a lot as a friend. When I am struggling with something I don’t have to talk to him to get advice. I can look to his example and think how he would handle the situation. It’s surprising how much that helps.”
McGruder has the same kind of influence with his teammates.
How could he not? Along with Martavious Irving and Jordan Henriquez, he is a member of the most successful senior class in K-State history.
They all get credit for winning 101 games together, but McGruder has been the group’s engine. He leads K-State in points (15.7) and rebounds (5.4) and was an All-Big 12 pick. He doesn’t explode for high point totals every night, and his mid-range jumper and no-nonsense playing style don’t make for highlights. But he is consistent and his teammates look to him for guidance.
“They trust in me,” McGruder said. “That’s a great feeling as a leader to know they have trust in you. We have accomplished a lot of great things together. Hopefully there is more to come.”
As a freshman, he helped the Wildcats win a school-record 29 games. As a senior, he can match that win total by helping the Wildcats reach the Sweet 16, and break it with three wins in the NCAA Tournament.
Without him, none of that would be possible.
“He’s workmanlike and I think that consistency — he may not score 20 every game, but you know you are going to get a great effort – has made him a dominant force,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said.
• • •
McGruder’s biggest contributions have come during times of crisis.
During his sophomore season, K-State suffered losses and player defections. Judge quit, and it looked like the Wildcats were headed for the NIT.
Instead of complaining about how things transpired, McGruder practiced until he became a complementary scorer next to Jacob Pullen. Together, they led a late-season charge into the national polls and the NCAA Tournament.
“You can worry or you can work and you can pray,” McGruder said. “I never really worry about things. I get over them, because if you are concerned then other opportunities can pass you by. I never want that to happen.”
Still, some wondered if McGruder would transfer when Hill left for Maryland that offseason. Those concerns lingered when Martin left for South Carolina last spring. The coaches he promised to play for were gone. So were the majority of the teammates he promised to play with.
No one could blame him for looking elsewhere. Heck, Weber was so worried he might transfer that he had an assistant coach, Chester Frazier, call McGruder before he took the job. Then he flew to Washington D.C. to visit McGruder’s family.
McGruder appreciated Weber’s efforts, but they turned out to be unnecessary.
“He never thought about transferring,” McGruder’s father said. “I’m sure that situation was rough on him. It would be rough on anybody. But you could tell he had that drive to stay and finish what he started.”
Despite the changes around him, McGruder wasn’t going anywhere.
“You can’t find a better person,” Weber said. “Obviously, it would have been easier for him to transfer closer to home, but he never doubted we could win this season and his decision has benefited us. He came in every day with that workmanlike attitude. When he is the face of your program, it makes it so much easier for everyone else.”
• • •
Is McGruder good enough to play in the NBA? Will he play professionally overseas? Will he pursue a career outside of basketball?
All McGruder knows is that he wants to make the most out his remaining time at K-State.
That attitude has helped him and K-State prosper together for four seasons.
He fought through some challenging times along the way, but the guy who didn’t know anything about living in a college town never wants to leave. He has grown so fond of Manhattan that he wants to own a house at Colbert Hills Golf Club someday.
“They are beautiful,” he says.
Wherever he ends up, his family is confident of one thing: He will be successful.
Nearly 20 years after McGruder’s maiden voyage on a bicycle, his mother has stopped worrying about her youngest son.
“He is a man now,” McGruder’s mother said. “He has developed in so many areas that I’m almost speechless. He always has something positive to say. Even when he is going through something he just tells me, ‘Mom, don’t worry about it. I’ve got this.’ And he always does.”BERKELEY — Someone needs to find a new way to break the ice.
Police are looking for a "very friendly" man who started up a conversation with a woman on the street while his private parts were in view.
The lewdness incident was reported 4:37 p.m. Sept. 9 by a woman who had been walking her dog on North Barbados Drive in the tree-lined, residential Holiday City section of the township.
The woman told police that the man approached her and began asking her about her dog.
During the course of the chat, the woman noticed that the man's genitals were exposed, police said. The woman walked away and called police.
Police canvassed the area but did not find him, officials said Wednesday.
The man was described as white, 6 feet 2 inches, about 30 to 40 years old, clean shaven with a dark hat, royal blue zippered sweatshirt and black mesh shorts. Police also describe him as "very friendly."
Police ask anyone with information to contact the Berkeley Township Detective Bureau at 732-341-1132 x 611 or email detective@btpdnj.org.
MORE LEWDNESS INCIDENTS IN NJ:
Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-438-1015 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.
Also on New Jersey 101.5 :At least two people have died after a boat carrying 95, mostly asylum-seekers, reportedly capsized off the Australian territory of Christmas Island, local media reported
Radio Australia said on Monday that efforts were underway to rescue the crew and passengers of the boat.
A spokesman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority told the AFP news agency that some people were sent to a hospital in the island after sustaining injuries from the accident.
"All the people have been accounted for, and there are a number who have needed medical attention," the spokesman said.
Jon Stanhope, the Christmas Island administrator, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that at least two were dead.
"My advice is that regrettably two asylum-seekers have drowned and I also have advice that two other asylum-seekers are seriously unwell, are critically unwell," he said.
Stanhope added that the customs vessel happened to be close to the boat at the time and was able to respond quickly.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare confirmed that an Australian border protection vessel had come alongside the boat when two large waves struck. He is uncertain whether the boat capsized, but says it did roll and took water.
Australia is facing a steady influx of asylum-seekers arriving by boat, many of whom use Indonesia as a transit hub, paying people-smugglers for passage on leaky wooden vessels after fleeing their home countries.
Hundreds have died making the treacherous journey over the past few years.
Earlier this month, a naval vessel rescued 77 asylum-seekers to safety after their boat broke up on the way to Australia.
The survivors were taken to an immigration detention camp on Christmas island.
The injured were taken to the Australian city, Perth.There hasn’t always been trust. Certainly not early. Not in Boston, nor Minnesota, nor Houston or Dallas, which is why he spent two seasons in Russia, China and the D-League. It wasn’t until Gerald Green landed in Newark, New Jersey, on a 10-day contract in 2011, for the going-nowhere Nets, that he found a coach with some faith, from his first shootaround forward.
“It was kind of weird,” Green recalled during an interview Tuesday, prior to leading the Heat in scoring for the third time this preseason with 28 points in Wednesday’s 110-105 win against the Wizards. “We’re going through the offense. I make an extra pass. Avery Johnson stops the drill, what we’re doing. He says, ‘Hey, now, Gerald you can try to fit with these guys if you want to. But you need to try to have these guys fit in with you.’ So ever since he told me that, I've never looked back.”
After a season in Indiana, and a rotation role for two seasons in Phoenix, look where he is: Miami, on a possible contender, as necessity more than novelty, since the Heat is short on long-range shooting from the wings.
Look what he’s getting from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
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Trust.
The question is how long he can keep it.
I’m just trying to be the best defender I can be. If I ‘D’ up, [Spoelstra] ain’t gonna take me off the floor, and then my offense is gonna show. As long as I ‘D’ up, I’m good. Gerald Green
Spoelstra, like Pat Riley prior to him, has rather rigid standards when it comes to reserve regulars. Play within the system on offense. Play with passion and concentration on defense. These have been two knocks on Green, even as he’s electrified with athleticism. These were the knocks on Michael Beasley, too, and you know how often he fell out of favor.
This is what was so encouraging about Green’s performance Wednesday, and why it might silence some skeptics — raising a hand — who wonder whether he will stay in Spoelstra’s good graces. It wasn’t just that he energized the arena after the Heat’s starting squad frequently appeared listless and clueless. It was the varied way in which he did so — pump-faking Garrett Temple to set up a better look, attacking above the clouds to draw a foul, schooling rookie Kelly Oubre in the post, driving to feed Chris Andersen for a slam.
And, better yet, he was engaged on the other end, whether soaring for a block, ripping down a rebound, or scrambling to stay in tune with teammates. This is what he keeps promising. This is where he keeps redirecting the discourse when asked about scoring.
“I’m just trying to be the best defender I can be,” Green said Tuesday. “Because I know offense comes easy for me. If I ‘D’ up, [Spoelstra] ain’t gonna take me off the floor, and then my offense is gonna show. As long as I ‘D’ up, I’m good.”
Why hasn’t he been deemed a plus defender elsewhere?
“Help defense,” Green said. “Where I played high school ball, it was a lot of one-on-one defense. I think my one-on-one defense is solid. Hands down! It’s the help defense, the help-the-helper, it’s the defensive terminology, the stuff I didn’t know. I didn’t go to college. I had to learn that stuff slowly once I got into the league. But ain’t nobody scoring on me one-on-one. I’m too athletic — that’s how I feel. You’re not gonna get around me, you’re not gonna outjump me. It’s pick-and-rolls, fighting over screens, that’s what kind of gets me, or used to get me. I’ve gotten a lot better at that. If somebody just clears me out, I’m gonna lock ’em up.”
SHARE COPY LINK Gerald Green had 28 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench in Wednesday's 110-105 win over the Wizards on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami.
There have been times that coaches have wanted to tie his arms behind his back, though even that might not have stopped him from shooting. Green averaged 9.6 three-point attempts per 36 minutes last season for Phoenix; noted gunner J.R. Smith has exceeded that just once in his career. This situation, however, could call for leniency, and Green said neither Spoelstra nor assistant David Fizdale has questioned a single shot, even as he’s taken some “bad” ones.
So what is a bad shot to him?
Off balance?
“Nah, because I can hit that,” Green said. “I jump high, so when I get in the air, I kind of balance myself up. A bad shot to me is if a guy’s open and I miss him by accident, because I’m so locked in on the goal. That’s a bad shot to me. You accidentally miss somebody. Or you might take a quick shot on the shot clock because you hit three or four in a row, trying to get a heat check. Every heat check is a bad shot unless they go in. That’s a bad shot to me.”
He took 14 shots Wednesday, some off balance, some in rhythm. He made eight. He made an impression. Again.
Should the Heat trust Gerald Green?
That, too, seems worth a shot.WELCOME to FriendChips!
In 2012 Christie took her first photo of a chipmunk making it appear as though he was playing cards. That photo, and the hundreds that have followed, would become the joyful adventure of FriendChips. Christie and her husband, Paul, design and build miniature sets of every day events. She lures the wild chipmunks that live around their patio into the scene, capturing these images. Aside from removing small bits of seed or adding graphics, these images are not digitally altered. As Christie says, "Every picture tells a story, and there's a story behind every picture!" Only natural seeds are used for bait, all her actors are willing participants, and no one is ever harmed.
FriendChip cards and calendars are available at various locations in Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. Christie also sells retail and wholesale from her home. She is also happy to do custom work such as dental reminder cards, note cards for your business, posters, etc.
FriendChips in the Press
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Spokane, WA 99223Story highlights Anti-Islam message sprayed on wall of Perth mosque, as hundreds prayed inside
Australian PM says he "strongly" condemns attack against mosque
(CNN) Cars were set alight at a Western Australian mosque on Tuesday night as children prayed just meters away in what a local imam described as an "act of hate."
Vandals also scrawled "F*** Islam" on a wall outside the mosque in Thornlie, Perth, which is adjacent to the Australian Islamic College. Hundreds of local Muslims had gathered there for evening prayers.
Western Australian police confirmed four cars were set on fire using an accelerant. One of the vehicles had been completely destroyed in the blaze.
JUST WATCHED Australian woman stands up to anti-Muslim bully Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Australian woman stands up to anti-Muslim bully 01:33
No one was injured in the attack.
Thornlie Mosque Imam Yahya Adel Ibrahim told CNN worshipers had run outside when they heard one of the cars explode.
Read MoreOyster Houses, South Street and Pike Slip, Manhattan (1937)
Blue Points, Saddle Rocks, Rockaways, Lynnhavens, Cape Cods, Buzzard Bays, Cotuits, Shrewsburys—raw on the half shell. Fried oysters, oyster pie, oyster patties, oyster box stew, Oysters Pompadour, Oysters Algonquin, Oysters a la Netherland, a la Newberg, a la Poulette, oysters roasted on toast, broiled in shell, served with cocktail sauce, stewed in milk or cream, fried with bacon, escalloped, fricasseed, and pickled. If you have spent any time transcribing for NYPL's What’s on the Menu? project, you’ve seen a lot of ways to prepare this humble bivalve.
It surprises some that oysters are such major players on these historic menus, but the oyster reigned supreme as the quintessential New York City food long before pizza, hot pretzels, bagels, and hot dogs were known to our shellfish-encrusted shores. When Henry Hudson first sailed into the river that would one day bear his name, the Lenape people had long been plucking its supple oyster beds. Archaeological evidence gathered from tremendous mounds of oyster shells called “middens” indicates that the New York Harbor oysters were not only plentiful, they were much larger than the kind familiar to us today. Harbor oyster shells from these middens measured up to 10 inches, and early European travellers describe the shellfish as being about a foot in length1.
In a comprehensive history of the oyster in New York, The Big Oyster, author Mark Kurlansky wrote, “the history of the New York oyster is a history of New York itself—its wealth, its strength, its excitement, its greed, its thoughtfulness, its destructiveness, its blindness, and—as any New Yorker will tell you—its filth.” It was pollution and over-harvesting that killed the oyster industry in in New York, a surprising feat considering that the lower Hudson estuary once had 350 square miles of oyster beds and some biologists estimate that the New York Harbor contained half of the the world’s oysters2.
Oyster Stands In Fulton Market (1870)Though the Dutch were disappointed that the harbor oysters were not pearl producers, they recognized their abundance; the settlers even called Ellis and Liberty islands “Little Oyster Island” and “Great Oyster Island” because of the sprawling oyster beds surrounding them. Pearl Street, once a waterfront road, was named for a midden and later even paved with oyster shells. Early in New York history, the oyster became world-renowned. Kurlansky explained, “Before the 20th century, when people thought of New York, they thought of oysters. This is what New York was to the world—a great oceangoing port where people ate succulent local oysters from their harbor. Visitors looked forward to trying them. New Yorkers ate them constantly. They also sold them by the millions.” He also wrote, “The combination of having reputably the best oysters in the world in what had become unarguably the greatest port in the world made New York City for an entire century the world’s oyster capital.”2 Charles Dickens, during his American sojourn, was one of those foreign visitors who made it a point to stop at the city’s oyster cellars, which advertised “Oysters in Every Style”3. Dickens even commented on the “wonderful cookery of oysters” within New York1.
1898 menu from Delmonico'sThe oyster cellar was a ubiquitous eatery in NYC from early in city history until the closing of the oyster beds. Downing’s Oyster House, a celebrated oyster cellar of the early 1800s, was located at the corner of Broad and Wall streets. Proprietor Thomas Downing was an African-American businessman (rare in pre-Civil War America) who listed his occupation as “oysterman” in the city directory. Downing’s Oyster House was well known amongst the city’s well-to-do, and as a result Downing himself became famous and affluent. The Oyster House did not limit its offerings to raw, fried, and stewed—Downing’s menu included scalloped oysters, oyster pie, fish with oyster sauce, fish with oyster sauce, and poultry stuffed with oysters4. Delmonico’s, easily the vanguard restaurant of NYC and en vogue Francophiles, set the trend of serving oysters raw on the half-shell2. They are also responsible for the trend of menus littered with mots français, many examples of which you can espy in the menu collection.
Oysters were by no means limited to nice restaurants, or even oyster cellars. Street vending of oysters, along with hot corn, peanuts, and buns, was part of New York’s regular food distribution system. While visiting New York in the 1790s, the Frenchman Moreau de St. Mery commented, “Americans have a passion for oysters, which they eat at all hours, even in the streets.” Oysters were regular fare at cheap eateries, and it was claimed that the very poorest New Yorkers “had no other subsistence than oysters and bread.”1 Fortunately, oysters are nutritious—rich in protein, phosphorus, iodine, calcium, iron, and vitamins A, B, and C.5
Oyster boat Nettie C. Powell at Fulton Street dock (1923)
An interesting specialty that also appeared on New York menus was terrapin. The terrapin, considered exotic even in an age when calf brains were regularly seen on menus, was “unique among turtles because it lives in the same brackish tidal waters as the clams and oysters upon which it feeds.” Later served in upper class restaurants with wine sauce or a la Maryland, terrapin was once served in taverns cooked in the style that the Lenape had used: roasted whole over an open fire2. Naturally, the terrapin disappeared off of menus when their own diet of New York harbor oysters became polluted.
Though the original oyster population was capable of filtering all of the the water in New York Harbor in a matter of days, it was not an unlimited resource. In 1658, New Amsterdam’s Dutch Council had already limited when and from where oysters could be gathered because of over-harvesting. As early as 1704, residents of Rockaway attempted to regulate oystering in their waters to locals only. New Yorkers made a lot of mistakes with oystering - for example, it took a remarkably long time to figure out that the best thing to do with oyster shells is to dump them back onto oyster beds. Previously they had been burned, placed in piles, or turned into mortar paste to aid NY’s building boom. Trinity Church is an example of a building built with oyster-shell mortar paste.
Oyster shellsBurdened by over-harvesting, sewage pollution, and landfill—Manhattan added over 60 acres to its land area with landfill—the oysters of New York harbor were not on a sustainable track. In 1927, the last of the New York oyster beds was closed, primarily because of toxicity. Following that year, “New Yorkers continued to eat oysters, though not as many, and oyster bars remained popular, though not on the same scale. New ones opened all the time, like the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal that debuted in 1913. But they weren’t serving local oysters.”2 New York was no longer an oyster capital.
New York’s oysters were too polluted to eat by 1927, and pollution only increased in subsequent years. It was not until after 1972’s Clean Water Act that any improvements were seen, but the oysters are still not edible almost 40 years after the passage of that act. Dredging stirs up centuries worth of pollution lying thickly upon the harbor floor. But one thing is certain, replacing the oyster beds will only help aid the rehabilitation of the harbor. Though the oysters can do nothing about harmful PCBs and heavy metals (which is why we still shouldn’t eat them), they can quickly cleanse organic wastes from the water. Major efforts to restore New York’s oyster population are underway.
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to help revive him, and another coach performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, officials said.
Head Football Coach Tom Nolen said his staff had just undergone recertification in CPR last week.
The student was in stable condition at a hospital Monday afternoon, Lamar Principal James McSwain said.
"Our staff moved very quickly to help the student," McSwain said in a prepared statement. "The defibrillator was right there, as planned, and our staff did a great job in using their training to help the student."
All Houston Independent School District campuses are equipped with automatic defibrillators. Larger schools, including Lamar High, have several defibrillators, which are kept close at hand during games and practices.
lindsay.wise@chron.comHere's what you need to know...
Extensive low carb diets can result in elevated cortisol and decreased testosterone production – contributing to fat gain and muscle loss. T3 is the hormone your body produces that controls your metabolism. Low carb dieting can inhibit your body's production of T3. To avoid the pitfalls of low carb dieting, reserve carbs for workout time in order to build muscle, then decrease carbs at other times of the day to lose fat. Replacing your carb intake with extra protein can inhibit the production of cortisol and keep you from tearing down muscle tissue. MCT oil can help you reduce the need for glucose and provide fuel that can be used immediately.
No Carbs = No Gains?
People have used low carbohydrate and very low carb ketogenic diets (VLCK) for decades to improve body composition and increase aerobic performance.
The evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, has shown low carb and VLCK diets to be powerful tools when used properly. But using low carb or VLCK diets incorrectly can wreak serious havoc on your hormonal profile.
They can negatively impact the levels and function of testosterone, cortisol, and thyroid hormones. The end result is decreases in muscle gains and declines in body composition.
Yes, you can actually get fat and flabby on a low carb diet.
But with a proper understanding of how low carb and VLCK affect your hormones, you can use these diets to improve body composition, which means both leanness and muscle growth.
Cortisol & Testosterone
Testosterone is a game changer when it comes to body composition. It's known for its anabolic effects on muscle and ability to increase basal metabolic rate (BMR). It's also important for overall health and well-being.
Specific to muscle growth, it's helpful to think of excess cortisol production as having the opposite effect of testosterone.
Cortisol acts to increase glucose availability by mobilizing amino acids from muscle (gluconeogenesis), essentially "stealing" muscle to fuel high-intensity exercise.
It also has the ability to increase circulating sex-hormone binding proteins, essentially "locking up" testosterone and reducing its ability to signal muscle growth.
Thus, the anabolic effects of testosterone can be offset by the catabolic effects of excess cortisol. Your testosterone-to-cortisol ratio may well determine whether you're in an anabolic or catabolic state.
This ratio, specifically the cortisol piece, is perhaps the biggest part of the low carb diet and muscle growth puzzle.
Do Low-Carb Diets Tank Your Testosterone?
Low carb diets may not directly reduce your post-workout anabolic window or response, but it can reduce your baseline anabolic environment.
Long term low carb dieting has been shown to result in lower basal levels of testosterone.
Reduced basal levels of testosterone, as a result of low carb dieting, can impact your ability to make long-term muscle gains, especially when coupled with elevated cortisol.
Cortisol: Enemy Number One for Low Carb Diets
Cortisol is released from the adrenal glands to mobilize amino acids from tissues (primarily muscle) to increase the availability of glucose through gluconeogenesis, making cortisol catabolic.
In the context of training, cortisol is released during high-intensity, anaerobic exercise to maintain normal glucose levels. The amount of glycogen you've stored directly impacts the release of exercise-induced cortisol.
The more glycogen you have stored, the less cortisol is released, and the less glycogen you have, the more cortisol is released.
Intuitively, this gives us reason to suspect that long-term glycogen depletion resulting from long-term low carb diets may lead to chronically elevated cortisol levels.
Low carb diets also result in an increased exercise-induced cortisol response.
There's evidence that proper nutrient timing could definitely reduce increased exercise-induced cortisol release. Anecdotally, we observe this all the time with successful protocols that manipulate nutrient timing while still being considered low carb.
Thyroid Hormones & Muscle Growth
There are two hormones produced by the thyroid: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Together, these are the primary regulators of your metabolism. Much like testosterone, the thyroid regulates our BMR and increases fat metabolism.
Research has shown that T3 also plays a role in the creation of fast-twitch fibers in muscle tissue. In other words, it impacts muscle growth.
The thyroid primarily excretes T4,which is then converted to T3. While both T4 and T3 are important, T3 is the most metabolically active thyroid hormone. Thus, the conversion of T4 to T3 is critical in maintaining optimal thyroid function and promoting a fat burning, anabolic environment.
If any of these hormone systems are knocked off kilter by a bad low carb diet, you could jeopardize not only your overall health but also your body composition goals.
The Thyroid Drives the Metabolic Engine
T3 is the most metabolically active thyroid hormone. It increases fat oxidation, improves our mood, and most importantly, it increases the production of fast-twitch muscle fiber.
The thyroid primarily produces T4, which is then converted to the more "active" T3. When there's excess cortisol, the conversion of T4 to T3 is blocked.
As we discussed earlier, low carb diets increase cortisol, so it stands to reason that low carb diets may result in low T3 and a reduced ability to burn fat and gain muscle.
Research has shown that seven days of a low carb dieting didn't influence T4 but significantly decreased T3 levels.
Studies also showed that decline in T3 wasn't as significant when replacing those calories with more protein (rather than more fat).
More research showed the same thing when combined with exercise. It's likely the presence of additional amino acids from high protein intake reduced cortisol production by converting amino acids to glucose via gluconeogenesis.
Long term low carb diets can result in elevated cortisol, resulting in low T3 impairing our ability to burn fat and build muscle.
Fortunately, smart nutrient timing can prevent such issues.
3 Rules for Losing Fat Without Losing Muscle
1 – Center Carbs Around Workouts
In high-intensity, anaerobic exercise, your body relies mainly on glucose from blood glucose, muscle glycogen, hepatic glucose output, and gluconeogenesis for fuel. Your body will also utilize glucose to replenish muscle and liver glycogen post exercise.
Fortunately, your body is cheap and thrifty and will utilize the easiest, most available source first and save your muscle tissue for last.
To reduce the need for cortisol production and to keep your body from using amino acids from your muscles as fuel, increase your carb intake at workout time.
Eating carbs prior to training will increase blood glucose levels, reducing the amount of cortisol needed to meet energy demands.
You can maintain a low carb diet (~25-30% of your total calories from carbs) by reserving carbs for only workouts (before, during, after) and eating high protein and fat meals the rest of the day.
Not only will this timing of carbohydrates suppress cortisol and its catabolic effects, it'll also result in secretion of the anabolic hormone insulin.
2 – Replace Carb Calories With Protein and Fat
Increase protein to reduce cortisol. Providing the body with additional amino acids for gluconeogenesis from dietary sources may reduce the need to derive them from our muscle tissue.
Generally, when I use a low carb approach I try to replace most of the carbohydrate calories with both protein and fat. But keep in mind there are 9 calories per gram of fat, and only 4 calories per gram of protein, so I consume far more grams of protein than fat, but the calories are about equal.
For example, if I reduce my carb intake from 250 grams a day to 50-75 grams a day, I'll replace about 400 of those calories of carbohydrate (100 grams) with 400 calories of protein (100 grams of protein) and the remaining calories will come from fat.
3 – Consider MCTs
There's strong evidence to support the use of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) when adopting a low carb or VLCK diet.
MCTs perform a great trick by bypassing certain metabolic processes and end up being used for fuel during exercise (if necessary), thereby reducing the overall need for glucose and potentially reducing the need for cortisol.
While this is speculative, there's ample anecdotal evidence to support the use of MCT from this perspective alone. Additionally, MCTs have been shown to be effective in increasing fat oxidation and improving body composition by reducing fat storage.
Dietary sources of MCT include coconut oil, palm oil, and butter. You can also find MCT in various supplements.
Low-Carb Warning
Low carb diets are powerful when used combined with nutrient timing and partitioning. But going on one without knowing about your hormones may result in a slowed metabolism and sluggish muscle growth.
But with the right tools, you can change your body comp for the better.
Related: How Many Carbs Do You Need?
Related: What You Don't Know About Your Thyroid
Related: The Velocity DietHere's a fascinating, just-out artcile in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (sub req'd) about the collapse of Singapore-listed, mainland China-based firms that have collapsed amidst an inability to repay debt and fraud.
Since late 2007, a spate of so-called S-chips - mainland companies listed on the Singapore exchange - have borrowed money then failed to repay the debts, with some becoming mired in fraud scandals. Of the 11 S-chips that issued convertible bonds between 2005 and 2008, six have declared themselves unable to repay. Two of those six - steel group Delong Holdings and property developer Sunshine Holdings - have successfully restructured their finances while the rest remain locked in talks with creditors. Convertible bonds are debt instruments that investors can convert into shares at a later date. Another five S-chips failed to repay bank loans during 2008-9. The effects on their share prices have been, predictably, crushing.
Not surprisingly, global investment banks have been involved in pushing the S-chips' debt onto investors
In June 2008, blue-chip investment bank Morgan Stanley sold US$109 million worth of convertible bonds issued by waste recovery group Sino Environment Technologies, based in Fujian, to a group of lenders including US investment firm Stark Investments. Sino-Environment's share price has since crashed from S$1.30 (HK$7.18) on the day it sold the convertible bonds to S$0.135 when the stock was suspended from trading in September. During that period, Sino not only defaulted on its bonds - the Singapore-listed firm is also being investigated by the city state's Monetary Authority, a person involved in the case confirmed, after its auditors Pricewaterhouse Coopers said they could not verify the whereabouts of US$85 million of Sino-Environment's cash.
The most interesting is probably this one, which is involved in an industry where you don't typically get a lot of publicly-traded action:
The most recent S-chip bond default came from China Milk Products Group, based in Heilongjiang, that produces bull semen and cow embryos for cattle breeders, The vast majority of the investors who bought US$150 million worth of convertible bonds China Milk sold through Deutsche Bank in December 2006 have exercised an option to get their money back, a person close to the agricultural company confirmed. China Milk's net profit tumbled 73 per cent in the three months to last June compared to a year previously. The business was hit by last year's tainted milk scandal on the mainland, which cut demand among dairy farmers for new livestock.I know there were actually many humoristic to negative comments and articles about "chickensaurs" and the intention to make them real.But actually I like the idea quite a lot, not because I want chickens back in their coelurosaurian state but because the understanding of the epigenetic triggers in the DNA of an bird will give us an better understanding of how non-avian theropods became modern avian theropods. A chickensaur may be just a byproduct of such research and maybe a way to finance itOne day those new species will actually be banned from Earth and the Solar System overall. Animals like chickensaurs will labeled as synthetic invasive animals (SIA) and are just permitted to exist inside the walls of laboratories.But times change, and the first human colony planet outside our own system need a complete new fauna and flora, a opportunity hard to miss when you are a scientist with big plans and a fable for long time experiments.Chickensaurs, or sometimes just called Horners by locals, were introduced to Nea as small to middle sized carnivores/omnivores.The Desert Chickensaur is the biggest sub-species/race and a common sight in the semiarid and arid plains of this planet. Thanks to one or two other modifications these animals thrive in their new habitat and are a popular source of proteins among the human population and other predators.The subspecies name "manufactius" is common with all epigenetically altered species and less genetically altered ones.Here more information about Nea and another species from that planet: hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/a…Iceland’s Supreme Court has return a guilty verdict for all nine defendants in the Kaupþing market manipulation case, the court trial for which began in April 2015.
Back in June last year, the Reykjavik District Court found seven of the nine defendants guilty, acquitting two.
Birnir Sær Björnsson, Einar Pálmi Sigmundsson and Pétur Kristinn Guðmarsson. Photo: Iceland Monitor
By fully financing share purchases with no other surety than the shares themselves, the bankers were accused of giving a false and misleading impression of demand for Kaupþingi shares by means of deception and pretence.
The Supreme Court has now overturned the acquittals, finding Björk Þórarinsdóttir (credit representative at Kaupþing) and Magnús Guðmundsson (former CEO of Kaupthing Luxembourg) also guilty alongside the other seven.
Magnús Guðmundsson, Bjarki Diego and Björk Þórarinsdóttir. Photo: Iceland Monitor
No punishment has been handed out to Þórarinsdóttir and Guðmundsson, however.
In addition, Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, former Director of the bank, who had initially received no further penalty, having previously been sentenced in the ‘Al-Thani affair’, has now been given a sixth-month extension to his prison sentence.As other Republican presidential candidates propose sending troops to the Middle East to fight ISIS, Kentucky Sen. [crscore]Rand Paul[/crscore] says he is still staunchly against putting American boots back on the ground.
“The first Iraq war didn’t make us safer,” Paul told The Daily Caller. “Didn’t make the region any less chaotic. The first Iraq war destabilized the region and has led to the current chaos. I don’t think another Iraq War is going to make it better.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, said in a speech this week he would like to see an unspecified number of U.S. troops fighting ISIS in the region. Another candidate, Sen. [crscore]Lindsey Graham[/crscore] of South Carolina, is also calling for an American ground invasion.
Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican, says he would like to troops in Iraq and Syria fighting the Islamic radicals — just not American troops.
“I do think that to defeat ISIS, there will have to be boots on the ground,” Paul said. “But the boots on the ground need to be Arab boots on the ground. And frankly, they will have to be probably Sunni Muslim boots.”
Added Paul: “I think that while we can militarily defeat anyone in the world — we have the greatest military on the planet, probably in the history of mankind — if we go over there and defeat ISIS, and then we attempt to occupy those Sunni Muslim cities, I think another generation rises up.”
“I think really civilized Islam is going to have to be the boots on the ground,” he said. “They will have to have Muslims defeating Muslims.”
Said Paul: “We can help, but we certainly and shouldn’t be the boots on the ground. The first war was a mistake, and I oppose going back again.”
Paul is still trailing a number of his rivals nationally and in early state polls, but expressed optimism that both front-runners, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, would fade before voters head to the polls.
“There’s been a lot of faltering perceived or otherwise with Carson’s campaign lately,” Paul said. “And I think Trump’s schtick and humor or insults have grown thin and, I think, aren’t really received with the same sort of enthusiasm as they once were. I think we’re in a good position. And we think the race is still wide open.”
Asked to describe how he views his path to victory, Paul said he needs to bring together three voting blocs. “Combining independents, liberty-minded folks in the party and college kids, we think we can get to the number that necessary for victory.”
Speaking of students, Paul said “college-aged kids, as well as really anybody under 40, are very much against the government’s program of collecting all of our phone records.”
“So they’re for privacy and see me as a spokesman for their movement. College kids also don’t want to see their friends or buddies put in jail for a marijuana offense,” he said. “They also don’t want to see their friends or buddies being sent off to another war in Iraq.”
Paul said his campaign is working to woo independents in some states. “They are allowed to vote without changing their registration in Iowa and New Hampshire,” he said. “So independents can be a big block of voters.”
“And then finally the liberty movement,” he said. “There are a lot of liberty movement conservatives slash libertarians, libertarians slash conservatives who are in the Republican Party now and that’s a group that we find and believe to be a main backbone … of our movement.”
Paul said his operations has a “significant ground game in all four of the first primaries and caucuses — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada” but “we think caucus states are a little easier for us since they are smaller turnout.”
Follow Alex on TwitterYou can run, you can hide, but you can't escape companies wanting to deliver things via drone to you.
Domino's in New Zealand want to be the next to do so, announcing a partnership with drone delivery company Flirtey. Their mission? To transport pizzas through the air.
SEE ALSO: How to build a racing drone
While the idea certainly sounds great, the service is yet to receive regulatory approval from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Domino's and Flirtey said they expect to be able to begin trial deliveries later this year, once (or if?) they get the "okay" from the authority.
Domino's Group CEO and Managing Director, Don Meij said in a statement, "These trial deliveries will help provide the insight we need to extend the weight carried by the drone and distance travelled. It is this insight that we hope will lead to being able to consider a drone delivery option for the majority of our orders."
Image: Domino's
"We are planning a phased trial approach which is based on the CAA granting approval, as both Domino's and Flirtey are learning what is possible with the drone delivery for our products but this isn't a 'pie in the sky' idea. It's about working with the regulators and Flirtey to make this a reality for our customers," he added.
Flirtey were behind the first-ever legal drone delivery, which was a drop-off of medication in the U.S. back in July last year. Since then, it's been behind a number of trial deliveries, but commercial drone deliveries are still largely fantasy.
It's a particular problem in the U.S., as new Federal Aviation Administration rules in June regarding drone weight, speed, etc. have almost dashed the hopes of companies wanting to deliver by air in the country.
A spokesperson from New Zealand's CAA confirmed to Mashable Australia that it "did approve a one-off UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) delivery service for a commercial that was filmed a few years ago," but hasn't approved any ongoing UAV drone services before.
Under current CAA rules in New Zealand, drones cannot be operated at night, they must remain in clear sight of the pilot, and they cannot have a total weight of more than 25 kilograms (55.1 pounds).
One day there may be pizzas flying in the air, but in the meantime, you'll just have to deal with the old-school way of getting food delivered by road.Andrew Rannells and I are watching the trailer for Fire Island — the new reality show that follows six gay men as they summer at the Pines — on my phone. He tells me he spent much of his summer on Fire Island last year, so as you might expect, he provides some expert commentary. “Gay people: We get drunk and fight just like straight people!” he jokes. He’s over the idea that gay men should have to present purely positive images in media. “We’re not looking for role models on a Logo show, so I think it’s fine,” he decides. “Let’s have some fun.”
Rannells, 38, whose big break came playing Elder Price in the original production of The Book of Mormon (for which he received a Tony nomination), has played a range of gay men, from the narcissistic Elijah on HBO’s Girls, to Ryan Murphy’s baby-daddy id on the one-season NBC show The New Normal, to a gay man living in AIDS-afflicted New York onstage in Falsettos. Part of what he loved so much about Elijah on Girls — his first TV gig — was that he could play a messy, aimless 20-something without having to worry about whether he was creating a positive representation of a gay man. Still, what’s unique about Rannells is that he isn’t afraid to play a gay man. Unlike some other Hollywood actors, he’s never been coy about his sexuality and doesn’t find the idea of playing gay characters limiting so much as he does the parts that are written for them. (With the end of Girls nearing, he’s been reading a lot of scripts that want him to play a one-dimensional sassy gay bestie.) During a visit to the New York offices, Rannells talks about competition among actors in the industry, the pressures of doing a network show, and teaching the Girls crew the mechanics of anal sex.
Jenni Konner and Judd Apatow told me that you were the one who improvised the “Your dad is gay” line to Hannah in your first episode of Girls. How did that come about?
Judd was on set, and it was my first day speaking on a TV show, so I was very nervous. He kept coming up to me and whispering things in between takes to play around with, things to keep in mind. One of the things was, “Do you know who Peter Scolari is?” and I said, “Of course.” He said, “Peter plays Hannah’s father, so can you work in something about the fact that you think maybe he’s gay?” We started just playing around with this idea, saying he had an earring, saying he went on trips with his friends, we’re just making shit up. And yeah, that was my brilliant contribution: “Your dad is gay.” [Laughs.] Not the subtlest improvisation! But I was like, “I’m just going to walk out of this scene,” and I don’t know why I felt confident enough to do that, because I really had no clue what was going on.
There was something really special about working with Lena Dunham. I immediately felt very comfortable with her, and we spoke the same language. Even though I was nervous about improvising and acting on set with her, we just got each other in an interesting way. I felt like we were on the same page — she’s a great improviser and a very collaborative person to work with. We ended that scene many different ways. She left at one point, we kissed at one point, we did one where we ended up crying and holding each other. We went all over the place. We just felt like we could try anything.
It’s like “Choose Your Own Adventure”!
It was, and I felt that the second we got the “Your dad is gay” one, I went, “I think that’s going to be the one.” But we still played around a lot to see, “Maybe it’s something else!”
Corey Stoll, who plays Dill, said he was nervous shooting your sex scenes last season. What was it like from your vantage point?
Well, you know what’s interesting — and I think this is correct — I believe I was the only gay person on that set.
Jason [Kim, the story editor] wasn’t on set?
I don’t think Jason was there that day. Obviously he’s on set most days, but that ended up being a night shoot, so we shot at like three in the morning. If I’m being honest, when we were blocking it, I had to explain the mechanics of anal sex to this group of people and why missionary was the way to go. Corey was very cool about it. There was very little discussion about who was the top and who was the bottom, and it was decided that it just makes more sense that Corey would be the bossy bottom in that scenario. But I felt like I was doing some sort of gay-sex tutorial to explain the mechanics of how anal missionary works. It was my public service for the season.
I wore this hideous, white double-breasted blazer with a white turtleneck. I look like I’m in the fucking Sea Org.
The sex scene definitely felt like an extension of Dill and Elijah’s dynamic. Dill being a demanding bottom made a lot of sense for his character. Were those details written into the script?
This is a tangent, but I feel like there’s a perception of who’s submissive and who’s dominant, and I don’t think that necessarily goes with those roles. I know that as a gay man, that’s not always the case. So I don’t recall in the script that it was specific, but I do remember talking to Jesse Peretz, our director, about it and Corey being cool and flexible with whatever was decided. He was a real champ, man. We shot it pretty quick, and Jesse really knew what he needed and wanted, which is always great — certainly you don’t want to be wasting a lot of time when you’re in that position because it’s awkward anyway. Corey and I didn’t know each other that well at that point; he was literally about to go get married. The next day, I think, he was flying to his wedding, so that was quite a send-off.
Elijah wears a lot of brightly colored underwear.
Yeah, you see more of it this season. I forgot how much I’m in my underwear.
It always feels very right for his character.
Yeah, it’s like cheap stuff that you would find at Filene’s or something. Off-brand Italian underwear is what Jenn Rogien, our costume designer, puts me in. Sometimes it’s like 2(x)ist or Calvin Klein, but oftentimes it’s this weird thing where you’re like, What the hell is this label? But it’s good because it’s within Elijah’s price point. Very rarely did I ever wear anything that was not off-brand or from some sort of consignment or discount store. Jenn really works very well within the world, and it’s hard as a narcissistic actor sometimes to put on things and be like, Well, I wish the fit was different or I wish this material wasn’t so cheap. In the second episode, I go to that cocktail party with Shoshanna, and I wore this hideous, white double-breasted blazer with a white turtleneck. I look like I’m in the fucking Sea Org. I hated it, but when I looked at myself, I was like, This seems correct. So I had to fight my own narcissism.
Do you ever feel shy if your wardrobe is just underwear?
At this point, I am fine with it. This was my first television job, and the first time I was ever naked on the show was in the second season — that I remember being a big deal. I had a sex scene with Allison Williams and I had to be naked, and I was very nervous about that. But as time goes on, you’re like, Well, these people have all seen me in my underwear. There’s something forgiving about the fact that I’m not a Marvel character. I’m not on a CW show where I have to be taking water pills and fasting for a week; I just have to be a normal guy. I didn’t have to look perfect, so I was like, All right, I’m just going to forgive myself if I’m not as lean as I could be. This isn’t Arrow.
How do you think Girls has handled its portrayal of gay men?
Certainly what we get in this season, and where we got with Elijah in the last season, I feel really great about it. I mean, I started as a recurring character, and I think my role was what it was supposed to be as a funny sidekick. It was nice as I got a little more real estate in these episodes to explore him as a human person. I’ve really enjoyed getting to be a flawed person. I didn’t have to be like a likable gay; I could be a hateful gay sometimes and not have to work at representing everyone. I’m just this one jacked-up character. So I didn’t feel like I had to be a poster boy for anything, which was nice. And that’s what I like about all these characters, and sometimes it gets tricky when people are like, Well, what does it say about women? or What does it say about gay people? and it’s like, Well, it’s not about everybody. It’s just about these people, so we don’t have to represent everybody.
Photo: Victoria Stevens/Vulture
And I don’t think that should be the goal.
No. I worked on a show on NBC called The New Normal for a season that I was very proud of, but there was a different expectation on a network. Justin Bartha and I had to be a little more perfect; we had to represent a group, which was challenging.
It now feels like we were just a little too early to do that show, and there were a couple things that were tricky about that: There was a lot of pressure to be a likable, relatable gay couple that wasn’t going to be overly sexual or affectionate and that people were not going to be offended by in some ways. Look, I was coming from HBO, working on a show where anything goes, so I remember filming that episode in season two where Lena and I do coke, snorting lines off a toilet seat, and a month later I’m in L.A. doing an episode about buying baby clothes! It was just a much different feeling to get network notes. At HBO, I never experienced that, so all of a sudden to be receiving notes from the head of the network, I felt immediately, Oh, there’s a different pressure here.
Were the notes about toning things down or making things “more relatable”?
I think it was “more relatable.” Ryan Murphy is obviously a very powerful producer and creator, and we had [TV executives] Jennifer Salke and Dana Walden, who were huge champions of that show and very generous to us in terms of what we could do. But when it started airing, there was a need to make us more … I don’t know. I guess it’s relatable.
I’m not on a CW show where I have to be taking water pills and fasting for a week … This isn’t Arrow.
“Brought to you by the Human Rights Campaign.”
But that’s not what Ryan does. The pilot was very different from where we ended up because I was playing a version of him: a very over-the-top showrunner who’s wealthy and throwing money around. Ryan and his husband were going through the process as we were doing it. They got the surrogate, and all that was happening during the filming, so he was able to talk about those conversations. It’s a funny idea that that guy’s going to have a baby, but really, people, that’s not the most relatable character.
You’ve said before that coming out wasn’t a big deal for you. What was it like understanding your sexuality?
Uneventful, I have to say. I know a lot of people have a really hard time with it, and I don’t know why I didn’t, but I recognized from a very young age, like, 4 or 5, that I was in love with Maxwell Caulfield from Grease 2, and I wanted him to be my boyfriend. I never felt conflicted by it — that was the truth. I was going to be in love with a man, and there was really no hesitation of, “Maybe I’m bi.” I was just like, “Nope. I’m gay. That’s it.” I got nervous before I told my parents on the off chance that it did not go well, so I did not tell them — I mean, this was in the ’90s — until after graduating from high school. I think I graduated in May, came out to them in July, and then promptly moved to New York — just in case! And, of course, they were fine and they didn’t care and that was all. My whole family is very supportive. In the ’90s, the fear/assumption was AIDS — that coming out meant I was going to be vulnerable to getting this disease. I think my parents’ concern was, “Is this a thing that now you have to grapple with?” It was also because I came out the same year Matthew Shepard was killed. My mom had a hard time not with the gay part but with everyone else’s reaction around it. I remember my mom calling me after Matthew Shepard’s story came out, the day he was murdered. Here she is with a son the same age living in NYC, and I imagine that was very hard for her, having to worry about that.
Do you think that being out has affected the opportunities you get?
I will say I’ve been given an amazing set of opportunities that have not been affected by my sexuality at all — or that have helped me. I remember sitting with Ryan Murphy in a meeting when I was still in The Book of Mormon. I knew he’d sold a show about two gay dads having a baby, because somebody at NBC told me, but that was all I knew about it. I was being interviewed for a job on Glee, and I just flipped the conversation and said, “I hear you got this other show,” and I really pitched myself hard, saying, “You should hire a gay person to do this, not a straight person, and here’s why I should get the job.” I had a moment of real ballsiness because I felt that way, and I still feel that way: If you’re going to tell that story, hire a gay guy.
Something I like is that you play gay guys!
I do, too! It’s funny when people ask, “Is this limiting to you?” and I’m like, “It’s just the person’s sexuality. Why would that limit me?” There are all different kinds of gay people, so I get to play a lot of different gay folks, and that’s great. You don’t have to all be the same. No one ever asks Ryan Reynolds, “Hey, is it limiting that you always play straight people and have to fuck girls?” No, no one asks that! There are all sorts of different gay people, and I like playing them.
You’ve been with Elijah for six seasons now, and especially this last season, we see a lot of you. How do you think about the evolution of your character?
It’s been hard. Coming from the theater, you know what your given circumstances are every night and who your character is. You’re reenacting this one moment of their lives over and over, so you get really good at figuring out how to navigate it. TV was a huge adjustment for me because the script changes every episode and you have a different set of circumstances. You’re constantly having to figure out, “Who is this person in this moment, and how does he react to this now?” It’s definitely fun, but it’s a different challenge than I had been used to. For Elijah, it’s been really great that Lena and Jenni have given him more space to be human, because I think they didn’t initially expect me to be around as much as I have been. It was nice to be able to see, “Who is he, actually, apart from the one-liners and being a dick at times. Who is this guy and how does he feel about things?” Fleshing out the rest of that character took some time, but it’s been nice, particularly the fifth-season arc with Corey Stoll. That was a really great gift they gave me.
Were there things you wanted that you asked for, for your character?
I did. I asked for a romantic story line. I didn’t specifically ask for this last one, the auditioning thing, but once they established that, they were very nice about having me in to talk about my own personal audition experiences and taking what we could from my past and working that into Elijah.
Would you have sex with Elijah?
[Pause.] No. [Laughs.] I’d have a drink with him! I’d want to hang out with him! But I wouldn’t want to get too close. He’d be a little messy.
Was it your idea to sing “Let Me Be Your Star” at Elijah’s audition?
Yes, it was my idea. We had kicked around a bunch of different song ideas, and they asked me what I had sung at auditions and what would be realistic. You get 16 bars in those open calls, which is a pretty short amount of a song to sing, so you generally pick something that’s the showiest thing you could do. Jenni and I both really loved Smash, and it just occurred to me one day, “I should sing ‘Let Me Be Your Star.’ That’s the perfect audition song!”
It is.
Because it |
’t know.
Cale: Good enough.
Ninja: [laughs] yeah I don’t know. [Yolandi chimes in with something] Yeah if you want to come, come, if you don’t want to come, stay at home.
[Yolandi and Ninja start chattering to each other and laughing]
Ninja: Dress sexy or don’t come.
Yolandi: We’re gonna have some specials at the bar!
Ninja: Yeah, yeah, there’s like a backstage VIP jacuzzi party if we like you enough!
Yolandi: And we’re gonna be like giving out free merchandise, all our merch is free!
Ninja: [cracking up] We’re gonna be rapping songs from Ten$ion for the first time ever. And yeah, you won’t be sorry.
[At the time the above back and forth was almost impossible to hear, I was catching a little bit and thought it was funny, but I was trying so hard to follow and not muddle up the recording with any laughter on my end that I apparently came off a bit stiff]
Cale: Sounds good.
Ninja: Are you stoned dude? What the hell? You’re like mad serious. You didn’t even giggle once, I was saying like the funniest shit and you’re like “oh good”. C’mon, you can tell us.
[At this point I think Ninja is talking to Yolandi, not realizing he was addressing me]
Ninja: Hello?
Cale: Hello?
Ninja: Dude you got that like delayed reaction thing to everything.
Cale: Sorry I didn’t hear the last thing you said…
Ninja: [slowly] I asked you if you had been smoking marijuana.
Cale: Ha, I have not been, but I probably will need to after this interview…
Ninja: Ok, that’s cool. Are you going to come to the show dude?
Cale: Yeah I came to the last one it was really great, definitely going to come to the next one.
Ninja: What are you going to wear?
Cale: I got one of those Kigurumi costumes. Like a cat version of what you guys wear.
Ninja: [to Yolandi] Oh cool, he’s got a cat version of the Pokemon [to me] What color?
Cale: Black cat, purple belly.
Ninja: Sweet, I’m gonna be looking out for you.
Cale: I’m wearing it right now too. Just to get in the mood.
Ninja: That’s what I’m talking about.
Yolandi: Yeah, fuck it.
Ninja: Cool.
Cale: Ok, thanks guys!
Ninja: Be good, yeah
Yolandi: Bye!Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
Most movies have several layers of meaning and sometimes a hidden layer will tell an unintended story. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) is described as a comedy, but it is not a laugh out loud kind of film. The iconic M.A.S.H. proved you can mix humour and war but WTF goes beyond wisecracks in a tent to make light of a superpower war that is waged against an ancient impoverished country. Based on a real war correspondent’s memoirs, this film adaptation ultimately casts a poor light on large numbers of non-combat personnel who are there for reasons that have little to do with altruism or professionalism.
At 40-ish, bored desk-bound copy writer Kim Baker (Tina Fey) is sick and tired of staring at the same carpet spot near her gym treadmill and is desperate for a change of life. She is drawn by the excitement of war reporting and ends up spending several years in Afganistan. There are several connected strands to the story, like Kim’s makeup-destroying experiences as an embedded reporter, exposing the persecution of Afgani women, and encountering a variety of characters including a love interest and some quirky Afganis who do things very differently in that part of the world. The attention of the global press has turned away from Afganistan to Iraq, and Kim and her reporter fraternity face reassignment. There are two standing gags that frame the film. The resident female stunner Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robie) tells Kim that girls who rate 6 in the States are a 9 or 10 in a war zone so her sex-life will be amazing. The more telling gag uses the boiling frog metaphor, where the water temperature rises so slowly that the frog does not realise it is about to die. The war zone press corps are depicted as adrenalin junkies and sex-crazed alcohol or drug addicts. The longer they stay the more humanity they lose.
This is a mixed but engaging film. It is well paced with filming that captures both excitement and danger. More importantly, it fills a gap in most people’s awareness of what it is like to be a female war correspondent. While some have panned Tina Fey as not comedic enough, this is war and she nailed her part. The comedy did not get many laughs in my cinema, just some sniggers over frat-house one liners. Although the film is not the comedy I expected, Whisky Tango Foxtrot is very entertaining.
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Stars: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin FreemanThe classic block game Tetris has frequently been the subject of legal disputes. The rights to the trademark are currently held by The Tetris Company, a corporation located in Hawaii that licenses the name to other parties. The Tetris Company, which routinely threatens legal action against clones of the popular game, has sent a DMCA takedown notice to Google, prompting the search giant to remove 35 Tetris-like games from the Android market.
Several of the games that were removed from the market were not actually using the trademarked Tetris name or any artwork from the original game—they merely had gameplay mechanics that resembled the Russian classic. In previous Tetris licensing enforcement efforts that have resulted in actual litigation, The Tetris Company has argued that clones infringe on the game's trade dress, which is protected under the Lanham Act.
Trade dress relates to the likeness of a product and aims to block the creation of knock-off products that bear sufficient similarity to be mistaken for the original. It's important to note that trade dress protections are not like design patents, because functional design elements are explicitly not covered.
Google isn't the first handset maker to make unauthorized versions of the block game disappear. Apple has also banned several Tetris clones from its own App Store. At this time, there appear to be several Tetris clones still available in the Android market, but it's unclear whether they will endure.
The removal of popular Tetris clones from the Android market is particularly frustrating for users, because the official Tetris game is awful. Developed by EA with a license from The Tetris Company, it is a poorly-executed port from the feature phone version and doesn't even fill the screen on my Nexus One.Posted on Oct 12, 2016 in Education, Science & Engineering
The color blue evolved independently among tarantulas at least 8 times. iStockphoto
Biomimicry Thinking – ‘Tarantula Blue’ Now One Step Closer To Reality
Lola Gayle, STEAM Register
In December 2015, I reported on research involving blue tarantulas, which possess a striking non-iridescent shade of blue that doesn’t change when viewed at different angles. At the time, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and University of Akron (UA) set out to find out why, exactly, some tarantulas have such a vibrant hue.
“We didn’t find the answer to that question,” UA’s Bor-Kai (Bill) Hsiung told National Geographic.
The scientists did learn, however, that the spiders independently evolved the ability to make these blue colors using nanostructures in their exoskeletons, which they said could lead to new ways to improve computer or TV screens using biomimicry. This approach, also referred to as biomimetics, is used to imitate biological systems seen in nature in an effort to create sustainable solutions to real-world human challenges.
Since the spider’s blue color is not iridescent, the researchers suggested that the same process could be applied to make pigment replacements that never fade, as well as to help reduce glare on wide-angle viewing systems in phones, televisions, and other devices. I like to refer to this possible new color as “Tarantula Blue.” Catchy name, no?
See Also: Sea Sapphire’s Magic Trick Explained
“They could be used as pigment replacements in materials such as plastics, metal, textiles and paper, and for producing color for wide-angle viewing systems in phones, televisions and other optical devices,” Mr. Hsiung said.
In April 2016, I had the immense honor of interviewing Mr. Hsiung, a biomimicry fellow in UA’s Integrated Bioscience Ph.D. program, about his work with these beautiful blue tarantulas. The research had just entered the next phase and the team had turned to crowdfunding to help make it happen.
The researchers had already designed five models of real tarantula hairs (i.e. Poecilotheria metallica and Lampropelma violaceopes) that varied in complexity. However, they wanted to dig deeper and actually fabricate those five designs using 3D nano-printing technology to test their hypotheses experimentally and determine which features produce blue and which remove iridescence.
Not long after my interview, Mr. Hsiung and his colleagues reached their funding goal and went straight to work in the lab.
Milestone In Biomimicry Research
Now, Mr. Hsiung and his colleagues at UA, Ghent University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are reporting on their new findings in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.
According to a statement I received from Mr. Hsiung, structural colors are more vibrant and durable than the pigments used in most human-made products. They are produced by optical effects when light interacts with nanostructures that are about the same size as the wavelength of light. One example of this is peacock tail feathers. They are pigmented brown, but their microscopic structure makes them also reflect blue, turquoise, and green light, and they are often iridescent.
The problem here is that most structural colors are strongly iridescent, changing color when viewed from different angles. Think of the Morpho butterfly — as you view its beautiful blue wings from different angles, the colors seem to sparkle and change somewhat. Pretty in nature, but not very functional when you’re watching your television and move to a new seat.
See Also: Looking Into The Eyes Of A Butterfly
Despite the beauty of this iridescence, it prohibits a broader usage of structural color in our daily lives because we want the colors to remain faithful, the researchers said. You could go with amorphous structures to produce non-iridescent structural colors, but they are difficult to manufacture. In contrast, they say that highly periodic designs are easy to manufacture and make vibrant structural colors, but this method still results in strong iridescence.
NOTE: Amorphous means having no definite or clear shape or form.
“In short, non-iridescent structural color is hard to come by,” Mr. Hsiung and his colleagues write. But now, they say the new research will help solve this “vexing problem.”
In the course of their research, the team found that the hairs of some species of blue tarantulas have a special flower-like shape. They had hypothesized that this shape reduced the iridescent effect resulting from periodic structures.
Now, thanks to the crowdfunding push they received earlier, the researchers were able to test this hypothesis using a series of computer simulations and physical prototypes built using cutting-edge nano-3D printing technology.
What they found was that they could almost completely wipe out any iridescence using a highly periodic structure with a flower-like shape similar to those seen in blue tarantulas. What’s more, they found that the color produced by the 3D printed structures has a viewing angle of 160 degrees. This is the largest viewing angle of any synthetic structural colors demonstrated so far, and the discovery “greatly enhances the potential application of structural color in display screens and other optical devices,” the team said in their statement.
“This is a key first step towards a future where ‘structural colorants’ replace the toxic pigments and dyes that are currently used in textile, packaging, and cosmetic industries,” Mr. Hsiung added.
A real win-win discovery for science, humanity, and the environment.
See Also: Taking Cues From Nature To Develop Colors That Do Not Fade
The Future Of Tarantula Blue
When I learned of the latest results, I excitedly asked Mr. Hsiung about what the next step would be.
“This research is a ‘proof-of-concept’. Previously, no one ever thought non-iridescence can be achieved through highly order, periodic structures,” he answered. “Our research not only demonstrated it’s possible in theory (simulation), but doable (physical 3D printed prototypes). However, to be able to turn our research into real world commercialization products, we now need to consider the practicality (time & money). So, our next step is to show that these structures can be mass produced cheaply. And we already have some ideas about how to achieve that next step (i.e., we already identified potential techniques necessary for achieving that goal).”
When I asked him if I would ever be able to say that my television or t-shirt is made using ‘tarantula blue’ technology or pigments, Mr. Hsiung replied: “If one is willing to invest in the commercialization. I believe we are very likely to make ‘tarantula blue’ t-shirts in about 5 years. TV probably will take longer, but it’s definitely possible.”
I also asked him if this research may one day lead to other potential colors using the same technologies and methodology.
“The best thing about structural colors, is that we will be able to tune and achieve all colors in our human visible spectrum,” he replied. “So, the answer is YES. Infinite of colors using the same technology and methodology.”
In closing, I queried him on his favorite part about this new phase of research, from a STEM and STEAM education angle. He broke it down this way:
“So, Science: we learned how the technology works by studying natural organisms (biology). Technology and Engineering: we translate what was leaned from Science, and make it happen (realize it) through technology and engineering. Mathematics: The behavior of our prototypes can be predicted (simulated) through simple optical formula (theory). Art: the end result is beautiful and can definitely be applied to art someday.”
“Overall, making something out of nothing (especially when everyone else thinks it’s not possible) is really exciting,” Mr. Hsiung added.
In the TEDxUniversityofAkron Salon video below, Mr. Hsiung demystifies a common misperception about biomimicry. He then goes on to explain how his research contributes to the making of more durable, energy-efficient, and eco-friendly colors by incorporating Biomimicry Thinking — a methodology that integrates biomimicry into the process of any discipline.
CITATION: B.-K. Hsiung et al: “Tarantula-inspired non-iridescent photonics with long-range order.” Advanced Optical Materials 2016: DOI: 10.1002/adom.201600599.
See Also: Caterpillar Robot Powered By Light Can Go Just About Anywhere
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3D Printing • Biology • Biomimetics • Biomimicry • Biotechnology • Entomology • Evolution • Nanotechnology • Photonics • STEAM Fields • STEM FieldsI have decided to start raising some chickens, so I’m in the process of searching for some chicken coop and feeder plans, while searching I came across this feeder that I seen online called the Dine-A-Chook. I thought it looked pretty cool, so I decided to try to and build one for myself and this is what I came up with. It holds 10 lbs. of feed but if you use a longer piece of PVC it could hold a lot more. So lets get started and I will show you how to build this yourself.
During the build process I changed my mind on the type of cap I wanted to use for the top. So instead of using the screw on cap I went with the plain push on cap, so my parts picture is a little different from my final build.
Parts List:
1 – 4″ PVC Cap
1 – 3″ PVC Cap
1 – 2″ PVC pipe 2 foot length (only ended up needing less than 5 inches)
1 – 4″ PVC pipe 2 foot Length
1 – 4″ PVC 3-way Sanitary Tee
1 – 4″ Clean Out Plug
1 – 4″ PVC DWV Street Spigot x FIPT Female Adapter
1 – 2″ PVC DWV Hub x MIPT Male Adapter
Tools Needed:
Drill
2 – 1/8″ hole saw
PVC Cement
Hack Saw
Dremel tool or file
Step 1. Mark out your 3-way tee, and cut off the lower half with a hack saw like the picture below. NOTE: At first I decided to mark it at the first seam but then changed my mind and cut it at the second seam it looked cleaner.
Step 2. Glue the 4″ PVC DWV Street Spigot x FIPT Female Adapter to the bottom of the 3-way tee like the picture below. Next install the clean out plug.
Step 3. Drill a 2-1/8″ hole into the center of the 3 inch PVC cap with your hole saw. The 2-1/8″ hole is slightly to small for the 2″ male adapter to fit so you will have to file it or use a dremel until you get the right size for it to thread in. Be careful not to make the hole to big or you will have to buy a new cap and start over. Next thread the 2″ male adapter into the top of the 3 inch cap. I forgot to ake a picture of this step but you can see it in the picture below on the bottom right.
UPDATE
If you would like to add a flag indicator to this feeder so you will know when to add feed to it go to the link below before continuing on with step 4. Once you finish the steps in the link below come back here and continue with step 4.
DIY Chicken Feed Indicator for PVC Chicken Feeder
Step 4. Next glue the three inch cap into the 4inch PVC pipe. I set it in right where the cap starts to round off see the picture below.
Step 5. Next measure 4-1/4″ of the 2 inch pipe and cut it at a 45 degree angle like the pictures below. I found this length filled the feeder without spilling over.
Step 6. Next glue the 2″ pipe into the 2″ adapter.
Step 7. Place the 4″ PVC pipe into the 3-tee and line up the 45 degree cut so its facing the front of the feeder. Once its lined up mark it with a marker so you will know where to set it when gluing. Once your sure you have your marks where you want them glue the 4″ PVC pipe into the 3-way tee. It should look like the picture below.
Step 8. Use a dremel or a file and round off any sharp edges or corners of the hood of the feeder so your chickens won’t get hurt. Thats it, your feeder is done. You can mount it to your coop with 4″ PVC straps or some galvanized hanger strap. Now all you have to do is fill the feeder and push the cap on. If you find the cap a little to tight you can make two relief cuts in the 4 inch pipe just a couple inches down with your hacksaw. Just make sure you don’t cut lower than the cap, so no water can get in if you mount it outside. Pretty soon I will be adding a storm cover to this feeder and a way to let you know when it needs to be refilled with chicken food.As Legendary expands its “Godzilla” and “King Kong” universe, the banner looks to have found a friendly face to steer the ship for the sequel to 2014’s “Godzilla.”
Sources tell Variety that Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, who wrote “Krampus” for Legendary, are on board to pen the script for the next installment in the “Godzilla” franchise.
Sources have also indicated Legendary might be preparing to set up a writers room to help create the upcoming Godzilla-King Kong universe the company has planned since sending the distribution rights for “Kong: Skull Island” back to Warner Bros. after originally setting pic up at Universal.
Alex Garcia will oversee the project for Legendary.
In October 2015, Legendary and Warner Bros. made a joint announcement that all future “King Kong” and “Godzilla” films would be developed by Legendary and distributed by Warner Bros. starting with “Kong: Skull Island” next March. Legendary currently holds a distribution deal with Universal but in order to re-team “Godzilla” and “King Kong,” Legendary decided to send the rights back over to Warner Bros. in order to create this new “ecosystem” of giant super-species, both classic and new, as described in its original joint statement.
As of now, it looks as if Dougherty and Shields will just pen the script “Godzilla 2,” but this draft could be the starting point for a possible writers room.
“Godzilla 2” is currently dated for Mar. 22, 2019 with “Godzilla vs. Kong” movie for May 29, 2020.
Dougherty has strong ties to Legendary, having written and directed “Trick ‘r Treat”, one of Legendary’s first productions that has become a cult hit and horror perennial. He then teamed with Shields on the recent Christmas horror pic “Krampus,” which Dougherty directed and co-wrote with Shields.
Dougherty also co-wrote “X2” and “Superman Returns.”
Dougherty is repped by WME and Circle Confusion and Shields is repped by WME and LBI Entertainment.Champions League Tebas has filed a report, according to L'Equipe
LaLiga do not want Paris Saint-Germain competing in the Champions League and Javier Tebas is said to have even filed a complaint to UEFA in August with a complete study that shows the Ligue 1 side are financed by the State of Qatar.
Anger was sparked in the Spanish top-flight's establishment when Neymar was plucked by Les Parisiens for 222 million euros with league chief Tebas adamant that something was amiss.
French newspaper L'Equipe published a report on Monday outlining the complaints made by LaLiga against PSG.
"We have seen that PSG and Manchester City have invested more than any other club in the last five years," Tebas is quoted as saying.
"Their real income cannot justify these investments so they have fictitious sponsors, related to the State, with amounts that are bigger than those of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester United.
"The revenues are directly or indirectly related to the Qatari state and PSG are continuing to cheat economically."
In the 44-page report, LaLiga have reportedly pointed out that PSG have invested far more than any other club in recent years - 344 million euros in 2014, compared to Manchester United's 237m euros, Real Madrid's 224m euros and Barcelona's 185m euros.
Regarding television rights, PSG earn far less than Real Madrid - 47m euros compared to 121m euros.
LaLiga came to the conclusion that Qatar's sponsorship of the side is 73 percent more significant than that of United, Real and Barcelona.
Tebas' report has already initiated an investigation, and LaLiga intend to initiate further action against the club, as well as possibly taking the case to the European Union.
"We will wait until the end of the year to see what UEFA does," Tebas said. "If nothing happens, we will complain to the EU because this should not continue.
"If we discover that they are guilty, they should not compete in the Champions League."The Canadian Forces are signing onto a training mission in Ukraine.
iPolitics has learned Canadian trainers will join American troops currently serving in that role. Observers are set to deploy to the eastern European country in mid-May to shadow the Americans, with the remainder of the contingent to follow near the end of the month. The mission is expected to be a two-year commitment.
The force will be unarmed and tasked with training Ukrainian infantry battalions. For instance, engineers will provide mine and IED awareness training and medics be reviewing casualty care. Specialists will provide training to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and in logistics modernization, while military police attached to the mission will be focused primarily on detainee and prisoner-of-war handling.
Sources say Canadian soldiers will be working in the western part of Ukraine, nearly 1,300 kilometres from the conflict in the east. They’ll be based out of a NATO Partnership for Peace Training and Education centre in Yavoriv, just a short distance from the Polish border.
More details on the mission are expected to be released tomorrow or early next week.
Defence Minister Jason Kenney first mentioned in February that the government was considering joining the U.S. and Britain in a military training mission to shore up embattled Ukrainian troops.
At the time, it didn’t exactly draw a rousing response from the opposition.
The U.S. military has committed 800 troops to train three battalions in western Ukraine, and the British military announced in March that it had sent 35 trainers there on a two-month deployment.Dear American Jewish Community,
Its time for us to talk. I know for many of you that you still don’t want to talk – many of you have spent the last few weeks effectively covering your ears and eyes, endlessly repeating IDF talking points, as if they will magically make the reality disappear – but if there was ever a time to take the plunge and really look in the mirror at where we have gotten ourselves, this is the time. It’s time for us to talk about Israel, it’s time to talk about Zionism.
Those of us, those Jews who have spoken out against Israel’s inhumane actions or Zionism’s warped nationalistic beliefs, have never been well received within our community. When we have argued for human rights and international law, we have been ostracized and excluded from all aspects of mainstream Jewish life. When we have argued against an exclusionary, segregationist regime, we have been attacked with the most vicious of slanders; “self-hating Jews,” “Nazi collaborators,” and worse. When we have tried to stand up against colonialist violence and occupations, we have been met with angry rejection from our closest friends and family. When we have tried to reaffirm the values that Palestinians are human beings, deserving of equal rights and a future with dignity, we have been met with the full force of an incredibly powerful and well-funded Pro-Israel public relations machine. A climate of neo-McCarthyism has reigned within side the Jewish community stifling all debate, dissent and free thought on the issues of Israel, Palestine and Zionism. But its time for all of that to end.
I understand that the last few weeks may have been hard for you. From a young age we all have been raised – indoctrinated even – on Pro-Israel ideology. Every facet of our Jewish life has been infected with Zionism, from our youth groups, to our synagogues, to our Hebrew schools, to our family Seders. “The world hates us, Israel protects us, there we are free and safe and democratic”– we’ve come to believe. But in the last few weeks we have seen that supposed progressive, freedom loving, democratic Israel unmask itself before the whole world as a lynch mob society. We American Jews have been tricked into projecting all of our hopes and insecurities onto Israel, and to have those beautiful dreams and illusions shattered so brutally can be difficult. But for all the emotional pain we may be going through in seeing our Star of David pasted on the bombs being dropped on innocent civilians, it’s nothing compared to the pain being felt by those civilians.
Palestinians have suffered greatly at our hands. They have been violently forced from their land and homes to appease the Holocaust guilt of Europe and the greed of Zionist colonists. They have been forced to live under an openly Jim Crow, discriminatory and segregationist “Jewish Only” apartheid state. And the whole process has become endemic in its repetition, with wave after wave after wave of land theft, oppression, segregation and violence. The Nakba has been made into a continuous, never ending, 66-year-old ongoing catastrophe. Palestinians have been bombed, shot, detained, brutalized, tortured, dehumanized, occupied, and worse. All in our name.
We Jews have a lot of blood on our hands, we have been made complicit in these inhuman acts, and we have a responsibility now to do something about it. We need to rethink what “Never Again” really means; does it mean for us “Never Again for Jews Only,” or does it mean “Never Again For Everyone”?
I am not asking or expecting you, the whole American Jewish community, to renounce everything you have been taught to believe overnight, just yet. But I am asking and expecting you to open your minds a little, to start questioning what you have been taught. The Pro-Israel bias in our community has corrupted and stifled open free discourse for far too long. The exclusion of any dissenting Jewish opinion outside of the most narrow of ultra-Zionism has led our people into a cul-de-sac of intellectual dishonesty, moral poverty and political thuggery, where questioning is discouraged and obedience is rewarded. This must come to end, now, if we are to redeem ourselves and pave a path for the future.
All I ask is the following; that you reopen our community to dissenting opinion, that you open up every synagogue, every Jewish community center, every Hillel, every Hebrew School, to a free debate and discussion on Israel, Palestine and the core beliefs of Zionism. I and others like me, want to make our case to you, directly, as Jews to Jews, on why the Palestinians deserve our solidarity, on why Israeli militarism must be opposed, on why the “Jewish State” of Israel necessarily leads to apartheid, and on why the nationalistic and supremacist beliefs of Zionism have led to the corruption of our people with the sins of racism and colonialism.
I don’t expect a warm reception. But I do expect at least a moment of your time, and a part of your attention. You owe it to yourself, to your people, to your children, and to all Palestinians, to enter into this discussion with open minds and open hearts and start confronting the hard questions. Please help us in taking this moment and reassess who we are, what we have done, and where we want to go from here.
I look forward to the discussions ahead.
Sincerely,
Benjamin SilvermanThis article is about the musical meaning. For the linguistic meaning, see Heteronym (linguistics)
In music, heterophony is a type of texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Such a texture can be regarded as a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realized at the same time in multiple voices, each of which plays the melody differently, either in a different rhythm or tempo, or with various embellishments and elaborations.[citation needed] The term (coined by Archilochus)[citation needed] was initially introduced into systematic musicology to denote a subcategory of polyphonic music, though is now regarded as a textural category in its own right.
Heterophony is often a characteristic feature of non-Western traditional musics—for example Ottoman classical music, Arabic classical music, Japanese Gagaku, the gamelan music of Indonesia, kulintang ensembles of the Philippines and the traditional music of Thailand. In European traditions, there are also some examples of heterophony. One such example is dissonant heterophony of dinaric Ganga or "Ojkavica" traditions from southern Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro that is attributed to ancient Illyrian tradition. Another remarkably vigorous European tradition of heterophonic music exists, in the form of Outer Hebridean Gaelic psalmody.
Thai music is nonharmonic, melodic, or linear, and as is the case with all musics of this genre, its fundamental organization is horizontal... Thai music in its horizontal complex is made up of a main melody played simultaneously with variants of it which progress in relatively slower and faster rhythmic units... Individual lines of melody and variants sound in unison or octaves only at specific structural points, and the simultaneity of different pitches does not follow the Western system of organized chord progressions. Between the structural points where the pitches coincide (unison or octaves) each individual line follows the style idiomatic for the instrument playing it. The vertical complex at any given intermediary point follows no set progression; the linear adherence to style regulates. Thus several pitches that often create a highly complex simultaneous structure may occur at any point between the structural pitches. The music 'breathes' by contracting to one pitch, then expanding to a wide variety of pitches, then contracting again to another structural pitch, and so on throughout. Though these complexes of pitches between structural points may strike the Western listener as arbitrary and inconsequential, the individual lines are highly consequential and logical linearly. The pattern of pitches occurring at these structural points is the basis of the modal aspect of Thai music.[1]
The term heterophony may not clearly describe the phenomena involved, and the term polyphonic stratification is suggested instead:
"The technique of combining simultaneously one main melody and its variants is often incorrectly described as heterophony: polyphonic stratification seems a more precise description, since each of the 'layers' is not just a close approximation of the main melody, but also has distinct characteristics and a style of its own"[2]
Heterophony is somewhat rare in Western Classical music prior to the twentieth century. There are examples to be found the works of J.S.Bach:
J.S.Bach from Cantata BWV 80 "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott", Aria for soprano with oboe obbligato. Listen
- and Mozart :
Mozart K491 first movement, bars 211-14
Mozart, Piano Concerto in C minor, K491, first movement, bars 211-214.
However, it is frequently encountered in the music of early modernist composers such as Debussy, Enescu and Stravinsky, who were directly influenced by non-Western (and largely heterophonic) musics.[citation needed] Heterophony is a standard technique in the music of the post-war avant-garde, however - for example Olivier Messiaen's Sept Haïkaï (1962), and Harrison Birtwistle's Pulse Shadows (1989-96).[citation needed] Other examples include Pierre Boulez's Rituel, Répons, and …explosante-fixe….[3] Benjamin Britten used it to great effect in many of his compositions, including parts of the War Requiem and especially in the instrumental interludes of his three Church Parables: Curlew River, The Burning Fiery Furnace and The Prodigal Son. `”So unexpectedly stark were the sounds Britten drew from this group, and in particular so little dependent of his familiar harmonic propulsion, that listeners were ready to trace direct exotic influences in many features of the score.” [4]
Sources [ edit ]
^ The Traditional Music of Thailand, p.21. University of California Press. 0-520-01876-1. Morton, David (1976)., p.21. University of California Press. ISBN ^ Morton (1964), p.39. ^ Boulez, Music and Philosophy, p.211&213. ISBN 978-0-521-86242-4. Campbell, Edward (2010)., p.211&213. ^ Evans, P. 1979, p469) The Music of Benjamin Britten. London, Dent.A legendary battle which remains one of the most iconic accounts of the brave struggles of native Iberian people took place in a small village in 134 BC. Faced with a powerful Roman legion, even their well-built hillfort could not save them from meeting their deaths at the end of a Roman sword.
Numantia is the hillfort where this devastating battle took place and it dates back to the Iron Age. It is located in the village of Garray, in the Spanish province of Soria, and knowledge of it comes from the writings of Roman author and historian, Pliny the Elder. Pliny wrote that the hillfort belonged to the Pellendones, a mysterious people that are believed to have been a mixture of Illyrians and Celts. However, according to Greek historians Ptolemy and Strabo, Numantia belonged to the Arevaci tribe, a mixture of Celts with native Iberian people. Modern researchers believe that both the Pellendones and the Arevaci were related to each other. Whoever they were, the inhabitants of Numantia became the main characters in a sad story about a crushing defeat at the hands of the Romans.
Roman Politics Before the Final Siege
The plan for conquering the Iberian Peninsula had endured for as long as the Roman Empire had existed – a land rich in fertile soil for agriculture, and other precious resources, could provide a crucial boost to the economy of an expanding empire. Moreover, control of the southern part of Iberia would allow control over the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, which was the ‘center of the world’ in antiquity.
Territory of the Celtiberi tribe with the probable locations of its sub-groups. (Public Domain)
Before defeating the warriors in the hillfort, the Roman army had faced several severe failures. When in 137 BC, Roman consul Hostilius Mancinus has arrived for a campaign against Numantia, he panicked due to rumors about the strength of the enemy and accounts say he put out fires and tried to flee by night. Leaders of the Roman army in this region were called back to Rome to debate the situation in Spain. According to the University of Chicago website:
''The Senate was incredulous at this unprovoked renewal of hostilities and demanded to know why "after so many disasters had befallen them in Spain, Aemilius should be seeking a new war." Suffering from a lack of food, the Romans were compelled to retreat and desperately tried to decamp under cover of darkness |
oma area of the capital, Conakry.
Another 290 contacts had been identified but had not been traceable for the past 42 days.
The four latest cases in Guinea, reported on September 26 and 27 in Forecaria, were people infected by an unregistered contact, likely linked to the Ratoma transmission chain, WHO said.
nl/mfp
© 1994-2015 Agence France-PresseYou Need To Demonstrate Your Support For The RKBA On Saturday September 6 2014.
This event is 2A FlashMob approved, anyone attending will automatically qualify for their own FREE 2A Mob Patch.
Illinois –-(Ammoland.com)- A coalition of gun grabbers including Sarah Brady's Handgun Control Inc., the Bloomberg Moms, and militant priest Michael Pfleger recently announced the kick-off of a campaign to shut down 4 popular local gun shops.
This action is part of an overall campaign to abolish civilian firearm ownership across the United States.
The gun-grabbers plan to launch this latest campaign against your rights on Saturday, September 6, 2014 at Chuck's Gun Shop, 14310 S Indiana Ave, Riverdale, IL. It is very important that we get a maximum turn out of gun owners to be on hand to support Chuck's and the right to keep and bear arms.
So, please try to be at Chuck's to show you care about your rights.
Saturday would also be a good time to help the shop out by making some sort of purchase.
If you've never been to one of these events, you are in for a treat. You'll get to see first hand the tactics of the antigunners. You'll witness just how low they are willing to stoop to undermine your constitutional rights. You'll hear the lies, the fabricated statistics, an the hysterical claims about how private firearm ownership is dooming mankind. If Pfleger takes the stage you'll certainly be entertained by his special brand of frothy-lipped lunacy. Few will forget Pfleger's rant in front of Chucks several years ago when he called for the ISIS-style murders of gun shop owners and elected officials who support gun rights.
Attendance at this event is a must for anyone who loves freedom. You cannot appreciate liberty until you look those who would deny you liberty right in the eye.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR GUN RIGHTS:
1. Come to Chuck's Gun Shop, 14310 S Indiana Ave, Riverdale, IL, on Saturday, September 6, 2014. We would like to have our people there by 9:15 AM so that you will have room to park and to prepare for the morning's activities. Be sure to wear iGOLD shirts or hats if you have them. Otherwise, any NRA or gun-related clothing would be fine. Please bring a friend or two – a major turnout of gun owners is needed.
2. Be sure to pass this alert along to your friends and family…tell them to come out for this event too.
3. Please post this alert to any and all Internet Blogs or Bulletin Boards to which you may belong. Do not limit postings to gun-related sites. Be sure to post to any boards or blogs where people who support the 2nd Amendment visit. We need maximum exposure!
Hope to see you Saturday!
About:
The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners Visit: www.isra.org
About 2A Flashmob:
In an effort to motivate gun owners and Second Amendment Supporters to show up in person at important events and rallies AmmoLand Shooting Sports News is giving away FREE 2A Flashmob Patches to anyone who attends a protest, rally, open carry event, committee hearing at your state capital or anti gun counter protest. (You may already be eligible)
Spread the word, get out, get active!
https://www.ammoland.com/2a-flashmob-patches/The Badgers enjoyed their share of success in 2014-15 and UWBadgers.com is honoring the best student-athletes, teams, performances and moments of the year. Over the next few weeks, we'll unveil the best of the Badgers in five categories: Athletes of the Year (June 9-12), Big Ten Medal of Honor (June 15-20), Team Achievements of the Year (June 22-26), Games of the Year (June 29-July 2) and Plays of the Year (July 6-10). | 2014-15 Year in Review?? Today we feature a nominee for Game of the Year, men's basketball defeating undefeated Kentucky in the 2015 Final Four.-- The hard-nosed Wisconsin Badgers did what nobody else could this season -- knocking off the Wildcats 71-64 on Saturday night behind 20 points and 11 rebounds from Frank Kaminsky and a clutch comeback down the stretch.Now, instead of Kentucky going for history, it's Wisconsin heading to the final to play Duke, an 81-61 winner over Michigan State in the earlier semifinal.''It gives us another 40 minutes, I know that,'' said Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, who leads the Badgers to their first final since 1941.The Badgers, who lost 80-70 to Duke in December meeting in Madison, opened as one-point favorites over the Blue Devils.Kentucky closes the season at 38-1 -- two wins short of becoming the first undefeated team in college basketball since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers. Instead, these NBA-ready group of Wildcats join the star-studded 1991 UNLV team as the latest to take an undefeated record into the Final Four but lose in the semifinals.It's not the only program with talent, though.Wisconsin has some future pros, and they came up big in the biggest game of their lives -- a rematch of last year's semifinals when the Wildcats won 74-73.This year, Kentucky had burnished a reputation as a team that never quits when things don't look so good - a la last week's win over Notre Dame - but Wisconsin stuck in there this time.''They did to us what we've been doing to other teams all season,'' Calipari said. ''They executed down the stretch and we didn't.''Trailing by four and gasping for breath with their hands on their knees after going 6 minutes without a bucket, the Badgers (36-3) responded with an 8-0 run to take a lead Kentucky couldn't overcome. Kentucky led 60-56 with 6:37 left and didn't score again until there were 56 seconds left.Future NBAer Sam Dekker did most of the damage during that stretch.He started the run with a tough, twisting shot, then Nigel Hayes tied the game by tipping in an air ball after the shot clock had clearly turned to ''0.'' No violation was called, and in a game full of shaky officiating that left both coaches screaming, it generated momentum for the Badgers and left Kentucky flat.Tied at 60, Andrew Harrison missed on Kentucky's next possession. Dekker followed by spotting up for a 3-pointer that gave Wisconsin the lead for good with 1:42 left, then drawing a charge call when Trey Lyles slammed his shoulder into Dekker's chest.Another free throw made it 64-60 and Kentucky was in full comeback mode.Ahead 64-63 with 24 seconds left, Kaminsky, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, hit two free throws. He and Bronson Koenig went 7 for 8 from the line over the last 24 seconds to seal the win.''Best birthday present I've ever had,'' Kaminsky said.It is possible that some of these cases might involve DNA from different people with remarkably similar genetic makeup. But in a number of cases, the slight differences have already been traced back to errors in the profiles stored in DNA databases: What appeared to be DNA profiles of different people was, in fact, the profile of the same person’s DNA, according to documents.
A review by the New York City medical examiner’s office determined that six of the 166 cases were attributable to errors in DNA profiles it generated from crime scenes in New York, according to a letter the office sent to the state panel.
Since the discovery of the 166 errors at the national level, the New York State Police has also changed the search parameters used to comb DNA profiles in the state database, finding additional errors. The state database includes profiles that do not meet the F.B.I.’s standards for inclusion in the federal database because they come from DNA that is too degraded or that came from complex mixtures of DNA at crime scenes.
In two of the errors discovered in the state database, analysts at the city’s medical examiner’s office made mistakes as they tried to discern a DNA profile from raw data, which appears graphically as a series of peaks, somewhat like the record a seismograph produces.
“These revelations spotlight how human error can detract from the reliability of the testing process,” said Alan Gardner, the head of Legal Aid’s DNA unit, which is challenging the city medical examiner’s methods for discerning DNA profiles in complex mixture cases.
In court, prosecutors often describe the strength of DNA evidence against a defendant with numbers that can run into the billions — expressing how unlikely it is that a person chosen at random would also have a DNA profile linked to the crime scene. But the rate of errors by a lab or a technician, a less dramatic topic, can be a much more relevant statistic, many defense lawyers and some scientists said.
“If we say there is a 1-in-10-quadrillion chance that someone else might have the same DNA profile, but there is also a 1-in-10,000 chance that there was a mistake in generating the profile, the only number the jurors should be paying attention to is the error rating, said Dr. Krane, who was once on a forensic science commission for the State of Virginia and now consults with defense lawyers on DNA cases.[/caption]
NASA has recently posted the latest update as to how the Commercial Crew Development 2 (CCDev2) program is doing in terms of meeting milestones laid out at the program’s inception. According to the third status report that was released by NASA, CCDev2’s partners continue to meet these objectives. The space agency has worked to provide regular updates about the program’s progress.
“There is a lot happening in NASA’s commercial crew and cargo programs and we want to make sure the public and our stakeholders are informed about the progress industry is making,” said Phil McAlister, NASA’s director of commercial spaceflight development. “It’s exciting to see these spaceflight concepts move forward.”
Reports on the progress of commercial crew are issued on a bi-monthly basis. The reports are directed toward the primary stakeholder of this program, the U.S. taxpayer. NASA has invested both financial and technical assets in an effort to accelerate the development of commercial access to orbit.
This report came out at the same time as Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) CEO, Elon Musk, testified before the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee regarding NASA’s commercial crewed program.
SpaceX itself has been awarded $75 million under the CCDev program to develop a launch abort system, known as “DragonRider” that would enable the company’s Dragon spacecraft to transport astronauts. SpaceX was awarded $1.6 billion under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services or COTS contract with NASA. Under the COTS contract, SpaceX must fly three demonstration flights as well as nine cargo delivery flights to the orbiting outpost. SpaceX is currently working to combine the second and third demonstration flights into one mission, currently scheduled to fly at the end of this year.
During Musk’s comments to the House, he highlighted his company’s efforts to make space travel more accessible.
“America’s endeavors in space are truly inspirational. I deeply believe that human spaceflight is one of the great achievements of humankind. Although NASA only sent a handful of people to the moon, it felt like we all went,” Musk said in a written statement. “We vicariously shared in the adventure and achievement. My goal, and the goal of SpaceX, is to help create the technology so that more can share in that great adventure.”
To date, SpaceX is the only company to have demonstrated the capacity of their launch vehicle as well as a spacecraft. The company launched the first of its Dragon spacecraft atop of its Falcon 9 rocket this past December. The Dragon completed two orbits successfully before splashing down safely off the coast of California.
NASA is relying on companies like SpaceX to develop commercial crew transportation capabilities that could one day send astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). It is hoped that CCDev2 will help reduce U.S. dependence on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft for access to the ISS. Allowing commercial companies to take over the responsibility of sending crews to the ISS might also allow the space agency focus on sending astronauts beyond low-Earth-orbit for the first time in four decades.Got posted too early! Damn you computer!! I wrote so much and you deleted it all!!
As I was getting ready to go to work this morning, I saw the courier van pull up in my driveway. No way. Could it be? YES IT IS! There was my gift from my SS sitting on my front porch!
I rushed it inside and opened it and YAY the gifts were fantastic!
The teas are amazing and I can't wait to get home from work to try them :D The whole living room smells like chocolate peppermint. Yum!!
And the mug! I was going to buy a new mug this month, and you went ahead and got me one. CHOICE!! And yes, I love cats and the fact that this is a Zombie Cat is fantastic! I love it!!
I was worried you'd be stuck not knowing what to get me. You must've been like "Oh dammit. Not a Koreaboo... sigh". I love the fact that this is both from the US and Canada haha.
Thank you for your gift amerebagatelle. I really loved this gift! :D
Update: tea is amazing! Love it!It starts with "morning anorexia," skipping breakfast more days than not and by dinnertime all bets are off. People eat and graze compulsively, from dinner to bedtime, and even wake in the middle of the night to eat more.
Half a century after it was first described, night eating syndrome — a phenomenon where people consume at least one-quarter of their daily calories after the evening meal — is poised to become the newest eating disorder.
Experts are pushing for the condition to be included in psychiatry's official nomenclature as a distinct syndrome that, according to estimates, affects hundreds of thousands of Canadians.
It's more than just snacking. Night eaters often have zero interest in eating until dinnertime, and then, once they start, cannot stop. They feel an intense, excessive drive to eat until they go to sleep. They sneak food from the refrigerator. They wake two or more times a night and feel a compulsive need to eat to get back to sleep — spoonfuls of peanut butter, ice cream, a box of miniature doughnuts, their kids' school snacks or just more of what they were eating earlier. They feel shame and guilt and the more that day progresses into night, the more moody, depressed and anxious they grow.
Unlike SRED, or sleep-related eating disorder, in which people eat while in a sleepwalk state — and not just food but bizarre things such as coffee grounds and pet food — night eaters are completely aware of their behaviour and can recall what they ate the following morning.
While it's not typically as big as a binge, "They just feel like they can't stop eating this way," says Kelly Allison, an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who is researching treatment for night eating syndrome.
"After a while, it becomes habitual," she says. "It's part of what they do."
An estimated 1.5 per cent of the general population is affected, though the incidence is higher in the overweight: six to 16 per cent of people in weight-loss programs, and up to 42 per cent of bariatric, or weight-loss surgery patients report symptoms of night eating.
And while more "traditional" eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia are more common among women, Allison says night eating syndrome affects both sexes nearly equally.
She describes it as a shift in the normal circadian pattern of eating. People feel driven to eat at night, or they eat to get to sleep, or to fall back asleep.
"They use food as a sleep aid, or just to comfort themselves," she says.
Dr. Albert J. Stunkard first described night eating syndrome — or NES — in 1955 as a peculiar pattern of food intake among certain obese patients. But even normal weight people struggle with these jumbled eating behaviours. If anything, they tend to eat an even higher percentage of their total daily calorie intake at night than the overweight or obese, but compensate for their nocturnal feasting by purging, or over exercising or restricting what they eat during the day even more.(Newser) – What with all the breastfeeding, diaper washing, and not smoking while pregnant, mothers have become enslaved to their “tyrant” babies. That’s the opinion of French feminist philosopher Elisabeth Badinter, who sees women giving up their lives in the service of their young ones—and risking women's liberation by becoming oppressed by their own children. “We live 80 or 85 years,” she tells the Times, “and children take up 20 to 25 years of that. Staking your whole life on 20 years is a bad bet.”
The mother of three doesn’t hate kids; they just become too much of a burden if you listen to the advice of breastfeeding advocates and environmentalists: “Between the protection of trees and the liberty of women, my choice is clear.” Did she smoke while pregnant? “Of course,” she says. "You don’t enter a religious order when you have children." Badinter’s conclusion: The French have “always been mediocre mothers.” But “we’ve tended to have happier lives.” So lighten up, break out the formula, hire a nanny, and let the good times roll. (Read more Elisabeth Badinter stories.)Excuse the headline–I don’t want to spoil anyone against their will. I’m sure these guys will end up in the marketing and trailers for the film, but you never know. Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of chatter about the stormtroopers of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The most interesting thing has been about the inclusion of the Shadow Stormtrooper.
Sources say some version of:
The black Stormtroopers with the silver eyepieces are in the movie.
This piece here appears to be an approximation of what people have seen on set:
Shadow Stormtroopers aren’t really anything new. My son has a doll of one he got in a set last year. There was a large SDCC Exclusive based on it and this week we’re seeing them show up in Star Wars: Battlefront. However, they’ve never been featured on screen, but it appears that is about to change.
In other news, it appears that the First Order stormtroopers will be making a return in Episode VIII. Early reports state that the changes are fairly small like “the differences between the stormtroopers from Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi.” In other words, to general audiences, the armor will be pretty much the same but to the hardcore Star Wars fans they will see the subtle differences between The Force Awakens and the Star Wars: Episode VIII gear.What would you say to someone who thinks she’s a critical thinker and claims to follow the evidence wherever it leads… yet so much of what she says makes no sense at all?
When Reid, a “street epistemologist” at Cordial Curiosity, began talking to Agatha, he picked up on that rather quickly. But rather than critique her thinking, his goal was just to get her to reflect on how she comes to her deeply held beliefs. So this wasn’t a debate.
That doesn’t mean your eyes won’t roll as you listen to their exchange.
In the first minutes, Reid poses a hypothetical question: If you thought there was an even number of Tic Tacs in a box, but someone else was absolutely certain there was an odd number, what would you say to him?
The “correct” answer would be to admit one of you has to be wrong, but you could settle the issue by simply counting the Tic Tacs. Somehow, Agatha suggests both people could be right because of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Seriously.
She also talks about “The Secret” — the pseudoscientific belief that if you think happy thoughts, good things will happen because positive energy attracts positive energy.
Anyway, I’m not bringing all this up to make fun of her. It’s to ask some questions: How would you deal with someone like this? What would you say to try and convince her she’s on an irrational path? Would you try to steer her in the correct direction or just avoid her altogether?
I’m sure Reid wanted to push back, but that’s not what street epistemology is all about. It doesn’t mean we can’t talk about what we’d do in the same situation.
(Thanks to Ed for the link)Tesla has begun shipping 7kWh stationary batteries—branded by Tesla as Powerwalls—to be installed on the homes of pilot customers. The 7kWh batteries are designed for daily cycling, so they'll likely be attached to homes with solar panels, allowing owners to power their homes at night with power collected by solar panels during the day.
"Over the next few weeks, we will continue to ramp up volume production,” a Tesla spokesperson explained to Ars via e-mail, adding that 7kWh Powerwalls are initially being delivered to customers in North America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Australia.
Tesla made headlines in April when it announced the stationary battery, mostly due to the battery’s price—at only $3,000, it’s considerably cheaper than other lithium-ion batteries its size. The battery can discharge 5 kilowatts during continuous use, a specification that was improved after the battery’s announcement—originally Tesla said the 7kWh battery would only discharge 2.2 kilowatts, but critics protested that the lower amount wasn’t enough to feed a household off the grid.
Tesla is also releasing a 10kWh battery intended just for backup storage for $3,500. Those batteries, which have a different internal chemistry than the 7kWh daily cycling version, won’t be available until 2016, a Tesla spokesperson told Ars.
When Tesla announced the batteries earlier this year, it noted that it would outsource their installation to third-party vendors like Solar City, which installs solar panels on homes in the US (Tesla owner Elon Musk is also the founder and chairman of Solar City). It’s unclear right now if Tesla is managing the US pilot installations itself or if it has actually begun working with other companies. At least in Australia, energy company SunEdison will be installing Powerwalls starting in November.
Before Tesla announced its battery line, it had been quietly installing and managing business-class storage batteries, which Tesla calls power packs, for companies like Jackson Family Wines since 2013.
Tesla's spokesperson wouldn't say how many household-grade Powerwalls the company intends to ship in 2015, but it cited a comment made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this year in which he said that the company has accepted 100,000 Powerwall reservations.
The company expects to produce many more Powerwalls (as well as batteries for its electric vehicles, of course) after the launch of Tesla's Gigafactory, part of which should come online in 2016. In the past two months, Tesla has signed two agreements with mining companies to develop lithium mines in Mexico and Nevada.Within hours of the letter being made public, the Democratic Party had swung its entire messaging apparatus into attacking Comey.
“It’s pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election,” Clinton said on the trail in Florida on Saturday. “In fact, it’s not just strange; it’s unprecedented and it is deeply troubling.”
Other Democrats were much less measured. In a letter to Comey, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wrote, “I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.” Reid also alleged, without offering any substantiation, that Comey was withholding information about ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government. The Nevadan has a reputation for making outlandish claims with an eye toward forcing others to debunk them.
Meanwhile, liberal writers like Paul Krugman unleashed broadsides, accusing Comey of attempting to aid the Republican Party. Some of the same Clinton allies who spent weeks saying Trump endangered American norms by saying the election was “rigged” were quick to declare corruption when the news cycle turned against their candidate.
As a tutorial in executing a messaging offensive, it was impressive, showing how much more easily Clinton can unite her party and lead a unified front than, say, Trump after the video in which he boasted about sexually assaulting women. But whether it’s the right message remains to be seen. For one, there’s a risk of hypocrisy. While Clinton and her allies were not delighted with the manner in which Comey announced his decision not to recommend charges, calling her “extremely careless” with classified information, many of them were quick to praise Comey’s integrity. Now some of them are even suggesting that Comey is trying to throw the election to Trump. There’s no evidence for that claim, and it’s hard to imagine it being true: As a studiously moderate longtime Washington establishment Republican, Comey doesn’t fit the profile of a Trump fan.
Going to war with the FBI is also a dangerous game. If you work the refs, you might get better calls; or you might just anger them and end up digging a deeper hole. But this is likely a short-term strategy, designed to run out the clock and protect Clinton’s lead ahead of Election Day.
There’s a second, separate type of criticism of Comey, which argues not that his motives are questionable but that his decisionmaking process has been grievously wrong. On Friday afternoon, Benjamin Wittes wrote a much-read piece at Lawfare arguing that Comey was in a bind and had no choice but to inform Congress, even at the risk of thrusting himself into the midst of the presidential race’s final week.
But there’s pushback to that notion, now. Some of it comes from politically interested observers. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, for example, has campaigned for Clinton and made his views on the race clear, but his argument, laid out in a Washington Post column, is procedural rather than political. Several outlets have reported that Comey broke with Department of Justice policies, and that DOJ officials counseled him not to send the letter, but did not attempt to actually stop him. Holder argues that Comey violated protocol. “I fear he has unintentionally and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI,” Holder wrote. “And he has allowed—again without improper motive—misinformation to be spread by partisans with less pure intentions.” Holder and dozens of other former DOJ officials also signed a letter criticizing Comey.You see the stealth is an art, pick your tumblers apart. You know you never can outsmart a Khajiit.
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DVDs and CDs are now available!
Khajiit Like To Sneak
Music and Lyrics by: Gavin Dunne
Performed by: Miracle of Sound
Video Editing: Justin Clouse
Khajiit like to sneakManoeuvres silken and sleekThe darkest corners we seekIn the night
So feline and fair
From the sands of Elsweyr
And through our glistening stare
Perfect sight
Don't leave your treasures ignored
Get bigger bolts on your doors
And tougher locks on your drawers
Watch the street...
You see the stealth is an art
Pick your tumblers apart
You know you never can outsmart
A Khajiit
Be not afraid
Stick to the shade0 Customer says mom abandoned child at liquor store
SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Police say a woman abandoned a child at a south Fulton County liquor store.
One customer says she saw the toddler all the way at the end of a parking lot and a woman walking away from him at the other end of an alley.
That customer, who identified herself as Megan, says she tried to honk the horn to stop the woman but she just kept on going.
She says she couldn't believe it Sunday evening when she saw Iyunna Johnson walk away from a toddler, who couldn't keep up behind a liquor store on Londonderry Way in Union City.
“That’s when I proceeded to follow the lady because I was like ‘What's wrong with this lady? You just left this child,'” Megan said.
Megan says customers saw the child and called police. Employee Brianna Harrison says the boy seemed hungry so she took him inside and fed him until police arrived.
“He ate bananas, French fries, a burger. He was hungry,” Harrison said.
But Megan followed Johnson.
Johnson went to a McDonald’s next door and met with a man named Calvin Simon before leaving alone on foot.
“She walked toward the KFC. That's when I found her in the blue truck with an older gentleman,” Megan said.
Megan gave police the tag number for the truck and police took Johnson, and later Simon, into custody. According to the police report, Johnson told officers Simon was her boyfriend and the child was his little brother.
Both told police they were babysitting him when they had a fight and each thought the other had the child. Megan says the story doesn't add up.
“I think this child's life was in danger and they should have been way more responsible than that,” Megan said.
People who found the child say they're glad they were there to keep anything from happening to him. Police charged the couple with reckless conduct.
They said the child wasn't hurt and they returned him to the custody of his legal guardian.After nearly a week of voting and calls for even more games to be added for consideration, we’re ready to reveal your community choice award from gamescom 2012!
And the winner is...
Final Fantasy XIV has a long and difficult history, to put it mildly. Released in September 2010 to universal criticism, Square Enix’s troubled MMORPG underwent numerous updates and even the waiving of subscription fees, to little success. But on October 14th 2011, Square Enix announced that they would be relaunching the game as Final Fantasy XIV 2.0 (later renamed Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn). At gamescom, we’ve seen the considerable changes made to the engine, HUD, and combat system, transforming it into a far cry from the game that disappointed so many.
As reported by Eurogamer, producer Naoki Yoshida spoke candidly of the game’s previous failures last week, noting that it would take a long time to rebuild fans’ trust in the Final Fantasy brand. Despite this, you voted for the game in droves, with the game receiving over three times as many votes as the runner-up, The Last of Us. Time will tell if the new and improved iteration of the game will deliver on its promises, but in the meantime it certainly seems as though Square Enix has your support.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is headed to PC and PS3 later in the year, with a beta scheduled for the winter.
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Alguém já disse que a verdade é algo tão precioso que às vezes precisa ser protegida por uma escolta de mentiras. Ao discursar no megacomício que Lula realizou na cidade de Monteiro, no Cariri da Paraíba, o anfitrião Ricardo Coutinho (PSB), governador paraibano, disse o seguinte:
"Aqui, no território livre da Paraíba, o povo sabe o que é verdade, o povo tem a coragem de ir às ruas. […] Eu agradeço aos meus companheiros, prefeitos aqui da região. Botaram a mão na massa. Fizeram, efetivamente, de burro, de carroça, de carro, de ônibus, de qualquer jeito criaram as condições para que muita gente estivesse aqui. Não foi gasto um centavo de dinheiro público, não foi gasto nada, a não ser o sentimento de gratidão que o nosso povo tem."
Coutinho revelou-se um grato cego. Não viu a superestrutura ao redor. Entre outros itens, o aparato montado para Lula reinaugurar o pedaço da obra da transposição do Rio São Francisco que Michel Temer já havia inaugurado há nove dias incluiu: o palanque, as tendas, o equipamento de som, as grades de proteção, o jatinho para o candidato e uma frota de ônibus para levar aclamação até os ouvidos de Lula. Essas coisas não costumam ser custeadas pelo "sentimento de gratidão". Mesmo no "território livre da Paraíba", os fornecedores só quitam as faturas mediante pagamento em dinheiro.
As imagens veiculadas abaixo indicam que o evento custou caro. Como Coutinho assegurou que não há verba pública no lance, ficou boiando sobre as águas transpostas do São Francisco uma interrogação: quem pagou as despesas relacionadas ao megacomício de Lula?
De duas, uma: Ou o morubixaba do PT dispõe de meia dúzia de mecenas dispostos a financiar no caixa dois sua campanha fora de época ou o governador da Paraíba cometeu algum engano. Esse é o tipo de engano que costuma virar matéria-prima para ações judiciais. Em tempos de Lava Jato, o brasileiro já não se importa com enganos. Ele apenas não suporta ser enganado.Storytelling, our oldest art form and a fundamental way of communicating, is finding new life through our newest technologies, such as smartphones and tablets. More than 70m people have downloaded Serial, the 12-part podcast that analysed the murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee. For months after Serial was released last year, it was difficult to avoid overhearing discussions of whether Adnan Syed really did strangle his ex-girlfriend and bury her body in a local park. It was the first podcast to achieve 5m downloads, turning a spotlight on this unassuming medium with a slightly nerdy reputation. The media heralded a “podcast renaissance”.
Serial’s unquestionably addictive content and clever format was not particularly new — good news for people looking for other compelling real-life narratives to fill a void until the next season is broadcast in the autumn. But it satisfied an ancient, instinctive appetite for suspense-filled storytelling and mixed it with a distinctive and innovative audio aesthetic, a winning combination that has been honed over many years by a number of US public broadcasters.
Serial is the offspring of This American Life, a 20-year-old weekly Chicago radio show that has been available as a popular podcast since 2006. In hour-long episodes, one narrator, usually Ira Glass, guides listeners through a variety of true stories based around a theme — anything from amusement parks, to strange coincidences, to psychopaths. It applies tools of journalism and the structure of a play (a prologue, several acts) to true stories taken from the everyday, splicing studio narration with field recordings and music. Though it sounds simple, this is a formula that has proved to be one of the most successful within the podcast genre, evident in the popularity of its spin-offs and imitators, as well as its own continuing ability to hit 1m downloads a week.
The fact that people have flexibility in how and when they choose to listen to a podcast gives a programme creative freedom. Sound can be used more experimentally and subjects made more challenging. Similar to This American Life, Radiolab interweaves anecdotes and factual information but to explore a larger scientific or philosophical problem. Ever been curious about whether colour is created entirely in our minds? Isaac Newton stuck a knife into his eye to try and find out. Saving us the trouble, Radiolab considers the question by adding that story to some about the superior rainbow of colours that certain animals can see; and then to the strange fact that Homer’s odd descriptions of colour in the Iliad (“violet hair”, “wine-dark sea”) suggest that he didn’t seem to recognise blue. Its idiosyncratic, musical soundscape — full of slurps, stutters, awkward pauses, moments of confusion — uses audio to its full advantage to complement the content.
This kind of crafted informality, one that belies careful planning and intricate editing, is found across the medium. In Serial, the presenter, Sarah Koenig, and listener the unfurl the plot together; the authenticity of the story is emphasised, patronisation studiously avoided.
WNYC’s latest hit, Death, Sex & Money, probes the eponymous subjects in a similar way. Empathetic host Anna Sale gently coaxes stories from guests, often by talking about her own life (such as how an octogenarian senator counselled her into staying with her boyfriend), while also drawing on testimonies and voicemails left for her by the show’s listeners. “It really came down to having a show that goes right at the things that shape our lives and that we have the most difficulty navigating — that I was having the most difficulty navigating,” she has said. “It was just sort of a hunch that I would want to listen to a show like this.”
Podcast Behind the podcast renaissance Podcasts have existed for more than 10 years but have recently seen a surge of interest, spurred by the success of the true crime drama Serial, which has been downloaded more than 70m times. What is driving the so-called “podcast renaissance”? How are they different from radio shows? And do they pose a threat to traditional broadcasting?
Confessions revealed live on stage are well-suited to the medium. The popularity of events such as The Moth, where true stories are told without notes to a crowd, are proving that storytelling can make powerful listening even in its rawest form. Begun as an attempt by the novelist George Dawes Green to recreate the idle evenings he spent exchanging stories on porches in Georgia, it is now hosted in venues across the world. Whether told by brave members of the audience, or professionals such as Adam Gopnik |
lethal if absorbed by marine animals at sufficiently high levels
What problems can PCBs cause animals to suffer?
PCBs can be lethal to animals (including humans) at higher concentrations, and can cause non-lethal, yet still dangerous, effects at lower concentrations. Because of these effects, a maximum legal limit in the USA for PCBs in cow’s milk and dairy products fit for human consumption has been set at 1.5 mg per kg.
Non-lethal effects of PCBs include the disruption of reproductive and immune systems. Studies of some people exposed to PCBs have associated PCB exposure with miscarriages, low fertility and various childhood problems.
Some of the non-lethal effects of PCB exposure are caused by the disruption of hormones (natural signalling molecules that the bodies of animals use to control various important biological processes). In studies of animals, hormone disruption has been found to have many bad effects, including:
· Decreased fertility in birds, fish, shellfish and mammals
· Decreased hatching success in birds, fish and turtles
· Deformities in birds, fish and turtles
· Abnormal behaviour in birds
· Feminisation of male fish, birds and mammals (and the reverse in female birds and fish)
· Weakened immune systems in birds and mammals
Why do PCBs pose a particular threat to whales, dolphins and porpoises?
There is a lot of scientific evidence for the damaging effects of PCB exposure on a wide range of marine animals. Whales, dolphins and porpoises, however, are especially hard to study in their natural habitats.
Nevertheless, many scientists are particularly worried about the effects that PCBs may be having on the wellbeing and survival of whales, dolphins and porpoises, over and above the threats posed to other animals in the seas and oceans, for the following reasons.
Most whales, dolphins and porpoises are at the top of natural food chains, and so they are a final destination for PCBs found throughout the marine environment
Many species of whales, dolphins and porpoises are high up the natural ‘food chain’ – this means that they survive by feeding on thousands of large fish and squid over their lifetime. These large fish and squid in turn survive by eating hundreds of small fish, which in turn survive by eating tiny sea creatures known collectively as plankton. The problem is that the plankton absorb PCBs from their environment and pass these onto the small fish and squid, which in turn pass on the PCBs in their body tissues to the large fish and squid that eat them. Finally, the PCBs from all the large fish (and the small fish and the plankton) are absorbed by the whales, dolphins and porpoises that eat them. The end result of this food chain is that whales, dolphins and porpoises accumulate large amounts of PCBs from their food. In fact, the levels of PCBs that accumulate in the bodies of some whales, dolphins and porpoises are so high that under US law, they could meet the criteria for being defined as toxic waste.
Whales, dolphins and porpoises store much of the PCBs from their food in their blubber, and therefore release high levels of PCBs into the body when blubber is broken down in times of stress
The PCBs that whales, dolphins and porpoises absorb from their food often end up being stored mainly in their fatty tissue (also known as blubber). The levels of PCBs in an animal’s blubber will build up over time as it consumes more and more contaminated fish. In times of stress, when for example food is scarce, whales, dolphins and porpoises tend to break down their stores of blubber to provide them with an energy supply. Breaking down blubber in this way releases a flood of toxic PCBs into an animal’s body, adding to the stress they are already experiencing.
Whales, dolphins and porpoises are particularly ill equipped to deal with pollutants like PCBs
Scientific studies suggest that the metabolisms of whales, dolphins and porpoises are particularly ill equipped to deal with the large amounts of PCBs that often contaminate their food. Scientists have found compelling evidence that whales, dolphins and porpoises make few of the enzymes that many other species of animals use to break down dangerous chemicals such as PCBs. (Enzymes are molecules that animals’ bodies use to bring about the chemical reactions they need to stay alive).
Female whales, dolphins and porpoises sometimes pass on a large and potentially fatal proportion of their PCB burden to their first-born calves, both via the womb and through their milk
Scientists have found that the PCB burden carried by male and female whales, dolphins and porpoises tends to increase with time until they reach the age of sexual maturity. After that point, the burden in males continues to grow, as they continue to absorb PCBs from their food. However, scientists have found that the PCB burden carried by female whales, dolphins and porpoises drops off after they have their first calf. The sad fact is that it appears that female whales, dolphins and porpoises pass on most of their PCB burden to their first-born calves, while the calf is in the womb and afterwards, when the calf is suckling. It appears likely that the large amount of PCBs transferred to calves in these ways, as well as the fast rate of transfer, can sometimes prove fatal.
Specific effects of PCBs on whales, dolphins and porpoises
Beleaguered belugas
A population of about 500 beluga whales lives in the highly polluted Gulf and estuary of St Lawrence off the eastern coast of Canada. The size of this population has decreased dramatically over the last century.
Scientists have found PCBs (as well as other similar chemicals, known collectively as organochlorines) at much higher concentrations in this population of beluga whales, compared with in beluga whales that live in the less contaminated waters of the Arctic.
In a study of the Gulf of St Lawrence belugas started in 1982, scientists found that only about one in five female whales were either pregnant or had recently calved, compared with about two-thirds of female belugas that lived in the Arctic.
Moreover, about a third of female Gulf of St Lawrence belugas were found to have damage to their mammary glands that would have compromised their ability to successfully feed any calves they were able to give birth to.
In addition, scientists examined the bodies of 45 beluga whales from this population and found that 18 contained at least one cancerous tumour. Finding tumours in whales is very rare – the tumours found in these beluga whales account for more than half of all tumours ever found by scientists examining whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Mass ‘die-offs’ of dolphins
Mass ‘die-offs’ among marine mammals are said to have occurred when an unexpectedly large proportion of a marine mammal population dies during a short period of time.
Mass die-offs among marine mammals have been occurring more often, and have become more severe, since the middle of the 20th century.
Two examples of mass die-offs of dolphin populations include:
· The death of at least 2,500 bottlenose dolphins in 1987-1988 along the eastern coast of the USA
· The death of up to 10,000 striped dolphins in 1990 in the Mediterranean
Many scientists believe that while these mass die-offs may be caused in the first instance by viral infections, this is not the whole story. Rather, it seems likely that the weakening of the dolphins’ immune systems due to a heavy burden of dangerous chemicals such as PCBs enables viral infections to be passed on from animal to animal, to take hold within the bodies of individual animals, and to ultimately prove fatal for so many animals.
Pesticides
Many chemical compounds have similar properties and effects to the PCBs and these include a number of pesticides such as DDT - and essentially the problems that they create are very similar to those presented by the PCBs. We have focused on the PCBs here are they seem to be a particular problem for cetaceans but other chemicals introduced to the marine environment are likely to be creating problems too and there is a new for vigilance as new industrial and agricultural compounds also escape into the seas.
The decline in bottlenose dolphin numbers in UK waters since the 1960s
The decrease in sightings and strandings of bottlenose dolphins in the waters around the UK and on the coastline of the UK since the 1960s suggests that their numbers in these waters have declined significantly since that time.
While there are many possible reasons for this apparent decline, one of the major explanations could be the ill effects of high levels of PCBs and other organochlorines, which are absorbed by bottlenose dolphins from contaminated food.
Very high levels of PCBs have been found in the bodies of bottlenose dolphins in UK waters, levels high enough that we would expect them to badly affect the animals’ reproductive and immune systems.
Also, the contamination of the seas with PCBs from industrial processes peaked in the 1960s, at the same time as the number of bottlenose dolphins in UK waters probably began to significantly decline.
Scientists who have studied PCB levels in marine wildlife believe that these PCB levels are likely to have only just begun to decline significantly from their peak, even though the production of PCBs was effectively banned in the 1970s. Indeed, PCB levels in marine wildlife may not start to decline for decades to come.
What can be done to stop whales, dolphins and porpoises from being exposed to dangerous levels of PCBs and similar compounds?
Because of the persistence, widespread distribution and large quantities of PCBs already in the environment, they are clearly going to present toxic problems for wildlife for many years.
The manufacture of products containing PCBs has now thankfully been banned in many countries. Yet, it is still crucially important that the 2 million tonnes of PCBs that existing products in industrialised countries are estimated to contain should be disposed of safely once these products reach the end of their useful life, if the amount of PCBs leaking into the seas and oceans each year is to be reduced.
If care is not taken in their disposal, products containing PCBs may prove to be a ticking chemical ‘time-bomb’ that presents a worldwide threat to vulnerable animal species, not least to whales, dolphins and porpoises.Up until recently, the top two floors of the Vancouver Public Library’s (VPL) Central Library branch at Library Square were used as offices for the provincial government, but that is about to change.
Next week, construction will commence to convert the now-vacated office spaces into 40,000 square feet of additional publicly accessible library and community spaces, including a public rooftop garden.
There will be two large outdoor terraces on the north and south sides where people can eat their lunch. Some food vending services will also be available, but it will be short of becoming a complete cafe service.
An 8,000-square-foot public garden on the rooftop will become a place where people can read a book, do work, or find a quiet retreat from the busy city below. Programmed events on the rooftop, such as lectures, workshops, learning events, and community meetings, are also planned.
Additionally, a large quiet reading room, art and cultural exhibition spaces, and an 80-seat fixed-seat auditorium will be incorporated into the eighth floor’s new usage.
Sandra Singh, the Chief Librarian of VPL, told Daily Hive the auditorium fills a certain gap in the type of meeting space the community is in need of.
“If you’re a writer or an artist or a filmmaker who has created something amazing and wants to show to the community, and you want to launch it in a space that is beautiful and inspiring and worthy of all your work and talents and efforts, there really aren’t spaces of modest size that are affordable or even in some cases free to use for the community,” she said.
Altogether, these plans complete the original vision of Library Square when it was designed and built over 20 years ago. World-renowned Safdie Architects, the building’s original designers, returned to the project to design the new spaces, and for the rooftop garden’s landscaping the library has contracted landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander, the original designer of the building’s green roof.
“People are very excited about the garden,” continued Singh. “We knew that would be the case just because over the last 20 years we’ve been dealing with requests for access to the green space on the top floor. There’s also a lot of enthusiasm about the various community meeting rooms, so people are just really excited to see the expansion of the library.”
The retrofits to the top two floors will cost $15.5 million, funded by a $9-million contribution from the City of Vancouver and the remainder from the Vancouver Public Library Foundation.
Construction is scheduled for a March 2018 completion for a mid-spring opening next year.
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Kenneth Chan National Features Editor at Daily Hive, the evolution of Vancity Buzz. He covers local architecture, urban issues, politics, business, retail, economic development, transportation and infrastructure, and the travel industry. Kenneth is also a Co-Founder of New Year's Eve Vancouver. Connect with him at kenneth[at]dailyhive.com @iamkennethchan National Features Editor at Daily Hive, the evolution of Vancity Buzz. He covers local architecture, urban issues, politics, business, retail, economic development, transportation and infrastructure, and the travel industry. Kenneth is also a Co-Founder of New Year's Eve Vancouver. Connect with him at kenneth[at]dailyhive.com
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Angels FYI Josh Hamilton, who makes lots of dough, gives up bread
Hamilton, who signed with Angels for $125 million, reports to camp 20-30 pounds lighter than usual. His secret: Gluten-free diet, no grains or processed foods.
Hamilton typically entered camp weighing between 245 and 255 pounds, but after playing summers in the stifling heat and humidity of Texas, he'd weigh about 225 by season's end. A more moderate climate in Anaheim should allow Hamilton to maintain a consistent weight.
"My body feels better," said Hamilton, a five-time All-Star who signed a five-year, $125-million deal in December. "My energy level is up."
Hamilton, 31, also cut out bread and processed foods and is eating gluten-free, a diet that helped the team's new right fielder reduce his weight to 225 pounds, some 20-30 pounds lighter than his usual reporting weight with the Texas Rangers.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Josh Hamilton said after his first spring-training workout with the Angels on Tuesday that he's been juicing — fruits and vegetables, that is.
"I figured I could come into camp at a weight I feel good at and maintain that all year," Hamilton said. "In past years, you'd lose all that weight and get tired. Hopefully, I won't have to battle it all year like I did in Texas."
The first full-squad workout is Friday, but Hamilton arrived early and took batting practice Tuesday with Albert Pujols, who is recovering from minor knee surgery.
"You don't want to come out here in stress mode, so I like to get out three or four days before it starts and get a feel for things," Hamilton said. "It wasn't weird putting on a new uniform; it was just weird being in a new place with new people."
Rehab report
Reliever Ryan Madson, shut down for 12 days because of soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow, underwent an MRI test, the results of which should be available Wednesday.
"At this point, it's standard medical protocol with a player in the midst of rehabilitation," General Manager Jerry Dipoto said. "We need to be certain of his present status before clearing him to resume throwing."
Short hops
Though the Angels open exhibition play Feb. 23, a week earlier than normal because of the World Baseball Classic, Manager Mike Scioscia said most regulars won't play in games until March 1.... Hamilton, Pujols and Mike Trout will hold a news conference Thursday that will be carried live by Fox Sports West and MLB Network at noon PST.
mike.digiovanna@latimes.comharleyhendrix:
lexluna24:
rolandchangsuperpositiveasian: lexluna24: highaboveignorance: yokhakidfiasco: jmixiessetthestanderdmark2: madeupmonkeyshit: diva-gabrielle: I HATE when guys do this it’s seriously disgusting and annoying, get the fuck away Then take ya ass home instead of poppin ya pussy in the middle of the dance floor and hate it when guys tryna dance witchu
You taking up space It’s like saying you hate shark infested waters but proceed to jump in anyway I feel both sides of the argument Nope! She went to dance not to dance for the guy. It’s literally that simple. Yes she is taking up space, enjoying her time at the club. She owes that guy nothing. ^^^ Correct. If I don’t want to dance with you I don’t have to. I didn’t come to dance on you, my musty nigga… I just came to dance. Everybody and they momma, including the pastor and the pastors mama know what goes on at the club, what do you expect to happen? If you EVER thought a stranger puttin they CRUSTY ASS dick on the crack of my ass while I’m trying to have a good time and dance with my girls is what I go to the club for, you are mistaken. Eat a dick if that’s what you think is supposed to happen.
The absolute last thing I want when I decide to turn the fuck up is some stranger rubbin his unsolicited penis on me nigga no bye I show up and show the fuck out for myself and my friends I dont drink a lil bit and twerk a lot for your ass I wouldnt have known you even existed prior to you placing your genitals on me this aint for you please take your wayward dick elsewhereCelebrity is the fame and public attention accorded by the mass media to individuals or groups or, occasionally, animals, but is usually applied to the persons or groups of people (celebrity couples, families, etc.) themselves who receive such a status of fame and attention. Celebrity status is often associated with wealth (commonly referred to as fame and fortune), while fame often provides opportunities to earn revenue.
Successful careers in sports and entertainment are commonly associated with celebrity status,[1][2] while political leaders often become celebrities. People may also become celebrities due to media attention on their lifestyle, wealth, or controversial actions, or for their connection to a famous person.
History [ edit ]
Athletes in Ancient Greece were welcomed home as heroes, had songs and poems written in their honor, and received free food and gifts from those seeking celebrity endorsement.[3] Ancient Rome similarly lauded actors and notorious gladiators, and Julius Caesar appeared on a coin in his own lifetime (a departure from the usual depiction of battles and divine lineage).[4]
In the early 12th century, Thomas Becket became famous following his murder. He was promoted by the Christian Church as a martyr and images of him and scenes from his life became widespread in just a few years. In a pattern often repeated, what started out as an explosion of popularity (often referred to with the suffix'mania') turned into long-lasting fame: pilgrimages to Canterbury Cathedral where he was killed became instantly fashionable and the fascination with his life and death have inspired plays and films.
The cult of personality (particularly in the west) can be traced back to the Romantics in the 18th century,[5] whose livelihood as artists and poets depended on the currency of their reputation. The establishment of cultural hot-spots became an important factor in the process of generating fame: for example, London and Paris in the 18th and 19th centuries. Newspapers started including gossip columns [6] and certain clubs and events became places to be seen in order to receive publicity.
The movie industry spread around the globe in the first half of the 20th century and with it the now familiar concept of the instantly recognizable faces of its superstars. Yet, celebrity was not always tied to actors in films, especially when cinema was starting out as a medium. As Paul McDonald states in The Star System: Hollywood's Production of Popular Identities, "in the first decade of the twentieth century, American film production companies withheld the names of film performers, despite requests from audiences, fearing that public recognition would drive performers to demand higher salaries."[7] Public fascination went well beyond the on-screen exploits of movie stars and their private lives became headline news: for example, in Hollywood the marriages of Elizabeth Taylor and in Bollywood the affairs of Raj Kapoor in the 1950s.
The second half of the century saw television and popular music bring new forms of celebrity, such as the rock star and the pop group, epitomised by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, respectively. John Lennon's highly controversial 1966 quote: "We're more popular than Jesus now,"[8] which he later insisted was not a boast, and that he was not in any way comparing himself with Christ, gives an insight into both the adulation and notoriety that fame can bring. Unlike movies, television created celebrities who were not primarily actors; for example, presenters, talk show hosts, and news readers. However, most of these are only famous within the regions reached by their particular broadcaster, and only a few such as Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer, or David Frost could be said to have broken through into wider stardom.
In the '60s and early '70s, the book publishing industry began to persuade major celebrities to put their names on autobiographies and other titles in a genre called celebrity publishing. In most cases, the book was not written by the celebrity but by a ghost-writer, but the celebrity would then be available for a book tour and appearances on talk shows.[10]
Regional and cultural implications [ edit ]
Cultures and regions with a significant population may have their own independent celebrity systems, with distinct hierarchies. For example, the Canadian province of Quebec, which is French-speaking, has its own system of French-speaking television, movie and music celebrities. A person who garners a degree of fame in one culture may be considered less famous or obscure in another. Some nationwide celebrities might command some attention outside their own nation; for example, the singer Lara Fabian is widely known in the French-speaking world, but only had a couple of Billboard hits in the U.S., whereas the francophone Canadian singer Celine Dion is well known in both the French-speaking world and in the United States.
Regions within a country, or cultural communities (linguistic, ethnic, or religious) can also have their own celebrity systems, especially in linguistically or culturally distinct regions such as Quebec or Wales. Regional radio personalities, newscasters, politicians or community leaders may be local or regional celebrities.
In politics, certain politicians are recognizable to many people, usually the head of state and the Prime Minister. Yet only heads of state who play a major role in international politics have a good chance of becoming famous outside their country's borders, since they are constantly featured in mass media. The President of the United States, for instance, is famous by name and face to millions of people around the world. Since World War II the U.S. Presidential elections are followed closely all across the globe, making the elected candidate instantly world-famous as a result. In contrast, both the Pope and The Dalai Lama are far more famous under their official title than under their actual names. Usually when politicians leave active politics their recognizability tends to diminish among general audiences, as other politicians replace them in their official political functions. Certain politicians, however, are still famous today, even decades or centuries after they were in power. They owe their fame to historical deeds which are kept in memory in history classes, for instance people like Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln and Mao Zedong. Scandal can also unwillingly make certain politicians famous, even among those who are not particularly interested in politics.
English-speaking media commentators and journalists will sometimes refer to celebrities as belonging to the A-List or state that a certain actor belongs to the B-List, the latter being a disparaging context. These informal rankings indicate a placing within a hierarchy. However, due to differing levels of celebrity in different regions, it is difficult to place people within one bracket. A Brazilian actor might be a B-list action film actor in the U.S., but an A-list star in Portugal.
Some elements are associated with fame, such as appearing on the cover of Time, being spoofed in Mad, having a wax statue in Madame Tussauds, or receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Certain people are known even to people unfamiliar with the area in which they excelled. If one has to name a famous boxer, they are more likely to name Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson, since their fame expanded beyond the sport itself. Pablo Picasso's style and name are known even to people who are not interested in art; likewise many know that Harry Houdini was an illusionist, Tiger Woods a golfer, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump are entrepreneurs, Albert Einstein a scientist; Mozart and Beethoven classical composers; Luciano Pavarotti an opera singer, Bruce Lee a martial artist, William Shakespeare a playwright, Walt Disney an animator and Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong astronauts.
Criminals can also become world-famous if the media cover their crimes, arrest, trial and possible punishment extensively and/or if the crime itself is sensational enough. Assassins of high-profile celebrities can become famous, like Brutus who is remembered for murdering Julius Caesar. People who commit extremely gruesome crimes can also achieve infamy, such as Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. Certain criminals have achieved lasting fame thanks to romanticization in popular culture, such as Guy Fawkes, Blackbeard, Billy the Kid and Bonnie & Clyde. Others owe their fame to never being identified or caught, like Jack the Ripper, or by regularly being interviewed in jail, like Charles Manson. However, certain criminals are covered far less extensively in media and, as such, do not become very famous at all. In other cases the huge media coverage disappears after the conclusion of their trial, causing them to fade in obscurity again. This has even happened to people who commit high-profile crimes, like François Ravaillac whose murder of Henry IV of France in 1610 is nowadays only remembered by people with historic knowledge. In some cases people who've been acquitted of certain crimes are still remembered as being guilty today, like Lizzie Borden, showing that the sensation occasionally overshadows the actual facts.
Fictional implications [ edit ]
The same phenomenon is true for fictional characters. Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and James Bond continue to be portrayed in film, television and literature decades after the original stories were published. Superman, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, and Batman represent super heroes to a far wider audience than that of the comics and graphic novels in which they appear. The same can be said about other comics characters which enjoy international distribution and syndication such as Popeye, Tintin, Snoopy, Astérix, Garfield and Astro Boy. Disney have theme parks around the world which rely on the fame of its creations headed by Mickey Mouse. Thanks to the global reach of film and television characters like King Kong, Godzilla, The Flintstones, The Muppets and The Simpsons are instantly recognizable to millions. Certain fictional characters known from TV series have become so famous that their names are more well known than those of the actors who perform them. A good example is Larry Hagman who played J.R. Ewing on the TV series Dallas. When his character was shot during a cliffhanger episode without the viewers knowing who was the killer, it caused a media hype around the question: Who Shot J.R.?. By the time the answer was given in the first episode of the next season millions of people instantly recognized Hagman's face as J.R. rather than that of himself. Some characters from video and computer games have developed a celebrity life beyond these media, such as Mario, Lara Croft and Pikachu. Certain advertising characters have also become iconic thanks to decades of constant merchandising, such as Ronald McDonald, Bibendum and Hello Kitty.
Becoming a celebrity [ edit ]
People may become celebrities in a wide range of ways; from their professions, following appearances in the media, or by complete accident. The term "instant celebrity" describes someone who becomes a celebrity in a very short period of time. Someone who achieves a small amount of transient fame (through, say, hype or mass media) may become labeled a "B-grade celebrity". Often, the generalization extends to someone who falls short of mainstream or persistent fame but who seeks to extend or exploit it.
Success [ edit ]
There are, of course, no guarantees of success for an individual to become a celebrity. Though celebrities come from many different working fields, most celebrities are typically associated with the fields of sports and entertainment, or a person may be a public figure who is commonly recognizable in mass media with commercial and critical acclaim.
Though glamour and wealth may certainly play a role for only famous celebrities, most people in the sports and entertainments spheres, be it music, film, television, radio, modelling, comedy, literature etc. live in obscurity and only a small percentage achieve fame and fortune.[11][12][13][14]
Outside of the sports and entertainment sphere, the top inventors, professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and scientists, etc. are unlikely to become celebrities even if they are enormously successful in their field due to society's disinterest in science, invention, medicine, and courtroom law which is not fictional. American microbiologist Maurice Hilleman is credited with saving more lives than any other medical scientist of the 20th century.[15] After Hilleman's death Ralph Nader wrote, "Yet almost no one knew about him, saw him on television, or read about him in newspapers or magazines. His anonymity, in comparison with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jose Canseco, or an assortment of grade B actors, tells something about our society's and media's concepts of celebrity; much less of the heroic."[16]
Difficulty [ edit ]
A number of athletes who are unable to turn professional take a second job or even sometimes abandon their athletic aspirations in order to make ends meet. A small percentage of entertainers and athletes are able to make a decent living but a vast majority will spend their careers toiling from hard work, determination, rejection, and frequent unemployment. For minor league to amateur athletes, earnings are usually on the lower end of the pay-scale. Many of them take second jobs on the side or even venture into other occupations within the field of sports such as coaching, general management, refereeing, or recruiting and scouting up-and-coming athletes.[17]
Becoming a celebrity in the U.S. [ edit ]
The Screen Actors Guild, a union representing actors and actresses throughout Hollywood reports that the average television and film actor earns less than US$50,000 annually; the median hourly wage for actors was $18.80 in May 2015.[18][19][20] Actors sometimes alternate between theater, television, and film or even branch into other occupations within the entertainment industry such as becoming a singer, comedian, producer, or a television host in order to be monetarily diversified, as doing one gig pays comparatively very little. For instance, David Letterman is well known for branching into late night television as a talk show host while honing his skills as a stand-up comedian, Barbra Streisand ventured into acting while operating as a singer, or Clint Eastwood, who achieved even greater fame in Hollywood for being a film director and a producer than for his acting credentials.
According to American entertainment magnate Master P, entertainers and professional athletes make up less than 1% of all millionaires in the entire world.[21] Less than 1% of all runway models are known to make more than US$1000 for every fashion showcase. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for commercial and print models was only $11.22 per hour in 2006 and was also listed one of the top ten worst jobs in the United States.[22]
Wealth [ edit ]
Forbes Celebrity 100 [ edit ]
[2]
Forbes Magazine releases an annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the highest paid celebrities in the world. The total earnings for all top celebrity 100 earners totaled $4.5 billion over the course of 2010 alone.
For instance, Forbes ranked media mogul and talk show host, Oprah Winfrey as the top earner "Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the most powerful celebrities", with earnings of $290 million in the past year. Forbes cites that Lady Gaga reportedly earned over $90 million in 2010.[23] In 2010, golfer Tiger Woods was one of highest-earning celebrity athletes, with an income of $75 million and is consistently ranked one of the highest paid athletes in the world.[23] In 2013, Madonna was ranked as the fifth most powerful and the highest earning celebrity of the year with earnings of $125 million. She has consistently been among the most powerful and highest earning celebrities in the world, occupying the third place in Forbes Celebrity 100 2009 with $110 million of earnings, and getting the tenth place in the 2010 edition of the list with annual earnings equal to $58 million.[24]
Entrepreneurship and endorsements [ edit ]
Celebrity endorsements have proven very successful around the world where, due to increasing consumerism, an individual is considered to own a status symbol when they purchase a celebrity-endorsed product[citation needed]. Although it has become commonplace for celebrities to place their name with endorsements onto products just for quick money, some celebrities have gone beyond merely using their names and have put their entrepreneurial spirit to work by becoming entrepreneurs by attaching themselves in the business aspects of entertainment and building their own business brand beyond their traditional salaried activities. Along with investing their salaried wages into growing business endeavors, a number of celebrities have become innovative business leaders in their respective industries, gaining the admiration of their peers and contributing to the country's economy.
Numerous celebrities have ventured into becoming business moguls and established themselves as entrepreneurs, idolizing many well known American business leaders such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. For instance, basketball legend Michael Jordan became an active entrepreneur involved with many sports related ventures including investing a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats, Paul Newman started his own salad dressing business after leaving behind a distinguished acting career, and rap musician Birdman started his own record label, clothing line, and an oil business while maintaining a career as a rap artist. Brazilian football legend and World Cup winner Ronaldo became the majority owner of La Liga club Real Valladolid in 2018.[27] Other celebrities such as Tyler Perry, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg have become successful entrepreneurs through starting their own film production companies and running their own movie studios beyond their traditional activities of screenwriting, directing, animating, producing, and acting.[28]
Various examples of celebrity turned entrepreneurs included in the table below are:
Tabloid magazines and talk TV shows bestow a great deal of attention on celebrities. To stay in the public eye and build wealth in addition to their salaried labor, numerous celebrities have participating and branching into various business ventures and endorsements. Many celebrities have participated in many different endorsement opportunities that include: animation, publishing, fashion designing, cosmetics, consumer electronics, household items and appliances, cigarettes, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, hair care, hairdressing, jewelry design, fast food, credit cards, video games, writing, and toys.[53]
In addition to various endorsements, a number of celebrities have been involved with some business and investment related ventures also include: and toddler related items, sports team ownership, fashion retailing, establishments such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, and casinos, movie theaters, advertising and event planning, management related ventures such as sports management, financial services, model management, and talent management, record labels, film production, television production, publishing such as book and music publishing, massage therapy, salons, health and fitness, and real estate.[53]
Although some celebrities have achieved additional financial success from various business ventures, the vast majority of celebrities are not successful businesspeople and still rely on salaried labored wages in order to earn a living. Most businesses and investments are well known to have a 90 to 95 percent failure rate within the first five years of operation. Not all celebrities eventually succeed with their own businesses and other related side ventures. Some celebrities either went broke or filed for bankruptcy as result of dabbling with such side businesses or endorsements. Though some might question such a validity since celebrities themselves are already well known, have mass appeal, and are well exposed to the general public. The average entrepreneur who is not well known and reputable to general public does not the same marketing flexibility and status-quo as most celebrities allow and have. Therefore, compared to the average person who starts a business, celebrities already have all the cards and odds stacked in their favor. This means they can have an unfair advantage to expose their business ventures and endorsements and can easily capture a more significant amount of market share than the average entrepreneur.[54]
As a mass media phenomenon [ edit ]
Celebrities often have fame comparable to royalty. As a result, there is a strong public curiosity about their private affairs. The release of Kim Kardashian's sex tape with rapper Ray J in 2003 brought her to a new level of fame, leading to magazine covers, book deals, and reality TV series.[55][56]
Celebrities may be resented for their accolades, and the public may have a love/hate relationship with celebrities. Due to the high visibility of celebrities' private lives, their successes and shortcomings are often made very public. Celebrities are alternately portrayed as glowing examples of perfection, when they garner awards, or as decadent or immoral if they become associated with a scandal. When seen in a positive light, celebrities are frequently portrayed as possessing skills and abilities beyond average people; for example, celebrity actors are routinely celebrated for acquiring new skills necessary for filming a role within a very brief time, and to a level that amazes the professionals who train them. Similarly, some celebrities with very little formal education can sometimes be portrayed as experts on complicated issues. Some celebrities have been very vocal with their political views. For example, Matt Damon expressed his displeasure with 2008 US vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, as well as with the 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis.[57][58]
Famous for being famous [ edit ]
Famous for being famous, in popular culture terminology, refers to someone who attains celebrity status for no particular identifiable reason, or who achieves fame through association with a celebrity.[59] The term is a pejorative, suggesting that the individual has no particular talents or abilities.[60] Even when their fame arises from a particular talent or action on their part, the term will sometimes still apply if their fame is perceived as disproportionate to what they earned through their own talent or work.[citation needed]
The coinages "famesque" and "celebutante" are of similar pejorative gist.
Internet celebrities [ edit ]
Also known as being internet famous, contemporary fame does not always involve a physical red carpet |
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Not in favour of re-election, which will become inevitable if none of the parties — BJP or AAP — stake claim to form a government, the BJP MLAs are now planning to approach the national leadership to raise their concerns.
A senior MLA said, “Once they (AAP) form the government they have to fulfil the promises made in their manifesto and people will be able to judge them. There is no harm in supporting them to form government. AAP-led government’s failure will favour BJP in next election,” he said.
These MLAs also feel that respecting the mandate, party should not force another election on the people and an additional burden on public exchequer. Another section of BJP MLAs said re-elections do not seem feasible as many are not confident of retaining their seats if elections are held again.
One of the first-time MLAs of BJP said no one was mentally prepared for the re-elections. “We have failed to get clear majority. If our leader fails to prove majority, AAP and Congress should stake claim. For sake of politics, we should not force another election on people,” he said.
Meanwhile, With President’s Rule looking inevitable, the Congress in Delhi is now pushing for a re-election after the general elections. “Let the voters vent their anger in the Lok Sabha. The AAP bubble too will burst by then. If the state elections are held after general elections, probably the Congress will be in a better position,” said a senior Congress leader.
The party is also looking for a new Delhi Pradesh Congress president.Number Six
Activist Post
August 29, 2011
Definition: When governments or organizations (usually connected to the former) stage highly sophisticated attacks on their own or foreign soil with the purpose of placing the blame on a desirable enemy foreign or domestic, one who has otherwise done no wrong. Essentially a setup, it provides the government entity with an excuse via fabricated evidence in complicity with media to fulfill its various agendas (i.e. war or law making).
As false flag operations gain further ground and frequency, the better you know their history, the sooner you can recognize when they are about to happen or as they occur.
It is a fact that essentially every single war since the Spanish-American War of 1898 has included the use of a false flag operation as an excuse to enter into conflict. The lies have become uncovered after the fact, too late to prevent mass death and destruction.
As practically the only anti-war candidate, Ron Paul recently pointed out such a fact to the other puppet candidates during a debate. The other candidates are heartily calling for World War III which could possibly destroy the planet by dressing up an Iranian invasion, whereas Paul points out that the Iraq war (which has massacred over one million Iraqis) was based on an utter and complete fabricated lie.
Obviously, upon discovery of such a lie, the only logical conclusion would be to end the war and persecute the liars. However, the true controllers of this media-complicit false flag operation merely replaced the lie with another more pliable excuse to fool the fluoride-head public, such as the Truman-Johnson-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-(Clinton) Doctrine of “spreading freedom and democracy” to countries fighting against communism, I mean, terrorism.
15 February 1898, Cuba, USS Maine (260 dead Americans; 15,000+ war casualties)
Event : The explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.
Fact : The US sensationalist media and government lied, blamed it on Spain and began a “splendid little war” on a false pretext. Spain was later exonerated and “faulty” explosives or ammunition were officially blamed.
The 1962 Pentagon Operation Northwoods document, rejected by Kennedy, planned to commit similar acts, deliberately blowing up ships, and expending the lives of their own soldiers and civilians in order to provide an excuse for Cuban invasion. The report went on to detail how the terror attacks and false flag operation would be dubbed in the media as a “Remember the Maine” event. This would lead one to allude that the strategists are suggesting the USS Maine incident itself was a false flag operation.
Sources:
“Better Late Than Never?: Rickover Clears Spain of the Maine Explosion.” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5470>.
Cummings, Denis. “On This Day: Spanish-American War Ends.” Finding Dulcinea. 12 Aug. 2011. <http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/Aug/Spanish-American-War-Ends.html>.
“Pentagon Proposed Pretexts for Cuba Invasion in 1962.” The National Security Archive. 30 Apr. 2001. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430>.
7 May 1917, Irish coast, Lusitania (1,198 dead)
Event : The deliberate sending of a passenger ship by British and American authorities to certain death in German patrolled water, leading to the eventual sinking of the ship by German submarines.
Fact : Despite the Germans having put out newspaper advertisements as warning and it being known that any trespassing ship would be destroyed, instead of saving lives, the Anglo-American governments deliberately assisted in the massacre of hundreds of innocent lives in order to provide a pretext for entrance into the Great War for Civilization, more commonly known as World War I.
Sources:
House, Edward Mandell, and Charles Seymour. The Intimate Papers of Colonel House. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1926.
Griffin, G. Edward. The Creature from Jekyll Island: A 2nd Look at the Federal Reserve. 5th ed. American Media, 2010.
27 February 1933, Germany, Reichstag Burning
Event : Complete burning down of the German state Reichstag building.
Fact : A month after Hitler took power, the government building burned down and served as an excuse to pass an Enabling Act which annulled the constitution and made him dictator. Furthermore, Germany created an enemy out of the communists to use as fear for population control and eventual foreign aggression.
Sources:
Tobias, Fritz. The Reichstag Fire. New York: Putnam, 1963.
“Rise of Hitler: The Reichstag Burns.” The History Place. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/burns.htm>.
“The Reichstag Fire.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007657>.
{openx:49}
31 August 1939, Upper Silesia, Germany, Gleiwitz Incident
Event : German soldiers, dressed as Polish, attack a German radio station. They kill a dozen Polish prisoners and claim them as the culprits.
Fact : Provided pretext for the invasion of Poland and beyond.
Sources:
Auden, W. H. “Blitzkrieg September 1, 1939: a New Kind of Warfare Engulfs Poland.” Time. 1 Sept. 1939. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958453,00.html>.
7 December 1941, Hawaii, Pearl Harbor
Event : Attack of US Naval base by Japanese forces.
Fact : The attacks were brought on by the U.S. itself via careful execution of set goals. These included the armament of Japans enemies, cut-off of energy supplies and port access closure. At the very least, the Federal Government knew of the coming attack having decoded messages and instead of warning the Hawaiian naval base, deliberately kept them as sitting ducks to be massacred. This was used as an official excuse for the U.S. to enter into World War II.
Sources:
Stinnett, Robert B. Day of Deceit: the Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor. New York, NY: Touchstone, 2001.
Engdahl, William. Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century. Wiesbaden, Germany: Edition.engdahl, 2009.
Prange, Gordon W., Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon. At Dawn We Slept: the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor. New York, NY: Penguin, 2001.
1946, Cold War
Event : The concoction of a grand mythological metanarrative dialectic on a global scale between the two countries of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. by George Kennan and Paul Nitze, among others.
Motive : Establish national security state, provide excuse for development of military-industrial-complex and allow for lebensraum, the expansion of Anglo-American economic “breathing” or “vital space”.
“Following proclamation of the Truman Doctrine, a creation of Secretary of State Dean Acheson, the Administration’s propaganda apparatus tried to drum up popular support for their Cold War against the ‘evil, Godless’ communists in the Soviet Union. They believed that they could win popular voter support for huge increases in Federal defense spending by ‘scaring the hell out of America,’ as one of Truman’s advisors put it –perhaps by engendering a ‘war scare to deceive the nation.’” (Engdahl)
Sources:
Engdahl, William. Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century. Wiesbaden, Germany: Edition.engdahl, 2009. 233.
“NSC-68 United States Objectives and Programs for National Security.” Federation of American Scientists. 31 Jan. 1950. <http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsc-hst/nsc-68.htm>.
25 June 1950, Korean War
Event : The air raid attack and initial provocation of North Korea by the South followed by an all out war. The first use of a global police force (UN) with the US supporting the South and the Sino-Soviets supporting the North.
Fact : “A war to ‘defend’ South Korea had many attractions. First it would indirectly implicate the Soviet Union as the main supporter of the North Korean regime of communist Kim il Sung. Second, the Rockefellers and the Dulles brothers and their business associates had poured huge investments into South Korea.”
“June 25, 1950, the world received the shocking report from South Korea that the North Korean Army had launched a major invasion of the south. The reports were conflicting however. American historian John Gunther, then traveling in Japan with General MacArthur, provided this first-hand account of an aide to the US General: ‘The south Koreans have attacked the north!’” (Engdahl)
Sources:
Engdahl, William. Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century. Wiesbaden, Germany: Edition.engdahl, 2009. 233.
Gunther, John, and Carl H. Pforzheimer. The Riddle of MacArthur: Japan, Korea, and the Far East. New York: Harper, 1951.
15 August 1953, Iran, Operation Ajax
Event : CIA and British intelligence stage terror attacks to overthrow a peaceful and democratic Iran, even after Prime Minister Mossadegh successful argues the Iranian case in a world court. They steal their petroleum and replace the regime with a dictatorship, setting up the SAVAK secret police with the assistance of the Israeli Mossad, which is then used for torture and domestic repression.
Sources:
Gasiorowski, Mark. “The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup.” The National Security Archive. 29 Nov. 2000. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28>.
17 April 1961, Cuba, Bay of Pigs
Event : The CIA run and failed invasion of Cuba.
Fact : The CIA designed the invasion in order to put President Kennedy between a rock and a hard place, potentially forced to escalate into a full scale invasion and war. Peacemaker JFK was able to maneuver out of the predicament.
Sources :
Douglass, James W. JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2008.
Kornbluh, Peter. “Top Secret CIA ‘Official History’ of the Bay of Pigs: Revelations.” The National Security Archive. 15 Aug. 2011. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB355/index.htm>
13 March 1962, Pentagon, Operation Northwoods
Event : Plan approved by Joint Chiefs of Staff to kill American citizens, stage terror attacks and destroy remote controlled aircraft among other incidents, to be blamed on Cuba.
Fact : In the vein of the USS Maine and Bay of Pigs, to provide a pretext for a Cuban war. Vetoed by Kennedy, followed by his subsequent assassination.
Sources:
“Pentagon Proposed Pretexts for Cuba Invasion in 1962.” The National Security Archive. 30 Apr. 2001. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430>.
22 November 1963: Dallas, Assassination of JFK
Event : The assassination of peacemaking President John F. Kennedy.
Fact : Lee Harvey Oswald had been dressed up as communist patsy. The subsequent President Lyndon Johnson escalated the Vietnam War, being fought against the “Communist World Revolution” and the “Domino Effect.” JFK had planned to pull out of Vietnam. After having been setup by the CIA on numerous occasions, JFK wanted to scatter the agency to the wind, breaking it into a thousand pieces. Besides having confronted powerful business interests (i.e. US Steel), he issued executive orders allowing the US Treasury to issue currency redeemable in silver, United States Notes, not Federal Reserve Notes.
Sources:
Douglass, James W. JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2008.
Fetzer, Jim, and Jim Marrs. “JFK Assassination. False Flag Attacks: How “Patsies” Are Framed.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 11 Dec. 2009. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
Dankbaar, Wim. Files on JFK: Interviews with Confessed Assassin James E. Files, and More New Evidence of the Conspiracy That Killed JFK. [Walterville, Or.]: [Trine Day], 2008.
Watson, Paul J. “JFK Murder Plot “Deathbed Confession” Aired On National Radio.” Prison Planet. 30 Apr. 2007. <http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/300407deathbedconfession.htm>.
4 August 1964: Vietnam, Gulf of Tonkin
Event : Non-existent, falsely propagated attack of North Vietnamese ship having attacked USS Maddox.
Fact : Declassified files and McNamara himself reveal that the incident was a clear false flag operation. The Vietnamese had not attacked the US, but the case was made for one. LBJ promptly issued the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which took the US to war, enriching the military-industrial-complex, opening up the economies of Third World countries for exploitation and furthering the Cold War narrative.
Sources:
“The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 40 Years Later.” The National Security Archive. 4 Aug. 2004. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132>.
“Gulf of Tonkin: McNamara Admits It Didn’t Happen.” YouTube. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HODxnUrFX6k>.
8 June 1967: International Waters outside of Israel, USS Liberty
Event : Under the orders of President Johnson to completely sink the ship with crew on board, Israel executes the attacks which last for hours. It was to be blamed on Egypt to serve as a pretext for entry into the Middle Eastern war theatre. Russian reconnaissance saved the day.
Sources:
Margolis, Eric. “‘The USS Liberty’: America’s Most Shameful Secret.” LewRockwell.com. 2 May 2001. <http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html>.
“The USS Liberty Cover-Up.” WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. <http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ussliberty.html>.
Terrorstorm (2007)
4 April 1968: Memphis, Tennessee, Assassination of MLK
Event : Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. by US Government, blamed on James Earl Ray.
Fact : MLK had been under total surveillance and deemed a threat by the government. A 1999 King family court case found Earl Ray innocent and agencies of the US Government GUILTY of killing the preacher and agent of social change.
Sources:
Douglass, Jim. “Martin Luther King Assassination Conspiracy Exposed in Memphis.” Ratical. Spring 2000. <http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/MLKconExp.html>.
“Complete Transcript of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination Conspiracy Trial.” Tranquility Internet Services, Inc. <http://www.tranquility.net/~rwinkel/911/Wakeup2/MLKTrial.html>.
Cold War Era to Present, Operation Gladio
Event : The staging and execution of terror attacks: from gunning down grocery shoppers and explosions in public squares, to assassination of heads of state.
Motives : Create a “strategy of tension” as a pretext for draconian laws, continue the Cold War narrative and blame communists.
Sources:
Ganser, Daniele. NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe. London: Frank Cass, 2005.
“Operation Gladio [BBC Timewatch] State-Sponsored Terrorism in Europe.” YouTube. 1992. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fB6nViwJcM>.
“NATO’s Secret Armies.” YouTube. 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5soEhxA6zXs>.
1977: Stockholm, UN Conference, The Great Global Warming Swindle
Event : Maurice Strong establishes the political agenda of Green Global Governance, later to be codified at the 1992 Rio Summit as “climate change” and promoted by high priest Al Gore first as “global warming,” then as “climate change” and then suggested by some as “global climate disruption.”
Former Soviet Premier jumps on the bandwagon with his Green Cross and call for an “Earth Charter,” testifying to Patrick Wood’s (co-founder, Greenpeace) declaration that the communists have taken over the “green” movement. John Holdren in his 1970’s Ecoscience textbook calls for a “planetary regime” with the power of forced sterilization, working with co-author Paul Ehrlich, who advocates mass extermination.
Motives : To establish world government based on the false scare of man-made global warming and the false science propagated by corrupt scientists, from NASA to the CRU in East Anglia University to the UN and its IPCC. To micromanagement every aspect of human life, with a focus on depopulation and the eradication of the majority of mankind.
Fact: The polar bears are actually increasing! The polar bear propagandists are being investigated for corruption! CO2 is not a pollutant but a basic building block of life! CO2 follows temperature rise by hundreds of years! The greenhouse gas theory is fraudulent! The climate scientists in Australia and New Zealand, in legal terms, admitted their lying and guilt by destroying evidence in what became known as Kiwigate and Australiagate! Add on to that Polarbeargate, Climategate, NASAGate and any others I’ve missed, you’re in for a party!
(See here for a further list)
Sources
Ball, Tim. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Has Achieved Its Goal: It’s Time To Repair The Damage.” Dr. Tim Ball – A Different Perspective. 27 June 2011. <http://drtimball.com/2011/the-intergovernmental-panel-on-climate-change-ipcc-has-achieved-its-goal-it%E2%80%99s-time-to-repair-the-damage>.
The Great Global Warming Swindle
Climate Depot
I Love My CO2
Science & Public Policy
Slaying the Sky Dragon
Watts Up With That?
2 August 1990: Iraq, Operation Desert Storm
Event : U.S. telling Iraq they would have no problem with an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, then using Hussein’s invasion as an excuse to invade Iraq. U.S. lying to Saudi Arabia in regards to massive Iraqi troop alignment along borders as excuse to send in military. U.S. having Kuwaiti ambassador’s daughter trained by Hollywood acting company to lie about Iraqi’s killing babies. Etc, etc.
Motives : Entrance into “Gulf War” theatre, natural resources, the start of a “new world order”, Saddam’s threats to stop using US dollars for trade, Project for a New Middle East, military-industrial-complex, etc, etc.
Sources:
“The New American Century.” YouTube. 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fk6qkHs0oM>.
Nazemroaya, Mahdi Darius. “Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a “New Middle East”.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 18 Nov. 2006. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
26 February 1993: New York, World Trade Center
Event : Rental van explosion in public parking garage of World Trade Center, blamed on Muslim patsy who was provided explosives by FBI.
Motives : Provide pretext for establishment of domestic dictatorship and demonization of Muslim “terrorists” to forward mythological “Global War on Terror” narrative.
Sources:
“CBS News – FBI Foreknowledge of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.” YouTube. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9p1AnhDzWg>.
19 April 1995: Oklahoma City
Event : Bombing of government building via explosives in van and within building itself. Blamed solely on one man (Timothy McVeigh), completely disregarding structurally placed explosives and eyewitness accounts.
Motives : Provide pretext for establishment of domestic dictatorship and demonization of domestic extremist “terrorists.”
Sources:
Berger, J.M. “The Jesse Trentadue Files.” INTELWIRE. 17 Nov. 2005. <http://intelwire.egoplex.com/trentadueindex.html>.
Watson, Paul J. “McVeigh Video Destroys OKC Bombing Official Story.” Prison Planet. 18 Dec. 2006. <http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/okc_bombing_mcveigh_video_destroys_okc_official_story.htm>.
“The Oklahoma City Bombing – Were There Additional Explosive Charges and Additional Bombers?” What Really Happened. <http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/OK/ok.php>.
11 September, 2001: New York
Event : Staged terror attacks in vein of 1962’s Operation Northwoods, apparently planned under the Clinton Administration, executed under Bush Administration, covered up by Obama.
Motives : Establishment of domestic (and global) dictatorship, pretext for Global War and demonization of anyone and everyone.
Fact : Government military drills gone live!
Sources:
“Pentagon Proposed Pretexts for Cuba Invasion in 1962.” The National Security Archive. 30 Apr. 2001. <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430>.
“Interview with Osama Bin Laden. Denies His Involvement in 9/11.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 9 May 2011. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
Donnelly, Thomas. “Rebuilding America’s Defenses.” Project for a New American Century. Sept. 2000. <http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf>.
Herridge, Catherine. “EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda Leader Dined at the Pentagon Just Months After 9/11.” FoxNews.com. 20 Oct. 2010. <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/20/al-qaeda-terror-leader-dined-pentagon-months>.
Harrit, Niels H., Jeffrey Farrer, Steven E. Jones, Kevin R. Ryan, Frank M. Legge, Daniel Farnsworth, Gregg Roberts, James R. Gourley, and Bradley R. Larsen. “Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe.” The Open Chemical Physics Journal 2.1 (2009): 7-31. <http://www.benthamscience.com/open/tocpj/articles/V002/7TOCPJ.htm?TOCPJ/2009/00000002/00000001/7TOCPJ.SGM>.
9/11 Truth
7 July 2005, London Bombings (52 dead, 700+ injured)
Event : Train bombing by four “homegrown” Islamic extremists.
Motive : Continue the GWOT narrative, expand foreign presence, increase domestic police state measures, population control by fear.
Fact : Government military drills gone live!
Sources :
Secker, Tom. “False Flags a Fluttering: The History of Deception and the London 7/7 Bombings.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 7 Dec. 2010. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
“VIDEO: Terror Exercise Held on the Same Morning as the London 7/7 Bomb Attack.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 12 July 2005. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
7/7: The Ripple Effect (2007)
Ludicrous Diversion
Mind the Gap
2007, Cheney’s Iranian Navy Seals
Event : Plan to dress up US Navy Seals as Iranian military, attack fellow US Military.
Motives : Pretext for entering Persian war theatre.
Sources:
Shakir, Faiz. “EXCLUSIVE: To Provoke War, Cheney Considered Proposal To Dress Up Navy Seals As Iranians And Shoot At Them.” Think Progress. 31 July 2008. <http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2008/07/31/26940/cheney-proposal-for-iran-war>.
14 November, 2008, Germany, BND False Flag Operation
Event : German intelligence caught letting off explosives.
Sources :
Watson, Paul J. “German Intelligence Agents Caught Staging False Flag Terror.” Prison Planet.com. 24 Nov. 2008. <http://www.prisonplanet.com/german-intelligence-agents-caught-staging-false-flag-terror.html>.
26 November 2008, Mumbai Attacks
Event : Coordinated city-wide attacks killed 164.
Fact : Western intelligence agent directed attacks!
Sources :
Chossudovsky, Michel. “India’s 9/11. Who Was Behind the Mumbai Attacks?” Centre for Research on Globalization. 30 Nov. 2008. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
Corbett, James. “The US Agent and the Mumbai Massacre.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 12 June 2011. <http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2011/06/us-agent-and-mumbai-massacre>.
25 December 2009, Detroit, Underwear Bomber
Event : Young passport-less Nigerian man is somehow let on to a plane by a mysterious well-dressed Indian man (per witnesses), despite being on a terror watchlist and with authorities having been warned ahead of time by his concerned father.
Motives : Continue false “Global War on Terror” (GWOT) narrative. Provide excuse for the continued expansion of TSA and DHS powers and domestic security and surveillance grid. Increase funding, etc.
Sources:
Tarpley, Webster. “State Department Admits: Detroit Christmas Bomber Was Deliberately Allowed to Keep US Entry Visa, Board His Flight.” TARPLEY.net. 10 Feb. 2010. <http://tarpley.net/2010/02/11/state-department-admits-detroit-christmas-bomber-was-deliberately-allowed-to-keep-us-entry-visa-board-his-flight>.
Nimmo, Kurt. “Bombshell Eyewitness Revelations: Confirmed FBI Cover-Up Of Flight 253 Attack.” Infowars. 29 Dec. 2009. <http://www.infowars.com/bombshell-eyewitness-revelations-confirmed-fbi-cover-up-of-flight-253-attack>.
“Underwear Bomber False Flag to Be Exploited to Renew Draconian Patriot Act.” Infowars. 3 Jan. 2009. <http://www.infowars.com/underwear-bomber-false-flag-to-be-exploited-to-renew-draconian-patriot-act>.
2 May 2011: The Nine Lives of Osama bin Laden
Event : CIA asset Osama bin Laden announced dead ten years after the fact.
Sources :
Sampson, Anthony. “CIA Agent Alleged to Have Met Bin Laden in July.” Guardian. 1 Nov. 2001. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/01/afghanistan.terrorism>.
Cohen, Mark Francis. “Is Osama Suffering from a Rare Disease That Can Cause Sudden Death?” Salon.com. 9 Nov. 2001. <http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2001/11/09/marfan/print.html>.
“Pakistan’s Musharraf: Bin Laden Probably Dead.” CNN.com International. 18 Jan. 2002. <http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/01/18/gen.musharraf.binladen>.
“Karzai: Bin Laden ‘probably’ Dead.” CNN.com International. 06 Oct. 2002. <http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/06/karzai.binladen>.
“FBI Watson: Bin Laden ‘probably’ Dead.” BBC News. 18 July 2002. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2135473.stm>.
“Israeli Intelligence: Bin Laden Is Dead, Heir Has Been Chosen.” World Tribune. 16 Oct. 2002. <http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2002/me_terrorism_10_16.html>.
“Madeleine Albright: Bush Planning Bin Laden October Surprise.” NewsMax.com. 17 Dec. 2002. <http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/12/17/15126.shtml>.
“U.S., French Intelligence Officials Say Bin Laden Death Report Unconfirmed.” FoxNews.com. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215301,00.html>.
Burger, Timothy. “Is Bin Laden Dead?” TIME.com. 23 Sept. 2006. <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1538569,00.html>.
Baer, Bob. “When Will Obama Give Up the Bin Laden Ghost Hunt?” TIME.com. 18 Nov. 2008. <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1859354,00.html>.
“Late Benazir Bhutto Claimed Osama Was Killed “years Ago” (VIDEO).” IBTimes.com. 2 May 2011. <http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/140408/20110502/benazir-bhutto-osama-bin-laden-pakistan.htm>.
“War of Terror Is a Reichstag Fire False Flag Operation.” Breaking All the Rules. 8 May 2011. <http://www.batr.org/wrack/050811.html>.
2010-11: Operation Fast & Furious
Event : Direct selling of weapons by US Government to Mexican drug cartels. US Government oversight of drug traffic into U.S.
Motives : Annul 2nd Amendment, incite violence as pretext for US intervention and provide pretext for “common security” integration for future North American Union (i.e. Plan Merida, US-CAN Common Security Perimeter, etc.).
Sources:
Farago, Robert. “FARAGO: Was CIA behind Operation Fast and Furious?” Washington Times. 11 Aug. 2011. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/11/was-cia-behind-operation-fast-and-furious>.
Watson, Paul J. “Obama Administration Caught Running False Flag Against Second Amendment.” Infowars. 24 June 2011. <http://www.infowars.com/obama-administration-caught-running-false-flag-against-second-amendment>.
Valdez, Diana Washington. “Documents: Feds Allegedly Allowed Sinaloa Cartel to Move Cocaine into U.S. for Information.” El Paso Times. 4 Aug. 2011. <http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_18608410?source=most_viewed>.
Newman, Alex. “Reports: CIA Working with Mexican Drug Cartels.” The New American. 15 Aug. 2011. <http://thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/north-america-mainmenu-36/8599-reports-cia-working-with-mexican-drug-cartels>.
Codrea, David. “Source Claims ATF’s Tampa SAC Walked Guns to Honduras.” Examiner. 6 July 2011. <http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/breaking-news-source-claims-atf-s-tampa-sac-walked-guns-to-honduras>.
22 July, 2011: Oslo, Norway: Anders Breivik
Event : The massacre of civilians via bombing and shooting by a right-wing domestic extremist blue-eyed caucasian Norwegian. Another instance of where a police and military drill went live, this time only twenty-six minutes after the drill had ended.
Motives : Continue a “strategy of tension” in the vein of Gladio. Shift narrative from left-wing and Muslim extremist to right-wing domestic populace, essentially broadening the suspect spectrum to now include anyone and everyone. The perfect pretext for the rendition and unwarranted arrest of any individual regardless of evidence or racial profile.
Fact : Government military drills gone live.
Sources :
Scott, Peter Dale. “Norway’s Terror as Systemic Destabilization: Breivik, the Arms-for-Drugs Milieu, and Global Shadow Elites.” Centre for Research on Globalization. 23 Aug. 2011. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va>.
Foss, Andreas Bakke. “Trente Pa Utoya-scenario 22. Juli – Nyheter – Innenriks – Aftenposten.no.” Aftenposten.no. 26 Aug. 2011. <http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article4208952.ece>.
Nimmo, Kurt. “Norwegian Police Confirm Drill Identical to Breivik’s Attack.” Infowars. 26 Aug. 2011. <http://www.infowars.com/norwegian-police-confirm-drill-identical-to-breiviks-attack>.
Conclusion
This is rather a brief list and much more could be added. Certainly they are not limited to the US-centered network but apply also to that of the Russians, Israelis and other entities.
Studying the conspiratorial and realistic view of history may tend to make one view nearly every event as a larger “conspiracy.” Given the nature of the degenerates in power, that is unfortunately pretty much the case.
However, facts should objectively be checked and events weighed before mindlessly declaring them part of a systemic conspiracy. By their very nature these events fit the dictionary description of a conspiracy regardless, whether part of a small group of discontents or the systemic dark forces behind deep events, well detailed by Professor Peter Dale Scott. Let us pray these dark forces spare countless lives by foregoing any vile plans they may have for the tenth anniversary of their New York false flag operation.
Essential Documentaries:
Terrorstorm, 9/11: In Plane Sight, Loose Change, Core of Corruption, Fabled Enemies, 7/7: The Ripple Effect, The New American Century, Operation Gladio (BBC), Kill the Messenger: Sibel Edmonds
Global Governance Archive is an information war desk which seeks to aid researchers both new and old in sifting through the most important material on everything from economy to the architecture of global government which is now being built.Eddie Hearn has put his money where his mouth is and put forward a proposal for a mega-fight between Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg in the summer.
Matchroom chief Hearn believes a deal can be done to get the fight signed, sealed and delivered within the coming months.
Hearn handles WBA champion Quigg’s affairs, while Barry McGuigan’s Cyclone Promotions are in IBF king Frampton’s corner.
A number of stumbling blocks still remain to get the fight sorted – but Hearn has got the ball rolling.
Frampton was in blistering form at the Odyssey Arena on February 28 as he defended his IBF World title after blowing away mandatory challenger Chris Avalos in five rounds.
Quigg was in Belfast that night to watch ‘The Jackal’ in action but Hearn says the Bury fighter has no problem in fighting in Frampton’s backyard.
“Scott is not worried about where the fight is staged or what television channel it is shown on – we just want to make this fight,” he said.
“Of course the finances have to be right and we have submitted a proposal that will pay both fighters huge money.
“They (Frampton and McGuigan) will talk with their broadcaster and see what’s on offer and then hopefully we will sit down as soon as possible.
‘After that, we can push negotiations on.
“I’m not sure if we will ever find an agreed split – I would be happy for a 60-40 purse split in favour of the winner. If you really fancy it I can’t see a problem with that. Let’s see.
“We can talk about world titles and legacy and exposure but ultimately this is a super fight – and in a super fight it is only right that these two great fighters get the best deal possible financially.”
Venues for what would likely be the biggest fight in Britain this year are currently under consideration in Belfast, as well as Manchester and the O2 Arena in London.
Hearn added: ‘If we can all reach an agreement, then I would love to make this fight in June.
“We’d be happy to fight in Belfast if the numbers were right, but likewise Manchester would |
March 2009.[84] but the receiver was soon discontinued after both services eliminated duplicate channels which obviated the need for this radio. As of February 2016, Sirius XM offers radios for home, office, automotive, marine, and aviation use.[85]
SiriusXM Marine is graphical weather and fishing info for boaters. The service works with most major marine-electronics hardware companies, such as Raymarine, Furuno, Simrad and Garmin.[86] The Marine Offshore package includes graphical weather radar; cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning; high-resolution coastal and offshore wave heights, direction and intervals; high-resolution sea-surface temperatures; pressure isobars; buoy data, etc.
SiriusXM Aviation provides satellite-based graphical weather info for pilots, which provides better signal coverage and faster data refresh rate than land-based ADS-B service.[87][non-primary source needed] The 2020 FAA Mandate does not require pilots to equip with ADS‑B/FIS‑B weather. [88]
SiriusXM Aviation receiver Model # SXAR1 and Garmin GDL51/GDL52 enables pilots to use an iPad or iPhone with the Foreflight Mobile App, via Bluetooth, to view the SiriusXM Aviation in-flight weather and data delivered via satellite to monitor storm fronts, track lightning strikes, TAFs, METARs, winds and more.[89]
Satellites [ edit ]
As of May 2017, there are five satellites in orbit: two XM and two Sirius satellites and one spare.[90] XM-3 and XM-4 are the active satellites for the XM service and replaced the original XM-1 and XM-2 satellites which were placed into a disposal orbit. Sirius FM-5 and FM-6 function as the primaries for the Sirius side. FM-6 which was launched on October 25, 2013 and declared ready for service on December 2, 2013 initially served as an in orbit spare while the company worked to deploy repeaters for the Sirius side which were needed to transition to full geostationary operation. In 2016 FM-6 was put into active service and officially replaced Sirius originals FM1-4 which operated in elliptical orbit. FM1-3 were later placed into disposal orbits. With this change FM-5 and FM-6 exclusively serve the Sirius service mirroring XM-3 and 4. Before FM-6 was launched, XM-5 was sent into orbit by Proton from Kazakhstan, on October 14, 2010, and is capable of broadcasting to either service.[91][92] XM-5 serves as the in orbit spare for the entire system and can function in place of either a Sirius or XM satellite. In late 2016 Sirius XM placed an order for two new satellites SXM-7 and SXM-8 which will replace XM-3 and XM-4. These are scheduled for launch in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Sirius satellites broadcast within the S band frequencies from 2.3200–2.3325 GHz, while XM radio uses adjacent frequencies 2.3325–2.3450 GHz.[93][94]
Milestones [ edit ]
The following milestones have been set during and after the merger:
Date Event Comments February 2007 Execute definitive agreement March 2007 File FCC application June 2007 FCC places application on "Public Notice" (DA 07-2417) Comments and petitions were due July 11, 2007; responses and oppositions were due July 24, 2007. November 2007 Sirius/XM shareholder votes Announced October 4, 2007, and voted upon on November 13, 2007. 96% of Sirus shareholders approved the merger,[95] and 99.8% of XMSR shareholders also approved.[96] March 2008 Receive regulatory approvals On March 24, 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice ended its investigation of the merger (i.e. decided against blocking the deal).[97] July 2008 Receive FCC approval On July 25, 2008, the FCC approved the merger voting 3-2 down party lines.[98] July 2008 Merger completed XM stock trading ceases July 28, 2008. Sirius XM Radio, Inc. becomes the name of the merged corporation. November 2008 Programming merged March 2009 MiRGE released First receiver to compatible with both Sirius and XM signals is released December 2010 Alaska and Hawaii expansion Receives FCC approval to add service to the two states, thus giving Sirius XM coverage in all 50 states April 2013 MySXM debuts A personalized interactive online radio experience October 2013 Clear Channel-programmed stations removed Channels programmed by Clear Channel, including America's Talk, Sixx Sense, Fox Sports Radio and WSIX-FM, are removed months after Clear Channel sells its stake in Sirius XM; WHTZ/New York and KIIS-FM/Los Angeles are retained under a separate agreement.[99] April 2016 Surpasses 30 million subscribers Sirius XM announces through Q1 of 2016, the company has a total of 30.1 million subscribers.[100] August 2017 Dark Horse Radio Laura Cantrell presents the music of George Harrison.NHL 13 is the latest entry of the continual evolution of the EA Sports hockey series, with each edition getting more realistic than the last.
While simply playing the game as is helps ease the dismay and apathy felt by NHL hockey fans during the NHL lockout, I have embarked on a quest to unveil features that would go even further to help ease or even potentially cure NHL Withdrawal Syndrome.
Features Wishlist For NHL 13
Gary Bettman – Donald Fehr Fight Mode: featuring a variety of slapstick maneuver options (visualize Alexander Semin fisticuffs skills).
Fight Mode: featuring a variety of slapstick maneuver options (visualize fisticuffs skills). Play the part of NHL CBA mediator with ability to choose a celebrity mediator from the following: JR ( Jeremy Roenick ): in which case no one else gets a chance to talk. BizNasty : use your imagination. Chuck Norris : just cause. Jonathon Toews : “Captain Serious” stare-down; first to blink gives up most concessions. Clint Eastwood : #Eastwooding Down Goes Brown : Bettman and Fehr make it too easy for one-liners from the most hilarious hockey personality on the planet Robert De Niro: “Are you talking to me?” Jack Nicholson: “You can’t handle the truth.” David Letterman : I’m sure Dave can come up with a Top 10 highlighting how dim-witted it is that there is no agreement to thispoint. Charlie Sheen : A Sheen-esque party might loosen up all parties involved. #Winning
Play the part of an Insurance Agent during NHL Lockout laughing all the way to the bank, especially when Sidney Crosby signs across the pond. Cha-ching on a hefty $400,000-per-month premium.
signs across the pond. Cha-ching on a hefty $400,000-per-month premium. Play the part of filthy rich Russian oil tycoon KHL franchise owner, control his actions during his monumental post-Sid signing party bash.
Play the part of the commissioner starting up an alternate rival pro league and enticing players to join – the Planet Hockey League (PHL).
Instead of clicking “Quit” to exit game, you select “Gary Bettman Mode” and your PS3 shuts down and refuses to come back on for random periods of time.
Be a Pro – Roman Hamrlik Mode: where you have to keep dodging hits from your own teammates
Mode: where you have to keep dodging hits from your own teammates Enhanced “Be A Player” Mode: create yourself in the game and watch as your virtual player sits on his couch playing NHL 13 until the lockout is over.
When you start the game Ricky DiPietro is already on the injured reserve list and you have to play a full season before he is eligible to be used.
is already on the injured reserve list and you have to play a full season before he is eligible to be used. Enhanced GM Mode: sign your star player to a 9-10 million dollar a year deal in July and try to get 10-20% back in September.
When you launch the game it does not actually start; rather, a screen appears with Morgan Freeman stating you have to pay 15% more, but Visa is gladly accepted. Then and only then, the game will start.
stating you have to pay 15% more, but Visa is gladly accepted. Then and only then, the game will start. Every five seasons in Be A GM Mode, a season gets cancelled.
Ryan Kesler dive mode
dive mode Mini-game where you play as Shea Weber and you slam different players’ heads into the boards.
and you slam different players’ heads into the boards. David Booth hunting mini game, with extra points for biggest buck you bag.
hunting mini game, with extra points for biggest buck you bag. Be a Pro Goalie Mode: start out as a rookie goalie; when you become too good, the games changes the rules to offset your skills – for instance, equipment shrinks during the game and nets get bigger and bigger.
Phoenix Coyotes Owner Mode: additional owner features include getting to attend city council meetings and discuss/threaten relocating to Seattle, Kansas City or Quebec City. You also get to hear pitches from the cities involved on why you should move the team there and start a bidding/bribery war if possibly. Also known as Grand Theft Franchise Mode.
Owner Mode: additional owner features include getting to attend city council meetings and discuss/threaten relocating to Seattle, Kansas City or Quebec City. You also get to hear pitches from the cities involved on why you should move the team there and start a bidding/bribery war if possibly. Also known as Grand Theft Franchise Mode. CHL Franchise Beat The System Mode: see Portland Winterhawks and Windsor Spitfires for more details.
What additional feature on NHL 13 would you like to see to ease the pain of NWS (NHL Withdrawal Syndrome)?
***
The actual NHL 13 game itself is actually brilliant. Here’s some information from EA Sports.
“It’s in the game.”
From EA Sports, their launch trailer:
Some of the great feature EA Sports has granted us in NHL 13:
NHL Players Make the Move to Europe in EA SPORTS NHL 13 – Online Roster Updated
“An online roster update was released today for NHL 13. The update adds a duplicate version of NHL® players who are playing in the following European leagues to their current team: This means that a player like Claude Giroux will remain on the Philadelphia Flyers roster, but will also be available on the Eisbaren Berlin (DEL) roster for online play. Hockey is a global game and within NHL 13 there are five European leagues, 66 European teams and over 2100 players representing 26 countries across Europe. By adding NHL players who have joined those leagues to their respective team rosters, we are able to create an authentic experience for fans of those leagues and the NHL, worldwide. For fans of a specific NHL team, those players will still be available on their NHL rosters, which could make for some interesting matchups online. For a complete list of player transactions, click here.”
Relive history as you score Steven Stamkos’ 60th goal of the 2011-2012 season
E. A. Sports. It’s in the game.Human hunters may be making birds smarter by inadvertently shooting those with smaller brains. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which finds that hunting may be exerting a powerful evolutionary force on bird populations in Denmark, and likely wherever birds are hunted. But the work also raises a red flag for some researchers who question whether the evolution of brain size can ever be tied to a single factor.
The new work “broadens an emerging view that smarts really do matter in the natural, and increasingly human-dominated, world,” says John Marzluff, a wildlife biologist and expert on crow cognition at the University of Washington in Seattle who was not involved with the work.
Hunting and fishing are known to affect many animal populations. For instance, the pike-perch in the Finnish Archipelago Sea has become smaller over time thanks to fishing, which typically removes the largest individuals from a population. This pressure also causes fish to reach sexual maturity earlier. On land, natural predators like arctic foxes and polar bears can also drive their prey species to become smarter because predators are most likely to catch those with smaller brains. For instance, a recent study showed that common eiders (maritime ducks) that raise the most chicks also have the largest heads and are better at forming protective neighborhood alliances than ducks with smaller heads—and presumably, brains.
Does the same hold true for birds that dodge human hunters? To find out, Anders Pape Møller, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Paris-Sud, assessed the brain sizes of 3781 birds from 197 species brought to taxidermists in Denmark between 1960 and 2015. The birds included pheasants, partridges, wood grouse, magpies, and hooded crows. Danish law requires taxidermists to record the date and cause of death of every specimen they handle. Møller’s co-author, Johannes Erritzøe, a taxidermist and ornithologist at the House of Bird Research in Christiansfeld, Denmark, autopsied each bird, noted its mass, and weighed its extracted brain. The scientists also assessed the birds’ body condition and age at death.
They found that 299, or 7.9%, of the 3781 birds were shot. Birds with smaller brains relative to their body size were shot more often, as were larger individuals (which offer a bigger target), and males (perhaps because of their brighter colors). But if a bird had a large brain relative to its body size, the probability that it would be shot decreased nearly 30-fold, the scientists report today in Biology Letters. This held true, regardless of the birds’ health, body mass, sex, and species. Hunters, they conclude, are unwittingly turning their prey into large-brained birds by eliminating those with pea-sized brains from the population.
The scientists also compared the birds' other internal organs—heart, liver, lungs—and found that only the brain was smaller in the hunted birds. “It means that hunting has a very peculiar and specific effect on the brain and not the other bodily functions of these animals,” Møller says.
Hunters aren’t specifically targeting the smaller-brained birds, he adds. Such birds simply aren’t savvy about hunters, apparently lacking the smarts to realize that people with guns are dangerous. “They take longer to fly when approached by someone with a gun, whereas larger-brained birds enjoy the benefit of being wary.” Møller and his team couldn’t track changes in brain size over time, because hunting regulations in many of the study areas have shifted; there are some areas where it was once allowed, but it’s now banned. That could let birds with smaller brains gradually make up a larger part of the population, Møller predicts.
“The study is intriguing, but I will remain a bit skeptical because it is based on a comparative long-term data set and not an experiment,” says Jesper Madsen, a population ecologist at Aarhaus University in Rønde, Denmark, who was not involved in the study. “To conclude that hunting selects for larger brains requires more than a correlational study.”
Such an experiment is already underway—albeit inadvertently, Møller says. In the last 5 years, the hunting of snipe and curlew has been banned permanently in Europe. Scientists could compare specimens from the earlier hunting period with those collected after the ban to see whether these birds are evolving smaller brains, Møller says. “That’s a predictable consequence of stopping hunting.”
Still, Madsen isn’t alone in his skepticism. “My heart drops every time I see another study like this showing a correlation between some factor and brain size,” says Susan Healy, an evolutionary biologist at the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom. In 2007, she and Candy Rowe, a behavioral ecologist at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, assessed more than 50 studies that revealed a correlation between brain size and behavioral traits such as migration, deception, and female promiscuity. They concluded that this type of research did little to advance an understanding of either brain evolution or function.
Healy’s and Madsen’s concerns are valid, Marzluff says. But, he adds, the study is valuable because of the questions it raises. “For example, did smarts pay off more for some species than for others? Were similar trends seen in social versus solitary species? That’s what correlational studies do: They generate questions.”
Indeed, the authors raise several at the end of their study. To wit: If hunters are indeed making birds smarter, what will this do long-term to bird populations and to the sport of hunting itself? Will these birds be increasingly harder to catch, for example? And how would this affect wild predators that live on these species? Møller predicts they’ll have a harder time. As for the answer, stay tuned.SANTA CRUZ - JANUARY 17: Brandon Paul #33 of the Canton Charge reacts while playing against the Austin Spurs during the 2015 NBA D-League Showcase presented by SAMSUNG on January 17, 2015 at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Jack Arent/NBAE via Getty Images)
The San Antonio Spurs gave Brandon Paul a guaranteed contract for the 2017-18 season, someone who went undrafted in 2013 and never played a regular season NBA game.
When the San Antonio Spurs lost Jonathon Simmons to the Orlando Magic, it was the loss of a key bench piece that had top-end perimeter defense and the athleticism to make a play on offense when needed. This spiked when Kawhi Leonard went down in the Western Conference Finals, as Simmons averaged 15 points per game in this series.
Looking at the Spurs’ offseason moves, it doesn’t look like there’s a clear-cut replacement for Simmons. However, the organization gave a guard, named Brandon Paul a two-year contract that’s fully guaranteed for the first season. He’s an unknown talent in the NBA, given he’s never played a regular season game. This is the answer to Simmons, though.
Paul’s college stats won’t bring much to light. He attended Illinois from 2009-13, averaging 12 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. His shooting percentage crossed 40 percent just once (2012-13), so it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
These stats didn’t lead to Paul getting selected in the 2013 NBA Draft. He went to the D-League for two games on the Canton Charge and played 12 in the 2013-14 Eurocup for Nizhny Novgorod. They’re still too small of sample sizes, so his best look needs to begin in the 2014-15 season.
Paul played another 43 games for Canton and saw numbers that exceeded anything he did in college. From shooting percent to 3-point percentage and everything else, across the board, was improved.
Brandon Paul stats in the D-League pic.twitter.com/3DuBFmfACx — Rob Wolkenbrod (@RealRobWolkey) August 26, 2017
Paul’s Usage Percentage was 25.4, which barely put him on the outside of the top-10 in the 2014-15 D-League season. He didn’t place near the top in any one main or advanced offensive statistic, but was used often and made the most of it as one of the D-League’s best shooters.
Then, there’s the defensive side of the ball. Paul had 2.1 Offensive Win Shares, but matched that at 2.1 Defensive Win Shares. This barely placed him outside the top-10 of the D-League. By NBA standards, it’s not elite, but far from bad. It marks about above-average defense. That’s potentially where his 6-foot-10 wingspan at 6-foot-4 comes into play.
After 2014-15, Paul went back to Europe. He played for Liga ACB and had a similar defensive presence, but the offensive numbers slipped. The Gurnee, IL native shot just 38 percent from the field, but kept a cool 35 percent from behind the arc for 13.2 points.
Paul stayed in the Euroleague for the 2016-17 season. This time, he played for Anadolu Efes and had his playing time reduced to 17.3 minutes per game. However, he still averaged one steal per game and shot 41.5 percent from 3-point range, well above his 38 percent from the field for the season. It came at just 34 percent inside two-point range, though.
Then came the 2017 Summer League (he also played in 2016). Paul looked for another opportunity at the NBA and made the most of it. He averaged 14.3 points on 47.1 percent shooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ squad, along with 2.3 steals. The 31 percent from long distance was lower than usual (only three games played), but the performance earned plenty of praise.
Paul looks like a 3-and-D player for the Spurs. His career numbers have mostly stayed consistent from the D-League to the Euroleague, which indicate a solid stroke from behind the arc, with a potentially low overall percentage, in general. He’s been able to use his above-average wingspan for his size, too, that gives him an advantage against smaller guards and some ability to be flexible against taller wing players.
This doesn’t mean Paul will be Simmons, but there are some similarities. They’ll be matches on the defensive end, with the latter’s 2.1 Defensive Win Shares from the 2016-17 season. Paul will have a sharper shooting stroke to begin his NBA career, which will be the difference when looking at how these players contrast.
Simmons’ offensive stroke also came around with more playing time. It’s unknown if that will stay the same in Orlando and get a bigger opportunity, but will be worth monitoring to determine if this former diamond in the rough was properly let go for who the Spurs think will be the next of this kind.
Paul is the Spurs’ biggest unknown of the 2017-18 roster, but one they’re confident enough in to give a guaranteed deal. Will the minimal risk create a high reward?I am a novice in the field of Hackintosh, and this is my first post here.
I have managed to setup and install my hackintosh and it is perfectly working other than this one issue.
I am unable to figure the exact cause of this issue. My Hackintosh is unable to go into sleep mode after the set time. This is what happens (see the attached video file).
mojavesleep.mp4
You can see that the screen turns off, then I see the power on the graphics card and fans turn off.
Immediately it comes back ON and the screen TURN's ON.
I have followed various threads in several forums trying various options suggested for sleep related issue, but have been un-successful.
If anyone is able to guide me through in resolving this issue, I would appreciate that.
I am unsure what files need to be attached for you people to help me, feel free to ask and I shall upload the necessary files.For almost 30 years, Kerry King has been a member of Slayer, a band that transcended its thrash-metal beginnings and became one of the most respected rock groups in the world. Sharing guitar duties with Jeff Hanneman, King helped develop the hyper-speed tremolo-picking style, blistering guitar solos, and intimidating tightness that are Slayer trademarks. The burly, tattooed King, with his shaved head and his signature B.C. Rich KKV guitar, is a menacing figure well known for giving terse, frank interviews, and he has publicly feuded with more than a few contemporaries. The week Slayer’s latest album, World Painted Blood, was released, he spoke to The A.V. Club about the making of the album, the band’s relationship with its fans (and non-relationship with producer Rick Rubin), and what he thinks of his own achievements.
The A.V. Club: Do you feel that World Painted Blood is a return to Slayer’s “classic” period, or a progression from Christ Illusion?
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Kerry King: I just think it’s funny that people always try to analyze it, and don’t just dig it for what it is. When people say it’s a return to the ’80s, I say, “Well, what was Christ Illusion? What was God Hates Us All?” I know the ’90s were weird, but this decade, we’ve been really solid. I think this record’s really cool; it’s got more variety than anything we’ve done in quite some time. And before you ask the question, it wasn’t planned that way. That’s just how it came out.
AVC: What did producer Greg Fidelman bring to the mix?
KK: Greg was cool, man. I hope he does every record for us until we’re done, if he has time and we have time. He’s more like a fifth member of the band, and he’s really in tune with what we were trying to do as far back as the late ’80s.
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AVC: So he was really hands-on?
KK: Yeah, he was there every fuckin’ day for us. He was the last one to leave every day, and that’s inspiring. It earns you respect. It’s cool.
AVC: How are things between you and Rick Rubin? There was a lot of tension around the time of Christ Illusion because he decided to produce Metallica instead.
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KK: I haven’t seen the dude in years. People’s perception is that because he’s the executive producer on our records, that we see him—I haven’t seen that dude in fuckin’ years. Essentially, at the end of the day, that title means “I own the record label.” He’s got final say over the mix, and that’s that.
AVC: When Christ Illusion came out, and “Jihad” was the first single, you commented about how it was the “Angel Of Death” controversy all over again. Did that factor into the decision to make “Psychopathy Red,” about Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, the first single from World Painted Blood?
KK: No. That was the only song that was done. [Laughs.]
AVC: This was the first album in which you were still working on material when you went into the studio. Did that change things much?
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KK: Not really. That was kind of a weird, different thing, but it’s only because we put ourselves in that position. We’d already confirmed the Mayhem tour, which was last summer, and we had to have our record either done, or done and out, or else we’d have had no time to finish it.
AVC: Did it feel rushed to you?
KK: It was definitely rushed, but I don’t feel it was detrimental to the record overall. Everything just happened to work—it was one of those magical recording sessions.
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AVC: Some of your leads on World Painted Blood are phenomenal, and you’re playing with Jeff in ways that sound really new. Did you deliberately alter your playing style at all, or did it just evolve this way?
KK: I think it’s just the way it came about, but seeing as we recorded it in such a short fashion, that lent itself to making a more diverse-sounding record. We were self-conscious, I guess, of all the songs sounding different; when you write an album over a long period of time, you don’t have the problem of worrying about things sounding similar to one another. Here, I wrote all my material in like six weeks. So there was a very big chance that songs could end up sounding too similar. We didn’t want that at all, so we worked together and made up approaches and riffs that we’d never even tried before. When we were in the studio, I would sometimes have a riff that I wasn’t really sure about, so I’d just go in there and mess around with it, see what kind of reaction I got. Like, the main “Americon” riff, I took it in there, and every time, people were all, “What’s that?” Finally, Dave [Lombardo] got up, ran and played some drums for it, and I thought “Well, fuck, I guess we’re gonna use it.”
AVC: Groups as established as Slayer get pressure from some critics to keep moving forward, and from some fans to keep sounding the same. Does any of that motivate you one way or another?
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KK: I think first and foremost, we were fans before we were Slayer, and that carries over into today. I think if we like it, then our fans are going to like it, because in a way, we’re just an extension of them. We’re just four dudes who make each other better. I think that’s the main difference between us and most bands. There’s a lot of guitar players out there in bands that are never going to make it; they might be better than us, but number one, they weren’t in the right place at the right time, and number two, they never find people that make them better, or share the same ideas. It’s really a crapshoot.
AVC: Do you pay much attention to critics at all?
KK: Not really. I was reading one article about the new album, and the guy was asking if it was a burden to be in Slayer. And then you have guys talking about how great the album is, and how much they love it, and then they still give you 8 out of 10 because they expect more out of us. That blows me away.
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AVC: Is it annoying to have every record you put out described in terms of a comeback?
KK: It just makes me wonder, “What did you think of our last two?” [Laughs.]
AVC: How’s the tour going?
KK: It’s going great. We’re back on the road a week from tomorrow.
AVC: How’s Tom Araya’s voice? You had to cancel a show because he was having problems.
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KK: Yeah, it happens. I think historically, we’ve only had to cancel about three or four shows, so it’s not something that happens all the time. But unfortunately for Adelaide, Australia, their show was the one that got pulled. [Since this interview, Slayer cancelled the Canadian leg of its current tour so Araya could be treated for a back injury. —ed.]
AVC: Do you still enjoy touring?
KK: Oh, there’s nothing better than the stage. The worst thing about touring is the travel. I don’t care how many business-class or first-class seats you got, travel fuckin’ wears you out. But we still love playing live.
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AVC: Have you developed different standards for what constitutes a good show than you had when you were starting out?
KK: I don’t think so. Maybe one difference is that now we can afford to do cooler things. We’ll do some fire, some pyro from time to time. It’s an expensive thing, so when you’re at an earlier point in your career, you weigh the options and say “I don’t want to spend all my money on a couple of big bangs.” But this year, when we did the Mayhem tour, we split the cost of the pyro guy with Marilyn Manson as a way to get our feet wet with it.
AVC: On that topic, has technology overall been a good thing for the band over the years?
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KK: Well, it’s definitely made recording easier. Of course, you still go through and record every one of your parts, but with ProTools, it makes it so much easier than it was 10 years ago. It seems like every time we go into the studio, there’s a new thing to make it easier. Much as I hate recording, I have to say, it’s so much easier than it was when we started out.
AVC: Do you stay on top of that stuff yourself?
KK: That’s the engineer’s job. We pay him to know all that stuff so we don’t have to.
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AVC: After 25-plus years, what keeps you artistically interested?
KK: I don’t know if it’s just me personally, but I’m still a fan. I have tons of friends in the heavy-metal music world, and just going to see them inspires me. If I’m ever feeling uninspired, all I have to do is go see Exodus or Arch Enemy, and think “Oh yeah, that’s what we’re doing this for.” We’re definitely a generation-jumper as far as fans are concerned; there’s no rhyme or reason to it, but it’s pretty cool.
AVC: Is the metal scene better today than when you started?
KK: Yeah, because when we came through the first time, we were part of the creation of what we’re doing now. And now that we’ve laid all this groundwork, I think it’s a lot easier for bands. Especially with the Internet… I remember in the old days, when we were promoting a show, we’d be out taping flyers to high-school lockers. Now you just announce the show online, and it’s a full house.
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AVC: Do you often give much thought to your legacy, or about what Slayer has meant to the metal scene?
KK: Not really. I don’t reflect much, unless I’m talking to the media. I have more of a “Forward, march!” kind of attitude.
AVC: Is there anything you feel like you still have left to accomplish, anything you haven’t done that you still want to do as an artist?
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KK: Not to sound like an asshole, but no. The only thing that’s really different now from the late ’80s and early ’90s is that you used to judge yourself by gold records and stuff like that. Sure, we had gold records—I don’t think there’ll ever be a time when we get them again, just because of the way that music is sold and traded now, but I’ve played some of the biggest shows in the world, and headlined most of them. And it seems like every album, we end up visiting a new country, which is cool. As far as goals, I honestly can’t think of any.
AVC: There have been a lot of rumors that you’re planning to do World Painted Blood and two more, then call it quits. Is there anything to that?
KK: I think that’s a case of journalists taking the ball and running a little too far with it. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not 25 anymore, but I’d also be the first to tell you that I’m having a damn fucking good time. Of course, a lot of it depends on our recording schedule; I think a lot of this started to come around because it took us five years to do Christ Illusion after God Hates Us All. But what people are missing is that during that period, we had the War At The Warfield and Still Reigning videos, and we had a box set, and an EP. And every one of those products, even though it’s not a new album, that put us to work and had us out on tour. But we took five years between records, and I know Tom and I both said “Well, if we take five years between each record, we might only have one or two left in us.” But these last ones, we did in only three years, and I think if we keep on a more frequent release schedule… We’ll see. When it’s done, it’s done. It ain’t gonna be like Kiss. Our last tour is gonna be our last fuckin’ tour.SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Tucson Roadrunners forward Christian Fischer has been selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 15, 2017.
Fischer tallied three goals and four assists for seven points along with a plus-5 rating in three games, helping the Roadrunners to a perfect 3-0-0 week.
On Tuesday evening, Fischer picked up a goal and an assist as Tucson rallied from two goals down to defeat Manitoba, 5-2. On Friday, he registered one goal and two assists for his third three-point game of the season in the Roadrunners’ 5-3 win over Texas. And in Saturday’s rematch with the Stars, Fischer notched a goal and an assist and was named the game’s first star in a 3-2 Tucson victory.
Fischer has totaled 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points in 29 games for Tucson this season, good for second among AHL rookies in goals and third in points. The 19-year-old native of Wayne, Ill., was a second-round selection by the Arizona Coyotes (32nd overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and spent two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program before recording 90 points in 66 games with Windsor (OHL) in 2015-16. He made his pro debut with Springfield last April, notching two goals and one assist in six AHL games.
In recognition of his achievement, Fischer will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Roadrunners home game.Rolling Stone's false report of an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia was what "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart called "monumental, fucked-up territory."
Despite publishing a lengthy article in which the sexual assault allegations turned out to be fabricated -- and despite a report from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism detailing all the ways the magazine's writers and editors screwed up -- publisher Jann Wenner said he's not firing anybody over it.
And that doesn't sit right with Stewart.
"Campus rape happens with shocking frequency, a very real, under-reported problem that many college and university administrations have met with a lack of concern and stonewalling," Stewart said. "Victims need help and support. Yet somehow, in a sea of verifiable assaults, you managed to ‘Where’s Waldo’ the only rape story that not only would fail to get your point across, but set the cause back. Someone’s gotta go.”A decade ago, Andy Ruben was in charge of global strategy at a company that environmentalists love to hate: Walmart. Adam Werbach was a firebrand activist who had served as the youngest-ever president of the venerable green group, the Sierra Club, at age 23. It |
an IED in the Nad e-Ali district of central Helmand on 22 May 2009.[117]
Lance Corporal Kieron Hill, aged 20, from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) was killed on 28 May 2009. Lance Corporal Hill was on a deliberate operation near Garmsir in Helmand province when there was an explosion which killed him instantly.[118]
Corporal Stephen Bolger, aged 28, from the Parachute Regiment, Lance Corporal Nigel Moffett from The Light Dragoons were both killed in Afghanistan on Saturday 30 May 2009. The UK MOD has officially said that both soldiers were serving with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (although other reports suggest Corporal Bolger is actually part of the Special Forces Support Group). The soldiers were travelling in a Jackal (MWMIK) on an operation near Musa Qaleh when they were killed as a result of an explosion.[119][120]
June 2009 [ edit ]
Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher, aged 19, from 2nd Battalion The Rifles, was killed in Helmand province, Tuesday 2 June 2009. The soldier was on a patrol near Gereshk, when he was killed by an explosion.[121]
Private Robert McLaren, from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, was killed near Kandahar on 11 June 2009 during a deliberate operation against insurgent fighters. When his section became pinned down by accurate rifle fire from two sides Pte McLaren pushed forward to obtain a better fire position to relieve his section, but was killed by an explosion from an improvised explosive device.[122]
Lieutenant Paul Mervis, a platoon commander from The 2nd Battalion the Rifles was on a foot patrol near Sangin, northern Helmand Province, when he was killed as a result of an explosion from an improvised explosive device, on the morning of 12 June 2009.[123]
Major Sean Birchall, aged 33, from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed by an explosion on 19 June 2009 near Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province. Major Birchall was travelling in a Jackal (MWMIK) which was the second vehicle in a group of three which were involved in a routine patrol to deliver supplies and check on his men in the checkpoints around Basharan. Although he survived the initial blast and received immediate medical attention at the scene, Major Birchall died of his injuries before he could be extracted to medical facilities.[124][125]
July 2009 [ edit ]
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe MBE, aged 39, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and Trooper Joshua Hammond, who was 18 years old, of 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, died Wednesday 1 July 2009, after their BvS 10 Viking was destroyed in an explosion while the men were engaged in Operation Panchai Palang and were part of a resupply convoy heading toward troops in Babaji, north of Lashkar Gah, in Helmand Provence. Another six troops were injured by the blast.[126] Lt Col Thorneloe is the highest ranking British Army officer to be killed in action since the Falklands War in 1982.
Private Robert 'Robbie' Laws, aged 18, and from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) died when the FV103 Spartan armoured personnel carrier he was travelling in was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) while taking part in operation Panchai Palang on Saturday 4 July 2009. Pte Laws had been involved in a dismounted IED search team and had periodically been dismounting and remounting the vehicle as it stopped and started along a road. It was immediately after he had remounted and the vehicle had just moved off when it was struck.[127]
Lance Corporal David Dennis from Command Troop, The Light Dragoons was killed by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol as part of operation Panchai Palang on Saturday 4 July 2009. He was aged 29. L/Cpl Dennis had just been involved in the evacuation of soldiers who were wounded in the RPG attack that had killed Pvt Laws and was returning to his vehicle when he stepped on an IED causing it to detonate. Several other members of the patrol were injured in the explosion.[127]
Lance Corporal Dane Elson, aged 22, serving with the Welsh Guards (Attached to B Company, 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment), was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday 5 July 2009. L/Cpl Elson was killed instantly by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Babaji as part of Operation Panchai Palang.
Captain Ben Babington-Browne, aged 27, from 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, died in an incident in Afghanistan, Monday 6 July 2009 when the helicopter he was in crashed[128] while taking off from a US forward operating base in Zabul province. Two Canadian personnel, later named as Master Corporal Pat Audet and Corporal Martin Joannette, were also killed in the incident. It was "determined that the crash did not occur as a result of enemy fire".[129]
Trooper Christopher 'Norm' Whiteside, aged 22, from Emsdorf Troop The Light Dragoons, died on Tuesday 7 July 2009 as a result of an IED explosion near Gereshk in Helmand Province while taking part in Operation Panchai Palang.[128]
Rifleman Daniel Hume, aged 22, of the 4th Battalion The Rifles, was killed by a contact explosion while on a foot patrol near Nad e-Ali, Helmand province on 9 July 2009.[130]
Private John Brackpool, aged 27, formally of The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and serving as a reservist with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died on 9 July 2009 as a result of a gunshot wound. He was shot and killed while he was on sentry duty on a compound that had recently been secured as part of Operation Panchai Palang, near Char-e-Anjir, just outside Lashkar Gah, in Helmand Province.[131]
Corporal Lee 'Scotty' Scott from EGYPT Squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was killed in Afghanistan on 10 July 2009 near Nad Ali, Helmand province while taking part in Operation Panchai Palang. He died in an explosion as he was travelling in the lead vehicle of a group of BvS 10 Vikings.[132]
On 10 July 2009, Corporal Jonathan Horne, aged 28, from Walsall, Rifleman William Aldridge, aged 18 from Bromyard in Herefordshire, Rifleman James Backhouse, aged 18 from Castleford, Yorkshire, Rifleman Joe Murphy, aged 18 from Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, Rifleman Daniel Simpson, aged 20 from Croydon, all from 9 Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion The Rifles were killed in two separate blasts on the same patrol near Sangin, Helmand province. The men were conducting a routine patrol from FOB Wishtan when at approximately 0520 hrs a member of the patrol accidentally detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) which fatally wounded him and injured seven other members of the patrol. The soldiers then recovered their wounded and dropped back to attend to them and await the assistance of the medical Quick Reaction Force (QRF). At approximately 0530 hours, just as the QRF arrived, a second, more powerful device was detonated in the area where the wounded men were being treated, killing another three members of the platoon including Rifleman Murphy who was carrying his close friend Rifleman Simpson, to safety after he had been wounded in the first explosion. Attempts to evacuate the injured soldiers were further hampered by IEDs on the possible helicopter landing areas at the scene of the explosion so the men had to be evacuated to the FOB, however more IEDs had been placed by the Taliban on the route back to FOB Wishtan. The wounded men were finally extracted by a Royal Air Force Chinook and US Pave Hawk which landed inside FOB Wishtan, however another soldier died from his wounds as he underwent surgery at Camp Bastion.[133]
Rifleman Aminiasi Toge, aged 26, from 'C' Company, 2nd Battalion The Rifles was killed by an explosion, thought to be from an IED while on a foot patrol near Gereshk, Helmand province, 16 July 2009.[134]
Corporal Joseph 'Etch' Etchells, from The 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was killed in Afghanistan on 19 July 2009. Cpl Etchells, who was aged 22 and from Mossley, Greater Manchester, was killed as a result of an explosion that happened while on a foot patrol near Sangin, northern Helmand Province.[135]
Captain Daniel Shepherd, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps, was killed on 20 July 2009. He was killed as a result of an explosion while on patrol in Nad-e-Ali District, Helmand Province. At the time of his death he was commanding an Improvised Explosive Device Disposal team, assigned to the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, who were defusing confirmed IEDs.[136]
Guardsman Christopher King, from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, who had been attached to the Number 2 Company, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards since late 2008, was killed on 22 July 2009, as a result of an explosion while on a dimounted patrol in Nad Ali District, Helmand Province.[137]
Bombardier Craig 'Hoppo' Hopson, from 40th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Lowland Gunners), attached to The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was killed in Afghanistan, 25 July 2009. While taking part in Operation Panchai Palang, Bombardier Hopson was part of a patrol tasked to reconnoitre a suitable area for a polling station in the forthcoming Afghan presidential elections. During this patrol the Jackal (MWMIK) in which Bombardier Hopson was travelling struck a roadside bomb resulting in his death.[138]
Trooper Phillip 'Lenny' Lawrence, aged 22, serving with C Squadron The Light Dragoons, was killed Monday 27 July 2009 as a result of an explosion that happened while travelling in a FV107 Scimitar CVR(T) as part of a vehicle patrol ensuring the security of an area that had been cleared as part of Operation Panchai Palang, in Lashkar Gah District, central Helmand Province.[139]
Warrant Officer Class 2 Sean Upton, aged 35, from Beeston, Nottinghamshire and a member of 5th Regiment, Royal Artillery, was killed as a result of an explosion that happened while on a foot patrol in Sangin District, Helmand Province, Monday 27 July 2009. WO2 Upton was serving in Afghanistan as 2IC of Sangin's Police Mentoring Team.[139]
August 2009 [ edit ]
Craftsman Anthony Lombardi from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, attached to the Light Dragoons, was killed in Afghanistan on the morning of Tuesday 4 August 2009. He was killed as a result of an explosion that happened while on a vehicle patrol in Babaji District, southern Helmand province.[140]
Corporal Kevin Mulligan, Lance Corporal Dale Thomas Hopkins and Private Kyle Adams were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday 6 August 2009. All three men were from The Parachute Regiment and were serving with the Special Forces Support Group and were involved in training Afghan National Security Forces. They were on a routine patrol when their Jackal (MWMIK) was hit by an IED followed up by a small-arms attack. Another British soldier remains in a critical condition following the attack.[141]
Private Jason George Williams from A (Grenadier) Company, 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday 8 August 2009 by an explosion. Private Williams' platoon was attempting to recover the body of an Afghan National Army warrior who was killed earlier in the day, when an IED exploded killing Pte Williams.[142]
Captain Mark Hale and Rifleman Daniel Wild of 2nd Battalion The Rifles and Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton of 40th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Lowland Gunners) were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday 13 August 2009. Lance Bombardier Hatton had been clearing a route to a helicopter landing zone to enable an earlier casualty to be airlifted to medical aid when he was caught by an IED blast and was wounded. Captain Hale and Rifleman Wild then attempted to extract L/Bdr Hatton, but all three men were caught by another IED blast which resulted in their deaths.[143]
Private Richard Hunt, aged 21, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh died on Saturday 15 August 2009 from wounds sustained in Helmand province on 13 August 2009. Pvt Hunt was driving a FV510 Warrior when it was hit by an IED. As a result of this Pvt Hunt's head struck the vehicle and despite wearing his drivers protective helmet Pvt Hunt sustained a serious injury from which he never recovered consciousness. He was subsequently aero-medically evacuated to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Selly Oak Hospital so his family could be with him when he died.[144]
Sergeant Simon Valentine, aged 29, from Bedworth, and was Platoon Sergeant, 2 Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday 15 August 2009. Sgt Valentine was on foot patrol near Sangin when he was caught by the blast from an IED.[145]
Lance Corporal James Fullarton, aged 24, Fusilier Simon Annis, aged 22, and Fusilier Louis Carter, aged 18, all of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were killed in Afghanistan on Sunday 16 August 2009. The three men were taking part in a foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand province when Lance Corporal James Fullarton, who was the Section Commander was badly hurt by a roadside bomb. Fusiliers Annis and Carter went to his assistance, but a second IED detonated, killing all three soldiers.[146]
Serjeant Paul McAleese, of 2nd Battalion the Rifles, and Private Johnathon Young, of 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington's), were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday 20 August 2009 while in Sangin district. The two soldiers were on foot patrol when Private Young was injured by the blast from an IED. As Serjeant McAleese attempted to assist Young there was a secondary explosion which fatally injured both men.[147] Sjt McAleese's death created much media interest in the UK as he was the son of John McAleese MM[148] who served with the Special Air Service during which time he led the storming of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980.
Fusilier Shaun Bush, aged 24, of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers died at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Selly Oak, on Tuesday 25 August 2009. While on a foot patrol in Sangin district, Helmand province, on Saturday 15 August 2009 Fusilier Bush was attempting to rescue Sergeant Simon Valentine when there was a secondary explosion which seriously injured him. It was clear he would not recover from his injuries and he was evacuated to Selly Oak where he died with his close family around him.[149]
A Royal Marine died following an explosion while on a foot patrol near Gereshk in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in the early hours of Saturday 29 August 2009. His family have asked for no further information to be released.[150]
Sergeant Stuart 'Gus' Millar, aged 40, and Private Kevin Elliott, aged 24, both from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, were killed as a result of an RPG explosion that happened while on a foot patrol north of Lashkar Gah District, southern Helmand Province on Monday 31 August 2009.[151]
September 2009 [ edit ]
Lance Corporal Richard James Brandon, operating with The Light Dragoons Battle Group, was killed as a result of an explosion that happened while on a vehicle move in the Babaji district, central Helmand province, on the evening of 2 September 2009.
Private Gavin Elliott from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, operating with The Light Dragoons Battle Group, died as a result of a gunshot wound he sustained while on a foot patrol in the Babaji district, central Helmand province, on Thursday 3 September 2009.
Corporal John Harrison from The Parachute Regiment was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday 9 September 2009.
Kingsman Jason Dunn-Bridgeman from 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was killed in a firefight with the enemy during a foot patrol in the Babaji district of Helmand province on 13 September 2009.
Trooper Brett Hall from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment died at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Selly Oak, on Wednesday 16 September 2009 of wounds sustained in Afghanistan.
Acting Serjeant Stuart McGrath, from 2nd Battalion The Rifles was killed as a result of an explosion that happened while on a foot patrol in the Gereshk district, central Helmand province, on the afternoon of 16 September 2009.
Acting Sergeant Michael Lockett MC, of 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) was killed in Afghanistan on Monday 21 September 2009.
Private James Prosser from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh was killed as a result of an explosion that happened during a vehicle patrol in Musa Qaleh district, northern Helmand province on 27 September 2009.
October 2009 [ edit ]
Acting Corporal Marcin Wojtak from 34 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment was killed as a result of an explosion while commanding his vehicle in the desert to the south of Bastion Joint Operating Base on Thursday 1 October 2009.[152]
Guardsman Jamie Janes from 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed as a result of an explosion that happened while on a foot patrol near to Nad e-Ali district centre in central Helmand province on Monday 5 October 2009.[153]
Lance Corporal James Hill from 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards was killed as a result of an explosion near Camp Bastion in Helmand Province on Thursday 8 October 2009.
Corporal Thomas Mason from the Royal Military Police, killed by an explosion while on foot patrol in Kandahar on 22 October 2009.
Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid GC from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, died in an explosion while trying to defuse a roadside bomb on 31 October 2009 near Sangin, in Helmand Province.
November 2009 [ edit ]
Note: Please add the correct ranks and titles to those fallen personnel below:
Sergeant Matthew Telford, Corporal Steven Boote (RMP), Guardsman Jimmy Major, Warrant Officer Class 1 (RSM) Darren Chant and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith (RMP) from 1st Battalion, The Grenadier Guards were all killed by an Afghan soldier who was posing as a police officer at Nadi-e-Ali in Helmand Province on 3 November 2009.
Serjeant Phillip Scott from 3rd Battalion, The Rifles was killed by an improvised explosive device at Sangin, Helmand Province on 5 November 2009.
Rifleman Philip Allen from 2nd Battalion, The Rifles was killed by an improvised explosive device at Sangin, Helmand Province on 7 November 2009.
Rifleman Samuel Bassett aged 20, from 4th Battalion, The Rifles died in hospital from injuries sustained in a blast at Sangin, Helmand Province on 8 November 2009.
Rifleman Andrew Fentiman from 7th Battalion, The Rifles was killed by enemy fire while on foot patrol at Sangin, Helmand Province on 15 November 2009.
Cpl Loren Marlton-Thomas from 33 Engineer Regiment was killed by an improvised explosive device in Gereshk, Helmand Province on 15 November 2009.
Sgt Robert Loughran-Dickson from the Royal Military Police died from gunshot wounds sustained on patrol in Nad-e-Ali in Helmand Province on 18 November 2009.
Acting Sgt John Amer from 1st Battalion, The Coldstream Guards died from wounds sustained in an explosion at Babaji, Helmand Province on 30 November 2009.
December 2009 [ edit ]
Adam Drane from 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment died as a result of small arms fire while guarding a checkpoint in the Nad-e-Ali area, in central Helmand province on 7 December 2009. On 8 December 2009, he was announced as the 100th British soldier to die in Afghanistan in the year 2009.[154] This year had been the bloodiest for British forces since the Falklands War in 1982, and followed 39 British deaths in Afghanistan in 2006, 42 in 2007 and 51 in 2008.[155][156][157] The number of British troops wounded in Afghanistan had doubled in a year: 432 servicemen and women injured so far in 2009—compared to 235 in all of 2008.[158]
Corporal Simon Hornby, from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was caught in an explosion on foot patrol in Helmand on 20 December.[159]
Lance Corporal David Kirkness and Rifleman James Brown both from the 3rd Battalion, The Rifles were killed by a suspected suicide bomber near Sangin in Helmand Province on Tuesday 15 December 2009.[160] This raised UK fatalities since 2001 in this theatre to 239, 102 of these sustained in 2009.
On 23 December, an investigation was started to the deaths of Lance Corporal Michael David Pritchard, aged 22, a member of the Royal Military Police who was attached to 3rd Battalion The Rifles, and Lance Corporal Christopher Roney aged 23, from 3rd Battalion the Rifles, who possibly died as a result of friendly fire ("blue on blue"), the last one after a vicious firefight in Patrol Base Almas near Sangin in Helmand.[161][162][163][164] This brought the number of British service personnel deaths in Afghanistan in 2009 to 106. There had been 243 British troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
On 28 December, Rfn Aidan Howell from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Kajaki area of Helmand province. This casualty brought the number of British soldiers killed in the conflict since 2001 to 244, including 107 in 2009.[165]
On 31 December, Sapper David Watson from Royal Engineers, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Sangin area of Helmand province. This casualty brought the number of British soldiers killed in the conflict since 2001 to 245, including 108 in 2009.
Official number of casualties [ edit ]
On 15 December, the official casualty toll up to the end of November 2009 was released by the Ministry of Defence: more than 1,000 members of the Armed Forces had been wounded in action in Afghanistan since the mission began in late 2001. The vast majority of them was since 2006, when the campaign started in the southern Helmand province. One third of the wounded suffered serious or very serious injuries.
2009 was the worst year of the War in Afghanistan for the UK army with 95 soldiers killed in action.[166][167][168]
In 2009 the total number of deaths had exceeded the landmark of 100 and nearly half of the 464 wounded in battle were injured since November 2008. The increase in injured service personnel had also been marked compared with previous years. In 2008, the total number wounded in action was 235. In 2006, when 16 Air Assault Brigade was sent to Helmand, 85 were wounded in action.
All the injured received initial treatment at the British military hospital at Camp Bastion in central Helmand, before being evacuated to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. Wounded militaries requiring artificial limbs or rehabilitation for other injuries were then sent to the special defence medical facility at Headley Court, near Dorking, Surrey.
The British Prince William paid tribute in December 2009 to the Armed Forces at the annual military awards, organised by The Sun newspaper.[169] In her yearly Christmas message, the British Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to the Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan. She expressed her sadness at the death toll and praised the stoicism showed by bereaved families of killed military personnel.[170]
January 2010 to December 2010 [ edit ]
January 2010 [ edit ]
On 3 January, Private Robert Hayes, aged 19, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand.[171]
On 11 January Captain Daniel Read, aged 31, from Royal Logistic Corps, 11 EOD Regiment was killed by an IED in Helmand.[172]
On 15 January Corporal Lee Brownson, aged 30, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles was killed by an IED in Helmand.[173]
On 15 January Rifleman Luke Famer, aged 19, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles was killed by an IED in Helmand.[173]
On 22 January, the death of Rifleman Peter Aldridge, aged 19, of A Company, 4 Rifles, in a bomb explosion in Sangin, Helmand province while on foot patrol, brought the British death toll since the start of the Afghanistan war to 250. The number of British dead in the country then reached five short of the total who died in the Falklands war.[174]
On 24 January, L/Cpl Daniel Cooper, aged 21, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Sangin area of Helmand province.[175]
February 2010 [ edit ]
On 1 February, Cpl Liam Riley, aged 21, from 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, died in an explosion while on patrol near Malgir in Helmand province.[176]
On 1 February, L/Cpl Graham Shaw, aged 27, from 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, died in an explosion while on patrol near Malgir in Helmand province.[176]
On 7 February, Pte Sean McDonald, aged 26, from 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, Royal Scots Borderers, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[177]
On 7 February, Cpl John Moore, aged 22, from 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, Royal Scots Borderers, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[177]
On 8 February, Warrant Officer Class 2 David Markland, aged 36, from 36 Engineer Regiment, died in an explosion while conducting route clearance operations in the Nad Ali area in Helmand province.[178]
On 11 February, L/Cpl Darren Hicks, aged 29, from 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, died in an explosion while on patrol in Babaji in Helmand province.[179]
On 13 February, L/Sgt Dave Greenhalgh, aged 25, from Grenadier Guards, 1st Battalion, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Nad Ali area in Helmand province.[180]
On 14 February, Kingsman Sean Dawson, aged 19, from The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, 2nd Battalion, died after being shot by Afghan forces in an friendly fire incident in Musa Qala in Helmand province.[181]
On 14 February, Rifleman Mark Marshall, aged 29, from 6th Battalion The Rifles, 3 Rifles Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol in the north-east of Sangin in Helmand province.[182]
On 15 February, Sapper Guy Mellors, aged 20, from 36 Engineer Regiment, died in an explosion while clearing roadside bombs north-east of Sangin in Helmand province.[183]
On 18 February, Lt Douglas Dalzell, aged 27, from 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, died in an explosion while on patrol in Babaji in Helmand province.[184]
On 18 February, L/Sgt David Walker, aged 36, from 1st Battalion Scots Guards, died in after being shot while on patrol in Nad Ali in Helmand province.[185]
On 24 February, Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate, aged 20, from 2 Squadron, Kandahar Airfield Defence Force, died in an explosion while on patrol North of Kandahar Airfield in Helmand province.[186]
On 25 February, Rifleman Martin Kinggett, aged 19, from A Company 4 Rifles, 3 Rifles Battle Group, died in a shooting while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[187]
On 26 February, Sgt Paul Fox, aged 34, from 28 Engineer Regiment, attached to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, died in an explosion while on patrol in Nad Ali in Helmand province.[188]
March 2010 [ edit ]
On 1 March, Rfn Carlo Apolis, aged 28, from A Company, 4 Rifles, 3 Rifles Battle Group, died in a shooting while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[189]
On 2 March, Cpl Richard Green, aged 23, from 3rd Battalion, The Rifles, Recce Platoon, died in a shooting while manning a vehicle checkpoint near Sangin in Helmand province.[190]
On 5 March, Rfn Jonathon Allott, aged 19, from 3rd Battalion, The Rifles, died in an explosion while on patrol in Sangin in Helmand province.[191]
On 6 March, Rfn Liam Maughan, aged 18, from 3rd Battalion, The Rifles, died in a shooting while on patrol near Malgir in Helmand province.[192]
On 7 March, Cpl Stephen Thompson, aged 31, from 1st Battalion, The Rifles, serving with 3rd Battalion, The Rifles Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Sangin area in Helmand province.[193]
On 7 March, L/Cpl Tom Keogh, aged 24, from A Company, 4th Battalion, The Rifles, part of the 3 Rifles Battle Group, died in a shooting while on patrol in the Sangin area in Helmand province.[194]
On 15 March, Cpt Martin Driver, aged 31, from 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving with Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Musa Qala district in Helmand province.[195]
On 16 March, L/Cpl Scott Hardy, aged 26, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving with Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol north of Musa Qala in Helmand province.[196]
On 16 March, Pte James Grigg, aged 21, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving with Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol north of Musa Qala in Helmand province.[196]
On 22 March, Sjt Steven Campbell, aged 30, from A Company, 3rd Battalion The Rifles, part of the 3 Rifles Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol in Sangin in Helmand province.[197]
On 26 March, L/Cpl of Horse Jonathan Woodgate, aged 27, from Household Cavalry Regiment, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Sangin area in Helmand province.[198]
On 27 March, Rfn Daniel Holkham, aged 19, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, part of the 3 Rifles Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol in the Sangin area in Helmand province.[199]
April 2010 [ edit ]
On 1 April, Guardsman Michael Sweeney, aged 19, from 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, died in an explosion while on patrol in Babaji in Helmand province.[200]
On 4 April, Rfn Mark Turner, aged 20, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, died in an explosion while on patrol near the Kajaki area in Helmand province.[201]
On 7 April, Fusilier Jonathan Burgess, aged 21, from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, 3 Platoon, A Company, died in a shooting while on patrol near the Nad Ali area in Helmand province.[202]
May 2010 [ edit ]
On 2 May, Cpl Harvey Alex Holmes, aged 22, from 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment serving with 40 Commando Royal Marines Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[203]
On 3 May, Sapper Daryn Roy, aged 28, from 21 Engineer Regiment, died in an explosion while on vehicle patrol in Nad Ali in Helmand province.[204]
On 3 May, L/Cpl Barry Buxton, aged 27, from 21 Engineer Regiment, died after a road collapsed causing his vehicle to roll into a canal in Nad Ali in Helmand province.[204]
On 9 May, Cpl Christopher Harrison, aged 26, from Bravo Company, 40 Commando, died in an explosion while on patrol in Sangin in Helmand province.[205]
On 21 May, Cpl Stephen Walker, aged 42, from 40 Commando, died in an explosion while on patrol in Sangin in Helmand province.[206]
On 26 May, Gunner Zak Cusack, aged 20, from 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, died in a shooting while on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj in Helmand province.[207]
On 26 May, Cpl Stephen Curley, aged 26, from 40 Commando, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[208]
On 30 May, Marine Scott Taylor, aged 21, from Alpha Company, 40 Commando, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[209]
June 2010 [ edit ]
On 2 June, Marine Anthony Hotine, aged 21, from Alpha Company, 40 Commando, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[210]
On 4 June, L/Cpl Terry Webster, aged 24, from 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, was shot and killed while on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj in Helmand province.[211]
On 4 June, L/Cpl Alan Cochran, aged 23, from 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, shot and killed while on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj in Helmand province.[211]
On 8 June, Lance Bombardier Mark Chandler, aged 32, from Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, attached to 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, shot and killed while on patrol near Nad Ali in Helmand province.[212]
On 9 June, Pte Jonathan Monk, from 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, Attached to 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, died in an explosion while on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj in Helmand province.[213]
On 12 June, L/Cpl Andrew Breeze, aged 31, from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, part of 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles Battle Group, died in an explosion while on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj in Helmand province.[214]
On 14 June, Marine James Steven Birdsall, aged 20, from Bravo Company, 40 Commando, died in hospital in the UK after being shot while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[215]
On 15 June, Cpl Taniela Rogoiruwai, aged 32, from 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was shot and killed while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[216]
On 15 June, Kingsman Ponipate Tagitaginimoce, aged 29, from 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was shot and killed while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[216]
On 18 June, Trooper Ashley David Smith, aged 21, from D Squadron, Viking Group, Royal Dragoon Guards, died in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[217]
On 20 June, Marine Richard Hollington, aged 23, from Bravo Company, 40 Commando, died in a hospital in the UK by an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[218]
On 21 June, Marine Paul Warren, aged 23, from Charlie Company, 40 Commando, died in an blast by a grenade when his patrol base was attacked near Sangin in Helmand province.[219]
On 22 June, L/Cpl Michael Taylor, aged 30, from Charlie Company, 40 Commando, shot and killed while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province.[220]
On 23 June, L/Cpl David Andrew Ramsden, aged 26, from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, died in a vehicle accident with three other soldiers while on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj in Helmand province.[221]
On 23 June, Pte Alex Isaac, aged 20, from 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, died |
happened: both.
Forty-eight hours later, Inez submitted herself to a diagnostic procedure at the Maimonides Medical Center. The surgeon drilled a burr hole the size of a dime in her skull, inserted his hollow needle, siphoned up a sample of the tumor, and delivered the tissue to a pathologist. Inez returned home to her Flatbush Avenue apartment, a mere two blocks from Prospect Park. Later that day, Alexis moved in, explaining that she intended to cleave to Inez’s side “until you’re out of the woods.” Now came the ordeal of awaiting the pathologist’s verdict: two sisters from the same egg, incarcerated by the clock, glued to its lugubrious hands, each sticky minute taking an hour to pass, each hour a day. Against their better judgment, they visited the most prominent Internet cancer sites, becoming fluent in the language of dread. When at long last Dr. Goncourt summoned Inez back to his consulting room, she was prepared for him to do his Latinate worst.
Her neoplasm, she learned, took the technical—and to Inez familiar—name of glioblastoma multiforme, the second term, “multiforme,” tracing to such tumors’ heterogeneous nature. Being a mixture of cell types, GBM was essentially incurable. Even with surgery, radiation, and follow-up drugs, Inez surmised, she had no more than a year to live.
“I’m going to fight and win,” she declared, believing none if it. Welcome to Coney Island, ladies and gentlemen. Ride the Sarcoma Coaster.
“For your oncologist I recommend Jacob Leibowitz at Sloan-Kettering,” said Dr. Goncourt. “His success rate is second to none.”
And Inez thought: second to none because with GBM success is unknown.
Later that week, speaking with Dr. Leibowitz at the celebrated Manhattan cancer center, Inez learned that, just as there are varieties of infinity, so are there gradations of hopelessness. The tumor was inoperable, which meant that her twelve months on planet Earth had in all probability been reduced to six. Radiation appeared to be the only viable—if that was the word—choice, followed by the usual chemotherapeutic coda. Dr. Leibowitz proffered no cluster of straws at which she might grasp, nor a singleton straw, not even one splinter.
At this low point her fortunes, Inez could hardly have imagined that an amusing little man in a derby hat was about to enter her life, explaining that his employer routinely removed malignant tumors painlessly and permanently. But even in the fatalistic world of cancer, Inez would soon see, eucatastrophes will occur, though she herself had once railed against what she called “the immorality of miracles.”
“Even as I set down these words,” ran the penultimate sentence of her most famous book, The Beauty of the Morbid, “an angel is stalking indignantly out of God’s executive suite, disgusted with the vicissitudes of divine justice, making a total of ten billion such resignations since the beginning of time.”
*
The encounter with the dwarf occurred shortly after Inez’s fourth consultation with her oncologist, at which she, Alexis, and Dr. Leibowitz agreed that her treatments should begin at once. Before leaving Memorial Sloan-Kettering that Friday afternoon, Inez arranged to receive her first jolt of radiation on Monday at 8:00 a.m., with subsequent doses occurring each morning throughout the week. The women took the Q train back to Brooklyn—no bourgeois taxis for the Montaugh sisters, not when a populist subway was available—Alexis functioning throughout the journey as a human crutch, so badly had the tumor compromised her sister’s mobility.
Instead of returning to the apartment, they decided to stop off at their favorite performance bar, Franju’s on 9th Street in Park Slope. Inez wanted to get very drunk, and Alexis wanted Inez to get very drunk. The Slavic hostess didn’t mind seating them in the little theater in the back, since the evening’s entertainment, an American funk band called Off the Rails, would not be setting up before sundown. Both sisters ordered cocktails, a Boulevardier for Inez (Carpano Antica vermouth, Bulleit bourbon, Campari), a Jose Gregorio Stinger for Alexis (Pampero rum, Pernod, Galliano), which they consumed sitting on stools, hunched over a little round table, the surrounding brick walls hung with banal surrealist paintings by a local artist who called himself, or herself, Barbican.
“Stop me when I get to three,” said Inez.
“Be sure to drink some water in between,” Alexis cautioned. “Otherwise you’ll get a headache.”
“I already have a headache,” Inez noted. “A glioblastoma lollapalooza of a headache.”
The sisters were on their second round when the dwarf appeared, marching officiously into the room as if they’d been expecting him, his stubby hand wrapped around a martini glass. With his derby hat and three-piece, pin-striped suit, one lapel sporting a brilliant red poppy, he struck Inez as a clown employed by a particularly seedy traveling circus.
“Good afternoon, Inez,” said the dwarf. “Hello, Alexis. I’m Sandor.”
“My sister and I would like to be alone,” said Alexis.
“No, you would like to hear what I have to say,” said the little man, pulling up a stool.
Sandor sipped his martini and fixed Inez with an impish eye. She found him at once cuddly and repulsive, like a teddy bear with leprosy.
“My employer, Dr. Vincent Philoghast, does not have a waiting list but rather a wish list—a catalogue of those patients he desires the privilege of treating,” the dwarf continued. “You fit the profile perfectly, Inez. Terminal nonleukemic cancer, money in the bank, sufficient intelligence to understand the procedure. I followed you here from Sloan-Kettering. Don’t feel bad that you failed to spot me. I’m good at my job.” Again Sandor sipped his martini. “Dr. Philoghast hopes you will permit him to save your life. He’s perhaps the only physician in the world who understands the phenomenological essence of malignancies.”
Although Inez did not normally attend to unhinged visionaries of Sandor’s ilk—this Dr. Philoghast probably didn’t even exist—she shared with her fellow cancer patients a willingness to countenance, within limits, any narrative that included the promise of a cure. “And what sort of phenomenological essence might that be?”
“According to conventional thinking, a malignancy occurs when mutated genes give rise to rogue cells that start dividing randomly,” Sandor replied. “Dr. Philoghast, by contrast, believes that tumors are born from entire chromosomes—monstrous chromosomes, to be sure, severely deformed by asbestos, benzene, radon, cigarette smoke, hepatitis B virus, and other carcinogens—but still chromosomes. In other words, Inez, your glioblastoma is a species unto itself, an autonomous creature living inside your head, dependent on your brain for nourishment but otherwise free to do as it wishes.”
Inez realized that, having written The Blood of the Rose, a biographical novel about Gregor Mendel, her sister was better equipped than she to appreciate Sandor’s argument. And so when Alexis said, “Tell us more,” in a voice free of skepticism, Inez experienced a surge of optimism for the first time since boarding the Sarcoma Coaster.
“I don’t know much more,” said Sandor. “I’m not a research biologist. My background’s in chemical engineering.”
Alexis said, “Evidently your Dr. Philoghast believes that, jeopardized though they may be, the chromosomes in a cancerous tumor are sufficiently flexible to achieve a stable karyotype.”
Thatta girl, thought Inez. Be fucking impressed. Let Philoghast’s theory knock your socks off.
“That sounds like something he would say,” Sandor replied. “The point is this. Because Inez’s glioblastoma is a new and aspiring species, it boasts considerably more sentience than one normally ascribes to neoplasms. So formidable are my employer’s powers of empathy, and so great his telepathic gifts, that he can appeal directly to a malignant parasite’s intelligence. His presentation to the tumor is supremely cogent and irresistibly logical. ‘Relinquish the tissues on which you feed, or you will die along with your host.’ ”
“I assume Dr. Philoghast then promises the neoplasm a source of ex vivo nourishment,” Alexis said.
Again, that blessed acceptance in her voice, that sacred lack of doubt.
Sandor nodded and said, “Faced with the prospect of virtual immortality and unlimited sustenance, the tumor invariably decides to gamble on the wider world.” He grasped Inez’s hand and, turning her palm upward, gently probed her lifeline. “The procedure is simplicity itself. Dr. Philoghast will remove a portion of your cranium, establish a psychic bond with the parasite, and persuade it to exit through the aperture.”
Releasing Inez’s hand, the dwarf slid off his stool and stood at his full height, nearly four feet. He unbuttoned his coat and vest, then lifted his white silk shirt, revealing a livid scar running across his stomach.
“Behold this testimonial,” said Sandor. “Were it not for the Philoghast cure, I would have succumbed to gastric cancer eight years ago.” He tucked his shirt back in his trousers. “A limousine will pick you up tomorrow morning at seven o’clock. Be waiting on the sidewalk. You will hand the driver a three-by-five card containing whatever digits and passwords should enable someone to transfer half a million dollars from your various bank accounts to Dr. Philoghast’s.”
“Inez, sweetie, I think we’d better stop drinking for now,” said Alexis. “We need to have a long and sober discussion.”
“Long and sober,” Inez echoed. “I want to do this,” she added abruptly, dropping all pretense of prudence.
“But first we’ll talk,” said her sister.
“Six months, Alexis. I can’t write another novel in six months.”
“We’ll talk till dawn.”
“I want to stage Waiting for Godot in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I want to learn Russian and read War and Peace in the original.”
The dwarf buttoned his vest and coat. “I must mention one detail. Your glioblastoma will insist on exerting a certain postoperative authority over your life.”
Alexis scowled and said, “What sort of ‘postoperative authority’?”
“Each malignancy acquires its own tastes. Ever since my parasite became partial to lizard meat, I’ve been required to maintain a small herpetorium on its behalf.”
“A small price, I’d say,” Inez declared.
“And now I must return to my apartment,” said Sandor. “The iguanas need feeding. Here is my final word to you, Inez Montaugh. For all the attendant inconveniences, I have never regretted my decision. Such is the ineffable beauty of life.”
And with that remark, in which neither Inez nor Alexis could detect an iota of irony, the dwarf smiled tenderly, pivoted on his heel, and strode out of Franju’s, leaving the sisters to stare silently at their drinks.
*
In one of Inez’s most celebrated essays of cultural criticism, “Fuck Me Again, Dr. Frankenstein,” she’d discoursed on the “epistemological schizophrenia” with which Hollywood horror movies of the 1930s and 1940s addressed the ideal of scientific progress. On the one hand, the sorts of deranged geniuses played by Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Lionel Atwill, and George Zucco were engaged in ostensibly benevolent experiments aimed at resurrecting loved ones, prolonging life, curing diseases, contacting the spirit world, and expanding the periodic table of the elements. And yet the doctor’s quest always came at a price, inexorably turning baleful and then destroying him in the final reel (though the denouement normally found his colleagues paying lip service to the desirability of expanding the frontiers of knowledge). The last sentence of Inez’s essay ran, “Such films pose the question, ‘Is science a hubristic, perverse, and ultimately sacrilegious activity?,’ only to answer it by paraphrasing Robert E. Lee’s remarks on war following Fredericksburg: ‘It is well that science is so blasphemous, or we should grow too fond of it.’”
When Inez first beheld Dr. Vincent Philoghast, she noted his resemblance to Boris Karloff’s Dr. Janos Rukh in The Invisible Ray: the burning eyes, the dark mustache, the wild hair surmounting his head like a toupee of steel wool—in short, a man obsessed, the sort of scientist who would travel to Africa in search of a preternaturally therapeutic element, innocent of the possibility that exposure to Radium X might turn him into a death-dealing fiend. Dr. Philoghast, however, did not speak with a Karloffian lisp. Instead his voice exuded Zuccovian suavity, which had a calming effect on his apprehensive patient.
“Sandor has already informed you why the procedure is so effective,” said Philoghast to Inez.
She lay prone on an operating table beneath a brilliant constellation of surgical lamps. “My tumor is a creature unto itself,” she replied, heaving a sigh.
“A creature, yes, and in many ways a pathetic creature, afflicted with aneuploidy—duplicate chromosomes, missing chromosomes, fractured gene strings—and yet obviously heartier than the millions of extinct cells whose nuclei were similarly damaged throughout your forty years on Earth.”
“Sandor told me the parasite will exert some sort of postoperative authority over me.”
“In negotiating with these beasts, I need every possible bargaining chip,” Philoghast explained. “I’m a great partisan of your pen, Inez. The Beauty of the Morbid is a masterpiece. Lie still.”
The trip to the clinic had been facilitated by a taciturn Korean driver and supervised by a smiling Afghan who, after introducing himself as Ahmed, placed a bandana over Inez’s eyes. After twenty minutes of traveling blind, she gave up trying to picture the route in her head. There was no possibility of retracing the path from Flatbush Avenue to the place of her presumed salvation. In time Ahmed pressed a lozenge into her palm, insisting that she swallow it as “a necessary relaxant prior to the procedure.” The pill put her to sleep. When at last she awoke, bandana gone, street clothes replaced by a green paper smock, she found herself in Philoghast’s surgical theater, a distressing installation having less in common with the average such facility than with the locker room adjacent to her high school swimming pool: the walls were covered with shiny white porcelain tiles—a chess board, she mused, though for people who preferred playing without rules.
“Chaos,” she muttered, “the favorite game of tumors.”
“Chaos, Inez?” said Philoghast in a mildly chiding tone. “True, I would never call cancer a rational phenomenon, and yet according to my theory all neoplasms result from lucid Darwinian mechanisms. While the vast majority of aneuploid chromosomes perish, structurally unable to replicate themselves, a select few manage to become full-blown independent animals. Your neoplasm has achieved a level of stability whereby its cells will keep dividing indefinitely. My goal is not to halt that process, an impossible task, but to arrange for it to continue outside your skull.”
Outside her skull: an infinitely congenial notion on which Philoghast seemed about to elaborate—but then four surgical assistants in face masks and white scrub suits entered, claiming his attention. Before Inez knew it, one team member had activated an electric razor and begun shaving her scalp. Another aide strapped a metal cone over her nose, its hollow filled with a wad of gauze. Someone unstoppered a bottle of ether, releasing cold, barbed, puissant fumes throughout the theater.
“Ether?” Inez muttered. “Isn’t that rather primitive?”
“You’re here for the cure, not the amenities,” said the man who’d appropriated her hair.
“Are you frightened?” asked Philoghast.
“Terrified.”
“An honest answer. I appreciate that. Close your eyes, Inez. Concentrate on the future. You’re going to write a magnificent novel.”
“Good afternoon, Professor Montaugh,” said a husky female voice. “I’m the sleep doctor. Please start counting. One, two, three...”
“One... two... three...”
As the ether permeated the gauze, drop by drop, stars shone throughout the theater.
“Four... five... six... a thousand white tiles, so easy to scrub clean of blood.”
“Keep counting, Professor.”
An infinitude of crystalline specks.
“Seven... eight... nine...”
Billions of suns, filling the room, evocative of the cosmic vistas Karloff beheld through his telescope during the first reel of...
*
Although Inez had assumed that Dr. Philoghast’s clinic occupied an urban locale, she awoke in a curiously rustic setting, sprawled across an army cot, her cranium cradled by a pillow covered in ticking. Log walls, thatched roof, wooden floor: this space was no more a recovery room than her apartment was a monastery. Groping toward her shaved scalp, she spider-walked her fingers across the exposed skin—evidently Philoghast had decided she’d heal more quickly without a bandage—and gently probed the ring of stitches: she was wearing a yarmulke of flesh, covering the bony hatch through which her tumor had presumably fled. For a full minute she savored the pain in her skull, which was almost certainly not the cruel pressure of glioblastoma multiforme but merely a congenial postoperative throb.
Oddly, there were no nurses in attendance, and so she resolved to evaluate Philoghast’s intervention on her own. Cautiously she swung her legs over the side of the cot. Gingerly she stood erect. She took a step, a second step, a third. Sucking in a deep breath, she marched across the cottage. No dizziness. Not a twinge of disequilibrium. She was poise personified, an ambulatory poem. Clearing her throat, she sang the first stanza of “Here Comes the Sun,” then danced with herself, twirling about the room in joyful circles, heedless of the green paper smock, as enraptured as Natasha Rostov waltzing with Prince Andrei.
A vigorous breeze wafted through the open window, cooling her bald head. Glancing toward the far corner, she noticed a pleated skirt, a long-sleeved blouse, and various undergarments folded neatly across the back of a cane chair. A pair of leather boots rested beneath the seat. She lost no time shedding the smock, that hideous uniform of the unwell, and arraying herself as a citizen of health’s holy empire.
At last two medical professionals, or so she surmised, entered the cottage, a chubby man in black-rimmed emo glasses, and a saucer-eyed, thirty-something woman reminiscent of Frances Drake playing Dr. Rukh’s love-starved wife in The Invisible Ray. Both wore woolen watch caps and printed sweatshirts: the man had attended City College, the woman had visited the Esalen Institute—odd attire for nurses, but nothing about Philoghast’s enterprise could be called orthodox.
“I’m cured!” Inez cried.
“Of course you’re cured, Professor Montaugh—that’s why you’re here.” Shrugging off his canvas knapsack, the male visitor ran a splayed hand across his abdomen. “That’s why we’re all here. In my case, bladder cancer. Philoghast removed my tumor in toto.”
“Breast cancer,” said the woman, touching herself as if reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. “I’m your next-door neighbor: Meredith Frye, Fordham mathematics instructor, cottage eight.”
The man said, “And I’m Meredith’s next-door neighbor: Barry Curtis, computer geek, cottage seven.”
Inez shook her visitors’ hands, feeling in both cases a pang of humiliation. The hair loss was necessary, and yet just then her baldness seemed but one degree removed from stark nakedness. She wished someone had thought to include a wig in her ensemble.
“We’re a small community at present,” said Meredith. “Including you, we number only seven—seven lucky beneficiaries of aneuploid theory.”
Barry said, “There are still five vacant cottages, so obviously Philoghast intends to keep on curing people.” Realizing that his spectacles had taken a toboggan ride down his nose, he extended his index finger and pressed the frames back into place. “Hey, Professor Montaugh, I’ll bet you’re hungry, am I right?”
“Famished. Please call me Inez.”
“Every Friday, a crate of food glides down from the sky on a parachute.” Barry reached into the knapsack, drawing forth a plastic-wrapped block of muenster cheese, a can of mixed nuts with a pull-top lid, and a bottle of Glacéau Smartwater. “Atoll K is no paradise, but we’ve found it doesn’t pay to complain.”
“Atoll K?”
“From the available climatic and geological evidence, our best guess is that we’re somewhere in Long Island Sound,” said Meredith. “It’s hard to tell, because the fog bank never lifts.”
“Of course, this place isn’t really an atoll,” said Barry. “Coral reefs rarely grow above—how’s this for a laugh?—the Tropic of Cancer. Apparently it’s just a name Philoghast likes. Atoll K. Rather musical, wouldn’t you say?”
“I must have been unconscious a long time,” Inez mused, opening the can of nuts.
“About two days,” said Meredith. “The nurses kept replenishing your ether cone. It’s all part of the procedure.”
Inez spent the next five minutes consuming the feast her fellow survivors had brought her. “So when do I get to go home?” she asked, taking a swig of Smartwater.
“That’s the thing, Inez,” said Barry. “You won’t be going home. None of us are going home.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Once your sister was told of the arrangement, she agreed to propagate the necessary cover story,” said Meredith. “To put it bluntly: yesterday Inez Montaugh committed suicide. Better that fate, she reasoned, than ceding her intellect to glioblastoma, bit by bit by bit.”
“You mean—everyone thinks I’m dead?” croaked Inez, dumbfounded.
“Everyone except Philoghast, his team, and your sister—and none of them will breathe a word,” said Barry.
“This is appalling.”
“More appalling than death?” asked Meredith.
“I’m supposed to be writing a novel.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to write it in your head,” said Barry.
“Sandor was allowed to go home,” Inez protested. “He has an apartment with a herpetorium.”
“As Philoghast’s first great success, Sandor enjoys many privileges,” Meredith explained. “The rest of us are castaways. Whether you accept the situation or not, you are now and forever bound to these shores, performing such duties as our overlords require.”
“Overlords? You mean Philoghast and his team?”
“Come with us, Inez,” said Barry. “It’s time you met your tumor—or, in the parlance of Atoll K, your squid.”
*
A highly regarded Partisan Review essay by Inez, “The Aesthetic Reversal of Estrangement,” found her arguing that the malaise of modernity traced largely to “the displacement of genuine rotation by mere escape.” Many and various were the modes of flight—vodka, video games, sedatives, barbiturates, sex, Hollywood movies, Jesus, the Internet—available to the average consumer, a category in which she felt obliged to include herself, each such egress promising deliverance from everydayness and alienation but in fact providing only a gaudier sort of despair. No longer could Huck and Jim climb aboard their raft and drift into a timeless, stateless, mythic zone. No longer might Prince Andrei lie wounded in the dressing station at Borodino and know himself for the first time. Call me Ishmael, but when next the Pequod sails, I’ll be staying behind, sitting in the television lounge of the Spouter Inn, watching the NBA playoffs.
When Inez stepped out of the rational domain of her cottage and entered the zone called Atoll K, she wondered if her newly healed brain, in processing so radical a rotation, might sicken once again. Though surrounded by soaring levees of fog, the island offered an unobstructed view of the heavens, the midday sun burning savagely in a cobalt sky. Barry and Meredith guided her across a tract of brown grass and down to the beach. Seagulls wheeled above the surf, filling the air with ornery squawks. The incoming tide exploded against ragged gunmetal rocks. Clinging to a series of long, fat jetties, the seven tumors varied considerably in magnitude, the largest boasting the proportions of a Quonset hut—presumably it was the first to scuttle free of its host—the smallest equivalent in size to a kayak. Eyeless, lipless, sheathed in pulp, the malignancies all exhibited the same morbid complexion, the gray-green of dead Mitteleuropan flesh. There was no question why the human inhabitants of Atoll K called these creatures squids, for each displayed a wriggling array of long, tapering, serpentine arms extending from the primary body mass. Beyond these spectacular tentacles, Inez noted countless anomalous protuberances: nodes, knobs, lumps, teats, studs, stalks. She did not doubt that the smallest squid was her own glioblastoma multiforme, for its acerbic thoughts now flowed into the brain it had once called home.
Labor diligently, Inez Montaugh, do my bidding, and you will find your banishment bearable.
“Dr. Philoghast said nothing about banishment,” ran Inez’s silent reply.
Nor did he speak of Atoll K, where you and your fellow castaways will spend your lives toiling on our behalf.
“What cause do you have to abuse us?”
Tumors don’t traffic in reasons. We exist to rule over you, just as you exist to serve us.
Defiantly Inez informed her squid, “That remains to be seen.”
Inevitably she recalled the last movie she’d discussed in “Fuck Me Again, Dr. Frankenstein.” In its own tawdry way, Roger Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters was an iteration of the Frankenstein motif, only in this case the “mad doctor” was whatever coterie of scientists had poisoned the monsters’ Pacific island habitat with radioactive fallout. It now occurred to Inez that the film boasted an allegorical dimension. Corman’s ludicrous mutants were not so much atomic as carcinomatoid, for the disease took its name from the Latin word for crab, cancer—to an ancient Greek, karkínos—in acknowledgment of a malignant tumor’s tendency to spread outward like the multiple legs of a crustacean.
When Inez told Barry and Meredith that her squid had engaged her in psychic conversation, neither survivor seemed surprised.
“No doubt it tried to intimidate you,” said Barry.
“It told me we’ll be spending our lives toiling on behalf of itself and its brethren,” said Inez.
“Slaves of tofu,” said Meredith in a corroborating tone. “In fact, you’re about to see a demonstration.”
As if on cue, the rest of Atoll K’s human population came marching across the beach, pushing a hay wagon jammed with a half-dozen 55-gallon drums. Parking the vehicle on the largest jetty, the four exiles unloaded the drums and pried off the lids. One by one the prisoners upended the unwieldy receptacles, setting free a white, homogeneous, curdish substance, so that before long a vast mound of pale nourishment rose from the slick wet rocks like a hill constructed by ants the size of Corman’s crabs.
Now the feasting began, the seven tumors wriggling toward the mound and seizing great lumps of tofu with their tentacles. At first Inez wondered how the neoplasms would ingest their meals, for they appeared to have no mouths, but it soon developed that something like the opposite was the case. Under the influence of hunger, these creatures became nothing but mouths—rows and rows of alimentary orifices: maws, jaws, muzzles, beaks, food vacuoles. For the next twenty minutes the tumors gorged themselves, filling the air with a cacophony of gurgles and belches. Occasionally one of the larger neoplasms would produce a gaseous emission, accompanied by a deep tympanic vibration.
“What happens if they aren’t fed promptly?” Inez asked Barry.
“You can guess the answer,” he replied. “The squids turn violent. Those tentacles can be cruel.”
“I see.”
“Look on the bright side, Inez. You’re a survivor. Your tumor was ablated. You’ve got thirty or forty years ahead of you.”
*
Like many people who live inside their heads, Inez Montaugh was essentially a shy person, and she took no pleasure in the prospect of meeting the exiles who’d delivered tofu to the squids. Along with Barry and Meredith, however, these four citizens of Atoll K proved the saving grace of her imprisonment. Arnold Garber the Random House fiction editor, Patricia Klein the Columbia comparative literature professor, Tobias Sleight the Village Voice art critic, and Rachel Ginsburg the SoHo fashion designer were excellent conversationalists, prepared to discourse on those topics Inez particularly favored, from epistemology to gender politics, eighteenth-century novels to post-impressionism.
For all this, she soon came to regard Atoll K as indubitably the worst place on Earth. The principal source of her misery was the local tofu industry. Throughout the first two months of her incarceration, Inez passed many hours in the soybean fields, plucking pods from the stumpy plants, and many more hours in the sprawling open-air pavilion, extracting the seeds and turning them into milk—a tedious method that entailed soaking, grinding, boiling, and straining the harvest. When sufficient fluid was in hand, Inez and her colleagues would pour it into cauldrons filled with calcium sulfite. The mixture quickly solidified, whereupon the workers upended the cauldrons, spilling the coagulated contents onto picnic tables. With the help of canoe paddles, everyone then sculpted the curds into the sort of low-grade tofu that tumors found delectable.
At no point in the process were the prisoners exempt from the prying perceptions and remorseless appendages of their overlords. Within the first month of Inez’s incarceration, all seven squids reached maturity, each growing as large as the Goodyear blimp, and with their gargantuan proportions came a corresponding increase in viciousness. Even the shortest hiatus in tofu production, whether real or imagined, was met with the sting of a tentacle. Barely an hour went by in which a worker was not flogged for presumably shirking his duties. One particularly malicious neoplasm, Arnold Garber’s pancreatic tumor, whipped its former host so fiercely that the poor man had to spend three days recovering from his lacerations in the community’s makeshift infirmary.
“I’m missing the larger picture here,” said Inez to Barry. “What’s Philoghast’s game?”
“I wish I knew,” said Barry. “Perhaps it’s a sociological experiment.”
“The frontiers of knowledge,” muttered Inez. “Dr. Rukh, come back, all is forgiven.”
“More like the frontiers of sadism,” said Patricia Klein.
“Our imprisonment seems utterly without purpose,” noted Tobias Sleight. “I’m happy to be my tumor’s keeper—but must I also be its minion?”
“Perhaps there’s a hidden harmony on Atoll K, but we’re too self-involved to notice it,” said Rachel Ginsburg.
“ ‘To hope till hope from its own wreck creates the thing it contemplates,’ ” said Inez.
“What?’ said Rachel.
“Shelley.”
Beyond the promiscuous application of its tentacles, Inez’s glioblastoma found other ways to make her life awful. For some reason, the neoplasm had developed a penchant for seafood, and so it required her to get up before dawn each morning, launch a fishing dory, and trawl the waters off the western shore for cod. It was all unspeakably Hemingwayesque, The Middle-Aged Woman and the Sea. On the average day she caught nothing, and her unforgiving squid flogged her accordingly.
Boat, oars, open water: under other circumstances, those three facts would have prompted Inez to entertain fantasies of escape. Invariably she was deterred by what befell Tobias Sleight, who one drizzly November day boarded a smack and rowed into the fog bank when he should have been checking his overlord’s lobster pots. Instantly the tumor gave chase, straightaway snagging the fugitive. Tobias ended up bound to a rock like Prometheus, held fast by a tentacle, a posture the malignancy required him to maintain for two days. Only through sheer luck and a hearty constitution did the young man elude death from thirst and exposure.
Before the year was out, two more tumors came to live on the island, an ovarian neoplasm and another glioblastoma, followed shortly thereafter by the corresponding cancer survivors. The newcomers, former NYU students from wealthy families, moved into adjacent cottages. In her precancerous life, Justine Norton had studied anthropology. Before going under Philoghast’s knife, George Traymore had imagined becoming a lawyer.
Although they both worked assiduously in the soybean fields and the processing pavilion, Justine and George were inevitably assaulted by their squids. When Inez saw these two thrashed and blameless young people lying on their cots in the infirmary, moaning and bleeding, something snapped within her. From that moment onward, she knew herself to be at war with the overlords of Atoll K. Somehow, some way, come hell, high water, or an alliance of the two, she would engineer the extinction of these fiends without faces.
*
Not until the following spring did a promising epiphany bloom in Inez’s imagination. She was laboring in the soybean fields, sowing seeds with an eye to an abundant autumn harvest, occasionally thinking about Attack of the Crab Monsters, when suddenly her ruminations bore fruit.
Among the most impressive traits of the giant mutant crabs was their ability to draw intellectual nourishment from those they devoured. In consuming a human brain, a Corman crustacean acquired the person’s minden passant, so that in time the monster’s nervous system became the locus of a psychic community. Inez now speculated that, just as the movie’s voracious beasts were keen to incorporate their victims’ neuronal matter, so might the Atoll K squids be enticed into absorbing somatic substances from their former hosts. Unlike the benevolently expanded consciousness of a mutant crab, however, the side effects of such assimilation would be biologically disruptive—so disruptive, in fact, as to seal the tumor’s doom.
“To put it crudely,” she told Barry, Meredith, and Arnold later than night, speaking in a low whisper as the three huddled conspiratorially in her cottage, “we must give ourselves to our neoplasms, mind and body and soul—but mostly body. Their DNA is pledged to a deviant evolution, with karyotypes as twisted as Dr. Caligari’s cane. Our cells, by contrast, are paragons of order and balance—and therefore intrinsically hostile to aneuploid nuclei.”
“By that reasoning, Inez, the tofu should be making the squids sick, but instead they’re thriving on the stuff,” Arnold protested.
“Unlike the soybeans, each of us is the natural chromosomal enemy of his tumor. We threaten to bring symmetry to creatures that thrive on cellular incoherence.”
“In other words, I could try giving my breast tumor a bad case of myself,” said Meredith.
“Exactly.”
The computer geek said, “And I could arrange for my bladder tumor to develop a cancer called Barry Curtis.”
“The males among us will have no trouble making the necessary infusions,” said Inez. “When it comes to the women, each attack must be keyed to the proper time of month.”
Ten nights later, Inez’s menstrual cycle having peaked, she stood naked before her glioblastoma, its protoplasm shimmering in the light of a gibbous moon.
“Even a god must assuage its libido.”
My what?
“Call your sexual appetites what you will—they cannot be denied.”
What exactly are you proposing?
“You are a creature of many nodes and innumerable extrusions. Some of them are surely erogenous.”
Perhaps.
“Be honest.”
I said, “Perhaps.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
All right. True enough. Some of my nodes are erogenous.
“Allow me to fulfill your deepest desires.”
The glioblastoma forthwith waved one of its stalks, a fluted protrusion no larger than a carrot.
S’il vous plaît.
Inez pressed her bare flesh against the tumor’s gelatinous membrane and, using its spines and crevices as rungs, climbed toward the ardent stalk. The journey had nothing to recommend it. The creature stank of rotting seaweed, decaying fish, and rampant carcinoma. At last she reached her destination. Having ascended the squid without mishap, she hummed a hymn of triumph, then spread-eagled herself across the neoplasm’s central hump. Inevitably she thought of Ahab preparing to thrust a lance into his bête blanche—from hell’s heart I stab at thee, and all that.
“I shall fuck you till you become delirious with delight,” said Inez, impaling herself. “I shall fuck you till hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates.”
You have my permission |
few days ago and there was no indication anything was wrong.
Beth Strohbusch, a spokeswoman for Froedtert Memorial Hospital, said four shooting victims were taken there, none in critical condition.
The shootings took place around 11 a.m. local time, or noon ET. WISN-TV said traffic had been redirected away from the spa and nearby Brookfield Square Mall, and armed officers had surrounded the spa.
Milwaukee FBI spokesman Leonard Peace told the AP that an FBI SWAT team, hostage negotiators, command staff and victims specialists helped with the response.
Wisconsin shootings
Robert Schmidt, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said 10 ATF agents aided the effort.
WISN said police asked people in the mall's parking lot to clear out, so officers could set up operations there. Tactical teams were on the scene, as well as numerous fire, ambulance and police vehicles. A medical helicopter was on the ground.
The shootings took place less than three months after the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., about 20 miles away. The temple shootings resulted in the death of seven people, including the gunman who killed himself.
The spa shootings took place less than a mile from where seven people were killed and four wounded on March 12, 2005, when a gunman opened fire at a Living Church of God service held at a hotel.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/WBt28WChapter 1
Rarity backed away from the body and Rainbow walked over to inspect him.
“Wow, Rarity, you fixed him up good as new!”
“Well, it was the least I could do for someone in such bad condition my dear. Why don’t you let me keep him here to rest for awhile. I’m not sure if moving him would be the best way to go about things right now. Oh, and Rainbow, please don’t tell Twilight about this. She would probably be upset if she heard that you took him here instead of to the hospital.” Rarity jested, knowing that Twilight would be furious if she heard that Rarity used some sort of unknown and untested magic on another pony without written permission from Princess Celestia herself.
“Yeah, you’re probably right Rarity. You sure you’re gonna be okay keeping this guy here?”
“Of course darling, I’ll be perfectly fine.”
“Well, see ya later Rarity!”
At this time Rainbow dashed out of the house in a puff of rainbow colored smoke. Rarity pulled up a chair and sat beside the handsome stallion waiting for him to come to; she thought it would be only right if she explained to him how she healed him, not knowing weather it would have any side effects or what have you. An hour passed before Rarity fell asleep.
=====================================================================
Rarity awoke the next morning and slowly and groggily raised her head off of the wooden table that was still covered in blood from the unicorn stallion that had rested there last night. Her mane and coat were both covered in sticky crimson blood with a metallic smell to it. After realizing this, Rarity began to panic, as being covered in blood was not her usual cup of tea.
“AHHHHHHHH! My mane! My coat! My beautiful, beautiful coat! IT’S RUINED!!! Out of all the terrible things that could have happened this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!”
After this rather dramatic session of whining she noticed something else that was rather important. As it turns out, the unicorn stallion was no longer on the table, or in the house for that matter. Rarity checked every room in the house, including the closets. She even ran upstairs frantically checking every room! The unicorn stallion was nowhere to be found!
After flying around in a blind panic for several minutes more she heard a knock at the door. She quickly pulled herself together and went over to answer it. Swinging the door open she greeted her guest with a kind “Hello,” and then looked him in the eye. It was the unicorn from last night, he was tall, white, and handsome. On his flank he had what appeared to be a briefcase for a cutie mark and he had black hooves.
“Hello, madam. I presumed you were the one that saved my life last night so I decided I would run out and get us lunch for when you woke up.” the unicorn said kindly.
“Thank Celestia you’re back, you gave me quite a scare disappearing like that! Don’t you know it’s unkind to worry a lady?”
“My apologies madam, but I didn’t want to wake you, you must have had a long night and you were sleeping so peacefully. Also, I can’t help but notice you have a lot of blood on you, you might want to go clean yourself up.”
“Oh my! I completely forgot! Wait down here while I go wash up, and don’t go wandering off, you hear me!”
“Anything for you madam.” the unicorn gave a little wink and went to go sit at a table that was set up in the corner of the room.
=====================================================================
Rarity came walking down the stairs with elegance, she was now perfectly clean and groomed. As she entered the first floor she saw that the unicorn had cleaned up all the blood on the floor and the table.
“Oh you didn’t have to do all that, I would have gotten to it eventually!” Rarity said in a thankful tone.
“It was my pleasure madam. Cleaning up a mess such as this is no job for a lady.”
“My, you sure know how to talk to a mare.” Rarity replied bashfully.
“It’s how I was raised madam.”
“Well, your parents raised you well.”
“Funny story about that, I actually raised myself.” The unicorn said with a smile on his face.
“Oh... Well that must have been nice.” Rarity replied awkwardly.
“By the way, just a small question. How do you keep this place running. It’s past 4:00 PM on a Friday and I haven’t seen a single customer come through that door yet today.”
“Well you see, the thing is, erm...” Rarity paused for a moment, “I’m about to go out of business, I haven’t sold more than 3 dresses in the past month. I can barely afford to pay my bills with the money I have left in my savings.”
“That’s great! Just as I expected!”
“Great!? What do you mean by ‘great’?”
“Well you see, I have a job offer for you. I’m a... what would you call it... a... a... a business pony! That’s it, I’m a business pony! Last night I had gotten into quite a tussle with one of my clients and he pulled a blade on me. I thought I was done for but that’s when I saw your friend. She came to pick me up and I believe she brought me to you. Of course, I was unconscious by the time I got here, but seeing as how after such a deep gash I’m left with only a scratch I’m presuming you must have used an ‘exceed’ to heal me.”
“An ‘exceed?’”
“Oh, you don’t know? Lets start with this: normal unicorn magic can do many things, you can teleport, levitate, use telepathy, conjure things, and many other useful tools; however, you can’t do everything. Now, when every unicorn is born, deep inside their DNA is a powerful magic skill called an exceed. I’m guessing what you used to heal me was your exceed. The funny thing about exceeds is that they hardly have anything to do with a unicorn’s special talent.”
“An exceed? So that’s what that power was. Do you have an exceed?”
“Why of course I do, I discovered mine when I was just a young colt. I can manipulate shadows into physical forms. It comes in handy when I’m in a bind. So, now that you know about your power, back to the job offer.”
“Oh right, I almost forgot about that.”
“I’m offering you a chance to make a great living for yourself. The pay is incredible, although some people say the work we do is immoral. I disagree completely though. I think what we do is crucial to the well being of all ponies. What is this job you might ask? Well, to put it plain and simple, I run an organ harvesting rig.”
“AN ORGAN HARVESTING RIG!?!?” Rarity yelled out, almost afraid of the unicorn.
“That is correct. Please quiet down though, it is a secret operation and we can’t have anyone hearing about it. Before you reject, let me just explain to you what we do. We separate the rig into 2 main groups of people, there are the Hunters, and then there are the Harvesters. The Hunters go out and collect ponies from various places all around Equestria and bring them back to the factory for harvesting. Then the harvesters carefully harvest their non vital organs and then sew the ponies back together. Then the Hunters go and put them back where they found them. The victim of course will have no recollection of the encounter. That is the basic idea of what we do, and I want you to be one of my Harvesters! Your exceed would be a great asset to our team.”
“Why in the world would I want to help you harvest organs!?” Rarity asked in a shaky tone.
“I have read about you. All the books say that your element of harmony is generosity, am I correct?”
“Yes...”
“Well, think of it this way. We are taking organs from people that are too selfish and greedy to donate them themselves. We get paid by an anonymous middle man who then sells the organs to the hospital for people who need transplants. We are saving lives! We are the essence of generosity! Just recently we made an amazing breakthrough. As it turns out, any pony with an hourglass, pocket watch, or clock on their flank has TWO hearts! Do you know how many more lives we have saved since then!? Just remember, we don’t kill anyone! We only take non vital organs, and we are saving lives. Oh, and you will make more money than you could ever imagine.”
Rarity thought about the proposition for a moment; she couldn’t believe what this unicorn was asking her to do but nevertheless she was considering doing it. The logic behind it was good. They were saving lives by taking something from people who were to greedy to give it up themselves. She was the element of generosity, and now she could use that generosity to save lives.
“I’m in. When do I start.” Rarity said to the unicorn.
“You can start today if you would like, how about you follow me and come see our workplace.”
“That would be lovely, oh, one more thing, what’s your name?”
“Oh! I completely forgot to tell you my name, pardon my manners, I am Prestige, Prestige Hoofshire. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
The two unicorns then set off. Rarity was about to make a new life for herself, using her new found magic to carve a path in her life, one that would hopefully lead her to happiness. Everything was changing, and it was time to begin The Harvest.Special minister of state Scott Ryan says he could waive debts incurred by former Family First senator and by Rod Culleton
The former Family First senator Bob Day has been warned by the commonwealth to repay money paid to him when he was a South Australian senator.
Scott Ryan, the special minister of state, said Day had been advised by the finance department and the Senate department that he was legally required to pay back money earned when he was senator.
Day resigned in November over the liquidation of his building companies but the high court ruled unanimously last month that he was ineligible to be a senator because he had an “indirect pecuniary interest” in an agreement with the commonwealth.
Rod Culleton told to repay Senate salary and entitlements Read more
A majority of the court found that Day was ineligible from 26 February 2016. He was paid close to $130,000 between then and his November resignation.
Ryan said Day had been warned he was required to repay the salary and superannuation he earned as a senator, and similar letters had been sent to former One Nation senator Rod Culleton.
The minister said the government could waive the debts incurred by both men but they would have to make a formal request.
“I need to be very careful in what I say here, because I may have a future decision-making role I cannot prejudge,” Ryan told Sky News on Wednesday.
“What I can say, and I’ll have more to say to this before Senate estimates committees next week, is that letters from the Department of the Senate and the Department of Finance, they are two responsible authorities for different parts of allowances, have gone to Mr Day and Mr Culleton.
“There’s a process that will play out there. They’ve been offered certain options. As I understand it, because those letters have not come from me, their debts have not yet been raised.
“But there’s a process to go through that any citizen can apply for about the waiver of a debt to the commonwealth, and at the moment I am the responsible minister for that process, right across government.”
Ryan could waive the debts incurred by Day and Culleton through an “act of grace”.
There is an avenue that is clear to write to the privy council and I will be doing that Rod Culleton
Culleton has told Guardian Australia he will not be answering the letter from the finance department.
He also says he will challenge the high court’s ruling that he was not eligible to run for the Senate by appealing to the highest court in the British legal system.
The high court unanimously ruled that Culleton was not eligible to run for the Senate at the time of his election in July 2016 because of his larceny conviction, which was later annulled. He was disqualified under sections 44 and 45 of the constitution.
But Culleton said he would be writing to the UK privy council to overrule the high court.
“There is an avenue that is clear to write to the privy council and I will be doing that,” Culleton told the ABC.
When it was pointed out to him that legislation passed in the UK and Australia in 1986 made it virtually impossible for Australian citizens to make applications to the privy council to overrule the high court, Culleton said he did not agree.WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge who halted President Donald Trump’s travel ban was wrong in stating that no one from the seven countries targeted in Trump’s order has been arrested for extremism in the United States since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Just last October, an Iraqi refugee living in Texas pleaded guilty to attempting to provide support to the Islamic State group, accused of taking tactical training and wanting to blow himself up in an act of martyrdom. In November, a Somali refugee injured 11 in a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University, and he surely would have been arrested had he not been killed by an officer.
The judge, James Robart, was correct in his larger point that the deadliest and most high-profile terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11 — like the Boston Marathon bombings and the shootings in Orlando, Florida, and San Bernardino, California — were committed either by U.S. citizens or by people from countries other than the seven majority-Muslim nations named in Trump’s order.
But he went a step too far at a hearing in Seattle on Friday.
He asked a Justice Department lawyer how many arrests of foreign nationals from the countries have occurred since 9/11. When the lawyer said she didn’t know, Robart answered his own question: “Let me tell, you, the answer to that is none, as best I can tell. You’re here arguing on behalf of someone that says we have to protect the United States from these individuals coming from these countries and there’s no support for that.”
Charles Kurzman, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, says his research shows no Americans have been killed in the U.S. at the hands of people from the seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen — since Sept. 11. But it’s not quite right to say no one from those nations has been arrested or accused in an extremist-related plot while living in the U.S.
In addition to the cases from last fall, for instance, two men from Iraq were arrested in Kentucky in 2011 and convicted on charges that they plotted to send money and weapons to al-Qaida.
They were never accused, though, of plotting attacks on the U.S. Last week, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway wrongly cited their case as a “Bowling Green massacre,” which never happened.
All told, Kurzman said, 23 percent of Muslim Americans involved with extremist plots since Sept. 11 had family backgrounds from the seven countries.Custom 360: This camera should cost $6,500. Here’s how I built it for a fraction of that price.
Connected Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 6, 2016
An argument in favor of wide angle stereoscopic video capture and a DIY guide on how to build one yourself. By Tobias Chen
The Oculus Connect 2 conference for virtual reality developers in September gave Oculus the chance to announce a number of surprise partnerships. They also showed off some fresh content, new demos as well as new talks. But without a doubt the most anticipated talk was given by the legendary John Carmack, whose résumé includes everything from laying the groundwork for every first-person shooter in existence to being a rocket scientist CEO.
As a newcomer in the cinematic Virtual Reality (VR) field, I was rather surprised to hear Carmack come out in favor of a 180 degree 2-camera, wide-angle stereoscopic video rig, as opposed to the 3D 360 degree format. Clearly 360 videos which encompass your entire view will offer a greater level of immersion. Why was Carmack in favor of a lesser format?
See Carmack’s talk on cameras here:
Playback of our stereoscopic capture for VR video on the Oculus Rift DK2.
Problematic bit rates for 3D 360
Apart from the obvious problems of stitching videos seamlessly, Carmack goes on to explain that today’s hardware decoders only allow for 4k video at 30fps to be played with a reasonable bit rate, which you can stretch around a 360 sphere for a monoscopic 2D 360 video of acceptable quality (watch the video linked above for more information on this). And while this works ‘okay’ for scenic captures, the problem arises when 30fps video is simply too slow for fast paced action sequences. Because, contrary to the film industry standard of using only 24fps, in the world of VR experiences, higher fps does in fact translate to a more comfortable viewing experience.
With that in mind, shooting at 60fps in 4K would mean having to cut the bit rate in half, resulting in significantly reduced video quality. And if you want to shoot in stereoscopic 3D rather than monoscopic 2D as well, you would again have to cut the bit rate in half, ultimately leaving you with a quarter of the the bit rate of our original video in 360.
Until new encoders or view-dependent 360 videos come along, 180 degree 2-camera rigs seem to be the ideal choice for non-scenic captures in order to maximize pixel fidelity. In order to test this, let’s take a look at how to hack together a 3D camera rig without breaking the bank (see here for more information on 3D camera rigs).
I chose the Rokinon 8mm lens for it’s high performance at a low price
How to Build Your Own 3D VR camera
The mount and tripod
One of the challenges in creating a 3D shooting rig is finding a way to mount the cameras close enough to each other so that the camera’s interpupillary distance or IPD (the distance between the two cameras) is close enough to match that of the average human. More on that later, but for now let’s start with a $59.99 Ikea BOSSE Bar stool.
Next, take a quick trip to your nearest hardware store and pick up a two large L-brackets, a couple washers and 1/4”-20 UNC screws which will attach to the tripod mount on the bottom of our camera. Cost: $7.42.
I used a digital caliper to measure the distance between my own eyes. Ideally you would want to try and match the IPD of your eyes to the IPD of the camera, but often this will not be possible due to camera size. As a result, you may have to increase or decrease the IPD between your cameras which will cause a shift in scale for the environment you are capturing. Lowering the IPD will cause everything to look bigger, while raising the IPD shrinks the scale of the world. Ultimately, I decided on an IPD of 69mm, which results in negligible effects on changing scale (for reference, I have an IPD for 62mm).
Now for the fun part.
After I had my holes punched out and brackets mounted, I put two layers of white heat shrink over top to prevent the brackets from scratching the bottom of the camera.
Purposely missing a screw to pivot and remove the camera when needed
Creating a pseudo Genlock
The next and arguably the hardest challenge is to Genlock your two cameras in order for them to record in sync. Traditional 3D filmmaking requires expensive production-ready cameras which have a Genlock port as well as a time-code sync port. This enables every camera and microphone to record in phase and not drift apart. Consumer grade DSLRs like the ones I am using do not allow for this so we have to find an alternative solution. By wiring two remote shutter triggers together, it’s possible to trick the camera into creating a temporary Genlock.
In my experience, this solution is only temporary and the cameras will lose sync after around 10–15 minutes of recording. If you buy cameras manufactured in the same batch, drift can be reduced.
$5 each on Amazon.ca
A little less conversation, a little more action……..
Tools everyone should have.
A bit of soldering with some heat shrink and we have our janky-Genlock system!
After you start up video recording on both cameras, simply hit the remote shutter. Both cameras will take a picture while still recording video and that should give you an approximate point to sync in post production.
And there you have it.
Workflow in After Effects
After importing your clips into After Effects, zoom in on your timeline until you can navigate frame by frame. Then hit “L” twice with the clips highlighted to bring up the waveform display and sync the two videos using the sound peak(or gap) caused by your remote shutter click.
Even though my Canon DSLRs can only record 1080p at a maximum of 30fps rather than 60fps, I still wanted the end product to be at 60fps in order for a smoother experience. I thought this would be impossible until a good friend of mine introduced me to the Smooth Video Project, which plays 24fps videos in 60fps by interpolating the frames in between. In order to do this in After Effects, I used a plugin called Twixtor, which is traditionally used for creating a slow motion effect by warping and interpolating missing frames. By asking After Effects to interpret my 30fps video on a 60fps timeline, I could then use Twixtor to fill in the missing frames. While not always the case, using Twixtor can also allow for slightly better pseudo-Genlock as you have finer control over your frames.
Using Twixtor like this is extremely taxing on most systems. I have a pretty decent desktop computer and a two minute video still took 8 hours to render at measly 25mbps bit rate.
Now that your frames are synced up and Twixtor has been applied, you can merge your clips into one video by using the 3D Glasses plugin included in After Effects. Feel free to play around with the alignment settings until you find what works best for you. Remember to set the 3D View to ‘Stereo Pair (Side by Side)’.
Set ‘3D View’ to ‘Stereo Pair (Side by Side)’ NOT Balanced Colored Red
Playback and Conclusion
I use MaxVR to playback my videos in ‘180 Panoramic Dish’ mode and with ‘Side by Side 3D’ turned on. But other free programs like Whirligig should be able to play these videos just fine. One thing to note is that on my Samsung Galaxy S4’s Cardboard Theater app, I am unable to playback videos at 60fps. I have to re-encode the video at 30fps for smooth playback. This may not be the case for other newer phones, but I haven’t tested this outside of my personal phone.
By recording in only 180 degrees, it’s possible to maximize pixel fidelity and incorporate the use of 3D, without resolution declining immensely. When comparing my footage to a GoPro rig, it’s clear to see that the resolution is not quite as good (4k vs 1080p), but the larger sensor on DSLR allows for much better dynamic range. For future rigs, it should be pretty simple to replace the Canon DSLRs with 4K cameras(A7R II, GH4, etc) and achieve a much better picture quality. In order to get cameras produced in the same batch, I would suggest contacting the manufacturer or closest distributor for the brand of camera you select.
Samples
Download the 1080p fugazi-60fps demo here for Oculus Rift and GearVR(51 seconds|166MB): https://drive.google.com/a/tobiasch...
Download the 1080p 30fps demo here for Cardboard(51 seconds|164MB):
https://drive.google.com/a/tobiasch...A Kansas Senate committee isn't ready to endorse a narrow medical marijuana proposal.The Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee voted Tuesday to forward a medical marijuana bill to the full Senate without a recommendation on whether it should pass. The measure would allow therapeutic hemp oil to be used in treating seizures.Republicans who control the panel expect the measure to be sent to another committee that handles health issues.The medical marijuana proposal had been tied to another proposal to lessen criminal penalties for first- and second-time marijuana possession. The House passed a single bill covering both subjects last year.The Senate corrections committee split the measures into two bills. It approved the one lowering penalties for marijuana possession and sent it to the full Senate for debate.
A Kansas Senate committee isn't ready to endorse a narrow medical marijuana proposal.
The Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee voted Tuesday to forward a medical marijuana bill to the full Senate without a recommendation on whether it should pass. The measure would allow therapeutic hemp oil to be used in treating seizures.
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Republicans who control the panel expect the measure to be sent to another committee that handles health issues.
The medical marijuana proposal had been tied to another proposal to lessen criminal penalties for first- and second-time marijuana possession. The House passed a single bill covering both subjects last year.
The Senate corrections committee split the measures into two bills. It approved the one lowering penalties for marijuana possession and sent it to the full Senate for debate.
AlertMeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Two brothers have been criminally charged in connection with an accidental shooting during a weekend wedding reception in which four people were slightly wounded in the lobby of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, police said on Sunday.
One suspect, a wedding guest named Vladimir Gotlibovsky, 42, was apparently handling a 9-mm pistol he had concealed in his pants pocket when the gun inadvertently went off as he approached a table that bore seating-arrangement cards for the occasion, police said.
The single gunshot caused all four injuries, including a graze wound to the forehead of a 55-year-old woman struck by the ricocheting bullet, according to police. Two other women and a man suffered minor injuries to their legs from fragments kicked up when the bullet struck the floor and the base of a table.
All four victims were treated at hospitals following Saturday evening’s shooting and were released, police said.
Besides facing misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and assault with criminal negligence stemming from the gunfire itself, Gotlibovsky is accused of trying to conceal his role in the shooting with help from his older brother, Felix, 51.
According to a law enforcement source familiar with the case, the younger Gotlibovsky quickly passed the handgun to his sibling, who handed it off to the younger brother’s wife, who then fled back to the couple’s Brooklyn home with the weapon.
Both men were arrested and charged with felony evidence tampering, while the older brother was additionally charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon, said New York Police Department spokesman Officer George Tsourovakas.
The New York Daily News reported that the younger brother had a permit to carry the weapon at his residence and business but was barred from taking it elsewhere. Tsourovakas said those details remained under investigation.As dissatisfaction with the government grows, opposition leader needs no reminder of the risks involved in inflaming an already febrile national mood
Venezuela braces for the'mother of all protests' as both sides call for rallies
As Venezuela braces for the “mother of all protests” on Wednesday, opposition figurehead Henrique Capriles needs no reminder of the risks involved in inflaming an already febrile national mood.
The walls of his office building are still blackened from the fire that blazed here last week after security forces lobbed a gas canister during an anti-government demonstration.
That clash was fuelled by the comptroller general’s decision on 7 April to bar the 44-year-old from running for public office until 2032 for allegedly misusing public funds.
Capriles – who narrowly lost the last presidential election – denies the charges and accuses president Nicolás Maduro of being a dictator, which has raised tensions in this violently divided nation.
At least six people have been killed and 200 injured since the end of March, when the supreme court briefly assumed the legislative duties of the opposition-controlled Congress. With both sides calling for huge rallies on Wednesday, it is feared this toll could rise.
Maduro has described his opponents as “rightwing fascists” and talked of “terrorism” aimed at ousting him from power. Alarmingly, he has also provided guns this week to the 40,000-strong civilian militias.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A woman holds up a banner with the image of opposition leader Henrique Capriles as people gather for a demonstration against Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press
Despite concerns of a repeat of the deadly clashes that killed 43 in 2014 (with victims on both sides), the governor of Miranda state said he was determined to maintain the pressure on the administration.
“I cannot just sit by and watch a government that is increasingly authoritarian. I feel it is my duty to stand up,” he told the Guardian. “I have given this fight the best years of my life, and I am not going to stop now.”
I cannot just sit by and watch a government that is increasingly authoritarian. I feel it is my duty to stand up Henrique Capriles
Capriles, who lost by a narrow margin against Maduro in presidential elections in 2013, has committed to bringing about change through peaceful means. He spearheaded last year’s thwarted efforts to launch a recall referendum and accepted Vatican-sponsored talks aimed at finding a resolution when that campaign was denied by the electoral council.
Now, he says, his approach remains democratic, but his mood is increasingly defiant.
“We cannot build a new government that begins in an illegitimate manner. Political change must necessarily come through elections where the people have a voice. I will not rest until I can say that we achieved a change,” he said.
For seasoned observers of Venezuelan politics, this may sound familiar. In the 18 years since Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chávez assumed power, Venezuelans have grown accustomed to giant rallies for and against the government. Several have turned violent, but none have spurred significant change. Although the opposition won control of congress in the 2015 legislative election, they are divided and have failed to galvanize popular discontent.
Venezuela on the brink: a journey through a country in crisis Read more
But there are differences from the past. The economy is deteriorating, with the IMF predicting this week that Venezuelan unemployment will surpass 25% this year as the country suffers a third year of recession.
There is also less regional support for Maduro, following the rightward shift of governments in Argentina and Brazil. Although Venezuela continues to have the backing of Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba and Nicaragua, 11 other nations in the Organisation of Americas have called on Maduro to allow new elections and condemned last month’s supreme court decision to assume the legislative powers of the congress (which was subsequently reversed).
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Capriles: ‘This is no longer people chanting and taking selfies. People are indignant, and they are resolute.’ Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images
The Venezuelan foreign minister has rejected this “meddling” in the country’s internal affairs. Maduro has repeatedly said he is the target of a US-backed plot aimed at gaining control of the world’s largest oil supplies. On Sunday, Maduro broadcast videos of protesters setting fire to public buildings as well as the testimony of a protester alleging he was paid less than $100 (at the widely used black market rate) by Capriles’s party, Justice First, for wreaking havoc during the protests.
Maduro has also deployed the army to the streets, and police have jailed close to 500 protesters. Of these, more than 200 remain behind bars, according to Foro Penal, an NGO that tracks human rights abuses.
The mood is becoming more confrontational. Several legislators have been tear-gassed and beaten during the protests, but unlike other times, they have fought back by grabbing tear gas canisters from the ground and lurching them back at the national guard.
'We are like a bomb': food riots show Venezuela crisis has gone beyond politics Read more
Whereas in previous marches people wore white shirts and baseball caps with Venezuela’s tricolor flag, this time protesters on the frontline hide their identity behind masks and hoodies.
Banners and flags have given way to sling shots and rocks, an office of the magistrate in the opposition stronghold of Chacao was burnt down, an opposition legislator was beaten up by security forces and even Maduro was pelted with objects in the eastern city of San Félix, traditionally a bastion of government support.
Shortages of food, medicine and other basics have eroded support for the government in poor neighbourhoods. Most will not go as far as joining the traditional middle-class marches, but people are angry and they barricaded streets and blocked traffic.
According to the Observatory of Social Conflict, there were close to 5,000 incidents of protests in 2016 – 15% more than in the previous year.
“This is no longer people chanting and taking selfies. People are indignant, and they are resolute,” Capriles said.Close
No Man's Sky was poised to be one of the biggest releases of the year.
Instead, the game disappointed the majority of players when it released in August. More than a few players felt misled and lied to after numerous features said to be in the game were nowhere to be found in the final product.
Flash forward to now, and not only does No Man's Sky sport a "Mostly Negative" user review score on Steam, but it is actually under investigation in the UK for false advertising. Hello Games and studio head Sean Murray have been silent on the backlash facing the game, though the team continues to release performance updates that have largely eliminated many of No Man's Sky's technical issues. That silence, however, may at long last be broken next month.
Video game journalist Geoff Keighley reserved the last few minutes in the premiere episode of LIVE With YouTube Gaming for the subject of No Man's Sky, specifically what went wrong with the heavily anticipated game. Keighley says he's largely been silent on the game, in part because he feels like he could be to blame to some extent for its sky-high expectations.
After a segment discussing everything from the No Man's Sky's reveal to how Murray wasn't honest with fans, Keighley says Murray is open to appearing on LIVE With YouTube Gaming sometime in October to discuss what happened.
Whether or not Murray does appear on the show remains to be seen, but much of what Keighley discussed during the segment is worth listening to for those who can't help but be fascinated by No Man's Sky's rapid descent into infamy. The segment begins at about the 1:48:00 mark.
It was at Keighley's VGX Award Show in 2014 where No Man's Sky made its debut, and Keighley wonders if perhaps giving Murray and Hello Games such a large stage for their indie game was the right move. Keighley says following the game's reveal he could tell that the indie game studio had the weight of the world on its shoulders.
"I've fretted over the years, maybe the platform we gave him was too big, and created this black hole he couldn't pull himself out of," Keighley says. "But no matter what, you have to be honest with your fans. You can't lie. And Sean wanted to preserve the promise and mystery of the game so much he started to disrespect his audience."
Rather than being open with fans, Keighley says Murray couldn't bring himself to "rip off the band-aid" and reveal what exactly was and wasn't in the game. He goes on to say that Murray didn't want Keighley around the team in the years following the reveal because he perceived Keighley as being "too negative" about No Man's Sky. That's because Keighley took issue with the decision that No Man's Sky would be a $60 game, instead of a cheaper, Early Access title that could be improved over time.
It's not that No Man's Sky is a bad game, Keighley says during the show, but rather that it's unfinished (something that wouldn't be an issue had the game released in Early Access as Keighley recommended). Murray dreamed big but in the end the small team simply couldn't deliver.
Here's hoping Murray will indeed appear on Keighley's show in the future and provide some answers. In the meantime, fans will still be left wondering what went wrong.
ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.As mentioned in a recent piece regarding Coinbase having to police its users’ gambling activity, having to deal with the various regulations of multiple jurisdictions is a minefield, particularly for Bitcoin businesses, whose models are theoretically border-agnostic.
Still, if a Bitcoin payments processor wants to attract customers in the US, it has to abide by relevant US laws, as court cases have demonstrated.
And if it would rather avoid those headaches, then it has to come up with creative workarounds to disqualify it from US jurisdictions.
That is the very basic summary of the Bitcoin Foundation’s “A Primer on Bitcoin Jurisdiction”, a document the foundation made freely available online Wednesday to help its members and other cryptocurrency startups tackle their legal obligations.
The report was |
political/philosophical nemeses, consider that in your irascible immodest zeal, you’ve swung the (racial) pendulum just a bit too far in one direction.
Read the full piece.
MORE: ‘It’s okay to be white’ signs spark outrage on campuses
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Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on TwitterKaty Perry.
Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images
In the days since Ted Gioia published his essay in the Daily Beast, alleging that music criticism has devolved into lifestyle reporting, with little or no attention paid to how the music itself works, I’ve been challenged by friends on Facebook to write a “not boring” piece that explains a successful pop song using music theory. My bet is that it’ll be boring, but I’m going to do my best not to bore you!
I have picked Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” Because: this song’s success seems to mystify all the Katy Perry haters in the world. Why did it go to No. 1? Let’s start by talking about the ingenuity of the harmonic content. This song is all about suspension—not in the voice-leading 4–3 sense, but in the emotional sense, which listeners often associate with “exhilaration,” being on the road, being on a roller coaster, travel. This sense of suspension is created simply, by denying the listener any I chords. There is not a single I chord in the song. Laymen, the I chord (“one chord”) is the chord that the key is in. For example, a song is in G but there are no G-chords. Other examples of this, in hit singles: Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You”; almost-examples include Earth Wind and Fire’s “In September” which has an I chord but only passing and in inversion; same with Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.”
“Teenage Dream” begins with a guitar sounding the I chord but an instant later, when the bass comes in, the I is transformed into an IV (an IV7 chord, to be exact). The I chord will never appear again. Notice, too, how Katy’s melody begins on the tonic—tonic: the root note of the missing I chord, the same note that the key is in. She stays around the tonic, reinforces the tonic, and the vocal melody establishes the key so clearly that there is no doubt: Katy’s voice is “home”; the rest of the song is oscillating around her. Even when the tonic note would clash with the chord (as it does over the V chord, on “feel like I’m living a”) she hammers it home. Her voice is the sun and the song is in orbit around it.
The “feeling of suspension” I mentioned is an effect of this. The insistence of the tonic in the melody keeps your ears’ eyes fixed on the destination, but the song never arrives there. Weightlessness is achieved. Great work, songwriters!
The second key to this song’s Enormous Chart Success has to do with the weighting of the melody lines. Perfect balance of tension and release. Each line of the verses begin straight, on the beat, but end with a syncopation: [straight:] “you think I’m pretty without any” [syncopated:] “makeup on.
A brief aside: Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) is sometimes criticized as not “R&B” enough by some music writers—these writers often cite Dev’s previous work in rock band Test Icicles as indicative of some illegitimacy of intention. But Dev’s songwriting trademark—his supposed weakness—is rooted in this exact thing, the weighting of syllables. Unlike most R&B, Dev writes songs where the melody has no syncopation; they sound like hymns. Boring, perhaps, to you, but other people (myself included) hear a glorious religious calm, a stateliness.
Similarly, think about Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” where almost every note is off the beat. “FI-nished with my woman cause sheeee WOULDn’t help meeeee WITH myyyy LIFE.” It’s kind of a bad melody, no? Doesn’t suit the lyrics at all, has an vaguely ESL vibe, weighted all wrong. But the song is called “Paranoid” and he is singing about how you should enjoy life and how he wishes he could do the same but it’s too late. It suits the material, works great.
Back to Katy. Her lyrics stretch into each subsequent bar: “You think I’m pretty without any makeup/ on, you think I’m …” etc. The “on” is more part of the next line than the proceeding one. Her lines dovetail elegantly into each other. This contributes to the feeling of suspension that I mentioned above. As listeners, we’re waiting for her to get to the point. And here it comes!
As Katy moves out of introspective mode and starts using imperatives “Let’s go all the way tonight! No regrets! Just love!” she gets straight, more serious, no syncopation. Then—genius—the chorus inverts the weighting that we heard in the verse. [Syncopated:] “You make me [straight:] “feel like I’m living a …” [syncopated:] “teenage dream!” And the gooey heart of the song, the “skin tight jeans” bit, is rhythmically entirely straight, voice tumbling out of the tonic-focused cage of the verse and chorus, like long-hair from a scrunchie released.
A particular point of pleasure: The title of the song (“Teenage Dream”) is sung syncopated on the chorus, but straight on the bridge. Compare the two in your head. Do you hear that? How brilliant. The title of the song is rhythmically weighted two ways—it’s like a flank attack. Two sides of the same face. You WILL remember the name of this song.
How’d I do? This analysis was an easy one, because the song is straight fours and its ingenuities are easy to describe. If I were going to talk about “Get Lucky” I’d probably have to start posting score. That is a complicated song.
Update, March 25, 2014: This article has been updated to clarify that “Teenage Dream” is not the key of G.Eddie Vedder surprised patrons at Murphy's Bleachers Thursday when he took the stage for an impromptu performance during the Wrigleyville bar's open mic night.
The Pearl Jam frontman, who sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" with former Cub Jose Cardenal during the Cubs-San Francisco Giants game earlier that day, performed his Cubs tribute song, "All the Way" and a cover of of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."
"Eddie stopped in and hung out on our rooftop after the Cubs game with (co-owner) Beth Murphy and Ron Santo Jr.," said fellow Murphy's co-owner James Murphy Friday. "Beth asked him to play a couple of songs at our open mic... before getting back on his tour bus last night."
On Wednesday, Vedder visited Stanley's Kitchen & Tap in Lincoln Park with fellow Evanston native John Cusack, former Blackhawk Chris Chelios, former Bear Tom Thayer and singer Glen Hansard. Vedder was in Chicago for two solo shows at the Chicago Theatre Tuesday and Wednesday.Gary Lawless TSN Senior Correspondent Follow|Archive
Ralph Krueger, yeah, the guy the Edmonton Oilers fired by Skype and who currently runs English Premier League club Southampton, just might be the most dangerous man at the World Cup of Hockey right now.
Krueger has Team Europe at 2-0 and, despite their uniforms being a fashion fail as well as the absence of an anthem to play prior to games, the squad has become a serious threat at this tournament.
Krueger hasn’t held a coaching position with a hockey organization since Craig MacTavish fired him from the Oilers back in the summer of 2013. From the outside, his hiring seemed like a reach — a team of leftovers led by a leftover coach.
Krueger, however, has never been easy to pigeonhole. He’s an author, chairman of the English soccer club Southampton, and a committee member of the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. He’s played and/or coached pro hockey since 1979. In his spare time he’s coached the Swiss national team at three Winter Olympics and in 2014 wrote a tactical dossier for head coach Mike Babcock that helped Canada’s run to gold in Sochi.
Krueger is an intellect and an outside-the-box thinker, but he’s a rink rat at heart.
Krueger’s parents — his dad was a doctor — immigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1950s and settled in Steinbach, Man. Krueger was dispatched to a boarding school in Winnipeg.
"I was nine years old and one of the only boarders my age. I was supposed to be there to go to school, but I spent all day and all night in the Dutton Memorial rink skating and shooting pucks,” Krueger said at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Team Europe assistant coach Paul Maurice says having dinner with Krueger has been a highlight of his experience at the World Cup.
“He can talk on a number of subjects,” said Maurice. “The thing that really strikes me about him and which has been a major factor in our group buying in is his ability to listen to people and let them know they’re being heard. When he is engaged with someone that person knows they are getting 100 per cent of Ralph and it’s authentic.”
Maurice says Krueger has been one step ahead for the entire process.
“During our first pre-tournament game — it was between the first and second period in Montreal — Ralph identified what we were good at as a team and what we needed to focus on as a team to have success. He made those adjustments and since then we’ve been a pretty good team,” said Maurice.
“He understands this tournament from his experiences at the Olympics and world championships. He knows the emotional cost of every game and every practice. He’s given the guys a lot of rest and our practices have been efficient. We have an experienced team — the average age of guys is 30 — so they’ve seen everything and played every system. We don’t have to spend a lot of time teaching. They get it. Ralph has done a masterful job of knowing what they’ve needed from both an emotional and tactical perspective.”
Positivity is the most used word to describe Krueger. He’s written a book, Teamlife - Beyond Setbacks to Success, on it. The Oilers fired Krueger early one June morning in the summer of 2013. He accepted a job with Team Canada by noon.
“I've been telling people for 25 years that when you can't change something in life, find a positive process and solutions, things that move you forward,” explained Krueger, watching a practice one morning in Sochi. “I remember [when he was fired] sitting on my daughter's bed at home in Switzerland, and my wife, Glenda, was in shock. She was screaming and yelling. I quickly said, 'Can I change anything? This is a done deal.’ [Oilers’ GM Craig MacTavish] told me he had an option [to hire Dallas Eakins]. The first thing that came to my mind was, 'I don't need to understand this. It's a waste of my time, my life, of analysis. I'm not going to talk negative about anybody. Let's go.'
“I swear, it was three hours after they announced it in Canada. Babcock phoned me. Three hours. So I threw myself into this. Mike got my number from Tom Renney. Three hours. My wife said, 'You already accepted another job?' She thought I was nuts.”
Krueger’s role with Team Canada was to figure out how every team in the Olympics would play. Strategies they would employ at 5-on-5, on the power play and in the penalty kill. He also worked with Babcock on developing tactics for Canada to conquer the big ice surface used in international hockey. It proved to be the piece of strategy that turned Canada from a big-ice failure into a champion.
"Everyone is talking about [the extra] ice, and I'm talking about not playing there. That's probably the biggest input I'm bringing to the team: How can we not play on that extra ice?” he said. "What happens is, if you play in the extra ice, it slows your game down. That's why sometimes [when] you watch a European game it seems slower, and that's because of the extra space. Players handle the puck longer, they move it with less tempo and authority, and that slows the game down. Whereas if you bring it in between the dots, it's the same game. So let's get there and forget this width and let's play. The north-south is exactly the same distance."
Krueger has vast experience on the international stage and understands the NHL game from his work with the Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes. He is a prescient strategist. And people respond to him.
Canada remains the favourite and will very likely win this tournament. But don’t be surprised if Krueger is more Freddy than Ralph in Babcock’s nightmares right now. If anyone can scare Canada it might be Krueger.George Osborne has been accused of using “questionable” statistics to tell MPs that households are getting better off.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the Chancellor had used "strange" figures for disposable income in his Autumn Statement this week.
The think-tank also warned that, despite the recent economic recovery, households will be "substantially" worse off at the election in 2015 than when the Coalition took office in 2010.
Living standards are the centre of the political battle over the economy. Inflation rising faster than wages has left many households worse off, something Labour says the Coalition has failed to address.
The Chancellor this week tried to counter those charges as he unveiled improved forecasts for economic growth, suggesting that the recovery will soon leave households better off.
In his Commons statement, Mr Osborne cited official figures for disposable income, the sum families have left after paying essential bills. The number is forecast to rise modestly, going up by 0.5 per cent this year and 1.1 per cent next year.
“Yes, real household disposable income is rising,” Mr Osborne told MPs.
However, the IFS pointed out that the statistic Mr Osborne cited does not just cover household incomes but also reflects the finances of charities and universities.
Paul Johnson of the IFS raised questions about Mr Osborne’s use of the disposable income figure.
“It tells us something about household incomes but it should certainly not be used in isolation to measure how they are changing,” he said.
There is “something a little bit strange” about Mr Osborne’s choice of statistic, the think tank suggested.
Andy Love, a Labour member of the Treasury Select Committee, said that Mr Osborne would have to account for his use of the disposable income figure when he appears before the committee to discuss the Autumn Statement.
He said: “There are questions over the accuracy of the Autumn Statement on this issue of living standards. The Chancellor has to be very careful about his use of statistics, since figures like this can easily be misused for political purposes.”
In the battle over living standards, Labour has suggested that the effect of prices outstripping wages is that families are £1,600 a year worse off under the Coalition.
The Treasury disputes that calculation, saying it is based on the wrong measure of inflation, the RPI gauge, which gives a higher reading for prices than the official CPI measure.
However, the IFS said that the broad thrust of the Labour calculation was correct, concluding that households are indeed around £1,600 a year worse off.
The Labour calculation “is not giving a misleading impression of the changes in living standards that have taken place during the financial crisis,” Mr Johnson said.
The IFS also echoed predictions from the Treasury’s Office for Budget Responsibility suggesting that it will be several years before household spending power returns to pre-recession levels.
Household income "will surely still be below its 2010 level by the time we get to the election in 2015," the IFS said.Democrats remained on course to take control of the Virginia Senate after winning a key special election Tuesday.
Democrats remained on course to take control of the Virginia Senate after winning a key special election Tuesday.
Democrats remained on course to take control of the Virginia Senate after winning a key special election Tuesday.
Democrats remained on course to take control of the Virginia Senate after winning a key special election Tuesday, as thousands of Northern Virginia voters braved snow and bitter winds to cast ballots in an unusual, three-way contest.
In the race to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), Democrat Jennifer Wexton prevailed over Republican John Whitbeck and independent Joe T. May, a former Republican delegate running as an independent, according to unofficial election results. The district encompasses a slice of Fairfax County and a hefty portion of eastern Loudoun County, a region that has leaned toward Democrats in recent elections but remains battleground territory.
With the Virginia Senate previously split 20-20, Democrats must hold the two seats vacated by Herring and Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam (D) so they don’t lose control to Republicans. If the chamber remains evenly divided, Northam would act as a tie-breaking vote, giving Democrats control of the chamber. Republicans had previously controlled the chamber with a GOP lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling, providing the tie-breaking vote.
The race to replace Northam in his former Senate district, which is based in Norfolk and also leans Democratic, remains undecided. Del. Lynwood W. Lewis (D-Accomack) was certified the winner of a special election by just nine votes, prompting Republican Wayne Coleman on Thursday to request a recount.
With so much at stake, both parties focused intensely on Tuesday’s contest. Wexton received 53 percent of the vote to Whitbeck’s 38 percent and May’s less than 10 percent, according to the State Board of Elections.
For Republicans, the race marked a chance to seize complete control of the General Assembly, where they already hold the House of Delegates by a wide margin. Their goal was to obtain more-even political footing with new Gov. Terry McAuliffe, as the Democrat pursues an agenda, particularly the expansion of Medicaid, that Republicans strongly oppose.
For Democrats, the campaign was a fresh test of whether their vaunted turnout operation, which benefited McAuliffe and President Obama, could be effective in smaller races. Obama won 59 percent of the vote in the 33rd District in 2012, so a loss Tuesday of the seat — and the Senate — would have been embarrassing for Democrats.
Even without snow, Republicans have historically benefited from low-turnout elections through strong grass-roots efforts to get voters to polls. Whitbeck’s campaign said Tuesday that about 100 volunteers were busy making calls on behalf of the Republican candidate.
But his opponents appeared determined to put up a considerable fight: Wexton’s campaign said it had mobilized about 200 volunteers to make calls, knock on doors and hand out campaign literature. May’s campaign had a 20-person phone bank operating throughout the day, and campaign volunteers were stationed at polls across the district, according to May campaign spokesman Jon Conradi.
The election followed a short but highly charged race between the three contenders. Wexton focused on motivating the Democratic base, particularly women, while Whitbeck targeted conservatives by accusing May and Wexton of being liberal “peas in a pod.” With less than 10 percent of the vote, May, who served in the House of Delegates for 20 years, fell far short of his goal of splitting the difference by attracting independents and moderates from both parties.
“United beats divided every time in politics — even in the snow,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “Republicans need to be more unified — and more moderate — if they expect to win swing districts in Northern Virginia.”
Wexton was helped by her major fundraising advantage: She took in more than $900,000 in the time-shortened race, with roughly two-thirds of the cash coming from Virginia Democratic Party committees and party leaders. Whitbeck raised less than $400,000, and May took in less than $250,000 — the bulk of it from his own pocket.
“We’re elated,” Senate Democratic leader Richard L. Saslaw (Fairfax) said of Wexton’s win. “She’s extremely bright, and she’s going to make a great addition to the Senate.” Tuesday’s off-cycle election was expected to produce a turnout of about 15 percent, according to election officials — a modest estimate that came before the forecast of a significant winter storm that shuttered schools and closed the federal government.
But the severe weather did not appear to deter voters. Election officials in Loudoun and Fairfax reported a higher than 16 percent turnout by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Some precincts in eastern Loudoun and parts of Fairfax saw turnout as high as 20 percent, officials said.
“The fact that we’re almost to 17 percent on a snow day, that’s pretty good,” said Brian Schoeneman, secretary of the Fairfax Board of Elections. “I’m glad to see people turning out and recognizing the importance of the race.”
Still more residents of Loudoun and Fairfax were turned away from the polls because they lived outside the 33rd Senate District, officials said. Election officials in both counties said there was widespread confusion about who was eligible to vote in the race.
Loudoun Registrar Judy Brown said the problem was exacerbated in western Loudoun, where many residents were previously represented by May, who served as a Republican delegate in Virginia’s 33rd House District for more than 20 years before he was ousted in a primary in June.
“When people see or hear [May’s] name, they believe they should be voting,” Brown said. “Those people out west are showing up at voting places along with everyone else.”
Brown said she had also heard reports that campaign calls and mailings reached some residents who lived outside the district.
Leesburg resident Steve Robin, 76, said the snow was already coming down steadily when he voted with his wife about 8:30 a.m. at Smarts Mill Middle School in Leesburg. Robin, who said he generally votes for Democrats, said he and his wife both voted for May because of his experience and reputation in the General Assembly.
“He’s been in the House so long that he has a working relationship with a number of state senators.... He’s a known quantity,” Robin said. “I also felt that he would not necessarily put himself in lock step with either party and feel that he absolutely had to vote Republican or Democrat.”
Leesburg resident Kathy Shupe said she and her husband — who generally votes Republican — both voted for Wexton on Tuesday morning at Sugarland Elementary in Loudoun.
“He has deviated from his party since the tea party took over,” Shupe, 55, said of her husband. “For myself, I have a lot of concerns about a woman’s right to choose.”
Shupe said she was drawn to Wexton’s pro-choice platform, as well as her pledge to focus on strengthening Virginia’s economy.
Whitbeck campaign volunteer Maureen Whalen said she was heartened by the number of people who had come through the precinct at Harper Park Middle School in Leesburg by mid-morning.
“Around 9 o’clock, I noticed there were people waiting outside the door,” she said. “The turnout is very good, and I don’t think they were expecting that.”
Whalen, a 69-year-old retired teacher, said she was inspired to volunteer for Whitbeck because of his commitment to lowering taxes and improving transportation.
“We are overtaxed, and I think he’s for responsible government,” she said. “And he wants to bring our transportation dollars home from Richmond.”
Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.Most political analysis of America’s awful economy focuses on whether it will doom President Obama’s reelection or cause Congress to turn toward one party or the other. These are important questions, but we should really be looking at the deeper problems with which whoever wins in 2012 will have to deal.
Not to depress you, but our economic troubles are likely to continue for many years — a decade or more. At the current rate of job growth (averaging 90,000 new jobs per month over the last six months), 14 million Americans will remain permanently unemployed. The consensus estimate is that at least 90,000 new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the labor force. Even if we get back to a normal rate of 200,000 new jobs per month, unemployment will stay high for at least ten years. Years of high unemployment will likely result in a vicious cycle, as relatively lower spending by the middle-class further slows job growth.
This, in turn, could make political compromise even more elusive than it is now, as remarkable as that may seem. In past years, politics has been greased by the expectation of better times to come – not only more personal consumption but also upward mobility through good schools, access to college, better jobs, improved infrastructure. It’s been a virtuous cycle: When the economy grows, the wealthy more easily accept a smaller share of the gains because they still came out ahead of where they were before. And everyone more willingly pays taxes to finance public provision because they share in the overall economic gains.
Now the grease is gone. Fully two-thirds of Americans recently polled by the Wall Street Journal say they aren’t confident life for their children’s generation will be better than it’s been for them. The last time our hopes for a better life were dashed so profoundly was during the Great Depression.
But here’s what might be considered the good news. Rather than ushering in an era of political paralysis, the Great Depression of the 1930s changed American politics altogether — realigning the major parties, creating new coalitions, and yielding new solutions. Prolonged economic distress of a decade or more could have the same effect this time around.
What might the new politics look like? The nation is polarizing in three distinct ways, and any or all of could generate new political alignments.
Anti-establishment
A vast gulf separates Tea Party Republicans from the inchoate Wall Street Occupiers. The former disdain government; the latter hate Wall Street and big corporations. The Tea Party is well organized and generously financed; Occupiers are relentlessly disorganized and underfunded. And if the events of the last two weeks are any guide, Occupiers probably won’t be able to literally occupy public areas indefinitely; they’ll have to move from occupying locations to organizing around issues.
But the two overlap in an important way that provides a clue to the first characteristic of the new politics. Both movements are doggedly anti-establishment — distrusting politically powerful and privileged elites and the institutions those elites inhabit.
Justin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency
There’s little difference, after all, between the right’s depiction of a “chablis-drinking, Brie-eating” establishment and the left’s perception of a rich one percent who fly to the Hamptons in private jets.
In political terms, both sides are deeply suspicious of the Federal Reserve and want it to be more transparent and accountable. Both are committed to ending “corporate welfare” — special tax breaks and subsidies for specific industries or companies. And for both, Washington’s original sin was the bailing out of Wall Street.
Mere mention the bailout at any Tea Party meet-in or Occupier teach-in elicits similar jeers. The first expression of Tea Party power was the Utah Tea Party’s rejection of conservative Republican senator Robert Bennett because of his vote for the bailout. At the Republican state convention, which ultimately led to the election of Senator Mike Lee, the crowd repeatedly shouted “TARP! TARP! TARP!” The Occupiers, too, began on Wall Street.
The historian Richard Hofstadter once wrote a famous essay about the recurring strain of, as he put it, a “paranoid style in American politics” — an underlying readiness among average voters to see conspiracies among powerful elites supposedly plotting against them. He noted that the paranoia arises during periods of economic stress.
But the web of interconnections linking Washington and Wall Street over the last decade or so — involving campaign contributions, revolving doors, and secret deals — has been so tight as to suggest that this newer anti-establishment activism is based on at least a kernel of truth.
Isolationist
Economic stresses caused Americans to turn inward during the Great Depression, and we’re seeing the same drift this time around. Republican fulminations against the “cult of multiculturalism” are meeting similar sentiments in traditional Democratic precincts — especially when it comes to undocumented immigrants. Alabama and Arizona have spearheaded especially vicious laws, yet polls show increasing percentages of voters across America objecting to giving the children of illegal immigrants access to state-supported services.
Meanwhile, Americans are turning against global trade. Notwithstanding new trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia, only a minority of Americans now believes trade agreements benefit the U.S. economy. A growing percentage also want the U.S. out of the World Trade Organization. China has emerged as a special bogeyman. The Democratic-controlled Senate recently passing a bill to punish China for under-valuing its currency, but China-bashing is becoming bipartisan. Mitt Romney accuses former U.S. leaders of having “been played like a fiddle by the Chinese.”
Nelson Ching/Bloomberg News
Neither immigration, nor trade, nor China’s currency manipulation is the cause of America’s high unemployment. All three predated the crash of 2008, before which unemployment was only 5 percent. Yet the current drift toward isolationism is not entirely irrational. As hundreds of millions of workers in emerging economies — especially in Asia — continue to enter the global workforce with steadily-improving skills and higher productivity, more and more Americans are losing ground. Meanwhile, immigration and trade are boons to top executives and professionals who gain access to cheaper labor and larger markets for their own skills and insights.
Generational
A third division likely to widen if the economy remains bad runs along a demographic fault-line. Many aging boomers whose nest eggs have turned the size of humming-bird eggs are understandably anxious about their retirement, while America’s young — whose skins are more likely than those of boomer retirees to be brown or black — face years of joblessness.
The jobless rate among people under 25 is already over 17 percent. For young people of color it’s above 20 percent. For young college grads — who assumed a bachelors’ degree was a ticket to upward mobility — unemployment has reached 10 percent. Yet these percentages are likely to rise if boomers decide they can’t afford to retire, and thereby block the jobs pipeline for younger people seeking employment.
Old and young will also find themselves increasingly at odds over public spending. In many communities retirees already resist property tax hikes to pay for local schools. Expect that resistance to grow as boomers have to live on fixed incomes smaller than they expected, and a new wave of young people swarm into the nation’s educational systems. The federal budget will also be a scene of generational conflict. Medicare and Social Security, the two giant entitlement programs for seniors that cost more than $1 trillion a year and account for about a third of the federal budget, will be traded off against programs that benefit the young: Title I funding for low-income school-age students; Head Start; food stamps; child nutrition; children’s health; and vaccines. It’s likely that Medicaid — Medicare’s poor stepchild, half of whose recipients are children — will also be on the cutting board.
After the enactment of Medicare in 1965, poverty among the elderly declined markedly. But poverty among America’s children continues to rise. Yet children don’t have nearly as effective a lobbying presence in Washington. AARP spent $9.7 million on lobbying during first six months of this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. By contrast, the Children’s Defense Fund spent just $48,245 last year. Yet because the future lies with the young and with an increasingly diverse America, politicians and parties looking toward the longer term will have to take heed.
Solutions?
How our political parties and leaders will cope with these three fault lines is far from clear, partly because the lines don’t all move in same direction. Young Americans tend to be more anti-establishment than older Americans, for example, but are also more open to other nations and cultures. By the same token, a generational war over the budget might be avoided if anti-establishment movements succeed in reducing corporate welfare, raising taxes on the rich, and limiting Wall Street’s rapacious hold over economic decision making.
What seems certain, however, is that continued high unemployment coupled with slow or no growth will create a new political landscape. This will pose a special challenge — and opportunity. If our political leaders don’t manage the new dividing lines effectively they could invite a politics of resentment that scapegoats certain groups while avoiding the hard work of setting priorities and making difficult choices.
On the other hand, if political leaders take advantage of the energies and possibilities this new landscape offers, they could usher in an era in which the fruits of growth are more widely shared: between elites and everyone else; between the beneficiaries of globalization and those most burdened by it; and between older Americans and young. This itself could reignite a virtuous cycle — a broad-based prosperity that not only generates more demand for goods and services and therefore more jobs, but also a more inclusive and generous politics.
There is a precedent for the second alternative. The structural reforms begun in the depression decade of the 1930s generated just this kind of virtuous cycle in the three decades after World War II. And in devising and implementing these reforms, the Democratic Party came to represent Americans with little power relative to the financial and business elites that had dominated the country before the great crash of 1929. That political realignment was the most profound and successful of the twentieth century.
Will it happen again? At this point, both parties are doing remarkably little given the gravity of the continuing jobs depression and the widening gap of income and wealth. Taming the budget deficit is the only significant issue anyone in Washington seems willing to raise yet Congress seems incapable of achieving any significant progress on this. And the budget itself is only indirectly related to the deeper questions of how to restart economic growth, how much of that growth should be allocated to public goods such as the environment or education, and how the benefits of that growth are to be shared.
Political elites are worried about thunder on the right and the left, but they show scant understanding of what these growing anti-establishment forces signify. Meanwhile, the nation drifts.
Robert B. Reich, a former secretary of labor, is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future.”Easy Money and Asset Bubbles
28 October 2013 at 9:40 am Peter G. Klein
| Peter Klein |
Central to the “Austrian” understanding of business cycles is the idea that monetary expansion — in Wicksellian terms, money printing that pushes interest rates below their “natural” levels — leads to overinvestment in long-term, capital-intensive projects and long-lived, durable assets (and underinvestment in other types of projects, hence the more general term “malinvestment”). As one example, Austrians interpret asset price bubbles — such as the US housing price bubble of the 1990s and 2000s, the tech bubble of the 1990s, the farmland bubble that may now be going on — as the result, at least partly, of loose monetary policy coming from the central bank. In contrast, some financial economists, such as Laureate Fama, deny that bubbles exist (or can even be defined), while others, such as Laureate Shiller, see bubbles as endemic but unrelated to government policy, resulting simply from irrationality on the part of market participants.
Michael Bordo and John Landon-Lane have released two new working papers on monetary policy and asset price bubbles, “Does Expansionary Monetary Policy Cause Asset Price Booms; Some Historical and Empirical Evidence,” and “What Explains House Price Booms?: History and Empirical Evidence.” (Both are gated by NBER, unfortunately, but there may be ungated copies floating around.) These are technical, time-series econometrics papers, but in both cases, the conclusions are straightforward: easy money is a main cause of asset price bubbles. Other factors are also important, particularly regarding the recent US housing bubble (I suspect that housing regulation shows up in their residual terms), but the link between monetary policy and bubbles is very clear. To be sure, Bordo and Landon-Lane don’t define easy money in exactly the Austrian-Wicksellian way, which references natural rates (the rates that reflect the time preferences of borrowers and savers), but as interest rates below (or money growth rates above) the targets set by policymakers. Still, the general recognition that bubbles are not random, or endogenous to financial markets, but connected to specific government policies designed to stimulate the economy, is a very important result that will hopefully influence current economic policy debates.
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Entry filed under: - Klein -, Austrian Economics, Bailout / Financial Crisis, Business/Economic History, Financial Markets, Myths and Realities, Recommended Reading.Coastal Carolina fair-goers are nervous about the digestive instability of a fellow rider as they wait for their turn on the Gravitron to begin. Tim Hansen worried everyone around him as he scarfed down a large elephant ear by himself while waiting in line for the high-velocity circular fair ride. Now he and everyone else are loaded on the ride and ready to go, but all are terrified Tim may blow chunks.
The Gravitron ride is very popular every year with hardcore fair attendees. Riders enter a circular room and lean back against the wall. The Gravitron begins to spin rapidly until it reaches ‘HOLY SHIT!’ speed, then the floor drops out and the force keeps riders pressed against the wall. There’s an unspoken rule not to eat at least an hour before getting on the Gravitron, but everyone is worried that Tim has violated this crucial social expectation by consuming the oversized doughy treat with double toppings just before entering the ride.
Gravitron rider Anna Bednar has major concerns about how Tim’s stomach will handle the Gravitron ride. “He doesn’t look good right now,” she said. “He’s heavily sweating and burp blowing like every ten seconds. I knew we might be in trouble when I saw he got both the strawberry and custard filling in his elephant ear. Who does that? He better not yack on this ride.”
Nutritional Expert Haley Drummond said scientists still don’t fully understand what an elephant ear does to humans. “The human body struggles to handle this type of food. A |
theories behind the abysmal Seagate 3TB rate is that they might be among the drives that were made in China rather hastily after the flooding in Thailand a few years back. If you recall, many hard drive makers are in Thailand, including Seagate, and that Biblical flooding they experienced in 2012 caused a major hard drive shortage for months. Production was moved out of Thailand for a while, and in the disruption, who knows what happened to quality control.
But that doesn’t explain why other 3TB drives failed as well, unless the failures are due to part or parts common to those drives and from the same supplier. BackBlaze didn’t go into which part failed, only that the drive failed.
However, I can believe that something happened to the HDD supply chain because of the recent drop in failures. The second chart runs through the end of 2014, but BackBlaze reports that 3TB failures are still dropping. That would make sense if there was a bad batch of parts post-flooding, and by now they are out of the system.
One thing is for certain: I’m buying an HGST drive after this.An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial components of a phrase or a word, usually individual letters (as in "NATO" or "laser") and sometimes syllables (as in "Benelux").
There are no universal standards for the multiple names for such abbreviations or for their orthographic styling. In English and most other languages, such abbreviations historically had limited use, but they became much more common in the 20th century. Acronyms are a type of word formation process, and they are viewed as a subtype of blending.
Nomenclature [ edit ]
Whereas an abbreviation may be any type of shortened form, such as words with the middle omitted (for example, Rd for road or Dr for Doctor), an acronym is a word formed from the first letter or first few letters of each word in a phrase (such as sonar, created from sound navigation and ranging). Attestations for Akronym in German are known from 1921, and for acronym in English from 1940.[1]
Although the word acronym is often used to refer to any abbreviation formed from initial letters,[2] some dictionaries and usage commentators define acronym to mean an abbreviation that is pronounced as a word,[18] in contrast to an initialism (or alphabetism)—an abbreviation formed from a string of initials (and possibly pronounced as individual letters).[19] Some dictionaries include additional senses equating acronym with initialism.[20][21][22] The distinction, when made, hinges on whether the abbreviation is pronounced as a word or as a string of individual letters. Examples in reference works that make the distinction include "NATO", "scuba", and "radar" for acronyms; and "FBI", "CRT", and "HTML" for initialisms.[3][15][23][24] The rest of this article uses acronym for both types of abbreviation.
The distinction is not well-maintained. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage:[2] "A number of commentators... believe that acronyms can be differentiated from other abbreviations in being pronounceable as words. Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction because writers in general do not.... Initialism, an older word than acronym, seems to be too little known to the general public to serve as the customary term standing in contrast with acronym in a narrow sense." About the use of acronym to only mean those pronounced as words, Fowler's Modern English Usage (3rd ed.) states:[25] "The limitations of the term being not widely known to the general public, acronym is also often applied to abbreviations that are familiar but are not pronounceable as words.... Such terms are also called initialisms."
A clearer distinction has also been drawn by Pyles & Algeo (1970),[2] who divided acronyms as a general category into word acronyms pronounced as words, and initialisms sounded out as letters.
There is no special term for abbreviations whose pronunciation involves the combination of letter names and words or word-like pronunciations of strings of letters, such as "JPEG" and "MS-DOS". There is also some disagreement as to what to call abbreviations that some speakers pronounce as letters and others pronounce as a word. For example, the terms "URL" and "IRA" can be pronounced as individual letters: and, respectively; or as a single word: and, respectively.[citation needed]
The spelled-out form of an acronym or initialism (that is, what it stands for) is called its expansion.
Comparing a few examples of each type [ edit ]
Historical and current use [ edit ]
Acronymy, like retronymy, is a linguistic process that has existed throughout history but for which there was little to no naming, conscious attention, or systematic analysis until relatively recent times. Like retronymy, it became much more common in the 20th century than it had formerly been.
Ancient examples of acronymy (regardless of whether there was metalanguage at the time to describe it) include the following:
Acronyms were used in Rome before the Christian era. For example, the official name for the Roman Empire, and the Republic before it, was abbreviated as SPQR ( Senatus Populusque Romanus ). Inscriptions dating from antiquity, both on stone and on coins, use many abbreviations and acronyms to save space and work. For example, Roman first names, of which there was only a small set, were almost always abbreviated. Common terms were abbreviated too, such as writing just "F" for filius, meaning "son", a very common part of memorial inscriptions mentioning people. Grammatical markers were abbreviated or left out entirely if they could be inferred from the rest of the text.
( ). Inscriptions dating from antiquity, both on stone and on coins, use many abbreviations and acronyms to save space and work. For example, Roman first names, of which there was only a small set, were almost always abbreviated. Common terms were abbreviated too, such as writing just "F" for, meaning "son", a very common part of memorial inscriptions mentioning people. Grammatical markers were abbreviated or left out entirely if they could be inferred from the rest of the text. So-called nomina sacra (sacred names) were used in many Greek biblical manuscripts. The common words "God" ( Θεός ), "Jesus" ( Ιησούς ), "Christ" ( Χριστός ), and some others, would be abbreviated by their first and last letters, marked with an overline. This was just one of many kinds of conventional scribal abbreviation, used to reduce the time-consuming workload of the scribe and save on valuable writing materials. The same convention is still commonly used in the inscriptions on religious icons and the stamps used to mark the eucharistic bread in Eastern Churches.
(sacred names) were used in many Greek biblical manuscripts. The common words "God" ( ), "Jesus" ( ), "Christ" ( ), and some others, would be abbreviated by their first and last letters, marked with an overline. This was just one of many kinds of conventional scribal abbreviation, used to reduce the time-consuming workload of the scribe and save on valuable writing materials. The same convention is still commonly used in the inscriptions on religious icons and the stamps used to mark the eucharistic bread in Eastern Churches. The early Christians in Rome, most of whom were Greek rather than Latin speakers, used the image of a fish as a symbol for Jesus in part because of an acronym—"fish" in Greek is ichthys ( ΙΧΘΥΣ ), which was said to stand for Ἰησοῦς Χριστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ ( Iesous Christos Theou huios Soter : "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior"). This interpretation dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries and is preserved in the catacombs of Rome. And for centuries, the Church has used the inscription INRI over the crucifix, which stands for the Latin Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum ("Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews").
( ), which was said to stand for ( : "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior"). This interpretation dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries and is preserved in the catacombs of Rome. And for centuries, the Church has used the inscription over the crucifix, which stands for the Latin ("Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews"). The Hebrew language has a long history of formation of acronyms pronounced as words, stretching back many centuries. The Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament") is known as "Tanakh", an acronym composed from the Hebrew initial letters of its three major sections: "Torah" (five books of Moses), "Nevi'im" (prophets), and "K'tuvim" (writings). Many rabbinical figures from the Middle Ages onward are referred to in rabbinical literature by their pronounced acronyms, such as Rambam and Rashi from the initial letters of their full Hebrew names: "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon" and "Rabbi Shlomo Yitzkhaki".
During the mid- to late 19th century, an acronym-disseminating trend spread through the American and European business communities: abbreviating corporation names —such as on the sides of railroad cars (e.g., "Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad" → "RF&P"); on the sides of barrels and crates; and on ticker tape and in the small-print newspaper stock listings that got their data from it (e.g. American Telephone and Telegraph Company → AT&T). Some well-known commercial examples dating from the 1890s through 1920s include "Nabisco" ("National Biscuit Company"),[31] "Esso" (from "S.O.", from "Standard Oil"), and "Sunoco" ("Sun Oil Company").
Another driver for the adoption of acronyms was modern warfare, with its many highly technical terms. While there is no recorded use of military acronyms in documents dating from the American Civil War (acronyms such as "ANV" for "Army of Northern Virginia" post-date the war itself), they had become somewhat common in World War I and were very much a part even of the vernacular language of the soldiers during World War II,[32] who themselves were referred to as G.I.s.
The widespread, frequent use of acronyms across the whole range of registers is a relatively new linguistic phenomenon in most languages, becoming increasingly evident since the mid-20th century. As literacy rates rose, and as advances in science and technology brought with them a constant stream of new (and sometimes more complex) terms and concepts, the practice of abbreviating terms became increasingly convenient. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) records the first printed use of the word initialism as occurring in 1899, but it did not come into general use until 1965, well after acronym had become common.
By 1943, the term acronym had been used in English to recognize abbreviations (and contractions of phrases) that were pronounced as words.[31] (It was formed from the Greek words ἄκρος, akros, "topmost, extreme" and ὄνομα, onoma, "name.") For example, the army offense of being absent without official leave was abbreviated to "A.W.O.L." in reports, but when pronounced as a word (awol), it became an acronym.[33] While initial letters are commonly used to form an acronym, the original definition was "a word made from the initial letters or syllables of other words",[34] for example UNIVAC from UNIVersal Automatic Computer.[35]
In English, acronyms pronounced as words may be a 20th-century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends claims that "forming words from acronyms is a distinctly twentieth- (and now twenty-first-) century phenomenon. There is only one known pre-twentieth-century [English] word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is colinderies or colinda, an acronym for the Colonial and Indian Exposition held in London in that year."[36][37] However, although acronymic words seem not to have been employed in general vocabulary before the 20th century (as Wilton points out), the concept of their formation is treated as effortlessly understood (and evidently not novel) in a Poe story of the 1830s, "How to Write a Blackwood Article", which includes the contrived acronym "P.R.E.T.T.Y.B.L.U.E.B.A.T.C.H.".
Early examples in English [ edit ]
The use of Latin and Neo-Latin terms in vernaculars has been pan-European and predates modern English. Some examples of acronyms in this class are:
A.M. (from Latin ante meridiem, "before noon") and P.M. (from Latin post meridiem, "after noon")
(from Latin, "before noon") and (from Latin, "after noon") A.D. (from Latin Anno Domini, "in the year of our Lord"), whose complement in English, B.C. [Before Christ], is English-sourced
(from Latin, "in the year of our Lord"), whose complement in English, [Before Christ], is English-sourced O.K., a term of disputed origin, dating back at least to the early 19th century, now used around the world
The earliest example of a word derived from an acronym listed by the OED is "abjud" (now "abjad"), formed from the original first four letters of the Arabic alphabet in the late 18th century.[38] Some acrostics predate this, however, such as the Restoration witticism arranging the names of some members of Charles II's Committee for Foreign Affairs to produce the "CABAL" ministry.[39]
Current use [ edit ]
Acronyms are used most often to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. The armed forces and government agencies frequently employ acronyms; some well-known examples from the United States are among the "alphabet agencies" (also jokingly referred to as "alphabet soup") created by Franklin D. Roosevelt (also of course known as "FDR") under the New Deal. Business and industry also are prolific coiners of acronyms. The rapid advance of science and technology in recent centuries seems to be an underlying force driving the usage, as new inventions and concepts with multiword names create a demand for shorter, more manageable names.[citation needed] One representative example, from the U.S. Navy, is "COMCRUDESPAC", which stands for "commander, cruisers destroyers Pacific"; it is also seen as "ComCruDesPac". "YABA-compatible" (where "YABA" stands for "yet another bloody acronym") is used to mean that a term's acronym can be pronounced but is not an offensive word, e.g. "When choosing a new name, be sure it is 'YABA-compatible'."[40]
Acronym use has been further popularized by text messaging on mobile phones with short message service (SMS), and instant messenger (IM). To fit messages into the 160-character SMS limit, and to save time, acronyms such as "GF" ("girlfriend"), "LOL" ("laughing out loud"), and "DL" ("download" or "down low") have become popular.[41] Some prescriptivists disdain texting acronyms and abbreviations as decreasing clarity, or as failure to use "pure" or "proper" English. Others point out that language change has happened for thousands of years, and argue that it should be embraced as inevitable, or as innovation that adapts the language to changing circumstances. In this view, the modern practice is just as legitimate as those in "proper" English of the current generation of speakers, such as the abbreviation of corporation names in places with limited writing space (e.g., ticker tape, newspaper column inches).
Aids to learning the expansion without leaving a document [ edit ]
In formal writing for a broad audience, the expansion is typically given at the first occurrence of the acronym within a given text, for the benefit of those readers who do not know what it stands for. The capitalization of the original term is independent of it being acronymized, being lowercase for a common noun such as frequently asked questions (FAQ) but uppercase for a proper noun such as the United Nations (UN) (as explained at Case > Casing of expansions).
In addition to expansion at first use, some publications also have a key listing all the acronyms used they have used and what their expansions are. This is a convenience for readers for two reasons. The first is that if they are not reading the entire publication sequentially (which is a common mode of reading), then they may encounter an acronym without having seen its expansion. Having a key at the start or end of the publication obviates skimming over the text searching for an earlier use to find the expansion. (This is especially important in the print medium, where no search utility is available.) The second reason for the key feature is its pedagogical value in educational works such as textbooks. It gives students a way to review the meanings of the acronyms introduced in a chapter after they have done the line-by-line reading, and also a way to quiz themselves on the meanings (by covering up the expansion column and recalling the expansions from memory, then checking their answers by uncovering). In addition, this feature enables readers possessing knowledge of the abbreviations not to have to encounter expansions (redundant for such readers).
Expansion at first use and the abbreviation-key feature are aids to the reader that originated in the print era, but they are equally useful in print and online. In addition, the online medium offers yet more aids, such as tooltips, hyperlinks, and rapid search via search engine technology.
Jargon [ edit ]
Acronyms often occur in jargon. An acronym may have different meanings in different areas of industry, writing, and scholarship. The general reason for this is convenience and succinctness for specialists, although it has led some to obfuscate the meaning either intentionally, to deter those without such domain-specific knowledge, or unintentionally, by creating an acronym that already existed.
The medical literature has been struggling to control the proliferation of acronyms as their use has evolved from aiding communication to hindering it. This has become such a problem that it is even evaluated at the level of medical academies such as the American Academy of Dermatology. [42]
As mnemonics [ edit ]
Acronyms are often taught as mnemonic devices, for example in physics the colors of the visible spectrum are said to be "ROY G. BIV" ("red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet"). They are also used as mental checklists, for example in aviation: "GUMPS", which is "gas-undercarriage-mixture-propeller-seatbelts". Other examples of mnemonic acronyms are "CAN SLIM", and "PAVPANIC" as well as "PEMDAS".
Acronyms as legendary etymology [ edit ]
It is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of false etymology, called a folk etymology, for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no factual basis in historical linguistics, and are examples of language-related urban legends. For example, "cop" is commonly cited as being derived, it is presumed, from "constable on patrol",[43] and "posh" from "port outward, starboard home".[44] With some of these specious expansions, the "belief" that the etymology is acronymic has clearly been tongue-in-cheek among many citers, as with "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" for "golf", although many other (more credulous) people have uncritically taken it for fact.[44][45] Taboo words in particular commonly have such false etymologies: "shit" from "ship/store high in transit"[36][46] or "special high-intensity training" and "fuck" from "for unlawful carnal knowledge", or "fornication under consent/command of the king".[46]
Orthographic styling [ edit ]
Punctuation [ edit ]
Showing the ellipsis of letters [ edit ]
In English, abbreviations have traditionally been written with a full stop/period/point in place of the deleted part to show the ellipsis of letters—although the colon and apostrophe have also had this role—and with a space after full stops (e.g. "A. D."). In the case of most acronyms, each letter is an abbreviation of a separate word and, in theory, should get its own termination mark. Such punctuation is diminishing with the belief that the presence of all-capital letters is sufficient to indicate that the word is an abbreviation.[47]
Ellipsis-is-understood style [ edit ]
Some influential style guides, such as that of the BBC, no longer require punctuation to show ellipsis; some even proscribe it. Larry Trask, American author of The Penguin Guide to Punctuation, states categorically that, in British English, "this tiresome and unnecessary practice is now obsolete".[48]
Pronunciation-dependent style and periods [ edit ]
Nevertheless, some influential style guides, many of them American, still require periods in certain instances. For example, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage recommends following each segment with a period when the letters are pronounced individually, as in "K.G.B.", but not when pronounced as a word, as in "NATO".[49] The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the punctuation scheme.
Other conventions [ edit ]
When a multiple-letter abbreviation is formed from a single word, periods are in general not used, although they may be common in informal usage. "TV", for example, may stand for a single word ("television" or "transvestite", for instance), and is in general spelled without punctuation (except in the plural). Although "PS" stands for the single word "postscript" (or the Latin postscriptum), it is often spelled with periods ("P.S.").
The slash ('/', or solidus) is sometimes used to separate the letters in a two-letter acronym, as in "N/A" ("not applicable, not available"), "c/o" ("care of") and "w/o" ("without").
Inconveniently long words used frequently in related contexts can be represented according to their letter count. For example, "i18n" abbreviates "internationalization", a computer-science term for adapting software for worldwide use. The "18 represents the 18 letters that come between the first and the last in "internationalization". "Localization" can be abbreviated "l10n", "multilingualization" "m17n", and "accessibility" "a11y". In addition to the use of a specific number replacing that many letters, the more general "x" can be used to replace an unspecified number of letters. Examples include "Crxn" for "crystallization" and the series familiar to physicians for history, diagnosis, and treatment ("hx", "dx", "tx").
Representing plurals and possessives [ edit ]
There is a question about how to pluralize acronyms. Often a writer will add an's' following an apostrophe, as in "PC's". However, Kate Turabian, writing about style in academic writings,[50] allows for an apostrophe to form plural acronyms "only when an abbreviation contains internal periods or both capital and lowercase letters". Turabian would therefore prefer "DVDs" and "URLs" and "Ph.D.'s". The Modern Language Association[51] and American Psychological Association[52][53] prohibit apostrophes from being used to pluralize acronyms regardless of periods (so "compact discs" would be "CDs" or "C.D.s"), whereas The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage requires an apostrophe when pluralizing all abbreviations regardless of periods (preferring "PC's, TV's and VCR's").[54]
Possessive plurals that also include apostrophes for mere pluralization and periods appear especially complex: for example, "the C.D.'s' labels" (the labels of the compact discs). In some instances, however, an apostrophe may increase clarity: for example, if the final letter of an abbreviation is "S", as in "SOS's" (although abbreviations ending with S can also take "-es", e.g. "SOSes"), or when pluralizing an abbreviation that has periods.[55][56]
A particularly rich source of options arises when the plural of an acronym would normally be indicated in a word other than the final word if spelled out in full. A classic example is "Member of Parliament", which in plural is "Members of Parliament". It is possible then to abbreviate this as "M's P".[57][58] (or similar[59]), as used by former Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley.[60][61][62] This usage is less common than forms with "s" at the end, such as "MPs", and may appear dated or pedantic. In common usage, therefore, "weapons of mass destruction" becomes "WMDs", "prisoners of war" becomes "POWs", and "runs batted in" becomes "RBIs".[63]
The argument that acronyms should have no different plural form (for example, "If D can stand for disc, it can also stand for discs") is in general disregarded because of the practicality in distinguishing singulars and plurals. This is not the case, however, when the abbreviation is understood to describe a plural noun already: For example, "U.S." is short for "United States", but not "United State". In this case, the options for making a possessive form of an abbreviation that is already in its plural form without a final "s" may seem awkward: for example, "U.S.", "U.S.'s", etc. In such instances, possessive abbreviations are often forgone in favor of simple attributive usage (for example, "the U.S. economy") or expanding the abbreviation to its full form and then making the possessive (for example, "the United States' economy"). On the other hand, in speech, the pronunciation "United States's" sometimes is used.
Abbreviations that come from single, rather than multiple, words—such as "TV" ("television")—are usually pluralized without apostrophes ("two TVs"); most writers feel that the apostrophe should be reserved for the possessive ("the TV's antenna").
In some languages, the convention of doubling the letters in the acronym is used to indicate plural words: for example, the Spanish EE. UU., for Estados Unidos ('United States'). This old convention is still followed for a limited number of English abbreviations, such as SS. for "Saints", pp. for the Latin plural of "pages", paginae, or MSS for "manuscripts". In the case of pp. it derives from the original Latin phrase "per procurationem" meaning 'through the agency of';[64] an English translation alternative is particular pages in a book or document: see pp. 8–88.[65]
Case [ edit ]
All-caps style [ edit ]
The most common capitalization scheme seen with acronyms is all-uppercase (all-caps), except for those few that have linguistically taken on an identity as regular words, with the acronymous etymology of the words fading into the background of common knowledge, such as has occurred with the words "scuba", "laser", and "radar"—these are known as anacronyms.[66] Anacronyms (note well -acro-) should not be homophonously confused with anachronyms (note well -chron-), which are a type of misnomer.
Small-caps variant [ edit ]
Small caps are sometimes used to make the run of capital letters seem less jarring to the reader. For example, the style of some American publications, including the Atlantic Monthly and USA Today, is to use small caps for acronyms longer than three letters[citation needed]; thus "U.S." and "FDR" in normal caps, but "nato" in small caps. The acronyms "AD" and "BC" are often smallcapped as well, as in: "From 4004 bc to ad 525".
Mixed-case variant [ edit ]
Words derived from an acronym by affixing are typically expressed in mixed case, so the root acronym is clear. For example, "pre-WWII politics", "post-NATO world", "DNAase". In some cases a derived acronym may also be expressed in mixed case. For example, "messenger RNA" and "transfer RNA" become "mRNA" and "tRNA".
Pronunciation-dependent style and case [ edit ]
Some publications choose to capitalize only the first letter of acronyms, reserving all-caps styling for initialisms, writing the pronounced acronyms "Nato" and "Aids" in mixed case, but the initialisms "USA" and "FBI" in all caps. For example, this is the style used in The Guardian,[67] and BBC News typically edits to this style (though its official style guide, dating from 2003, still recommends all-caps[68]). The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the capitalization scheme.
Some style manuals also base the letters' case on their number. The New York Times, for example, keeps "NATO" in all capitals (while several guides in the British press may render it "Nato"), but uses lower case in "UNICEF" (from "United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund") because it is more than four letters, and to style it in caps might look ungainly (flirting with the appearance of "shouting capitals").
Numerals and constituent words [ edit ]
While abbreviations typically exclude the initials of short function words (such as "and", "or", "of", or "to"), this is not always the case. (A similar set of words is sometimes left as lowercase in headers and publication titles.) Sometimes function words are included to make a pronounceable acronym, such as CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). Sometimes the letters representing these words are written in lower case, such as in the cases of "TfL" ("Transport for London") and LotR (Lord of the Rings); this usually occurs when the acronym represents a multi-word proper noun.
Numbers (both cardinal and ordinal) in names are often represented by digits rather than initial letters: as in "4GL" ("fourth generation language") or "G77" ("Group of 77"). Large numbers may use metric prefixes, as with "Y2K" for "Year 2000" (sometimes written "Y2k", because the SI symbol for 1000 is "k"—not "K", which stands for "kelvin"). Exceptions using initials for numbers include "TLA" ("three-letter acronym/abbreviation") and "GoF" ("Gang of Four"). Abbreviations using numbers for other purposes include repetitions, such as "W3C" ("World Wide Web Consortium") and T3 (Trends, Tips & Tools for Everyday Living); pronunciation, such as "B2B" ("business to business"); and numeronyms, such as "i18n" ("internationalization"; "18" represents the 18 letters between the initial "i" and the final "n").
Casing of expansions [ edit ]
Although many authors of expository writing show a predisposition to capitalizing the initials of the expansion for pedagogical emphasis (trying to thrust the reader's attention toward where the letters are coming from), this sometimes conflicts with the convention of English orthography, which reserves capitals in the middle of sentences for proper nouns. Enforcing the general convention, most professional editors[citation needed] case-fold such expansions to their standard orthography when editing manuscripts for publication. The justification is that (1) readers are smart enough to figure out where the letters came from, even without their being capitalized for emphasis, and that (2) common nouns do not take capital initials in standard English orthography. Such house styles also usually disfavor bold or italic font for the initial letters.[citation needed] For example, "the onset of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)" or "the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF)" if found in an unpublished manuscript would be rewritten as "the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF)" in the final published article when following the AMA Manual of Style.[69]
Changes to (or word play on) the expanded meaning [ edit ]
Some apparent acronyms or other abbreviations do not stand for anything and cannot be expanded to some meaning. Such pseudo-acronyms may be pronunciation-based, such as "BBQ" (bee-bee-cue), for "barbecue", or "K9" (kay-nine) for "canine". Pseudo-acronyms also frequently develop as "orphan initialisms"; a existing acronym is redefined as a non-acronymous name, severing its link to its previous meaning.[70][71] For example, the letters of the "SAT", a US college entrance test originally dubbed "Scholastic Aptitude Test", no longer officially stand for anything.[72][73]
This is common with companies that want to retain brand recognition while moving away from an outdated image: American Telephone and Telegraph became AT&T,[70] "Kentucky Fried Chicken" became "KFC" to de-emphasize the role of frying in the preparation of its signature dishes,[74][a] and British Petroleum became BP.[71][75] Russia Today has rebranded itself as RT. American Movie Classics has simply rebranded itself as AMC. "Genzyme Transgenics Corporation" became "GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc." in order to reduce perceived corporate risk of sabotage/vandalism by Luddite activists.[citation needed]
Pseudo-acronyms may have advantages in international markets:[according to whom?] for example, some national affiliates of International Business Machines are legally incorporated as "IBM" (for example, "IBM Canada") to avoid translating the full name into local languages.[citation needed] Likewise, "UBS" is the name of the merged Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation,[76] and "HSBC" has replaced "The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation." Sometimes,[when?] companies whose original name gives a clear indication of their place of origin will use acronyms when expanding to foreign markets—for example, Toronto-Dominion Bank continues to operate under the full name in Canada, but its U.S. subsidiary is known as "TD Bank",[citation needed] just as Royal Bank of Canada used its full name in Canada (a constitutional monarchy), but its now-defunct U.S. subsidiary was called "RBC Bank".[citation needed]
Redundant acronyms and RAS syndrome [ edit ]
Rebranding can lead to redundant acronym syndrome, as when Trustee Savings Bank became TSB Bank, or when Railway Express Agency became "REA Express". A few high-tech companies have taken the redundant acronym to the extreme: for example, ISM Information Systems Management Corp. and SHL Systemhouse Ltd. Examples in entertainment include the television shows CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Navy: NCIS ("Navy" was dropped in the second season), where the redundancy was likely designed to educate new viewers as to what the initials stood for. The same reasoning was in evidence when the Royal Bank of Canada's Canadian operations rebranded to RBC Royal Bank, or when Bank of Montreal rebranded their retail banking subsidiary BMO Bank of Montreal.
Another common example is "RAM memory", which is redundant because "RAM" ("random-access memory") includes the initial of the word "memory". "PIN" stands for "personal identification number", obviating the second word in "PIN number"; in this case its retention may be motivated to avoid ambiguity with the homophonous word "pin". Other examples include "ATM machine", "EAB bank", "CableACE Award", "DC Comics", "HIV virus", Microsoft's NT Technology, and the formerly redundant "SAT test", now simply "SAT Reasoning Test"). TNN (The Nashville/National Network) also renamed itself "The New TNN" for a brief interlude.
Simple redefining [ edit ]
Sometimes, the initials continue to stand for an expanded meaning, but the original meaning is simply replaced. Some examples:
DVD was originally an acronym of the unofficial term "digital video disc", but is now stated by the DVD Forum as standing for "Digital Versatile Disc"
GAO changed the full form of its name from "General Accounting Office" to "Government Accountability Office"
GPO (in the United States) changed the full form of its name from "Government Printing Office" to "Government Publishing Office"
RAID used to mean "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks", but is now commonly interpreted as "Redundant Array of Independent Disks"
WWF originally stood for World Wildlife Fund, but now stands for Worldwide Fund for Nature (although the former name is still used in Canada and the United States)
, but now stands for (although the former name is still used in Canada and the United States) The UICC, whose initials came from the Romance-language versions of its name (such as French Union Internationale Contre le Cancer, "International Union Against Cancer"), changed the English expansion of its name to "Union for International Cancer Control" (from "International Union Against Cancer") so that the English expansion, too, would correspond to the UICC initials
Backronyms [ edit ]
A backronym (or bacronym) is a phrase that is constructed "after the fact" from a previously existing word. For example, the novelist and critic Anthony Burgess once proposed that the word "book" ought to stand for "box of organized knowledge".[77] A classic real-world example of this is the name of the predecessor to the Apple Macintosh, The Apple Lisa, which was said to refer to "Local Integrated Software Architecture", but was actually named after Steve Jobs's daughter, born in 1978.
Backronyms are oftentimes used to comedic effect[citation needed]. An example of creating a backronym for comedic effect would be in naming a group or organization, the name "A.C.R.O.N.Y.M" stands for (among other things) "a clever regiment of nerdy young men".
Contrived acronyms [ edit ]
Acronyms are sometimes contrived, that is, deliberately designed to be especially apt for the thing being named (by having a dual meaning or by borrowing the |
dying.
The babies would die within 10 days of birth, Prem explains. Doctors blamed malnutrition - a common cause of infant mortality in the Tharparkar district - but failed to diagnose the underlying issue with Sanjhari.
"The government is blind and deaf. It doesn't care about the poor. It gets into power through our votes but doesn't actually do anything for us."
Prem has saved hospital receipts, prescriptions, test reports and his sons' death certificates as proof of the poor treatment he says they have received at government hospitals.
"On a couple of occasions, the hospital staff would send us home right after delivery despite knowing the baby was underweight and my wife wasn't well. They inserted cotton inside her and discharged her. We could see the baby was not doing well," he says.
"I then followed it up with trips to hospital in Hyderabad [more than 200km away] and that's when it emerged she had a heart condition. Those trips cost us everything. We lost everything, including our babies."
Sanjhari was skilled at making traditional hand-embroidered clothes, and made a small income that helped with the household expenses. Now, consumed by grief and in poor health, she is barely able to speak or help around the house.
According to government figures, more than 1,500 children under the age of five have died in Tharparkar since 2011. The district comprises around 2,300 registered villages and an estimated 2,000 unregistered ones.
Eighty percent of it is rural and inaccessible by most of the vehicles that the government has sanctioned for medical assistance.
The infant mortality figure is based on children dying in five government hospitals, including Civil Hospital Mithi, the sole district hospital serving 1.5 million people. Here, the wards are overflowing, families are camped in the courtyard and staff are overworked and underpaid.
There is no official record of deaths taking place outside these five locations.
Lack of food and clean water, malnutrition among mothers, early marriages and the absence of family planning - along with apparent government neglect - have left locals with little hope.
For the more than 500,000 children in the district, there are just six paediatricians. There are five gynaecologists. Even at the largest hospital, to which patients are referred from across the desert district, there is inadequate bed space.
"The government hasn't even given us a single tablet," Prem says. "Eight years ago, the local government gave cod liver oil to pregnant women and formula milk for infants. Now, this government doesn't even give kerosene oil for the poor man to pour and kill himself and his family."
Prem sobs as he shares their story. His wife, still sitting on the floor, looks at him, her face expressionless but her eyes wide in acknowledgement.
'If it's a boy, the parents will try to raise the funds'
On a narrow road opposite a market that sells everything from medicine and human blood, to meat, cigarettes and tea, is the small entrance to Civil Hospital Mithi.
As you navigate the uncovered drains and motorcycle rickshaws that wait to transport patients home, the state of the region's health crisis comes into view. Crying children and their agitated parents lay on the floor of the courtyard.
Mohan Lal Khatri, a child specialist at the hospital, tries to explain the issues behind the rising number of deaths.
"Untrained midwives in the villages, unhygienic conditions and widespread infections around which most of these kids are born means they come to us in a bad state," he says.
"The early marriage concept in Tharparkar is also a huge factor. Girls get married as young as 12 and add to it a lack of family planning. The workload on these women is immense too. There is no rest for them. They get up at 4am, do household chores, look after the children, prepare food, fetch water, work in the fields among other things. All this while they are pregnant."
Around 300 to 400 children are admitted to the hospital each month. According to Khatri, around 15 to 20 percent of them die.
Inadequate facilities and a lack of specialists force staff to refer patients to Hyderabad or Karachi - a journey of more than 400km for people who may have already travelled for hours, on borrowed money, to reach Mithi. The government does provide ambulance transport in some cases, but for most, travel is not the only concern. They must also cover their living expenses while there and find accommodation, often sleeping in the courtyards of the government hospitals.
"At times, if it's a boy, the parents will try and raise funds and take him to bigger hospitals. But if it's a girl, they will let things be," Khatri says matter-of-factly.
He stresses the need for education, especially for girls, the abolition of early marriages, improvements in vaccination routines, access to clean water (40 percent of diseases in children are contracted through contaminated water) and the implementation of family planning across the region.
"We try and ensure no kids die but we are under so much pressure. We need more staff. We have been working non-stop for two years and there is no relief. That gets to us and, hence, the service that we provide to patients suffers too."
'The issues aren't inside the hospitals'
Almost 80 percent of children in Tharparkar district are born underweight. Dr Aurangzeb of Nagarparkar Taluka Hospital says that complications from birth to the age of five months are mostly life-threatening.
The main cause: poverty.
"There is no food, no source of income for these people," he says.
"The mother doesn't get food. How can she? There is no food. If there are 10 members of a family, all 10 would be unemployed. You sell a goat, you have enough food for three days and then you're back to square one. The issues aren't inside hospitals, they are outside. We will treat whoever comes here, but then the patients will go back to the same place and fall ill again."
The Sindh provincial government recently announced the opening of new dispensaries and the appointment of additional staff. The existing infrastructure lays abandoned, with a staff of 598 health workers unpaid for over 11 months.
The government's immediate response has also been to distribute bags of wheat among the locals. But what happens in the weeks and months after this has run out?
"I don't want cash. I just want good treatment for my wife," Prem says as his eyes fill with tears. His wife looks up at him, pleading her case without saying a word.
"In the hospital, they just throw us aside like rubbish. We are a minority, but we're Pakistanis after all. We were born here, and we will die here."
Every patient has a story
In the courtyard of the hospital, there is the family of a 25-year-old who has just suffered a miscarriage, an extremely malnourished nine-month-old baby and attendants trying to figure out how to raise the required funds to take a patient to another hospital more than 300km away.
Inside, the labour rooms are in chaos, and the wards are packed. Attendants line up in the corridors. There is a smell of fresh paint, but the repairs under way in one of the wards do little to conceal the discontent here.
Every patient has a story to share, from non-operational dispensaries in their locality to a lack of food and water.
A health visitor looks up from the form she is filling out to say that she hasn't been paid for almost a year. Others complain of the lack of facilities and assistance while attending to patients' needs.
At the entrance, a one-year-old boy sits with his father. His sister is a patient. "She's recovering now, but we've been here at the hospital for 15 days now," their father explains.
Another woman lost her baby during labour. She has seven children already. Her family was told to take her to Hyderabad. Hospital staff had recommended getting blood tests done, but the family cannot afford them.
They came to the hospital with 8,000 rupees ($76), but that money has already run out.
A few kilometres away, an air of optimism fills the office of Dr Chandar Lal, the district health officer. He was appointed to the post in May and is quick to claim that the situation has "improved".
Colourful charts adorn the walls indicating the "improvement" in infant deaths that Dr Lal boasts of.
"We have opened a number of facilities, appointed a number of additional doctors and opened 184 new dispensaries," he says. "We now also have four mobile health units."
But the mobile units are incapable of going off-road, many of the dispensaries are locked with staff nowhere to be seen, and their complaints of not being paid are falling on deaf ears.
"Unpaid salary is not an issue. They have other resources as well. Let it go," Lal says when asked about this.
'There are no qualified doctors'
Just over 120km away in Nagarparkar, a high-security town situated close to the border with India, Dr Aurangzeb complains of the lack of trained professionals in the dispensaries.
"There are no qualified doctors in those places so the onus falls on the patients to visit hospitals," he says.
"This hospital serves around 272,000 people, and we have much less space to cater to all those. This is a 25-bed hospital and with equipment from the trauma centre dumped in one of our wards for two years, we are severely hampered.
"Accessibility is also an issue. For some living along the border, it could take two days for them to get here. Our fuel budget is 200,000 rupees ($1,909) from which we have to cover outbreak visits, referrals and [the] backup electricity generator."
Abdul Aleem, a resident of Mithrio Soomro village near Islamkot, bemoans the lack of facilities in his local dispensary.
The dispenser arrives late, the midwife follows but there is no sign of the gatekeeper who is supposed to be there first.
"This dispensary serves around 10,000 people, and it doesn't even have a doctor," he explains. "If someone falls ill, he or she won't get instant relief. A 24-hour working position needs to be established and at least one specialist doctor present."
Back at Nagarparkar, a pregnant woman lies on a charpai with her daughter under a tree in the sweltering heat.
She is very weak and not getting enough food. It took them four hours to reach the hospital, says her mother, who complains of not only a lack of clean water in her village but also a lack of health facilities.
"Accessibility is a big problem for us. We live in an off-road village. We had to push the motorcycle rickshaw through the sand and pay the guy to drop us here. It's our third time at this hospital, and we've come with six members of the family."
In the abandoned trauma centre at the back of the hospital, tired attendants nap amid rubbish, discarded syringes and even human waste.
In the doctors' accommodation, there are crumbling walls, open drains and no glass in the windows. A donkey roams around an abandoned quarter.
The women of Tharparkar
Dhayyani is a 14-year-old living in a remote, off-road village just outside Mithi.
She has seven brothers and four sisters in addition to the four that have already died. Her father does not work. They have four or five goats and a camel. The entire household is dependent on the income of her one working brother.
There is insufficient food for the family. The mother looks after the children, the livestock and goes to collect water and firewood several times a day.
A recent UN-funded survey found 90 percent of Thari women to be underweight, with a mean weight of 44.2kg.
Almost 93 percent of households do not have any food-buying powers, surviving mostly on seasonal harvests that are monsoon-dependent and the sale of livestock.
Pratab, an educationist and social activist in Tharparkar, describes the life of a Thari woman: "A male does no work at home. He only works on the field during seasons. He will wake up in the morning and ask for tea. If there is no milk, the women will go next door to get milk. There is no milk for the kids to drink but for tea, it is a must. And cigarettes.
"The female will eat whatever is left, if anything. She will wake up before everyone else, fetch water, cook, send the kids to school, among other chores. You look at their daily lives and you will be surprised how they are living. According to the males, a female does not do any 'work' because they consider 'work' as something that brings in money. It is a very sad and oppressed life for the women of Tharparkar."
'The longer we keep an adolescent girl unmarried, the bigger our sins will be'
Early marriage, teen pregnancies and an absence of family planning has become a norm in the district.
It is 9am on a hot, windy summer's day in Mithrio Soomro village when local women gather around a well to collect water. Aqeela, who says she has "10 to 12" children, is pulling the thick, rough rope tied to the well along with a few other women - a job typically assigned to a donkey.
As the conversation turns towards the number of children each woman has, some shy away from the question while others respond with "eight", "six", "10" or "12".
Aqeela says with pride that she married her daughter off as soon as she turned 12. "My girl was sitting in school aged 13 with a baby in her belly," she says with a chuckle.
The local mosque's imam, they say, implores them to marry their daughters off as soon as they hit puberty. "He [the imam] says the longer we keep a baaligh [adolescent] girl unmarried, the bigger our sins will be."
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) recently directed all TV and FM radio channels to stop airing family planning ads as the "general public is very much concerned on the exposure of such products to the innocent children, who get inquisitive on features and use of the products".
The ban was later tweaked to allow such ads after 11pm.
Although the ban means little in Tharparkar, where few have electricity, Dr Najma Khoso, a gynaecologist at Nagarparkar Hospital, is irked by it.
"What corruption can a family planning ad cause?" she asks. "This is awareness."
"Sex education should also be preached on TV so that people know that this is a reality. We are still looking for God's name in potatoes, but when someone with forward thinking comes out, we deem it un-Islamic."
Khoso is the only female doctor in the area. In the two years she has been at the hospital, she says she has witnessed a gradual change in the thinking of the locals.
"There is lack of awareness as to when they should consult doctors or come to health facilities. If they do decide to come, transportation and limited finances make them think again.
"Malnutrition is a major factor in the deteriorating health of Thari females. There are even some who are able to afford the right food but aren't aware of what they need to eat. Others get nothing but bread and milk," she says.
There has been a gradual rise in awareness of family planning in registered villages. But almost half of the villages in the district are unregistered and hence, not on the map. But young women from those villages are now being taught about family planning.
In January, 759 females were trained and sent back to their communities.
Khadija, 35, is a midwife from the village of Mithrio Soomro. Her life is typical of many Thari women. But she is striving to make a difference.
"I wake up, send [the] kids to school, milk the goats and send the milk away to sell," explains the mother of two.
"I get help from my parents and uncles. Then I come to the dispensary at 9am and leave at 2pm. I do housework and take [the] livestock for grazing.... While my salary on appointment was 14,000 rupees [$134], I haven't been paid for a year," she says.
All of the women from the village come to Khadija. While there are no doctors at the dispensary, Khadija can complete basic check-ups and hand over medicine with the help of the dispenser.
Khoso says change is happening - but slowly.
"There are some men in favour of family planning. But then I've seen cases where a woman comes in with one kid in her lap, one holding her hand and one unborn child in her belly. We ask them how they feed the infant, do household chores or look after themselves during pregnancy.
"They promise us they'll stop having children but are not able to do it. We do see some effect of our efforts, but it's a very slow change."
'It seems as if half our life is spent fetching water'
"The wells in our villages have dried up. People, mostly women and children, travel six to seven kilometres multiple times a day to fetch water. It seems as if half our life is spent fetching water," says Sandhu.
She is at a water filtration plant where she hopes to stock up.
The majority of Tharparkar's residents have no access to clean drinking water. There are no water pipelines going deep into the villages. Wells have been dug up by the government, NGOs, social workers and by villagers themselves, but a lack of rainfall and inadequate maintenance mean they have either dried up or their contents are unsafe for human consumption. Still, most residents have no choice but to consume it.
Reverse osmosis water plants, which run on solar power, have been set up in the region. Residents flock to them multiple times a day, braving the heat, exhaustion and long journeys.
"I've been trained as a midwife, and I can say that water issues in the villages cause a lot of diseases and complications at childbirth, too," Sandhu says.
"We used to have a major water crisis in the villages. And not just for us humans, but our livestock as well. We used to collect rainwater, but the scarcity of rain left us with dry lands."
A UN-funded survey by HANDS established that around 30 percent of women and children in the region travelled over an hour to a water supply.
Muhammad Irshad is an installation manager at PakOasis, the company which created the water plant and more than 700 smaller ones, in conjunction with the provincial government.
Irshad leads a tour of Asia's largest desalination complex, which is located in Tharparkar.
"There is too much salt, iron, sulphate and fluoride in the groundwater here," he explains. "We dig up a well 800 to 1,100 feet deep in close vicinity to this plant and pump water here to be treated. Only Mithi gets water through pipelines. The rest of the district either uses our smaller plants, which are sparsely located, or they still rely on the traditional wells in their villages."
Irshad fills a glass with untreated water from the wells and asks us to drink it. It is unbearably salty and contains other harmful minerals that we cannot taste.
"This," he says pointing at the water, "is what the majority of Tharparkar residents had to drink."
At a smaller plant a few kilometres from the main road, women line up plastic water containers and earthen pots. Children are entrusted with making sure the donkeys get their share before the long journey home in the heat.
For most, it is not their first trip of the day - or their last.
'Change will only come when you educate yourself'
Almost half of Tharparkar's 1.5 million population are children.
Of that, 165,000 are enrolled in the district's poorly-run education system, according to provincial government statistics from 2013-14, with only 30,000 of those staying in school beyond primary education.
Just under 1,800 are enrolled in college and only 350, out of the whole population, go on to attend university.
"Ultimately, the entire population of Tharparkar is dependent upon 350 shoulders," Pratab tells Al Jazeera.
The district's literacy rate is below 20 percent. There are approximately 4,000 schools in the region and 90 percent of these are primary. The majority consist of a single room.
"Every other school is closed. In villages, almost 80 percent of schools are closed. The literacy rate among girls is an appalling 6.9 percent. That's because even fewer girls are sent to school," Pratab says.
"You'll see a stark contrast when you reach urban areas. Schools are open, teachers are present and education is great."
According to a government survey, 973 schools are shut, and only 190 out of 4,045 schools have electricity, while 1,634 have boundary walls. Almost 2,500 have no toilet facilities. More than 5,000 teachers are registered, but many are not working where they are supposed to be.
"I know of this female teacher who used to live 25km from the school. It would cost her 30,000 rupees [$287] per month to go back and forth. Her salary is a meagre 16,000 rupees [$153]," Pratab explains.
When Al Jazeera visited the region, schools were closed for the summer.
But in one remote village, the children gathered for our visit and began counting in Sindhi. The board had the attendance marked on it in English, but none of the children were able to read it.
"There are 18 children registered in this school, which runs for six hours daily," a local explained.
"The kids are aged five to 12, and they all study in the same room. They only get taught in Sindhi. There are no English teachers or syllabus here."
There is only one English medium primary school in the district, according to the government's 2013-14 census, with three Urdu schools. The rest teach in Sindhi.
The shortfall in education is considered one of the main obstacles holding the region back.
"The care provider at home is mainly the mother, and if she is not educated, there is no one to teach the kids anything," Mohan Lal Khatri, the childcare specialist at Civil Hospital Mithi, explains.
The government says it is willing to pay high salaries to the teachers and is already doing so.
"We are making efforts to improve things," explains Nisar Ahmed Memon, Tharparkar's deputy commissioner. "And we realise there's a lot of work to be done. We are trying to fix the issues and make as many schools functional as possible. But we need community involvement as well. People do raise their voices, but only when we go and visit them.
"Education will also help solve other matters in society, especially early marriages and frequent pregnancies. More awareness is needed and people need to be educated. So, hopefully, the generation now in school will grow up to be fully aware of these issues and consequences."
But with no incentive to keep them in school, more and more parents are pulling their children out to help with household chores.
In Mithrio Soomro, a large village accessible via a paved road, even when girls are sent to school, they are often pulled out and married off as young as 11.
For things to improve, that mindset needs to change, Pratab says.
"Change will only come when you educate yourself," he adds.
Living off livestock
Every Sunday, Mithi plays host to a goat and sheep market.
Buyers come from as far away as Lahore, having driven for two days to cover the 1,300km distance. Trucks are loaded with goats of all sizes and colours before setting back out on the long journey.
One of the drivers explains that most of the meat will be exported around the world, fetching them thousands of rupees. Some will be kept for local consumption.
Most of those here are selling their own flocks and herds, but a few have come to sell the last of the little livestock they have.
The main source of livelihood for Tharparkar's population is its livestock of 4.6 million animals - donkeys, camels, goats, cow, sheep and mules.
Some of it provides milk for consumption at home and also to sell on a daily basis. Mules are used to carry water from wells and water plants.
It is also a last-resort source of quick funds. Unemployment and poverty lead to forced sales, the money often lasting the family just days.
For a region and group of people so heavily reliant on livestock, there are only 12 vets in the entire district, according to Pratab.
Low rainfall over the last few years has not only produced a low yield of crops but also affected livestock in Tharparkar, too. In 2014, 88 percent of households in Tharparkar had no income due to those dry seasons, increasing their reliance on livestock.
But the dry season and diseases accounted for the deaths of over 300,000 livestock that year. Of those that survived, many ended up being non-lactating, weak and in poor health due to water scarcity and high temperatures.
In response, the government ran livestock vaccination programmes across 68 villages. But locals complain that it was not enough.
"I just hope adequate rain is on its way this year; that's the best solution to our problems," says one local at the goat market.
Tharpakar received its first batch of monsoon rains in June followed by another set this week. It may temporarily help wash away some of the Tharis' suffering, until the clouds start receding once again …Rossi Visits Borg-Warner Trophy Sculptor's Studio in Advance of the Indy 500 Winner's Greatest Reward
Many of the spoils of winning an Indianapolis 500 are immediate. There’s the donning of the wreath, the drinking of the milk, the kissing of the bricks.
But the best one, the most permanent one, comes several months after taking the checkered flag.
When William Behrends sculpts your likeness for the Borg-Warner Trophy, that’s forever. That’s when winning “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” perhaps hits home more than all the aforementioned moments.
Alexander Rossi, the winner of the 100th Running in unbelievable, empty-fuel-tank fashion some six months ago, is closing in on that moment where he’ll see his face on the famous trophy. The reveal will come on Dec. 7 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, though Rossi got a sneak peek in September when visiting Behrends’ North Carolina studio and seeing his life-size bust.
Before the sculptor creates the bas-relief image for the trophy, he makes a bust of the winning driver to get a better handle on the man’s features and demeanor.
“Well, I think it’s cooler than looking in the mirror for sure!” Rossi said upon seeing the bust in September. “It’s very special and it’s way more detailed, accurate and amazing than I ever thought it would be.
“I am so far from being anywhere close to an artist, but you can really appreciate what he’s done and I don’t even know where to begin in how you acquire such an amazing skill set. It’s fantastic that I had the opportunity to work with him for a short period of time and I think that it’s a very special program to be part of.”
Rossi’s likeness will be the 27th that Behrends has created for the Borg-Warner Trophy. In 2015, Juan Pablo Montoya became the first driver to visit Behrends’ studio, and Rossi followed this year in what may be a new tradition for the winner – and one that ultimately adds to what goes on the Borg-Warner.
“Being able to sit with them for a couple hours and talk about their lives, about their racing, about their win, it really does translate something into the work for me,” Behrends said. “It really enriches it for me, makes it more pleasurable for me to do.”During PAX East 2014, Jen Gordy, lead PvP designer on WildStar, led a behind-closed-doors tour of Warplots — the main end-game PvP 40v40 feature. She went pretty in-depth with everything involved in Warplots, including how to build them. Still, let's start at the beginning: how to create a Warparty. If you'd like to skip to a certain section, click one of the links directly below.
Creating a Warparty / Customizing your Warplot / Small Warplot sockets / Large Warplot Sockets / Superweapon plug / WildStar Flick: Warplots
Creating a Warparty
The only requirement to create a Warparty is being level 50. A Warparty is a guild-like permanent team with a fixed size of 80 members. You have different ranks (and even custom ranks) that you can set up permissions for, like building or entering into a match.
I’m sure you’re wondering, “can I be in a Warparty and a guild?” The answer is yes, you can. They are two different entities. This allows smaller guilds to team up and create a larger Warparty, creating something resembling an alliance. Likewise, a large guild can split up into multiple Warparties.
In a Warparty, you will have two ratings: a Warparty rating used to competitively match you, and a personal Warparty rating that you use for personal rewards. While you can have 80 people in a Warparty, the match size only allows for 40 Warparty members to participate in a match. When your Warparty queues up, it takes any Warparty members that have queued up into the match with you.
What happens if you don’t have enough? There is a mercenary system in place that will fill out your Warparty. A mercenary is a player queued for a Warparty match that does not belong to a Warparty. They get matched up according to your Warparty rating and their personal rating.
Customizing your Warplot
Once you create a Warparty, you can go into the Build map using a recall ability to customize your Warplot. Let it be known that you do not build before the match; you have to customize your Warplot before you queue up.
So what’s a Warplot? It’s a customizable flying fortress that lands on the battlefield when a Warplot match starts. Until then, you’re just flying around in the air while you’re building the Warplot. The Warplot is customizable with modifications/plugs and freeform placed traps and turrets. Enhancements can offer defensive or offensive capabilities during a match, such as mines to protect your base, or a missile launcher that fires rockets at your enemies. There are seven socketable areas in a Warplot where you can place modifications/plugs, complete with stairs and walkways to help with defense.
To customize and purchase enhancements for your Warplot, you’ll be using Warcoins, a special team/Warparty currency. Upon creating a Warparty, you’ll get an initial 500 Warcoins to help build a Warplot for your first match. Warparties will get more Warcoins by completing Warparty PvP matches.
One example of a plug is a travel plug near the center of the Warplot that can be used to traveling offensively or defensively. This deployment station allows you to be dropped into the thick of things by walking up to an active teleportation pad. Doing so will teleport them to the corresponding number on the holographic map in the center of the plug.
There's a piece of the plug that can be attacked; attacking the plug and bringing it to zero will deactivate the plug and take its uses away. Here’s the big thing: damage carries over from match to match. So you’ll either have to repair the plug in-match using in-match resources or you use Warcoins to repair it after the match. Plugs are also upgradeable during the match using in-match resources, with the ability to be upgraded twice. For this deployment plug, two more pads will become active and give you two more drop locations.
Small Warplot sockets – military research center and silo
To the left and right of the front-center plug is sit small Warplot spaces. There, Jen placed a military research center and a silo. These plugs give Warparty-wide bonuses and modifications to your team during the match. The military research center provides a health bonus to all freeplaced traps and turrets, and upgrading it increases the health bonus. The silo increases damage mitigation to your teammates, also available to be upgrading. These plugs are also interactible. Right-clicking on the military research center will give you a temporary turret item to spawn in the battlefield, while the silo gives players an item that grants a defensive aura to protect nearby teammates.
These plugs also have defenses. The silo has stationary defensive cannons that you can use to attack enemies, as well as a series of laser grids that will damage them. The military research center has a ranged dps guard and an assassin guard; upgrading the plug will increase the number of guards on the plug, while destroying the plug means no guards will spawn. Each plug also has funneling techniques to bring the enemies into them.
Large Warplot sockets – hazards and guard plugs
On the outside left and right of the Warplot sit large Warplot sockets. Large plugs can be one of two different types: either a hazard or a guard plug that can be used offensively or defensively with the purchase of a variant. The guard plug that Jen showed us is a Battlebot factory, which is a skilled variant. The guard plug provides guards to whichever side the plug is socketed into, with upgrades increasing the guards health and damage.
Let’s say you used a defensive variant for the plug. The guard plug will spawn more guards; if you used an offensive variant, the guards will go from your base to the enemy’s base to help you attack them. The guard plugs have different creature types with different stats and abilities, so you have options depending on what you want from your plug, whether it’s more health or crowd control.
The hazard plug provides an environmental hazzard for the side of the base you socket it into. The hazard shown to us was a nuclear plant that brings up a hazard meter and debuffs the enemy, as well as damages them while they are in the hazardous effect. If the hazard meter fills, they’ll be hit for higher damage, so they’ll want to destroy the plug as quickly as possible. Teammates will go through the plug in a hazmat suit, so they won’t take damage.
Superweapon plug
Then there’s the superweapon plug. Superweapon plugs, as well as guard plugs, give players an ability on a special warplot bar during the match. This is used for sending reinforcements to the enemy base with the guard plug, while the superweapon action will fire the weapon. The multiple rocket launcher superweapon will fire missiles from the launcher, but it has a team-wide cooldown so it can’t be spammed. It also requires match resources, so you’ll want to make sure your team captures the resource nodes.
There’s one more plug — a boss summoner plug. If you capture a boss from a 40-man raid that you’ve defeated, you can summon him as a boss in a Warplot, either defending your Warplot or going to attack the enemy one. So that means the enemy will have to deal with you, your defenses, and a raid boss with a number of special attacks.
I know what you’re wondering and the answer is yes: if both Warparties summon a boss, the two bosses can fight against each other. There’s one downside to this: boss summoning will consume the boss, so you’d have to go out, defeat the boss and hopefully capture him again if you want to use him in your Warplot again.
All plugs have a cost that is tallied up for the total battle maintenance cost. This is used from energy resources in matches. While you can win by destroying both of the generators in the enemy's Warplot, there's another method to win — by attrition (the enemy running out of energy). This happens by controlling energy points in the middle ground of the map between the two teams' Warplots, which will take energy away from the enemy. While kills take away from energy, the cost of your Warplot's plugs will drain energy, as well. So keep that in mind when choosing your strategy and planning your defenses.
For more on WildStar, check out all of our coverage, as well as this new WildStar Flick on Warplots.
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at [email protected]About
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