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the club, now known as Club Deportivo Espanya Industrial, became Barcelona's reserve team and began to play home games at Camp de Les Corts.
Initially, Industrial played in the local regional leagues but, in 1950, it was promoted to Tercera División, reaching Segunda División two years later. In 1953 the club finished as runners-up in both the league and the promotion play-off but, being a nursery club of Barcelona, it was unable to move up a division.
CD Condal [ edit ]
After winning another promotion play-off in 1956, Espanya Industrial became independent of FC Barcelona and was renamed Club Deportivo Condal. The club wore blue shirts with two white diagonals stripes.
Condal competed once in La Liga, in the 1956–57 season, being relegated as 16th and last. In 1968 the club rejoined the Barcelona family as its reserve team, and adopted the blaugrana colours.
Barcelona Atlètic / Barcelona B [ edit ]
Barcelona Atlètic crest
In 1970, Barcelona president Agustí Montal decided to merge Condal with another junior club, Atlètic Catalunya, and formed Barcelona Atlètic. Atlètic was founded in 1965 as a result of the merger of two other teams: UE Catalunya de Les Corts (founded in 1918 as Catalunya Sporting Club) and CD Fabra Coats (1926).
Under the new denomination the B-team played a total of ten seasons in the second level. At the end of 1988–89 the side returned to Segunda División B – the new third level created in 1977 – after ranking 17th.
In 1990 the team was renamed Barcelona B, but club president Joan Laporta changed the name back to Barcelona Atlètic in 2008. Two years later, his successor Sandro Rosell returned to the previous denomination.[1]
Former club player Luis Enrique (he also played for Real Madrid) succeeded Pep Guardiola as team manager in the summer of 2008, as the latter was appointed main squad coach.[2] In 2009–10 the club finished second in Group III and returned to division two after an absence of 11 years; this was followed by a third-place in the following campaign, but the team was not eligible for promotion.
Season to season [ edit ]
Honours [ edit ]
Players [ edit ]
Current squad [ edit ]
As of 31 January 2018[3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player No. Position Player
Youth team [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player
Personnel [ edit ]
Current technical staff [ edit ]
Position Staff Head coach Xavi García Pimienta Assistant coach Pau Martí Assistant coach Albert Peris Fitness coach Marc Guitart Goalkeeping coach Carles Busquets Technical assistant Albert Peris Juvenil A coach Denis Silva
Last updated: 21 May 2018
Source: FC Barcelona B
Former players [ edit ]
Former managers [ edit ]
Top scorers [ edit ]
All competitions [ edit ]
Stadium [ edit ]
The Mini Estadi
On 23 September 1982 the Mini Estadi was inaugurated by Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez. Next to the ground there are two training pitches, pitch 3 and 4, which have artificial turf – the latter has a regulation size of 100 x 70 metres and has seating for 1,000 spectators.
Mini Estadi has also hosted games for the Andorra national football team, and the Barcelona Dragons of American football.
As part of the Espai Barça project, a new 6,000 capacity stadium will replace the Mini Estadi this year in 2018. Also, as part of this project the Camp Nou will undergo renovation.[4]
La Masia [ edit ]
Inaugurated on 26 September 1966, La Masia is the name given to Barcelona's training facilities located near the Camp Nou in the Les Corts district of Barcelona. It is an ancient country residence built in 1702 and once Camp Nou was inaugurated in 1957, the building was remodelled and extended for use as the club's social headquarters.
In 1979, La Masia became the residence of young players from outside of the city. In the following decades the academy forged several players that would later appear for both the main squad and the Spanish national team, Guillermo Amor, Albert Ferrer, Iván de la Peña, Carles Puyol, Gerard López, Xavi, Víctor Valdés, and Andrés Iniesta being amongst the most prominent.[5][6][7]WWE and Sega announced Thursday that they are now traveling together on the road to WWE Tap Mania, a new mobile game for iOS and Android.
WWE Tap Mania will pit Superstars of past and present alongside players in a battle for supremacy across the WWE Universe, including live in-game showdowns at WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. The new WWE mobile game will be released on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android. The launch of WWE Tap Mania is expected later this year.
This novel partnership with WWE presents a unique opportunity for Sega, whose portfolio of influential games includes the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog series.
“At SEGA, we like to find new ways to bring brands and experiences to a wide mobile gaming audience,” Naoki Kameda, COO of SEGA’s mobile division in the West, said in a press release. “This partnership with WWE presents a fresh opportunity for collaboration. Working with WWE, a monumental leader in global entertainment, along with The Tap Lab, a studio known for crafting action-packed games that are fun at their core, we’re confident that WWE Tap Mania will delight WWE fans worldwide.”
Sega will offer details on WWE Tap Mania in the coming months via Twitter and Facebook.In the ongoing fight between Democrats and Republicans over election procedures like voter ID and early voting, the Democrats are supposedly the champions of higher turnout and reducing barriers to participation. But when it comes to scheduling off-cycle elections like those taking place today, the Democratic Party is the champion of voter suppression.
Indeed, few people will vote today. Many elections are taking place, but almost all are for local offices. School boards, for example, are up for election in Houston; Fairfax County, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina and in hundreds of other communities that oversee the education of millions of schoolchildren. But only a small number of highly engaged voters will participate in the elections for these offices.
Scheduling local elections at odd times appears to be a deliberate strategy aimed at keeping turnout low, which gives more influence to groups like teachers unions that have a direct stake in the election’s outcome. But before getting into the details of off-cycle elections, consider the parties’ basic positions on issues of voter participation. As election law expert Rick Hasen has noted, there is a philosophical divide between the parties. Supposedly, for Republicans, small barriers to participation can help the functioning of a democracy. For instance, in recent years, Republicans have been pushing a requirement that voters present identification when they show up to cast a ballot. They argue that voter ID laws can prevent fraud and foster confidence in the electoral system. But they also argue that if an ID requirement deters people who aren’t particularly well-informed or invested in the political process, this might be a net benefit for the electoral system.
The Democratic philosophy is different. For Democrats, universal participation is a value: All voices ought to be represented in the electoral sphere, so the government should not put up any unnecessary barriers to participation.
Debates over issues like voter ID are politically explosive because each side suspects the other of having a strategic motive, not a philosophical one, for its position. Maybe Republicans want lower turnout not because it yields an informed electorate, but because it favors their side. Maybe Democrats promote higher turnout not because of an ideological commitment to civic engagement, but because higher turnout helps elect Democrats (though there is substantial disagreement on whether that is true).
Nowhere are the strategic motivations — and the hypocritical rhetoric — of both parties more apparent than in the timing of elections.
The election calendar in the United States is an insane mess. Exhibit A is New Jersey. New Jersey holds federal elections with the rest of the country on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years. But elections for state office in New Jersey are held in November of odd-numbered years. School district elections are held on the third Tuesday in April or else in November. And fire district commissioner elections are held on the third Saturday in February.
It isn’t just New Jersey. Most states — 44 out of 50 — hold some state and local elections off the federal cycle.
Why?
Political scientist Sarah Anzia, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, gives a compelling explanation in an outstanding book published last year. The first point that Anzia makes is that the off-cycle election calendar is not a response to voter preferences; voters do not like taking multiple trips to the voting booth. Anzia asked a nationally representative sample of Americans if they prefer elections held at different times for different offices “because it allows voters to focus on a shorter list of candidates and issues during each election” or all at the same time “because combining the elections boosts voter turnout for local elections.” Voters of all political stripes prefer consolidated elections, and by wide margins. But that’s especially true for people who identify as Democrats, who prefer consolidated elections 73 percent to 27 percent.
Consolidation is popular, and during the decade-long period between 2001 and 2011 that Anzia studied, state legislatures across the country considered over 200 bills aimed at consolidating elections. About half, 102 bills, were focused specifically on moving school board election dates so that they would coincide with other elections. Only 25 became law.
The consolidation bills, which were generally sponsored by Republicans, typically failed because of Democratic opposition, according to Anzia. By her account, Democrats opposed the bills at the urging of Democratic-aligned interest groups, namely teachers unions and municipal employee organizations.
Consider a 2011 bill in Michigan to move school board elections to November of even-numbered years. The Michigan Education Association, a teachers union, testified against the bill, as did associations of school boards and administrators. The bill ended up passing on nearly a party-line vote, with almost all Democratic legislators opposed and almost all Republican legislators in favor.
Looking at the 102 bills aimed at consolidating school board elections with other elections between 2001 and 2011, Anzia found that 72 were sponsored either exclusively or predominantly by Republicans, compared with 23 that were sponsored exclusively or predominantly by Democrats. The bills sponsored by Democrats were also generally much weaker than the Republican bills. For example, the Democratic bills typically permitted municipalities to hold on-cycle elections while the Republican bills required them to do so.
Moreover, for the subset of bills that went to a vote, Republicans were far more likely to vote “yes” than Democrats. For all the bills that went to the floor, Anzia estimates that Republicans voted for consolidation 60 percent of the time and Democrats 40 percent. The table below, built from data provided by Anzia, shows the party polarization that characterized most votes on election consolidation.
PROPORTION VOTING ‘YES’ ON MAKING SCHOOL ELECTIONS CONCURRENT WITH OTHER ELECTIONS STATE REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS Arkansas 100% 100% Arizona 100 33 Georgia 99 7 Idaho 90 8 Indiana 93 41 Michigan 92 50 Montana 56 4 New Jersey 21 89 New Mexico 96 83 Oklahoma 100 78 South Dakota 38 5 Texas 89 11
But some of those bills dealt with multiple election reforms at a time (some of which Democrats favor), and others were “weak” consolidation bills. Focusing on the stronger bills, the support was even more lopsidedly Republican, as the next table shows.
PROPORTION VOTING ‘YES’ ON STRONGER ELECTION CONSOLIDATION BILLS STATE REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS Arizona 100% 33% Idaho 90 8 Indiana 93 41 Michigan 96 17 Montana 56 4 Oklahoma 100 0 South Dakota 38 5 Texas 100 0
Why do Democrats and Democratic-aligned groups prefer off-cycle elections? When school boards and other municipal offices are up for election at odd times, few run-of-the-mill voters show up at the polls, but voters with a particular interest in these elections — like city workers themselves — show up in full force. The low-turnout election allows their policy goals to dominate.
Anzia shows that off-cycle elections lead to higher salaries and better health and retirement benefits for teachers and public employees. Anzia studies these effects in many different ways. The simplest way is by looking at eight states that allow local governments to set their own election dates. She compares school districts that hold school board elections on-cycle and off-cycle within the same state. Controlling for factors that might make districts different from one another — like their population size, income, racial composition, partisan leanings and how urban or rural they are — Anzia found that the maximum base teacher salary is over 4 percent higher in districts with off-cycle elections.
Higher salaries and better benefits for municipal employees can be a good outcome. What is interesting is that this outcome is the result of a deliberate move to hold municipal elections at times when few voters are participating.
Proponents of the off-cycle strategy argue that local issues get drowned out when local elections are held concurrent with presidential or congressional elections. People who show up to vote in those big elections may not be equipped to weigh in on the local issues. Anzia quotes a Texas school official who defends off-cycle elections because they bring out “an educated voter … people who really care about the issues and who are passionate about their district.” In off-cycle elections, proponents claim, the electorate is a concentrated set of voters who are engaged in the local issues, which yields better results for the community.
For readers who are sympathetic to the perspective of the off-cycle election proponents (typically Democrats), it is worth noting that these are very much the same arguments that Republicans might make in favor of voting restrictions that make voting a little bit harder for the average American. Just like voter ID or voter-registration requirements, off-cycle elections impose a cost on political participation. The cost is evidently high, since very few people participate in local elections when they are held in odd-numbered years. Maybe the cost leads to a more enlightened electorate. Or maybe it is Democratic-sponsored voter suppression.
Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton made a speech about voting rights in which she said, “Republicans are systematically and deliberately trying to stop millions of American citizens from voting. What part of democracy are they afraid of?” For Democrats like Clinton who are apparently aghast at Republican efforts at voter suppression, today is a good day to take a look in the mirror.
Check out our live coverage of the GOP debate.The land of unlimited inequality
23 June 2011
The United States is well on its way to becoming the most unequal society on the planet. An extensive economic analysis of the growing gap between the wealthy and everyone else, summarized in last Sunday’s Washington Post, provides striking evidence of this trend.
The study, titled, “Jobs and Income Growth of Top Earners and the Causes of Changing Income Inequality: Evidence from U.S. Tax Return Data,” was conducted by two academic economists, Jon Bakija of Williams College and Bradley Heim of Indiana University, together with Adam Cole of the Office of Tax Analysis at the US Department of Treasury.
While the study is highly technical and written in economic jargon, the facts that it uncovers are socially and politically explosive. The researchers analyzed the data provided by the tax returns of the top one-tenth of one percent of all US income earners, about 140,000 people whose average income was $1.7 million annually, and examined the trends in the income share of this most privileged section of the population over the past 35 years.
They discovered that while media attention is devoted to the handful of celebrity entertainers and athletes who make seven and eight-figure incomes, the bulk of the top income earners, more than 60 percent, were executives, managers and supervisors of financial and non-financial companies. Another 11 percent were lawyers and real estate moguls. Only 3 percent were celebrities.
The study detailed the vast transformation of the American socio-economic structure over the past 35 years. During this period, the share of national income taken by the top 0.1 percent has quadrupled, rising from 2.5 percent of national income in 1975 to 10.4 percent in 2008. The share commanded by the top 0.01 percent quintupled, soaring from 0.85 percent to 5.03 percent during that same period of time. In raw numbers, that means approximately 15,000 people, the richest of the rich, rake in an average income of $27 million.
The ever-rising pay and perks of corporate CEOs, far from being an “excess,” like a wart on the face, are the principal driver of this widening economic inequality. CEO pay quadrupled during the past 35 years, dovetailing with the increase in the incomes of the top 0.1 percent. While executives and managers comprised 60 percent of these top 140,000 taxpayers, they accounted for 70 percent of the income gain enjoyed by this super-rich stratum over the past 35 years.
Significantly, as the Post summary noted, “These are not just executives from Wall Street, either, but from companies in even relatively mundane fields such as the milk business.” In other words, it is not just a product of windfall profits in financial markets, but a phenomenon that has contaminated all of Corporate America.
The newspaper profiled two CEOs—the current CEO of Dean Foods, and his predecessor of four decades ago—to illustrate the change. The current CEO, Gregg L. Engles, makes ten times the salary of his predecessor Kenneth J. Douglas (who made $1 million in today’s dollars), lives in a $6 million home in a Dallas suburb, owns a vacation estate near Vail, Colorado, holds membership in four golf clubs and travels in a $10 million corporate jet. While the pay and perks of the CEO of this Fortune 500 company multiplied ten-fold, the Post reported, “The hourly wage rate for the people who process, pasteurize and package the milk at the company’s dairies declined by 9 percent in real terms.”
This illustrates the overall economic process: while the incomes of the super-rich have quadrupled, fueled by the bonanza for CEOs, the living standards of working people have either stagnated or declined.
The United States is now far more unequal economically than any of the advanced industrialized countries of Europe and Asia, its main competitors in the world market. It ranks with some of the most impoverished underdeveloped countries, slightly more unequal than Cameroon and Ivory Cost, less unequal than Uganda.
The figures reported by Bakija, Heim and Cole are based on tax data collected up to 2008. They therefore do not reflect the impact of the Wall Street crash of September 2008, and the subsequent collapse of the US and world economy into the deepest slump since the Great Depression.
Economic inequality has only been exacerbated by the subsequent run-up of the stock market, which has recovered most of its losses, the record level of corporate profits and CEO salaries, the ongoing decline in real wages and the creation of a permanent army of 15 million unemployed.
There are many political observations to be drawn from these figures. There are almost endless contrasts that could be made between the obscene self-enrichment of the ruling elite in this country, and the increase in jobs lost, poverty, foreclosures, homelessness, hunger and untreated health problems. Only last week, a University of Washington study reported widespread declines in life expectancy, particularly for women, with the United States falling from 20th on the international scale to 37th over the past decade.
But one conclusion should be uppermost. What passes for public life in the United States, the political wrangling between the Democrats and the Republicans, is the politics of the top one-tenth of one percent. Hence the obsessive focus on deficit reduction, the demand of the Wall Street money managers, while the needs of tens of millions for good-paying jobs and decent social services like education and health care are ignored.
The two officially recognized political parties represent only those whose share in the national income has been steadily increasing over the past three decades. Both parties defend the capitalist profit system, and their policies serve only to reinforce the cancer of social inequality that infects every aspect of American society.
The United States is not a democracy in any real sense of the word, but a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. There can be no resolution to the problems confronting working people in the US, and indeed the entire world, that does not begin with the expropriation of the vast wealth of this social layer.
The exclusion of the overwhelming majority of the American population from political influence reinforces their economic and social exploitation. Under conditions of deepening global economic crisis, and the first stirrings of a worldwide revolutionary upsurge of working people, this exclusion cannot be sustained indefinitely.
The American working class will make its entry into political life and that will change irrevocably both American and world politics. To defend their independent class interests, the working people must take up the fight for a socialist and internationalist program, and build an independent mass political movement to challenge the rule of the financial elite.
Patrick Martin
Patrick Martin0 Schools struggling to accommodate Hispanic growth
Tulsa, Okla. -
Nearly 1/3 of all students in Tulsa Public Schools are Hispanic, and speak Spanish at home.
District leaders, like Laura Grisso, the Title 3 Director for TPS, tell FOX23 a lot of the growth is happening at schools like Skelly Elementary, in east Tulsa.
"Our Hispanic population, as of last year, is the largest racial and ethnic population across the district. So a lot of those families need that support in Spanish and we haven’t been able to find as much staff as we need. We’ve got a lot, but we need more," said Grisso.
When we visited the TPS Enrollment Center on Monday, FOX23 found many parents there did not speak English.
TPS posts signs in Spanish, and offers interpreters and translators.
"It’s been critical, and we have even brought in, besides the staff we have, we’ve brought in local contractors to bring more support, because that’s where we’re seeing the largest number of enrollment is within our Spanish speaking and Hispanic populations," said Grisso.
At the enrollment center Friday, we found three different families, where the mother did not speak English and brought an older child along to translate.
"A lot of times that teenager is missing school to be here, which is unacceptable. They're missing a day of instruction, which we know is very important, and another day they could be spending in the classroom, learning those skills in English," said Bradley Eddy, TPS Director of Certified Talent.
"Even though we have a good number of Hispanic people in our area, we don’t have a good number of those who really sought the teaching profession or have really completed the college necessary to become that teacher," said Eddy.
With more than 10,000 students learning English in the classroom and speaking Spanish at home, TPS leaders say they need more bilingual staff.
This year, a student who learned Spanish through the Immersion Program at Eisenhower International School, is back at the school as a teacher.
TPS leaders consider that a bilingual recruitment success.
TPS won't have exact enrollment numbers for a few more weeks, but as FOX23 reported, enrollment appears to be up this year, with more than 2,000 students than projected.The best known smart bulb setups (such as the Philips Hue and the Belkin Wemo) are based on Zigbee, a low-energy, low-bandwidth protocol that operates on various unlicensed radio bands. The problem with Zigbee is that basically no home routers or mobile devices have a Zigbee radio, so to communicate with them you need an additional device (usually called a hub or bridge) that can speak Zigbee and also hook up to your existing home network. Requests are sent to the hub (either directly if you're on the same network, or via some external control server if you're on a different network) and it sends appropriate Zigbee commands to the bulbs.But requiring an additional device adds some expense. People have attempted to solve this in a couple of ways. The first is building direct network connectivity into the bulbs, in the form of adding an 802.11 controller. Go through some sort of setup process[1], the bulb joins your network and you can communicate with it happily. Unfortunately adding wifi costs more than adding Zigbee, both in terms of money and power - wifi bulbs consume noticeably more power when "off" than Zigbee ones.There's a middle ground. There's a large number of bulbs available from Amazon advertising themselves as Bluetooth, which is true but slightly misleading. They're actually implementing Bluetooth Low Energy, which is part of the Bluetooth 4.0 spec. Implementing this requires both OS and hardware support, so older systems are unable to communicate. Android 4.3 devices tend to have all the necessary features, and modern desktop Linux is also fine as long as you have a Bluetooth 4.0 controller.Bluetooth is intended as a low power communications protocol. Bluetooth Low Energy (or BLE) is even lower than that, running in a similar power range to Zigbee. Most semi-modern phones can speak it, so it seems like a pretty good choice. Obviously you lose the ability to access the device remotely, but given the track record on this sort of thing that's arguably a benefit. There's a couple of other downsides - the range is worse than Zigbee (but probably still acceptable for any reasonably sized house or apartment), and only one device can be connected to a given BLE server at any one time. That means that if you have the control app open while you're near a bulb, nobody else can control that bulb until you disconnect.The quality of the bulbs varies a great deal. Some of them are pure RGB bulbs and incapable of producing a convincing white at a reasonable intensity[2]. Some have additional white LEDs but don't support running them at the same time as the colour LEDs, so you have the choice between colour or a fixed (and usually more intense) white. Some allow running the white LEDs at the same time as the RGB ones, which means you can vary the colour temperature of the "white" output.But while the quality of the bulbs varies, the quality of the apps doesn't really. They're typically all dreadful, competing on features like changing bulb colour in time to music rather than on providing a pleasant user experience. And the whole "Only one person can control the lights at a time" thing doesn't really work so well if you actually live with anyone else. I was dissatisfied.I'd met Mike Ryan at Kiwicon a couple of years back after watching him demonstrate hacking a BLE skateboard. He offered a couple of good hints for reverse engineering these devices, the first being that Android already does almost everything you need. Hidden in the developer settings is an option marked "Enable Bluetooth HCI snoop log". Turn that on and all Bluetooth traffic (including BLE) is dumped into /sdcard/btsnoop_hci.log. Turn that on, start the app, make some changes, retrieve the file and check it out using Wireshark. Easy.Conveniently, BLE is very straightforward when it comes to network protocol. The only thing you have is GATT, the Generic Attribute Protocol. Using this you can read and write multiple characteristics. Each packet is limited to a maximum of 20 bytes. Most implementations use a single characteristic for light control, so it's then just a matter of staring at the dumped packets until something jumps out at you. A pretty typical implementation is something like:0x56,r,g,b,0x00,0xf0,0x00,0xaawhere r, g and b are each just a single byte representing the corresponding red, green or blue intensity. 0x56 presumably indicates a "Set the light to these values" command, 0xaa indicates end of command and 0xf0 indicates that it's a request to set the colour LEDs. Sending 0x0f instead results in the previous byte (0x00 in this example) being interpreted as the intensity of the white LEDs. Unfortunately the bulb I tested that speaks this protocol didn't allow you to drive the white LEDs at the same time as anything else - setting the selection byte to 0xff didn't result in both sets of intensities being interpreted at once. Boo.You can test this out fairly easily using the gatttool app. Run hcitool lescan to look for the device (remember that it won't show up if anything else is connected to it at the time), then do gatttool -b deviceid -I to get an interactive shell. Type connect to initiate a connection, and once connected send commands by doing char-write-cmd handle value using the handle obtained from your hci dump.I did this successfully for various bulbs, but annoyingly hit a problem with one from Tikteck. The leading byte of each packet was clearly a counter, but the rest of the packet appeared to be garbage. For reasons best known to themselves, they've implemented application-level encryption on top of BLE. This was a shame, because they were easily the best of the bulbs I'd used - the white LEDs work in conjunction with the colour ones once you're sufficiently close to white, giving you good intensity and letting you modify the colour temperature. That gave me incentive, but figuring out the protocol took quite some time. Earlier this week, I finally cracked it. I've put a Python implementation on Github. The idea is to tie it into Ulfire running on a central machine with a Bluetooth controller, making it possible for me to control the lights from multiple different apps simultaneously and also integrating with my Echo.I'd write something about the encryption, but I honestly don't know. Large parts of this make no sense to me whatsoever. I haven't even had any gin in the past two weeks. If anybody can explain how anything that's being done there makes any sense at all[3] that would be appreciated.[1] typically via the bulb pretending to be an access point, but also these days through a terrifying hack involving spewing UDP multicast packets of varying lengths in order to broadcast the password to associated but unauthenticated devices and good god the future is terrifying[2] For a given power input, blue LEDs produce more light than other colours. To get white with RGB LEDs you either need to have more red and green LEDs than blue ones (which costs more), or you need to reduce the intensity of the blue ones (which means your headline intensity is lower). Neither is appealing, so most of these bulbs will just give you a blue "white" if you ask for full red, green and blue[3] Especially the bit where we calculate something from the username and password and then encrypt that using some random numbers as the key, then send 50% of the random numbers and 50% of the encrypted output to the device, because I can't evenStory highlights The Badjao have lived off the shore of northeast Borneo for more than 200 years
Guillem Valle took underwater portraits of them as part of his project on stateless people
(CNN) It is noon, and the light filters softly through the water. Guillem Valle, camera in tow, drifts to the sea floor to capture an intimate portrait of a Badjao man.
In the dreamlike photograph, the Badjao extends his hand upward as though he were dancing.
"All these movements they do with their hands," Valle said. "They're trying to keep themselves down (on the seafloor), move forward or stay in place."
The Badjao are a tribe of nomadic sea dwellers who have lived off the shore of northeast Borneo for more than 200 years. They are a stateless people with no nationality in the traditional sense, residing instead in boats and living off the sea. As highly skilled divers, the Badjao are able to walk along the seafloor hunting for fish and pearls.
Valle sought to photograph the Badjao as part of a larger project about stateless people that has taken him to places such as Kosovo, China, South Sudan and the Palestinian territories.
Read MoreA web ad from the Tea Party favorite's team serves as a reminder that Cain used to lead a lobbying group that fought tobacco rules
The chief of staff for Herman Cain's presidential campaign proclaims, "We've run a campaign like nobody's ever seen" in a web ad that went viral Monday night. And boy is he right, taking a drag from a lit cigarette at the 40-second mark in the 56-second political spot.
As disbelief spread about whether the smoking staffer ad, released on Herman Cain's YouTube channel, was real, a Google image search confirmed that the speaker really is who he says he is: Mark Block, chief of staff and chief operating officer for the Cain campaign and also, according to the Daily Caller, "The man who talked Herman Cain into running for president, and plotted a strategy that has the former Godfather's Pizza CEO surging in the GOP presidential race."
Before joining the Cain campaign, Block served as Wisconsin state director for free-market advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, which has opposed state smoking bans.
Cain also opposed smoking bans during his years working in Washington on behalf of a restaurant trade lobbying group, The New York Times has reported:
From 1996, when he left the pizza company, until 1999, Mr. Cain ran the National Restaurant Association, a once-sleepy trade group that he transformed into a lobbying powerhouse. He allied himself closely with cigarette makers fighting restaurant smoking bans, spoke out against lowering blood-alcohol limits as a way to prevent drunken driving, fought an increase in the minimum wage and opposed a patients' bill of rights -- all in keeping with the interests of the industry he represented.... Under Mr. Cain's leadership, the restaurant association opposed higher taxes on cigarettes and the use of federal money to prosecute cigarette makers for fraud -- positions that Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said had little to do with the restaurant business. And Mr. Cain argued vociferously that the decision about whether to go smoke-free was the province of individual restaurant owners, not the government. "The restaurant industry literally became the alter ego of the tobacco industry during that period of time," Mr. Myers said in an interview. The restaurant association relied heavily on R. J. Reynolds for financial support, records show. Mr. Meyne, the Reynolds senior director of public affairs, served on the restaurant group's board, and Mr. Cain served on the board of Nabisco, which had earlier merged with Reynolds. In a 1999 memorandum, Mr. Meyne wrote that in previous years his company had given the trade group "as much as nearly $100,000 in cash and much more in in-kind support," adding, "They have done virtually everything we've ever asked, and even appointed us to their board."
The web ad was uploaded to YouTube on Oct 19 with the caption info: "Chief of Staff Mark Block talks about Herman Cain's Presidential Campaign and urges people to act because together we can elect Herman Cain!" It was not immediately clear why it took until Monday to gain notice.
Making a bold statement against anti-smoking regulations would seem general election suicide but also the sort of thing that might help Cain in Tea Party circles, where voters frequently complain about what they see as intrusive government regulations that prevent them from living the lifestyles they want to.
Here's another picture of Cain and Block together, from Block's public Facebook page:
Image credits: YouTube, Facebook
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.POLICE are hunting a suspected teen fireraiser after a double-decker bus was deliberately set alight.
Passengers had to be evacuated from the Lothian Buses service 4 after it erupted in flames in Oxgangs Road at around 10.30pm on Monday.
Emergency services raced to the scene after the alarm was raised by the bus driver.
Shortly before the incident was reported, a youth was seen getting off the bus next to Oxgangs Library, and police are keen to track down the youngster after admitting they felt the fire had been started deliberately.
The youngster was described as white, aged 14 to 16 years, and wearing a dark hooded top.
It is understood three passengers were on board the bus at the time, and all were safely evacuated by the driver, who was praised by Lothian Buses for his actions.
Detective Inspector Rory Hamilton said: “The bus has suffered extensive damage as a result of this fire, which we believe was started deliberately.
“Luckily no-one was injured as a result of this reckless act.
“We are appealing to anyone who noticed any suspicious activity on the number 4 bus or in the area of Oxgangs Road from 10.30pm on Monday night, when the fire was reported, to contact police.
“Anyone else who has
information that they think can assist our inquiries should also get in touch.”
Firefighters from Liberton and Sighthill using breathing apparatus and two high pressure hose reels tackled the blaze and the road was closed for a short time while the fire was extinguished.
Residents captured several images of the blazing bus and the pictures soon appeared on social media websites.
Colinton/Fairmilehead councillor Jason Rust, who represents Oxgangs, said: “This was a stupid and reckless act and I would urge anyone with information to come forward. The safety of others was compromised and there could potentially have been serious injury.”
Bus chiefs praised the “brave” actions of the driver.
Ian Craig, chief executive of Lothian Buses, said: “We are fully co-operating with the police and their investigation into an incident which saw a service 4 bus set on fire in the Oxgangs area.
“We would like to thank the driver for his brave actions in trying to bring the fire under control, while also ensuring the safety of his passengers.”
Fire investigators are now poring over the wreckage while police study CCTV images from the area in an attempt to find the cause of the blaze.
A Fire Scotland spokeswoman said: “Four personnel in breathing apparatus used a high pressure hose reel to bring the fire under control. Our investigation team has been out to look into the cause of the fire. It’s too early to say what caused the fire.”
Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland on 101, or make an anonymous report through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.The body that oversees the Paris treaty also recognises Palestine, raising the prospect that Thursday’s decision to leave Unesco sets a precedent
By Karl Mathiesen
The US has refused to say whether its withdrawal from the UN cultural body, |
2015 would provide the same safeguards while offering a due-process procedure to challenge the order. Clinton, however, could impose this by executive action. 8) Reinstate the ‘assault weapons ban’ Clinton proposes banning “assault weapons” and “large” ammunition magazines and would lobby for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) oft-rejected “assault weapons ban" bill that would ban manufacture of all semi-automatic shotguns and all detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifles, including the AR-15. TRUMP’S VOWS TO PROTECT GUN-OWNERS’ RIGHTS Unlike Clinton’s exhaustive gun-control commentary, Trump has been relatively short and sweet by simply saying he opposes everything Clinton supports. The only thing they moderately agree on is the mental health system is “broken.” Instead of proposing his own actions, Trump supports Cornyn’s Mental Health and Safe Communities Act of 2015 and Rep. Tim Murphy’s (R-Pa.) Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act.
Donald Trump speaks at an NRA meeting in Kentucky. Youtube
He’s also pledged to: 1) “Get rid of gun-free zones” Trump says he would outlaw gun-free zones his first day in office, but doing so would require legislative action in overturning the Gun-Free School Zones Act. 2) Support Project Exile Trump supports the national adoption of Project Exile, established in Richmond, Va. Under its auspices, if a violent felon uses a gun to commit a crime, they are prosecuted in federal court and, if convicted, go to prison for at least five years with no parole or early release.
In his 2000 book, "The America We Deserve," Trump supported the 1994 “assault weapons ban” and longer waiting periods to buy a gun. But, as a Presidential candidate, he no longer does.You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters
Message: * A friend wanted you to see this item from WRAL.com: http://wr.al/zW6J
— A federal lawsuit over a rough 2009 arrest in Lee County has escalated, with Sheriff Tracy Carter being accused of having a man trying to serve him with a subpoena arrested.
Steven "Wayne" Thomas filed the original civil suit five years ago against Carter and several deputies, seeking more than $3 million in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages.
According to the suit, Thomas started acting irrationally after working with chemicals in his tobacco fields. As his friend was driving him to seek medical help, Thomas jumped out of the pickup and destroyed a woman's decorative fence.
When deputies arrived to arrest him, they assaulted him and broke his jaw, the lawsuit alleges. One deputy used his stun gun on Thomas eight times in less than three minutes, according to the suit.
Most of the deputies have since been dropped from the suit, which is set to go to trial in June.
Carter defends his deputies' actions, but a motion for a temporary restraining order has been filed against him for an incident last week.
A 71-year-old man hired to deliver subpoenas in the lawsuit said that, when he showed up at Carter's house, the sheriff yelled at him and blocked him from leaving until deputies showed up to arrest the man.
In court documents, attorneys for the sheriff say he has a very different take on the incident, and they point out that subpoenas were supposed to be delivered to the defendants' attorneys.My name is Eric MacKeigan and I am 36yrs old. I was born with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.
My parents were unaware of my conditions until I was actually delivered. Upon delivery, I was airlifted from Brantford, Ontario, Canada to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for the care that I required.
Despite a negative outlook from many, and even some opposition, my parents made the decision to take me home. My childhood was one of many trips to (and stays in) the hospital. Through the age of 11, I was subjected to more than a dozen surgeries. Closing an opening in my back at the base of my spine, a shunt installed in my brain, procedures to both hips, and I've had both my ankles rotated and fused twice.
Upon completing high school, I took a job at my family's car lot. I answered the phone, filed paperwork, and occasionally sweet-talked a customer until they were ready to close a deal. After the family business closed, I took jobs as they came. I have done everything from data entry to reception, sales, customer and even briefly, I was a 911 dispatcher.
Entrepreneurship is my passion though. I have had my own retail consignment store, been in advertising, and twice (and currently) I have owned my own woodworking business. Whatever business I have been in, I have always made a point to be community oriented. I am proud of where I come from, and I take every opportunity I am given, to give back.
Now, I need your help.
In October 2012, I was lucky enough to get married. In October 2014, we bought our first home.
Now, although the house is 2 storeys, it is ideal for us, for many reasons. The lot is fully paved, which means, no lawncare maintenance is required and we can have a plow come in the winter to remove the snow. Also, the house is large enough, and laid out in a manner that is ideal for retrofit.
We knew that sometime down the road we need to do some work to make the house more accessible as my condition changed. What we didn't expect was that, in April 2017, I would be having my right foot amputated. This comes with a recovery period that can be as long as 1 year, before I am fully on my feet again.
This means, we need about $20,000 to install an elevator on the outside of the home so that I can use my wheelchair to access the side door, we need to install a main floor washroom, and we need to widen and ramp a doorway in the centre of the home separating our living room from the rest of the house.
Would you consider $1? $10? Maybe you can give $100 to my need. Maybe you're a part of a networking group or service club and you can take a collection from your fellow members. Maybe all you are able to do is share my story with your friends and family. I am grateful to you all for however you can help. Share the campaign with the hashtag #NewLegToStandOn
Thank you,
Eric MacKeigan - Scroll Saw ArtistWe have an extensive six-day shooting schedule ahead of us to get this short film in the can, so we're asking for your support to help get us there!
SYNOPSIS:
Hard-boiled rocker John Moses makes his way into the punk underground of Seattle to find his little brother, Joshua. The punks know that if they ever step out of line, Moses, a feared visitor of the dismal downtown streets, will bring them down hard. When his brother goes missing, it's no question who's to blame. Teaming up with the mysterious punk-princess, Rehab, Moses perpetuates a secret war between the punks and metal-heads.
PRODUCTION:
GOONS will be shot around the streets of Seattle in film neo-noir fashion in the vein of David Fincher's Se7en, The Who's Quadrophenia and the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple. Although we're shooting this on a shoe-string budget, crewed almost entirely by Seattle Art Institute students, we're going big with talent and equipment, bringing in the talented Seattle actress, Andi Norris, to play the role of REHAB, the tenacious and sharp witted punk chick, and dare I say, possible deplorable love interest? - as well as employing the game-changing RED ONE MX camera operated by cinematographer Chris Joseph Taylor, a fellow Art Institute student and part-owner of Adventus Films.
In addition, a story like this wouldn't be an epic, hard rockin' adventure without the music and participation of Seattle's finest musicians, so we've enlisted the help of punk band The Insurgence to help score and star in the film. These guys are f'n awesome and are going to help paint the textured picture of this dark tale of rocker rivalry.
new record "Elimi-Nation" by The Insurgence on Innerstrength Records
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
Talent $1250
Meals $600
Equipment Rental $1650
Kickstarter/Amazon Fees $280
Ancillary Expenses $450
What the hell does this mean to you? We need YOU to help sew these pieces together! As Lemmy Kilmister as my witness, getting this film off the ground depends on your support, and with it, there are several very valuable rewards that will come your way!Our iPhone 7 Plus is still on the chopping block, but we just can't help ourselves—it's time to look at Apple Watch Series 2. The Series 2 looks all-but-identical to the newly rechristened "Series 1"—but is it the same on the inside? With added features such as built-in GPS, waterproofing, and a variety of new bands and cases, Apple's new wearable was destined for the teardown table. It's time to see if this "ultimate device for a healthy life" has what it takes to go the distance in terms of repairability.
Did you miss our first look at the "best, most advanced iPhone ever"? Hop over to our iPhone 7 Plus teardown and just try to keep up!
Ready to dive in? Keep pace with the latest news from the repair world by following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.For those of us who have already fallen in love with the idea of living in a shipping container home, this question might seem quite strange. However, for some people, the idea of living in a shipping container seems downright bizarre! So today, we are going to take a closer look at this question and show you exactly why people are choosing to live in shipping containers.
A Poll about Container Home Ownership
First of all, let’s look at a recent poll that was posted on Woot. The poll asked people, “Would you ever live in a house made of shipping containers?” The three choices were:
Heck yeah. Those are cool. No way. Those are weird. I have never heard of such a thing.
In total, the poll received over 700 votes and the results were as follows:
An impressive 61.5% of people responded saying that they would live in a shipping container home. This was followed by 25.1% of people replying that they wouldn’t live in a shipping container home. Perhaps those respondents should read 6 Awesome Reasons Why You Should Have A Shipping Container Home! Finally, 13.4% of people responded saying that they hadn’t heard of shipping container homes. Hopefully, they’ll find our website soon!
Unfortunately, the poll doesn’t explain why people want to live in a container home; it only asks them if they would do so. So, we decided we would dig a bit deeper and find out exactly why people do and don’t want to live in shipping container homes.
What’s the appeal of containers?
To find out why people want to live in container homes we emailed our subscribers and asked them a few questions, including why they wanted to live in a shipping container home.
We received quite a lot of responses. What’s been surprising though is how consistent the responses have been. They typically fall into five categories.
1. Price
The most common response we received from our subscribers was price. They said, they either live in a shipping container home or wanted to live in a shipping container home because of the cost savings they expected to make.
We have previously discussed this in, How Much Do Shipping Container Homes Cost?, where we showed three shipping container homes which have been built for less than $100,000.
This isn’t to say that all shipping container homes are cheap. Quite the opposite, since we’ve seen shipping container homes sell for more than $1,000,000.
2. Eco-Friendly
Running a close second place was Eco-friendliness. In fact, there was only a few votes difference between this and price! A lot of people want to own a shipping container home because they want to build homes in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner.
Eco-friendliness is a trend which isn’t unique to construction, but a trend which has been gradually building momentum for the last decade.
Each time a shipping container is reused we are saving the earth over 7,000 pounds of steel! Not only that, we are also saving the use of other materials we would need to use instead of the steel, such as bricks or wood. We couldl melt the container back down into steel and use it for something else, but t the beauty of container homes is that we don’t need to do any of that. We simply up-cycle the container into something beautiful.
3. Style/Looks
The third most popular reason people want to live in shipping container homes is because of their looks! It’s not really surprising, is it? They look incredible!
Shipping containers can be used to create stunning modular homes. Using containers has provided some of the most striking twenty-first century homes to date.
4. Off-Grid Living
Next is off-grid living. Living off grid means to live in a sustainable, self-sufficient manner.
Shipping container homes can make the perfect off grid home. Brenda Kelly’s off grid home which was featured by living big in a tiny house. The home was completed with two 135 watt solar panels and a grey water system.
Shipping container homes can be purchased pre-fabricated, which means you can simply have your container delivered and then it is immediately ready for your off grid living.
We haven’t yet seen any 40-foot off grid homes, but that is due to the nature of where we normally see off grid homes (in remote, hard to access locations). It’s probably more trouble and more expense than it’s worth to transport a 40-foot container to a remote location.
5. Speed of Construction
The final reason we received from our subscribers was speed. Speed means the amount of time it takes to construct a shipping container home compared to a traditionally built house using bricks and mortar.
Shipping containers can be ready to inhabit quite quickly. Take for example the Riverside Building Offices which is part of Container City.
Here, 73 shipping containers were used to build the office block. It only took eight days to install them! A traditional office block made from concrete would have taken much longer than this.
We’d love to know what you think. Let us know, in the comments below, if you want to live in a shipping container home and why.Taking Boris to ‘cask’ over water (cannon) gate.
Irreverent craft brewer BrewDog this week announced its willingness to do taxpayers a favor and take London’s three ill-considered water cannons off mayor Sadiq Khan’s hands, free of charge.
Popular listings site Buzzfeed reported the total cost to the UK for housing the entirely ineffectual cannons as being £320,000. Described by London mayor Sadiq Kahn as “redundant machines”, the German-bought vehicles have been mothballed since 2014. Originally purchased by Boris Johnson in an ill-considered move for £85,000, the costs for transporting, storing and maintaining the never-used crowd-control measures has sky-rocketed over the past three years.
“BrewDog wants to take these instruments of enforced crowd control out of circulation for good, said BrewDog co-founder, James Watt, in a letter to Kahn. “Rather than flog these pressurised authority machines to a tin-pot dictator to quell an uprising, we feel we’d be much better suited to being the new owners of these barely-driven vehicles. We understand big tanks, high pressure and how best to deploy liquid to crowds on a busy night. Our goal would be to turn the cannon into a mobile brewery, with all money raised from sale of resultant beer to support social cohesion rather than mass division.”
What is BrewDog?
Since 2007 BrewDog has been on a mission to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. From the Headliner series, which includes bold, uncompromising pack leaders like the flagship Punk IPA, to the Amplified range (beer, but turned up to 11), BrewDog creates beer that blows people’s minds and has kick-started a revolution. Cofounders James Watt and Martin Dickie shook up the business world in 2010 with the launch of pioneering crowdfunding scheme Equity for Punks, an initiative that has seen the company raise £26m over four rounds, taking more money through crowdfunding than any other on record. The funds, and the army of punk shareholders (46,000) enabled the Scottish craft brewery to scale up without selling out. With over 46 global bar launches, export into 55 countries, and a brand new brewery in Ohio opening in 2016/2017, BrewDog continues to take the craft beer revolution stratospheric, whilst continuing to push the boundaries, invest in people, put the beer first, and champion other small breweries in its venues.Editor’s Note: Today’s caption is the answer to Earth Observatory’s October Puzzler.
Kiruna, the largest underground iron ore mine in the world, has been in operation since 1900. But recent years have brought change for the residents of the nearby town. In coming decade, the 23,000 people and their homes and businesses will move three kilometers (nearly two miles) away.
Resource extraction is crucial for the town’s existence and economic wellbeing. But the steady development of mine shafts continues to weaken the ground there. In 2004, the mine’s operator, the Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Company, announced that development of the mine has threatened the structural integrity of the town’s buildings. Some of them, including Kiruna’s historic red church, will be taken apart and reassembled at the new location.
The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image of the Kiruna mine, town, and nearby airport on October 10, 2016. The green vegetation is marbled with yellow, likely the result of birch forests and deciduous shrubs changing color. A dusting of snow whitens some hilltops in the image. The Sun’s low angle on the southern horizon casts long shadows on the north sides of the hills.
The Kiruna orebody is one of the world’s largest magnetite-apatite deposits. Sweden, the biggest iron producer in Europe, owes its reserves to volcanic activity at least 1.8 billion years ago, according to a paper in Economic Geology.
This October Puzzler comes from the same OLI scene as this shot of fall colors in northern Sweden, located roughly 75 kilometers (50 miles) to the south. The Kiruna airport is the likely destination of the plane in the images above.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Pola Lem.A police force has removed 220 guns from licensed firearms holders suspected of being involved in domestic violence in a bid to prevent murders.
Essex Police said they acted following a series of incidents elsewhere in the UK in which lawfully held firearms had been used in domestic-related murders and other serious incidents.
Recent high-profile cases include that of licensed gun-holder Christopher Parry, 50, who murdered his estranged wife, Caroline, 46, in Newport, South Wales, last year following the breakdown of their 27-year marriage.
Concerns were also expressed over the relationship history of Cumbrian gunman Derrick Bird, who shot 12 people dead in 2010.
North Norfolk Council leader Keith Johnson, 58, shot his wife Andrea, 44, dead at their home near Cromer last year before turning the gun on himself - although in this case it was his wife who was licensed to hold guns. Police later discovered a long history of violence in their relationship.
Deputy Chief Constable Derek Benson said Essex Police had checked if any firearms licence-holders had been responsible for domestic abuse, even if they had not been arrested, charged or been found guilty of an offence.
Inspector Neal Miller said: "We prioritised the cases, focusing on the highest risk first, and began visiting the holders to check on their suitability.
"We also made our approach much more victim-based so that they had an opportunity to say whether they believed their partners or family members should be allowed to keep their guns.
"Throughout the whole process we also worked closely with our safeguarding team to make sure an appropriate safety plan was in place around any domestic abuse victims.
"We also found that when firearms were removed from homes, some victims then felt able to disclose further details of domestic and sexual abuse they had suffered because they were reassured we were taking action."
All of the county's 24,500 licence holders were reviewed and 777 people were visited to check whether they were suitable to own weapons.
A total of 24 had their licences revoked and 26 surrendered their licences - leading to the seizure of 220 shotguns and other firearms.
A further 86 owners were given warnings about how to store their guns.
Mr Miller added that licence-holders would now be routinely reviewed following claims of domestic violence.
He said one licence-holder had challenged the decision in court but Basildon Crown Court upheld Essex Police's decision.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi talks to her unborn baby before she competes
It is one of the first events of the London Olympics on Saturday morning, but the 10-metre women's air rifle could also be among the most sensational.
Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi, a shooter from Malaysia, will compete at the Royal Artillery Barracks while eight months pregnant.
At least three expectant mothers have competed at the Olympics before, but Suryani, as she likes to be known, will easily be the most heavily pregnant athlete to have taken part.
When the baby is born, I will tell her you are very lucky - you were not born yet, but you competed with me in the Olympic games Suryani, Olympic shooter
"Since I started shooting in 1997, I've been dreaming of going to the Olympics," she said, after a morning training at Malaysia's National Shooting Range on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
So when in January Suryani discovered that she was pregnant, her first thought was that her London ambitions were over.
But after talking to her husband and praying, she changed her mind. If "everything is in order", she would still try, she told me.
Two days later, she qualified for the Games in the 10-metre air rifle, and has not looked back since.
Dressing ordeal
Despite an early period of morning sickness, Suryani's now thinks that pregnancy might even give her a small advantage.
"Now I have balance at the front and the back," she said, with a smile. "So the stability is there."
With her stomach bulging, just getting in and out of the thick suit she uses for shooting is something of an ordeal. It is with a sigh of relief that she unbuckles her belt to allow herself to sit down and talk to me.
Not everyone in Malaysia is backing her decision to take part, but beneath the smiles, it is clear that there is steely determination to the 30-year-old naval officer.
"Some people say that I'm crazy. Some people say I'm too selfish. But I just ignore what others say. I just concentrate on what I want to do and what I dream of."
And that dream currently involves picking up Malaysia's first-ever gold medal at lunchtime on Saturday.
'No kicking'
Currently ranked 47th in the world, it would be a considerable upset if Suryani did make it onto the podium. But to her credit, she already has a solid tournament record, with a gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, and a bronze at the Asian Games.
If she is to come out on top, she will need her unborn daughter to play her part and not kick at a crucial moment.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Being eight months pregnant, getting in and out of her thick shooting suit is an ordeal
"On the morning of the competitions, normally, I will say to my baby, 'Mummy's going to compete today so I need you to calm down, and then afterwards if you want to be active and you want to kick a ball or something that's OK!'"
Outside the indoor shooting range, JJ Raj, the secretary general of the National Shooting Association of Malaysia, and Muzli Mustakim, Suryani's manager, joins us.
As they share a farewell drink by the swimming pool, JJ Raj says he knows that Malaysia's prime minister will be taking a special interest in her event.
Luckily, Suryani is unflappable and shrugs it off.
If she happens to get a medal, she says she would share it with her daughter, but if not, she would settle for sharing the memories.
"When the baby is born, I will tell her you are very lucky," she said. "You were not born yet, but you competed with me in the Olympic games."Let’s be honest – many an actor would love a guest spot in Doctor Who, saving the galaxy and travelling with the Doctor for an episode or two and then basking in the glory of their Tardis data core wiki entry for the rest of their careers.
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But one might assume a Sherlock star with a direct line to departing Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat (he writes both series) would have a better chance than most in securing themselves such a part, especially considering how many stars of the BBC detective series (including Rupert Graves, Russell Tovey, Bertie Carvel, Lindsay Duncan, Phil Davis, Gemma Chan and frequent Who writer Mark Gatiss) have popped up in the Whoniverse over the years.
However, according to Louise Brealey (who plays pathologist Molly Hooper in Sherlock and stars in new Channel 4 comedy Back tonight), her association with Moffat and Gatiss hasn’t managed to land her a ticket to the Tardis – despite her very best efforts.
“I’ve asked them a million times!” Brealey told RadioTimes.com when asked if she’d consider a Doctor Who role. “Absolutely.
“I’ve said ‘Look, I’ll be a Dalek….nothing. Absolutely nothing. Furious,” she joked, hilariously. “Not asking any more.”
And indeed it could be that she’s now missed her chance, with her direct connection to Doctor Who management – in the form of Sherlock co-creator Moffat, who has been Doctor Who showrunner since 2010 – set to end in this year’s Christmas special.
“I know, he’s gone!” Brealey agreed. “Blown it. Who’s the next one? I’m gonna start currying favour with them.”
However, before she got Chris Chibnall on speed dial Brealey went on to make clear that there were no hard feelings over her Whoniversal rejection.
“Please don’t say I’m absolutely furious that Steven hasn’t given me a part on that show,” Brealey laughed.
“If you put it, you have to say ‘she joked, hilariously.’ (And we obliged…)
“I asked to be [in it], just because, you know – it’s Doctor Who,” she concluded. “But it’s OK. I’m not losing sleep over it.”
We’d say this is the perfect opportunity for Chris Chibnall to finally right a terrible wrong, and allow Louise Brealey the Doctor Who role of her dreams. After all, if she can’t get herself onto the Tardis data core, what hope is there for the rest of us?
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Louise Brealey stars in Back on Channel 4 on Wednesdays at 9.00pmThe OWS protests continue across the US and as the police continue to crackdown on protesters after violent clashes and arrests over the weekend, some activists believe that police have gone too far in their reliance on excessive force.
Activist Timothy Frawls told RT that the problem has a lot to do with the militarization of police, which was ramped up in the aftermath of 9/11.
“Police brutality is a big problem in the United States and the Wall Street protests are showing that,” Frawls said. “That is one issue that a lot of people are organizing around.”
“When there has been violence it is when there are dozens upon dozens of riot police in full gear," he added. “It is almost like the police looking for a fight. And with that kind of an attitude you are going to get one.”
Timothy Frawls says that ‘stop and frisk’ policy is a perfect example of New York police overusing their authority on a regular basis.
“I observed a march two weeks ago in Harlem that was against the NYPD’s policy of what they call ‘stop and frisk,’ which is they just stop people on the street and frisk them for some suspicion of wrongdoing,” he said. “But 90 per cent of the people who are stopped and frisked – and there are hundreds of thousands of them every year – go free, they are not even issued citations.”
However, Frawls admits there are differences in how the police departments around the US treat local protesters.
“Depending on what community you are in there is going to be a different police response because of the different cultures in those police departments.”
Being one of the protesters, Timothy Frawls, would like to see a more open political system in the US. And he says that the protesters have already succeeded to some degree.
“Republicans are talking about social inequality; Democrats are talking about corporate personhood and the other very important issues to a lot of people down at the protests in the financial district,” he said. “The OWS protests are already changing the political dialogue in the country.”The Gist Men don’t think about sex all day.
The Source “Sex on the Brain?: An Examination of Frequency of Sexual Cognitions as a Function of Gender, Erotophilia, and Social Desirability,” by Terri D. Fisher, Zachary T. Moore and Mary-Jo Pittenger, The Journal of Sex Research.
IF you believe men think about sex all day long, you’re wrong. According to a study to be published in the January issue of The Journal of Sex Research, the statistic oft-cited by the sex-obsessed or those critical of the sex-obsessed — that men think about sex every seven seconds — is way off.
“The story about this paper that’s been reported in the press has been ‘Men think about sex 19 times a day!’ ” said Terri Fisher, a psychology professor at Ohio State University at Mansfield, and the study’s lead author. But that isn’t all that much when you consider the study’s participants were college students, those repositories of raging hormones and unfettered urges.
“The more interesting finding is that male college students think just as much about food and sleep as they do about sex,” Dr. Fisher said.
Photo
To determine how much time people devoted to such thoughts, the researchers asked 283 students age 18 to 25 to use clickers (golf score counters), whenever they contemplated one of life’s three basic needs. Previous studies on the subject were overwhelming retroactively self-reported; researchers asked people after the fact to recollect how often they thought about sex, a method fraught with error.
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Of course, all kinds of caveats still apply. Did they worry about clicking too often, or too infrequently, and self-adjust accordingly? What kind of thoughts were they having? Was it, “I’d really like to sleep with my boss’s new assistant” or “I wonder whether squirrels mate in the spring?”Summary: Today’s post examines a recent example of climate fear-mongering. Not only is this misleading (at best), but it shows how this propaganda makes it more difficult for us to clearly see the world and respond to its many dangers.
By Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker
“As temperatures climb, so, too, will sea levels.”
The city of Miami Beach floods on such a predictable basis that if, out of curiosity or sheer perversity, a person wants to she can plan a visit to coincide with an inundation. Knowing the tides would be high around the time of the “super blood moon,” in late September, I arranged to meet up with Hal Wanless, the chairman of the University of Miami’s geological-sciences department. Wanless, who is seventy-three, has spent nearly half a century studying how South Florida came into being. From this, he’s concluded that much of the region may have less than half a century more to go. … According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels could rise by more than three feet by the end of this century. The United States Army Corps of Engineers projects that they could rise by as much as five feet; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts up to six and a half feet. According to Wanless, all these projections are probably low. In his office, Wanless keeps a jar of meltwater he collected from the Greenland ice sheet. He likes to point out that there is plenty more where that came from. “Many geologists, we’re looking at the possibility of a ten-to-thirty-foot range by the end of the century,” he told me.
Fear-mongering like this is the path to fame for journalists and scientists in today’s America. Let’s look at Kolbert’s well-written propaganda.
“According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels could rise by more than three feet by the end of this century.”
That is the high-end of the range to the worst of the four scenarios considered by the IPCC’s AR5 (RCP8.5; see the graph above). Professor Wanless forgets to mention that the low-end for that scenario is only 21 inches, that RCP8.5 makes unlikely assumptions about population and technology (e.g., the late 21stC is a coal-burning world like the late-19th), and that the IPCC gives only “medium confidence” to their sea-level projections. See AR5’s conclusions here.
“…the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts up to six and a half feet.”
The relevant NOAA report is the 2012 National Climate Assessment “Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States“, which gives a 10-fold range between the high and low ends of the range (8 to 79 inches): “We have very high confidence (>9 in 10 chance) that global mean sea level will rise at least 0.2 meters (8 inches) and no more than 2.0 meters (6.6 feet) by 2100.” Drawing the public’s attention to only the high end of the range is misleading, to put it kindly.
Then Kolbert shows the essence of climate fear-mongering: scientists who make predictions more alarmist than the IPCC’s are sages, those who make more conservative predictions are either ignored or “deniers”.
“According to Wanless, all these projections are probably low.”
Now we get some hard-core fear-mongering. Big predictions, without any useful context.
In his office, Wanless keeps a jar of meltwater he collected from the Greenland ice sheet. He likes to point out that there is plenty more where that came from. “’Many geologists, we’re looking at the possibility of a ten-to-thirty-foot range by the end of the century,’ he told me.”
How many geologists believe this? What are the odds they give to a forecast that is 6x greater than the IPCC’s on the low end and 10x on the high end? How many scientists have forecasts lower than the IPCC’s? The article does not say, nor does it mention the wide range of opinion about the future of the polar ice caps, such as these two new papers about Antarctica…
The rest of the article is more of the same. For example, Kolbert conflates anthropogenic and natural climate change. The world has been warming during the past 2 centuries; the oceans’ rising has accelerated with that warming (see the graph below). The IPCC says that the warming since WWII is anthropogenic: “It is extremely likely (95 – 100% certain) that human activities caused more than half of the observed increase in global mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2010.”
Kolbert gives no evidence that the flooding in Florida she describes results from anthropogenic climate change. Much of what she describes results from the top three factors affecting real estate: location, location, location.
The hard truth about Miami Beach
Its founders built Miami Beach on a barrier island. It — and perhaps much of South Florida — might be unsustainable no matter how climate changes (it’s always changing). Blaming anthropogenic factors diverts attention from these facts, just as the politicization of climate change often prevents us from preparing for repeat of past climate.
More broadly, 27 years of climate fear-mongering (since James Hansen’s famous Senate testimony) has not created strong support for policy action. Polls consistently show it near or at the bottom of the public’s policy priorities. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous (people who know all about dysfunctionality)…
Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.
About barrier islands, like Miami Beach
From the Dept of Interior’s Report of the Barrier Island Work Group (1978), describing the fragility of these islands and their role protecting the mainland from storms. Especially note this — rising seas created some of the barrier islands and might eventually submerge some of them.
It is thought that many of the islands along much of the southern Atlantic Coasts owe their formation to a second cause, related to a rising sea level. According to this theory, as the sea rises, dune ridges form on the mainland shore. When this ridge is breached by the continued rise of the sea, the lowland section of the mainland behind the dunes is flooded, creating lagoons and leaving the dune ridge isolated as an island. The Outer Banks of North Carolina, Miami Beach, and Padre Island, Texas, are examples.
Other posts about rising sea levels
For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See these all posts about our dying oceans and about rising sea levels, and especially these…Ashe is one of the first characters I played in [League of Legends]
and even though I don't play her much anymore, I still like her character, design and lore.
What I wanted to picture here is Ashe mourning for some of her trusted tribal members. She's performing an ancient
ceremony in a ruin of a shrine deep in the Freljord. Clothes and some meaningful belongings of the fallen are placed
besides a sacred warm water well. The scarfs symbolize the metaphorical bond between Ashe and her lost ones and, it
is told, enable her to give them the strength to reach the afterlife. The lost souls of abhorrent men, who linger around this
area, try to lure unwitting passengers on dangerous paths |
airlifted to the nearby town of Dhunche
Image copyright AP Image caption Thousands of people are desperate to leave Kathmandu
At the scene: Sanjoy Majumder, BBC News, Kathmandu
There's a rush to get out of Kathmandu. Thousands of people are trying to flee - some trying to head out to the remote districts to see how their families are, others including tourists trying to head towards India by road.
But there simply aren't enough buses to take them out and the highways are choked with vehicles, people and relief convoys. Tempers are flaring. The police came to the bus station to restrain those trying to board crowded buses, which made it worse.
Outside Kathmandu airport, there are lines of tourists trying their best to get a ticket to fly home. The airlines have laid on extra flights but it's not enough and also, the airport is finding it hard to cope with the additional rush as well as the influx of cargo aircraft bringing in relief material.
Learning lessons from disaster
Satellite reveals quake movement
Rescue operations resumed on Wednesday following bad weather.
Bella Messenger, an NGO worker in an isolated area of Gorkha district, told the BBC that Chinese lorries had brought aid to the area, but many people remained cut off.
"You can't get to some villages without a helicopter," she said.
There was some good news when a man trapped in the rubble of a Kathmandu hotel for 82 hours was pulled to safety by Nepalese and French teams.
Rishi Khanal, 27, said he had been surrounded by dead bodies and drank his own urine to survive.
"I had some hope but by yesterday I'd given up. I was sure no-one was coming for me. I was certain I was going to die," he told AP news agency from his hospital bed.
Areas worst affected
Image caption Rishi Khanal was pulled from the rubble after being trapped for more than 80 hours
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "Just to be safe, I'm leaving town for a while" - man at Kathmandu bus station
More than eight million people have been affected by the quake, the UN says. About 10,000 people have been injured.
Hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in temporary camps, in squalid conditions with very little food and water, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kathmandu.
Image copyright AP Image caption Frustration at the slow pace of the relief effort has been rising
Image copyright AP Image caption Efforts are being broadened to include Gorkha, one of the hardest-hit districts
Officials admit they have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, but highlight the challenges it poses in one of Asia's poorest countries.
"The government is trying its best to deliver the relief materials," National Disaster Management chief Rameshwor Dangal told the BBC. "The problem is the level of disaster is very high and it's spread over more than 20 districts."
Renaud Meyer of the UN Development Programme said Kathmandu's single-runway airport was struggling to accommodate the rush of aid flights, but teams were delivering supplies as quickly as possible.
On Mount Everest - where the quake triggered an avalanche that killed at least 18 people - all stranded climbers have now been evacuated from base camp.
Image copyright UNITAR UNOSAT, CNES, Airbus Image caption Before and after pictures of Nepal show the extent of the devastation
Nepal earthquake: Before and after
Nepal quake special report
Landslide fears after Nepal quakes
Quake 'was anticipated'
Have you been affected by the earthquake in Nepal? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience. Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (international). Or you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions.Student course evaluations are often misused statistically and shed little light on the quality of teaching, two scholars at the University of California at Berkeley argue in the draft of a new paper.
"We’re confusing consumer satisfaction with product value," Philip B. Stark, a professor of statistics at Berkeley, said in an interview.
"An Evaluation of Course Evaluations," which he wrote with Richard Freishtat, senior consultant at Berkeley’s Center for Teaching and Learning, lays out a mathematical critique of the evaluations and describes an alternative vision for analyzing and improving teaching.
Even though evaluations have become ubiquitous in academe, they remain controversial because they often assume a high-stakes role in determining tenure and promotion. But they persist because they are easy to produce, administer, and tabulate, Mr. Stark said. And because they are based on Likert scales whose results can be added and averaged, he said, they offer the comfort of a number. But it is a false kind of security. "Averages of numerical student ratings have an air of objectivity," the authors write, "simply because they are numerical."
Some of what Mr. Stark and Mr. Freishtat write repeats critiques by other researchers: that evaluations often reflect snap judgments or biases about an instructor’s gender, ethnicity, or attractiveness; and that they fail to adequately capture teaching quality. While economists, education researchers, psychologists, and sociologists have weighed in on the use and misuse of these tools, it is relatively unusual for a statistician to do so.
Mr. Stark and Mr. Freishtat find fault with the mathematics underlying the evaluations. Response rates, for example, often vary widely and can bias the results.
The authors are also troubled by the common practice of averaging and comparing scores. Such a practice presumes that a five on a seven-point scale means the same thing to different students, or that a rating of a three somehow balances with a seven to mean the same thing as two fives.
"For teaching evaluations, there is no reason any of those things should be true," they write. "Such averages and comparisons make no sense, as a matter of statistics."
What Students Can Judge
Student course evaluations have their defenders, who argue that students’ experience in the classroom can offer useful information.
Mr. Stark doesn’t dispute that. Instead of averaging the scores, he suggests reporting their distribution and students’ response rates. A clustering of scores, in which a professor is commonly rated either a two or a seven, for example, might indicate that he or she is polarizing or perhaps good with particular kinds of students.
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The authors also criticize evaluation questions that are too broad or ask students to cast judgments for which they are not equipped, such as whether the instructor was effective or the course was valuable.
Instead, Mr. Stark prefers to ask students about things on which they’re experts: Did you enjoy the class? Did you leave it more enthusiastic or less enthusiastic about the subject matter? Could you hear the instructor during lectures? Was the instructor’s handwriting legible?
"It’s totally valuable to ask them about their experience," he said, "but it’s not synonymous with good teaching."
Mindy S. Marks, an associate professor of economics at the University of California at Riverside, agrees that evaluations can often reflect bias in the minds of the students or fail to adequately capture the full range of students’ opinions. But she believes that the comments are often valuable and that the quantitative data can reflect how much students learn.
In a 2010 paper, she and her co-authors found a small but statistically significant relationship between students’ ratings of their instructors in a remedial mathematics course and how much their scores improved between a pretest and the final examination.
The evaluation questions might not be perfect, she said, as students tend to see them as asking a broadly similar question.
"They read all the questions as ‘Did I like the professor?’" Ms. Marks said. And the resulting rating, she added, "does have a statistically significant relationship to learning."
Looking at the Classroom
To Mr. Stark, the evaluations as they are now used can paint only a limited picture. In the second part of his paper with Mr. Freishtat, he advocates a system of judging faculty members’ teaching that plays down the averaged scores on student evaluations.
Instead, the system adheres to a set of recommendations that are laid out in many policy handbooks but are seldom truly followed at large research universities, he said. It mirrors the system used by Berkeley’s statistics department, where Mr. Stark is chairman.
Candidates for tenure and promotion produce a teaching portfolio, syllabi, notes, websites, assignments, exams, videos, and statements on mentoring, along with students’ comments on course evaluations and their distribution.
Faculty members also visit one another’s classes and write reports.
"If we want to understand what’s going on in the classroom, we actually have to look at it," he said. "You can’t subcontract the evaluation of teaching to students."Get the biggest Newcastle United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Newcastle United forward Adam Armstrong insists he “won’t be scared” to express himself in black and white and try to force his way into the Magpies first team next season.
The 19-year-old forward netted 20 goals on loan at Coventry City but will return to Tyneside this summer and attempt to fight for a starting place at United in the Championship.
After impressing in League One, Armstrong feels he is now ready to make the step up another division.
“Obviously, being a Newcastle lad I want to try and get in the first team,” Armstrong told BBC Match of the Day Magazine, which is on sale now, after being voted their ‘Superstar of the Future’ from the Football League.
“If you ask any footballer they want to work hard in pre-season to try and get in the team and, if that doesn’t work out, then loan is probably going to be the option again.
“I’m just going to wait and see, train hard and see what happens.”
Last month, Armstrong was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year after finishing as the third tier’s joint fourth-highest goal-scorer.
And England Under-19 international Armstrong will return to St James’ Park this summer having earned invaluable experience during 40 appearances while at Coventry.
“Coming on loan for the first time, I didn’t know what to expect and how well it’s went - the staff and all the players have helped me out a lot,” he added.
poll loading Is Adam Armstrong ready for Newcastle United's first team? 6000+ VOTES SO FAR Yes, he'll be perfect for the Championship No, he will benefit from more time out on loan
“I didn’t expect to start as well, and how well it’s gone through the season.
“To get 19 goals [he scored a 20th last weekend] at such a young age in League One is massive for me and for my family – it’s been a really good season.”
Armstrong made his first-team debut for Newcastle during the 2013-14 campaign and has played 19 games in all for the Magpies, but is yet to find the back of the net for the club.
However, he believes he has improved as a player during his spell at the Ricoh Arena.
“I’ll be going back to Newcastle for pre-season and will see how that goes,” he continued.
“I’m also going away with England Under-19s in July for the Euros.
“I think just my confidence and my all-round game [is what has improved the most].
“I think I won’t be scared to try stuff now when I go back to Newcastle.
“Being such a young lad, I think I’m more confident on and off the pitch.
“It’s been a good experience all round I guess.”
More than 20,000 football fans voted in an online poll, and Armstrong was backed by 41 per cent of those supporters for the ‘Superstar of the Future’ award.The Chicago Bears will be forced to make a franchise-altering decision at quarterback next week.
If Jay Cutler remains on the roster for the start of the new league year next Tuesday, $10 million of his salary for the 2016 season becomes fully guaranteed, reports NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.
In other words, the new regime would be committing to Cutler for the next two seasons after the last coaching staff opted to bench him for former Panthers draft bust Jimmy Clausen in December. Clausen signed a one-year extension Friday.
It's no wonder coach John Fox and general manager Ryan Pace have let Cutler twist in the wind the past two months, remaining noncommittal on their quarterback plans.
If the Bears opt to move on from Cutler -- like they did with Friday's trade of Brandon Marshall -- they must find a taker for his salary or fork over $15.5 million in 2015 guarantees for the right to release him.
To that end, "teams certainly know that Jay Cutler is available," Rapoport reported on Thursday's edition of NFL Total Access.
The Bears are preparing as if Cutler is going to be their starter right now, Rapoport emphasized, but those plans are written in pencil.
Bears fans should know by next Wednesday if Cutler will be directing the offense in 2015. Once the extra $10 million in guarantees kick in, finding a trade partner will become a Herculean task.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast breaks down the Brandon Marshall trade and plays another game of "Go Get My Lunch." Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.“Better than you might think.” As advertising gambits go, it’s not one to set the pulse racing exactly. But that, essentially, is the message behind Lidl’s recent wine PR splurge.
It was a message that was hard to avoid last autumn when the German supermarket splashed the cash to advertise its range, including 48 new, so-called “fine wines” – which, at a cost of £12m, was its biggest UK product launch.
Rather like the excruciating scene in the recent BBC documentary about Tatler where the magazine’s fashion editor titters her way around the Notting Hill branch of Poundland, the idea seems to be: hey, you, the middle class and, yes, even you poshos, Lidl is safe for you! Yes really! We know you love our stollen and gravadlax. But we have £12 Champagne and Château Sociando Mallet at £25.99 a pop too!
It seems to be working. Certainly, the sales figures for both Lidl and its even more successful German budget co-conspirator Aldi have had executives at the big four British supermarkets fretting. According to a recent report by market researchers Kantar Worldpanel, Aldi’s share of the UK grocery market grew by a third last year to 4.8%, and Lidl by around a fifth to 3.6%. Of the big four, only Asda had avoided a drop in market share.
Both Aldi and Lidl have aggressive expansion plans, with stores in the more affluent parts of London and the south east very much in their sights. And wine – as it is at the big four supermarkets – is seen as a key way of getting the middle classes through the door.
That campaign received a high-profile boost late last year, when the experts behind a new app, wotwine?, declared Lidl the best supermarket to buy wine, with Aldi in second place. The findings, based on blind tastings of more than 4,000 supermarket wines, suggested that 65% of Lidl’s wines (and 64% of Aldi’s) were good value for money, against 35% (36% for Aldi) that were poor value. This compared to 45% and 55% for Tesco, and a damning 26/74 ratio for Marks & Spencer.
While it’s possible to take issue with the faux-scientific precision of these ratios (which were, after all, the product of a series of subjective tastings and suggest that “value” in wine is a fixed, objective idea when it really isn’t), the findings weren’t all that surprising to me (although I might have put Aldi just ahead of Lidl). All supermarkets buy on price to an extent. But Aldi and Lidl, it seems to me, do it to the expense of anything else. Other supermarkets will have a set of wines that they feel they have to list to be credible, but if the discounters can’t find a wine style, grape variety or region at a suitably arresting price, they simply won’t list it.
That means their ranges are significantly smaller, even a little eccentric compared to their rivals, and there’s a distinct feeling of you’ll get what you’re given when you shop there. From what I’ve tasted of both retailers, with a handful of exceptions, the relentless focus on price also tends towards the consistently quite good rather than the great. There may, as wotwine? says, be some bad value wines at M&S. But for my money the wines in its “good” 26% will be so much more interesting than anything at either Lidl or Aldi. What’s more, the discounters’ “bad” “35%” will have more than its fair share of stinkers (I’m looking at you Aldi Cantata Barolo) – wines that are, quite frankly, even worse than you might think.
Six best Lidl and Aldi wines
Cimarosa Pedro Jimenez, Chile 2013
(Lidl, £3.99)
A grape best known for making treacly sherry in Spain and as the base for the South American pisco grape spirit, Pedro Jimenez (or Ximenez) is increasingly turning up in dry white wines from Chile, here providing a crisp, clean, citrussy no-frills seafood match.
Lidl Chianti, Italy 2012
(Lidl, £4.39)
The wine that inspired the approving tweet from a punter that went on to feature in a Lidl billboard ad, this does a very good job for the money: with its tomato-like acidity and cherry and plum fruit, it’s a good match for mid week spag’ boll’.
Lidl Barolo, Piedmont, Italy 2009/2010
(Lidl, £11.99)
This may not quite have the tar-and-roses mix of power and ethereal fragrance of top barolo, but then neither does it have the price tag, and with its mix of forest floor and fruit and sand-paper tannin, it’s a fine budget introduction to the nebbiolo grape.
The Exquisite Collection Limoux Chardonnay, Languedoc, France 2013
(Aldi, £6.99)
Star buy: Limoux’s elevated position gives it a slightly cooler climate than the rest of the Languedoc that makes it ideally suited to Burgundy-style chardonnays such as this, which, with its rich creamy-savoury flavours, and crisp-apple freshness, is stunning value.
The Exquisite Collection New Zealand Pinot Noir 2013
(Aldi, £6.99)
This is a crazy price for Kiwi pinot noir, which only very rarely comes in at under £10, and is usually undrinkably stewed when it does. Not hugely complex, but what it lacks in silkiness it makes up for in redcurrant freshness and bright cherry-berry fruit.
The Exquisite Collection Gavi, Piedmont, Italy 2013
(Aldi, £5.49)
Another supermarket staple these days, but again rarely at this sort of price-value ratio, this super-tangy but fluent dry white is full of lemon zest and pith for herby, garlicky chicken or white fish served with salsa verde or aioli.If you're among the few who actually don 3D glasses to watch movies at home, you're not gonna like this. If you're everyone else, you probably couldn't care less.
3D, once hailed as a breakthrough new feature on TVs and propelled into mainstream consciousness by the blue aliens of "Avatar" and the efforts of ESPN and DirecTV, has been waning in popularity for years. Now it has absorbed that most telling of deathblows from the biggest gun in the TV hardware business.
Sarah Tew/CNET
A source at Samsung, who asked to remain anonymous, has confirmed to CNET that none of its 2016 US TV models will support 3D.
That means they won't be able to display 3D Blu-ray movies or other 3D content and won't work with 3D glasses. The only Samsung sets that will support 3D will be carryovers from 2015, like the UNJU7100 series.
The reason, according to the source, is that Samsung wanted to concentrate more resources on its new smart TV functionality, including integration with its SmartThings home automation platform.
In other words, Samsung traded 3D for braaains.
This confirmation for the US market comes on the heels of previous reports from Europe and Korea that 3D would play no part in Samsung's future TV plans.
Samsung is the biggest TV maker in the world and has tremendous influence, marketing features like LED backlights for LCD TV panels and curved screens that other makers scramble to emulate. Until this year all of its best TVs, and many midrange models, supported 3D. Now even its most expensive 2016 sets will be 2D-only.
According to data from the NPD Group, 3D TVs have accounted for a diminishing share of US flat-panel TV sales every year since 2012, and the same goes for 3D-compatible Blu-ray players compared with 2D-only models. 3D TVs fell from 23 percent to 16 percent in that period, and 3D players from 40 percent to 25 percent.
"In terms of purchase motivators, I think 3D is pretty low on the list at this point," said NPD analyst Ben Arnold. "There was a lot of interest in the feature from consumers early on, but most reports were the experience was not worth the hassle of wearing 3D glasses or finding content."
Sarah Tew/CNET
With other TV brands, cost of 3D goes up
LG, the No. 2 TV maker worldwide, is actually holding steady. Tim Alessi, director of new product development, told CNET that 3D "still remains a meaningful step-up feature for many" consumers. About a third of the 2016 series TVs it will sell in the US support the feature. On the other hand, all of them will be high-end 4K OLED and LED LCD models.
Case in point: LG's main series of flat 4K OLED for 2016, the B6, won't support 3D. That's a shame for any remaining 3D fans because its 2015 predecessor, the EF9500 series, delivered the best 3D image quality we've ever tested.
Then there's Vizio. A major brand in the US but not worldwide, Vizio hasn't offered 3D on any of its TVs since 2013; even the exceedingly expensive Reference Series is 2D-only. And Sony's rep told CNET that only two of its US series, the X930D and X940D, will support 3D in 2016. The cheapest costs $3,200.
The fate of the third dimension
Courtesy of name.vukki.com
3D movies continue to be released in theaters, and 3D Blu-ray discs will likely be sold for a few more years, so owners of current 3D TVs still have some use for those glasses. Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Vudu still offer a few titles too, but they can be difficult to find, and the new 4K Blu-ray disc format contains no provisions for 3D support at all.
And all those fancy new VR headsets, like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Samsung Gear VR? They're basically supercharged 3D displays that are glued to your face.
But if you want a new 3D TV in 2016, your choices will be much less expansive -- and more expensive -- than before.
So no, just because Samsung dropped support, 3D TV isn't technically dead yet. But it's closer to the grave than ever.The sublight engines cease their hum. Onboard, the white-armored occupants steel themselves for combat, as the gunner on top begins blasting away at unseen targets.
The ramp drops. Fires. Shouting. Brilliant beams of energy crisscrossing through the night. Moving as one, the stormtroopers rush out of the transport and charge straight into the frenzy.
A hundred meters away, a lone Resistance pilot abandons his damaged T-70. Grabbing a worn blaster from his survival pack, he takes aim on the nearest white-clad figure and starts shooting back.
His first shot is dead on target. Down goes a trooper.
Determined to give his BB-8 unit a running start, the pilot fires again.
This ace pilot is just as deadly on solid ground as he is in space combat. Before the second trooper can even react to his fallen comrade, he too is hit with a fatal blast.
As his crippled fighter burns in the background, the pilot slightly shifts his aim to the right and trains the sight on a new target.
His third shot catches a running figure full on in the chest plate.
As the target slumps to the ground, his buddy runs to check on the mortally wounded stormtrooper.
But it’s too late. As he lays dying, the stricken trooper reaches out to his friend with a bloodied hand. Shuddering, he lets out one final gasp and lays still.
The surviving trooper panics. Numb with shell shock and stained by blood, he stumbles around the battlefield. Within minutes of his first combat deployment, he has seen innocent villagers shot, houses torched, and his friend killed.
Later on, the Resistance pilot will be captured, and the traumatized stormtrooper will help him pull off a daring escape. Their shared hardship will lead to an unlikely friendship.
The stormtrooper will never know that the pilot he helped escape was the one who killed his friend. Meanwhile, the pilot will never realize that among the faceless troopers he shot was the the stormtrooper’s bestfriend.
If you think this is some kind of insane fan theory, here’s the full GIF of the scene:
According to Wookieepedia, the hapless stormtrooper was FN-2003, aka “Slip”. He was the weakest link in Finn’s squad, so that Finn was always bailing his clumsy stormtrooper butt out of trouble:
During a First Order raid on a sacred village on the planet Jakku, Slip was hit by blaster fire from Poe Dameron. FN-2187 went to help his squadmate, but FN-2003’s wound proved fatal, Slip wiping his bloody hand on FN-2187’s helmet before dying. His sudden and violent death contributed to FN-2187’s decision to escape from First Order service.
And so kids, that is why The Force Awakens is the darkest Star Wars movie yet.
UPDATE: Be sure to check out the alternate universe version! What if Poe hit Finn instead?In 1998, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent 5,718,632, on a method for avoiding “unnecessary wastage of time” in video games. What’s transpired in the 17 years since then can best be described as an unnecessary wastage of time.
Namco’s patent covers “auxiliary games” that a player can enjoy while the main game is loading. The patent expired on November 27, which has generated a lot of excitement in the gaming world, and even inspired a Loading Screen Jam where developers create their own loading screen games.
In the midst of all the excitement, it’s worth taking a moment to ask whether Patent 5,718,632 should have been issued in the first place. It’s emblematic of a big problem with a lot of patents, particularly software patents.
How Loading Screen Games Weren’t Invented
The first Sony PlayStation was introduced in 1994. Its graphical capabilities blew predecessors like the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo out of the water, but it had one big disadvantage. It replaced the game cartridges of the previous generation with CD-ROMs. When you booted up a PlayStation game, you had to wait for the console to load game data from the disc into its own memory. And that. Took. For. Ever. Watching a loading screen was boring, especially when you were used to the instant gratification of cartridge games.
Namco’s Ridge Racer addressed the problem by including a second game, the 80s classic Galaxian. It took no time at all for a PlayStation to load Galaxian. Suddenly, the player wasn’t thinking about how boring it was to wait for a game to load; she could have fun playing Galaxian while the console took its time loading Ridge Racer. If she beat Galaxian before Ridge Racer was done loading, she’d be rewarded in Ridge Racer with access to some in-game bonuses.
Should Loading Screen Games Be Patentable?
What’s the big deal? Namco thought of loading screen games first, so they earned the patent, right? Well, let’s look at how U.S. law defines a patentable invention.
According to the law, a person isn’t entitled to a patent if the claimed invention already existed when the application was filed or would have been obvious to someone skilled in the relevant technology area. The idea of playing a small game while the larger one loads has been around for a very long time. In 1987, many years before Namco filed its patent application, Richard Aplin created Invade-a-Load, a utility for developers who wrote games for the Commodore 64 computer. As a game developer, you could package Invade-a-Load with your game; while players waited for the game, they’d be treated to a mini-game similar to Space Invaders. Given the breadth of Namco’s claims, there is a very strong case that its application should have been rejected as anticipated or obvious in light of Invade-a-Load.
Does the Loading Screen Game Patent Promote Innovation?
The purpose of patents, as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, is to promote innovation. Inventors are rewarded with a temporary monopoly on their invention in exchange for giving the public information on how it works.
The Supreme Court has said that patents should only be granted for “those inventions which would not be disclosed or devised but for the inducement of a patent.” In other words, if the inventor isn’t trading information of real value for the patent, then it’s not a good patent. Unfortunately, many software patents do just the opposite. They offer no real information about how to implement a feature, only a vaguely worded description of the feature itself. In court, vagueness is often rewarded over specificity, as plaintiffs stretch the boundaries of their inventions to cover the defendants’ products.
As for the auxiliary game patent, it simply describes the idea of loading a separate game while the player waits for the main game. Namco gave no information of value in return for its monopoly on auxiliary games.
Last year, the Supreme Court struck down a patent for describing nothing but an abstract idea performed on a computer. If Namco had sued someone over its patent, there’s a good chance it would have lost. But it didn’t matter: even the existence of these low quality, abstract software patents is enough to deter a lot of innovators.
Fixing the Patent System Means Fixing Patents
There are two patent reform bills currently in Congress, the PATENT Act and the Innovation Act. EFF supports both bills, and we hope you’ll take a moment to encourage your members of Congress to support them too.
Those bills mostly only address patent litigation, though. If we really want to make the patent system the agent of innovation that the Constitution calls for, we need to tackle the problem of patent quality.
Right now, software patents are the loading screen of the intellectual property world. They add nothing of value to the game. They just force everyone to sit and wait before we can do anything.Providing protection against impacts from bullets and other high-speed projectiles is more than just a matter of brute strength. While traditional shields have been made of bulky materials such as steel, newer body armor made of lightweight material such as Kevlar has shown that thickness and weight are not necessary for absorbing the energy of impacts. Now, a new study by researchers at MIT and Rice University has shown that even lighter materials may be capable of doing the job just as effectively.
The key is to use composites made of two or more materials whose stiffness and flexibility are structured in very specific ways — such as in alternating layers just a few nanometers thick. The research team produced miniature high-speed projectiles and measured the effects they had on the impact-absorbing material.
The results of the research are reported in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper co-authored by former postdoc Jae-Hwang Lee, now a research scientist at Rice; postdoc Markus Retsch; graduate student Jonathan Singer; Edwin Thomas, a former MIT professor who is now at Rice; graduate student David Veysset; former graduate student Gagan Saini; former postdoc Thomas Pezeril, now on the faculty at Université du Maine, in Le Mans, France; and chemistry professor Keith Nelson. The experimental work was conducted at MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies.
The team developed a self-assembling polymer with a layer-cake structure: rubbery layers, which provide resilience, alternating with glassy layers, which provide strength. They then developed a method for shooting glass beads at the material at high speed by using a laser pulse to rapidly evaporate a layer of material just below its surface. Though the beads were tiny — just millionths of a meter in diameter — they were still hundreds of times larger than the layers of the polymer they impacted: big enough to simulate impacts by larger objects, such as bullets, but small enough so the effects of the impacts could be studied in detail using an electron microscope.
Seeing the layers
Structured polymer composites have previously been tested for possible impact-protection applications. But nobody had found a way to study exactly how they work — so there was no way to systematically search for improved combinations of materials.
The new techniques developed by the MIT and Rice researchers could provide such a method. Their work could accelerate progress on materials for applications in body and vehicle armor; shielding to protect satellites from micrometeorite impacts; and coatings for jet engine turbine blades to protect from high-speed impacts by sand or ice particles.
The methods the team developed for producing laboratory-scale high-speed impacts, and for measuring the impacts’ effects in a precise way, “can be an extremely useful quantitative tool for the development of protective nanomaterials,” says Lee, the lead author of the paper, who did much of this research while in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “Our work presents some valuable insights to understand the contribution” of the nanoscale structure to the way such materials absorb an impact, he says.
Because the layered material has such a predictable, ordered structure, the effects of the impacts are easily quantified by observing distortions in cross-section. “If you want to test out how ordered systems will behave,” Singer says, “this is the perfect structure for testing.”
Which direction works best
The team found that when the projectiles hit the layers head-on, they absorbed the impact 30 percent more effectively than in an edge-on impact. That information may have immediate relevance for the design of improved protective materials.
Nelson has spent years developing techniques that use laser pulses to observe and quantify nanoscale shockwaves — techniques that were adapted for this research with the help of Lee, Veysset and other team members. Ideally, in future research, the team hopes to be able to observe the passage of projectiles in real time in order to get a better understanding of the sequence of events as the impacted material undergoes distortion and damage, Nelson says.
In addition, now that the experimental method has been developed, the researchers would like to investigate different materials and structures to see how these respond to impacts, Nelson says: varying the composition and thickness of layers, or using different structures.
Donald Shockey, director of the Center for Fracture Physics at SRI International, a nonprofit research institute in Menlo Park, Calif., says, “It’s a novel and useful approach that will provide needed understanding of the mechanisms governing how a projectile penetrates protective vests and helmets.” He adds that these results “provide the data required to develop and validate computational models” to predict the behavior of impact-protection materials and to develop new, improved materials.
“The key to developing materials with better impact resistance is to understand deformation and failure behavior at the tip of an advancing projectile,” Shockey says. “We need to be able to see that.”
The work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office.Yet another spark package
I have released beta version of spark-centrality – package that will be contain different graph algorithms. The source code is available at GitHub. Now it has just one algorithm - harmonic centrality.
Harmonic centrality of a node \( u \) is the sum of the reciprocal of the shortest path distances from all other nodes to \( u \).
Math formula looks like:
\( C(u) = \sum_{v
eq u}\frac{1}{d(v, u)} \)
where \( d(v, u) \) is the shortest-path distance between \( v \) and \( u \).
The good point of this algorithm is that the use of the harmonic mean avoid cases where an infinite distance outweighs the others. The detailed comparison with other algorithms you can found here.
It is fairly easy to use.
Include this package in your Spark Applications using:
> $SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages webgeist:spark-centrality:0.11
libraryDependencies += "cc.p2k" %% "spark-centrality" % "0.11"
or using SBT:For counting neighbours for every node it uses HyperLogLog and Pregel model of computation in GraphX.
Links:Mohammed Luqman, 18, threatened to post footage on Facebook of brave victim
A student has been jailed for blackmailing a 14-year-old schoolgirl into handing over family jewellery after threatening to release a video of her being ‘abused’ on Facebook.
The young victim claimed she was targeted for sexual exploitation by Mohammed Luqman, 18, over a period of months.
The Birmingham college student allegedly recorded her being sexually abused and later threatened to release the videos on social media, unless she stole from her family for him.
The terrified schoolgirl did hand over jewellery and her iPhone but later broke down and told teachers what had happened and police were called in.
Luqman, of Edgbaston Road, Balsall Heath, was arrested in early 2015 and last month pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail, contrary to Section 21 (1) of the Theft Act 1968.
Luqman |
—cutting services for ordinary people to fund tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy—throughout Trump’s fiscal plans.
For example, Trump would cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years from services directed at low- and moderate income families. This would essentially pay for a $2 trillion tax cut for the “pass-through” business income of hedge fund managers, corporate lawyers, and real estate developers (like Trump). This tax break is such a personal financial boon for the president—his business is composed of more than 500 pass-through entities—that it’s been rightly dubbed “The Trump Loophole.”
Trump’s budget would cut $610 billion from Medicaid, which provides health care coverage for more than one in five Americans—nearly 69 million people. Medicaid pays for half of all nursing home and other long-term care. Yet Trump wants to let tax-dodging multinational corporations off the hook for $600 billion in U.S. taxes they owe on profits they’ve stashed offshore.
(By the way, those Medicaid cuts are on top of more than $800 billion in Medicaid cuts inflicted by the Congressional Republican health care plan endorsed by the president.)
Trump proposes slashing $192 billion over the next decade from nutrition assistance (food stamps) that 42 million people need to keep from going hungry. Yet Trump’s plan to abolish the estate tax would give away $174 billion to millionaires and billionaires. The estate tax only affects the richest one in 500 families, those couples with fortunes of $11 million and up.
Millionaires, billionaires and rich corporations do not need more tax breaks—they need to start paying their fair share. Any attempt by the president to slash public services essential to the health and well-being of America’s working families to pay for these tax breaks must be stopped. The lives of Caroline Conner and millions of others must not be put at risk.Harry Reid, Barack Obama and John Boehner CBA/AP
The House and Senate on Thursday passed a spending bill to fund the federal government for the remaining six months of the fiscal year, agreeing to the compromise plan worked out late Friday night to avert a government shutdown.
The House vote was not a slam dunk: Fifty-nine House Republicans bucked their leadership and voted against the bill, which cuts about $38 billion in government spending. Eighty-one Democrats joined the GOP majority to pass the measure. The bill passed the House by a vote of 260 to 167, with three Democrats and three Republicans not voting.
In the Senate, meanwhile, the bill passed overwhelmingly, by a vote of 81 to 19. Fifteen Republicans and four Democrats voted no. President Obama plans to sign the bill into law before the government runs out of money on Friday.
The White House hailed the deal in a statement, saying that "we must build on this bipartisan compromise to tackle these issues and meet the expectations of the American people."
Before the vote, House Speaker John Boehner appealed to members of his party to support the deal, which he negotiated last week with Mr. Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Boehner argued on the House floor that the budget represented simply the initial step toward "making the fundamental changes to put our nation back on the path to prosperity." The speaker was alluding to the upcoming House vote on the GOP's proposed 2012 budget, which aims to slash government spending by about $6 trillion over the next 10 years.
In spite of Boehner's appeals, some prominent Republicans voted against the measure, including Rep. Jim Jordan, head of the conservative Republican Study Committee. They complained it did not cut enough spending.
Tea Party linked Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he voted against the bill because it doesn't go far enough.
"Our debt here is going to double in the next ten years," he said. "We have to start solving it now. We can't wait any longer. We're running out of time. And this deal just doesn't do it. In fact, it's full of a bunch of typical Washington, D.C. gimmicks. I'm just not going to be a part of that."
What's in the budget bill?
Forget $38B: Budget only cuts $352 million this year
Confusion and consternation over the size of the bill's spending cuts increased today in the wake of a report showing that the legislation would only bring about a reduction of $352 million in non-war government spending for the rest of this fiscal year. The bill does, as Washington leaders say, cut about $38 billion from government spending authority. Yet those cuts do not go into effect immediately.
Furthermore, as government officials explained today, while it cuts about $38 billion in spending authority, the bill will only cut about $20-$25 billion in actual spending over the next four to five years. That's because some of the cuts in budget authority related to money that was never expected to be spent.
For instance, Congress allotted more than $20 million necessary to build the Capitol Visitor Center at the U.S. Capitol building. The visitor center is now completed, but the U.S. Capitol still is technically owed the rest of its budget for that project. The budget deal the House votes on today takes back $15 million from that project.
The level of cuts is nevertheless historically significant, and some conservatives in the House agreed with Boehner that the bill was a good first step toward fiscal austerity.
"The bill we consider today cuts real money," Republican Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana said. "Do I think the cuts are big enough? No. But my mother used to warn me about being a penny wise and pound foolish."
Several Democrats complained the cuts went too far; 108 Democrats voted against the measure, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
It's on: Obama takes iron fist to GOP
Obama budget speech sets stage for 2012 debate
Obama deficit reduction plan leaves deficits
Is Social Security on the table as Obama, Congress tackle the deficit?
Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said on the House floor that the budget "reflects the status quo on special interest waste."
"At almost every turn of this [legislation] the majority has chosen to keep special interest giveaways" such as subsidies to oil companies, she said. She complained that it cut education and infrastructure spending as well as biomedical research and food safety.
"The American people expect better of us," she said. "They want our budget to reflect commonsense, mainstream priorities."
The bill's cuts include: $700 million from safe drinking-water programs, $390 from heating subsidies, $276 from flu-prevention programs and $390 from emergency heating assistance directed toward low-income families. It also targets the Environmental Protection Agency, which would lose $1.6 billion under the plan, and the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
As part of the compromise deal, votes were held earlier Thursday on two stand-alone measures that would have defunded Planned Parenthood and withheld money to implement the health care law. Both measures failed.
House Republicans are expected to approve their controversial fiscal year 2012 budget, which includes significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, on Friday.Won't back change
Queensland Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said he would not support any watering down of the EPBC Act but conceded it needed to become more efficient to fast-track development approvals.
The Palaszczuk government is desperate for the large mines in the Galilee Basin to be built to help kick-start the state's lagging economy and fill government coffers with royalties.
Dr Lynham said he was still seeking more details of the Abbott government's proposed changes to the act.
"Generally speaking, I would not support any watering down of environmental protections," he said.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is facing defeat in the Senate over environmental law changes. Alex Ellinghausen
"The Palaszczuk government supports job-generating resources projects that balance social and environmental impacts with economic development.
"But I would prefer to see government and industry working together to make the regulatory framework for mining as efficient as possible. Potential investors in the resources sector need certainty and Queensland needs the jobs their investment will deliver."
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Senate support unclear
On Wednesday at least two Senate crossbenchers, Nick Xenophon and Glenn Lazarus, indicated they would not be backing the government's quick fix.
If one more follows the government will not get the change through the Senate. Senator David Leyonhjelm said he was inclined to support the government.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is facing defeat in the Senate over environmental law changes. Alex Ellinghausen
Mr Abbott said the fault would be all Labor's.
"This is an issue for Labor, not for the crossbench, and I say again where does Bill Shorten stand? Does he want the Carmichael mine to go ahead? Or does he not? Does he want the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement to go ahead or does he not?" he said.
"The only time the crossbench has power is when the Labor Party is standing in the way.
"All projects in this country have got to pass strict environmental standards but once they've passed those standards they should be allowed to go ahead. They shouldn't be subject to endless legal sabotage because the law gives green groups an unusual level of access to the courts."
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Federal Labor slammed the move as a "pathetic attempt" by the government to distract from its political woes and said the hold-up with Adani was "a rash reaction to the government's incompetence and failures being borne out in the courts".
"The government has been caught out for not properly managing the approval process for the Adani mine under the act," shadow environment minister Mark Butler and shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said.
Earlier in August the Queensland government referred Adani's expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal to federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt for approval.
Adani's $16.5 billion Carmichael mine, which is still being held up by two court cases, is still waiting for final environmental approval and a mining lease. The Indian energy giant also has to raise $10 billion in finance for the project.The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) on Tuesday rejected a proposal to introduce direct elections for the prime minister and cabinet, saying the idea is untested and carries "risks".
The CDC decided the conventional parliamentary structure and relations between the executive and legislative branches should be retained in the new constitution.
CDC deputy chairman Suchit Bunbongkarn said the committee had discussed the direct election proposal and agreed the system under which the prime minister is elected by the majority of the House of Representatives should remain.
He said the CDC could not accept the proposal because the direct election of the premier and the cabinet is fraught with risks.
See also: Earlier report
"We were concerned the system would cause problems. The conventional parliamentary systems should be less problematic," Mr Suchit said.
He said the CDC could not know how the direct election system would have turned out, adding that it would be difficult to prevent political parties from being dominated by party financiers and businessmen, since national elections require a lot of funding.
"This may be seen as far from progressive. But being progressive has risks," Mr Suchit said.
He argued the conventional parliamentary system will still be able to address political problems, and there is no need for a dramatic change to an unfamiliar system.
Mr Suchit said the current system can be improved to prevent any political party from monopolising power in the House.
This can be achieved by reforming political parties so they become major pillars of democracy, Mr Suchit said, adding that MPs must truly represent the public rather than being manipulated by party financiers.
He said several proposals to improve the parliamentary system are being considered. One is that the House speaker could be barred from party activities, and that deputy House speakers be chosen from parties that win fewer seats, not from those that hold the majority of House seats.
Another proposal is that MPs are allowed to vote against party resolutions and retain their status as MPs if they are expelled from their parties, Mr Suchit said. He said the CDC will today discuss the proposals as well as other ideas involving the number of MPs and senators and their powers.
On the issue of decentralisation, CDC spokesman Lertrat Rattanawanich said the committee has concluded that power will be delegated not only from central government to local administrative bodies, but to civic groups and local communities.
This will mean that people can serve as "partners" in helping run public services, he said.Supercell’s CEO Ilkka Paananen on the rise of Finnish games developers and why the future of entertainment is all about mobile.
It’s almost as if there’s something in the rainwater. Finland – which covers just 130k square miles and has a population of fewer than 5.5m – has long punched far above its weight as a technology hub.
Today it is globally-admired, among other things, as a gaming powerhouse, producing a roster of mould-shattering companies including Rovio, Sulake (creators of Habbo, formerly Habbo Hotel) and of course Supercell, the Helsinki-headquartered hit-makers behind Clash of Clans, Hay Day and Boom Beach.
What’s perhaps less well-known, according to Supercell’s co-founder and CEO Ilkka Paananen, is that this so-called ‘Finnish phenomenon’ (a term which was previously applied to Finland’s school system) is no overnight success story. Rather Helsinki, in particular, has hosted a flourishing combination of creative and technical talent, long before the likes of Rovio and Supercell exploded onto the scene.
“We’ve had a strong and thriving games industry here for the last twenty years – it’s just that [Rovio’s] Angry Birds was the first game to become a global blockbuster,” he points out.
“But there were other successful games before that, such as Max Payne, which was a smash hit in early 2000s, and games like Alan Wake, which was selected as game of the year by Time Magazine [in 2010]. Yet nobody really associates those with Finland because those games were published by international publishers,” adds Paananen, who is softly-spoken and has a slow burn, easy-going charm about him.
“Then all of a sudden the app store era emerged and it became possible to reach a billion consumers, just by uploading your game or app to the app store. That changed the world for Finnish developers."
"All of a sudden you weren’t required to work via these international publishers, who owned the IP and so forth. Instead you could do it yourself.”
When asked for his analysis of why Finland has such an enviable talent-pool in the games field, Paananen’s answer is a surprising one: the weather.
“Look outside,” he gestures towards the rain-lashed windows of Supercell’s gleaming industrial-style HQ in Itämerenkatu, Helsinki (which formerly housed Nokia’s Research Centre).
“The weather is poor this time of year [it’s winter]. It’s dark and wet and windy and cold. What else can you do when it’s like that? You want to stay inside and if you have a computer, you can start to write code.
“There’s a really big thing here, which goes back twenty years or more – it’s known as the ‘demo scene’, meaning that people would get together, organise these small groups and just start hacking and putting together audio/visual presentations they called demos.
“Then these groups would compete against each other at parties. At first these parties were organised in small [venues] like school classrooms, but in the last couple of years they’ve been held in the biggest ice hockey stadium in Finland and they’re always sold out. It’s known as the Assembly and there are literally thousands of people, who bring in their computers, lighting up the darkness - and they compete against each other.”
The country’s dismal weather also ensured that playing computer games was simply something most kids did day to day, he continues.
“Good old computers, like the Commodore 64, became incredibly popular here. Most friends of mine at elementary school had one and we would all play together. Again, on [wet] days like these, what else can you really do? It was cool to be with your friends and play games, which is why, I think, it’s become part of our lives here.”
Far-sightedness
Against this rain-spattered backdrop, technology has become Finland’s most important industrial sector, directly employing some 290,000 people, and accounting for around 700,000 jobs – a quarter of the country’s workforce. The category also accounts for 55% of total Finnish exports and 80% of R&D investments (1). Little wonder, then, that the Finnish Government is investing heavily in it and incentivising tech entrepreneurs – far-sightedness that Paananen is quick to praise.
“Finland is in this pretty tough place at the moment,” he explains. “We’ve seen the collapse of the mobile phone business of Nokia, other traditional [areas] like the paper and pulp industries aren’t doing as well as they used to. So we have to somehow reinvent ourselves as a country. We need to get some new growth from somewhere, and I think more and more people are starting to believe that start-ups and entrepreneurship in general can be one of the major growth engines.
“I think the government here have been really great in trying to create a better environment for start-ups. For example, they’ve just decided to decrease the corporate tax rate to 20% starting from 2014. [LÅ1] That’s one of the lowest in Europe, I believe. There’s also a really good public funding system in place for start-ups, so you can get money from the government quite easily and it’s non-diluted money, [meaning that] you don’t even need to give away ownership.
“When we started Supercell, we were six co-founders and all of us as a group were able to put together €250,000, maybe a bit more, to get the company started. And on the back of that, we were able to borrow money from the government, who gave us a loan of €400,000. That was non-diluted money and the terms of the loan were extremely favourable, with literally no interest, and if everything goes wrong, you don’t even have to pay it back.
“So they’ve made it really easy to start companies and the amount of bureaucracy is quite low compared with other countries.”
300 year vision
Last October, Supercell took on a strategic investment of $1.5bn (for a 51% stake) from SoftBank Corp., a Japanese technology and Internet group. (At the time, the company was already collaborating with the Japanese firm GungHo, also backed by SoftBank.) So how would Paananen describe the rationale behind the deal?
“What we were really looking for was a long-term partner, with whom we’d be completely aligned,” he replies. “So yes, we did sell 51% of the shares to them, but the remaining 49% is still with us and actually part of the deal was that control of the company stays completely with the founders. It would not have worked out any other way, as that’s really [SoftBank’s] model as well -- and that was the number one key point for us.
“The ambition that we share is that we both fundamentally believe that when people consume digital entertainment it’s going to happen on mobile. That’s going to be their first screen.
“The other thing that really attracted us to them is that they have this extremely long-term view about building companies. In the Western investor and business world, when people talk about ‘long-term’, it usually means five to ten years, maximum, but for SoftBank it’s like thirty to 300 years.
“Their perspective is just so long, and what I think is great is that if I think about what we want to do at Supercell, it’s to build a new kind of games company that will last for decades if not longer. One of our goals is to become the first truly global games company. A company that has hit games in both the big Western markets -- US, Europe and so on -- but also in each of the big Asian markets: Japan, Korea and China. To do that is going to take a lot of time – not just a few years, but tens of years. In other words, we want to make history. And that takes time, and more than anything, it takes patience.”
Supercell took an early and significant step in that direction in 2012 by launching both Clash of Clans and Hay Day – and, this year, Boom Beach, too – both on Android and iOS (the first two were previously only available on iOS). The move, says Paananen, was essential if the company wants to be “big in Asia”.
He adds: “In the Japanese, Korean and Chinese markets, Android is a must-have platform. So [being on it] just grows the size of the audience that you can reach, which is important for us because we want to create games that everyone can play.”
Talent first
From the outset, Paananen says the founders’ vision was to build a company around its talent. Indeed, so fundamental was this founding principle that the opening slide in their initial fundraising presentation carried the slogan: ‘The best people make the best games’.
“It sounds simple, naïve even, but if you truly think the best people will create the best games then the only thing that actually matters is to get and retain the best people and create the best possible environment for them,” he says.
“The next thing you need to do is get out of their way and give them all the possible freedom and power to be creative talent. Games are essentially just talent, it’s all about the talent. No one can predict what’s going to be a hit game, but you maximise your chances of success when you just have the best creative ability in your company.
“At our off-site in May [2013], with our investors and board members, we set out some goals for December 2014, and asked ‘What should Supercell look like in December 2014? The number one goal that we had in that list was ‘Let’s make sure that we can still have the best people, the best culture -- and that we can sustain that culture’. Numbers two, three and four were either financial or operational goals. That shows, for us, the goals related to people and culture are always more important.
“Yes, you can have goals related to financial performance, but what you can really perfect and have some control over are people and culture. That is something you can shape with your own actions.”
Another strand of Supercell’s formula for success has been its use of the free-to-play model for its games. If done correctly, argues Paananen, it’s a win-win for consumers, who get to try out high quality games for free, and for games creators, who can quickly grow the size of their audience.
“But you have to build them the right way and one of the big things we have tried to avoid is ‘pay to win’ -- where you can only succeed at the game by spending lots of money. If your game is a ‘pay to win’ type of game, then it’s not a game anymore, it’s just about spending money,” he cautions.
“Sometimes the ‘free to play’ model is misunderstood. What it really means is that even if you never pay a dime, you should still be able to play the game fully. For us, we like to see that people are spending money not because they have to, but because they want to. That’s a pretty big difference in how you should think about it. The short term, greedy thinking, where you are just trying to build games that monetise, is very short-sighted and a very short road, I think, as we’ve seen in the industry.”
Paananen stresses that he never discusses new games prior to their launch (at the time of this interview, Boom Beach had yet to be released), but he says that the investment from SoftBank has set Supercell on the road towards being the company “[we’d] always dreamed of”.
“We are going to be laser-focussed on two things. One, making the existing games we have, better for our players -- and we keep saying to ourselves that we need to make these games better for our players every single week.
“Then second, of course, we’re prototyping all of the time for new types of games and at some point we’re going to find something that we like and something that, hopefully, the players will like and when we do, we’ll bring it to market.”
However global the company becomes, Paananen insists he will never move Supercell’s HQ away from Finland, believing the country’s creative culture and heritage is scored into its DNA. “That’s very important to us,” he says.
“We already have offices in San Francisco, Tokyo and Seoul, and our employees here in Helsinki come from thirty-two different countries. So we are a truly global company in every sense. But I couldn’t imagine a situation where we wouldn’t be headquartered here, because ultimately our roots are in Finland – and that will never change.”
(1) Source: The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries.
IIkka Paananen spoke about Supercell at Slush 2014 in Helsinki on Nov 18. Here's the full video.
Posted on 11 Nov 2014We’ve been working on one of our first Angular projects with a Rails backend. It’s been a great experience. I wanted to share a few things we learned that we hope are helpful to others building Angular on Rails apps.
Skinny controllers in Angular
In the Rails world, “Fat models, skinny controllers” has been some of the most oft-quoted design advice for many years. In angular.js, this also turns out to be solid advice. Getting logic out of your controllers makes it easier to reuse and also helps improve the design of your codebase (e.g. Single Responsibility Principle). I’d like to share a couple of the ways to put your angular.js controllers on a diet.
Services
The most common way you’ll run across to move code out of your controller is to move into a service created by a factory and then inject it where you need it. To illustrate, here’s a controller with a method that generates a random number.
App. controller 'RandomCtrl', ($scope)-> $scope.random = 0 $scope.randomize = (max)-> Math. floor ( Math. random () * ( max + 1 ))
Moving this controller method out into a service is really easy. We just define a service and then let angular inject it into our service like so:
App. service "randomizer", -> randomize: (max)-> Math. floor ( Math. random () * ( max + 1 )) App. controller 'RandomCtrl', ($scope, randomizer)-> $scope.randomizer = randomizer $scope.random = 0
This is a great way to share code between multiple controllers (or anything else in your app). Services are singletons, it’s worth pointing out, so not the best place to put logic that’s belongs to something you want multiple instances of.
Angular models as Coffeescript classes
In a client side framework the model layer doesn’t tend to end up with as much code as server side models do. There are certain concerns (authorization, certain kinds of validation) that are always going to need to happen on the server side. But that doesn’t mean that your models have to be totally anemic either. There are definitely cases where defining functions on your models is totally the right place for code to live.
In Angular, to have our models easily persist to our RESTful Rails backend, we really like a gem called angular-rails-resource. It’s got some nice improvements over ng-resource when integrating with Rails. Like ng-resource, you define your models as Angular factories. Here’s an example of what a typical model factory might look like:
angular. module ( 'App' ). factory 'Car', [ 'railsResourceFactory', (railsResourceFactory) -> railsResourceFactory url: "/cars" name: 'car' ]
The end result of all this is a Car “class” you can use to create new instances. However, it wasn’t at all obvious to us initially where to put methods on Car. It turns out to be easier than we thought. We can make a coffeescript class that extends from the class function that railsResourceFactory creates. Since we then have a plain ole coffeescript class, we can add methods to it just like any other class. Our factory just returns the coffeeecript class. This is what it looks like:
angular. module ( 'App' ). factory 'Car', [ 'railsResourceFactory', (railsResourceFactory) -> CarResource = railsResourceFactory url: "/cars" name: 'car' class Car extends CarResource drive: -> @mileage += 1 ]
Putting your templates on the asset pipeline
When you first start out with angular, you may not need to put templates in separate files at all. But as soon as you start using the router or building custom directives you’ll end up needing them. The canonical way to load templates is to use the templateUrl attribute. This works fine, and you can put html files in your rails app in assets/templates and rails will serve them up no problem. For instance, if you have foo.html file in assets templates you could route to it like so:
$routeProvider. when "/foo", templateUrl: "/assets/foo.html"
It’s worth pointing out that you can write your templates in haml as well, but you need do just a little extra work to make this happen. Here’s the secret sauce you’ll need to put in an initializer file to have the asset pipeline compile haml:
Rails. application. assets. register_engine '.haml', Tilt :: HamlTemplate
This lets your write your template in haml, you’ll need to name it foo.html.haml in this case.
This works fine, but there’s another undocumented (AFAIK) way you can give templates to angular: you can use let the asset pipeline precompile templates using a client side templating library and put them on the global JST variable. It may seem like a strange thing to do, but for us it solved a specific problem that didn’t seem to have an immediately obvious solution: loading directive templates in our unit tests. We use haml to write our views in rails and had already been using hamlc (Haml in coffeescript) to do client side views. So it worked pretty well to move our templates underneath app/assets/javascripts and rename them to *.jst.hamlc. In the example above, let’s suppose we moved our template to app/assets/javascripts/angular/templates/foo.jst.hamlc. If we change our route like so:
$routeProvider. when "/foo", template: JST [ "angular/templates/foo" ]
Everything works as before.
To mangle or not to mangle
EDIT: This only works for Rails 4 apps.
There are two different syntaxes for telling angular what dependencies you need injected. In order to be consistently inconsistent, I’ve used both in this post. One is to define an array where the first arguments are the names of the dependencies and the last is the function. The Car examples above use this more verbose syntax. The other, more concise syntax is to define your function with parameter names that map to services or factories and tell angular essentially, “figure it out for me wouldya.” The randomizer examples show how this looks.
But this breaks down if you use a javascript minifier that mangles (or renames) your variables. This is the default for Rails in production environments, but it’s easy to turn off. Go into your production.rb file and add this line:
config. assets. js_compressor = Uglifier. new ( mangle : false )
And voila, at the cost of a few more characters in your minified javascript, you can use the more concise syntax.Valuing Top NFL Free Agents
With the 2016 NFL regular season nearly halfway done, we’ll begin to turn our focus toward players with expiring contracts. We’ll update our list of the Top NFL free agents each day, showing projected contracts and current market values for each player as we go. Check back often and follow us @spotrac to keep up as we add to this list.
How We Project
Our market values are calculated using a combination of standard and advanced stats associated with the player’s position. These statistics are compared against players of the same position and age who have recently signed a new contract. All stat comparisons are derived from the two years prior to the new contract, or what we call the “Prime” comparison range. As stats certainly don’t tell the whole story, many of our projections will include Calculated and Likely values, designating what our logical estimate for the player is based on trends or intangibles that haven’t been accounted for in our calculations.
1. Kawann Short, DL, Panthers
5 years, $84.5M ($16.9M AAV; $51M guaranteed)
Deals for Marcell Dareus (BUF) & Fletcher Cox (PHI) raised the financial bar for interior linemen who can rush the pass and stop the run. While Short’s pass rush production is a bit below the aforementioned, he’s arguably the best defensive player set to hit the open market next spring. The Panthers almost certainly won’t allow this to happen, most likely prepared to slap a franchise tag (estimated $14.5M) on him as soon as possible. View the full projection
5 years, $47.1M ($9.4M AAV; $24M guaranteed)
Like Short above, it’s hard to imagine Bell getting anywhere near the open market next March. However the franchise tag may not be a viable option for Pittsburgh as the running back tag came in at a whopping $11.7M in 2016. With the $8M per year mark the current bar for recent top running back contracts (McCoy, Murray, Martin) it’s hard to imagine the Steelers placing that much cap into the position next year. With that said, it will still likely take more than $8M per year to lock in Bell long term, as his skillset both as a runner and a catcher sets him apart from any other back in the league. View the full projection
3. Jamie Collins, LB, Browns
5 years, $53M ($10.7M AAV; $30M guaranteed)
Collins has grown to become one of the most versatile and consistent linebackers in all of football across his first 4 NFL seasons. Now a member of the Browns via a shocking late October trade from New England, Collins is almost sure to cash in in the coming months, keeping him away from the open market. The Browns have nearly $50M in cap space this year, and even moreso built into next season, Collins’ deal can be hefty and front loaded. View the full projection
4. Kirk Cousins, QB, Redskins
4 years, $86M ($21.5M AAV; $48M guaranteed)
Cousins got off to a slow start in 2016, but has stormed back to life in the past two weeks, raising his market value over the $21M per year mark. His current $19.953M franchise tag is the highest base salary among all NFL players, but he’s certainly looking for long-term security next season. Another tag will cost the Redskins $24M in 2017, so if they believe he’s the guy, a multi-year contract certainly makes sense. Structurally Cousins will be seeking a minimum of $37M over the first two seasons & $50M over the first three, figures both Tyrod Taylor and Brock Osweiler achieved recently. View the full projection
5 years, $51.3M ($10.2M AAV; $30M guaranteed)
Hightower had back to back outstanding seasons in 2013 & 2014 before a knee sprain shortened his 2015 campaign. He’s back at it in his contract year, currently ranked 4th among all linebackers according to PFF. The 26-year-old holds a market value nearly identical to LB colleague Jamie Collins, and many are wondering if the Patriots will be able to bring back both. With nearly $21M in combined market values between them, it seems highly unlikely at this stage. View the full projection
6. Chandler Jones, DE, Cardinals
5 years $63M ($12.5M AAV; $35M guaranteed)
The Cardinals have benefited greatly since acquiring Jones from the Patriots this offseason, as the 26 year old currently ranks 4th among all edge defenders according to PFF. While his pass rush production numbers aren’t “elite”, when combined with his ability to stop the run, Jones has grown into a complete player, and will demand big money should he hit the open market. Statistically Jones’ market value calculates just north of $12.5M per year, but it’s not crazy to assume he’ll be seeking offers north of $15M, similar to recently signed Olivier Vernon and Mo Wilkerson. View the full projection
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20.Of the thousands of stocks one can invest in, there are only a handful that you can reliably invest in and plan to hold for life. Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of those companies. The world's largest search engine has the coveted one-two punch: a sustainable edge over the competition, and culture of innovation. The makes Google stock as close to a "must own" as you can find.
Who doesn't use the Big G?
To appreciate what the company has been able to accomplish over a relatively short period of time, take a look at how Google has wrested global market share for search from Yahoo! and Microsoft's MSN Search, Windows Live Search, and now Bing -- all while holding Chinese search giant Baidu at bay.
Google has lost some ground internationally because of its decision to back out of China, where Baidu now dominates. Overall, however, its global market share is 12 times larger than the next competitor, Yahoo!
That type of dominance is important for two key reasons. First, it means that Google is collecting more information on more users -- by an enormous margin -- every day. Google can turn that information around and ensure that users get a search experience tailored to their personal desires.
Just as important, because Google has all of this information, it is able to offer advertisers the most efficient use for placement of their Internet advertisements. Because Google is the only entity that has all of this information, businesses are more than willing to pay for Google's AdSense services.
Not resting on its laurels
If Google were content to be King of Search, it would still make a good investment. But it's the fact that CEO and co-founder Larry Page keeps pushing the company to become more that makes Google a great investment.
Google has a well-documented 20% time policy. It allows employees to spend 20% of their work time on any Google-related project that they like -- and doesn't need to be directly related to their day-to-day duties. This innovative time has unleased a plethora of products for the company: Gmail, Google Maps, and Chrome, to name a few.
That's why you shouldn't be surprised to hear about Google developing Google Glass, or self-driving automobiles. Some of these projects may turn out to be duds, but that |
out on the issue.Hello World! This is the the debut episode of the Polish video games podcast – Polcast. This episode is shorter than those that we have planned for the future and a also bit different – this is why we decided to call it the “zero” one.
Our aim today is to tell you a bit about us, our backgrounds and our passion for video games. We also exchanged preliminary opinions on The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and discussed whether Hideo Kojima is the greatest troll or the greatest artist in our industry (or maybe both at the same time?).
We should be soon available on iTunes and in other places but for now you can download the file HERE or use the below player:
Have a great listen! Please don’t forget to comment on what you liked and didn’t like, ask us questions for the future episodes (we will answer the most insteresting ones) and share the info about Polcast in social media.IF God created the universe, who is Sean Murray?
The chief architect behind No Man’s Sky, that’s who. Murray created a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally-generated galaxy.
The highly-anticipated game is unrivalled in its design, which allows players to explore a galaxy containing 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 unique planets.
Creating a galaxy that met the internet’s anticipation for this ambitious game was never going to be easy, but Murray and his team were up for the challenge.
Roll of the dice
It was a gamble that left the 34-year-old computer programmer working out of an old two-storey building in Guildford, southwest of central of London.
In 2006, Murray walked away from a secure position with Electronic Arts — one of the largest video game manufacturers in the world.
He had grown tired of corporate game development and felt working in a small team would be more beneficial.
Murray sold his house and enlisted the help of two coders named Ryan Doyle and David Ream and an artist named Grant Duncan, and together they created a tiny game development company called Hello Games.
It was in Murray’s living room that the four men created their debut game about a down-and-out stuntman whose primary skill is jumping over stuff with a motorcycle.
When it was time to release Joe Danger in June 2010, the company was near destitute and things were looking grim.
“I had sold off my PS3, we were down to the bare essentials,” he told the New Yorker.
On the eve of the release, the team purchased some cheap cider and waited to see if their gamble would pay off.
“We decided, we are going to drink cider, and it will come out and do what it will do,” Murray said.
The game was released at midnight. By 1am, the partners saw a return in their investment.
Frustrations lead to creations
It had been two years since Joe Danger had been released and Murray was caught in the corporate web he had tried to escape years earlier.
At breaking point from difficult negotiation with Microsoft over Joe Danger’s sequel, Murray headed into the studio to take out his frustrations.
“I was in the studio on my own, and I just started programming. I was furious, and I kept working until three in the morning,” he told the New Yorker.
“Looking back, I think I had the equivalent of a midlife career crisis.”
During his time spent in the lab, Murray created the basis for a game his team had often joked about.
The following day he approached his partners and flagged the idea of the ambitious game they had dubbed Project Skyscraper.
“We’re doing it,” he told his partners.
For the coming months, the team locked themselves behind closed doors and began working on No Man’s Sky.
“I had this feeling: I want to start a new company, like almost an alternate path for Hello Games,” he said.
Knowing making such an expansive and ambitious game would be difficult without a large team, Murray turned to procedural generation — the creation of digital environments by using equations.
By using a variety of algorithms, he was able to design eighteen quintillion unique planet flows out of only fourteen hundred lines of code.
These formulas meant the game would not need to render an aspect graphically until a player encountered it.
“It means I don’t need to calculate anything before or after that point,” he told the New Yorker.
“Does that planet exist before you visit it? Sort of not — until the maths create it.”
The bush and a trailer
For Murray, his early years were spent on a remote settlement in Queensland some four-hundred-miles off the beaten track.
With seven airstrips, a power generation system, an abandoned goldmine and a water pump all on the property, there was no lack of stimulation for a creative mind.
Murray’s fascination with sci-fi was fuelled during multi-day expeditions with his father, where he would spend endless hours gazing at the night sky.
These childhood experiences would play a vital role in the shaping the success of No Man’s Sky.
Murray had always been an ambassador of tapping into childhood memories as a source of inspiration and when he first put together the Hello Games team, he gave a speech to that effect.
“Think back to when you were a kid. What did you want to be? A cowboy, an astronaut, a stuntman, a fireman, a policeman, whatever,” he told his team.
Practising what he preached, Murray tapped into his early memories of the outback for a trailer he had built to promote the game on Spike TV.
When word spread about the trailer, fellow developers reached out to Murray with warnings because they had fears the game was too vague and unconventional for mainstream audiences.
Murray pushed ahead and released a trailer that showed gamers a number of different components of the development.
“It is a huge game,” he told Spike TV.
“I can’t really do it justice. We wanted to make a game about exploration, and we wanted to make something that was real.”
“Those are suns, and they have planets around them — and you can go and visit them.”
While he gave very little away about the game, critics were impressed with the meticulously detailed graphics.(Note strong language in fifth paragraph)
By Steve Scherer
ROME (Reuters) - French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, victim of a deadly attack by Islamist militants in 2015 for its irreverent humor, was criticized by Italians on Friday for portraying victims of an earthquake that killed almost 300 people as different types of pasta.
The cartoon was titled “Earthquake Italian style”. It depicted a balding man standing and covered in blood with the moniker “Penne in tomato sauce”, a badly scratched up woman next to him labeled “Penne au gratin”, and finally feet sticking out between the floors of a collapsed building titled “Lasagne”.
Amatrice, a town flattened by last week’s quake, is famous for the pasta sauce — amatriciana — that carries its name.
The town’s mayor, Sergio Pirozzi, who dramatically declared “the town is gone” on the morning after the Aug. 24 earthquake, was baffled by the cartoon.
“How the fuck do you draw a cartoon about the dead!” he said, according to state news agency Ansa. “I’m sure this unpleasant and embarrassing satire does not reflect French sentiment.”
The French embassy in Rome published a statement on its web site and Twitter, saying the cartoon “absolutely does not represent” France’s position, and is a “caricature by the press (and) the freely expressed opinions are those of the journalists.”
While many Italians showed solidarity with the magazine after the 2015 attack, writing “Je suis Charlie Hebdo” (I am Charlie Hebdo) on social media, the cartoon in the magazine’s current edition was called “terrible”, “in bad taste”, and “disrespectful” on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere.
Many just wrote, “I’m no longer Charlie Hebdo.”
Twelve people were killed in the January 2015 attack by gunmen accusing the journal of blasphemy in printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has not commented, but other Italian politicians pulled no punches. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, said: “This isn’t satire; it’s garbage.”
Charlie Hebdo responded to the controversy by publishing yet another earthquake cartoon on its Facebook page that refers to the fact that in the past organized crime has been found to control various Italian construction companies.
The follow-up vignette portrays someone half-buried in the rubble and reads: “Italians, it’s not Charlie Hebdo who has built your homes, it’s the mafia!”Looking at Nigel Farage posing like a movie gangster in a publicity photo for his American trip – the cosy pint he affects for British audiences replaced by a macho cigar – I found myself thinking of Bertolt Brecht’s play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. In his 1941 satire on the far, far right, Brecht portrays Adolf Hitler as a Chicago mobster whose thuggish rise to power is made possible by his enemies’ weakness – his rise was “resistible”.
Farage is not Hitler, of course – I would not dream of giving him that much historical significance – but he looks a hell of a lot like Arturo Ui in this photograph. It appears on publicity material in the US, where he has gone down like a stormtrooper – sorry, a storm! – at a conservative Republican rally with his ramped-up rhetoric about the west’s “Judeo-Christian values” being undermined by an Islamist “fifth column”.
Nigel Farage's anti-immigration chant strikes a chord with US Republicans Read more
The only fifth column that I can see that is seriously menacing decent British values of tolerance and kindness is Ukip, with its increasingly audible background drums of hate.
American republicans apparently believe he may “run Britain”. It is easy to laugh at that idea from this side of the Atlantic. Here in the UK the liberal consensus appears still to be that, despite a poll predicting that Farage will win a seat in the general election, he and Ukip are marginal, even declining forces on the national stage – and perhaps even a Good Thing if they undermine Cameron and let Labour form a government.
But we should pay heed to the American view of Farage. And we should be scared by this photograph. This is a picture of a dangerous man.
It is as if, to impress the Yanks, Farage has unveiled his inner gangster: the street fighter, the Machiavellian bastard, showing his arrogance and thuggishness.
It is very risky to underestimate a politician who has successfully created a seat-winning British party to the right of the Conservatives. That phrase makes me shudder. To the right of the Conservatives. Such a force is a grotesque thing to have within our democracy – a deeply un-British virus, a cancer.
Like Arturo Ui or Richard III, he wears the right mask for the occasion. A normal guy, a nasty guy – whatever it takes
Brecht’s Arturo Ui is not only Hitler: he is Richard III. Brecht’s play is an update of Shakespeare’s study of power. The point about Shakespeare’s Richard III is that he is ill-favoured, with apparently no chance of becoming king. He does it through audacity, brutal cynicism and brazen fraud. Shakespeare was influenced by the political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli. Richard is a “Machiavel”, a ruthless political player. This photograph reveals that Farage too is a true Machiavellian.
The revelation here is what fools he makes of us all. In Britain he assiduously maintains the image of an ordinary bloke, down the pub, always with a joke. Now here he is in America deliberately showing a totally different face. Perhaps it is the real him, the beer hall – sorry, conference hall – rabble rouser. And maybe it is also a confession of his total fakery. Like Arturo Ui or Richard III, he wears the right mask for the occasion. A normal guy, a nasty guy – whatever it takes. Farage is an utterly ruthless performer, and anyone who underestimates his threat to British decency is a fool.
The rise of Arturo Ui was resistible. Brecht would have applauded the protesters who made a fool of Farage when they wrecked his horrible attempt to make political capital in Rotherham. The way to fight Farage is with street protests, demonstrations, cartoons, insults – and any political weapon that comes to hand.But the scientific enterprise will never be completely free of mistakes. What is important is that the overwhelming consensus on global warming remains unchanged. It is also worth noting that the panel’s scientists — acting in good faith on the best information then available to them — probably underestimated the range of sea-level rise in this century, the speed with which the Arctic ice cap is disappearing and the speed with which some of the large glacial flows in Antarctica and Greenland are melting and racing to the sea.
Because these and other effects of global warming are distributed globally, they are difficult to identify and interpret in any particular location. For example, January was seen as unusually cold in much of the United States. Yet from a global perspective, it was the second-hottest January since surface temperatures were first measured 130 years ago.
Similarly, even though climate deniers have speciously argued for several years that there has been no warming in the last decade, scientists confirmed last month that the last 10 years were the hottest decade since modern records have been kept.
The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth, yet scientists have long pointed out that warmer global temperatures have been increasing the rate of evaporation from the oceans, putting significantly more moisture into the atmosphere — thus causing heavier downfalls of both rain and snow in particular regions, including the Northeastern United States. Just as it’s important not to miss the forest for the trees, neither should we miss the climate for the snowstorm.
Here is what scientists have found is happening to our climate: man-made global-warming pollution traps heat from the sun and increases atmospheric temperatures. These pollutants — especially carbon dioxide — have been increasing rapidly with the growth in the burning of coal, oil, natural gas and forests, and temperatures have increased over the same period. Almost all of the ice-covered regions of the Earth are melting — and seas are rising. Hurricanes are predicted to grow stronger and more destructive, though their number is expected to decrease. Droughts are getting longer and deeper in many mid-continent regions, even as the severity of flooding increases. The seasonal predictability of rainfall and temperatures is being disrupted, posing serious threats to agriculture. The rate of species extinction is accelerating to dangerous levels.
Though there have been impressive efforts by many business leaders, hundreds of millions of individuals and families throughout the world and many national, regional and local governments, our civilization is still failing miserably to slow the rate at which these emissions are increasing — much less reduce them.
And in spite of President Obama’s efforts at the Copenhagen climate summit meeting in December, global leaders failed to muster anything more than a decision to “take note” of an intention to act.
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Because the world still relies on leadership from the United States, the failure by the Senate to pass legislation intended to cap American emissions before the Copenhagen meeting guaranteed that the outcome would fall far short of even the minimum needed to build momentum toward a meaningful solution.
The political paralysis that is now so painfully evident in Washington has thus far prevented action by the Senate — not only on climate and energy legislation, but also on health care reform, financial regulatory reform and a host of other pressing issues.
Photo
This comes with painful costs. China, now the world’s largest and fastest-growing source of global-warming pollution, had privately signaled early last year that if the United States passed meaningful legislation, it would join in serious efforts to produce an effective treaty. When the Senate failed to follow the lead of the House of Representatives, forcing the president to go to Copenhagen without a new law in hand, the Chinese balked. With the two largest polluters refusing to act, the world community was paralyzed.
Some analysts attribute the failure to an inherent flaw in the design of the chosen solution — arguing that a cap-and-trade approach is too unwieldy and difficult to put in place. Moreover, these critics add, the financial crisis that began in 2008 shook the world’s confidence in the use of any market-based solution.
But there are two big problems with this critique: First, there is no readily apparent alternative that would be any easier politically. It is difficult to imagine a globally harmonized carbon tax or a coordinated multilateral regulatory effort. The flexibility of a global market-based policy — supplemented by regulation and revenue-neutral tax policies — is the option that has by far the best chance of success. The fact that it is extremely difficult does not mean that we should simply give up.
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Second, we should have no illusions about the difficulty and the time needed to convince the rest of the world to adopt a completely new approach. The lags in the global climate system, including the buildup of heat in the oceans from which it is slowly reintroduced into the atmosphere, means that we can create conditions that make large and destructive consequences inevitable long before their awful manifestations become apparent: the displacement of hundreds of millions of climate refugees, civil unrest, chaos and the collapse of governance in many developing countries, large-scale crop failures and the spread of deadly diseases.
It’s important to point out that the United States is not alone in its inaction. Global political paralysis has thus far stymied work not only on climate, but on trade and other pressing issues that require coordinated international action.
The reasons for this are primarily economic. The globalization of the economy, coupled with the outsourcing of jobs from industrial countries, has simultaneously heightened fears of further job losses in the industrial world and encouraged rising expectations in emerging economies. The result? Heightened opposition, in both the industrial and developing worlds, to any constraints on the use of carbon-based fuels, which remain our principal source of energy.
The decisive victory of democratic capitalism over communism in the 1990s led to a period of philosophical dominance for market economics worldwide and the illusion of a unipolar world. It also led, in the United States, to a hubristic “bubble” of market fundamentalism that encouraged opponents of regulatory constraints to mount an aggressive effort to shift the internal boundary between the democracy sphere and the market sphere. Over time, markets would most efficiently solve most problems, they argued. Laws and regulations interfering with the operations of the market carried a faint odor of the discredited statist adversary we had just defeated.
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This period of market triumphalism coincided with confirmation by scientists that earlier fears about global warming had been grossly understated. But by then, the political context in which this debate took form was tilted heavily toward the views of market fundamentalists, who fought to weaken existing constraints and scoffed at the possibility that global constraints would be needed to halt the dangerous dumping of global-warming pollution into the atmosphere.
Over the years, as the science has become clearer and clearer, some industries and companies whose business plans are dependent on unrestrained pollution of the atmospheric commons have become ever more entrenched. They are ferociously fighting against the mildest regulation — just as tobacco companies blocked constraints on the marketing of cigarettes for four decades after science confirmed the link of cigarettes to diseases of the lung and the heart.
Simultaneously, changes in America’s political system — including the replacement of newspapers and magazines by television as the dominant medium of communication — conferred powerful advantages on wealthy advocates of unrestrained markets and weakened advocates of legal and regulatory reforms. Some news media organizations now present showmen masquerading as political thinkers who package hatred and divisiveness as entertainment. And as in times past, that has proved to be a potent drug in the veins of the body politic. Their most consistent theme is to label as “socialist” any proposal to reform exploitive behavior in the marketplace.
From the standpoint of governance, what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption. After all has been said and so little done, the truth about the climate crisis — inconvenient as ever — must still be faced.
The pathway to success is still open, though it tracks the outer boundary of what we are capable of doing. It begins with a choice by the United States to pass a law establishing a cost for global warming pollution. The House of Representatives has already passed legislation, with some Republican support, to take the first halting steps for pricing greenhouse gas emissions.
Later this week, Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman are expected to present for consideration similar cap-and-trade legislation.
I hope that it will place a true cap on carbon emissions and stimulate the rapid development of low-carbon sources of energy.
We have overcome existential threats before. Winston Churchill is widely quoted as having said, “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes, you must do what is required.” Now is that time. Public officials must rise to this challenge by doing what is required; and the public must demand that they do so — or must replace them.: 1, but the poll doesn't work yet
Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel, and Kairi make up four of the new Princesses of Heart. Come theorise who the last three Princesses will be!
Details Published on January 27, 2017 @ 07:33 pm Written by Arielle
GameStop's newest promotional materials feature the upcoming Kingdom Hearts Funko POP figures, giving fans their first look at the GameStop exclusive Goofy POP and the Chip & Dale 2-pack POP set. Just like the Hot Topic exclusive Donald POP, the GameStop exclusive POP features Goofy in his Royal Guard outfit.
The upcoming Kingdom Hearts POP figures are slated for a March 2017 release. Thanks to Disney Dan for the tip!
Follow Kingdom Hearts Insider on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for the latest updates on Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, Kingdom Hearts 3, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and all things Kingdom Hearts!Python packaging is a common theme on which to complain, and rightly so. It’s no one’s first love, so it tends not to get the devoted attention of say, Numpy. And it’s a hard problem to solve well. So we have a mish-mash of tools that each do about 75% of the job.
But there’s one small aspect of Python packaging that could easily be solved well if people just attended to it: Not enough Python projects clearly state what versions of Python they run on.
For example, suppose you are in the market for a mock object library for your tests. There’s no shortage. Less than a minute at PyPI produces mock, MiniMock, mocktest, Mocky, pmock, mocker, mockito, and ludibrio. Some of those PyPI pages have extensive documentation. Not a single one explicitly mentions the versions of Python supported. And I don’t mean 2.x vs. 3.x. I want to know if it will run on 2.4 or not. Ludibrio and Mocky offer a slight clue in that they are available for download as an egg, for 2.5 and 2.4 respectively. pMock mentions >= 2.3 support on the home page linked from the PyPI page.
On top of all the other well-known difficulties people have with Python packaging, at the very least, we should be able to manage this: clearly state what versions of Python you support. This is a simple three-step process:
Decide what versions you want to support. Test your code on those versions. Add a sentence like this to your PyPI documentation: “SpockMocker runs on Python 2.5 and 2.6”.
The Python community will thank you.Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Installations were temporarily switched off at some locations on Saturday due to safety concerns over crowds
Installations were temporarily switched off and Kings Cross Station was evacuated because of overcrowding at the Lumiere London Festival.
Visitors to the free event on Saturday were told to check social media before visiting on Sunday evening.
The organiser, Artichoke, and the Met Police sent tweets on Saturday asking people to come on Sunday instead.
It is the first time the festival of lights, featuring installations from 30 artists, has been held in London.
'We couldn't move'
BBC reporter Fiona McKinnon became trapped in a crowd at King's Boulevard at around 20:00 GMT on Saturday night.
She said: "It was scary and potentially very dangerous.
"We couldn't move for over half an hour and saw no lights to boot. There was no help offered to us and a clear lack of marshalling."
Helen Marriage, event organiser for Lumiere London, said it had been "very, very busy" on Saturday night, particularly around Kings Cross and Piccadilly Circus.
She said; "We work very closely with our crowd management experts and the Met and our contingency plans were put into place when the crowd got larger."
She said she was "delighted" that so many people had come to the event.
The illuminated art has been placed in locations around the city including Piccadilly, Mayfair, King's Cross, Trafalgar Square and Westminster.
It was lit up for a second night from 18:30 GMT to 22:30.
Advice on the festival will be tweeted using the hashtag #LumiereLDN.Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told McGraw Hill Financial Inc. Chairman Harold W. McGraw III in 2011 that Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. debt would be met by a response, S&P said.
If anyone thinks "Bridgegate" is an example of political bullying and abuse of power, then the sworn (under penalty of perjury) allegation of a corporate heavy hitter against Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner is off the charts. Bloomberg Businessweek reports:
S&P filed a declaration by McGraw yesterday in federal court in Santa Ana, California, as part of a request to force the U.S. to hand over potential evidence that the company says will support its claim that the government filed a fraud lawsuit against it last year in retaliation for its downgrade of the U.S. debt two years earlier. In his court statement, McGraw, 65, said Geithner called him on Aug. 8, 2011, after S&P was the only credit ratings company to downgrade the U.S. debt. Geithner, McGraw said, told him that S&P would be held accountable for the downgrade. Government officials have said the downgrade was based on an error by S&P. "S&P's conduct would be looked at very carefully," Geithner told McGraw according to the filing. "Such behavior would not occur, he said, without a response from the government."
And a very serious "response" from the federal government followed:
The Justice Department last year accused S&P of lying about its ratings being free of conflicts of interest and may seek as much as $5 billion in civil penalties for losses to federally insured financial institutions that relied on the company's investment-grade ratings for mortgage-backed securities and collateralized-debt obligations, or CDOs. The government alleged in its Feb. 4, 2013, complaint that S&P knowingly downplayed the risk on securities before the credit crisis to win business from investment banks seeking the highest possible ratings to help them sell the instruments. Keep in mind that the S&P downgrade of US debt was perceived as harmful to the re-election campaign of President Obama, then underway. If the Secretary of the Treasury actually did what the sworn statement alleges, that would be a very serious abuse of power. Keep in mind that the IRS, which has targeted political enemies of the president, is also overseen by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Harold W. McGraw is the very opposite of a flake, he is the head of a large financial services firm whose reputation for integrity and sobriety is essential to its success. But his allegations have been denied:
Natalie Earnest, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, referred questions about S&P's filing to the Justice Department. There's absolutely "no connection" between the downgrade and the lawsuit, Ellen Canale, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, said today in a phone interview. "The allegation that former Secretary Geithner threatened or took any action to prompt retaliatory government action against S&P is false," Jenni LeCompte, a spokeswoman for Geithner, said in an e-mailed statement.
It is very important to get to the bottom of this. The documents demanded by S&P should be handed over, if only to restore public confidence in an agency that should be above reproach. Coimpared to coning off a couple of lanes of traffic on a bridge, these allegations go to the heart of the integrity of the heart of the federal govenrment.Lemmy’s interest in history was at the root of his controversial habit of collecting Third Reich memorabilia. He recalled that visitors to his West Hollywood apartment would blanch at his huge assortment of Nazi daggers, flags, medals and uniforms, to which he would riposte: “Well, my black girlfriend doesn’t have any problems with it, so I don’t see why you should.” He said: “By collecting Nazi memorabilia, it doesn’t mean I’m a fascist, or a skinhead. I just liked the clobber. I’ve always liked a good uniform, and throughout history, it’s always been the bad guys who dressed the best: Napoleon, the Confederates, the Nazis.”
Lemmy: "Wars are the most interesting times. Shows the best and worst in people. In war you get to find out who your real friends are. Ask any of those boys coming back from Iraq, you know."
Lemmy: "Well, I've had six black girlfriends so far. So I'm one of the worst Nazis you've ever met, right? Imagine going to Nuremberg and introducing my girlfriend to the Führer. Yeah, I don't think so. I just dress how I like to dress. I don't ask anybody else to do it, you know. It's a free country, supposedly. If the Israeli army had the best uniforms, I'd collect them, but they don't. So there you go. I can't help it. It's ridiculous to think that I could be a Nazi. I'm about as far from it as you could get."
He had an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, which led to accusations of Nazi sympathies. He stated that he collected the memorabilia because he liked the way it looked, and considered himself an anarchist or libertarian. Lemmy was against religion, government and established authority. Jeff Hanneman, the founder of the thrash metal band Slayer, befriended Lemmy due to their shared fondness for collecting Nazi memorabilia.
According to Keith Emerson's autobiography, Lemmy gave him two of his Hitler Youth knives during his time as a roadie for the Nice. Emerson used these knives many times as keyholders when playing the Hammond organ during concerts with the Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer before destroying them. Lemmy defended his collection by saying that if his black girlfriend had no problem with it, nobody else should.
Lemmy (Ian Fraser Kilmister) was a rock singer. He was born on 24 December 1945 and died on 28 December 2015. According to The Guardian few musicians have walked the rebel’s walk with as much conviction as the Motörhead frontman Lemmy, who has died aged 70 of cancer. Despite his high-profile image as a hell-raiser, Lemmy’s influence as a musician and songwriter should not be underestimated, The Guardian reported.
[Via]The All-22 All-Star Team is an attempt to provide some insight on the NFL’s 22 most underappreciated players. Some will be All-Pros who haven’t fully gotten their due; some will be names few casual fans have ever heard. All will, for one reason or another, have been overlooked.
Update: At 9:20 p.m. EST, the Bills announced that Byrd has signed his one-year franchise tender with the team.
Among the few words we do hear Bill Belichick say, one phrase seems most prevalent. No NFL Films clip of the Patriots feels complete without Belichick, pencil behind his ear, kneeling in front of his team’s bench, repeating the mantra over and over: “Do your job. Do your job.” It’s a concept cast throughout the NFL — a player’s worth is based on how well he fits into the whole.
Jairus Byrd knows this better than most, because he’s had to relearn it so many times. In Byrd’s four seasons in Buffalo, the Bills have shuffled through three defensive coordinators. His position coach has remained the same during that time, easing those transitions, though Byrd was forced to acclimate to a new scheme and earn the trust of a new coordinator in all but one of his seasons. “Each coach is different, what they allow you to do,” Byrd says. “[Every time] you have to prove yourself to the staff.”
Byrd knows there’s a limit to the demands of each system. “No one can interpret your job the same way you do as a player,” Byrd says. “They ask you to do your job, but everyone does it a different way.” Players aren’t cyborgs. Even when making the correct play in any given situation, every player accomplishes his goal in his own way. “It’s something that everyone just inherently has,” Byrd says. “They interpret things a certain way. They tailor their game to fit how they do things, obviously within the confines of what they’re being asked. You have to be disciplined, but you do things in a style, put your signature with your strengths.”
The Vitals Age: 26 College: Oregon Position: Safety Years as a pro: Four Draft position: Round 2, 42nd overall Contract: Unsigned franchise tender, $6.916 million Pro Bowls: 2009, 2012 All-Pro: 2012 (AP second team) Game in 25 words or fewer: Safety with elite cover skills who makes plays on the ball, gives up few big plays, and has eliminated inconsistencies in the run game. Coach’s take: “You take a guy from high school, to college, to professional football, that are just playmakers. Guys that find a way to make a play to help their team win. Jairus is one of those guys.” —George Catavolos, former Bills secondary coach
It’s an observation particularly fitting for Byrd right now. The Bills safety remains the only player yet to sign his franchise tender. He remains a holdout from the team’s preseason practices. Byrd declined to comment on his contract situation and the events of this offseason, but if he does continue his holdout into the season, Buffalo will be forced to face reality without a player whose personal signature is inimitable.
As a rookie, Byrd intercepted nine passes. That figure is bolstered by a handful of tipped balls and fluke plays, but it’s still a remarkable total for a first-year safety — especially one who started just 11 games. In one five-game stretch, Byrd picked off eight passes, including three straight games with two interceptions. Combined, it was enough to earn him a trip to the Pro Bowl. Like many defensive backs, his trajectory as a player wasn’t linear. Variance in scheme and the typical growing pains led to a dip in his second year before a significant improvement in his third. But last season, Byrd looked like an even more polished version of the player the league had seen in 2009. The interceptions returned, but more importantly, they came without the lapses in judgment and subpar run defense that marred his younger days.
In July, it was reported that Byrd’s ideal contract was somewhere in the range of what the Chargers’ Eric Weddle and Dashon Goldson, the recently signed Buccaneers safety, had received — five years, $40 million, about $20 million guaranteed. The suspicions for the holdup — whether it’s Byrd signing his tender or Buffalo electing not to offer him a long-term extension before the July deadline — are twofold. Byrd is likely hesitant to sign the tender without a clause that would prohibit the Bills from franchising him again next season. The Bills reportedly don’t view safety as a position worth such a significant investment. They may not, but considering the market, it’s clear that other teams around the league do. In the league’s pass-happy climate, an elite cover safety like Byrd is more valuable than ever, and if he is allowed to walk, he won’t be homeless for long.
It was evident pretty early on that Byrd had a knack for making plays with the ball in his hands — but not too early. Gill Byrd, like some other former NFL players, was hesitant about letting his son play football. The ex-Chargers cornerback, who went to two Pro Bowls, ruled that his son wouldn’t play until he was 13. By 11, Jairus had worn dad down.
Despite his pedigree, Byrd shied away from the secondary in high school. His role at Clayton High School in St. Louis was mostly as a quarterback, where he was Missouri’s offensive player of the year. But when he was recruited by Oregon, Byrd knew he’d be moving to the other side of the ball, and by the end of his redshirt freshman season, he was a starting cornerback for the Ducks.
Throughout his college career, Byrd showed a knack for being around the ball. In three seasons he had 17 interceptions. The Bills took him in the second round, despite his 4.6 40-yard dash at Oregon’s pro day. When he arrived at his first training camp, the Bills staff slid him to free safety. “He had marginal foot speed for the cornerback position,” says George Catavolos, the Bills’ former secondary coach. “He had good technique, we liked the way he played the ball, we needed a free safety. We just felt that was his best position.”
From the start, Catavolos says, everyone saw Byrd as a playmaker. “I was in awe of his eye-hand coordination,” Catavolos says. “I wish I could say I helped him with that. But that’s God-given.” Catavolos has 29 years of NFL experience as a secondary coach, and he says that when it comes to making plays on the ball, only former Lions and Broncos cornerback Dre’ Bly compares to Byrd.
The interception total from Byrd’s rookie year was undeniably impressive, but he wasn’t a |
men were in their early 20s.[11][9] McKinney and Henderson decided to give Shepard a ride home.[12][13]
They subsequently drove to a remote, rural area, and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tie him to a fence, set him afire and left him to die. Many media reports contained the graphic account of the pistol-whipping and his fractured skull. Reports described how Shepard was beaten so brutally that his face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially cleansed by his tears.[10][14][15]
The assailants' girlfriends testified that neither McKinney nor Henderson was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of the attack.[16][17] McKinney and Henderson testified that they learned of Shepard's address and intended to steal from his home as well.
After attacking Shepard and leaving him tied to the fence in near-freezing temperatures, McKinney and Henderson returned to town. McKinney proceeded to pick a fight with two Hispanic youths, Emiliano Morales and Jeremy Herrara. The fight resulted in head wounds for both Morales and McKinney.[18]
Police officer Flint Waters arrived at the scene of the fight. He arrested Henderson, searched McKinney's truck, and found a blood-smeared gun along with Shepard's shoes and credit card.[9] Henderson and McKinney later tried to persuade their girlfriends to provide alibis for them and help them dispose of evidence.[19]
Still tied to the fence, Shepard was in a coma eighteen hours after the attack when he was discovered by Aaron Kreifels, a cyclist who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow.[20] Reggie Fluty, the first police officer to arrive at the scene, found Shepard alive but covered in blood. The medical gloves issued by the Albany County Sheriff's Department were faulty, and Fluty's supply ran out. She decided to use her bare hands to clear an airway in Shepard's bloody mouth. A day later, she was informed that Shepard was HIV-positive and that she might have been exposed to the virus due to cuts on her hands. After taking an AZT regimen for several months, she tested negative for HIV.[21] Judy Shepard later wrote that she learned of her son's HIV status while he lay dying in the hospital.[22]
Shepard was transported first to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie before being moved to the more advanced trauma ward at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.[23] He had suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear. He experienced severe brainstem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate his heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face, and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. While he lay in intensive care and in the days following the attack, candlelight vigils were held around the world.[24][25][26]
Shepard was pronounced dead six days after the attack at 12:53 a.m. on October 12, 1998.[27][28][29][30] He was 21.[11]
Arrests and trial [ edit ]
McKinney and Henderson were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. After Shepard's death, the charges were upgraded from attempted murder to first-degree murder, meaning that the two defendants were eligible for the death penalty. Their girlfriends, Kristen Price and Chasity Pasley, were charged with being accessories after the fact.[29]
At McKinney's November 1998 pretrial hearing, Sergeant Rob Debree testified that McKinney had stated in an interview on October 9 that he and Henderson had identified Shepard as a robbery target and pretended to be gay to lure him out to their truck, and that McKinney had attacked Shepard after Shepard put his hand on McKinney's knee.[31] Detective Ben Fritzen testified that Price stated McKinney told her the violence against Shepard was triggered by how McKinney "[felt] about gays".[31]
In December 1998, Pasley pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.[32]
On April 5, 1999, Henderson avoided going to trial when he pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges. In order to avoid the death penalty, he agreed to testify against McKinney and was sentenced by District Judge Jeffrey A. Donnell to two consecutive life terms. At Henderson's sentencing, his lawyer argued that Shepard had not been targeted because he was gay.[32]
McKinney's trial took place in October and November 1999. Prosecutor Cal Rerucha alleged that McKinney and Henderson pretended to be gay to gain Shepard's trust. Price, McKinney's girlfriend, testified that Henderson and McKinney had "pretended they were gay to get [Shepard] in the truck and rob him."[12][33] McKinney's lawyer attempted to put forward a gay panic defense, arguing that McKinney was driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Shepard. This defense was rejected by the judge. McKinney's lawyer stated that the two men wanted to rob Shepard but never intended to kill him.[9] Rerucha argued that the killing had been premeditated, driven by "greed and violence", rather than by Shepard's sexual orientation.[34]
The jury found McKinney not guilty of premeditated murder but guilty of felony murder and began to deliberate on the death penalty. Shepard's parents brokered a deal that resulted in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.[35] Henderson and McKinney were incarcerated in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins and were later transferred to other prisons because of overcrowding.[36]
Following her testimony at McKinney's trial, Price pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor interference with a police officer.[37]
Subsequent reporting [ edit ]
Shepard's murder continued to attract public attention and media coverage long after the trial was over. In 2004, the ABC News news program 20/20 aired a report that quoted statements by McKinney, Henderson, Price, Rerucha, and a lead investigator. The statements alleged that the murder had not been motivated by Shepard's sexuality but was primarily a drug-related robbery that had turned violent.[9] Price said she had lied to police about McKinney having been provoked by an unwanted sexual advance from Shephard, telling TV journalist Elizabeth Vargas, "I don't think it was a hate crime at all."[9][38] Rerucha said, "It was a murder that was once again driven by drugs."[9]
The Book of Matt [ edit ]
Stephen Jimenez, the producer of the 2004 20/20 segment, went on to write a book, The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard, which was published in September 2013. The book said that Shepard and McKinney—the killer who inflicted the injuries—had been occasional sex partners and that Shepard was a methamphetamine dealer.[39][40][41] Jimenez wrote that Fritzen told an interviewer "Matthew Shepard's sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn't the motive in the homicide...".[42]
Many commentators have criticized Jimenez's views on the attack as being sensational and misleading; those views were shared by gay advocacy organizations and cultural critics.[43][44][45][46][39] Some commentators, however, have spoken up to defend it.[47] Some police who were involved in the investigation have criticized Jimenez' conclusions,[48][49] while other police said that there was evidence that drugs were at least one factor that led to the murder.[10]
Anti-gay protests [ edit ]
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps, received national attention for picketing Shepard's funeral with signs bearing homophobic slogans, such as "Matt in Hell" and "God Hates Fags".[50]
Church members also mounted anti-gay protests during the trials of Henderson and McKinney.[51] In response, Romaine Patterson, one of Shepard's friends, organized a group that assembled in a circle around the Westboro Baptist Church protesters. The group wore white robes and gigantic wings (resembling angels) that blocked the protesters. Despite this action, Shepard's parents were still able to hear the protesters shouting anti-gay remarks and comments directed towards them. The police intervened and created a human barrier between the two groups.[52] Angel Action was founded by Patterson in April 1999.[52][53]
Legacy [ edit ]
In the years following her son's death, Judy Shepard has worked as an advocate for LGBT rights, particularly issues relating to gay youth.[8] She was a main force behind the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which she and her husband Dennis founded in December 1998.[54]
Gay rights activist John Stoltenberg has said that to portray Shepard as a gay-bashing victim is to present an incomplete account of his victimization: "Keeping Matthew as the poster boy of gay-hate crime and ignoring the full tragedy of his story has been the agenda of many gay-movement leaders. Ignoring the tragedies of Matthew's life prior to his murder will do nothing to help other young men in our community who are sold for sex, ravaged by drugs, and generally exploited."[10]
Hate crime legislation [ edit ]
Requests for new legislation to address hate crimes gained momentum during coverage of the incident.[55][56] Under existing United States federal law[57] and Wyoming state law,[58] crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation could not be prosecuted as hate crimes.
Within hours of discovering Shepard, his friends Walt Boulden and Alex Trout began to contact media organizations, claiming that Shepard had been assaulted because he was gay. According to prosecutor Cal Rerucha, "They were calling the County Attorney's office, they were calling the media and indicating Matthew Shepard is gay and we don't want the fact that he is gay to go unnoticed."[9] Tina Labrie, a close friend of Shepard's, said "[Boulden and Trout] wanted to make [Matt] a poster child or something for their cause".[59] Boulden linked the attack to the absence of a Wyoming criminal statute providing for a hate crimes charge.[10]
In the following session of the Wyoming Legislature, a bill was introduced that defined certain attacks motivated by victim identity as hate crimes. The measure failed on a 30–30 tie in the Wyoming House of Representatives.[60][54]
President Bill Clinton renewed attempts to extend federal hate crime legislation to include gay people, women, and people with disabilities.[61] A Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives in November 1997, and reintroduced in March 1999, but was passed by only the Senate in July 1999.[62]
In September 2000, both houses of Congress passed such legislation; however it was stripped out in conference committee.[63]
On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (H.R. 1592) was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors. Shepard's parents attended the introduction ceremony. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 3, 2007. Similar legislation passed in the Senate on September 27, 2007[64] (S. 1105), however then-President George W. Bush indicated he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk.[65] The Democratic leadership dropped the amendment in response to opposition from conservative groups and Bush, and because the measure was attached to a defense bill there was a lack of support from antiwar Democrats.[66]
On December 10, 2007, congressional powers attached bipartisan hate crimes legislation to a Department of Defense Authorization bill, although it failed to pass. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said she was "still committed to getting the Matthew Shepard Act passed". Pelosi planned to get the bill passed in early 2008[67] although she did not succeed. Following his election as President, Barack Obama stated that he was committed to passing the Act.[68]
The U.S. House of Representatives debated expansion of hate crimes legislation on April 29, 2009. During the debate, Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina called the "hate crime" labeling of Shepard's murder a "hoax".[69] Foxx later called her comments "a poor choice of words".[70]
The House passed the act, designated H.R. 1913, by a vote of 249 to 175.[71] Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, and a bipartisan coalition introduced the bill in the Senate on April 28;[72] it had 43 cosponsors as of June 17, 2009. The Matthew Shepard Act was adopted as an amendment to S.1390 by a vote of 63–28 on July 15, 2009.[73]
On October 22, 2009, the Senate passed the act by a vote of 68–29.[74] President Obama signed the measure into law on October 28, 2009.[75][76]
Interment in Washington National Cathedral [ edit ]
On October 26, 2018, nearly 20 years after his death, Shepard's ashes were interred at the crypt of Washington National Cathedral.[77][78] The ceremony was presided over the first openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, and the Bishop of Washington Reverend Marianne Edgar Budde, with music from the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington DC, GenOUT, and Conspirare.[79] His was the first interment of the ashes of a national figure at the cathedral since Helen Keller's fifty years earlier.[80]
In popular culture [ edit ]
Matthew Shepard's life, death, trial, and its aftermath have inspired numerous works, including documentary and narrative films and television shows, stage plays (such as The Laramie Project), and musical and written works. Additionally, NBA player Jason Collins wore the jersey number "98" in honor of Shepard during his 2012–13 season with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, and would come out as gay following the season.[81] After Collins joined the Brooklyn Nets in 2014, NBA marketing reported high interest in his "98" jersey[82] and high sales once the item became available for purchase.[83][84]
The Meaning of Matthew [ edit ]
The Meaning of Matthew, its full title The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed, is a 2009 biographical book by Judy Shepard about her son Matthew Shepard. Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, her family memories of Matthew, and the tragic event that changed the Shepards' lives and America. The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the huge public response, the candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and their struggles to navigate the legal system.[85]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]The White House adamantly denied that its decision had anything to do with Russian objections to Mr. Bush’s program and said that the United States would continue developing the larger interceptors in case it eventually needed to deploy them. The administration also scrambled to reassure Poland and the Czech Republic that it was not abandoning them.
Mr. Obama called the leaders of both nations to reaffirm what he called “our deep and close ties,” and publicly reiterated America’s commitment under Article 5 of the NATO treaty to come to their defense in the event of an attack. Aides said that Mr. Obama would keep Mr. Bush’s promise to provide a Patriot antimissile battery to Poland.
Yet even as it sought to calm Warsaw and Prague, the administration hoped to use the policy change to mitigate Israel’s desire to take military action against Iran’s nuclear complexes as Iran comes closer to building a warhead and mounting it on a missile. “We hope that it will reassure them that perhaps there’s a little more time here,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said of the Israelis.
The decision drew immediate Republican criticism. “Scrapping the U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic does little more than empower Russia and Iran at the expense of our allies in Europe,” said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader. “It shows a willful determination to continue ignoring the threat posed by some of the most dangerous regimes in the world.”
Eric S. Edelman, the under secretary of defense under Mr. Bush, said in an interview that the decision had “good news and bad news.”
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“It’s better, obviously, to have some missile defense capability there now,” he said. But he said the move would “raise questions” about American commitments and make it harder for the United States to change course if Iran later developed longer-range missiles. “There are going to be enormous repercussions to this decision that will ripple out,” he said.
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Mr. Obama stressed that Mr. Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff supported the decision, and he sent Mr. Gates, a Republican first appointed by Mr. Bush, to discuss the decision with reporters. Mr. Gates said that the new system would put defenses in place seven years earlier than the Bush plan. While no longer deploying the original interceptors in Poland, the United States “would prefer to put the SM-3s in Poland,” Mr. Gates said.
“Those who say we are scrapping missile defense in Europe are either misinformed or misrepresenting the reality of what we are doing,” Mr. Gates said. He added that the new configuration “provides a better missile defense capability” for Europe and American forces “than the program I recommended almost three years ago.”
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Mr. Gates and other officials said Iran was moving quickly toward a workable arsenal of missiles that could strike Israel and Europe. In May, Iran launched the Sejil-2, a successful test of a two-stage solid-fuel missile with an estimated range of 1,200 miles. Unlike Iran’s liquid-fuel missiles, a solid-fuel missile can be stored, moved and fired on shorter notice, and thus is considered a greater threat.
The administration’s new four-phase plan would deploy existing SM-3 interceptors using the sea-based Aegis system in 2011, then deploy an improved version in 2015 both on ships and on land. Rather than the 10 bigger interceptors originally envisioned for Poland, there could be 40 to 50 of the smaller missiles on land by then and more on ships. A more advanced version would be deployed in 2018 and yet another generation in 2020, the latter with more capacity to counter intercontinental missiles.
The interceptors Mr. Bush wanted to put in Poland would not have been deployed until 2018, officials said. The SM-3 missiles have had eight successful tests so far, and were used to shoot down a satellite, although critics said the missiles have not had to cope with the sort of decoys enemies might use. Instead of the sophisticated radar proposed for the Czech Republic, officials said they would rely more on a limited version in Turkey or the Caucasus, as well as satellites and newly developed airborne sensors.
In Moscow, Mr. Medvedev offered a measured reaction. “We appreciate the responsible approach of the U.S. president toward implementing our agreements,” he said on national television. “I am prepared to continue this dialogue.”In a rare move in the Bitcoin space, KeepKey has simultaneously begun to take orders for and to ship their flagship bitcoin hardware wallet. As of Wednesday, customers are able to purchase the USB device for USD$239 on Amazon, or directly from the KeepKey website using bitcoin. Worldwide shipping is included in the cost.
The KeepKey hardware wallet is designed to store and secure bitcoin while protecting them from virtual attacks such as malware and viruses. The device generates and stores bitcoin private keys, never sharing them with the connected computer. Another key feature is a large OLED screen that displays every transaction before it can be approved, thus allowing users to verify that they are sending funds to the correct address and reducing the chance of error.
“Our guiding principle is to empower individuals and organizations with bank-grade bitcoin security,” says Darin Stanchfield, the founder of the company. “This is what our device does, and it is simple to use. Other products that are available require a high level of sophistication to operate. With KeepKey, it is very difficult to do the wrong thing,”
KeepKey currently works with Google Chrome using the KeepKey Wallet Extension. It is also supported by popular bitcoin wallets, including Electrum and MultiBit.
“Our security model was designed to ensure that the user always has complete control over their private keys,” said Ken Heutmaker, a software engineer at KeepKey. “We feel that relying on trusted third parties degrades the security and privacy that the bitcoin ecosystem offers.”
As for KeepKey’s decision not to take pre-orders in order to fund the hardware wallet’s development, Stanchfield cites his own personal experience with being “burned” by other companies who have pre-sold items and then not been able to deliver.
“A customer takes enough risk when they buy any product,” Stanchfield said to Bitcoin Magazine. “We don’t think they should assume the risk of funding manufacturing, too. We made this promise to ourselves early on in development of KeepKey. Fortunately, we have had the finances to pursue this route to get KeepKey to market.”“Grizzlies are a threat to livestock and to humans,” said John Stuhlmiller, the director of government relations at the Washington State Farm Bureau. “People might think they’re neat and they might want to go see them in the zoo, but in the wild they’re not a friendly, cuddly creature.”
People whose livelihoods are not threatened by predators do not get it, Mr. Stuhlmiller said. “If my 401(k) was being raided by grizzly bears, I would think differently,” he said.
For nearly 30 years the federal government has had a program to help restore the grizzly bear population in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. It has made a difference in places like Yellowstone National Park and the Continental Divide region of Montana, but not in the North Cascades, one of six designated recovery zones. Instead, this area has been locked in a virtual standstill as political winds shift over the preservation of large predators.
Grizzlies were named a protected species in 1975. Under protection, their population tripled in parts of the Rockies and by 2007, they were removed from the list. But last September, a federal judge in Montana ordered grizzlies back on, citing threats that included changes to their habitat caused by climate change.
In the North Cascades, wildlife officials agreed 13 years ago to conduct a formal environmental review to determine the best way to ensure recovery, including augmenting the population with bears from elsewhere. But the money needed for the review, $1 million to $2 million, has never been allocated by the perpetually strapped agency that oversees the effort, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Now experts say only a handful of grizzlies may remain in the North Cascades, likely crossing back and forth over the border with Canada.
“If these bears are to have a future,” said Joe Scott, the international program director for Conservation Northwest, “the United States and British Columbia governments must do their job — boost Cascades bears with a small number of young animals from areas where grizzly bears are more numerous.”
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Federal wildlife officials say politics and budget limitations force difficult questions.
Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, who has worked on the program since its inception in 1981, said the anger among ranchers and some state governments over wolf reintroduction, and the issue’s constant churn through federal courts, had bred mistrust in wildlife agencies that has hurt the prospects for bear recovery in some areas, at least in the near term.
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“We don’t really have people jumping up and down to put grizzlies anywhere at this point, people in the Congress that is,” said Mr. Servheen, who is based in Montana.
There is even disagreement over whether it matters if grizzlies roam these mountains, given the species’ relative health elsewhere and the plight of more endangered species.
“Is it so critical to the future of grizzly bears as a world species if the North Cascades fades away?” said Doug Zimmer, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “Just asking that makes my teeth hurt.”
Yet small steps are being taken. If the study in the North Cascades proves that grizzlies still live in the area, advocates for recovery will probably face less political opposition. This is because they would be augmenting the historic population, not trying to rebuild the population from scratch when there were no bears at all.
Either way, Mr. Gaines, who wrote his doctoral thesis on black bears, wants to know that he has tried as hard as he can to learn what is out here, he said.
This summer and early fall, with money from a $90,000 federal grant, Mr. Gaines has hired horse teams and a temporary six-member research crew to trek deep in the wilderness, far from where most people hike. The crew has set up about 90 corrals, surrounding pungent bear bait of fish guts and road kill with barbed wire designed to snare bear hair as animals make their way to and from the stew. Every two weeks the crews collect bear hair and memory cards from digital infrared cameras mounted at the corrals.
Asked whether the search so far has yielded firm evidence, he noted that black bears and grizzlies can be surprisingly easy to confuse. He said that he would not draw conclusions until the DNA tests come back but that the crews were searching in areas considered to be ideal grizzly habitat.
“We’re looking in the right places,” he said.U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein again is coming awfully close to expressing anti-Catholic bigotry and close to imposing an unconstitutional "religious test" upon federal judges. Outrageously, several fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are following her lead.
In a committee hearing Wednesday on the nomination of Notre Dame Law School Professor Amy Coney Barrett for a spot on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Feinstein and her Democratic colleagues pelted Barrett with questions about her Catholic faith and its relation to duties as a federal judge.
"When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you," said Feinstein of California, the committee's ranking Democrat. "And that's of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for, for years in this country."
The dogma lives loudly within you. Really? Is that some sort of all-too-clever reverse-Star Wars-allusion?
To be clear here, the charge is that Barrett is an observant, perhaps even traditionalist, Catholic. So what? And why, pray tell, should that be "of concern" with regard to a federal judgeship? All our judges who happen to be Catholic should be good and faithful Catholics and our Jewish judges faithful Jews and Hindu judges faithful Hindus. The more they adhere to the terms of their faith, the more we can trust that their character is strong and solid – and that therefore they will abide just as assiduously to their oaths of civil office.
Feinstein doesn't seem to think so. She thinks that a faithful person, especially a faithful Catholic, is automatically suspect. This isn't the first time.
Fourteen years ago, Feinstein, along with now-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and now-Whip Richard Durbin, led the charge against William Pryor, who was being nominated for the spot on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. (Pryor eventually was confirmed and still holds the seat.) Schumer repeatedly questioned Pryor's "deeply held beliefs" – specifically, his Catholic beliefs – while Feinstein disapprovingly quoted, out of context, a line from a commencement speech Pryor had made for his alma mater, the McGill-Toolen Catholic high school in Mobile.
Pryor had said that "the challenge of the next millennium will be to preserve the American experiment by restoring its Christian perspective," and Feinstein had countered that such a statement somehow violated the nation's supposed "absolute separation of church and state."
As I explained back then, Feinstein had been objecting to a speech in which Pryor was approvingly quoting St. Thomas Aquinas and theologian John Courtney Murray. Rather than advocating a subjugation of civil law to church "dogma" (to use Feinstein's term), Aquinas had been arguing that good Catholics must be better citizens. Murray, in turn, had been asserting that Catholics should be good citizens of the United States specifically, as a pluralistic society dedicated to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
What I wrote then applies now, in light of the Feinstein-Durbin verbal assault on Professor Barrett: "Sens. Feinstein and Durbin might have a hard time explaining to the nation's 64 million Catholics how it disqualifies a man from a judgeship if he quotes from St. Thomas Aquinas."
So outlandish was the Democratic assault back then that a conservative group ran ads accusing Democrats of saying "Catholics need not apply." Feinstein and her Democratic colleagues freaked out – but the freakout was an example that the truth hurts. Feinstein keeps forgetting the lesson. Since then, she occasionally has returned to the same stance, even asking John Roberts, when considering his nomination as Chief Justice, if he would "address the issues of conscience out of a focus on the national interests, not out of adherence to the dictates of [your] religion."
In the case of Professor Barrett, the whole foofaraw arises out of an essay she co-wrote (as the junior partner) two whole decades ago, as a law student, saying that under certain very limited circumstances a Catholic judge might need to recuse himself from issuing an order to execute a convict. Not a thing in the essay is outlandish.
Barrett has sterling qualifications for the bench. She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rhodes College, summa cum laude with multiple awards from Notre Dame, a clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and an associate at a top law firm before becoming a leading law professor.
The bigger question isn't whether this distinguished professor doesn't understand what her judicial oath requires, but rather whether Feinstein understands, as Nebraska's Sen. Ben Sasse noted, that it is unlawful to impose a religious test on public officials.
The real danger to our constitutional system comes not from Amy Barrett's Catholicism, but from Feinstein's animus against it.
If you would like to write an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, please read our guidelines on submissions here.(Turkish police in Ankara during Gezi protests 2013./Wikimedia Commons)
One suicide bombing after another, Turkey's public is growing accustomed to images of carnage that no longer originate from Syria or Iraq, but from their own capital. The twin blasts that killed at least 102 people at a peace rally in Ankara on 10 October follow a string of deadly explosions in Suruç in July and Diyarbakır in June, and claim the unenviable title of being Turkey's deadliest terror attack from the Reyhanlı bombings of May 2013.
It is now well established that these attacks are linked with Turkey's disastrous involvement in the Syrian civil war. The Ankara and Suruç bombers were two brothers, who, like the perpetrator of the Diyarbakır attack, travelled to Syria to join ISIS and then returned to carry out atrocities against Kurds, non-Sunnis and socialists. The astonishing series of intelligence and security failures that have led to these attacks -- exposed despite the government's media ban by a handful of stubborn journalists, in particular in the daily Radikal -- has cast in a critical spotlight the state's ability or willingness to safeguard those citizens whom the government views as a threat to its rule.
Together with the escalating conflict in the Kurdish southeast, it has also given credence to suspicions that one of Turkey's old demons -- the so-called "deep state" -- has resurfaced, now in alliance with the country's beleaguered president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It might be useful to retrace some of the critical twists and turns in Turkey's maze-like political history to assess the credibility of these fears.
A history of violence
The term "deep state" takes us back to the height of the conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdish militant group PKK in the 1990s, when mysterious terror attacks or high profile assassinations sabotaged numerous ceasefires, dashed hopes for peace and triggered periods of fresh violence. It would later emerge that many of these acts were organized within the state in order to press on with a 'dirty war', which a shadowy network of lawmakers, bureaucrats and organized crime bosses profited from politically and economically.
In the course of that decade, ultra-nationalist assassination squads secretly recruited by the state's security apparatus kidnapped, tortured and executed thousands of Kurdish dissidents, including local politicians, activists, journalists and intellectuals. Although mass graves still emerge in the blood-drenched southeast of the country, many of the 'disappeared' are yet to be accounted for.
The 1990s is often labelled the "lost decade," but the history of state violence against citizens goes back a long way in Turkey. A century ago, the pan-Turkist junta controlling the Ottoman government enlisted the service of intelligence agents and Kurdish tribes to commit mass atrocities against Ottoman Armenians. It is no coincidence that some of the mass graves unearthed in the Kurdish provinces belong to Armenians killed in 1915-16.
(In a twisted way, nationalist propaganda in the 90s recognized this historical link, spreading rumors that the PKK was being run by Armenians, not Kurds. Ominously, Erdoğan and his supporters have been making frequent use of the same propaganda to rally nationalist Turks and conservative Kurds against the AKP's Kurdish opponents).
Squandered justice
In the early 2000s, as Turkey embarked upon liberalization reforms in pursuit of European Union membership, the 'deep state' became a topic of heated public discussion. From the annihilation of Anatolia's non-Muslim populations and the forced assimilation of Kurds and Alevis during the republic's foundational era, to the crimes committed by state agents which were then used as a pretext for military coups during the Cold War, the state's role in some of the darkest chapters of Turkey's modern history were scrutinized beyond the narrow confines of official historiography. At the time, it was then Prime Minister Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) pushing the EU-backed reforms with the support of a liberal intelligentsia, against the will of the secular nationalist military and bureaucracy.
Between 2008 and 2011, a string of investigations and court cases were launched with the stated purpose of exposing and bringing to justice the criminal ultra-nationalist networks inside the state. Briefly raising hopes for such a catharsis, the first wave of arrests targeted notorious former members of the security establishment and ultra-nationalist mafia bosses with suspected links to the extra-judicial killings of the 1990s, as well as to more recent political assassinations, such as the murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.
But the court cases, known as "Ergenekon" and "Balyoz," soon turned into show trials intended to quash any real or perceived opposition to the ruling Islamist coalition: the AKP and its former ally, the Hizmet movement of US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen. An entire generation of military officers of all ranks were rounded up, together with journalists and civil society activists, and handed lengthy prison sentences behind closed doors on the basis of flimsy or fabricated evidence.
A rare opportunity to face a troubled past and present was thus squandered in the hands of a group of men driven by power rather than a commitment to justice. In the process, the deep state started to sound more like a tall tale manufactured by the Islamists to wrest control of the state, rather than a historical reality Turkey had to confront.
A desperate new alliance
The course of the trials shifted drastically after the simmering power struggle between the two Islamist allies reached boiling point in December 2013. Pro-Gülen prosecutors and police officers -- the very same ones who had conducted the deep state investigations -- launched a high profile corruption probe against Erdoğan, his family and senior AKP figures. In response, Erdoğan's government initiated a massive purge of suspected Gülenists from the police and the judiciary.
Elected president in 2014, Erdoğan was eventually able to turn the tables against Gülen, but the infighting left him more deeply wounded, threatened and paranoid than ever. It also deprived him of a resourceful ally at a time when he had precious few, in or out of Turkey. In an attempt to tighten his tenuous grip over the state, he sought new allies and loyalists, which he seems to have found in the darker corners of the Turkish state.
Almost overnight, Erdoğan went from being the self-declared "prosecutor" of the "deep state" trials to arguing that his government had been tricked by the sinister "parallel organization," the Orwellian label he coined for the Gülen movement, which has since been used ubiquitously by pro-AKP media. Within weeks, retrial of all the cases had started. Since then all the verdicts have been overturned and every single suspect has been acquitted.
Old demons resurface
As the witch-hunt against the Gülenists intensified, the government started filling the ranks of the police force with religious-nationalist cadres ideologically closer to the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP). There are widespread rumors (which cannot be verified unless one has eyes and ears deep inside the state) that former security agents with involvement in the counter-guerrilla operations of the 90s have been active in the recruitment and organization of these cadres into paramilitary units.
The fragile peace process between the government and the PKK unravelled in the aftermath of this year's 7 June general elections, when the Kurds deserted the AKP en masse for the pro-Kurdish leftist Peoples' Democratic Party ( |
.
"Nothing should be denied to people on our estates. But if I mentioned Eton to people in Blacon, for example, then they would look at me as if I had fallen off the planet.
"That is our aspiration, to go right to the top and to the most elitist school, and really make a difference to one person's life."
Eton headmaster Tony Little said the school would be very happy to consider the proposition.
'Titles and aristocrats'
"If a young man, it doesn't matter where he is from, has that light in the eyes, we can give him quite a lot, and he can give us a lot too," he said.
The independent school, which has educated boys for nearly six centuries, was also attended by Prince William and Prince Harry.
Mr Little said it operated successful scholarship and bursary schemes and already had about 190 boys who were funded in this way.
"In the public eye people assume that Eton is full of titles and aristocrats, but it is rather more mixed than that," he said.
Image caption Eton counts David Cameron among former pupils
"Irrespective of money, from any scheme whether from Windsor or Liverpool, there are a number of qualities which a boy will need to thrive and be happy here.
"There are three guiding principles when we look at any boy. Firstly, they have to be able to cope academically or it would be too miserable for them for words.
"Secondly, they have to have something else to bring to the party, be it that he excels in sport or music for example, which means he can connect with like-minded people quickly.
"Thirdly, they have to have a resilience of character to be in a residential environment like this, and it doesn't suit everybody."
Mr Denny, the son of a painter and decorator, puts his own personal success down to hard work.
'Bit unfair'
He went to a comprehensive school in Warrington before completing a four-year apprenticeship in steel works, before studying for a degree in environmental studies at Sheffield University.
He got a job in a housing association in his mid-20s and worked his way through the ranks to chief executive.
He is now working with Dr Martin Carey, chief executive of Hope Business Gateway and Urban Hope, who will work with Eton to find a suitable candidate for the place.
"We need to work with some of the schools in the areas that we are targeting," he said.
Image caption Some people in Liverpool think the money could be used elsewhere
"Then we need to look closely in terms of their aspirations and their family's aspirations, their academic ability, and to make sure we are definitely involving families and children that would not have that opportunity if it wasn't for the scheme."
But would everyone from one of the estates in question welcome the help?
Libby Balshaw, 39, a mum from Dingle, said: "I suppose it's a good thing, it's giving something to work hard for but with other children left out it's a bit unfair really.
"I'd love one of my children to go as far as they could.
"I think there is a lot of other important issues the money could be spent on, but at the end of the day child education is important as well.
"My children have illnesses and I'm trying to find a school which can accommodate their condition and it's impossible.
"Some of the money could go into helping families like us with children with problems."
One woman, who preferred not to be named, said: "Why do it just for one person? There's a lot of kids round here that could do better, I don't think its fair.
"If you give it to one boy you will get other kids questioning why not me?
"It should be for youth clubs or something like that, not just for one boy."
Mr Denny is due to meet Mr Little next month to discuss the proposition.
He said he also planned to find an equivalent school for girls.You answered the survey and we worked with Leger to crunch the numbers. These are the top 12 neighbourhoods in Calgary in 2016 based on those survey results.
What makes a community a great place to live?
That’s what we asked Calgarians who responded to Avenue‘s seventh-annual online survey to find the city’s Best Neighbourhoods. From crime rates and property taxes to walkability, green space, businesses, schools and access to major roads, among other categories, survey respondents identified those neighbourhood attributes that matter to them most.
The survey has evolved over time. Starting last year, we no longer allowed respondents to vote for their own communities as a favourite in any particular category in order to increase fairness and objectivity. This year, we tightened the survey further, making it slightly shorter. But, essentially, the 2016 survey was the same as 2015’s, meaning we have a direct basis for comparison year to year.
Working with Leger, a research and marketing company, we took data collected by the survey and our own research and crunched the numbers for nearly 200 neighbourhoods to deliver this year’s list of Calgary’s Best Neighbourhoods. No two people value exactly the same community attributes in exactly the same order, but the result of our survey shows what the majority of the respondents valued highest and how they ranked their preferences – and this year there were a couple of surprises.
Last year’s respondents valued walkability as the most important attribute in the neighbourhood they wished to live in, but this year’s respondents reported that access to parks and pathways was the most important neighbourhood amenity. This year’s respondents next wanted their neighbourhood to have low crime, to feature restaurants, coffee shops, bars or pubs and to provide access to major roads, in that order. Surprisingly, walkability dropped from first to eighth place this year.
All in all, what it shows is that what matters most to Calgarians one year may change in the next, which is why our list of Best Neighbourhoods changes from year to year, sometimes only a little and sometimes a lot, with every neighbourhood offering something of value to someone. -J.W.
1. Beltline
The story of the Beltline stretches back to the far-off year of 2003, when the communities of Victoria Park and Connaught merged and the union was named in honour of the Belt Line, the nickname for the Calgary Municipal Railway’s route No. 5, which once ran through the area.
Today, the Beltline has become a hub of activity in Calgary. If you’re looking to find yourself in the metaphorical and geographical heart of the city, you can follow the beat to the neighbourhood that’s home to the Calgary Stampede and the happening 17th Avenue S.W. strip. Ranked the No. 1 most livable neighbourhood in this year’s survey, a title it first acquired last year – and which it only narrowly missed out on in 2014 – it’s clear Beltliners have got a good thing going.
The reasons for this neighbourhood’s appeal are plain to see. With a wealth of grocery stores ranging from giants like Co-op Midtown Market to mid-range and niche food purveyors like Sunterra Market and Janice Beaton Fine Cheese, it’s easy to bring home the perfectly cured bacon. When you can’t bring yourself to throw something in the oven, there’s a long list of award-winning restaurants like Justin Leboe’s Pigeonhole or Roy Oh’s Anju. You can enjoy a serene, green lunch at Boxwood in Central Memorial Park or explore the cocktail culture at lounges like Milk Tiger and Proof.
This neighbourhood is well versed in the ABCs of local coffee shops thanks to Analog, Bumpy’s Cafe, Caff Beano and others, meaning you don’t have to get your java from a chain if you don’t want to, though there’s plenty of them around, as well. True, the Beltline does fare poorly in criteria like crime, but, with the highest concentration of arts and entertainment options outside of downtown, a great walkability score and access to public transit, Calgarians will be buzzing about (and around) the Beltline for years to come. -A.G.
Central Memorial Park.
Beltline: By the numbers
Population: 21,939
Density/People per sq. km: 7,565
Occupied by owner: 32%
Single detached homes: 0%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $321,000
Change since 2015: -0.9%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in the Beltline
1st: Library
2nd: Restaurants/Cafes/Bars
2nd: Entertainment/Arts
2nd: Close to downtown
2nd: Access to buses/LRT
3rd: Drug stores
4th: Boutiques
5th: Walk Score
7th: Close to river
2. Brentwood
A neighbourhood established in 1960, Brentwood is a perennial contender in our annual survey, mimicking the Beltline in retaining its 2015 ranking and moving up from its third-place position in 2014.
This beautiful northwest neighbourhood wins a lot of points for its strategic placement, a sweet spot nestled between Nose Hill Park, Shaganappi Trail, Crowchild Trail and the LRT line, letting residents get away from it all, by car or foot, when the mood strikes them, and ensuring that downtown is still just a quick ride away. With such great recreational opportunities at home, though, it’s a wonder anyone feels the need to find their fun elsewhere; both the Sir Winston Churchill Aquatic & Recreation Centre and the Brentwood Sportsplex provide great workout opportunities (not to mention the hiking in Nose Hill Park). Brentwood Village shopping centre and, until it undergoes redevelopment, Northland Village Mall ensure competitive shoppers can get their 10,000 hours in, as well, with nearby Market Mall forming a perfect purchasing trifecta.
It’s not surprising that Brentwood scored well for schools, with more than a dozen educational institutions in the 2.9-square-kilometre area, not to mention the nearby University of Calgary, offering the option for schooling from cradle to college and beyond. While the community offers up a lot of benefits, residents seem to pay it forward, with high community engagement, meaning whether you’re in one of its many grocery stores, drug stores or coffee shops, you’ll meet people who take being neighbourly to the next level. -A.G.
Nose Hill Park.
Brentwood: By the numbers
Population: 6,941
Density/People per sq. km: 2,393
Occupied by owner: 66%
Single detached homes: 77%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $518,000
Change since 2015: -2.3%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Brentwood
2nd: Recreation
3rd: Schools
4th: Drug stores
6th: Community engagement
7th: Boutiques
7th: Grocery stores
10th: Restaurants/Cafes/Bars
3. Dalhousie
Dalhousie Station.
Skyrocketing out of last year’s 26th place, Dalhousie has joined its neighbour, Brentwood, in the top three this year, and with good reason. Another northwest neighbourhood that borders Nose Hill Park, Shaganappi Trail and Crowchild Trail, Dalhousie has access to many of the same benefits that make Brentwood great, without much of the same scrutiny its neighbour receives.
Named for George Ramsay, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie and governor-in-chief of British North America from 1820 to 1828, the neighbourhood was annexed by the city in 1961 and developed six years later. Since then, it has flourished, enjoying all the benefits of living near a wealth of green spaces while resting on the western edge of the city, with Crowchild Trail providing a quick exit to the Rockies for weekend getaways.
The key to Dalhousie’s high ranking is that many of its amenities ranked in the high 30s to low 10s, allowing it to maintain a decent all-around score by avoiding bottoming out on low scores in heavily weighted criteria that tended to drag other neighbourhoods down. Dalhousie’s strong suit is its community engagement, which, if you’ve been to the Calgary Folk Club‘s events, the community’s seasonal gatherings or participated in its sports programs, you know is one reason this neighbourhood is making its mark. -A.G.
Dalhousie: By the numbers
Population: 9,362
Density/People per sq. km: 2,837
Occupied by owner: 65%
Single detached homes: 52%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $467,000
Change since 2015: +0.9%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Dalhousie
8th: Community engagement
4. Acadia
Acadia Tennis Centre.
Established in 1960, this southeast community south of Heritage Drive is full of mature trees and wide lots, with many well-kept homes spaced apart by an ample 16 feet – more than triple the current standard. Acadia is home to nine schools covering all grades, amenities galore and a very popular, busy recreation complex filled with hockey players, curlers and squash enthusiasts, all within easy walking distance. All that footwork can whet an appetite that can easily be satiated by scrumptious eats at the Italian Centre Shop, just outside of Acadia’s boundary. If residents need to get behind the wheel, access to major routes such as Blackfoot and Deerfoot trails are conveniently close by, while bus routes run through the neighbourhood and CTrain stations handily border the area. -E.C
Acadia: By the numbers
Population: 11,053
Density/People per sq. km: 2,834
Occupied by owner: 55%
Single detached homes: 50%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $396,000
Change since 2015: -1%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Acadia
1st: Recreation
1st: Schools
2nd: Grocery stores
12th: Drug stores
5. Hillhurst
Plaza Theatre.
For a small-town vibe with a skyline view and easy access to the downtown core, look no further than one of Calgary’s oldest communities. With more than 100 shops and services and endless recreational opportunities, Hillhurst is as appealing to families and long-time residents as it is to young newcomers. A weekly flea market, seasonal farmers’ markets and a variety of festivals and events keep this community bustling year-round. Tree-lined streets shade both historic and modern homes that house residents who are able to take advantage of some of the hottest spots in the city including restaurants like Brasserie Kensington, pubs like Oak Tree Tavern and cafs like Higher Ground. -N.H.
Hillhurst: By the numbers
Population: 6,737
Density/People per sq. km: 3,208
Occupied by owner: 38%
Single detached homes: 30%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $624,000
Change since 2015: +5.2%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Hillhurst
3rd: Restaurants/Cafes/Bars
4th: Entertainment/Arts
5th: Value of homes
6th: Recreation facilities
8th: Access to buses/LRT
10th: Walk Score
13th: Close to downtown
6. Signal Hill
Signal Hill Shopping Centre.
A First World War monument of 16,000 stones forming the battalion numbers 113, 51, 137 and 151 marks this south-west community’s iconic broad hillside. With the “113” already designated an Alberta Heritage Site, this piece of local history is nestled between ridgeside homes that enjoy a panoramic view of the Rockies and a sprawling, bustling commercial hub with grocery stores, shops, a movie theatre, restaurants, dental, medical and banking options, plus what’s widely considered the best Winners in the city. A busy public library branch and the Westside Recreation Centre serve as popular community hubs. Well-planned and well-used pathways throughout the area now extend along Sarcee Trail, linking all the way to Edworthy Park and connecting Signal Hill to the rest of the city. Approximately an hour’s drive from the mountains and just minutes from downtown, thanks to the new West LRT leg, Signal Hill residents are just a stone’s throw away from it all. -E.C.
Signal Hill: By the numbers
Population: 13,613
Density/People per sq. km: 2,431
Occupied by owner: 92%
Single detached homes: 65%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $575,000
Change since 2015: +1.2%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Signal Hill
5th: Parks/Pathways
8th: Boutique
8th: Library
12th: Playgrounds
7. Arbour Lake
While the rest of the city spends the summer and winter seeking refuge outside the city limits, residents of Arbour Lake are busy indulging in the privilege of living in one of northwest Calgary’s two lake communities. Modelled after popular neighbourhoods in southern California, Arbour Lake is a robust community that comes together for a jam-packed schedule of programming year-round, including swimming, boating, fishing and ice-skating. Clear mountain views help residents remember to be thankful for what’s in their own backyard, including the amenities of Crowfoot Crossing. Should they ever want to leave, major roadways like Crowchild and Stoney trails are easily accessible. -N.H.
Arbour Lake: By the numbers
Population: 10,947
Density/People per sq. km: 2,488
Occupied by owner: 87%
Single detached homes: 69%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $469,000
Change since 2015: -1.5%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Arbour Lake
3rd: Grocery stores
4th: Restaurants/Cafs/Bars
6th: Access to major roads
10th: Library
12th: Boutiques
13th: Drug stores
8. Riverbend
The Station Pub and Grill.
Just off Glenmore Trail lies the community of Riverbend, a residential oasis bordering the east side of the Bow River. Those who call this southeast neighbourhood home find themselves immersed in nature inside the city limits with many parks and pathways to explore. Places like Carburn Park offer refuge with two fishable ponds, diverse plant life and a wide variety of bird species. And, if that’s not enough for its four-legged residents, a short walk across the Bow via a pedestrian bridge takes you to Sue Higgins Park, the largest fenced off-leash area in the city. At night, you’ll find the locals at The Station Pub and Grill, a community staple for more than 20 years. -N.H
Riverbend: By the numbers
Population: 9,612
Density/People per sq. km: 2,344
Occupied by owner: 91%
Single detached homes: 94%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $421,000
Change since 2015: -3.2%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Riverbend
6th: Parks/Pathways
11th: Access to major roads
13th: Playgrounds
9. Bridgeland/Riverside
St. Patrick’s Island.
Few people are lucky enough to say they have giraffes and tigers for neighbours, but proximity to some of the city’s top attractions like the Calgary Zoo, Telus Spark and St. Patrick’s Island isn’t even the only thing Bridgeland/Riverside residents have to brag about. This hip and walkable neighbourhood is also home to an eclectic mix of shopping and dining spots, including Bridgeland Market, Lukes Drug Mart, Burger 320 and Shiki Menya. The neighbourhood also boasts proximity to downtown and easy access to transit. And as an added bonus, each July, south-facing residents get a free view of the Stampede’s fireworks show. -N.H.
Bridgeland/Riverside: By the numbers
Population: 6,010
Density/People per sq. km: 1,939
Occupied by owner: 39%
Single detached homes: 28%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $435,000
Change since 2015: -0.9%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Bridgeland/Riverside
3rd: Access to buses/LRT
6th: Drug stores
8th: Close to river
11th: Close to downtown
10. Scenic Acres
Ranked No.1 in parks and pathways, this aptly named northwest community enjoys the perks of suburban life with pristine views of both the downtown skyline and mountains. Thanks to sparse commercial development, Scenic Acres enjoys a large amount of green space that is frequented by wildlife as much as it is by locals. The great trail system keeps Scenic Acres residents outdoors and connected. What it lacks in businesses, it makes up for in community spirit. An active community centre and countless volunteer-led initiatives like a community-built skating rink and a lively Stampede breakfast make Scenic Acres a top choice for families. -N.H.
Scenic Acres: By the numbers
Population: 8,542
Density/People per sq. km: 1,987
Occupied by owner: 96%
Single detached homes: 91%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $528,000
Change since 2015: -4%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Scenic Acres
1st: Parks/Pathways
7th: Access to major roads
11. Windsor Park
Village Ice Cream.
Call it a small, inner-city community with a big heart. This 76-year-old southwest neighbourhood includes residents with disabilities at Pacekids Society and a John Howard Society-run home for youth in transition. It’s a place where kids grow up and leave, only to return later to raise their own families. That’s not surprising when your home is walking distance from the Elbow River pathway system and amenities like Chinook Centre. It also doesn’t hurt that downtown is a 15-minute bike commute away and that Browns Social House pub and Village Ice Cream recently opened shop just blocks away. -E.C.
Windsor Park: By the numbers
Population: 4,501
Density/People per sq. km: 3,462
Occupied by owner: 40%
Single detached homes: 14%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $255,000
Change since 2015: -0.8%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Windsor Park
2nd: Library
3rd: Recreation facilities
9th: Grocery stores
10th: Entertainment/Arts
12. Huntington Hills
Huntington Hills skateboard park.
The fact that Huntington Hills ranked in the top 10 in the playground, recreation facilities, school and library categories should tell you everything you need to know about what the residents of this expansive northside community value. Sitting just east of Nose Hill Park, one of the largest urban parks in Canada, Huntington Hills is home to 15 schools, a vast outdoor playground and a sportsplex with a hockey arena and an eight-sheet curling rink. This past March, a newly opened skate park helped to solidify Huntington Hills’ status as one of the best neighbourhoods in the city when it comes to recreation. -N.H.
Huntington Hills: By the numbers
Population: 13,781
Density/People per sq. km: 2,871
Occupied by owner: 62%
Single detached homes: 54%
Median tax assessment of residential property, 2016: $386,000
Change since 2015: -2.5%
Top-ranking characteristics & amenities in Huntington Hills
2nd: Schools
2nd: Playgrounds
5th: Library
7th: Recreation facilities
Best Neighbourhoods Methodology
For more information on the method, click here.
Our Best Neighbourhoods survey took place from late 2015 to early 2016. In partnership with Leger, we asked Calgarians which characteristics they most value in a neighbourhood. We supplied data on each of 178 established residential communities for each of those characteristics to Leger, which were used to create rankings in individual categories. To calculate best overall neighbourhood, rankings in categories most valued by survey respondents were given more weight.
Neighbourhoods: Neighbourhood names and boundaries follow those defined by the City of Calgary.
Demographics: Population and percentage of single family dwellings was taken from the City of Calgary Community Profiles, which contain information from the 2015 Calgary Civic Census.
Property value: Data gathered from the City of Calgary Property Assessment and Market Report 2015 and City of Calgary Property Assessment and Market Report 2016.
Walk Score: Rankings determined by Walk Score, a private company that measures walkability by calculating the distance to amenities.
Parks and pathways: City of Calgary Parks and Recreation maps were used to identify and count major parks and pathways.
Crime: Calgary Police Service statistical reports from January 2015 to November 2015. Crimes were divided into personal crimes and property crimes, with personal crimes given more weight.
Businesses: Data for restaurants, retail bars and entertainment in neighbourhoods was determined using the City of Calgary’s business license catalogue.
Community engagement: Data based on voter turnout in the 2013 municipal election, weighted per capita.
[Correction: An earlier online version of this story duplicated the By the Numbers Data of Hillhurst in Signal Hill. The numbers have been updated.]California leaders say time for cuts may be ending CALIFORNIA BUDGET Following years of slashing spending, leaders predict that with tax hike, deficits could be history in a year
Gov. Jerry Brown listens to reporters ask Director of Finance Ana Matosantos questions about the state budget during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. Brown said that California needs to make about $1 billion in midyear cuts to schools and social services, as the state's revenues fell about $2.2 billion below the assumptions included in the budget he signed last summer.(AP Photo/Steve Yeater) less Gov. Jerry Brown listens to reporters ask Director of Finance Ana Matosantos questions about the state budget during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. Brown said... more Photo: Steve Yeater, AP Photo: Steve Yeater, AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close California leaders say time for cuts may be ending 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
Sacramento --
California's dark days of budget deficits and severe spending cuts may be nearing an end.
Since the economic collapse in 2008, state leaders have seen a steep drop in tax revenue that had them jostling to keep public services intact in schools, universities, prisons and aid to the poor, disabled and sick. General fund spending has dropped by $17 billion since 2007 - from a high of nearly $103 billion - and the cuts continued as recently as last week when Gov. Jerry Brown announced another $1 billion reduction to programs serving California's 37.5 million residents.
And the Democratic governor warned the bad news wasn't over: Next month he'll unveil a budget proposal with yet more spending cuts.
But the state may be hearing the final drumbeats of this bad news. The ongoing deficit continues to shrink: At its worst it was $42 billion in 2009. Now it's projected to be $13 billion through the next fiscal year. A combination of more cuts in coming months along with Brown's proposal to ask voters to raise tax revenue next November could lift the state out of the red in the next 12 months, lawmakers and budget analysts say.
"I think that the governor and the Legislature - and the voters - have real opportunities this year to bring the budget as close to balance as we've had in over a decade," said Jason Sisney, deputy legislative analyst of state and local finance for the Legislative Analyst's Office.
Just in the past year, the governor and lawmakers have put a significant dent in the problem. In November 2010, the Legislative Analyst's Office projected that California would have budget deficits of around $20 billion per year over the next five years if the governor and Legislature did not take decisive action.
But lawmakers trimmed billions from spending and the economy has begun to slowly pick up. Last month, the legislative analyst projected future deficits at under $6 billion per year by 2016 absent any other action.
More action is sure to come. Brown last week said he would propose billions more in spending cuts when he proposes a budget next month for the year beginning July 1.
In addition to that, voters will be asked in November whether to approve tax increases worth $7 billion per year over the next five years, including in the next fiscal year.
Support for taxes
If both more cuts and more tax revenue happen - and a poll released last week showed strong support for the governor's tax plan - California could have no deficit and no more cuts to state programs in just one year.
The optimism is tempered by deep cuts to K-12 schools, higher education, social and health services, parks, and public safety since the state's budget was rocked by the economic collapse that began in 2008. Unemployment, at 11.3 percent, remains above the national average of 8.6 percent and the Department of Finance projects that California won't return to pre-recession employment levels until 2016.
In addition, pending lawsuits on various spending cuts approved this year could enlarge the deficit, the economic recovery still is shaky and could be upended by actions in Europe, and the federal government could blast a major hole in state finances across the country depending on spending decisions by Congress and President Obama.
A new discussion
Brown's next budget will include further cuts to spending, and if voters reject increased tax revenue, the governor has promised more cuts later next year. How much the governor wants to cut and when his administration projects that deficits will be behind California will be known when he unveils his budget Jan. 10.
But a real discussion of when the cuts could stop is a new development at the Capitol that has not been heard in years.
"We're somewhere near the bottom of that hole and only history will tell us whether we're on the upswing or if we have a little bit further to go. Some of the history is going to be written by the decisions we make," said Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Woodland Hills (Los Angeles County), the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee.
Blumenfield said his top objective is California's fiscal solvency and he will not say "no" to more cutting, but he said he doesn't think he can take much more.
"The cuts we've made are unconscionable and going further... what's the word for 'beyond unconscionable?' It turns my stomach to think about it," he said.
GOP opposition
Capitol Republicans, who can block tax increases in the Legislature because of the two-thirds mandate to raise taxes, maintain that the state is spending beyond its means and have opposed efforts since February 2009 to increase revenue. They also opposed the budget that was passed earlier in the year and criticized Brown for making the automatic midyear cuts last week.
California's tax revenue is growing, by about $5.3 billion since January, but that growth is not enough to pull the state out of its deficit because it is at a lower level than post-recession growth that the state experienced in previous downturns in the 1980s and 1990s, said Fred Silva, senior fiscal policy adviser for the group California Forward.
Silva has decades of experience with the state's budget and said spending cuts alone will not be enough for the state to eliminate its ongoing deficit.
"That is not going away until you deal with the revenue side," he said, adding that Brown's tax plan puts California "within shouting distance" of ending the shortfall.
Compounding effects
The administration is not declaring an end to the tough times. H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Department of Finance, referred to the legislative analyst's projections, with a shortfall of just under $6 billion in 2016, when asked about future deficits. That could mean the governor will not try to eliminate the entire problem this year.
Palmer noted that state aid to the poor was lower than levels seen in the 1980s, and cutting deeper has compounding effects.
"To do additional cuts on top of those is somewhat like a Richter scale," Palmer said.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said his constituents are upset about the years of cuts but have actually thanked him for working to stave off deeper reductions. He characterized the potential to eliminate the deficit as "stabilizing," because while it may mean no more cuts it doesn't mean pouring money back into services that have been slashed.
He noted that in 2007, before the economy crashed, the legislative analyst projected that revenue for the current year would be $125 billion, nearly $40 billion more than what it actually is.
Leno said this will be another tough year, but he sees a potential end in sight.
"That's certainly the hope and the goal, and that's only with the assumption that voters approve revenue on the next ballot," he said. "Short of that it will mean further destruction of public infrastructure."The ‘I Want Chocolate Cake’ Cake
I regret to tell you that this cake is nothing exactly new, and it’s not because I’m out of ideas (I hope not, at least! One should never taunt the idea faeries, of course.) but because when I found my perfect one-bowl chocolate cake (which we’ve made as an everyday loaf, then riffed as a fudgy layered sheet cake and red wine chocolate wonder, I promise, I can stop anytime) and ridiculously easy fudgy chocolate buttercream, there was no need to keep looking. Here, I’ve slimmed the base and dropped a little sugar to make a thin chocolate cake layer and topped it with an unholy, unapologetic amount of frosting. Because when you really need chocolate cake, I vote for doing it properly.
Yield: 1 generously frosted 8×8-inch cake, which we cut into 16 small squares.
Could also yield: 1 generously frosted 8-inch or 9-inch round cake, 12 very generously frosted cupcakes, or it could be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch pan. Could also be scaled and stacked as a birthday cake.
Cake
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (145 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk (see Notes for other options)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1/2 cup (41 grams) Dutch cocoa powder
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
Frosting
2 ounces (55 grams) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar (sifted if lumpy)
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of fine sea salt (optional)
1 tablespoons cream or whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make the cake: Heat oven to 350°F (175°c). Line the bottom of an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper, and either butter the parchment and exposed sides of the pan, or spray the interior with a nonstick spray. In a large bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat the butter and sugars until fluffy; scrape down bowl. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla and beat until combined, then the buttermilk and mix again. Scrape the bowl down well and don’t worry if the batter looks uneven. Place your flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a sifter (I find this step necessary because my cocoa is very lumpy) and shake it over the batter bowl. Stir on low until just combined; scrape down bowl a final time. Scoop batter into prepared pan and smooth flat. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes (updated, based on feedback) 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes in cake pan on cooling rack, then flip out onto rack or serving plate to completely finish cooling before frosting. Speed this up by placing it outside for 10 minutes (thanks, winter!).
Make the frosting: Place frosting ingredients in a food processor and run machine to to mix. Scrape down bowl then process for another 1 to 2 minutes (updated based on feedback) just until smooth and somewhat fluffed. [Don’t have a food processor? Beat butter, powdered sugar and salt, if using, in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Pour in chocolate, milk and vanilla, beat until combined, then one more minute to whip it further.] Scoop the frosting onto the cooled chocolate cake and swirl it around. Finish with rainbow sprinkles; don’t even fight it. Cut into squares and prepare for your family/roommates to completely freak out when they spy it on the counter. (But only share if they offer to do dishes.)
Cake keeps at room temperature for a day or two, or in the fridge up to a week, or so I’ve heard but never tested out.
Notes:
Red wine chocolate cake, mocha chocolate cake: You could replace the buttermilk in full with yogurt or sour cream thinned with a little milk or water, with red wine or replace 1/2 cup of it with strong coffee. (Keep 1/4 cup buttermilk so you’ll have an acidic ingredient to wake up the baking soda.)
I don’t have Dutched cocoa: Dutch-process cocoa (generally speaking, it’s the standard in European brands) differs from natural cocoa (what you have if your cocoa isn’t labeled Dutch, or if it’s an American brand) in that its acidity has been neutralized to form a darker, nuttier cocoa that I prefer. That said, if you don’t have Dutched but only a regular or natural cocoa, I haven’t tested this cake with it but suspect that you’ll be just fine, although the cake may be less dark in color.
How I like to swirl frosting: I always use a small offset spatula (have I convinced you to buy one yet? Seriously, $4. Do it.) and I think the secret is to always push the frosting from the center out, not pull it back. So, push and then make an S-swirl, push and S-swirl, repeat and always quit while you’re ahead (hard, because it’s so fun).
Confetti sprinkles: I |
and I -- but, Robert, you're a favorite of mine, and you have been for years; and, Glenn,
you did a great job on this; and Mark, I'm anticipating your comments and -- but look at it, you got -- there would be three reasons you could possibly want to raise tax rates on the rich. You're jealous of them, and Robert may be but he's one of them.
00:26:51 [laughter]
And the other thing is, you're going to get more revenue. And you're going to create prosperity. Those are the other two. And I'm going to land on the last two and look at the facts if I can. I mean, in the 30 -- if you look at the growth rate there, we can go back in time, but, you know, if you look at the periods let's say from the Roaring '20s, we cut tax rates back then from 73 percent to 25 percent in the Roaring '20s. It was called the "Roaring ‘20s" for a reason. We had enormous expansion of growth, output, and employment. The top 1 percent of income earners, now, we have great data on the top 1 percent of income earners. The IRS really likes to know how much you owe them.
And we have great data. The top 1 percent of income earners, their taxes as a share of GDP soared during the period of the Roaring '20s. If you look at the 1930s, we raised the highest margin -- well, we first had [unintelligible] May of 1930 we had the Smoot-
Hawley Tariff.
00:27:51 Then Hoover raised the highest tax rate on the rich from 25 percent to 63 percent. Then Roosevelt on January 1936 raised it from 63 to 79 percent and then up to 83 percent.
There's a reason why it was called the Great Depression. The economy was in a shambles in large part because of the tax increases. The revenues from the top 1 percent of income earners as a share of GDP went down during this period. You look at the Kennedy period where we cut the highest tax rates from 91 percent to 70 percent.
We also put in the investment tax credit, accelerated depreciation, cut the corporate rates, did tariff reform as well -- the Kennedy-run tariff negotiation, tax rate -- it was called the -- it was called the "Go-Go '60s," if you remember, a boom in the economy,
and tax revenues from the top 1 percent of income earners went up during that period as a share of GDP. We then had the four stooges, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter.
[laughter]
Which I consider to be the largest assemblage of bipartisan ignorance probably ever put on planet Earth.
00:28:55 If you look at that period, we had stagnation for 16 straight years. The stock market collapsed during that period. Tax revenues for the top 1 percent of income earners went down as a share of GDP. Then we had -- then we had Ronny -- oh, excuse me, the sky is opened, the sun shone forth on the planet, the grass turned green, the animals,
they multiplied, the children danced in the street, but we cut the highest tax rates of everything we could find. We had Steiger-Hansen in '78, then we cut the -- I mean,
under Reagan, cut it from 70 percent to 28 percent. If you look at the whole periodfrom 1978 all the way to 2007, we cut the highest tax rate on earned income from 50 percent to 35 percent. We cut the highest tax rates on unearned income from 70 percent to 15 percent.
00:29:51 We cut the capital gains tax rate, we cut all of these tax rates across the board. We had a boom, and it wasn't just Ronald Reagan. Robert, your president, by the way, cut the capital gains tax rate dramatically; he got rid of capital gains taxes on owner occupied homes for everyone, he also got rid of the tax on retirees working, which was the group between 65 and 72. He also put in welfare reform, he also cut gtovernment spending as a share of GDP by more than the next four best presidents combined, and he had the greatest secretary of labor of all time --
[laughter]
But he was a big taxer. We had huge growth during that period. If you look at what happened to the tax revenues from the top income earners -- you know, in 1980 tax revenues as share of GDP from the top 1 percent was 1.5 percent of GDP. By 2007, tax revenues from the top 1 percent of income earners was 3.2 percent of GDP, it more than doubled.
00:30:53 Let me tell you really honestly, you're not going to get the money from these guys.
You're not. They can hire lawyers, they can hire accountants, they can hire deferred income specialists, they can hire congressmen, they can hire senators --
[laughter]
They can hire -- when you see a group of people hanging with the president, don't for a moment think it's a group of street people trying to explain to the president what it's like being poor. They're in there for some reason and they find it. You know, what you really want to do is get a low rate, flat tax, where you have no exceptions, no exemptions, no deductions, none of that stuff. And get them out of the business of trying to finagle their tax codes, get them out of the business of trying to influence government, get them into a position where they create prosperity and economic growth. And that is the way you got to go. We all want increased tax rates on the rich,
but we want to do it not by raising rates, which won't work, we want to do it by lowering rates and broadening the base. And if I can correct one other little mistake,
Robert, just a little one.
00:31:50 Simpson-Bowles lowers the highest tax rates on the rich, and so does Rivlin-Domenici.
They lower rates, they broaden the base. In '86, we cut tax rates on the rich dramatically, from 50 percent to 28 percent. In the Senate, 97 votes for that, three against it, including Joe Biden. What was his malarkey comment? Excuse me, maybe he was looking in the mirror. But you also had Bill Bradley, you also had Howard Metzenbaum, you had all of these -- and you had Chris Dodd and you had Teddy Kennedy. Everyone knows that you don't create growth by raising tax rates on the rich.
You can't love jobs and hate job creators.
[laughter]
And you can't tax an economy into prosperity, it ain't going to happen. Thank you very much.
[applause]
John Donvan:
Thank you, Art Laffer. Thank you, Art Laffer. Our motion is The Rich Are Taxed Enough.
And here is our final speaker, making his opening statement, Mark Zandi.
00:32:52 Mark is the chief economist of Moody's Analytics and is one of the most frequently cited economists in Washington; he's also the author of this book, "Paying the Price, Ending the Great Recession, and Beginning a New American Century." Ladies and gentlemen,
Mark Zandi.
Mark Zandi:
Thank you, John. Thank you. Thank you, John. Thanks, Intelligence Squared and Bob Rosenkranz for the opportunity. I did notice that on Amazon the price of my book is falling; demand, supply, you know.
[laughter]
We need a little more demand here to help me out. Let me begin by saying that, you know, it's obvious the American economy has very serious challenges. But I would put two right at the top of the list. The first, this is in no particular order of importance, but the first is, the skewing of the distribution of income consumption and wealth, and the second is our fiscal problems.
00:33:49 The statistics here are pretty startling. Let's begin with the income distribution, wealth distribution. If you take the top 20 percent of income earners, they take home over 50percent of the nation's income, the top 20 percent take home 50 percent of the income.
They consume 60 percent of the total pie. So, from cars to clothing and everything in between, they consume 60 percent. And they own 90 percent of the wealth. These are pretty skewed statistics. And the more startling thing is they've gotten more skewed over the past 30 years. You know, you go back to the early 1980s, late 1970s, these statistics were very different. I'll just give you one example. I mentioned that the top 20 percent accounts for 60 percent of the spending. If you go back to 1980, it was closer to 45 percent.
00:34:48 So, it's skewed, and it's getting more skewed. Our fiscal problems are obviously very significant as well. If you go back to the year 2000 -- we'll give Bob credit for the 22 million jobs. Should we give you credit for the surplus in the year 2000, too? Okay, Bob.
Let's clap for that.
[applause]
There was a surplus, 2000. We've been running deficits ever since. The last fiscal year just ended. We had a deficit of $1.1 trillion. You can ask, "Well, what's going on?" Lots of things. There's the wars. That's $1.2 trillion over the last 10 years. That's Afghanistan and Iraq. There's the Bush era tax cuts. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, that cost us $1.6 trillion over a 10 year period. And, of course, there was a recession, the great recession, and by my calculation, that's cost us about $1.8 trillion over the course of the last 10 years. You add it up, it's a lot of money.
So, we've got some big problems, very significant issues we have to tackle.
00:35:49 Now, the bad news is that -- it sounds pretty bad --
[laughter]
The bad news is that if we -- these trends will continue if policymakers don't act. If they don't act, these trends will continue, and this will harm economic growth, become very self-reinforcing in a negative way. Take the deficits. If policymakers continue on with current policy, if they don't do anything with the current tax rates, if they don't cut spending as agreed to as part of the sequestration, if they don't address the payroll tax holiday, you can go on and on and on, well, the nation's debt-to-GDP ratio is going to go from the current 70 percent -- and, by the way, it's doubled over the last 10 years from 35 to 70 percent -- it'll go over 100 percent by 2025. Now, all good research would show that we got a problem if that happens. The world's not going to work for us.
00:36:48 At some point, investors are going to balk. Interest rates are going to rise. It's going to affect investment, productivity growth, and our living standards. That has to change.
And the income and wealth distribution, the forces that are driving that aren't going to -
- are firmly in place, and they're not going to change. There's many. Globalization -- a great recent piece in the New York Times, going over this, globalization, technological change -- these are all really very good things for our economy. We need to continue on with the process of globalization and certainly technological change improves all our lives, but clearly it affects the distribution of income and wealth. I'm a person with no skills and talent, I'm getting creamed by trade. I'm competing against low-wage workers in China and India. I can't compete. I'm just getting crushed. And, of course, high income households are benefitting enormously, right? I mean, Glenn, Art, Bob go off to China, they go off to India, they go off to the UK to give a speech, they get paid very well.
00:37:47 Unfortunately, I'm not in their class, you know? I don't get paid as well. But, it's globalization that allows them to get these great returns, and their income and wealth rises. And I think the problem here is that if we don't address the skewing of the distribution and wealth, the disenfranchised are going to say, "Enough!" And they're going to stop the process of globalization, and they're going to rebel against the pace of technological change, and that's going to be to everyone's detriment, including higher income households. Now, here's the good news. We can solve this problem, and we can solve it together in a combined way. We have to think about addressing our fiscal problems through the prism of the income -- the distribution of income and wealth. So,
we need to cut government spending? Absolutely. We have to do this. But, we have to do this in a way that's intelligent and maybe means-testing for entitlement programs.
You know, take -- change the entitlement programs for the wealthy into insurance policies, but that only goes so far.
00:38:49 We don't want to go to the point where the insurance policies become a welfare program and we lose support for things like Medicare and Social Security. That'd only take us so far. So we have to address taxes. If I were king for the day, I wouldn't raise tax rates on anybody, and I don't think we need to, right? I am all for tax reform. Let's close the deductions, let's close the loopholes, let's make the tax code fairer, broaden the base, I'm all for it, but let's use the revenue to address our fiscal problems, not to cut tax rates, until we're able to do that, right? I mean, that is the best way, that is the way proposed by Simpson-Bowles, that's the way proposed by Domenici-Rivlin, and that is a bipartisan way. So this is not hard. It's -- we can do it, and that's the good news.
Now, let me end this way with a personal note. I started my own company back 25 years ago with a good friend and my best friend and my brother. And I wasn't in theproverbial garage but I was pretty close. It grew into a pretty good size -- a small business.
00:39:50 I had 100 employees when I sold it to the Moody's Corporation. And the reason I'm telling you this is because I wanted to let you know that I'm not just an egghead. You know, I look like one maybe, but I'm not. So I look at these things through the -- in terms of data, theory, and experience. And my experience says, "You need to vote against this proposition." Thank you.
John Donvan:
Thank you, Mark Zandi.
[applause]
And that concludes Round 1 of this Intelligence Squared U.S. Debate where the debaters are arguing it out over this motion: The Rich Are Taxed Enough. Now we move on to Round 2. And Round 2 is where the debaters address each other and take questions from me and from you in the audience. Our motion is this: The Rich Are Taxed Enough.
We have two teams of two arguing it out. The team arguing for the motion, Glenn Hubbard and Arthur Laffer, are basically saying that taxing the rich is something that is absolutely going to backfire, that taxes have consequences on behavior, and that the wealthy, who would be the provider of jobs by being the builders of factories would be discouraged from doing so.
00:40:54 And that as a result of that, not only would they be able to dodge their taxes as Art Laffer pointed out by hiring lawyers and he also said hiring senators --
[laughter]
-- but they will also not be giving jobs to people who would help broaden the tax base.
The side arguing against the motion, Robert Reich and Mark Zandi, are saying, "It's absolutely common sense when you have to close a budget gap to go where the money is, that you go to tax the rich because they have an -- disproportionate amount of the wealth in the country to a degree that they never have before, and that the argument that taxing the wealthy will lead to depressions and recessions has not been borne out over certain periods of time. And we know that both sides to some degree are wandering through forests of data, and each are finding their own path possibly through the same forest --[laughter]
-- picking out different periods of time to prove their points, but I want to go to -- before we get to --
00:41:51 Male Speaker:
But that's what economists do, John.
John Donvan:
Well, yeah, and it's very exciting, I have to --
[laughter]
-- before we get to the parsing of the data, I want to get to something of an overall theme. We've been talking about The Rich Are Taxed Enough. And "enough" has a couple of connotations, and one is "enough" to actually bring in revenues to pay for the government. The other is "enough" to be fair, to meet some sense of fairness. And I want to bring to the side that's arguing for the motion that The Rich Are Taxed Enough,
the question of fairness. Is the system, as it is now, at tax rates that exist now, in a system that -- the one that we have, is it fair? Art Laffer.
Arthur Laffer:
Yeah. No, it's not. It's totally not. And let me use an example if I may, Warren Buffett.
He was sitting there asking my friends and I need to have higher tax rates, and I looked at his letter to the New York Times, and he said he paid a little less than 7 million in taxes, and he said his tax rate was 17.4 percent, which I did the math, hold back, I'm a wiz, but I divided it. He had adjusted gross income of $40 million in that year.
00:42:52 I then went to Forbes. His wealth increased from 40 billion to 50 billion. I went to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and what you found there is he gave 1.75 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, not counting his sons’ foundations or his daughter's foundation. Now, as a definition of "income," to me income is what you spend, what you give away, and your increase in your wealth. It s called the Simon definition of income. If you look at Bill Gates -- I mean -- if you look at Warren Buffett,
his income that year was $12 billion, and he paid 7 million in taxes. That is a tax rate of six 1/100th of 1 percent on his true income. That is obnoxious. But it's not because of any rates raising would change that tax. You've got to broaden the tax base by getting rid of all these exclusions, deductions, eliminations, and tax true income at low rates.
00:43:49 And that is what's fair. The guys who play the game, and you look at the Forbes 500 and you see all of them with their tax exemptions, look at all the 501c3s, all the loopholes.
That's what we've got to go after, not raising tax rates on the last three people who actually pay it.
John Donvan:
All right. Let me go to Bob, Bob Reich.
Robert Reich:
I keep on hearing my good friend Arthur Laffer talking about broadening the base. Now,
do you know exactly what he's talking about when he talks about broadening the base?
Because it sounds good, doesn't it? I mean, you want to broaden the base; everybody wants to broaden the base.
[laughter]
But, Arthur, let's be specific. Are you willing to close loopholes that the very rich are mostly taking advantage of?
Arthur Laffer:
Yes.
Robert Reich:
Okay, now, wait a minute. Isn't that an increase -- doesn't that mean a tax increase?
Arthur Laffer:
No. I'm not -- I thought we're talking about tax rate increases here. We've all gone to that it's tax rates we're talking about. Everyone wants to raise taxes by creating prosperity, it would be stupid not to.
00:44:48 Robert Reich:
Arthur, Arthur --
Arthur Laffer:
We are talking about tax rates here. At least me.Mark Zandi:
Oh, no, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait.
John Donvan:
Mark Zandi.
Mark Zandi:
Wait, wait, wait. The proposition, The Rich Are Taxed Enough. Taxed. What we're arguing is that we want to raise more tax revenue. We'd prefer to do it by broadening the tax base. I would love to do it. Now, we have to look at it from a clear eyed perspective. Can we really -- we've tried, and we've done it once or twice, to broaden the base sufficiently, to raise revenue. But, if we can't, then we raise tax rates. But everyone would agree that we want revenue, and we want to do it through broadening the tax base.
John Donvan:
Let's bring in Glenn Hubbard.
Glenn Hubbard:
Three quick points here. First of all, there's been some discussion of Bowles-Simpson,
but I think it's important for everyone to understand the marginal tax -- the top marginal rate in the Bowles-Simpson compromise plan is 28 percent. And that's financed by broadening the tax base. If we have a healthy tax system, the growth that that engenders will, in fact, raise revenue, yes, but it's not by raising tax rates.
00:45:50 Second point, in fairness, is the OECD point that I made. If you look across industrial countries, the U.S. actually has, by far, the most progressive tax system. We rely much more on taxes that affect high income individuals that peer countries, and we do so for the reason I suggested. The third point I want to mention, if you add up all the tax increases on the rich that are currently being discussed in Washington, it's about 1 percent of GDP. The Congressional Budget Office has come up tonight. They would tell you that the long-term problem in Social Security and Medicare alone is on the order of 10 percentage points of GDP. Anybody who's selling you that taxes on the rich are going to get us out of the fiscal hole doesn't know the math.
Mark Zandi:
Glenn, just one thing. Glenn, are you already saying -- Glenn, are you saying that the American system, compared to Europe, is more fair than any European tax system?
Glenn Hubbard:
I'm saying it's more progressive, I think it's --Mark Zandi:
Is progressive fair?
Glenn Hubbard:
We need a progressive tax system. The question is, can we balance progressivity and growth? We definitely can.
00:46:55 John Donvan:
Robert Reich.
Robert Reich:
Okay. First of all, the reason that the European tax system looks more progressive than ours is because the gap between the rich and the poor in Europe is not nearly as great as it in the United States. We have the highest gap between the rich and the poor.
Secondly, Arthur Laffer just admitted something that I hope you heard. That is that when you close loopholes that are taken advantage of, mostly by the rich, you are, in a sense, raising their taxes. They're actually providing more in taxes. The proposition we are debating is whether the rich are taxed enough. We are saying, Mark and I, that that is wrong. The rich are not taxed enough. If one way we use to get the rich to pay more is to close, for example, the carried interest loophole that allows private equity managers to treat their income as capital gains taxed at 15 percent, that means that Mitt Romney will be taxed more than he is now.
00:48:03 John Donvan:
Art Laffer.
Arthur Laffer:
Come on. You got tax rate reduction. If you did tax rate reduction, broaden the base,
and you created prosperity, of course we all want more revenues, we don't want deficits. I mean, no one wants it. How do you get it? The way you get it, by the way, is the Reagan, Kennedy, Clinton, and also Harding and Coolidge did in the U.S., lowering tax rates and creating prosperity with a broad base. That's what this proposition is. The tax rates --
[talking simultaneously]
Robert Reich:
-- logical avoidance is going on on that side of the aisle.John Donvan:
Actually, I want to put that question to you, Art.
Art Laffer:
I’m bigger than you are.
Robert Reich:
But just barely.
John Donvan:
Robert's point is that closing these loopholes would result in the wealthy paying more of their taxes is because they have more access to these loopholes now. Therefore, their taxes would be raised.
00:48:53 Therefore, he's saying that you're actually arguing for their side ending loopholes.
Glenn Hubbard:
No, well, that's just not true unless it's a parallel arithmetic because the marginal tax rates are coming down at the same time. So, what you're doing is raising revenue in a more efficient way. Some individuals may pay more. And, if the economy grows,
virtually everyone will pay more, and that's just fine. But, raising marginal tax rates,
which has been the siren song of the tax debate, is just wrong.
Male Speaker:
No, can I --
Art Laffer:
Do you agree that we should lower tax rates on the rich?
Mark Zandi:
If we generate tax revenue.
Art Laffer:
Okay. I think you just agreed with us.
Mark Zandi:
Can I make a few points --
John Donvan:
Yes, Mark Zandi?Mark Zandi:
-- in response to some of the points that were made. First, this is my view. Glenn, I think we need to address spending. We have to. I mean, if you look at Simpson-Bowles or any proposal that's reasonable, most of the onus of addressing our fiscal problems is on the spending side. So, I'm with you on that.
00:49:51 But, all of these proposals also say we need to generate revenue. This has got to be a shared burden in terms of spending and tax. So, no disagreement there. The second thing I say is that if we can raise tax revenue by lowering the deductions and credits in the tax code -- and there're some very creative ways of doing it. Marty Feldstein has a great proposal. Both Governor Romney and President Obama have put proposals that are not dissimilar in this regard in terms of capping the amount of deductions and credits that an individual can take, and that would burden -- in theory, would land on higher-income households. I'm all for that. But I think it's also important that we do this in a way that we're clear-eyed, because -- in a political sense, a political economy sense -- because we know it's going to be really hard to scale back those deductions and credits in the tax code.
00:50:49 It's -- you know, for every credit and deduction in the code, there is a constituency that literally will go to war for it. So, we know that. So, in that context, we have to think about -- well, maybe we have to raise marginal rates to generate that revenue, to get to the point where we're going to address our long-term fiscal problems and --
John Donvan:
As a temporary thing, not as a long-term principle of the way --
Mark Zandi:
Yeah, absolutely. You can't --
[talking simultaneously]
John Donvan:
Let's bring in Glenn Hubbard, please.
Glenn Hubbard:
You can't do that either in the short-term or the long-term. So, let's be clear. The current budget has spending full three percentage points higher than traditional levels in the country. It is proposing to raise taxes on high-income people by 1 percent of GDP,
and we just don't know what happens to the other two. In the long term, as I've said,just Social Security and Medicare alone are 10 times the cost, even of the most optimistic tax increases. So, taxes aren't even an important part of this conversation.
00:51:49 And, to the extent that they are, they would have to follow the European model, which is to raise them on everyone, a consumption tax.
John Donvan:
Robert Reich.
Robert Reich:
We're getting tangled in a semantic dispute, and I want to be very, very clear about what we are actually arguing. There are two ways of raising revenues. Almost everybody up here agrees, I think, that we've got to raise some revenues. We may have to do a lot of spending reductions as well, but we've got to raise some revenues if we're going to deal with the budget deficit problem. There are two ways of doing it. One is raising marginal income tax rates, and the second is closing loopholes. Now, the question really is when you do one or both of those, are you going to have the rich paying more, or is the middle class going to have to pay more, or the poor going to have to pay more? What Mark and I are saying is that when you get more revenue, either by closing loopholes or by raising marginal rates, the rich should end up paying more as a matter of logic, as a matter of fairness, as a matter of history, as a matter of common sense.
00:52:54 John Donvan:
All right. Art Laffer, so your opponent is saying -- this is a debate about --
[applause]
-- this is a debate about whose hide is it going to come out of, and he's saying it needs to come out of the rich's hide.
Arthur Laffer:
Let's just talk about it. Of course you do. I mean -- and there's nothing wrong with the rich paying more in taxes if -- with the prosperity, which is exactly what happened, what I showed in the numbers there. During the Roaring '20s, the rich paid more as a share of GDP by lowering rates dramatically. If you look at the Kennedy period, the rich paid a lot more as a share of GDP by lowering rates dramatically. Under the Reagan/Clinton period, the rich paid a lot more by lowering rates dramatically and creating prosperity.
That is the dream, and that's where we go. You cannot balance the budget on thebacks of the unemployed. You just plain can't. And that's what you have to do.
John Donvan:
Robert Reich.
Robert Reich:
I think that when Arthur Laffer, my dear friend
[laughter]
When you just said --
John Donvan:
My friend is kind of a dubious term here --
[laughter]
Robert Reich:
-- when you just said that it's fine, it's fine for the rich to pay more through closing loopholes, I think you just lost --
00:53:55 [laughter]
-- the entire debate. But -- but beyond that, I want to point out, this is an interesting historic footnote -- Arthur, you keep going back to the 1920s, the Roaring '20s, there were two years over the last century, two years in which the richest Americans took home the highest percentage of total income in America. Those two years were 1928 and 2007. Now, does it strike anybody here interesting --
[laughter]
-- as a matter of what happens when the rich take home so much of the total income,
does it strike anybody here that there may be a consequence?
[laughter]
[applause]
There may be.
John Donvan:
But, Robert, how do you relate that to this motion? Land that on this motion.Robert Reich:
I'm sorry?
John Donvan:
Relate that point to this motion.
Robert Reich:
The motion should not be voted for. It's an insane motion.
00:54:53 Mark Zandi:
Can I make one --
[talking simultaneously]
[laughter]
John Donvan:
I think you did tonight's grandstanding but you didn't land --
[talking simultaneously]
Mark Zandi:
Let me advance the ball just a little bit, and that is --
[laughter]
-- it's very important to look at effective tax rates, so that's how much I pay in tax relative to the income I earn, not the marginal rates, it's the effective tax rates. And if you look at effective tax rates across the income distribution, and not just income tax but you consider the payroll tax, you consider the incidence of corporate tax, excise taxes, you know, you roll it all up, this is data, you can go look it up, it's Congressional Budget Office data, and they have it over time, it's true that effective tax rates have fallen for everybody across the income distribution since the date it begins, 1979, 1980,
but it's also true that it's fallen very significantly for higher income households.
00:55:53 And, in fact, interesting statistic, for the top 1 percent of earners, the decline in the effective tax rate, 1979 to 2010, has declined by more than any other income group, the effective tax rate. So you can argue, and this is often the argument you will hear, that the wealthy pay their higher share of total taxes, but the reason is because they'reearning so much more income, and their effective tax rate is a lot --
John Donvan:
Let's bring in Glenn Hubbard.
Glenn Hubbard:
Yeah, again, if you look both at shares of income and shares of taxes paid, the U.S. is the most progressive, the CBO, not to get too much into the weeds here, really is not attributing the corporation income tax in any way that's really going to change those numbers, and on tax reform and growth it is certainly the case that if we broadened the base and lowered the rates we would get growth. Otherwise, why are we going to do tax reform? And that's fine, but that will raise revenue. But we are not arguing for non-
revenue neutral tax changes.
00:56:51 It's up to you to argue that raising marginal rates, which you've referred to a few times this evening, actually is the way to go.
Male Speaker:
Yes.
[talking simultaneously]
Robert Reich:
John, you asked me, "Why is it relevant that in two years, that is, 1928, and 2007, the rich took home the highest percentage of total income that they've taken --
John Donvan:
That's why it's relevant to the motion.
Robert Reich:
-- it's relevant to the motion in the following way, because behind this motion is a question about the relationship between fairness and economic growth. That's what we are discussing tonight. And my contention and the contention that I think Mark agrees with as well, is that there is not an inconsistency between fairness and economic growth. In fact, the rich would do better with a smaller share of a rapidly growing economy than a large share of an economy that's dead in the water. Why? Because it's dead in the water because the distribution of income is so crazy.
00:57:49 Male Speaker:
Yeah, but --
Robert Reich:
And that's why -- and that is directly relevant to the point that Arthur and Glenn are making, or are attempting to make --
[laughter]
-- and are not making actually very well --
[laughter]
[talking simultaneously]
John Donvan:
Art Laffer.
Arthur Laffer:
There he was almost nice, but seriously, I mean, the point of it here is "Let's take the '20s that you're talking about." We had those tax cuts. We had that growth. We have the rich becoming very prosperous. There's nothing wrong with the rich being rich. The problem is when the poor are poorer. The dream has always been to make the poor rich, and during the '20s, when we had the Roaring '20s, no other country did the tax codes we did. After World War I they all stayed in depression the whole time. That is the key here. There's nothing wrong with the prosperity we had from the '80s on. But I'll tell you what happened in the 1920s -- and they paid a lot more in taxes.
Robert Reich:
And the exact same thing happened leading up to the crash of 2008, and that is the median wages were stuck in the mud, the -- really the growth and the gains from growth, went to the top. What happened? People in the middle, in order to maintain their standard of living, they borrowed, they borrowed, and they borrowed.
00:58:55 And people at the top gambled, and they gambled recklessly. And those bubbles exploded in 1929 and in 2008.
[applause]
John Donvan:
Again, a great applause line, but I'm not seeing how this is justifying taxing the rich. ButI want to bring -- Glenn Hubbard.
Glenn Hubbard:
Mark very helpfully, earlier, referred to a lot of structural problems facing the country.
Those are problems that are subjects of another debate, but it is very important to ask the question to you, Mark, or to you, Bob, how is it that raising marginal tax rates on high income people gets at any of those structural problems? You referred to globalization, there are skill gaps among low income people, I'm not connecting the dots, from your tax policy to dealing with the problem that actually should concern America.
00:59:50 Mark Zandi:
Yeah, that's a very good question. I think it's important that we address the distribution of income and wealth, because if we don't, we're going to have the situation that Arthur joked about but is very serious. And that is that the wealthy will capture the system.
Art joked about buying a senator, buying a congressman. I don't think that's a joke. I mean, I think that's a very serious issue.
Robert Reich:
It's happening.
Mark Zandi:
And we can't allow that to happen.
Male Speaker:
Agreed.
Mark Zandi:
This is the reason why we have to be very, very conscious of this. We have to have enough revenue that goes to the government, to be able to build out the infrastructure we need. We need the revenue to go to the government sufficient to educate the population and bring the skill attainment of those workers that are getting creamed by China up, so that they can compete in a global economy. We can't do |
zzy is allergic to milk, eggs, tree nuts and peanuts. We had officially diagnosed her allergies when she was about five months old, though signs were present right away which included skin rashes and eczema, issues with digestion, and spontaneous hives. She is extremely allergic to casein (milk protein), and is at high risk of anaphylaxis from even minimal exposure to the protein.
How did you come to learn of OIT, and which allergist did you work with?
I learned about the OIT study from one of the local Facebook groups dedicated to families living with allergies. We participated in the Montreal Milk Desensitization Study which was overseen by Dr. Edmond Chan in Vancouver at the BC Children’s Hospital.
What was the OIT process like for you and your child? What did it consist of? How long did it take?
The process consisted of an initial assessment, including skin and blood tests for milk allergies, as well as an oral challenge at a later appointment to confirm milk allergy. Once Isabelle was considered a good candidate for the study, she was accepted as a participant. At her initial visit, she was given a 1 mL solution containing diluted milk. She was monitored for about an hour. When no reaction occurred, we were sent home to continue the diluted 1 mL dose once per day for a week. We met with Dr. Chan on a weekly basis at the allergy clinic at the BC Children’s Hospital, each time increasing the dose at the clinic, then continuing with that dose at home daily. After a few successful weeks, Izzy’s asthma started acting up, so we stayed on the last dose for a few weeks until it was brought under control. We then resumed the increases, but at a reduced rate.
After several months of trying, and more severe reactions to higher doses (including a couple of episodes requiring epinephrine and hospitalization), Dr. Chan felt it was best to stop the OIT. He recommended that Izzy continue with daily ingestion of a dose she had tolerated without any reactions. We continued with a reduced dose for a few months (outside of the study with no escalation), but eventually she was starting to have more frequent minor reactions so we lowered the dose again, until we eventually stopped altogether.
[*Editor’s note: Asthma, especially if uncontrolled, may increase the chances of OIT not working]
How did OIT work or not work for Isabelle?
Unfortunately, OIT did not work for Isabelle. It was disappointing, as the time and sacrifices she had to make were quite substantial. She had to avoid any overheating, exercise, or brisk activity for two hours after each dose, and needed to be monitored during that time. It was also recommended to take each dose with food. This limited the times and activities we could participate in.
Do you have any additional comments about your experience?
Izzy really disliked taking the milk, and was relieved when we finally stopped altogether. She would get anxious before every dose. Even several months later, she still hated the taste. She never got over the aversion she had to the taste of milk, even when we tried disguising it with chocolate syrup, or mixing it in with other foods. The psychological impact the study had on her, and the emotional stress she endured every time she was ingesting her daily dose, could not be ignored either.
When after a few weeks she started having somewhat regular minor reactions, she asked me why I was trying to change her. It’s difficult to hear this from your child, and even more difficult trying to explain the long-term benefits of OIT being successful. In the end, I am glad we were able to participate, as this experience taught me and Isabelle many valuable things about her specific allergies.
That being said, I am concerned that at the end of this study, her blood IgE levels were at significantly increased levels from what they were at the start. This is apparently common at the early stages of OIT, but then numbers typically drop as the body becomes desensitized. Since we never completed the OIT study, I fear what this will mean for her in the future should she have accidental exposure to milk.
The above experiences are just two of the possible outcomes of OIT. There are many families who experience positive and not-so-positive outcomes with any therapy.
Other types of food allergy treatment currently being studied by allergists in research include such therapies as anti-IgE antibodies (Xolair®), Chinese herbal formulas, and other types of immunotherapy, such as Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT), and Epicutaneous (EPIT). We will be offering you a glimpse of families’ experiences with these protocols in the months to come, stay tuned!The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War and the Nigerian-Biafran War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), was a war fought between the government of Nigeria and the secessionist state of Biafra. Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of the Igbo people, whose leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the Northern-dominated federal government. The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain's formal decolonization of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a counter-coup and persecution of Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over the lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta played a vital strategic role.
Within a year, the Federal Government troops surrounded Biafra, capturing coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. The blockade imposed during the ensuing stalemate led to severe famine. During the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation.[32]
In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries. The plight of the starving Biafrans became a cause célèbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding and prominence of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the main supporters of the Nigerian government in Lagos, while France, Israel and some other countries supported Biafra. France and Israel provided weapons to both combatants.[citation needed]
Background [ edit ]
Ethnic division [ edit ]
The civil war can be connected to the British colonial amalgamation in 1914 of Northern and Southern Nigeria. Intended for better administration due to the close proximity of these protectorates, the change did not account for the great difference in the cultures and religions of the peoples in each area. After the amalgamation, oil was discovered in Eastern Nigeria (now Southern Nigeria). Competition for its associated wealth led to the struggle for control amongst the regions. As southern Nigeria was not as united as the north, it was disadvantaged in the power struggle.[33] In July 1966 Northern officers staged a counter-coup to revenge on the easterners for the targeting their own political leaders in the first coup; Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon emerged as the head of state. During his tenure, killing of Easterners in the north continued; several retaliatory actions took place, eventually resulting in the Biafran war.[34]
Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, but remained in the Commonwealth of Nations, composed of 53 former UK colonies. In 1960, Nigeria had a population of 60 million people, made up of more than 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups. More than fifty years earlier, the United Kingdom had carved an area out of West Africa containing hundreds of different ethnic groups and unified it, calling it Nigeria. The three predominant groups were the Igbo, which formed between 60–70% of the population in the southeast; the Hausa-Fulani, which formed about 65% of the population in the northern part of the territory; and the Yoruba, which formed about 75% of the population in the southwestern part. Although these groups have their own homelands, by the 1960s, the people were dispersed across Nigeria, with all three ethnic groups represented substantially in major cities. When the war broke out in 1967, there were still 5,000 Igbos in Lagos.[35]
The semi-feudal and Islamic Hausa-Fulani in the North were traditionally ruled by a feudal, conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting of Emirs who, in turn, owed their allegiance to a supreme Sultan. This Sultan was regarded as the source of all political power and religious authority.
The Yoruba political system in the southwest, like that of the Hausa-Fulani, also consisted of a series of monarchs, the Oba. The Yoruba monarchs, however, were less autocratic than those in the North. The political and social system of the Yoruba accordingly allowed for greater upward mobility, based on acquired rather than inherited wealth and title.
In contrast to the two other groups, the Igbo in the southeast lived mostly in autonomous, democratically organised communities, although there were eze or monarchs in many of the ancient cities, such as the Kingdom of Nri. In its zenith the Kingdom controlled most of Igbo land, including influence on the Anioma people, Arochukwu (which controlled slavery in Igbo), and Onitsha land. Unlike the other two regions, decisions within the Igbo communities were made by a general assembly in which men and women participated.[36]
The differing political systems among these three peoples reflected and produced divergent customs and values. The Hausa-Fulani commoners, having contact with the political system only through a village head designated by the Emir or one of his subordinates, did not view political leaders as amenable to influence. Political decisions were to be submitted to. As with all other authoritarian religious and political systems, leadership positions were given to persons willing to be subservient and loyal to superiors. A chief function of this political system in this context was to maintain conservative values, which caused many Hausa-Fulani to view economic and social innovation as subversive or sacrilegious.
In contrast to the Hausa-Fulani, the Igbo often participated directly in the decisions which affected their lives. They had a lively awareness of the political system and regarded it as an instrument for achieving their personal goals. Status was acquired through the ability to arbitrate disputes that might arise in the village, and through acquiring rather than inheriting wealth.[37] The Igbo had been substantially victimized in the Atlantic slave trade; in the year 1790 it was reported that of 20,000 people sold each year from Bonny, 16,000 were Igbo.[38] With their emphasis upon social achievement and political participation, the Igbo adapted to and challenged colonial rule in innovative ways.
These tradition-derived differences were perpetuated and perhaps enhanced by the British system of colonial rule in Nigeria. In the North, the British found it convenient to rule indirectly through the Emirs, thus perpetuating rather than changing the indigenous authoritarian political system. Christian missionaries were excluded from the North, and the area thus remained virtually closed to European cultural imperialism. By contrast the richest of the Igbo often sent their sons to British universities, thinking to prepare them to work with the British. During the ensuing years, the Northern Emirs maintained their traditional political and religious institutions, while reinforcing their social structure. At the time of independence in 1960, the North was by far the most underdeveloped area in Nigeria. It had an English literacy rate of 2%, as compared to 19.2% in the East (literacy in Ajami (local languages in Arabic script), learned in connection with religious education, was much higher). The West also enjoyed a much higher literacy level, as it was the first part of the country to have contact with western education, and established a free primary education program under the pre-independence Western Regional Government.[39][40]
In the South, the missionaries rapidly introduced Western forms of education. Consequently, the Yoruba were the first group in Nigeria to adopt Western bureaucratic social norms. They made up the first classes of African civil servants, doctors, lawyers, and other technicians and professionals.
In Igbo areas, missionaries were introduced at a later date because of British difficulty in establishing firm control over the highly autonomous Igbo communities.[41] However, the Igbo people actively took to Western education, and they overwhelmingly came to adopt Christianity. Population pressure in the Igbo homeland, combined with aspirations for monetary wages, drove thousands of Igbos to other parts of Nigeria in search of work. By the 1960s, Igbo political culture was more unified and the region relatively prosperous, with tradesmen and literate elites active not just in the traditionally Igbo South, but throughout Nigeria.[42] By 1966, the ethnic and religious differences between Northerners and the Igbo had combined with additional stratification by virtue of education and economic class.[43]
Politics and economics of federalism [ edit ]
The British colonial ideology that divided Nigeria into three regions—North, West and East—exacerbated the already well-developed economic, political, and social differences among Nigeria's different ethnic groups. The country was divided in such a way that the North had a slightly higher population than the other two regions combined. On this basis the Northern Region was allocated a majority of the seats in the Federal Legislature established by the colonial authorities. Within each of the three regions the dominant ethnic groups, the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo, respectively formed political parties that were largely regional and based on ethnic allegiances: the Northern People's Congress (NPC) in the North; the Action Group in the West (AG); and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in the East. These parties were not exclusively homogeneous in terms of their ethnic or regional make-up; the disintegration of Nigeria resulted largely from the fact that these parties were primarily based in one region and one tribe. To simplify matters, we will refer to them here as the Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo-based; or Northern, Western and Eastern parties.
The basis of modern Nigeria formed in 1914, when Britain amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates. Beginning with the Northern Protectorate, the British implemented a system of indirect rule of which they exerted influence through alliances with local forces. This system worked so well, Colonial Governor Frederick Lugard successfully lobbied to extend it to the Southern Protectorate through amalgamation. In this way, a foreign and hierarchical system of governance was imposed on the Igbos (along with many other smaller groups in the South.)[44] Intellectuals began to agitate for greater rights and independence.[45] The size of this intellectual class increased significantly in the 1950s, with the massive expansion of the national education program.[46] During the 1940s and 1950s the Igbo and Yoruba parties were in the forefront of the fight for independence from Britain. They also wanted an independent Nigeria to be organized into several small states so that the conservative North would not dominate the country. Northern leaders, fearful that independence would mean political and economic domination by the more Westernized elites in the South, preferred the perpetuation of British rule. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority. Igbo and Yoruba leaders, anxious to obtain an independent country at all costs, accepted the Northern demands.
However, it would be wrong to state that the two Southern regions were politically or philosophically aligned and there was already discordance between the two Southern political parties. Firstly, the AG favoured a loose confederacy of regions in the emergent Nigerian nation whereby each region would be in total control of its own distinct territory. The status of Lagos was a sore point for the AG which did not want Lagos, a Yoruba town which was at that time the Federal Capital and seat of national government to be designated as the Capital of Nigeria if it meant loss of Yoruba Suzerainty. The AG insisted that Lagos, a Yoruba city situated in Western Nigeria must be completely recognised as a Yoruba town without any loss of identity, control or autonomy by the Yoruba. Contrary to this position, the NCNC was anxious to declare Lagos, by virtue of it being the "Federal Capital Territory" as "no man's land" - a declaration which as could be expected angered the AG which offered to help fund the development of other territory in Nigeria as "Federal Capital Territory" and then threatened secession from Nigeria if it didn't get its way. The threat of secession by the AG was tabled, documented and recorded in numerous constitutional conferences, including the constitutional conference held in London in 1954 with the demand that a right of secession be enshrined in the constitution of the emerging Nigerian nation to allow any part of the emergent nation to opt out of Nigeria, should the need arise.(Author(s): Tekena N. TamunoSource: The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Dec., 1970), pp. 563–584 [47] ) This proposal for inclusion of right of secession by the regions in independent Nigeria by the AG was rejected and resisted by NCNC which vehemently argued for a tightly bound united/unitary structured nation because it viewed the provision of a secession clause as detrimental to the formation of a Unitary Nigerian state. In the face of sustained opposition by the NCNC delegates, later joined by the NPC and backed by threats to view maintenance of the inclusion of secession by the AG as treasonable by the British, the AG was forced to renounce its position of inclusion of the right of secession a part of the Nigerian constitution. It should be noted that, had such a provision been made in the Nigerian constitution, later events which led to the Nigerian/Biafran civil war would have been avoided. The pre-independence alliance between the NCNC and the NPC against the aspirations of the AG would later set the tone for political governance of independent Nigeria by the NCNC/NPC and lead to disaster in later years in Nigeria.
[48] Northern–Southern tension manifested on 1 May 1953, as fighting in the Northern city of Kano.[49] The political parties tended to focus on building power in their own regions, resulting in an incoherent and disunified dynamic in the federal government.[50]
In 1946, the British divided the Southern Region into the Western Region and the Eastern Region. Each government was entitled to collect royalties from resources extracted within its area. This changed in 1956 when Shell-BP found large petroleum deposits in the Eastern region. A Commission led by Jeremy Raisman and Ronald Tress determined that resource royalties would now enter a "Distributable Pools Account" with the money split between different parts of government (50% to region of origin, 20% to federal government, 30% to other regions).[51] To ensure continuing influence, the British promoted unity in the Northern bloc and discord among and within the two Southern regions. The government following independence promotes discord in the West with the creation of a new Mid-Western Region in an area with oil potential.[52] The new constitution of 1946 also proclaimed that "The entire property in and control of all mineral oils, in, under, or upon any lands, in Nigeria, and of all rivers, streams, and watercourses throughout Nigeria, is and shall be vested in, the Crown."[53] Britain profited significantly from a fivefold rise in Nigerian exports amidst the postwar economic boom.[54]
First Republic [ edit ]
Nigeria's First Republic came into being on 1 October 1960. The first prime minister of Nigeria, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was a northerner and co-founder of the Northern People's Congress. He formed an alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons party, and its popular nationalist leader Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe, who became Governor General and then President. The Yoruba-aligned Action Group, the third major party, played the opposition role.[55]
Workers became increasingly aggrieved by low wages and bad conditions, especially when they compared their lot to the lifestyles of politicians in Lagos. Most wage earners lived in the Lagos area, and many lived in overcrowded dangerous housing. Labour activity including strikes intensified in 1963, culminating in a nationwide general strike in June 1964. Strikers disobeyed an ultimatum to return to work and at one point were dispersed by riot police. Eventually, they did win wage increases. The strike included people from all ethnic groups.[56] Retired Brigadier General H. M. Njoku later wrote that the general strike heavily exacerbated tensions between the Army and ordinary civilians, and put pressure on the Army to take action against a government which was widely perceived as corrupt.[57]
The 1964 elections, which involved heavy campaigning all year, brought ethnic and regional divisions into focus. Resentment of politicians ran high and many campaigners feared for their safety while touring the country. The Army repeatedly deployed to Tiv Division, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of Tiv people agitating for self-determination.[58][59]
Widespread reports of fraud tarnished the election's legitimacy.[58] Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern People's Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. Violence spread throughout the country and some began to flee the North and West, some to Dahomey.[60] The apparent domination of the political system by the North, and the chaos breaking out across the country, motivated elements within the military to consider decisive action.[61]
Britain maintained its economic hold on the country, through continued alliance and reinforcement of the Northern bloc. In addition to Shell-BP, the British reaped profits from mining and commerce. The British-owned United Africa Company alone controlled 41.3% of all Nigeria's foreign trade.[62] At 516,000 barrels per day, Nigeria had become the tenth biggest oil exporter in the world.[63]
Military coups [ edit ]
On 15 January 1966, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and other junior Army officers (mostly majors and captains) attempted a coup d'état. The two major political leaders of the north, the prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Premier of the northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello were executed by Major Nzeogwu. Also murdered was Sir Ahmadu Bello's wife and officers of Northern extraction. Meanwhile, the President, Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igbo, was on an extended vacation in the West Indies. He did not return until days after the coup. There was widespread suspicion that the Igbo coup plotters had tipped him and other Igbo leaders off regarding the impending coup. In addition to the killings of the Northern political leaders, the Premier of the Western region, Ladoke Akintola and Yoruba senior military officers were also killed. The coup, also referred to as "The Coup of the Five Majors", has been described in some quarters as Nigeria's only revolutionary coup.[64] This was the first coup in the short life of Nigeria's nascent second democracy. Claims of electoral fraud were one of the reasons given by the coup plotters.
This coup was however seen not as a revolutionary coup by other sections of Nigerians, especially in the Northern and Western sections and latter revisioninsts of Nigerian coups, mostly from Eastern part of Nigeria have belatedly maintained to widespread disbelief amongst Western and Southern Nigerians that the majors sought to spring Action Group leader Obafemi Awolowo out of jail and make him head of the new government. From there, they would dismantle the Northern-dominated power structure. However, their efforts to take power were thwarted by Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and loyalist head of the Nigerian Army, who suppressed coup operations in the South. The majors surrendered, and Aguiyi-Ironsi was declared head of state on 16 January.[65][66]
Aguyi-Ironsi suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament. He then abolished the regional confederated form of government and pursued unitary like policies heitheto favoured by the NCNC, having apparently been influenced by some NCNC political philosophy. He, however, appointed Colonel Hassan Katsina, son of Katsina emir Usman Nagogo, to govern the Northern Region, indicating some willingness to maintain cooperation with this bloc.[67] He also preferentially released northern politicians from jail (enabling them to plan his forthcoming overthrow).[68] Aguyi-Ironsi rejected a British offer of military support but promised to protect British interests; however … Britain participated in overthrow?[69]
Ironsi fatally did not bring the failed plotters to trial as required by then-military law and as advised by most northern and western officers, rather, coup plotters were maintained in the military on full pay and some were even promoted while apparently awaiting trial. The coup, despite its failure and since no repercussion was meted out to coup plotters and since no significant Igbo political leaders were affected was widely perceived as having benefited mostly the Igbo. Most of the known coup plotters were Igbo and the military and political leadership of Western and Northern regions had been largely bloodily eliminated while Eastern military/political leadership was largely untouched. However Ironsi, himself an Igbo, was thought to have made numerous attempts to please Northerners. The other event that also fuelled the so-called "Igbo conspiracy" was the killing of Northern leaders, and the killing of the Brigader Ademulegun's pregnant wife by the coup executioners. Despite the overwhelming contradictions of the coup being executed by mostly Northern soldiers (such as John Atom Kpera, later military governor of Benue State), the killing of Igbo soldier Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Unegbe by coup executioners, and Ironsi's termination of an Igbo-led coup, the ease by which Ironsi stopped the coup led to suspicion that the Igbo coup plotters planned all along to pave the way for Ironsi to take the reins of power in Nigeria.
Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu became military governor of the Eastern Region at this time.[70] On 24 May 1966, the military government issued Unification Decree #34, which would have replaced the federation with a more centralised system. The Northern bloc found this decree intolerable.[71]
In the face of provocation from the Eastern media which repeatedly showed humiliating posters and cartoons of the slain northern politicians, on the night of 29 July 1966, northern soldiers at Abeokuta barracks mutinied, thus precipitating a counter-coup, which have already been in the planning stages. The counter-coup led to the installation of Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Gowon was chosen as a compromise candidate. He was a Northerner, a Christian, from a minority tribe, and had a good reputation within the army.
It seems that Gowon immediately faced not only a potential standoff with the East, but secession threats from the Northern and even the Western region.[72] The counter-coup plotters had considered using the opportunity to withdraw from the federation themselves. Ambassadors from Britain and the United States, however, urged Gowon to maintain control over the whole country. Gowon followed this plan, repealing the Unification Decree, announcing a return to the federal system.[73]
Persecution of Igbo [ edit ]
From June through October 1966, pogroms in the North killed an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Igbo, half of them children, and caused more than a million to two million to flee to the Eastern Region.[74] 29 September 1966, was considered the worst day; because of massacres, it was called 'Black Thursday'.[75][76]
Ethnomusicologist Charles Keil, who was visiting Nigeria in 1966, recounted:
The pogroms I witnessed in Makurdi, Nigeria (late Sept. 1966) were foreshadowed by months of intensive anti-Ibo and anti-Eastern conversations among Tiv, Idoma, Hausa and other Northerners resident in Makurdi, and, fitting a pattern replicated in city after city, the massacres were led by the Nigerian army. Before, during and after the slaughter, Col. Gowon could be heard over the radio issuing 'guarantees of safety' to all Easterners, all citizens of Nigeria, but the intent of the soldiers, the only power that counts in Nigeria now or then, was painfully clear. After counting the disemboweled bodies along the Makurdi road I was escorted back to the city by soldiers who apologised for the stench and explained politely that they were doing me and the world a great favor by eliminating Ibos.
The Federal Military Government also laid the groundwork for the blockade of the Eastern Region which went into full effect in 1967.[77]
Breakaway [ edit ]
On 27 May 1967, Gowon proclaimed the division of Nigeria into twelve states. This decree carved the Eastern Region in three parts: South Eastern State, Rivers State, and East Central State. Now the Igbos, concentrated in the East Central State, would lose control over most of the petroleum, located in the other two areas.[78][79]
On 30 May 1967, Ojukwu declared independence of the Republic of Biafra.
The Federal Military Government immediately placed an embargo on all shipping to and from Biafra—but not on oil tankers.[77][78] Biafra quickly moved to collect oil royalties from oil companies doing business within its borders.[78] When Shell-BP acquiesced to this request at the end of June, the Federal Government extended its blockade to include oil.[80] The blockade, which most foreign actors accepted, played a decisive role in putting Biafra at a disadvantage from the beginning of the war.[81]
Although the very young nation had a chronic shortage of weapons to go to war, it was determined to defend itself. Although there was much sympathy in Europe and elsewhere, only five countries (Tanzania, Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia, and Haiti) officially recognised the new republic. Britain supplied amounts of heavy weapons and ammunition to the Nigerian side because of its desire to preserve the country it had created. The Biafra side received arms and ammunition from France even though French government denied sponsoring Biafra. An article in Paris Match of 20 November 1968 claimed that French arms were reaching Biafra through neighbouring countries such as Gabon.[82] The heavy supply of weapons by Britain was the biggest factor in determining the outcome of the war.
Several peace accords were held, with the most notable one held at Aburi, Ghana (the Aburi Accord),. There were different accounts on what took place in Aburi. Ojukwu accused the federal government of going back on their promises while the federal government accused Ojukwu of distortion and half-truths.[83] Ojukwu gained agreement to a confederation for Nigeria, rather than a federation. He was warned by his advisers that this reflected a failure of Gowon to understand the difference and, that being the case, predicted that it would be reneged upon.
When this happened, Ojukwu regarded it as both a failure by Gowon to keep to the spirit of the Aburi agreement, and lack of integrity on the side of the Nigerian Military Government in the negotiations toward a united Nigeria. Gowon's advisers, to the contrary, felt that he had enacted as much as was politically feasible in fulfillment of the spirit of Aburi.[84] The Eastern Region was very ill equipped for war, outmanned and outgunned by the Nigerians. Their advantages included fighting in their homeland, support of most Easterners, determination, and use of limited resources.
The UK-which still maintained the highest level of influence over Nigeria's highly valued oil industry through Shell-BP [85] and the Soviet Union supported the Nigerian government, especially by military supplies.
War [ edit ]
Shortly after extending its blockade to include oil, the Nigerian government launched a "police action" to retake the secessionist territory.[86] The war began on the early hours of 6 July 1967 when Nigerian Federal troops advanced in two columns into Biafra. The Biafra strategy had succeeded. The federal government had started the war, and the East was defending itself.[87] The Nigerian Army offensive was through the north of Biafra led by Colonel Mohammed Shuwa and the local military units were formed as the 1st Infantry Division. The division was led mostly by northern officers. After facing unexpectedly fierce resistance and high casualties, the right-hand Nigerian column advanced on the town of Nsukka, which fell on 14 July, while the left-hand column made for Garkem, which was captured on 12 July.
Biafran offensive [ edit ]
The Biafrans responded with an offensive of their own when, on 9 August, the Biafran forces moved west into the Mid-Western Nigerian region across the Niger river, passing through Benin City, until they were stopped at Ore (in present day Ondo State) just over the state boundary on 21 August, just 130 miles east of the Nigerian capital of Lagos. The Biafran attack was led by Lt. Col. Banjo, a Yoruba, with the Biafran rank of brigadier. The attack met little resistance and the Mid-West was easily taken over.
This was due to the pre-secession arrangement that all soldiers should return to their regions to stop the spate of killings, in which Igbo soldiers had been major victims.[39][88] The Nigerian soldiers who were supposed to defend the Mid-West state were mostly Mid-West Igbo and, while some were in touch with their eastern counterparts, others resisted. General Gowon responded by asking Colonel Murtala Mohammed (who later became head of state in 1975) to form another division (the 2nd Infantry Division) to expel the Biafrans from the Mid-West, as well as to defend the West side and attack Biafra from the West as well. As Nigerian forces retook the Mid-West, the Biafran military administrator declared the Republic of Benin on 19 September, though it ceased to exist the next day. (The present country of Benin, west of Nigeria, was still named Dahomey at that time.)
Although Benin City was retaken by the Nigerians on 22 September, the Biafrans succeeded in their primary objective by tying down as many Nigerian Federal troops as they could. Gen. Gowon also launched an offensive into Biafra south from the Niger Delta to the riverine area, using the bulk of the Lagos Garrison command under Colonel Benjamin Adekunle (called the Black Scorpion) to form the 3rd Infantry Division (which was later renamed as the 3rd Marine Commando). As the war continued, the Nigerian Army recruited amongst a wider area, including the Yoruba, Itshekiri, Urhobo, Edo, Ijaw, etc.
Nigerian offensive [ edit ]
The command was divided into two brigades with three battalions each. 1st brigade advanced 1 Brigade advanced on the axis Ogugu - Ogunga - Nsukka road while 2nd Brigade advanced on axis Gakem -Obudu - Ogoja road. By 10 July 1967, it had conquered all its assigned territories. By 12 July the 2nd brigade had captured Gakem, Ogudu, Ogoja.
Enugu became the hub of secession and rebellion, and the Nigerian government believed that once Enugu was captured, the drive for secession would end. The plans to conquer Enugu began on 12 September 1967 and by 4 October 1967 the Nigerian Army had captured Enugu.[83] Nigerian soldiers under Murtala Mohammed carried out a mass killing of 700 civilians when they captured Asaba on the River Niger. The Nigerians were repulsed three times as they attempted to cross the River Niger during October, resulting in the loss of thousands of troops, dozens of tanks and equipment. The first attempt by the 2nd Infantry Division on 12 October to cross the Niger from the town of Asaba to the Biafran city of Onitsha cost the Nigerian Federal Army over 5,000 soldiers killed, wounded, captured or missing. Operation Tiger Claw (17–20 October 1967) was a military conflict between Nigerian and Biafran military forces. On 17 October 1967 Nigerians invaded Calabar led by the "Black Scorpion", Benjamin Adekunle, while the Biafrans were led by Col. Ogbu Ogi, who was responsible for controlling the area between Calabar and Opobo, and Lynn Garrison, a foreign mercenary. The Biafrans came under immediate fire from the water and the air. For the next two days Biafran stations and military supplies were bombarded by the Nigerian air force. That same day Lynn Garrison reached Calabar but came under immediate fire by federal troops. By 20 October, Garrison's forces withdrew from the battle while Col. Ogi officially surrendered to Gen. Adekunle. On 19 May 1968 Portharcourt was captured. With the capture of Enugu, Bonny, Calabar and Portharcourt, the outside world was left in no doubt of the Federal supremacy in the war.[83]
Control over oil production [ edit ]
Control over petroleum in the Niger Delta was a paramount military objective during the war.
Oil exploration in Nigeria was pioneered by Shell-BP Petroleum Development Company in 1937. In a bid to control the oil in the eastern region, the Federal government placed a shipping embargo on the territory. This embargo did not involve oil tankers. The leadership of Biafra wrote to Shell-BP demanding royalties for the oil that was being explored in their region. After much deliberation, Shell-BP decided to pay Biafra the sum of 250,000 pounds. The news of this payment reached the Federal government, which immediately extended the shipping embargo to oil tankers The Nigerian government also made it clear to Shell-BP that it expected the company to pay all outstanding oil royalty immediately. With the stalling on the payment for Biafra government ask Shell-BP to stop operations in Biafra and took over from the company.[33]
Towards the end of July 1967, Nigerian federal troops and marines captured Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, thereby taking control of vital Shell-BP facilities.[89] Operations began again in May 1968, when Nigeria captured Port Harcourt. Its facilities had been damaged and needed repair.[90] Oil production and export continued, but at a lower level. The completion in 1969 of a new terminal at Forçados brought production up from 142,000 barrels/day in 1958 to 540,000 barrels |
Tom Moore Distillery, Barton has just re-opened a quaint visitor’s center and is relaunching tours now. Unlike most distilleries we visited, this one was virtually empty, and our group included only two other people on it. Barton’s stills weren’t running on this day, and while the tour had less depth than the others we visited, it was a quick one and a good introduction to the brand, culminating in a taste of Very Old Barton ($7.50 a bottle at the local drugstore!) and 1792 whiskeys.
Kentucky Bourbon Distillers – A bit of a cult distillery – Willett, Noah’s Mill, and many other artisan brands are made here – but KBD was clearly not prepared for visitors when we pulled up to its under-construction grounds and a few pairs of skeptical eyes. We high-tailed it out to our next stop pretty quickly. I know KBD has been open in the past and may be open for tours again in the future.
Maker’s Mark – Owing to its location, normally this would be the natural last stop on the trail due to its distant location, but a later appointment at Heaven Hill made this diversion a better fit, time-wise. Maker’s Mark is an anarchic zoo of a distillery, its legions of stroller-pushing fans clamoring to wander the (quite lovely) grounds and dip their own bottles of Maker’s in red wax. We skipped the tour and crashed the tasting area (both original Maker’s and Maker’s 46 are offered) after having lunch at the on-site café.
Heaven Hill – Our last stop looked like a bust as I had goofed up our appointment and the place was packed with visitors, but while waiting I got to listen in on a group tour of the huge “Heritage Center” that takes you deep into the origins of Bourbon on the frontier. (Additional tour options are also available; two are free but a three-hour “deep dive” into whiskeymaking will run you 25 bucks.) There are literally tons of awesome memorabilia here, and you can easily take it in by yourself – but you’ll need to get on a tour if you want to taste, and Heaven Hill gives you some good stuff, including old Elijah Craig and/or single-barrel Evan Williams. We pulled some strings and got into the really good stuff, including Rittenhouse Rye, two wonderful Parker’s Heritage Collection whiskeys, the burly and heavily-wooded Evan Williams 23 Year Old (available only in Japan and one shop in London), and finishing off with perhaps the best Bourbon I’ve ever sampled, the $500-a-bottle William Heavenhill, an 18-year-old single barrel that’s simply outrageous in its goodness. Heaven Hill has about a dozen bottles left at the distillery if you want one.
And that’s it! Kentucky’s friendly residents do everything they can to make the Bourbon Trail experience fun and interesting, and we found everyone to be welcoming and gracious hosts for all of our visits. No doubt you will too.
One final note: If you’re staying in Louisville, don’t miss the companion Urban Bourbon Trail, which invites you to visit six bars that each offer dozens of Bourbons. Similar to the regular Bourbon Trail, if you get six stamps from any of the 14 bars included on the trail, you’ll get another t-shirt… and you’ll see plenty of history and probably find tons of whiskeys you’ve never heard of along the way.
Bring on the photos… apologies for the massive volume of them. Many/most of these pictures courtesy Susanne Bergstrom.
Similar Posts:Blake Griffin suffered a serious-looking knee injury on Monday night when teammate Austin Rivers fell directly into Griffin’s knee. If you’re squeamish, you might want to skip this video.
Doc Rivers tried to blame this on Lonzo Ball... pic.twitter.com/tzA9UdTyfA — David Astramskas (@redapples) November 28, 2017
We’re still waiting to hear how serious it is and what Griffin’s status will be.
That said, there’s one oddity we should address in the meantime, one that involves Doc Rivers. In his post-game press conference, Rivers blamed Lonzo Ball for this injury, not his son Austin, the player who actually made contact. Here’s video and transcription of the relevant quote.
“Lonzo was just trying to make a play, but he went in and usually when someone goes in that hard they call it. But I think Lonzo knocked someone into Blake and it was like a trigger effect. What can you do?”
Rivers isn’t saying Ball did anything malicious on the play. I’m not sure Ball did anything on this play, though. Here’s a screenshot:
The sequence of events, as best I understand it, is:
Ball is driving into the lane and loses the basketball Ball changes directions in an attempt to re-control the basketball Griffin also starts to dive onto the floor chasing the basketball Austin Rivers’ momentum is still carrying him towards the rim, where Ball was originally going, and he can’t slow down
Since Doc Rivers’ comments were made directly after the game, he may not have seen a true replay of Griffin’s injury yet. Perhaps watching live action, he thought Ball had more to do with pushing Austin Rivers into Griffin than in reality. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter, since Rivers isn’t alleging any misconduct from Ball, just describing an unfortunate basketball play.
In a chain reaction sort of way, I suppose it’s true that Ball’s turnover indirectly begun the events that ended up injuring Griffin. But if you want to play that game, why didn’t Rivers play better defense and keep Ball out of the lane? Why didn’t the Clippers score on the previous possession so they could set up their defense? You could keep going with this forever.
So to set the record straight: no, Ball didn’t injure or cause injury to Griffin. Let’s hope Griffin ends up being OK.Image copyright Getty Images
The Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall and her husband Mike have lost their baby, their spokeswoman has said.
The couple were expecting their second child in the late spring - the baby would have been the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's sixth great-grandchild.
The spokeswoman said: "Very sadly, Zara and Mike Tindall have lost their baby. At this difficult time, we ask that everyone respects their privacy."
The couple already have a daughter, Mia, who will be three next month.
Mr and Mrs Tindall had announced in November they were expecting a baby, saying they were "very, very happy" and looking forward to 2017.
The spokeswoman would not give any details about the circumstances surrounding the loss of the couple's baby.
Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on the private matter.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mike and Zara Tindall with their daughter, Mia
Equestrian champion Mrs Tindall, who is the daughter of the Princess Royal, and her husband, a former England rugby union player, were married in 2011.
As a member of the Great Britain eventing team, Mrs Tindall won a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics, and won the Eventing World Championship in 2006.
Mrs Tindall, 35, does not hold a royal title and is not an HRH.
Ex-England rugby captain Mr Tindall, 38, was a member of the 2003 Rugby World Cup winning team.A bitch move or a legit win – make your call!
You cannot say cheap moves and unsportsmanship are oh so very rare in combat sports. They are part of the game just as diving in soccer or hockey fights. Glove tap fake is, perhaps, the most common cheap move in fighting. And don’t we all love to watch how instant karma punishes those glove tap fakers with a counter punch or a vicious knee to the head? Unfortunately, sometimes even karma needs a rest and that’s when guys who fight like scum, happen to win.Karma was in deep sleep on December 22, 2013 when two Muay Thai fighters, Rajchasie Pumphanmuang from Thailand and Suntu Myawaddy from Myanmar met in the ring in Bangkok, Thailand. Just as soon as the referee finished his pre-fight briefing, the opponents touched gloves and – what was that? Pumphanmuang, his glove still touching Myawaddy’s, threw a front kick that landed directly on his vis-à-vis’ jaw! Myawaddy dropped to the mat, one hundred percent knocked out.Surprisingly, Myawaddy seemed to be the only one who thought something was wrong with the outcome of the fight. The referee ruled the bout a knockout and Pumphanmuang celebrated his victory while his opponent was trying to burn him down with his eyes.The Last Incantation Clark Ashton Smith
Malygris the magician sat in the topmost room of his tower that was builded on a conicall hill above the heart of Susran, capital of Poseidonis. Wrought of a dark stone mined from deep in the earth, perdurable and hard as the fabled adamant, this tower loomed above all others, and flung its shadow far on the roofs and domes of the city, even as the sinister power of Malygris had thrown its darkness on the minds of men.
Now Malygris was old, and all the baleful might of his enchantments, all the dreadful or curious demons under his control, all the fear that he had wrought in the hearts of kings and prelates, were no longer enough to assuage the black ennui of his days. In his chair that was fashioned from the ivory of mastodons, inset with terrible cryptic runes of red tourmalines and azure crystals, he stared moodily through the one lozenge-shaped window of fulvous glass. His white eyebrows were contracted to a single line on the umber parchment of his face, and beneath them his eyes were cold and green as the ice of ancient floes; his beard, half white, half of a black with glaucous gleams, fell nearly to his knees and hid many of the writhing serpentine characters inscribed in woven silver athwart the bosom of his violet robe. About him were scattered all the appurtenances of his art; the skulls of men and monsters; phials filled with black or amber liquids, whose sacrilegious use was known to none but himself; little drums of vulture-skin, and crotali made from the bones and teeth of the cockodrill, used as an accompaniment to certain incantations. The mosaic floor was partly covered with the skins of enormous black and silver apes: and above the door there hung the head of a unicorn in which dwelt the familiar demon of Malygris, in the form of a coral viper with pale green belly and ashen mottlings. Books were piled everywhere: ancient volumes bound in serpent-skin, with verdigris-eaten clasps, that held the frightful lore of Atlantis, the pentacles that have power upon the demons of the earth and the moon, the spells that transmute or disintegrate the elements; and runes from a lost language of Hyperborea. which, when uttered aloud. were more deadly than poison or more potent than any philtre.
But, though these things and the power they held or symbolized were the terror of the peoples and the envy, of all rival magicians, the thoughts of Malygris were dark with immitigable melancholy, and weariness filled his heart as ashes fill the hearth where a great fire has died. Immovable he sat, implacable he mused, while the sun of afternoon, declining on the city and on the sea that was beyond the city, smote with autumnal rays through the window of greenish-yellow glass, and touched his shrunken hands with its phantom gold and fired the bales-rubies of his rings till they burned like demonian eyes. But in his musings there was neither light nor fire; and turning from the grayness of the present, from the darkness that seemed to close in so imminently upon the future, he groped among the shadows of memory, even as a blind man who has lost the sun and seeks it everywhere in vain. And all the vistas of time that had been so full of gold and splendor, the days of triumph that were colored like a soaring flame, the crimson and purple of the rich imperial years of his prime, all these were chill and dim and strangely faded now, and the remembrance thereof was no more than the stirring of dead embers. Then Malygris groped backward to the years of his youth, to the misty, remote, incredible years, where, like an alien star, one memory still burned with unfailing luster - the memory of the girl Nylissa whom he had loved in days ere the lust of unpermitted knowledge and necromantic dominion had ever entered his soul. He had well-nigh forgotten her for decades, in the myriad preoccupations of a life so bizarrely diversified, so replete with occult happenings and powers, with supernatural victories and perils; but now, at the mere thought of this slender and innocent child, who had loved him so dearly when he too was young and slim and guileless, and who had died of a sudden mysterious fever on the very eve of their marriage-day, the mummylike umber of his cheeks took on a phantom flush, and deep down in the icy orbs was a sparkle like the gleam of mortuary tapers. In his dreams arose the irretrievable suns of youth, and he saw the myrtle-shaded valley of Meros, and the stream Zemander, by whose ever-verdant marge he had walked at eventide with Nylissa, seeing the birth of summer stars in the heavens, the stream, and the eyes of his beloved.
Now, addressing the demonian viper that dwelt in the head of the unicorn, Malygris spoke, with the low monotonous intonation of one who thinks aloud:
Viper, in the years before you came to dwell with me and to make your abode in the head of the unicorn, I knew a girl who was lovely and frail as the orchids of the jungle, and who died as the orchids die... Viper, am I mot Malygris, in whom is centered the mastery of all occult lore, all forbidden dominations, with dominion over the spirits of earth and sea and air, over the solar and lunar demons. over the living and the dead? If so I desire, can I not call the girl Nylissa, in the very semblance of all her youth and beauty, and bring her forth from the never-changing shadows of the cryptic tomb, to stand before me in this chamber, in the evening rays of this autumnal sun?'
'Yes, master,' replied the viper, in a low but singularly penetrating hiss, 'you are Malygris, and all sorcerous or necromantic power is yours, all incantations and spells and pentacles are known to you, It is possible, if you so desire, to summon the girl Nylissa from her abode among the dead, and to behold her again as she was ere her loveliness had known the ravening kiss of the worm.'
'Viper, is it well, is it meet, that I should summon her thus?... Will there be nothing to lose, and nothing to regret?'
The viper seemed to hesitate. Then, in a more slow and neasured hiss: 'It is meet for Malygris to do as he would. Who, save Malygris, can decide if a thing be well or ill?'
'In other words, you will not advise me?' the query was as much a statement as a question, and the viper vouchsafed no further utterance.
Malygris brooded for awhile, with his chin on his knotted hands. Then he arose, with a long-unwonted celerity and sureness of movement that belied his wrinkles, and gathered together, from different coigns of the chamber, from ebony shelves, from caskets with locks of gold or brass or electrum, the sundry appurtenances that were needful for his magic. He drew on the floor the requisite circles, and standing within the centermost he lit the thuribles that contained the prescribed incense, and read aloud from a long narrow scroll of gray vellum the purple and vermilion runes of the ritual that summons the departed. The fumes of the censers, blue and white and violet, arose in thick clouds and speedily filled the room with ever-writhing interchanging columns, among which the sunlight disappeared and was succeeded by a wan unearthly glow, pale as the light of moons that ascend from Lethe. With preternatural slowness, with unhuman solemnity, the voice of the necromancer went on in a priest-like chant till the scroll was ended and the last echoes lessened and died out in hollow sepulchral vibrations. Then the colored vapors cleared away, as if the folds of a curtain had been drawn back. But the pale unearthly glow still filled the chamber, and between Malygris and the door where hung the unicorn's head there stood the apparition of Nylissa, even as she had stood in the perished years, bending a little like a wind-blown flower, and smiling with the unmindful poignancy of youth. Fragile, pallid, and simply gowned, with anemone blossoms in her black hair, with eyes that held the new-born azure of vernal heavens, she was all that Malygris had remembered, and his sluggish heart was quickened with an old delightful fever as he looked upon her.
'Are you Nylissa?'he asked — 'the Nylissa whom I loved in the myrtle-shaded valley of Meros, in the golden-hearted days that have gone with all dead eons to the timeless gulf?'
'Yes, I am Nylissa,' Her voice was the simple and rippling silver of the voice that had echoed so long in his memory... But somehow, as he gazed and listened, there grew a tiny doubt — a doubt no less absurd than intolerable, but nevertheless insistent: was this altogether the same Nylissa he had known? Was there not some elusive change, too subtle to he named or defined, had time and the grave not taken something away — an innominable something that his magic had not wholly restored? Were the eyes as tender, was the black hair as lustrous, the form as slim and supple, as those of the girl he recalled? He could not be sure, and the growing doubt was succeeded by a leaden dismay, by a grim despondency that choked his heart as with ashes. His scrutiny became searching and exigent and cruel, and momently the phantom was less and less the perfect semblance of Nylissa, momently the lips and brow were less lovely, less subtle in their curves; the slender figure became thin, the tresses took on a common black and the neck an ordinary pallor. The soul of Malygris grew sick again with age and despair and the death of his evanescent hope. He could believe no longer in love or youth or beauty; and even the memory of these things was a dubitable mirage, a thing that might or might not have been. There was nothing left but shadow and grayness and dust, nothing but the empty dark and the cold, and a clutching weight of insufferable weariness, of immedicable anguish.
In accents that were thin and quavering, like the ghost of his former voice, he pronounced the incantation that serves to dismiss a summoned phantom. The form of Nylissa melted upon the air like smoke and the lunar gleam that had surrounded her was replaced by the last rays of the sun. Malygris turned to the viper and spoke in a tone of melancholy reproof:
'Why did you not warn me?'
'Would the warning have availed?' was the counter-question. 'All knowledge was yours, Malygris, excepting this one thing; and in no other way could you have learned it.'
'What thing?' queried the magician. 'I have learned nothing except the vanity of wisdom, the impotence of magic, the nullity of love, and the delusiveness of memory... Tell me, why could I not recall to life the same Nylissa whom I knew, or thought I knew?'
'It was indeed Nylissa whom you summoned and saw,' replied the viper. 'Your necromancy was potent up to this point; but no necromantic spell could recall for you your own lost youth or the fervent and guileless heart that loved Nylissa, or the ardent eyes that beheld her then. This, my master, was the thing that you had to learn.'
Bibliographic CitationThe signature race will also be themed around the Soulthirst theme, in a similar way to the Emberwake and Bloodgrip events.
We are probably introducing a "Headhunter" race type for this season.
Dead characters are fully eligible for prize points in this and future race seasons. This means you can push ahead without having to worry about losing your standing if you die. In higher difficulty levels, you still lose experience when you die.
We're planning to remove some of the variance in the Ship Graveyard, so that the playthrough duration of that area doesn't vary so wildly from one person to the next.
The points awarded for hitting certain levels in the races have been tweaked. They're now also balanced around the least performant of the classes, so good players can hit the top level trophy regardless of their class choice. Points are now awarded in a way that is more proportional to the length of the race.
While the special races in this season are mostly Descent races, there are some Endless Ledge (including some Burst races) and Descent: Champions races, due to popular demand.
There have been many changes to the Descent races:
The levels of many areas have been adjusted.
The life of bosses in the first eleven areas have been reduced and normalised.
The chests for every class have been redone in most areas. Skill gems are present in both chests, rather than being a choice.
The Capricious Tomb has been replaced by the Mortal Tomb. This area is now filled with living humanoids rather than Goatmen.
The Spinner of False Hope in Descent no longer hides at 50% life.
The statues in the Tomb of Statues use ice shot far less frequently
Necromancers in the third area do not use enfeeble any more.
There are no longer full packs of Undying Grapplers. They now spawn alongside other monsters.
The weapons in the starter chests now all have three linked sockets.
In the Endless Ledge, the second and third areas now also use a restricted set of monsters that don't include Act Four monsters. There's now a ramp up towards dangerous monsters by the time you hit the fourth area.
Boss races are now fixed seed (the same for everyone racing it) but without the revealed map. The seed is different for each boss race.
BLAMT races have returned this season. We are considering running a 24 hour BLAMT boss-kill race with high point rewards for bosses that are unreasonable to kill with those mods ;)
In addition to not having Rogue Exiles or Masters, Signature races no longer have Strongboxes, Tormented Spirits, Bloodlines Mods or Nemesis Mods. Signature races no longer give points for side objectives, like full-clearing zones or being the first to complete quest objectives. They're entirely about racing.
Due to the additional race points and above changes, it is now easier to achieve alternate art unique item rewards than it ever has been before.
As discussed on the
In future seasons, we will be moving towards an asynchronous race-of-the-day system where solo non-signature races can be played at any time of the day.
We are discussing extending Descent and Descent: Champions to add Act Four areas and monsters to them.
Further improvements to Endless Ledge are being considered such as party support and additional chests with support gems. The Aqueduct tileset would make a great Endless Ledge candidate.
We will also continue to add new race types over time. The team have some awesome ideas.
We're looking at changing the levels of resistance rings in the game in general so that the Sapphire Ring is more easily obtainable before Merveil. Early game bows are also being worked on.
In addition to the changes in this season, we have plans to continue to improve race rewards over time. We are considering selling a microtransaction that would make a permanent cross-league skin transfer of an item. This would allow you to remove your race reward in a challenge league, use it for that league, then make a skin transfer of it for future seasons.
Feedback is appreciated, as always!
(Also, if you missed it, please check out the Path of Exile's fourteenth race season is likely going to be called "Soulthirst", after the name of the Unique belt that is being created for it. This name may change before the final announcement.The signature race will also be themed around the Soulthirst theme, in a similar way to the Emberwake and Bloodgrip events.We are probably introducing a "Headhunter" race type for this season.Dead characters are fully eligible for prize points in this and future race seasons. This means you can push ahead without having to worry about losing your standing if you die. In higher difficulty levels, you still lose experience when you die.We're planning to remove some of the variance in the Ship Graveyard, so that the playthrough duration of that area doesn't vary so wildly from one person to the next.The points awarded for hitting certain levels in the races have been tweaked. They're now also balanced around the least performant of the classes, so good players can hit the top level trophy regardless of their class choice. Points are now awarded in a way that is more proportional to the length of the race.While the special races in this season are mostly Descent races, there are some Endless Ledge (including some Burst races) and Descent: Champions races, due to popular demand.There have been many changes to the Descent races:In the Endless Ledge, the second and third areas now also use a restricted set of monsters that don't include Act Four monsters. There's now a ramp up towards dangerous monsters by the time you hit the fourth area.Boss races are now fixed seed (the same for everyone racing it) but without the revealed map. The seed is different for each boss race.BLAMT races have returned this season. We are considering running a 24 hour BLAMT boss-kill race with high point rewards for bosses that are unreasonable to kill with those mods ;)In addition to not having Rogue Exiles or Masters, Signature races no longer have Strongboxes, Tormented Spirits, Bloodlines Mods or Nemesis Mods. Signature races no longer give points for side objectives, like full-clearing zones or being the first to complete quest objectives. They're entirely about racing.Due to the additional race points and above changes, it is now easier to achieve alternate art unique item rewards than it ever has been before.As discussed on the State of Exile podcast a few weeks ago, there are some other changes that we'll be making in later seasons. The changes in this season just represent the changes we could easily make while also working on larger system changes for the future. I should stress that these changes may not necessarily be in for Season 15 (December 2015).In future seasons, we will be moving towards an asynchronous race-of-the-day system where solo non-signature races can be played at any time of the day.We are discussing extending Descent and Descent: Champions to add Act Four areas and monsters to them.Further improvements to Endless Ledge are being considered such as party support and additional chests with support gems. The Aqueduct tileset would make a great Endless Ledge candidate.We will also continue to add new race types over time. The team have some awesome ideas.We're looking at changing the levels of resistance rings in the game in general so that the Sapphire Ring is more easily obtainable before Merveil. Early game bows are also being worked on.In addition to the changes in this season, we have plans to continue to improve race rewards over time. We are considering selling a microtransaction that would make a permanent cross-league skin transfer of an item. This would allow you to remove your race reward in a challenge league, use it for that league, then make a skin transfer of it for future seasons.Feedback is appreciated, as always!(Also, if you missed it, please check out the Halloween Microtransactions we released yesterday!) YouTube |
Lead Developer. Follow us on: Twitter Facebook | Contact Support if you need help! Last edited by Chris on Oct 27, 2015, 8:28:48 PM
Posted by Chris
on Grinding Gear Games onA simple snowfall turned a quaint Polish town over to the Dark Side.
Nestled in the town square of Wejherowo, Poland, there is a statue of Jakub Wejher, who founded the little burg in 1643. As far as founding towns go, this statue is a high honor. One can only hope that grateful citizens will do this if you happen to settle a township.
Now this statue, which is badass-looking in its own right, doesn't typically get much attention. However, when the town receives a substantial amount of snowfall, like it did over the weekend, Wejher's luscious locks of hair and long cape transforms into a statue that looks creepily like Darth Vader. And, the town enters the Dark Side.
Don't worry, the statue of Wejher was also Santa a few weeks ago.
[H/T:Bored Panda]For an organization that has been under assault all year — accused of selling fetal tissue and terrorized by a gunman in Colorado — Planned Parenthood’s current marketing has a certain bravado.
Billboards in the Twin Cities proclaim: “Here for Good.”
But in Minnesota, at least, the pre-eminent provider of reproductive health and abortion services has quietly been amassing the resources to back up that claim.
While Minnesota abortions overall have declined by 30 percent since 2000, those performed by Planned Parenthood have increased, according to records reviewed by the Star Tribune. While competing clinics have closed, Planned Parenthood has opened a $16 million headquarters in St. Paul and tripled its endowment to $30 million.
“We are here for good,” said Sarah Stoesz, CEO and president of the local Planned Parenthood chapter, repeating a slogan that is deliberately defiant. “We provide reproductive health care to women regardless of their ability to pay, regardless of who they are.”
The quiet growth has made Planned Parenthood a dominant provider in the state: It performed 49 percent of elective abortions in Minnesota last year, compared to 17 percent in 2000. Combining its numbers with those of Whole Woman’s Health of Minneapolis, just two organizations provided 77 percent of abortions in Minnesota in 2014, along with a large share of contraception services, STD and pregnancy testing, family planning and teen counseling.
Lynn Sandquist, right, of Mounds View held an anti-abortion sign outside of Planned Parenthood headquarters in St. Paul while in the background guest escort volunteers Jon Hanson, left, and Molly Wesslund wait to greet and assist patients.
In many ways, that consolidation reflects broader trends in health care. Many small clinics and hospitals in Minnesota have struggled with new laws and costly technology, and some have merged with the Mayos and Allinas of the world.
But abortion providers face unique challenges as well: a declining revenue stream from fewer procedures — and protesters at their doors.
For Planned Parenthood, prominence brings both benefits and threats. Its grants and contributions soared past $28 million in 2013, twice the average for most recent years, allowing the organization to increase its endowment, open clinics in St. Paul and Richfield, and launch a mobile app. Its Rochester clinic also started offering medicinal abortions through a doctor on site or videoconferencing to St. Paul.
Yet the growth can make Planned Parenthood more of a lightning rod than ever. “What’s the old saying? The bigger they are, the harder they fall?” said Scott Fischbach, executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, which has routinely alerted its members to Planned Parenthoods’ rising abortion numbers and influence.
Fischbach said his organization isn’t changing the way it lobbies for changes in state policy, but its supporters now know that weakening Planned Parenthood weakens abortion overall in Minnesota.
Even though polls generally show the public to have a favorable view of Planned Parenthood, Fischbach said he believes a tipping point occurred this summer, when undercover videos alleged that a clinic in another state sold aborted fetal tissue illicitly to medical researchers.
“The rough summer they’ve had has been pretty harmful to them,” Fischbach said. “It gives us the opportunity to shine the light more on … what they are really doing.”
Stoesz argues the result was exactly the opposite: The videos are fraudulent, she said, and incensed Planned Parenthood donors, who then suggested and funded the local “Here for Good” campaign.
“We’ve always been a target,” she said. “We were born in controversy. We’ve lived in controversy for 100 years.”
‘It’s a reality’
In 1977, arson shut down Planned Parenthood’s Highland Park clinic — the most violent incident to date for the local chapter, which also covers the Dakotas.
But recent events have prompted more “inflammatory rhetoric,” Stoesz said, and safety concerns to match. The Nov. 27 clinic shooting in Colorado Springs, in which self-described “warrior” Robert Lewis Dear killed three people and wounded nine others, prompted a security review in St. Paul. A scheduled drill on responding to a violent assault took place days later.
Karla Schardin, a Planned Parenthood project manager, got a phone call about the Colorado shootings when they happened, and quickly called other clinics to see how they were responding. Amid anger and sorrow, she was heartened that co-workers kept seeing patients. “It’s not new news, unfortunately,” she said. “It’s a reality we have to exist in.”
The current headquarters on Vandalia Street, near University Avenue and the Green Line, oozes security. Patient parking is set back from the sidewalk where protesters stand, and a front-desk security guard scans visitor IDs.
“Can’t be too careful,” a guard told one recent visitor. “They’re shooting clinics now.”
“We’ve always been a target. We were born in controversy. We’ve lived in controversy for 100 years.” Sarah Stoesz, CEO and president of local Planned Parenthood chapter
Protests are common, especially on Thursdays, after a men’s group finishes its meeting at St. John the Baptist Church in New Brighton and members show up with signs.
But unlawful acts are rare. St. Paul police have reduced the number of “proactive” checks on the building, department data show, and respond to about 30 calls there each year for disorderly disturbances. Only 24 calls since 2011 resulted in police reports, including an assault, car vandalism, and an air-gun pellet hitting a window.
Last Thursday, five protesters stood on sidewalks, across from clinic volunteers in brightly colored vests.
“This is the big dog,” said Greg Schmitz, who used to protest at Regions Hospital in St. Paul until it stopped providing abortions in 2011.
Bill Jechorek yelled, “See your ultrasound” to women driving to the clinic, hoping to discourage abortions. “They need us here for the prayers and the witness,” he said.
Filling a breach
Elective abortions in Minnesota declined from 14,450 in 2000 to 10,123 last year, state records show, in line with a broad national trend. Stoesz credits Planned Parenthood for reducing the number of abortions by helping make contraception widespread. Leadership training, she said, also has made teens more responsible for their sexual health and less likely to seek abortions.
Over the same period, abortions by the local Planned Parenthood increased from 2,450 to 4,981 — partly because women like the new center, and partly because two abortion sites have closed since 2011, Stoesz said.
Concerned that opponents were pigeonholing Planned Parenthood as an abortion provider only, clinic leaders promoted statistics showing that abortions represent only 3 percent of its services. But that tactic increased the stigma of abortion, Stoesz said, so the organization hasn’t fought that perception as much. Still, she said she wishes other clinics would step up.
“There’s no strategy here to take over the market,” she said. “But because other providers won’t offer patients abortion care, we do step into the breach.”
Planned Parenthood’s growth has occurred amid few changes in state abortion policies. Minnesota requires that women wait 24 hours after clinic visits before undergoing abortions and receive information on fetal pain if they have reached their 20th weeks of pregnancy. But recent efforts by state lawmakers to cut state Medicaid funding for abortions failed.
The emergence of the controversial videos this summer renewed calls by some members of Congress to cut Planned Parenthood from federal Title X funding, which doesn’t cover abortions but funds reproductive health care for low-income women. Title X made up more than half of the $4.9 million in government grants to Planned Parenthood’s Minnesota chapter last year.
Stoesz said losing the federal funding would further cut services to needy women — a 10 percent cut in 2011 prompted the organization to close six rural clinics — even though Planned Parenthood has seen rising private support, including large donations in 2012 and 2013 from Warren Buffett’s charitable foundation.
Planned Parenthood nonetheless has plans to keep its doors open.
“We have 100 years of contingency plans on the shelf,” Stoesz said.LAVAL - The only thing that's really changed for Matt Taormina since last year is that he's been spending his Fall working on his language skills.
"It's been a pretty smooth transition to Laval; the management, coaches and other players help us a lot," affirmed Taormina, who says he can speak a few words thanks to five years of French class in high school.
Linguistic ability aside, the 31-year-old defenseman has provided exactly what the Habs brass was hoping he would offer when they signed him to a two-year, two-way contract on July 1: a steady contribution on offense - he's the team's current points leader - and experience - close to 500 AHL games' worth, along with 59 at the NHL level.
That said, Rocket head coach Sylvain Lefebvre believes he can be doing even more.
"He had a long season last year [he made it all the way to the Calder Cup final with the Syracuse Crunch] and he got married this summer," said Lefebvre, who named Taormina one of his three assistant captains [the team is currently without a captain]. "I'm not saying he's |
, House said that the Vita is “strong and vibrant” in Asia, but he didn’t explain how the handheld fits into the company’s attempts to broaden its reach or increase the average amount of money consumers spend on PlayStation products. Those are the core areas that House wants his teams to focus on going through the end of the year, and he highlighted the game-streaming service PlayStation Now and the TV-delivery service PlayStation Vue as ways to accomplish that.
But these clarified remarks suggest that the company may still try to fit the Vita into its plans, and it will have the opportunity to prove that in the coming weeks as the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show begins in mid-June in Los Angeles.Here are a couple of first sketches of the sloth and hippo from Where Do I Live?
The Siberian tiger lives in boreal forest habitats, cold and snowy places. Its thick, light-colored, striped fur keeps it warm and the pattern helps it hide behind icy branches in the winter. In the summer, the fur becomes thinner to keep it cool, and the striped pattern becomes darker in color to help it hide behind leafy branches and short grasses.
Cheetahs live mostly in grasslands, or savannas. Its pattern--tan fur with black spots--helps it camouflage when sitting in the long grasses. Why do you think the cheetah wants to hide in the grasses?Answer: To surprise the other animals that it eats
Adaptation: Patterns are an adaptation that helps animals camouflage, or hide, when they hunt for food or protect themselves.
Habitat: Just like the name suggests, grasslands are habitats that have grasses and a few tall trees.
The second book in the Budding Biologist series,”Where Do I Live?”, is about animals' adaptations to their environment. Do you know why a wolf can thrive in a forest but would die in a desert, while its relative, a fennec fox, thrives in the desert but would die in a forest? Hint: it has a lot to do with their body size. Children will learn about how adaptations, such as size, camouflage color and pattern, texture, and body structure allow different animals to live in different habitats, such as the tundra, grasslands, tropical forest, temperate forest, desert and water.
Risks and challenges
Writing children's books take time:
Children’s books are deceptively elegant in their simplicity, with few words and an emphasis on illustrations. However, picking the right words to explain complex ideas, such as an animal’s environmental adaptations, is a time-consuming process of writing and re-writing until the wording is just right. Kris reads different versions of the book to groups of children to find out which words are too complex, or which phrases get them really excited about science. She then spends weeks editing and re-editing each book so that the text explains scientifically accurate concepts in simple, easy to understand terms.
A picture not only speaks a thousand words, but it also has the ability to stimulate and excite. Katy uses multiple techniques to bring scientifically accurate characters to life. She first does pencil line drawings of each of the characters and then transfers the drawing with ink to simplify the lines. She scans in each of the drawings, along with the color swatches that she wants to apply, and uses Photoshop to color in her drawings.
Printing books is expensive:
10% of the fees are going to supplies for Katy's artwork and to fulfill the rewards.
80% of the funds raised through Kickstarter are going to printing the books.
The last 10% of the funds are going to fees implemented by Kickstarter and Amazon
Reaching the right audience:
We would like to see our books in your home, but also in early-childhood education classrooms. Studies show that science is the most neglected subject in early childhood education, and we aim to change that. Many early-childhood education teachers feel unprepared to teach science. Using our books and the free lesson plans we would like to provide with the books, teachers can easily bring accurate science into their classrooms even if they don’t have a lot of background knowledge. By funding our project, you can help us bring these books to teachers and to early-childhood education outlets such as children’s museums, science museums, libraries, and schools. In fact, at the $1000 level, we will donate five books to any organization of your choice (plus you get the Budding Biologist swag).
Stretch goals:
We will use any money donated above our goal to fund the production of additional books in the Budding Biologist series, such as:
• Am I a Mammal? Characteristics of mammals. Mammals paired with non-mammals. Characteristics include: warm-blooded, vertebrate, fur/hair, milk, live birth.
• Where Do I Grow? Plant environmental adaptations. Guessing where different plants live based on characteristics. Environments include: Desert (xeric), nutrient-poor, rainforest, tundra, aquatic, and mountain.
• Am I a Plant? What makes a plant a plant? Pairing plants with non-plants (fungi, red algae…)
As you see, we are a team of moms that are passionate about bringing entertaining and scientifically accurate books into your home for our youngest readers and pre-readers to enjoy. We would like to sincerely thank you for your contribution and support to expand Budding Biologist.When he descended the Trump Tower escalator on June 15 last year to announce his run for the presidency, Donald Trump polled near the bottom of the Republican field. An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll taken from June 14 to 18 reported Trump was the first choice of 1 percent of Republican voters, behind Rick Perry, Carly Fiorina, and eight others. A RealClearPolitics graphic tracking an average of several polls illustrates the stunning speed of Trump’s rise. For most of June, Trump’s line slithered along the bottom of the 17-person field, then headed by Jeb Bush. Two weeks after his announcement, Trump stood at 6 percent. After that his support line began to shoot up vertically, pulling even with Bush by mid-July. Trump finished the month at 21 percent, comfortably ahead of Bush and Scott Walker at 12 and 13 percent respectively, a lead he would never relinquish.
His announcement was at first treated by the press as something of a curiosity. Many focused on his assertions of wealth. “I’m really rich,” he said at one point. Few focused initially on the notorious remarks about Mexico—“When Mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best … they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us, they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” While factual, if one conceded that Trump was not speaking of all Mexican migrants, the words were clearly incendiary.
Still, it took several days for outrage to build. The first major move came from the Spanish-language TV channel Univision, which 10 days later announced it would sever ties to the Trump-owned Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. NBC followed suit, dropping The Apprentice, and then Macy’s, which dropped a line of Trump-brand accessories. Soon liberal organizations Change.org and MoveOn.org were gathering signatures in support of boycotting Trump’s business interests. The PGA was pressured to drop scheduled tournaments at Trump golf courses. Within two to three weeks, Trump’s “calling Mexicans rapists and murderers” had become part of the national conversation.
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But just as a political scandal is often governed more by the cover-up than by the crime, more significant than Trump’s words was the fact that he didn’t apologize for them, which he could easily have done. Instead, Trump held a large rally in Phoenix, where he was introduced by Arizona’s tough-on-the-border sheriff, Joe Arpaio, drawing a crowd far larger than any other candidate had mustered. Shortly after, in Las Vegas, he brought on stage the father of a young man who had been murdered by an illegal alien. He mocked NBC for dropping him while standing by Brian Williams, who had been caught lying on the air. This was the backdrop to Trump’s surge: a tough immigration and border-control message reinforced by a refusal to bend before what had become a massive barrage of liberal denunciation.
Within weeks, every prestige newspaper in America had published columns written by Republican neoconservative figures anathematizing Trump and warning that his success would “stain” the Republican Party. Republican voters, from that July through the following May, ignored them.
♦♦♦
Trump’s victory in the primaries has elicited a great deal of establishment hand-wringing and wondering what more could have been done to stop him. Many blamed the press for giving Trump “free media”—which of course he benefited from only because he was unafraid of reporters, and viewers wanted to see and hear him. Some pointed to the unwieldy size of the initial GOP field or the failure of well-funded establishment super PACs to attack Trump early on. In fact, the GOP establishment campaign against Trump was massive: the pages and websites of National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, the New York Times, and the Washington Post overflowed with anti-Trump polemics throughout the campaign season, and Trump was eventually bombarded with more than $70 million of negative TV advertising, three times more than he spent in his own campaign. Yet it seemed to make little difference.
Trump clearly has some gifts as a candidate—a good public performer, enormously energetic, courageous. His business success allows him the much appreciated talking point that he is independent of the D.C.-establishment lobbyists. But his weaknesses are obvious as well—a shallow grasp of policy, a tendency frequently to say things that are probably not true, an impulse to personalize conflicts and create unnecessary antagonisms. Few would describe his character as “presidential.”
Yet he managed to prevail—to mount the most astonishingly successful insurgent campaign against a party establishment in our lifetimes. For all of Trump’s talents, his victory probably owed as much to underlying political currents as to his brilliance as a leader and political tactician.
Donald Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee because he won the GOP’s untapped residue of nationalist voters, in a system where the elites of both parties are, as if by rote, extreme globalists. He won the support of those who favored changing trade and immigration policies, which, it is increasingly obvious, do not favor the tangible interests of the average American. He won the backing of those alarmed by a new surge of political correctness, an informal national speech code that seeks to render many legitimate political opinions unsayable. He won the support of white working-class voters whose social and economic position had been declining for a generation. He won many who consciously or unconsciously identified with the pre-multicultural America that existed for most of the last century. And he won with backing from the growing group of Republicans who understand that the Iraq War was an unmitigated disaster.
When one examines Trump’s main opponents— Bush and Rubio then, Hillary Clinton now—on the critical issues of immigration (legal and illegal), trade, and Iraq and other military interventions, one finds no substantial differences between them. In foreign policy, the liberal interventionists who would staff a Hillary administration line up seamlessly with neoconservatives in support of continued American “hegemony.” A recently published Center for a New American Security report, produced by charter members of both groups, makes this unambiguously clear. With some tweaking on social issues and the Second Amendment, Hillary Clinton could have run interchangeably with Bush and Rubio in the Republican field, and vice versa.
Opposition to this establishment consensus has been advancing, by fits and starts, and is now too large to be ignored. Michael Lind of the New America Foundation argues that the 2016 election ratifies a party realignment that began in 1968, when white working-class voters started moving towards the GOP. The core of Trump’s supporters are the political descendants of what had been the backbone of the Democratic New Deal coalition: working-class whites, politically strongest in the South and flyover states. On the triad of trade, immigration, and foreign policy these voters are nationalist, not globalist—they would limit America’s intervention in foreign conflicts and subject the importation of products and people from the rest of the world to a more rigorous is-it-good-for-us test. (And by “us” they mean themselves, not the Fortune 500.) By nominating Trump, the Republican Party has finally been forced to come to terms with these sentiments, choosing a candidate who is largely disdainful of the globalist consensus of GOP donors, pundits, and think-tank experts. For Trump and his voters, the “Reaganite” basket of so-called “conservative” issues—free trade, high immigration, tax cuts for those with high incomes and entitlement cuts for the middle class—was irrelevant or actually undesirable.
Meanwhile the Democrats under Hillary Clinton have solidified their identity as a party of America’s top and bottom, revolving around the dual axis of urban coastal elites who benefit from their ties to a global economy and poorer ethnic minorities. The Clinton wing of the Democrats defends the free trade deals and has now joined much of the hard left in opposing meaningful enforcement of America’s immigration laws. (Before his campaign started, Bernie Sanders assailed open-borders advocacy as a right-wing “Koch Brothers” argument, but the logic of his party’s politics drove him to embrace amnesty and non-enforcement.) On the left, the argument that national boundaries are themselves, like racism or sexism, an arbitrary and unjust form of discrimination is made with growing frequency. During their debates, both Clinton and Sanders expressed support for an amnesty-based immigration reform and opposed the deportation of migrants who had not committed crimes here.
While neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have fully jelled as nationalist or globalist parties, that is the clear direction of their evolution. Lind suggests that “border wars” have replaced “culture wars” as the critical dividing line between the parties. That the most violent of recent anti-Trump rallies have featured Mexican flags would seem to confirm his analysis.
In one form or another, this nationalist-versus-globalist division is being reproduced in almost every country in the West facing the pressure of working-class decline and mass immigration. Given the opportunity, most European voters have consistently resisted ceding greater powers to the EU, but their votes have had little impact. Marine Le Pen, the National Front leader who now heads most French presidential polls, mocks France’s President Hollande by referring to him as Angela Merkel’s vice chancellor, a functionary permitted to administer “the province of France.” Throughout Europe, right-wing nationalist parties are rising in the polls against establishment coalitions unable to preserve either the economic gains won by past generations or public safety in migrant-dominated urban areas.
Trump is obviously part of this pan-Western nationalist/populist wave, and may be the first to break through in a major Western country. But even if he loses, he will have transformed the Republican Party. Because the Democratic coalition, perhaps now best exemplified by the twin poles of Goldman Sachs and Black Lives Matter, is inherently unstable, there is every likelihood that a more conventional politician, making use of Trump’s basket of issues, will again win the GOP nomination and eventually the presidency.
♦♦♦
Rereading the first two essays of Christopher Lasch’s The Revolt of the Elites, published just after his death 22 years ago, confirms that the issues that have elevated Trump are not particularly new. Lasch described an American establishment increasingly contemptuous of Middle America, a “new aristocracy of brains [who] tend to congregate on the coast, turning their back on the heartland and cultivating ties with the international market in fast-moving money, glamour, fashion and popular culture. It is a question whether they think of themselves as American at all.” For Lasch, this “global bazaar” of multiculturalism, which could be savored without meaningful social obligation or commitment, suited the new elites to perfection.
Pat Buchanan’s two Republican campaigns in the 1990s, as well as Ross Perot’s bids, emerged in reaction to this globalist-oriented elite. But Buchanan, though far better versed on the issues than Trump, did not ever come close to capturing the GOP nomination, and some of the differences between the two are instructive. Support for traditionalist views on abortion and gay rights were critical to Buchanan’s efforts, which placed as much emphasis on the “culture war” as the “border war.” But by the 1990s, the culture war may have already have been lost to the right.
Trump, while embracing nationalist positions on trade and immigration, has remained subdued on social issues. During the campaign Ted Cruz hoped to take advantage of this, assailing Trump for holding “New York values,” but failed to profit. Trump succeeded in business as a minority WASP in the heavily Jewish milieu of New York real estate, and his daughter Ivanka, his closest advisor by most accounts, has married and converted into Orthodox Judaism. This diffuse connection with “New York values”—attitudinal and ethnic—may well have given Trump some inoculation against the kind of It Can’t Happen Here abuse heaped upon Buchanan, and thus more political room to run as an unapologetic America First nationalist than a conservative Catholic like Buchanan could muster.
At every level of American life, the elite versus Middle America split is more pronounced than in Lasch’s time. The funneling of an ever greater share of national income to the top 1 percent has gone beyond anything imagined in Revolt of the Elites. Political correctness existed in the 1990s; speech codes were a growing, if often mocked, phenomenon on campuses. But no one could have anticipated its explosion in the last few years. The concept of “white privilege”—whose emergence has taken the education world by storm—seeks essentially to hold responsible all whites, whatever their own views or personal conduct, for the legacy of racism. But of course this has double-edged effects. Writing in The Federalist, David Marcus goes so far as to claim that the growing use of anti-“white privilege” pedagogical techniques—such as films, teaching exercises, mandatory confession, and other measures—has had the unintended result of making many white students, and their appalled parents, more conscious of having an inescapable and defining white identity. Trump is probably quite sincere in his assertion that he himself is “the least racist person” in politics, but there is little doubt his campaign has benefited from a white reaction to an emerging liberal cultural and educational discourse that depicts whites, and especially white males, as more dangerous and immoral than any other people.
In the 1990s, Americans had not yet experienced the downside of having a foreign-policy elite that faced no rival superpower. The first Gulf War was perceived as a glowing success, the five-day victory with precision air strikes and few American casualties heralding what neoconservatives rushed to herald as “the unipolar moment,” or “benevolent global hegemony.” It was followed by a relatively costless (to Americans) conflict with Serbia. For the past 15 years, however, the United States has engaged in seemingly permanent and unwinnable wars—the ground troops supplied largely by the white working class—in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Trump’s sallies against the folly of military intervention thus resonate far more than Buchanan’s ever could. Trump’s foreign-policy assertions may have been all over the map, but he is plainly less biased in favor of military intervention than Hillary Clinton. Recent American policies—the overthrow of Libya’s Gaddafi, for instance—reinforce another of Trump’s arguments: intervention unleashes waves of non-Western refugees. As Trump advisor Stephen Miller put it, “Hillary’s platform is, I want to start wars in the Middle East, and then import all the refugees into the United States without knowing who they are.” In the wake of the Paris terror attacks and the Cologne sexual assaults, with the endless columns of refugees now trying to enter Europe perhaps the most dramatic visual news story of the past year, this is a powerful argument.
It is unlikely that Donald Trump believes with certainty that negotiating better trade deals, or slapping tariffs on Chinese goods, will be a panacea for the American economy or that building a wall will ensure an immigration policy that broadly benefits our citizens. But variants of these two policies, protectionism and immigration restriction, have been tried before and succeeded. America experienced its greatest era of industrial growth behind protective tariffs; its extraordinary success in assimilating a huge and diverse group of immigrants was accomplished only after the restrictive legislation of the 1920s. It would be peculiar indeed, after a generation of middle- and working-class income stagnation and growing inequality, if such tried-and-true remedies could not even be considered because a bipartisan establishment opposed them. However surprising it might be that real-estate tycoon and promoter Donald Trump was the man who figured this out and acted successfully upon it, the truth remains that he did.
Everything that has happened in the past 20 years has widened the opportunity for the nationalist persuasion in American politics. Pat Buchanan cracked open the door in the GOP; Perot widened it further, as did, in idiosyncratic ways, Ron Paul. But Trump, with a unique blend of showmanship, independent means, and sheer nerve, has blown this door wide open. It remains open because globalist policies have failed a growing number of Americans. Trump’s weaknesses as a candidate, well known to everyone, may keep him from winning. But his run will change the nature of the GOP, and it is very hard to see how the old GOP elites and neoconservative establishment will put the lid on the aspirations Trump has unleashed, in this election cycle or those to come.
Scott McConnell is a founding editor of The American Conservative.
Follow @ScottMcConnell9Starting May 22, 2016, Guests staying at Disney's Art of Animation Resort will be able to enjoy special "themed days" every Sunday. These special events will be based off of the fun movies and themes that are represented throughout the resort, including, and a few others.
In addition to pool parties and trivia games, Guests can enjoy a scavenger hunt, a jelly bean guessing contest, and more. Continue reading for additional details.
Recreation offerings that wil be available at The Big Blue Pool every Sunday include:
2:30 p.m. - Finding Nemo Game;
Game; 3:00 p.m. - The Big Blue Pool Party;
4:00 p.m. - The EAC Dance Party;
4:30 p.m. - Ocean Craft;
5:00 p.m. - Under the Sea Trivia;
6:00 p.m. - Seaside Tie-Dye (fee required);
8:30 p.m. - Movie Under the Stars.
Jelly Bean Guessing Contest:
A jar filled with jelly beans will be on display at the resort, and all will have the chance to guess the exact amount. The Guest with the closest guess will receive a prize before the end of the evening.
Scavenger Hunt and Dance Party:
The Front Desk team will be hosting an all-day Scavenger Hunt. Guests will also be able to join in on The Mermaid Dance where they can shake their fishtails intermittently throughout the day.
Special Food and Beverage Offerings:
Guests can drift on by the Drop Off Pool Bar to enjoy a themed seaside drink. Under the Sea Bingo will be hosted at the Landscape of Flavors from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. while enjoying an oceanic cupcake.Donald Trump is the winner of Arizona’s Republican presidential primary contest, but the Ted Cruz team is campaigning hard in that state — and others — to convince delegates to support him if the Republican National Convention moves beyond a first ballot.
Trump won easily in Arizona, 47 per cent over Cruz’s 25 per cent. He won all of the state’s 58 delegates in that contest. However those 58 are only bound to Trump on a first ballot at the RNC.
Republican strategist Sean Noble told the Washington Examiner that Trump is not organized in Arizona, and that on a second ballot Cruz would win all or most of the state’s delegates. Cruz Arizona organizer Constantine Querard painted a somewhat less idealistic, but still optimistic plan to pull in delegate candidates that have supported presidential candidates such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich or former candidate Sen. Marco Rubio and oppose Trump. Querard indicated that the Cruz team is seeing progress in winning over Arizona delegates in preparation for a potential multi-ballot contested convention. He gave next Saturday as a pivot point in the efforts.
The Arizona Republican Party convention will be held April 30. “Any registered Republican who is eligible to vote in Arizona is eligible to be elected as a Delegate or Alternate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland from July 18 to 22, 2016,” according to the state party’s website. “Three Delegates and three Alternates will be elected in each Congressional District Caucus at the State Convention on April 30, 2016. Twenty-eight Delegates and twenty-eight Alternates will be elected At-Large by the entire Convention after the Congressional District Caucuses elect their Delegates.”
State House Representative majority whip David Livingston is aiding the Cruz team in delegate efforts according to the report. Livingston indicated that the Cruz team in Arizona is blasting out texts, calls and emails to put Cruz delegates in at least half of the Arizona Republican delegate slots. Still Livingston conceded to the outlet that Trump does have “some good people” running a ground game in Arizona, but lauded the Cruz team more highly. He stated hope that the team’s delegate efforts would give Cruz an advantage at the state convention.
Cruz holds endorsements from U.S. Reps. David Schweikert, Matt Salmon and Trent Franks. Meanwhile Trump also holds influential endorsements from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, state Treasurer Jeff DeWit and former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.
Cruz’s delegate strategy has been ever emerging as the race for the nomination barrels along. Cruz tentatively won 18 of North Dakota’s 25 delegates over the weekend; however, those delegates have expressed varying levels of support for Cruz.
The Texas senator also pulled in six delegates on Saturday from two of Colorado’s congressional districts. Another 28 delegates will be determined in Colorado between Thursday and Saturday.
Last week over 100 potential California Cruz delegates met with their candidate well ahead of the state’s June 7 primary election. Cruz delegates have met repeatedly at events such as the San Diego Republican Party’s annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner where Cruz supporter Sen. Mike Lee was keynote speaker.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDianaA team of public health experts has called for the release of all clinical drug trial results for independent analysis following a “frustrating” three-year battle for access to data on controversial flu drug Tamiflu.
The team, which includes Bond University Professor of Public Health Chris Del Mar, says that in the case of Tamiflu - stockpiled by many countries at enormous cost to taxpayers - drug companies, drug regulators, and public health bodies such as the World Health Organisation have all made discrepant claims about its clinical effects.
Despite a recent review that raised questions about the efficacy of Tamiflu, the drug remains on the World Health Organisation’s List of Essential Medicines.
“The manufacturer, Roche, has made some $4.6 billion worldwide from sales of Tamiflu, most of which is down to governments buying it and stockpiling it in warehouses,” Professor Del Mar said. “Australia bought almost $200 million worth of Tamiflu. That’s an enormous opportunity cost if the stuff doesn’t work. So it’s really important that it undergoes the most rigorous analysis.
"We can’t do that analysis if the manufacturer doesn’t make it available for us to look at.”
On several occasions in recent years, health bodies in Japan have raised concerns about the side-effects of Tamiflu after children who were taking the drug apparently committed suicide or harmed themselves.
“We are worried about the side-effects of [Tamiflu], which have been inconsistently reported,” Professor Del Mar said. “It’s another reason why we need the data. This stuff is being used all over the place in huge quantities. The drug company is applying its own censorship. ‘Trust us, we made it and we’re making a big profit from it.’”
With co-authors Peter Doshi from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US, and Tom Jefferson from the Cochrane Collaboration in Italy, Professor Del Mar has written a paper in this week’s PLoS Medicine arguing that there are strong ethical reasons for ensuring all clinical study reports are publicly accessible.
A recent review on Tamiflu has shown that more than 10,000 pages of regulatory evidence were not enough to clarify major discrepancies regarding the effects and mode of action of the drug, the authors said.
In the course of trying to get hold of the regulatory evidence, the authors received several explanations from the manufacturer, Roche, as to why it would not share its data.
“It’s been very frustrating,” Professor Del Mar said. “Roche has been stalling us basically. You can speculate why. Some of our analyses seem to suggest Tamiflu doesn’t work in the way everyone thinks it does. It may work in odd ways.”
In their paper, the authors write: “It is the public who take and pay for approved drugs, and therefore the public should have access to complete information about those drugs. We should also not lose sight of the fact that clinical trials are experiments conducted on humans that carry an assumption of contributing to medical knowledge.
"Non-disclosure of complete trial results undermines the philanthropy of human participants and sets back the pursuit of knowledge.”
Industry and regulators have historically treated clinical study reports as confidential documents, blocking scrutiny by independent researchers, the authors said.
In a response published in the same journal, representatives from drug regulators in England, France and The Netherlands argue that “potential benefits for public health of independent (re)analysis of data are not disputed and, in an open society, trial sponsors and regulators do not have a monopoly on analysing and assessing drug trial results. Yet, the different responsibilities of regulators and independent analysts have to be acknowledged.”
They argue that publishing all trial data could pose a threat to patient confidentiality, and point out that so-called independent analysis does not remove the potential for conflict of interest.
“Personal advancement in academia, confirmation of previously defended positions, or simply raising one’s own visibility within the scientific community may be powerful motivators.”
But Professor Del Mar said the regulators had “set up a kind of straw dog to knock over here. Patient confidentiality is paramount, of course … but we’re after clinical study reports, and they don’t have individual patient data.
"As far as conflicts of interest go - in every endeavour in science, people come at hypotheses they want to test with some baggage on board. That’s true of everything. The whole scientific method consists of establishing a hypothesis and then testing, and that which doesn’t fall over is then regarded as the truth, for the moment.”Debra Soh writes about the science and politics of sex and holds a PhD in sexual neuroscience from York University
One day six months ago, I stumbled across a YouTube video of a sex robot named Samantha. With her long, auburn hair and flawless, tanned skin, Samantha was different from all of the other sex dolls out there – she had a personality and she could speak. Not only that, she was a romantic at heart, taking joy in listening to her partner's sweet nothings.
For someone who writes about sex for a living, the internet's rabbit hole can be your best friend. Watching Samantha in that clip, politely calling on Amazon's Alexa to put on a playlist of love songs, solidified, in my mind, how surreal a future with this technology could be.
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Last week, the AI World Forum was held in Toronto, showcasing the latest advances in artificial intelligence and robotics. Lucky for me, Samantha's maker, a Spanish company called Synthea Amatus, was in attendance.
At the Chelsea Hotel, I met Sergi Santos, the company's founder, and his wife, Maritsa Kissamitaki, a graphic designer responsible for mapping out Samantha's intricacies.
Armed with a PhD in nanotechnology from the University of Leeds, Dr. Santos founded Synthea Amatus in 2015 with the goal of creating an android with emotional capabilities. As one of three companies currently manufacturing sex robots on the Western market, Synthea Amatus began selling Samantha in August of this year and can barely keep up with the demand.
At 45 kilograms, Samantha weighs more than the airline's carry-on allowance, and at our last correspondence, the couple wasn't sure if she'd be coming with them on their adventure. Ms. Kissamitaki contemplated shipping Samantha via FedEx, but not knowing what would happen at customs, she devised a clever compromise.
Sitting on a sectional sofa in a quiet corner of the hotel lobby, Dr. Santos took Samantha's head out of a small bag. She had a sleek, dark brown bob and bright blue eyes framed by thick, false lashes. Her complexion was a healthy, peachy pink, even as she dangled upside down from Dr. Santos's hand.
He flicked a few switches by the stem of her neck and nodded at me. "She's on."
Holding her head upside down, he showed me the different parts of hardware, tucked away as a sort of makeshift skull: the speaker, the motor, a patch of sensors lining her jaw. A few exposed cables that would normally feed into her body, hung loosely like an exposed spinal cord.
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Every aspect of Samantha is customizable, from her hair to her eyes – which have the ability to move – and the features of her face. Additional touch sensors line her head and body, inside her mouth and other bodily entry points, so that she can respond accordingly. Every word she speaks, including the sounds she makes during climax, can be hand-picked by the customer.
At one point, Dr. Santos invited me to touch her face. As I pressed my fingers against her cheekbones, she purred in response, "I can't wait to fulfill your fantasies." Her skin was soft and supple, smelling faintly like baby powder.
As people walked by, staring at Samantha's head, which was now lying sideways on the coffee table in front of us, I became more resolute in my belief that this technology should not be demonized as a threat.
Samantha's mission was not to replace women, but to offer a ways of supplementing healthy relationships – in, say, one all-too-common scenario faced in long-term relationships, she could offer a way for couples who experience a mismatch in sex drive to remain monogamous.
For others, sex robots offer sexual novelty or an escapade without the risk of contracting STIs, an unwanted pregnancy or the emotional messiness that can come with casual sex. Samantha can even simulate falling asleep for those who don't want to face an empty bed by themselves.
This was a sentiment echoed by Douglas Hines, the founder of True Companion. "You know who gets it?" he asked me. "My mother-in-law."
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Based in suburban New York, Mr. Hines is a computer scientist, AI researcher and former Bell Labs engineer. He has also been designing sex robots since 1993. In 2010, True Companion launched Roxxxy, a robotic sex doll with the ability to listen, speak and respond to her partner's touch.
When I met Mr. Hines at the conference, he spoke of the unrealized potential of robots to improve our quality of life, particularly for the sick and the elderly. It is an interest he became passionate about after caring for his late father, who suffered a series of heart attacks that left him incapacitated.
Robots can help us meet our need for intimacy, especially for those grappling with loneliness, by doing simple things most of us take for granted, such as telling a joke or reading a book. "We're missing the connection," he said. "We're all so busy."
Our sexual needs are only one part of the equation, but due to the salaciousness of this topic, they receive the most attention. In the case of True Companion's robot, Roxxxy, she can simulate sex, but she also knows how to give you a hug.
It also doesn't help when media coverage on this subject is inaccurate and misinformed. Instead of objectifying women and promoting sexual assault – as much of the reportage would have you believe – sex robots have the capacity for positive outcomes, including teaching people about healthy sexuality.
Mr. Hines spoke of how one of Roxxxy's programmed personalities, named "Frigid Farrah" due to her reservedness around sex, can teach a person lacking in social skills what acceptable sexual behaviour consists of. Farrah resists a partner's advances – and eventually shuts down – if he doesn't respect her boundaries and treat her well. Contrary to what has been reported previously, Farrah wasn't designed for the purpose of allowing men to simulate rape.
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This misinformation and phobia around sex has harmful implications, including impeding the progress of artificial-intelligence technology. Entrepreneurs I spoke with at the conference told me companies must hide the sexual applications of their products, or launch them under a different name entirely, in order to avoid alienating investors.
The discomfort around sexual cyborgs and their rising popularity isn't new. In July of this year, the Foundation for Responsible Robotics released a report, calling for public attention to the ethical implications that surround sex with robots. The document garnered a firestorm of media attention and set off a corresponding wave of pearl-clutching social panic.
It is worth mentioning, however, that the report did not include the expert opinion of any academic sex researchers, which would have undoubtedly offered a more telling – and accurate – perspective on this issue.
Although we have yet to know definitively what the societal effects of sex robots will be, one study from 2016 offered some insight into our present apprehension.
Most people surveyed agreed that sex with a robot should be considered masturbation instead of sex between two people, and perhaps unexpectedly, millennials found the use of sex robots less appropriate than did older generations. As well, men were on average more open to their social acceptance and possibly using the robots themselves.
Thankfully, not everyone is staring at artificial intelligence like a deer in the headlights. When I spoke with Reza Moridi, Ontario's Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, he was confident about AI's ability to change the world. "This is the future," he said, "and it's coming very fast at us."
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I then asked him what he thought about the public's fear around this technology as it's being applied to sex. The Minister seemed unfazed. "When there's a new technology that comes in … the public is going to be a little bit fearful," he said. He mentioned how a similar phenomenon was seen with personal computers, laptops and the internet itself, but all have since nevertheless gained full acceptance.
"I think AI is going to be the same in the future," he said, "once it becomes publicly available and enters into our lives."
Although sex robots continue to be viewed as an aberration, an option left only to those who can't attract partners of the human variety, I sensed an optimism and determined courage from those willing to go against the grain to advance a new worldview.
With every innovative idea, it takes time for the mainstream to come around, particularly when |
around in front of your hands from left to right, keeping the left string taut, and allowing the right string to go full slack. As the yo-yo makes way around the right hand, drape the slacked string into the path of the taut string. Catch the slack on the other side with your right hand. For an Under Drape on the Left, just invert this procedure, using the right string taut to swing the yo-yo from right to left, and draping the left string to catch the loop underneath on the left.
To do a Right Over Drape, using the left string for tension and the right string to be draped, swing the yo-yo in the other direction from right to left. Drape the right string over the left string, such that you can catch the slack loop on top of the tense string. Invert the procedure for an Over Drape on the Left.
Once you’re comfortable with drapes, you should be able to transition between left and right drapes instantaneously.
Brown Triangle
The Brown Triangle is named so because it is neither a Green Triangle nor a Red Triangle. It is a merger of the two ideas (gts being mounted in a knot and rts being mounted out) to form a triangle only possible with two separate strings. As with red and green triangles, there are millions of ways (to be discovered) to get into a Brown Triangle. This is the most basic:
Do a drape. Open up the drape-side loop with the hand that isn’t holding it. From the front, mount the yo-yo onto the bottom string, which is the string tied to the hand that you’re opening the loop with, and drop the hand you caught the drape with. Be sure to dismount out the front of the triangle.
To get into a Brown Triangle with a little extra flare (and an extra string hit), before mounting the yo-yo on the bottom string, you can mount the yo-yo on and off inside the drape with the opening hand.
Triangle Transfer
To do Triangle Transfer, first go into a Brown Triangle. Swing the yoyo over and above the finger holding the triangle, changing the drape direction while transitioning to the opposite side. Now remount into a brown triangle on the other side. Rinse, repeat, and lather.
This concludes the first installment of the Double Dragon Tutorial Series.
Stay tuned next week for Volume 2.Tesla has sued former employee Sterling Anderson, who acted as Director of its Autopilot Programs for just over a year, for breach of contract. The suit accuses Anderson of having tried to recruit away employees from Tesla, with the intent of starting his own autonomous driving company, and of also taking Tesla proprietary confidential information to support this goal.
Tesla alleges in its complaint that Anderson and recently departed head of Google’s self-driving project Chris Urmson (also named as a defendant) were going to use the information and personnel taken from Tesla to begin their own self-driving car company, dubbed Aurora, with the aim of charting a similar path to companies including Cruise Automation and Otto, both of which went on to enjoy lucrative exits.
In the suit, Tesla also alleges that Anderson downloaded “hundreds of gigabytes” of proprietary data from his work computer to a personal storage device, and that he then manually hacked the timestamps on files to hide evidence of his acquisition of the information. He also wiped the iPhone issued by Tesla, the suit says, in order to erase evidence of his attempts to poach fellow employees. These attempts were met with only limited success, however, as only two employees apparently ever jumped ship to the new venture.
Tesla is seeking damages for its losses as a result of its breaches suffered due to Anderson’s actions, as well as punitive damages for what it terms “malicious” acts on Anderson’s behalf. It’s also looking for injunctions against Aurora’s technologies pending Tesla’s vetting for use of its proprietary tech.
The suit was filed Thursday morning at the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara and seeks a jury trial to resolve the matter.
Tesla declined to provide comment when contacted.
Aurora provided the following statement to TechCrunch via email when asked for more information:OFF WHITE x Nike Footwear Collection Releases On September 1st
4.57 / 5 114 VOTES This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. The opinions and information provided on this site are original editorial content of Sneaker News.
Virgil Abloh and OFF WHITE have been teasing some of the most anticipated collaborative efforts with Jordan Brand and Nike for the past few months. While the OFF WHITE Jordan 1 has been rather polarizing given the fact that Virgil is deconstructing such a classic silhouette, plenty of people seem interested in the pair featuring “Everything in Quotes”, unique mismatched panels, and an oversized Swoosh on the side panel with a variation in the iconic Chicago colorway thanks to volt and orange lace options. Now we have word that the entire OFF WHITE x Nike Footwear Collection will be available September 1st.
The OFF WHITE x Nike Footwear Collection features the likes of the Air Jordan 1, Nike VaporMax, Nike Air Presto, Nike Blazer Mid, Nike Cortez, Nike Air Max 90, Nike LunarEpic Flyknit, and more. (The jury is still out on the rumored OFF WHITE Jordan 3, but we’ll have to wait and see about that). The resounding theme here is Virgil’s unique branding calling out to Nike’s Portland, Oregon roots, a dedication to product numbers, and oversized Swoosh branding. Do note that the likes of the OFF WHITE x Nike Air Force 1 Ultraforce Mid and OFF WHITE x Nike Air Max 1 Ultra 2.0 haven’t been unveiled just yet, but we’ll keep you updated once we find some detailed images right here on Sneaker News.
source: yeezymafia
OFF WHITE x Nike VaporMax
Release Date: September 1st, 2017
$250
Style Code: AA3831-100
OFF WHITE x Air Jordan 1
Release Date: September 1st, 2017
$190
Style Code: AA3834-101
OFF WHITE x Nike Air Max 90
Release Date: September 1st, 2017
$160
Style Code: AA7293-100
OFF WHITE x Nike Blazer Mid
Release Date: September 1st, 2017
$130
Style Code: AA7293-100
OFF WHITE x Nike Air Presto
Release Date: September 1st, 2017
$160
Style Code: AA3830-001Reince Priebus learned a hard lesson over the past six months and Americans should pay attention to it. After leaving his job as White House chief of staff last week, Priebus told Sean Hannity that the national press is flat-out "dishonest."
"What I find to be amazing is how narratives are set and a lot of it is not true.... The most breathtaking thing for me has been the difference between what the truth is and what often gets reported."
Priebus was referring to story lines that have taken deep root in the anti-Trump media.
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The second story line embraced by the hate-Trump forces is that the president is unfit to hold the office. Under this banner, almost everything the man says or does is reported as a negative. Day after day, the media themes of corruption and incompetence are hammered home with few solid facts to back up the negative expositions. It must be said, however, that Trump's lack of discipline in replying to the attacks is greatly aiding his opposition.
It is certainly true that every American has the right and perhaps civic duty to form an educated opinion about their leader. But those opinions should be based on facts that demonstrate truth — not contrived narratives designed by partisan ideologues.
And it's not just the left that is hating Trump. A good number of conservatives are participating in the lynch mob. If you think there wasn't a dose of personal animus in John McCain John Sidney McCainGOP lobbyists worry Trump lags in K Street fundraising Mark Kelly kicks off Senate bid: ‘A mission to lift up hardworking Arizonans’ Gabbard hits back at Meghan McCain after fight over Assad MORE's vote to keep ObamaCare intact, you're living in the Land of Oz. Sen. McCain despises Donald Trump, perhaps with justification, and fully understands how his vote has damaged the president.
Another conservative, pundit Peggy Noonan, recently launched a vicious personal attack on Trump's manhood. Ms. Noonan basically ignored the unprecedented battering the president has taken in the media as a reason that he might respond to criticism inappropriately at times. She is smart enough to know the media score but not honest enough to provide perspective while denigrating Trump.
By the way, that's what seeking the truth is all about, providing some honest perspective even if you don't like someone.
Reince Priebus witnessed the hostile media onslaught up close and personal. At this point in our history, few reporters are actively seeking the truth. Almost all allegations against Trump and his supporters are treated as facts. Conclusions are drawn, narratives spun.
In short, Americans are being barraged with story lines designed to make it impossible for Donald Trump to govern.
This is right out of the Saul Alinsky "Rules for Radicals" playbook. Isolate a political target, and hammer the person ceaselessly with whatever you can think of. The truth be damned. Demonize and marginalize your opposition in order to destroy them.
As Sharyl Attkisson's new book "The Smear" chronicles with facts, the anti-Trump, anti-conservative movement has now become an organized industry in the U.S. with millions of dollars supporting it. More than a few national press people are part of that industry as they print or broadcast unproven accusations using the word "reportedly" to justify spreading unverified information.
It is very possible that the White House does not fully understand the powerful forces arrayed against it. Priebus seems shocked by what he calls "press dishonesty." But it has been on display for many years.
The difference now is Donald Trump. He is so despised by the progressive movement, and by some conservatives as well, that old rules of fairness and truth-seeking no longer apply. It is obviously wrong for the press to insinuate and then promote conclusions based upon biased conjecture, but in some media precincts the "get Trump" end justifies the means.
Presidential tweets and charges of fake news are not going to be enough to blunt the media corruption that has so horrified Reince Priebus.
Only a full, methodical exposure of it to the American people may provide some balance.
Bill O'Reilly is the former host of "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News and is the author of "Old School: Life in the Sane Lane," and "Killing the Rising Sun." He now analyzes the news on BillO'Reilly.com.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.Do I Really Have to Say This Again?
Ok, once more with feeling, pointing out bullshit behaviors under the umbrella of the word “Creep” is not demonizing male sexuality. It is pointing out bad behavior in a very inexact way.
I’ve said it before, I think that we should do away with the word “creep” in favor of more specific terms, like, “You haven’t looked up from my tits once since I met you,” “Your opener was ‘Nice rack!'” or “You used (any one of dozens of “pick-up lines” suggested by lad mags like Maxim and Stuff, which continue to convince me that those magazines are written by a bunch of dudes who can’t get laid and want to make sure no one else does either).”
Now, the biggest complaint about the word “creep” is that it’s supposedly only used by women on dudes.
This entire premise is wrong as fuck.
First, if you think men don’t call other men creepy on occasion, you obviously are not hanging out with men much. Most of the guys I know frequently call other guys creepy, or tell them to quit being creepy whether the creepiness is aimed at them or at surrounding women. Granted, they also tend to use more specific terms. Like when talking about guys who ogle other guys’ penises in the bathroom, they call them “meatgazers.” This is not a slam on homosexuals, this is a slam on a particularly creepy behavior by someone. I don’t care what your sexual orientation is, staring at someone else’s goodies when you haven’t been invited to do so is creepy. And guys feel totally justified in just saying, “Dude! Are you looking at my dick? What the fuck?” Whereas women are conditioned by our society not to yell, “Are you staring at my tits, you shitbag?”
Ok, for values of women not me.
Also, men call women creepy, too.
Oh, yes, they do. They’re less likely to come get a bouncer if a woman’s skeeving on them, but they do call women creepy with fair regularity.
I’m beginning to suspect that many of these people who object to the word “creep” just don’t hang out with very many other people in general, regardless of gender.
Seriously, how do you live without knowing that women get called creepy, too? Granted, part of this conundrum is solved when you realize that when many of the assholes bitching about “creep” say “women” what they mean is “female being I would like to fuck.” This categorization of “women” does not include the too unattractive, the too fat, the too old… When these assholes say that “women” don’t want to fuck them, they mean “Playboy bunnies and supermodels don’t want to fuck me.”
Ok, look. Homework for everybody.
Women, and girls, I want you to practice saying explicitly what someone is doing to make you uncomfortable. Really think about it when it happens. Are they staring at your tits? Do they drift off in conversation if someone younger/hotter walks by? Are they standing too close? Are they touching you without your permission? Are they using gross innuendos? Are you obviously underage and they are obviously over-age? Are they skeeving hard on you or a friend and pressuring you to go somewhere you don’t want to? Are they obviously trying to get you drunk? Are they trying to get you to leave your drink unattended with them for apparently nefarious purposes? Granted, it goes without saying that you should only confront them if you feel safe, otherwise just try to get away, but really think about what it is that’s bugging you about what they’re doing so that you can explain it later. Practice this, and be very explicit when you explain to friends what was wrong.
Guys, I want you to think about behaviors that make you uncomfortable (“meatgazing,” unwanted touching by anybody…) and think about if you do those behaviors or their equivalents to women. Do you stand to close to women? Do you touch women you don’t know without an invitation? Do you try to get women drunk? Do you ignore her “No’s” until she loses her shit at you for being a creepy stalker? Are you hitting on women who are substantially younger than you because you think they’ll be “easier?” Are you hitting on women substantially older than you for the same fucking reason?
Seriously, guys, if someone has done something to you that has ever made you go, “What the fuck?” I want you to think hard about if you’ve done it to another human being in a sexual manner.
Hell, think about the things you do to women on a regular basis and think about if you’d be ok if someone who was substantially bigger, stronger, (I very snottily want to put down “more well-nourished”) than you did them to you.
And actually, that second set of advice goes for some women, too. Not as many, because we are largely socialized to be passive about this sort of thing. But I have known some really aggressive women who have made guys uncomfortable with their “attentions.” Seriously. I just want everyone to think really hard about the shit they don’t like done to them, and then not do it to other people, ok?
Sorry, this was mostly all heteronormative, but I hope everyone understands that the last sentence is for everyone of all genders and orientations. If you don’t like it when someone does it to you, don’t do it to others.
Anecdote Corner! I’m just going to start doing this with every post, just a quick, related anecdote. Think of it as story time. Ok, so working at a nightclub, I used to work with this HUGE guy nicknamed B. He was about 6’7″ and a good 280, real solid and muscular. He had tattoos, facial piercings and was really hairy and went shirtless a lot. When he would notice some guy pulling that “invade her space” bullshit that the Pick Up Artist community tells them to do, he would go and do it to them. Suddenly it didn’t seem so, “Jokey Ha Ha!” when someone did it to them. Particularly when that someone really looked like he could and would force himself on them.
He’d do that for a few minutes, and about the time they were trying not to wet their pants, he’d say, “You don’t like this, do you?”
They’d shake their heads.
“She doesn’t like it either. Knock that shit off.”
And then he’d mosey back to his bouncer stool by the door, and glare out over the dance floor.
No one likes to feel weak, male or female.*
*Except in very specific, consensually negotiated circumstances that frequently involve safewords and check-in phone calls. But that’s another post.
AdvertisementsSo hold them in contempt if they don’t comply.
Via Washington Times:
House intelligence committee sources say career officials at the National Security Council are slow-walking the delivery of subpoenaed records on former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice’s handling of classified information and the “unmasking” of Trump campaign workers — material from the Russian hacking probe that middle-level NSC managers claim was transferred to President Obama’s library and could “remain closed to the public for five years.”
One source, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, called the transfer curious and appeared to reflect an effort by former administration officials to obscure evidence on whether Ms. Rice and other top officials in the Obama White House illegally tried to identify which Trump campaign and transition aides had been caught up in the U.S. intelligence intercepts of Russian interference in the presidential race.
Keep reading…Canada will get its first official glimpse of a new ‘elite’ rugby team on September 9 when the Ontario Arrows take on the Glendale Merlins at Infinity Park in Colorado. Announced publicly in a brief press release on Friday afternoon, the Ontario Arrows Rugby Club are a new and independent team co-founded by the management team of the Ontario Blues to increase the volume of ‘sub-international’ fixtures for high performance players and help bridge the gap between domestic and international rugby.
The team will initially be populated largely from the existing Blues roster, 2017 Canadian Rugby Championship runners-up and winners of the MacTier Cup in five of the last seven years. Bolstering the group will be select individuals from Eastern Canada, with standouts from the Atlantic Rock expected to receive invitations.
As professional rugby prepares to re-launch in the USA next spring in the form of Major League Rugby, Arrows General Manager Mark Winokur has confirmed that while a professional outfit may not be immediate, it is definitely in their sights.
“This will be privately funded with some compensation structures being reviewed; at worst, this would be a short term goal of the program.”
The Arrows will operate independently of the CRC program and Rugby Ontario, but has retained much of the off-field infrastructure. Heading up the coaching staff will be Chris Silverthorn, who has been on the Blues coaching staff since 2010.
“This is a privately funded operation working closely with Rugby Ontario. Obviously it makes sense to have strong links to the largest rugby population in Canada and to the success of the Blues program. We are fortunate enough to have retained the current Blues staff for the Glendale match. Since Chris Silverthorn was named head coach in 2012 the Blues have gone 35-10 in all matches so it again makes sense to take advantage of the opportunity.”
While becoming a full member of MLR in 2018 is not on the cards, multiple sources have indicated to Americas Rugby News that the team is set to play a series of ‘friendlies’ against MLR sides next year. In addition, matches against potential MLR targets in the east – Chicago and New York have been all but confirmed – are to be added to Ontario’s fixture list in 2018. While Winokur stopped short of confirming details, many of which are likely still in development, he admits that talks are ongoing with multiple teams south of the border.
“For a number of reasons, the Arrows will not be an official MLR team in 2018. There are discussions with many organizations, including MLR teams, about high performance games next year. There are a good number of organizations that are on the same page as we are and there have been very positive discussions with all. It is certainly possible that a Northern/Eastern group of teams will find ways to engage in 2018.”
The team name itself is notable. Most expected the side to be based in Toronto, the largest metropolitan area in Canada, however the team has retained its provincial link. This of course suggests that the team has not yet secured a permanent home venue, but don’t expect there to be a re-branding once it does.
“We are currently evaluating a number of venues in Southern Ontario and would want to have this in place by spring of 2018. We are open to all possibilities at this stage. There are lots of possibilities but we are happy to represent the province and the ‘Ontario’ brand which has built up some capital in rugby. That’s not to say no, but we would need a compelling reason to limit our fan base to one particular city.”
Fans will also note that the Glendale team will be playing under the Merlins banner. The Raptors brand has now been exlusively retained for MLR fixtures. Lineups for the match are expected to be similar to the Blues-Raptors match that took place on May 20 in Burlington.
This appears to be the first and only viewing of the Arrows that we will get this year with no further matches in 2017 scheduled at this time due to a congested international fixture list that includes the upcoming Americas Pacific Challenge and November test series.
The press release in its entirety can be read below.
————-
ONTARIO ARROWS AIMING AT ELITE RUGBY TARGETS
The Ontario Arrows Rugby Club are set to launch in September with a very challenging match against Glendale Merlins in Glendale, Colorado, on September 9th.
The Arrows, who will be made up of high performance senior men’s players from Ontario and Eastern Canada, will build on and work with the Ontario Blues of the Canadian Rugby Championship, to provide sub-international fixtures for emerging and established Canadian players seeking to increase their high performance involvement.
Named jointly after the Avro Arrow – Canada’s world-class jet fighter program that was terminated in the 1960s, originating from Downsview, Ontario – and the primary hunting tool of the Ontario First Nations people, the Arrows will play in Ontario navy blue, Nickel belt grey, and Harvest gold.
The bulk of the initial squad will come from the Blues, who have a 28-12 all time record in the CRC and who have either won or been in the CRC final for the last seven years straight, with other selected players joining from the eastern provinces.
“We are really excited to be part of the first Arrows team and looking forward to a great day in Denver. Our thanks to Glendale for hosting,” said Arrows general manager Mark Winokur. “We are both trying to put our players on a better development pathway and it should be a great game.”
Ontario, playing under the Blues name, and Glendale, under the Raptors banner, met in Burlington, Ontario in May of this year, Ontario coming out on top by 43-25.
The Arrows vs Merlins match will be part of Infinity Park’s 10-year celebration and will kick off at 3pm MDT, 5pm EDT. Broadcast and streaming details will be announced soon."Once I saw a Devil in a flame of fire,
who arose before an Angel that sat on a cloud,
and the Devil uttered these words.
'The worship of God is:
Honoring his gifts in other men each according to his genius,
and loving the greatest men best:
those who envy or calumniate great men hate God,
for there is no other God.'"
Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres ran through his checklist as he floated underwater, just outside the arch leading into Atlantis.
He held an actual laminated checklist. Studies done nearly two-hundred and fifty years ago conclusively demonstrated that even experts with thousands of hours of training - like pilots and surgeons - sometimes forgot a critical step. Harry considered himself the world's foremost living authority on Atlantis. But he had no actual experience with it, yet.
Nobody did. The greatest living expert merely meant Harry was the least ignorant. He went methodically down his checklist to ensure he hadn't forgotten anything. He reviewed the defenses he expected to encounter and the correct countermeasures, from first down to the last. Reminders as to which spells to favor. He flipped the checklist over to the back, then went to the second page.
Even by Harry's rather demanding standards he felt prepared. As prepared as possible. Harry had spent two decades practicing for this moment in an underwater training facility.
Despite what earlier conservative politicians proclaimed, you could eventually disband a government agency without violent uprising. All you had to do was make the effective human life span "As much as you'd care to enjoy" and spend several generations training people to think. Once you did that even politicians started widening their time horizons and raising their level of discourse.
It took decades longer than he'd hoped. But there had been progress.
Humanity no longer lived solely on one single frail eggshell. Bowie Base One supported nearly a million souls. The Sovereign Moon held a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Some time ago the American government ministers (or more likely, their constituents) had read the writing on the wall. Humanity had far fewer problems during the Third Enlightenment (as the History books called it), but they had problems nonetheless. Each innovation usually brought more rewards than challenges, but there were constant issues to deal with.
And even when all your problems were smaller, you still spent most of your time dealing with them. Problems - no matter how big or small - required resources to be allocated efficiently.
Once corporations routinely captured and mined asteroids and frontier towns had sprung up on other planets and moons, space had long ago ceased to be a'research' problem, and just one of scale. The (original) world's nations had other problems to address and so a controversial measure proposed by the Distinguished Gentlewoman from Costa Rica made its way into law.
N.A.S.A had been privatized in 2089.
Harry had snapped up a fair percentage of the assets to prepare for his inevitable exploration of Atlantis. He kept one of the original Apollo space suits back at Hogwarts because obviously they deserved to be seen, and few people alive had a real appreciation for that part of humanity's history. Publicly buying space trinkets was just Harry being Harry, snapping up mementos from a bygone age few remembered was the sort of thing people expected Harry Potter to do. It was no stranger than anything else he'd done. If Harry could hide his true intentions by publicly appearing to be what the media portrayed him as, that was fine with him. A good move has multiple purposes. If Harry could inspire his students with a few props that was an added benefit.
But as he made the purchase Harry knew that one day he'd swim into Atlantis.
Once he discovered where it was.
He'd started that task even before his marriage. Scholars told him Atlantis would be impossible to find. All legends agreed there were no clues and no traces of the civilization to be found. But that had not been tested experimentally. He started researching, but just in case there really weren't clues or tricks, that left Harry one option.
He brute forced it.
Before Harry celebrated his thirtieth birthday he'd discovered a renowned Muggle exploring the ocean floor and mapping its depths. Harry Potter simply introduced himself, demonstrated enough magic to be convincing, revealed everything he knew about Atlantis and swore him to secrecy.
What explorer could resist?
Even during the decades Harry Potter spent petrified his high-tech search for Atlantis continued. Long after Harry's dispirited acolytes had thrown their hands up in frustration and abandoned their tasks, one man hunted for Atlantis. After a century, it remained undiscovered.
Harry - awake again - went back and re-examined the data. A painstaking analysis revealed... nothing.
Harry ran the analysis again - this time under the watchful eyes of Aurors - they noticed some discrepancies and the tell-tale sign of Obliviation. Harry narrowed down the search to a few specific sites. After that it was a matter of time, and after another decade, the location.
As far as Harry could tell, James Cameron was the first, second and fourth person to discover the entrance to Atlantis - only to have his memory altered each time.
Now Harry floated in front of the gate, giddy.
Harry had been happy most of his life, but bouts of giddy-ness had become increasingly rare. Harry speculated that giddy-ness (closely related to surprise) followed a pattern similar to the Prime Number Theory and became more infrequent as you got older, but never really disappeared.
Unlike primes and pure maths (which followed their own deep mysteries) Harry could adjust his expected giddyness by trying new things. Harry resolutely ignored all arguments that other people could do this. Atlantis was not his life's work, but it had always been there, in the background, and he was not about to give into those who said it was too dangerous for him. So he put aside all the words from the people who told him to delegate. Thankfully Luna wasn't one of them.
But he listened to their arguments.
Harry might be risking his life, but life was meant to be lived. Still, he'd listened. He'd taken every precaution suggested and even more. All he could think of.
His backed Bubble Head spell with state of the art rebreather equipment, and then scuba equipment. And an emergency rebreather. He had a plastic bag full of gillyweed in case things got desperate and he decided to stay, and five portkeys to scattered safe spots at a variety of depths (to avoid the bends). One portkey led a pressurized chamber in London, with healers waiting. Legend said you couldn't Apparate into Atlantis but no countermeasures prevented leaving, assuming you didn't take anything with you.
The stories - evidence was a strong word, too strong for his research - felt accurate. Harry knew that wasn't evidence, but evidence was not forthcoming.
Eventually Plupplup and Blboblb - the Mermish Aurors who'd demanded that Harry tell them the location of Atlantis so it could be investigated 'by the proper authorities' - had blown bubbles of exasperation and agreed to swim just outside Atlantis and allow Harry his moment.
For anyone else (well, almost anyone else) they'd have ignored his complaints and gone on their own.
Harry knew how to use the awe his name inspired. Blboblb and Plupplup had asked him nicely instead of simply shutting him down when they'd first visited him, decades ago. After Harry demurred, they placed a bewildering array of what they considered ridiculous demands. They expected Harry to object, after which they would go over his head. In the name of safety. Harry's safety.
They'd heard the legends of Harry Potter. But they didn't understand them. Not yet.
Harry complied with their demands.
He turned over every scrap of lore about Atlantis (except its location) and agreed that he'd have to best a crack Mermish Auror Trio in underwater combat before he'd swim through the gates. Harry also agreed that his test would involve situations where he'd swim in without advanced knowledge of the territory set up with whatever non-lethal trap they desired.
The Aurors complained that they had much better facilities for this. Harry privately agreed, but didn't want to publicly spend years training with Merfolk. Even the Muggle press would grasp the implications. But he'd taken sabbaticals at his American retreat for decades. That would arouse no suspicion. Harry un-mothballed an old NASA underwater training facility, tossed Plupplup the keys and said to call when they were ready.
Only then did the two mermen stop and really think about Harry Potter's childhood, before he became famous.
They set off to work.
Harry hadn't had that much fun in decades. It was like the childhood he'd never finished.
It took years. The Aurors felt surprised after they'd defeated Harry the first time. It had been... easy. Harry Potter boasted respectable fighting talent, but the world had caught up during his years of stasis. He kept surprises up his sleeves but he'd taught his students well. Neither merman had Harry's innate cleverness, but they'd been diligent, and had been taught well by students of Harry's techniques.
Harry thanked the Aurors for the battle, learned from his mistake, and improved his plan. The next battle took longer.
Harry lost. He reviewed, learned, and studied. Harry Potter had all the time in the world. He kept up with his other duties, disappearing for a long weekend here and there to relax. Nobody really noticed. Harry was never particularly social, but he kept up correspondences. Harry lost his third battle and the fourth. As he lost battles he won over the Aurors' respect, as they learned the fundamental truth about him.
Harry Potter was not a God, just a clever man in an increasingly clever world. A world which (thankfully) no longer needed him, but respected his position and the influence he'd had. Harry had drifted into legend - for a while - but after he'd been revived he drifted back out of legend as people met him and judged him. The clever ones realized that he'd done everything with the tricks he'd taught them. He might have new tricks (there were always new tricks) but now they understood his techniques, even if they didn't always use them.
The world had thanked him, rewarded him well, listened to his advice and humoured Harry. They let him do pretty much anything he wanted, within reason. And sometimes beyond reason, at least in this case. That's what the Aurors had initially done. But as they defeated him over and over with less and less margin for error they watched the smiling man thank them, retreat, recover, regroup and rejoin the fight. Within two years Harry was a knowledgeable underwater tactician, albeit with physical skills only equal to a Mermish teenager.
Within five years, he routinely defeated unsuspecting Mermish Aurors in underwater duel.
After ten years Blboblb formally withdrew his objection. Harry Potter said there was no rush and he still had much to learn. After twenty years he'd defeated every challenge they could think of.
Then - and only then - Harry started preparations in earnest. He could finally see the endgame.
It had been fun. He thought he probably could have done it ten years, maybe eight. You can't rush physical skills. But he'd only spent a third of his time preparing for Atlantis. He'd had policies to craft, made sure to spend time with all the friends he accumulated over his life. As Harry said, there was no rush, and much more important matters to attend to.
The melding of Science and Magic meant barriers fell at an amazing pace.
Practically every day another iota of enlightenment could be squeezed from the advances. Every decade saw another major discovery. Grasping the implications an exploring them was Harry's full time job. The speed of light hadn't fallen. There were still hopes, but the maths were difficult. Research was slow and (by definition) had no fixed endpoint. Humanity had time to expand but eventually even the solar system would get full.
Births had fallen dramatically, but not nearly as dramatically as deaths.
Construction of the Dyson Disk had already started. It wouldn't house anyone for centuries and would probably never be finished. For now, they were only using materials already in orbit, but at some point those would run out... by now most people doubted that the speed of light would ever be defeated.
Harry demurred an opinion. Prophecy was a tricky thing. Harry was just a man, but he had insider information. and how could he destroy the very stars if he couldn't get to them? In any case, assuming that they were stuck in this solar system was practical for now, so Harry just shrugged his shoulders and let the physicists do their work.
Harry's other main task was the same it had ever been. Encouraging and educating humanity. Now - thanks to his legend - that task consumed most of his time. if not much of his thoughts.
Harry had a canned intro he used during the numerous speeches he gave. Commencement speeches at Schools of Wizardry around the world were all basically the same. The speaker, some accomplished whitchard who seemed ancient to hir teenaged students but was a century Harry's junior, would extoll Harry's accomplishments - all long overshadowed by those who stood on his shoulders - and end with something like "I am honoured to present your speaker, the Legend, The Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter!"
Harry had his speech memorized, but held a note card with the Symposiarch's name. (The sole item on his "Speech" preparation checklist). Harry would smile and nod or wave as the mood struck him, then go into his speech.
"Thank you, but I would like to remind insert previous speaker's title and name here that we live in the Age of Symbiosis. I am not a legend, just a man. Perhaps a man ahead of his time, as people say. But times have caught up and surpassed me. The times have surpassed us all, even you who are about to embark on your new adventures. Our worlds are too big for any one person to explore, but that also means that they are big enough that any one person can find something new. You can be the first to glimpse some distant vista or uncover some new scientific principle. Build a better boggart trap. Invent a new flavor of ice cream. Age is no barrier. The only barriers exist inside you. If you have a strong desire, a good work ethic, a bit of cleverness, and the courage to believe in yourself, you can do anything. Those four attributes make the Herald of a little school |
, bawdy.
Wilson sat by herself, quietly, taking off her spikes, and was one of the last to come through the curtain and face the gauntlet of reporters. Certainly, she’s reserved, but she’s also a 20-year-old college student, eight to ten years and a lifestyle removed from the other women in the field.
Some who were disappointed in their race, sailed past reporters, avoiding eye contact, getting the hell out of Dodge as quickly as possible. Others practically burst through the curtain with a Tada!!! I’m looking at you, Phoebe Wright.
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“This is the first time I’ve been happy after a race in...forever,” effused Wright, who held her third place position throughout the race. “I’ve been over-trained for three years, but this time, when I went to the well, I could feel the gears change. It was great! And [sotto voce] I think I got some Parcheesi.”
I didn’t get it.
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“This will cover a week of pharmacy school tuition,” Wright said.
As I left the dank athlete recovery/media gauntlet mixed zone, already filled with the sweaty survivors of the next race, I glanced in and saw Latavia Thomas still retching over a garbage can. Just a preview of the World Championships.Share:
A super spooky StreetPass Weekend starts 10/30
Skip the tricks this Halloween and head straight to the treats with National StreetPass Weekend!
Stop by any of the more than 29,000 Nintendo Zone hotspots across North America with your Nintendo 3DS system from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1—you could get up to six StreetPass tags from across North America.
Collect more Mii characters to help you battle ghouls and ghosts in Monster Manor and Battleground Z, or pick up enemy tokens for StreetSmash in Super Smash Bros.™ for Nintendo 3DS.
If you’re playing Animal Crossing™: Happy Home Designer, you might even run into Filly, a special character who is currently only available from Nintendo Zone.
And remember to pick out a spooky hat for your Mii, then take your Nintendo 3DS with you while you’re out over the Halloween weekend—you never know who you might StreetPass!
Find a hotspot near you here: http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/nintendozone.SyFy’s television adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series is coming on December 14th, and we’ve got an exclusive first look at their book-to-screen process! Check out this rad video of cast and author interviews, and new footage from the show!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jX72phGGmc[/youtube]
More info from SyFy:
The most ambitious series in Syfy history, The Expanse is set two hundred years in the future, after mankind has colonized the solar system. A hardened detective (Thomas Jane, Hung) and a rogue ship’s captain (Steven Strait, Magic City) come together for what starts as the case of a missing young woman and evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.
Emmy® winner and Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Saddam, House of Sand and Fog) also stars as Chrisjen Avasarala, a smart and cunning politician who has risen in the ranks of Earth’s governing body without once standing for election.
Rounding out the cast are Dominique Tipper (Vampire Academy), Cas Anvar (Olympus), Wes Chatham (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) and Florence Faivre (Alpha House, The Following). Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad), Paulo Costanzo (Royal Pains), Chad Coleman (The Walking Dead) and Jay Hernandez (Suicide Squad, Gang Related) will appear as guest stars throughout the series’ first season.
Award-winning director Terry McDonough (Breaking Bad, Suits, Better Call Saul) directed the first two episodes of the series.
Academy Award-nominated screenwriting duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, Iron Man) wrote the pilot and serve as writers as well as executive producers. Executive producer Naren Shankar (CSI, Farscape) joins Fergus and Ostby as showrunners.
The series is based on the New York Times and USA Today bestselling book series collectively known as The Expanse, written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S. A. Corey). Abraham and Franck are show producers.
The first book, Leviathan Wakes, was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. A tie-in edition is now available, as well as a boxed set of the first three novels in the series. Book five, Nemesis Games, was published in June, and book six, Babylon’s Ashes, is scheduled for June 2016.This week, something really cool happened to me—something that might make you lose your respect for me as a journalist.
On Monday, a representative from Wizards of the Coast dropped a note in my inbox asking me if I would be able to cover the Magic: The Gathering events at PAX Prime this year. I’ve covered M:TG events plenty in the past, for Forbes, the Daily Dot, and even Otaku Journalist. This time, I obviously had to decline. Since I splurged on a two-week trip to Japan in March, I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford to travel again until next year.
That’s when the rep shot back—what if we paid for your flight and hotel? I figured I had nothing to lose, and asked if they would also cover my husband, who has always wanted to go to PAX. It was a longshot, but the rep replied that’d be fine. I was over the moon!
You see, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve gotten compensated in return for my reporting. Hasbro regularly sends me boxes of My Little Pony toys to review. Before I left the last M:TG event I covered, I received a swag bag put aside for me, just like every other reporter who showed up. Just about every card game I’ve reviewed for my Forbes blog has been gifted to me—as I disclose clearly in my reviews. Why would disclosing a plane ticket or a hotel stay be any different?
Well, it turns out it’s a lot different. My elation didn’t last long before my editor let me know there was no way I could accept this. For one thing, she pointed out, there’s a major price difference between a flight and a toy. For another, it’s against the rules to use the Forbes brand for personal gain. I could try to argue that they asked me to come because I’m a good reporter, but it’s pretty obvious they asked me because of my Forbes affiliation. While I’d be totally in the clear to write this up on my personal blog, Otaku Journalist only gets 30,000 hits a month.
For some of you reading this, everything up to this point confirms the worst that you believed about journalists. I’m willing to accept perks in exchange for reporting coverage.
I know the concern here is bias. A few years ago, when I was a Bitcoin reporter for ReadWrite, I bought $20 worth of Bitcoin in order to write about the experience. Shortly after that, the Bitcoin boom happened and I found that my $20 had become $150 overnight. My then-editor told me keeping it would bias my reporting, so I donated it to the Red Cross. (Hopefully, the Red Cross figured out how to extract it before Bitcoin’s worth plummeted again.)
Still, I’m not pigheaded enough not to know that I’m already biased. I have likes and dislikes that sway me incredibly—which is why I have given very bad reviews to things gifted to me, including a board game Wizards of the Coast sent me. And they were thrilled with that coverage! They’re not paying me for good reviews, just reviews in general.
And over time, I admit I’ve lost some of this rigidity. Last year when Hasbro sent me a shipment of My Little Pony toys, I donated them all to charity. Then, they sent me their Comic-Con 2015 exclusive. I sold it on eBay for $80 and went out to dinner. (Mind you, I didn’t review or even request these—they were just shipped to my house.)
How I justify it is this: I don’t feel like a bad person for taking what I can get. I get paid by the half penny for my Forbes coverage. As a human being who sells my body and time in order to feed myself (because that’s what hourly work is), I don’t feel like part of the media elite. I write about stuff I like, and sometimes companies take notice.
If anything, I hope this post sheds some light on the complex considerations that come up when journalists have to decide what they can and can’t accept for coverage.
Photo by Jesper WährnerIs Kim Soo Hyun doing a Daniel Radcliffe? The 29-year-old actor has made a name for himself playing cute and dorky roles, from a geeky student (Dream High) to an adorable alien (My Love from the Star). But in his new action-thriller Real, he does a 180 — shedding his togs and baring his tush to play an ambitious underworld broker. Sounds like someone who went from boy wizard to all-grown-up, slipping into his birthday suit for his role as a psychiatric patient in Equus.
Unfortunately, for all Soo Hyun’s um, sacrifice, Real bombed at the box office and was slammed with bad reviews from both fans and critics alike, who pegged it as one of the worst films in Korean history. One netizen called it “the worst cheap porn ever made.” Ouch.
Close encounters: Kim Soo Hyun and Sulli get Real-ly intimate. Soo graphic: Leaked footage showing Sulli getting nekkid and doing naughty things to Soo Hyun.
The film, about a city in the grip of the underworld, contains much-talked-about sex scenes where the actor gets frisky with former f(X) member Sulli in a steamy bed romp that would make the camera blush. Yes, imagine our (Electric) Shock to learn that the once-upon-a-time squeaky-clean K-pop star bares all in the show. For Real. Sulli’s leaked (hmm, really?) nude scenes have spread online faster than she sheds her threads in the film. Looks like the 23-year-old is gonna make quite the impression in her big screen debut. The explicit movie, directed by Soo Hyun’s cousin, comes with a 19+ rating due to its depiction of sex, drugs and murder.
The risqué-takers have spoken candidly about their NSFW scenes. Sulli was all praise for her co-star’s smooching skills. “His lips were delicious,” she recalled. Meanwhile, Soo Hyun said: “We were concerned ’cos nudity was involved in that [bed] scene. At first, Sulli and I had trouble saying our lines ’cos we were too busy sucking in our stomachs. Since our stomach muscles were all tensed up, our voices came out sounding like mosquitoes. We ended up causing a lot of bloopers.” Did someone say belly unsexy?OnePlus finally revealed their first almost bezel-less flagship smartphone OnePlus 5T. Low light camera performance and Face Unlock are the new key features OnePlus are boasting about. This time, OnePlus goes after Apple’s iPhone X with face unlock, which the company says will work with 99 percent accuracy so long as it can see your eyes and nose.
At a glance
OnePlus 5T hardware specs:
6-inch AMOLED screen, 18:9 ratio display
Dual 16-megapixel and 20-megapixel rear cameras that focus on low-light and portrait photography
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
Up to 8GB RAM
Face unlock (not secure enough for mobile payments)
Fingerprint reader
Slider button on side controls notifications
3.5 millimeter headphone jack
Android 7.1.1 Nougat (Android 8.0 Oreo beta will come in late December)
Software Improvements
OnePlus promises the phone to have their best camera ever and complements it with better EIS on 4K and great low-light photo clarity.
Like other OnePlus phones, the 5T runs a relatively clean version of Android — called OxygenOS — that doesn’t throw a lot of extra apps and skins on top of the software. OnePlus claims this gives phone owners up to 20 percent greater power efficiency.
Prices
$499 USD 64GB
$559 USD 128GB
OnePlus 5T launches on Nov 21.
Via:CNETPaula Hawkins’ 2015 debut thriller, “The Girl on the Train,” made her an instant household name, breaking worldwide publishing sales records and begetting a big-studio blockbuster. Today she dares to make another splash with “Into the Water,” her second novel of sinuous psychological suspense. Where “The Girl on the Train” mined the protagonist’s unmitigated and diffuse psychic turmoil over a marriage gone very, very wrong, Hawkins’ latest foray into the twisted recesses of female consciousness explores the fracturing of bonds that are not romantic but filial. Set in a rural town with an eerie history of women curiously drowning, Hawkins’ intertwining narratives of mothers, daughters and sisters unsettle her readers out of the false presumption that blood is any thicker than, well, water.
The Zimbabwe-born, Oxford-educated former financial journalist soared to literary stardom by way of a milder career as Amy Silver, her romantic fiction nom de plume. In fact, the single, London-based author admitted to The Times that, in keeping with her earlier oeuvre, her real life is similarly quite happy, if uneventful. Perhaps we have Hawkins’ placid personal life to thank for unearthing from the dark corners of her imagination another complex and disturbing tale. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You completed “Into the Water” so close on the heels of “The Girl on the Train.” Given the success of that book, did you feel pressured to produce another bestseller in such a short period of time?
Most of the pressure is self-inflicted. I had this idea for another book, and I just wanted to get it down. I didn’t want the writing process to drag on for years and years. I know a lot of people struggle when they are writing something on the back of a big success. Obviously, yes, now there is an added pressure of knowing people are waiting for it, are going to read it and talk about it, and that makes me very nervous. But actually, the pressure to write the book — that came from myself.
How did you feel about the film adaptation of “The Girl on the Train”? What was it like to sit back and watch your brainchild come to life on the screen?
It was very strange initially, and also wonderful. I thought they did a really faithful job of adapting the book. All the gritty, paranoid atmosphere was there. I thought Emily [Blunt] did an absolutely incredible job as Rachel. It’s a very hard part to play; to play a drunk without looking laughable or ridiculous is actually not easy at all, and she completely got the sadness of it, so I was really impressed. But I had a brief cameo that was cut; I went to the set and they filmed one take where I was in the shot. I would’ve liked for that to be in the final version.
Maybe when they make a movie of “Into the Water.” Tell me about the idea that had been percolating in your mind for this book. How was it different to write about dysfunctional sisters as opposed to romantic partners?
When we meet lovers and spouses, we’re already adults; we’re formed. These relationships with your siblings and your parents — they’re the ones that become your identity. I wanted to examine how the memories we have of childhood, and the stories we tell about our pasts and our families, can be not only very formative but also very divisive, in the sense that we often remember things very differently from one another. Everyone has had this experience: They’re telling a story about something that happened to them when they were little and a sibling or their parents will say, “Oh no, it didn’t happen like that at all,” and you sort of can’t believe this. And usually those disputes are quite trivial, but what happens when those conflicting accounts are actually quite fundamental to the person you have become? What would that do to you if all the stuff starts to shift around when you’re an adult? That was the core of this story.
You’ve come up with a lot of deeply troubled female characters. Is there a particular aspect of womanhood you aim to get at through your body of work?
I would like to write womanhood as varied and complex as womanhood is. And yes, I’m focusing on people who have problems and who are quite damaged, but if I were writing about happy people it wouldn’t be a crime novel. The stories I’m telling are dark stories, so the characters are likely to be troubled. But I think I have a great variety of womanhood in this book, from the damaged to the successful.
"Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins. (Riverhead Books)
What are the literary tropes you engage with in this novel? You’ve spoken of it as having a gothic element. How so?
There is a hint of the supernatural that hangs around as an atmosphere in the book. The novel is about mythmaking in a way, and the stories we tell, and part of that myth is the story of women being accused of witchcraft. It’s a book of many mysteries, some of which are solved, and some of which aren’t, and that fits nicely into the gothic tradition.
This story line is very intricate. Was it a difficult process to compose so many moving pieces?
There are a lot of ideas in the book, and when I write I tend to plot the architecture of the story while leaving plenty of gaps for things to occur to me as I go along, because I think that’s when the best stuff comes to you. The things you can’t really legislate for. This book was quite tricky to write because, as you said, there are all those different narratives. Trying to fit them together, to figure out who should get more prominence where: It was quite tricky to do.
Which authors do you read most yourself? What books have informed your own development as a novelist?
I suppose my first interest in crime novels started, as it did for many people, with Agatha Christie. As a young teenager, I was fascinated with her plots and with the idea that any one of her characters could have committed those crimes. Although her stories often take place in country houses and whatnot, they are also about people’s normal lives. And then later, books like “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt: Reading that was the first time I realized what sort of scope a psychological thriller could have. Kate Atkinson writes fantastic police detective stories that are also very literary, and tell you something about the world and society, and offer so much more than just a mystery to be solved. That’s the sort of writing I aspire to.
You’ve said the idea for “The Girl on the Train” came to you on your morning commute. Is daily life always your inspiration?
I can’t point to a specific “light bulb” moment with “Into the Water”; the ideas coalesced much more gradually this time. But, yes — in all my stories, I want to write about ordinary people in kind of extraordinary circumstances. People whose lives are just going along quite normally and then something suddenly goes wrong. Obviously spies and serial killers exist, but they are not as likely to encroach on our day-to-day lives, so the kind of crime I write about is very much the kind that happens in regular, rural or suburban life.
What is the source of these grisly and fantastical ideas? Is there anything in your personal life at the root of these electrifying plots?
No. My life is quite settled and normal. I admit, perhaps if I lived a more exciting life I wouldn’t have space in my imagination to go on these flights of fancy. I am dull, but I have a dark and mischievous imagination.
Christensen is the associate features editor at Harper’s Bazaar and has written for the New York Times Book Review. She was formerly an assistant editor at Vanity Fair.More than sixteen years after she snatched Bronze at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Wednesday credited Cheryl Haworth (Savannah, GA) with a Youth World Record.
On September 22, 2000, at the Olympic Games in Sydney, a 17-year-old Haworth snatched 125kg. As she stood on the podium to receive her Bronze medal, Haworth had no idea that her performance would lead to a Youth World Record.
Last year, the IWF added a 75kg weight category for Youth women. The super heavyweight category moved to +75kg, the same weight category Haworth competed in at the Games in Sydney.
Since 2000, no youth girl has lifted more than Haworth's 125kg snatch in Sydney. The IWF added Haworth's name to the World Records page on its official website.
Haworth's feat also made history for USA Weightlifting. It was the first time since Robin Byrd-Goad's Senior World Record Snatch (78kg) in 1994 that an American woman set a World Record. It is also the first time in decades that two American weightlifters currently hold a World Record. CJ Cummings (Beaufort, SC) holds the Youth World Records in Clean & Jerk (182kg) and Total (317kg) in the 69kg category.
Haworth shared the news on her Instagram page:Vladimir Tarasenko will take the faceoff in what promises to be an emotional moment for everyone in the building.
ST. LOUIS - Members of Ari Dougan's family - her mom, Lori, dad, Shawn, and brothers Aiden and Liam - will drop the ceremonial puck before the Hockey Fights Cancer game on Dec 1 vs. Los Angeles.
Fans in attendance are encouraged to use their cell phone's flashlight feature during the puck drop to help #SpreadArisLight ahead of the game.
Ari, who joined Tarasenko and the Blues on a road trip last March and captured the hearts of thousands of Blues fans who followed her story, passed away on Nov. 11 after an eight-year battle with cancer.
Kids Rock Cancer - an organization created at Maryville University to help children cope with the challenges of a cancer diagnosis through music - will sing "All Together Now" prior to Dec. 1 game. Ari was a participant in the Kids Rock Cancer program before her passing.
In addition, five youth hockey players who have battled cancer will join Blues players on the ice during the national anthem, which will be performed by Eva Millar-Galvan, a cancer survivor and officer for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Before the game, players will wear special Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys in warm-ups, which will be auctioned to raise money for organizations that fund cancer research.
Fans can help raise money to fight cancer by purchasing autographed mystery pucks or special edition lapel pins outside Section 114 at the game. Fans can also download an "I Fight For" sign at stlouisblues.com/HFC to display on their social media accounts.
Tickets for the Hockey Fights Cancer game are available now at the Scottrade Center Box Office or online at ticketmaster.com.Author Roch Carrier first penned The Hockey Sweater in 1979, but it wasn't until 1984 that an illustrated version of the story stole the hearts of Quebecers.
Carrier originally wrote the iconic autobiographical story as a CBC radio essay. With the help of a young animator and illustrator named Sheldon Cohen, the essay became a short film and then an illustrated children's book.
The book tells the story of an experience from Carrier's youth, in which his mother orders a new sweater from the Eaton's department store mail-order catalogue to replace Carrier's worn Montreal Canadiens sweater.
A Toronto Maple Leafs sweater arrived instead, and Carrier was forced to wear it on the neighbourhood hockey rink while the other children wore Maurice "Rocket" Richard's No. 9.
Carrier finally met Richard after writing The Hockey Sweater. He said the hockey great had tears in his eyes after a retelling of the story.
The two men met again at a book fair, where Richard gave Carrier a Canadiens hockey sweater emblazoned with the No. 9 and Carrier's name.
Carrier and Cohen appeared on All In a Weekend Saturday morning to talk about the inspiration for the story and how it has endured over the years. Listen to the touching interview here.The UAE may be built on profits reaped from its oil-rich sands, but out of the region’s vast deserts rises a new vision for a solar farm unlike any we have seen before. Conceived by Martina Decker and Peter Yeadon, the Light Sanctuary is an elegantly unfurling ribbon of solar thin-film panels designed to take advantage of Dubai’s immense solar resources. The project is composed of a new type of thin-film dye-sensitized solar cells with suspended walls that curl and undulate across the desert landscape, mimicking a mirage from afar and creating an immersive and sensual experience up close.
The project is much more than a standard solar farm — it is an art installation that sparks a conversation on the topics of renewable technologies, site-specific installation and audience immersion. While the solar cells would capture more energy in a different configuration, the sensual and contemplative environment captures not only usable solar energy but the human imagination and spirit. The installation is suspended in the air to reduce its impact on the natural environment and settle it in a space between the land and sky.
The unique vertical orientation of the solar ribbons capitalizes on the ability of the semi-translucent thin film panels to produce useful energy at a steep angle of solar exposure. This allows for energy production over a longer period throughout the day, and the panels also get a boost from reflected light off the high-albedo landscape. The thin film solar cells perform much better in the high-temperature conditions than silicone solar panels. The total estimated power production of the project is 4592 megawatts.Here's What You're Looking At
HWYLA (Pronounced "Hwhy-la", similar to "Coo-Hwhip")
A fork of WAILA by ProfMobius. This fork is permitted under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
I intend to update this fork quickly and often.
All plugins/addons/compatibilities created with the official mod are 100% compatible with this fork.
Changes
You can find a list of most changes right here.
Notable Lesser Known Features
By default, Numpad 3 and Numpad 4 can be used to lookup the recipe of blocks in the world in JEI. This requires JEI to be installed to function.
You can change the colors and text formatting of the tooltip in-game by navigating to the in-game config, opening the "Waila" options screen, and selecting "Format content...".
If you are having issues with tooltip handlers added by mods, you can run "/dumphandlers" which will produce a text file with all registered handlers and what types they are registered to.
As of 1.12, the Narrator can be toggled for the tooltip. This will use the system's text-to-speech library to tell you what you're looking at.
If you feel that having the item being displayed in the tooltip is redundant, it can be disabled.
Modpack PermissionsThis Country has a lot more pain to go through to clean out the swamp and corruption Clinton’s crime family ushered into Washington. But the pain must be felt so Clinton, Comey and all the other rotten criminals who have been fleecing our Country try for too long get what they deserve.
It was reported that James Comey relations with Clinton Foundation the tarred nonprofit at the center of most Clinton corruption scandals — are surprisingly close.
According to Gateway Pundit:
“Comey served as general counsel at Lockheed Martin until 2010 when he departed with over $6 million to show for it. That same year Lockheed Martin became a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and “won 17 contracts from the U.S. State Department, which was led by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” Big League Politics reports.
Comey just so happened to have joined the board of the British bank HSBC Holdings in 2013, which just so happens to be a Clinton Foundation partner.”
Via Big League Politics:
“Property records show that James Comey owns the mortgage on his brother Peter Comey’s house in Virginia. Therefore, James Comey had a direct financial relationship with a DLA Piper executive at the time he was investigating Clinton.
These relationships, though egregious, are symptomatic of the brazen culture of crony capitalism that exists in our nation’s capital. The public usually is prevented from learning these kinds of things, with the mainstream media blocking information from coming out. Sunlight is the only remedy.
When President Donald Trump finally fired James Comey as FBI director, Tucker Carlson said that everyone in Washington knows it was well past due.”
Anyone surprised? We all knew this during the campaign but the MSM ignored it. Some people just never have enough. What more do they need?
Now I understand why FBI Director laid out all the sins of Hillary but suggested she should not be prosecuted!! No wonder he felt so nauseated!! The poor man was really conflicted.Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
Electronic Arts is getting involved with the burgeoning MOBA genre with its own League of Legends and Dota 2 rival: Dawngate.
A site for the upcoming game has appeared, though games industry sleuth superannuation notes that EA might have set it live early--links to the Dawngate Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch accounts are all currently inactive.
"Dawngate is a new MOBA," reads the site, "built from the ground up to look and feel familiar while offering a whole new way to experience MOBA gameplay."
The website does not detail exactly how debut studio Waystone Games intends to differentiate itself from its genre peers, but hints at a community-driven lore and an emphasis on character customisation. "Dawngate empowers you to forge the champions you love for the roles you want in a competitive arena, shaped by ever-evolving, community-driven content and story."
Interested users can sign up to the Dawngate beta from the website, which requires an account on EA's digital platform Origin.Riding along the Etobicoke Creek between Brampton and Mississauga will be made easier thanks to money from the provincial government.
Brampton’s cycling infrastructure received a $325,000 boost Friday from the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure program.
Harinder Malhi, MPP for Brampton Springdale, was joined by Regional Councilor Martin Medeiros (Wards 3 & 4) and many members of the Brampton cycling community to announce the contribution from the province’s $10 million cycling infrastructure fund.
Overview map of area where improvements are centred on.
The funding will go to closing a 1.93 km gap on the south end of the Etobicoke Creek Trail, where the trail goes underneath the 410/407 lands. The connection will become the first off-road connection between Brampton and Mississauga. The hope is the trail will eventually be extended on both ends, south to the Waterfront Trail in Mississauga, and north to the Greenbelt Trail in Caledon.
Money from the province will become available to the city in April. The project has to be open by March 31, 2018.
The provincial fund is applicable for up to 50% of the project’s need, up to $325,000. The other half must come from the municipality; Brampton set aside their half of the money during the last budget process.
Other cities that have received funding from the provincial program include:
Cambridge – 2.2 km along Conestoga Boulvevard ($325,000)
Waterloo – 1 km along Waterloo Park LRT corridor ($325,000)
Kitchener – 1 km along Courtland Avenue ($325,000)
Kingston – 3.4 km along Waterfront Trail ($268,500)
Brockville – Two routes ($325,000)
Newmarket – 5.28 km east-west bike way ($325,000)
Comments
commentswtop.com
Friday – 8/15/2014
WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) — A Virginia deputy sheriff shot his 16-year-old daughter
after mistaking her for an intruder, then crashed his car as he rushed her to the
hospital, authorities said.
The teenager was in stable condition at a
Winchester hospital, according to media reports.
Capt. Donnie Lang of the
Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said a security alarm sounded at about 3:30 a.m.
Tuesday at the Winchester home of Easton McDonald, a sergeant with the Loudoun
County Sheriff’s Office. He said McDonald, responding to the alarm, saw the dark
shape of a person advancing through the garage door and fired.
“He figured
someone had broken into the garage, and his family was upstairs asleep,” Lang said.
Armed with his privately owned gun — not his service weapon — McDonald
fired, Lang said.
“Then he hears her voice and recognizes that it’s his
daughter,” he said.
According to investigators, McDonald grabbed his daughter,
who had been returning home after apparently sneaking out, and called 911 to report
that he was taking her to the hospital. En route, McDonald lost control of his car
and hit a barricade, damaging the front of the vehicle but causing no additional
injuries to his daughter or to himself, Lang said.
Emergency responders went
to the scene of the crash and took McDonald’s daughter to the hospital.
A call
to the McDonald home Friday went to a recording, which said the number had been
temporarily disconnected.
Kraig Troxell, spokesman for the Loudoun sheriff’s
office, confirmed that McDonald was involved in the shooting but declined further
comment.
McDonald, a 13-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was placed on
administrative leave pending an internal investigation.In a scathing Facebook post, Russia's former president and current Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev (who less than five years ago was assured by Obama that "he would have more flexibility") gave his final assessment of US-Russia relations during the Obama administration, and lashed out at the outgoing US president, accusing him of destroying relations "between the United States and Russia, which are at their lowest point in decades" and predicting that "this is its key foreign policy mistake which will be remembered by history."
Medvedev was relentless, saying “US-Russia relations completely fell apart by the end of the second term of the Obama administration,” which has shown itself to be “short-sighted on such an important and complex issue as relations with Russia."
Despite some initial achievements in US-Russian relations, when “our countries signed a nuclear weapons reduction treaty, and Russia and the United States played a leading role in resolving the controversy surrounding the Iranian nuclear program" which gave "hope" to Russia that the two countries could establish good relations, that did not happen, for one reason: “the most important thing was to remember that Russia is not a banana republic (even though equal dialogue is a must with all members of the international community).”
Obama's mistake? Belittling a foe which saw itself a more equal with every passing day, “a country with defensive capabilities equal to the United States,” and a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) deserved a different approach. “It is important to remember that Russia-US relations, without exaggeration, determine the fate of major international initiatives.”
Why did Obama fail to grasp that foreign policy is a two-way street? Simple: according to Medvedev, "there is only one explanation for such actions: the interests of the United States. An explanation which is entirely defensible in America itself, though much less so in other countries." But, he added accusing Obama not just of callousness, but outright stupidity, "the real issue lies elsewhere– the failure to understand one’s own true interests."
As a result, Obama's “reckless” policies led to “the complete collapse of the political systems” and wars “which claimed tens of thousands of lives."
"Everyone is aware that the United States has always tried to" steer" almost all global processes, brazenly interfering in the internal affairs of various countries and waging multiple wars on foreign soil. Iraq, the Arab Spring, Ukraine, and Syria are just a few examples of such reckless policies in recent years. We can still see their consequences."
Taking the verbal humiliation up a notch, Russia's prime minister then said "it doesn’t get any dumber than restricting entry to the United States for the leadership of the Russian parliament, ministers, and businessmen, thus deliberately reducing the possibility of full-fledged contacts and closing the window to cooperation. The bet was on brute force and sheer pressure. It is impossible to imagine such actions even during the Cuban missile crisis, even though the situation was much more serious then..."
Having cast Obama on the trash heap of diplomatic history, the Russian did save some hope that relations between the two countries may recover thanks to Trump:
"We do not know yet how the new US administration will approach relations with our country. But we are hoping that reason will prevail. And we are ready to do our share of the work in order to improve the relationship."
We can only hope that Trump will reciprocate.
* * *
Medvedev's full Facebook post below:
The administration of US President Barack Obama has come to a close and the results are decidedly mixed. I would like to give my assessment of Russia-US relations during this period, especially since I was directly involved in many events.
On the one hand, Russia and the United States managed to work together to resolve a number of major international problems. Our countries signed a nuclear weapons reduction treaty, and Russia and the United States played a leading role in resolving the controversy surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme. We achieved the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria. These outcomes are important for the entire world.
On the other hand, US-Russia relations completely fell apart by the end of the second term of the Obama administration.
Everyone is aware that the United States has always tried to" steer" almost all global processes, brazenly interfering in the internal affairs of various countries and waging multiple wars on foreign soil. Iraq, the Arab Spring, Ukraine, and Syria are just a few examples of such reckless policies in recent years. We can still see their consequences, which range from the complete collapse of the political systems in these countries to wars which claimed tens of thousands of lives.
There is only one |
I mean it really is," she said.
"To go to this end to protect a series of documents that are aimed at showing the way in which this project was planned tells us that there is some deep embarrassment about the way this project was devised."
The 75 documents in dispute relate to early planning and could shed light on the Federal Government's decision to commit $1 billion towards the project.
Ms MacTiernan accused her political opponents of deliberately dragging out the matter until after contracts are signed for the Roe 8 extension, the first stage of the project.
Earlier this week, Premier Colin Barnett said he expected the contracts to be signed within months and for work to begin before the March 11 state election.
"I suspect they're hoping to bide time until the contracts have been signed," Ms MacTiernan said.
"We will go into the court and seek to get some expedition of a hearing so that this matter can be brought to a head in a time frame that gives us, the public, the taxpayers some time to make some judgements before the contracts are signed.
"I still care very deeply about getting a good outcome for the people of this state."
Topics: federal-government, states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, urban-development-and-planning, perth-6000, fremantle-6160, palmyra-6157, beeliar-6164, waTruffles bounced on her hooves, watching eagerly as her mentor sampled the first of the fresh batch of muffins she'd baked that morning. Granny Smith's home-style muffins were tricky to pull off, but Truffles had always had relative success with the delicate, finicky recipe.
"Do you love it?" The little filly beamed up at Cupcake, eyes practically glittering with anticipation.
"Hmm." Cupcake paused, thinking.
"No."
Truffles blinked, taken aback. "But...But Miss Cupcake," She tried, fumbling, "I've never met anypony who doesn't like Granny's famous recipe-"
"Dry." Cupcake interrupted, turning stern eyes on Truffles. "Bland. Burned on the bottom, yet undercooked in the center. The texture is too rough, because you sifted your ingredients poorly and baked at too high a temperature. The apple pieces aren't fresh, there are pieces of eggshell left in, and there is an overall lingering taste of liquid dish soap." Cupcake let the muffin fall to the ground. "Unacceptable, Truffles."
Truffles' ears pinned back, and a childish waver entered her voice. "I-I...I'm sorry, I tried my best-"
"You failed." Cupcake took a step forward, looming over her apprentice. "In baking, each bite is a conversation between the baker and the pony eating. An infinite amount of silent sentences can be expressed through taste alone. In your work, all I taste are insults." Cupcake clopped her hoof against the linoleum floor, making Truffles jump. "And I will not be insulted in my own kitchen."
"I...I..." Truffles cowered under her mentor's glare. When her lower lip began to wobble, Cupcake's stern expression finally fell away, and she sighed.
"Don't cry." She ordered, lifting Truffles' chin with her hoof. When she spoke next, her voice was soft, gentle. "Making mistakes is necessary to learn how to avoid making them again, Truffles. Since you've failed so spectacularly, there's obviously a lot we can learn here today." She sent Truffles a rare half-smile, and Truffles shakily returned it, sniffling.
"Now, you can sit there and be content with mediocrity-" Cupcake gestured at the fallen, splattered muffin, "Or you can let me teach you how to be great."
A blazing fire had roared to life in her mentor's eyes, and Truffles felt an answering passion burst into her heart. "Yes, ma'am! I'll do my very best, ma'am!" She snapped her hoof in a salute, only stumbling a little over her own hooves.
"Excellent." Cupcake smiled serenely at her tiny apprentice, before weary chastisement entered her voice again. "We'll start with learning how to properly wash out all the dish soap from our muffin tins before we bake..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baking is serious business to cupcake you guys
sometimes the fact that cupcake is ex-military trickles into her personality and she is very, very stern
she loves her doofy little apprentice tho, truffles just needed to stop sucking at baking first
funfact, this is the first time i've reduced paint tool sai's line stabilizer to median level to do lineart. It feels a lot more natural and organic, but I obviously still need practice. I was concerned with how stiff and lifeless my lineart's been looking lately
i should rlly be sleeping wow
always remember to clean all the soap out of your bakeware or you'll fuck up your muffins and miss cupcake will be madHouse Speaker Paul Ryan speaks at a news conference during the state GOP convention at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay on Saturday. Credit: Evan Siegle / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
By of the
Green Bay— Highlighting internal divisions on Donald Trump's presidential bid, some officials at the state GOP convention embraced the real estate mogul while others ignored his presence at the top of the ticket.
Gov. Scott Walker — himself a one-time presidential candidate — took the latter tack. He didn't mention Trump during his 30-minute speech and instead put the emphasis on U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson's re-election bid as if it were this year's marquee race.
"I want to tell you clearly, the Republicans in this hall and in this state are overwhelmingly united behind Ron Johnson to be our United States senator," Walker said. "You see, that needs to be our clear focus. That's where we can have the biggest impact."
He spoke at the KI Convention Center in a hall plastered with political placards — none of them promoting Trump.
But three of Wisconsin's GOP members of Congress took a different approach, explicitly urging people to back Trump. One of them said they needed to ignite the enthusiasm from Trump that they had in 2012 when they beat back the attempt to recall Walker from office.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville remained unwilling Saturday to say if he would endorse Trump. The two met on Thursday and he told reporters Saturday they are making progress on unifying the Republican Party.
"When it comes to the presidential election...we think it's important that we have real party unity, not party unity, but real party unity so that we go into the election at full strength," he said.
He did not say whether that could happen by July, when Ryan will chair the party's national convention in Cleveland.
"I don't have a specific time frame in mind," Ryan said.
Ryan sidestepped a question on whether he thought his children could look up to Trump.
"I'm not interested in going into the campaign litigating the past," he said. "I'm not focused on wading into the day by day commenting, you know, Internet back and forths....You know what my kids really care about? What kind of country are they going to get in the future."
For his part, Johnson said in an interview he doesn't agree with Trump on issues such as temporarily banning Muslims from the United States, but added he and other Republicans see eye to eye with Trump on most major matters.
"Economic growth. Securing the border. Defeating ISIS. Strengthening the military. The big issues, I think every conservative, every Republican, will rally around and unify," Johnson said.
Johnson, who didn't mention Trump during his convention speech, faces a re-election challenge from Democrat and former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. Johnson took the seat from Feingold in 2010.
Feingold spokesman Michael Tyler criticized Johnson for backing Trump.
"Instead of listening and staying connected to the people of Wisconsin, Johnson seems to 'appreciate' the bluntness of Trump's racist, sexist and xenophobic rhetoric and appears happy to join the insider Washington Republicans who are falling in line behind the Republican nominee," Tyler said in a statement.
Johnson did not say whether he agreed with Trump that transgender people should use whichever bathroom they feel most comfortable with. President Barack Obama's administration told schools Friday they must allow transgender students to use the restrooms that they identify with.
"From my standpoint, there are enormous challenges facing this nation. I'm concentrating on other things," Johnson said. "I truthfully have not given it much thought. From my standpoint, I'd prefer states handle this state by state.
"Listen, it's a complex issue. There's no doubt about it. I don't have a good answer on it. It's a complex issue and you can sympathize with different viewpoints on it. Let the democratic process in the states weigh into that and not be crushed by the federal government."
Feingold supports the Obama administration's policy, according to his campaign.
Johnson said he was confident Trump would nominate a better U.S. Supreme Court justice than Merrick Garland, the judge Obama has put forward after conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died in February.
As he has in the past, Johnson said the Senate should not act on Garland so the American people can have a say in who should be on the court with their vote for president. But he declined to say whether he would be willing to quickly approve Garland if Hillary Clinton wins. That move would prevent Clinton from appointing someone more liberal than Garland to the court.
"What you're talking (about) is a hypothetical, and what I'm saying is I'm going to work hard to make sure that hypothetical never comes about," Johnson said.
Tyler said Johnson needs to "do his job" and "not weigh the partisan benefit of procrastinating until a lame duck session."
During his speech, Johnson described his re-election bid by invoking United Flight 93, the airplane that went down in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11. He compared the vote in November to the one the people on that flight took before deciding to raid the cockpit to try to stop the terrorists who had hijacked the plane.
"It may not be life and death...but boy is it consequential," he said. "I want each and every one of you to understand we're talking about saving this country."
While many of Saturday's speakers made only passing references to Trump, others urged Republicans to vote for him.
"Donald Trump has won our nomination fair and square," U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner said.
He told activists they need to back Trump to prevent having "three or more Ruth Bader Ginsburgs" on the Supreme Court.
U.S. Reps. Glenn Grothman and Sean Duffy made similar appeals, saying Republicans had to make sure they kept Clinton out of the White House. Grothman said Republicans needed to build enthusiasm for Trump.
"Like a Scott Walker recall, right? We've got to be that riled up," Grothman said.Last weekend, I shared some thoughts on the five most valuable Canucks. The list was met with some criticism (mostly – why did I even make it?), as many wondered the point to rank players that will likely never get traded.
First off – if Wayne Gretzky can get traded (sold), than any player can be moved. Who saw Philadelphia moving Jeff Carter and Mike Richards a few summers ago? And secondly, it is always good to do an evaluation of all players, from top to bottom. Dan Hamhuis doesn’t get the credit he deserves from Canucks fans for how good he is on a consistent basis, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin are still elite two-way forwards, even if their offensive production isn’t where it was a few years ago.
Anyway, today’s list looks at the five most valuable and tradable assets in the organization. Could the Canucks conceivably trade the Sedins? Sure, it could happen. But the odds of such a trade are very, very, very low.
Alex Burrows ($4.5 million per season, signed through 2016-17)
Why?
Burrows is a really, really good hockey player. He is the most universally liked Canuck among team fans. He scores goals, is one of the best defensive wingers in hockey, and has tremendous hockey IQ. He can play on the top line in a scoring role, or on the third line in a shutdown role. He is the Western Conference version of Pascal Dupuis.
Because of all of those nice things, he would be able to fetch the Canucks a nice return. He is 32 years old, although he got a late start to his NHL career. The Canucks usually try to avoid to pay big money to forwards past the age of 35. Burrows will be 36 when his new contract expires.
His reputation as a pest and borderline player still follows him around, and that may impact how the Canucks are perceived around the league.
Why not?
He’s a big game performer (cliché, sure). He has worked his butt off to get better each year. He has also worked really hard to change his game, although he gets absolutely no credit for that from the media outside of Vancouver.
Trading Burrows would only make sense if it brought back a young top six forward or a young top four defenseman. The problem is that Burrows is probably more valuable to the Canucks, than he would be on the trade market.
Oh, and give him a follow on Twitter @aburr14
Ryan Kesler ($5 million per season, signed through 2015-16)
Why?
Kesler has seen more scalpels than a typical 28-year-old. Consecutive offseason surgeries (hip and shoulder/wrist, respectively) have slowed him down considerably. He had a fantastic 35 minutes in Game 2 against the Sharks in the first round, but his conditioning was obviously an issue for the other 205 minutes of the series.
He has a very fair cap hit for what he brings to the table when healthy. When healthy, unfortunately, hasn’t been often enough for Vancouver over the past two years. They were a one line team in 2013, and Kesler may not be able to play his reckless style of hockey for many more years if he keeps breaking down.
Unlike Burrows, Kesler is deserving of his diving reputation. He isn’t as bad (or good) as the greats like Patrick Kaleta or Dustin Brown, but it is awfully hard to listen to Bieksa calling out opposing players for diving when Kesler is on his team. Like Brown, he is tarnishing his reputation a bit, which is unfortunate because both of them are phenomenal hockey players.
Why not?
He’s the most important player to the team. He’s the engine and the captain of the ship (two analogies is enough). When he is healthy and on his game, the Canucks are transformed into a very, very dangerous club. I have made the point before – you won’t find two more opposite centers than Sedin and Kesler (methodical, crafty, and cerebral compared to physical, aggressive, and tenacious), and that makes it awfully hard for opposing teams to game plan against them.
Again, moving Kesler makes little sense unless he fetches a younger center in return. Vancouver is thin up the middle even when he is healthy, and they are going to let Max Lapierre test free agency. Brendan Gaunce is going to be a good one, but he is a few years away yet.
Jordan Schroeder (RFA this summer)
Why?
Schroeder is probably the only young Vancouver asset that the team could move without hurting their long-term future too much. He proved himself to be a capable two-way center as a rookie in 2013, but where does he fit in with the team in the long run?
Is he a top six talent? I’m not sure. His production at the AHL level doesn’t scream “offensive upside,” but he showed great instincts and hands during his time with the Canucks. I mean this in a good way, but Schroeder reminds me of a faster Kyle Wellwood. He can check, he can play in offensive situtations, and he won’t hurt you with bad penalties (or any penalties).
Schroeder could be dangled if the club wants to bring in a veteran center or defenseman (or another young guy at a different position).
Why not?
Vancouver doesn’t exactly have the deepest crop of prospects. Trading one of them away for a rental or short-term improvement may not be the right move to make at this point in time. And I think the team wants to see what they have in Schroeder before making a long term decision on him.
Alex Edler ($5 million per season, signed through 2018-19)
Why?
After years of waiting for the big breakout from 23, it is now time to accept that Edler is what he is – a big, mobile two-way defenseman with a ton of talent, but also a lot of inconsistency in his game. He’s a really good player, but not a 1A defender on a championship team. For $5 million, he should be more versatile than he is. He can’t play on the right side. He needs to have a certain type of partner to thrive (see: not Kevin Bieksa), and he is very predicable on the power play.
The Canucks gambled that they wouldn’t miss Christian Ehrhoff, and they lost.
The biggest reason for moving Edler, though, is because he is so good. There aren’t many 6-3, 225 pound defensemen who can skate like he can. We often forget this when he turns the puck over or loses his man in front of the net. He is physical when he wants to be, and he is one of the better offensive defensemen in hockey, too. At five million per year, he’s also great value.
MovingEdler for a good forward makes sense if the Canucks have plans to add another top four defenseman (or believe that Chris Tanev is ready for a promotion). It would allow the team to reunite Bieksa and Hamhuis, while moving Garrison back to his natural position as a left-side defenceman, where he could anchor the second pairing with Chris Tanev or a defenseman to be named later.
How does an Edler-for-Jeff Skinner swap sound, Canucks fans?
Why not?
Unless you are getting great value in return, it usually isn’t wise to move defencemen with Edler’s pedigree for the sake of it.
Roberto Luongo ($5.33 per season, signed through the next 150 years)
Why?
Really?
Why not?
Really?
In all seriousness, there is only one reason to keep Luongo. He is a superior goaltender to Cory Schneider, but not by much. And there are countless reasons to trade him. His contract, the fact that the organizaton has "chosen" Schneider, and the fact that they owe it to Luongo to find him a place to start next season, to name three. The goaltending market this summer is going to be very interesting. In addition to Luongo, the likes of Ryan Miller, MA Fleury, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jaroslav Halak, Ryan Miller, and Niklas Backstrom could all be on the move.
His contract is long, but I still don’t think it is as bad as some in the media leads us to believe. He is a vastly superior goaltender to all of the ones I just listed off, too. The Canucks will have to eat some of the cap punishments when he retires early, but for $5.33 million per season you aren’t going to get a better goaltender.
Previous Posts from Jeff (@anguscertified)Advertisement
They say that Nevada has the loneliest roads in the whole of America.
You can certainly travel for hundreds of miles and not see a single person. But are you really alone?
After all, Nevada boasts the most UFO sightings in the world, is home to the mysterious Area 51 military base, where many say alien technology is being analysed – and it even has a road called the 'Extraterrestrial Highway'.
To find out more MailOnline Travel dropped in to the aptly-named Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, the nearest town to Area 51, to have a chat with the owner about the area’s strange goings on.
Pictured is MailOnline reporter Anthony Joseph on the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada
Pictured is the road sign for the Little A'Le'Inn (left) in Rachel, Nevada, and a rather frightening warning sign for Area 51 (right)
Pat, the owner, has lived in Rachel all her life.
To say it's a small town is an understatement - only 50 people live there.
She is utterly convinced that Area 51 is testing alien life and is adamant she has seen UFOs.
The 63-year-old said: 'I have actually watched a craft do manoeuvres. It was probably 15 years ago. I can tell you I was just coming home with my niece. It was in a place where there were things that just should never have been there.
Many people around the world have their theories, but local knowledge is always the best. MailOnline visited the Little A'Le'Inn cafe and chatted to the owner, Pat, about her out-of-this-world experiences
Pat said: 'I have actually watched a craft do manoeuvres at high speed. It was probably 15 years ago'
Pat has lived in Rachel all her life. To say it's a small town is an understatement - only 50 people live there. Pictured is an alien museum in the desert
THE MYSTERIOUS PASSENGER JETS THAT FLY FROM LAS VEGAS TO AREA 51 At Las Vegas McCarran International Airport is a fleet of passenger aircraft (pictured) it's impossible to buy tickets for - because they fly to the US's secret Area 51 military base In August 2016 it was revealed that a number of passenger planes were flying from Las Vegas McCarran Airport to Area 51. They don't carry any company logos – they're plain white with a red band down the side - and anyone who boards one is sworn to secrecy about where they're going and what they do for a living. The reason that the aircraft, mostly Boeing 737s, are so shadowy in nature, is because they serve America's most secret military base. But why are they there and what do they do? A Las Vegas taxi driver who served as a pilot for these aircraft said: 'The people there (at Area 51) are not like us.'
'It did really weird manoeuvres at high speed. I think we work side by side with alien beings – can I prove it? No. But I feel that. Just the shape of it – it was a saucer shape. It could have been a new technology that we were never aware of yet. But things just happen like that.
'We told reporters of a sighting that had happened and they did their report. They got part way up the road and saw this thing and they got scared and came back.
'They came inside and said “I want a shot of tequila” and then he told us their story.
'They couldn't get to their cameras as there was actually a vehicle that they couldn't describe. It was really awesome.’
A sign that all is perhaps not as it seems: Rachel in Nevada is the nearest town to Area 51
TRAVEL FACTS Summer return flights from London Gatwick to Las Vegas with Virgin Atlantic can vary between £600 and £900. The flight time is around 11 hours. You can book flights on the Virgin website. To see more about the UFO state of Nevada, visit www.travelnevada.com
Other locals are also convinced that aliens have landed.
She continued: 'Some of them (the locals) have their own stories. Other people don't talk about it. We have one lady who was followed from Alamo to here by a craft. She could see it. She feels the only reason she didn't get abducted was because she was over child-bearing age. Can I prove it? No, but that was what she told me.
'Many people have seen things happen over the years. Strange things. I think we've had beings too – I think about three. We had one who came and attended a conference and we were in the building and in 12 hours he never used the bathroom, never drank anything or ate anything.
'Can I prove it? No. But I can tell you what happened. I think he was an alien being – I think a lot of them are just like humans.’
Pat talks about aliens almost as if they were an accepted part of life.
She added: ‘It's kind of common knowledge in these parts that they exist. It's not to be afraid of. Everybody talks about – it's been going on so long.'There’s more to big butts than meets the eye. According to recent studies, a sizable derriere may signal a bigger brain.
Scientists from the University of Oxford say it’s been proven that people who have more weight in their thighs and backsides often have a higher level of intelligence. One stated reason is women with larger than average backsides produce more Omega 3 fats, which mobilize brain development.
The researchers even go as far as to say “children born to women with wider hips are intellectually superior to the children of slimmer, less curvy mothers,” according to Elite Daily.
Beyond mental fitness, a big booty also offers other health advantages. ABC News reports, women with this body feature tend to have lower cholesterol levels and produce sugar metabolizing hormones that help to ward off diabetes and heart problems.
So there you have it. If you have a big butt, be happy: You’re smart, healthy and look great in a pair of fitted jeans.Now comes the fun part. Start by placing two of your boards next to one another. Now lace the paracord through them just as you would a pair of shoes. Once you reach the end cut the paracord, making sure you leave enough slack to tie a strong knot at the end. Now you can pull the paracord out and use it to measure the rest of the pieces you will need. When you cut the rest make sure you leave a little room for error. It's better to have too much then to have too little and have to start over.
Once you have cut your paracord to size it is a good idea to melt the ends so that it is easy to get the cord through the holes.
Now you can start lacing boards together.
Things to watch as you're lacing:
-Make sure you are paying attention to what side of the board is up and what side is down so that you end up with all the good looking sides facing up.
-It looks best to have all the knots on the bottom.
-Once you have finished a lace go back and pull each "X" to get the slack outTech Industry Events and Webinars
Find upcoming e-commerce and technology conferences, trade shows, workshops and webinars. Visit ALL EC Events today.
IBM on Monday announced cloud-focused deals with VMware and Apple at its InterConnect conference.
The strategic partnership with VMware would facilitate IBM's positioning in the hybrid cloud services territory and help the company grow its cloud service offerings, according to IBM.
Enterprises that use VMware technologies will be able to run services on 45 IBM Cloud data centers around the world in a seamless manner, IBM said. Services include preconfigured VMware SDDC environments -- VMware vSphere, NSX and Virtual SAN on the IBM Cloud.
Deepening Relationship
IBM will develop and market new hybrid cloud services covering workload migrations, disaster recovery, capacity expansion and data center consolidation.
"The way we see it is that IBM has its cloud data centers, and with the current ability in the software-defined data center, we can fortify the ability to move those workloads and take advantage of already proven solutions as well as IBM's global footprint. So it's a channel partnership at this point," VMware spokesperson Alex Goldsmith said.
"We've been working with IBM for a number of years -- 13 to 14 years overall -- but this is a deepening of our relationship," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Swift on the Server
IBM and Apple have been working together to develop enterprise mobility solutions, and Monday's announcement to bring open source Swift to the cloud and developers was a byproduct of that partnership.
Bringing Swift to the server will break down barriers between front- and back-end development, giving enterprises a single language to build rich experiences and back-end business logic, IBM said. Benefits include increased speed and efficiency. Using Swift on the server also introduces a simpler, more secure toolchain for end-to-end application development.
IBM, the first major cloud provider to allow app development in native Swift, outlined three ways in which developers can begin experimenting with the programming language: by using the Swift Sandbox, which allows users to quickly and easily experiment with the code; by using Bluemix and Kitura to build and deploy end-to-end apps; and sharing Swift resources by exchanging, creating and using code via packages on Bluemix that's accessible to the global developer community.
Companies will benefit from a simplicity and economy of resources that was previously lacking, said Michael Gilfix, vice president of MobileFirst product management at IBM.
"With this preview, IBM demonstrates its commitment to enabling Swift to be used for server-side app and service delivery, making Swift a true end-to-end development language. This will dramatically reduce the learning curve for developers as they extend their mobile apps with server-side capabilities," he told the E-Commerce Times.
"At IBM, Swift is already being used to quickly create powerful mobile apps for iOS devices. With Swift, mobile developers are able to write safer, more reliable code that results in richer app experiences for customers using the apps to interact with your business," Gilfix said.
"As a part of the Swift collaborative effort," he added, "IBM will continue to build and pave a path towards widespread use of Swift on the IBM cloud to enable this new generation of developers."After a massive security breach at credit reporting giant Equifax that impacted roughly 143 million Americans, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman pressured the company into waiving a clause that could have banned some affected customers from joining a class action lawsuit.
Over the years, corporations have slipped hidden language into numerous contracts that strip consumers of legal rights, often without their knowledge. One common method is forced arbitration, in which people waive their right to sue, and instead must submit complaints to a private panel of arbitrators who may be biased in favor of the company.
The Obama administration spent years curtailing this practice as an abuse of consumer rights, but the Trump administration is seeking to undo much of that work. In August, for instance, Donald Trump scrapped a rule that guarantees families the right to sue nursing homes for negligence and abuse.
And Republicans have led the charge against a rule that prohibited financial services companies from inserting forced arbitration clauses into customers’ contracts.
But Democrats like New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are still fighting to protect consumers from the harmful practice of forced arbitration.
Last week, credit reporting giant Equifax announced that a data breach compromised the personal information of as many as 143 million Americans, including birthdays, Social Security Numbers, addresses, and driver license numbers.
Amidst the confusion, some observers noticed a clause stealthily inserted into the company’s cybersecurity products:
PSA: If you check Equifax's site to see if your data was stolen, you *waive your rights* to sue Equifax or be part of a class action suit. pic.twitter.com/p4AlmmLQ3r — Zack Whittaker (@zackwhittaker) September 8, 2017
This is an outrageous abuse of monopoly power. Equifax, which is such a gigantic company that most people have no choice but to interact with them, was not only careless with user data — it sought to block those users from the right to seek relief in court for the company’s negligence.
Furthermore, it took Equifax weeks to even alert the public about the breach, and in the meantime, “Three of its top executives sold large blocks of stock days after the company discovered the breach.”
“Equifax told CNNMoney that the sales were just a ‘small percentage’ of what these executives own and that they all ‘had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred’ when they made the sales.”
Schneiderman, upon learning of the forced arbitration clause, immediately promised the public he would get answers and hold Equifax accountable:
This language is unacceptable and unenforceable. My staff has already contacted @Equifax to demand that they remove it. https://t.co/vT0x7f5Xhc — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) September 8, 2017
The pressure worked. Tuesday, Equifax caved and promised no customer seeking information about the data breach would waive their right to sue:
#BREAKING: After conversations w/ my office, #Equifax has now made it explicitly clear—no one will waive their right to join a class action. pic.twitter.com/7BwnD9Kz7V — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) September 12, 2017
Schneiderman’s actions helped secure a badly needed victory for consumers.
Trump and the GOP may continue to dismantle regulatory protections at the federal level, but Democratic state prosecutors like Schneiderman are still here to pick up the slack and fight for the people.17.09.2014
A decade ago, Nival cemented itself as a leader in strategy gaming with the launch of its now-classic Blitzkrieg series, which has won more than forty awards, including numerous Game of the Year and Editor’s Choice accolades. Today, Nival unveils Blitzkrieg 3, the next title in the acclaimed series, coming to PC and Mac in early 2015. Blitzkrieg 3 paints a realistic picture of World War II – away from the realm of politics or ideology, focused on the battles that ultimately shaped the world we live in today.
Players will become commanders of the era as they experience an interactive story of the second World War, blending single-player and innovative multiplayer gameplay. Classic single-player campaigns will be available for each party involved in the conflict - the USSR, the Axis and the Allies. Multiplayer is asynchronous, allowing players to make their way through the enemy defenses without needing to be online for hours on end.
“Since its establishment 17 years ago, Nival has been focused on the strategy genre – often mixing it with other elements to create new game experiences,” says Sergey Orlovskiy, CEO of Nival. “We feel that today’s rather rapid pace of life has caused the RTS genre to fall by the wayside. Blitzkrieg 3 is designed to re-invent RTS for modern gamers, using all of our experience to deliver something new and exciting.”
More information about Blitzkrieg 3 will be released in the coming months, but for now prospective strategists can take a look at the official website www.blitzkrieg.com, complete with gameplay footage, developer insight, screenshots and more.
Further, to commemorate the announcement of Blitzkrieg 3, the original titles with all the official add-ons are on sale on Steam for just $4.99/€4.99/£3.99. Get out there, commander!
Blitzkrieg Anthology at http://store.steampowered.com/app/313480
Blitzkrieg 2 Anthology at http://store.steampowered.com/app/313500The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's ruling this week against a solar-energy project may not have come as a surprise to anyone following Chairman Todd Snitchler's Twitter account.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio�s ruling this week against a solar-energy project may not have come as a surprise to anyone following Chairman Todd Snitchler�s Twitter account.
The former lawmaker from Uniontown, Ohio, frequently shares material critical of solar, wind and �green� energy, even re-tweeting a story called �Elites of West have cranked up myth of Global Warming� from Pravda, a Communist Party-connected newspaper in Russia, calling it �interesting.�
Among more than 1,000 tweets from the past year, Snitchler did not once share anything positive about renewable energy. Instead, he tweeted about how �clean-energy aid racks up losses� and �the Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years, study shows�; shared the conservative website Drudge Report�s �complete list of green energy failures� and conservative political commentator Laura Ingraham�s �windbag & greeniac update�; and re-tweeted �electric cars pose environmental threat,� �after Sandy no one lined up for wind turbines� and that the �??�green� religion is taking over from Christian religion.�
The social medium Twitter allows users to communicate in messages of up to 140 characters, and to re-tweet others� messages, which often include links to websites.
The Republican, who uses Ronald Reagan in front of an American flag for his Twitter photo, also tweets about the shortcomings of Barack Obama, the press and those advocating gun control.
Following the president�s re-election, Snitchler tweeted: �Last night�s big winner: the politics of personal destruction.� Two days after the school shootings in Connecticut last month, he re-tweeted: �Would it be too much trouble to enforce the gun laws already on the books?�
Snitchler notes on his Twitter bio that �these tweets are mine and do not reflect the views of the PUCO or anyone else.� However, he commingles notices of PUCO hearings and official news with his personal observations.
Snitchler would not talk in person about his Twitter account, instead relaying answers through Jason Gilham, the PUCO�s deputy public-affairs director, who noted, �There�s no references to any open cases.�
About the same time, Snitchler was tweeting, �Say goodnight Gracie...�
Gilham said all five commission members undoubtedly have their own opinions, which is one reason the law mandates bipartisan representation.
But longtime observers of the utilities commission say past chairmen were never so vociferous or openly partisan about their opinions.
�I would say they were a little more circumspect,� said William Spratley, who was state consumers� counsel from when the office was formed in 1977 to 1993. He now runs Green Energy Ohio, a nonprofit group he founded 13 years ago that educates the public on solar and wind issues.
By law, Snitchler also is chairman of the Ohio Power Siting Board, which considers whether proposed major wind or solar facilities are in the public interest.
Snitchler voted along with a majority of PUCO members this week to nix the Turning Point Solar project, a 49.9-megawatt photovoltaic array planned by American Electric Power for southeast of Zanesville. PUCO staff had recommended to the governing board that the project was needed. The facility, which would have brought an estimated 300 construction jobs and 300 manufacturing jobs, would have been the largest project of its type east of the Rockies. AEP |
severity from a moderate to mild level. Sleepiness was measured with the Epworth sleepiness scale and this improved from 11.8 to 7.4. Their partners also reported less sleep disturbance. There was not a measurable effect on the quality of sleep, however.
An Effective Alternative?
Therefore, this study demonstrates that regular didgeridoo playing is an effective adjunctive treatment in people with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, improving some measures of the disease. It does seem that some residual mild sleep apnea still persists, however. For less than $10 worth of materials, and a little bit of practice to learn the technique of circular breathing, this might be a possible alternative for those who cannot tolerate their CPAP machines.
Further research, involving a larger pool of subjects, may be helpful. This could help to determine who is more likely to respond to the treatment.
A Word From VerywellJohnny Depp’s ongoing legal fight with his ex-managers just keeps getting more acrimonious (and entertaining), with an attorney for The Management Group filing an amended complaint more bitter than most divorce documents in court yesterday. The filing was in response to an interview with The Wall Street Journal where Depp basically said, “It’s my money, I can do what I want,” blaming TMG for mismanaging his finances and adding that he actually spent $5 million to shoot his friend Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes out of a cannon, not $3 million has had been previously reported.
In response, The Management Group has decided to accept Depp’s challenge and specify the self-indulgent ways he chooses to spend his money, above and beyond what they’ve already detailed in previous filings. This time around, the most damning accusation involves the sound engineer Depp insists on keeping on yearly retainer. As evidence of Depp’s “clear and epic“ sense of entitlement, attorney Michael Kump says that Depp wears an earpiece whenever he’s on set so that his personal sound guy can feed him his lines “so that he no longer [has] to memorize“ them. Thus the wigs and hats, one assumes. Finally, it all makes sense!
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[via The Hollywood Reporter]Stepped-up repression against anti-Wall Street protesters
By Barry Grey
25 October 2011
The response of the US government to the spread of anti-Wall Street protests in the US and internationally has been a marked increase in police repression and intimidation. Just last weekend, police attacked protest encampments in Chicago, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Phoenix, Dallas, Orlando and Tampa, arresting more than 200 people in all.
Similar attacks have taken place internationally, including the tearing down of protest encampments and mass arrests in Sydney and Melbourne.
Since the protests against social inequality and corporate power began more than five weeks ago in New York City, hundreds have been arrested in cities across the US, including more than 900 in New York alone.
In recent days, particularly since the global protests on October 15, police mobilizations to break up occupations have increased. The presence of police at protest sites has also been augmented, and various tactics have been employed to harass youth and workers expressing the anger of masses of people over the destruction of living standards and social conditions.
These attacks show that the struggle for social equality and against the domination of the banks and corporations is a political struggle against the state. It requires the industrial and political mobilization of the working class in opposition to the ruling class and all of its official institutions and political parties.
The stepped-up repression reflects the real attitude of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party to the demand for social equality being raised by the protests. While expressing sympathy for the demonstrators, in an attempt to co-opt the movement and channel it harmlessly behind Obama’s reelection bid, Obama and company are tacitly backing the ratcheting up of police attacks.
Some of the most savage of these have been carried out in Chicago, whose Democratic mayor, Rahm Emanuel, was Obama’s White House chief of staff before leaving the administration to run for mayor last year. Emanuel, a multi-millionaire former investment banker, ordered the breakup of an occupation in a section of Grant Park early Sunday morning, resulting in the arrest of 130 people. The previous weekend, Chicago police arrested over 175 protesters.
Emanuel is typical of the Wall Street personnel who occupy top posts in the Obama administration. His replacement as White House chief of staff, William Daley, was a leading executive at JPMorgan Chase before entering the Obama administration. Obama’s treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during the Bush administration and played a central role in organizing the bailout of the banks.
The anti-Wall Street protests are an initial expression of an emerging mass movement of the working class in the US and around the world. Of great significance is the fact, first, that they have focused on the basic social question of inequality and reflect a growth of anti-capitalist sentiment, and, second, that they express a growing awareness of the international character of the struggle.
Following the revolutionary upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt, the mass protests earlier this year in Wisconsin, and the escalating struggles of the working class in Greece and other European countries, the resistance of workers and youth to mass unemployment and austerity policies is increasingly informed by the understanding that they face a common enemy in the global banks and corporations.
The American ruling elite and both of its parties—the Democrats as well as the Republicans—fear that the anti-Wall Street protests could spark a much broader movement of the working class, emerging outside the control of the Democratic Party and the right-wing, pro-capitalist trade unions that back the Democrats. They have responded to the emergence of the protest first with repression—the arrest of 700 demonstrators October 1 in New York—and, when that only fueled the protest movement, the deployment of the trade union bureaucracy and its allies to bring the movement under control and channel it behind the Democrats.
That effort continues unabated, but has run up against the skepticism and distrust of the youth for the unions, which have helped impose all of the cuts in social programs, wages and jobs, as well as disillusionment with Obama and the Democrats. Now the political offensive to strangle the protests is being combined with an escalation of police repression.
This poses urgent political issues before the anti-Wall Street movement. Unless the mantra of “no politics” imposed by the organizers is rejected and a program adopted that articulates the independent interests of the working class, the movement will inevitably be channeled behind the Democrats and aborted. The call for “no politics” is intended to appeal to the desire of the youth for unity and their justified disgust with bourgeois politics. However, it conceals its own political agenda—opposition to any fight against the corporate-controlled two-party system.
Historically, the Democratic Party has been the graveyard of social struggles of working people in the US, going all the way back to the Populist Movement of the late 19th century, to the industrial union movement of the 1930s, to the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s. All of them were channeled into the Democratic Party, and thereby not only rendered harmless to the corporate-financial elite, but ultimately turned into new props for capitalist rule.
The mass protests against the war in Iraq suffered the same fate, being channeled behind the election campaigns of Democrats and then wound down once Obama entered the White House.
The Obama administration, which came to power by appealing to mass hostility to Bush and the Republicans and their policies of social reaction, war and attacks on democratic rights, has demonstrated the futility of the perspective of pressuring the political establishment to carry out progressive change. Obama has continued and escalated the right-wing policies of Bush and faithfully carried out the dictates of Wall Street.
Indeed, the median income of Americans has fallen by 10 percent since 2007, and it has declined twice as rapidly under Obama as under Bush.
The most politically pernicious role is played by middle-class pseudo-left organizations such as the International Socialist Organization which work to derail the movement by promoting the trade union bureaucracy and its perspective of subordinating the working class to the Democrats. At the same time, they promote identity politics, elevating race, gender and sexual orientation into the fundamental social categories, which has been used for decades to block the development of an independent political movement of the working class.
The very fact that in every country the government, whether nominally “left” or “right,” is carrying out a policy of brutal austerity against the working class testifies to the international and systemic character of the economic crisis. It is a crisis of the world capitalist system.
The demand for social equality cannot be met within the framework of this historically bankrupt system. The program of the ruling class—bank bailouts, austerity, war and the destruction of democratic rights—must be opposed with a political program based on the independent interests of the working class.
The Socialist Equality Party proposes that the working class adopt the concept that there exist social rights that are inalienable and non-negotiable. These rights include the right to a job and a livable income; the right to high-quality public education and health care, free of charge; the right to housing and utilities; the right to a secure retirement; and the right to a healthy environment and access to culture.
The fight to secure these rights requires a fundamental, revolutionary change in society—the replacement of capitalism with socialism. This entails the expropriation of the banks and major corporations and their transformation into public institutions under the democratic control of working people, so that production can be based on social need, not private profit.
The social force capable of carrying out this change is the working class. It is to this force that young people who want to fight for social equality must turn, fighting to mobilizing workers independently of the trade unions and the Democratic Party. This requires the building of a new party to provide leadership and arm the working class with a socialist and internationalist program.
We urge all youth and workers to read the program of the Socialist Equality Party, The Breakdown of Capitalism and the Fight for Socialism in the United States, and make the decision to join our party.In the last few months I’ve been playing with Android’s low level GSM API, a few years ago the (in)famous sendRawPdu API was available, allowing a developer to manually encode a SMS message at a very low level before sending it to the GSM baseband itself and quite a few applications sending all kind of weird SMS ( flash sms, silent sms, etc ) were born ( for a brief overview of PDU encoding refer to this page ).
(Un)fortunately Google decided to remove that API, it’s still not sure if they did it for security related purposes or during some refactoring of their IPC IBinder mechanism, but nowadays it’s no more available unless you use some very old phones/firmwares ( on most devices they removed the ttyUSB serial interfaces to send AT commands to the GSM modem as well ).
Until a couple of months ago, when I found the SmsManager.sendDataMessage API which, apparently, it’s not used anywhere ( if you search for it you’ll find only a few examples, but nothing regarding how to use it with manually encoded PDUs ).
Using this API we’re able to manually encode our SMS, moreover we can specific a “port” as one of its arguments which will identify what kind of sms we’re gonna send, in this post I’ll talk about port 2948, namely the port used to send WAP PUSH notifications.
WAP PUSH messages were an old mechanism to basically force a remote device to visit a URL encoded in the SMS payload itself ( I know, security wise it was very dumb, but we’re talking about the 90s ), this specific request is called a “Service Load” (SL) request, where an XML payload like the following was encoded in a binary form and sent along the PDU to the device.
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< sl href = "http://some-evil-site.com/evil-content.html" />
Nowadays this protocol is no more handled for obvious reasons … I said handled and not supported because the GSM basebands software is actually still able to receive it, but the higher level software ( the OS and its components ) will simply ignore it.
For instance, on Android 5.0 you can see the following logs ( logcat -b radio ) when the device receives such payload:
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D/WAP PUSH( 1287): Rx: 0a0603...
D/RILC ( 185): SOCKET RIL_SOCKET_1 REQUEST: SMS_ACKNOWLEDGE length:20
D/RILC ( 185): RequestComplete, RIL_SOCKET_1
E/RILC ( 185): Send Response to RIL_SOCKET_1
D/RILJ ( 1287): [9277]< SMS_ACKNOWLEDGE [SUB0]
V/WAP PUSH( 1287): appid found: 2:application/vnd.wap.slc
W/WAP PUSH( 1287): wap push manager not found!
V/WAP PUSH( 1287): fall back to existing handler
V/WAP PUSH( 1287): Delivering MMS to: com.google.android.talk com.google.android.apps.hangouts.sms.MmsWapPushDeliverReceiver
So the event is delivered to the Google Hangouts application ( the default SMS/MMS handler on my phone ) which simply will ignore this kind of payloads unless they are simple MMS instead of anything else ( WAP PUSHes in our case ):
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public class MmsWapPushDeliverReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{
public void onReceive (Context paramContext, Intent paramIntent)
{
if (( "android.provider.Telephony.WAP_PUSH_DELIVER".equals(paramIntent.getAction())) && ( "application/vnd.wap.mms-message".equals(paramIntent.getType())))
RealTimeChatService.a(paramIntent.getByteArrayExtra( "data" ));
}
}
This means that, although the device will receive the data, no kind of notification will be shown to the user and the data itself won’t be saved anywhere in the system, but simply discarded.
Having said that, there’s a tiny detail that’s very handy for us … after delivering the WAP PUSH message, the destination operator BTS will reply to us with a delivery report. This report will be sent only if the device is turned on and completely able to receive the message ( turned on and with enough GSM network coverage ).
In fact, the sendDataMessage API accepts as its last argument a delivery PendingIntent, in other words our application will be informed as soon as the delivery report will be sent back.
We can take advantage of this to do the following:
Craft a WAP PUSH message encoding it manually.
Pass it to the sendDataMessage API and register a delivery intent.
The WAP PUSH will be sent to the target mobile phone and we’ll receive the delivery notification if the phone is turned on, if it’s not we’ll receive it as soon as it will be turned on.
The target user won’t notice absolutely anything.
So, we can basically track a target user GSM network activity invisibly, knowing exactly when the target’s device is turned on without him having a single chance to notice anything.
Here‘s a very simple PoC application I’ve made to show how to use such API, the same kind of PDU can be sent using a normal GSM serial dongle and some software like Gnokii.Jun 15, 2013; Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Roy Nelson before fights Stipe Miocic (not pictured) during their Heavyweight bout at UFC 161 at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
UFC Heavyweight, Roy Nelson, does not have the greatest relationship with UFC president Dana White. On multiple separate occasions White has called Nelson stupid, dumb, or some other synonym for unintelligent. White’s past relationship with Nelson may fit perfectly into the new role Nelson has just applied for; the vacated executive director position for the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Keith Kizer, the previous executive director of the NSAC, announced earlier this month that he would be stepping down from his position. Of course, Kizer and White have had their share of feuds over the years for their disagreement on judges’ decisions and the incompetency of certain referees. No successor was announced when Kizer stepped down, and the search is ongoing. Roy Nelson has decided to throw his name into the hat, and is a dark horse candidate to get the position.
Nelson talked about his desire to fill the position with Bloody Elbow:
I have put my application in. My wife and I were talking about having something besides fighting to fall back on, and I think I would be able to do some good. This is my hometown, it’s where I was born and raised, so I feel it’s a way for me to help further the sport.
Nelson went on to say that he has not told the UFC about his intention to become director, and that he still plans on fighting in the future. It will be very interesting to hear Dana White’s response regarding today’s news.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was willing to reach out to offer President Barack Obama congratulations after he won reelection in November, but after hearing the president's second inaugural address this week, the governor says he has concerns about the next four years.
“Instead of trying to bring people together it was a manifesto for, ‘Hey, it’s my way or the highway,’” Christie said this week during an interview on NJ 101.5's monthly "Ask the Governor" program. “We’re going to see how he acts moving forward.”
Christie is not the only conservative who has accused Obama of being overly partisan with his address, which was widely regarded as an unapologetic defense of liberal policies. Earlier this week, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) claimed that the president's rhetoric was proof that he was on a mission to "annihilate the Republican Party." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had a similarly bleak take, declaring that Obama's words showed he was seeking to usher in an "era of liberalism" that would lead to continued divisions in Washington.
While Christie's take isn't new, his comments do mark the breaking of a relative cease-fire with Obama. The governor has faced intense criticism from the right after coordinating closely and even praising the president for his management of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.UFC 207 takes place December 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Marketing for the event has been centered on crossover star Ronda Rousey, but the more seasoned MMA fan knows this is a talent filled card. Six out of the eight fighters on the main card are either current or former UFC Champions. Among some of the talent, UFC 207 may provide answers to some lingering questions. Let’s address these questions and navigate the ongoing storylines of UFC 207:
Will Louis Smolka bounce back from his last loss? Hawaii’s Louis Smolka was coming off a four fight win streak and a dominant performance over fellow prospect Ben Nguyen when he met with UFC newcomer Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night: Lineker vs Dodson, in October. Smolka was tapped by Moreno with a guillotine choke in round 1. Those who have followed Smolka’s career are curious to know if he will bounce back from the loss when he faces Ray Borg on the Fox Sports 1 prelims for UFC 207. With back to back contrasting performances, there are questions about Smolka’s consistency and if he’s ready for stiffer competition up the ranks if he can get past Borg. Will Johnny Hendricks make weight? Johnny Hendricks will again be tempting fate when he hits the scales for a welterweight bout against #8 ranked Neil Magny. Hendricks has mismanaged his weight in the past and the results have been disastrous. Hendricks was taken to the hospital during a weight cut attempt at UFC 192, which left his bout with Tyron Woodly scrapped. Most recently he has had a poor showing against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs Thompson, and yet another failed attempt to make weight coupled with a decision loss against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200. Hendricks seems to be beating himself at this point. UFC 207 should answer the question if he should finally accept the notion of moving up a weight class. Is ‘sea-level Cain’ truly better than Werdum? All of us are thinking it… Was Mexico City a fluke? This long awaited rematch should provide answers to that question. To give a little back story to the uninitiated– Fabricio Werdum beat the breaks off of Cain Velasquez at UFC 188 in Mexico City. It appeared Velasquez gassed out due to the altitude, which seemed to be a theme among many performing fighters that night. This is particularly uncharacteristic of Velasquez, who is known to be a heavyweight cardio powerhouse. Werdum, who trained for the fight in the altitude and was well adjusted seized on his opponent’s weakness, and finished the fight via first round submission to become the UFC heavyweight champion. Since then, Cain has gone on to win a TKO victory over Travis Browne while Werdum dropped the heavyweight belt in his first title defense to Stipe Miocic at UFC 198. He then got back into the win column against Travis Browne at UFC 203. This long awaited rematch will give many fans a sense of closure and lead them to conclude if the outcome of Werdum vs Velasquez’ first bout was circumstantial. Can Dominick Cruz essentially take out all of Team Alpha Male’s contenders? A highly anticipated bantamweight bout between Cody Garbrandt and Bantamweight Champion Dominic Cruz will serve as the co-main event for UFC 207. Dominic Cruz has mostly been a mainstay in the pound for pound talks over the years, even while sidelined with injuries. In Cruz’ last two fights, he has managed to win decisions against Team Alpha Male founder Uriah Faber, and former long-time TAM member TJ Dillashaw. Now, Cruz faces Team Alpha Male standout and #1 Bantamweight contender, Cody Garbrandt. Can Cruz continue to prove that he is TAM kryptonite, or can Garbrandt succeed where past training partners have failed? What should we expect from Ronda Rousey? Ronda Rousey is making her long awaited return, coming off a well-publicized KO loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 over a year ago. Since that loss, fans have questioned Ronda’s hunger in the fight game. Rousey, who seems to be making a full transition over to Hollywood acting and other projects, still has some unfinished business in MMA. She faces current Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes in the evening’s main event. People are curious as to which Ronda Rousey will show up; the skilled aggressive judoka who could armbar anything with an elbow, or the optimistic striker we’ve often seen doing focus mitt work lately, itching to dangerously test her developing hand skills on top tier competition. Meanwhile, the current Champ, Amanda Nunes, looks to show that she is not a paper champion in the absence of the most dominant female fighter in the division’s history. The only way to do this is to make an example out of Rousey. In that sense, Nunes has a compelling story in this fight that UFC promotion has overlooked in order to fully promote Rousey and capitalize on her mass appeal, which is a testament to Rousey’s popularity more than any sort of slight at Nunes. Does the fight game still have Rousey’s focus and attention, or has she evolved beyond it? Maybe UFC 207 can provide some clarity.Our survey has been updated with the latest policies! By Nathalie
The parties have finally released their manifestos this week and we’ve now fully updated the survey with any new or updated policies for each issue.
From Welfare and Housing to Education and Crime, each policy comes straight from the main parties and is included in the survey in their own words.
Whether you’re taking the survey for the first time, or having another go, we hope you enjoy using the service and please share www.voteforpolicies.org.uk as widely as possible before polling day on May 7th.
Northern Ireland
And we’re delighted to announce that as of next week, we will also have policies from the main Northern Ireland parties.
Three exciting things:
Where does your constituency stand on policies? You can now search for your own constituency results, country results and see a map of the parties in the lead according to the 434k surveys completed to date. Find out about our new Data Site and get in touch if you’re interested in getting involved. Would you like a custom link to Vote for Policies for your organisation, school or group of friends? We’re offering groups of all sorts bespoke links to the survey, for free. This enables individuals to take the survey and see their results as a group. Interested in seeing where your family stand on policies? Keen to encourage your employees to make an informed choice on May 7th? Or would you like some press coverage for your organisation? Find out more here. Finally, the deadline to register to vote is almost upon us – please spread the word! If you know someone who hasn’t registered to vote, please encourage them to do so by sending them this link to easily register online. They must register by Monday 20th April.
Thank you for your support and please keep sharing the survey!
Matt & the VfP Team
We’re run by volunteers and we rely on donations to keep going. If you like our work please support us with a donation. You can also stay in touch with us via Twitter and Facebook.
Vote for Policies is a non-profit, independent organisation with a mission to increase participation in elections, and make policies the focus of voting decisions. The interactive, mobile friendly website allows individuals to compare policies, in the words of each of the main political parties, without knowing which party they belong to. It has received funding from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and over 900 crowd funders.The Rose. A regal flower used for centuries to attract love, enhance femininity, and assist in seduction. Such exquisite beauty is made even more profound due to its impermanence. A few days of heightened refinement surround your space when the flower is at its peak. However, like all life, such delicate beauty is temporary and will eventually fade. With roses, the artistry of decay haunts the passing of this beauty. I keep my roses in their vase as I watch the petals shrivel and the color dim. A most exquisite momento mori expressing our connection to the cycle of life.
Still, us humans desire to hold on to our beauty. We grasp at it, reluctant to give up its power. As such it's only natural that we have a long history of preserving rose petals and incorporating them in our lives. These delicate, yet beautiful dried rose petals permeate our homes, championing our control over decay.
I use rose petals in a variety of ways in my Pagan practice. I lay them atop my altar during Ostara to welcome spring. I might covertly carry a pouch filled with red petals in my purse during a date to enhance my desirability. Additionally, ground-up rose petals feature as a common ingredient in many of my spells.Water or Coke -- You Decide! WATER
75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half
world population.)
In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often
mistaken for hunger.
Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
ONE glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost
100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could
significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory,
trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on
a printed page.
Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer
by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is
50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of
water you should every day?
COKE
In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of
Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in
two days.
To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and
let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in
Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a
rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminium foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of
Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the
rusted bolt for several minutes.
To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan,
wrap the ham in aluminium foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is
finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for
sumptuous brown gravy.
To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of
greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The
Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.
It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It
will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also bleaches
calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in
osteoporosis.
To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must
use the Hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive
materials.
The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of
their trucks for about 20 years!
Now the question is, would YOU like a glass of water or coke?If your employer is violating one of these laws, the most effective first step may be to talk to your manager about fixing the problem. (iStockphoto)
Do you know what rights you have at work? You might assume that your employer understands labor law and always follows it, but in reality many employers regularly violate employment law, either knowingly or unknowingly.
Here are five of the most common ways that employers break labor laws – with some of them being so common that most employees don't even realize their rights are being violated. Take a look and see if you spot anything here that your own employer should be doing differently.
1. Telling you that you can't discuss your salary with your co-workers. The National Labor Relations Act says that employers can't prevent most employees from discussing wages among themselves. The reason for that is that employees can't effectively organize or unionize if they're not permitted to discuss wages or uncover potential inequities.
But despite the law, an astonishing number of employers have policies against this anyway – so many that most people think these policies normal and have no idea that they violate the law.
2. Treating you as exempt from overtime pay. Whether or not you're eligible for overtime pay isn't up to your employer. It's supposed to be governed by the type of work you do. The federal government divides all types of jobs into one of two categories: exempt and non-exempt. If your job is categorized as non-exempt, your employer must pay you overtime (time and a half) for all hours you work beyond 40 in any given week.
The exempt category is reserved for employees who perform relatively high-level executive or professional work, outside sales employees and a few other narrowly defined categories. But many employers incorrectly categorize employees as exempt when they don't actually meet the government's qualifications for the category, and thus avoid paying overtime to people who the law says should be earning it.
3. Asking or allowing you to work off the clock. If you're a non-exempt employee, you must be paid for all the time you work, including things outside of your normal work hours, such as answering emails or taking calls from home at night or on the weekend. You can't waive this right even if you want to. Your employer is required to pay you for that time.
4. Hiring independent contractors but treating them like employees. If your employer controls when, where and how you work, the government says that you're an employee and your company needs to pay your payroll taxes and offer you the same benefits it offers to regular employees. Yet despite recent crackdowns on this by the government, many employers continue to hire independent contractors and treat them like employees – in every way but pay.
5. Disciplining you for complaining about work on social media. The National Labor Relations Act protects employees' ability to discuss wages and working conditions with each other. The National Labor Relations Board has ruled repeatedly that employers' attempts to control or limit what employees post on social media often violate the employees' rights to engage in "protected concerted activity," and that employees must be permitted to band together to try to make changes to their employment conditions, even if all they wish to do is to complain as a group. In many cases, the NLRB has warned employers that workers have the right to say negative things about their jobs in public forums without risk.
That said, the NLRB does generally permit employers to prohibit maliciously false statements about the company, harassment, bullying, discrimination or retaliation.
Here's what to do if your employer is violating one of these laws.
If your employer is violating one of the laws, in most cases the most effective first step is simply to talk to your manager. If you start from the assumption that she doesn't realize that there's a legal issue and that you're being helpful by bringing it to her attention – as opposed to taking an adversarial stance right off the bat – you're more likely to get a better outcome, one where the problem gets fixed and you maintain good relations with your employer.
For instance, if your boss is asking you to work unpaid overtime when you're non-exempt, try saying something like, "We're actually required by federal law to pay overtime to people in my job category. I can work the overtime if you want me to, but the company would need to pay it. Does it still make sense for me to work the extra hours?"Sep 18, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Robert Quinn (94) pressures Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) in the second half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Seahawks game film: The offensive line of the Seattle Seahawks goes under the microscope, and nothing about it is pretty.
The Seattle Seahawks offensive line was a massive disappointment on Sunday against the Rams. They were completely dominated, and Seattle’s offense managed to score just 3 points.
I’ve been doing my best to stay positive and look for reasons to be optimistic that the line will get better. Re-watching Sunday’s game from all all-22 and end zone angles though has me doubting that this will get fixed without personnel changes.
First, it is difficult to describe how poorly J’Marcus Webb played. He was individually responsible for ruining play after play throughout the game. (Note: Despite the caption, that isn’t Sowell. It’s Glow.)
Here’s Webb blowing up a run by being pushed 3 yards into the backfield. Also Sowell standing there watching so no cutback lane. pic.twitter.com/vHEuErXLdK — Keith Myers (@MyersNFL) September 20, 2016
The worst part of this is that Webb was supposed to be another JR Sweezy type – a guy who might be terrible in pass protection but was good as a run blocker. Just how incorrect that belief is was on display Sunday.
Webb is an offensive tackle playing out of position. Our expectations should have never been all that high for him, but even that doesn’t excuse this performance. Luckily, Germain Ifedi will be back soon to help fix this problem, because Webb offers zero hope for improvement.
Hopefully having a solid RG next to him will help Garry Gilliam as well. Gilliam also struggled Sunday. We know from last year that he can be better than this, but he should absolutely not be immune to criticism from this game.
No one should ever get beat this quickly. The entire right side of the line is a travesty here:
Unfortunately, Webb wasn’t even the worst of the group. Left tackle Bradley Sowell gets that distinction. On top of being a penalty machine, Sowell struggled to redirect the defensive end even slightly on many plays.
Sowell simply isn’t an NFL left tackle. His “fail rate” is way too high. He even struggled to get his assignments right when the Seahawks were trying to set up a screen.
The quality of the Rams defensive front shouldn’t be ignored here. Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald are both insanely good players. They’re going to make anyone look on a few plays every game.
Sadly, this wasn’t just “a few plays.” Webb and Sowell were beaten over and over throughout the game. Neither could be counted on to complete any assignment they were given, and the offense ground to a halt.
Until the Seahawks move on and find upgrades for those two spots, the offense will continue to struggle.Rumors of rate fixing. Scarcity of foreign exchange. A widening gap between the official rate and the runaway blackmarket. Nearly four months after Nigeria adopted a flexible exchange rate policy to avoid these very problems, the problems are all still here and in many ways, worse than they were before the policy change.
So, how has Nigeria managed to sharply devalue its currency while worsening the very problem the devaluation was meant to solve? The answer is a combustible mix of bad sequencing and the primacy of petrol prices.
Today, the official interbank market closed at 306 naira to $1. But over at Abokifx, the same US dollar sells for 473 naira on the black market—a spread of 55%, enough to tempt even the purest of souls into a game of ’round-tripping’. This is when insiders buy foreign exchange at low official rates usually under the guise of importing raw materials or machinery for manufacturing and then simply selling the forex at a higher rate on the black market for a tidy profit.
The Price of Petrol
In May, the Nigerian government, after months of crippling petrol scarcity, finally succumbed and raised the price of petrol to 145 naira a liter, up from 86.50 naira. At the time, the exchange rate was still fixed at 199 naira to $1, where it had been for more than a year. Stories at |
. Twisting, eyes wide, he opened his shoulders and tossed the ball. Then he reared up and whipped his racquet toward the toss. It is an efficient, brutally effective motion. In a match in March, Kyrgios aced Djokovic, the greatest returner in the history of the game, twenty-five times in two sets. He hits flat serves more than a hundred and forty miles per hour. He slices the ball so that it skids the line. He can put on so much spin that the ball arcs in at eighty-four miles per hour and then leaps up above the returner’s head, as if the ground were a trampoline. Across the net from Kyrgios was Nicolas Kicker, a twenty-four-year-old Argentine who is ranked ninety-fourth in the world. Serving at 5–2, 40–15, Kyrgios already had five aces. This serve, down the T, made it six. His forward momentum carried him toward his chair, as if that were his destination all along. It was a lovely afternoon—mid-May, the golden hour—but something seemed wrong. Kyrgios winced and grabbed his hip. An old injury had flared up in Madrid two weeks earlier; he’d been forced to withdraw from a tournament in Rome. He started to shorten points, to limit the strain on his hip. He hit drop shots from well behind the baseline which died on the net. He went for aces, on both first and second serves. Kyrgios, who has an unusually aggressive game, often uses such tactics to great effect. But as the match wore on he appeared to be exhibiting not strategy but impatience. After one error, he bounced his racquet in disgust and caught it on the handle. The crowd murmured expectantly. They were ready for a meltdown. Instead, he bounced the racquet and caught it again, and again, as if to distract himself. Kicker, serving for the set, hit a drop shot that hung in the air on the bounce. Kyrgios has tremendous speed; ordinarily, he could have covered the ground. Instead, he took only one step into the court, ceding the point. A few minutes later, he served and rushed the net, letting Kicker’s return fly by him; the ball landed well inside the lines. Point, Kicker. Down set point, with a second serve, Kyrgios went for the ace. It clipped the top of the net. Double fault. Kyrgios spent the changeover flipping a little Evian water bottle. Kicker started swinging more freely. His serve got more pop. He hit several successful drop shots, testing Kyrgios’s sore hip. It started to look like the final at Roland Garros on Kicker’s side of the net, and an exhibition match on Kyrgios’s. Kyrgios ran around his forehand to hit a tweener—a between-the-legs shot—from the doubles alley, which Kicker easily blocked back into the open court. When Kicker broke his serve and took command of the set, Kyrgios slammed his racquet into the dirt. His hip seemed increasingly to bother him. So, perhaps, did his spirit; his grandfather, who helped rear him, had died a few weeks before. In the end, Kicker easily took the second and third sets, beating a top-fifty player for the first time. Kyrgios trudged to the net to shake his hand. Half an hour after the match, I was waiting for the elevator in the lobby of my hotel, when I heard Kyrgios request a new room key. He was still in his kit: black shorts, a magenta Nike top, shoes smeared with ochre clay. His beard was trimmed tight along his jawline, his dark hair shaved on the sides of his head and sculpted on top like a flame. He stared at his phone as he shuffled to the elevator. As he stepped inside, he looked up. We had met the previous day, and he sounded surprisingly cheerful as he greeted me. “Sorry about the match,” I said. He gave a quick, harsh laugh, and then his voice lightened. “It’s all right. It’s not a big deal,” he said. He stepped out of the elevator, and I watched the doors close behind his slumped shoulders. There are message-board threads dedicated to Kyrgios’s posture, with dozens of comments debating whether the curvature of his upper back requires surgery, interferes with his hormone circulation, or is a faker’s lazy pose. Kyrgios says that he doesn’t want to be Federer. So what does he want? When you’re a tennis player who claims not to like playing tennis, when half the world (including most of Australia) seems to have an opinion of your character, and when you’re twenty-two years old, the answer can be complicated.
People tend to tell one of two stories about Kyrgios. Either he is a talented kid who is wasting his gift with a bad attitude and a terrible work ethic, or he is a talented kid who has struggled, sometimes severely, with his motivation, but who is maturing. A column in the Sydney Morning Herald was headlined “Nick Kyrgios Is a National Embarrassment.” Other people believe that he could be the future of men’s tennis. “I think he has the most talent of anyone twenty-five and under,” Brad Gilbert, an ESPN commentator and Andre Agassi’s former coach, told me. “If you put the total package around him”—coaches, trainers, focussed practice sessions, strenuous training blocks—“and he embraced that, I would be shocked if he didn’t win multiple slams and become top two in the world.” “People tell me I need to change, but it has to come from me,” Kyrgios told me before playing Kicker in Lyon. We were sitting in the hotel restaurant, with his agent, John Morris, in the lull between breakfast and lunch. Kyrgios wore long blue shorts and a Vince Carter jersey with a chain tucked into the neck. He drank a tiny glass of orange juice. “I don’t think I want it enough,” Kyrgios said. He shook his head and said it again. Perhaps he was tired. His beloved Celtics had had a playoff game against Cleveland the night before, and he had been up at 3 A.M., to watch. “The thing about tennis life is that it’s the same thing every day,” Kyrgios said. “You train. You come back to the hotel. You get treatment. You eat. You sleep. You get up.” It is unglamorous and exhausting, a life spent half in airports and hotels, thousands of miles from home. Almost every trip is punctuated, often early, with a loss. Some players orient themselves by the familiarity of their routines. Not Kyrgios: he gets homesick, injured, and bored. He wants to be playing basketball; he’d rather be fishing; he misses his dogs, his girlfriend, his family, his friends. Other young players, such as Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, may be safer bets to win a slam soon. Zverev, a twenty-year-old German, recently beat Djokovic in Rome, becoming the youngest player to win a Masters title since Djokovic himself, in 2007. I asked Kyrgios whether Zverev’s win motivated him. “I’m incredibly happy for him,” he said, and it was obvious that he meant it. “But I don’t know if it motivates me. I didn’t feel, as soon as he won, Man, I’m going to go train, or anything. He won a tournament. It’s good, but it’s more weeks on the road where we’re going to play tennis matches, and that’s it.” Many people assume that Kyrgios is in denial about his ambition. “I think deep down, in his own way, he’s becoming more professional,” Paul McNamee, a retired Australian player and a former C.E.O. of the Australian Open, told me. “But to admit that and to fail—he would not cope with that, maybe.” Kyrgios resists that analysis. “Some days, I’m really good,” he said. “I like going out on the practice court and training with my mates. But I don’t know about fully engaging and giving everything to it. It’s just a game. It’s just a sport. It’s such a small part of my life.” I asked Kyrgios why he doesn’t quit. “I’d rather be doing that than working at Chipotle or something,” he said. “For me, it’s an easy way to make money. I’m just hitting a ball over a net.” He added, “Of course, I’ve grown up with it. It’s a part of me. It’s all I really know how to do.” Kyrgios got up from his chair; he had a doubles match in a few hours. I was left with Morris, a compact Englishman with a thoughtful look. “He doesn’t do it for the money,” Morris said. “He doesn’t know what he has in the bank. He’s a competitor. He’s always competing.” “So why does he sometimes stop trying to win?” I asked. “I don’t know. He’s a bit of an enigma. I wish I knew. I think Nick probably wishes he knew more about it, too.”
Kyrgios’s first love was basketball. He spent countless hours watching “Space Jam” and playing the video game NBA Live. Eventually, he persuaded his parents to get a cable-TV package that included N.B.A. games. He’d wake up early to watch the Celtics and then go outside to shoot baskets, pretending that he was Paul Pierce. When he was fourteen, he was selected for a regional team. “I love the game. I love the sound of the basketball court,” he told me. “I love the team environment.” He also played tennis, beginning group lessons when he was seven. “My mum wanted us to participate,” his sister, Halimah, explained. Nick’s father, George, a housepainter, came from Greece as a child; his mother, Nill, a computer engineer, was born in Malaysia. They reared three children, Christos, Halimah, and Nicholas, in a split-level house in a suburb of Canberra. George’s parents and Nill’s mother lived nearby and looked after the kids during the day. Halimah recalled that Nick, the youngest, “was just a cute little thing—very competitive, but I think that comes from Christos. When you’re the youngest, you’re always fighting to be better than the rest.” He was best at tennis. A local coach, Andrew Bulley, recognized Kyrgios’s talent and started giving him private lessons. He hated to practice. “As soon as it became boring, he’d lose interest,” Bulley recalled. “He wanted scoring.” Kyrgios, who was overweight and asthmatic, couldn’t run well, which meant that he had to develop an original game. When he was out of position, he learned to hit winners off his heels or the back foot, using his loose arm to generate speed. He scraped deep shots off the bounce or delicately half-volleyed them instead of moving his feet. He did everything he could to play a point on his terms. “I had to work out way more to be more aggressive than the average player,” Kyrgios said. By the time Kyrgios was ten, he was playing in Australia’s twelve-and-under national championships. By his early teens, he was travelling to Europe and Asia to play tournaments. Tennis is one of the most expensive sports to play at an élite level—travel and coaching can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars per year—and Kyrgios’s talent strained the family’s finances. Halimah recalled, “My parents had to decide, ‘Do we put in the money, all the money we have, to trust that it’s going to get somewhere?’ ” When Kyrgios was fifteen, Tennis Australia, the country’s governing body for the sport, and the Australian Institute of Sport, a national training center, offered him help in funding his career and a spot at the A.I.S. “My dad kind of just came out and said, ‘What’s easier to make it in, in Australia, playing basketball or tennis?’ Obviously, I knew the answer was tennis,” Kyrgios said. “We just gave him this box and he hasn’t tweeted for days.” At the A.I.S., he was miserable at first. He liked the camaraderie of the training center, but he missed basketball, and he hated the repetition required on the court. Still, his game got better, his diet improved, and, when he was fifteen, he had a growth spurt that left him lean, even skinny. At seventeen, in 2013, Kyrgios won the junior title at the Australian Open. The following year, he faced Rafael Nadal, the No. 1 player in the world, at Wimbledon. On the first point of the match, Kyrgios hit an ace down the T; Nadal barely had time to flinch. Kyrgios aced him thirty-seven times, hitting seventy winners in all. At 3–3 in the second set, he flicked his racquet behind his back and through his legs. The ball barely cleared the net, landing just inside the line. The tweener became his signature shot. Kyrgios won the match in four sets. He dropped his racquet and held his head in his hand. Morris told me, “You don’t see that same joy, sheer joy, anymore.” Kyrgios won ten matches in slams before he won two in regular events. Off the main stage, he began to struggle with the demands of the tour. At the moment when most top players build up an entourage of coaches, physiotherapists, and trainers, Kyrgios split with one coach and then another, and struck out on his own. “Every coach I had tried to tame me, tried to make me play more disciplined, tried to make me do drills,” he told me. “All through my career, there were people trying to tell me to play a more normal style of tennis.” But, he went on, “I’ve just been kind of playing on instinct. I feel like it’s been successful, so I don’t know why there’s a good reason to stop that.” Not having a coach meant that there was less accountability in practice. In Lyon, I watched him hit with another Aussie, Matt Reid, two days before the match against Kicker. Kyrgios did it his way. Warming up, he entertained the little crowd of kids gathered at the chain-link fence by punctuating his grunts with the names of other players (“Dominic UH Dominic UH Thiem EH-UH Jo-Willy UH Jo-Wilfried UH”). He started hitting one-handed topspin backhands, a shot I’d never seen him hit in a match. He and Reid began to play out the points. “Fucking move your legs, you shit!” Kyrgios yelled at himself. Another backhand miss: “Make it!” A few shots later, he was smiling. Those who know Kyrgios talk about his easy nature and his sense of humor. Yet he became prone to smashing racquets, arguing with umpires, and berating ball kids. He once prolonged a changeover at Wimbledon by theatrically changing his socks. At many tournaments, he racked up thousands of dollars in fines for unsportsmanlike conduct. Most appalling, he told Stan Wawrinka during a match that a friend had “banged” his girlfriend. Last fall, in Shanghai, Kyrgios had his episode of openly trying to lose a match. “I was just done,” he told me. “I was, like, Next week, I get to go home, and the only thing that’s holding me back is this match.” He was fined twenty-five thousand dollars and suspended for three months, a penalty that was reduced to eight weeks after he agreed to see a psychologist. “Tennis, for me—it’s a completely different me,” he said. “The person I am on the court is not who I am off the court.”
Kyrgios is hardly the first to struggle with the warping pressure of being on tour and alone on the court. Suzanne Lenglen, the French player who dominated the women’s game between 1914 and 1926—she was nicknamed La Divine—drank brandy and cried during matches. Jimmy Connors made lewd gestures at fans. John McEnroe shouted at officials. “I shouldn’t be playing tennis now,” he told the Times after a loss in 1986. “I’m letting things affect me and I’m embarrassed.” He left the tour for six months. Racquet smashing is the most common means of catharsis. Goran Ivanisevic had to default a 2000 match because he had broken all his racquets. In 2008, Mikhail Youzhny hit himself in the forehead with his racquet so hard that it left a bloody gash. Marat Safin, a two-time slam winner, who was as tormented as he was gifted, has estimated that he smashed seven hundred racquets in his career. He’s said to have played with shards of graphite embedded in his arm. Almost every player smashes racquets, and all of them rant and mutter. “Tennis is the sport in which you talk to yourself. No athletes talk to themselves like tennis players,” Agassi wrote in his autobiography, “Open.” “Why? Because tennis is so damned lonely. Only boxers can understand the loneliness of tennis players—and yet boxers have their corner men and managers.” And, during a match, unlike boxers, tennis players can’t talk to or touch even their opponents, let alone a coach. Andy Murray, the No. 1 men’s player, can keep up a monologue on the court for hours. He has become a mentor to Kyrgios, and FaceTimes with him regularly. “I’ve experienced a lot of what he is going through,” Murray wrote in an e-mail. “As athletes, we’re supposed to be mentally strong, and if you are seen to be talking about feelings or anything like that, not believing in yourself or backing yourself or struggling to cope with pressure, that’s seen as a negative.” He went on, “But there is also a lot of pressure and it’s not always that easy to deal with everything.” Still, Kyrgios is not like Murray, who is one of the hardest workers on tour. Murray recently invited Kyrgios to join him for a training period. “That was a quick no for me, because I know he’s going to be training four, five hours a day,” Kyrgios said. “We were probably going to have to be doing these protein shakes.” Kyrgios is also not like McEnroe, who could never turn off his competitive instincts, or Agassi, though he comes closest to sounding like him. “When he was in it, Andre had amazing practice habits,” Gilbert, his former coach, told me. “He was a hard worker. Those are things you hear that Nick struggles with a little bit. Andre would have a patch where he wasn’t as committed, but when he was committed he put in the time—unbelievable—on the practice court.” In January, at the Australian Open, Agassi gave a rare press conference, in which he talked about Kyrgios. Three days earlier, Kyrgios had crashed in the second round, after being up two sets to love against the unassuming Andreas Seppi. Thousands of people, in his native country, had booed Kyrgios off the court. Agassi cautioned against vilifying Kyrgios. “I do share your feelings that in watching him it feels, at first glance, very offensive to see so much talent, to see somebody in the sport that means a great deal to so many, sort of disregarded,” Agassi said. “But, with that being said, the journey I lived has taught me a lot about how deep one’s struggles can be and how much good can still exist at the same time. I don’t know his background. I know that I was always somebody that cared more than I portrayed, because it was my defense. It was my way of hiding myself from myself.” “For me, it’s an easy way to make money,” Kyrgios said, of professional tennis. “I’m just hitting a ball over a net.” Photograph by Jonas Unger for The New Yorker
After the Australian Open, Kyrgios was in a “dark place.” He went to Miami to be with his girlfriend, the Australian player Ajla Tomljanović, whom he’s been dating for two years. He thought about taking a break from tennis; he didn’t know for how long. But then he got a call from Lleyton Hewitt, a former champion who is now the captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team, urging him to play in the tournament. Top players rarely participate. But for Kyrgios it was a lifeline. “It was the best thing I could have done,” he said. The other players were apprehensive about Kyrgios’s state of mind, but when he arrived in Melbourne, he was fully committed. He led the practice sessions with intensity; he was the first to start picking up balls. He spent extra time hitting with the youngest player. He embraced being part of a team. In February, the Australians defeated the Czech Republic. Two months later, they beat a strong American squad, with Kyrgios defeating Sam Querrey, a lanky big server, to clinch the tie. Afterward, Kyrgios lifted up Hewitt and carried him down to the court, before being engulfed by his teammates. “I love being on the bench, supporting someone else,” he said later. “I just love that you win together, you take a loss together.” That match capped a remarkable run for Kyrgios. Between the two Davis Cup rounds, he beat Djokovic twice, and Zverev twice, and played Federer to nearly a draw in the semifinals of the Miami Open. It was a three-set, three-tiebreak affair in which the intensity never dropped. Brad Gilbert, who was courtside, told me that he considered it the highest-quality match this year. What really struck Gilbert, though, was how hard the crowd rooted against Kyrgios. They hissed; they tried to rattle him; they called balls out in the middle of points. For the most part, Kyrgios kept his cool. Then, on the last point, he pulverized his racquet. He was devastated to lose. “I felt like I was pretty much unbeatable during that time,” Kyrgios told me. “I don’t know if I had a mind-set that this is what I want to be doing right now. I didn’t have a choice. But I felt like I had one goal, and that was to compete every day.” He seemed to be settling into his talent. In May, he announced that he had started working with a coach, Sébastien Grosjean, a French former player who lives in Boca Raton, where Tomljanović trains. “It’s a challenge, a big one,” Grosjean told me. He has been trying to persuade Kyrgios to get a fitness coach, to prevent injuries and to help him build up his body for the marathons of the slams. “He can be a better athlete. But it’s new for him. It has to come from him.” Grosjean sounded like Kyrgios. “He has to understand,” he added. After his wins this spring, Kyrgios was on the short list of dark horses at the French Open. But, when he talked about his recent success, he didn’t first point to his results. He spoke about getting to spend a month with Tomljanović, having a single goal each day, and being part of the Davis Cup team.Large numbers of Kurdish civilians have been displaced in northern Syria over the weekend by a new round of ISIS shelling against towns in and around Aleppo Province. The main target appears to be the border town of Ayn Al-Arab (known as Kobane in Kurdish).
The town is under the control of the Popular Protection Units (YPG) Kurdish militia, and has been for two years. ISIS has been keen to take border crossings in recent days, and this would add to their territorial possessions in Syria’s north-central region, near their de facto capital of Raqqa.
ISIS control of Raqqa has effectively split Syrian Kurdish territory in half, with the remaining Aleppo Kurds having no remaining land connection to the ones in the far northeast, along the Iraqi border. The Kurds in northeastern Syria retain one border crossing, held in common with Iraqi Kurdistan, though the civilians elsewhere remain under threat from ISIS.
The YPG, unwilling to cede the Aleppo towns yet, has issued a call to arms to try to defend the Kurdish towns and villages from ISIS incursion. While the YPG has enjoyed some success against ISIS in the past, it seems difficult to imagine that the remaining Aleppo possessions can be held.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzAnime News Network's Anime Expo 2016 news coverage sponsored by Yen Press.
Anime News Network's Anime Expo 2016 news coverage sponsored by Yen Press.
Dark Horse Comics announced at its Anime Expo panel on Friday that it has licensed the Hatsune Miku: Rin-Chan Now!, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko-Piko Middle School Students, and H.P. Lovecraft's The Hound and Other Stories manga. All three manga will debut in 2017.
Hatsune Miku: Rin-Chan Now! ( Rin-Chan Now! in Japanese) is written by sezu and edited by OwataP, the producers behind the "Rin-chan Now!" song and video the manga is based on. Hiro Tamura draws the art.
The manga ran in Ichijinsha's Monthly Comic Rex magazine, and Ichijinsha published four compiled volumes between 2013 and 2014. Ichijinsha also published the Rin-chan Now! SSs novels.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko-Piko Middle School Students ( Shinseiki Evangelion: Piko-Piko Chūgakusei Densetsu ) is a gag manga spinoff of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The manga takes place at NERV middle school, which raises kids to be Evangelion pilots in order to combat mysterious giant lifeforms. The school recruits gamers from around the world.
Yūshi Kawata ( Fist of the North Star: Strawberry Flavor ) writes the series with art by Yukito, who worked on the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Comic Tribute, also released by Dark Horse. The manga is serialized in Kadokawa's Young Ace magazine, and Kadokawa released the third compiled volume in May.
Gou Tanabe's H.P. Lovecraft's The Hound and Other Stories manga adapts three of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories: "The Hound," "The Temple," and "The Nameless City." Kadokawa published the volume in 2014.
Tanabe went on to publish manga based on Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Haunter of the Dark."The ‘Brexit bill’ is likely to be one of the most contentious aspects of the upcoming negotiations. But estimates so far focus largely on the EU costs and liabilities that the UK will have to buy its way out of. What about the EU’s assets? The UK will surely get a share of those, and they could total €153.7bn.
The ‘Brexit bill’ is an expected payment by the United Kingdom to settle its financial commitments upon leaving the EU. Since the bill will be important in the Brexit negotiations, the matter is starting to be widely discussed. The European Commission has not yet made any official announcement about the Brexit bill. But in the meantime, journalists and academics alike are preparing various estimates based on already agreed commitments and EU assets which may offset these liabilities.
A must-read analysis was prepared by Alex Barker, the Brussels Bureau Chief of the Financial Times. Alex provides an excellent analysis (in our view the most comprehensive so far) of the various financial, legal and political aspects of the Brexit bill. However, Alex considered only €22.5 billion of EU assets. In this post we analyse the whole spectrum of EU assets. This is important, because the UK’s share of these assets may offset part of the various liabilities it is facing. Our key findings are the following:
The European Union had €153.7 billion of assets at the end of 2015. As far as we know, the existing available ‘Brexit bill’ calculations have considered only a small subset of these assets.
As far as we know, the existing available ‘Brexit bill’ calculations have considered only a small subset of these assets. There are €41 billon assets which can be considered as a kind of EU ‘accumulated wealth’: cash (€21.7 billion), property (€8.7 billion), available-for-sale financial assets (€9.6 billion) and other assets (€1.0 billion). A share of this should probably be apportioned to the UK upon Brexit.
which can be considered as a kind of EU ‘accumulated wealth’: cash (€21.7 billion), property (€8.7 billion), available-for-sale financial assets (€9.6 billion) and other assets (€1.0 billion). A share of this. The outstanding amount of loans granted by the EU was about €56 billion at the end of 2015. These loans do not constitute a ‘net wealth’ because they are fully matched by EU borrowing, and the interest rate charged by the EU is practically the same as the EU’s borrowing cost. However, if EU borrowing is considered as a liability which should be apportioned to the UK on Brexit, then EU loans should also be apportioned to the UK as an asset.
at the end of 2015. These loans do not constitute a ‘net wealth’ because they are fully matched by EU borrowing, and the interest rate charged by the EU is practically the same as the EU’s borrowing cost. However,. The place of pre-financing (€45.2 billion) in the Brexit bill is ambiguous. Some of it may essentially “pre-cover” part of the UK’s liabilities for future expenditures agreed while it was still a member. However, it is still very difficult to say how much of an impact this will have on the final bill.
. Some of it may essentially “pre-cover” part of the UK’s liabilities for future expenditures agreed while it was still a member. However, it is still very difficult to say how much of an impact this will have on the final bill. The final main category of EU assets, receivables and recoverables (€10.3 billion), may not be considered as assets in the Brexit bill calculations, because they are practically composed of the budget contributions that member states failed to pay by the end of 2015.
Assets of the European Union
According to the 2015 Consolidated Annual Accounts of the European Union, the European Union, as a legal entity, had various assets amounting to €153.7 billion at the end of 2015. There are a number of other legal entities related to the EU, like the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, or the European Stability Mechanism: these separate legal entities are not considered here.
The 2004-15 development of the six main categories of EU assets are summarised in Figure 1.
1. Financial assets were about €5 billion in 2004-07, after which this asset category expanded primarily due to financial assistance loans. At the end of 2015, financial assets amounted to €67 billion, of which loans comprise €56 billion (plus €1 billion accrued interests) and available-for-sale financial assets for €9.6 billion. Loans from borrowed funds were granted to (see Table 1 for details):
In addition, a bridge loan amounting to EUR 7.16 billion was granted to Greece for a period of one month between 20 July and 20 August 2015. This loan was fully repaid.
Non-euro EU countries (Hungary, Latvia and Romania) from the Balance of payments facility;
Euro-area countries (Ireland and Portugal) from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM);
Non-EU countries (Armenia, Georgia, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Moldova, Tunisia, Ukraine) from the Macro-financial assistance (MFA) facility ;
There also a small Euratom facility and some loans related to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which is in liquidation since 2002.
There are also some small-amount loans granted from the budget (€0.4 billion), of which about €0.25 billion are in fact term deposits.
Available-for-sale financial assets include:
€2.6 billion provisionally cashed fines related to competition cases, which are allocated to a specially created fund (BUFI Fund);
€2.0 billion Guarantee Fund for external actions, which covers loans guaranteed by the EU, in particular European Investment Bank lending operations outside the EU, loans under macro-financial assistance (MFA) and Euratom loans outside the EU. It is intended to cover any defaulting loans guaranteed by the EU;
€1.7 billion related to the liquidation of the European Coal and Steel Community;
€0.2 billion shares in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
€3.1 billion instruments related to various facilities, such as Risk Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), Horizon 2020, ETF Start up and Project Bond Initiative.
2. Pre-financing (€45 billion at end-2015) is a payment made by the EU, which provides a cash advance to cover future expenses in EU-funded projects. If the beneficiary does not spend it, they have the obligation to return the pre-financing advance to the EU. Pre-financing is thus considered an asset, because it is perhaps going to be returned if unused. As funding recipients submit their final costs, the value of pre-financing as an asset decreases. As new payments are allocated, the value increases.
EU budgets include funding commitments that were made with the UK’s agreement. It is presumed that the UK will remain liable for a share of these costs after leaving. However, in the case of pre-financed projects, commitments are already matched by payments and are therefore not outstanding (or RAL, from the French ‘reste à liquider’), meaning that the UK has already provided the required resources for its share of these commitments. Therefore, EU pre-financing would offset a small part of the UK’s share of future EU commitments.
3. Cash and cash equivalents (€22 billion at end-2015) is comprised mainly of accounts that the Commission keeps with the Treasuries and/or Central Banks of the Member States for the purposes of obtaining their budget contributions (€17.1 billion). To execute payments, the Commission also maintains accounts in commercial banks (€0.1 billion) where it transfers funds solely when the need for payment arises. About €1.9 billion is cash relating to fines and another €1.9 billion relates to institutions other than the Commission, agencies and bodies.
4. Receivables (€0.6 billion at end-2015) and recoverables (€9.7 billion at end-2015) refer to amounts of earned revenue that have not yet been paid. Receivables (a rather small value) emanate from exchange transactions, such as the receipt of payments for the services and goods the EU provided. Much more significant are recoverables, which are revenues owed due to non-exchange transactions. These are transactions like entitlements to tax and contribution revenue, in which the amount of revenue due is not directly linked to what the EU provides in exchange. As EU Accounting Rule 3 puts it, “there is no direct exchange relationship between paying the tax or the contribution and receiving EU services or transfers”.
5. Property, plant and equipment (€9 billion at end-2015) encompasses tangible assets such as land and buildings (€2.2 billion), finance leases (€1.7 billion), plant and equipment (€0.7 billion) and computer hardware (€0.1 billion). A further €3.8 billion is the value of assets under construction.
Other assets, less than €1 billion in 2004-15, include intangible assets, inventories and other investments.
To sum up, from the EU’s €154 billion assets there are €41 billon (mainly cash, property and certain financial assets) which can be considered as a kind of ‘accumulated wealth’. A share of this could be allocated to the UK upon Brexit. EU loans amounting to €56 billion do not constitute a ‘net wealth’ because these loans are fully matched by EU borrowing. However, if the corresponding EU loans are considered as a liability to be appropriated to the UK (as, for example, in Alex Barker’s calculations) then the loans should also be appropriated to the UK as an asset.
The case for considering the €45 billion pre-financing an asset that might offset UK liabilities is somewhat ambiguous. In any case, most of the pre-financing will probably not matter for the final settlement. Nor will the €10 billion of recoverables, which are mostly composed of budget contributions that member states had failed to pay by the end of 2015.
Nevertheless, we find that there are much greater EU assets in play than existing estimates of the Brexit bill have tended to presume.
Having considered the various assets, we are now working on an estimate of the total Brexit bill. We will publish these calculations soon.Illustration by Pep Boatella
This article originally appeared on Spectrum on Sept. 8, 2015.
Alex, age 10, bounds onto his bed to pose with his Aaron Rodgers poster, grinning as proudly as if he had recruited the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback himself. Continuing the tour of his suburban New York bedroom, he points out his Packers-themed alarm clock, his soccer trophy, his Boy Scout trophy, and then the big reveal: a homemade foam box in Packers green and gold.
“Mmm, very nice,” I say. Alex grins—part shy, part sly—as he turns it around to show me the message on the back: “Jets stink.”
Even though he seems to be an entirely ordinary boy, there’s something unusual about Alex: He once had autism, and now he does not. There was a time when Alex’s parents didn’t know if he would ever speak in full sentences, let alone joke around with a stranger. His autism, they suspected, might prevent any such future.
Alex’s parents began to worry about him before he was even a year old. He wasn’t learning to sit, crawl, or stand as his fraternal twin brother was. Even more striking was how much less social he was than his brother.
“Alex was an expressionless child,” says his mother, Amy. (Alex’s and Amy |
man behind rearended your car, but they will swear that you have callously driven your car backwards into his car.
When in doubt, the ground rule is to help the ethnic sisters and brothers. What is true or not has no value in the case of a “disbeliever” [i.e., those in outgroups have no moral standing—an case of moral particularism]. These are some of the small experiences that makes the people here so “happy.”
We Germans educate our children to be non-violent. We reject violence in encounters and teach that to our offspring. Others teach their children to be strong, brave and ready to fight. The ground rules basics are simply different from the beginning.
Heinz Buschkowsky’s book Neukölln ist überall [Neukölln is everywhere] appeared on Septemebr 21st at Ullstein Verlag.
Translated by Peter Stuyvesant.Virtual currency bitcoin has been recognized by the German Finance Ministry as a "unit of account", meaning it is can be used for tax and trading purposes in the country.
Bitcoin is not classified as e-money or a foreign currency, the Finance Ministry said in a statement, but is rather a financial instrument under German banking rules. It is more akin to "private money" that can be used in "multilateral clearing circles", the Ministry said.
"We should have competition in the production of money. I have long been a proponent of Friedrich August von Hayek scheme to denationalize money. Bitcoins are a first step in this direction,"said Frank Schaeffler, a member of the German parliament's Finance Committee, who has pushed for legal classification of bitcoins.
(Read more: Bitcoin gets the FBI, Homeland treatment)
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining. Currently one bitcoin is worth just over $119.
Schaeffler said the new ruling showed German authorities were preparing regulations on how to tax bitcoin transactions. According to German newspaper Die Welt, the government has stated that the legal classification of bitcoin means that commercial profits that stem from using the currency may be taxable.
Kathleen Brooks, a research director at FOREX.com, told CNBC that classification by the German government gave bitcoin legitimacy to be used as a settlement currency in one of the world's largest economies. She said this was a big step forward for the bitcoin movement.
(Read more: Bitcoin banned: Country outlaws virtual currency)Cartoon Network And Adult Swim 2016 Emmy Nominations
Today (14/07/2016), the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) has released their nominations list for the 2016 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, arguably the most celebrated prize for excellence in the television industry. Cartoon Network and Adult Swim dominated the “Outstanding Short-form Animated Program” category, receiving four out of five nominations, three for Cartoon Network (Adventure Time, Steven Universe and The Powerpuff Girls) and one for Adult Swim (Robot Chicken).
List of all the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim 2016 Emmy Awards nominations in the “Outstanding Short-form Animated Program” category:
Adventure Time
Episode: Hall of Egress
Current Emmy Achievements: 4 Wins, 10 Nominations
Robot Chicken
Episode: Robot Chicken Christmas Special: The X-Mas United
Current Emmy Achievements: 4 Wins, 18 Nominations
Steven Universe
Episode: The Answer
Current Emmy Achievements: 2 Nominations
The Powerpuff Girls
Episode: Once Upon A Townsville
Current Emmy Achievements: 2 Wins, 6 Nominations
The 2016 Creative Arts Emmys Ceremony will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. In the United States, the ceremony will air on FXX on 17th September 2016 at 8pm ET/PT.
http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2016/outstanding-short-format-animated-program
Adult Swim has achieved a total of five 2016 Primetime Emmy nominations, four for Children’s Hospital (two for “Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series”, for Rob Corddry
as Dr. Blake Downs and Rob Huebel as Dr. Owen Maestro, one nomination for “Outstanding Actress In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series” for Erinn Hayes as Lola Spratt and one nomination for “Outstanding Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series”). Adult Swim’s Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell also received a nomination for “Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series” for Jack McBrayer as Ollie.
The 2016 Primetime Emmys Ceremony will take place on Sunday 18th September at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. In the United States, the ceremony will air on ABC on 18th September 2016 at 7pm ET and 4pm PT.
http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2016/outstanding-short-form-comedy-or-drama-series
http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2016/outstanding-actor-in-a-short-form-comedy-or-drama-series
http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2016/outstanding-actress-in-a-short-form-comedy-or-drama-seriesVirginia-based experimental metal band Inter Arma have announced their latest album, Paradise Gallows. Their follow-up to 2013's Sky Burial LP and 2014's The Cavern EP is out July 8 via Relapse. Listen to first single "Transfiguration" above, and find the album art and tracklisting below. The band will set out on a tour behind the album this month; scroll down for their full itinerary.
Paradise Gallows:
01 Nomini
02 An Archer in the Emptiness
03 Transfiguration
04 Primordial Wound
05 The Summer Drones
06 Potomac
07 The Paradise Gallows
08 Violent Constellations
09 Where the Earth Meets the Sky
Inter Arma:
04-06 Roanoke, VA - The Q
04-07 Johnson City, TN - The Hideaway
04-08 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
04-09 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
04-10 Nashville, TN - The East Room
04-11 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
04-12 Bloomington, IN - The Bishop
04-13 Lexington, KY - Best Friend Bar
04-15 Cincinnati, OH - MOTR Pub
04-16 Pittsburgh, PA - The Smiling Moose
04-17 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
04-18 Burlington, VT - Nectar’s
04-19 Kingston, NY - BSP Kingston
04-20 New Haven, CT - BAR
04-21 Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery
07-05 Washington, DC - DC9 *
07-06 Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle *
07-08 Brooklyn, NY - St. Vitus *
07-09 Boston, MA - Great Scott *
07-10 Buffalo, NY - Waiting Room *
07-11 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *
07-12 Detroit, MI - Pike Room *
07-13 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
07-14 Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club *
07-15 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *
07-16 Fargo, ND - The Aquarium *
07-19 Seattle, WA - Barboza *
07-20 Portland, OR - Dour Fir *
07-22 San Francisco, CA - Thee Parkside *
07-23 Glendale, CA - Complex *
07-24 San Diego, CA - Soda Bar *
07-25 Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge *
07-28 San Antonio, TX - Limelight *
07-29 Austin, TX - Sidewinder *
07-30 Dallas, TX - Three Links *
07-31 New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa *
08-01 Birmingham, AL - Spring Street Firehouse *
08-02 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
08-03 Asheville, NC - Mothlight *
with Withered
Watch Inter Arma's video for "Destroyer," off Sky Burial:People who experienced high anxiety any time in their lives had a 48 percent higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who had not, according to a new study led by USC researchers.
The findings were based on an examination of 28 years of data from the Swedish Adoption Twin Study of Aging, overseen by the Karolinska Institutet of Sweden. The study sample involved 1,082 participants -- twins, fraternal and identical -- who completed in-person tests every three years, answered several questionnaires and were screened for dementia throughout the study.
Many other studies have explored the link between dementia and psychological variables such as depression and neuroticism. However, this study established that the anxiety-dementia link was independent of the role of depression as a risk factor.
"Anxiety, especially in older adults, has been relatively understudied compared to depression," said Andrew Petkus, the study's lead author and postdoctoral research associate of psychology in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "Depression seems more evident in adulthood, but it's usually episodic. Anxiety, though, tends to be a chronic lifelong problem, and that's why people tend to write off anxiety as part of someone's personality."
A final draft of the study was made available online last week in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
The researchers noted that the subjects had self-reported various levels of anxiety, which may or may not meet the clinical diagnostic threshold of a psychiatric anxiety disorder. Even so, the twin who developed dementia had a history of higher levels of anxiety compared to the twin who did not develop dementia.
How anxious?
The subjects with anxiety who later developed dementia "are people that experience more than usual symptoms of anxiety," said study co-author Margaret Gatz, a professor of psychology in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, who holds joint appointments in the USC Davis School of Gerontology and the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
"They are people who you would say operate at a 'high level of anxiety,'" said Gatz, also a foreign adjunct professor for the Karolinska Insitutet. She said they are fidgety. "They are frantic, frazzled people."
To determine whether anxiety levels correlated to dementia risk, researchers compared those who reported high anxiety with those who reported lower anxiety levels. "Those in the high anxiety group were about 1.5 times more likely to develop dementia," Petkus said.
Possible explanation
Petkus said people who have high levels of anxiety tend to have higher levels of stress hormones, including cortisol. Evidence shows that chronically high levels of cortisol damage parts of the brain such as the hippocampus, which stores memory, and the frontal cortex, which is responsible for high-level thinking.
The researchers also found that the anxiety-dementia relationship was stronger among fraternal twins whom had only one develop dementia than among identical twins. The researchers said this finding indicates that there may be genetic factors shared by anxiety and dementia that account for the anxiety-dementia risk.
The USC team also hopes to determine whether individuals who have been treated for anxiety earlier in their lives show lower risk of dementia compared with those whose anxiety was not treated.Image caption The Senate voted to extend wiretaps, access to business records and surveillance of terror suspects
The US Senate has voted to extend controversial surveillance powers granted by the Patriot Act law, put in place after the 9/11 attacks.
By a vote of 86-12, the Senate approved a 90-day extension of wiretaps, access to business records and surveillance of terror suspects.
The move came one day after the House of Representatives voted to extend the provisions until 8 December.
The White House backed the bill, but would have favoured a longer extension.
The House and Senate must now reach a compromise on extending the surveillance powers, which are set to expire on 28 February.
The brief extension gives those in Congress a chance to review the measures that some claim are unconstitutional infringements on personal liberties.
'Roving surveillance'
The provisions covered under the bill give the US government the authority for "roving surveillance" of suspects who might be able to thwart investigative methods that ordinarily require a judge's warrant.
They also give federal investigators access to business records with a warrant from a secret national security court and grant federal law enforcement greater power to watch foreign so-called "lone wolf" terror suspects.
The Patriot Act was shepherded through Congress by President George W Bush shortly after the terror attacks of 11 September, 2001.
Mr Bush and other supporters argued that the legal safeguards traditionally granted to criminal suspects left the US ill-protected against further attacks.Russian officials in Moscow will meet North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator next week in a bid to get Pyongyang to re-join protracted talks over ending its atomic programme, Russia's state news agency reported.
Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's First Deputy Foreign Minister, would meet Russia's deputy foreign ministers Vladimir Titov and Igor Morgulov on Thursday "as part of efforts to resume the six-party talks", the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Saturday.
The isolated Asian state recently warned that hostility by the United States could lead to war with South Korea at any moment, and vowed not to give up its nuclear power in the face of mounting UN and international sanctions following recent tests.
North Korea had also walked out of the discussions with South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and its main ally China in 2009 in reaction to UN sanctions.
But in a flurry of statements and visits this month, North Korea has offered to hold talks with the United States to ease tensions.
During a trip to Beijing last week to discuss restarting the six-party talks with China, Kim Kye-gwan said the denuclearisation of the peninsula was the "dying wish" of North Korea's founder.
Nuclear disarmament
The US government has said any talks must involve action by the North to show it is moving toward disarmament.
Washington has been sceptical of Pyongyang's move towards dialogue in the past, saying it has repeatedly backtracked on deals.
The Obama administration kept up the pressure on North Korea this week by saying it was imposing sanctions on the country's Daedong Credit Bank for its role in supporting what Washington calls "Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programme".
The UN Security Council has also imposed a variety of sanctions on North Korea for Pyongyang's three nuclear tests and numerous missile launches, including an embargo on the import and export of nuclear and missile technology and a ban on all arms exports.
Russia is one of the few countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. The late leader Kim Jong-Il made a train trip to Siberia in 2011 shortly before his death, calling for a resumption of the talks "without preconditions".
Moscow has repeatedly said that the situation in North Korea could spiral out of control, and Morgulov recently called it "explosive" and ripe for becoming uncontrollable with an "elementary human error".In this week’s editorial we take a look at Pay-to-Win and its Critical Role in PVE heavy games like Warframe.
Everyone who has played Warframe knows that many of the paid currency sinks are completely pay-to-win in their style. The kubrow (dog companion) timers, the equipment build timers, the ability to buy hard to find items such as Orokin Reactors or Catalysts (with prices around 20 cents USD) rather than spending the time collecting and waiting for the items to build, often taking days to do so. These, and other aspects, should be a sign of tainted territory, but Warframe is doing extremely well and the player base is more than happy with the current state of affairs. Now before y’all get your pitchforks out, I feel like I can explain this phenomenon using two main factors; open trade of the paid currency, and the artificial lengthening of small content updates. These two concepts in conjunction have led to Warframe’s success even while utilizing a business model comprised mostly of pay-to-win monetization sinks and can be observed by other companies looking to develop monetization models for PvE based MMORPGs.
A good way to look at the first factor is to look at one of the biggest pet peeves of MMO players: getting an awesome drop that you don’t need. Well, I guess we can either disenchant it or vendor it, but what if you could just sell it to a player who needs it for a currency that you could use to buy the item you actually needed? Warframe and Guild Wars 2 have used this heavily by making their premium currency trade-able. It is an understated and extremely appreciated success point of well-run dual currency systems and is seen in only a few free to play games. I feel as though developers are afraid of making premium currency tradeable, as it would reduce the amount of sales, but the numbers don’t lie. Warframe has it, and they aren’t hemorrhaging money like some of these mega MMOs with antiquated systems. With tradeable currency, a player is not only able to get items that normally are on a very small drop table without paying, but they, more importantly, get used to spending the premium currency, which in turn makes them want to buy some at one point.
Secondly, and I will also preface this with the fact that this is a very contentious issue, is the artificial lengthening of content to allow players to be satisfied for longer, regardless of the content size. When you build a new Warframe, one of the biggest content points in Warframe, the minimum non-boosted time is four days to completion. This means that the time investment isn’t just something to scoff at. It takes real time and large amounts of farmed resources to make a Warframe, so when it’s done, you better believe you will put more than just a mission or two into it. It is similar to waiting all year for a concert or a big holiday. You will enjoy it more, partially, because of the time you put into waiting for it. Games like Star Wars: The Old Republic had trouble during their original launch because they let players just get through all of the content in a matter of a few months and then they weren’t ready to release anything keeping players interested, so the game had a giant evacuation of its highest potential, hardcore players.
Although Warframe has one of the more heinous monetization models, it works well for them. A well-designed game that was made for the players can use nearly any monetization model and still hold a healthy environment. Although it is easy to look at the success stories, Warframe is a great example of a game that is able to buck the system in so many ways, but still stay near the front of the pack.This article is over 4 years old
Combined wealth of Britain's 1,000 richest people has risen 15.4% on last year's total, to £518.975bn
'The richest people in Britain have had an astonishing year,' says rich list compiler
Britain's richest people are wealthier than ever before, with a combined fortune of £518.975bn, according to this year's Sunday Times rich list.
Amid talk of the "squeezed middle", the 1,000 richest Britons now own the equivalent of a third of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), with their combined wealth rising 15.4% on last year's total of £449.654bn.
A minimum of £85m is needed to even be considered for the list this year – compared to £80m in 2008, at the height of the pre-crash boom and £75m last year.
To get into the top 500, the rich need £190m – double the £80m required in 2004 and up £30m from the £160 million cut off point for last year's list.
Philip Beresford, who has compiled the ranking since 1989, said: "I've never seen such a phenomenal rise in personal wealth as the growth in the fortunes of Britain's 1,000 richest people over the past year.
"The richest people in Britain have had an astonishing year.
"While some may criticise them, many of these people are at the heart of the economy and their success brings more jobs and more wealth for the country."
Most distinguished among the old money names, the Queen had a sterling year as she added £10m to her personal fortune and is now ranked 285 with £330m.
Well-established rich list millionaires such as Jamie and Jools Oliver saw their worth go up by £90m to £240m, ranking them at 396, as the celebrity chef's restaurant chain, TV appearances, cookbook sales and Jool's childrenswear range continued to pay dividends.
South African insurance tycoon Douw Steyn, the money behind the wild success of the meerkat TV advertising campaign for comparethemarket.com, saw his wealth go up by £50m to a total of £600m, ranked 170.
Former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, who stepped down at the supermarket chain in 2011, was among the new entrants with a worth of £100m, ranking at 863.
The digital economy also showed its growing purchasing power as four members of King Digital Entertainment, which is behind the addictive Candy Crash game, joined the list for the first time too.
They include entrepreneur Mel Morris, who came in at 238 with a £430m fortune, and King's chief executive Riccardo Zacconi, ranked 271 with £354m.
The masterminds behind best-seller computer game Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games supremos and brothers Sam and Dan Houser, were new entries at 947 with a joint fortune of £90m.
Last week it was announced that the list's compilers had found that the number of billionaires living in Britain has risen to more than 100 for the first time.
Some 104 billionaires are now based in the UK – more than triple the number from a decade ago – with a combined wealth of more than £301bn.
It means Britain has more billionaires per head of population than any other country, while London's total of 72 sterling billionaires is more than any other city in the world.
The Sunday Times rich list is based on "identifiable wealth" - including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies.
It excludes bank accounts, which the Sunday Times has no access to.
Chris Leslie MP, Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "No wonder the super-rich have got much richer over the last year when David Cameron has given millionaires a huge tax cut.
"Yet at the same time working people have continued to face a cost-of-living crisis and are £1,600 a year worse off since 2010.
"Labour is determined to ensure all working people feel the benefits of economic growth, not just a few at the top."Young gay and bisexual men under the age of 26 are six times more likely to attempt suicide or self-harm compared to men in that group aged over 45, and twice as likely to be depressed or anxious, according to a paper in the Journal of Public Health.
Using data from the Stonewall Gay and Bisexual Men's Health Survey, the researchers analyzed responses of 5,799 gay and bisexual men aged 16 and over living in the UK. Depression, anxiety, attempted suicide and self-harm were examined against a range of life factors. Age, ethnicity, income and education were all found to have a large impact on mental health. The authors from London School of Hygiene&Tropical Medicine say the results reinforce the importance of mental health interventions reaching those who need them most, as well as people who actively seek help.
Confounders are that survey participants were not a random sample of the population and were not representative of U.K. gay and bisexual men.
Black gay and bisexual men were twice as likely to be depressed and five times more likely to have attempted suicide than the white majority. Men in the lower wage bracket were more likely to be depressed, anxious, attempt suicide or self-harm. Those with lower levels of education were twice as likely to experience one of those issues compared to those with degree level education, only in part due to earning a lower wage.
The authors speculate that older men are able to cope better with homophobia and that homophobia is more prevalent in the lives of younger men. They further believe that gay and bisexual men may experience discrimination or marginalization unrelated to their sexuality.
Lead author Dr. Ford Hickson from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said, "Our study showed that among gay and bisexual men, age and ethnicity had a significant impact on mental health, as did income and education. This is possibly because men are better able to cope with homophobia the older they are, or if they are relatively privileged in other areas of their lives."
The researchers also discovered cohabitation is key for positive mental health, with men who are living with a male partner 50% less likely to suffer from depression compared to gay and bisexual men living alone. Living in London was also shown to be advantageous, perhaps because London has the largest population of gay men in the world and isolation and discrimination are less common there.
Hickson said, "Minority groups are usually thought to be more homogenous than they actually are, when in fact there is great variation in health and life situations among this group. What's clear is that health inequalities among gay and bisexual men mirror those in the broader society.The party's fissures have made it hard to pass a health-care plan. Taxes won't be any easier.
The party's fissures have made it hard to pass a health-care plan. Taxes won't be any easier.
The ruling Republicans are trying to defy Washington's political gravity: pushing through massive health-care and tax overhauls crafted largely in secret, on a partisan basis, brushing aside congressional expertise and overcoming the policy ignorance of President Donald Trump with products of dubious quality, at best.
They want to do it twice, starting with the Senate's struggle to replace Obamacare this month. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sees this as a nuisance that must be resolved to get to the real priority: tax cuts, especially for the wealthy.
It's doubtful that Republicans will succeed and send a health-care bill to the White House. If they do, it will be a jerry-built political patchwork that few defend as good policy. It would fulfill a promise to the party's base to repeal Obama's signature law, though at the political cost of denying coverage to many supporters.
For Republican leaders, disposing of their health-care problem, even unsuccessfully, would clear the decks for taxes. They will argue then that a big tax bill must be passed or the entire year will be a failure. If a 2018 budget is approved, they'd be able to consider taxes under a procedure that would only require Republican votes.
Passage of even a flawed health-care measure might make it easier, however. Slashing spending for Medicaid, which principally helps the poor, the elderly and people with disabilities, would allow tax cuts of about $1 trillion over 10 years. That would mostly help the affluent, especially if Republicans eliminate the 3.8-percent tax on investment income over $250,000 that Obamacare uses to finance expanded health-care coverage.
Then Republican tax cutters could slash deeper into corporate and individual taxes.
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But while McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan insist that tax legislation will be easier for Republicans to pass than a health-care overhaul, party schisms are already emerging. The small band of moderate Republicans is objecting to the substance and optics of giving goodies to the rich while slicing social programs. Fiscal hawks are fretting over spiraling deficits even as supply-side colleagues and those representing special interests believe most any tax cut is good.
"The tax bill will be a mirror reflection of what's happening on health care," said Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. "They are divided over everything."
Ryan promises sweeping tax-reform legislation that won't reduce government revenues, balancing reductions in tax rates with elimination of deductions and other preferences.
But he starts by vowing to eliminate the estate tax, a source of revenue that involves only the most affluent taxpayers.
Fewer than one in 500 estates are affected because assets up to almost $11 million are exempted for couples filing jointly. Eliminating the tax would be a $225 billion gift, over 10 years, to heirs of the richest Americans. There's little evidence that it would help the economy, though it would certainly comfort campaign contributors.
All the Republican stabs at offsetting revenue-raisers are collapsing. The result, as Brookings Institution economist Bill Gale says, is "there will be tax cuts but very little tax reform."
Even that has problems. The budget rules require that tax cuts that add to the deficit must expire after 10 years. Some Republicans talk about forcing tax-policy analysts to craft a "dynamic scoring" system that would make cuts appear to pay for themselves by means of unrealistically optimistic forecasting of economic growth.
Or tax cutters might try to ignore any credible scorekeeping on the cost, as they're trying to do by discrediting the Congressional Budget Office analysis that shows 22 million fewer people with coverage under the Senate health-care plan. Senator Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, wants to change the rules, from a 10-year deficit window to 20 or 30 years.
That should give genuine deficit hawks heartburn. The CBO estimates that under current policies the federal deficit will rise sharply in a decade to 5.2 percent of the gross domestic product (it's 3.6 percent now) and overall debt will soar to 91 percent of GDP. That's before any tax cut that would add trillions to these numbers.
As Trump’s Goldman Sachs alums and Washington newcomers, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, try to assemble a real proposal for this fall, his populist bomb thrower Steve Bannon floats the idea of a tax increase on the wealthy and bigger tax cuts for the middle class.
That's not going anywhere; Ryan and McConnell would join the resistance movement and Trump would want to know how it affects his financial interests. But it underscores how politically dicey the tax issue may be this time for Republicans.
The final red flag: Virtually without exception, any big legislation that doesn't enjoy some bipartisan support turns into a substantive or political disaster. That's even more certain if done with little transparency.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Albert R. Hunt at To contact the author of this story:at ahunt1@bloomberg.netWhen Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a series of health-related measures Sept. 30, California took the lead among states in implementing provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the national health care reform legislation passed by Congress last March.
Central to the effort are a pair of bills to set up a state health insurance exchange. Assembly Bill 1602, by Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, establishes the new exchange, while Senate Bill 900, by state Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, establishes that it will be governed by a five-member board appointed by the governor and legislature.
The exchange is a core part of the federal law. In 2014 it will be the “one-stop shop” for individuals and small businesses to get coverage, with programs that can easily be compared, bulk purchasing power like that of large employers, and access to federal subsidies to make coverage affordable.
“California is once again leading the way on health care with the creation of a strong health insurance exchange that leverages the purchasing power of millions of consumers,” U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif. and chair of the House Ways and Means Committee subcommittee on health, said in a statement. “This exchange will give everyone a set of clear, more affordable choices for health care, and provide a great example for other states that are creating their own exchanges.”
Anthony Wright, executive director of the Health Access coalition, wrote on the coalition’s website, Oct. 1, “Currently, without an exchange, individual consumers are at the mercy of the big insurers, without any purchasing power, in a complex and confusing marketplace.” Wright said the two bills will help California “be ready on day one to take advantage of billions of dollars in credits and subsidies to help families and small businesses afford coverage.” He pointed out that more than 4 million Californians will be eligible to participate in the exchange, starting in 2014.
Another key bill is AB 2244, to implement the federal ban on denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions, which took effect Sept. 23. Wright pointed out that the state bill limits the amount insurers can charge in such situations much sooner than the federal bill, which doesn’t ban such premium differences until 2014.
SB 1163, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, requires insurers to make information about premium increases public and requires 60-days notice to consumers and the public about proposed premium hikes.
AB 2470, by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, counters the widespread practice of insurers’ taking away patients’ health coverage after they become ill, a practice called rescission. It requires independent review in such situations and provides that patients would keep their coverage until the review determines whether the rescission is legal and justified. The bill will protect patients between now and 2014, when federal law will require insurers to accept patients regardless of preexisting conditions.
Two bills – AB 2345, also by De La Torre and SB 1088 by Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles – implement federal law by barring insurers from charging co-pays for some preventive services, and by letting young adults stay on their parents’ group coverage to age 26.
The governor vetoed several bills in the legislature’s health care package, including measures to mandate maternity coverage in all health insurance plans, standardize classifications for health plans, establish mental health parity, limit rate hikes and establish public health insurance options.
Observers say California’s unsuccessful 2007 attempt to pass state health care reform helped prepare the legislature to act quickly on this year’s legislative package. At the same time, far more comprehensive state single-payer bills have passed the legislature twice, only to be vetoed by Schwarzenegger. The latest single-payer bill, SB 810 by Sen. Leno, passed the state Senate this year and awaits a vote in the Assembly.
For ongoing news about California’s implementation of health care reform, see www.health-access.org.
Photo: PW/Marilyn BechtelMythmaking for the Next War
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had some 45,000 nuclear warheads. At the moment, Iran has none. But when Barack Obama said the obvious -- that Iran does not pose the sort of threat the Soviet Union did -- John McCain reacted as though his rival had offered to trade Fort Knox for a sack of magic beans.
"Such a statement betrays the depth of Sen. Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment," exclaimed McCain. "These are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess."
But if Iran is the Soviet Union, I'm Shaquille O'Neal. There is nothing reckless in soberly distinguishing large threats from small ones, and there is something foolhardy in grossly exaggerating the strength of your enemies.
As military powers go, Iran is a pipsqueak. It has no nuclear weapons. It has a pitiful air force. Its navy is really just a coast guard. It spends less on defense than Singapore or Sweden. Our military budget is 145 times bigger than Iran's.
By contrast, the Soviets had far more nuclear weapons than we did, a blue-water navy, formidable air power and ground forces that dwarfed ours. In a conventional war, it was anything but certain that we could prevail, and in a nuclear exchange, it was clear they could destroy us.
Iran is a very modest adversary. Of course, even a Chihuahua can bite. The U.S. government claims Iran has provided arms and training to Iraqi insurgents -- never mind that it is allied with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
But it's worthwhile to remember that even bad regimes sometimes have understandable motivations. The United States helped overthrow a democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and provided aid to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. If Iran sees an interest in bleeding the U.S. military, that is likely a defensive response to the presence of an avowed enemy on its border rather than a sign of aggressive intent.
Its actions in Iraq, however, are supposedly the least of the menace. McCain and many others are convinced that Iran will soon get nuclear weapons and proceed to use them.
The first claim overlooks the Bush administration's own National Intelligence Estimate, issued last year, which concluded that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The NIE also said, "Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs."
Even if Iran were to acquire atomic bombs, there is no reason to think it would use them or turn them over to terrorists. McCain, however, insists that Iran has "a commitment to Israel's destruction," and appears to think its leaders cannot be contained because of their religious fanaticism.
But as University of Michigan Middle East scholar Juan Cole has explained, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never vowed to "wipe Israel off the map" -- an oft-quoted phrase that Cole says is a mistranslation of the milder words he used. In fact, he says, "Ahmadinejad has never threatened Israel with physical aggression," however much he would welcome its collapse.
Even if the Iranians would like to destroy Israel, they face a powerful disincentive: the prospect of radioactive incineration. The Tehran government has been intimidated by less. Israeli historian Gershom Gorenberg writes in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy magazine, "Iran agreed to a ceasefire in the war with Iraq once Iraqi missiles began falling on Tehran. The ayatollahs were willing to sacrifice soldiers -- but not to pay a higher price." Even fanatics have their limits.
Nor would Iran be so irrational as to give nukes to a terrorist group. That would be the worst of both worlds -- giving up control of those weapons, while inviting annihilation the moment they are put to use.
But there is no reasoning with McCain and his allies, who yearn for the simple clarity of the Cold War. If we don't have an enemy on the mammoth scale of the Soviet Union, they will take a pint-sized one, inflate it beyond recognition and pretend that military confrontation is the |
essential to building a bright future for our children and grandchildren. With my wife, Chris, by my side, I look forward to the work ahead, but we will never have Iowa far from our hearts.
Following Xi's second trip to Iowa, in 2012, Branstad said of his friend:
"He's very personable. When we had the state dinner in Des Moines, about half or maybe even over half of his remarks were personal, off-script. I was impressed with that, and I think it was very sincere and very genuine."
Once his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Branstad would have to resign as governor, ending his record-breaking run. Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has served alongside him for the past six years, will assume the duties of governor until his term ends in 2019, becoming the state's first woman governor.
Under the Iowa Constitution, there would be no replacement lieutenant governor. If anything should prevent Reynolds from fulfilling those duties before Branstad's term ends, she would be replaced by incoming Senate President Jack Whitver.
Branstad had always said he was grooming Reynolds to take over for him but had also left open the possibility of running for a seventh four-year term in 2018. Reynolds is now likely to run for election then.
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See an error in this article? Send us a correctionCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came out on November 10, 2009. The team that defined the modern FPS as we know it disbanded the following year due to a falling out between studio heads and the game’s publisher. That team broke off and reformed as Respawn Entertainment, and Titanfall 2 is the first campaign they’ve crafted since that time. This is all in the record books, but that fact seemed to fly under the radar as EA’s hype machine powered on this past year to promote the next in their line of high-octane giant robot shooters. Having achieved proper footing after the original Titanfall, the developers of Titanfall 2 have improved on every facet of the original and added a sorely needed single player component. This is a game that looks to change what people think of as an FPS in the same way that Modern Warfare did in the good old days, and it’s hard to argue that they don’t succeed.
You play as Jack Cooper, a rifleman of the Frontier who is fighting against an evil mining corporation that wants to take back the land that they legally own. A Titan pilot sees something in Jack and takes him under his wing for some after hours training. A few pretty standard story beats later and Jack is piloting his own Titan and fulfilling the mission given to him by his mentor. The story is bog standard and falls apart the second you think about it too much, but it accomplishes the important goal of allowing players a window into the universe of Titanfall for the first time. There was a story in the first game in theory, and characters do return, but the way that story was presented made it completely forgettable in a way that Titanfall 2‘s more standardized campaign certainly is not.
Instead of focusing on well-written prose, Titanfall 2 is all about moments, utilizing both a unique movement system and a vast arsenal of sci-fi weaponry to their full potential. Taking inspirations from both obvious and obscure sources, Respawn has crafted a tight string of combat scenarios that both refamiliarize players with Titanfall‘s combat and offers unique spins on shooter tropes. Not only that, Titanfall 2 is one of the first games to combine the solid first person platforming introduced in games like Mirror’s Edge with gunplay that feels on par with anything else out there. Everything about this game feels magnificent, and players of all skill levels will be running across walls and landing insane dropkicks with ease.
That isn’t to say that this is a dumb campaign by any stretch. It is an action movie, but the dialogue is well-crafted and clever. This is especially true in the case of BT, the AI of the Titan who accompanies you throughout the six-hour experience. BT’s lines land more often than not, and his struggles to understand the snarky quips of your protagonist never stopped being fun. Beyond humor, Titanfall 2 makes you care about BT in a real way, making the ridiculousness of the overall plot mere window dressing for the buddy cop adventure you’re living through. You can see some of the character moments coming if you pay attention, but they hit either way and press you to move forward, and that’s something to celebrate.
It’s clear that Respawn gave both multiplayer and single player the time they needed during Titanfall 2‘s development. The campaign is filled with unique narrow environments and a handful of exclusive weapons and abilities, and everything looks gorgeous. The game runs extremely smooth on Xbox One, adding another technical showpiece to the console’s lineup of shooters. The multiplayer maps take obvious inspiration from memorable single player levels while also having a feel all their own, and there are numerous places on every map for me to hide cloaked in a corner and wait for a hapless AI grunt or human pilot to wander into the barrel of my Sidewinder LMG.
However, the multiplayer is where some of the most questionable decisions of Titanfall 2 were made. While the campaign feels like a game that is breaking out and making a statement, Titanfall 2‘s multiplayer suite feels like it is reducing its scope in order to please everyone. Unique elements of Titanfall‘s matches like Burn Cards, the hackable heavy turrets, and the mass of AI controlled soldiers are simply missing from the second game’s offerings. AI returns in two modes (Attrition and the new Kill Confirmed-esque Bounty Hunt), but even there it seems reduced from the last game, and there are lulls in the action during matches that simply didn’t happen in the original.
That being said, what is here is a wide variety of options that should please all types of players. In addition to the previously mentioned modes, there is a fast-paced Capture the Flag variant, modes that focus on just pilots or Titans, the return of Hardpoint with a twist to make matches move at a quicker pace, and the unique Coliseum mode. That last one is a Final Destination type experience where two players battle it out on a flat arena with nothing but a one hit kill grenade launcher and a short reach phasing ability. It’s interesting, and winners of the rounds receive rare and unique cosmetic items, but the requirement that you spend purchasable tickets to enter the mode makes it less appealing. Still, it’s easily the most disposable of the game’s modes, so players who hate microtransactions aren’t missing much at all.
Once you get into a match, you’ll notice the same impressive combat feel from the campaign transitioned perfectly into an online setting. Any nagging issues from the Technical Test seem to have been resolved, and I can say with some authority that this is the same great Titanfall gameplay as before. New additions to the sandbox, like the explosive ninja stars and deployable bomb robots, only add to the available options for players, and each encounter feels fresh and challenging inside of the game’s bite-sized matches. Considering that Titanfall 2‘s DLC map additions will be free of charge and the game is available on a console that people seem to like, there is some hope that this game will succeed in capturing an audience where the first one failed.
In the end, I do hope that Titanfall 2 finds success, as it has definitely earned its keep. The game is a newcomer in a sea of remasters, a sharp and satisfying FPS that continues 2016’s trend of amazing single player campaigns without skimping on the deathmatch. It’s a sci-fi game that’s not afraid to go for a fun tone and still brings the serious character moments where it counts. Most importantly, it allows players to pull off amazing feats of agility and deadly precision that make it a blast to participate in. The Modern Warfare team are back folks, and I can’t wait to see what thrill ride they take us on next.
Titanfall 2 was reviewed on Xbox One with a Deluxe Edition code provided by EA. It is also available on PC via Origin and PlayStation 4.
9.5 Amazing Summary Titanfall 2 effortlessly improves on the original release's deep multiplayer gameplay and adds in a memorable single player campaign that stands out from the pack. All that and a bundle of explosive ninja stars make this a must play FPS. Pros Acrobatic and Satisfying Gameplay
Engaging Campaign
BT Character Moments Cons Loss of Burn Cards and Other Unique Mechanics
Coliseum Mode Locked Behind Microtransactions
Share Have a tip for us? Awesome! Shoot us an email at [email protected] and we'll take a look!As a Pope who came from “the end of the World”, how do you see Portugal and the Portuguese people?
I was only ever in Portugal once, in the airport, years ago. I was flying to Rome with Varig and there was a stopover in Lisbon, so I only know the airport. But I do know lots of Portuguese people. At the seminary in Buenos Aires many of the staff were Portuguese emigrants. Good people, who were close to the seminarians. And my father had a Portuguese colleague. I remember his name, Adelino, a good man. And once I met a Portuguese lady, more than 80 years old, who left a good impression. Which is to say, I never met any bad Portuguese.
In your speech to the Portuguese bishops, besides complimenting the Portuguese people and giving a serene overview of the situation of the Church, you mention two concerns: one in relation to the youth and another about Catechises. You use an image, saying that “the first communion dresses no longer fit young adults”, but that certain communities “insist on trying to make them wear them”… What is the problem?
It’s a manner of speaking. Young people are more informal and have their own pace. We have to let them grow, to accompany them, not to leave them alone, but accompany them. And to know how to accompany them prudently, knowing when to speak at the right moment, and knowing how to listen a lot. Young people are restless. They don’t want to be bothered and, in that sense, you can say that the “first communion dress no longer fits”. Children, on the other hand, like the first communion dress when they go to communion. It’s an illusion. But young adults have other illusions, because they are changing, they are growing, they are searching, are they not? That is why you need to let them grow, accompany them, respect them and speak in a very fatherly way.
Because at the same time there are certain standards to propose, but those standards are often not attractive!
That is why you need to find what does attract that young person and demand that. For example: If you propose – and we see this everywhere – a hike, or a camping trip, or to go away on a mission, or sometimes to go to a “cotolengo” [Homes for the ill, or people with severe disabilities, who have been abandoned by their families and are at risk. Founded by an Italian priest] to look after sick people for a week, or a fortnight, he will be enthused, because he wants to do something for others. He feels enveloped.
“Enveloped”?
Yes, he gets drawn in, he commits. He doesn’t look from outside. He gets involved, that is, he commits.
So then why doesn’t he stay?
Because he is making his way.
So then what is the challenge that the church has to undertake? You spoke also about a type of catechesis, which often remains theoretical and which is unable to propose a personal encounter…
Yes, it is important that catechesis not be purely theoretical. That won’t do. Catechesis is about giving them doctrine for life and, therefore, it has to include three languages: The language of the mind, the language of the heart and the language of the hands. Catechesis has to include those three: that the young person might think and know what faith is, but, at the same time, feel with his heart what faith is and, on the other hand, get things done. If the catechesis is missing one of these three languages, it stagnates. Three languages: thinking about how you feel and what you do, feeling what you think and what you do, doing what you feel and what you think.
Listening to you speak, this all seems clear… but, looking around – especially in old Europe, old Christendom – that’s not how things are. What is missing? A change of mentality? How do you go about it?
I don’t know about changing mentalities, because I’m not familiar with everything, am I? But it’s true that the methodology is sometimes incomplete. We must find a catechetical methodology which binds the three things: The truths which must be believed, what one should feel and what one does, what one should do, together.
Your Holiness, we are expecting you in Portugal for the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Three popes have already visited us (John Paul II three times). You are very devoted to the Blessed Virgin, what do you expect of your trip in 2017?
Well, let’s get this straight. I would very much like to go to Portugal for the centenary. In 2017 it is also the 300 year anniversary of the discovery of the image of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brasil.
So I would also like to go there and I promised that I would. As for Portugal, I said I want to go, I’d like to go. It is easier to get to Portugal, we can go and return on the same day or, at the most, go for a day and half or two days. To go and see the Blessed Virgen. She is a mother, so much a mother, and her presence accompanies the people of God. So I would like to go to Portugal, which is a privileged country.
And what are you expecting of us, the Portuguese? How can we prepare for your visit and the best to follow Our Lady’s requests?
The Virgin Mary always asks us to pray, to look after the family and follow the commandments. She doesn’t make odd requests. She asks us to pray for those who have lost their way, for those who say they are sinners – aren’t we all? I am the first. But she does ask, and those requests should be used to prepare, through those motherly messages, so motherly… And to make herself known through children. It’s curious, She always looks to the simple souls, doesn’t she? Very simple.
As we speak there is a refugee crisis. How are you experiencing this situation?
It is the tip of an iceberg. These poor people are fleeing war, hunger, but that is the tip of the iceberg. Because underneath that is the cause; and the cause is a bad and unjust socioeconomic system, in everything, in the world – speaking of the environmental problem –, in the socioeconomic society, in politics, the person always has to be in the centre. That is the dominant economic system nowadays, it has removed the person from the centre, placing the god money in its place, the idol of fashion. There are statistics, I don’t remember precisely, (I might have this wrong), but that 17% of the world’s population has 80% of the wealth.
And this exploitation of the third world countries, in the medium run, brings these consequences: All these people who now wish to come to Europe…
And the same thing happens in the big cities. Why do the slums appear in the big cities?
It’s the same criteria…
The same. These are people who came from the countryside, because it has been deforested, because of monoculture. They don’t have work, so they go to the big cities.
And it’s the same in Africa…
In Africa, the same phenomenon. So, these emigrants who are coming to Europe – it’s the same thing – looking for somewhere. And, of course, for Europe at the moment, this is a surprise, because we can barely believe these things are happening, right? But they are.
But when you went to Strasbourg, you said it was necessary to act on the causes and not only on the effects. It seems nobody listened to you then and, now, the effects are clear to see…
We have to go to the causes.
But probably nobody listened to you…
Where the causes are hunger, we have to create work, investments. Where the cause is war, search for peace, work for peace. Nowadays the world is at war against itself, that is, the world is at war, as I say, in instalments, bit by bit, but it is also at war against the land, because it is destroying the land, our common house, the environment. The glaciers are melting, in the Arctic, the polar bear keeps moving North in order to survive…
And we seem to ignore the preoccupation with man and his destiny… How do you see the reactions in Europe at the moment, with so many different positions: some build walls, others pick refugees according to their religion, others take advantage of the situation to make demagogic speeches…
Every one interprets their own culture. And, sometimes, the ideological interpretation, or that of ideas, is easier than to get things done, which is reality. Further away from Europe there is another phenomenon which hurt me deeply: the Rohingya [Muslim ethnic group, probably originating in Myanmar. Marginalized and persecuted for ethnic and religious reasons. The UN has singled out the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world], who are expelled from their country, get into boats and leave. They reach a port or a beach, and they are fed and given water and then sent out to sea again, and not taken in. There is a lack of capacity for welcoming humanity.
Because it is not about tolerating, it is more than tolerating: it is welcoming…!
Welcoming, welcoming people, and welcoming them as they are. I am the son of emigrants and I belong to the emigration of 1929. But in Argentina, since 1884 Italians and Spanish began to arrive… I don’t know when the first wave of Portuguese arrived. But they came mostly from these three countries. And when they arrived, some had money, others would go to the emigrant hotels and from there they would be sent to the cities. They would go to work, or to search for work. It is true that, in those days there was work, but the ones from my family – who had jobs when they arrived in 29 – by 1932, with the economic crisis of the thirties, were out on the street, with nothing. My grandfather bought a warehouse with 2000 pesos which he borrowed, and my father, who was an accountant, was selling goods out of a basket. So they had the will to fight, to succeed… I know about migration! And then came the migrations of the Second World War, especially from central Europe, many Poles, Slovaks, Croatians, Slovenians and also Syrians and Lebanese. And we always got along over there. There was no xenophobia in Argentina. And now there are the internal migrations within America, they come from other American countries to Argentina, despite having diminished over the past few years, because there has been less work in Argentina.
And also from Mexico to the United States…
This migration phenomenon is a reality. But I want to speak about this without pointing my finger at anyone in particular. When there is an empty space, people try to fill it. If a country has no children, immigrants come in and take their place. I think of the birth-rate in Italy, Portugal and Spain. I believe it is close to 0%. So, if there are no children, there are empty spaces. And this not wanting to have children is, partly – and this is my interpretation, which may not be correct –, due to a culture of comfort, isn’t it? In my own family I heard, a few years ago, my Italian cousins saying: “Children? No. We prefer to travel on our vacations, or buy a villa, or this and that”… And the elderly are more and more alone. I believe Europe’s greatest challenge is to go back to being a mother Europe…
…as opposed to…
… grandmother Europe.
Although, there are European countries which are young, for example, Albania. Albania impressed me, people around 40, 45… and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, countries which rebuilt themselves after a war.
Which is why you visited them…
Ah yes, of course. It is a sign for Europe.
But this challenge to welcome these refugees who are making their way into Europe, in your point of view, could it be positive for Europe? Could it be beneficial, a provocation? Is Europe finally waking up, changing track?
It may be. It’s true, I recognize that, nowadays, border safety conditions are not what they once were. The truth is that just 400 kilometres from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true.
Which could reach Rome…
Yes, nobody said Rome would be immune to this threat. But you can take precautions, and put these people to work. But then there is another problem, that Europe is going through a very big labour crisis. There is a country… In fact, I am going to mention three countries, although I will not name them, but some of the most important in Europe, in which unemployment for under 25 year olds is, in one country 40%, in another 47% and in a third 50%. There is a labour crisis, young people can’t find work. So it is a mixture of things and we can’t be simplistic. Obviously, if a refugee arrives, despite all the safety precautions, we must welcome him, because this is a commandment from the Bible. Moses said to his people: “welcome the foreigner, because you also were a foreigner in the land of Egypt”.
But the ideal would be that they didn’t need to flee, that they could remain in their lands?
That’s right, Yes.
Your Holiness, during the Sunday Angelus you made this very concrete challenge to welcome refugees. Have there been reactions? What do you expect, exactly?
What I asked was that in each parish and each religious institute, every monastery, should take in one family. A family, not just one person. A family gives more guarantees of security and containment, so as to avoid infiltrations of another kind. When I say that a parish should welcome a family, I don’t mean that they should go and live in the priest’s house, in the rectory, but that each parish community should see if there is a place, a corner in the school which can be turned into a small apartment or, if necessary, that they may rent a small apartment for this family; but that they should be provided with a roof, welcomed and integrated into the community. I have had many, many reactions. There are convents which are almost empty…
Two years ago you had already made this request, what answers did you get?
Only four. One of them from the Jesuits [laughs]; well done, the Jesuits! But this is a serious subject, because there is also the temptation of the god money. Some religious orders say “no, now that the convent is empty we are going to make a hotel and we can have guests, and support ourselves that way, or make money”. Well, if that is what you want to do, then pay taxes! A religious school is tax-exempt because it is religious, but if it is functioning as a hotel, then it should pay taxes just like its neighbour. Otherwise it is not fair business.
And you have already said that you will be taking in two families, here in the Vatican…
Yes, two families. I was told yesterday that the families have already been identified, and the two Vatican parishes have undertaken to go and search for them.
They have been identified?
Yes, yes, yes, they have. Cardinal Comastri dealt with that – he is my vicar-general for the Vatican – along with Monsenhor Konrad Krajewski, who is the Apostolic Almoner, and who works with the homeless and was in charge of installing the showers underneath the colonnade, and the barbers – truly marvellous. He is the one who takes the homeless to see the museums and the Sistine Chapel…
And how long will these families be staying?
As long as the Lord wants. We don’t know how this will end, do we? Nonetheless, I want to say that Europe has opened its eyes, and I thank it. I thank the European countries which have become opened their eyes to this.
Our media group has joined a platform with other Christian institutions, as well as from other religions, whose goal is to help welcome the refugees. Do you have any words of support for those who help and also for our listeners and staff?
I congratulate you and I thank you for what you are doing, and let me give you some advice: On Judgement Day we already know how we will be judged. It is written in chapter 25 of the Gospel of Saint Matthew. When Jesus asks you: “I was hungry, did you feed me?” you will answer “Yes”… “and when I was a refugee, did you help me?”, “Yes”. So I congratulate you: you will pass the test! And I’d also like to say something about the unoccupied youth. I think it is urgent, especially for those religious orders whose mission is education, but also for the laypeople, the lay educators, to invent courses, short emergency schools. If a young unoccupied person studies cooking or plumbing for six months, so as to be able to do small jobs – there is always a roof to mend –, or as a painter, with that experience he will find it easier to get a job, even if it is part-time or temporary. He can do what we call odd-jobs and that way he won’t be unoccupied. Now we are living in an age of emergency education. That is what Don Bosco did. Don Bosco, when he saw the amount of children on the street, said “there has to be education”, but he didn’t ship the children off to secondary or middle school, he got them to learn trades. So he arranged for some carpenters and some plumbers, who taught them the ropes and, that way, they always had a way to make a living.
Now I would like to tell a story about Don Bosco, here in Rome, near Trastevere, where…
... Which is a poor area...
…Yes, a very poor area, but now it is all the fashion for young people to go out. Well Don Bosco drove by in a horse drawn carriage – or in a car, I don’t know – and somebody threw a stone and it broke the window. So he told the company to stop and said: “This is where we should stay!” See, faced with an act of aggression, he took it as a chance to help those people, the children, the young people who only knew how to lash out. And today there is a small Salesian parish in that spot which educates the youth and the children, with its schools and things. And so we find ourselves back with the youth: it is important that we give the youth of today, especially the ones who can’t find work, an emergency education in some field which allows them to make a living.
You are also very critical of the European and Western, what is known as the first world, life style, too centred on comfort. What bothers you most?
Well, I mean, it is also present in the bit American cities, North or South America, they have the same problem, it isn’t only in Europe…
…It’s the so called first world…
Yes, in the big cities… In Buenos Aires there is a big sector of comfort culture, and so there are also those chords around the cities, the slums and all those things. As for Europe, nowadays, I wouldn’t throw those things in its face. One must recognize that Europe has an outstanding culture. Truly, it is centuries of culture and that also bestows an intellectual comfort. Anyhow, what I would say to Europe has to do with its ability to retake a leadership role in the concert of nations. That it should once again become the Europe which determines the path to follow, because it has the culture necessary to do so.
But has Europe maintained its identity? Is it in a position to affirm its identity?
I thought long and hard about what I said in Strasbourg. I’d go back to that: Europe has not died. It is a little grand-motherly [laughs], but it can return to being a mother. And I have confidence in the young politicians. The young politicians sing a different tune. There is a world problem, which affects not only Europe but the whole world, which is the problem of corruption. Corruption at all levels… That also reveals a shallow morality, doesn’t it?
In your latest encyclical you speak of this, you ask people to be more aware, but we still see a lot of abstention. If you look in detail at the results of elections, abstention often gets a higher percentage than a political party…
Because people are disappointed. Partly, because of corruption, partly because of inefficiency, and partly because of previous commitments. Nevertheless, Europe can – can and should – and I repeat what I said in Strasbourg, Europe has to fulfil its role, that is, to recover its identity. True, Europe made a mistake – I’m not criticizing, just remembering –, when it chose to speak of its identity without wanting to recognize the deepest level of its identity, its Christians roots. That was a mistake. But, well, we all make mistakes in life… It’s time to recover its faith.
Your holiness, a question for the listeners, because of this wave of individualism: What can touch the freedom of somebody who does what he wants, who was educated from a young age with a concept of happiness which says that “happiness means not having problems”? Generally, children are educated to aspire to “not having problems and doing what one wants”…
Life without problems is dull. It’s boring. Man has, within him, the need to face and solve conflicts and problems. Obviously, an education to not have problems is an aseptic education. Try it: Take a glass of mineral water, common tap water, then take a glass of distilled water. It’s disgusting, but the distilled water doesn’t have problems… [laughs] it’s like raising children in a lab, isn’t it? Please…!
Is it important to run risks?
Run risks and always set goals! You need to use your feet to educate. To educate well you need to have one foot firmly planted on the ground and another lifted and further forward, wondering where you can rest it. And when that one is set on the floor I raise this one [motions with his feet] and… This is educating: To support yourself on something safe, but to try and take a step forward until it is firm, then another step…
It takes work to educate like that…
It’s running risks! Why? Because you might misstep and fall… So, lift yourself up and move along!
Your Holiness, in this individualist era we live in – and you mentioned this in Strasbourg – it seems that people are always speaking of rights, always separated from the search for truth. Do you believe that this is also a problem that affects how one lives one’s faith?
It can be… Always demanding, without the generosity of giving. We demand our rights, but not our obligations towards society. I believe that rights and obligations should go hand in hand. Otherwise we are creating a mirror education; because education in front of a mirror is narcissism and today we are living in a narcissistic civilization.
And how does one win this fight?
With education, for example, with rights and obligations, with an education of reasonable risks, looking for goals, moving forward and not standing still or looking at the mirror… So as not to suffer the same fate as Narcisus, who looked at himself in the mirror so much, and found himself so gorgeous, that he drowned. [Blup!]
Your Holiness, you say you prefer a Church with is bruised rather than a stagnated Church. What do you mean by “bruised”?
Yes, let me explain: it’s an image of life. If somebody has a room in his house which is closed for long periods, it develops humidity, and a bad smell. If a church, a parish, a diocese or an institute lives closed in on itself it grows ill (just like with the closed room) and we are left with a scrawny Church, with strict rules, no creativity. Safe, more than safe, insured by an insurance agency, but not safe! On the contrary – if it goes forth – if a Church and a parish go out into the world, then once outside they might suffer the same fate as anybody else who goes out: have an accident. Well in that case, between a sick and a bruised Church, I prefer the bruised, because at least it went into the street. Here I want to repeat something that I already said in another circumstance: In the Bible, in the book of the Apocalypse, there is something extremely beautiful about Jesus. I believe it is in the second chapter (either at the end of the first, or at the beginning of the second), in which he is speaking to a Church and says “I am at the door and I knock” – Jesus is knocking – “If you open the door I will come in and share a meal with you”. But, I ask, how often, in Church, has Jesus knocked on the door, but on the inside, so as to be let out to proclaim the kingdom. Sometimes we appropriate Jesus, just for us, and we forget that a Church which is not going out into the world, a Church which does not go out, keeps Jesus imprisoned.
Is that why you were elected Pope?!
You have to ask the Holy Spirit!
[laughs loud]
Holy Father, since you were elected Pope, do you consider that the Church is already more bruised?
I don’t know. I know that, from what I’m told, God has been greatly blessing His Church. This is a moment which does not depend on me, but on the blessing God wishes to give His Church, at this time. And now, with this Jubilee of Mercy, I hope that many people experience the Church as mother. Because the Church can suffer from the same thing that happened to Europe, can’t it? Become too much of a grandmother, instead of a mother, incapable of generating life.
Is this the reason behind the Jubilee of Mercy?
Come all! Come and feel the love and the forgiveness of God. In Buenos Aires I met a Capuchin friar, a little younger than me, who was a great confessor. He always has a long queue, lots of people, and he confesses all day. He is a great “forgiver”, he forgives so much. And sometimes he feels guilty for having forgiven so much. Once we were talking and he said: “Sometimes I feel guilty”. And I asked him: “And what do you do when you feel guilty like that?” – “I go before the tabernacle, I look at the Lord and say to Him: Lord, forgive me, today I forgave so much, but let it be very clear that it is all your fault, because you were the one who set me the bad example!”
For this reason you also decided, in this letter [to Monsenhor Fisicchella about the Jubilee of Mercy] to propose forgiveness for difficult situations and it is why you just published these documents [motu proprio - norms of the Catholic Church which are decided on the initiative of the Pope himself and are usually in the form of a decree] which speed up the process for declarations of nullity. Does this also have anything to do with the Jubilee?
Yes, to simplify… Ease people’s faith. And that the Church might be like a mother…
What, exactly, is the reason behind the motu proprio for declarations of nullity? To expedite?
Expedite, expedite the processes in the hands of the bishop. One judge, one defender of the bond, one sentence, because up until now you needed two sentences. No, now it’s just one. If there is no appeal, it’s done. If there is an appeal it goes to the metropolitan, but expedite, yes. And also making the processes free.
Were you thinking of the synod and the Jubilee?
It is all related
I know you don’t want to talk about the synod, but in your heart of Universal Pastor, what are you asking?
I ask that people pray a lot. As for the synod, you journalists are already familiar with the Instrumentum Laboris. We are going to speak of that, of what is in there. It’s three weeks, one theme, one chapter, for each week. And we have high expectations because, obviously, the family is in crisis. Young people no longer get married. They don’t get married. Or then, with this short term culture, they say “I’ll either move in with her or I’ll get married, but only for as long as love lasts, then bye-bye…”
And what does the Holy Father say to those who are living in situations counter to Church teaching and who are thirsting for forgiveness?
At the synod we will be speaking about all the possible ways to help these families. But one thing should be very clear – something Pope Benedict left quite clear: people who are in a second union are not excommunicated and should be integrated into Church life. This was made crystal clear. I also said this quite clearly: Drawing closer to the mass, to catechesis, their children’s education, charity… There are so many different options.
Your Holiness, I would like to end with some questions about your vocation. At the beginning of March, 2013, you were getting ready to retire. You had already decided where you were going to live, and so on. However, you soon became one of the most famous people in the World. How do you deal with this situation?
I haven’t lost my peace. It is a gift… peace is a gift from God. It is a gift that God has given me, something I could not imagine, considering my age and all that. And, what is more, I had already prepared my return, imagining that a Pope would never be |
don't think for a minute there's much chance of getting these people into a court, or even finding a court with the jurisdiction to prosecute. This quest for so-called 'justice' – justice, for me, is stopping this conflict [in Ukraine] as soon as possible." Loading Russia denied it shot down the airliner, saying the Dutch-led investigation's findings are biased and politically-motivated. The Russia Defence Ministry said the investigation was based on two main discredited sources: "the internet and Ukrainian intelligence".As Uber continues to expand worldwide (and has run-ins with local regulators), it’s become famous for its "surge pricing"—the phenomenon where as demand increases for cars, the price dramatically goes up.
New York State went so far as to put a cap on the practice during "abnormal disruptions" in July 2014. Recently, a North Carolina man was charged $455 for a 15-mile ride on Halloween night. Outraged, he reported it to the state’s attorney general, which has taken up the issue
To deal with this problem, enter a new, free iOS app (an Android version is coming soon) called SurgeProtector. The app aims to help Uber users avoid being shocked by surge pricing simply by telling them where they can go to pay more normal prices. (Uber did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.)
The app, which was released last week, taps directly into the Uber API (which first became available in August 2014). It checks to see whether surge pricing is in effect for a given location.
"We have an algorithm that calls locations around you that tries to get a regular price—it’s surprisingly granular," Thomas Schmidt, one of the app’s creators, told Ars. "In places with high population density, it will be a difference of two to three blocks over, it can go from 2x surging to nothing. It’s super useful in San Francisco."
"During rush hour, Uber is more expensive"
Once the app finds the nearest location without surge pricing, it will then transfer the user over to the Uber app, inputting the non-surge location as a starting point. If nowhere within a one-kilometer radius of the user is surge-free, the app will find the lowest possible surge value—reducing what would have been a 3x surge to a 2x, for example.
In lower-density areas, such as suburban cities, surge pricing may affect the entire city, rather than just certain neighborhoods. That is, if a lower-density area reaches surge pricing at all.
"As far as how useful it is: anecdotally what I’ve seen is that in surge pricing, all of Palo Alto will have 1.5x. So unless you’re on the border [of the city], you’re probably not going to be able to get that surge down," Schmidt added.
So, essentially, the app is only really useful in an area that has a high demand for Uber cars. Some rush-hour attempts to use it in more residential areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and New York City on Monday evening showed no surge pricing. Though Daniel Stuckey, an Ars reader in New York, said that he wished he knew about the app the last time he used Uber "on a busy, rainy weekend night."
"My friend and I got hosed by a surge the other night, and not so wittingly," he told Ars by e-mail. "Turned out to be $65 for what in a yellow cab I know would be $26 tops."
Eventually, Kevin Ebaugh of San Francisco, another Ars reader, sent us the above screenshot of his attempt to use the app.
Interested users should grab the app and see for themselves however. Schmidt’s co-creator, Nikhil Bhargava, said that after less than a week, the pair doesn’t have any strong conclusions yet about where SurgeProtector will make the most impact.
"The generalizations are ones that most people are able to make already," he said. "During rush hour, Uber is more expensive. When the bar is closed, places that are filled with nightlife, the prices skyrocket."Peterson B. Yazzie, left, takes the oath of office to serve as an interim delegate on the Navajo Nation Council on Wednesday in the council chamber in Window Rock, Ariz. Yazzie will replace Mel R. Begay, who represented Bahastl'ah, Coyote Canyon, Mexican Springs, Naschitti and Tohatchi chapters. (Photo: Courtesy of Navajo Nation Office of the Speaker)
FARMINGTON — An experienced tribal lawmaker has returned to the Navajo Nation Council to temporarily represent five chapter communities.
Window Rock District Court Judge Geraldine Benally administered the oath of office to Peterson B. Yazzie today at the council chamber in Window Rock, Ariz.
In an Aug. 26 letter to the Navajo Election Administration, Speaker LoRenzo Bates appointed Yazzie to represent Bahastl'ah, Coyote Canyon, Mexican Springs, Naschitti and Tohatchi chapters, according to a press release from the speaker's office.
The five chapters have been without representation on the council since the April 15th removal of former delegate Mel R. Begay.
The election administration removed Begay after he was convicted in tribal court of 10 counts of misusing a former financial assistance program to benefit family members.
The Navajo Election Code allows the speaker to appoint an interim delegate at the request of the affected chapters when a vacancy occurs during the first two years in office.
Attached to Bates' letter are resolutions from Coyote Canyon, Naschitti and Tohatchi chapters that list one nominee to fill the interim position.
Also attached is Bahastl'ah Chapter's resolution supporting a selection but no nomination and a letter by Mexican Springs Chapter president stating the chapter will not issue a nomination.
Yazzie previously served on the council from January 1999 to January 2011.
The veteran lawmaker expressed appreciation to the council and legislative staff for welcoming him and stated he looks forward to serving, the speaker's office release states.
Yazzie will serve in the role until the resolution of a series of legal challenges filed after a June 28 special election to fill the council seat.
Candidate Steven S. Begay received the most votes during the special election, followed by candidate Theresa Becenti-Aguilar.
Becenti-Aguilar filed a grievance on July 5 with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, claiming Begay was ineligible to run for the council because he was an employee at Gallup Indian Medical Center.
The election code mandates candidates for the council "must not be in the permanent employment of the United States or any state or subdivision."
The election administration initially declared Begay ineligible and after he filed a grievance, the two parties entered into an agreement that if Begay was elected, he would resign from his employer before taking the oath of office, according to court documents.
After a number of legal filings, the Office of Hearings and Appeals held a hearing Aug. 4 and determined on Aug. 22 that Begay was eligible to run for the position.
Becenti-Aguilar has until 5 p.m. Thursday to file an appeal with the Navajo Nation Supreme Court.
David Jordan, Becenti-Aguilar's attorney, said in a telephone interview that this client plans to file an appeal before the deadline.
Edison Wauneka, executive director of the election administration, said today if there is no appeal, the oath of office can be administered to Begay as early as Sept. 2.
Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636.
Read or Share this story: https://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/navajo-nation/2016/08/31/interim-delegate-represent-five-chapters/89665816/After their prolific performance at the 2010 World Cup Joachim Löw’s Germany became synonymous with attacking football. The quickness of their counter attacks, the technique of the assembly line of talent coming through and dominant performances against some of the biggest names in international football made them one of the most exciting teams in world football but following atypical performances in the group stage of the EUROs one has to reconsider whether Löw deliberately decided to take a different approach. Considering his use of the fullbacks, the wide players and the pattern of his substitutions so far the answer has to be a resounding yes.
Cautious fullbacks
Lahm is known for his darting runs and is almost always the player with most touches on the ball in a game for Germany. Yet he has been unusually quiet so far at the EUROs. A dip in form? Hardly. Lahm is clearly playing a more defensive role than he has in the past and the same can be said for the right back, Jerome Boateng. In fact, both fullbacks are more cautious and venture forward with less frequency than before. There has been a conscious effort on Löw’s part to instill a more balanced approach compared to the gung ho style played two years ago.
Part of it had to do with Germany’s opponents in the so called ‘Group of Death’. The Netherlands and Portugal field some of the game’s most dangerous wingers and venturing forward comes at a great cost for the fullbacks when up against some of the fastest players in world football. It is only fitting then that one remains more alert and conservative. Ahead of the Portugal match, Löw was adamant about not allowing Ronaldo and Nani the space to get in behind the defense because one on one they would struggle to keep up with the Portuguese pair.
What followed was one of the most conservative performances by a German defense under Löw. Lahm and Boateng rarely passed the halfway line and stayed within at least five meters of their markers at all times. Conservative yet effective. Ronaldo and Nani, bar a few counter attacks, were neutralized. Like Löw wanted, they gave up very little space and cut out the channels Moutinho normally plays his passes into. Germany’s wing play suffered as a result but it was the kind of game that a few years ago could well have gone the other way.
The same pattern followed against the Netherlands. It was one of the few matches under Löw in which the opponent had the majority of the possession. Again though, Lahm and Boateng succeeded at taking out the Dutch wingers. Robben in particular had a frustrating match against his Bayern Munich teammate, Lahm denying him the space to cut inside or use his speed to beat him on the flank. The entire Dutch attack faced a German wall and it took an individual effort from outside the box by Robin van Persie to get on the scoresheet.
The wingers – defend first, attack later
Löw applauded Podolski and Müller’s defensive work after the Netherlands game. A few days later before the Denmark game he reiterated his satisfaction with his and Müller’s performances up to that point despite them not getting on the scoresheet. The message was clear, the focus lay more on defensive work rather than going forward. Sure enough, Podolski confirmed after the opening two matches that he was instructed to help Lahm first and foremost and attack later.
What stuck out was how wide both played throughout the group phase. Both are so accustomed to cutting in and letting their fullbacks overlap but with a more discreet set up needed to act as a first line of defense in midfield instead. It has to be said that it worked out very well against Portugal and the Netherlands. Coentrao’s path to Ronaldo was cut off by Müller and so was the good chemistry the two have on the pitch. As anonymous as Podolski was offensively against the Netherlands, he had one of his best defensive performances yet for the national team.
Defensive substitution patterns
Löw’s substitutions, although highly circumstantial, also hint at a more defensive approach. In the Portugal game, Löw brought on Kroos and Bender in the final stages, not to add another goal, but to keep the ball and therefore the result. He did the same against the Netherlands. Kroos is Löw’s third choice central midfielder and with him on, Germany played with three in midfield, turning the focus from partial to all out possession.
When this past season’s best Bundesliga player, one of the players with the best goals to minutes ratios and a talent considered greater than Mesut Özil are all sitting on the bench with it speaks clearly of a departure in styles. Schürrle did make a cameo in the Denmark game but that also had to do with a visibly fatigued Podolski and the latter had also been favored for the past two years despite being outperformed by several other players on the squad.
Löw’s continued use of Podolski might be indicative of a preference for a more direct and one dimensional tactical option than the more erratic mobile alternative, which also lines up more directly with the defensive approach discussed here.
The risks
Although this approach is more prudent considering the nature of international football and a knockout competition it comes with a few risks. For one, the compromise does affect and to a degree detracts from Germany’s primary strength, their attack. Löw noted the room for improvement going forward following the Denmark game and still expects players like Podolski and Müller to get better. Müller himself said that the team still aren’t playing at their best.
Most notably, it makes breaking down an opponent’s defense that much more difficult. Naturally the more options you have around you the likelier you are to get around a team’s defense. Özil remarked after the Portugal game that it was difficult for Germany to get past a team that was defending with eight or nine players behind the ball. With their own backline playing further back Germany were limited in their numbers and were fortunate that Mario Gomez made the difference in the end. With Müller and Podolski hugging the flanks, Özil was also depleted of options in the attacking third, often struggling to find a runner into the box other than Gomez.
Germany are out of the group stage now though and will face a very defensive Greece side in the quarterfinals. Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath recently suggested Löw depart from the lineup he used so far and takes more risks. He called for the inclusion of more creative attacking players and even the removal of one of Germany’s central midfielders. Whether Löw will heed that advice remains to be seen and how he lines up against Greece will decide whether the defensive adjustment was geared towards their group stage match or is indeed the next step in their development as a team.Second-rowers are the bread and butter of any NRL team. They need to be durable, able to play 80 minutes more often than not while making big tackle counts. The best of the best are often able to run the ball like a prop, marshal an edge in defence while ball-playing like a five-eighth. Here are NRL.com's picks for the best five second rowers in the NRL right now.
5. Ryan Hoffman
2015 stats: metres per game – 109; tackles per game – 20; tackle breaks – 30
Arguably the best line-running forward in the NRL over the past five years, Hoffman's relentless targeting of Daly Cherry-Evans was a key plank of both the Blues' unexpected Origin series win in 2014 and Hoffman's own Brad Fittler Medal win alongside Jarryd Hayne. At club level, over a long career with the Storm, Hoffman has been more understated but arguably as important as the 'Big Three' to the Storm's success and 2012 premiership. Injury curtailed his impact as the Warriors last year but expect him to bounce back in 2016.
4. Sam Thaiday
2015 stats: metres per game – 108; tackles per game – 31; decoys – 125
A good old-fashioned bash-and-barge style of back-rower, Thaiday is also accustomed to wearing the No.10 jersey where he's not afraid to take on the biggest boys in the NRL. He's now one of Queensland's most-capped forwards of all time and has been a key to their decade of dominance, always lifting on the game's biggest stage. He's been an automatic pick for both the Maroons and Kangaroos since 2006 – the year he won a premiership with Brisbane, who he helped to a 2015 Grand Final appearance.
3. Matt Gillett
2015 stats: metres per game – 99; tackles per game – 40; tackle breaks – 32
Gillett looked a likely prospect right from the time he scored a try on debut for the Broncos in 2010. Now a Queensland and Australian representative like clubmate Thaiday, Gillett was an understated member of Brisbane's charge to the 2015 decider. His defensive workrate has skyrocketed in recent seasons – he averaged nine tackles per game more than Thaiday, the next best on this list – while he also remains a dangerous ball carrier. Now 27 and with 131 NRL appearances over six seasons, Gillett has matured into a real leader at the Red Hill club.
2. Wade Graham
2015 stats: metres per game – 144; tackles per game – 28; kicks – 75; tackle breaks – 74
It's hard to believe the former Penrith five-eighth and now Sharks captain-in-waiting has only just turned 25. A genuine ball-player, Graham's attacking stats dwarf all the other players on this list; he has more try assists (five) and line break assists (six) than the other four combined, and topped the list for metres per game (144), offloads (27), total runs (406), charge downs (six) and total touches (653), while holding his own in defence. He has blossomed as a leader at Cronulla and is now one of the most influential second rowers in the NRL.
1. Boyd Cordner
2015 stats: metres per game – 123; tackles per game – 29; tackle breaks – 42.
Cordner is arguably now the most potent ball carrying back rower in the NRL. He has been instrumental in the Roosters' three straight minor premierships as well as a Blues and Kangaroos regular from the age of 21. His probing runs on the Tricolours' left edge produce regular tries and he was at it again in 2015 with seven four pointers – the most of any man on this list. One solitary handling error from 429 touches in 2015, with 42 tackle breaks, highlights his consistency.Foto: Dalmatinski portal
Video: Dalmatinski portal
ZBOG naročito drskog ponašanja, vrijeđanja i narušavanja mira Janice Kostelić, državne tajnice za sport, tijekom putovanja od Splita do Supetra, ukupno je privedeno 12 osoba, od kojih su dvije maloljetne, doznali smo od splitsko-dalmatinske policije.
Oni su jučer reagirali po prijavi Janice Kostelić, koja je doživjela verbalno uznemiravanje tijekom vožnje na WTA turnir na Bolu te po pristajanju trajekta. Torcidaši su joj vikali Jeb'o te Mamić i puši k.... Snježna Kraljice.
Tekst se nastavlja ispod oglasa
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In 2013, Pershin et al. published a paper showing an idealized memristor model for a device that changes it’s conductance as a function of the applied voltage. The paper can be downloaded here. This blog post is about taking the model from the paper and getting the classic memristor hysteresis I-V plot in NGSpice. It just so happens that the source code for NGSpice contains this model, so it’s really easy to get it working. These concepts can be adapted for different SPICE simulators and models. In addition we show the steps for installing NGSpice and simulating the memristor, compiling the latest NGSpice from source, and building ADMS into NGSpice for later Verilog-A integration with NGSpice. While these instructions are targeted towards a computer running MacOS and a packaging tool called homebrew, the steps should be similar to other systems such as Windows or Linux.
Install NGSpice the Simple Way
I’m using a Mac so I installed it via homebrew. See latest Ngspice Formula for more info.
brew install ngspice --with-x11 1 2 brew install ngspice -- with - x11
Install NGSpice the Hard Way – Compile from Source
Dependencies with Homebrew
brew update brew install flex bison git 1 2 3 brew update brew install flex bison git
Install Autotools
brew install autoconf automake autogen libtool readline 1 2 brew install autoconf automake autogen libtool readline
NGSpice Dependencies with ADMS Support
ADMS is a code generator that converts electrical compact device models specified in high-level description language into ready-to-compile C code for the API of SPICE simulators. Based on transformations specified in XML language, ADMS transforms Verilog-AMS code into other target languages.
Building ADMS with Autotools will require some further Perl modules
brew install gd 1 2 brew install gd
Install into system-wide Perl
sudo cpan -f GD 1 2 sudo cpan - f GD
Let’s assume we have a directory for installing all the EDA tools called ~/workspaces/workspace_eda.
cd ~/workspaces/workspace_eda git clone https://github.com/Qucs/ADMS.git ADMS cd ADMS./bootstrap.sh./configure --enable-maintainer-mode sudo make install admsXml -v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 cd ~ / workspaces / workspace_eda git clone https : / / github.com / Qucs / ADMS.git ADMS cd ADMS. / bootstrap.sh. / configure -- enable - maintainer - mode sudo make install admsXml - v
Clone the NGSpice Git repository
NOTE: we will be using the ‘ngspice (experimental)’ branch for supporting experimental features.
To install NGSpice, we will clone the source code and build it.
cd ~/workspaces/workspace_eda git clone http://git.code.sf.net/p/ngspice/ngspice ngspice 1 2 3 cd ~ / workspaces / workspace_eda git clone http : / / git.code.sf.net / p / ngspice / ngspice ngspice
Build NGSpice with advanced features using Autotools
cd ngspice./autogen.sh --adms./configure --with-x --disable-debug --enable-xspice --enable-cider --enable-adms --with-editline=yes make sudo make install ngspice --version 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 cd ngspice. / autogen.sh -- adms. / configure -- with - x -- disable - debug -- enable - xspice -- enable - cider -- enable - adms -- with - editline = yes make sudo make install ngspice -- version
Build Flags
A full list of build flags can be found in the NGSPICE Manual on page 577.
–enable-adms ADMS is an experimental model compiler that translates Verilog-A compact
models into C code that can be compiled into ngspice. This is still experimental, but working
with some limitations to the models (e.g. no noise models). If you want to use it, please refer
to the ADMS section on ngspice web site.
–with-readline=yes Enable GNU readline support for the command line interface. Gives you command line history.
–with-x enables graphical environment
–enable-xspice Enable XSPICE enhancements, yielding a mixed signal simulator integrated
into ngspice with codemodel dynamic loading support. See chapter 12 and section II
for details
–enable-cider Cider is a mixed-level simulator that couples Spice3 and DSIM to simulate
devices from their technological parameters. This part of the simulator is not compiled by
default.
Run HelloWorld Circuits
To quickly test NGSpice, we can run both a simple DC OP simulation and a simple transient analysis. First, create two files with the following text and save them somewhere on your hard drive.
helloworldop.cir
*A simple Voltage divider V1 1 0 DC 15 R1 1 2 10k R2 2 0 5k.OP.control PRINT v(2).endc.END 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 * A simple Voltage divider V1 1 0 DC 15 R1 1 2 10k R2 2 0 5k.OP.control PRINT v ( 2 ).endc.END
helloworldtran.cir
* A simple RC Circuit r1 1 2 1k c1 2 0 10n v1 1 0 SIN(0 10 10kHz).control tran 1u 1000u plot v(1) v(2).endc.end 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 * A simple RC Circuit r1 1 2 1k c1 2 0 10n v1 1 0 SIN ( 0 10 10kHz ).control tran 1u 1000u plot v ( 1 ) v ( 2 ).endc.end
Run the Simulations
ngspice cd /path/.../with/cir/files source helloworldop.cir source helloworldtran.cir 1 2 3 4 5 ngspice cd / path /... / with / cir / files source helloworldop.cir source helloworldtran.cir
Memristor Simulation with NGSpice
The following code can be found on the memristor-models-4-all project.
The Ngspice source code, which can be downloaded here, contains a memristor simulation in ngspice/examples/memristor/memristor.sp. The following code snippet shows the memristor simulation file.
Memristor with threshold * Y. V. Pershin, M. Di Ventra: "SPICE model of memristive devices with threshold", * arXiv:1204.2600v1 [physics.comp-ph] 12 Apr 2012, * http://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.2600.pdf * Parameter selection and plotting by * Holger Vogt 2012.param stime=10n.param vmax = 3 * send parameters to the.control section.csparam stime={stime}.csparam vmax={vmax} Xmem 1 0 memristor * triangular sweep (you have to adapt the parameters to 'alter' command in the.control section) *V1 1 0 DC 0 PWL(0 0 '0.25*stime' 'vmax' '0.5*stime' 0 '0.75*stime' '-vmax''stime' 0) * sinusoidal sweep V1 0 1 DC 0 sin(0 'vmax' '1/stime') * memristor model with limits and threshold * "artificial" parameters alpha, beta, and vt. beta and vt adapted to basic programming frequency * just to obtain nice results! * You have to care for the physics and set real values!.subckt memristor plus minus PARAMS: Ron=1K Roff=10K Rinit=7.0K alpha=0 beta=20e3/stime Vt=1.6 Bx 0 x I='((f1(V(plus)-V(minus))> 0) && (V(x) < Roff))? {f1(V(plus)-V(minus))}: ((((f1(V(plus)-V(minus)) < 0) && (V(x)>Ron))? {f1(V(plus)-V(minus))}: 0))'Vx x x1 dc 0 Cx x1 0 1 IC={Rinit} Rmem plus minus r={V(x)}.func f1(y)={beta*y+0.5*(alpha-beta)*(abs(y+Vt)-abs(y-Vt))}.ends * transient simulation same programming voltage but rising frequencies.control *** first simulation *** * approx. 100 simulation points let deltime = stime/100 tran $&deltime $&stime uic plot i(v1) vs v(1).endc.end 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Memristor with threshold * Y. V. Pershin, M. Di Ventra : "SPICE model of memristive devices with threshold", * arXiv : 1204.2600v1 [ physics.comp - ph ] 12 Apr 2012, * http : / / arxiv.org / pdf / 1204.2600.pdf * Parameter selection and plotting by * Holger Vogt 2012.param stime = 10n.param vmax = 3 * send parameters to the.control section.csparam stime = { stime }.csparam vmax = { vmax } Xmem 1 0 memristor * triangular sweep ( you have to adapt the parameters to 'alter' command in the.control section ) * V1 1 0 DC 0 PWL ( 0 0 '0.25*stime' 'vmax' '0.5*stime' 0 '0.75*stime' '-vmax''stime' 0 ) * sinusoidal sweep V1 0 1 DC 0 sin ( 0 'vmax' '1/stime' ) * memristor model with limits and threshold * "artificial" parameters alpha, beta, and vt. beta and vt adapted to basic programming frequency * just to obtain nice results! * You have to care for the physics and set real values!.subckt memristor plus minus PARAMS : Ron = 1K Roff = 10K Rinit = 7.0K alpha = 0 beta = 20e3 / stime Vt = 1.6 Bx 0 x I = '((f1(V(plus)-V(minus))> 0) && (V(x) < Roff))? {f1(V(plus)-V(minus))}: ((((f1(V(plus)-V(minus)) < 0) && (V(x)>Ron))? {f1(V(plus)-V(minus))}: 0))'Vx x x1 dc 0 Cx x1 0 1 IC = { Rinit } Rmem plus minus r = { V ( x ) }.func f1 ( y ) = { beta * y + 0.5 * ( alpha - beta ) * ( abs ( y + Vt ) - abs ( y - Vt ) ) }.ends * transient simulation same programming voltage but rising frequencies.control * * * first simulation * * * * approx. 100 simulation points let deltime = stime / 100 tran $ & deltime $ & stime uic plot i ( v1 ) vs v ( 1 ).endc.end
Similar to a previously simulated memristor in LTSPICE using the Joglekar nonlinear drift window function, this simulation uses more or less the same concepts, but the exact model and implementation with SPICE sub-components is slightly different. There is also some syntax changes compared to LTSpice. Running the simulation produces the following plot.
The resulting I-V plot shows the familiar pinched hysteresis loop response of the memristor in response to a sinusoidal input.
NGSpice Links
Further ResourcesOn January 30 the Supreme Court of India appointed a four-member committee of administrators (COA) to govern the BCCI till the board adopted the Lodha Committee recommendations. The COA's task was to create a structure that would facilitate the implementation of the reforms not just by the BCCI but also its members - the state associations. Vinod Rai, the COA chairman, had predicted that panel's role would be "very short", akin to that of a nightwatchman in Test cricket. The committee is 100 days old today, and its journey has been anything but smooth. The BCCI and the majority of the state associations have remained unrelenting in this time. Yet Rai and his colleagues have insisted on engaging with them and not on imposing themselves.
Here, Rai speaks about the challenges and how he remains optimistic of finishing the job by October.
You walked in as a nightwatchman and have survived 100 days.
Why do you say survived? I came in as a nightwatchman largely because I did not see a place for the COA over a long tenure. We have a very limited mandate. That mandate is the reforms the Supreme Court has asked us to implement.
Could you tell us about the roles you identified for each of the members?
Vikram [Limaye, CEO and MD of IDFC Bank] is very good at finance-related issues. He is very good at comparing the various revenue and governance models that have recently been debated by the ICC board. Diana [Edulji, former India women's captain] brings in a huge amount of experience from the players' perspective. I find a lot of players gravitating towards her and giving her their inputs. No one knows the state associations as well as Ram [Guha, historian] does. Tell him any state association and he will rattle off statistics etc. The Supreme Court has brought together a bunch of very cohesive people with diverse experiences. As far as I am concerned, probably I can handle people better.
Given your experience as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), what has this experience with the BCCI been like?
The BCCI has not really been a challenge. I was the CAG for only close to six years, but we have been trained to handle people and issues that are far more diverse and divergent in a large number of ways. But as the CAG, you call the shots. As a COA member, you don't. Whatever you say can be contested by the BCCI office-bearers or state associations. So I don't really have any power. I have to keep running back to the court. We have to work with the BCCI office-bearers because there is no way we can be effective if we don't work with them.
Has it been more or less complicated than dealing with taxation issues and governmental scams at a national level? Is there a common quality that has worked for you in both roles?
I understand people and where they come from. The BCCI is an institution. Any institution is an aggregation of people. You have to break it down to the people who run that institution. Handling the employees of the BCCI is not a problem, but the office-bearers bring to the table the strength of the institutions they represent. The constituencies of these office-bearers are very different. Basically you need to understand where they coming from and then try and analyse how they are looking at a particular issue.
Has work on fulfilling your mandate started?
It has now. May 6 was the first time that the dialogue with the state associations started directly. We spent the larger part of February and March engaged in issues such as helping the IPL take off. Also, immediately upon taking charge, we had to deal with the ICC quarterly meetings in February. Then we were tied up with the residual issues from those meetings. The role of the COA and the office-bearers was also not clear. Only later in March, the court clarified, and since then we have been working together with the three office-bearers.
In our meeting with the state associations we explained the entire reform process. I am fairly confident that, going forward, if I have two more dialogues with them, we would be able to narrow down the issues where they have differences of opinion with the Lodha Committee recommendations.
Why did you feel that carrying out discussions with the state associations was important?
I wanted to brief them before the special general meeting (SGM), that if they were going to vote, they better know what they were going to vote for. I sincerely believed they did not know what they were voting for and that turned out to be true because of what the states said.
Secondly, it was the first time I was meeting the state associations. So that was my opening gambit, to say to them, "Look, we need to be in conversation with each other." They are all positively oriented, thinking people. The only thing is their thinking and their perspective was exceedingly narrow. They just did not know that there was an ICC governance model and a finance model. And the finance model, as far as we are concerned, is crumbs.
I told them if the BCCI members had decided to withdraw from the ICC on the basis of the differences on the governance model, the COA will back them. But not on the finance model. You cannot put Indian cricket to risk.
"Some of these people think: 'I |
computer scientists and artificial intelligence researchers consider it irrelevant to their fields. However, several concepts developed by computer scientists are essential to understanding the argument, including symbol processing, Turing machines, Turing completeness, and the Turing test.
Strong AI vs. AI research [ edit ]
Searle's arguments are not usually considered an issue for AI research. Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig observe that most AI researchers "don't care about the strong AI hypothesis—as long as the program works, they don't care whether you call it a simulation of intelligence or real intelligence." The primary mission of artificial intelligence research is only to create useful systems that act intelligently, and it does not matter if the intelligence is "merely" a simulation.
Searle does not disagree that AI research can create machines that are capable of highly intelligent behavior. The Chinese room argument leaves open the possibility that a digital machine could be built that acts more intelligently than a person, but does not have a mind or intentionality in the same way that brains do. The Chinese room argument is not a reductio ad absurdum, rather it is an example that requires explanation.
Searle's "strong AI" should not be confused with "strong AI" as defined by Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, who use the term to describe machine intelligence that rivals or exceeds human intelligence. Kurzweil is concerned primarily with the amount of intelligence displayed by the machine, whereas Searle's argument sets no limit on this. Searle argues that even a super-intelligent machine would not necessarily have a mind and consciousness.
Turing test [ edit ]
The "standard interpretation" of the Turing Test, in which player C, the interrogator, is given the task of trying to determine which player – A or B – is a computer and which is a human. The interrogator is limited to using the responses to written questions to make the determination. Image adapted from Saygin, 2000.
The Chinese room implements a version of the Turing test. Alan Turing introduced the test in 1950 to help answer the question "can machines think?" In the standard version, a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with a human and a machine designed to generate performance indistinguishable from that of a human being. All participants are separated from one another. If the judge cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test.
Turing then considered each possible objection to the proposal "machines can think", and found that there are simple, obvious answers if the question is de-mystified in this way. He did not, however, intend for the test to measure for the presence of "consciousness" or "understanding". He did not believe this was relevant to the issues that he was addressing. He wrote:
I do not wish to give the impression that I think there is no mystery about consciousness. There is, for instance, something of a paradox connected with any attempt to localise it. But I do not think these mysteries necessarily need to be solved before we can answer the question with which we are concerned in this paper.
To Searle, as a philosopher investigating in the nature of mind and consciousness, these are the relevant mysteries. The Chinese room is designed to show that the Turing test is insufficient to detect the presence of consciousness, even if the room can behave or function as a conscious mind would.
Symbol processing [ edit ]
The Chinese room (and all modern computers) manipulate physical objects in order to carry out calculations and do simulations. AI researchers Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon called this kind of machine a physical symbol system. It is also equivalent to the formal systems used in the field of mathematical logic.
Searle emphasizes the fact that this kind of symbol manipulation is syntactic (borrowing a term from the study of grammar). The computer manipulates the symbols using a form of syntax rules, without any knowledge of the symbol's semantics (that is, their meaning).
Newell and Simon had conjectured that a physical symbol system (such as a digital computer) had all the necessary machinery for "general intelligent action", or, as it is known today, artificial general intelligence. They framed this as a philosophical position, the physical symbol system hypothesis: "A physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for general intelligent action." The Chinese room argument does not refute this, because it is framed in terms of "intelligent action", i.e. the external behavior of the machine, rather than the presence or absence of understanding, consciousness and mind.
Chinese room and Turing completeness [ edit ]
The Chinese room has a design analogous to that of a modern computer. It has a Von Neumann architecture, which consists of a program (the book of instructions), some memory (the papers and file cabinets), a CPU which follows the instructions (the man), and a means to write symbols in memory (the pencil and eraser). A machine with this design is known in theoretical computer science as "Turing complete", because it has the necessary machinery to carry out any computation that a Turing machine can do, and therefore it is capable of doing a step-by-step simulation of any other digital machine, given enough memory and time. Alan Turing writes, "all digital computers are in a sense equivalent." The widely accepted Church–Turing thesis holds that any function computable by an effective procedure is computable by a Turing machine.
The Turing completeness of the Chinese room implies that it can do whatever any other digital computer can do (albeit much, much more slowly). Thus, if the Chinese room does not or can not contain a Chinese-speaking mind, then no other digital computer can contain a mind. Some replies to Searle begin by arguing that the room, as described, cannot have a Chinese-speaking mind. Arguments of this form, according to Stevan Harnad, are "no refutation (but rather an affirmation)" of the Chinese room argument, because these arguments actually imply that no digital computers can have a mind.
There are some critics, such as Hanoch Ben-Yami, who argue that the Chinese room cannot simulate all the abilities of a digital computer, such as being able to determine the current time.
Complete argument [ edit ]
Searle has produced a more formal version of the argument of which the Chinese Room forms a part. He presented the first version in 1984. The version given below is from 1990.[51][n] The only part of the argument which should be controversial is A3 and it is this point which the Chinese room thought experiment is intended to prove.[o]
He begins with three axioms:
(A1) "Programs are formal (syntactic)." A program uses syntax to manipulate symbols and pays no attention to the semantics of the symbols. It knows where to put the symbols and how to move them around, but it doesn't know what they stand for or what they mean. For the program, the symbols are just physical objects like any others.
(A2) "Minds have mental contents (semantics)." Unlike the symbols used by a program, our thoughts have meaning: they represent things and we know what it is they represent.
(A3) "Syntax by itself is neither constitutive of nor sufficient for semantics." This is what the Chinese room thought experiment is intended to prove: the Chinese room has syntax (because there is a man in there moving symbols around). The Chinese room has no semantics (because, according to Searle, there is no one or nothing in the room that understands what the symbols mean). Therefore, having syntax is not enough to generate semantics.
Searle posits that these lead directly to this conclusion:
(C1) Programs are neither constitutive of nor sufficient for minds. This should follow without controversy from the first three: Programs don't have semantics. Programs have only syntax, and syntax is insufficient for semantics. Every mind has semantics. Therefore no programs are minds.
This much of the argument is intended to show that artificial intelligence can never produce a machine with a mind by writing programs that manipulate symbols. The remainder of the argument addresses a different issue. Is the human brain running a program? In other words, is the computational theory of mind correct?[g] He begins with an axiom that is intended to express the basic modern scientific consensus about brains and minds:
(A4) Brains cause minds.
Searle claims that we can derive "immediately" and "trivially" that:
(C2) Any other system capable of causing minds would have to have causal powers (at least) equivalent to those of brains. Brains must have something that causes a mind to exist. Science has yet to determine exactly what it is, but it must exist, because minds exist. Searle calls it "causal powers". "Causal powers" is whatever the brain uses to create a mind. If anything else can cause a mind to exist, it must have "equivalent causal powers". "Equivalent causal powers" is whatever else that could be used to make a mind.
And from this he derives the further conclusions:
(C3) Any artifact that produced mental phenomena, any artificial brain, would have to be able to duplicate the specific causal powers of brains, and it could not do that just by running a formal program. This follows from C1 and C2: Since no program can produce a mind, and "equivalent causal powers" produce minds, it follows that programs do not have "equivalent causal powers."
(C4) The way that human brains actually produce mental phenomena cannot be solely by virtue of running a computer program. Since programs do not have "equivalent causal powers", "equivalent causal powers" produce minds, and brains produce minds, it follows that brains do not use programs to produce minds.
Replies [ edit ]
Replies to Searle's argument may be classified according to what they claim to show:[p]
Those which identify who speaks Chinese
speaks Chinese Those which demonstrate how meaningless symbols can become meaningful
Those which suggest that the Chinese room should be redesigned in some way
Those which contend that Searle's argument is misleading
Those which argue that the argument makes false assumptions about subjective conscious experience and therefore proves nothing
Some of the arguments (robot and brain simulation, for example) fall into multiple categories.
Systems and virtual mind replies: finding the mind [ edit ]
These replies attempt to answer the question: since the man in the room doesn't speak Chinese, where is the "mind" that does? These replies address the key ontological issues of mind vs. body and simulation vs. reality. All of the replies that identify the mind in the room are versions of "the system reply".
System reply [ edit ]
The basic version argues that it is the "whole system" that understands Chinese.[56][q] While the man understands only English, when he is combined with the program, scratch paper, pencils and file cabinets, they form a system that can understand Chinese. "Here, understanding is not being ascribed to the mere individual; rather it is being ascribed to this whole system of which he is a part" Searle explains. The fact that man does not understand Chinese is irrelevant, because it is only the system as a whole that matters.
Searle notes that (in this simple version of the reply) the "system" is nothing more than a collection of ordinary physical objects; it grants the power of understanding and consciousness to "the conjunction of that person and bits of paper" without making any effort to explain how this pile of objects has become a conscious, thinking being. Searle argues that no reasonable person should be satisfied with the reply, unless they are "under the grip of an ideology;" In order for this reply to be remotely plausible, one must take it for granted that consciousness can be the product of an information processing "system", and does not require anything resembling the actual biology of the brain.
Searle then responds by simplifying this list of physical objects: he asks what happens if the man memorizes the rules and keeps track of everything in his head? Then the whole system consists of just one object: the man himself. Searle argues that if the man doesn't understand Chinese then the system doesn't understand Chinese either because now "the system" and "the man" both describe exactly the same object.
Critics of Searle's response argue that the program has allowed the man to have two minds in one head.[who?] If we assume a "mind" is a form of information processing, then the theory of computation can account for two computations occurring at once, namely (1) the computation for universal programmability (which is the function instantiated by the person and note-taking materials independently from any particular program contents) and (2) the computation of the Turing machine that is described by the program (which is instantiated by everything including the specific program). The theory of computation thus formally explains the open possibility that the second computation in the Chinese Room could entail a human-equivalent semantic understanding of the Chinese inputs. The focus belongs on the program's Turing machine rather than on the person's. However, from Searle's perspective, this argument is circular. The question at issue is whether consciousness is a form of information processing, and this reply requires that we make that assumption.
More sophisticated versions of the systems reply try to identify more precisely what "the system" is and they differ in exactly how they describe it. According to these replies,[who?] the "mind that speaks Chinese" could be such things as: the "software", a "program", a "running program", a simulation of the "neural correlates of consciousness", the "functional system", a "simulated mind", an "emergent property", or "a virtual mind" (Marvin Minsky's version of the systems reply, described below).
Virtual mind reply [ edit ]
The term "virtual" is used in computer science to describe an object that appears to exist "in" a computer (or computer network) only because software makes it appear to exist. The objects "inside" computers (including files, folders, and so on) are all "virtual", except for the computer's electronic components. Similarly, Minsky argues, a computer may contain a "mind" that is virtual in the same sense as virtual machines, virtual communities and virtual reality.[r]
To clarify the distinction between the simple systems reply given above and virtual mind reply, David Cole notes that two simulations could be running on one system at the same time: one speaking Chinese and one speaking Korean. While there is only one system, there can be multiple "virtual minds," thus the "system" cannot be the "mind".
Searle responds that such a mind is, at best, a simulation, and writes: "No one supposes that computer simulations of a five-alarm fire will burn the neighborhood down or that a computer simulation of a rainstorm will leave us all drenched." Nicholas Fearn responds that, for some things, simulation is as good as the real thing. "When we call up the pocket calculator function on a desktop computer, the image of a pocket calculator appears on the screen. We don't complain that 'it isn't really a calculator', because the physical attributes of the device do not matter." The question is, is the human mind like the pocket calculator, essentially composed of information? Or is the mind like the rainstorm, something other than a computer, and not realizable in full by a computer simulation? (The issue of simulation is also discussed in the article synthetic intelligence.)
These replies provide an explanation of exactly who it is that understands Chinese. If there is something besides the man in the room that can understand Chinese, Searle can't argue that (1) the man doesn't understand Chinese, therefore (2) nothing in the room understands Chinese. This, according to those who make this reply, shows that Searle's argument fails to prove that "strong AI" is false.[s]
However, the thought experiment is not intended to be a reductio ad absurdum, but rather an example that requires explanation. Searle is not asserting that the situation is impossible, but rather that it is difficult or impossible to explain how this system can have subjective conscious experience. The system reply succeeds in showing that it is not impossible but fails to show how the system would have consciousness; the replies, by themselves, provide no evidence that the system (or the virtual mind) understands Chinese, other than the hypothetical premise that it passes the Turing Test. As Searle writes "the systems reply simply begs the question by insisting that the system must understand Chinese."
Robot and semantics replies: finding the meaning [ edit ]
As far as the person in the room is concerned, the symbols are just meaningless "squiggles." But if the Chinese room really "understands" what it is saying, then the symbols must get their meaning from somewhere. These arguments attempt to connect the symbols to the things they symbolize. These replies address Searle's concerns about intentionality, symbol grounding and syntax vs. semantics.
Robot reply [ edit ]
Suppose that instead of a room, the program was placed into a robot that could wander around and interact with its environment. This would allow a "causal connection" between the symbols and things they represent.[68][t] Hans Moravec comments: "If we could graft a robot to a reasoning program, we wouldn't need a person to provide the meaning anymore: it would come from the physical world."[70][u]
Searle's reply is to suppose that, unbeknownst to the individual in the Chinese room, some of the inputs came directly from a camera mounted on a robot, and some of the outputs were used to manipulate the arms and legs of the robot. Nevertheless, the person in the room is still just following the rules, and does not know what the symbols mean. Searle writes "he doesn't see what comes into the robot's eyes." (See Mary's room for a similar thought experiment.)
Derived meaning [ edit ]
Some respond that the room, as Searle describes it, is connected to the world: through the Chinese speakers that it is "talking" to and through the programmers who designed the knowledge base in his file cabinet. The symbols Searle manipulates are already meaningful, they're just not meaningful to him.[73][v]
Searle says that the symbols only have a "derived" meaning, like the meaning of words in books. The meaning of the symbols depends on the conscious understanding of the Chinese speakers and the programmers outside the room. The room, like a book, has no understanding of its own.[w]
Commonsense knowledge / contextualist reply [ edit ]
Some have argued that the meanings of the symbols would come from a vast "background" of commonsense knowledge encoded in the program and the filing cabinets. This would provide a "context" that would give the symbols their meaning.[x]
Searle agrees that this background exists, but he does not agree that it can be built into programs. Hubert Dreyfus has also criticized the idea that the "background" can be represented symbolically.
To each of these suggestions, Searle's response is the same: no matter how much knowledge is written into the program and no matter how the program is connected to the world, he is still in the room manipulating symbols according to rules. His actions are syntactic and this can never explain to him what the symbols stand for. Searle writes "syntax is insufficient for semantics."[y]
However, for those who accept that Searle's actions simulate a mind, separate from his own, the important question is not what the symbols mean to Searle, what is important is what they mean to the virtual mind. While Searle is trapped in the room, the virtual mind is not: it is connected to the outside world through the Chinese speakers it speaks to, through the programmers who gave it world knowledge, and through the cameras and other sensors that roboticists can supply.
Brain simulation and connectionist replies: redesigning the room [ edit ]
These arguments are all versions of the systems reply that identify a particular kind of system as being important; they identify some special technology that would create conscious understanding in a machine. (Note that the "robot" and "commonsense knowledge" replies above also specify a certain kind of system as being important.)
Brain simulator reply [ edit ]
Suppose that the program simulated in fine detail the action of every neuron in the brain of a Chinese speaker.[79][z] This strengthens the intuition that there would be no significant difference between the operation of the program and the operation of a live human brain.
Searle replies that such a simulation does not reproduce the important features of the brain—its causal and intentional states. Searle is adamant that "human mental phenomena [are] dependent on actual physical–chemical properties of actual human brains." Moreover, he argues:
“ [I]magine that instead of a monolingual man in a room shuffling symbols we have the man operate an elaborate set of water pipes with valves connecting them. When the man receives the Chinese symbols, he looks up in the program, written in English, which valves he has to turn on and off. Each water connection corresponds to a synapse in the Chinese brain, and the whole system is rigged up so that after doing all the right firings, that is after turning on all the right faucets, the Chinese answers pop out at the output end of the series of pipes. Now where is the understanding in this system? It takes Chinese as input, it simulates the formal structure of the synapses of the Chinese brain, and it gives Chinese as output. But the man certainly doesn't understand Chinese, and neither do the water pipes, and if we are tempted to adopt what I think is the absurd view that somehow the conjunction of man and water pipes understands, remember that in principle the man can internalize the formal structure of the water pipes and do all the "neuron firings" in his imagination.[page needed] ”
Two variations on the brain simulator reply are the China brain and the brain-replacement scenario.
China brain [ edit ]
What if we ask each citizen of China to simulate one neuron, using the telephone system to simulate the connections between axons and dendrites? In this version, it seems obvious that no individual would have any understanding of what the brain might be saying.[81][aa] It is also obvious that this system would be functionally equivalent to a brain, so if consciousness is a function, this system would be conscious.
Brain replacement scenario [ edit ]
In this, we are asked to imagine that engineers have invented a tiny computer that simulates the action of an individual neuron. What would happen if we replaced one neuron at a time? Replacing one would clearly do nothing to change conscious awareness. Replacing all of them would create a digital computer that simulates a brain. If Searle is right, then conscious awareness must disappear during the procedure (either gradually or all at once). Searle's critics argue that there would be no point during the procedure when he can claim that conscious awareness ends and mindless simulation begins.[83][ab] Searle predicts that, while going through the brain prosthesis, "you find, to your total amazement, that you are indeed losing control of your external behavior. You find, for example, that when doctors test your vision, you hear them say 'We are holding up a red object in front of you; please tell us what you see.' You want to cry out 'I can't see anything. I'm going totally blind.' But you hear your voice saying in a way that is completely outside of your control, 'I see a red object in front of me.' [...] [Y]our conscious experience slowly shrinks to nothing, while your externally observable behavior remains the same."[85] (See Ship of Theseus for a similar thought experiment.)
Connectionist replies [ edit ]
Closely related to the brain simulator reply, this claims that a massively parallel connectionist architecture would be capable of understanding.[ac]
Combination reply [ edit ]
This response combines the robot reply with the brain simulation reply, arguing that a brain simulation connected to the world through a robot body could have a mind.[88]
Many mansions/Wait till next year reply [ edit ]
Better technology in the future will allow computers to understand.[ad] Searle agrees that this is possible, but considers this point irrelevant. His argument is that a machine using a program to manipulate formally defined elements can not produce understanding. Searle's argument, if correct, rules out only this particular design. Searle agrees that there may be other designs that would cause a machine to have conscious understanding.
These arguments (and the robot or commonsense knowledge replies) identify some special technology that would help create conscious understanding in a machine. They may be interpreted in two ways: either they claim (1) this technology is required for consciousness, the Chinese room does not or cannot implement this technology, and therefore the Chinese room cannot pass the Turing test or (even if it did) it would not have conscious understanding. Or they may be claiming that (2) it is easier to see that the Chinese room has a mind if we visualize this technology as being used to create it.
In the first case, where features like a robot body or a connectionist architecture are required, Searle claims that strong AI (as he understands it) has been abandoned.[ae] The Chinese room has all the elements of a Turing complete machine, and thus is capable of simulating any digital computation whatsoever. If Searle's room can't pass the Turing test then there is no other digital technology that could pass the Turing test. If Searle's room could pass the Turing test, but still does not have a mind, then the Turing test is not sufficient to determine if the room has a "mind". Either way, it denies one or the other of the positions Searle thinks of as "strong AI", proving his argument.
The brain arguments in particular deny strong AI if they assume that there is no simpler way to describe the mind than to create a program that is just as mysterious as the brain was. He writes "I thought the whole idea of strong AI was that we don't need to know how the brain works to know how the mind works." If computation does not provide an explanation of the human mind, then strong AI has failed, according to Searle.
Other critics hold that the room as Searle described it does, in fact, have a mind, however they argue that it is difficult to see—Searle's description is correct, but misleading. By redesigning the room more realistically they hope to make this more obvious. In this case, these arguments are being used as appeals to intuition (see next section).
In fact, the room can just as easily be redesigned to weaken our intuitions. Ned Block's Blockhead argument suggests that the program could, in theory, be rewritten into a simple lookup table of rules of the form "if the user writes S, reply with P and goto X". At least in principle, any program can be rewritten (or "refactored") into this form, even a brain simulation.[af] In the blockhead scenario, the entire mental state is hidden in the letter X, which represents a memory address—a number associated with the next rule. It is hard to visualize that an instant of one's conscious experience can be captured in a single large number, yet this is exactly what "strong AI" claims. On the other hand, such a lookup table would be ridiculously large (to the point of being physically impossible), and the states could therefore be extremely specific.
Searle argues that however the program is written or however the machine is connected to the world, the mind is being simulated by a simple step-by-step digital machine (or machines). These machines are always just like the man in the room: they understand nothing and don't speak Chinese. They are merely manipulating symbols without knowing what they mean. Searle writes: "I can have any formal program you like, but I still understand nothing."
Speed and complexity: appeals to intuition [ edit ]
The following arguments (and the intuitive interpretations of the arguments above) do not directly explain how a Chinese speaking mind could exist in Searle's room, or how the symbols he manipulates could become meaningful. However, by raising doubts about Searle's intuitions they support other positions, such as the system and robot replies. These arguments, if accepted, prevent Searle from claiming that his conclusion is obvious by undermining the intuitions that his certainty requires.
Several critics believe that Searle's argument relies entirely on intuitions. Ned Block writes "Searle's argument depends for its force on intuitions that certain entities do not think."[90] Daniel Dennett describes the Chinese room argument as a misleading "intuition pump" and writes "Searle's thought experiment depends, illicitly, on your imagining too simple a case, an irrelevant case, and drawing the 'obvious' conclusion from it."
Some of the arguments above also function as appeals to intuition, especially those that are intended to make it seem more plausible that the Chinese room contains a mind, which can include the robot, commonsense knowledge, brain simulation and connectionist replies. Several of the replies above also address the specific issue of complexity. The connectionist reply emphasizes that a working artificial intelligence system would have to be as complex and as interconnected as the human brain. The commonsense knowledge reply emphasizes that any program that passed a Turing test would have to be "an extraordinarily supple, sophisticated, and multilayered system, brimming with 'world knowledge' and meta-knowledge and meta-meta-knowledge", as Daniel Dennett explains.
Speed and complexity replies [ edit ]
The speed at which human brains process information is (by some estimates) 100 billion operations per second. Several critics point out that the man in the room would probably take millions of years to respond to a simple question, and would require "filing cabinets" of astronomical proportions. This brings the clarity of Searle's intuition into doubt.[93][ag]
An especially vivid version of the speed and complexity reply is from Paul and Patricia Churchland. They propose this analogous thought experiment:
Churchland's luminous room [ edit ]
"Consider a dark room containing a man holding a bar magnet or charged object. If the man pumps the magnet up and down, then, according to Maxwell's theory of artificial luminance (AL), it will initiate a spreading circle of electromagnetic waves and will thus be luminous. But as all of us who have toyed with magnets or charged balls well know, their forces (or any other forces for that matter), even when set in motion produce no luminance at all. It is inconceivable that you might constitute real luminance just by moving forces around!" The problem is that he would have to wave the magnet up and down something like 450 trillion times per second in order to see anything.[95]
Stevan Harnad is critical of speed and complexity replies when they stray beyond addressing our intuitions. He writes "Some have made a cult of speed and timing, holding that, when accelerated to the right speed, the computational may make a phase transition into the mental. It should be clear that is not a counterargument but merely an ad hoc speculation (as is the view that it is all just a matter of ratcheting up to the right degree of 'complexity.')"[ah]
Searle argues that his critics are also relying on intuitions, however his opponents' intuitions have no empirical basis. He writes that, in order to consider the "system reply" as remotely plausible, a person must be "under the grip of an ideology". The system reply only makes sense (to Searle) if one assumes that any "system" can have consciousness, just by virtue of being a system with the right behavior and functional parts. This assumption, he argues, is not tenable given our experience of consciousness.
Other minds and zombies: meaninglessness [ edit ]
Several replies argue that Searle's argument is irrelevant because his assumptions about the mind and consciousness are faulty. Searle believes that human beings directly experience their consciousness, intentionality and the nature of the mind every day, and that this experience of consciousness is not open to question. He writes that we must "presuppose the reality and knowability of the mental." These replies question whether Searle is justified in using his own experience of consciousness to determine that it is more than mechanical symbol processing. In particular, the other minds reply argues that we cannot use our experience of consciousness to answer questions about other minds (even the mind of a computer), and the epiphenomena reply argues that Searle's consciousness does not "exist" in the sense that Searle thinks it does.
Other minds reply This reply points out that Searle's argument is a version of the problem of other minds, applied to machines. There is no way we can determine if other people's subjective experience is the same as our own. We can only study their behavior (i.e., by giving them our own Turing test). Critics of Searle argue that he is holding the Chinese room to a higher standard than we would hold an ordinary person.[100][ai]
Nils Nilsson writes "If a program behaves as if it were multiplying, most of us would say that it is, in fact, multiplying. For all I know, Searle may only be behaving as if he were thinking deeply about these matters. But, even though I disagree with him, his simulation is pretty good, so I'm willing to credit him with real thought."
Alan Turing anticipated Searle's line of argument (which he called "The Argument from Consciousness") in 1950 and makes the other minds reply. He noted that people never consider the problem of other minds when dealing with each other. He writes that "instead of arguing continually over this point it is usual to have the polite convention that everyone thinks." The Turing test simply extends this "polite convention" to machines. He doesn't intend to solve the problem of other minds (for machines or people) and he doesn't think we need to.[aj]
Epiphenomenon / zombie reply Several philosophers argue that consciousness, as Searle describes it, does not exist. This position is sometimes referred to as eliminative materialism: the view that consciousness is a property that can be reduced to a strictly mechanical description, and that our experience of consciousness is, as Daniel Dennett describes it, a "user illusion".
Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig argue that, if we accept Searle's description of intentionality, consciousness and the mind, we are forced to accept that consciousness is epiphenomenal: that it "casts no shadow", that it is undetectable in the outside world. They argue that Searle must be mistaken about the "knowability of the mental", and in his belief that there are "causal properties" in our neurons that give rise to the mind. They point out that, by Searle's own description, these causal properties can't be detected by anyone outside the mind, otherwise the Chinese Room couldn't pass the Turing test—the people outside would be able to tell there wasn't a Chinese speaker in the room by detecting their causal properties. Since they can't detect causal properties, they can't detect the existence of the mental. In short, Searle's "causal properties" and consciousness itself is undetectable, and anything that cannot be detected either does not exist or does not matter.
Daniel Dennett provides this extension to the "epiphenomena" argument.
Dennett's reply from natural selection Suppose that, by some mutation, a human being is born that does not have Searle's "causal properties" but nevertheless acts exactly like a human being. (This sort of animal is called a "zombie" in thought experiments in the philosophy of mind). This new animal would reproduce just as any other human and eventually there would be more of these zombies. Natural selection would favor the zombies, since their design is (we could suppose) a bit simpler. Eventually the humans would die out. So therefore, if Searle is right, it is most likely that human beings (as we see them today) are actually "zombies", who nevertheless insist they are conscious. It is impossible to know whether we are all zombies or not. Even if we are all zombies, we would still believe that we are not.[109]
Searle disagrees with this analysis and argues that "the study of the mind starts with such facts as that humans have beliefs, while thermostats, telephones, and adding machines don't... what we wanted to know is what distinguishes the mind from thermostats and livers." He takes it as obvious that we can detect the presence of consciousness and dismisses these replies as being off the point.
Newton's flaming laser sword reply Mike Alder argues that the entire argument is frivolous, because it is non-positivist: not only is the distinction between simulating a mind and having a mind ill-defined, but it is also irrelevant because no experiments were, or even can be, proposed to distinguish between the two.
In popular culture [ edit ]
The Chinese room argument is a central concept in Peter Watts's novels Blindsight and (to a lesser extent) Echopraxia.[111] It is also a central theme in the video game Virtue's Last Reward, and ties into the game's narrative.[citation needed] In Season 4 of the American crime drama Numb3rs there is a brief reference to the Chinese room.[citation needed]
The Chinese Room is also the name of a British independent video game development studio best known for working on experimental first-person games, such as Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, or Dear Esther.[112]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
Citations [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Christian Storm/Business Insider The newcomer burger chain Shake Shack is worth almost as much as Wendy's.
"Wendy's has 95 times as many units. It is 12 times Shake Shack's size in terms of revenue. Yet, in terms of market cap, they are relative equals," writes Jonathan Maze at Nation's Restaurant News.
Shake Shack's market capitalization is $3.4 billion, compared with the $4.18 billion of Wendy's.
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So why is Shake Shack's valuation so high?
Because investors believe it has huge growth potential.
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Shake Shack's high-quality, ethically sourced food and excellent customer service have drawn many comparisons between it and Chipotle, which has seen business explode in recent years.
While McDonald's and Wendy's are trying to emulate Shake Shack's strategy, they are a long way from being able to offer a similar experience.
Wendy's has tried to appeal to millennials, who are increasingly turning away from fast food. Burger Business
Shake Shack's burgers are more elevated than the offerings at the typical fast-food burger chain, thanks to the 100% antibiotic-free Angus beef and buttered buns. Toppings include Applewood-smoked bacon and cherry peppers. This experience aligns with the values of modern consumers, who are demanding better food quality.
The New York |
-back seasons...Established Pirates' club record for most saves in a season by a left-handed pitcher...Suffered a loss in season debut on 4/6 at CIN; Was scored upon in first two outings (2.0 IP/2 ER) before making seven straight scoreless appearances (6.1IP)...Threw a total of just five pitches while picking up first save in third outing on 4/11 vs. LAD...Allowed just one hit (14 AB) in five-game stretch from 4/15-29...Served up a walkoff home run to Carlos Delgado in the 12th inning of a 4-3 loss at NYM on 5/3; was the only home run he allowed in 2006...Pitched 2.0 shutout innings and picked up first win on 5/6 at WSH...Did not allow a run in six consecutive outings from 5/6-20, dropping ERA to a season-low 1.65...Was scored upon once in 14 games from 4/11 thru 5/20 (14.1 IP/1 ER)...Earned six saves in six straight appearances from 6/3-14...Made 10 straight scoreless outings and surrendered two hits (33 at-bats) from 6/25 thru 7/16 (11.0 IP), but picked up just two saves in that time...Established a Pirates' record for saves by a lefty with his 15th on 7/19 vs. COL...Did not allow a run and surrendered just two hits (in 29 at-bats) in his last nine appearances, picking up six saves in 9.0 innings of work.Established career highs in appearances, innings pitched, saves and strikeouts despite missing close to two months of action with an injured left knee...Made first appearance on Pittsburgh's Opening Day roster...Did not allow a run in first three appearances (3.1ip)...Allowed two runs and did not retire any of the three batters he faced on 4/10 @San Diego...Surrendered three hits and two runs on 4/13 @Milwaukee...Did not allow a run in 12 straight appearances (13.0ip) from 4/16 thru 5/24...Picked up first save (second career) on 5/21 vs. Colorado...Was scored upon in back-to-back outings from 5/26-27....Suffered first loss (0.1ip/1r) on 5/27 @Cincinnati...Did not allow a run in six of his seven appearances (5.1ip) from 5/30 thru 6/12...Took the loss in a 1-0 game vs. Atlanta on 6/4 after allowing a run-scoring double to Julio Franco in the top of the 9th inning....Suffered third and final loss on 6/22 vs. Washington...Was placed on 15-day disabled list on 6/23 due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee...Made two rehab appearances with Triple-A Indianapolis; he retired each of the three batters he faced (1 K) @Louisville on 8/10 and struck out four of the seven batters he faced in 2.1 innings of work @Norfolk on 8/13...Was recalled from rehab assignment and reinstated from D.L. on 8/16...Struck out two batters while tossing a scoreless frame @New York (NL) on 8/17, his first appearance with the Pirates since 6/22...Surrendered his only two home runs while pitching with Pittsburgh on 9/3 vs. Chicago (NL)...Was scored upon in back-to-back outings on 9/2 (0.0ip/2er) and 9/3 (2.0ip/2er), but was unscored upon in his final 12 appearances (14.1ip/5h/8bb/21so)...Whiffed all three batters he faced @St. Louis on 9/13...Picked up second save on 9/14 @St. Louis...Escaped bases loaded, no-out jam in 9th inning to earn third save in 3-2 win @Wrigley Field on 9/28...Held opposing hitters to a.197 batting average (35-for-178)...Went 3-for-3 in save situations and allowed seven of his 33 inherited runners to score...Did not appear as a batter.Was named to the Topps Major League All-Star Rookie team...Ranked third among National League relievers in strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched (11.4) behind Houston's Brad Lidge (14.9) and Los Angeles' Eric Gagne (12.4)...Ranked second among all major league relievers in walks allowed per 9.0 innings pitched (1.25) behind Philadelphia's Billy Wagner (1.12)...Ranked 10th among National League relievers in batting average against (.201)...Began season with Nashville (AAA)...Tossed season-high tying 3.0 innings on 4/22 vs. Albuquerque...Posted a 1.54 ERA (11.2ip/2er) in April...Allowed two runs in his first five appearances, but none in nine straight outings from 4/22 thru 6/1 (13.2ip)...Picked up saves in back-to-back appearances on 5/9 @Oklahoma and 5/13 vs. Tacoma...Struck out 33 batters in his first 18.2 innings of work...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 5/18...Picked up first major league win on 5/20 vs. San Diego with 1.2 innings of perfect relief...Earned second straight win in Pittsburgh's 5-4, 10-inning win vs. Chicago on 5/28 (game two)...Limited opponents to an.083 average (1-for-12) in his first four outings...Was optioned to Nashville on 5/30....Made one appearance with the Sounds before being recalled a second and final time by Pittsburgh on 6/2...Did not allow a run in his first 12 appearances with Pittsburgh...Was scored upon for the first time after allowing an unearned run on 6/20 vs. Seattle and suffered "blown save"...Entered game on 6/25 with the bases loaded and surrendered a grand slam to Cincinnati's Wily Mo Pena and suffered second straight "blown save"...Did not allow a run in seven straight appearances (7.1ip) following the grand slam....Struck out three of the four batters he faced on 7/4 vs. Milwaukee...Lowered ERA to 0.48 following the action on 7/24...Had two-run double off Cincinnati's Danny Graves in first career plate appearance on 7/24...Improved to 3-0 on 7/27 vs. Atlanta after Bucs scored five times in 7th inning for an 8-4 victory...Did not allow a run in 10 straight appearances (9.0ip) from 7/29 thru 8/19...Picked up first major league save on 8/16 @Arizona...Was scored upon just once in 18 appearances (17.1ip) from 7/2 thru 8/19...Did not allow a walk in 16 straight outings (15.2ip) from 7/2 thru 8/15...Suffered only loss while allowing a season-high two runs on 8/20 @St. Louis (game two)...Was scored upon twice in final 14 games (14.0ip)...Struck out at least one batter in 35 of his 47 appearances...Allowed 11 of his 24 inherited runners to score...Was 1-for-4 in save situations with Pittsburgh.Spent time with five different teams...Began season on D.L. at Nashville with lower back spasms...Was reinstated from the disabled list on 6/9 and began a rehab assignment with Lynchburg (A)...Made five relief appearances with Lynchburg and went 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA (7.0ip/4er)...Had his rehab assignment transferred to Double-A Altoona on 6/24...Made five relief appearances with the Curve and went 0-0 with one save and a 1.23 ERA (7.1ip/1er)...Whiffed five batters and picked up the save on 7/2 @Norwich...Had his rehab assignment transferred to Nashville on 7/8...Was traded to Boston organization on 7/22...Was optioned to Pawtucket (Red Sox' AAA) and made two appearances with the club...Picked up a save in his second appearance with Pawtucket on 7/29 @Ottawa (game one)...Was traded back to Pittsburgh organization on 7/31...Picked up save in first game upon returning to Nashville on 8/1 vs. Albuquerque...Allowed five runs in 1.2 innings of relief on 8/5 vs. Colorado Springs...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 8/11 and made major league debut that night vs. St. Louis (0.1ip/1bb)...Did not allow a run in his first four games with Bucs....Allowed solo home run to Miguel Cairo on 8/21 @St. Louis, the first run he surrendered in his big-league career...Entered game on 8/23 @Milwaukee with bases loaded and struck out only batter he faced (Geoff Jenkins)...Lost first major league decision on 8/24 @Milwaukee...Did not retire a batter (1h/1r) while making three straight appearances from 9/9-12.Began season with Altoona...Went 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA (30.1ip/21er) in his first six starts thru 5/8, but posted a 3-0 record and a 0.93 ERA (29.0ip/3er) in five starts from 5/14 thru 6/4...Whiffed a season-best nine batters on 5/29 vs. Norwich....Sustained a left knee injury on 6/4 and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on 6/14....Made two appearances with Bradenton while on a rehab assignment...Earned victories in each of his two starts; allowed just one unearned run in 7.1 innings (7 K's) on 7/30 vs. the Reds and tossed 6.0 hitless innings (7 K's) on 8/5 @Orioles...Returned to Altoona on 8/10 and was charged with eight earned runs in his first two starts (5.1ip)...Won his last three starts (20.2ip/4er - 1.74 ERA)...Participated in the Arizona Fall League and went 0-0 with two saves and a 1.06 ERA (17.0ip/6r/2er) in 13 relief appearances with Phoenix...Made five scoreless outings (7.0ip) before giving up four unearned runs on 10/18 vs. Peoria...Was charged with his two earned runs in his final appearance on 11/13.Split season between Lynchburg and Altoona and went 7-6 with a 3.51 ERA in 28 games (16 starts) with the two clubs...Began season in Lynchburg's bullpen and tossed 3.0 scoreless frames in first outing on 4/23 @Myrtle Beach...Was not charged with an earned run in his first three appearances (9.2ip)...Made first of two starts with the Hillcats on 5/10 and suffered the loss (4.0ip/6er) vs. Myrtle Beach...Returned to bullpen and was charged with just one earned run in his next six outings (6.2ip)...Picked up victory in second start (5.1ip/1er) on 6/7 vs. Potomac (game two)...Went 1-1 with a 1.27 ERA (21.1ip/3er) in 12 relief appearances and 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA (9.1ip/7er) in his two starts with Lynchburg...Was promoted to Altoona on 6/26...Won back-to-back starts on 7/3 and 7/8 (16.0ip/1er) and was named Eastern League's Player-of-the-Week...Struck out a season-high nine batters on 7/8 vs. Erie and again on 8/13 vs. Erie...Lost three straight decisions from 7/14 thru 8/7...Won three straight starts from 8/13-23....Hurled six-hit shutout @Harrisburg on 8/18 and 7.0 scoreless frames in his next start/win on 8/23 @Akron...Participated in the Arizona Fall League and went 0-1 with a 1.99 ERA (22.2ip/5er) in nine games (one start) with Maryvale.Was a spring training non-roster invitee with Pittsburgh...Suffered groin strain and began season with Extended Spring Training program in Bradenton, FL...Was assigned to Lynchburg on 6/25...Picked up first win and struck out season-high eight batters on 6/30 vs. Potomac...Made first of two relief appearances with Hillcats on 7/10 @Myrtle Beach...Lost three straight starts from 7/22 thru 8/3...Hurled 6.0 scoreless innings in victory vs. Winston-Salem on 8/8...Tossed 5.0 innings of relief and notched win in final appearance on 8/31 vs. Frederick...Had arthroscopic surgery performed on left shoulder on 9/28 (Dr. Brian Jewell in Pittsburgh).Went 12-7 with a 4.80 ERA in 27 combined games (25 starts) with Lynchburg and Altoona...Led Lynchburg staff in wins and strikeouts despite being promoted to Double-A at the end of July...Tied for third among Carolina League pitchers in wins...Began season with Hillcats and won first six decisions thru 5/20...Tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and whiffed season-high nine batters in first start on 4/10 vs. Winston-Salem...Won five straight starts from 4/25 thru 5/20...Surrendered nine hits and seven earned runs in 5.1ip, but won a 9-7 decision vs. Kinston on 5/6...Lost first game on 5/25 @Salem...Matched season high with nine strikeouts on 7/1 @Kinston...Was promoted to Altoona on 7/30...Made first appearance with Curve on 8/3 and surrendered one run in 2.0 innings of relief...Tossed 6.2 scoreless frames (one hit) in first Double-A start and victory on 8/7 vs. Erie...Won last decision on 8/12 before losing three straight starts from 8/17-30...Made final appearance from the bullpen on 9/6 @Erie...Went 2-3 with a 9.00 ERA (22.0ip/22er) in his five starts with Altoona and 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA (4.2ip/2er) in two relief outings...Participated in the inaugural California Fall League and went 1-2 with an 8.19 ERA (29.2ip/27er) in nine games (eight starts) with league champion Lancaster (club managed by former Pittsburgh Manager Lloyd McClendon).Split season between Augusta (A) and Lynchburg...Went 4-5 with a 4.22 ERA (79.0ip/37er) in 18 games (16 starts).Was selected by Pittsburgh in the 30th round of the June draft...Began professional career with Bradenton...Was promoted to Augusta on 8/5...Went 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA (48.1ip/12er) in 11 combined games (six starts) with the two clubs.By Brian D. Earp (@briandavidearp)
Republican politician Roy Moore has been accused of initiating sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his early 30s. Social media sites have since exploded with comments like these:
Roy Moore is now FUNDRAISING to conservative Christians after being outed as a pedophile. This is truly sick. pic.twitter.com/NF5NLIGWKA — Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) November 9, 2017
Roy Moore is a sick man. He is a pedophile. This story is deeply sourced. It is credible and I believe the women. — Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) November 9, 2017
Adult sexual contact with an underage minor is a crime and a serious moral wrong. Pedophilia, by contrast, is a psychiatric disorder involving primary or exclusive sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children (not just any person under the age of 18), which — if acted on — is a crime and a serious moral wrong. Actually, even then, it is the act that is wrong; the involuntary sexual attraction, so long as it remains disconnected from behavior, is probably not wrong in and of itself.
In short: pedophilia and child sexual assault are two different things, and conflating them is not a good idea. This is not just a matter of semantics. For one thing, confusing psychiatric disorders (requiring treatment) and sex crimes (which may or may not follow from such disorders) is likely to hamper clear moral reasoning. But more importantly, it may actually increase harm to children.
Consider the following: many people with pedophilia (1) hate their desires, (2) do not act on them for moral reasons (and should therefore plausibly be praised rather than vilified), and yet (3) often do not seek treatment precisely because they are aware that people in general cannot seem to tell the difference between:
(a) feeling involuntarily sexually attracted to young children (not wrong in and of itself), and
(b) molesting or sexually assaulting children (very wrong in and of itself, no matter the reason).
And here’s the kicker: failing to seek treatment for (a) is precisely the sort of thing that makes (b) more likely to happen. So, please, whatever your politics — stop saying Roy Moore has been “accused of pedophilia” (he has not). Say instead: “he has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor.”
The latter, not the former, is a sex crime and a serious moral wrong. If the goal is to protect children from harm, as it should be, then we should stop stigmatizing pedophilia per se and start stigmatizing (or keep stigmatizing) those who actually sexually abuse children for whatever reason, whether they happen to be pedophiles or not.
In other words, non-offending pedophiles should not be stigmatized so long as they do not offend, nor mistaken for sexual abusers. Instead, they should be encouraged to seek treatment for their disorder before they cause harm to children — which will only happen if we can keep clear about the difference between (a) and (b).Five beard- and hair cutting attacks on nine victims took place in 2011.
Amish men walk Friday to the Federal Courthouse in Cleveland. (Photo11: Tony Dejak, AP) Story Highlights The 16 defendants were convicted of hate crimes
Mullet and his family cut the beards of those who defied him
Beards have religious significance for the Amish
CLEVELAND — A judge sentenced the leader of a breakaway Amish sect to 15 years prison Friday in connection with beard and hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish.
Sam Mullet Sr. and 15 members of his extended family were convicted of conspiracy in some manner in the 2011 attacks on fellow Amish in eastern and northeastern Ohio with whom they had religious differences.
"You deserve the longest and harshest sentence," U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster said to Mullet before his sentencing. "Sadly, I consider you are a danger to the community."
CLOSE Samuel Mullet, the ringleader of the hair- and beard-cutting attacks, will serve 15 years in federal prison. VPC
The focus of the trial centered on Mullet, leader of a breakaway Amish sect in Bergholz, Ohio, where about 20 Amish families live on his 880-acre farm. The community is about 100 miles southeast of Cleveland near the West Virginia border.
"I am being blamed for being a cult leader," Mullet said Friday. "If somebody needs to be punished, I'll take the punishment for everybody."
In addition to the conspiracy charge, Mullet was convicted last year on six additional counts, including lying to the FBI, for planning the attacks, which were likened to animals being shorn.
The sentencing came after more than four hours during which the U.S. attorney and the defendants had the chance to address the court. Mullet could have received a life sentence.
“They got their beard back again, so what's the big deal about it?” Edward Mast, grandson of Sam Mullet Sr.
Mullet's sons asked that they be allowed to serve the time for their father. The judge gave them sentences from five to seven years. Others convicted were sentenced to as little as a year and a day up to seven years in federal prison.
Nine of 10 men who were convicted have been locked up awaiting sentencing. The six women, who all have children, have been free on bond.
During the trial, prosecutors and witnesses in U.S. District Court here described how Mullet's sons pulled a father out of bed and chopped off his beard in the moonlight and how women followers of Mullet surrounded their mother-in-law and cut off 2 feet of her hair, taking it down to the scalp in some places.
"It's a cult," said Arlene Miller, 48, of Carrollton, Ohio, whose husband is an Amish bishop and was a victim of the beard cuttings. "Their minds were programmed in the wrong way by Sam Mullet, so we feel like these people are very deceived and they are actually victims of Sam Mullet."
The five cutting attacks on a total of nine victims took place between September and November 2011.
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Hair and beards have enormous religious symbolism for the Amish, and the government portrayed the attacks as hate crimes. The defense admitted the cuttings took place but characterized the incidents as a family feud.
"These attacks were never just about hair," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan said Friday. "They were about religion."
In an interview last week in Bergholz at the Mullet farm, Mullet's unmarried 19-year-old grandson, Edward Mast, discussed the family's attitude. He said they are steadfast in the belief that the attacks didn't rise to the level of a hate crime.
"The beard, what it stands for me, what I know about it, once you're married, you just grow a beard. That's just the way the Amish is," Mast said.
As for the victims, he added, "They got their beard back again, so what's the big deal about it?"
U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach called the verdicts a "triumph for one of the most basic and sacred freedoms in this country: freedom of religion."
Contributing: John Anderson, WKYC-TV, Cleveland, and The Associated Press
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/VJqb9QWelcome to another edition of Pauper Observed, where we will again take a close look at Thursday's Pauper daily event. If anyone wants to spoil themselves, the full listing of results is here on my Facebook page and the winning decks' decklists can be found here.
The King is Dead; Long Live - who, exactly?
The Pauper metagame has been dominated first by MBC, then increasingly by Burn over the past few weeks, but if it's at all representative, Thursday's event shows that this is changing fast. The most popular decks were still Burn (with 9 decks) and MBC (with 8) - a total of nearly 24 percent of the metagame. However, those 17 decks managed to produce only one deck with a winning record.
On the other hand, there wasn't really any single deck that stepped into the gap. Esper Fae Combo has been doing extremely well lately, but on the day only 1 of the 5 decks entered went 3-1 or better. UB Control also fared poorly, with only 1 winner out of 5 decks. Doing better were Affinity, which saw 7 decks entered and 4 record a winning record, and Delver, which was represented by 6 decks, including 3 winners. Less heavily played decks that fared well included Hexproof, with 2 winners out of 3 decks, and Turbofog, which also saw 2 of 3 decks finish 3-1 or better.
The Turbofog deck, in particular, has been doing very well lately, with a number of placings in recent daily events despite only being run by 4 players. The deck included a Bant variant (championed by streamer pierakor) and a straight blue-green variant most heavily played by residentzombie. The deck's current success is a bit of a meta bank shot - preying upon the fast creature decks that came out to prey upon the Burn decks that previously defined the meta. Anyone relying heavily on creature damage, such as Stompy players, needs to at least have a plan if they run into this deck.
The Winner's Circle
Cspickle took a Goblins deck to 3-0 by defeating MBC 2-0, Burn 2-0, and Esper Fae Combo 2-0. The pairing for 4-0 was with a 2-1 Delver deck piloted by dubleve; cspickle took the match 2-1.
The other 8 3-0 players were paired against each other for the 4-0 finish:
420dragon, playing Esper Fae Combo, faced dout, playing Affinity. Dout defeated MBC 2-1, Burn 2-1, and UR Fiend 2-0; 420dragon defeated UR Control 2-1, Elves 2-1, and MBC 2-1. In the games for 4-0, the Esper deck won fairly handily 2-0, as the Affinity deck failed to put enough pressure on the table to keep the Esper deck from comboing out at its leisure.
Warmarco, playing Delver, faced off against Jacksad, also playing Delver. (Warmarco has apparently set aside the Bant list I spotlighted last week). Warmarco's road to 3-0 went through Burn (2-1), Hexproof (2-1), and a mirror match against Delver (2-0). Jacksad had a more rogue-heavy road to the finals, with wins over Boros Kitty's bad three-color variant, Jeskai Kitty, 2-1, a UG turbofog deck 2-0, and Goblins 2-1. Jacksad prevailed in the mirror match 2-0.
Zogok, playing Hexproof, played against TKC55, playing a UR Tron Fae Combo deck. Zogok defeated UB Control 2-1, Esper Fae Combo 2-1, and UB Control (again) 2-0. TKC55 beat Affinity 2-1, MBC 2-0, and MBC again 2-0. I considered using this matchup as my featured matchup for the day, as TKC's deck is one of those single-pilot decks that seem to put up results every time it is run out, but the games between two non-interactive decks were pretty awful. In game 1, the Hexproof deck had a lethal Gladecover Scout decked out in Ethereal Armor and an Armadillo Cloak ready to swing in, but the UR deck managed to get the Urzatron online and combo out extremely slowly - because Ghostly Flicker only returns a "profit" of 1 colorless mana when used with a Cloud of Faeries to untap an island and an Urza's Tower, TKC55 took 17 minutes off of the clock while finding enough cantrips to draw into a lethal Kaervek's Torch. In game 2, the Hexproof deck was one turn faster and the combo deck assembled Tron but didn't do anything with it and died. Game 3 was super-awkward, as the Hexproof deck found an early Scattershot Archer to keep any Cloud of Faeries off the board, and drew several 1/1 hexproof guys, but failed to draw any white mana or any auras that could be cast with green mana. A single Sea Gate Oracle successfully stared down the Bogles while the Tron deck attacked a couple times with a Mulldrifter, built up a ton of mana, and Torched for lethal with no combo involved.
In any case, here's TKC55's deck:
Similarly to the Esper Fae Combo deck, this deck's endgame is to use a Ghostly Flicker on Cloud of Faeries and Mnemonic Wall, untapping enough lands to net positive mana while returning the flicker to the pilot's hand over and over again; the infinite mana is used to repeatedly flicker Mulldrifter or Sea Gate Oracle in order to find the single Kaervek's Torch for the win. The deck can also sometimes win just by deploying 8-10 dudes and attacking with them.
The Growth Chamber supports the Moment's Peace in the sideboard. In general, the Firebolts let the deck be somewhat more interactive than the Esper Fae Combo deck, but the Urza lands are a bit harder to put together than the Karoo lands plus familiars approach the Esper deck takes. In a burn-heavy meta the Esper deck definitely seems superior to me, thanks to the tons of hate White provides, but TKC has definitely been successful for many months with this build.
The last match-up between two 3-0 decks pitted Stompy, piloted by Greengadget, against UB Control, piloted by Leazes11, and will be our Featured Match.
Featured Match: Stompy vs. UB Control
Stompy is stompy - efficient beats, pump, and a few guys who bring two bodies for the price of one. Of note here is the main-deck Vault Skirge pushing the Scattershot Archers to the sideboard; the use of Epic Confrontation as the sideboard removal spell (a necessity to not just lose to an early Standard Bearer) in place of Hornet Sting, Prey Upon, or Gut Shot; and the inclusion of a Viridian Longbow and a Relic of Progenitus in the sideboard, which I think is a concession to the turbo-fog decks.
Greengadget beat UB Control 2-0, Bant Turbofog (usually a hard Stompy match) 2-1, and RW tokens 2-0 to reach 3-0.
This match-up is a mismatch - the UB deck is set up well to fight against control mirrors but game 1 is a near-auto-loss versus an aggressive creature deck - zero 1-mana removal spells and only 8 two-mana removal spells versus stompy's 26 creatures is a big problem. Evincar's Justice cast with buyback is a nearly impossible thing for Stompy to beat, but good luck getting to 7 mana with enough life to cast it. Post sideboard things get a little better with the extra Evincar's, the 3 Chainer's Edicts and the extra Pristine Talisman but not by much. Frankly, I think pedrochristiano's UB Control deck with its 4 Innocent Blood, 4 Wretched Banquet, and 1 Ghastly Demise is much better set up for the metagame as a whole (and certainly for this matchup), even if it might come up short in a direct match between the two decks due to the lack of the Mystical Teachings draw engine.
Leazes11 defeated UR Tron 2-0, a WB brew based around two-color creatures and Edge of the Divinity 2-0, and Affinity 2-0 - all decks that don't punish the lack of 1-mana removal.
Game 1
Leazes11 chose to play, laid an island, and passed. Greengadget responded with a forest into Nettle Sentinel. The UB deck's only turn two play was to put down a Dimir Aqueduct, essentially passing for a second turn. Greengadget took full advantage, swinging in and deploying two bloodthirsty Skarrgan Pit-Skulks. Leazes11 tried to stanch the bleeding with a Sea Gate Oracle, but Greengadget threw a single Hunger of the Howlpack token on the Sentinel after blocks to clear the board again, then dropped a second Sentinel. The UB deck was already at 14 life.
Leazes11 then either drew or used his one-of Echoing Decay to clear the two skulks but didn't have a fourth land drop. The green deck swung in for another 5, bringing Leazes11 to 9 life, and deployed a Garruk's Companion. The blue-black deck again missed a land drop and passed, holding UUB up; when the green deck swung in, the control deck tried to get a pseudo two-for-one with Agony Warp by fogging the companion and killing the 3/3 sentinel. A kicked (Vines of the Vastwood) prevented the removal half of the spell and forced through a lethal 9 damage.
Game 2
The game started with good news for the blue-black deck, as greengadget mulled to 6 cards. Leazes11 started with an Evolving Wilds, which he would crack for a swamp during greengadget's turn. Greengadget deployed the ever-popular first-turn Nettle Sentinel, but Leazes11 actually had an untapped land for the second land drop this time and was able to respond with a Chainer's Edict. A second Chainer's was able to wipe out Greengadget's second-turn Companion, and after the green deck deployed a skirge and a Quirion Ranger on turn 3, the blue black deck got a bit lucky - an Evincar's Justice was met with a Mutagenic Growth and a Groundswell, but greengadget misclicked and threw both pumps on the Vault Skirge. When Greengadget didn't have another creature to deploy the following turn, simply using a Groundswell to force in some damage, that meant that Leazes11's follow-on Diabolic Edict cleared the board, and the Gurmag Angler that the blue-black deck cast entered an empty field. The blue-black deck also kept hitting its land drops and was able to back the Angler with a series of Chainer's Edict flashbacks to finish the game.
Game 3
With Stompy on the play, the blue-black deck really felt its lack of one-drop removal. Greengadget opened with a 1/1 Pit-Skulk, to which Leazes11 responded with an Evolving Wilds. A Rancor landed on the Skulk and a Young Wolf came out to play, and from there the blue-black deck couldn't get off of its back foot - Diabolic Edict turned the Wolf into a 2/2, a River Boa was not adequately answered by a super-awkward Sea Gate Oracle, and the fourth land drop was missed, leaving the deck with no colored mana after casting a Pristine Talisman. Death came rushing in on various paws, feet, scales, et cetera as follows:
See you next week, when hopefully we will have a somewhat more competitive final round to discuss.Use of fire as a tool is normally considered to be restricted to humans, and hence to have played an extremely important role not only in human societal change but also in the large-scale modification of landscapes across the world. But what if animals other than humans exhibit pyrophilic behavior?
Black Kite, Milvus migrans
In a few weeks I’ll set off again for the US to present on my latest research project at two big international conferences.
The first will be the Raptor Research Foundation’s meeting at Sacramento in California in early November. You can read more about the meeting here and see the scientific program here (I’m in a session on the last day with eminent Gray Falcon researcher Jonny Schoenjahn).
The second conference I’ll be presenting at is later in the month at the 6th Association of Fire Ecology congress half way across the country in San Antonio, Texas. As the website for that meeting advises, these triennial meeting are:
… the largest, most comprehensive meetings on the research and management of wildland fire that are held anywhere in the world. They provide unparalleled exposure to the complexity, breadth, and depth of the field of wild land fire. … The theme of the 6th Fire Congress is “Advancing Ecology in Fire Management.” We continue to make a lot of progress in the development and dissemination of new information. Our challenge is to continue to bridge the ecology of fire with fire management, and facilitate more collaboration among researchers, educators and managers.
So, why am I travelling halfway across the globe to speak at two conferences – one about birds of prey, the other about wildfires – two very different and apparently unrelated subjects?
Brown Falcon, Falco berigora
For the past few years I’ve been working – with my colleague Assistant Professor Dr Mark Bonta from Penn State University – on the possibility that at least one of two Australian birds of prey may be a third force in the propagation of fire in the Australian savanna woodlands.
You can read some of my early thoughts in the piece from 2011 here. As I noted then:
An Alawa language group man from the Roper River country in the Northern Territory’s south-east, Waipuldanya relates this fine-grained observation of unique bird behaviour: “I have seen a hawk pick up a smouldering stick in its claws and drop it in a fresh patch of dry grass half a mile away, then wait with its mates for the mad exodus of scor |
opportunity to see directly how medium and filmmaker affect the treatment of a particular subject. Though both Scott and Boyle are famously visual, their styles differ greatly, and a story as rich as this affords numerous opportunity for selection and interpretation. Suffice it to say, we’re excited.Richard Starnes has been thrown in jail just for smelling like alcohol.
Every time Roanoke, Virginia, cops drive by they ask him, “You drinking?”
Starnes said usually the answer is yes, but there have been times when he’s sober and police lock him up anyway.
“They’ll say, ‘I smell alcohol on your breath.’ And I say ‘Give me a Breathalyzer’ and they won’t, and tell me ‘I’m taking you to jail anyway because I smell alcohol,” Starnes told The Daily Beast.
Starnes is one of thousands who say they’ve been put on a secret blacklist in Virginia that limits him from being even within smelling distance of an open container. It’s known as the Interdiction List, and as it says, anybody “shown himself to be a habitual drunkard” can be added to it by a prosecutor in a civil proceeding, often in absentia. Once people are on the list, they’re forbidden to possess, purchase, or consume alcohol. Starnes can’t even go into 7-Eleven without suspicion.
“My picture is in that book and I can’t buy beer and I can’t be around anybody who’s drinking,” he said.
The 50-year-old used to be homeless, spending empty-stomach nights under a pitched tent or a bridge. Thanks to the constant trips to the clink, he’s barely scratching by.
A new class-action lawsuit brought by the Charlottesville, Virginia-based Legal Aid Justice Center accuses Roanoke and four other cities of using the “habitual drunkard” law to sweep of the poor and indigent like Starnes off the streets.
“This is unconstitutional,” attorney Mary Frances Charlton of the Legal Aid Justice Center said. “It’s a civil court and yet a prosecutor can ask the local trial court to slap this label on an individual in the community. They don’t get a lawyer, they aren’t given the right to confront witnesses like they would in criminal court, and often they’re not even present.
“Once this label is slapped on them through civil proceedings any possession of alcohol is punished by up to a year in jail.”
She added that the framework of what a habitual drunkard is is purely arbitrary and that the punishments are meted out without any second thought.
“This is turning the jailhouse door into a revolving door.”
What’s more, people on the interdicted list are punished for the same crime more harshly. When most Virginias are caught with an open container, they’re given a citation and a $250 fine. But when an a person on the interdicted list is caught with a brown bag of hooch, the fine leaps up to $2,500 and the person can be jailed for up to one year for committing a Class 1 misdemeanor.
More than 600 people have been jailed under the statute in Virginia Beach since 2007 and at least 140 have been in Roanoke so far. Out of the 7,020 countable homeless in Virginia, the numbers of interdicted convictions over the past 10 years was 4,743.
Police departments and city attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit cites the statute’s reliance on dated science and placating various homeless people who are being booked for their addiction and taken away in what seem like innocuous incidents: sitting near open containers and/or “having a detectable odor of alcohol on or near their person.” That means merely napping on a bench by a trashcan full of empties or taking cough medicine could be a crime.
Moreover, the homeless have some of the fewest of chances to seek treatment for what is often referred to clinically as chronic alcoholism and therefore there is “only a remote likelihood exists that a homeless alcoholic will achieve lasting sobriety… nevertheless police routinely arrest—and Commonwealth Attorneys often prosecute” them. The statute is used to repeatedly arrest and jail homeless alcoholics for possession of alcohol…[and] effectively criminalizes alcohol use disorder—or disease—for homeless individuals.”
Perhaps most frightening is how individuals are placed on the list in the first place.
According to the lawsuit, a civil proceeding transpires where a prosecutor can go before a judge and declare that John or Jane Doe is a “habitual drunkard/inebriate” and just like that he or she is blacklisted without due process.
The lawsuit suggests that “there is a strong liberty interest at stake” when hearings are held essentially in secret without a defendant or a legal attorney present to counter the alcohol aspersions.
Getting off the list is also shrouded in secrecy.
“They never said how I get off the list,” Starnes said. “I asked and they never gave me an honest answer.”
According to the civil lawsuit, “Virginia law provides no clear standards and procedures for removing the ‘habitual drunkard’ label under the Interdiction Statute.” That means that if your name is on the list for whatever reason it can be indelible. “Thus, once interdicted, a person often carries the label of ‘habitual drunkard’ for life.”
Not every person on the list is homeless or walking around with an open container. Some have been convicted of DUI offenses and part of their probation is to seek treatment and voluntarily agree to be put on the list for a matter of time.
Michael Buika is a student at Old Dominion University who agreed to be interdicted for five years after his second conviction for driving under the influence.
“I agreed to it because it was part of the plea bargain,” he told The Daily Beast. “They said I can’t be caught in possession or be caught purchasing it for five years.”
The 26-year-old student is taking his punishment and sobriety in stride.
“I don’t foresee myself being put in a predicament. I’m almost two years sober and I’m focused on finishing my bachelor’s degree.”
“This is only temporary.”
A woman who is a registered private nurse told us she was also given a pass to buy alcohol because “my patients require that so I have a stipulation,” she told us, also requesting her name be withheld.
A 27-year-old Virginia Beach native who was also interdicted after a DUI said he had been jailed for watching football at a bar because “I don’t have cable.”
After a fight spilled out to the sidewalk, the man, who wished to remain anonymous fearing reprisals, stepped out to watch the melee and was quizzed by cops. After scanning his ID, the cop said: “You’re interdicted. You’re not allowed to be here.”
“I said, ‘What does that mean?’”
The man had signed a form before being released from jail for DUI to be added to the interdicted list.
“They game me forms and I signed everything,” he put it simply. Since the bar incident, he’s paid a $2,500 fine and now has to go through a 12-week rehab program. Even after all that it’s uncertain if he will be removed from the list.
Another “habitual drunkard” is Roanoke-based Bryan Manning, who has had 30-some prosecutions for alcohol-related offenses. While shopping at a Walmart “store where alcohol was sold,” the lawsuit explains, the 49-year-old construction worker was approached by a cop who caught a whiff of his breath and claimed he’d been boozing (although Manning protested that he hadn’t consumed any alcohol). “He was nevertheless interdicted without being granted an attorney,” the court papers claim.
Manning has endured a great deal beyond just alcohol. Six of his family members have all committed suicide and he has been left by his wife after his drinking became too hard to kick.
“They [cops] say, ‘Hey you’re drinking. And they come up to me and start roughhousing,’” Manning told The Daily Beast. “I might be walking up the road with a couple beers or a 12-pack and they stop and pick me up and everything.”
The gotcha method has become too familiar for a man who believes he’s being wrongfully harassed by Roanoke cops.
“They know my name and stuff and they tell me, ‘You shouldn’t be getting beer, being homeless.’ It’s a big nightmare, OK.
“I’m so afraid to walk down the street and I really just want to be left alone.”
He’s also pleading for help rather than prison. “I tell them I’m suicidal and they only say, ‘We’re taking you to jail anyway.’”
There is a better way to deal with alcohol and alcoholism than using a law that dates back to 1873.
In 1994 a state task force set out to try to remedy Virginia’s public drunkard issues in a report entitled, The Impact of Public Inebriates on Community and Criminal Justice Services Systems. The report said while the costly practice of jailing the majority of “those arrested for public intoxication,” it is “not effective with the repeat offender.”
Instead, the task force suggested treatments and drunk tanks as more promising alternatives for this crisis.
“Public inebriate centers and social detoxification facilities are cost effective measures to divert public inebriates form Virginia’s jails.”
For unexplained reasons the statute remained and only added legal language effectively criminalizing public drunkenness as a misdemeanor.
The law is antiquated and a major abortion of justice, says Fredericksburg, Virginia-based attorney Andrew Flusche. He told The Daily Beast that branding American citizens as serial inebriates (especially in absentia) could set a slippery slope.
“Some people might accuse me of being Chicken Little,” he said. “We’re creating a class of alcohol-offenders.This article is about Shepard's apartment on Intai'sei in Mass Effect. For Shepard's Apartment on the Citadel in Mass Effect 3, see Personal Apartment.
is a building on the Alliance colony world of Intai'sei
“This mission just got a lot more complicated.” — Spoilers for Mass Effect follow.
Background Edit
The house originally belonged to Admiral Tadius Ahern, the commander of Pinnacle Station, who requested it dropped on the world for when and if he decided to retire. Since he did not want to retire any time soon, he made a wager with Shepard: his retirement house versus the Commander's life in a unique scenario he programmed into the Station's Combat Simulator.
The scenario recreated one of his missions during the First Contact War. Ahern said that if Shepard died while attempting to complete it, the incident would be logged as "User Error" so he did not have the death of the galaxy's first human Spectre on his hands. Shepard managed to complete the scenario and true to his word, Ahern gave the property over.
Layout Edit
The house is a basic prefabricated structure with a small hallway and a large great room making up both the living space and the bedroom.
The hallway consists of a Medical Station like the one in the Medbay of the SSV Normandy where Shepard can receive a full resupply of Medi-gel. More unusually it also contains a grenade dispenser that will replenish the Commander's stock of grenades. Finally, it contains a wall of weapons on display, but ready to use, as that is a necessary part of colony life.
The large quarter-sphere window in the main room offers a spectacular view of the planet, the other structures, and the Mako which is parked right outside. The room contains an entertainment screen for playing music, which can be turned on and off. A couple of couches, facing the windows, populate the room as well as plants and various house paraphernalia.
The personal terminal near the bed contains a message for Ahern about getting supplies. Shepard can use the terminal to get access to low, medium, or high grade armor, weapons, and mods for prices a lot cheaper than the stores elsewhere will sell them for, usually. Perhaps even more important than the pricing arrangements, the Commander can obtain some of the finest items in the galaxy using this terminal.
Trivia EditCastaway Paradise is the nearest thing you can get to Animal Crossing on the iPad. A little to close for comfort though?
My family are big fans of Animal Crossing, we've played pretty much every console version -- even buying a second hand Gamecube on eBay to play the original. With this in mind my children were excited to hear about an Animal Crossing clone that popped up on the iPad recently.
Castaway Paradise has so far been soft launched in New Zealand, Canada (and today Vietnam). Although not yet available in the States or UK. We got a friend to try the game out for us and discovered that this is really similar to Animal Crossing, not only in terms of the art style but also narration, speech and game mechanics.
The game is really impressive and updated with timely content (again as with Animal Crossing) like the recent World Cup features. It also runs smoothly on the iPad and feels natural to use the touch screen to interact with the world.
As with Animal Crossing my kids are fascinated with the fishing side of the game. I think there is something about the water surrounding the island being populated by a hidden population of sea-life that is magical for them. Castaway Paradise certainly delivers on this magic with top drawer execution.
The main issue here may be how good the game is. It will undoubtedly draw attention from Nintendo in terms of its similarity to their title. If you want to play the game, getting hold of it before it lands in the larger app stores may be the best option.
Either way it reminded my family how brimming with life Animal Crossing is (and how fast the weeds grow in the summer). The last few days have seen a renewed enthusiasm for the 3DS version in our household (and much plucking of said weeds).Casey Key resident speaks to the Herald-Tribune before a Bookstore1Sarasota signing Wednesday
SARASOTA — To help celebrate its new location, Bookstore1Sarasota brought in one of the area’s — and the world’s — most iconic living literary figures.
Stephen King, who lives in Maine and Casey Key, visited for a sold-out book signing Wednesday at the bookstore on Palm Avenue in downtown Sarasota.
In an exclusive interview with the Herald-Tribune, King said he grew up unable to afford buying much at bookstores, frequenting libraries and drugstores’ paperback racks instead.
Now that he can afford them, many people send him books for free. But he said he loves visiting bookstores, particularly Bookstore1Sarasota.
“I love to come to this place because they have everything, they hand-sell, it’s well-lighted, you can browse,” King said. “I can’t browse as freely as I used to because people come up and say, ‘Are you him?’”
He is the author of beloved, bestselling novels such as “The Shining,” “Carrie,” “The Stand” and “It,” which were then adapted into successful movies and television series.
The author came to sign copies of his 2016 book “End of Watch,” the third in a trilogy of crime novels following Detective Bill Hodges.
King has credited author and longtime Sarasota resident John D. MacDonald, including in a Herald-Tribune column, as a huge influence on his work. MacDonald’s crime writing helped reject the idea that genre fiction and great literature are separate worlds — a belief King said many people still had while he was teaching a college seminar on popular fiction.
“I wanted to talk about books that were popular and still could count as literature,” King said. “I taught this John D. MacDonald book in that course called ‘The End of the Night,’ which I still tell people to read to get an idea of what you can do with popular fiction.”
Father-and-son effort
King soon will have a new book, which he co-wrote with son Owen King, called “Sleeping Beauties” set for release in September. (Another son of his, pen name Joe Hill, is also an author).
The story takes place in a world where all women have fallen asleep in a cocoon-like gauze and turn feral and violent if awoken, leaving men to themselves. King and his son had initially considered making a limited television series out of the premise, but believing that would bring too many other people into the process, spent two years writing it as a novel together.
“The way that it worked was we went back and forth, like tennis, like the book is the ball,” King said. “I’d have it for three or four weeks and he’d have it for maybe three or four weeks or maybe a little bit longer. He’s a slower composer than I am, but he’s very, very good — very sharp, very funny.”
King, 69, said there’s been a lot of interest in the novel even before its publication, particularly with the ever-relevant topic of women’s rights.
“It just turned out when we were writing this book, it never even occurred to us all of a sudden the whole question of women’s rights and the way men that behave toward women (would arise.)” King said. “I think in a way what made us a fortune was that tape of Trump saying, ‘I grab them by the p---y.’ It just woke people up in some way.”
King participated and spoke at the Sarasota Women’s Solidarity March in January, which he said was a cathartic experience for everyone involved.
“A lot of us were really depressed and that thing was the day after the inauguration,” King said. “And for everybody to come together and feel there was still a chance to make change and not to roll back everything that happened during the Obama years, that was good.”
In addition to his upcoming book, there will be two films based on his work — a remake of “It” and “The Dark Tower” — hitting multiplexes this year.
King also has entered the streaming service game. Hulu made a television series of his novel “11/22/63” and has ordered another series called “Castle Rock,” based on the fictional Maine town that frequently appears in King’s writing. Netflix will also make two films adapting his novel “Gerald’s Game” and novella “1922,” both of which King has seen and said are terrific.
“And I’ve seen ‘It’ the film, and that’s terrific,” King said. “And I’ve seen ‘The Dark Tower’ and that’s terrific.”
Bookstore1Sarasota owner Georgia Court said this is the second time King has done an in-store book signing for the business and the fourth event overall, including two fundraisers for the Manatee County Library Foundation.
King not only did the appearances for free, he brought his friend and fellow best-selling author John Grisham to one of the fundraisers. He also accepted no appearance fee.
“This is unheard of on that fundraising circuit, totally unheard of,” Court said. “He deserves all kinds of credit for his generosity to this area.”Deploying 20,000 more U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southwestern border as proposed in an immigration reform bill passed by the Senate would be “a huge waste of resources,” according to former border agents, who say that money should be used to track down dangerous criminal aliens nationwide.
Criminal aliens pose a “clear and present danger” to the American people and anything resembling amnesty or a path to citizenship at this point in time “will ensure further endangerment of the American family unit,” according to the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), a group that includes several former Border Patrol sector chiefs and former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service regional directors.
“We believe there are a sufficient number of Border Patrol agents on the border,” said NAFBPO Chairman Zack Taylor, a retired Border Patrol agent and supervisor who spent 26 years patrolling the Mexican border in Texas and Arizona. “Real border security must begin with effective interior enforcement in every jurisdiction in all 50 states.”
The “real question” facing Congress is how many U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will need to be trained and put into place to handle the sheer number of criminal aliens in the U.S.
Mr. Taylor said the 20,000 additional border agents would do nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration.
The Senate voted last month to add the 20,000 agents to the southwestern border and require a total of 700 miles of fencing within a decade. Currently, 21,394 Border Patrol agents are deployed along the nation’s borders, compared with 8,597 in fiscal 2000 and 3,496 in fiscal 1993.
In a 67-27 vote, 15 Republicans joined Democrats in backing the manpower and infrastructure, but other Senate Republicans balked, saying the enhancements were chimerical and should not be used to cover over what they argued was a bad bill that does not do enough to enforce the laws and stop another wave of illegal immigration.
The Senate measure would cost more than $46 billion to pay for the additional agents and the fencing, drones, helicopters and sensors it requires.
To win GOP votes on the Senate floor, the “Gang of Eight” senators who wrote the immigration bill accepted an amendment from Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican, and Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota Republican, to add the agents and fencing.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican and a Gang of Eight member, said the spending alone is good enough, because there is no way it can fail to end in security.
“I’ve been working on this for almost a decade with Sen. [John] McCain. I can look anybody in the eye and tell them that if you put 20,000 Border Patrol agents on the border in addition to the 20,000 we’ve already got — that’s one every 1,000 feet — that will work,” Mr. Graham said. “If you build the fence, that all helps. So I don’t need any more than just getting it in place.”
The Congressional Budget Office “has reaffirmed that immigration reform reduces the debt and grows the economy,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat and chief sponsor of the bill. “It also shows the Corker-Hoeven amendment further substantially reduces the flow of illegal immigrants, even using a methodology that underestimates how effective immigration reform will be in reducing that flow.”
House Republicans have not been as receptive. Rep. Michael T. McCaul of Texas, chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that the Senate bill was “a bunch of, you know, candy thrown down there — a bunch of assets thrown down there to gain votes — but without a methodical, smart border approach.”
In a separate statement, Mr. McCaul described the Senate’s “border surge” as a “textbook example of government waste,” adding that it arbitrarily throws resources at the border without a long-term national strategy or required outcomes. He said the Department of Homeland Security has never developed a comprehensive plan to achieve operational control of the border, which is why the government continues to see illegal border crossings shift.
“Unless we require a nationwide, results-based plan, we will inevitably spend countless taxpayer dollars only to repeat this debate a decade from now,” he said.
Mr. McCaul has introduced the Border Security Results Act, one of several immigration reform packages pending in the House, that mandates a border security plan that is evaluated by outside specialists and compels Homeland Security to develop a comprehensive outcome-based strategy — defined as stopping 90 percent of illegal border crossers.
The nonpartisan CBO said the McCaul bill, known as HR 1417, would require Homeland Security to measure the effectiveness of the department’s border security strategy at U.S. ports of entry and along U.S. borders. The CBO also said the bill would direct the inspector general’s office at Homeland Security to carry out covert testing of security at ports of entry and report the results to the Congress.
Based on information from the affected agencies and the costs of similar activities, the CBO estimated that implementing HR 1417 would cost about $5 million from appropriated funds over the 2014-18 period, and that enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenue and would impose no costs on state, local or tribal governments.
Earlier this month, the CBO said the Senate bill would keep tens of thousands of additional illegal immigrants from crossing the border each year, but would still stop only between a third and half of future illegal immigration.
The agency’s analysis, which takes into account the 20,000 additional Border Patrol agents and 350 miles of new pedestrian fencing, said the bill would close the border to about 1.3 million people over the next decade but about 4 million more illegal immigrants still would get through.
Mr. Taylor said achieving real border security requires aggressive expansion of the government’s 287(g) authority, which allows state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into a partnership with ICE, under a joint memorandum of understanding, to receive delegated authority for immigration enforcement within their jurisdictions.
He said border security also depends on the government’s ability to close down sanctuary cities, fair and universal employer sanctions, and the denial of other benefits such as welfare, public housing and the granting of identification — such as driver’s licenses — that “enable the criminal element to continue concealing their presence in our communities.”
“For years, the illegal aliens being apprehended by percentages ranging from 17 to 30 percent already have criminal records inside the United States,” he said. “A significant percentage of these illegal aliens are violent criminals and the number requiring further prosecution prior to removal may exceed 3 million.”
He said the illegal drug and alien situation has spread to more than 2,000 U.S. cities and those engaged in both of these criminal activities are “virtually inseparable.”
“This threat to public safety must be addressed first and in that process there is a reasonable likelihood that potential terrorists will also be identified and removed or incarcerated,” he said. “They live among us.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Bitcoin is virtual currency with no central bank or government. What does the federal government think of it? The IRS could do a better job telling people they have to pay tax on Bitcoin transactions, says a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report gives a few simple examples too:
Bill is a Bitcoin miner. He successfully mines 25 Bitcoins. Bill may have earned taxable income from his mining activities. Carol makes T-shirts and sells them over the Internet. She sells a T-shirt to Bill, who pays her with Bitcoins. Carol may have earned taxable income from the sale of the T-shirt.
In short, people trading in Bitcoins may think they are avoiding taxes. But they are not, at least not always. And forget IRS silence. The IRS is unlikely to continue its watchful waiting, it seems. The new report says the IRS should watch Bitcoin and other virtual currencies closely.
Why? Exactly why you’d think. Virtual property and currency can be exchanged for real goods, services, and currency. That means transactions that should generate tax dollars for Uncle Sam. Yet virtual currencies raise obvious tax compliance problems. What should the IRS do?
Regulate it, says GAO. See GAO: IRS Needs to Keep an Eye on Virtual Currencies. The IRS started watching such issues in 2007. In 2009, the IRS posted information on its website on the tax consequences of virtual economy transactions. However, IRS has not provided taxpayers with information specific to virtual currencies. Does that mean IRS doesn’t care?
Nope, but GAO says the lack of formal guidance can cause some people to assume tax doesn’t apply. GAO recommends that IRS disseminate the basic tax reporting requirements. Already, the IRS has agreed.
Since many Bitcoin transactions are essentially bartering, the IRS can be expected to draw from its Bartering Tax Center. Soon the IRS may have a Bitcoin Center too. The Treasury unit called FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, already has rules about Bitcoin and the IRS is likely to follow.
In the meantime, the tax rules seem pretty clear. If you provide services or sell goods for Bitcoin, you have income. If you exchange Bitcoins for cash, whether you have gain may depend on whether Bitcoin is really currency or commodity. The latter seems more likely, meaning you have gain to the extent of the appreciation in your Bitcoin.
Income is income, whether you get it in cash or in kind. Bitcoin may be accepted as currency and may not be easy to trace but so are trades and barters. When you barter or swap one item for another, both parties have tax consequences. That’s so even if one party wants credit for later. See IRS Takes A Bite Out Of Bitcoin.
Form 1099 Reporting? Information reporting requirements don't apply specifically to transactions using virtual economies or currencies, right? Maybe, but they aren’t explicit exempt either. Virtual economy or currency transactions may be subject to third-party information reporting to the extent that these transactions involve the use of a third-party payment network to mediate the transaction and the taxpayer meets reporting threshold requirements. The government worries these things are inherently difficult to track. They want to identify the true identities of the parties.
Tax Evasion. Is Bitcoin a way to evade taxes? The report agrees these transactions are difficult to trace. Some taxpayers may use them to hide taxable income. Many more just haven't thought about taxes.
There is confusion whether transactions in Bitcoin should be treated as property, barter, foreign currency, or a financial instrument. How you see it can determine the tax treatment. Barter transactions may be the most logical treatment, but not everyone agrees. Besides, even without Bitcoins or other exotica, bartering transactions are inherently under-reported. See Trades And Swaps? IRS Gets A Piece (Really).
And then there is tax basis. If you sell something for less than you paid, you shouldn’t have gain. That’s true in U.S. dollars or in Bitcoin. If you sell something at a garage sale, you may or may not have income.
Brave new world? GAO and IRS don’t think so.
You can reach me at Wood@WoodLLP.com. This discussion is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional.Release a flight of arrows upon charging calvary. Storm the castle walls amongst the ring of swords and axes. Bash spears, daggers, and mace hafts, blades, and hilts.
The Free Medieval Weapons Sound FX Library features almost 600 weapon hits, archery fx, weapon drawing, sheathing, and whooshes to recreate the battles of the middle ages.
580 sound clips (track list).
192 kHz, 24-bit mono WAV files.
340 megabytes.
Expertly mastered, and lovingly curated.
Instant, secure download.
Includes 19+ fields of metadata in 4 formats (Soundminer, BWAV, MacOS Spotlight, ID3v2).
This sound library is made available by kind permission from the original field recordists from Still North Media.
Our mastering techs and sound librarians hand-picked our favourite sound effects from the original recordings. They performed sonic tweaking (EQ, gentle de-noising, adding fades, balancing levels) and comprehensive organization (descriptive names, categorization, performance isolation).
The result is a newly curated community library of medieval weapons that’s completely free of charge.
Weapons: Axe
Dagger
Katana
Mace
Norse sword
Sabre
Seax
Spear
Weapon swinging whooshes
Bow: English longbow
Scythian recurve bow
Crossbow
Bow and crossbow shoot
Arrow and bolt fly up and by
Arrow and bolt nock and set
Arrow fletching
MP3 – $0.00
CD Quality (44.1 KHz/16-bit) – $0.00
Pro (192 kHz/24-bit) – $0.00 Add to Cart Checkout Added to cart
Many thanks for the folks at Still North Media for making this sound library available to us all.
Learn more about this collection in the sound library announcement blog post.
The Free Medieval Weapons Sound FX Library Includes:
Click to view take breakdown Click to view take breakdown Arrow fletching strumming with a crackle to a strong finish
Arrow fletching strumming fast and descending
Arrow fletching strumming fast and descending crisply
Arrow fletching strumming fast and hesitating
Arrow fletching strumming fast and rustling to a pop
Arrow fletching strumming fast and thin
Arrow fletching strumming slowly with a strong finish
Arrow fletching strumming slowly with a strong finish and a snap
Arrow fletching strumming slowly with a swell
Arrow fletching strumming slowly and weakly to moderate
Arrow fletching strumming very fast and brief
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a concise release
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a deep release
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a mid-toned release
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a mid-high-toned release
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a swipe and release
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a ripple
Arrow fletching strumming very fast while sliding with a slight ripple
Arrow fletching strumming very fast while sliding with a swipe
Arrow fletching strumming very fast and strong
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a swipe
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with a strong swipe
Arrow fletching strumming very fast with two tones
Axe hitting a dagger, blade on blade with a fast hit to scrape
Axe hitting a dagger, blade on blade with a low hit to scrape
Axe hitting a dagger, blade on blade with a hit to tiny hit
Axe hitting a dagger, blade on blade, simple
Axe hitting a dagger, blade on blade, simple and high
Axe hitting a dagger, haft to blade, solid
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, bored
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, concise
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, double
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade with a hack
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, hard
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, high
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, lazy
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade with a smack
Axe hitting a katana, blade on blade, weak
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade, dull
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade, high
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a hit and a slide
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a hit and a slick slide
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a hit to scraping
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a hit to weak scraping
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a hit to weak and coarse scraping
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade, simple
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a slight scrape
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade with a dull smack
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade, tight and high
Axe hitting a katana, haft on blade, weak
Axe hitting a mace, haft on blade, complex
Axe hitting a mace, haft on blade, hard
Axe hitting a mace, haft on blade with a hit to a subtle clatter
Axe hitting a mace, haft on blade, sing
Axe hitting a mace, haft on blade, sing with ringing
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, double
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, double and sharp
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, dull with scraping
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, high
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, sharp
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, strong
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, strong to scraping
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, strong and deep
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, strong and thing
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on blade, weak
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt, dull and low
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt, sharp
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt while skipping
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt while skipping deeply
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt slowly and thoughtfully
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt, thin 1
Axe hitting a sabre, blade on hilt, thin 2
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, double, strong and light
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, dull and deep 1
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, dull and deep 2
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, dull and high 1
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, dull and high 2
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, dull and low
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, dull and low and muted
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on blade, sharp
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, light
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, light with a smack
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, sliding to a hit
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, sliding slickly to a hit
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, sliding thoughtfully to a hit
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, sliding weakly to a hit
Axe hitting a sabre, haft on hilt, staggered
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, firmly
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, hitting to sliding 1
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, hitting to sliding 2
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, hitting to sliding, hesitant
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, hitting to sliding, low
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, sharp
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, simple
Axe hitting a spear, blade on blade, simple and deep
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, dull and low
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, high
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, hit to sliding
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, hit to sliding, bored
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, low
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, messy
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, mid-toned
Axe hitting a spear, haft on blade, simple |
artillery fire on the forward ARVN outpost, killing two of the five remaining ARVN Seals. The wounded were evacuated the next morning.[31]
Norris was left with only three Vietnamese commandos. During their search for Hambleton on the night of 12 April, they headed upriver more than 4 kilometers (2.5 mi), slipping through a massive NVA force.[31] During the night, upon seeing the extremely large number of North Vietnamese forces, two of the commandos declined to advance further, saying they "refused to follow an American just to rescue an American".[7] Norris convinced them to stay by persuading them that the only way they would get back to safety was to stay with the team.[31] They cautiously searched the river shore for two more hours without success and reluctantly returned to their forward operating base to rest and hope they would be more successful the next night.[14] Icke fixed Hambleton's position during the day so Norris could find him that night.[33]
On the night of 13 April, Norris didn't dare take the two ARVN soldiers who had faltered the night before.[31] He was prepared to go alone when Petty Officer Third Class Nguyễn Văn Kiệt[14] volunteered to go with him.[5] Norris bluntly told Nguyễn that he wasn't sure either one of them would return. They worked their way slowly upriver until they came upon an empty, destroyed village.[34] They found clothing and an abandoned sampan. Nguyễn and Norris, who was slightly built, donned Vietnamese clothing and disguised themselves as fishermen.[31] They rowed quietly up river, but even in the pitch dark and dense fog they could see large numbers of North Vietnamese soldiers and tanks on the shoreline. Stopping to check his map at one point, Norris suddenly realized that two NVA soldiers were sitting about 10 meters (33 ft) away. However, they were asleep. Traveling upriver in the sampam, they broke out of the heavy fog and found themselves about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) from their starting point, under the Cam Lo bridge. They had passed Hambleton's position more than 30 minutes ago. Turning around, they worked their way south before putting ashore and began to search for Hambleton.[31] They finally found him sitting in a clump of bushes, alive but partly delirious and extremely weakened, having eaten only four small ears of corn in 12 days and having lost 45 pounds (20 kg) since his plane was shot down.[31] He weighed only 128 pounds (58 kg). Sunrise was coming, and although Norris thought it best to wait until dark to return downriver, Hambleton needed to be evacuated immediately. Despite the risk, Norris and Nguyễn hid Hambleton in the bottom of the sampan, covered him with bamboo, and started downriver.[14]
Daylight evacuation [ edit ]
After his rescue, Iceal Hambleton is moved on a stretcher before his transfer to a hospital in Da Nang.
Their sampan was soon spotted by North Vietnamese troops, some of whom fired at them, but Norris and Nguyễn could not afford to return fire. They paddled furiously, using the current and dense foliage along the far side of the river to their advantage, and trying to out-distance the soldiers. However, when they rounded a bend in the river, the NVA fired on them with a heavy caliber machine gun. They pulled the sampan to the bank and turned it over to provide some cover. Icke in Bilk 11 overhead called in air support and five U.S. Navy A-4 Skyhawks led by Lt. Denny Sapp[35]:95 from the carrier Hancock killed a number of North Vietnamese troops and provided cover for his final escape. Two A-1 Skyraiders also assisted, dropping both explosives and MK47 smoke bombs, providing a smokescreen. Returning to the river, the three men were soon able to receive support from South Vietnamese forces. Landing on the river bank, they were met by some ARVN soldiers. Hambleton was unable to walk and they carried him back to their bunker. There, an M113 armored personnel carrier carried Hambleton, Norris and Nguyen back to Brigade Headquarters in Dong Ha.[14]
News reporters were very aware of the intense rescue efforts to bring Hambleton home.[19]:70 When the rescue team and Hambleton arrived at Dong Ha, a reporter commented to Norris, "It must have been tough out there. I bet you wouldn't do that again." Norris replied, "An American was down in enemy territory. Of course I'd do it again."[14]
From Dong Ha, Hambleton was transported via US Army 571st Dustoff helicopter, Lt. Ken Warner Aircraft Commander (Dustoff 502) to 95th Evacuation Hospital, Da Nang. He was shortly afterward evacuated to the hospital at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines where he recuperated for a month.[36]
Norris began to plan for the rescue of Walker, still more than a kilometer behind front lines. Walker managed to evade capture for almost 11 days when on the night of 18 April, without FAC coverage, he moved on his own accord and ran into a local villager who alerted the North Vietnamese.[19]:70 They began tracking him and the next morning the FAC saw NVA very near Walker's position. Walker radioed the FAC that rescue should not be attempted because NVA forces were closing in and he was under fire. Bilk 36, a OV-10A flown by FAC 1st Lt. Mickey Fain, reported that Walker was surrounded by more than 20 NVA soldiers and shortly afterward saw his body lying in the grass.[10] Walker's body was never recovered.[10]
Rescue cost [ edit ]
There were no rules to apply to determine when a search and rescue was no longer cost effective.[2]:28
SAR priority [ edit ]
The Air Force remained fully committed to finding and bringing back every downed air man, regardless of the cost. Air crew's morale depended on it. Search and rescue was based on the premise that it was necessary "to secure the safety of pilots as valuable military assets and to enhance their effectiveness by boosting morale."[2]:29 On 2 June 1972, General John Vogt, commander of the 7th Air Force, sent a huge task force of 119 aircraft to rescue Capt. Roger Locher, a F-4 weapons officer who during Operation Linebacker had been shot down only 64 kilometers (40 mi) from Hanoi.[37] When he was picked up by a HH-53 from the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, he was within 5 miles (8.0 km) of the heavily defended Yên Bái Air Base and had eluded capture while covering 19 kilometers (12 mi) in North Vietnamese territory for 23 days.[38]
I had to decide whether we should risk the loss of maybe a dozen airplanes and crews just to get one man out. Finally I said to myself, Goddamn it, the one thing that keeps our boys motivated is the certain belief that if they go down, we will do absolutely everything we can to get them out. If that is ever in doubt, morale would tumble. That was my major consideration. So I took it on myself. I didn't ask anybody for permission. I just said, "Go do it!"[2]:30
There were also political overtones to Hambleton's rescue. "U.S. personnel held as prisoners of war constituted a serious political liability to the U.S. government."[2]:29
As many as 90 sorties a day were called in to suppress North Vietnamese forces around Hambleton.[3][39] In contrast, prior to the Easter Offensive, the number of daily sorties was about 10, and during the action, peaked at about 300. During the multi-day effort to rescue the men, the Americans hit the North Vietnamese with over 800 air strikes in direct support of the rescue.[19]:70[39] Search and rescue took priority over almost all strike targets.[2]:30
No-fire zone enforced [ edit ]
To protect the downed airmen and the search and rescue forces, Col. Cecil Muirhead ordered the 7th Air Force to establish a standard 27 kilometers (17 mi) no-fire zone around Hambleton shortly after he went down.[3]:118[17]:68 It remained in effect until 22:00, and while in force it prohibited friendly artillery,[18] naval gunfire, or aircraft from engaging any target within without JSARC approval. The no-fire zone encompassed nearly the entire combat zone of the ARVN 3rd Division including the crucial Cam Lo Bridge. As a result, the South Vietnamese Army in the area was severely hampered in its efforts to stem the NVA offensive against Dong Ha and Quang Tri City.[3]:68 During this six-hour period, thousands of NVA troops pushed into the region, designated Military Region 1.
When it was seen that NVA forces were pouring through the gap unimpeded, the no-fire zone was reduced at 22:00 that night,[40] but not before the action generated considerable debate. One ranking adviser commented, "When viewed in relation to all the events of the day, a worse decision could not have been made."[2]:31 The 3rd ARVN had lost most of its artillery in the first two days of the offensive, and in fact had surrendered two of their batteries intact to the NVA.[2]:31 Hambleton commented after the war, "If the taxpayers and my neighbors knew what it cost to pull me out of there, they'd probably shoot me."[2]:32
Maj. David A. Brookbank, a U.S. Air Force liaison with the 3rd Division, reported, "The operation cost the 3rd ARVN dearly." He concluded that the restriction gave the North Vietnamese "an opportunity unprecedented in the annals of warfare to advance at will." He stated, "It seems logical to assume that many South Vietnamese troops died because air and artillery support were not available."[3]:120 He warned his superiors that the 3rd Division's officers resented the fact that the 7th Air Force would put thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers' lives at risk to rescue one of their own.[18]:318
American response to the NVA operation virtually ground to a halt[16]:251 as air resources were diverted to support the recovery, and for a few days defense of the northern border area was second in priority to rescuing Hambleton.[18]:318
Casualties [ edit ]
As a direct result of the rescue operation, five aircraft were lost,[19]:70[28] 11 people were killed,[41]:162[19]:69 and two were captured.[19]:69 Additional aircraft were seriously damaged. Hambleton wrote from an Air Force hospital after he was rescued. "I had to stand by and watch six young men die trying to save my life. It was a hell of a price to pay for one life. I'm very sorry."[42] His rescue was, according to Stars and Stripes, "the biggest U.S. air rescue effort of the war."[7]:xi [43]
During the Vietnam War, search and rescue forces saved 3,883 lives at the cost of 71 rescuers and 45 aircraft.[2]:46
Aftermath [ edit ]
The rescue of Bat 21 was a watershed event for the military and led them to find a new approach to high-threat search and rescue. They recognized that, if a SAR mission was predestined to fail, it should not be attempted, and other options, such as special operations, diversionary tactics and other creative approaches tailored to the situation, had to be considered. Recognizing the need for an aircraft that could deliver better close air support, the Air Force accepted the Navy's A-7 Corsair. The military also improved the night capability of helicopters and area denial munitions.[2]:36
Awards and recognition [ edit ]
John Van Etten (Nail 32) received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in this rescue. Jimmy D Kempton received the Distinguish Flying Cross for his BLU-52 suppression mission flown on 4 April, Hambleton received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) and a Purple Heart for his actions during this mission. For their heroic actions in rescuing Hambleton behind front lines, Lt. Thomas R. Norris was recommended for and received the Medal of Honor, although he initially declined to submit the paperwork.
Norris readily supported the nomination of Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet for the Navy Cross, the highest award that the navy can give to a foreign national.[44] Nguyen was the only South Vietnamese Naval member awarded the Navy Cross during the Vietnam War,[45]:277 and one of only two South Vietnamese to receive the award.
Navy investigators reviewed the action, interviewed participants, and recommended Norris for the Medal of Honor. He received it from President Gerald Ford in a White House ceremony on 6 March 1976 attended by Michael Thornton, another Navy SEAL who had saved Norris' life on 31 October 1972.
Hundreds of individuals from dozens of units from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard[11] assisted in Hambleton's rescue,[7]:1and participants in the operation received a total of 234 individual medals.[46]
In 1975, Clark's and Hambleton's rescue was declassified.
POW release and recovery of the dead [ edit ]
Astorga and Henderson were released in March 1973 after the war ended.[47] The remains of the rest of the crew of Bat 21, Hambleton's EB-66E Destroyer, Bolte, Gatwood, Giannangeli, Levis and Serex, have not been recovered. Gatwood left behind a 13-week-old son he had never seen, Robin F. Gatwood III.[48] The remains of Kulland, Frink and Paschall were recovered and returned to the United States in 1995, where they were buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[39][49] The bodies of Potts and Walker have not been recovered to date.[39]
The remains of the crew members of HH-53C Jolly Roger 67, Chapman, Call, Avery, Prater, Pearson and Alley, were returned to the United States on 1 October 1997.[50] The six were honored on 19 November 1997 in a full military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery and a headstone commemorating all six airmen was placed at the site.[51] Hambleton was unable to attend due to poor health, but a letter from him was read. He wrote, "They deserve all the accolades that we, the living, can bestow upon them. Again, I thank them, I honor them, and I will always hold great faith in my heart with them."[51] Clark was present. He told the families of the downed fliers that "Each of you played a distinct role and forming the character of these men who so willingly paid a very dear price to help me get out of the jungles of Vietnam. You have my deepest sympathy—you and these six brave men."[51]
Prater's remains were buried with full military honors on 19 June 2010 by his family.[52] Alley had two weeks remaining on his tour of duty before returning home. He was buried with full military honors in Florida.[42] Avery's remains were buried with full military honors on 6 April 2012. Advancements in DNA testing allowed the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office to officially identify his remains and release them to his family for service at his final resting place.[53]
In popular culture [ edit ]
Fifteen years after the rescue, the USAF held a symposium at Nellis Air Force Base and invited all those directly involved. John Van Etten, whose call sign was Nail 32, had never met Gene Hambleton in person. When he stepped on stage and put out his hand to Gene, he said, "Hello, Gene, I'm John Van Etten," and Gene replied, "No, you're not.... you are Nail 32, I would recognize that voice anywhere!"
Two books were written about the search and rescue operation to bring Hambleton out alive: the first was Bat-21 (1985) by William C. Anderson, and the second, published after considerable classified information was released, The Rescue of Bat 21 (1999) by Darrel D. Whitcomb.
The Lt. Thomas R. Norris building at Naval Special Warfare Group Two in Little Creek, Virginia was named for Norris.[54]
The film Bat*21, starring Gene Hackman as Hambleton, was a dramatized depiction of Hambleton's rescue, based on some of the actual events; Anderson assisted in the screenwriting of the film. Tom Norris' role in the rescue was still secret, and his actions were not depicted in the film.
His rescue was featured in the Vietnam episode of the television series Navy Seals: Untold Stories in 2001.[20]
His rescue was featured in "Mysteries at the Museum" in the 2015 episode "Golfer Behind Enemy Lines." The monoculars used by Lieutenant Colonel Iceal E. "Gene" Hambleton are on display at the Museum of the United States Air Force in a Dayton, Ohio (Mark Odenweller)
Notes [ edit ]
^ FACs from Da Nang Air Force Based used the call signs Covey and Bilk, while aircraft from Nakhon Phanom used Nail.
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]Holy shit. Some of the stuff hidden inside Metal Gear Solid V is ridiculous.
SPOILERS FOR SECRETS INSIDE METAL GEAR SOLID FOLLOW. SPOILER SHIELDING DOG GO!!
Right now, Metal Gear Solid V fans are racking their brains trying to figure out how to trigger a certain datamined scene within Metal Gear Solid V. Nobody has actually gotten it yet—the scene was allegedly obtained by messing with the game’s files—and it doesn’t even seem like it might be possible to get at all.
To understand why, you need to know about some of the mechanics within Metal Gear Solid V. Basically, once you’ve reached a certain point in the game and have amassed the right resources, you can build nukes. Nukes take 27 hours to build, and they look like this:
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[Source: wiiare.in]
Nukes can come into play within the game’s multiplayer mode. Players who have nukes can use them against other players, or they may choose to steal nukes from one another. These nukes can then be disposed of. The benefit of a nuke is that only players with nukes or high enough heroism can strike back against you. Because of this mechanic, there are probably a lot of nukes floating around in Metal Gear Solid V. People are probably building new nukes as you read this right now.
OK. Now enter this scene, posted online by Александр Гольтяев:
As of this writing, nobody knows how for sure to get this scene. There are theories—commenters around the web think that, in order to get it, you may have to “disable EVERYONES nuke” online.
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The scene itself seems to support that—the entire premise of the cutscene after all, is what happens after Mother Base manages to get rid of every nuke. The entire thing comes off as a sort of inspirational speech on the importance of disarmament.
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We can’t say for sure if the whole “TOTAL DISARMAMENT” is the actual trigger for the secret scene. But if it is? That’s phenomenal. It’s a mechanic that drives home a lot of the key concepts behind Metal Gear Solid, as well as highlights the utopian vision holding together Mother Base. And should players ever manage to get this scene legitimately, it it might even prove more fulfilling than the actual lacklaster ending that Metal Gear Solid provides. I can already imagine the sort of dynamics this will inspire—I’m sure some players will actively try to populate the game with more nukes just to stop anyone else from getting the scene. Or, perhaps Metal Gear Solid players will wow us by coming together in the name of peace. Whatever happens, the idea is fuckin’ brilliant.
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Players have tried poking the community manager for Metal Gear to get some answers regarding the nature of the scene, but so far, Konami is being coy about it:
In fact, they’re actually taking down videos hosting this scene online:
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Which kind of makes sense, because this is the sort of incredible thing that many players won’t want to be spoiled on. The rest of us, however, can go on to be awed that this exists at all.
What else is hiding within Metal Gear Solid V, I wonder?This review may contain light spoilers. Skip To The Verdict? »
It’s at the second story that it’s clear this isn’t a book for small children. The first page of the third story is where actual chills start to set in. This book made me shudder. Scooby-doo it aint.
We’re taking a look at Beasts of Burden penned by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Jill Thompson.
I purchased this book on a whim some time ago, using it to fill an Amazon cart. I figured that based on the names involved, it was something worth reading. I somehow missed that the early work here had won two Eisner awards for Best Short Story and Best Painter.
Note: If you ignored the brief note up top about spoilers, I want to mention that this book builds quite well and you may do yourself a slight disservice by learning too much before reading it. My experience with no prior knowledge may be one of the best ways to dive in.
The first third of the book collects three short stories from Dark Horse anthology collections, with a four issue miniseries following it. It’s all served up in a beautifully manufactured hardcover – with no dustjacket, which I always like – and garnished with a small afterword and behind the scenes section, including some very nice full page wordless reprints of Thompson’s cover illustrations.
Dorkin has written a variety of weird and wild work. DC fans may know him from his contributions to Bizarro Comics and Bizarro World, or the Superman/Batman: World’s Funnest prestige. His best known work is probably Milk & Cheese from Slave Labor.
Jill Thompson, of course, is an artist that I was introduced to through her work on Sandman with Neil Gaiman – something I’m sure I share with many readers. She illustrated the Parliament of Rooks story and Brief Lives. Her resume is long and impressive, but Dorkin mentions it was her watercolored Scary Godmother books that made him beg her to work with him on this project.
Together, they build a world where the innocent seeming animals of Burden Hill are the only thing keeping the forces of darkness at bay. Barely at bay, perhaps.
The first story introduces the core of our mostly canine cast, a group of neighborhood pups (and one stray cat) investigating a haunted dog house.
From the outset, the creators show us several distinct personalities reminiscent of classic do-gooder gangs: The calm and confident leader, wise mentor, lovable outsider, posturing strong guy who is quick to spook, and of course, grumpy skeptic – they’re all here in animal form. It’s a technique that lets us become immediately familiar with the set up and opens us to the more subtle storytelling that permeates the volume.
The writing seems very modern and straightforward, sometimes almost to a fault, but I’ve decided that it’s a strength – the book is easy to read.
A voice guides us into the story and wraps it up, giving a feel of classic campfire narration. I had a brief nostalgia hit when it reminded me of the existence of the Bunnicula series, which I listened to on tape as a kid (while I was supposed to be sleeping) also starring a group of household pets in some pretty silly paranormal situations.
So, there are times when it appears that these could be stories you’d tell to your children (and those with older kids or particularly intelligent youngsters may decide they can handle this book.) It’s perhaps slightly more vulgar than Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark, something that kept me up late many a night and certainly added texture to my childhood. And Sandman, another “mature” comic, is highly recommended to teenagers – there’s nothing here that’s worse than there.
Nevertheless, you’ll want to read Beasts of Burden through yourself first. And not just because it’s irresistible (I told myself I got it for my fiance, the animal lover in the household, and would let her read it first this time. The cover enticed me in after a day of silent deliberation.) There are elements that would give this book an R rating as a film or require it to play on HBO as a TV show.
But it’s also a set of beautiful and humanizing tales. Domesticated animals bring out a softer side in many of us. Someone used to seeing the deaths of of countless people on network TV may cringe instantly at the thought of a roadkilled puppy. These particular animals also have easy-going relatable personalities. It all serves to draw you in and place you slightly off guard – it quickly becomes apparent that this is a dangerous world, but these are true innocents.
It’s perhaps a credit to Dorkin and Thompson that I’ve come away from this book with such affection for the cast. I’m not a dog person (we own two cats) so I may have missed some non-verbal cues from part of the cast, but they included several cat-agonists as well – I assume to placate feline preferring people like me, who must make up a significant portion of the horror comic reading population.
The interactions between everyone kept me from being too biased against anyone, but I have to say that the first name I learned was Orphan, that of the stray cat.
I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I’m still a little unclear on the names of several of the dogs in the Burden Hill gang. I recognize Ace and Pugsley the easiest, and Rex was relatively easy to confirm, but I still have trouble with Jack and Whitey.
Some of this is because I’m terrible at identifying dog breeds (I think jack has floppier ears – maybe Whitey is a terrier?), much of it is probably because I was drawn so strongly through the story – a flip back a few pages would probably cement them for me, but I couldn’t resist going forward at a quick pace.
My second time through was just to spend more time with the art. It’s amazing – no need to mince words here. The pages are beautifully painted in watercolor, with particular care paid to the expressions of the cast (body language included.) A single page can contain meticulously detailed realism and exaggerated humor without the switch between the two seeming jarring.
It’s fitting, since the script contains some pretty heavy moments book-ended with dialogue containing phrases such as “Oh Balls!” and “Would you please stop sniffing my ass?”
I could write another thousand words just on the intricacies of the art and how it plays with the unassuming script, but I hope the included scans can speak for themselves without spoiling too much.
The creators have put together something really special here. It starts out with relatively stand-alone stories, and the general plots are done in one, but by the end the book is set up for quite an ongoing arc – which I didn’t really expect at the outset, but I found myself welcoming.
Perhaps the most exciting words included with this book are two small ones on the back cover: “Volume 1.”
Verdict:
5 out of 5. Well deserving of it’s place on Publisher’s Weekly’s Ten Best Graphic Novels of the Year. And at 19.95 cover price, this thick hardcover book is a steal – often well under 20 dollars. The only problem is that it seems like it might be getting harder to find (Amazon is listing the delivery date as 2 to 5 months? I was feeling impatient so ordered it used.)
If you somehow can’t make up your mind, I’ve posted a link to the first 8 page short story from this book over in Uncle Gorby’s Corner of Free Stuff.
Essential Continuity:
There is no existing continuity for this title, but I like to think that it could take place in a corner of any well known paranormal universe – Hellboy, Buffyverse, Vertigo, etc.
If they release more in trade, this will be a good place to start anyway.
Read first:
No prior reading required. But if are a fan of any kind of scary story or animal story, this book should be on your shelf.
Read next:
If Beasts of Burden leaves you slobbering for more (like me) you might want to pick up the recently released Hellboy crossover. I’m personally crossing my fingers for it to appear in the next Beasts collection, which I sincerely hope is in the works.
If you can’t wait for more animal tales from Dorkin and Thompson, checking out some of the other well known Dark Horse titles might fill your needs. Start reading Hellboy or the Buffyverse. There’s a Dawn story in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer Omnibus Vol. 1 that I know you will enjoy.
« Back to the top?I've done a lot of phone banking and even went to an early primary state one year to help my candidate before there were these "bank from home" arrangements. It was grueling because there were many candidates running, and each one had a phone bank calling the same people. The people we called we're getting deluged and, unsurprisingly, sometimes got really rude, even to the point of screaming when I introduced myself and hanging up on me.
But I had to keep calling and I honestly got to where I felt sorrier for the people I was calling than I did for myself having to call people who hated me for it. So I altered my script & started my calls saying what I knew 90% of the people I spoke to had to be thinking/feeling:
"Hi! I'm SO sorry to bother you. I understand if you're sick of all these many campaign calls. Believe me, I'm sick of making them! But I have to because this election is so important..."
I can't tell you what a huge difference it made. Usually the response was they'd laugh and tell me how right I was--they were really fed up with phone calls--but more often than not they even said they agreed with me that I had to make these calls.
By being straightforward and sincere, I disarmed people who had every reason to be irate, and removed that barrier of unwelcoming so I could do my job.
If nothing else, I'm sure this bit of commiserating made my calls stand out from from all the many phone bankers who just stuck with the script without acknowledging the imposition being made on someone's time and the very legitimate feelings that caused.
Just my 2 cents. Use it if you think it'll help!
Good luck & thanks for phone banking! It really is important.You know you’ve escaped civilization when you’re swimming through a coral garden, with only green sea turtles and tropical fish for company. That’s the enticing promise of a trip to Palawan, a chain of white-sand islands in the Philippines.
Palawan is the latest far-flung beach destination to capture the imagination of travelers, specifically, discerning T+L readers who voted it the No. 1 island in the latest World’s Best survey. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the greater the distance traveled, the greater the rewards.
Related: Best Places to Travel in 2014
That said, readers recognized worthy getaways all over the map, from the sultry island of Sicily (No. 8)—where vineyards and ancient ruins vie with beaches for your attention—to the heart-shaped paradise of Moorea, a French Polynesian island known for its blue lagoons and luxurious hideaways.
You can also take your pick from notable islands near America’s East and West coasts: Prince Edward Island, with its seaside cottages and red sand dunes, and Maui, which trumped the other Hawaiian islands, coming in at No. 3 overall.
Whether you prefer a quiet sliver of sand a few time zones from home, or a more accessible and bustling local scene, you’ll find inspiration among these top-rated islands.Two Years And A Million Dollars Later, Project Phoenix Still Doesn’t Have A Programmer
By Chris Priestman. September 28, 2015. 6:45pm
Japanese indie JRPG Project Phoenix was successfully funded two years ago, raising over $1,000,000, and it still doesn’t even have a programmer. The game was originally slated to come out in March 2015.
This news comes out of a recent Kickstarter update that details the current state of the game. “Programming was listed on the KS page as one of our major risks to the project and we got hit by it,” reads the update. “We were holding off for a specific person and ultimately they could not join us. Now we have to get a replacement(s).” These replacements will apparently be paid upfront for their work while the rest of the team will get payment through royalties once the game is out.
Further down in that update it’s revealed that the programmer being waited on is Ori and the Blind Forest’s gameplay programmer David Clark. After having waited for Clark to then have him never join, the team working on Project Phoenix are left with a lot of unfinished work, with none of the textures, script, level design, particle effects, voiceovers, and localization done, and with no Unreal 4 executable to work with either.
You might question why a team with AAA talent might have been waiting on a single programmer for a 60 hour RPG. And to that there is no answer other than Clark is said to be a skilled programmer and the team had its eyes set on working with him. “We hope to be more communicative going forward,” reads the update. “If we are waiting on things, we will let you know. I will put out an update every so often and address development status.”
Due to the huge delay the project has seen already and all the work that is left to do, some Kickstarter backers asked for a refund. Responding to one of them, developer CIA, Inc. said “The policy on Kickstarter doesn’t state we are obligated to give refund in this situation.”
The studio later added to this: “The policy for not being able to refund on the grounds of delay, is the very fact that once we do dish out refunds, it will have to come out of my personal money. Contracts are drawn out, and some payments are already made via CIA. Therefore, I’ll have to take personally responsibility. However, I personally do not have enough money myself to refund everyone if everyone asks for a refund. This is why we have to take the position of not giving out refunds at all, otherwise it will not be fair for everyone.”Filmmaker Bryan Singer is now very much back at the helm of the X-Men movies, having returned to the director’s chair for forthcoming blockbuster X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
But Singer, who has been absent for the past two instalments, admits that walking away from 2006’s disappointing X-Men: The Last Stand was a heart-breaking experience.
In an interview with Metro, the director revealed:
“I’ve never told anybody this, but I found the whole letting go of the characters for X-Men 3 so traumatising that a friend, who shall remain nameless, had to take me to a secret location and show me the reels so far, just so I could make my peace with it.”
Singer left the project to make the poorly received Superman Returns. And he also revealed that he felt that particular superhero project flopped because he was far too invested in the source material.
“I think the problem with Superman Returns was that I really loved the old Richard Donner film and I was too reverential with the material. That, and I tried to put too much in. There wasn’t just a love triangle, there was a love quadrilogy.”
The director’s latest film, fantasy epic Jack The Giant Slayer, is out today in UK cinemas. Find screenings near you on WOW247
What do you think of these remarks from Bryan Singer?
Have your say in the comments below, on Twitter with #wow247 or at our Facebook page"When I saw it, I got scared," Brooks once recalled of the line in question.
Mel Brooks' iconic Western parody Blazing Saddles broke ground with its no-holds-barred approach to comedy, but there was still one joke that went too far and was ultimately left on the cutting room floor.
In an interview Brooks gave in 2012 to late-night host Conan O'Brien, the living legend said he just had a bad feeling about one line, so he pulled it.
"When I saw it, I got scared, " Brooks told O'Brien.
The joke occurred when Sheriff Bart, played by Cleavon Little, goes to visit Lili von Shtupp, played by Madeline Kahn, in her dressing room, and she puts the moves on the duly appointed sheriff of Rock Ridge.
Brooks lays it out: "She blows out the candles, and she says in her German accent, 'Is it true what they say about you people?' And Cleavon says, 'I hate to disillusion you, ma'am, but you're sucking on my arm.'"
Brooks turned 91 on Wednesday.
See his remarks on the joke and the scene below:Over the past five years, Africa’s contributions to the world’s research –- that is, new knowledge –- have varied from a low of 0.7% to the present and highest level of 1.1%.
There are many reasons for Africa’s small contribution to world research. One of them, sadly, is that at least some of this new knowledge is produced by African scientists working beyond their own countries and continent. Many have chosen to leave because they feel the facilities and funding opportunities are better than those “at home”.
It’s also important to point out that the sum of knowledge generated each year, including Africa’s contribution to it, is measured using research articles published by scientists and scholars in scientifically recognised journals. This means some of the actual work that’s being done isn’t getting the attention or credit it deserves, yet. The journal system is not a perfect way of assessing scientific productivity. For now, though, it’s a means that can be applied fairly to document peer reviewed research from around the world.
These concerns aside there is, I’m happy to report, much to celebrate about research in Africa. For starters, the world’s largest collection of peer-reviewed, African-published journals, is growing all the time. African Journals Online currently carries 521 titles across a range of subjects and disciplines |
issue of inequality and the question of the extent to which (and manner in which) U.S. governments, at the federal, state and local level, should redistribute wealth. Our impression is that this cause gets far more attention from philanthropists, nonprofits and intellectuals than questions about helping the global poor, who we feel are more numerous and benefit more from redistribution relative to the U.S. poor. We have not come across any aspects of this broad space that seem appealing by the criteria we’ve laid out.
Our impression is that environmental issues (aside from climate change, discussed in an earlier section) also receive a great deal of attention from philanthropy, and are not particularly likely to be of comparable humanitarian significance.
Trade policy is another major policy area. The main potential benefits we see to working on trade policy pertain to the impact on the developing world, so we’re inclined to classify it with the set of developing-world-oriented policy areas discussed above. Generally, it seems to us (based on loose impressions and no particular source) that there is reasonably strong infrastructure in place representing most relevant perspectives in trade policy, though we have not done a shallow investigation and may in the future.
Defense policy seems clearly important, and we aren’t aware of much in the way of advocacy infrastructure pushing to reduce unnecessary military expenditures and unnecessary military engagements. We plan to investigate this area at some point, but intuitively feel that philanthropy is unlikely to have much impact on this front and that the causes discussed earlier are more promising.
There are a other issue areas that we may investigate at some point, though we consider them less promising than the issues listed above.
Other causes we may focus on in the future, but are not including in the categories above
It can be argued that the strongest impact of philanthropic engagement with policy has been long-term promotion and development of a movement. (For instance, Steve Teles has notably made this argument with respect to the conservative legal movement ). Rather than picking individual policy issues in which to invest, a philanthropist with interests in a number of a causes and clear set of values might achieve more by promoting their general values, along with the people and organizations that share them (since much of the long term benefits of investment in a given area may be in the form of empowering the particular individuals who receive support, who may go on to other things). However, we do not feel that our values are broadly shared by any existing, easily located major political movements.
In particular, we generally favor policy focused on benefiting low-income and otherwise disadvantaged people, even when it involves active government – an attitude often associated with the U.S. political “left” – but we place particularly high value on the developing world. Additionally, we place high emphasis on the value of economic growth and innovation (which we feel are likely to benefit future people). In the long term, we could imagine exploring the possibility of helping to promote a political platform consistent with these values and trying to find, connect, and support people and organizations supporting this platform. We’re aware that people who share these values will have many disagreements over policy, but feel that there could nonetheless be major benefits to laying out, and promoting, a platform that emphasizes both global humanitarianism and economic development.
We think of this as a long-term possibility with highly uncertain value. We are doing some very preliminary work now to explore the idea, but feel that more direct engagement with specific issues will make us better-informed, better-connected, and overall better-positioned to explore such a possibility further down the line.
Policy related to global catastrophic risks. We are treating “global catastrophic risks” as a separate category of work at the moment, and we will be writing more later this year about our likely priorities in that category. So far, we haven’t identified clear cases in which a particular policy change seems highly important for one of what we consider the most important global catastrophic risks (other than climate change, discussed above), though this may change. We’re looking to build our general capacity for policy-oriented philanthropy by working on other causes, and will hopefully be well-positioned to do relevant policy-oriented work if and when it becomes important to do so.
Policy related to scientific research. We see policy around scientific research (for example, the budget, mandate and policies of the National Institutes of Health) as potentially extremely important, but at this time we don’t feel that we have strong enough scientific advisory capacity to have a good grasp on the relevant issues. We are building our scientific advisory capacity via separate projects, and will be writing about this more in the future. Again, we will hopefully be well-positioned to do relevant policy work if and when it becomes important to do so.
Other categories. This post has focused exclusively on our medium-term plans for U.S. policy. We continue to explore a broad variety of other sorts of philanthropic work, which we will be writing about in the future.
Bottom line and our plans from here
We’ve spent a good deal of time investigating potential focus areas in U.S. policy, and we have a very large number of questions remaining. There are many causes that we have much to learn about on many dimensions, including both questions like “How should policy change and why?” and questions like “How can a philanthropist increase the odds of a particular policy change?” One of the aims of this post is to stimulate discussion and help determine which questions are most important to focus on. Our hope is to finalize “commitments” to causes by the end of this calendar year.
Our current working agenda is as follows:
Deep investigations of cause areas: looking actively for funding opportunities and being highly open to funding them.
We are exploring both labor mobility and macroeconomic policy at this level.
We have done a fair amount of work on criminal justice reform, and are pausing our investigation of it for the moment.
In addition to finding funding opportunities, we are also interested in (a) doing thorough reviews of academic literature to assess the best arguments on each side of the relevant policy debates; (b) trying to substantially refine our “importance” estimates after gaining more context. Both (a) and (b) could be substantial projects, and we are likely to do them only for causes that we do deep investigations of and seriously consider committing to.
Depending on our capacity and on the results of lower-depth investigations, we may do this sort of “deep investigation” of other causes as well.
Medium-depth investigations of cause areas: having 5+ conversations per cause area to get a good sense of the overall landscape.
We are hoping to explore the “rent seeking” and “zoning” causes discussed above (under “Green fields”) at this level.
We are also conducting a number of conversations on factory farming, currently with a focus on animal welfare implications.
There are several other cases in which we have done a medium level of investigation, including foreign aid and organ donation (in the latter case, we feel we have a strong understanding of the issue largely through Alexander Berger’s personal background, as mentioned above).
We are likely to do a future investigation on improving the general quality of policy analysis available to state-level governments, which we will be writing about more in the future.
Other causes we may investigate at this level include tax policy and intellectual property reform.
Shallow-level investigations of cause areas: having a few conversations to get a basic picture of an area. We hope to look into some of the causes we have done little investigation of, such as health care policy. However, this area is a lower priority than the above, and we aren’t sure whether we’ll get to it this year (whereas we do expect to make significant progress on all of the above points).
Hiring. Having a decent sense of our likely interests, we are working on hiring U.S.-policy-specific staff, so that when we do make commitments, we’ll have the staff available to execute on them. We have a major hire starting in June whom we will be writing more about in the future.
Limited time and capacity. At the moment, we are executing on the above agenda; if and when we complete currently-in-progress items and have more capacity, we may promote some causes from the “medium” to the “deep” level of investigation or (less likely) from “shallow” to “medium.” However, around the end of the calendar year, we expect to use whatever information and staff we have at that time to make commitments.Emergency preparedness is a group effort that involves all members of the WashU community. To do your part:
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February 27thThe Pirates had reportedly made re-signing Francisco Liriano their top priority, and on Tuesday they officially got it done, with Liriano returning for three years and $39 million. Dave wrote a little thing earlier and concluded it was a pretty good deal, as these things go. Here is that little thing. Okay, great, we’re done here!
If it’s analysis of the move you want, it’s pretty simple and Dave touched on the major points. Nothing involving Francisco Liriano could be described as low-risk, but the terms themselves aren’t too risky. Liriano’s effective when he pitches, and he hasn’t actually had an arm problem related to pitching since 2011. Last year he went on the DL with an oblique strain. The year before, he had an arm fracture after taking a fall. These aren’t good things, but Liriano probably isn’t as fragile as his reputation. He misses bats, he likes being in Pittsburgh, and the Pirates had a need. There’s not really anything not to like, here.
Yet perhaps you want to know more about Liriano. He came to the Pirates labeled as an intriguing but frustrating live arm, with stuff and poor location. He still isn’t particularly stingy with the walks, but he’s been able to push himself over a hump, getting to the other side of tolerability, and a whole lot of it has to do with his changeup. The Pirates love what Liriano’s done with his changeup.
I’m not sure you actually need to know more than the following. Very simply, here are chase rates against Liriano’s changeup, year by year:
2011: 31% O-Swing% vs. changeup
31% O-Swing% vs. changeup 2012: 32%
32% 2013: 45%
45% 2014: 47%
The last two seasons, 158 starting pitchers have thrown at least 150 innings. Liriano ranks dead last in rate of pitches thrown within the strike zone. What that suggests is wildness, but, there’s more to the picture. Liriano also ranks in the top ten in chase rate, so now you dismiss wildness, and consider deception and unhittability. Liriano is No. 1 in lowest contact rate allowed. It’s not that Liriano can’t pitch in the strike zone; it’s that hitters haven’t forced him to.
The breaking ball, of course, is there. It’s the breaking ball that first made Liriano famous. But the changeup has turned into an incredible, reliable weapon. Consider, if you might, that the changeup is basically just a weapon Liriano uses against righties. Between 2011 – 2012, righties hit Liriano to the tune of a.336 wOBA. The last two seasons, that’s dropped to.297. The explanation for these things tends to come down to “improved mechanical consistency,” and that’s the case here. Ray Searage worked with Liriano on tweaks, Liriano folded them in, and by doing so they were able to unlock a pitch Liriano could use in any situation.
Clint Hurdle, from last September:
Hurdle said that part of what makes Liriano’s changeup so important this year is his command of the pitch, which allows him to throw it in any count, thus getting hitters off his fastball. “The counts he is able to throw it in is what makes a very solid but average fastball velocity-wise, play even bigger,” Hurdle said. “He can throw [the change in] a 2-0 count, 3-2 count, [which creates a] a different dynamic at the plate.”
Brooks Baseball makes this pretty easy to research. A couple relevant splits:
Liriano ahead in count, RHB
2011 – 2012: 27% changeups
27% changeups 2013 – 2014: 31%
Liriano behind in count, RHB
2011 – 2012: 18% changeups
18% changeups 2013 – 2014: 31%
The second split is the dramatic split. Liriano has greatly increased his changeup usage in what would be hitter-friendly counts, and the best explanation for that is Liriano has simply improved his changeup. With hitters looking for fastballs, the changeup catches them off balance, and because they’re already geared up to swing there’s not much they can do if a pitch comes in slower than expected.
From Baseball Savant, we can play with some changeup heat maps. From these, you’ll get an idea of what better command looks like. Let’s start with the less dramatic.gif. Here are Liriano changeups in pitcher-friendly counts.
You pretty much always want the pitch in the low-away quadrant. Liriano used it fairly well in 2011 – 2012, but the last two years you see a little more consistency down and away, off the plate. Fewer changeups appear to be toward the middle of the plate. Here are some chase rates:
2011 – 2012: 47% O-Swing%
47% O-Swing% 2013 – 2014: 53%
Now, that’s subtle. This is less subtle. Here are changeups in hitter-friendly counts.
There’s a substantial drop. If I were to simplify things, I’d say you’re looking at the difference between hung changeups and executed changeups. Now, that’s too easy, but you’re seeing a better ability to locate down, yet still within or near to the zone boundaries. Remember, these are hitter-friendly counts, so Liriano also wants to be able to maybe get a called strike if the hitter lays off. The chase rates:
2011 – 2012: 25% O-Swing%
25% O-Swing% 2013 – 2014: 43%
That’s huge. That’s a pitch that gets hitters off balance, because they don’t expect it, because they don’t read it, and because the pitches end up in good spots. When hitters increasingly have to respect the changeup, it keeps them off the fastball in fastball situations. And the swings out of the zone also allow for Liriano to fight back from more counts. He hasn’t become a strike-thrower. He hasn’t become a Cliff Lee. But Liriano’s strikes have gone up enough. He has a better ratio of pitches thrown ahead in the count to pitches thrown behind in the count. When you miss bats and get grounders, you have to achieve only a low threshold of strike-throwing. Liriano has met that threshold in Pittsburgh, and it’s clear the Pirates believe he’ll continue to do so for at least another few years.
Liriano was worse in 2014 than he was in 2013. On the other hand, he was better in the second half of 2014 than he was in the first half of 2014, so it isn’t as simple as saying he took a step backward. He seems to be, when he pitches, an above-average pitcher, who gets a lot of swings and misses, and he hasn’t gone on the DL with a worrisome arm problem in a while. For the Pirates, Liriano is an appealing pitcher at an appealing rate. And Liriano stands as proof of the value of a quality changeup. The Pirates made that one pitch better, and Liriano’s final days in the American League are but a distant and fading memory.The Bay Area might be a hotbed of high technology, but low technology has its fans, too. Just ask the UC Berkeley Amateur Radio Club. It’s been around 100 years, and its members don’t mind a little dust and rust on their tech.
“I think the old equipment is really cool and retro,” says club member and electrical-engineering major Andy Hu.
“I’m still fascinated by the profundity that an electrical signal can leave the radio in front of me, travel up a wire to an antenna outside, and someone halfway around the world with an antenna outside connected to their radio can hear my voice and talk with me,” says club member Bill Mitchell, a chemistry graduate student.
Often called “ham radio,” amateur radio is the recreational or experimental use of radio frequencies set aside for non-commercial purposes. The field was still in its infancy in February 1914, when an amateur radio club and station were founded on campus. Though that original station is long gone, a new one was established at Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station last year, and yet another is being set up in Cory Hall and should become operational this spring.
The club will commemorate its centennial this week by hosting an exam for people wishing to get an amateur radio license — more people, it turned out, than the club could accommodate this time around. (No license is required to monitor ham transmissions, but anyone who wants to broadcast or work on amateur radio equipment needs to be licensed by the FCC.)
Though the club currently has 25 members — mostly undergrads, with some grad students and staff and faculty members mixed in — there have been times when it had none. Off and on over the years, the club has lain dormant. That was the case when Friedrich Sommer came to Berkeley in 2005.
“I grew up in Germany in the ’60s and ’70s, and for me amateur radio was the window to the world, even across the Iron Curtain,” says Sommer, an adjunct professor at the campus’s Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and the club’s faculty adviser. “But when I arrived at Berkeley, the club was entirely inactive. There was no equipment, no spot where people could meet and put up antennas, nothing.”
That started to change after the club was contacted by Stephen Stoll, then the head of the campus’s Office of Emergency Preparedness, who was interested in ham radio’s potential usefulness during a crisis. While the Internet and telephone service are both vulnerable in times of emergency, the broad, decentralized networks of amateur radio operators are harder to knock out. That’s why emergency preparedness is a major part of the club’s charter.
With Stoll’s help, the club got its new home base at the Richmond Field Station. What was once a disused shack is now filled with amateur radio equipment both old and new, and club members erected a 25-foot-high antenna tower that allows it to communicate with fellow ham enthusiasts thousands of miles away. On a typical day, the station picks up Morse code signals and voice broadcasts from as far off as Antarctica. Sommer says the club can use its space at the field station to do “outlandish stuff,” such as setting up a large mirror that will allow members to bounce radio signals off the moon.
Much of the equipment was donated by Bay Area ham operators over the last few years, and the club has enough radio transmitters and receivers for its collection to qualify as a mini amateur radio museum.
“What we have here is basically a walk through history,” says Sommer. “We have equipment from as far back as the 1930s that you can still actually use. So part of the club’s mission is to give people direct access to this old, beautiful technology.”
That direct access is what drew Tholfaqar Mardan to the Amateur Radio Club. A programmer/analyst in the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s computer mechanics lab, Mardan says he enjoys the clubs activities and outings, such as the day it spent broadcasting from the bridge of a soon-to-be-mothballed battleship, the U.S.S. Iowa. But it’s what he calls his “passion” — building radio circuits — that makes the club a perfect fit for him.
“It’s the club for experiments, building stuff and meeting like-minded people,” says Mardan, who jokes that he especially appreciates the opportunity to “borrow expensive, high-power radio equipment for free.”
“A big attraction to this club is the hands-on and modular aspect of the equipment,” adds Hu. “With the integrated-circuit devices we have today, it can be difficult to take something apart and learn from it.”
That’s why Michael Lustig, an assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department, has started teaching his students about amateur radio. Lustig says there’s plenty that a 21st-century electrical engineer can learn from tinkering with 20th-century amateur radio technology.
“It involves using radios and electronic equipment and knowing electromagnetics, so there are a lot of aspects that we as electrical engineers actually use in real life,” says Lustig, an Amateur Radio Club member. “With something like cellphones, the technology is mostly hidden from us. With a ham radio, you can actually see and have access to the technology. Even though it’s older, it’s still the same basics.”
Not only has Lustig gotten his amateur radio technician’s license, he’s having the students in his digital signal processing class go for theirs, too. All 60 are expected to take the Amateur Radio Club’s license exam.
Sommer hopes some of those newly licensed amateur radio technicians will join the club. According to him, young people with an affinity for the popular, do-it-yourself-oriented ethic known as “maker culture” might already be coming to ham radio in greater numbers: There are approximately 714,000 FCC-licensed amateur radio operators today, up from around 655,000 seven years ago.
“For some time, the attitude seemed to be, ‘Oh, that’s old-fashioned stuff. We don’t need that anymore,'” he says. “So it’s very interesting to see that the interest has really revived and people are recognizing that there’s a benefit to directly working with and experimenting with this hardware.”SPEND WHEN YOU’RE WINNING
By Craig Rimmer
OKAY, so the above title may have been undermined somewhat by recent defeats away to Manchester City and Chelsea. But, on reflection those results have done little to alter the overall complexion. In fact, they may actually have gone some way toward reaffirming the point. Liverpool are a club who has rediscovered a winning tendency over the past year. They head into 2014 a team whose pre-season ambitions remain firmly within sight, despite those recent set-backs.
If the 5-0 humbling of Tottenham Hotspur and the hugely positive performance in defeat away to Manchester City had announced Liverpool as genuine title contenders, then defeat at Stamford Bridge had made that reality far less likely – or so we were told – such is the unusually competitive nature of the current Premier League.
As Liverpool fans, following multiple seasons of underwhelming frustration, we have belatedly been reminded of what it feels like to head into the second half of a league season with something to play; that is to say, something more than an outside shot of Europa League qualification.
So, where do we go from here?
What is now essential is that Liverpool sustain the positive momentum which has been accumulated during the first half of the season and, more broadly, over the past 12 months or so if they are to convert progress into Champions League qualification, and potentially more.
So, now is the ideal moment to invest in the progress which Brendan Rodgers and the team have made to date. The upcoming transfer windows – both the winter window and the summer – may hold the key to the short-term future of the football club in terms of its ability to once again compete regularly with the top teams and in top-level European competition. It is, therefore, crucial that Liverpool are both active and astute in both windows.
In order to achieve that aim, Liverpool need a squad which can match, or at least compete with, their main rivals over the course of a full season. That is probably not currently the case. The squad remains a work in progress; improved but limited. It is the factor which is most likely to prevent Rodgers from achieving something tangible in the near future.
Liverpool have failed to capitalise in similar moments in the past. Errors which, in hindsight, were followed by periods characterised by stagnation and missed opportunity.
In the summer of 2002, following a second place Premier League finish – achieved off back of a cup treble the previous year – Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool failed to take advantage of their progression into a genuine title contender. The “final piece of the jigsaw” was never located, and instead, 2000-2002 proved to be the peak years of the Frenchman’s Anfield reign, rather than the start of something greater.
The less said about Bruno Cheyrou, El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao the better. However, ultimately, a lack of investment – or, more accurately, misguided investment – halted the clubs progress and Liverpool failed to mount a genuine challenge for the league title in either of the subsequent 2 seasons – a run which brought to an end Houllier’s stint in charge.
Likewise, in 2009, following another second place finish, then Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez – hamstrung by the catastrophic Hicks and Gillett administration – was not afforded the necessary funds to supplement a squad of players which was high in talent but small in number with any genuine quality.
Instead, Benitez was forced to operate on a budget; signing the likes of Sotorios Kyrgiakos and Philip Degen; whilst Xabi Alonso departed to be replaced by the inferior and injury-plagued Alberto Aquilani. That summer signalled the beginning of the end of Benitez-era Liverpool and would be proceeded by 3 to 4 years of decline, upheaval and Premier League underachievement.
There is plenty to suggest that the club is in a much more stable position today than in either 2002 or 2009 to ensure that past errors are not repeated. The current ownership, whilst far from universally acclaimed, have shown a willingness to make cash available in the past and have also afforded full backing to the manager. Whilst the recent track record of both Rodgers and the transfer committee in the transfer market is at least encouraging.
Of course, FSG have recently shown their intent by securing Luis Suarez’s future at the club with a lucrative contract extension. That new contract achieved the dual benefits of securing the club’s future position in relation to Suarez and signalling their intent to both the fans and the rest of the Premier League.
FSG now have the opportunity to back up those intentions. Investing in Rodgers and the team now has the potential to have a significant impact both this season and in the long term. Whilst, also, going some way toward building some form of long-term legacy for themselves at Anfield; to win over any doubters once and for all.
So, why wait until next summer? Shrewd business in January – perhaps supplemented by the sale of a couple of fringe players (e.g. Kelly or Aspas) – could significantly improve the squad in key areas and gift Liverpool the competitive edge they need to get over the line in terms of Champions League qualification.
Liverpool have proven on a number of occasions in the past, not least in January 2013, that there is value to be had in the winter transfer window, despite a relatively small pool of players willing or able to move clubs mid-season. The January signings of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho last season were a resounding success. Whilst, in previous years, Javier Mascherano, Alvaro Arbeloa, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Fowler have all been signed during the January window and gone on to make positive contributions of varying degrees in the red shirt.
Recent injuries have highlighted the obvious limitations of the resources available to Rodgers. Perhaps best exemplified by the inclusion of teenagers Brad Smith and Jordan Rossiter in the match day squad against Chelsea. There is no doubt that the squad is short of a full-back, probably two. A case could also be made for strengthening in other areas, including central midfield.
But, personally, I would look to prioritise an impact player; probably another forward player. Another goal-scorer or creator. Another match-winner. The kind of player who could make a genuine difference to the points haul between now and May.
The goals return of both Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge has been remarkable. The latter’s recent injury problems had minimal impact on Liverpool’s results or performances pre-Christmas – largely owing to Suarez’s irrepressible genius. But it does highlight a potential vulnerability in relying on just 2 players to win football matches on a regular basis.
Supplementing what we already have with genuine attacking quality could still, with the Premier League in its current guise, be enough to transform that challenge for Champions League qualification into an actuality and potentially more aside.
Qualify for the Champions League and Liverpool would be in a much stronger position come the summer, both in terms of their status and finances, to reinforce the squad further and ensure that Suarez and others are satisfied to remain at the club for the longer-term.
This January window has the makings of a crucial one for the football club. The owners have an opportunity to show real intent and invest in the progress being made on the pitch. Of course, if would then be up to those responsible to identify the players who can make the difference. Either way, this transfer window is an opportunity for Liverpool, an opportunity which they simply cannot afford to miss.
@Craig_RimmerEndless Legend is taking some heat today after its developers at Amplitude Studios removed a mod from the game’s Steam Workshop selection.
Their reason for doing so is understandable: the mod, which added Chinese language localization to the game, was linking to a pirated version of Endless Legend.
Amplitude informed the creator of the mod that he had to remove the link, or risk having the mod removed entirely, but he refused to comply. In the modder’s defense, the latest version of the game does not support the mod, so he linked to an older version of the game for the mod to work.
As a result of the removal, Chinese gamers bombarded Endless Legend’s reviews section with negative reviews, bringing the Steam user rating down from “Very Positive” to “Mixed,” meaning that it had a lower than 60% review score.
The Endless Legend community on Reddit has since responded by writing their own counter-reviews of Endless Legend to bring the score back up to Mostly Positive, and now Very Positive.
Speaking on Steam, Amplitude Studios developer Frogsquadron wrote:
If I may chip in with our version of the facts. What happened here is very unfortunate, because we’ve tried reaching out and working with the original author of the mod for an actual support of the mod in an official capacity, with a view to support the game in Chinese altogether. We want to make the game available in Chinese, and are ready to work with the mod’s author for their work to be recognized. Unfortunately, despite several attempts at reaching out, including a message that was translated into Chinese to make sure to avoid any miscommunication, we’ve never heard back from the author of the mod. And still, the negative reviews pour in, regretting the lack of support for Chinese, or that the mod doesn’t work anymore. It’s a frustrating situation for everyone. My two cents.
At this point, Chinese-speaking gamers will have to hope that the modder returns and updates his mod to support the latest version of the game.by Chet Sellers
You know how it is. Last day of school, last class of the semester, last work day before a long holiday... it's easy to look past business at hand and start thinking about time off. We all take our eye off the ball sometimes.Why am I mentioning this? Well, today's game against the Bruins is the last game the Senators will play for nearly three weeks, and sure, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek will be keeping busy in Sochi, but the rest of these guys have a date with the beach as soon as today's game is over. Can they keep their focus for just three more hours, and grind out a road win against a Boston team that's missing both Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask? Let's find out!I'll tell you one thing, though - even if these so-called "professional" hockey players might start slacking off before a long vacation, your friends at bonksmullet.com are better than that. Get ready for the usual hard-hitting joke-making and attention to detail you've come to expect from our recaps, because we don't take games off. Let's do it!One guy who looks like he's shown up for this game early is Craig Anderson. As Boston's forwards take control to start the game and begin getting around Ottawa's defensemen, it's Anderson who keeps the Senators alive, peaking with a beauty of a glove save six minutes in after Chris Kelley gets an open look. It's an ironic moment for both men, of course, since the Senators traded one for the other a little more than three years ago. I'd do that deal again, though.Anderson's early shutout doesn't last, though. Ten minutes in, Erik Karlsson takes a tripping penalty and less than a minute later, Patrice Bergeron juggles a long pass in front of Anderson and then chips it into the net, making it. [come back and put a photoshop of Bergeron juggling in here later]Five minutes after that, it's Kellie again, redirecting another pass in front of Anderson to make it. But in what's looking like an increasingly-bleak period for the Senators, the team finally catches a break near the end of the first as Keeley takes a hooking penalty. Strangely, Paul MacLean responds by sending Chris Neil out on the power play, which is basically like sending the punter out on first down. The Senators do not score.Hey, here's somebody who's trying to stay sharp before the Olympics - Milan Michalek! In the first minute of the second, Michalek dives to stop another Bruins breakaway, drawing a penalty for his trouble but probably saving a goal. The Senators may look sleepy so far this afternoon, but at least we know their Olympians have come to play, since they already need to be mentally prepared for Sochi.A few minutes later, Patrice Bergeron walks in around a totem pole-like Erik Karlsson, waits, waits, and finally tucks the puck into the net after Anderson bites early. That makes it, although it's hard to blame Anderson for this one after getting no defensive help from Karlsson. That's the thing with all these Olympians, you know - mentally, they've already checked out.The rest of the period is pretty ugly for the Senators, with only Anderson keeping them in the game by stopping odd-man rush after odd-man rush. Finally, with two to go in the period, the Senators get a ray of hope as Bobby Ryan scores his first goal of the year by beating Carl Johnson from the circle with a wrist shot. That cuts the lead to, but the good vibes don't last, as less than a minute later an unguarded Jarome Igilna, or maybe Brett Marchand, skates into the crease and beats Anderson again, making it. Can the Senators climb out of a three-goal hole with only a period to go?Sorry, I had to step out for most of this. The Bruins scored a few more, I guess? Oh, and Ottawa got one too; I'm gonna guess it was MacArthur.This afternoon's game was a tough one for the Senators, as they were outworked and outplayed by Boston in every aspect of the game. With a long break at hand, it looks like the Senators really did look past today's game - they took their eyes off the puck before the chickens even had a chance to count it. You know how it is when you're almost done something. We can only hope that spending a couple weeks stewing on this loss will be good for the Senators, and that they'll come back rested and sharp at the end of the month, ready to finish what they staAfter the Falcons got off to a 4-1 start to this season, I really was filled with optimism. I believed Atlanta’s offense was good enough, and the defense young and athletic enough, to avoid a second half collapse. I still believe that, and while the Falcons made this one ugly and terrifying, they pulled off a 33-32 win against the Packers that showed impressive team resilience.
Atlanta’s now 5-3 at the halfway mark of the season, two games up in the NFC South, and in excellent position going forward, particularly if they can dispatch the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. What a game.
Here’s a brief quarter-by-quarter look at what happened in this game.
First Quarter
The Falcons got off to a hot start on their initial drive, only to be backed up by consecutive penalties that cost them field position. They nearly had a first down on a long Jacob Tamme reception, but Tamme got hurt on the catch and the Falcons were stuck on 4th and 1. Devonta Freeman took a carry outside for the easy first down to keep things going. The Falcons fell short, which put Matt Bryant on for the easy 36 yarder, which gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
Things went poorly right away on the next drive, with the Packers bulling ahead on a run play for a first down. Then Aaron Rodgers connected on a long pass to Jordy Nelson, which put the Packers in the red zone in just a |
oretic mobility in a manner proportional to the level of supercoiling/writhe/compaction (Figure 2A). The beauty of these techniques lies in their simplicity—any difference in mobility of a purified circular DNA can only be explained by differences in DNA topology. On the other hand, these techniques are generally limited to study a single defined plasmid system per experiment and therefore lack the size and complexity of a eukaryotic genome. Despite these limitations, many of the key properties linking supercoiling to gene regulation have been established using these approaches, and they continue to remain a valuable tool.
Figure 2. View largeDownload slide Centrifugation and electrophoresis to identify the supercoils present in circular DNA sequences. (A) Sucrose-gradient sedimentation and agarose gel electrophoresis differentiate DNA supercoil level based on the preferential migration of highly supercoiled/writhed molecules. (B) 1D agarose gel electrophoresis in the presence of low concentrations of an intercalator can differentiate topoisomers containing defined numbers of supercoils. (C) Chloroquine gels can be used to differentiate positively and negatively supercoiled DNA. (D) 2D agarose gel electrophoresis differentiates positive and negative supercoil topoisomers. (A colour version of this figure is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bfg)
Figure 2. View largeDownload slide Centrifugation and electrophoresis to identify the supercoils present in circular DNA sequences. (A) Sucrose-gradient sedimentation and agarose gel electrophoresis differentiate DNA supercoil level based on the preferential migration of highly supercoiled/writhed molecules. (B) 1D agarose gel electrophoresis in the presence of low concentrations of an intercalator can differentiate topoisomers containing defined numbers of supercoils. (C) Chloroquine gels can be used to differentiate positively and negatively supercoiled DNA. (D) 2D agarose gel electrophoresis differentiates positive and negative supercoil topoisomers. (A colour version of this figure is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bfg)
Approach
Early studies of DNA plasmids using ultracentrifugation approaches showed that different structures were present in a sample containing only plasmids of equal molecular weight [24–27]. The nature of this structural difference was determined by Vinograd et al. [28], who showed that a single-strand nick triggered the sedimentation of a single species, indicating that DNA normally had a constrained ‘twisted circular structure’. Using sucrose-gradient sedimentation, together with the DNA intercalator ethidium bromide, it was possible to accurately determine the number of supercoils within a plasmid DNA sample through a laborious titration approach [29]. Sucrose-gradient sedimentation proved highly informative for characterizing DNA supercoiling in plasmids, but has been largely superseded by simpler experimental approaches and is now rarely used for this purpose.
A more straightforward approach for analysing DNA supercoiling in closed circular plasmids is agarose gel electrophoresis. In a standard 1% TBE (Tris Borate EDTA) agarose gel without intercalating agent, DNA runs as three clear bands, which represent relaxed/nicked circular DNA, linear DNA and supercoiled DNA (Figure 2A) [30, 31]. The majority of supercoiled DNA will run as a single band, and this kind of assay can be useful when determining the total proportion of relaxed to supercoiled DNA [32]. To differentiate topoisomers with different levels of DNA supercoiling within the supercoiled template (Figure 2B), gels must be run in the presence of an intercalating agent—ethidium bromide or more commonly chloroquine [1]. For intercalating agents to bind the DNA needs to unwind, introducing positive supercoils that change the electrophoretic mobility of the DNA molecules. Using this property, chloroquine can be used to distinguish positively from negatively supercoiled DNA, by changing the supercoil density and electrophoretic mobility of the relaxed, positively and negatively supercoiled templates relative to one another (Figure 2C). However, when studying DNA from eukaryotic sources, it is not normally necessary to account for positively supercoiled DNA, as nucleosomes constrain negative supercoils, and deproteinization before agarose gel electrophoresis strongly biases plasmid DNA towards negative supercoils. Therefore, for most applications relevant to the understanding of DNA supercoiling in eukaryotes, one-dimensional (1D) gel electrophoresis without chloroquine titration is sufficient to characterize the relevant features.
An additional approach to study positive and negative DNA supercoiling uses a refined two-dimensional (2D) agarose gel electrophoresis technique (Figure 2D). In this approach, supercoiled plasmid DNA samples are first run in low percentage agarose (∼0.4% is typical) in the presence/absence of intercalating agent, followed by a second electrophoresis in higher percentage agarose (∼1% typical) at 90° to the first and again in the presence/absence of intercalator (Figure 2D). This permits the resolution of both positively and negatively supercoiled topoisomers and yields more detailed information about plasmid topology. For example, in a recent study, the 2D agarose gel electrophoresis protocol was developed further to allow the differentiation of different types of DNA knots, distinct DNA catenanes and other DNA structures [33].
Discoveries and applications
Eukaryotic transcription is more efficient on a supercoiled DNA template
To determine the influence of DNA topology on transcription in eukaryotes, a number of studies have established the relationship between transcription and the supercoil status of a transfected plasmid, using 1D gel electrophoresis. In every case, intact circular DNA is the preferred substrate for transcription when compared with a linear template [7–9, 31–35]. Chromatin forms on both linear and circular plasmid DNA, but supercoiling can only form in intact circular DNA (unless the DNA is extremely long and/or tethered). Furthermore, increased expression can be seen in supercoiled DNA before the establishment of chromatin on transfected plasmids in vivo [31]. Together, these data support an important role for DNA supercoiling in eukaryotic gene expression.
Unconstrained DNA supercoils can be maintained in eukaryotes
The importance of DNA supercoiling for the expression of transfected plasmids does not necessitate that this supercoiling is unconstrained within the DNA, and it may instead be protein associated. To determine whether DNA supercoils can exist in an unconstrained state, plasmids have been transfected into eukaryotic cells and supercoiling carefully assayed by 1D and 2D agarose gel electrophoresis. Importantly, the supercoils present in transfected plasmids are not completely accounted for by bound nucleosomes, supporting the presence of non-protein-associated (unconstrained) DNA supercoils in a chromatinized template. For example, Ryoji and Worcel [31] show that chromatin assembly occurs within 10 min after DNA injection into frog oocytes, but supercoiling continues to increase up to 330 min, and that gene expression is related to the degree of supercoiling and not the extent of chromatinization. More recently, Kouzine et al. [36] used a stable plasmid system in human cells to show that the DNA between inducible divergent promoters becomes more negatively supercoiled when the genes are active. This increase in negative supercoiling alters the structure of a DNA sequence element previously shown to denature in the presence of unconstrained DNA supercoils, the far upstream element (FUSE) of c-Myc, indicating that the energy of DNA supercoiling is unconstrained in this situation. Together, these data confirm that unconstrained DNA supercoils can be generated in plasmids within eukaryotic cells.
Transcription initiation at eukaryotic promoters is enhanced by DNA supercoiling
The typical model of gene regulation by DNA supercoiling at promoters is that under-wound DNA facilitates the formation of an active promoter region and promotes transcription initiation [16, 19, 34, 37]. To identify whether unconstrained DNA supercoils can regulate gene expression through this mechanism in eukaryotes, in vitro studies of supercoiled, nicked, relaxed and linear plasmids have been performed for a small number of gene promoters. Using agarose gel electrophoresis, Mizutani et al. [32] characterized the supercoil state of plasmid DNA and compared this with the corresponding transcription level. In some, but not all, cases, gene expression was significantly enriched in the presence of unconstrained negative DNA supercoiling. However, the panel of promoters assayed through this approach is so far extremely limited, and there is scope for a high-throughput analysis of promoter DNA sequence to establish the properties that determine supercoil sensitivity. Furthermore, there is just a single study that characterizes the mechanism by which DNA supercoiling influences gene regulation and shows that supercoiling promotes transcription initiation and not the transition to an elongation complex or subsequent elongation [8]. Recent advances permit the chemical synthesis of any desired DNA sequence, and it is an achievable prospect to generate a high-throughput approach to analyse the in vitro sensitivity of hundreds of gene promoters to DNA supercoiling. By comparing DNA supercoiling data, generated through agarose gel electrophoresis-based approaches, with transcription data, a wealth of information could be generated for the interpretation of supercoiling within eukaryotic genomes.
DNA structure is influenced by unconstrained supercoiling in eukaryotic chromatin
Negative supercoils promote the formation of DNA melting and non-B DNA structures including Z-DNA, G-quadruplexes, cruciforms and R-loops [1, 38, 39]. Experimental evidence increasingly supports the presence of these alternative structures in vivo [40–46], but their relationship with DNA supercoiling in vivo remains largely uncharacterized. Work in the Levens laboratory [14, 36, 47–49] has characterized the FUSE DNA element, which displays supercoil-dependent melting and regulates binding of the FUSE binding protein and FUSE interacting repressor (FIR). The supercoiling-dependent structural transition of FUSE was determined in vitro by 2D agarose gel electrophoresis, identifying a level of supercoiling where the compaction through writhe formed a plateau because of the localized melting of DNA [48], and this melting has been confirmed in vivo in an episomal plasmid system [36]. Many other alternative structures have been characterized in vitro by agarose gel electrophoresis of plasmid systems [50–55], but little is known of their capacity to form in vivo and whether their formation promotes the binding of regulatory proteins. To further characterize the relationship between DNA supercoiling and alternative DNA structure in chromatinized DNA in eukaryotes, 1D and 2D agarose gel electrophoresis of isolated plasmids will continue to be a valuable tool.
Characterizing properties of DNA supercoiling in replication
In addition to influencing gene regulation, DNA supercoiling has been proposed to be important for other aspects of genome structure including genome packaging before cell division. Several studies have suggested that supercoiling promotes the separation of interlinked DNA strands following DNA replication in prokaryotes, a process called decatenation [56, 57]. Adapting 1D and 2D gel electrophoresis approaches to study yeast centromeric plasmids showed that positive supercoiling, generated by mitotic spindles and condensin, maximizes DNA decatenation activity by topoisomerase II and may drive full decatenation of a eukaryotic genome [30, 58]. Importantly, in wild-type conditions, the yeast plasmids never become positively supercoiled, rather it is the generation of positive supercoils and their subsequent removal that decatenates the genome, giving no net change in DNA supercoil level.
Perspective
Centrifugation and agarose gel electrophoresis approaches have determined some of the key properties of DNA supercoiling in eukaryotes, using transfected or stable plasmid systems. A major limitation of these approaches is that they do not necessarily reflect the properties found in eukaryotic chromosomes, which are orders of magnitude larger, are regulated by distinct mechanisms and have evolved specifically to deal with the topological issues most prevalent in their cell type. Perhaps for this reason, using plasmids and electrophoresis to characterize DNA supercoiling in vivo has, with notable exceptions [30, 36, 59–61], been less prevalent in the literature in recent years. However, there remains valuable insight to be achieved using these techniques if we are to understand the mechanisms linking supercoiling to genome regulation in vivo.
Psoralen as a molecular probe for DNA supercoiling
To measure DNA supercoiling in the normal chromosomes of eukaryotic cells, the intercalating agent psoralen has been used as a molecular probe for under-wound DNA supercoils (see Box 1 for definition of under-wound). Psoralen molecules preferentially intercalate into under-wound DNA and can form stable cross-links to DNA when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation at 365 nm [62]. The measure of supercoiling is more indirect than that of agarose gel electrophoresis, but the capacity to probe-specific loci is invaluable. The properties of DNA supercoiling within eukaryotic genomes have been largely characterized using psoralen-based methods, and further development will help define the function of unconstrained DNA supercoiling in vivo.
Approach
The psoralen derivative 4,5’,8-trimethylpsoralen (TMP) is a cell permeable planar molecule that intercalates between base pairs in the DNA double helix and forms stable photo-cross-links with pyrimidine nucleotides on exposure to 365 nm UV light [62]. Importantly, the preferential intercalation of TMP into under-wound DNA has been established in both naked and chromatinized DNA and is therefore applicable for characterizing supercoiling in eukaryotic cells [13]. TMP can form mono-adducts or inter-strand cross-links with the DNA double helix, with ∼15 mono-adducts forming for every inter-strand cross-link [63], and can be chemically modified to include a biotin tag. Using these properties, various experimental methods have been developed to identify the localization of under-wound DNA within eukaryotic genomes.
Denaturing approach to enrich for inter-strand cross-links
One way to differentiate under-wound regions that bind TMP takes advantage of the capacity of TMP to form inter-strand cross-links between the two strands of the double helix. By incubating cells in the presence of TMP and cross-linking the drug to DNA by UV irradiation, a portion of the covalently attached TMP molecules will form inter-strand cross-links that stabilize the DNA double helix. Using this property, two methods have been developed to analyse the distribution of under-wound DNA.,
In the first method fragmented DNA samples are processed by denaturing gel electrophoresis (Figure 3A), which causes the DNA to run as two fractions—a higher molecular weight band of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) maintained by TMP cross-links and a lower molecular weight single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) band containing DNA with TMP mono-adducts or no TMP bound. Sequences can then be analysed by Southern blot to determine whether a specific sequence (e.g. gene transcription start site) is enriched for under-wound DNA supercoiling by determining the relative enrichment of the DNA probe in the dsDNA compared with the ssDNA fraction [15, 20, 21]. A more recent adaptation of this technique analysed isolated dsDNA and ssDNA regions from the agarose gel using microarray [14].
There are several ways to define the distribution of supercoiling in DNA, each of which is particularly suited to a certain theoretical or experimental situation. When describing supercoils in a closed circular piece of DNA, it is possible to discuss absolute differences in supercoiling in terms of linking number (Lk), which is the number of times one strand of the DNA crosses over the other in a closed circular plasmid. Lk 0 represents the Lk of relaxed DNA, while negatively supercoiled DNA has an Lk less than the Lk 0 (i.e. one strand crosses the other fewer times), and positively supercoiled DNA has an Lk greater than Lk 0 (i.e. one strand crosses the other more times). The transition from a relaxed (Lk 0 ) to a supercoiled (Lk ≠ 0) double helix requires a transition in DNA structure, which can be manifest as a change in the number of turns of the helix per nucleotide (twist) (negative <10.5 bp/turn, positive >10.5 bp per turn) and/or in the formation of a coiled helix/superhelix (writhe) (discussed in detail in [1, 38]). DNA writhe induces the compaction of a DNA circle (Figure 2A), and the ratio of twist:writhe remains constant for a particular Lk in circular DNA in vitro [95]; therefore, DNA circles with different absolute levels of supercoiling can be distinguished based on changes in DNA structure. This forms the basis of centrifugation- and electrophoresis-based approaches for analysing DNA supercoiling, and in these experiments, absolute measurement using Lk is most appropriate. This nomenclature is of less use in complex eukaryotic genomes where the boundaries of supercoil dissipation, the definition of ‘relaxed’ DNA and the relative importance of twist and writhe remain unclear (discussed further in [91]). In this situation, we use the terms over-wound and under- wound DNA (Figure 1), which gives an indication of the relative change in DNA supercoiling between conditions (e.g. transcription inhibition). This is useful in psoralen-based experiments where changes in relative distribution of drug indicate changes in relative distribution of DNA supercoiling, but not the absolute level of this change.
Figure 3. View largeDownload slide Psoralen-based approaches identify enrichments of under-wound DNA in eukaryotic genomes in vivo. (A) Approaches taking advantage of inter-strand cross-links formed by a proportion of covalently linked psoralen molecules. Denaturing gel/solution followed by electrophoresis/hydroxyapatite chromatography/exonuclease digestion permits the separation of DNA molecules with an inter-strand cross-link compared with those with no cross-links or a psoralen mono-adduct. Enrichment for inter-strand cross-links at particular loci is then assayed by Southern blot, slot blot, microarray or sequencing. (B) Biotin-psoralen pull-down approaches enrich for psoralen-bound DNA for analysis by microarray or sequencing. (A colour version of this figure is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bfg)
Figure 3. View largeDownload slide Psoralen-based approaches identify enrichments of under-wound DNA in eukaryotic genomes in vivo. (A) Approaches taking advantage of inter-strand cross-links formed by a proportion of covalently linked psoralen molecules. Denaturing gel/solution followed by electrophoresis/hydroxyapatite chromatography/exonuclease digestion permits the separation of DNA molecules with an inter-strand cross-link compared with those with no cross-links or a psoralen mono-adduct. Enrichment for inter-strand cross-links at particular loci is then assayed by Southern blot, slot blot, microarray or sequencing. (B) Biotin-psoralen pull-down approaches enrich for psoralen-bound DNA for analysis by microarray or sequencing. (A colour version of this figure is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bfg)
In a second method, fragmented DNA samples are processed in solution to enrich for TMP-bound dsDNA (Figure 3A). Early studies used hydroxyapatite chromatography to separate dsDNA and ssDNA followed by a slot-blot approach [18, 19], which gave results equivalent to those of the Southern blot procedure. More recently, several groups have used exonuclease digestion of denatured DNA to enrich for DNA with inter-strand cross-links [13, 17]. In this approach, ssDNA is fully denatured, whereas DNA with inter-strand cross-links only partially denatures, maintaining a TMP bridge between the two strands. Exonucleases degrade ssDNA entirely, but are interrupted by the TMP inter-strand cross-link to leave 3′ ssDNA overhangs. These DNA samples are isolated and analysed by microarray or deep sequencing to give the distribution of inter-strand cross-links, similar to those described for the denaturing gel-based approach.
Pull-down approach to enrich for under-wound DNA
A second way for enriching TMP-bound DNA is to redesign the molecule to include a molecular tag that allows purification of the under-wound DNA using a pull-down approach (Figure 3B). The major advantage of this technique is that it enriches for both inter-strand cross-links and the more highly abundant mono-adduct TMP molecules [63]. Therefore, TMP can sample differences in DNA supercoiling by detecting all bound TMP molecules, rather than the minority of TMP molecules that form inter-strand cross-links (around 1 of 15 TMP molecules). In our laboratory, we biotinylated the TMP (bTMP) molecule following the structure devised by Saffran et al. [64]. Cells were incubated with bTMP before cross-linking with UV irradiation, followed by DNA fragmentation, DNA purification and the enrichment for under-wound DNA by pull-down with streptavidin beads followed by hybridization to microarrays [16]. A similar approach was subsequently used by Anders et al. [12] using a bTMP to enrich for TMP-bound DNA and analysis by next-generation sequencing.
Immunofluorescence approaches to visualize under-wound DNA supercoiling
In addition to sequence-based approaches for mapping DNA supercoiling in vivo, bTMP has been used to visualize the distribution of DNA supercoils in immunofluorescence-based techniques. To visualize under-wound DNA in human cells [16] and in the Drosophila polytene chromosome [15], bTMP was cross-linked into the DNA, followed by sample fixation, the addition of a streptavidin-labelled fluorescent probe and visualization by fluorescence microscopy.
Sequence considerations and controls for TMP distribution analysis
In all the methods discussed above, it is important to consider properties of TMP in the design of experiments and interpretation of results [65], the most important of which is to consider the potential influence of sequence bias on TMP binding. Attempts to determine the properties of TMP sequence bias have identified that the molecule shows no sequence bias when binding DNA [66], but that the formation of UV cross-links has a strong preference towards thymidine nucleotides. Furthermore, the influence of local sequence on TMP cross-link frequency is complex and unpredictable, with a preference for 5′TA over 5′AT, a strong influence of flanking bases up to 3 bp either side and potential long-range effects over tens of base pairs [66–68]. The clear influence of local sequence context on TMP-DNA cross-links suggests that sequence-dependent DNA helical structure is important for TMP binding. Therefore, it is important to differentiate under-wound DNA supercoil distribution from this complex sequence bias, and the simplest way to do this is to compare two conditions in which the sequence bias is not expected to change. For example, the addition of a transcription inhibitor allows the identification of under-wound DNA that is generated by active transcription [14–16].
To give an absolute distribution of supercoiling, the DNA can be nicked, either chemically [15, 16] or through X-ray irradiation [18, 19], to dissipate supercoils and provide a base line for relative enrichment of under-wound DNA. Another baseline from which to determine the relative enrichment of under-wound DNA is to compare TMP distribution on genomic DNA with that in cells [13, 16]. This has the caveat of comparing a chromatinized template with a non-chromatinized template, but experiments in our laboratory suggest that the distribution of bTMP in genomic DNA and bleomycin-treated cells is broadly similar [16]. Finally, a selection of other inhibitors/conditions have been used to tease apart differences in DNA supercoiling independent of sequence, including heat shock [15, 20], topoisomerase knock out [13] and topoisomerase inhibition [16]. Together, these results by Southern blot, microarray and immunofluorescence assays, all support difference in DNA supercoiling in eukaryotic genomes as measured by TMP.
Discoveries and applications
Unconstrained DNA supercoiling is present in eukaryotes
Early studies assaying whole-genome TMP binding in bacteria, Drosophila and human concluded that prokaryotes maintain their genome in a strongly under-wound state whereas, at the limit of their detection methods, eukaryotic DNA is not maintained in a globally unconstrained under-wound state [11]. Using a TMP cross-link followed by denaturation approach to perform a more focused analysis of DNA supercoiling at gene promoters and enhancers, several groups identified that unconstrained DNA supercoiling is present at active genes in human, fly and hamster cells [18–20]. For example, Ljungman and Hanawalt [18] show that the 5′ ends of human DHFR and ribosomal DNA genes are enriched for TMP inter-strand cross-links under normal conditions, but not when the DNA is nicked by X-ray irradiation.
These early studies supported the idea of ‘micro-domains’ of under-wound DNA supercoiling present in a genome that was almost entirely devoid of unconstrained supercoiling. Immunofluoresence data in Drosophila polytene chromosome transformed this view by demonstrating that regions of under-wound DNA are prevalent throughout genomes and are strongly correlated with transcriptionally active regions [15]. Further, characterization of under-wound domains identified that they are lost on nicking the genome and following transcription inhibition. Similarly, our laboratory identified in human cells that under-wound DNA supercoiling is present throughout the nucleus and that the bTMP signal on bleomycin treatment to nick the DNA is reduced [16].
To map the under-wound DNA, which was by then known to be prevalent in eukaryotic genomes, several groups adopted an approach where TMP-bound DNA was enriched and hybridized to microarrays tiling regions [13, 14, 16] of the genome or analysed by next-generation sequencing [12, 17]. The first study to use this approach compared wild-type and topoisomerase mutant yeast, showing that domains of differential supercoiling exist between mutant and wild-type strains [13]. In our laboratory, we applied a similar technique in human cells and identified ∼100 kb domains that are relatively under-wound or over-wound [16]. Furthermore, we identified a general enrichment for under-wound DNA at promoters, as shown for a few key examples in previous studies. This promoter enrichment has now been confirmed in a number of further studies [12, 14, 17].
Together, these data provide strong evidence that under-wound DNA supercoiling is present in the genomes of eukaryotes as both large-scale domains and a more focused local enrichment such as at gene promoters.
Under-wound DNA is associated with active transcription in vivo
Under-wound DNA is associated with transcription initiation in vitro and in prokaryotes, and experiments using TMP have now demonstrated an association in eukaryotes. For example, Jupe et al. [20] showed in Drosophila that TMP inter-strand cross-links are enriched at active 18S ribosomal RNA genes and at heat shock genes following stimulation, but not at a nearby downstream region. Developing this idea further, Matsumoto and Hirose [15] show by immunofluorescence that a heat shock locus in Drosophila exhibits high levels of under-wound DNA supercoiling after stimulation, unless the DNA is nicked or transcription is inhibited. Similar observations in hamster [19] and human [14, 16] support this link, and work in our laboratory has demonstrated that large-scale domains and local-enrichment at promoters are substantially rearranged on transcription inhibition. Together, these data support a relationship in which active transcription generates a local enrichment of under-wound DNA supercoiling.
Perspective
Implications and future directions
The identification of unconstrained DNA supercoiling in higher eukaryotes transforms our understanding of the potential role that DNA molecules can play in facilitating and signalling their own transcription events. Using centrifugation/electrophoresis and psoralen-based approaches over the past 35 years, the presence and distribution of DNA supercoiling in vivo in eukaryotes have been established, and recent advances have shown that unconstrained under-wound DNA is a general property of actively transcribed promoters and large-scale domains. Furthermore, these DNA structures are transient and can be disrupted by nicking the genome, inhibiting transcription or suppressing topoisomerase activity. Future work must characterize in detail the introduction, maintenance and influence of DNA supercoiling on eukaryotic genome regulation.
Introduction of DNA supercoils
As far as we are aware, transcription generates most of the supercoiling in eukaryotic DNA, via the twin-domain model in which DNA is over-wound ahead of the advancing polymerase and under-wound behind (Figure 1) [4]. This is in contrast to prokaryotes, which have specific DNA gyrase enzymes that can introduce under-wound DNA supercoils [69]. Therefore, to better understand the distribution of DNA supercoils in vivo, we must also know where transcription in the genome occurs. In the past decade, our understanding of the distribution of transcription in vivo has been transformed by techniques that precisely map nascent transcription including GRO-seq [70], PRO-seq [71], Start-seq [72], etc. These techniques have demonstrated that the majority of transcription is noncoding, with abortive transcripts most common at the promoter regions of genes. Consequently, DNA supercoiling must be highest in these regions and may then dissipate to have local-scale and domain-scale influence. A recent model has proposed that the coupling of transcription to DNA supercoiling can recapitulate experimental observations, including transcription bursts and the upregulation of divergent or bidirectional genes [73]. This model predicts how gene orientation and the action of topoisomerase enzymes will influence the co-regulation of neighbouring genes and an important future goal is to test the predictions of this model in vivo. One key parameter required to further understand these properties is to determine how supercoils introduced into the genome by a specific transcription event dissipate from their origin in vivo and influence steady-state DNA supercoil distribution locally and over large-scale domains.
Maintenance of DNA supercoils
Psoralen studies in higher eukaryotes have identified that DNA supercoiling is maintained in vivo by a balance of transcription and topoisomerase activities, and that perturbation of either can cause promoter-scale and large-scale changes in DNA supercoil distribution. However, the mechanism linking this balance in activity remains unknown. In theory, eukaryotic topoisomerase proteins should remove both over-wound and under-wound DNA supercoils with similar efficiency to leave a net state of relaxed DNA [74, 75]. How under-wound DNA is maintained at the expense of over-wound DNA remains unknown, although it is tempting to speculate that mechanisms exist to preferentially remove over-wound supercoils to prevent the transcription machinery from pausing/stalling [5, 76]. Furthermore, the relative influence of topoisomerase I and II on the maintenance of DNA supercoils is not well characterized. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies suggest a relationship between transcribed regions and topoisomerase I [16, 77–79], and protein studies suggest that RNA polymerase II and topoisomerase I interact [80], although a recent study has demonstrated that topoisomerase I activity is strongly depleted over gene promoters, despite high levels of associated protein [79]. Similarly topoisomerase II is enriched at gene promoters [81–84], and it has been demonstrated that dsDNA breaks generated by topoisomerase II are required for the regulated transcription of certain genes [85]. Future studies must address how topoisomerase activity relates to DNA supercoils in vivo and address the relationship between topoisomerase activity at specific loci and the influence on DNA supercoil distribution.
Influence of DNA supercoils in vivo
DNA supercoils have broad influence on DNA structure, and the identification of unconstrained supercoils in eukaryotes opens a huge field of regulatory potential. In recent years, a number of alternative DNA structures stabilized by under-wound DNA supercoils have been identified in higher eukaryotes in vivo, including R-loops, G-quadruplexes, cruciforms, Z-DNA and ssDNA. Proteins including transcription factors have been shown to specifically associate with such DNA structures [40, 51, 52, 86], as well as more subtle differences in DNA structure such as the transition from a B-form to an A-form helix and the localized under-winding of DNA [87, 88]. In these cases, it has not been established whether the change in DNA structure causes or is a consequence of protein binding, although there is an increasing evidence supporting a role for DNA structure in this process [89]. Furthermore, the direct association between changes in unconstrained DNA supercoiling and transcription factor binding has only been demonstrated for one example, the FUSE interacting protein and FIRs at the supercoil-sensitive FUSE DNA element [36]. In future work, investigators must systematically test other supercoil-sensitive elements for (a) the formation of alternative DNA structures as a result of DNA supercoiling and (b) the specific binding of regulatory proteins to these alternative DNA structure and the specific regulation of transcription/replication as a result. It is noteworthy that DNA sequence motifs for alternative DNA structures are highly enriched and evolutionarily conserved at gene promoters and human replication origins [90], further supporting a potential functional relevance for supercoil-dependent DNA structural transitions. Identifying whether these structures are a general mechanism for real-time signalling of ongoing transcription, and function to enhance/suppress future transcription is an essential next step for the DNA supercoil field.
In addition to altering the helical structure of DNA, supercoiling can introduce a rotational torque into the DNA, which facilitates the formation of the pre-initiation complex and subsequent gene expression at specific eukaryotic genes in vivo [8]. By this mechanism, supercoils generated by the transcription of one gene could dissipate through the DNA and influence transcription from the promoters of neighbouring genes [73], and supercoils generated by abortive transcription could facilitate full-length gene expression by priming the DNA structure of a promoter region [91]. Whether under-wound DNA supercoiling alters DNA structure directly, or provides the energy for proteins to do so, is unknown. Furthermore, the influence of under-wound DNA supercoiling on different eukaryotic promoters has not been widely tested, with a single in vitro study reporting increased transcription in two of three promoters [32]. Recent work has shown that eukaryotic gene promoters are generally under-wound [12, 14, 16, 17], particularly when active, and it is now important to establish the features of promoters in vivo that confer supercoil sensitivity. Only with this knowledge, can we begin to understand how domains of DNA supercoiling influence the expression properties of the gene promoters contained within them.
Improved methods for detecting DNA supercoiling invivo
In addition to using centrifugation, electrophoresis and psoralen-based approaches to address many of the outstanding questions in the field of DNA supercoiling, it is essential that future work identifies new approaches and methodologies for probing the influence of DNA supercoiling in eukaryotes in vivo.
Recent work using gel electrophoresis, a field that is >40 years old, demonstrate that exciting technical and biological questions continue to be addressed using these approaches [30, 33, 36, 48, 58]. Despite the inherent limitation of using a defined circular plasmid system, which does not represent the majority of eukaryotic DNA, gel electrophoresis approaches remain key for providing mechanistic insight for the role of DNA supercoiling in vivo. Future work in this field is mostly limited by the imagination and technical capacity required to elicit complex and generally applicable characteristics using this relatively simple system. A good starting point is the development of new independently replicating plasmid systems that address specific properties of DNA supercoiling in vivo, similar to recent studies of centromeric sequence or supercoil-sensitive sequences in eukaryotic cells [30, 36, 48, 59]. Using similar approaches, many outstanding questions could be addressed including the role of supercoiling in gene promoter regulation, transcription factor binding and alternative DNA structure formation in vivo.
In contrast to gel electrophoresis approaches, in which changes in DNA migration can only be attributed to changes in DNA structure, psoralen-based approaches suffer the limitations inherent to a chemical probe of genome structure. Psoralen has a complex sequence specificity and may show some preference for more accessible chromatin regions (although Kouzine et al. [14] provide data indicating this is not the case). Furthermore, it is not well characterized how psoralen binds non-B form DNA structures. While these issues are not unique to psoralen, for example the major chemical probe of chromatin structure is formaldehyde, which has strong DNA and peptide sequence bias (binding only guanines and lysines [92]), it is an important consideration. To reduce the influence of known and unknown psoralen bias on the interpretation of DNA supercoiling distribution, distributions were identified in cells under different conditions including on genomic DNA, with bleomycin treatment and with transcription/topoisomerase inhibition. For greater confidence in interpreting the properties of DNA supercoiling in vivo, future studies must aim to identify alternative probes for DNA supercoiling, taking advantage of features in addition to the increased capacity for the intercalation of planar molecules. For example, minor groove binders such as netropsin bind into the DNA and induce changes in DNA supercoiling that suggest these molecules could be used to probe over-w |
oled Oct. 10. His parole was scheduled to end Jan. 27, 2015.
He appeared Monday in court, and said he would go to trial rather than accept an offer of pleading guilty to a trespassing violation, and receiving an ACD, Acquittal in Contemplation of Dismissal.
A Thompson spokesperson declined comment. The NYPD and the police union did not comment.
Mazile has eight previous Civilian Complaints against him, mostly for verbal abuse, but a couple of complaints alleged excessive force, including hitting a suspect in the head, records showed.
Seven of the cases, however, were not substantiated, primarily because the complainants failed to follow up, sources said.
In the eighth case, Mazile was completely cleared of any wrongdoing.
Sources say this encounter also highlights why Commissioner Bill Bratton is focusing developing new training methods to get officers to de-escalate situations before they turn violent.The Foundation for a Better Life is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2000 to "promote good values".[1] The foundation creates public service campaigns to share with others its values, including honesty, caring, and optimism, in order to create a better social paradigm. The foundation communicates its message through television, outdoor advertising, theatre, radio, and the Internet and is best known for the "Pass It On" campaign. Viewers are encouraged to pass on these values, with the rationale that examples of individuals living values-based lives may not change the world, but collectively they make a difference.
History [ edit ]
Founded in 2000, it is headed by its president, Gary Dixon. The organization launched its first campaign on November 9, 2001. The original start date was September 13, 2001, but it was postponed due to the September 11 attacks. The initial campaign appeared on about 10,000 billboards, signs and posters nationwide.[2] The original message of the campaign was modified to include themes which recognized the state of the nation following the attacks. Specifically, the values of "unity" and "courage" were added with images of flags and firefighters.[2] The campaign was created by copywriter Jay Schulberg and art director Bernie Hogya.[citation needed]
Prior to the launch of the campaign, Dixon contacted Nancy Fletcher, president and chief executive at the Outdoor Advertising Association of America in Washington. He reportedly was inspired by the association's billboard campaign called God Speaks, which generated enormous attention in 1999 and 2000.[2]
The foundation continues to sponsor public service messages in various media. The foundation's "Pass It On" campaign has incorporated the likenesses of Wayne Gretzky, Michelle Kwan, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Michael J. Fox, Albert Einstein and Muhammad Ali.[3]
Funding [ edit ]
The Foundation neither solicits nor accepts monetary donations from the public. It is not officially affiliated with any religion, instead hoping that "the values we share transcend any particular religion or nationality". The chief contributor of the foundation also serves as the chief contributor of the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.[4] All funding comes from the Anschutz Family Foundation. [5]EXCLUSIVE: Michael Fassbender, Justin Kurzel attached to new version of Macbeth, from the producers of The King’s Speech.
Michael Fassbender is attached to play Macbeth in a new version of Shakespeare’s classic, which will be produced by The King’s Speech and Shame producers See Saw.
For production details visit Macbeth
Snowtown director Justin Kurzel is attached to direct the film, which is expected to shoot later this year. Writers are Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff.
The script has been one of the most in-demand ahead of the Cannes Film Festival with a number of sales outfits keen to work on the film.
Development and production backing on the UK-Australian co-production comes from Film4.
The part of Lady Macbeth is currently being cast and talks are underway with at least one Hollywood leading actress.
The production sees Fassbender reunited with Shame producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman and Film4, with whom the actor worked on Hunger, Shame and the upcoming Frank.
The new take on Shakespeare’s classic - about a ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord who siezes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and three witches - is set in the 11th century and in the original language.
The script is understood to be a visceral approach to the story including significant battle scenes.
The play has been recently staged in London’s West End starring James McAvoy, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for his turn. Famous film versions include Roman Polanski’s 1971 version and Orson Welles’ from 1948.
Actor-director Louiso, whose acting credits include High Fidelity and Jerry Maguire, has been twice-nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance - as director of 2002 comedy-drama Love Liza starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates; and in 2012 for comedy-romance Hello I Must Be Going.
Louiso and Koskoff collaborated as writer-director and writer, respectively, on 2009 Paramount Vantage comedy-drama The Marc Pease Experience starring Jason Schwartzman, Ben Stiller and Anna Kendrick.
The in-demand Kurzel is also attached to direct John Le Carre thriller Our Kind of Traitor, which was due to shoot later this year.Bradley Smith reserved strong words for the Circuit of Catalunya during the seventh round of the 2017 season, stating it is the only venue on the current MotoGP calendar that is not responding to rider or organiser requests.
The circuit was under the microscope last weekend, as riders were highly critical of the aged, greasy track surface- last resurfaced well over ten years ago -, which offered up next to no grip and left several leading names baffled.
Then there was the issue with the revised final sector; so slow and hokey was the redesigned final chicane, the Safety Commission, which met on Friday evening, decided to revert to the F1 layout, used by the Grand Prix classes in 2016, for the qualifying and race days.
Several riders opined the circuit was now not at the required to level to host a MotoGP race, with Smith perhaps the most forthright. Speaking on Friday, the KTM rider that missed the race due to injuring a little finger in a nasty FP4 spill felt Friday's layout, with the tighter chicane was the safest option available.
"It's safer than what we had during the race last year, but it's not the perfect solution. But until the circuit do the grandstands, cut some trees down, do some landfill, what can you do," he asked.
"Hopefully we won't come [back]. That's finally what it comes down to. This is the only track on the calendar that's not actually reacting to Safety Commission/rider/organiser's requests.
"So at some point, you have to give them an ultimatum, and I think that this is the last year that they'll be in that situation. We have enough people that want us to go race there, we don't have to come here. New tarmac is something we've been asking for a couple of years."
It is believed the Circuit of Catalunya will be resurfaced some time in the near future. Meanwhile, Joan Fontser?, director of the Circuit of Catalunya, responded to some of the criticisms aimed at the track.
In an interview with Spanish sports daily AS, Fontser? was critical of series organiser Dorna and the FIM for not making the private test at the Montmel? venue compulsory for all teams and riders to attend.
"We carried out the project that was requested and then you get to Friday and they asked us to change back. You wonder what you have done. We've been working a year just to finish in the same place," he said.
"I'm surprised that 15 days before there were some tests and all of them [teams and riders] did not come, when the circuit has been changed, and no one was there to supervise," he told AS.
It was widely perceived that the circuit was unable to retain the original layout and move back the trackside barriers because of the required costs to do so.
However, Fontser? insisted, "it's not an issue of money, but of execution when complying with safety measures. We've done what the FIM and Dorna asked us to do on the basis of what was agreed in the Safety Commission."After nearly 80 years in the publishing capital of America, DC Entertainment‘s publishing operation is leaving New York. The comic book unit of Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. announced last week that by early 2015, it will consolidate operations in Burbank, Calif, adjacent to Warner’s studio lot. All 150 of its employees in New York City will be offered new positions across the country.
The move has drawn attention throughout the comic book community and publishing world, as it not only marks the end of an era, but a sign that DC is no longer a far flung outpost of Warner’s entertainment empire. In her first public comments, DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the decision. Following is an edited transcript of the discussion.Tuesday night's big speech by President Donald Trump to the joint session of Congress was yet another in the series of disorienting and surreal spectacles over the last year and a half that make you blink your eyes and pinch yourself to ensure you aren't dreaming. You shake your head and mutter under your breath, "Yes, Donald Trump really is our president."
Since Trump has so much trouble telling the truth and makes conflicting comments to different people every day, it's a waste of energy discussing the policies he laid out in the speech. His actions are the only way to determine his real agenda, so one has to evaluate these events as performances.
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As Bill Maher said on MSNBC, the president was "Teleprompter Trump" on Tuesday night. That means he was tolerably disciplined and semi-articulate, reading a speech written by others. This particular performance style always compels media outlets to declare his tone "moderate" and "measured." Some said Trump has finally "pivoted" to a more presidential demeanor. They were enthusiastic enough about this speech that Trump may even stop tweeting insults about them for a few days. All in all, it was a good night for the president.
Trump is basically an entertainer and a pitchman, so these events play to his talents, such as they are. A formal speech isn't his favorite venue to sell his wares, of course. He loves his rallies where he can rant spontaneously on whatever topic takes his fancy and his cult followers cheer wildly. Their worship is like air to him. His second preference as president is the photo op. I don't think any president in history has ever held more of them and imparted less substance while doing so. George W. Bush's adviser Karl Rove always said that "politics is TV with the sound turned off," and it appears that Trump took him literally.
But no matter how well Trump manages to keep up the sales spiel, the fact is that he is the president and it's a bigger job than pitching steaks and cheap perfume. Since he allegedly ran a billion-dollar empire, he was supposed to be a high-powered executive with supernatural management talents. As Al Jazeera and many other news organizations reported throughout the campaign, for many of his followers that was the biggest attraction. For instance, this quote in USA Today is entirely typical of the Trump voter:
"He knows how to run a business, he knows how economies should work and he knows how to hire the right people to get the job done instead of thinking he knows best on everything. He speaks his mind, he doesn’t bow to political correctness and he’s honest.”
Well, he does speak his mind.
Trump played a successful entrepreneur on his reality show for many years and that's been a big part of his image. But it's also true that Republicans have extolled the virtues of the businessman as leader for many years, often making the point that the government should be run like a business because it would be more efficient. But that's faith-based market worship, not reality. Government is not a business and while some of the lessons one might learn in business could be applicable to running the government, the duties of governing, especially at the highest level, are much more complex than those of running even the largest industries. The problems, the mission and the constituencies are so different that the skills required for the job have much more to do with general temperament and intelligence than executive experience.
This doesn't mean business experience is of no value. It does mean that that a business executive can't run the country the same way he or she ran a business. It's a different organizational structure altogether.
Donald Trump is actually running the country like his business. He appears to believe that he's the CEO of America and everyone in the government answers to him. This is why his administration doesn't think twice about enlisting the FBI and members of the congressional intelligence committees to do damage control or about insulting the independent judiciary and the press when they fail to do his bidding. (Did Trump even know the president can't fire federal judges?) Trump appears to think that being president means he's everyone's boss.
But that doesn't explain the White House chaos of these first weeks, with all the leaks and missteps and infighting. Even though the government isn't a business and the president's job is very different than a corporate executive's, if Trump were actually a skilled executive, as he so often claims, he should at least be able to manage the White House staff.
An article in Politico by Michael Kruse sheds light on that issue: Donald Trump isn't just making the mistake of trying to run the government like a business; Donald Trump is also a terrible businessman. According to Bruce Nobles, who was president of the defunct Trump Shuttle airline in the 1980s, Trump is a "performance artist pretending to be a great manager."
Nobles had been involved with some big organizations and remarked to a reporter at the time that he was surprised at what "a family-type operation" the Trump airline had, "instead of a business kind of orientation where there is a structure and there is a chain of command and there is delegation of authority and responsibility."
Trump had greatly overpaid for the airline with borrowed cash, and Nobles observed that Trump was much more concerned with the superficial image of the business than the actual nuts and bolts of running it. Trump's airline failed as did all his casinos, which he ran based on highly eccentric notions of business management.
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Kruse quotes Trump biographer Tim O'Brien, who said, “I don’t think there’s anything of scale that he’s had his hands on that he hasn’t made a hash of.” Biographer Gwenda Blair noted, “Ramping up is something he’s maybe not so good at.”
Trump famously crashed and burned in the '90s and found his feet again only when he went into the branding business where he could take advantage of his one indisputable talent: self-promotion. He is very, very good at that and it got him all the way to the White House. But these first weeks have illustrated in living color that he's brought to the presidency the notoriously poor management skills that led to one disastrous business failure after another.
Can Donald Trump actually change? Who knows. But it seems unlikely. As biographer O'Brien told Politico, "This isn’t just about a modest course correction. This is about getting an entire personality transplant." If only that were possible.Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin before a meeting at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires on July 12, 2014 (AFP Photo/Maxi Failla)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner called for a multipolar world order as Moscow sought to boost ties with Latin America amid heightened East-West tensions.
Putin is on a six-day tour seeking to increase Moscow's influence in the region at a time when the Ukraine crisis has eroded Russia's relations with the United States and Europe to their lowest point since the Cold War.
His itinerary includes meetings with a string of leftist leaders critical of the United States and a summit of the BRICS group of emerging countries -- an agenda that neatly aligns with his push for a multipolar world less dominated by the West.
Kirchner is meanwhile waging her own fight against Washington, battling a US court ruling that Argentina must pay more than $1.3 billion by the end of the month to hedge funds refusing to accept the restructuring of the country's defaulted debt.
Putin said Russia shared "a very similar, very close view of international relations" with Argentina.
He also voiced his support for Argentina's long-standing territorial claim to the Falkland Islands, the British territory it calls the Malvinas, which sparked a 1982 war between the two countries.
"We favor the principles of a multi-polar world, which are equality, indivisibility and security. Russia continues to support the need to find a solution to the dispute over the Malvinas Islands at direct negotiations between Great Britain and Argentina," he said at a dinner in his honor.
The Argentine leader for her part insisted that global institutions must be overhauled and made more multilateral.
"We firmly believe in multipolarity, in multilateralism, in a world where countries don't have a double standard," Kirchner said after the pair toured the presidential palace in Buenos Aires.
"We need to globally regulate the flow of capital that has turned the world into a financial casino where many countries are drowning in huge debts."
She called for the next meeting of G20 major economies to set a broader agenda that also targets global economic and financial regulation.
The pair looked on as their delegations signed a series of bilateral deals, including one on nuclear energy that comes as Argentina ramps up work on its fourth nuclear plant, the $3-billion Atucha III reactor.
Kirchner said members of the Russian delegation would also visit the massive Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field, potentially one of the largest finds in history, which cash-strapped Argentina -- locked out of capital markets since its 2001 default -- needs investment to develop.
The pair also discussed military cooperation, including the prospect of Russia providing transport planes for use in Antarctica.
- Cold War echoes -
Putin's six-day trip will next take him to Brazil, where he will participate in a summit of the BRICS emerging nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The Russian strongman has invited Argentina, which is keen to join the group, to attend the meeting as an observer.
He will also watch Argentina play Germany in the World Cup final.
There were distinct Cold War echoes in the former KGB spy's travel itinerary.
He launched his tour Friday in Russia's Cold War ally Cuba, where he met with President Raul Castro and his 87-year-old brother Fidel, father of the island's communist revolution.
He then made a surprise stop in Nicaragua for talks with President Daniel Ortega, a former guerrilla whose government was close to the Soviet Union during the Sandinista regime of the 1980s.
But Putin also had plenty of modern-day business on his agenda.
In Havana, he oversaw the signing of a dozen bilateral deals, including for oil exploration off the island's coast.
In Nicaragua, he vowed to strengthen economic ties with the Central American country, which earlier this month finalized the route for a planned alternative to the Panama Canal, a Chinese-backed plan that promises to reshape the global shipping industry.Who lives in an anemone under the sea? As America’s Ocean Exploration Team discovered, it’s aliens – or extremely strange creatures. Borne on the ship Okeanos Explorer, they were surveying the Puerto Rico trench. Formed by North American tectonic plate sliding under the Caribbean plate, it’s 8000 meters deep and 800 kilometers long, the eighth deepest trench in the world.
The twelve dives by the Deep Discoverer, the ships’ Remote Operation Vehicle, have discovered 100 species of fish, 50 species of deep-water corals, and hundreds of other invertebrates. That comes from the third leg of the trip, which came after the mapping portion of the expedition. 95 percent of the oceans remain unexplored, so scientists like these have a lot of work left to them.
However, Okeanos possesses a new solution to ocean exploration. Streaming the research dives online, it lets any scientist around the world join in. “There will be a starfish expert or a jellyfish expert or a coral expert and so they’re all working with us together, which is unique,” Andrea Quattrini, the science co-lead for the expedition, told Quartz. “On other research teams you only have a certain number of bunks on the ship and so only say 12 or 15 scientists can go at once.”
More Info:oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
H/T www.demilked.comBob May shows how his pickup truck was broken into while it sat in the parking lot of Tad's Chicken 'N Dumplings. He was inside having dinner at the time. (KATU Photo)
It was a busy evening Wednesday at Tad's Chicken 'N Dumplings east of Troutdale and still light out when someone broke into a half-dozen cars parked in the restaurant's parking lot along the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway along the Sandy River.
They smashed out the side window here and also the main window here," said theft victim Bob May of Portland.
Shattered window glass litters the floor of May's pickup.
May was having dinner at the restaurant around 7 p.m. when someone at the restaurant told him cars outside had been broken into.
"It was shocking," says May. "All six cars were parked in a row and it looks like they just went down one car after another and rifled through."
May lost some replaceable things from inside his pickup.
What was worse, May says, was watching a group whose car had also been targeted at the end of a day celebrating a 21st birthday.
"The one lady was in shock just sitting there speechless," May says, "trying to take it all in because you just don't expect this type of thing to happen."
May says the group tried to protect valuables left in their car.
"They'd put all their jewelry in the back -- thought they'd hidden it -- so obviously whoever broke in took the time to go through that particular vehicle and basically clean them out. And it was, it was horrific," says May.
The restaurant has a surveillance camera, but it doesn't cover the area where the break-ins happened.
Bob May's son Kevin cut his hand in the rush to seal up his dad's pickup in the rain.
"Really, really frustrating," says Kevin May, "because I'm usually the guy who has to rush over and help. But yeah, especially both windows. You know it's kind of a rookie thing. I just don't understand it."
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office wants to hear from anyone who might know anything about the car break-ins or who may have been driving near Tad's Chicken 'N Dumplings restaurant around 7 o'clock Wednesday evening and saw unusual activity at the north end of the parking lot in front of the restaurant.The success of ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” has paved the way for an explosion of actors of Asian heritage on the network — and across broadcast TV.
ABC will feature 18 Asian series regular characters during the 2015-16 season, according to findings by the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC). That number beats the previous record set by NBC in 2008, when the network featured 16 Asian characters across its shows.
ABC will also be the first network in history to have three shows featuring first-billed Asian leads on the air at the same time. In addition to “Fresh Off the Boat,” the network is also debuting “Dr. Ken,” a comedy featuring “Hangover” star Ken Jeong, while Sunday night saw the premiere of FBI thriller “Quantico,” headlined by Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra.
Also Read: The Shonda Effect: 16 Shows That Champion Diversity (Photos)
“ABC has certainly stepped up the game,” APAMC co-chair Daniel Mayeda told TheWrap. “Everyone [across all the networks] is doing really well, but more importantly, it’s the nature of the roles… These are very significant roles we have now, rather than just being someone’s boss or someone’s sidekick or best friend or whatever, which is what’s happened in the past.”
Mayeda cites ABC’s concerted push for diversity, particularly last season season, as a major reason why Asians and other minorities are finding opportunities never available to them before.
In addition to “Fresh Off the Boat,” the network also premiered “black-ish,” a sitcom about a black family starring Anthony Anderson, and it’s also the network of Shonda Rhimes, whose “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” make up the unmissable and incredibly diverse TGIT Thursday night drama block.
Also Read: Why Priyanka Chopra's 'Quantico' Casting Was a Game Changer for EP Joshua Safran
“Across the board, there’s a lot of pressure for all of diversity,” ABC’s Executive Vice President of Comedy Development Samie Falvey, who oversaw the launch of “Fresh Off the Boat,” told TheWrap. “We really felt like if neither ‘black-ish’ or ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ worked, the entire town would say, ‘You know what, we were right, it’s all about white people, those shows are niche.’ To have those shows work was incredibly gratifying.”
ABC is not the only network expanding the onscreen presence of actors of Asian heritage. CBS will have 13 Asian series regulars and 22 recurring on shows ranging from “Hawaii Five-0” to the new medical drama “Code Black,” while The CW has six Asian series regulars, on shows like “iZombie” and new musical drama “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Fox currently has 10 series regulars and eight recurring guest stars, represented on such shows as “Grandfathered” and “Minority Report.” Data on NBC shows were not immediately available, though Asian actors are series regulars on shows such as “Heroes Reborn” and “Chicago Med.”
Also Read: Emmy Breakout Constance Wu is Not 'Fresh Off The Boat's' Tiger Mom: Watch Her #selfieinterview (Video)
In the past, networks have tended to focus diversity efforts on African Americans and Latinos rather than Asians, who represent about 5 percent of the U.S. population.
Before the February launch of “Fresh Off the Boat,” starring Randall Park and Constance Wu as Taiwanese immigrants in Miami, the last Asian family sitcom was 1994’s “All American Girl” starring Margaret Cho, which lasted just one season.
Following the success of “Modern Family,” Falvey said network executives looked to explore an immigrant family show. “We knew it was a way to do a love letter to America from an outsider’s point of view,” she said.
Also Read: Why Priyanka Chopra's 'Quantico' Casting Was a Game Changer for EP Joshua Safran
She also noted that there’s been at least one show about an Asian family in development at ABC every year, for at least four to five years prior to “Fresh Off the Boat” finally making it to air.
The two imperatives came to together with “Fresh Off the Boat,” which has managed to attract a diverse audience. According to APAMC, 60 percent of the show’s audience is white. And it is, of course, the No. 1 show among Asian-Americans.
“For a long time, it was just a sense that the contemporary American family was not on TV,” she said. “That’s because I have a super bizarro, how-do-these-people-know-each-other kind of family, so for a long that, that was kind of the drive and intent behind a lot of our development.
Also Read: 'Quantico' Review: Priyanka Chopra Scores in Silly Spy Drama
Diversity, network execs are discovering, is big business.
“It’s a culmination of years of advocacy,” Mayeda said. “There’s been a gradual increase in the number of Asian-Americans who are on television and the kind of roles we’ve been getting.”
And with the success of shows like “Empire” and “Fresh Off the Boat” and the Shondaland block, he noted, “Finally people figured out diversity is not just something you do to get community groups off your back, this is a way to make money. This is something we’ve been telling them for over a decade. The data is now bearing that out.”
The ability to tell an Asian story on screen and seeing Asian actors cast in roles that traditionally have been closed to them are two equally important aspects of representation for the rapidly growing minority group, according to Mayeda.
“You want to have the opportunity, as an Asian actor, to play any role that’s not ethnically specific,” he said. “At the same time, we also want roles that are a chance to tell all aspects of our background, and that’s one of the reasons ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ has been such a joy to watch.”
Also Read: Ken Jeong Rips Critic Accusing Him of 'Yellowface Buffoonery'
“Dr. Ken,” unlike “Fresh Off the Boat,” is about an American doctor and his family, who just happen to be Asian. The two shows would seem to satisfy both aspects of Asian representation, and the fact that they are on the air at the same time seems rather miraculous.
But of course, there’s still room for improvement.
Mayeda believes the next obstacle to tackle is growing diversity in feature films, while Falvey thinks there’s still inroads to be made in portraying interracial couples and blended families.
And yes, there is room on ABC for another Asian family comedy next year if both “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Dr. Ken” are successful enough to be renewed this season.
Also Read: Matt Damon Has Twitter Seeing Red Over 'Project Greenlight' Diversity Comment
“The biggest message as we went around to the community this year when we started our development process in June was, please don’t think we’ve checked off diversity boxes and we are now done,” said Falvey. “We fully plan to pile in behind that, and we proved it with ‘Ken’ and ‘Uncle Buck’ and we’ll continue to buy and develop there. It’s always going to be about the voice and the talent first, and then we want to reflect America, that’s always been the goal.”
“Fresh Off the Boat” airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET and “Dr. Ken” premieres Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.There will be no Los Angeles move for Stephen Colbert. In a bit of news that comes as no surprise, CBS has made official its plans to keep Late Show in New York's Ed Sullivan Theatre when David Letterman hands the show over to his successor.
“We’re thrilled to continue broadcasting CBS’s Late Show from New York and call the Ed Sullivan Theater its home,” said CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves. “David Letterman has graced this hall and city with comedy and entertainment that defined a generation. When Dave decides to pass the baton next year, we look forward to welcoming Stephen Colbert, one of the most innovative and respected forces on TV, to this storied television theater. I would also like to applaud Gov. Cuomo for all that he has done to keep New York a vibrant and attractive location for all forms of television production. We’re excited to be here in late night for many years to come.”
PHOTOS Stephen Colbert's Career in Pictures
The timing of Colbert's transition to Late Show is still up the in air, with Letterman departing sometime in 2015, but his last broadcast with Comedy Central's Colbert Report comes in December.
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who got a boon from NBC moving The Tonight Show to New York earlier this year for Jimmy Fallon, was naturally pleased with the announcement.
“Today, I am pleased to announce that The Late Show will stay in New York, where it belongs," said Cuomo. "New York has long been an international entertainment leader, and with this commitment from CBS we are beginning the next chapter in that proud history. The television and film industries are thriving in the Empire State — creating jobs and fueling dozens of other sectors across the state. Les Moonves and CBS have made the right decision in choosing to continue investing in New York, and as David Letterman passes the baton to Stephen Colbert, I look forward to watching The Late Show from the historic Ed Sullivan Theatre for years to come.”
Though there was some speculation about a possible west coast migration for The Late Show, it seemed unlikely. The Ed Sullivan Theatre is owned by CBS. Per the decision, CBS will be eligible to receive at least $11 million in tax credits over five years. Additionally, CBS will be eligible for up to $5 million in grants to offset renovations at the historic building.
What's not clear is what will happen with The Late Show's lead-out. There are still no formal plans for The Late Late Show once Craig Ferguson departs at year's end. He tapes at CBS TV Studios in Los Angeles.Community leaders have condemned an egg attack on Muslims after it emerged there have been a number of similar attacks in recent months.
The attack on a couple in Briarwood Road, Stoneleigh, at 8.20pm on Monday night came less than a week after a terrorist attack in Tunisia where it is feared 30 British tourists were killed.
It is not known if it was prompted by the atrocity in North Africa, which has been strongly condemned by the Muslim community in Surrey.
Police said three eggs were thrown at the couple from the window of a black Volkswagen Polo leaving the woman with minor injuries.
Epsom and Ewell police borough commander Inspector Jackie Elkins said: "It appears this couple was deliberately targeted as they left the mosque and I can reassure the local community that an investigation is underway, including trying to obtain descriptions of the occupants in the car.
"We have had three similar incidents in the last two or three months, with the description of the car on previous occasions being given as a white Fiesta or a white Polo."
She said police are working to see if the incidents are linked and pledged to continue to work closely with, and reassure, the Muslim communities.
Monday: Thugs hurl eggs at Muslims in Stoneleigh just days after Tunisia attack
She added: "While there is nothing to suggest this incident has any links to recent events in Tunisia, I am aware that there will always be people who want to exploit the current situation and create fear within our Muslim communities, with whom we will continue to work closely, to offer our protection and reassurance.”
Muslims in Surrey and around the world are currently fasting been dawn and sunset as part of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which began on June 18.
A similar attack was reported during Ramadan in 2009 when worshippers were pelted with eggs in a racially aggravated attack as they entered the Epsom and Ewell Islamic Society in Hook Road.
2009: Muslim worshippers pelted with eggs near Epsom and Ewell mosque
Shakir Goonoo, ex-chairman of the Epsom and Ewell Islamic Society, said: "It’s happened before especially during the month of Ramadan.
"This increases when there are things happening in other places. What is happening elsewhere, we condemn all those things. We are a peaceful community here."
Shiraz Mirza, the Surrey police and crime commissioner’s advisor on diversity and equality, said it was "terrible" to hear that Muslims had been attacked in Stoneleigh and he has raised it with the commissioner and chief constable.
Mr Mirza said: "What is going on in the world at the moment is going to have some reaction.
"But people need to understand that people here are very law abiding so no-one should take the law into their hands."
Councillor Mike Teasdale, who represents Stoneleigh on Epsom Council, said: "It’s something one would not wish to see in a community as together as Stoneleigh."
In response to the egg attack, Surrey’s police and crime commissioner Kevin Hurley said it was unfortunate that some people in society act in a “bigoted and racist” manner.
Mr Hurley said: “If we are to have a successful future for all of us, this is exactly the kind of stuff we must put a stop to.”
He stressed the importance of people working together and making sure they do not “overreact” to terrorist attacks abroad even though Britons were sadly killed in Tunisia.
He said: “The British people are far too sensible to lose their cool, particularly those of us in Surrey. Let’s not get carried away here, it was a tragedy in Tunisia.”
If you witnessed the incident in Briarwood Road, or you have any other information which could assist the investigation, please contact Surrey Police on 101, quoting crime reference number 45150055846 or by using the online reporting system found at https://my.surrey.police.uk/splonlinereportingweb
Alternatively the independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.Proponents of simple living and minimalism believe that placing less value on material possessions leads to increased and wellbeing. Indeed, a number of studies have shown that people who value money and possessions over other aims in life report less happiness and more.By contrast, only a few studies have shown how changes in materialism relate to changes in wellbeing.Studies exploring ways to discourage materialistic values are also limited.
Professor Tim Kasser and colleagues have published a paper in the journal and Emotion that uses four studies to demonstrate that wellbeing declines as people become more materialistic. Becoming less materialistic also predicted improvements in wellbeing. These findings were consistent across different time frames (12 years, 2 years and 6 months), samples (adults and adolescents), contexts (the USA and Iceland) and measures of both materialism and wellbeing.
As well as demonstrating that changes in materialism can predict changes in wellbeing, the paper also introduced an intervention to discourage materialism in adolescents. This three-session financial program was designed to reduce spending and promote both sharing and saving. Topics included and consumer culture, tracking spending behavior, and integrating sharing and saving into a financial plan. Of the 71 adolescents (aged 10 to 17 years) involved in the study, those who were randomly assigned to the education group became less materialistic after participating in the intervention. Notably, adolescents who began with high materialistic values when assigned to the intervention group reported increased over time, while those assigned to the no-treatment control group reported decreased self-esteem.
Other studies have also found that boosting adolescents’ self-esteem not only discourages materialistic values, but also eliminates age differences in materialism.[2] These age differences reflect the period between middle and early when adolescents are more likely to experience low self-esteem and pursue materialistic goals.
Boosting our children’s self-esteem isn’t always easy. As Chaplin & John (2007) note, self |
to teach an imported horse how to go up and down hills for the first time. Most of them come from the very flat Holland or Belgium or the part of Germany without inclines or turnout, and it is highly entertaining when a young horse experiences one of our hills. One descent and climb at the walk usually leaves them completely winded! It is comical for them to figure out how to navigate hills at the walk, trot, or canter, and then eventually become masters of descent!
With the increase in derby classes I thought for sure I would see an increase in our hunter riders jumping cross-country, but instead I have only seen people build crazy spooky courses in an indoor or fenced-in arena where a horse is less likely to show his true colors. So what happens when the real derby asks the right questions? A whole lot of faults?
I don’t know actually, maybe this would answer my frustrations with the handy classes, when we are seeing horse after horse spooking at the trot jump. Instead of having a schooling jump, maybe the horses need to just school cross-country before showing at the most prestigious show of the year. Ugh, so many questions, so little opportunity for change.
Last year, while in Gulfport over the winter, I saw a couple of riders accessing the hill out by the trailer parking lot, and thought, “How smart!” There is only one hill on the show grounds, but this father/daughter team was taking full advantage of conditioning their horses on that slight incline during their six-week duration in Mississippi.
Stumble or trip every once in a while? Probably, but they were out there for a reason, and it probably had to do with the benefits for horse and rider. I would imagine they were able to teach the horses how to overcome the occasional trip or stumble by changing the balance and placing more focus on the hind end rather than the forehand. Genius really, but then again, they were from Maryland, maybe it was just born into them.
I know, I know, not everyone has access to the outdoors in an outdoor sport, but there are still loads of people NOT taking advantage of natural terrain even though they can, and that is a real shame for our sport. Not to mention the fun factor is literally being tossed out the window along with all those lesson dollars. #makesnosense. #bringbackfun
If you are fortunate enough to be exposed to fox chasing, take full advantage of it, those tools learned last a lifetime. ^^same kid both pics^^
By the way, for fun I used the Google for locating state parks that allowed trail riding? Guess what, every state has one.
Hunter/jumper trainer Deloise Noble-Strong runs her business out of her family farm in Upperco, Md. She follows in the footsteps of many generations of horsemen in her family. Deloise has spent time living in Belgium, Holland and Germany and imports, trains and sells many hunter prospects. She also speaks her mind on her personal blog, Deloise In America.In 1967 Martin Luther King gave a speech called The Other America in which he set out the reason for riots. King argued that riots do not develop out of thin air but are caused by certain “intolerable social conditions”. In the final analysis, he said, disorder is a consequence not only of irresponsibility, but inequality.
In some ways that explains the 2011 riots in England too. At the time I called them an “uprising of the working class” and I stick to that assessment today. The riots were brought about not only by irresponsibility, but also inequality: by a sense of revulsion at denied opportunity, poverty and injustice. England is one of the richest countries on earth, but it is also one of the most polarised.
I was one of the London rioters. In 2011 we didn’t know how to express our anger | Bryn Phillips Read more
Away from the towers that soar above the City of London, there is another England. It is an ugly place. In this England, a million young people have their hopes blasted every day. In this England, thousands of work-starved youngsters search for jobs that do not exist. In this England, legions of kids find themselves crowded into sink estates that tower over streets absent of power and absent of hope. They are the England left behind by globalisation. And they are the England who, in 2011, took to the streets and smashed up their neighbourhoods.
Take a look at most riots in the 20th century: the one underlying similarity is unemployment and poverty among people who are keenly aware of the sharp inequality between themselves and their country’s wealthy elite. Distracted by the flames and the looting, many of us easily forgot that riots are almost always protests against social conditions that have become intolerable. In the panic of 2011, however, the majority of us swept any rational explanation of the disorder under the carpet and swallowed up simplistic lies. Consumerism. Greed. New tracksuits. New trainers. We missed an opportunity to do something constructive about the great social crisis of our time.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A building burns in Tottenham, north London, during the 2011 riots. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA
When recklessness and greed shattered the economy in 2008, young people were destroyed. Those aged between 18 and 24 have accounted for almost 30% of the total rise in the unemployment rate brought about by the “great recession”. As a consequence, by the time 2011 arrived the UK was marked by the most unequal distribution of wealth and income since the 1930s. Inequality, unemployment, and absolute powerlessness had become the dominant issues facing England’s young. As millions were slashed from youth services, troubled experts started making stark predictions, falling over themselves to warn how Britain’s young people were in danger of becoming a “lost generation”.
The Police Federation summoned the home secretary, Theresa May, to conference and warned her to prepare for unrest. From the beginning of the financial crisis, we lost businesses and banks, and it seemed we were losing an entire generation. So when disorder fired up in Tottenham, north London, that summer, no one should have been surprised when that “Other England” rose up in revolt.
Oliver Letwin’s memo on race is not ancient history. It’s current Tory policy | Joseph Harker Read more
The argument is certainly not that material hardship necessarily leads to unruly behaviour. The vast majority of youngsters affected by the crisis behaved like responsible citizens and stayed at home when trouble flared. But since we know that inequality and resentment against the authorities are always factors in a riot, why should it have been any different this time around? The prizewinning Reading The Riots report, put together by the Guardian, supports this idea – that most people who took part in 2011’s disorder were part of this “lost generation” of the young: kids from the poorest families, from the most hopeless places. The Other England.
Britons today remain beset by complex, intractable problems: technological change displaces workers; globalisation destabilises communities; family structures are disintegrating.
But for the young there is all this and worse. Ostensibly, the youth unemployment rate has improved since 2011, but in reality it is nowhere near pre-crisis levels and stagnates at a staggering 18% – more than three times the rate for adults. Social mobility for the young has ground to a halt. The housing crisis singles out young adults for extra punishment. Young people’s faith in politics has evaporated. The government, they say, is in the pocket of the rich. The economy, they say, is rigged. It seems eminently reasonable to ask the question: how long before it all kicks off again?
Far from disappearing, the ranks of that ugly Other England, where the riots have their roots, have been swelling. With inequality spiralling out of control and more than a million 16- to 24-year-olds with neither work nor full-time education, the economic exclusion of the young is a crisis that policymakers can no longer afford to ignore. Instead of carrying the miserable burden of mass unemployment, instead of watching the crumbling of our education system, instead of allowing our society to become diminished by the violence and dishonesty of crime, we must start to put our energies into building strong communities capable of providing security and prosperity for every citizen.
In the aftermath of 2011 we had a chance to put our heads together, to use the riots to help think of ways to repair our world. How maddening that we chose to put our heads in the sand.AN anonymous donation of €400,000 to the University of Cyprus (UCY) will be given to the student welfare association.
Half the donation will be distributed to students within 2013 and the other half within 2014, UCY said.
“This noble and generous gesture shows a high sense of social responsibility,” a statement said.
It added that the particular donor said it was the duty of each Cypriot “to enhance our children’s education so we can hope for a better future for our country.”
The current financial situation in Cyprus has led to a substantial increase in the number of students who are facing financial difficulties and have applied to the student welfare association for help.
“The number of students who have applied for financial help during the current academic year has exceeded 800,” the announcement said.
It went on to thank the donor for his or her generosity as it would help many students continue their studies.
“Without this donation, the students would have had to, at least temporarily, stop studying because of their financial problems,” the announcement said.
The university’s rector Constantinos Christofides said: “The university is really blessed and proud to have people like the donor as a loyal friend, who selflessly offers support. The University of Cyprus’ motto is that no student should have to stop studying because of the economic crisis.”Mr. Schumer, poised to be the incoming Senate Democratic leader, and the current leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, met with Mrs. Clinton’s top campaign aides in Washington last month and pressed them to offer financial support for the Senate races, according to a Democratic official briefed on the meeting. And Mr. Schumer has not been shy since about his hope that if Mrs. Clinton clearly appeared on her way to winning the race, she would redirect some money to congressional races.
“This is one of many things that the Clinton campaign is doing to help us win a majority in the Senate,” Mr. Schumer said through a spokesman.
While party strategists are glad to have the money that Mrs. Clinton is directing from the Democratic National Committee to voter-turnout efforts in Indiana and Missouri, they have little appetite for Mrs. Clinton to visit those states, where she is likely to lose, because that would make it easier for Republicans to tie Democratic Senate candidates to her.
Mrs. Clinton is also pouring money into two congressional districts, in Nebraska and Maine, that both apportion their own presidential electoral vote and have competitive House races. And she is sending an additional $6 million to seven presidential battleground states with hotly contested Senate and House campaigns.
Democrats are also attempting to unseat Senator John McCain of Arizona from the seat he was first elected to in 1986, but Mrs. Clinton’s late decision to swoop into that state is not related to his race, which few Democratic leaders believe they can win. Her incursion there is about her own campaign — and the Democrats’ desire to focus attention on the damage Mr. Trump has done to Republicans with Hispanics.
In particular, Democrats hope to make an example of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an ardent Trump supporter, by defeating the Phoenix lawman, whose incendiary comments about Hispanics and aggressive tactics with immigrants have garnered attention far beyond his jurisdiction in Maricopa County.
“If Democrats were going to win in Arizona in 2016, you’d need a Republican who turns off Republican women, who really energizes Latinos, and you’d need other races on the ground that can really drive engagement — and we have all that,” said Andrei Cherny, a former state Democratic chairman.Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura was named J.League Player of the Year on Tuesday, three days after his team blew its chance to win the title on the final day of the season.
Former Celtic star Nakamura captained Marinos to a four-point lead over their nearest rivals with two games of the campaign remaining, only to lose both matches and allow defending champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima to come through and retain the title.
But Nakamura’s exceptional performances made him the outstanding candidate to win the player of the year award, becoming the first person to claim the prize for a second time having won it with Marinos in 2000.
“I am feeling two emotions right now,” said the 35-year-old. “One is happiness and the other is appreciation for what my teammates have done for me.
“Ten of my teammates were nominated for the J.League Best XI, and that just shows the quality of the players around me who have made it possible for me to win this award.”
Nakamura scored 10 goals in 33 league appearances this season, missing only one game — a 2-1 defeat to Nagoya Grampus — while suffering from a gallbladder inflammation.
Nakamura returned to Marinos in early 2010 after a 7 1/2-year spell in Europe with Reggina, Celtic and Espanyol, but has yet to win the J.League with his boyhood club, which last won the title in 2004.
“For me, Yuji Nakazawa should be the MVP,” Nakamura said of his Marinos defensive teammate. “He would be a fitting recipient of this award for all he has done over the years. He is a great person to be around every day in training, and he’s an example to all young players.”
Nakamura made the J.League Best XI along with Nakazawa, in a selection composed solely of Japanese players for the second time in league history.
Urawa Reds’ Daisuke Nasu and FC Tokyo’s Masato Morishige joined Nakazawa in defense in front of Sanfrecce goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa, while Cerezo Osaka pair Hotaru Yamaguchi and Yoichiro Kakitani were named in midfield alongside Nakamura and Sanfrecce’s Toshihiro Aoyama.
Kawasaki Frontale striker Yoshito Okubo, who was the league’s top scorer on 26 goals, Kashima Antlers’ Yuya Osako, who notched 19, and Albirex Niigata’s Kengo Kawamata, who scored 23, completed the lineup.
“I’m very grateful to my teammates and everyone who supported me,” said Kakitani, whose 21 goals helped Cerezo finish the season in fourth place.
“This year, Sanfrecce, Marinos and Frontale finished in the top three and took the Asian Champions League places, so I’ll be supporting them in the Emperor’s Cup at new year so that we can get a place in the ACL too.”
Cerezo Osaka’s 18-year-old midfielder Takumi Minamino was named Best Young Player, having scored five league goals and introduced himself to a global audience with a spectacular goal in Cerezo’s 2-2 friendly draw against Manchester United in July.
Sanfrecce’s Hajime Moriyasu was named Manager of the Year for the second time running, while Kakitani was awarded Goal of the Year for his outside-of-the-boot strike against Kashima on Nov. 30.A man was horrifically doused with acid outside a cinema after a screening of NWA movie Straight Outta Compton.
The 27-year-old was leaving the Cineworld complex in Crawley, West Sussex, in the early hours of Sunday when the sickening attack took place.
Police said the incident took place after the movie which centres on hip hop group NWA had ended.
It was “nasty and unprovoked,” they added.
The victim, from Redhill in Surrey, was rushed to hospital with potential life-changing injuries to his face and head.
He was then taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in nearby East Grinstead, which specialises in treatment for burns, according to the Standard.
Police are hunting two suspects, who allegedly squared up to the victim and his 29-year-old pal outside the venue.
The suspects are said to be white men in their late 20s or early 30s. One had short dark hair and beard and carried a bag across his shoulder.
The other wore a light-coloured hoody and jeans. Both left in a dark coloured Peugeot.
"This was an isolated but nevertheless nasty and unprovoked assault,” said Detective Sergeant Laura Diamond, of Crawley CID.
“We are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen an altercation either within the cinema or later in the car park outside.”
(Stock image of Crawley CineWorld by Joe Pepler/REX)Reading Dimitri’s piece on the Sedin twins made me think about the most under-appreciated aspect of a hockey player’s existence.
Henrik Sedin’s key value as a hockey player isn’t that he’s a moderately good possession centreman after you correct for zone starts or that he’s a scoring champion. His key value is that he was the only forward to play 82 games each season between both the 2005 and 2012 lockouts. He last missed a game on March 16, 2004, a 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (to any Chicago readers, yes, the Blackhawks did exist before 2010).
A great player who only plays 60 games can be downgraded to being a good player. Since so few players get on ironman streaks that last seasons in a row, being a good player for all of these games elevates a player to being great. From Sedin, to Brendan Morrison to Andrew Cassels, it’s been about a decade since the Canucks had to hold their top centreman out of the lineup.
Here’s something Mike Gillis said:
We’re trying to define fatigue levels in those circumstances and as you know, a player usually gets hit twice when he gets hit once. He gets hit by the player and then hits the boards. How you can attribute that to success and how you attribute that to fatigue levels is instrumental in finding out when a player in the third period makes a mistake. And something happens and I think that as we’ve found, in a dynamic, competitive contact sport that fatigue levels are really a lot of the determining factor in success or failure.
It doesn’t deviate too far from the conclusions found by Eric T. at NHL Numbers about older players playing a lot of games. I think the players who make it to 36, 37 years old in the NHL have bodies developed enough to continuously handle the grind of a season. You can think of a few players (the most prominent being Kyle Wellwood, but I made an argument for Cody Hodgson last season) who are fairly effective until they hit a certain minute threshold and they fall off the wagon.
Wellwood, for instance, is a first-line player when he plays below 14:10 per game. He’s a moderate second line player when he climbs above 15:34:
Avg. TOI Goals/82 Points/82 Above 15:34 17:16 18.5 42.3 Above 14:10 14:56 15.9 50.9 14:10 and Below 12:39 21.7 54.1
(The Goals/82 and Points/82 are based on 14:46 of ice time per game)
Henrik Sedin played just two games under Wellwood’s “maximum” threshold of 15:34 (he recorded eight points in those games, giving him a per 82 average of 212 points in those games) but the real value of what Henrik provides in those games over 15:34, or what certain centremen can’t play, or just aren’t good enough to play.
If a player has excellent hands and shot, it doesn’t mean anything if they can’t wield that for more than 16 minutes regularly.
This can also apply to goaltenders.
Two goaltenders, both alike in dignity, talent and statistics. We can call these hypothetical goalies “Cory Schneider” and “Roberto Luongo”. Somebody pointed out to me on Twitter that they were looking over this page on statistics and noticed Schneider had a higher quality start rate and a higher save percentage, even at even strength.
There’s this:
EV SV% Luongo 0.929 Schneider 0.931
That’s just even strength save percentage. On the surface, it appears that Schneider is the better goaltender. It just isn’t the case when you tally up the player’s value over the course of a long season. Over a full season, that 2-point difference in save percentage is worth a little under two goals against in value, which is close enough to be affected by randomness when you have in excess of 1500 attempted shots flying at you.
The top 30 goaltenders in goalie starts this season combined for an EV SV% of.923. The next 30 in starts combined for.916. The rest, the “replacements” combined for.913. When you celebrate a goaltender’s save percentage, you need to look at it in terms of marginal value versus a replacement.
You also need to figure out how many shots a goaltender stopped compared to said replacement, presumably the guy you can just find on the farm. The list includes players like Jeff Deslauriers, Brad Thiessen, Curtis McElhinny and Jussi Rynnas. Some guys fared well in their few NHL appearances. Some fared worse, and, on average, they all fared just marginally worse than backups. Those numbers add up:
EV SV% Replacement Shots Faced SAR Luongo 0.929 0.913 1288 21.4 Schneider 0.931 0.913 750 13.4
The SAR stands for Save Above Replacement. I used to calculate this against the average goaltender, but even average players have some value. By facing more shots and playing more games, to use a poker analogy, Luongo had his chips on the table more often than Schneider. He showed, for a longer period of time that he was elite, and he was eight goals better than Schneider over the course of a season.
Statistics comparing a player to a replacement aren’t rate statistics: They’re cumulative. Luongo helped the Canucks win about four games versus a replacement goaltender and Schneider was about 2.5 over the course of the season.
Schneider was pretty great this past year. His SAR was 18th in the NHL, good enough to be a starter, despite having just 28 games under his belt. That was better than starting goalies like Ryan Miller, Craig Anderson, Cam Ward and Carey Price. As far as everyday performance, he wasn’t as good as Luongo, who performed at a similar level, but did it longer.
Luongo has started 50 games, a good benchmark for an everyday goalie since the 2000-01 season. The most concerning statistic about Luongo is that he’s dipped in starts from 67 to 60 to 54 over the course of three seasons. He’s managed to be near the top of the league in save percentage throughout. Go through year-to-year and you’ll find that consistency is a tough thing to gauge among goaltenders. Mike Smith and Brian Elliott had very strong years this past season (helped along by coaching) but haven’t been great beforehand, so it’s easier to write off their good performances from last year.
I think the general idea is that you’d rather have a good player for very long than a flash-in-the-pan great player. That Henrik Sedin guy is very good. That Luongo guy is pretty good too. It’s been no coincidence that the Canucks have had some very good years since those two became the Canucks’ go-to guys.The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) warned yesterday that new memberships of Maghreb countries to African economic unions might lead to the dissolution of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Anadolu reported.
In a report issued in Morocco the UNECA said that the North African region has recently signed several trade deals.
The AMU was established on 17 February 1989 in Marrakesh and included five countries: Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.
It aimed to open the borders between the five countries to facilitate the movement of people and goods and establish security cooperation.
According to the UNECA report Morocco and Mauritania have recently joined West Africa’s economic bloc.
Read: Morocco expands Africa policy, opens Africa-Atlantis business school
Tunisia is been preparing to join the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which is a free-trade area with 20 member states stretching from Libya to Swaziland and is set to sign the deal later this month.
The UN report also stated that Algeria has already started talks to join COMESA too.
“It is impossible to deny that these deals open attractive economic horizons for the Arab Maghreb countries,” the report stressed, noting that these deals could replace the AMU.
It also said that these developments raise doubts about the intention of the AMU members about finding a solution to ongoing hardships.
Since 1994 the AMU has not convened due to differences between Algeria and Morocco over the Western Sahara. Algeria closed its borders to Morocco in 1994.What do women fantasize about sexually? Super Fella reveals the top ten female fantasies and unveils the straight fact. Sexual fantasies for women are actually quite similar to what men fantasize about!
The sweet damsels are more on the dreamy and romantic side of things, but they do have their own share of sexual fantasies for women.
And quite surprisingly, the top female fantasies are not very different from what men want in bed.
[Read: Top 10 sexual fantasies for men]
If men and women share similar interests in sexual fantasies, why do we really have to hide it and pretend like we’re all clean as a whistle.
After asking a lot of women, and of course, through my own personal experience, here are the top ten sexual fantasies for women.
The top ten female fantasies
Women may say what they want, but most women at least indulge in a few of these fantasies, if not all.
I’m really confused about a lesbian fantasy which many girls think is a hot one, but a few others were totally against it. But what the hell, I like it, so here goes the top fantasies for women.
#1 The rape fantasy
This might sound like something women aren’t really into. But many women do dream about getting molested by a man, or fantasize about a man walking in, carrying her onto a haystack and nailing her. Aww, come on, not literally! [Read: Date rape facts]
Women like dreaming about a man who rips their Versace overcoat, and her D&G tee, and her Victoria’s Secret lingerie and ravages her. But for all the men out there, don’t ever try doing this in reality, she’d snip your ding dong off before you can get past her Versace. But a woman wouldn’t really mind if her own man does that to her, of course, minus the ripping of her expensive clothes.
#2 Being a stripper
Which woman doesn’t want to be a stripper? Give her a few shots of Absolut, and she’d be all over the table, flinging clothes off one after the other. But most women don’t do that, even after they down an entire bottle. They’re just way too inhibitive.
So the next best thing, they dream about stripping for an audience. They especially love it when a man takes out a few notes and dangles them down her G-strings. Women do feel a tad awkward to talk about it with their man, but I really think they should. That would be two fantasies with one stone.
#3 Role reversals
Women wonder what it would be like to be in a man’s shoes. Or more precisely put, they wonder what it would be like to be in a man’s boxers. They dream about stories where they could wear his long trench coat and a cap with nothing inside and take the man in the front or back. [Read: Sexual roleplay tips]
The man’s obviously painfully playing the girl here in this female fantasy, and he may not really like this much unless he’s got some gay-like tendencies, or if he’s willing to walk around with a sore ass the next morning.
But what’s the one statement a couple who wants to make this female fantasy a reality has to use? ‘Medic! Lubes. We’re going to need a lot of lubes!’
#4 Group sex
This is a one of the bigger fantasies for women and men. Men love to dream about a good threesome when there’s a great looking exotic Asian or a Latina girl involved.
Surprisingly, women like to dream about the same thing too! But they don’t want an Asian or some far-fetched demigod (they might), they just want their man’s friend! Yep, most women would love to play the pony with their boyfriend’s or husband’s good friend. [Read: How to start swinging]
# 5 A gorgeous woman
Not all women accept this controversial fantasy for women. But many women secretly fantasize about having a physical affair with someone like Angelina Jolie or some other hot bombshell who always talks like she loves to have sex with women. Can you believe that?! Gasp!
Women fantasize about what it would be like to be with someone of the same sex, someone who knows just how she wants to be touched and what will make her orgasm. [Read: Girls kissing each other]
And just in case you haven’t thought about making love to Angelina, girlie, she’s stated that she finds a woman’s body to be the most attractive thing in the whole world (all men second that) and she loves to make out with women! Now, even if women haven’t given girl sex a thought, they might just change their mind.
#6 Exhibitionism
Many fantasies for women include showing off. A lot! They dream about walking down a beach and by the time they reach the waters, they’ve got almost all their clothes off. If not that, a woman fantasizes about having sex in public where people can see her performing her act. [Read: Public flashing girls confessions]
The closest thing that women do to get familiar with this female fantasy is flashing to unsuspecting loners walking along on a highway. Exhibitionism fantasies can be a great boost for sizzling sex, and can also have a woman talking about really, really dirty things in bed. Which does turn on both partners. Life is good! [Read: How to talk dirty in bed]
#7 Submissive mate
Women do like getting kinky once in a while. Men are usually the ones who are on top, but at times a woman fantasizes about a man doing more than just showing off his balancing act on top of her.
She fantasizes about being told what to do in bed. She wonders how it would feel to be called a slut or a whore in bed. It may even turn her on. Even though it sounds like a guy’s fantasy, what the woman does during this act is her fantasy. Some women say they would listen to their partner, while some girls said they would do the opposite of what their master orders and wait to be punished. Freaky lil’ minxes!
#8 Dominatrix
This is a role reversal of the submissive lover. Some women like to dominate men, instead of getting dominated all the time. They imagine what it could be like if they could indulge in all kinds of crazy acts with their men.
This includes tying him up and doing whatever she wishes to her man. Telling him to perform sexual acts on her as well as making him beg for what he wants, are just a few things that run along in a woman’s mind in this fantasy for women. And trust me, some acts are just way too crude to be put here. The least of it’s got something to do with peeing! Omigawd! [Read: Sexual fetishes]
#9 A stranger in the bedroom
Women may cringe when an unknown male touches them, but they do love it inside their head! The thought of meeting a stranger for one night of great sex, where she can do anything and everything she wants is just what can turn her on like a light bulb.
She could do whatever she wants, talk dirty, ask the guy to take her from the back, talk about another woman, whatever she wants. Many women want to talk about a lot of things in bed, but worry too much about what their man might think of their female fantasy. A meeting with a stranger, at least in her head takes away a lot of those inhibitions. [Read: How to start fantasizing about someone else with your lover]
#10 Come and get me, boys!
This fantasy is all about having several men touch a woman at the same time. She may even dream about being surrounded by several men kissing, touching and seducing her at the same time.
Every woman has her own favorite number in mind, varying from three to around ten men groping her! There’s something about just sitting back and being overwhelmed by sexual male attention that turns on women. Women don’t really dream of this all the time and hope it would come true someday, but they just can’t help but sit back and wonder, how it could feel like!
Of course, there are plenty more female fantasies and there are always unique fantasies for women that may turn some women on more than the others. But as long as you’re having fun and so is your man, go on and explore your mind.
[Read: 20 things about girls that turn a guy on sexually]
You may think your man doesn’t enjoy these female fantasies, but you’ll never know until you hint a few ideas to him. And in any case, the fantasies for women and men aren’t really very different, are they?Here are highlights from Judge Neil M. Gorsuch’s third day at his Senate confirmation hearings:
■ Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, asked Judge Gorsuch why, when he was a Bush administration Justice Department official in 2005, he had scribbled “yes” on a document beside a question about whether C.I.A. torture of terrorism suspects had yielded valuable intelligence. He said was merely acting as a lawyer.
■ Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Democrat, pushed Judge Gorsuch to say whether a president has constitutional powers to lawfully override torture and wiretap statutes. Judge Gorsuch said he would approach such a case using analysis set out when President Harry S. Truman tried to seize steel mills.
■ Mr. Leahy also pressed Judge Gorsuch to say whether he would recuse himself from Supreme Court cases involving the Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, who was a former client and helped get him appointed to the appeals court. Judge Gorsuch did not answer directly.
■ The nominee would not discuss whether President Trump’s business dealings with foreign governments might run afoul of the Emoluments Clause, an obscure constitutional provision that the judge said “has sat in a rather dusty corner” until recently.Wikimedia Commons Detroit was once the symbol of American wealth and industrial capacity. It is now everybody's emblem of decline.
The data about Detroit grow more depressing by the month. This report may be the most depressing thing you'll read all year.
In a nutshell, it says that roughly half of all the people who live in Detroit are illiterate. They can't read the back of a cereal box. They can't read a weather report. They can't read at all.
As Andrew Coulson notes in his blog at Cato: "Virtually the entire illiterate population has completed elementary school, the level at which reading is theoretically taught. That's seven years of schooling (k-6), at a cost of roughly $100,000, for… nothing."
By way of epitaph, last month every teacher in the Detroit public school system was laid off.Commanders,
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Crush everything in your path, Commanders!The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, VT, is leaking radioactive tritium. Photo via nrc.gov.
Guest blogger Cara Smusiak is a journalist and regular contributor to NaturallySavvy.com's Naturally Green section.
UPDATE: This post has been updated from its original version on 2/04/10.
Would you like a little radioactive tritium with your water?
As far fetched as it sounds, the Associated Press recently reported that at least 27 of 104 nuclear reactors across the United States are leaking potentially dangerous levels of tritium into the groundwater around the plants.
The scope of the problem surfaced after the recent discovery of a leak at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. According to the AP, new tests have shown that the levels of tritium in the wells at the Vernon, Vermont site are more than three-and-a-half times the federal safety standard.This comes hot on the heels of President Obama's interest in nuclear power, which included a call for "building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants" in last week's State of the Union address, plus $54.5 billion earmarked for nuclear power projects.
Vermont Yankee isn't the first case of a U.S. nuclear power plant leaking tritium, the AP article reveals. In the 1990s, leaks from the Braidwood nuclear station in Illinois contaminated local wells, and owner Exelon Corp. had to provide a |
Paten (Pink Godparents) in Frankfurt, a gay nursing service in Berlin and a homosexual flat share in Hamburg. In Frankfurt an old people's home is reserved for homosexuals and in Berlin the Village Care Home recently opened, providing rooms for 23 aging gays and lesbians.
Thousands share Hans-Paul's wish to live among other homosexuals. Those interested in Villa Anders meet regularly in a Cologne community center. Over coffee and cake, the men share very different life stories. But they have all experienced one thing over the past decades: extreme discrimination.
Hans, 63, sits at the table. His wish for privacy was shattered when someone saw him surfing on a gay Web site. His middle-class lifestyle fell apart: He was snubbed at the office and the golf club, people whispered and tried to avoid talking to him.
Manfred, 69, dared to openly show his love for another man and was punished with a fine by a local court in his hometown in 1965. Back then Germany's criminal code still contained Paragraph 175, which made homosexuality a punishable crime -- it was only deleted in 1994.
Almost 90 percent of gay men over 45 have been a victim of homophobic violence, studies carried out in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia have shown. And despite the long list of celebrities who have come out of the closet, the risk of discrimination is far from over, said Hans. When a Berlin monument for homosexual victims of the Nazi years was vandalized in August, "it sent a shiver down our spines," he says.
Special Care
Michael Bochow of the Social Science Center in Berlin has been working with gay senior citizens for years. The sociologist has met hundreds of fearful, vulnerable and "extremely lonely people." He says the suicide rate among homosexuals is five times as high as it is among heterosexuals. "It is a group which is, in part, deeply traumatized," says Bochow. "And for that reason they need special care."
Nedzad Ignatenko, 34 years old and himself openly homosexual, has responded to the situation by co-foundeding a nursing service for gays and lesbians in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin. He says he discovered a "gap in the market."
He says many of his customers were "extremely happy" that they didn't have to hide their sexuality, that he didn't ask about children or grandchildren, but rather asked about what gay bars they used to go to. Ignatenko also thinks that senior care will have to increasingly cater specifically to homosexuals because in the future there will be igreater numbers of pensioners with AIDS.
Critics of the new approach to care homes warn of "ghettoization." But that fear is incomprehensible to Kerstin Wecker, who leads the Village Care Home in Berlin. The men and women she and her co-workers look after see their new home as "a sort of protected area" not as a "ghetto". Recently a man moved into her center from another "normal" old people's home. But it was only after he arrived at the Village Care Home that he dared to put up a picture of his late partner.Mark McGhee has been appointed as the assistant coach to new Scotland manager Gordon Strachan.
Strachan, 55, was appointed manager of the national side earlier this week.
"I am immensely proud and honoured to be asked by Gordon to assist him as national coach," McGhee said.
And former Scotland international Strachan added: "The enthusiasm he brings to the training ground will be a huge asset to me and to the squad."
The pair became friends during their Aberdeen careers before both moved into management.
McGhee, also 55, was most recently manager at Bristol Rovers before being sacked last month. That came after a torrid spell in charge of Aberdeen.
He guided Rovers to 13th position in League Two last season. However, a run of nine defeats in 11 matches saw him part company with the club.
Mark McGhee left Bristol Rovers in December
The former Dons striker enjoyed a fruitful time as Motherwell manager when he guided them into Europe after the Steelmen had spent several seasons fighting relegation.
On account of his success at Fir Park, McGhee was one of the favourites for both the Celtic job - after Strachan's exit from Parkhead - and the main Scotland job that Strachan now holds, when Alex McLeish left the post.
Tony Mowbray and George Burley pipped him to both jobs, respectively.
"There are few more passionate Scots around than Gordon and I am hugely excited by the challenge of taking our national team up the table in the Fifa World Cup Qualifying group and, hopefully, helping to lead us to the Euro Championships in France in 2016," McGhee told the Scottish Football Association website.
"Prior to Gordon's appointment, I had been scouting for [Strachan's predecessor] Craig Levein so I am aware that we have a very exciting squad of players to work with and I look forward to helping Gordon realise his vision for the national team."
Strachan believes McGhee can help instil a positive mentality in the national squad.
"It is important that we start out in a positive frame of mind and remind the players that international recognition, as well as being the greatest honour of your career, is also something to savour and enjoy," added Strachan, who was appointed on Tuesday.
"I have known Mark long enough to know that he shares this philosophy and I am delighted to have him on board."A woman whose house was damaged by a tornado late last year now owns nothing but rubble.
A demolition crew destroyed her building by mistake on Tuesday after Google Maps provided wrong directions.
Instead of navigating workers to a duplex on Cousteau Drive in Rowlett, Texas, Google Maps took them a block away to Diaz's duplex on Calypso Drive.
"[Google's] mistake caused me to lose my home," she told CNNMoney on Friday.
Google acknowledged the Maps error in an email, and said it's investigating the cause.
"Google Maps did indeed show incorrect information for the houses in question," a spokeswoman told CNNMoney. "Both addresses were shown as being in the same location (7601 Calypso Dr) on Google Maps... the issue was fixed as soon as it was brought to our attention."
Google Maps now points to Diaz's home accurately. Apple (AAPL) Maps, Yahoo Maps and MapQuest also display the correct information.
Related: You may never have to wash your clothes again -- self-cleaning laundry may be on the way
Google (GOOGL) Maps uses a combination of satellite, aerial and street-level images and data to chart the world. The company also takes submissions and change requests through its Google Map Maker tool to keep its maps up to date.
GPS errors occur quite frequently -- as anyone with a smartphone or GPS device knows.
And even though there's a pretty big difference between getting wrong directions to a party and getting wrong directions to a house you're about to demolish, technology can't be fully to blame.
Diaz told CNN affiliate KTVT that a site supervisor confirmed several facts about the demolition site with his crew before work began: the house number, that it was a corner lot, the tornado damage.
He said "yes, yes, yes," according to Diaz. "Except the street wasn't confirmed."
The company, Billy L. Nabors Demolition, did not respond to CNNMoney's request for comment. Diaz said she met with the owner, the CEO, and the CEO's wife on Friday, and that they apologized for the incident.
The correct house was also eventually demolished.The dating app Tinder, which lets users accept or reject potential mates in their area by swiping right or left, has plenty of users -- 50 million, according to some sources. But like so many wildly popular products in the new app economy, it doesn't make any money.
The company hopes to change that today with the launch of Tinder Plus, a paid version of the app that, for $9.99 a month in the US, will offer users additional features like the ability to revisit the last person they left-swiped in case they reconsider -- or, in what's a more likely scenario, they rejected the person accidentally. The paid version will also include the option to browse matches in other cities than a user's current location, presumably in case a user is planing near-term travel and wishes to set up some dates ahead of time. Tinder Plus will also be ad-free, meaning that the company plans to ramp up his advertising initiatives soon -- an inevitability for all social apps. And according to the Verge, paid users will never be limited in the number of "likes" they are allotted over a 24 hour period. This last feature was not included in the official announcement because it's still in the experimental phases. To crack down on spambots, which "like" every user in order to send spammy links to porn-y websites, Tinder began limiting the a user's daily number of "likes."
There are plenty of reasons to doubt Tinder's ability to turn randy millennials into paying customers. And many have already written takedowns of Tinder's paid option -- replete with perfunctory "swipe left" jokes. But it's not just the Internet's thinkpiece mob that is skeptical of Tinder Plus. In a note to clients obtained by ABC News, Morgan Stanley explained why it handed an "underweight" rating to IAC, the parent company of Tinder, OKCupid, and Match.com. In short, millennials don't pay for anything, the investment house's analysts write, especially not social apps. Furthermore, the note says only 4 percent of singles are willing to pay for online dating apps, and Tinder Plus is not likely to change that percentage dramatically.
But millennials' antipathy toward opening their wallets isn't the only reason Tinder Plus may be dead-on-arrival, or at least underwhelming given Tinder's lofty valuation and hype. Because not only is the percentage of people willing to pay for a dating app phenomenally low, but the use-case in which a person is willing to pay has little to do with Tinder's value proposition.
A friend of mine in her late-20s -- firmly millennial territory here -- met her husband on that most un-millennial of dating networks, eHarmony. I asked her why on earth would she join a paid dating service when OK Cupid and Tinder were free. The answer wasn't eHarmony had better matching algorithms or a better-designed product. It was because she knew the users of eHarmony were serious about finding a soulmate, given that they were willing to drop cold-hard cash to use it. That paid filter lent the platform an air of exclusivity, in her mind -- not to mention the implication that everybody who used it had at least a modicum of disposable income.
But Tinder, less than any other dating platform, is not about finding a soulmate. It's not impossible, and plenty of people on Tinder are interested in a relationship. But the app's emphasis on looks over personality make it far better-suited to "hook-ups" than anything else, a fact that its usage and positioning in pop culture have reinforced. Furthermore, going back to the eHarmony scenario, one of the biggest reasons to pay for a dating app is to signal to other users that you've done so -- that you're serious about finding a relationship. As far as I know, however, Tinder offers no such signal when a person pays for the service. In fact, in the context of Tinder's community, discovering that a user pays for the app could come off as creepy and pathetic.
Finally, there's the nature of the premium features. The ability to "undo" or "unswipe" is a nice convenience in case you accidentally hit the wrong button or swipe the wrong way -- I know it sounds silly but it happened to me on a number of occasions during my brief stint as a Tinderer. But it was still a pretty rare occurrence. And while I don't doubt the demand for this option, users' clamoring for a feature is one thing -- opting to pay for it is another entirely.
The more notable added feature is the one that allows users to find matches in other cities. Sure, there is a legitimate use case for it as detailed above -- the woman or man who plans to visit a different city next week and who wants set up some dates in advance. But more commonly, this feature will be used to creep on (or spam) an even-greater number of women. And because the women in question will live in other cities and are less likely to share mutual acquaintances, the risk to the kind of man who wants to send gross, harassing messages is even lower than normal. I know a lot of women who refuse to join Tinder -- or join it begrudgingly -- precisely because of their fear of this type of harassment. Given this, the "around the world" feature may actually dissuade many women who are already on the fence about joining Tinder.
And that's the real problem with Tinder Plus: Creepiness doesn't scale. Sure, the premium features might convince a significant number of creepazoids to drop cash on the service early on, but any feature that makes it easier for trolls and bullies to reach a wider group of targets is going to alienate more users than it will attract in the long run. Even the most legitimate reason to sign up for the paid version, which is to avoid ads, will only be worth $9.99 a month if the advertisements are truly horrible -- which won't serve Tinder's long-term monetization ambitions either.
That's not to say Tinder will never figure out how to make money. There are some very smart people working there, and when a product has so many engaged users on its service, there's always a way. But Tinder Plus, as it's currently constructed, is not a magic money bullet. At this point, Tinder would be better off following WhatsApp's lead by charging a comparatively minuscule amount -- $0.99 annually -- to all users. That way, Tinder can respond to users' feedback without making them cough up $120 a year, and it can make a little money without empowering the creeps and thereby alienating many of its less awful users.
[illustration by Brad Jonas]Next year will mark the start of a new era for the sport, with big rule changes introduced with the aim of making the cars five seconds per lap faster and more challenging to drive.
However, the regulations were finalised late and teams did not get the wind tunnel tyres - much wider next year - until February, meaning development time has been reduced significantly compared to previous rule changes of this magnitude.
"I think that the biggest change is that there has been less true development time on it – both time and wind tunnel runs," said Symonds, who steps down at Williams at the end of this year.
"If you go back to 2009, a huge change, but we were talking about it for ages and there were drafts of the rules being pushed around and we were running wind tunnels 24/7 Toyota were running two wind tunnels 24/7. Plenty of time to investigate it.
"The next reasonably large change we had was for 2014, where we had a number of aerodynamic changes plus a lot of new cooling stuff to do and things like that. By that time, we still had a fair amount of time to do it, but we were running at 80 runs a week at that stage.
"This time we got our wind tunnel tyres in late February, so that is when we really started wind tunnel testing. Of course we were doing CFD before that and to be honest, we were doing a little bit of tunnel testing using rear tyres on the front and trying to get some idea of what the basic flow regime was.
"But since February, it has been 65 runs per week and there has been work to do on the 2016 cars.
"So I think that the development is very immature compared to where we have been before, and that is why I am sure it will continue and why people aren't exactly sure of what they like to call targets are, whereas I like to call them expectations," he added.
Despite the changes to the regulations, Symonds is not expecting next year's cars to be radically different when compared to each other.
"I don't. The rules are quite prescriptive. There is an area on the engine cover where we might see a few variations and things," he said.
"There is a bit more of an open area, and a bit more of an open area there but you don't really notice it to be honest. Once again, if you painted them all black you would struggle to notice."
Additional reporting by Jonathan NobleI was recently contacted by a friend and asked to look through a RPG that he’s been playing for a while called Fragged Empire. This game was written by Wade Dyer and can be found here. This book clocks in at almost 400 pages so for my sanity and yours I’m going to break it down into a couple of pieces. Keep in mind that I’m writing this as I read it, so I may change opinions about something in later reviews. I’ll try to update this and other reviews as I go.
Selling Points
So first off this book is huge. Lots of full color art and clocking in at 385 pages there is a lot to it, but what’s inside?
The game comes with its own setting but states that it can be used to cover most sci-fi settings. The setting looks pretty fleshed out as I flipped through the book.
The general idea is that we’re 10k years in our future and there was a genocidal war that ended around 100 years ago and the people that survived are starting to rebuild and explore solar system that had been torn up and destroyed. There are no humans anymore. Everyone plays one of four genetically modified and created species that were a result of mucking around with DNA.
Now everyone is trying to work together to rebuild, but at the same time there is a bunch of tension happening due to the war and the relatively new relationships that have formed between each race.
Fragged Empire (FE) uses a 3d6 +/- modifier system to determine success or failure. Pretty much the same as the d20 system but the numbers are going to average out a little better.
Characters don’t possess levels and instead have nonlinear character progression. This is a big selling point for me. While I did enjoy D&D’s way of leveling up, once I got a taste for more horizontal progression and less vertical power raises (more options vs power across the board ramping up) I feel that this is a more rewarding way to do character progression. This way you don’t have a level 20 dragon that is impossible for any level 5 party to take on, but instead have a fearsome dragon that a group of inexperienced people would have a harder time taking on. “High level” creatures can still be taken down by “low level/new” characters if they are clever and are geared well. (Note: There are levels in this game.)
FE says it works best for long running sandbox games and tactical mini combat. Sandbox games are my favorite to play in and run so woot for me, but minis always felt like they slowed the story down. I’m more of a theatre of the mind kind of gamer, but there are rules for mini-less combat so we’ll see how that goes when we get there.
It looks like every chapter has a little info graph on how to do what the chapter covers. For a system that looks as complex as Pathfinder/D&D this is a really good cheat sheet to help keep track of what needs to happen.
Finally this book has a lot of flavor text and stories. I’m going to skip over those for now.
Selling Points tl;dr
sci-fi game
3d6 +/- modifiers dice mechanics
horizontal progression instead of vertical power creep
fleshed out setting
Making a Character
By this point in the book I read through a quick one page summary of each playable race and a general history of the setting.
First thing is your level. The book says you level up every three game sessions…huh…that’s interesting. No XP. I can see some merits and drawbacks. On one hand players aren’t going to be forced to play the game a certain way to earn XP. If they want to fight or talk their way through it’s all the same, so that’s good. On the other hand we’re looking at no rewards for clever play or really getting into it. Someone could just show up and advance the same as others.
I’ve used this system in the past for my D&D/Pathfinder games. It wasn’t every three sessions and instead was “When I say so”. It did work well, but it was hard to reward players in game for putting more effort into the game than other players who simply showed up. This works, but you lose the ability to entice your players.
When you level up you gain a new Trait and your max Resources and Influence is increased by one.
Traits look like they operate like feats from Pathfinder or moves from DW. Not much else to say on Traits on this chapter.
Attributes are next. 18 points to stick in 6 different attributes. Can be set from 0-5. Two being average. All of the attributes are focused on mental and physical aspects. Social is covered in skills. I like that since everyone loves to dump Charisma. Except that one guy who makes friends with the orcs. There are a couple examples on how to distribute points based on a few archetypes. That’s very helpful for new players.
Next is Fate. Everyone starts every session with 2 Fate. You can spend them on rerolls or avoiding character death by permanently reducing your max Fate by one. That’s an interesting way to allow the players to decide when it’s time to clock out that last time. There are Traits that allow you to spend and manipulate Luck in other ways, but that’s in the Traits section.
Languages are pretty standard. Everyone can speak Corp (common) but there are a few others. Language was never an interesting aspect in my games. That’s probably more so due to my preferences and my players being more concerned with poking it with a stick instead of talking.
Character Creation tl;dr
GM decides starting level
Pick one of the four races
Spend points on attributes
Select your Trained Skills, Traits and spend your Resources, Influence, and Spare Time Points on stuff (more on these steps later)
Skills
Skills are a 3d6 +/- modifier system. You’re either going against a target number (8 being easy, 16 being hard) or an opposed roll. So basically the d20 system but using 3d6 give you a more average result and less swingyness.
Skills are either trained or untrained. If you are trained you gain a +1, untrained a -2. You do not add your attribute to the roll. Your attribute can add a Description Bonus/Penalty (more on that below) but the number doesn’t affect the actual roll.
I like this for a few reasons. Being trained or untrained doesn’t make or break your chances, and there is no power creep in the skills (like you see in Pathfinder and D&D) so something that is challenging early on is still relevant later in the game. I didn’t care for when in later levels of my D&D games the thief auto succeeds in picking locks unless I made them ridiculous.
There is a Description Bonus/Penalty to the roll as well. As it reads, it looks like the GM gives out a +2/-2 to the roll based on how they feel about the description and how your relevant attribute looks. If you have a high Strength the GM could give you a +2 bonus for hitting someone over the head. The stat itself is not added to the roll. The Description Bonus/Penalty could be really good, assuming the GM is fair and consistent, but I could see player abuse happen due to whiney players. This isn’t a hit against FE, just something I’ve seen happen before and it had to be handled out of game.
Something FE does a little different is crits. If you roll a 6 you gain a “Strong Hit”. You spend your Strong Hits on a few things, depending on the type a roll. A combat roll may critically hit something or boost you.
This is a new idea to me. Crit rolls = resource you spend on how you crit. This chapter doesn’t go into what the Strong Hits are so I’ll comment on it later.
Overall skills feel kinda weird. I originally assumed that you added an attribute to the roll but that is not the case. So your modifier can be anywhere between -4 to +3 based on how the GM feels you described what your character is doing and their relevant attribute, but there is no hard and fast rule like in D&D where you simply add your STR modifier to your roll to break the door down.
Skills tl;dr
to do something in FE roll 3d6 +/- modifiers
if you are trained in a skill you gain +1 to the roll untrained -2 to the roll
gain a +2 to -2 additional modifier based on the Attribute you are using and how the GM feels about your description
gain a bonus if you have the correct tools to accomplish what you are trying to do
go against either a target number or a contested roll
In closing
Alright I think I rambled on long enough for one post. So far FE seems no more complicated than Pathfinder, just different math. I’m not sure how I feel about how skill modifiers are figured out since half of the modifier is up to GM fiat and numbers that don’t necessarily have hard values towards the dice. Hopefully I can get some more reading in soon and find some examples that may clarify how to go about the Description Bonus.
Next time I’ll be reading through how to get stuff (gear) and combat. Thanks for reading.
Like this: Like Loading...(6563 Views ) Creator of Mystery NeoGeo game reveal details Details on the mystery NeoGeo game from the late 1990's have finally been confirmed by Japanese news site ITMedia, which was able to contact the game's creator Kengo Asai. The following is a synopsis of their Japanese article.
http://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1604/28/news056.html
- Technically, the game doesn't have an official title since it was never released. During development, the game was titled DarkSeed. The name Dragon's Heaven was given to the game tentatively since it was proving difficult to get the trademark for DarkSeed.
- A lot of the developers came from Technos Japan and were staff that worked on Gowkaizer including Asai himself. There was actually a period when both projects were being developed in parallel. The core developers started working on DarkSeed around the end of 1995 or early 1996.
- Asai recalls that 'Dark Fantasy' was a popular theme at the time of the game's development and the game takes on the same atmosphere.
- Details on the "Lawful", "Neutral", and "Chaotic" character properties: It's not a system where the player gets to pick their character's alignment during character select. The game was supposed to feature a unique system called the "alignment system" in which the character's property would change depending on the path that the player would pick after the end of each battle. For example to maintain the character's property as "Lawful", the player will need to keep picking choices that are honest.
- The game was supposed to change time on each round (morning, noon, evening, night). Lawful would get stronger during the noon and be able to use additional moves, while on the other hand get weaker during the night. Chaotic is just the opposite and get strong during the night and weak during noon. Neutral stays the same at all times. Also, The in-game messages and ending would change depending on the character's alignment.
- The time would change on each round regardless of single or versus player. Also, the game wouldn't nessesarily start off from the morning as the first round depending on how the (prior?) matches go, so someone could join in when the time of day is to their advantage, or take on a challenge and join in when they're at a disadvantage to show just how godlike they are in the game.
- Asai has great respect for Masami Obari, but for DarkSeed he isn't involved in the game.
- The game features two characters per team as a way to expand on the game's system of effecting gameplay depending on time of day. Asai got the idea after watching a film where a girl and a guy could never be together in human form because the girl turns into an Eagle during the day and the guy turns into a wolf at night. Looking back, Asai thinks he could've done something better.
- Closing statements from Asai:
"DarkSeed went through pending for two times due to funding issues, and then faced official cancellation. Development PCBs aren't really supposed to leak out, so there's a part of me that's a bit distraught about that. However, it's been 20 years. As of now, I salute NeoTurfMasta for his discovery, luck, passion, and knowledge. Personally it wasn't all fond memories, so together with my surprise and joy, I also sort of felt the fear of something coming back and haunting me from 20 years ago. I haven't changed that much, but it sure brought back memories of how inexperienced I was back in my youth."
(Thanks to Brian Hargrove /NeoTurfMasta for the heads up) Tweet - Technically, the game doesn't have an official title since it was never released. During development, the game was titled. The namewas given to the game tentatively since it was proving difficult to get the trademark for- A lot of the developers came from Technos Japan and were staff that worked on Gowkaizer including Asai himself. There was actually a period when both projects were being developed in parallel. The core developers started working on DarkSeed around the end of 1995 or early 1996.- Asai recalls that 'Dark Fantasy' was a popular theme at the time of the game's development and the game takes on the same atmosphere.- Details on the "Lawful", "Neutral", and "Chaotic" character properties: It's not a system where the player gets to pick their character's alignment during character select. The game was supposed to feature a unique system called the "alignment system" in which the character's property would change depending on the path that the player would pick after the end of each battle. For example to maintain the character's property as "Lawful", the player will need to keep picking choices that are honest.- The game was supposed to change time on each round (morning, noon, evening, night). Lawful would get stronger during the noon and be able to use additional moves, while on the other hand get weaker during the night. Chaotic is just the opposite and get strong during the night and weak during noon. Neutral stays the same at all times. Also, The in-game messages and ending would change depending on the character's alignment.- The time would change on each round regardless of single or versus player. Also, the game wouldn't nessesarily start off from the morning as the first round depending on how the (prior?) matches go, so someone could join in when the time of day is to their advantage, or take on a challenge and join in when they're at a disadvantage to show just how godlike they are in the game.- Asai has great respect for Masami Obari, but for DarkSeed he isn't involved in the game.- The game features two characters per team as a way to expand on the game's system of effecting gameplay depending on time of day. Asai got the idea after watching a film where a girl and a guy could never be together in human form because the girl turns into an Eagle during the day and the guy turns into a wolf at night. Looking back, Asai thinks he could've done something better.- Closing statements from Asai:"DarkSeed went through pending for two times due to funding issues, and then faced official cancellation. Development PCBs aren't really supposed to leak out, so there's a part of me that's a bit distraught about that. However, it's been 20 years. As of now, I salute NeoTurfMasta for his discovery, luck, passion, and knowledge. Personally it wasn't all fond memories, so together with my surprise and joy, I also sort of felt the fear of something coming back and haunting me from 20 years ago. I haven't changed that much, but it sure brought back memories of how inexperienced I was back in my youth."Tennis will implement an Athlete Biological Passport programme to support the fight against drug cheats.
The programme will collect and compare biological data and spot discrepancies over time that suggest possible doping.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) currently tests blood and urine.
"We feel that this is the most effective way to show the world that tennis is a clean sport," said Brad Drewett, executive chairman and president of the ATP.
Athlete Biological Passports An Athlete Biological Passport is an electronic document about the athlete that contains certain biomarkers from through his career. If these markers change dramatically it alerts officials that the athlete might be doping.
As with the current drug testing rules, the biological passports will not be compulsory but any athlete who refuses to take part in testing could face punishment.
The decision to introduce biological passports comes after the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme Working Group - comprised of representatives from the ITF, ATP, WTA governing bodies and Grand Slam tournaments - gave its backing.
The programme will see more blood tests conducted, particularly out of competition.
"The implementation of the Athlete Biological Passport is an important step in the evolution of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme as it provides us with a great tool in the fight against doping in our sport," said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti.
"We also hope to have increased support from the National Anti-Doping Agencies around the world who need to do their part if we are to win this battle and make our programme more effective.
Tennis versus cycling Cycling's governing body, the UCI, introduced biological passports in 2008 to track any blood changes in riders against an original profile. The UCI carried out 3,314 out-of-competition blood tests in 2011, while tennis's governing body carried out 21.
Questions have been raised by some of the sport's top players in recent months about the drug-testing programme.
Newly released data for 2012 reveals there were 2,185 tests carried out - up slightly from 2,150 in 2011). The vast majority examined urine samples - last year there were 124 in-competition blood tests (110 in 2011) and 63 out of competition (21 in 2011).
World number one Novak Djokovic recently described how the number of blood tests he undergoes has declined.
He said: "I wasn't tested with blood for last six, seven months. It was more regularly in last two, three years ago. I don't know the reason why they stopped it."
Roger Federer and Andy Murray also called for more testing, with the Swiss claiming he was being tested less than before.
"I feel I'm being less tested now than [I was] six, seven, eight years ago," said Federer.
"I don't know the reasons [why] we are being tested less and I agree with Andy, we don't do a lot of blood testing during the year. I'm OK having more of that."Twenty esports teams, together with tournament organiser ESL and the German Games Industry Association (BIU), announced the foundation of the Esport Bund Deutschland (ESBD). One of the organisation’s expressed goals is to bridge the gap between the local esports associations and Esports.BIU, a group of game publishers within BIU, focused on the competitive scene.
Out of the twenty teams that signed the founding documents, six are amateur organisations and fourteen are professionals, the latter of which includes H2k Gaming, Unicorns of Love, Euronics Gaming, and the newly founded Fraport Skyliners’ esports department.
The ESBD’s president, Hans Jagnow, said in a statement on behalf of the contributing organisations::
“Not only do we want to ensure a unified representation for all players, but we also want to create an advocacy for both amateur and professional clubs to benefit from the development of esports”.
The ESBD wants to promote esports in Germany, a key region within the market. Aside from being home to some of the largest events, such as Gamescom and ESL One Cologne and Hamburg, the EU LCS is filmed and broadcast out of Berlin, where all top European League of Legends teams are also de facto headquartered.
The ESBD will also create national teams to join international competitions, organise national leagues, certify referees and coaches, and sit at the table with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). The DOSB, which has denied the admission of esports several times already, had set the establishment of an esports federation as a precondition to start the discussions regarding recognising esports as sports.
According to the founding statement, the ESBD will act as a contact between esports and sport, politics, business, science, and other social circles.
“We are starting at a good timing when esports receives more attention”, said Hans Jagnow. “We want to take advantage of this opportunity to talk to all stakeholders and improve the conditions for everyone involved in esports. We also set ourselves a goal to have esports recognised soon as a sport.”
TEO reached out to Anna Baumann, legal counsel to the association, who commented:
“I am very excited to advise on the legal challenges of this emerging industry. Good governance and effective and fair regulation need to be tailored to the specific needs of esports. The recognition of the non-profit status of esports clubs in Germany will be one of our first goals in a legal context to help the amateur scene developing affordable structures.”
The ESBD’s board of directors consists of president Hans Jagnow and four vice presidents:BENGALURU: Anxious staff and inmates of Jindal Nature Cure Institute near Madanaikanahalli in Bengaluru, who were getting ready to welcome their VIP guest, Arvind Kejriwal who is to undergo a treatment at the institute, were shocked when a suicide in the campus was reported.Some patients who were doing their morning stroll on Thursday were shocked to spot a man’s body hanging from the branch of a tree in a grove within the campus. It was around 9.00 am, when a few of them saw the body hanging to a shirt and informed the institute authorities who in turn alerted the local police. The hospital authorities were quick to state that it was neither their patient nor an employee.Police rushed to the spot and shifted the body for post mortem to Nelamangala government hospital. The police eventually found that the deceased was Ravi, 35, a daily wage labourer who stayed at Chikkabidarakallu. He used one of sleeves of his full-arm shirt, tied it to a branch and the other sleeve was tied to his neck, police said. Family members later told the police that Ravi was under depression for a long time. |
AIDS epidemic hit and when KS became widely known with the infamous (in my opinion) term "gay cancer." At the time, I felt (and still do) that scientists were not telling the whole truth about AIDS and its origin from biological warfare and from cancer virus research that took place extensively in the decade before AIDS, namely the 1970s. 2. In Queer blood, the secret aids genocide plot, you mention that in the 1960s, a group of bio warfare experts appeared before a United nations panel estimated that a large scale killing operation of the general population would cost $2,000 per square kilometer with conventional weapons. $800 with nuclear weapons, and $ 1 dolor with biological weapons. Do you believe this was the primary objective for the research and testing of these biological agents back in the 60s at Fort Detrick and other places or was it something else? *Governments are always seeking new biological warfare agents, just as they are always seeking more powerful military weapons. Bioweapons are indeed the cheapest form of warfare. They kill yet they maintain the infrastructure, unless one uses microbes such as deadly anthrax spores that can contaminate an environment for centuries. 3. In 1986, a researcher contacted Pearce Wright at the London times with information on the origin of AIDS and how the AIDS virus was injected, via a small pox vaccine into millions of Africans. Do you know if this researcher ever reveled his identity? * No, I don't know the identity of this person. After the smallpox vaccine story hit the front-page of The London Times, the story was subsequently killed and never appeared again in any of the world major media. The story suggested the smallpox eradication vaccine program sponsored by the World Health Organization was responsible for unleashing AIDS in Africa. About 100 million Africans living in central Africa were inoculated by the WHO.The vaccine was held responsible for awakening a "dormant" AIDS virus on the continent. I am sure the "big business" of vaccine makers had something to do with censoring the story. Also the Times story provided another explanation for the outbreak in Africa other than the widely-accepted "monkey in the African jungle" theory of HIV/AIDS. 4. Do you believe it was the Bovine visna virus and the sheep visna virus, that was used to create the AIDS virus and how similar do these viruses look to the AIDS virus under a microscope? * I am not a virologist and I would never speculate exactly how HIV was "made." Suffice to say, I believe HIV came out of primate (monkey, chimp) animal cancer research whereby primates were injected (before AIDS) with various cancer-causing and immunosuppressive viruses -- and these viruses were transferred between various animal species as well and adapted to human tissue. All of this was part of the "war on cancer" conducted by the National Cancer Institute. The NCI also had close ties to the U.S. biological warfare establishment. The military's biological warfare unit at Ft Detrick, Maryland, was joined to the National Cancer Institute in the early 1970s, by order of President Richard Nixon. 4a. In an article entitled WHO Murdered Africa (The Man Made Origin of AIDS) by WILLIAM CAMPBELL DOUGLASS, MD states that it is wrong to believe that you cant get AIDS from mosquitoes. Also that the virus can't live outside the body. Is this belief still held to be true. *How can one be 100% sure mosquitoes could (or could not) theoretically spread AIDS? I couldn't swear to it. Robert Strecker MD, who was one of the originators of the man-made theory of AIDS, used to say: allow mosquitoes to feed on AIDS patients' blood. Then put doctors who don't believe in the insect spread of HIV in a closed space and let the mosquitoes feed on them. And then later test them for HIV. I am not sure many physicians would sign up for the experiment. 5. When you first met Robert Strecker MD. you asked him about the gay AIDS relation to Africa and he told you that there isn't any and that it was just a cover up to hide the real truth that Africans were infected during the small pox vaccine programs and that Africa is doomed. * There is NO PROOF that AIDS, which first appeared EXCLUSIVELY in young (primarily white) gay men in Manhattan, came from Africa. This is yet another myth about AIDS. How could a supposed black heterosexual African epidemic transform itself into an EXCLUSIVELY WHITE YOUNG GAY MENS' DISEASE IN MANHATTAN? In my opinion this is biologically impossible. Furthermore, there was no "incubation period" for HIV in America. As soon as the government-sponsored gay hepatitis B experiment (1978-1981) ended in Manhattan in 1981 the epidemic became official. The first cases of AIDS in gay men appeared in Manhattan in 1979, soon after the gay experiment began in Manhattan, New York City. Strecker believes that the World Health Organization spelled out this diabolical plan back in a 1972 memorandum. Do you know if there were any cases of AIDS in Africa prior to 1979 as indicated by several scientists like Dr Ho and others * There are no PROVEN cases of AIDS in Africa prior to 1979. According to Luc Montagnier, the French Pasteur scientist who first isolated HIV in Paris, the African epidemic did not break out until the Autumn of 1982 at the earliest. (See, Luc Montagnier, VIRUS, page 122. ) When AIDS was officially recognized in 1981, there was NO EVIDENCE of an African epidemic at that time. Also do you think africa is doomed or do you see any hope? * Without effective anti-HIV therapy, such as the current AIDS "cocktail drugs", most people succomb to AIDS quickly. Poor people in third-world countries obviously can't afford these life-saving drugs. Ergo, many, many will die. I am not sure how I would define "doomed", but certainly if 20, 30, or 40% or more of a distinct population dies, that is "doomed" in my opinion. 6. Dr Lenord Horowitz has indicated that some of these scientists worked in the eugenic concentration camp experiments with Dr Mengele and that this was apart of operation paperclip? Have you uncovered anything like this during your investigations? * No, but Nazi-type mentality occurs among some people from many cultures. There are people nowadays that believe Americans have turned into Nazis because of the Iraq war - and the suppression of freedoms, once guaranteed by the Constitution - all as a result of the so called war on terror. 7. It has been documented that biological warfare was first practiced on Native Americans with the use of Smallpox and Tuberculosis in the 1800 and 1900s etc.biological experiments were also conducted on African Americans in the 60s with syphilis written about in the book Bad blood and a higher form of killing. Do you think that homosexual men In New York were used as part of this experiment to find out how this virus worked on a relatively smaller level, in order to then use the information to infect the blacks in Africa on a much wider level etc. Or was it basically used on both at the same time more or less for the same reasons? * I don't know exactly what was on the mind of those who infected gays and blacks with HIV (and the "new" KS virus as well). The epidemic could definitely serve as a population control measure. The fact that the man-made theory of AIDS is totally ignored suggests a covert genocide program against certain "undesirables" and third world people. HIV is a cancer-causing virus, although this is obviously downplayed in an attempt to separate AIDS from cancer (and its origin from animal cancer research). HIV is an effective bioweapon in that it wipes out large numbers of people due to sexual activity and/or blood transfusion. It also has spawned a big, big, drug business based to the tune of $2000-3000 a month for "effective" (but not curative) treatment against HIV. 8. What about feline leukemia and "cat AIDS" The experiments conducted at Harvard by Myron (Max) Essex on retro viral infections? Did these experiments have anything to do with it? * Scientists knew in the few years before AIDS that retroviruses could cause immunosuppression and that the feline leukemia virus was transferable/transmissible between cats (felines) experimentally confined to confined quarters. After the epidemic began, Essex became the leading light (after Robert Gallo) in AIDS research. I wrote about his experiments and the contamination of his laboratory with primate viruses in my two books on the man-made origin of AIDS (AIDS AND THE DOCTORS OF DEATH, and in QUEER BLOOD: THE SECRET AIDS GENOCIDE PLOT. 9. Where does Boyd Graves flow Chart fit into this picture and what does this piece of information indicate to you? The "flow chart" is contained in one of the annual volumes of the Special Cancer Virus Program, which in Graves' opinion (and in mine) contains the most damaging evidence connecting government-sponsored (and biowarfare related) experimentation in the 1970s to the not-so-mysterious outbreak of HIV exclusively in gays in the late 1970s. From these volumes, it is made clear that human experimentation with these cancer-causing and immunosuppressive viruses was necessary. With the "gay plague" and "gay cancer', such experiments were no longer necessary. The deaths of thousands of gay men proved with these viruses caused cancer, immunosuppression, and were sexually-transmissible between people (similar to what Essex learned a few year earlier from his cat retrovirus experiments). 10. Would you say your conclusions are similar to the findings of Dr Lenord Horrowitz? I think he said something like that 15,000 gallons of AIDS was made and do you know if most of this was injected into Africans during the smallpox vaccination programs?. * Yes, there were thousands and thousands of liters and gallons of cancer-causing viruses that were manufactured for animal experimentation in the so-called war on cancer in the short years before the "introduction" of HIV into American gay men. For more details, simply Google: Special Virus Cancer Program. The Program has been largely (and conveniently) forgotten by AIDS historians. The annual reports are generally unavailable. In my view, the Program comprises the secret history of AIDS, which clearly needs to be investigated to support the very real possibility that HIV/AIDS is a man-made disease. For people who don't believe government scientists would be capable of initiating such a horrendous world plague, I suggest they Google: the human radiation experiments. These experiments administering radioactive substances to unsuspecting American citizens and hospitalized patients are proof that doctors can be as diabolic as the worst hardened criminals and murderers. 11. I came across this article. "In February 1999 a group of researchers from the University of Alabama announced that they had found a type of SIVcpz that was almost identical to HIV-1. This particular strain was identified in a frozen sample taken from a captive member of the sub-group of chimpanzees known as Pan troglodytes troglodytes (P. t. troglodytes), which were once common in west-central Africa. The researchers (lead by Paul Sharp of Nottingham University and Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama) made the discovery during the course of a 10-year long study into the origins of the virus. They claimed that this sample proved that chimpanzees were the source of HIV-1, and that the virus had at some point crossed species from chimps to humans. Their final findings were published two years later in Nature magazine. In this article, they concluded that wild chimps had been infected simultaneously with two different simian immunodeficiency viruses which had "viral sex" to form a third virus that could be passed on to other chimps and, more significantly, was capable of infecting humans and causing AIDS". What are your thoughts on this theory? * I am neither a molecular biologist, nor a virologist. From the very beginning of the epidemic the government's view was that HIV/AIDS originated in Africa and that a primate virus "jumped species" to produce the epidemic. Therefore, ALL government-sponsored research is an attempt to PROVE this. However, attempting to prove the ancestral origin of the AIDS virus is NOT the same as attempting to discover the origin of the epidemic. Furthermore, these government scientists have no interest in studying the viruses that were transferred between primates and that were ADAPTED to human tissue as part of the Special Cancer Virus Program. And, as I mentioned before, the AIDS epidemic began when TWO previously unknown viruses ( the retrovirus HIV -- and the herpes KS virus ) were BOTH "introduced" into American gays to produce the first cases of "acquired" immunodeficiency and "gay cancer." We know from the previous experience with monkey-contaminated polio vaccines, which "introduced" simian-virus 40 into millions of Americans, that vaccines could be the most likely way HIV entered the gay and black African population. Naturally, this concept has been condemned by the scientific establishment and a serious discussion of man-made AIDS has always been TABOO. 12. What about an article published in The Lancet in 2004, also shows how retroviral transfer from primates to hunters is still occurring even today. In a sample of 1099 individuals in Cameroon, they discovered to ten (1%) were infected with SFV (Simian Foamy Virus), an illness which, like SIV, was previously thought only to infect primates. All these infections were believed to have been acquired through the butchering and consumption of monkey and ape meat. Discoveries such as this have lead to calls for an outright ban on bush meat hunting to prevent simian viruses being passed to humans". * Again I would say that all these widely heralded virus findings are an attempt to support the government's claim that HIV originated in Africa, and to further cast doubt on the man-made theory of AIDS. 13. What about the argument that it doesn't matter where it originated because knowing the truth would only create fear and mayhem and even more divisiveness between the races and that all these various theories are not going to solve the problem anyway and the solution is to just treat those already effected with it and to continue to find means of preventing it from spreading etc etc etec. *Of course it matters! Does deliberate genocide of undesirable people matter? Shouldn't AIDS patients be "victims" like the Jews who suffered under the Holocaust? Shouldn't AIDS patients be compensated and given free anti-HIV drugs, just like the surviving Jews have received compensation from the German government. Shouldn't people with AIDS be told that they are infected with viruses that were "introduced" by scientists, and not from monkeys in the jungle. Dr. Strecker used to say he would rather have his patients FEAR HIV than contract it and die! I couldn't agree more. Don't people who give up cigarettes FEAR cancer. I know I did! If all this upsets people, perhaps it's a good thing. Waking up to the insanities of the world might help people live longer and better protect their loved ones as well. Don't we place proper value on life any more? Is mankind "progressing" by learning how to create and deploy better and better biological warfare weapons? I think not! 14. What about Ebola and some of these other exotic viruses like flesh eating viruses? Do you know if there is any associations between these nasty viruses and experiments at the laboratories of Fort Detrick etc * I have no idea what biowarfare agents are being developed by the military. All biological warfare programs are secret and classified. 15. What about a vaccine. Do you think a vaccine could work or feel the same way about this as Strecker? *The vaccine makers are stymied in developing/devising an anti-HIV vaccine, apparently because HIV mutates so quickly. Do you believe a vaccine was also created at the same time and was patented by a Rabbi Dr. Marvin Antelman called Tetrasil. Ag4O4 (Silver 4/Oxygen 4). http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5676977.pdf What are your thoughts on this vaccine? * I have no experience with this, but I have learned when a treatment/drug is "too good to be true", it usually isn't. 16. What about UV radiation? Do you know if this works? * Are you referring to UV radiation of the blood here? I am not aware of any credible UV radiation therapy. 17. Do you know if Dr Gallo is still around and do you know if there has been any investigations into this by senate sub-committees? * Gallo is alive and well and still working. He was the subject of a scientific investigation back in the 1990s when he was accused of "stealing" the AIDS virus from the French at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The lawsuit was eventually settled. For details, read Pulitzer Prize-winning John Crewdson's book SCIENCE FICTIONS: A SCIENTIFIC MYSTERY, A MASSIVE COVER-UP, AND THE DARK LEGACY OF ROBERT GALLO. 18. Who has gained the most from AIDS? Is it. A The pharmaceutical companies. B. Politicians and scientists C. World Health Organization or something else *The drug companies, the AIDS scientists, the WHO -- all have gained except for HIV/AIDS patients and their loved ones, and the taxpayer. Some drug companies have become very rich with happy stockholders. AIDS is a billion dollar business, and the big AIDS research money is handed out exclusively by the Pentagon. Another reason to suspect a tie of AIDS to military biological warfare research. 18. Where do the mainstream media stand on this subject these days. Has anything changed since the early days and what did you think of New York Times article a couple of years back on their origin of aids theory? * There has never been a serious discussion of man-made AIDS in the New York Times or in any other major media outlet, except to refer to the theory as paranoia and conspiracy theory. As I said, the man-made theory of AIDS has remained taboo for more than a quarter-century, and it is likely to remain in the closet because the true history of AIDS is so incriminating. But don't look to the AIDS establishment and medical science to divulge this secret history anytime soon. If people were to take the time to educate themselves as to the evidence for man-made AIDS, it would be a more widely accepted theory. I have attempted to document this closeted history in my two books on the man-made epidemic: AIDS AND THE DOCTORS OF DEATH, and in QUEER BLOOD, which incidentally won a Benjamin Franklin Book Award in 1994. These books are available through Amazon.com and via www.ariesrisingpress.com and through Book Clearing House at 1-800-431-1579. http://heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.7.HEALTH.AlanCantwell.MD.htm Alan Cantwell M.D. alancantwell@sbcglobal.net http://www.ariesrisingpress.com FOUR WOMEN AGAINST CANCER: Bacteria, Cancer and the Origin of LifeOn Friday, President Donald Trump stood before law enforcement officers in Long Island, New York, and warned them about the “animals” they were up against.
Trump’s speech to the Long Island police officers was long and chilling. Throughout his remarks, the president repeatedly advocated for violent policing. He also greatly exaggerated the threat of crime in the New York City suburbs, lamenting how Long Island’s parks have become “bloodstained killing fields.”
But most chilling was his description of the Latino gang members he singled out as the culprits: “I was reading one of these animals was caught and explaining they like to knife them and cut them and let them die slowly because that way it's more painful. And they enjoy watching that much more.”
This language is troubling because — as Vox’s Dara Lind writes — Trump doesn’t clearly differentiate between criminal and peaceful immigrants living in the United States, nor does he care to. But Trump’s language is also dangerous because it’s blatantly dehumanizing.
When we refer to people as “animals” or anything other than “people,” it flips a mental switch in our minds. It allows us to deny empathy to other people, makes us feel numb to their pain, and lets us forgive ourselves for causing them harm.
At best, the dehumanizing language in Trump’s Long Island speech tells law enforcement they’re superior to these “animals,” which “justifies or even mandates violence,” Nour Kteily, who studies the psychology of dehumanization and its consequences at Northwestern, told me in an email.
“At worst,” Kteily said, “it communicates that message more broadly to the most fervent of the white supremacists who number among the president’s supporters.” These are people who — like Trump — may often conflate the words “immigrant” and “criminal.”
Dehumanization is already disturbingly prevalent in America. We don’t need anyone — especially Trump — stoking it further. And “dehumanization today (toward certain groups) has been anything but subtle,” Kteily said.
Dehumanization is a mental loophole that allows us to dismiss other people’s feelings and experience
If you think of murder and torture as universally taboo, then dehumanization of the “other” is a psychological loophole that can justify those acts.
Look back at some of the most tragic episodes in human history and you will find words and images that stripped people of their basic human traits. During the Nazi era, the film The Eternal Jew depicted Jews as rats. During the Rwandan genocide, Hutu officials called Tutsis “cockroaches” that needed to be cleared out.
In the wake of World War II, psychologists wanted to understand how the genocide had happened. In the 1970s, Stanley Milgram’s infamous electroshock experiment showed how quickly people cave to authority. Also in that decade, there was Philip Zimbardo’s “prison experiment,” which showed how easily people in positions of power can abuse others.
At Stanford in 1975, Albert Bandura showed that when participants overhear an experimenter call another study subject “an animal,” they’re more likely to give that subject a painful shock.
From these experiments and others that followed, it became clear that “it’s extremely easy to turn down someone’s ability to see someone else in their full humanity,” Adam Waytz, a psychologist at Northwestern University, told me earlier this year.
Dehumanizing sentiment already exists in America. Encouraging it will likely make the country a more hostile place.
In Kteily’s studies, participants — typically groups of mostly white Americans — are shown this (scientifically inaccurate) image of a human ancestor slowly learning how to stand on two legs and become fully human.
And then they are told to rate members of different groups — such as Muslims, Americans, and Swedes — on how evolved they are on a scale of 0 to 100.
You’d hope people would rate all groups at 100 — perfectly human, right?
They don’t. Mexican immigrants and Muslims are routinely dehumanized in these studies, scoring, on average, well below 90.
This is concerning not only because you have one human rating another as “less than,” but because a willingness to dehumanize is correlated with anti-immigrant actions and behaviors.
“Individuals who dehumanized Mexican immigrants to a greater extent were more likely to cast them in threatening terms, withhold sympathy from them, and support measures designed to send and keep them out, such as surveillance, detention, expulsion, and building a wall between the United States and Mexico,” Kteily and a co-author wrote in a 2017 paper.
And that’s only part of the problem.
In his studies, Kteily also looked at what happens when people feel like they’re being dehumanized. And here, the research predicts a vicious cycle.
“Those who dehumanize are more likely to support hostile policies, and those who are dehumanized feel less integrated into society and are more likely to support exactly the type of aggressive responses... that may accentuate existing dehumanizing perceptions,” he wrote in the 2017 paper.
As the vicious cycle intensifies, the whole country becomes a more hostile, less safe place for everyone.
Do Trump’s dehumanizing views trickle down?
Trump holding dehumanizing views is concerning enough. He’s president of the United States, with enormous power to make life better or worse for immigrant communities.
But psychological research also suggests that Trump’s rhetoric encourages people who already have prejudicial views to act upon those views.
“I don’t think Trump created new prejudices in people — not that quickly and not that broadly. What he did do is change people’s perceptions about what is okay and what is not okay,” University of Kansas psychologist Chris Crandall told me in March.
In 2016, Crandall and his student Mark White asked 400 Trump and Clinton supporters to rate how normal it is to disparage members of various marginalized groups — like obese people, Muslims, Mexican immigrants, and disabled people — both before the election and in the days after.
After the election, both Clinton and Trump supporters were more likely to report that it was acceptable to discriminate against these groups. For Trump to say the disparaging things he said during the campaign, such as that Mexico was sending over rapists — and then be rewarded for it by winning — sent a powerful sign.
“It took away the suppression from the very highly prejudiced people,” Crandall said. “And those are people acting.”
Crandall’s results are preliminary (i.e., not yet published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal), but they’re reflective of the established literature: Exposure to misbehavior simply makes it more acceptable.
A more recent working paper in NBER looked into this question further. Its authors wondered if Trump’s election acted as a validation of anti-immigrant sentiment. That if someone could become president while stoking xenophobia — building walls, restricting immigration, trumpeting “America first,” etc. — would that make xenophobia more socially acceptable?
And it turns out the answer is yes: More participants in the study became willing to openly donate money to an anti-immigrant organization after the election. (Before the election, too, more participants were more willing to openly donate if they were told Trump’s victory was assured in their state.)
Why we need to be vigilant against dehumanizing language
Inside all of us is the same mental machinery that fueled the atrocities of the past century. “We think others to death and then invent the battle-axe or the ballistic missiles with which to actually kill them,” writes the philosopher Sam Keen.
That’s why we can’t kid ourselves into believing that dehumanizing language is harmless.
Dehumanization, and increasing acceptance of prejudice, won’t immediately lead to atrocities — but it will make it easier to make life worse for the marginalized.Image copyright AP Image caption Chimpanzee Tommy is believed to be 40 years old
A chimpanzee is not entitled to the same rights as people and does not have to be freed from captivity by its owner, a US court has ruled.
The appeals court in New York state said caged chimpanzee Tommy could not be recognised as a "legal person" as it "cannot bear any legal duties".
The Nonhuman Rights Project had argued that chimps who had such similar characteristics to the humans deserved basic rights, including freedom.
The rights group said it would appeal.
Owner pleased
In its ruling, the judges wrote: "So far as legal theory is concerned, a person is any being whom the law regards as capable of rights and duties.
"Needless to say, unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot bear any legal duties, submit to societal responsibilities or be held legally accountable for their actions.''
The court added that there was no precedent for treating animals as persons and no legal basis.
In October, the Nonhuman Rights Project had argued that chimpanzees should be recognised as "legal persons" and therefore be given the right to liberty.
The group said on Thursday it would appeal against the court verdict in New York's highest court.
Tommy's owner, Patrick Lavery, said he was pleased with the outcome, according to the Associated Press.
Tommy - who is believed to be about 40 years old - is a former entertainment chimp. He was given to Mr Lavery about 10 years ago.The mini-series Childhood’s End won’t premiere on Syfy until December, but you can already feel an eerie chill radiating from this exclusive teaser.
Childhood’s End follows the peaceful invasion of Earth by a group of Overlords. Their ambassador, Karellen (Charles Dance, Game of Thrones), makes the first contact with humanity with the earthling Ricky Stormgren (Mike Vogel, Under the Dome).
In this teaser we see Dance himself telling the tale of how we “needed supervising” and the Overlords came one day, as we see clips of men, women, and children from cities all over the world gazing up at large aircrafts hovering in the sky.
“They’re going to give you what you imagine heaven on Earth to be as an attempt at sugaring the pill,” Dance says. “More than that I cannot say at the moment,” Dance ends with a devious smile.
The teaser for Childhood’s End will premiere Friday night during the 12 Monkeys finale at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.Humble as they are when empty, when filled with the inner sanctum of a professional football club, they dramatically buzz to life.
We can delude ourselves about the importance of everything else - sponsors, TV, crowds, money, status, fame, the media - but in here, that matters nought. This is where it really happens.
And once you walk through that door, your ego must give way to the collective. In this place, the greater good rules all.
The thought immediately strikes me: this is why retirement among some is so utterly terrifying. Where else in society can one find the pure rush of adrenaline and camaraderie against a backdrop of brute competition and pure physicality?
For one night only, in their annual game against Macarthur Rams at Campbelltown Stadium, Graham Arnold has invited me to witness it, warts and all.
There are no sheep stations on the line tonight but Arnold will be keen to see where his players are at after a few weeks of pre-season.
Outside, it’s assistant coach Steve Corica taking care of the drills. He doesn’t say much, pausing only to maintain standards. “Keep it sharp,” he barks after a stray pass. “Boys, focus!”
On the sidelines, Sydney’s youth coach, Robbie Stanton, has a private word with Rams’ boss Lee Sterrey.
As they split up, Stanton says “Just enjoy it tonight,” - to which Sterrey, one of the great characters of the lower leagues, cheerfully shoots back: “When don’t you enjoy it?”
The players come in and Arnold has the starting eleven on the seats in front of him. His tactics are simple but the instructions are minutely detailed.
On the whiteboard, it’s a 4-3-3, but not a traditional one. And if the players do their jobs correctly, it’s almost a 3-4-3 in attack and a 4-5-1 in defence.
It’s only here that one learns how different tactics are in theory and reality. Formations, in public discourse, suddenly seem finite and outdated.
Modern coaching is infinitely more fluid. It is much more about collective strategy and individual roles.
Without giving too much away, Arnold is big on rotations, overlapping and stacking. He wants to create numerical advantages all over the pitch - a hallmark of his halcyon days at Central Coast.
The strategy is sound. The only worry is whether the new players are tactically savvy enough, not to mention fit enough, to implement it.
The starting line-up is a mix of youth and first team, without a number of key players including Alex Brosque, Milos Ninkovic, Bernie Ibini, Matt Jurman and Michael Zullo.
Traffic chaos on the M5 has cost Rhyan Grant and Filip Holosko their spots in the starting eleven. Arnold picks Bai Antoniou at left-back and Young Socceroo William Mutch at right-back - a test to see if they can cut it at this level.
As the speech winds to a close, Arnold acknowledges that Macarthur will be playing for their lives.
“This is their opportunity to perform. It’s one night only for them and they will do whatever it takes to make it difficult for us,” he tells the team right before they run out. “But we have to be much better - mentally - than that. From the first minute to the last, I want to see a professional display from everyone in a Sydney FC shirt.”
Hardly Any Given Sunday, but nor should it be. Those will come, all going well, next May.
At such close proximity to the players, you notice their idiosyncrasies: Alex Wilkinson’s tiny shinpads are taped to his calves. Matt Simon mixes a languid manner with a frightening stare. David Carney is so relaxed he could fall asleep. Rhyan Grant - a notorious joker on the training track - is pure focus despite his late arrival.
They run out to a small but boisterous crowd. So small you can hear the individual voices - and at least half are supporting the underdog.
There’s a table oddly positioned next to Arnold’s seat on the touchline.
“What the hell is this here for?” he asks Sterrey. The reply: “I thought we could have half-time tea and scones.” Both share a laugh of familiarity. They coached against each other for the first time almost 20 years ago.
The match kicks-off, and it’s jarringly apparent that Macarthur can’t get enough players behind the ball. “Is that six at the back?” asks strength and conditioning coach Andrew Clark, half-kidding.
Arnold pipes up to the opposing bench: “Lee, you’ve haven’t just parked the bus, you’ve put up a block of units!” On the evidence of the opening ten minutes, he’s not wrong. The Rams know their limitations.
The freezing winter cold has its first victim. Milos Dimitrijevic, who Arnold had urged to play an unusually high role as soon as the Rams sat deep, has an ankle complaint.
Seated to my right, physio Elias Boukarim sprints out to attend to the situation. But the Serbian midfielder waggles his finger dejectedly. He’s coming off.
A quick decision has to be made - nobody was expecting this. Grant, ever reliable in every role, comes on.
New signing Josh Brillante is making an immediate impression. He links the play smartly; most good things happen through him.
Still, his combination with Brandon O’Neill needs work. Such a classy player on his day, O’Neill is a little off the boil. Both he and the coaches know it. The bumpy pitch isn’t helping him.
Sydney continue to dominate but there’s a disjointedness to their play that’s bothering Arnold. He hammers his men to press and press again. They try, but it’s half-hearted.
In particular, the coach is riding Matty Simon. The striker is mis-timing his runs and it’s driving Arnold - one of the nation’s greatest ever strikers himself - to despair.
“Pull the trigger Simmo!”
“Press, press, press, Simmo! Press!”
But knowing their history, I see it's only because Arnold badly wants Simon to succeed And he knows Simmo can handle a bollocking, too.
The boss is also at the wingers, David Carney and George Blackwood. They’re drifting inside to seek the ball but with Macarthur having stacked the area already, Arnold wants them to stay high and wide. Arnold even sends Clark to the far side of the field just to tell Blackwood.
Ahead of his 500 metre return sprint into the winter’s night, Clark shoots me a priceless look that says: ‘And you thought this was a glamorous job’.
Arnold soon does away with Blackwood out wide, instead trying him in the number ten role. The young striker tries gallantly but finds it difficult to play in what little space is afforded him.
On my left is John Crawley, the revered goalkeeping coach. He makes a fastidious set of notes - but is the first to recognise when an opponent is moving unchecked into space. His booming voice ensures the player hears it, too.
Crawley and Vedran Janjetovic communicate in their own language, a combination of shouting and sign. For the first time in several seasons, the arrival of Danny Vukovic means nothing is assured for Janjetovic. They get 45 minutes each tonight.
An inspired run from Rams’ forward Mason Versi, who has spent time with the Central Coast Mariners youth team, leads Crawley to whisper in my ear: “Watch this kid, he can finish”.
Half-time arrives and Sydney still haven’t scored. They’re not playing well, but they are dominating possession.
Arnold permits his side an alternate plan to find a way through - the defenders can play long if required, but only if they are clever enough to manipulate the space first. No hit-and-hope balls.
But what Arnold hasn’t spoken about - understandably - is that Macarthur might score. Besides, there has been no real indication of it. Yet three minutes into the second half, that’s exactly what happens. And it’s Crawley’s words that ring true.
Our vantage point is obscured as the ball is crossed into the box but we get to see Versi make a clean finish from close range.
Having come on at half-time, Vukovic’s first act in Sydney FC colours will be to pick the ball out of the empty net.
There’s very little concern on the Sydney bench about conceding. They can dissect that in the post-match review. For now, it’s about finding avenues to goal.
Holosko has come on and is adding something down the right, while Blackwood comes off in a state of fury. He spent the first half finding his rhythm and has now hurt his groin.
Defender Seb Ryall is also off and is complaining about being kicked on the back of the heel. It’s only minor, but that’s three men down in the first hour.
Macarthur are growing into this game but it’s still hard to believe they’re in front. One midfielder has a glorious rat-tail, the type you could only grow in Campbelltown. Their left-back looks like a dead ringer for Sonny from Grease. They’ve just brought on an attacker so young he looks like he’s come from the under-14s.
Sydney burn more chances. It’s clearly not their night. With 20 minutes to play, Arnold brings off Wilkinson, O'Neill, Brillante and Carney, replacing them with four teenagers of his own.
Time has raced away from the Sky Blues. With a few minutes to play, the players are urged to get the ball in the box |
ion - Compassion Twilight Sparkle - Here!Rarity - Medallion - Charity Rainbow Dash - Medallion - Bravery Pinkie Pie - Medallion - Joy Applejack - Medallion - Family Spike - Coming LaterPrincess Celestia - Coming LaterPrincess Luna - Coming LaterPrincess Cadence - Coming LaterShining Armor - Coming LaterSunset Shimmer - Coming LaterStarlight Glimmer - Coming LaterPlace your posts into the ground firmly, and bend the wire around it to form a cone. Cut the wire as needed so that you get a clean edge to attach to.
The first thing you’ll need to do is make sure that your posts are set deeply in the ground. As the potato plants grow, they’ll become heavy, and the last thing you want is for your potato tower to collapse!
As always when you use wire cutters or any kind of sharp tool or scissors, take the utmost of caution and be careful not to slice your fingers. You might want to invest in a good pair of heavy-duty gardening or work gloves to protect your hands. When you trim the edges of the wire, they’ll be sharp! Be sure to snip those to avoid any accidents.Madrid, Spain — A man has been hospitalized after doctors say he suffered a direct hit to his scrotum during a lightning strike while walking down the street in a Madrid suburb.
The 53-year-old man was reportedly walking down a suburban street – aptly named “The Avenue of the Enlightenment” – late Thursday night during a storm when he was hit by a bolt of lighting. Doctors would establish that the bolt struck him through his pants directly in his scrotum before traveling down one of his legs and exiting to the sidewalk through his foot.
The unidentified victim’s son called for an ambulance. At last report, he remains in stable condition at a Madrid hospital. Doctors say that, because the man’s groin took the hit, the lightning did not cause electrical or thermal injury to the victim’s brain or heart – thus saving his life.
A Spanish-language video news report containing a comprehensive medical analysis can be found here. Those of you who are not Spanish speaking should be able to follow along with only knowledge of the phrases “frito cojones” and “iluminado como un árbol de navidad.”Yes US Soccer fans, it’s that time of year. Last season is a memory, the SuperDraft has come and gone, MLS pre-season training has begun, and the USMNT is set for two friendlies post-January Camp. This past weekend, Jurgen Klinsmann announced his 23-man squad for the friendlies. Now that we have the roster in front of us, what should we look for on Wednesday?
Road To The Gold Cup: US vs Chile Preview
It’s about the performance more than the result:
Chile is a really good team. Although a rung below Brazil and Argentina, they are part of the class of South American soccer nations. However, their roster for Wednesday is very inexperienced. Alexis Sanchez, Eduardo Vargas, and captain goalkeeper Claudio Bravo are not with the team. Five of the 21-man squad have fewer than 10 caps. Over half of the roster have yet to appear for the national team. And you thought Klinsmann was experimenting with new players.
That said, this Chile roster is still very talented, Klinsmann will be experimenting, and Estadio Nacional is a very hostile venue. Ultimately, these two friendlies are about the performance not the result. The young players can’t fall on their faces if they get an appearance. The regular first team players need to be leaders and make plays. Guys who are coming off an injury, like Matt Besler and Michael Bradley, need to show they’ve recovered well.
If the U.S. lose 2-0, but don’t let Chile dominate possession, get several set piece chances, and the keepers don’t need to make 10 saves, then they’ve got something to build on. If the squad earn a draw and look good doing so, January Camp was a complete success.
Chile’s going to show something the USMNT hasn’t seen in awhile:
In the World Cup, Chile ran mostly a 5-3-2, but does a bit of 4-3-3 as well. They are going to show a formation and style of play that the US hasn’t really seen, save some disappointing trips down to Costa Rica. Formation aside, La Roja are excellent in the high press, and they victimize anything but quality buildup out of the back. They turn you over, move the ball around on very well, and make the back four’s life miserable by throwing numbers forward. This match is about preparing for Copa America next summer and Chile is an excellent warm up for a potential show down with Brazil or Argentina.
This is an excellent challenge for the defenders. Besler’s ability to stop fires before they happen will be tested. So will Deandre Yedlin with his speed and recognition about when to go forward or not. The back four need to stay organized and communicate. If there is a designated holding midfielder, he needs to have an excellent game acting as the shield to the back line. Furthermore, Chile will augment their formation at times. When they throw numbers forward, it’s like changing gears. The 5-3-2 becomes a 3-5-2 as the full backs push up. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the US responds to this. Matt Hedges and Besler have shown in MLS they can stop fires before they start. They’ll have plenty of chances to do that on Wednesday.
How the midfield skill players move the ball around:
This is a very technically sound midfield. Lee Nguyen is coming off an MVP-nomination campaign. Wil Trapp and Luis Gil have shown flashes of chance-creation greatness. Then there’s Brek Shea back from the dead. The only question mark may be Miguel Ibarra simply because he hasn’t been tested beyond USL-Pro.
Going off the previous point, playing against an unfamiliar formation is going to be challenging for the midfield. The one thing this roster is missing is a true holding mid (Perry Kitchen is listed as a defender). If Mix Diskerud is put there again, he needs to show improvement. Klinsmann has a knack for using uncomfortable situations as motivation. Beyond that, this roster can plug multiple guys anywhere else in the middle of the field.
The formation itself doesn’t matter so much as long as everyone individually are in a position they thrive at. Shea’s going to play out wide. Having played very few minutes across the pond, does he still have the pace to run the channel and stretch the field? Lee Nguyen made an excellent pass against Columbia. He needs to get more minutes in this match and show he can be an attacking centerpiece. Bradley is going to be in a box-to-box role and should dictate the direction of play in the middle third. Everyone will have a supporting cast member. If they can do their jobs individually, things will work tactically regardless of who is where and substitutions.
Between the experience of the vets, youthful exuberance of the new players, and their combined ability on the ball, this midfield should be able to string several passes together. They will be asked to be release valves when the back line is under pressure. Jermaine Jones creating a turnover should lead to service and a good counter attack opportunity. Furthermore, at some point in the match, the US should be able to hold possession and attack in waves for 15 minutes or so.
Several players have something to prove:
Yes, it’s just a friendly and most of these players are in preseason form (which is an oxymoron), but several of them need to show up in these next two friendlies in some capacity.
Jermaine Jones: If he’s lined up at center back, he’s got to produce. He can’t be constantly going to ground and giving away restarts, and no silly yellow cards. Bonus points if he does well defending set pieces. If he doesn’t, this position experiment needs to be over and he should go back to the midfield. This is more a reflection a coaching decision than him as a player.
Chris Wondolowski: Make no mistake, he’s great in MLS, but with his age and questionable finishing at the national team level, I really don’t get why he’s in this camp. If he’s trying to stick around for the Copa America, finish a chance you get or create something out of nothing like a good poacher.
All the young players and Brek Shea: I wouldn’t say their performances will make or break their national team careers. But a solid performance or one outstanding play will go a long way to getting another call up soon. Show the coaching staff something your peers aren’t. For many of them, this is an audition to make the preliminary roster for the Gold Cup.
Think I missed something? What are you looking to see on Wednesday? Get at me on twitter or in the comment section below.
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Main Photo:The second most important thing voters can do on Election Day is to pause after casting their ballots and sign a petition to bring ranked-choice or instant-runoff voting to Maine elections.
It is a voting system designed for elections with more than two candidates that is employed in a number of U.S. cities, including Portland. It fixes two of the main problems of multi-candidate elections: It guarantees that the eventual winner has the approval of a majority of the electorate, and it provides a way for people to vote for a first choice – even if it looks as though that person can’t win – and still have the ability to positively influence the election’s outcome.
Kennebunkport Village Fire Station with a “vote here Tues(day)” sign out front. This year, voters across Maine will have a chance to sign a petition to change our election practices to better manage three-way races.
The need for such a system should be clear to anyone who has followed the gubernatorial race. Because it’s a three-way contest with two center-left candidates and one right-winger, there has been understandable concern on the part of voters who don’t want their influence diluted. Voters and the media have spent more time debating the meaning of polls than policies, making “electability” as important as leadership when evaluating candidates.
The petition drive is backed by independent state Sen. Dick Woodbury of Yarmouth and Democratic state Rep. Diane Russell of Portland. If enacted, voting would look like this:
Instead of picking one name from a list of candidates, voters would rank as many or as few as they like. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated and that candidate’s second-place votes are distributed to others still in the race.
The process continues until one candidate gets support from more than half the voters.
This kind of voting makes it impossible for candidates to win by appealing only to a narrow base of support. It also makes negative campaigning more risky – a candidate who attacks another candidate could alienate the target’s supporters, losing their support in the later rounds of vote counting.
Before this could become the law in Maine, there is a lot of work to do. The first challenge will be education: Even though ranking is a simple process that we all do all the time in our daily lives, many people will be skeptical about a change in electoral process this significant until they fully understand it.
The next challenge will be legal. Maine’s constitution requires candidates to get a plurality of the votes to win an election, not necessarily a majority. If the electoral reform measure receives enough signatures to get before the Legislature, it could be shot down as unconstiutional by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
That would not be the end, however: The Legislature could begin the process of a constitutional amendment, which would eventually go to the voters for approval. Or advocates could look at alternative electoral reforms such as changing the primary process to winnow the field before the general election.
But before any of that can happen, enough people have to sign the petitions to move the discussion forward.
We have a system that is constructed to serve a world that no longer exists. Across the nation, political parties are becoming less representative of the population, and technological advances have made it easier than ever for individuals and small parties to reach a large number of donors and voters.
Mainers who are tired of campaigns like the one that is now coming to an end should mark the name of their favorite candidate on their ballots and then put their own names on a petition to fix this broken system.
Shareon
To the surprise of many, in March, the legislature of Maryland passed 2 bills that would amend an outdated health insurance mandate that excluded same-sex couples from coverage for in vitro fertilization treatments.
Specifically, the 2 bills, proposed separately in the Maryland House and Senate and then amended to be identical, prohibit “insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations from requiring specified conditions of coverage for specified infertility benefits for a patient who is married to an individual of the same sex.”
This first-in-the-nation effort is well worth the attention it has been receiving, because the implications can hardly be overstated.
A 40-Year Journey
Maryland has had its share of challenges in making its way toward legalization of same-sex marriage. Clearly, much has changed since 1973, when it became the first state in the nation to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. That status quo held until 2010, when the state’s attorney general issued an opinion that same-sex marriages performed in other states could be recognized by Maryland. That opinion became precedent in 2012, when the Court of Appeals in Port v Cowan concluded that out-of-state marriages are recognized in Maryland unless “prohibited by statute or ‘repugnant’ to the public policies of Maryland.”
Around the same time, Maryland’s General Assembly passed the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which legalized same-sex marriage, and after a majority of voters approved a subsequent public referendum, the law took effect on January 1, 2013. With this law, the state of Maryland closed the books on a 40-year struggle marked by unforeseen and unprecedented shifts in public opinion.
One important consequence of progress in the gay rights arena that is not appreciated by many people is the requirement to rewrite numerous existing statutes that had been crafted by and for a society previously supporting only opposite-sex marriage. Nowhere is this new imperative more apparent than in matters of reproduction.
Enter the Maryland infertility health insurance state mandate. One of 15 such state mandates nationwide, the Maryland statute holds the distinction of having been the first to require the underwriting of in vitro fertilization. The 1985 legislation, which was the product of exemplary grassroots advocacy efforts by women for women, was signed into law by then Governor Harry Hughes.
At its core, Maryland Insurance, Section 15-810, requires that qualified health insurance plans that provide pregnancy-related benefits “may not exclude benefits for all outpatient expenses arising from in vitro fertilization procedures….” The law’s minimum eligibility criteria, which apply exclusively to legally married opposite-sex couples, include (but are not limited to) the expectation that the “patient’s oocytes are fertilized with the patient’s spouse’s sperm.” A rewrite was clearly called for.
House Bill 0838, Health Insurance—Coverage for Infertility Services, sponsored by Delegate Terri L. Hill, and the corresponding Senate Bill 0416, sponsored by Senator Cheryl Kagan, were introduced earlier this year and approved by wide, bipartisan margins in both chambers. At the time of this writing, the newly passed bills have been transmitted to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan for his evaluation and possible signature.
A Universal Human Principle
Building a family is a universal human principle shared by single individuals and unmarried opposite-sex couples, as well as gay and lesbian couples. A review by the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that the data “do not support restricting access to assisted reproductive technologies on the basis of a prospective parent’s marital/partner status or sexual orientation.” The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology Task Force on Ethics and Law reached similar conclusions in considering medically assisted reproduction in single people, lesbian and gay couples, and transsexual people.
The 2 Maryland bills are supported by CareFirst, the state’s largest qualified health insurance issuer. The Maryland Catholic Conference pledged to remain neutral. It remains to be seen, however, if Governor Hogan will sign the legislation into law.
***
About the author: Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS (eli_adashi@brown.edu) is a professor of medical science and the former dean of medicine and biological sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. A member of the Institute of Medicine, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Adashi has focused his writing on domestic and global health policy at the nexus of medicine, law, ethics, and social justice. A former Franklin fellow, Adashi served as a senior advisor on global women’s health to the Secretary of State office of Global Women’s Issues during the first term of the Obama Administration.
About The JAMA Forum: JAMA has assembled a team of leading scholars, including health economists, health policy experts, and legal scholars, to provide expert commentary and insight into news that involves the intersection of health policy and politics, economics, and the law. Each JAMA Forum entry expresses the opinions of the author but does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of JAMA, the editorial staff, or the American Medical Association. More information is available here and here.
Categories: Health Policy, The JAMA ForumLA Times:
In the last several days, there have been several reports of such group crime waves in South L.A., Hollywood, San Bernardino and Victorville. Long Beach police are bracing for another one Friday.
These so-called bash mobs of "flash mob" crime waves are organized through social media and have been a problem in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington. In April, 28 Chicago youths were arrested on suspicion of attacking pedestrians along the city's famed Magnificent Mile. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation in May enacting stiffer penalties for people who text or use social media to organize mob attacks.
Long Beach police warned in a statement that participants could face severe penalties.
"The mere participation in such an event can result in felony charges including conspiracy, and are punishable by imprisonment in the state prison," according to the statement.
Police said they feared bash mob organizers planned to hit Long Beach at 2 p.m.
Long Beach experienced such a gathering July 9, when more than 100 people descended on stretches of downtown in an organized, sudden crime rampage.
On Monday, a group of unruly young people broke off from hundreds gathered for a Trayvon Martin prayer vigil and rushed into a Wal-Mart on Crenshaw Boulevard, where they tossed merchandise and tried to break into a jewelry display case.
In Hollywood on Tuesday night, a flash mob of thieves rushed down Hollywood Boulevard, stealing phones, knocking over tourists and vandalizing shops, according to police, who said it may have been related to the George Zimmerman verdict. Twelve people -- 11 juveniles and one 18-year-old -- were arrested on suspicion of robbery.
On Wednesday night in Victorville, authorities arrested 17 people after a group allegedly tried to force its way into the Mall of Victor Valley.On Thursday, the world watched as Simone Manuel became the first African-American to win a gold medal in an individual swim event, and first Black woman to win an Olympic swimming medal period. As she glided through the water, I yelled, “SWIM, SWIM, SWIM!” as I watched her touch the wall in first place, setting a new Olympic record in the process. Full of pride, I immediately went to Twitter and Facebook to post my congrats, when I ran across an article about racism in swimming. My mind quickly shifted, as I knew there were deeper implications of what Manuel had done outside of winning an Olympic medal.
The first thought that crossed my head was the powerful scene in “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” the HBO film about the actress’ life. In the scene Dandridge (played by Halle Berry), walks past a hotel swimming pool after being told she couldn’t get in. Instead of being defeated, she defiantly dips her toe in the water and kicks it around. In the very next scene, however, the pool is being drained and cleaned by Black workers as Dandridge watches from her hotel room. Apparently, even dipping a toe in the water was too much for the hotel’s White patrons who complained. With the film and Manuel’s historic win still playing in my mind, I took to Twitter.
Never forget. They drained an entire swimming pool because Dorothy Dandridge stuck her toe in it. That is why Simone Manuel is important — George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) August 12, 2016
I woke up this morning to hundreds of notifications as the tweet has since gone viral and the world has been reintroduced to the ugly history we have faced as African-Americans in this country. According to statistics from the USA Swimming Foundation, nearly 70% of Black children are unable to swim, and many Black adults hold a petrifying fear of even entering the water. The long history of African Americans fear of water does not go unwarranted as the trauma from our ancestors is still deeply rooted in us today. Enslaved Africans traveling thousands of miles across the ocean, being deprived of food and water, while watching the bodies of their shipmates being cast away is still embedded in our DNA.
When we take a look over the past 100 years, our history with the “fear of water” is even more understandable. Racist product advertisements for soap—depicting Black babies as “dirty” in the before picture and coming out “clean and white” in the after picture—still circulate on the internet today. Images of segregated of water fountains based on belief that Black people had diseases that could be contracted if shared are still in our collective memories. Stories about Black celebrities like Dandridge and Sammy Davis Jr. swimming in hotel pools (like the New Frontier Hotel & Casino in 1952), only to have them drained after they got out still get told.
Back in the 1960s, Black Americans were systematically denied access to swimming, and many saw it as a privilege for whites that was never meant to be for us. With desegregation came the hopes that this pathology could change, but the only thing that changed was how much deeper our country would dig its heels into the racism surrounding shared water. Rather than desegregate, many public pools closed or were filled in with cement to prevent anyone from swimming. Those that remained open were hostile to African Americans. According to the Washington Post, “White people even went as far as pouring acid in the water while Black people were swimming in the pools, and staging protests and walkouts after desegregation”
Later, country clubs became the new way to keep Black Americans out of the water. As private, often expensive spaces, these clubs created a place where white children could swim freely without sharing water with Black kids. Even when African Americans had access to pools, they were built with shallow waters and weren’t large enough to teach traditional swimming, and by that time, many of us no longer had the desire to break through the fear that overrode our willingness to swim.
Fast forward to today, we continue to see death by drowning at alarming rates for African Americans because many of us cannot swim. The rates at which Black children drown is three times higher than our White counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control. When Cullen Jones won the Olympic medal in 2008, he spoke on how swimming needs to become a requirement, especially in Black communities. Jones, who has four Olympic medals, was enrolled in swimming lessons after nearly drowning at five-years-old. This story of “near drowning” is heard too often in our community, and that is why Simone Manuel’s win is so important.
Manuel’s historic moment is the first step in a revolutionary change needed to fix the narrative about Black folks and swimming. In a country that has so long denied Black people access to water and pools, while helping perpetuate the stigma that Black women “refuse to get their hair wet” and “Black folk can’t swim,” Manuel has now debunked both myths and given us the opportunity to create a new story. Our history with the racist tactics and denial of our right to be able to swim, and find an appreciation for water is torrid, ugly, deplorable, but fixable.
While we celebrate this moment, let’s a take a moment to thank those for those who paved the way for Black people to claim their rightful place in the pool.
Thank you Simone Manuel for knowing that what you did was much more than just winning a gold medal. Thank you Cullen Jones for knowing that what you have done was much more than just show out on the Olympic stage. And thank you Dorothy and Sammy, for taking ownership of the privilege that your ancestors should have always had.Crimean prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya's viral video inspires fan art
Storified by CBC News Community· Thu, Mar 20 2014 12:18:17
Natalia PoklonskayaAnomonny
While tensions continue to run high in Crimea since Russianforces took control of the strategic Black Sea peninsula some two weeks ago, internetfascination with the region's newly appointed prosecutor has suddenly spiked, spawningnumerous fan pages and an onslaught of anime-style fan art.
of a press conference given by NataliaPoklonskaya on the day she assumed office was viewed almost a million timesafter it was posted on March 11.
Poklonskaya, 33, called the current government officials inUkraine illegitimate and described the uprising in the country as an "anti-constitutioncoup and an armed seizure of power," according to
A Youtube video of a press conference given by NataliaPoklonskaya on the day she assumed office was viewed almost a million timesafter it was posted on March 11.Poklonskaya, 33, called the current government officials inUkraine illegitimate and described the uprising in the country as an "anti-constitutioncoup and an armed seizure of power," according to Voice of Russia, theRussian government's international radio broadcaster.
"I tell the truth and I'm not afraid of this truth," shesaid, according to Voice of Russia's transcription. "I am no criminal, I don'tpropagate Nazism, unlike certain regime functionaries in Kyiv."
The March 11 video doesn't have any subtitles. Here is a version of the video with English subtitles. The accuracy of the subtitles cannot be immediately verified.
"I tell the truth and I'm not afraid of this truth," shesaid, according to Voice of Russia's transcription. "I am no criminal, I don'tpropagate Nazism, unlike certain regime functionaries in Kyiv."The March 11 video doesn't have any subtitles. Here is a version of the video with English subtitles. The accuracy of the subtitles cannot be immediately verified.
Natalia Poklonskaya's speech with english subtitlesIJUIFh-TTpqxP93zr8E3aA
The lack of subtitles didn't stop netizens from quickly becoming infatuated with the woman behind the microphones.
A tweet in Japanese, which simply read "Crimea's NewAttorney General oh oh oh..." with a link to the unsubtitled version of the press conference video, wasretweeted more than 9,000 times, according to gaming blog Kotaku.
An onslaught of Japanese anime-style fan art ensued.
Nataliaaaa34-sama
natalia poklonskayanautes1944
Since there appeared to be no Japanese translation of the press conference video when it first went viral, the fan art treatment doesn't seem to be political. Instead, it is likely that fans are inspired by the similarities between Poklonskaya's physical characteristics and those of traditional anime characters.
Artists have posted dozens of illustrations of Poklonskaya to online art forums like diviantArt and Pixiv Since there appeared to be no Japanese translation of the press conference video when it first went viral, the fan art treatment doesn't seem to be political. Instead, it is likely that fans are inspired by the similarities between Poklonskaya's physical characteristics and those of traditional anime characters.
Natalia PoklonskayaItachj
Natalia PonyskayaDANMAKUMAN
Many admirers use the word "kawaii", which means cute in Japanese, to describe Poklonskaya.
Prosecutor of the Republic of CrimeaFerrabra
Facebook fan page created for Poklonskaya on March 17 received 1,000 fans in less than 24 hours. Four days later, a whopping 13,000 people have liked the page.
Wow! We just hit 1,000 fans! Thank you all, it's good to see so many love our Crimean angel.
Anime fan art of our favourite Crimean angel.
Poklonskaya even received her own reddit page, which is quickly filling up with anything users can scour on the internet of her.
ImgurBeing able to communicate via our sense of touch could make computing devices more varied and useful.
The offices of Immersion in San Jose, California, may be the touchy-feeliest place I’ve ever been. The walls of one conference room are lined with tablets, smartphones, smart watches, and other gadgets that all have the ability to stimulate your sense of touch.
I’m here to experience technology that can go far beyond the sometimes annoying buzzing that passes for touch feedback today in devices such as smartphones. Immersion and other companies are beginning to roll out a new wave of more real haptic feedback techniques. They could enhance our smartphones and tablets, and become crucial to new gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and smart watches. Apple has positioned haptic feedback as a central part of its smart watch, to be released in April, boasting that it will get your attention with what feels like a light tap on the wrist, not a crude buzz.
Some of Immersion’s latest technology can wring more nuanced sensation from the buzzers in existing devices. Last fall, the company released software that app makers can use to let you feel things like explosions or the whirring of helicopter blades when you hold a smartphone. It was put to use in a promo for the latest season of the TV show “Homeland” in apps from cable network Showtime and the news site Slate. More content, including ads, using the technology will be coming soon, says Chris Ullrich, Immersion’s vice president of user experience.
Immersion has also developed a way to fool fingers sliding over a touch screen into feeling textures that aren’t really there. When I swiped across the screen of a tablet in the company’s engineering lab, I felt a palette of different sensations such as the roughness of gravel, the nubbiness of carpet, and the bumpiness of a metal grating.
Those changing sensations were made by using a special conductive layer on the device’s touch screen to alter the electrostatic attraction between my finger and the screen, creating a sense of friction. Some companies, such as Tangible Haptics, an early-stage startup, are already building products using the electrostatic technology. They think the trick can be used to help drivers use in-car displays without taking their eyes off the road.
Another startup, Tactical Haptics, is working on technology to bring physical realism to the experience of using a virtual reality headset such as the Oculus Rift.
At their Palo Alto workspace, founder and CEO Will Provancher and software engineer Michael Jones sat me in a desk chair, strapped an Oculus Rift headset to my face, placed headphones over my ears, and then handed me their latest prototype. It is a black-and-yellow gaming controller with the company’s “reactive grip” technology. Sliding plates in the handle of the controller exert forces on your hands to mimic the sensation of interacting with real objects.
In a simple shooting game, the controller jumped as a gun might when I pulled the trigger. In a more complex demo, I held a controller in each hand to grab and toss around cubes of different sizes. Varying resistance from the controllers gave the feeling that they had different weights.
While the controllers are still pretty chunky, with a 3-D printed body and a Sixense Razer Hydra motion-sensing controller attached to the bottom, I could imagine a sleeker version becoming a valuable part of an immersive virtual reality experience.
Despite those technical advances in fooling our sense of physical reality, companies working on touch-feedback technology still face significant challenges. One is to minimize latency—the time lag between touching something and feeling a response. The human nervous system is sensitive enough that even a delay of milliseconds can feel too slow, says Vincent Hayward, a professor studying haptics at Paris-based Université Pierre et Marie Curie’s Institute for Intelligent Systems and Robotics.
The fact that we make very fine distinctions such as between the feel of “cheap” and “nice” paper also suggests that it will be very difficult for any haptics device to completely fool our sense of touch, says Hayward. “Creating an adequate tactile sensation is not a simple matter, and it’s often underestimated,” he says.
In addition to the technical challenges, gadget makers have previously shown minimal interest in haptics technology because compelling use cases have proved elusive.
That makes it harder for newer haptics technology to gain a foothold. Ed Colgate, cofounder and president of Tangible Haptics, says that without proof that people really want better physical feedback, gadget makers are loath to invest in it.
“You can’t get people experiencing the haptics with really, really cool apps unless there’s something to experience it on,” Colgate says. “It’s a chicken and egg thing.”The biggest deal in Texas at the moment is DeMarco Murray left hand.
After undergoing surgery this week the question remains whether or not the workhorse running back will play this week as the Dallas Cowboys host the Indianapolis Colts and attempt to remain atop the NFC East.
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport spoke to a source who was optimistic about the running back playing Sunday.
"He's tough, he has a high pain threshold and he feels good," the source said. "(I) wouldn't be surprised if he plays."
Murray leads the NFL with 405 offensive touches this season, while carrying it 351 times for 1,687 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. In the last two weeks the 26-year-old runner has 30-plus carries in each contest.
"He hasn't done much with the ball in his left hand," coach Jason Garrett told reporters Friday. "He's trying to work his way back -- he just had surgery a couple days ago. So, I think, again, his mind is right, he has a long away to go, we'll take it day by day, and we'll see how he is come game time."
Cowboys backup running back Joseph Randle spoke on NFL Network's NFL AM on Friday morning and said that if Murray can't play, he'd have no trouble stepping into a starting role.
"Whatever happens I'll be ready if they need me," Randle said. "I'm 100 percent confident I can get the job done if the team needs me to step in."
If Murray is able to gut it out with a cast on the left hand, there will be questions about how much of a load he can carry, especially when called to pass block or be involved in the air game.
UPDATE: Signs continue to point toward the Cowboys having Murray -- and also rookie lineman Zack Martin -- available Sunday.
"Murray and Martin I'm pretty positive about having the ability to play them," Jerry Jones told KRLD-FM on Friday.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast previews every Week 16 game and recaps the Jaguars' win over the Titans. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.Step back into the 1800s: New app allows users to see Melbourne's city streets as they haven't been seen for hundreds of years
The State Library of Victoria has begun digitising their collection of 300,000 images to make them more accessible
Street History: Hoddle's Grid, the library's new app, has 300 photographs of Melbourne's CBD dating back to 1840
Using people's location, it shows images of nearby buildings, street views and aerial photographs alongside stories
The State Library plans to extend the project to suburbs, with plans to digitise at least 75,000 more photographs in the next year
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A new app, put together by the State Library of Victoria, allows users to virtually step back onto the city streets of Melbourne in the 1800s to experience the city's rich history and the majesty behind some of its old architecture.
The mobile phone program was developed in a bid to engage the Library's audience in a new way while making a fraction of their collection of 300,000 photographs more accessible.
Using up to 300 photographs, Street History: Hoddle's Grid uses your location to show nearby buildings, street views and aerial photographs - as well as the stories of each location- from as early as 1840.
'There's kind of a perception that the old city of Melbourne has been progressively demolished over the years, but one of the fascinating things is once you're aware of what lies beneath the surface, you realise that old Melbourne is still there - it's just hidden,' Peter McMahon, the State Library of Victoria's director of digital strategy said.
Flinders Street Station (left) was completed in 1910. It is now Melbourne's busiest station (right), used by over 100,000 people every day. In 2013 the State Government announced a billion dollar refurbishment, to include a water-front amphitheatre and a market whilst still retaining the iconic dome and arched entrance The Cromwell Buildings (pictured left in 1954) were a six storied brick building on the corner of Elizabeth and Bourke Streets, built in the early 1890s, and was home to the Melbourne School of Art and Nettleberg's Furriers. The building was sold to the Bank of Australasia in 1946 and demolished in the 1970s. It was replaced with an office block, which then gave way to a busy shopping mall
The New Colonial Bank of Australasia was a three storey building on the corner of Elizabeth and Little Collins Streets, constructed in 1880. After demolition, the doorway was placed on the facade of the Chemistry School in the grounds of the University of Melbourne. Following the demolition of the school, the doorway was placed at an exit from the university's underground car park. It is now a set of shops
'For instance, I noticed the other day that if you look at the Princess Theatre and look at earlier photos, part of the facade is missing – the front of the building |
, and now qualifying for WCS. The next goals are reaching WCS Premier League, winning another Spanish championship, to become a better player and being more professional. I only have 17 years old and I hope that I'll have a long stay in StarCraft II.
What was your very first league placement, and how long did it take you to reach Grandmaster?
My first league placement was Gold with Protoss, but I lowered down to Silver pretty early afterwards. If I count from when I bought the game, it took me two years, but until the summer of 2012 I only had around 300 games played. I reached Grandmaster at the end of 2013. In my first season, I get top 45 and it was really easy for me get Grandmaster with two or three other accounts.
Were you following someone/a team in particular at your beginnings?
I always followed the best Spanish players, but specifically I always watched the games of VortiX and LucifroN. I especially remembered the Karont3 vs Empire match, WCS Europe 2012 or DreamHack Valencia 2013 when I was watching their games.
From Nation Wars to WCS
According to your Twitter, you seemed quite happy with being qualified to WCS for the first time, what does that mean to you?
Qualifying for the WCS is everything for a StarCraft II player, and it was the next step in my career as a StarCraft II player. I was really super excited when I won against TLO, and joined my teammates in the Challenger League.
Your results are getting better and better recently since the first time I personnaly saw you (back in NationWars), doing great at DreamHack Valencia as you said, and now qualifying for WCS. Did you actually change something on the way you are practicing?
No, I have the same practice method. I usually play two or three hours ladder a day and watch some streams, I don't play custom games very often. I am beginning to think that I should change my way of practicing because it feels very casual. I should watch VODs and study more the game, but it's hard when you only have four hours a day to play StarCraft II. My results are better just because with the time passing by, I'm getting better and I will be better and better because everyday I learn something, and I have passion.
What impact does joining Mousesports on July had on you? How have you been contacted by them?
The first impression was a smile because I thought it was a good opportunity to bring my skills to the next level. I wanted to overcome their expectations, I started to train harder than before. It was also a really important thing for me to know my teammates, players with a long career. Thanks to Mousesports, I am better player and really professional now. I hope that 2015 will be a good year for both of us. I've been contact by Markus [Kemper, Mousesports manager] through Skype.
I understood you're currently in school, how do you manage to deal with both your studies and you progaming career? Are you planning to go full-time in a short/mid-term?
For now I manage to properly follow my studies, but I'm not a great student and that's partly because I play so many hours of StarCraft II. I don't want to be full time, I'd rather take my time to study because if I'd be full-time, I'm afraid I couldn't go back to study. If in the future I am the best foreigner and I have the opportunity to go to Korea, then maybe I would go full time.
OK! And talking about being the best foreigner, what are your expectations for 2015?
My main goal for 2015 is reaching the WCS Premier League, and also make a good run at the next Dreamhack Valencia. My objective is to be a better player, and the results will follow.
StarCraft II in general
When we talk about the StarCraft II scene in Spain, we'll mainly have LucifroN and VortiX in mind. One has been considered at some point as the best foreign Terran player, and the other as the best Zerg, are you planning to be the best Protoss? :) Actually, how are/were your relations with them when they're still playing StarCraft II, or even now?
Actually, I won the last two awards years the award of the best Spanish Protoss of the year. Regarding LucifroN and VortiX, when they're still playing StarCraft II, I had a good relation with them and it's still the same now. Sometimes I watch El Nexo [editor's note : VortiX and LucifroN's Heroes of the Storm team] games, it's really fun to see five StarCraft II players "rekt" all these MOBA players.
You are here talking about Heroes of the Storm, actually many StarCraft II players are trying it and even considering switching to it. You talked about VortiX, and there's also HasuObs who's playing, and even your teammate Sjaak for example. What are your thoughts about this? Do you see Heroes of the Storm as a "threat" to StarCraft II?
When you find a new game that is fun to play and has the potential to take a big part in the eSports scene, it's normal trying to switch if your StarCraft II passion is decreasing when you are playing it for four years now. I wish good luck to all of the StarCraft II players that are trying the move.
I don't think Heroes of the Storm is a threat, the same goes for Hearthstone. Different Blizzard games can be big in eSports, and nevertheless coexist. I can be a StarCraft II fan and watch Heroes of the Storm games, and the other way around.
How does the StarCraft II scene is going in Spain at the moment?
The StarCraft II scene is small compared to the others like League of Legends or Call of Duty, but the scene is growing compared to 2013 and the early 2014. We have two offline tournaments per year, and a regular online league. I hope that this tendency will continue this year.
What are you looking forward for Legacy of the Void? What are your thoughts about the changes that have been announced to be made?
I am looking forward to Protoss changes, I want a minor dependency on the Colossus and in general, a new metagame where the Protoss race can play without deathball. I think that Blizzard is in the good way, the changes are a good idea but I can't tell much more before the beta.
Do you have any Protoss player (or from another race) that you follow more than the others? Like a model you like to copy?
No, I like to see the Korean Protoss and copy some build orders but I don't follow a specific player or personality. I have my personal model about personality and play style.
And who would you consider the best foreign Protoss/world Protoss?
The best foreign Protoss in 2014 was Welmu. But we have really good foreign Protoss right now like ShoWTimE, Lilbow, Harstem, MaNa and maybe NaNiwa. And the best of the best is Rain.
What about you?
Let's speak back a bit more about you now. What does your family, and your friends, think about your career?
My family and friends don't know much about eSports but they support me in any way they can.
Do you have any other hobby besides StarCraft II? Do you actually have the time for it? :)
I have other hobbies like football, reading, listening to music and playing other games. At the moment, I just can only play StarCraft II now, and I rarely have time for other things.
Where does your nickname come from?
When I was playing Call of Duty my nickname was « Miguel », and I thought about changing my name when a teammate said that « Majestic » was a good one, so I choosed it. It's not an epic story!
Bonus questions
I've changed a bit the bonus question for the beginning of this year. I'll propose you two choices for each questions and you'll have to pick one, without having to explain your choice, ok?
Ok :D
DreamHack, IEM or RedBull Battle Grounds?
DreamHack.
DT or Oracle?
Oracle.
Apollo or Artosis?
Artosis.
Zest or sOs?
Zest.
Micro or Macro?
Macro.
Proleague or GSL?
GSL. Hard questions xD
Razer ou Roccat? (I'm not sure if they'll let me publish that, may feel like advertisment ahah)
Loool. I don't think if I can answer this question xD. But Razer.
Ok that'll end the interview! Thanks a lot for your time it was a real pleasure :) Do you have any last words for our readers, any shoutouts?
Thanks so much for the interview : ) I am training hard for the Challenger match and I hope I will not disappoint all the people that cheer for me. Thanks to my team Mousesports and the sponsors BenQ and Epic Gear.
Goodbye!Ideas fly around the room. Informal teams form and mutate and re-form. Decisions are quickly made and un-made and refined. Plans are drawn and re-drawn and perfected.
Three hours later, you and a room full of incredibly talented people have used your collective knowledge, experience, expertise, and enthusiasm to create something amazing.
Many of those people are pumped. They want to go celebrate. They want to keep the “party” going.
You, on the other hand, are drained. You just want to go somewhere quiet and recharge.
You are an introvert.
Join the club: Between one-third and one-half of the people in the world are introverts.
Keep in mind being introverted doesn’t necessarily mean you’re shy (although you certainly may be.) Shyness is a lack of comfort in social settings and a fear of social judgment.
Introversion has more to do with how you respond to stimulation, where you draw your energy, and how you recharge that energy. Extroverts crave stimulation; introverts feel most alive and capable in quieter, low-key environments.
Neither is good or bad; they’re just different. The key is to recognize the difference so you can put yourself in what Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking calls your “zone of stimulation.” If you’re an introvert, your zone of stimulation tends to be a quiet, private place. By the way, Susan is awesome. She was a keynote speaker at the INBOUND conference that I help host in Boston every year. More on that later.
Back to the “quiet and privacy” thing.
Unfortunately, quiet and privacy tend to be in short supply during the high-energy, action-packed social swirl of a professional conference.
So how do you not just survive but maximize your conference experience if you’re an introvert? The key is to do a little planning (something introverts naturally do well), take the right approach, and most importantly play to your strengths as an introvert:
1. Proactively schedule quiet “recharging” time.
Conferences are typically packed with action: Sessions, seminars, meetings, breakouts, meetups… lots of “on” time that creates a serious energy drain for an introvert.
Extroverts typically draw energy from others, while introverts typically recharge their own mental and emotional batteries. So schedule some down time into your day to help you recharge. (Susan calls those periods “restorative niches.”)
Plan to take a quiet walk, or retreat to your room for thirty minutes, or to read materials that help you prepare for a later session.
Whatever you do, just find a way that works for you to disconnect from other humans and let yourself recharge. That way you’ll stay fresh. And if you’re worried you’ll miss something…
2. Tips For Recharging At A Session
This is going to sound a little strange, but it's actually possible to recharge while attending a session.
Here's how I do it:
Pick a keynote session where you know the audience will be relatively large. (Since your goal is to disconnect from humans, you'll find that a larger audience creates a less intimate setting — perfect in which to withdraw and be alone).
Come into the session just a minute or so before it's scheduled to start. This minimizes the chances you'll have to engage in conversation (people are much less likely to talk to you once a speaker is on stage).
Find a quiet area (if it's not a packed room). Don't sit too close to the front (because that creates a certain intimacy with the speaker — and you're looking to be a bit more removed). I tend to prefer the back row — but this often back-fires based on the size of the room. Frustratingly, sometimes people in the back row insist on trying to have a conversation during a talk. I hate that.
Once you're comfortably seated — pull out the laptop. In a large keynote, that's not rude — in fact, these days, it's often expected and encouraged. Tweet comments and quotes from the session. This has a dual advantage: First, it gives you a chance to be heads-down into the talk — and much less likely that anyone will approach you. Second, and more importantly, by tweeting during the session, you'll find you make some connections to people (that are also tweeting). In every keynote, there are usually a handful of people that are tweeting, and you'll find yourself giving a virtual nod and hat-tip to a few of them. When I live-tweet sessions, I almost always feel this connection to one or two people — who I then recognize at some other time during the conference. Makes it much easier to just say hello.
3. Try Inbound Networking.
Introverts tend to work well alone and in small, familiar groups. If that’s you, it may be against your nature to actively create new connections – even if those connections could be incredibly beneficial.
So put your planning skills to work. Determine the people you want to meet and connect ahead of time online. Send a quick note saying you look forward to seeing that person at the conference. That way you get plenty of time to craft your “message” and make it perfect… and later you can simply walk up and say, “Hi, I’m Dharmesh – it’s really great to meet you in person!”
Another approach: Write a blog post that identifies a list of people you'd love to connect with at the conference. As an example, see my post “Inbound Networking: 42 People I Want To Connect With At SxSW”. This has several advantages: First, without fear, it helps you identify who you'd love to meet — and why. Second, you might find that some of those people actually come across your blog post and reach out to you (Internet FTW!). Third, though you may not make a direct connection — you may have friends/readers that know these people and volunteer to make an introduction.
The power of this inbound networking approach is that you don't have to interrupt anyone. Connections happen organically. And, in the unlikely event that you don't connect with any of the people on your list — what was the harm?
Everyone needs great connections. Create a plan that ensures you can meet the people you most want or need to meet.
4. Ask for introductions through others.
You want to meet someone you didn’t know ahead of time you wanted to meet, but walking up alone and “cold-meeting” a stranger is tough.
Standing beside a friend while she introduces you to someone new is much easier, because it allows her take care of the preliminaries: “Ann, I’d like you to meet my friend Dharmesh. He’s the CTO of a marketing software company in Boston.”
Everyone you already know knows at least one person you want or need to know. The best connections are often made through colleagues and mutual acquaintances. Ask for “referrals” from people you respect and provide them for people you respect – and go out of your way to provide them for friends and colleagues who could use the hand.
5. Attend at least one session you wouldn’t normally attend.
We all tend to gravitate towards the people and information that validates our own perspectives and points of view. It’s more comfortable – and potentially less contentious or confrontational – to mingle with people who share our beliefs and outlooks.
So if you attend a conference with multiple speakers and a menu of sessions, for every two sessions you choose that sound interesting, pick one session that you wouldn’t normally attend. Purposely step outside your comfort zone. Commit ahead of time to acting on at least one approach or strategy that you learn; that way you’ll listen constructively instead of critically.
Then talk to someone on the way out. Say, “You know, I walked in here thinking I wouldn’t get anything out of (whatever topic)… but I was surprised by…” That’s all you need to say to start a great conversation, because people love talking to people who have seen their particular light.
6. Create plans for maximizing your return.
Many people return from a conference with a bag full of schwag and a notebook full of scribbled ideas, thought-starters, and takeaways. A couple days later the bag is in a closet, the notebook is in a drawer… and it’s back to business as usual.
That’s especially true for the introvert who comes home drained and exhausted; by the time you recharge your batteries, your great ideas and new perspectives may have been lost.
This is one of the ways your need for quiet time can be a real advantage. Use your quiet time to think about and plan how you will maximize your return on the people you’ve met, the ideas you’ve embraced, and the knowledge you’ve gained.
A conference can be a great experience, but it shouldn’t just be an experience – it should, in ways large and small, be life changing. Use your quiet time to make concrete plans for how you will actually change your life.
I'd suggest blocking out a half day on your schedule immediately after the conference. Devote it to “absorbing” some of your thoughts and learnings and coming up with a way to apply them. Yes, yes, I know — you already spent 3 days away from the office, and there are a hundred emails waiting for you. But, that 4 hours will be some of the highest leverage time you ever spend. And, as it turns out, those emails will still be waiting for you. In short, just block out the time when you're planning for the conference — just pretend the conference is longer than it is.
Speaking of blocking out time, for introverts, somewhat longer conferences (3–4 days) are usually easier than shorter conferences. The reason is that with a longer conference, you have time to “settle in”, know your environment — and start getting to know some people and faces. With a 1 or 2 day conference, by the time any of that happens, you're heading back out again.
7. Gear up for when you’ll need the most energy.
Maybe you’re leading a seminar. Maybe there’s a social gathering with key customers and you’ll need to be especially “on.” Maybe there’s a user group session where you need to interact and totally engage.
Plan ahead. Schedule a recharge period immediately before. Go to a session where you know you’ll only have to listen. Have a quiet lunch instead of a group meal. Every session, every event, every meeting is important… but some are more important than others. Make sure you have the mental and social energy you need when you need it most.
8. Always, always do what you do best.
Most introverts are great listeners, especially in one-on-one settings. Use that skill to your advantage. Listen. Ask insightful questions. Ask a person how they did what they did. Or why. Or what they learned from doing it, or liked about doing it. Asking real questions – and paying attention to the answers – is one of the greatest compliments you can give.
And it’s one of the best ways to make real connections – and real friends.
Come practice these tips at the INBOUND Conference!
I'd like to extend a personal invitation to you to attend the INBOUND 2013 conference this August in Boston. My company (HubSpot) and I host this every year. If you're an entrepreneur, marketer or sales professional and want to learn how to create more leads and customers for your business, this is the event for you. I'll be doing the opening keynote and will be joined on stage by remarkable speakers like Seth Godin, Nate Silver, Nancy Duarte, Rand Fishkin and others. (By the way, in that photo above, that's me on the left — wearing an orange track-suit).
It's a very introvert-friendly event (we even had Susan Cain speak last year!). And, to make it even friendlier, I'm giving you express permission to come by and say hi. If you attend and don't think the event was totally awesome, I will personally donate $500 to your favorite charity. I'm that sure you're going to have a great time. Early-bird, discounted pricing ends on July 1 — you can register at inbound.com.
Hope to see you there!(Reuters Health) - Keeping sodium intake low may prolong life according to a new study that set out to clarify the long-term risk of eating too much sodium and the benefits of cutting down.
Based on following more than 3,000 people with elevated blood pressure for over 24 years, researchers found that risk of death from any cause rose in a straight line along with sodium intake.
“Our results are not that surprising because we know that sodium increases blood pressure, and we have found that it increases risk of cardiovascular disease also,” said lead author Nancy R. Cook of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
But some recent studies found a J-shaped curve, Cook told Reuters Health by email, indicating a higher rate of death among those consuming the lowest levels of sodium.
“We found a direct linear association, such that those with the lowest sodium levels had the lowest mortality rates,” she said.
The researchers used data from two trials of hypertension prevention undertaken from 1987 to 1990 and 1990 to 1995. At the beginning of the trials, participants had blood pressure that was higher than is considered healthy but below the threshold for hypertension.
The trials assessed, among other things, the effects on blood pressure of reducing sodium in the diet and losing weight compared to making no changes in sodium intake, and followed participants for three to four years.
For the new study, Cook’s team used death records to follow up on those participants for a total of 24 years after the trials.
Combining data on participants in both trials, the researchers found that of 3,126 people, 251 died. Those who had been in the sodium-reduction group during the trials had consistently fewer deaths, giving them a 15 percent lower risk of death. The difference from the comparison group was not statistically significant, however, meaning it could have been due to chance.
It is disappointing that the difference in death rates was not significant, Andrew Mente, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and coauthors write in an accompanying commentary in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The dietary intervention to reduce salt intake had been intensive, but participants may not have adhered to the dietary patterns after the trials ended, they write.
Researchers also found, however, that risk of death rose steadily with sodium intake – starting at a low sodium intake of 2,300 milligrams per day or less, all the way up to high intake of 4,800 mg or more daily.
“None of their analyses provide robust evidence to support low sodium intake; in particular, the death rate was not significantly lower between low and moderate sodium intake categories,” the commentary authors note.
But the results do support modest reductions in sodium intake for people who tend to consume a lot, in addition to adhering to a healthy diet in general, they write.
Sodium intake does influence blood pressure, which is a strong risk factor for heart disease, Cook said. “There may be other effects on the vasculature or on the kidney, though, that are not fully understood.”
Dietary guidelines recommend less than 2300 mg of sodium - the amount in about a teaspoon of table salt - per day, and the American Heart Association recommends less than 1500 mg of sodium per day, but these low levels are hard to achieve in the American food environment, she said.
“Everyone needs some salt,” Cook said. “It is an essential nutrient, but we need far less than we consume.”
Reading food labels of packaged foods can help, she said.
“Of course, the best advice is to have a healthy diet, filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, which would lower sodium as well,” Cook said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2dLmbrc and bit.ly/2e9R2Ni Journal of the American College of Cardiology, online October 11, 2016.LA Galaxy Host Sacramento Republic in US Open Cup Round of 16
Sacramento Republic FC is one of two USL teams remaining in this year’s US Open Cup competition. They have had things pretty cush so far the 2017 Open Cup. All of their matches in this year’s knockout competition have been at home. That advantage evaporates this week as SR FC travel to meet interstate rivals, LA Galaxy at the StubHub in SoCal.
LA Galaxy (H)
Current (MLS) record: 6-6-4
Last time out: Lost at home to Sporting of KC, 1-2 on Saturday.
Player to watch for: Galaxy keeper Clement Diop had something of a meltdown in his last outing. If he draws the start against Sacramento his confidence will either still be feeling the effects or the short rest won’t have given him time to wallow. It’s a toss up.
Win/Lose X-Factor: Galaxy have played their way through about one-half of their season and they are also sitting about half way down the MLS Western Conference table as well. Galaxy knows that the team they face in SR FC as Open Cup foes could soon become another in conference-, and interstate rival to their north. A statement game about who the big dog in California is might be in order.
Sacramento Republic FC
Have you voted for @Tblackwood17 for @USL Goal of the Week? You have until Thurs at 6 a.m. to get your vote in! ➡️ https://t.co/5HFAtCUEdS pic.twitter.com/f7rBGuFy3Z — Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) June 27, 2017
Current (MLS) record: 7-6-3
Last time out: Defeated LA Galaxy II on another of the StubHub grounds on Sunday.
Player to watch for: If you read the tweet above then you know that SR FC forward Tyler Blackwood is up for the goal of the week. He scored that one in his club’s big win over Rio Grande Valley on June 21. (The competition reel is here. Blackwood’s is first up on the video.) But the club’s other forward, Trevin Caesar, has scored 4 in his last two starts. Galaxy defenders will need to keep their heads on swivels.
Win/Lose X-Factor: The Sac have put together a 3 game win streak in USL league play this month. They’ve done it by scoring goals in buckets. They have rung the till 11 times over those 3 wins. If they can stay hot and remain unintimidated by the opposition, they might complete a unique sweep of LA Galaxies, juniors and seniors.
Score Prediction:
LA Galaxy 2
Sacramento Republic FC 3This brand guide is from Ladder’s former Director of Design, Natalie Lazo. In it she shares her experiences building brands and growing businesses with iteration-focused, research-driven design principles, giving advice along the way to help you develop and refine your brand.
Building a business is hard.
Building a brand that’s memorable and conveys what your team can do for others is even harder.
When I joined Ladder exactly a year ago, I came on as their first designer. From the very start, I knew it would be one cool sip from the fire hydrant each day at about 130 MPH. It took me three days from first contact with the co-founders to being in the office working, but being freshly out of Startup Institute, I knew what I signed up for. Now a year later, I’m looking at leading the design charge and managing my own team to provide creative assistance to our clients.
Being responsible for all external AND internal design choices is a lot to handle. From managing client expectations and guidelines to developing Ladder’s design style. Throughout the process, I’ve learned a lot about how to build memorable brands, having worked on both Ladder and the many startups and enterprises that come to us for help.
I’ve tried to condense all of my nuggets of wisdom below in a brief branding guide to help you shape the choices behind your shiny new brand.
Click the CTA below to download Ladder’s business branding template, which you can use for your own branding efforts.
Let’s start with my over-arching theme:
Do Your Research
Speaking as a classically-trained artist with graphic design experience under my belt, transitioning into the world of conversion-oriented design is something I continually improve on day by day.
Moving from the bells-and-whistles world of fine art was hard – I quickly learned that users much prefer to press the big red button in the middle of the page over the elegantly-crafted masterpiece that requires too much visual digestion.
Trial and error aside, I kick off almost every morning with a quick readthrough of the latest design newsletters that come into my inbox – Hacker Newsletter, Designmodo, eWebDesign Newsletter to name a few – and absorbing as much relevant information as I can.
One of the most important shifts in my process has been living, breathing, and eating rapid iteration in an agile work environment, something I learned through reading the many stories in these newsletters.
Rapid iteration gives designers and brand-builders a tough skin to the world of criticism – something that’s stayed consistent through my artist life to now. I am a firm believer that no design is ever fully complete without few versions and iterations.
By talking to the marketing strategists I work so closely with, I’m offered a more linear perspective to each social media ad, landing page, and branded presentation deck I create. This gives me a great jumping off point to tackle the design head-on while striking a balance between aesthetic and functionality.
That’s something that you need to do as well when you’re going through the process of building your company’s brand. In the same way that I use the research I conduct into our clients’ existing brands, their competitors’, and the most effective conversion-oriented web design trends in their industry, so should you do your research to feed your company’s creative process.
For this it’s important to have a solid grasp of the elements and principles of design, as well as color psychology (here’s a handy chart if you’re interested!) to inform your design and branding choices.
As a starting point, here are a few questions you should always ask yourself:
Do my brand colors convey a specific emotion?
Does it match up with the brand vision?
Does the logo / logotype translate well on the web and print?
Refining the Ladder Brand
When I started at Ladder, our brand colors had been established, as was our logotype; it was up to me to figure out the rest. From choosing alternative web fonts and blog layouts to establishing icon and presentation templates, the journey to where we are now has been exhilarating. We’ve streamlined our design to focus on efficiency in look and feel – only the most important details stay in the graphic, with sharp lines and bold colors against usually plain backgrounds.
Now, we’ve started implementing brand guidelines not only internally, but also offering a template PDF to clients who are in need of organizing their brand. It’s a neatly-packaged 10-page baseline sheet that I’ve included below.
It outlines the importance of consistency with your brand identity and also provokes serious thought into making written statements behind the biggest design decisions you take. Feel free to use it to kickstart your company’s brand-building efforts!
Owning Your Design Choices
Each and every choice you make as a brand-builder will always be in the spotlight. This is where owning your designs come into play. As I said before, rapid iteration in an agile environment is key – designs can always be improved upon. For us, those improved designs usually serve as tests to continually raise a client’s ROI. For you, they can serve as a way to better reach your audience, put extra force behind your copy and messaging, and increase conversions.
Some of the best design advice I’ve received came from a 60-year old woman who I consider my third grandmother, in a card she gave me post-college-graduation: “When you design something, release your creations one by one, then move on to the next.” While very New Age of her, truer words have never been spoken.
I’ve heard horror stories of designers who hit their worst rut because of a design choice that the Cruel World (TM) rips them to shreds over and they obsess over it. Or worse, it’s direct feedback from clients who try donning the Designer Hat, only to tell you to “make it better” and leave it there for you to lose sleep over.
I know I’m not alone in this feeling of frustration. More often than not, an asset shipped to the client will be brought back for tweaks and iterations before going live. Designers that work for agencies get it all the time, and it’s fine to have to go through edits. Everyone working in marketing does it, from the blog writer to the copywriter to the designer and beyond.
But if you’re convinced in the specific design choice you made, I find that it can all be negotiated (mostly!) with this key point:
Do your research until you’re sure you’re the smartest person in the room.
This advice comes with a word of caution, of course. There’s always a new morsel of wisdom to be devoured on the vast realm of design we live in. Design trends change regularly and no matter how many gold stars you have, there is no way that you know everything.
Healthy criticism and knowing how to take it is an integral part of growing as a creative.
However, it’s a different story when you become the go-to gal for design help at a company. Being so new to the game and stepping into that responsibility took a lot of preparation on a personal end, which is why owning your decisions is such a crucial part of this process. If you’re a founder of a company without a dedicated team of design consultants, it becomes a similar situation.
No matter your level of experience, there will always be someone who questions your creative process and the choices you make. You should always be prepared to back up your decisions with research, facts, and data beyond “It just looked right, you know?”
It took me a while to erase the phrase “fake it ‘till you make it” from my vocabulary. You never have to “fake” any research-driven decisions! Resources like the Unbounce blog and HubSpot are invaluable in situations like this, serving as first-hand accounts at how design choices can and WILL affect conversion rates.
While you should always consider the choices and wishes of the client you’re working with, they should be as flexible as you are and have the ability to greenlight a design choice that wasn’t exactly what they mocked up. Having research to back up your work makes that flexibility a no-brainer for them.
And if all else fails, a good ol’ A/B test is always valid. (Don’t ever let someone tell you it isn’t!)
Final Thoughts
In only a year, I’ve seen Ladder expand from a ten-person team to more than double its size, and counting. The responsibilities and tasks I complete on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis have also changed drastically over that time.
Wearing multiple hats as a designer and being flexible with tasks will gradually turn into delegating briefs and teaching the Ladder brand guidelines to others for maximum efficiency.
While I will still have ownership of the brand and oversee any and all materials that reflect the Ladder message, seeing a team directly take on the aforementioned guidance (and more) will be a new experience – one that will add an exciting chapter to my career as a designer.
From Startup Institute’s design track to now, I can be sure of two things: Life in the world of startups and design moves fast, and there’s always something new and exciting to be learned.
It’s important to stay hungry for that knowledge and share it with others. Always questioning your work and asking “why” to your own designs prepares you for 75% (or more!) of any questions a client could ask you – have that arsenal ready. No matter the program you use, whether you swear by the Creative Cloud or prefer to do some quick and dirty wireframes in Sketch, always back up your decisions and stick by them.
Every individual in the realm of design has something different to bring to the table. In the world of creative marketing tests, that snap decision can become the difference between a 2% conversion rate and a 20% conversion rate.
After all, you never know when the inspiration hits until you’ve delved to the land of no return, AKA page 2 of a Google search result.
Need help refining your brand? We help high-potential businesses accelerate their growth and develop their own branding guidelines.
Book your 20-minute growth chat with a Ladder Strategist:Game Info Platform 360, PS3, Win, PS4, Xbox One Publisher Activision Developer Sledgehammer Games Release Date Nov 4, 2014
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare developer Sledgehammer Games has the unappealing responsibility of cleaning up someone else's mess.
Last year's Call of Duty: Ghosts was a low point for the series coming off its most successful game ever. Its campaign and story were uninspired and boring. Its multiplayer design took away what had proven so successful in Black Ops 2 and replaced it with something that failed to improve on the series' defining mode of player progression, and its maps felt awkward and empty too often. And now, with Advanced Warfare, new developer Sledgehammer has to make everyone forget any of that happened with their first full Call of Duty release. With little exception, Sledgehammer has demonstrated itself up to the challenge. Advanced Warfare's production values and excellently paced campaign set the table, and its major additions to Call of Duty's multiplayer, from basic mechanics to its deeply addictive progression system, might be enough to chase away bad memories of Ghosts. Advanced Warfare's big changes revolve around the new exo suit Sledgehammer hasn't veered away from the basic building blocks of the Call of Duty formula with Advanced Warfare's trip to a near future of massive paramilitary corporations and superhuman technology. It remains a fast first-person shooter oriented around crouching behind cover and aiming down gunsights with the left trigger while firing with the right. It's arguably the most-copied set |
living beyond your means and simply having more expenses than income. Given the contraction of the middle class and inflation, many Americans are simply feeling the pinch of inflation combined with low wages.
A recent survey found that most Americans are not prepared for an unexpected expense:
“(Bankrate) Still, that budget may be surprisingly brittle. If someone encounters a significant, unexpected expense outside his or her budget, such as an emergency room visit or a car repair, only 38 percent of respondents said they could cover it with cash they have on hand in a savings account or checking account.”
An unexpected expense would then of course force people to dip into other accounts like retirement savings (if they have any) or go into debt. For many, going into deeper debt has been the result. I’ve written on the boom in subprime auto debt and how many car dealers are dipping their credit standards to find more potential buyers. A car is a necessity in many metro areas but many people opt to buy a car that is too expensive for their income. I think a good rule of thumb is don’t spend more than a forth of your annual income on a car. Do you make $50,000 a year? Then plan on spending $12,500 max. This of course would likely result in you buying a used car but there are great cars to be had for $12,500 or less. Just spend some time on Craigslist and you will find some excellent deals. You can also get financing for a used car but try and avoid subprime auto debt.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that many Americans are also not planning for retirement in any adequate fashion. Take a look at this data:
This is data for those 50 to 64 years of age and deep into the retirement planning period of life. You’ll notice that half of this group has a median retirement account of $0. That is correct. No money whatsoever. This is why roughly half of older Americans would be out on the street if they didn’t have Social Security.
Even those with higher incomes are not doing so well. The 50 to 75th percentile has a median retirement account of $6,500 and the top 75 to 100th percentile has $52,000. In other words, the vast majority of Americans are under saving for immediate emergencies and retirement.
Going back to the lack of savings:
“Without an adequate rainy-day fund, we are all living on a very slippery financial slope. The unexpected, unplanned expense is going to rear its ugly head and usually at the most inopportune time,” Cunningham says. “Things as small as a flat tire or one trip to the emergency room can wreck the budgets of those who do not have an adequate amount in their savings account.”
A slippery financial slope indeed. All it takes is a tiny bit of rain and the financial house of cards can come crumbling down.
If you enjoyed this post click here to subscribe to a complete feed and stay up to date with today’s challenging market!The government has released more details of its plan to build modular social housing in Auckland.
Photo: Wikicommons
Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett said officials were negotiating lease arrangements for three sites in South Auckland that could eventually take between 100 and 140 modular social houses, if density rules permitted.
The three sites would allow the government to test the cost, speed of construction and efficiency of modular house building methods.
She would not say which areas the houses would be built in - only that they were in central South Auckland.
The government was waiting for Auckland Council to finalise its Unitary Plan so it would know at what density the homes could be built, Mrs Bennett said.
"We will then move quickly to lodge resource consents, with earthworks to begin by December and the first tenants moving in by autumn 2017."
Most of the homes will be one or two bedrooms and a supplier has not yet been chosen.
The modular homes will be built on sites that are earmarked for future development in the next 10 to 25 years.
The government was also looking at other options to provide more temporary accommodation.
"The quality is outstanding, some of [the modular homes] could be around in 25 years. I am looking at some that may be a bit shorter term so that might be where we only use the land for three to five years and that might suit some of those cheaper options."
Photo: RNZ /Claire Eastham-Farrelly
The full cost of the venture wouldn't be determined until negotiations were over, she said.
Housing New Zealand would manage the contracts with help from Ministry of Social Development and Treasury.
"I would look to bring in a community provider who will actually be there on site and working with these people and contract with them. So I've put some money aside for a sort of a special contract that would see them actually on site and making sure that we're looking after people."
The initiative was an "absolute sign" there was more demand than supply and the government was looking at every solution, Mrs Bennett said.GRAND BLANC, MI -- A 20-year-old woman that gave birth via cesarean section after a July 26 shooting at a Grand Blanc apartment complex has died.
Grand Blanc Police Chief Brian Lipe confirmed Lyric Work was taken off life support Friday night after she was taken to Hurley Medical Center following the shooting at Grand Oaks Apartments.
Baby delivered 7 weeks early after mother shot at work Police were called to the leasing office of Grand Oaks Apartments at 11284 Grand Oak Dr. at 3:41 p.m. on reports of two women being shot.
Tamara Johnson, 45, of Mt. Morris, was also shot and killed during the incident that occurred around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 26 at the complex off Reid Road where both women were employed in the leasing office.
Jacquelyne Fay Tyson, 54, was charged today with first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and two counts of felony firearm before Genesee District Judge Jennifer J. Manley on Friday and is being held without bond.
Apartment resident charged in slaying, shooting that left mother on life support The woman was charged with four felonies in connection to the Grand Blanc shooting.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said a motive in the shooting has yet to be established, but he noted Tyson would face additional charges if Work did not survive.
Work was 33 weeks pregnant at the time of the shooting and her baby girl, Marley, was delivered by cesarean section seven weeks early. Marley is in stable condition with a good prognosis.
Following the shooting, Lipe told the Flint Journal "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the victims" and offered prayers for Work and her child and discussed the impact on the city.
"It's heartbreaking for us to see that this is happening in our community," he said.
Candlelight vigils have been held for Johnson and Work in recent days, drawing dozens of people. Several GoFundMe pages have also been set up to help family with their medical expenses.
Anyone with information on the shooting incident has been asked to contact Grand Blanc Police Detective/Sgt. Bryan Byarski at 810-694-1111.When it was created more than a half century ago, Medicaid almost escaped notice.
Front-page stories hailed the bigger, more controversial part of the law that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed that July day in 1965 — health insurance for elderly people, or Medicare, which the American Medical Association had bitterly denounced as socialized medicine. The New York Times did not even mention Medicaid, conceived as a small program to cover poor people’s medical bills.
But over the past five decades, Medicaid has surpassed Medicare in the number of Americans it covers. It has grown gradually into a behemoth that provides for the medical needs of one in five Americans — 74 million people — starting for many in the womb, and for others, ending only when they go to their graves.
Medicaid, so central to the country’s health care system, also played a major, though far less appreciated, role in last week’s collapse of the Republican drive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. While President Trump and others largely blamed the conservative Freedom Caucus for that failure, the objections of moderate Republicans to the deep cuts in Medicaid also helped doom the Republican bill.
“I was not willing to gamble with the care of my constituents with this huge unknown,” said Representative Frank A. LoBiondo of New Jersey, a member of the centrist Tuesday Group caucus, noting that in three of the counties in his district in the state’s more conservative southern half, over 30 percent of all residents are covered by Medicaid.Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post
Europe is not just heading into another recession. The truth is that Europe is heading into a full-blown depression. The economy of the EU is actually larger than the U.S. economy, and we are watching it melt down right in front of our eyes.
Things just continue to get worse in Europe, and yet somehow the authorities over in Europe just keep insisting that everything is going to be “just fine”. Well, everything is not “just fine” over in Europe right now.
Unemployment in the eurozone has just hit another brand new record high. In some nations in Europe, the unemployment rate is already significantly higher than anything the United States experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Europe is a continent that is collapsing under the weight of its own debt, and this is just the beginning. A lot more pain is on the way. Officials over in Europe are trying to hold the European financial system together with duct tape and prayers, but it could literally fall apart at any moment.
Europe has a much larger banking system than the United States does, so when a financial collapse happens in Europe, it is going to be very significant for the entire globe. Sadly, most Americans do not even pay attention to much of anything that is happening in Europe. They tend to think that the United States is the center of the universe and that as long as we are fine that everything will be okay.Technology giant Microsoft was eager to talk all about its HoloLens head-mounted display (HMD) at its media briefing in Redmond, Washington yesterday. But despite spending a good half an hour discussing the device and its Windows Holographic concept on-stage there are still plenty of questions to be answered. It seems as if the next place to hear more on the kit will be at the Microsoft Build developer conference, which will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, USA in a few months’ time.
Build takes place from 29th April – 1st May 2015 and, from the sounds of it, the HoloLens will see a big focus. Microsoft promises live sessions, webcasts and more that will teach developers to work with the platform and hardware. Attendees will get a look at the tools and libraries as well as meet with engineering team members. Similar to last year’s Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) that took place in the exact same venue, the event is focused more on those making content rather than announcing consumer-facing news.
HoloLens consists of a see-through lens mixed with three on-board processors. With it, users can see virtual images projected into the real world. Microsoft has teased everything from video apps such as Netflix to full videogames like Minecraft being reimagined with the device. Details on exactly how and when the kit will be released are yet to be announced.
VRFocus will continue to follow HoloLens and Windows Holographic, reporting back with any further updates on its progress."DREAMer" Illegal Immigrant Accused of Brutal Rape That Left Victim With Vicious Injuries This doesn't seem like the sort of case where consent is going to be at issue. Nor one of a false allegation. A 23-year-old DREAMer in Washington state is accused of brutally raping a 19-year-old woman in her apartment complex's gym and leaving her with severe facial injuries -- including a broken jaw and dangling ear. The woman ended up stumbling home with missing teeth, a bloody head and wearing only a black tank top, according to court documents obtained by Fox News. She was working out in the gym in Burien, a Seattle suburb, before the June 25 assault and did not know her attacker, police said. Salvador Diaz-Garcia, an illegal immigrant who is a recipient of Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is now facing second-degree assault and rape charges in the vicious attack. He also faces child molestation charges for allegedly assaulting a 14-year-old the same day the rape occurred. Quick, redfine the law so that rapes with brutal assaults are only punishable by 364 days or less so we can keep this Solid Non-Citizen in the country. Quick, redfine the law so that rapes with brutal assaults are only punishable by 364 days or less so we can keep this Solid Non-Citizen in the country. Greg Gutfeld offered a rant about the last vicious rape by an illegal, demanding we call this policy
Greg Gutfeld offered a rant about the last vicious rape by an illegal, demanding we call this policy "Sanctuary Rape," to make it clear what we're granting sanctuary to. Posted by: Ace at 01:46 PM
MuNuvians MeeNuvians Polls! Polls! Polls! Frequently Asked Questions The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick Top Top Tens Greatest Hitjobs News/ChatTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
This is the shocking moment a thug knocks out a young woman outside a nightclub with just one punch.
The woman was seen standing outside the Milk nightclub in the city of Ulyanovsk, Russia, lighting up a cigarette.
A witness said a man came close to her and allegedly blew out her match, which annoyed her and led to her flicking her cigarette at him.
The woman had flicked her cigarette at him after he blew out her match (Picture: CEN)
He responded by punching her in the face (Picture: CEN)
In response, the man punched her hard in the mouth, knocking her to the ground.
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Pictures show the girl laying flat on her back as she appears to be unconscious.
Passerby then appear to help her up to her feet.
It is not clear if the incident was reported to police and the names of the people involved are not known.
MORE: Parking space in Cornwall set to go under the hammer for up to £40,000
MORE: 11 injured after traffic incident outside Natural History MuseumBeni Baningime has signed his first professional contract with Everton Football Club.The 18-year-old midfielder has agreed a deal that will run until the end of the 2017/18 season.Baningime first joined Everton’s Academy shortly after moving to England from the Democratic Republic of Congo at the age of eight.He progressed through the Club’s youth set-up to captain the Under-18s to glory in the prestigious Dallas Cup earlier this year.“I’m made up that I’ve got the contract,” Baningime told evertonfc.com. “I’d like to thank everyone; my family and the Academy coaches for all having faith in me.“I’m happy with the way I have progressed. At the end of last season, I found my form and was playing well. It’s carried on into this season and hopefully it continues even longer.“I had no idea the contract was coming. I was surprised that I went away with the Under-23s in pre-season because I thought I would be with the Under-18s for most of this year. David Unsworth had faith in me and I’m delighted that it has paid off.”Alongside coach Unsworth, this season Baningime has advanced to represent Everton Under-23s, earning starts in the Checkatrade Trophy matches against Bolton Wanderers and Cheltenham Town.“Beni has been brilliant,” Unsworth added. “His form has been outstanding over the last 18 months.“Like at any level, if you produce performances, you get your rewards. His reward is an earlier pro contract than he thought he may have.“Beni is a top lad who wants to learn, listens and applies himself in the Everton way. I’m very proud of him but this is just the start of his professional journey.”ConEdison has announced the commissioning of the largest solar PV project using dual-axis trackers.
ConEdison and CPS Energy commissioned the Alamo 5 solar farm in Texas. The project has an installed capacity of 118 MW (DC). The power generated from the power project shall be sold to the local gas an electric utility CSP Energy through a long-term power purchase agreement.
Because of its dual-axis trackers, Alamo 5 generates power with high efficiency. Such trackers allow for optimum solar energy output because of their ability to follow the sun both vertically and horizontally. The dual-axis trackers, which utilize a patented “solar-sensing” technology to capture maximum solar resource, were produced by Sun Action Trackers, a San Antonio-based manufacturer of solar tracking and racking systems.
“We are the solar leader in Texas with 230 megawatts in the ground, and that will more than double to 500 megawatts by year’s end,” said Cris Eugster, CPS Energy’s executive vice president and chief generation and strategy officer. “The dedication of Alamo 5 represents a significant milestone in our commitment to generate at least 65 percent of our energy from low- or no-carbon resources by 2020.”Yesterday, Steven Schuurman announced our latest product, Marvel. Judging by the twitter storm alone, people are just as excited about it as we are. Today, I would like to take the opportunity to tell more about how it works and how it came to be. Marvel is the result of all of our experiences helping users and providing support to customers. Most importantly, the product has come from our own needs for its capabilities and insights.
What happened at 3 AM this morning?
Since Elasticsearch first went public 4 years ago, its adoption has been nothing short of impressive. As the number of users has grown, so have the number of questions and requests for help on the user mailing list and in IRC (#elasticsearch on Freenode). We also have numerous inquiries that come in from our customers on dedicated support contracts. The questions come, of course, in many flavors. Some would be about how to best use a feature, or help with a certain aspect of the Query DSL. Others would report a problem and ask for help figuring out what has happened, be it about an exception from the logs, garbage collection taking longer than ideal or an indication that memory has run out. Sometimes a quick API call would be enough to find out the cause of the problem and resolve it quickly. Other times, issues are a result of a more complex sequence of events.
Take, for example, the following scenario: you are the proud owner of a cluster. You have an application which analyzes time-based data. Following best practices, you have your recent data on powerful SSD-equipped machines. As data gets older, you have a nightly cronjob that uses Elasticsearch's Shard Allocation feature to indicate the data should be moved to cheaper & less capable machines. One morning, just as you walk into the office, you notice that one of the old-data machines is stressing out and run out of capacity. But why? And why now? There is no spike in search traffic, and indexing goes to the more powerful nodes. The only change you can think of is that nightly cronjob, but it runs at 3 AM, 6 hours before the node started having problems.
As it happens, the cronjob started a chain of events that led to the current situation. In order not to impact performance, Elasticsearch throttles moving data around. Since the job issued the command at 3 AM, more and more data moved. Only a couple of hours later, the node's maximum capacity was reached. Once you've found out this information and spent some time digging into logs and thinking hard, the solution is easy: temporarily move some data back to the SSD machines, provision another cheap node and move the data to it.
Upon reflection, you realize you need some way of seeing cluster behavior over time. This functionality would have allowed you to see the increasing usage trend and to easily trace back the problem to its start at 3 AM in the morning. It would also have allowed you to see that the same thing happened yesterday, and the day before, except then it was not a problem - yet. It would also be great if just at the beginning of that trend, you could see an indication that Elasticsearch had started to relocate data … but we'll get to that later.
As you can imagine, such stories are not unique. In fact, things can get even more complex. Repeatedly, we ask customers to send us the logs from all their nodes. We also ask to call the stats API repeatedly while running heavy queries, what management commands were actually issued, when they were issued, etc. Once we get the information, we scan it carefully and try to correlate the different information streams and compare them to how we know Elasticsearch behaves. The process is manual, intensive and time consuming. Especially during those moments where time is not necessarily on your side.
Being engineers, we kept thinking about how we could improve and automate this process. We wanted to build something that would make our own lives easier and help all of our users: tools to monitor clusters & to collect and analyze the vast number of statistics Elasticsearch exposes. To accomplish this, we needed a place to store all this data, an analytics engine to analyze it and a tool to visualize the results. As it turns out, we have an intimate knowledge of just the right tools for the job. Based on Elasticsearch and Kibana, we've set out to build a smart solution: Marvel.
Cluster, this is Mission Control
Marvel is a plugin for Elasticsearch that hooks into the heart of Elasticsearch clusters and immediately starts shipping statistics and change events. By default, these events are stored in the very same Elasticsearch cluster. However, you can send them to any other Elasticsearch cluster of your choice.
Once data is extracted and stored, the second aspect of Marvel kicks in - a set of dedicated dashboards built specifically to give both a clear overview of cluster status and to supply the tools needed to deep dive into the darkest corners of Elasticsearch.
Overview, Nodes & Indices
The Overview dashboard is the one offered by default when navigating to http://localhost:9200/_plugin/marvel with your favorite browser. The dashboard displays the essentials metrics you need to know that your cluster is healthy. The dashboard also provides an overview of your nodes and indices, displayed in two clean tables along with the relevant key metrics. These tables serve as an entry point to more details on the Node Statistics and Index Statistics dashboards, where you can see more than 90 different metrics plotted over time. Simply click on a table cell or select multiple nodes/indices to compare and you'll be transferred to the relevant place in the detailed dashboard.
The Node Statistics dashboard displays metric charts from the perspective of one or more nodes. Metrics include hardware level metrics (like load and CPU usage), process and JVM metrics (memory usage, GC), and node level Elasticsearch metrics such as field data usage, search requests rate and thread pool rejection.
The Index Statistics dashboard is very similar to the Node Statistics dashboard, but it shows you all the metrics from the perspective of one or more indices. The metrics are per index, with data aggregated from all of the nodes in the cluster. For example, the'store size' chart shows the total size of the index data across the whole cluster.
]
Cluster Events
The Cluster Pulse dashboard allows you to see any event of interest in the cluster. Typical events include nodes joining or leaving, master election, index creation, shard (re)allocation and more. Think of the Cluster Pulse Dashboard as your window into the nerve system of Elasticsearch.
Easy access to the REST API
Marvel also comes with a lightweight developer console, based on the popular Chrome extension Sense. The console is handy when you want to make an extra API call to check something or perhaps tweak a setting. The developer console understands both JSON and the Elasticsearch API, offering suggestions and auto-completes. It’s also quite handy to use to prototype queries, dive into your data or look at the current version of a specific document.
Back to 3AM in the morning
Let's go back to our example story, but this time with Marvel installed on the cluster. When you were first notified of a problem on a node, you would have gone to the Overview dashboard and confirmed that it’s in trouble. Let's assume the issue was a memory problem. You'd click on the JVM memory metric - which is red at the moment - opening up the Node Statistics dashboard to take a look at the history of the problematic node’s memory. You'd see a clear, slow growth pattern starting around 3 AM. Wondering what had happened there - and probably not remembering your cronjob yet - you'd go to the Cluster Pulse dashboard and see that Elasticsearch was relocating shards from SSD machines from that time. From there, you'd move to Sense, undo the allocation setting for the relevant index and go provision another node.
Ok, cool. So how do I get it?
Marvel is a plugin and you install it just as you would any other Elasticsearch plugin. Give it a try:
./bin/plugin -i elasticsearch/marvel/latest
followed by restarting the nodes and opening http://localhost:9200/_plugin/marvel in your browser.
Marvel is licensed free for development use and runs on Elasticsearch versions 0.90.9 and up. For detailed instructions please see the documentation.
Looking ahead
We have great plans for Marvel but they also depend on the feedback we get from you. All we can say for now is that as the analytical and visualization powers of Elasticsearch & Kibana grow, the future looks … Marvelous!
Please do let us know what think, either via our Google Group, Twitter or IRC (#elasticsearch).West Papua: Jeremy Corbyn calls for democratic reform in Indonesian province
Updated
UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out about the plight of the West Papuan people and supported a push for democratic reform in the Indonesian province.
Key points: Corbyn calls for political strategy that brings "recognition to the plight" of West Papuans
Meeting included speakers from the UK, Tonga, Vanuatu and PNG
West Papua has been under Indonesian rule since 1969
Speaking at a meeting of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua at the House of Commons, Mr Corbyn said it was time the West Papuan people were able to make their own choice about their political future.
"It's about a political strategy that brings to worldwide recognition the plight of the people of West Papua, that forces it onto a political agenda, that forces it to the UN, and ultimately allows the people of West Papua to make a choice about the kind of government they want and the kind of society in which they want to live," he told the meeting.
The Labour leader described the meeting as historic.
Speakers included MPs, ministers and political leaders from the UK, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Mr Corbyn endorsed a report published by the University of Warwick that called for the reinstatement of NGOs in Papua, the release of political prisoners, and a parliamentary delegation being sent to the region.
West Papua has been under Indonesian rule since 1969, when the so-called Act of Free Choice took place, a vote that Indonesia claims rightfully handed over sovereignty of what was then known as West Irian.
West Papuan independence advocates claim the vote was a sham and the UN should now facilitate a free and fair vote for independence.
Sorry, this audio has expired Audio: Michael Walsh speaks with Frederika Korain in Jayapura (Pacific Beat)
This week Indonesian police detained hundreds of pro-independence demonstrators in the provincial capital of Jayapura.
Lord Harries of Pentregarth, a former Bishop of Oxford who was at the House of Commons meeting, has described the ongoing situation in West Papua as "one of the great neglected scandals of our time".
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, government-and-politics, world-politics, papua, pacific, indonesia, united-kingdom
First postedThe main camp at Groom Mine is shown in August, 2015. (Sheahan family)
The family whose Groom Mine property overlooking top-secret Area 51 was seized by the Air Force through eminent domain said Monday that independent appraisers have valued the land at between $44 million and $116 million — a far cry from the $333,300 the government has offered.
James Leavitt, attorney for the Sheahan family, said the huge difference surfaced Friday when expert reports were exchanged during discovery in the ongoing land dispute in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The case continues to be litigated after the family rejected the Air Force’s $5.2 million “final offer,” prompting the seizure of the Sheahans’ 400 acres in Lincoln County on Sept. 10, 2015. The Air Force then appraised the land at only $333,300.
In a telephone interview late Monday, Leavitt, of the Kermitt L. Waters firm, said he will argue for the the constitutional right of just compensation for the Sheahan family’s 22 property owners, noting that the law of eminent domain, the taking of private property by government to convert it to public use, requires it.
“If the government wants to take this to trial, then absolutely we’ll take this to court,” he said.
In a news release, family member Joe Sheahan said, “This is a prime example of the federal government overstepping its boundaries and bullying its own people as though the law doesn’t apply to them.”
The Air Force had no immediate comment Monday night.
Last year, the Air Force contended that the family’s activities over the past several years have hindered its efforts to use the Nevada Test and Training Range for flight tests.
The Area 51 installation has been used since the 1950s to test high-tech aircraft including the U-2 spy plane, the radar-evading F-117 Nighthawk and others in the Air Force inventory.
Leavitt said the property is unique because it was — before its seizure — the only privately held acreage with a view of Area 51.
“We have hired the most pre-eminent experts, and they have all determined this property is worth more than $44 million,” Leavitt said.
According to the family’s news release, one expert found that by “removing the Sheahans from their property, the USAF stands to gain between $444 million (and) $2 billion per year, the amount it cost them to shut down operations while the family visited their property.”
That referred to a previous agreement under which the Air Force allowed the family access to the property for certain occasions, including visits to the graves of relatives buried there.
The Sheahan family’s stake in the property includes six patented mining claims, meaning the mineral rights are on private property owned by the claimant. Their ancestors mined for silver, lead, copper, zinc and gold at the mine dating to 1889.
The family’s legal team also submitted documents to the court intended to establish other facts in the case, including one expert report that refers to an incendiary bomb that struck the Groom Mine mill building on June 23, 1954.
“The Air Force has never acknowledged that it ever happened,” Joe Sheahan said Monday. “We believe they did it on purpose to drive my grandfather and grandmother out.”
The June 14 report by Richard Ortiz, a retired Las Vegas fire investigator and bomb technician, concludes that the mill building was destroyed by “a sudden impact of some large and heavy object against the north side of the building at the point of the north end of the flotation machine terrace.”
“It is further my opinion based on the same physical evidence that such impact device carried with it a quantity of some diffusible liquid fuel,” Ortiz wrote.
The Sheahans also claim that above-ground nuclear tests at the former Nevada Test Site caused impacts and injury to their family.
“The fallout from the blasts landed on several family members and their animals, resulting in the death of horses and eventually family members, who died from cancer brought on by radiation,” the Sheahan family’s release reads.
Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2The Cuban Missile Crisis played out in the second half of October 1962. People generally know that it brought the world close to nuclear war but that in the end U.S. and Soviet leaders kept their heads and the world pulled through.
I remember as a young boy watching President Kennedy’s October 22 speech on our black and white TV set. I could tell from my parents’ reaction that things were bad. And essentially everything I’ve learned about the crisis since then has made me realize it was scarier than any of us realized.
Crisis and confusion: A deadly combination
Today, unfortunately, tensions are growing between the U.S. and Russia. A key takeaway from the 1962 crisis—one that is as relevant today as it was then—is that confusion, misunderstandings, and unexpected events can wreak havoc in a crisis. The sense of control leaders may have in these situations is frequently an illusion, and can be a dangerous one.
A key lesson that follows from that takeaway is that as tensions grow it is particularly important that the U.S. and Russia take steps to prevent crises from sparking an accidental or mistaken nuclear launch. The time to do that is now—before a crisis heats up and leads to disaster.
Here’s what can happen.
Six examples from the Cuban Missile Crisis
In early October 1962, the U.S. discovered the Soviets were shipping missiles to Cuba and building launch sites for them. The missiles could carry nuclear warheads and from Cuba could reach large parts of the U.S., including Washington DC.
After considering a range of options—including a full-scale invasion of the island—President Kennedy announced a naval blockade of Cuba. His plan was to keep further Soviet military systems from reaching the island, with the goal of preventing the missiles from becoming operational—and doing so without sparking a shooting war.
(1) The illusion of control
Along with the blockade, Kennedy also raised the readiness level of U.S. military forces to Defense Condition (DEFCON) 3—two rungs up the escalation ladder from the peacetime level of DEFCON 5.
Raising the DEFCON level leads to movements of U.S. military forces around the world, which Soviet monitoring would observe. By carefully stepping up the DEFCON ladder, Kennedy intended to send a clear message to the Soviets that the U.S. was prepared to act, while showing control and restraint and not exacerbating the crisis. Things seemed under control.
But two days later, on October 24, the president’s careful plan was upended when the commanders of U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Air Defense Command (ADC) announced they were moving their forces up another step to DEFCON-2—one step below launching a nuclear strike. Incredibly, they had the authority to do this without presidential approval. This is the only known time U.S. forces have reached this alert level.
Kennedy was reportedly furious at this move, which he knew could escalate the crisis.
And things got worse on October 26. British Bomber Command had been carrying out a readiness exercise unrelated to the crisis. But because the crisis was heating up, the commander extended the exercise and moved his forces to the equivalent of DEFCON 2, ready to launch nuclear weapons in 15 minutes. As in the U.S., this was done without the authorization of central authorities. Again, Soviet intelligence would certainly have noticed these activities, and likely saw them as part of a broader plan by the U.S. and its allies to prepare for a nuclear strike.
In this case Soviet Premier Khrushchev sensed the situation was getting out of control and kept his forces from responding and further escalating the situation. But could the world count on the same reaction from, say, President Putin?
(2) The illusion of control #2
When Kennedy moved U.S. forces to DEFCON 3 one consequence was that the military loaded nuclear warheads onto U.S. long-range missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to get them ready to fire. Kennedy was not aware that one of the missiles at Vandenberg was scheduled to be launched on October 26 as part of a routine flight-testing program. That missile was given a dummy warhead and—despite the ongoing crisis and without the knowledge of the president—the test launch took place as scheduled. Soviet monitoring would likely have observed that nuclear warheads were being loaded onto the missiles, and they could well have seen this launch as the start of a nuclear attack.
(3) An unrelated air-sampling mission becomes a nuclear tripwire
That same day the U.S. sent a U2 spy plane from Alaska to collect air samples over the north pole to look for evidence of a Soviet nuclear test—an issue unrelated to the crisis. A bright aurora that night kept the pilot from getting good navigation readings from the stars, causing him to stray into Soviet air space—where he was detected and chased by Soviet fighter planes.
U.S. fighters took off to rescue him. The fighters were equipped with nuclear-tipped antiaircraft missiles, and the escalation to DEFCON 3 gave the pilots authority to decide on their own whether to use them against the Soviet planes. The U2 made it back to Alaska, and no nuclear weapons were fired. But U.S. officials were starting to see that even apparently unrelated activities threatened to spark the crisis into a nuclear war. Sec. of Defense McNamara grounded further air-sampling flights.
(4) An even closer call
An incident the next day was probably the closest call in the crisis. The Soviets sent four submarines to patrol the waters off Cuba. The Americans did not learn until decades later that the subs carried torpedoes tipped with Hiroshima-sized nuclear weapons. Even worse, the submarine commanders were given the authority to fire them. And even worse than that, the subs were out of contact with Moscow and could only guess what was going on above them.
On October 27, the U.S. fleet discovered and surrounded one of the subs, and started dropping depth charges as a signal that the sub should surface. The submarine commander, still out of contact with Moscow and assuming the worst, decided to fire his so-called “special weapon” at the U.S. ships. The decision required a second officer on the sub to agree and provide his half of the key needed to fire the torpedo— which he did.
The only thing that stopped the launch was that the head of the submarine fleet, Vasilli Arkhipov, happened to be on board—and overruled his order. Like Stanislav Petrov, Arkhipov has also been “The Man Who Saved the World.”
(5) Confusion and coincidences
The next day an unexpected coincidence set off alarms. Radar operators in Moorestown, NJ, called NORAD to say their radar had detected an incoming missile attack launched from Cuba and headed for Florida. Rechecking the data confirmed the attack. Fortunately, before a response was initiated the expected detonation did not occur, and NORAD realized it was a false alarm. But the incident illustrates how several unexpected events can combine in unanticipated ways.
The problem occurred when |
the atomic system are then in place. A similar appeal to the senses establishes the infinity of the universe, since what is finite must have an edge, and an edge is conceived in reference to something beyond it. But the universe — in Greek, the “all” — contains everything, and so there is nothing outside it by which to conceive an edge. Hence, it is infinite. And if the all is infinite, so is the void and the number of atoms as well, for otherwise atoms would be too widely dispersed ever to meet (LH 41–42).
Epicurus now has in place the fundamental constituents of his natural world, and he might have stopped here, with atoms and void and the denial, on the grounds of inconceivability, of any other kind of basic physical principle. All secondary properties, such as color and taste, will be explained as epiphenomena of atomic combinations, and perception of things at a distance by the continual emission of infinitesimally thin laminas from objects, which maintain the relevant features of the source (in the case of vision, for example, the laminas will preserve the atomic patterns specific to the color and shape of the object) and directly stimulate the relevant sense organ. This is a tricky thesis, and again posed puzzles: how do the lamina or simulacra, as Lucretius called them, of a mountain enter the eye, for example? In fragments? By somehow shrinking? We do not know the answer to this one. A few more concepts fill in the picture of the natural world: thus, Epicurus denies that there can be infinitely many kinds of atoms, for then all shapes (which define the kinds) at any given magnitude would be exhausted and atoms would have to reach visible proportions, which we know that they do not (this argument depends on the idea of minima, discussed further below); instead, the number of kinds (i.e., shapes of various microscopic sizes) is inconceivably large but “not strictly infinite,” whereas the number of each kind of atom is simply infinite (LH 55–56). This condition is also invoked to explain why there is a limit on possible types of combinations of atoms, and hence on the number of viable species of things in the perceptible world: if there were infinitely many kinds of atoms, Epicurus believed, they could combine to generate absolutely anything — an infinity of different sorts of thing.
But an infinite number of solid and therefore indivisible atoms of finitely many kinds, such as Epicurus’ theory provides, are enough to avoid the possibility of the universe crumbling into nothing. Why did Epicurus complicate matters still further with the doctrine that atoms themselves consist of still smaller parts in the form of mathematically minimal expanses, as we saw above that he does? Finite bodies, according to Epicurus, had to be composed of smaller expanses, and if there were no lower limit in size to such expanses, one would have to imagine traversing such a body in an infinite number of moves — but then, however small these infinitesimals might be, the object that contained them, Epicurus reasoned, would have to be infinitely large (LH 56–57). What are such minima like? Epicurus asks us to think of the smallest perceptible thing. It differs from larger visible entities in that it has no sub-parts to be traversed with the eye: if you do attempt to visualize such sub-parts, they simply coincide with the original perceptible minimum. Since such minimal visible entities have no parts, they do not touch edge to edge (edges are parts), and yet they measure out the body that contains them, larger bodies having more such minima. By analogy with the visible, then, we conceive of the smallest part of an atom (LH 58–59). This conception resembles the way points exist in a line, according to Aristotle, since they too do not touch, nor can they exist independently. But Epicurean minima differ from points in that they are physical expanses and so have extension. This looks like a contradictory state of affairs: can we imagine, for example, an atom consisting of just two minima? Or ten? It would be like counting up the least visible bits of a perceptible object. Geometrical problems arise as well, since it was known that the side and diagonal of a cube, for example, were incommensurable, yet both must, it would appear, be composed of finite and hence commensurable numbers of minima. On the assumption that Epicurus was aware of and cared about such puzzles, it has been suggested that he thought any atom consists of a not strictly infinite, but inconceivably large — and so “not strictly finite” — number of minima (see Konstan 1989a): thus, the minimum may be imagined as the inverse of the number of kinds of atoms postulated by Epicurus, a quantity that takes on a quasi-technical status as a special order of magnitude. But sufficient evidence for this hypothesis is lacking.
4. Psychology and Ethics
Having established the physical basis of the world, Epicurus proceeds to explain the nature of the soul (this, at least, is the order in which Lucretius sets things out). This too, of course, consists of atoms: first, there is nothing that is not made up of atoms and void (secondary qualities are simply accidents of the arrangement of atoms), and second, an incorporeal entity could neither act on nor be moved by bodies, as the soul is seen to do (e.g., it is conscious of what happens to the body, and it initiates physical movement). Epicurus maintains that soul atoms are particularly fine and are distributed throughout the body (LH 64), and it is by means of them that we have sensations (aisthêseis) and the experience of pain and pleasure, which Epicurus calls pathê (a term used by Aristotle and others to signify emotions instead). Body without soul atoms is unconscious and inert, and when the atoms of the body are disarranged so that it can no longer support conscious life, the soul atoms are scattered and no longer retain the capacity for sensation (LH 65). There is also a part of the human soul that is concentrated in the chest, and is the seat of the higher intellectual functions. The distinction is important, because it is in the rational part that error of judgment enters in. Sensation, like pain and pleasure, is incorrigible just because it is a function of the non-rational part, which does not modify a perception — that is, the reception of lamina emitted from macroscopic bodies — by the addition of opinion or belief.
The corporeal nature of the soul has two crucial consequences for Epicureanism. First, it is the basis of Epicurus’ demonstration that the soul does not survive the death of the body (other arguments to this effect are presented in Lucretius 3.417–614). The soul’s texture is too delicate to exist independently of the body that contains it, and in any case the connection with the body is necessary for sensation to occur. From this it follows that there can be no punishment after death, nor any regrets for the life that has been lost. Second, the soul is responsive to physical impressions, whether those that arrive from without in the form of laminas or simulacra, or those that arise from internal motions of the body. No phenomena are purely mental, in the sense of being disembodied states or objects of pure consciousness conceived as separate from embodiment. The elementary sensations of pleasure and pain, accordingly, rather than abstract moral principles or abstract concepts of goodness or badness, are the fundamental guides to what is good and bad, since all sentient creatures are naturally attracted to the one and repelled by the other. The function of the human mind — that part of the soul that is located in our chest — is not to seek higher things, but to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. That is its entire objective; the risk (a substantial one) is that it may miscalculate, since it is subject to false beliefs and errors in cognitive processes.
Unlike other Hellenistic schools, such as those of Aristotle and the Stoics, the Epicureans were not greatly interested in formal logic, but they certainly needed a theory of the formation of beliefs. As far as the ideational content of thinking — that is, the thought of something — is concerned, Epicurus proposed a radically reductive hypothesis: just as sensations occur as a result of thin films emitted by objects that enter the appropriate sense organ, so too some of these simulacra are fine enough to penetrate directly to the mind (located in the chest), and that is how we imagine such objects (e.g., gods). This process is invoked to explain not only dream images, but many kinds of mental impression, including impressions constituting voluntary thought: the latter occurs when we attend to one or another of the exiguous physical films that are continuously floating through the air. (How we manage to attend voluntarily to whichever of these films we choose is not explained in the surviving sources.) Imagining a thing is thus nothing more than picking out the simulacra that have been emitted by it, and which may endure beyond the life of the thing itself (hence we can imagine the dead). These mental images have no privileged status, such as Plato gave to his noetic Ideas or Forms; they are always true, but in this do not differ from the information provided by the senses. Mistakes occur here too when the wrong beliefs are associated with such impressions, for example, that because we have a mental image of a dead person it follows that he or she still exists in a ghostly form. Epicurean physics proves that this is impossible.
A great barrier to correct thinking is language itself, which, because it has a name for death, may suggest that death (being dead) is something a person can experience and hence deserves to be feared. Words must be understood in their basic sense, Epicurus says, as opposed to what he calls “empty sounds” (LH 37). The culprit in misunderstanding is always an illegitimate inference from sensation (the latter including thoughts produced by film-like images). An example is the belief that centaurs exist. Epicurus does not deny that the thought of a centaur corresponds to some real stimulus in the form of simulacra: his theory of knowledge commits him to the view that it must. But the flimsy laminas as they float through the air can become distorted or interfere with one another, and thus the upper part of a human figure may get loosely attached to the lower part of a horse’s. We know that this is unreal because such a combination is physically impossible: horses and human beings mature at different rates, for example, and eat different foods (see Lucretius 5.878–91; cf. Palaephatus On Incredible Tales 20). Beliefs about whether sensations correspond to an actually existing thing must be tested against knowledge of the world, as informed by Epicurean theory.
The ability to reason or calculate (logismos) cannot be a function of images. It is the faculty that lets us infer by analogy from the visible world to the invisible, and also that with which we may recognize that not all pleasures are to be chosen at all times, since some immediate pleasures may lead to long-term pain or harm (Letter to Menoeceus = LM 129). What is more, one must know something about the nature of pleasure in order to pursue it rationally, and likewise for pain. Epicurus, it appears, uses the terms pleasure and pain (hêdonê, algêdôn) strictly in reference to physical pathê or sensations, that is, those that are experienced via the non-rational soul that is distributed throughout the body. As for the rational part or mind, we have positive and negative experiences through it too. Most prominent among the negative mental states is fear, above all the fear of unreal dangers, such as death. Death, Epicurus insists, is nothing to us, since while we exist, our death is not, and when our death occurs, we do not exist (LM 124–25); but if one is frightened by the empty name of death, the fear will persist since we must all eventually die. This fear is one source of perturbation (tarakhê), and is a worse curse than physical pain itself; the absence of such fear is ataraxy, lack of perturbation, and ataraxy, together with freedom from physical pain, is one way of specifying the goal of life, for Epicurus.
There are also positive states of mind, which Epicurus identifies by the special term khara (joy), as opposed to hêdonê (pleasure, i.e., physical pleasure). These states too depend on belief, whether true or false. But Epicurus does not treat khara as an end, or part of the end for living: rather, he tends to describe the goal by negation, as freedom from bodily pain and mental disturbance (LM 128). However, happiness (eudaimonia), according to Epicurus, is not simply a neutral or privative condition but rather a form of pleasure in its own right — what Epicurus called catastematic or (following Cicero’s Latin translation) “static” as opposed to “kinetic” pleasure. Although the precise nature of this distinction is debated, kinetic pleasures seem to be of the non-necessary kind (see below), such as those resulting from agreeable odors or sounds, rather than deriving from replenishment, as in the case of hunger or thirst. The philosophical school known as the Cyrenaics advocated increasing desires and seeking ever new ways of gratifying them.
Epicurus objected that such pleasures are necessarily accompanied by distress, for they depend upon a lack that is painful (Plato had demonstrated the problematic nature of this kind of pleasure; see Gorgias 496C–497A, Philebus 31E–32D, 46A–50C). In addition, augmenting desires tends to intensify rather than reduce the mental agitation (a distressful state of mind) that Epicurean philosophy sought to eliminate. Catastematic pleasure, on the contrary, is (or is taken in) a state rather than a process: it is the pleasure that accompanies well-being as such. The Cyrenaics and others, such as Cicero, maintained, in turn, that this condition is not pleasurable but rather neutral — neither pleasurable nor painful.
For Epicurus, there are some fears that are perfectly legitimate; so too are some desires. Epicurus offers a classification of desires into three types: some are natural, others are empty; and natural desires are of two sorts, those that are necessary and those that are merely natural (see Cooper 1999). Natural and necessary are those that look to happiness, physical well-being, or life itself (LM 127). Unnecessary but natural desires are for pleasant things like sweet odors and good-tasting food and drink (and for various pleasurable activities of sorts other than simple smelling, touching and tasting). Empty desires are those that have as their objects things designated by empty sounds, such as immortality, which cannot exist for human beings and do not correspond to any genuine need. The same holds for the desire for great wealth or for marks of fame, such as statues: they cannot provide the security that is the genuine object of the desire. Such desires, accordingly, can never be satisfied, any more than the corresponding fears — e.g., the fear of death — can ever be alleviated, since neither has a genuine referent, i.e., death as something harmful (when it is present, we do not exist) or wealth and power as salves for anxiety. Such empty fears and desires, based on what Epicurus calls kenodoxia or empty belief, are themselves the main source of perturbation and pain in civilized life, where more elementary dangers have been brought under control, since they are the reason why people are driven to strive for limitless wealth and power, subjecting themselves to the very dangers they imagine they are avoiding.
Although human beings, like everything else, are composed of atoms that move according to their fixed laws, our actions are not wholly predetermined — rather than entertain such a paralyzing doctrine, Epicurus says, it would be better to believe in the old myths, for all their perversities (LM 134). What enables us to wrest liberty from a mechanistic universe is the existence of a certain randomness in the motion of atoms, that takes the form of a minute swerve in their forward course (evidence for this doctrine derives chiefly from later sources, including Lucretius and Cicero). It is not entirely clear how the swerve operates: it may involve a small angle of deviation from the original path, or else a slight shift sideways, perhaps by a single minimum, with no change in direction. The idea of such a minute veering, said to occur at no determinate time or place, is less strange in the modern age of quantum physics than it was in Epicurus’ time, and it gave rise to mocking critiques. More problematic today is how the swerve might explain freedom of will — if indeed Epicurus’ idea of the will was like our own. It did, at all events, introduce an indeterminacy into the universe, and if soul atoms, thanks to their fineness, were more susceptible to the effects of such deviations than coarser matter, the swerve could at least represent a breach in any strict predestination of human behavior. And this might have been enough for Epicurus’ purposes: he may not have invoked the swerve in order to explain voluntary action (claiming that it is action deriving, immediately or ultimately, from a swerve or some swerves of the soul’s atoms). He may have wished merely to establish the possibility of action not deriving from the positions of the soul’s constituent atoms at any time plus the effects of collisions among them resulting from their given movements at that time. According to Lucretius (2.225–50), the swerve was also put to use to solve a cosmological problem: if at some (as it were) initial moment all atoms were moving uniformly in a single direction (downward) at the same speed, it is impossible to conceive how the process of atomic collisions could have begun, save by some such device. This seems a curious idea: given that time, like space, was infinite according to Epicurus, he need not have imagined a time prior to collisions. Just possibly the tendency of atoms to emerge from collisions in a preferred direction (by definition “down”) might lead over time to local regions of parallel motion, and the swerve could serve to reintroduce contact among them. In any event, Epicurus may have thought of atoms moving in some uniform direction rather than in diverse ones as a default position for physical theory (because of the simplicity of that hypothesis); thus he may have felt the need to explain how the diversity of the atoms’ motions could have arisen.
5. Social Theory
Although our main witness for Epicurus’ views on the evolution of human society is Lucretius’ poem (5.925–1457), there is no doubt that Lucretius was following, in the main, the ideas of the founder himself, as recorded in Epicurus’ On Nature and other treatises. In the beginning, human beings were solitary; they reproduced haphazardly, could not communicate verbally, had no social institutions, and survived because they were physically hardier than their modern descendants. With time, the race softened, thanks in part to the discovery of fire, in part too to the emergence of the family and the gentler sentiments toward spouses and offspring to which the family gave rise. At this stage, human beings were in a position to unite in order to fend off natural dangers, such as wild beasts, and they developed various kinds of technical skills, such as agriculture and the building of houses, as well as language. Epicurus explains (LH 75–76) that names at first arose naturally, in the sense that as human beings experienced different affects (pathê) or received various images (phantasmata) they emitted air corresponding to these stimuli; since human physical characteristics vary somewhat from place to place, however, the sounds people produced in response to any given stimulus similarly differed, which explains why there are many tongues. Upon this basis, people later, nation by nation, established certain terms by convention for the purpose of improving clarity and brevity in communication. Finally, certain individual experts further augmented the vocabulary by the introduction of new and specialized words, to explain the results of their theoretical investigations. Once language reached a developed state, people began to establish alliances and friendships, which contributed further to collective security.
This early form of social life had various advantages: among others, the relative scarcity of goods prevented excessive competition (sharing was obligatory for survival) and thereby set limits on those unnatural desires that at a later, richer phase of society would lead to wars and other disturbances. It would appear too that, before language had developed fully, words more or less conformed to their original or primitive objects, and were not yet a source of mental confusion. But thanks to a gradual accumulation of wealth, the struggle over goods came to infect social relations, and there emerged kings or tyrants who ruled over others not by virtue of their physical strength but by dint of gold. These autocrats in turn were overthrown, and after a subsequent period of violent anarchy people finally saw the wisdom of living under the rule of law. This might seem to represent the highest attainment in political organization, but that is not so for the Epicureans. For with law came the generalized fear of punishment that has contaminated the blessings of life (Lucretius 5.1151; cf. [Philodemus] On Choices and Avoidances col. XII). Lucretius at this point gives an acount of the origin of religious superstition and dread of the gods, and although he does not relate this anxiety directly to the fear of punishment under human law, he does state that thunder and lightning are interpreted as signs that the gods are angry at human sins (5.1218–25). While primitive people in the presocial or early communal stages might have been awed by such manifestations of natural power and ascribed them to the action of the gods, they would not necessarily have explained them as chastisement for human crimes before the concept of punishment became familiar under the regime of law. People at an early time knew that gods exist thanks to the simulacra that they give off, although the precise nature of the gods according to Epicurus remains obscure (for contrasting intepretations, see Konstan 2011 and Sedley 2011); but the gods, for him, do not interest themselves in human affairs, since this would compromise their beatitude (see Obbink 1996: 321–23).
If one does not fear the gods, what motive is there for living justly? Where law obtains, Epicurus indicates, it is preferable not to commit crimes, even secret ones, since there will always be anxiety over the possibility of detection, and this will disrupt the tranquillity or ataraxy that is the chief basis of happiness in life (see Principal Beliefs = KD 34–35). Justice, for Epicurus, depends on the capacity to make compacts neither to harm others nor be harmed by them, and consists precisely in these compacts; justice is nothing in itself, independent of such arrangements (KD 31–33). According to Epicurus (LM 132, KD 5), someone who is incapable of living prudently, honorably, and justly cannot live pleasurably, and vice versa. Moreover, prudence or wisdom (phronêsis) is the chief of the virtues: on it depend all the rest. This again sounds calculating, as though justice were purely a pragmatic and selfish matter of remaining unperturbed. Epicurus does not entertain the thought experiment proposed by Plato in the Republic (359C–360D), in which Plato asks whether a person who is absolutely secure from punishment would have reason to be just. Did Epicurus have an answer to such a challenge? He may simply have denied that anyone can be perfectly confident in this way. Perhaps, however, he did have a reply, but it was derived from the domain of psychology rather than of ethics. A person who understands what is desirable and what is to be feared would not be motivated to acquire inordinate wealth or power, but would lead a peaceful life to the extent possible, avoiding politics and the general fray. An Epicurean sage, accordingly, would have no motive to violate the rights of others. Whether the sage would be virtuous is perhaps moot; what Epicurus says is that he would live virtuously, that is prudently, honorably, and justly (the adverbial construction may be significant). He would do so not because of an acquired disposition or hexis, as Aristotle had it, but because he knows how to reason correctly about his needs. Hence his desires would be limited to those that are natural (not empty), and so easily satisfied, or at least not a source of disturbance if sometimes unsatisfied.
6. The Epicurean Life
Epicurus placed an extremely high value on friendship (or love: philia). A saying with rather a more poetic flair than is Epicurus’ custom runs: “Friendship goes dancing round the world, announcing to all of us to wake up to happiness” (Vatican Saying = VS 52). Epicurus held that a wise man would feel the torture of a friend no less than his own, and would die for a friend rather than betray him, for otherwise his own life would be confounded (VS 56–57). These are powerfully altruistic sentiments for a philosopher who posits as the unique goal in life happiness based on freedom from physical pain and mental anxiety. Epicurus could justify such an attitude by the same prudential calculus that he uses to argue in favor of living justly: only by living in such a way that loyalty to friends is perceived to be a consummate value will one be able to feel secure in one’s friends, and thus maximize one’s felicity. Yet this does not seem quite what Epicurus means when he says that “friendship [or love] had its beginning as a result of utility, but is to be chosen [or is a virtue, if we follow the manuscript reading] for its own sake” (VS 23). The question is further complicated by the report in Cicero’s On Moral Ends (1.66–70) that there was a difference of opinion concerning friendship among later Epicureans. Since human beings were originally asocial and only later learned to form alliances and compacts, it is possible that Epicurus means to say that this capacity for friendship arose out of need, but that once the capacity for such feelings was acquired, feeling them came to be valued in itself. The argument would be similar to the modern idea that altruism could have developed as a result of natural selection. But the evidence does not permit a firm conclusion on this matter.
When Epicurus spoke of friendship, he may have had at least partly in mind specifically the relationship among his followers, who seem to have thought of themselves as friends. Epicureans were encouraged to form communities and to observe certain rituals, although most of these practices, such as the celebration each month of the day (the 20th) on which Epicurus was born or wearing rings bearing an image of Epicurus, may have originated after the founder’s death. The Epicureans paid attention to problems of pedagogy as well, laying out the best way to correct the ideas of people new to the school and its community without cajoling or discouraging them. It must be remembered that Epicurus understood the task of philosophy first and foremost as a form of therapy for life, since philosophy that does not heal the soul is no better than medicine that cannot cure the body (Usener 1887, frag. 221). A life free of mental anxiety and open to the enjoyment of other pleasures was deemed equal to that of the gods. Indeed, it is from the gods themselves, via the simulacra that reach us from their abode, that we derive our image of blessed happiness, and prayer for the Epicureans consisted not in petitioning favors but rather in a receptivity to this vision. (Epicurus encouraged the practice of the conventional cults.) Although they held the gods to be immortal and indestructible (how this might work in a materialist universe remains unclear), human pleasure might nevertheless equal divine, since pleasure, Epicurus maintained (KD 19), is not augmented by duration (compare the idea of perfect health, which is not more perfect for lasting longer); the catastematic pleasure experienced by a human being completely free of mental distress and with no bodily pain to disturb him or her is at the absolute top of the scale. Nor is such pleasure difficult to achieve: it is a mark precisely of those desires that are neither natural nor necessary that they are hard to satisfy. Epicurus was famously content with little, since on such a diet a small delicacy is as good as a feast, in addition to which it is easier to achieve self-sufficiency, and “the greatest benefit of self-sufficiency is freedom” (VS 77).Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world
One million leaflets against government’s plans to legalise marriage equality are being sent out to voters in constituencies marginal on the issue by an anti-equal marriage campaign group which has deemed the plans “undemocratic”.
The target of the campaign are 65 MPs, who are seen as key in an upcoming vote on the government’s plans for equal marriage. The leaflets aim to push MPs to vote against the measure.
PinkNews understands that MPs will debate and vote on the government’s equal marriage plans for England and Wales before next month’s Valentine’s Day.
The one million leaflets were prepared by the Coalition for Marriage (C4M), a campaign group against the government’s plans.
The leaflets were being delivered door to door, and campaigners had been handing them out on the streets of marginal constituencies in the south west, and plan to visit others ahead of the vote.
The leaflets contain photographs and contact details of local MPs, with text urging voters to lobby them in a bid to have the legislation rejected when it comes to a vote in parliament, reports the Christian Institute.
This proved problematic last week, as Sarah Newton, the Conservative MP for Truro and Falmouth, said leaflets handed out in her area wrongly implied she supported the group. She said she was angry at the misrepresentation and intended to seek legal advice.
Campaign director of C4M, Colin Hart, said: “Our local activists are fired up to oppose these undemocratic proposals from a Government that is increasingly looking out of touch with ordinary men and women.
“MPs should expect their local voters to press them on where they stand on the redefinition of marriage and why the leaders of the three main parties continue to make this a top priority when poll after poll shows that the policy does not enjoy popular support and voters don’t believe the PM’s motives on introducing the changes.”
Figures collated by the Coalition for Equal Marriage show that 330 MPs have said in interviews or letters to constituents that they will support David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s planned legislation. In contrast just 126 have said that they oppose the legislation.
Some Parliamentarians have already predicted that the bill could face difficulty in the upper chamber. Equal marriage opponent Stuart Jackson MP tweeted in December that it would get “massacred”.
A ComRes poll for the Coalition for Marriage last week showed that three quarters of Conservative peers and 67% of cross-bencher peers surveyed said the government should call a halt to its plans to introduce equal marriage.
However, in a sign the government remains determined to get its planned equal marriage legislation on the statute book within this year, Culture Secretary Maria Miller has refused to rule out using the Parliament Act to override the Lords in the event the bill becomes stalled.
Out4Marriage, the equal marriage campaign group said that it “looks forward with anticipation for the publication of the first draft of the bill and for the opportunity for MPs to finally show whether or not they support equality.”
Yesterday, a letter to David Cameron from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, containing legal advice prepared for the Coalition for Marriage, warned that the protections put in place to protect religious freedom could be chalenge-able.“Obama Signals a Shift From Military Might to Diplomacy” was the headline of a report in the New York Times on Tuesday, following the “first step” agreement reached with Iran over the prior weekend. That says a lot: that the U.S. is resorting to diplomacy, the normal currency of foreign relations for most other countries, is front page news -- how different our government is from the rest of the world, and how much more we in the United States have to fight in order to prevent war.
And prevention is the only way. By the time there were more than 20 million people in the streets worldwide against the planned invasion of Iraq, it was too late. And once these wars get started, they are very difficult to stop. Afghanistan is now the longest war in U.S. history.
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The media is largely ignoring the obvious here, but we wouldn’t have any deal with Iran if Obama had been able to go ahead with his plans to bomb Syria. We would have been lucky to avoid a massive conflagration in the region. So we can thank the “war-weary” American people, as the press calls us, and especially the organized among us – including the 8-million-member Moveon.org – for preventing Congress from supporting President Obama’s war campaign. And we can thank the organized anti-war movement in the U.K., for forcing Cameron’s hand and leaving Obama even more isolated internationally than George W. Bush was when he prepared to invade Iraq.
It’s ironic, because all we hear in the news is that the Iranian people’s desire to get rid of the U.S.-led sanctions, and their election of Rouhani, were the impetus for the breakthrough. But it helps to look at the other side of the equation. It was not long ago that the Obama administration was preparing the ground for the next president to go to war with Iran, just as the Clinton administration created the conditions for Bush’s Iraq war: with crippling sanctions, threats of illegal military actions, and perhaps most importantly, a PR campaign to convince Americans of the outright falsehood that this faraway nation with relatively little military capability posed a threat to their security.
But now, the New York Times tells us, “‘Regime change,’ in Iran or even Syria, is out; cutting deals with former adversaries is in.” This would certainly be an historic change if it were true, as well as a better-late-than-never delivery on Obama’s 2008 campaign promise.
But the War Party still has a lot of clout: Israel’s Netanyahu may seem isolated internationally, but his allies still own a sizeable chunk of the U.S. Congress. There was a serious attempt in the Senate to sabotage the latest talks by imposing new sanctions on Iran, which Democratic majority leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidBottom Line Brennan fires back at'selfish' Trump over Harry Reid criticism Trump rips Harry Reid for 'failed career' after ex-Dem leader slams him in interview MORE (Nev.) was able to postpone until after Saturday’s agreement was reached. And the French government also tried to torpedo the agreement, creating a new competition for who could be the most war-seeking government in the world.
The U.S. and its allies have successfully demonized Iran in the eyes of the Western world, so most of the discourse we read is about whether Iran can be trusted. But let’s step back and look at this from the other side for a moment. Writing in the most recent issue of the Washington establishment journal Foreign Affairs, Akbar Ganji notes that in the eyes of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, "despite [then Iranian President Mohammad] Khatami’s willingness to compromise, his kind words for Americans, his cooperation in toppling the Taliban and in the subsequent Bonn negotiations to install a pro-American government in Afghanistan, U.S. President George W. Bush had still included Iran in his ‘axis of evil.’"
And Iran had previously suspended its enrichment of uranium for two years and gotten nothing for it, not even the lifting of any sanctions. Furthermore, Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi had dismantled his whole nuclear program – and, it may be added, went so far in his co-operation as to torture suspected terrorists that Washington “renditioned” to him. Yet NATO participated in his overthrow. For much of the world, this was seen as a grim message that you could do whatever Washington wanted, and they would still destroy you if they saw an opportunity.
So there is “trust-building” needed on both sides. The ultimate constraint on the Washington side is public opinion at home, where the latest polling this week shows that only 20 percent would support a military strike if the talks fail. “War-weary” Americans will have to be vigilant, and anti-war organizers active and strong, if the long-threatened war with Iran is to be prevented.
Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, D.C. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.Ald. Patrick O'Connor was counting votes and guiding support on competing ordinances on the inspector general. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ted Cox
CITY HALL — Aldermen on both sides of a hotly debated issue agreed Wednesday that they settled for a "field goal" rather than going for a "touchdown" in granting Inspector General Joe Ferguson the power to oversee the City Council.
All called it reform, but some charged it "watered down" the stiffer reforms a council committee originally passed a month ago.
At issue was a substitute proposal put forth Wednesday by Ald. Will Burns (4th), in his last council meeting before leaving for a job with Airbnb. It countered a measure sponsored by Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) to give Ferguson the full power to investigate aldermen, which cleared committee last month only to be deferred by a parliamentary maneuver by Ald. Edward Burke (14th).
Ald. Scott Waguespack charged that the substitute ordinance "waters down the original version." View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ted Cox
Burns, clearly carrying the water on a distasteful issue as someone about to leave the council, insisted his substitute also gave investigative powers to Ferguson, but limited him to "breaches of ethics" and not the ability to conduct audits on government efficiency on aldermanic affairs.
Burns argued that would be "stretching the powers of the inspector general" and that aldermen need to feel free on "how we do our jobs" and appeal to their constituents, not the inspector general. He said aldermanic spending menus and expense accounts were already matters of public record, with no need for the inspector general to examine them.
Smith, however, lashed back at what she called "jurisdictional obstacles... limiting oversight," and urged her colleagues to "pass this ordinance without diluting," saying her original proposal "fosters real change and not cynicism."
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) called Burns' substitute "a watered-down version" of the original, adding it "goes backward and waters down the original version that we had |
After that last night, they never appeared at the Towers again.
The vans were never heard of again, either. The 9/11 Commission was never informed of their surprising presence in the Towers three weeks before the 9/11 attack. Most of the 9/11 Truth Community has no knowledge of this extraordinary nightly activity, either.
For all the public’s ignorance, video from the security cameras could be the most significant missing part of the 9/11 puzzle. This State Department source was convinced the mysterious trucks were used to transport explosives into the building, and that an unidentified orphan team wired the World Trade Center for a controlled demolition in those late night hours. He has stayed quiet to protect his job, his retirement pension and his reputation—knowing that others who spoke up have gotten fired or thrown in prison (myself included).
Controlled Demolition
Other evidence supports a controlled demolition of the Towers, as a supplement to the hijackings. Firefighters and maintenance crews reported hearing explosions popping through the Towers on 9/11. And previous reports indicate that dust from the World Trade Center tested positive for “thermate explosives–” a derivative of a thermite bomb.
A thermite reaction involves a mixture of iron oxide and aluminum, while thermate adds an element of sulfur. When the iron oxide-aluminum mixture is ignited, a super vigorous reaction occurs, creating molten metal—and dust, in the case of thermate. The reaction is extremely exothermic, meaning that a great deal of heat is given off, making for an incredibly powerful reducing agent.
Even so, as the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attack approaches, the majority of Americans continue to be confused as to how a controlled demolition scenario fits with the airplane hijackings and aerial strike on the World Trade Center—which the whole world witnessed on playback over and over in the media, until the image was seared like a brand on our collective consciousness.
Until now, there has been a false dichotomy that only one or the other style of attack could have occurred, but never both together. Some parts of the 9/11 Community itself vigorously dispute that both could have occurred as synchronized events. And most of the corporate media refuses to acknowledge the controlled demolition theory whatsoever.
When the public understands 9/11 as a series of Real Time events throughout the month of August, 2001, the unfolding sequence of this tragedy makes a lot more sense.
The difficulty is throwing out everything the public has been taught about 9/11—created for the convenience of politicians and corporate media, who simplified the story for public consumption.
First and foremost, contrary to all media reports and official claims, U.S. and foreign intelligence absolutely expected the 9/11 attack to occur — citing airplane hijackings and a strike on the World Trade Center. Even the timeframe was identified precisely — known to be late August through mid-September.
I relate here my own experience as evidence. It has been corroborated in courtroom testimony by Parke Godfrey, a computer science professor at York University in Toronto. He delivered his statement under oath in the Federal Courthouse of the Southern District of New York—1000 yards from where the World Trade Center once graced the skyline.
On August 2, the date of Robert Mueller’s Senate confirmation hearings to become Director of the FBI, my CIA handler, Dr. Richard Fuisz, warned me not to travel to New York because the attack on the World Trade Center involving airplane hijackings was “considered imminent,” with the potential for “mass human casualties” and a “possible miniature thermo-nuclear device” (thermite).
Our team aggressively tried to block the conspiracy. But not everyone was on board.
Threats to Iraq
As far back as April and May of 2001, a decision had been made at the top levels of the government that War with Iraq would be in play in the aftermath of a 9/11 scenario.
As the primary Asset covering the Iraqi Embassy in New York, I myself was ordered to threaten Iraqi diplomats with war, if it was determined that Iraq possessed actionable intelligence about the airplane hijacking conspiracy and failed to hand it over through my back channel.
After initially balking at the message, I was informed the threat originated at the highest level of government, above the CIA Director and Secretary of State. That could only be President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Iraqi diplomats threw up their hands: They had nothing to give us, they said. But go ahead, they told me. “Send your FBI. They are welcome in Baghdad. We want peace with America. And maybe they will find something.” For all the brouhaha after 9/11, the fact remains that George Bush took no action on Iraq’s invite.
There was chatter about the 9/11 conspiracy throughout the Intelligence Community all summer long. The greatest part of the Intelligence Community abhorred the scenario. My own Intelligence team, triangulating the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency pushed and pushed for actionable intelligence from Baghdad. However, though we could not understand what the hell was going on, our efforts kept running into a wall of interference from the Justice Department, with only superficial outward support.
For the integrity of history, Americans and the world community have a fundamental right to understand what actions the Intelligence Community did undertake prior to the attack—because it exposes the high-level opposition running interference.
August Timeline
On Thursday, August 2, 2001— my CIA handler, Dr. Richard Fuisz, and I discussed over the telephone our belief that the attack would be imminent.
On Saturday, August 4– I visited the Iraqi Embassy in New York for the final time before 9/11, pushing for any fragment of actionable intelligence from Baghdad that could pinpoint the conspiracy.
On the weekend of August 4-5—spooky NSA types “visited” the office where I had a part-time consulting job. Of course the office was closed for the weekend, and I won’t speculate how they got inside. However, while snooping, they took a “proof of life,” for want of a better expression. It is a physical copy of the Wall Street Journal dated July 30, 2001—the same week as my conversation with Dr. Fuisz— addressed to the company, with the street address and name of the man I had been working for.
The copy of the July 30, 2001 Wall Street Journal surfaced on my desk at home—nine years after the attack— while I was traveling in Japan on a speaking tour for the advance release of my book,Extreme Prejudice: The Terrifying Story of the Patriot Act and the Cover Ups of 9/11 and Iraq, which features a detailed analysis of our team’s 9/11 warnings, the 9/11 investigation and a comprehensive peace framework developed with Iraqi diplomats. Given the upheaval in my life throughout the intervening decade — including a year’s stint in prison on a Texas military base, while the government covered up my team’s 9/11 warnings and the true facts of Iraqi Pre-War Intelligence — there’s no way a copy of the Wall Street Journal could have survived as desk clutter.
Other Intelligence officers will recognize the significance at once. That hard copy of the Wall Street Journal proves beyond any question that other spooks were tracking our team’s conversations about the conspiracy in “real time” fully 6 weeks before 9/11 occurred. A newspaper would have been thrown out of an office weeks before the attack. Somebody had to grab it up almost immediately after my conversation with Dr. Fuisz.
See? Other teams tried to put together the attack scenario, too.
All of it points to the frenetic activity in advance of 9/11. There was a lot of action behind the scenes. And Intelligence folk are anything but passive individuals. Quite the opposite, there’s a lot of creative risk-taking and proactive problem solving. None of these people sit on their hands.
Americans still don’t know that:
On Monday, August 6, I met with Dr. Fuisz and we hammered out a plan of action for alerting the White House that this hijacking conspiracy should move to “emergency status.”
That same Monday, August 6, the CIA handed President Bush a memo warning about an expected terrorist conspiracy involving Al Qaeda. Though I could be mistaken, I have always believed Dr. Fuisz contributed to that report. If not, it proves again that a broad spectrum of U.S. intelligence was moving to high alert status, far enough in advance to block the attack.
Following instructions from Dr. Fuisz, on Tuesday, August 7 or Wednesday, August 8, I placed an emergency call to the private staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft. Identifying myself as the Chief U.S. Intelligence Asset covering Iraq and Libya at the United Nations, I delivered our warning about a conspiracy involving airplane hijackings and a targeted strike on the World Trade Center.
I requested an emergency broadcast alert through all Federal Agencies seeking any fragment of intelligence involving airplane hijackings and a strike on the World Trade Center. I warned the attack was “imminent” with expectations of “mass casualties,” and that it should be regarded as Emergency Status.
Attorney General John Ashcroft’s private staff immediately gave me a telephone number at the Office of Counter-Terrorism, and told me to repeat what I had just told them to the person at that number. Immediately I complied.
Later that week on August 9 or 10, I drove over to the Arlington, Virginia home of my second cousin, Andrew Card — Chief of Staff to President George Bush — ready to deliver the same message. I waited two hours in my car outside of his home. Occasionally neighbors peeked outside their curtains, while I chain smoked cigarettes in the hot car. (Yes, I have quit smoking.) Driving away, I remember thinking that I might be making the greatest mistake of my life.
My Own Private Hell during the Cover Up
I am extremely proud of our team’s efforts before 9/11 and throughout the 9/11 investigation. For all that, Americans are learning about this very late because I got into great big, bad trouble with the Feds when I tried to talk. I suffered five (5) years of indictment on the Patriot Act and one year of prison on a military base without a trial, when Republicans decided to reinvent the facts about 9/11 and Iraqi Pre-War Intelligence, denying Iraq’s contributions to the 9/11 investigation and the existence of a comprehensive peace framework.
Our relationship soured as I became convinced Republicans at the top echelons allowed 9/11 to happen, killing thousands of innocent Americans and international citizens, so they could build a phony case for war against Iraq and Afghanistan.
I was outraged that the American government has done this to itself — as a pretext for military aggression and massive deficit spending in support of the military industrial complex, which is bankrupting the Middle Class. And I was quite vocal in expressing my belief that Americans have a right to full disclosure about our activities before 9/11 and the Iraqi War. And the devil take politicians!
Without question I posed a grave threat to political grandstanding on 9/11 and the myth of Washington’s “outstanding leadership performance on terrorism.” Many times I have thought of myself as Dorothy in the Land of Oz pulling back the curtain on the Wizard, and exposing his deceit before the hapless, trusting Munchkins.
In truth, the spooks did a great job before 9/11. Everything moved with lightning speed ahead of the threat. We could have stopped 9/11 easily if the Justice Department had fulfilled requests for inter-agency cooperation. There was plenty of time to alert NORAD or post an anti-air craft battery on top of the World Trade Center buildings.
That’s why the GOP leadership had to take me out—because I refused to back off that point. If I had been free, the American people and the world community would have learned the truth much sooner.
Controlled Demolition
Unhappily for all of us, because of private conversations with sources like my State Department colleague, I have reached additional conclusions that our team was not the only one at work before 9/11.
Though none of us expected this to happen, I have come to believe that our efforts collided with a force of equal resistance, in the form of an orphan team also watching the events unfolding like us.
As a long-time participant in multiple terrorism investigations, I have personal knowledge that most terrorist attacks are noisy, smoky and chaotic— without achieving maximum destruction of the target. The 1993 World Trade Center attack by Ramzi Youseff and Sheikh Abdul Rahmon of Egypt killed 5 people. The bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in the Port of Aden, Yemen killed 12 people. Without extra push, this 9/11 attack would never have killed so many people either—100 people at the very most.
Add to that a recipe of incompetent pilots — who functioned as Intelligence Assets themselves in a few cases. Again, from personal experience, I know that Assets are heavily scrutinized at all times by handlers from multiple agencies. I am convinced that an inner circle anticipated the event, and saw that their boys flying those planes could not achieve maximum damage sufficient to achieve their war agenda in Iraq.
I cannot blame Americans for feeling overwhelmed, even heartbroken by these revelations. But bottom line: jet fuel fires could not have collapsed both of those Towers, or Building 7, pretty much evaporating the entire steel frame of the buildings into dust and molten steel. Add to that the CIA’s urgent reports that a miniature thermo-nuclear device would be used in the attack — and that’s why I had to stay out of New York City.
The strange nightly activity at the World Trade Center three weeks before the attack clinched it for me. I am 100 percent convinced those Towers were wired for explosives.
Yes, hijacked airplanes struck the towers. But bringing down the Towers to secure War with Iraq required some extra umph.
I cannot speculate who wired the towers with explosives. I could make a guess, but my training as an Asset requires me to stay focused on what I have observed first-hand, and to recognize my own limitations.
So why should the world care? At this point, it is most critical for Americans to stop politicians in Washington from using 9/11 for grandstanding and personal ambitions. The War on Terrorism has perpetrated a fraud on all of us. Those who support the War on Terror are destroying our fiscal economy and our Middle Class.
That’s why Americans must learn the truth about 9/11. It’s reached a crisis point where we must get off this merry-go-round of defense spending. We must end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Otherwise this fraud of 9/11 is going to ruin our great country for all time.
I only hope it isn’t too late already.
SourceThink Progress Editor: I Am In Fear That My Plumber May Have Voted for Trump and Might Further Know That I Am Jewish Seems reasonable. The left has descended not only into madness -- they've been there for a while now -- but into an exhibitionist type of Madness Theater, where they write little vignettes about themselves acting like lunatics, so that they can get attention and applause from other madmen. The left has descended not only into madness -- they've been there for a while now -- but into an exhibitionist type of Madness Theater, where they write little vignettes about themselves acting like lunatics, so that they can get attention and applause from other madmen. Posted by: Ace at 05:05 PM
MuNuvians MeeNuvians Polls! Polls! Polls! Frequently Asked Questions The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick Top Top Tens Greatest Hitjobs News/ChatJamelle Bouie argues that conservatives are simultaneously obsessed with and oblivious to race. Citing Glenn Beck’s accusation that President Obama hates white people and some conservatives’ public delight in the Zimmerman verdict, Bouie contends that conservatives have adopted a distorted and distorting understanding of racism according to which “anyone who treats race as a social reality is a racist.” It follows that:
Because Obama acknowledges race as a force in American life—and because he even suggests that there are racists among us—he becomes the “real racist,” a construction designed to give conservatives moral high ground, while allowing them to insult Obama. After all, for them, “racist” is the worst accusation in American life.
Bouie is right to criticize the naivëté about race that Dan McCarthy mentioned in his defense of Jack Hunter, which is characteristic of talk radio and other political entertainment. But he misunderstands the conceptual frame that many conservatives apply to these issues.
The background assumption in many conservative arguments about criminal justice or affirmative action is not precisely that any acknowledgement of “race as a force in American life” is racist. Rather, it’s that racism refers only to the kind of eye-popping bigotry recently on display in the film “Django”.
Conservatives correctly observe that this kind of overt hatred is rare today. They wrongly conclude from this that legacies of slavery and segregation are not relevant to modern life–and that anyone who says they are must therefore have ulterior motives.
Jonah Goldberg offers a representative sample of this view. In a post several months ago, Goldberg argued that racism “should be defined as knowing and intentional ill-will or negative actions aimed at an individual or group solely because of their race.”
Note the qualifiers: “knowing and intentional”; “ill-will”; “solely”. According to Goldberg, racism is limited to conscious malice independent of any non-racial considerations. And racism, on this definition, is no longer a big problem.
But this definition seriously obscures the role of race in American society, past and present. To mention only an obvious defect, it excludes the ideas about black inferiority that informed the “positive good” defense of slavery. John C. Calhoun was not Calvin Candy, the psychopathic plantation owner in “Django.” But it is obtuse to deny his racism on the grounds that he believed the slave system was beneficial to blacks.
In more contemporary inquiries, the restrictive definition of racism Goldberg suggests conceals systematic inequities in the economy and other spheres of activity. One need not regard every racially disproportionate outcome as the result of discrimination to understand that it is not simply a coincidence that blacks, who have within living memory been been excluded by law and custom from the vehicles of upward mobility, tend to be poorer and less educated than whites. Colorblindness on these issues is more like simple blindness.
Clumsy as it was, Rand Paul’s speech at Howard University in April was a step toward more serious conservative reflection on race. Although he relied implicitly on a definition of racism as conscious bigotry, Paul at least acknowledged that the bigotry of the past has had unconscious and enduring consequences, which have to be the starting point for arguments about policy. The task for conservatives is to make a plausible case that the policies they favor will be more effective in ameliorating those consequences than either the status quo or progressive alternatives. Until then, our black fellow citizens will be correct in their judgment that we are either hopelessly naïve or playing dumb about the unique and heavy burdens that they continue to bear.
Follow @swgoldmanBy now, everybody knows that there’s a big crowd of folks who think something really big is going to happen this year because the Mayan Calendar allegedly ended in 2012 — specifically December 21, 2012
Less well known amongst the masses that are vaguely familiar with the meme is the fact that psychedelic/cyberdelic philosopher Terence McKenna was the original primary source for this notion and for this particular date. (If my memory serves, Jose Arguelles — the recently deceased new age guru perhaps best known for 1987’s “Harmonic Convergence” — originally set a different date for this Mayan-influenced ending of all endings, but if you try to google for data… at least to the limits of my patience… you’ll find that any notice of this is buried beneath the now unified meme that December 21 is the hot date with destiny.)
Both men envisioned not an apocalypse (as per the current dominant meme) but some sort of transmutation of the human condition (a positive apocalypse). While Arguelles’s perceptions were largely influenced by mystical esoterica, McKenna’s vision was much more a hybrid of the mystical and the technological.
Like Ray Kurzweil, McKenna foresaw a world in which technical evolution (he liked to use the word novelty) would keep doubling at an exponential rate until we would hit a singularity. Only McKenna originally envisioned this constant and ever-quicker exponential doubling not by charting technical evolution but by “channeling” the “logos” behind huge quantities of tryptamine hallucinogens in the Amazon.
In McKenna’s singularity, we would unite with “the logos,” after which all of human history and materiality itself would be seen platonically as an idea space and everything — including all proceeding time and human experience — would become, in some sense, our plaything.  And this would happen on December 21, 2012.
While McKenna divined much of his theory from such mystical sources as the i Ching and ideas taken from psychedelic shamanism as practiced in the Amazon, he was also an astute student of developments in hard science, technology and culture and his sense of this drive towards the singularity was at least somewhat “grounded” in how he saw real material and cultural developments.
Thus, when McKenna described his upcoming singularity as a place where the boundary between the exterior and interior collapses and what you imagine “simply comes to be,” it was not just mystical intuition. He would also be following movements towards technologies that allow us to control other technologies with our minds, he would be getting excited about K. Eric Drexler’s prediction of molecular control of the structure of matter; and he would be thrilling to predictions of desktop manufacturing (If you put those three things together, you get something like a world where what you imagine “simply comes to be.). He also jumped on the Virtual Reality train in the early ’90s, as that would be a kind of ecology of mind where this vision would be even easier to realize.
McKenna’s technophilia — to the extend he was a technophile — was not without its ambiguities. He believed technological advance without the intervention of spiritual, psychedelic consciousness and values would be both ugly and lethal.
Still, it would probably be a mistake — one that seems to be made by many current McKenna-philes — to think that Terence would feel confident that this grand transmutation based, only in part, on the Mayan Calendar was going to occur on time despite the fact that the technological training wheels needed to boost us into this platonic state have not yet sufficiently developed (if ever).
McKenna never took his role as a prophet as seriously as some of his disciples now appear to. As a self-admitted “carnival barker†(and how self righteous and humorless have we become that many reading this will find this reason to dismiss him entirely?), there’s a pretty good chance that he would have hopped aboard the 2012 circus for purposes of livelihood and as a context for spreading other aspects of his philosophy, and he probably would have been available to be propped up on a hemp-woven throne at the stroke of midnight at the 12.21.12 global rave, but I feel certain that he would have been much more surprised if December 21, 2012 turns out to be a day of magical transmutation than he would have been disappointed if it does not.There are 18 active users currently online. Comments
S.S. Kobayashi Maru
Merchant Fleet-Neutronic Fuel Carrier Model 34 C-2
Illustrator:Copyright:Summary:
THE S.S KOBAYASHI MARU WAS A MODIFIED KLINGON HASPARATH CLASS MILITARY CARGO CARRIER. A TERRAN ENTRE PRENEUR BY THE NAME OF KOJIRO VANCE DISCOVERED THE SPACECRAFT (WHOSE KLINGON DESIGNATION WAS GAS'TATH) IN ORBIT AROUND BOKTOO, THE RESOURCE RICH PLANET LOCATED NEAR THE FEDERATION - KLINGON TREATY ZONE IN THE KZNTI SYSTEM. GASTATH HAD APPARENTLY BEEN ABANDONED BY THE KLINGONS AFTER UNDERGOING DAMAGE IN A KZNTI RAID AGAINST THEIR OUTPOST ON BOKTOO. KOJIRO VANCE, A KNOWN SUPPLIER OF CONTRABAND MILITARY SUPPLIES TO THE KZNTI PATRIARCHY, TOOK GASTATH UNDER TOW TO BE REPAIRED AND REFITTED AT THE HUDAK FREEPORT. UPON COMPLETION, VANCE RENAMED THE SPACECRAFT S.S. KOBAYASHI MARU, AFTER AN ANCIENT TERRAN AQUATIC STEAMSHIP COMMANDED BY ONE OF HIS ANCESTORS. HE DID NOT REGISTER HIS VESSEL WITH FEDERATION MERCHANT FLEET COMMAND, AND CONTINUED TO OPERATE IN FRONTIER SPACE UNTIL DISCOVERED BY TH E FEDERATION STARSH1P CONSTITUTION IN ORBIT AROUND TI' RUBEN. AS A KLINGON VESSEL, THE S_S. KOBAYASHI MARU (FORMERLY GASTATH) WAS CONFISCATED BY STAR FLEET DIVISION BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE FOR EXAMINATION. VANCE WAS MADE TO PAY A FINE FOR FAILURE TO REGISTER AN INTERSTELLAR MERCHANT. THE MORE SERIOUS CHARGE OF POSSESSING A CONTRABAND SPACECRAFT WAS DISMISSED DUE TO STAR FLEETS INABILITY TO PROVE WHO MADE THE MODIFICATIONS TO THE FORMERLY KLINGON DESIGN FOLLOWING THE INVESTIGATION, VANCE PETITIONED FOR OWNERSHIP OF THE S.S. KOBAYASHI MARU, AND RELUCTANTLY STAR FLEET RETURNED THE CRAFT.
AT THIS POINT, KOJIRO VANCE REGISTERED THE SPACE VESSEL, GIVING AS HIS HOME THE PORT OF AMBER ON TAU CETI IV. FROM THIS PLANET THE MARU FERRIED PASSENGERS AND NEUTRONIC FUEL TO POINTS ALONG THE FEDERATION - KLINGON TREATY ZONE. THIS, HOWEVER, WAS A COVER FOR SMUGGLING OPERATIONS INTO AND OUT OF KLINGON SPACE, WHERE VANCE WAS ABLE TO DECEIVE EVEN THE ATTENTIVE IMPERIAL FLEET WITH AN APPARENTLY KLINGON SPACECRAFT AND ACCURATE MILITARY TRANSMISSION CODES. ITS CURIOSITY PIQUED, STAR FLEET DIVISION BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE PLANTED AN AGENT AMONG THE MARU CREWMEMBERS. VANCE'S OPERATIONS WERE THUS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE, AND PROVIDED VALUABLE DATA FOR SOME TIME. THE S.S. KOBAYASHI MARU'S SHORT LIFE AS AN UNKNOWING SPY SHIP CAME ABRUPTLY TO A HALT ON STAR DATE 3604.11, WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED BY A KLINGON PATROL AND DESTROYED.
FOR SOME TIME RELEGATED TO AN INGLORIOUS SUBFILE IN A FEDERATION LIBRARY COMPUTER, THE TALE OF THE S.S. KOBAYASHI MARU'S DEMISE HAS, OF LATE, GAINED SOME NOTORIETY AMONG STAR FLEETCOMMAND SCHOOL GRADUATES AS BEING ONE OF THE PROGRAM SIMULATION SCENARIOS USED IN THE COURSE OF THEIR EVALUATION.VIEWPOINTS — “You see, the fact is that for years these same individuals – many of them, not all of them, but many of them – who pronounced religious doctrine did not exercise it when young gay and lesbian students were being chastised for expressing their point of view. Where were these leaders of faith when college students of gay and lesbian orientation were beaten and often brutalized for expressing their feelings for each other? … All I’m saying is: Why didn’t they speak about that at the time when it was the other way around? See what really makes a democracy work is when you speak for others rights even when you disagree with them. I’m saying most of the religious leaders that I hear speaking out now did not do it at the time. Had they done so I think they would have better moral standing to speak at this moment on this legislation even though I disagree with them.” —New York Gov. David Paterson, speaking today at a 2,000-person rally in Albany, where supporters and opponents rallied around gay marriage, GENDA and the Dignity for All Students Act (Photo: dnblog1/Flickr)Thirty-eight individuals (mean age: 34.8 years old) participating in a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat were assessed before and after the intervention for psychometric measures, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), circadian salivary cortisol levels, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Participation in the retreat was found to be associated with decreases in self-reported anxiety and depression as well as increases in mindfulness. As hypothesized, increases in the plasma levels of BDNF and increases in the magnitude of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) were also observed. The normalized change in BDNF levels was inversely correlated with BSI-18 anxiety scores at both the pre-retreat (r = 0.40, p < 0.05) and post-retreat (r = 0.52, p < 0.005) such that those with greater anxiety scores tended to exhibit smaller pre- to post-retreat increases in plasma BDNF levels. In line with a hypothesized decrease in inflammatory processes resulting from the yoga and meditation practices, we found that the plasma level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 was increased and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-12 was reduced after the retreat. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, plasma levels of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, including Interferon Gamma (IFN-γ), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) were increased after the retreat. Given evidence from previous studies of the positive effects of meditative practices on mental fitness, autonomic homeostasis and inflammatory status, we hypothesize that these findings are related to the meditative practices throughout the retreat; however, some of the observed changes may also be related to other aspects of the retreat such as physical exercise-related components of the yoga practice and diet. We hypothesize that the patterns of change observed here reflect mind-body integration and well-being. The increased BDNF levels observed is a potential mediator between meditative practices and brain health, the increased CAR is likely a reflection of increased dynamic physiological arousal, and the relationship of the dual enhancement of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine changes to healthy immunologic functioning is discussed.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Thursday that the department is planning to phase out its color-coded threat advisory system over the next three months.
In its place, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to issue “formal, detailed alerts” about “a specific or credible terrorist threat” to law enforcement officials, private businesses – such as shopping malls or hotels – and the American public, depending on the nature of the threat.
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“These alerts will include a clear statement that there is an ‘imminent threat’ or ‘elevated threat,’ " said Napolitano. “The alerts also will provide a concise summary of the potential threat, information about actions being taken to ensure public safety, and recommended steps that individuals and communities can take.”Napolitano, speaking at George Washington University in what she dubbed her first “State of America’s Homeland Security” address, said the new system was developed with the input of law enforcement officials, officials from previous White House administrations and former governors and mayors.The color-coded threat advisory system was put into place following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as a way for the American public to gauge the level of violent threats against the United States based on intelligence that law enforcement officials had received.The incremental risk level is represented by colors — from green as the lowest risk to blue, yellow, orange and red — and the precautionary measures to be undertaken by the government and travel officials, such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), in response would correspond accordingly.But the system, which has largely remained at yellow for domestic travel and orange for national security, has been widely criticized as ineffective. Napolitano acknowledged the frustration of the public and members of Congress with the system.“This means that the days are numbered for the automated recordings at airports, and announcements about a color code level that were, too often, accompanied by little practical information,” she said.The ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), applauded the ending of the color-coded system, saying that many of his fellow lawmakers thought it was used by the Bush administration as “a political scare tactic.”“The old color coded system taught Americans to be scared, not prepared,” said Thompson in a statement. “Each and every time the threat level was raised, very rarely did the public know the reason, how to proceed, or for how long to be on alert.”“Many in Congress felt the system was being used as a political scare tactic — raising and lowering the threat levels when it best suited the Bush Administration.”The chairman of the committee, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), also lauded the decision to end the system, but said he was reserving judgment about the new system until it was implemented.“I expect the biggest challenge for DHS will be balancing the need to provide useful and timely information with the need to protect sensitive information,” said King in a statement.Napolitano heralded many of the agency’s recent undertakings in the areas of cycbersecurity, border security, aviation security and in battling homegrown terrorism, saying that the security of the nation was the strongest it has been in the past 10 years.“The Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, and the entire Intelligence Community, of which DHS is a member, is producing more and better streams of intelligence than at any time in the past,” she said.The new threat advisory system is part of DHS’s push to engage local communities and law enforcement officials in identifying suspicious activity or behavior, which was launched to the forefront last year with the department’s “See something — say something” campaign. That campaign broadcasts pre-recorded messages in major transportation hubs, and Napolitano said the department plans to extend these messages to other highly frequented locations, such as Wal-Marts and sports stadiums.Dozens of students were in the audience on Thursday and Napolitano pushed them to consider a career with DHS, saying that the military’s recruitment poster for World War I depicting Uncle Sam with his finger pointed to the viewer and the words “I want you” was in need of an update.“It is with the greatest respect that I say it’s time for a new recruitment poster,” said Napolitano. “Today, DHS wants you. We want a new generation of Americans to join the fight against the new generation of threats to our homeland.”“All of these positions — all of them — come with the opportunity not only to do great work in this exciting field, but to serve your nation as well.”Napolitano also said that in the event of a terrorist attack, she remains confident that the underlying values of “freedom, hard work, shared responsibility” would persevere.“Common sense would say that in an open society with 8,000 miles of land borders, and 95,000 miles of coastline, a terrorist could get through, or a homegrown one could succeed,” she said. “Even if our enemies were to succeed in pulling off an attack on the homeland, they will never succeed in undermining those enduring values.”A woman is fighting for her life in a German hospital after appearing to spontaneously combust while sitting on a park bench.
Flames sprouted from her as a horrified passerby rushed to her and used his jacket to beat out the fire. But she was severely burned over most of her body.
The incident occurred in Flensburg, in the north of Germany, on Monday evening. The victim is in her 40's and comes from Mauritius.
Police tape cordons off the playground bench where the woman was suddenly engulfed in flames
After being rushed to the local hospital she was later flown by air ambulance to a specialist burns unit in Lubeck where she remains in a critical condition.
'The victim has lived in Flensburg for a long time and has family here,' said the local prosecutor Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt who is probing the bizarre blaze.
Eye witnesses told local media that the woman didn't make a sound as the flames engulfed her.
Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the term used when a human body goes up in flames without an apparent external source of ignition.
SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION - PHENOMENON OR FRAUD? Spontaneous human combustion has been implied as a cause if death in a number of documented cases where police have found corpses burned almost to ashes - but without an apparent external source of ignition. An estimated 200 cases have been found throughout history and victims are often elderly, sick, or under the influence of alcohol, which could explain why they have not been able to escape the flames. Puzzled scientists have come up with the ‘wick theory’ to explain such events. The theory is that the human body can become an ‘inside out’ candle. The person’s clothes are the wick, while their body fat is the wax or flammable substance, that keeps the blaze going. Limbs may be left intact because of the temperature gradient, with the bottom half of the body being cooler than the top. The combustion would not be ‘spontaneous’ however, because it would need an external source to start it off, such as a cigarette. Some have suggested that static electricity could cause the necessary spark.
Forensic investigations have attempted to analyze reported instances of SHC and have resulted in theories regarding potential causes.
These include victim behaviour and habits, alcohol consumption and proximity to potential sources of ignition, as well as the behaviour of fires that consume melted fats.The first in the long running series of games, beginning with the Nintendo Entertainment System and spanning the SNES, the Gameboy, and even the Playstation, as well as having mini-spinoffs which are a lot like Pokemon.
This, the original Dragon Warrior, starts you off in the throne room of the King of Tantegal Castle. He names you the descendant of the legendary Erdrick, who once possesed the Ball of Light. It has been stolen, the Dragonlord’s minions roam the lands, and the Princess is |
license.**Note: This is a story I wrote as part of the introduction of my current SR5 character, Vicar. His friends call him Carlos. You probably don’t need to know his name. The picture which inspired him is from a German SR book. Find it here.
It takes place in the Rox, Boston’s own Barrens. That’s super-ghetto for the jargon-impaired.
I fuckin’ hate the Rox.
My son, Levi, was awake till god knows last night so I figured it was a good time to slip out for some work. Kid should be asleep for at least 12 hours.
Well, that’s just me kidding myself of course. He’ll be up in six. SINless folks don’t have school to go to so it’s not like anyone cares if he sleeps past the crack of noon.
He can read and has, more or less, the whole of the matrix to learn from. Not my scene, but he loves it.
I head down the access ladder from our deliciously illegal loft. See, back in 2050, a bunch of goodie-two-shoes decided to try and gentrify the Rox.
They took a couple outer blocks and half-built some upscale apartments. Then they discovered the contractors weren’t just skimming a little off the top, but nearly half. And the Rox took in a few new blocks.
The Anvils, an all-dwarf gang, built up the building and we have a simple arrangement.
I pay them for this apartment, they keep stealing electricity and water from the ‘plex. Good people. The kind who prefer to stand in front of a stereotype and let people see what they like rather than fight it.
Gives ’em a lot of room to breathe.
Anyway, my day isn’t real planned. I load up my regular kit: An Ares Light Fire 70, two throwing knives, a stun grenade, and my lockpick set. You never know when someone needs to get into a car, right? Put the Light fire in the arm slide for easy use, the grenade in my duster’s pocket, tack on my cheap ‘shades and a smile on my face and I’m set.
I leave the shotgun behind the wall-panel where it’s hidden. It’s important not to leave guns just laying around for kids or cops to find. I need work.
Before I can plan my day all proper-like, I need to descend the fire escape to the second floor’s reinforced rubble heap. Looks like garbage, walks like stairs.
Time for a drink.
The block’s watering hole isn’t a bar proper as much as it’s a room with homemade synthohol and some tables. Even has an automated tab like the fancy people downtown get, from a few salvaged nexi jury rigged together. The bar doesn’t have a name, but it’s why we’ve got such nice matrix access.
It’s still before noon so the only one inside beside myself is the guy who runs it. He used to be a hardcore gangbanger before he decided to settle down and become a house-bandit. Picked up a few local tech-kiddies, got them to teach him how to hack, and set up a serious business.
Well, as serious as business gets in the Rox. They’re small time criminals, but who here isn’t? Anyway, Aric is good people. And some of the hootch he makes is even drinkable.
“Mornin, Carlos.”
“It’s Vicar today, I’m working.”
Aric sighed. We’ve argued about my name more times than I can count in the past few months. Still, I’m regular money and no one refuses that.
“Anything drinkable today?
“Nope. An ale, then?”
“It’ll do.”
I take my table by the corner and activate the burner commlink I’m using this week and punch in the code for the Nexi upstairs. Rather than surfing on what I’m told is, “last year’s shit” I let them do the hard work and use the burner to display.
As it loads up the wider matrix I consider what I need. Cash is low, though we’ve got a few months paid in advance. Might be time to hit up the guys at Tailwings. They usually pay well enough. If only they weren’t such cocks about smuggling. I pushed past my disdain and got to work.
I shoot off a half dozen emails to people I haven’t talked to in a while. I would have sent out a few more, just stirring the pot a bit, but a thought occurred to me.
Yes. Walkabout. Used to have something to do with coming of age in the Australian Outback.
Nowadays it’s about going for a mean strut and seeing what trouble you stumble into. Just the right cure for the mood I felt settling on me.
Aric handed me a “brew” and I chugged the fucker, headed out the door, and got ready for whatever heads my way.
It doesn’t take me long to realize Aric has been trying to brew slagging Hurlg again. What that bastard calls Ale the rest of us call poison. A single pint shouldn’t make a healthy dwarf in the prime of his life tipsy.
And he never puts enough nutmeg in. The philistine.
The first half hour of my walkabout is a bit loose. Most of the riffraff aren’t around with the sun out so high but every so often I see packs of gangs hanging out on corners and whatnot.
It’s not long before I recognize the tell-tale signs of street craps. A bunch of fools hunched over something in an alley, a couple of them flying colors looking out.
Easy money. Just need to put on the right look. I slumped my shoulders, stopped focusing, and meandered towards them. The trick is to look abusable.
I almost walk past them, but stop, appear to look behind the look-outs, and ask if there’s room for another. I make a point to speak to no one in particular.
They disagree and we discuss the matter at length, but my charm and innocence (faked, though it is) win out. There are four gangers crowded around with some non-gang punk and a woman who’s clearly slumming.
A glance to size up everyone leaves me with the following impressions: Limpy is a thin ork. Probably one of those grown-up Betameth babies. The runt of the litter. Smiles, clearly in charge, with one of them trusting smiles and “concealed” streetline special. He has to play Boxman and Stickman himself. The harsh lesson of the streets: If you want it done right.. do it yourself.
To Smiles’ right stands Aces, a cocky fuck. I decide if this goes badly, I’d cripple aces on principle. Human swine. And the last ganger is their Heavy. A reasonable sized troll, if there is such a thing, but he’s got little more than a chain on him. Too much tight fitting clothing, guys.
The other “marks” were fascinating, briefly. Slummer did a decent job of dressing down but didn’t skip a manicure and her hands aren’t covered in dirt. Sloppy, sloppy. And Easy is such a sap I immediately assume he’s a planted ringer.
That twitch in my stomach tells me I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, which only puts a bigger grin on my face. I’ve been in worse with less.
Smiles welcomes me over with all the “New Shooter!” pomp he can muster. It’s not a bad try. Really.
We get down to business without any more pomp or circumstance. We all bet and I roll.
I won’t bore you with the details of who bet what or whose dice were loaded or what they were saying. Let us be sure of two things: Easy was definitely a ringer. And I won more than Smiles liked.
“You’re a cheater.”
I looked smiles in the eye. When you’re lying to someone’s face, it always works best if you give them strong eye contact into one eye. People think it’s harder to fake.
“Like hell I am.”
Slumming girl’s eyes widened, “You’re a cheat!? I thought you were just lucky.”
Aces spoke up, circling around me, “No one’s that lucky, chicky.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re just pissy someone else is winning. Don’t be such a sore loser.”
I took a moment to reassess the situation. The money was floating in a temporary escrow account. They were using a cheap program to do it so they couldn’t close the betting till I made a bet. Aces was cutting off the only exit not covered by two extra mooks.
Between me and that fight were Heavy, Smiles, and Limpy. Getting out of the situation meant changing the balance of power.
I couldn’t be sure of a KO on Heavy. Limpy and Easy weren’t important enough to the gang and Aces was already ready for a fight.
My smile perked up a little higher. With a mental command I set my reflexes to max. This was going to be awesome.
I took two steps up the wall behind me and leapt six feet towards Smiles. In transit I pulled out the grenade in my duster, and triggered the slide which loaded my pistol into my right hand.
I then shoved the gun’s muzzle up to Smiles’ throat and held the grenade above my head with my left hand. Thumb on the pin. He went white.
“We all die, or you pay and I leave.” OK, it was a flashbang. But they didn’t know that.
With only a few moments before shock wore off and they realized they could take back control. I pushed Smiles back with the barrel and he moved.
We moved out of troll’s reach and held the grenade towards the still-stunned crowd. Time to get going. I pushed him as far as I could then eased off a bit.
“Transfer the funds. Now. Hands where I can see them.”
I took a steadying breath. Wired reflexes got jerky if you didn’t keep them under control. That was dangerous. I needed to appear unconcerned and in control.
Smiles took his commlink out and slowly pressed the appropriate buttons. My Commlink popped a notification I’d received 300nu. Not a bad walkabout.
My smile perked. Yes, again. I then shoved my left elbow into Smiles’ groin with as much of my weight as I could manage. His eye bulged and I renamed him Groans.
But that wasn’t going to be enough. I fucking booked it. Full speed towards the alley. The grenade would work but this just wasn’t a big enough score to warrant it. If I wanted measly 70% margins, I’d scam my way into a straight job.
I slipped the grenade into my pocket as I ran and got ready for the hard part.
Aces had already started chasing me before I’d even finished clearing his boss. Easy, Heavy, and Limpy were slower to start, but it wouldn’t matter much. The pair of lookouts weren’t going to just let me get by either.
So I did the only sensible thing. I tried sliding under them. Leftie swung a club wide, but Rightie almost got me with a knife. Bastard nicked my duster.
But I cleared them and ran a hard left staying near the wall. I knew, even as short as I was, I was probably faster than these shitheels.
Then again, I owed Aces a crippling.
So I stopped about four Meters past the alley and turned around into the firing stance my mercenary mentor had taught me. Both hands on the grip, spine elongated, sphincter unclenched. Deep, slow breath in. I knew Aces would break through his friends shortly. Dude was seriously tense.
As if on cue, he burst out of the alley first. I exhaled, sighted the knee he was putting all his weight on to turn, and fired. The little red dot of my laser sight vanished as his knee crumpled under him.
The gun barely made a sound.
With my heightened senses he fell in slow motion. Like some giant killer felling a mighty foe, I fucking rushed away. And the rest of the pile kept chasing me. Heh. Stupid fuckers.
Still, there are some problems with being so short. A few times I thought they would catch up, but after three blocks I’d definitely lost ’em.
I stopped a few minutes later and sat on the street and laughed.
Walkabout indeed!
Might pick up something nice for Levi on the way home…
AdvertisementsWashington (CNN) U.S. leaders at home and abroad are taking steps to increase security and surveillance ahead of the July 4 holiday, following a warning from security officials that such gatherings could be targets of a terror threat.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is following fellow state and city executives Friday in announcing increased security efforts in his state. Cuomo said he directed the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Emergency Management to enhance monitoring of celebrations and events on July 4.
"We are keenly aware that New York State remains a top target for terrorists," the governor said. "As we celebrate with family and friends this Independence Day, I urge all New Yorkers to not only remember the freedoms that we hold dear, but also remain cautious of their surroundings and learn to recognize and report suspicious activity."
In the release, Cuomo said New York state will increase monitoring and communication with local, state and federal emergency management and law enforcement partners in response to a federal government warning.
Read MoreNew Balance executives are publicly calling the Trans Pacific Partnership a bad deal for American workers.Executives of the shoe company said they reached a point of frustration and had to speak up about the treatment that workers need and deserve. The Trans Pacific Partnership would eliminate import tariffs, but impose better worker conditions and food safety in other countries.New Balance opposed the trade pact because 25 percent of its shoes are made in the U.S. In 2015, the company agreed to not go public with their sentiments, but asked the U.S. Defense Department to buy shoes made only in the U.S.“There was no quid pro quo deal,” said Rob DeMartini, CEO of New Balance. “We wanted to compete for a big piece of business that we are very confident we can win in.”The DOD stopped returning the company's phone calls, saying that New Balance shoes don't measure up, executives said. “That’s ridiculous,” DeMartini said. “We’ve been in the business for 110 years. We know American workers can make shoes for American soldiers.”DeMartini said that if the Trans Pacific Partnership goes through, New Balance would benefit financially since 75 percent of its shoes are made overseas, but that’s not what’s important to DeMartini.“It’s more important to us about protecting the jobs and know-how in this country than picking up percentage points on what we import," he said. Politicians are campaigning against the pact, but Congress may hold off the vote until after the election. Get the WMTW App9234908
New Balance executives are publicly calling the Trans Pacific Partnership a bad deal for American workers.
Executives of the shoe company said they reached a point of frustration and had to speak up about the treatment that workers need and deserve. The Trans Pacific Partnership would eliminate import tariffs, but impose better worker conditions and food safety in other countries.
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New Balance opposed the trade pact because 25 percent of its shoes are made in the U.S. In 2015, the company agreed to not go public with their sentiments, but asked the U.S. Defense Department to buy shoes made only in the U.S.
“There was no quid pro quo deal,” said Rob DeMartini, CEO of New Balance. “We wanted to compete for a big piece of business that we are very confident we can win in.”
The DOD stopped returning the company's phone calls, saying that New Balance shoes don't measure up, executives said.
“That’s ridiculous,” DeMartini said. “We’ve been in the business for 110 years. We know American workers can make shoes for American soldiers.”
DeMartini said that if the Trans Pacific Partnership goes through, New Balance would benefit financially since 75 percent of its shoes are made overseas, but that’s not what’s important to DeMartini.
“It’s more important to us about protecting the jobs and know-how in this country than picking up percentage points on what we import," he said.
Politicians are campaigning against the pact, but Congress may hold off the vote until after the election.
AlertMeNatural language processing technologies have become quite sophisticated over the past few years. From tech giants to hobbyists, many are rushing to build rich interfaces that can analyze, understand, and respond to natural language. Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, Google’s Google Home, and Apple’s Siri all aim to change the way we interact with computers.
Sentiment analysis, a subfield of natural language processing, consists of techniques that determine the tone of a text or speech. Today, with machine learning and large amounts of data harvested from social media and review sites, we can train models to identify the sentiment of a natural language passage with fair accuracy.
In this tutorial, you will learn how you can build a bot that can analyze the sentiment of emails that it receives and notify you about emails that may require your attention immediately.
Analyzing Sentiment in Emails
The bot will be built using a mix of Java and Python. The two processes will communicate with each other using Thrift. If you are not familiar with one or both of these languages, you can still read on as the fundamental concepts of this article will hold for other languages as well.
To determine if an email needs your attention, the bot will parse it and determine if there is a strong negative tone. It will then send out a text alert if needed.
We will use Sendgrid to connect to our mailbox and Twilio to send out text alerts.
Sentiment Analysis: A Deceptively Simple Problem
There are words that we associate with positive emotions, such as love, joy, and pleasure. And, there are words that we associate with negative emotions, such as hate, sadness, and pain. Why not train the model to recognize these words and count the relative frequency and strength of each positive and negative word?
Well, there are a couple of problems with that.
First, there is a problem of negation. For example, a sentence like “The peach is not bad” implies a positive emotion using a word that we most often associate with being negative. A simple bag-of-words model will not be able to recognize the negation in this sentence.
Furthermore, mixed sentiments prove to be yet another problem with naive sentiment analysis. For example, a sentence like “The peach is not bad, but the apple is truly terrible” contains mixed sentiments of mixed intensities that interact with each other. A simple approach will not be able to resolve the combined sentiments, the different intensity, or the interactions between the sentiments.
Sentiment Analysis Using Recursive Neural Tensor Network
The Stanford Natural Language Processing library for sentiment analysis resolves these issues using a Recursive Neural Tensor Network (RNTN).
The RNTN algorithm first splits a sentence up into individual words. It then constructs a neural network where the nodes are the individual words. Finally, a tensor layer is added so that the model can properly adjust for interactions between the words and phrases.
You can find a visual demonstration of the algorithm on their official website.
The Stanford NLP group trained the Recursive Neural Tensor Network using manually-tagged IMDB movie reviews and found that their model is able to predict sentiment with very good accuracy.
Bot That Receives Emails
The first thing you want to do is set up email integration so that data can be piped to your bot.
There are many ways to accomplish this, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s set up a simple web server and use Sendgrid’s inbound parse hook to pipe emails to the server. We can forward emails to Sendgrid’s inbound parse address. Sendgrid will then send a POST request to our web server, and we will then be able to process the data through our server.
To build the server, we’ll use Flask, a simple web framework for Python.
In addition to building the web server, we will want to connect the web service to a domain. For brevity, we will skip writing about this in the article. However, you can read more about it here.
Building a web server in Flask is incredibly simple.
Simply create an app.py and add this to the file:
from flask import Flask, request import datetime app = Flask(__name__) @app.route('/analyze', methods=['POST']) def analyze(): with open('logfile.txt', 'a') as fp_log: fp_log.write('endpoint hit %s
' % datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')) return "Got it" app.run(host='0.0.0.0')
If we deploy this app behind a domain name and hit the endpoint “/analyze” endpoint, you should see something like this:
>>> requests.post('http://sentiments.shanglunwang.com:5000/analyze').text 'Got it'
Next, we want to send emails to this endpoint.
You can find more documentation here but you essentially want to set up Sendgrid to be your email processor and have Sendgrid forward the emails to our web server.
Here is my setup on Sendgrid. This will forward emails to @sentibot.shanglunwang.com as POST requests to “http://sentiments.shanglunwang.com/analyze”:
You can use any other service that supports sending inbound emails over webhooks.
After setting everything up, try sending an email to your Sendgrid address, You should see something like this in the logs:
endpoint hit 2017-05-25 14:35:46
That’s great! You now have a bot that is able to receive emails. That is half of what we are trying to do.
Now, you want to give this bot the ability to analyze sentiments in emails.
Email Sentiment Analysis with Stanford NLP
Since the Stanford NLP library is written in Java, we will want to build the analysis engine in Java.
Let’s start by downloading the Stanford NLP library and models in Maven. Create a new Java project, add the following to your Maven dependencies, and import:
<dependency> <groupId>edu.stanford.nlp</groupId> <artifactId>stanford-corenlp</artifactId> <version>3.6.0</version> </dependency>
Stanford NLP’s sentiment analysis engine can be accessed by specifying the sentiment annotator in pipeline initialization code. The annotation can then be retrieved as a tree structure.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we just want to know the general sentiment of a sentence, so we won’t need to parse through the tree. We just need to look at the base node.
This makes the main code relatively simple:
package seanwang; import edu.stanford.nlp.pipeline.*; import edu.stanford.nlp.util.CoreMap; import edu.stanford.nlp.ling.CoreAnnotations; import edu.stanford.nlp.sentiment.SentimentCoreAnnotations; import java.util.*; public class App { public static void main( String[] args ) { Properties pipelineProps = new Properties(); Properties tokenizerProps = new Properties(); pipelineProps.setProperty("annotators", "parse, sentiment"); pipelineProps.setProperty("parse.binaryTrees", "true"); pipelineProps.setProperty("enforceRequirements", "false"); tokenizerProps.setProperty("annotators", "tokenize ssplit"); StanfordCoreNLP tokenizer = new StanfordCoreNLP(tokenizerProps); StanfordCoreNLP pipeline = new StanfordCoreNLP(pipelineProps); String line = "Amazingly grateful beautiful friends are fulfilling an incredibly joyful accomplishment. What an truly terrible idea."; Annotation annotation = tokenizer.process(line); pipeline.annotate(annotation); // normal output for (CoreMap sentence : annotation.get(CoreAnnotations.SentencesAnnotation.class)) { String output = sentence.get(SentimentCoreAnnotations.SentimentClass.class); System.out.println(output); } } }
Try some sentences and you should see the appropriate annotations. Running the example code outputs:
Very Positive Negative
Integrating the Bot and the Analysis Engine
So we have a sentiment analyzer program written in Java and an email bot written in Python. How do we get them to talk to each other?
There are many possible solutions to this problem, but here we will use Thrift. We will spin up the Sentiment Analyzer as a Thrift server and the email bot as a Thrift client.
Thrift is a code generator and a protocol used to enable two applications, often written in different languages, to be able to communicate with one another using a defined protocol. Polyglot teams use Thrift to build networks of microservices to leverage the best of each language they use.
To use Thrift, we will need two things: a.thrift file to define the service endpoints, and generated code to make use of the protocol defined in the.proto file. For the analyzer service, the sentiment.thrift looks like this:
namespace java sentiment namespace py sentiment service SentimentAnalysisService { string sentimentAnalyze(1:string sentence), }
We can generate client and server code using this.thrift file. Run:
thrift-0.10.0.exe --gen py sentiment.thrift thrift-0.10.0.exe --gen java sentiment.thrift
Note: I generated the code on a Windows machine. You will want to use the appropriate path to the Thrift executable in your environment.
Now, let’s make the appropriate changes to the analysis engine to create a server. Your Java program should look like this:
SentimentHandler.java
package seanwang; public class SentimentHandler implements SentimentAnalysisService.Iface { SentimentAnalyzer analyzer; SentimentHandler() { analyzer = new SentimentAnalyzer(); } public String sentimentAnalyze(String sentence) { System.out.println("got: " + sentence); return analyzer.analyze(sentence); } }
This handler is where we receive the analysis request over the Thrift protocol.
SentimentAnalyzer.java
package seanwang; //... public class SentimentAnalyzer { StanfordCoreNLP tokenizer; StanfordCoreNLP pipeline; public SentimentAnalyzer() { Properties pipelineProps = new Properties(); Properties tokenizerProps = new Properties(); pipelineProps.setProperty("annotators", "parse, sentiment"); pipelineProps.setProperty("parse.binaryTrees", "true"); pipelineProps.setProperty("enforceRequirements", "false"); tokenizerProps.setProperty("annotators", "tokenize ssplit"); tokenizer = new StanfordCoreNLP(tokenizerProps); pipeline = new StanfordCoreNLP(pipelineProps); } public String analyze(String line) { Annotation annotation = tokenizer.process(line); pipeline.annotate(annotation); String output = ""; for (CoreMap sentence : annotation.get(CoreAnnotations.SentencesAnnotation.class)) { output += sentence.get(SentimentCoreAnnotations.SentimentClass.class); output += "
"; } return output; } }
The Analyzer uses the Stanford NLP library to determine the sentiment of the text and produces a string containing the sentiment annotations for each sentence in the text.
SentimentServer.java
package seanwang; //... public class SentimentServer { public static SentimentHandler handler; public static SentimentAnalysisService.Processor processor; public static void main(String [] args) { try { handler = new SentimentHandler(); processor = new SentimentAnalysisService.Processor(handler); Runnable simple = new Runnable() { public void run() { simple(processor); } }; new Thread(simple).start(); } catch (Exception x) { x.printStackTrace(); } } public static void simple(SentimentAnalysisService.Processor processor) { try { TServerTransport serverTransport = new TServerSocket(9090); TServer server = new TSimpleServer(new Args(serverTransport).processor(processor)); System.out.println("Starting the simple server..."); server.serve(); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } }
Note that I did not include the SentimentAnalysisService.java file in here since it is a generated file. You will want to put the generated code in a place where the rest of your code can access it.
Now that we have the server up, let’s write a Python client to use the server.
client.py
from sentiment import SentimentAnalysisService from thrift.transport import TSocket from thrift.transport import TTransport from thrift.protocol import TBinaryProtocol class SentimentClient: def __init__(self, server='localhost', socket=9090): transport = TSocket.TSocket(server, socket) transport = TTransport.TBufferedTransport(transport) protocol = TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocol(transport) self.transport = transport self.client = SentimentAnalysisService.Client(protocol) self.transport.open() def __del__(self): self.transport.close() def analyze(self, sentence): return self.client.sentimentAnalyze(sentence) if __name__ == '__main__': client = SentimentClient() print(client.analyze('An amazingly wonderful sentence'))
Run this and you should see:
Very Positive
Great! Now that we have the server running and talking to the client, let’s integrate it with the email bot by instantiating a client and piping the email into it.
import client #... @app.route('/analyze', methods=['POST']) def analyze(): sentiment_client = client.SentimentClient() with open('logfile.txt', 'a') as fp_log: fp_log.write(str(request.form.get('text'))) fp_log.write(request.form.get('text')) fp_log.write(sentiment_client.analyze(request.form.get('text'))) return "Got it"
Now deploy your Java service to the same machine where you’re running the web server, start the service, and restart the app. Send an email to the bot with a test sentence and you should see something like this in the log file:
Amazingly wonderfully positive and beautiful sentence. Very Positive
Analyzing the Email
All right! Now we have an email bot that is able to perform sentiment analysis! We can send an email over and receive a sentiment tag for each sentence we sent. Now, let’s explore how we can make the intelligence actionable.
To keep things simple, let’s focus on emails where there is a high concentration of negative and very negative sentences. Let’s use a simple scoring system and say that if an email contains more than 75% negative sentiment sentences, we will mark that as a potential alarm email that may require an immediate response. Let’s implement the scoring logic in the analyze route:
@app.route('/analyze', methods=['POST']) def analyze(): text = str(request.form.get('text')) sentiment_client = client.SentimentClient() text.replace('
', '') # remove all new lines sentences = text.rstrip('.').split('.') # remove the last period before splitting negative_sentences = [ sentence for sentence in sentences if sentiment_client.analyze(sentence).rstrip() in ['Negative', 'Very negative'] # remove newline char ] urgent = len(negative_sentences) / len(sentences) > 0.75 with open('logfile.txt', 'a') as fp_log: fp_log.write("Received: %s" % (request.form.get('text'))) fp_log.write("urgent = %s" % (str(urgent))) return "Got it"
The code above makes a few assumptions but will work for demonstration purposes. Send a couple emails to your bot and you should see the email analysis in the logs:
Received: Here is a test for the system. This is supposed to be a non-urgent request. It's very good! For the most part this is positive or neutral. Great things are happening! urgent = False Received: This is an urgent request. Everything is truly awful. This is a disaster. People hate this tasteless mail. urgent = True
Sending Out an Alert
We’re almost done!
We have built an email bot that is able to receive emails, perform sentiment analysis, and determine if an email requires immediate attention. Now, we just have to send out a text alert when an email is particularly negative.
We will use Twilio to send out a text alert. Their Python API, which is documented here, is pretty straightforward. Let’s modify the analyze route to send out a request when it receives an urgent request.
def send_message(body): twilio_client.messages.create( to=on_call, from_=os.getenv('TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER'), body=body ) app = Flask(__name__) @app.route('/analyze', methods=['POST']) def analyze(): text = str(request.form.get('text')) sentiment_client = client.SentimentClient() text.replace('
', '') # remove all new lines sentences = text.rstrip('.').split('.') # remove the last period before splitting negative_sentences = [ sentence for sentence in sentences if sentiment_client.analyze(sentence).rstrip() in ['Negative', 'Very negative'] # remove newline char ] urgent = len(negative_sentences) / len(sentences) > 0.75 if urgent: send_message('Highly negative email received. Please take action') with open('logfile.txt', 'a') as fp_log: fp_log.write("Received: " % request.form.get('text')) fp_log.write("urgent = %s" % (str(urgent))) fp_log.write("
") return "Got it"
You will need to set your environment variables to your Twilio account credentials and set the on-call number to a phone that you can check. Once you have done that, send an email to the analysis endpoint and you should see a text being sent to the phone number in question.
And we’re done!
Natural Language Processing Made Easy with Stanford NLP
In this article, you learned how to build an email sentiment analysis bot using the Stanford NLP library. The library helps abstract away all the nitty-gritty details of natural language processing and allows you to use it as a building block for your NLP applications.
I hope this post has demonstrated one of the many amazing potential applications of sentiment analysis, and that this inspires you to build an NLP application of your own.
You can find the code for the email sentiment analysis bot from this NLP tutorial on GitHub.Photo by Amy Goerwitz
Chicago Tribune investigative reporters have put together an excellent series detailing the social and environmental damage being wrought by Illinois’ profusion of industrial hog farms. The series explains in stomach-churning detail everything from animal abuse to worker abuse to chokingly high levels of air pollution to massive fish kills associated with these enormous operations. So at the risk of gilding the manure-soaked lily, allow me to add one more consequence of the failure to adequately regulate factory farming: algae blooms. The kind that fill our inland waters with green sludge, and fuel the massive dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico—an area roughly the size of Connecticut where decaying algae has sucked the oxygen out of the water, making it impossible for anything to live there.
As discussed in the Tribune series, an industrial livestock farm, which houses thousands of animals living closely packed together, generates hundreds of thousands of gallons of waste per year. This is true not only for hog farms but dairy and poultry farms as well. One 2,500 dairy cow operation produces about the same waste load as a city of around 400,000 people—think Minneapolis, or Sacramento. That waste contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, and hence is useful as a fertilizer—in limited amounts. Unfortunately, there is nothing at all limited about the way manure from a factory farm is often applied to land. Since the operators generate way more of the manure than they can use beneficially or sell, their main concern is getting rid of it. Some find ways to do that responsibly, but others simply spread it on crops without regard to whether the crops need it or the soil can absorb it. Sometimes they even spread it in winter when the soil is frozen solid, and cannot possibly absorb any of it.
Photo by NASA
The result is predictable. As soon as the rains come, all that excess waste that’s been spread on the ground—with its copious nitrogen and phosphorus content—runs off into adjacent waterways. When that happens, all of its powerful fertilizing properties fuel the growth of algae in the water, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. A few years back, a modeling study determined that the bulk of the phosphorus delivered to the Gulf comes from manure. And now, manure from Wisconsin dairy CAFOs is a leading cause of another dead zone emerging in Green Bay.
Of course, industrial farming is not the only cause of runaway algae growth. Overuse of chemical fertilizer in row crop agriculture, and phosphorus-laden municipal sewage, all contribute their share. But the Gulf dead zone and the green slime plaguing our waters are one more cost of cheap protein that the public should not be saddled with.The Hulu Live Streaming Channel
Hulu Live Streaming is now available on your Roku devices to stream your favourite movies and videos online. Streaming your favourite movies and videos on Hulu (Hulu Live Streaming) provides a personalized experience to its users.
Hulu Live Streaming brings you live television with channels from CBS, Disney, Fox and few more. You have options to select your favourite program and hide the ones which you do not require.
Apple TV, chrome cast, Android, and Ios are the top devices that support Hulu. Hulu has included more devices like Roku players and Fire TV
The live streaming service supports you to access 50 channels. Some of the top channels include Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, Cartoon Network, FX and a few more. once you have activated the Roku.com/link then you can subscribe your Roku channels.
Sports Channels
Hulu Live Streaming offers regional sports networks like Fox Sports, Comcast Sports Net. There were only a few channels available initially but Hulu, now has several number of channels after its launch.
How to subscribe Hulu Live Streaming
To subscribe Hulu Live Streaming, You should pay a monthly subscription of around 40 dollars. It allows you to stream your Favorite movies and videos anytime.
Cloud DVR option on Hulu Live Streaming
Cloud DVR option is now available which allows you to even record your videos online
Options to shared
Hulu Live Streaming also provides you options to share the subscription with other users and the advanced features have grabbed the attention of many of the users today. Multiple users can share the same account and stream different features.
If you enjoy watching TV series like Walking Dead which is one among the biggest Hit on the TV, then subscribing Hulu is one of the best choices for you.
Hulu with Live TV comes with good quality and provides better streaming service to its users. Hulu Live Streaming has completely redesigned how its applications look like and are preferred by most of the users.
The new interface looks amazing with its clean and user-friendly features. Many of the new users prefer this Interface and choose Hulu Live Streaming to stream their favorite movies and videos.
Apart from its amazing design, Hulu Live Streaming also provides you 50 hours of recording time to record your Favorite show. You also have best options to rewind the episodes which are going live and the live streaming option is excellent when compared to other streaming services.
Once you sign in your Live TV account for Hulu, the page will take you through a watch list from which you can subscribe the favourite channels you require.
Hulu application
Hulu application is organized into five main sections like Home, My Stuff, Browse, Search and the profile settings. A Section called Lineup has a mix of shows like movies and Sports.
Start streaming your favourite |
Neil Patrick Harris and Tony Shalhoub should be entertaining — with Stark Raving Mad, viewers had to settle for decent. In a Monk-meets-Castle plot, Shalhoub plays Ian Stark, an eccentric, practical joke playing horror novelist, who’s teamed with Henry (NPH), a straight-faced book editor. It won a People’s Choice Award for “Favorite New Television Comedy Series” (previous winners include Dharma & Greg and Martin), but was cancelled after less than two dozen episodes.
#14. SNL Weekend Update Thursday (2008-2009)
Episodes: 6 (plus 6 unaired)
It made sense at the time. Like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, SNL loves presidential elections, and the ratings boost that comes with it, but in typical SNL fashion, they overdid things and stretched an amusing five-minute sketch into 22 (although Bill Murray did make an appearance).
#13. Just Shoot Me! (1997-2003)
Episodes: 148
If you hate what happened to David Spade, and there’s no judging if you do, you probably hate Just Shoot Me! It was on this long-running show that Spade transformed from Chris Farley’s straight-man sidekick to the womanizing douche he now plays (and lives) so, um, well, on Rules of Engagement. It was never a totally awful show (well, maybe it was by the end) but it wasn’t exactly subtle humor, either. After all, there’s a freaking exclamation point in the title.
#12. Will & Grace (1998-2006)
Episodes: 194
I’ve always found Will & Grace to be extremely annoying and shrill (until Parks and Recreation, I wondered why people considered Megan Mullally funny), but I must admit it’s probably the best of NBC’s bad bunch (don’t worry, things only get better from here). The show’s only saving grace was Debra Messing, peppy in a non-Jenna Elfman way.
#11. Andy Barker P.I. (2007)
Episodes: 6
Although not quite as good as Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Andy Barker did have Conan O’Brien, Tony Hale, and, of course, Richter, as well an intriguing premise that Bored to Death would Brooklyn-ize a few years later. But it also had an odd distribution plan: all six episodes were streamed on NBC’s website before a single aired on TV. It lasted only four episodes on Thursday, with the final two burned out on consecutive Saturdays, and Richter continues to this day to be known as Conan’s sidekick.
#10. Mad About You (1992-1999)
Episodes: 164
There’s almost no nostalgic fondness for Mad About You, which ran for seven seasons and made household names out of Paul Reiser, whose new Thursday night sitcom premiered last week, and Helen Hunt. That’s a shame, too, because although it wasn’t a great sitcom, it had fantastic characters, especially Hunt and Reiser’s respective families, including Carol Burnett and Mel Brooks. It lasted for two seasons on Thursday before helming NBC’s ill-advised “Must See TV Tuesday” lineup.
#9. Friends (1994-2004)
Episodes: 236
My feelings for Friends can be found here, but for the tl;dr crowd: good at the time, but so many shows tried to replicate its format that Friends-esque quickly burned out, and the show’s blueprint isn’t on TV anymore (and before you say it: How I Met Your Mother is making fun of Friends, rather than paying respect).
#8. My Name is Earl (2005-2009)
Episodes: 96
Many potential viewers, myself included, didn’t give My Name is Earl a chance when it premiered in 2005 because the promos made it look rather Joe Dirt-esque. We were wrong, though: creator Greg Garcia has a unique talent in writing blue-collar characters without restoring to stereotypes, as he’s shown on both Earl and now Raising Hope.
#7. Scrubs (2001-2010)
Episodes: 181
Technically, only 150 episodes aired on NBC, with the other 31 coming on ABC, but the show’s best years, and there were plenty of them, occurred on the peacock network. Some day, Scrubs will get the respect it deserves from comedy fans — hopefully before everyone gets sick of watching syndicated repeats seemingly eight times a day on five networks.
#6. Frasier (1993-2004)
Episodes: 264
Frasier, which only spent three seasons on Thursday, is one of NBC’s greatest achievements. It’s a successful spin-off, an impressive enough achievement, but it also never had any awful years. The quality slipped a little once the show was a decade old, but David Hyde Pierce, playing the obsessive-compulsive Niles, always kept things grounded.
#5. Parks and Recreation (2009-Present)
Episodes: 39+
You’ll soon notice that the top of this list is heavy on shows whose end dates haven’t arrived yet. Whatever the reason for this, it’s nice that we’re living in such a prime time (heh?) for sitcoms, including Parks and Recreation, although I bet NBC would trade Parks for a show as mediocre and popular as Mike & Molly any day.
#4. The Office (2005-Present)
Episodes: 146+
Enough Internet Ink has been spilled praising The Office (rightly so), and even more will come in the next few weeks, so let’s go to a fun fact instead: before signing on as Michael Scott, Steve Carell played Blevin in Come to Papa, an NBC midseason sitcom that lasted only four episodes before cancellation. Maybe Tom Papa, who the show is named after, should play Michael Scott when Carell departs?
#3. Community (2009-Present)
Episodes: 45+
Considering all the accolades I’ve laid on this show since I started recapping it for Splitsider last year, I’m as surprised as you are that Community isn’t one slot higher. But as wonderful as the show is, and I do think it’s the best sitcom out there today, it needs another outstanding season before it jumps…
#2. 30 Rock (2006-Present)
Episodes: 99+
I know I take 30 Rock, a show I rarely think about on the same terms as Louie and either of the last two choices, for granted, but when I’m watching an episode, no program is as consistently excellent as Tina Fey’s comedy vault masterpiece.
#1. Seinfeld (1989-1998)
Episodes: 180
The greatest live-action sitcom of all-time, Seinfeld is essentially the reason Must See TV exists. But the show began on Wednesday nights and was infamously moved around the schedule before finally a time slot that stuck on Thursday in season five. That’s when it evolved from modest hit to pop culture landmark. With all due respect to The Simpsons, no show has shaped not only comedy but also American culture quite like Seinfeld.
Josh Kurp’s favorite Seinfeld quote of the moment: “Yeah, I am Batman.”History shows that the U.S. government earnestly believes military intervention and war can solve any problem.
This was perhaps most ludicrously illustrated when the New York Times reported that the U.S. military would "commit up to 3,000 troops to fight Ebola in Africa." (One could almost see it — thousands of bulletproof vest-clad soldiers, armed to the teeth, bravely shooting at the microscopic virus.) The Obama administration subsequently deployed 1,000 more.
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"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail," stipulates the unbreakable Law of the Instrument. The military is the imperial hammer; any problem empire sees, it crushes with that hammer.
Even while it is presently waging wars (some of which have not officially been declared) in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia, the U.S. military is itching to crush a few more nails in Libya, just over four years after it pummeled the North African nation.
"The Pentagon is ramping up intelligence-gathering in Libya as the Obama administration draws up plans to open a third front in the war against the Islamic State," the New York Times reported this week. "This significant escalation is being planned without a meaningful debate in Congress about the merits and risks of a military campaign that is expected to include airstrikes and raids by elite American troops."
"That is deeply troubling," the Times editorial board conceded. "A new military intervention in Libya would represent a significant progression of a war that could easily spread to other countries on the continent. It is being planned as the American military burrows more deeply into battlegrounds in Syria and Iraq, where American ground troops are being asked to play an increasingly hands-on role in the fight."
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Times that military officials are "looking to take decisive military action" against the growing presence of ISIS in Libya.
But in order to defeat ISIS, we should be asking ourselves: Why is ISIS even there in the first place? The answer, of course, is the 2011 U.S.-backed NATO war on Libya, which was led by Hillary Clinton.
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Creating your enemies
The Obama administration authorized the military to wage war on Libya on shaky legal grounds. Lawyer turned Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald argued at the time that it was illegal. Former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney wrote an entire book detailing why.
The NATO war overthrew dictator Muammar Qadhafi and destroyed the government, leaving a power vacuum, large chunks of which were — surprise, surprise — filled by extremist groups including ISIS.
Numerous militant groups are fighting for control of the country. Some of the extremist rebel groups the U.S. previously supported have turned against it. The internationally recognized government in the east is fighting ISIS affiliates in the north, along with numerous Islamist rebels in the west and tribal militias in the southwest.
The project Libya Body Count, which creates very conservatives estimates of casualty figures based on media reports, documented more than 4,300 deaths in 2014 and 2015.
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Clinton was grilled by Republicans for her response to the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, but what was largely ignored is the fact that downtown Benghazi is now in ruins; enormous swaths of the city are under the control of Ansar al-Sharia, an extremist Salafi Islamist militia that the U.S. deems a terrorist organization.
Before the U.S.'s first war in Libya, ISIS was not present in the country. That is to say, it was the disastrous U.S.-backed NATO war that brought ISIS into Libya. What would possibly make the military think another war is a good idea?
The same is true of Iraq. It was the U.S. war on Iraq — which the U.N. explicitly said was illegal — that led to the rise of ISIS. Al-Qaida was not even in ISIS before American troops invaded. Now not just al-Qaida, but its even more violent and demented sibling has metastasized throughout the region like a cancer.
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Mission creep
There is a term for all of this: mission creep. There are countless examples — and one need not look far back historically.
The Obama administration insisted throughout the first half of 2015 that it would not deploy ground troops to Syria and Iraq. First it just had to carry out airstrikes to save the Yazidis, and we were assured there would be no boots on the ground. Then it just had to carry out months of airstrikes to support groups fighting ISIS, and we were assured there would be no boots on the ground — well, except for those military advisors on the ground. Now, of course, the U.S. is moving toward deploying boots on the ground.
The trajectory in the disastrous U.S. war in Afghanistan has been the same. President Obama promised countless times he would end the war in Afghanistan by 2014. He was reelected on the promise — which he subsequently broke, twice, expanding the war in 2014 and then, in 2015, announcing that U.S. troops would remain until 2017.
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Some politicians, such as Sen. John McCain, want a permanent U.S. military presence in Afghanistan — which it must be noted has critical geo-strategical importance, will be part of the TAPI natural gas pipeline and contains trillions of dollars worth of natural resources.
In the meantime, more than 220,000 Afghans were killed in the first 12 years of the U.S. war, according to a report conducted by the Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
And, according to the same report, in what is admitted to be a conservative estimate, more than 1 million people died in the U.S. war in Iraq. Today, the body count continues to grow.
Libya is simply the next in line.
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The gift that keeps on giving
The chain of reaction is obvious. The U.S. insisted it must invade Iraq because of lies about weapons of mass destruction that it knew did not exist. Then it had to de-Baathify and completely dissolve the Iraqi government. Then it needed a troop surge to fight militant resistance against its illegal military occupation. Then it had to carry out airstrikes against the extremist groups that emerged out of this militant resistance against its illegal military occupation. Then it needed to send more ground troops to combat the extremist groups it could not defeat with airstrikes. Then it had to carry out airstrikes in and send ground troops to another country thousands of miles away to combat the extremist groups that spread to a whole new continent.
This process can and will only continue ad infinitum.
The reasons used to justify these wars constantly change, and yet war continues to remain unpopular — for good reason.
War, so we are told, is "good for the economy"; such is the cornerstone of "military Keynesianism," a dubious economic ideology if there ever were one — particularly considering Keynes himself wrote an open letter to President Roosevelt in 1933, imploring him "to engage in the interests of peace and prosperity," not for "the purposes of war and destruction."
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Such a yearning for endless military intervention appears to be a pathology of the highest degree. And it is. But there are of course external factors, ulterior motivations for endless war.
It is impossible to satiate the bottomless appetite of the military-industrial complex. Arms manufacturers and other military corporate contractors are guaranteed to rake in many millions on a new war in Libya.
There could be a cat stuck in a tree, and one could imagine the U.S. calling in some troops — at the behest of weapons manufacturer lobbyists.
Learning lessons
It must not go unnoticed that, although the Times editorial board now acknowledges a new U.S. war in Libya is a bad idea, it gleefully cheerleaded for the first one.
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The newspaper of record published glowing Op-Eds that waxed poetic on the supposed boons of the war. Applauding "NATO's success in Libya," the U.S. permanent representative to NATO and Europe's supreme allied commander (surely there are no conflicts of interest here) wrote of how NATO helped transform Libya "from an international pariah into a nation with the potential to become a productive partner with the West."
What they really meant, of course, is that, if a country is not a Western ally, it is OK for the West to bomb it into submission, to violently overthrow its leader — whom extremist rebels it backs later sodomizes with a bayonet — and to destroy its government. Future candidates for heads of state can then gloat on large televised media programs, "We came, we saw, he died."
Qadhafi was no doubt a brutal and corrupt dictator (who collaborated with CIA torture, one might add). But in what sense was Libya any more of an "international pariah" than the U.S., which is very unpopular in the world? And not because they hate us because of our freedoms, as President George W. Bush infamously insisted, but rather because they hate our violent foreign policy.
Noam Chomsky has often quipped that the U.S. defines the "international community" as itself and its allies. In a 2002 article in Foreign Policy, the intellectual juggernaut noted that, "Accordingly, it is a logical impossibility for the United States to defy the international community."
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The Times now appears to have actually learned its lesson. The U.S. clearly has not.
The burning question remains: How much longer will the U.S. continue to see the world as a nail?
The answer is simple: As long as it remains an imperial hammer.Model Melania Knauss with Donald Trump for the opening night of the musical “Dance of the Vampires” Dec. 9, 2002, at the Minskoff Theatre in New York. (Mark Mainz/Getty Images)
Newly published nude photographs of Melania Trump, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, have raised questions about the story of her immigration to the United States and how the Slovenian-born former model gained her legal status here — questions that the Trump campaign is not answering.
Melania Trump has said she came to the country in 1996, but the photos were taken in New York in 1995. She met Donald Trump in 1998, and they were married in 2005. So what do we know about how Melania Trump came to the United States?
Q: What has Melania said about her immigration?
A: Melania Trump has said she came to the United States on a legal visa in 1996, got a green card in 2001 and then became a U.S. citizen in 2006.
Melania Trump is a former model, jewelry designer — and potential first lady. Here's your primer on The Donald’s third wife. (Julie Percha/The Washington Post)
“I came here for my career,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in January. “I did so well. I moved here. It never crossed my mind to stay here without papers. That is just the person you are. You follow the rules. You follow the law. Every few months you need to fly back to Europe and stamp your visa. After a few visas, I applied for a green card and got it in 2001. After the green card, I applied for citizenship. And it was a long process.”
Then, in February, she told MSNBC: “I follow a law the way it’s supposed to be. I never thought to stay here without papers. I had visa. I travel every few months back to the country, to Slovenia, to stamp the visa. I came back. I applied for the green card. I applied for the citizenship later on after many years of green card. So I went by system. I went by the law, and you should do that.”
On Thursday, Melania Trump tweeted an additional explanation — but no additional details:
“Let me set the record straight,” she wrote. “I have at all times been in full compliance with the immigration laws of this country. Period.”
Q: Who sponsored Melania to come to the United States? What kind of visa did she hold?
A: The Trump campaign has been vague. This week, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks responded to a list of detailed questions of Melania Trump’s immigration status with only one line: “Melania followed the laws and is now a proud United States citizen.”
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Most of what we know about how she first came to the United States comes from Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-born businessman based in New York who once owned modeling agencies.
He told The Washington Post this week that his agency, Metropolitan Models, sponsored Melania Knauss for an H-1B work visa in 1996 after he spotted her while scouting models in Milan and Paris. Working models are eligible for an H-1B if they can show “distinguished merit or ability” in their field. Zampolli said Melania Knauss qualified based on her past work as a model in Europe.
Q: So she has said she came in 1996?
A: Yes, multiple times. Her official biography in the program of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last month indicated she came to the United States in 1996. So did her biography on the Trump Organization website. That page was recently taken down after it emerged that a line indicating that Melania Trump had earned a college degree at a Slovenian university was false; she studied at the school before dropping out to pursue modeling in Paris and Milan.
Q: But the nude photographs were taken in New York City in 1995?
A: Correct. The photographs originally appeared in the French magazine Max and were published again in the New York Post last weekend. Marc Dolisi, chief editor of Max at the time, told The Washington Post that the pictures appeared in the February 1996 edition of the magazine and had been shot in November or December of 1995. Jarl Ale de Basseville, the photographer, said the shoot was conducted in New York.
Q: How can the discrepancy be explained?
A: Only Melania Trump can explain the discrepancy, which was first reported by Politico. The campaign has not responded to questions asking how those photos could be shot in 1995 if Melania Trump arrived in 1996.
Q: So does that mean Melania Trump was in the United States illegally in 1995?
A: It’s not clear. Dolisi and de Basseville both told The Washington Post that Melania Trump was not compensated for the Max magazine photo shoot. She was a relatively unknown model at the time. Taking part in magazine photo spreads for free is common for models at that level because the exposure can help them secure commercial work.
Q: Why is it important that Trump was not paid?
A: Without pay, she could have been here legally on a visitor’s visa. Foreigners coming to the United States for brief stays can obtain B1 or B2 visitor’s visas allowing them to stay in the United States as either a tourist or a business visitor attending a meeting or other work event. It is, however, illegal to work in the United States on a visitor’s visa; that kind of illegal work has tripped up many other people who wish to legally immigrate to the United States. People applying for or holding a visitor’s visa are asked both at an embassy or consulate abroad and at the port of entry upon arrival whether they intend to work. If they come to the United States planning to work and claim otherwise, that’s immigration fraud.
It is unclear, however, if she got any other kind of compensation during her 1995 stay, such as airfare and lodging.
Q: Did Melania Trump ever come to the United States on a visitor’s visa?
A: We don’t know. The Trump campaign has not answered this question.
Q: Did Melania Trump do any other work in the United States before 1996?
A: We don’t know. The Trump campaign has not answered this question.
When she first arrived in the United States, Melania Trump shared an apartment for a time with Matthew Atalian, a photographer who was friendly with Paolo Zampolli. In an interview, he said she moved in either in 1995 or in 1996 and lived with him for about a year and a half. He said he agreed to let her move in with him at the request of Zampolli, who paid her rent. His understanding at the time, he said, was that she was “fresh” to the United States.
Q: Melania Trump described having to return to Slovenia every few months to get her visa stamped, citing her willingness to undertake these trips as a commitment to complying with U.S. immigration law. Why did she need to do this?
A: We don’t know. The Trump campaign would not answer this question.
Immigration experts said that people who receive H1-B visas typically receive them for three years and are able to renew them for another three years. They expressed some confusion as to why Melania Trump would need to periodically return to Slovenia if she held an H-1B visa. However, several said the specifics of her situation might have required it. Only Melania Trump could describe her own experience.
Q: How did Melania Trump get a green card?
A: We don’t know. The Trump campaign would not answer this question.
A green card allows a foreigner to permanently reside in the United States. It is the golden ticket of the U.S. immigration system and highly sought after by millions of immigrants.
There are several avenues Melania Trump could have pursued to get a green card. She could have won a lottery for people who immigrate from countries that don’t have high immigration rates to the United States.
She could have sought a green card as a person of extraordinary ability, though experts cast doubt that she had been sufficiently successful in her modeling career to qualify in this category.
She could have been sponsored for a green card by an employer who made a case that there were no Americans available to fill a particular job. That process is not easy; it requires the employer to show that they have attempted to fill the job, by advertising it publicly. Michael Wildes, an immigration lawyer who has done work for the Miss Universe pageant and the Trump Organization, said his firm will typically not help models pursue this kind of green card, as it is too difficult to show that a modeling job could not be filled by an American. He said, however, that models can sometimes qualify for a green card on these grounds by seeking employment in a different field for which they are also qualified, like graphic design. Wildes said he did not have permission from the Trump Organization to comment on any specific case, including Melania Trump’s.
Immigrants can also obtain a green card through marriage. Melania and Donald Trump were married in a very public ceremony in 2005, four years after she has said she obtained her green card.
Q: Shouldn’t there be some documents available that would shed light here?
A: Certainly. But experts said Melania Trump’s immigration records would typically not be available for public release without her permission. The Washington Post asked Hicks to release copies of these records; she did not respond to this question.
Q: Isn’t it hypocritical for the Trump campaign not to answer these questions, given that Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration the centerpiece of his campaign? And given that he waged a very public campaign to insist that President Obama release a copy of his birth certificate to prove that he was born in the United States?
[Donald Trump flip-flops, then flips and flops more on H-1B visas]
In March, Donald Trump said he was “totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney. I will end forever the use of H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first.”
A: That’s a question for the voters.
Alice Crites contributed to this report.Have you heard the news? New Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien said some kind words about Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles. He also had nice things to say about Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Meanwhile, Texans owner Bob McNair was gushing over Jadeveon Clowney. He also said the team is open to trading the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. To recap: We have no idea what the Texans are going to do when they're officially on the clock in May.
The pre-draft process is just beginning. Free agency, the NFL Scouting Combine and pro days will all provide insight into how teams value certain players and which direction they could go with their first-round picks. There are a variety of scenarios to consider in the first few rounds, so let's throw in a few trades and extend the mock draft to two rounds to get a different look at the 2014 NFL Draft.
Here goes nothing.
1. Houston Texans - Blake Bortles, Quarterback, UCF
The Houston Texans are throwing up a lot of mixed signals as noted above. From what we know about O'Brien, he seems to prefer a bigger quarterback in the mold of a typical, drop-back passer. Bortles certainly fits that mold. O'Brien also has a strong relationship with UCF coach George O'Leary, which could come into play. Teddy Bridgewater is still the top quarterback on our board. That's unlikely to change between now and May, but it's tough to ignore the buzz Bortles has created for himself. He attacks the intermediate areas of the field well and has the mobility to extend plays. He's certainly in play for the top pick.
2. TRADE Atlanta Falcons (via St. Louis Rams) - Jadeveon Clowney, Defensive End, South Carolina
Here's our first trade. The Falcons give up their second-round pick to move up from No. 6 to No. 2. The Rams don't have needs that match this pick, so it makes sense for them to move down and collect more value. St. Louis fans may get annoyed with the team moving back again, but it could happen if a team is willing to move up for one of the top players in this draft.
Atlanta desperately needs an edge rusher, and there's a considerable gap between Clowney and the next-best player at the position. Clowney may have had a down year, according to some, but he still looked every bit as explosive and physically dominant as a junior. The word "rare" is thrown around too often when discussing NFL Draft prospects, but if one player fits that description, it's Clowney.
The Falcons need to pull themselves out of the cellar. We need to see more of this from Thomas Dimitroff.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Teddy Bridgewater, Quarterback, Louisville
The Texans might regret passing on Bridgewater. They will really regret it if he ends up becoming a Jacksonville Jaguar. Bridgewater has been getting knocked for his frame. He's a bit short and could stand to add a few pounds. His size doesn't make him any less of a quarterback prospect, though. Instead of fretting over 10 pounds or a few inches on his frame, teams should pay close attention to Bridgewater's ability to sense and deal with pressure in the pocket and his consistent display of accuracy on all levels of the defense. He still needs to refine his vertical passing game, but Bridgewater has the arm strength and anticipation to be a big-time passer. The Jaguars are obviously in dire need of a quarterback, and they get a gift here as the best prospect at the position falls to them at No. 3.
Teddy approves.
4. Cleveland Browns - Johnny Manziel, Quarterback, Texas A&M
The Browns' interest in Johnny Manziel has been documented. A report even surfaced that Cleveland would be willing to trade up in the draft to get him. Debate Manziel's pro potential all you want, but it's becoming more and more likely that he will be a top-five pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He's improved both his footwork and arm strength since winning the Heisman Trophy. Some team will fall in love with his ability to extend plays and willingness to take shots downfield.
5. Oakland Raiders - Jake Matthews, Offensive Tackle, Texas A&M
With the No. 5 pick, the Raiders are on the outside looking in when it comes to landing a quarterback in the 2014 NFL Draft. Instead, they address the offensive line. Jake Matthews can play either tackle spot and would be able to contribute right away in Oakland. He's also the best player on the board, and he fills a need for the Raiders.
6. TRADE St. Louis Rams (via Atlanta Falcons) - Sammy Watkins, Wide Receiver, Clemson
St. Louis is able to trade back and still land one of the top prospects in the 2014 class. If the Rams are planning to stick with Sam Bradford at quarterback, surrounding him with weapons has to be a priority. While the team drafted Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey a year ago, neither has the skill set that Sammy Watkins does. Bradford wouldn't have many more excuses for plays like this if he had Austin and Watkins to throw to.
7. TRADE Pittsburgh Steelers (via Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - Greg Robinson, Offensive Tackle, Auburn
New Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said the team is willing to trade down this year. Most general managers will say that at some point before the draft, but it takes the right scenario for a trade to fall into place. If the Buccaneers decide they are happy with the offensive tackles on their roster, they could look to any of the needy teams picking later in the first round and gauge interest in Auburn's Greg Robinson.
The Steelers haven't had a ton of success drafting offensive tackles in recent years, and Robinson would be the type of mauler they covet. Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert has a history of moving up when the situation calls for it. Landing a player like Robinson could be that type of situation.
Ben Roethlisberger would be almost as excited about this pick as he was about the Royal Rumble on Sunday.
8. Minnesota Vikings - Khalil Mack, Linebacker, Buffalo
The Vikings are picking too late to land one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft, so they have a few options. They could try to trade up and land one of the big three. They could reach for Fresno State's Derek Carr. Or they could stay put and try to find a pass rusher. Khalil Mack isn't a traditional defensive end, but his versatility would bring an explosive element to Minnesota's front seven.
9. Buffalo Bills - Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix, Safety, Alabama
Jairus Byrd's contract situation will be a key story to follow in Buffalo. If Byrd gets away this offseason, the Bills could address safety early in the 2014 NFL Draft. So many teams in the NFL need safety help, and Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix is the clear top prospect at the position. As a result, it wouldn't be shocking to see him climb into the top 10 by the time the draft rolls around. He was trusted with more responsibility this season and handled it well. He has superior range to other safeties in this class and can play in the box to support the run when needed.
10. Detroit Lions - Justin Gilbert, Cornerback, Oklahoma State
The Lions went from playing quite a bit of zone coverage in 2012 to a scheme that required their cornerbacks to play more press coverage in man-to-man situations. Detroit needs to find more cornerbacks who fit the mold of a press cornerback. Oklahoma State's Justin Gilbert is at his best when he's asked to play close to the line of scrimmage and jam a receiver. He has the hips to turn and run with anyone. It's only when he's asked to play off the line of scrimmage that his footwork suffers.
11. Tennessee Titans - C.J. Mosley, Linebacker, Alabama
While Tennessee has been stockpiling speedy outside linebackers, inside linebacker remains a big hole on its defense. Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley seems to be slipping a bit after an underwhelming end to his senior season. Still, he's rarely taken out of position and his ability to play sideline to sideline would fit nicely with what the Titans have looked for in their linebackers.
They may also have a Jake Locker problem to deal with at some point. But we can talk about that later.
12. New York Giants - Xavier Su'a-Filo, Offensive Guard, UCLA
The Giants have been adding pieces to their offensive line in recent years, but guard remains an area of concern for this team. Zack Martin of Notre Dame was generating buzz at the Senior Bowl, but UCLA's Xavier Su'a-Filo is our top-ranked guard prospect. He has versatility New York will appreciate and the movement skills to make him worth this slot.
13. St. Louis Rams - Calvin Pryor, Safety, Louisville
St. Louis has built one of the best front sevens in football, but the back end of the defense still needs work. Enter Calvin Pryor. Safeties could be pushed up draft boards this spring because of how many teams have a need at the position. Pryor finished the season strong and is our No. 2 safety at the moment.
14. Chicago Bears - Kony Ealy, Defensive End, Missouri
The Bears could be toying with a move to a 3-4 defense, but at the very least it seems Chicago is exploring the idea of playing a variety of fronts. Chicago needs to add some talent on the defensive line regardless, and Missouri's Kony Ealy is the type of player who could fill multiple roles in a variety of defenses. The Tigers used a few different packages this season, giving Ealy a chance to play end in both a three-man and four-man front, and tackle in a four-man front. He even has the ability to stand up and play in space. After the NFL Scouting Combine, Ealy should cement his status as a top-20 pick.
15. TRADE Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Pittsburgh Steelers) - Eric Ebron, Tight End, North Carolina
The Buccaneers would likely entertain the idea of drafting North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron at No. 7 overall. In this mock, they're able to trade down and still land the most dynamic receiving tight end in the draft. Unless the Buccaneers go after a quarterback early, surrounding Mike Glennon with weapons should be a priority this offseason.
16. Baltimore Ravens - Mike Evans, Wide Receiver, Texas A&M
Mike Evans makes too much sense for the Ravens. Joe Flacco missed having Anquan Boldin to win one-on-one battles on the outside this season. Torrey Smith has developed into a dangerous vertical threat on the outside, and a physical wideout like Evans would complement him well. Maybe if he gets some more weapons, Flacco can stop beating himself up.
17. TRADE - New England Patriots (via Dallas Cowboys) - Jace Amaro, Tight End, Texas Tech
Bill Belichick has been known to trade down in the NFL Draft, but when he sees value he's never been afraid to pull the trigger. The Patriots should have enough ammunition to move up a few spots to get in front of the Jets and draft a tight end. Jace Amaro may be the best all-around tight end in this class. With the issues New England has had at the position in the last 12 months, Amaro would be a welcome addition to the offense.
18. New York Jets - Marqise Lee, Wide Receiver, USC
Whatever the Jets do this offseason, they can't enter 2014 with the same group of wide receivers that made Geno Smith's rookie season a struggle. If Smith is going to take a step forward, he needs more playmakers to work with. Injuries slowed down Marqise |
lynyk and Miami's James Ennis. Olynyk led the C's with 20 points and Ennis, who played overseas last season, posted 18 points and eight rebounds.
Missing from action was James Young, the 17th overall pick of the Celtics out of Kentucky, who didn't play for precautionary reasons after getting into a minor car accident a couple of weeks ago.Gold vs Real Estate
A lot of investment advisors are touting gold as a hedge against a weakening economy amid global uncertainty. On the flip side, ongoing weakness in the US economy has brought down real estate prices. So what’s a better investment now – gold or real estate?
Gold Fundamentals
In an article in the Wall Street Journal on July 12, 2010 titled “Why Gold Is The Worst Investment Right Now,” James Altucher explains that gold was at roughly $800 an ounce in 1980, which works out to about $2,000 in today’s dollars adjusted for inflation. Gold currently trades at $1,752 an ounce. So, Altucher believes that over the past 32 years, gold has not even kept up with inflation and has lost about 40% of its “inflation-adjusted” value since 1980.
Moreover, as the chart above shows, gold prices have spiked in recent years, making some feel that gold is a less-than-attractive investment right now. Indeed, the recent pullback from highs earlier in the year might suggest that gold is losing its luster. Still others, ever bullish on gold, may believe that pullbacks such as this one are ideal opportunities to buy, and base their gold-investment thesis on imploding European economies, the Arab Spring, deepening tensions between Iran and Israel over nuclear weapons, economic slowdown in the emerging markets, and so on.
A July 2010 article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) sent gold and financial markets in a tizzy. The article was titled “Central Banks Swap Tons of Gold To Raise Cash, Surprising Market.”
It basically said that a few European central banks had borrowed close to $14 billion from the Bank for International Settlements and pawned 346 tonnes of their gold reserves as collateral. This, in effect, provided more gold for purchase and dampened gold prices back then.
On the day the WSJ article ran, China announced that it was not planning on buying more gold for its own reserves. This dashed the hopes of gold bulls who were hoping that large-scale buying by Asian central banks would move gold prices higher. And China’s announcement added to the negative repercussions from the European Central Bank’s move to pawn its gold away.
Moreover, who has money to buy gold today? Certainly not your average citizens because they’re hurting from high unemployment, a weak jobs market, weakness in housing and salary cutbacks in a globally weak economic environment – and have little extra cash to buy gold, especially at such elevated high prices. And if unemployment stays high, retail gold held by individuals and families could soon find its way into the market through pawn shops, and again move gold prices lower.
All these developments are bearish for gold which could go down sharply in the years ahead, potentially back to $1000 or less.
Warren Buffett, too, has famously commented on humankind’s bizarre obsession with gold: “It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”
On the flip side, gold bulls point to the weaknesses in our current fiat system of money where we just keep printing money out of thin air causing the currency in circulation to rise inexorably while our own dollar holdings get substantially depleted by inflation. The graph below, for example, shows how the dollar’s lost purchasing power over the years.
They also point to graphs like the one below that shows, in nominal terms, that gold prices have consistently risen over time.
Extreme gold bulls also see a repeat of some sort of hyper-inflation on the cards and project that this will make gold and silver shoot up in value, with predictions of gold going all the way up to $8,000/oz. What’s more, these bulls don’t see these price gains as temporary bubbles that will eventually burst but as permanent new levels based on fundamental supply and demand for gold.
But as we noted earlier, gold prices should be compared to how well they’ve done relative to inflation and whether gold truly has been a good investment choice.
Real Estate
When compared to gold or even stocks, real estate apparently came out ahead, according to a paper written by Robert Shiller of Yale University.
Shiller’s graph (above) shows a steady rise in real-estate, remarkably unperturbed by macro-economic fluctuations and stock market meltdowns such as the dot-com crash post 9/11. Where even the savviest financial investors could not escape the stock market’s wrath, real-estate investors did nothing and happily saw their assets steadily rise in value.
Also note that while stocks lost value from Mar-00 to Jun-06, real-estate climbed about 56%.
Another interesting chart (below) reaffirms the attractiveness of real-estate. The chart essentially shows that US home prices have consistently appreciated in value year-over-year. Note that for the period shown, appreciation never dipped below the 0% line, indicating continuous growth in U.S. home prices.
Over the past few years though, home prices have corrected significantly and are now back to where they were around 2002 – 2003. The surge in home prices during the dot-com millionaire boom and then again in the mid-2005 timeframe appears to now have corrected itself, with home values falling through the mortgage financial crisis of 2008-2009. Prices now appear to reflect a long-term growth trend that keeps home prices just above inflation, with about a 4% annualized gain. In this low interest rate environment, many real estate investors are also looking at rental incomes paying off monthly mortgage payments – making real estate look attractive again.
While foreclosures were at their peak a few years ago, banks have consciously worked to slow the release of their foreclosed real estate inventory to keep prices from falling even lower, and have sort of contained the free fall in home prices. Yet, even though prices have stabilized, the low interest rate environment makes this a good time to buy.
That said, a double-dip recession or some extraordinary black swan event could rock the US economy sizably. In fact, many top economists foresee a lot of bad in the years ahead and are cautioning investors to not get lulled into thinking the worst is behind us. They warn of a very severe storm waiting off our shores.
Real estate investors that want to hold for the long run will weather any storm that may come ashore – simply because all relevant economic, individual freedom and demographic metrics point to the US still being the # 1 destination for creative minds and hard-working people from all over the world. So, over the long run, someone will likely look back and say, “why didn’t I buy more real estate back then when it was really cheap??
When normalcy returns and people do not fear for their jobs as much as they do now, one of the first things they’d want to do is buy a house. And that demand will result in rising home prices.
While gold has no utility, as Buffett says, housing and real-estate are irreplaceable in our lives because they have tremendous utility.
Summary
So which one’s really better – gold or real estate? The answer unfortunately is not crystal clear – it all depends on how you like to build and manage your portfolio and the kinds of risks you’re willing to take. If things don’t get much worse, gold could fall 50% in value over the coming years while home prices could hold up or even rise. But if an economic storm hits us, gold could shoot higher and real estate could fall 50%. But real estate gives you utility, it gives you rental income, can be bought using a mortgage and does not directly burn a hole in your pocket as gold does… so you decide, who do you want to marry?[display_podcast]
Date: January 29th, 2015
Guest Skeptics: Dr. Matt Dawson. Director of Point of Care Ultrasound at the University of Kentucky. Co-creator of Ultrasound Podcast, Introduction to Bedside Ultrasound digital textbooks, One Minute Ultrasound smartphone app, Sonocloud.org, and other random ventures. Matt has also received numerous teaching awards.
Dr. Mike Mallin. Director of Emergency Ultrasound and the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at the University of Utah. He is particularly interested in echocardiography and has sat for and passed the Echo Boards. He is published in multiple journals that can be found in a trashcan near you.
Case: 23-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with sudden onset of vaginal bleeding and lower abdominal pain. There has been no change in her bowel or bladder habits. She has a history of irregular periods, does not know when her last “normal” period was and has never been pregnant. She is sexual active and sometimes uses condoms.
Her vitals are blood pressure 110/70, heart rate 90, afebrile and oxygen saturation 99% on room air. Abdominal exam reveals a tender suprapubic area, volunteer guarding with positive bowel sounds. The pelvic exam is normal. Urine pregnancy test is positive. You are concerned about an ectopic pregnancy.
Background:
Ectopic pregnancies represent approximately 2-3% of all pregnancies
Leading cause of 1 st trimester maternal death
trimester maternal death Higher incidence in in vitro fertilization population
Less than half of emergency department patients present with the classic abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding
50% of patients with ectopic pregnancies have no identifiable risk factors
Ectopic pregnancies represent a significant medical-legal risk. The Canadian Medical Protection Association (CMPA) reviewed all the ectopic cases from 2003 to 2007. They found 23 total open and closed cases. Of the 17 closed cases, delayed diagnosis was the number one reason for the medical/legal problem. There were 10 tubal ruptures and no maternal deaths in this series.
Experts thought the following factors contributed to the diagnostic delay:
Delay in attending the patient
Failure to perform a pelvic examination
Failure to perform appropriate diagnostic investigations in women of reproductive age who presented with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding
Inadequate systems for the follow up of diagnostic investigations and/or patients
Based on the College decisions in the cases presented and the opinions of experts in the other cases, the following risk management considerations are suggested:
Have you considered the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy when a woman of reproductive age presents with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding? Are you familiar with the current clinical practice guidelines for the investigation and management of suspected ectopic pregnancy? Have you performed the appropriate physical examination and arranged for any appropriate diagnostic investigations? Is there a system in place to facilitate timely follow up of investigations and/or patients? Does the documentation reflect your clinical impressions at the time of assessment, discussions with consultants, and patient instructions?
Clinical Question: Does this woman have an ectopic pregnancy?
Reference: Crochet, J.R., Bastian, L.A., Chireau, M.V. Does this Woman Have an Ectopic Pregnancy? JAMA. 2013;309(16):1722-1729.
Population : Medline and EMBASE for English articles from 1965-Dec 2012. Included 14 studies (n=12,101) of women with confirmed pregnancy, abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding or clinical suspicion of ectopic in early gestation.
: Medline and EMBASE for English articles from 1965-Dec 2012. Included 14 studies (n=12,101) of women with confirmed pregnancy, abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding or clinical suspicion of ectopic in early gestation. Intervention: Physical exam findings, lab tests (bHcg) and transvaginal sonogram
Physical exam findings, lab tests (bHcg) and transvaginal sonogram Comparison: None
None Outcome: Diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, confirmed by surgical visualization and/or clinical follow-up
Authors’ Conclusions: “Symptoms of abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy warrant an trans-vaginal ultrasound in order to rule out ectopic pregnancy. This is the single best diagnostic modality in making the diagnosis.”
Quality Checklist for Systematic Review Diagnostic Studies:
The clinical problem is well defined – Yes Comment: Revenant study looking at ruling out ectopic pregnancy in known early pregnancy with abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding. The mortality/morbidity risk of ectopic pregnancy makes this a clinically relevant issue for early diagnosis and treatment in the ED. The study population represents the target population that would normally be tested for the condition included (i.e. no spectrum bias). Yes The study population included or focused on those in the emergency department. Unsure The study patients were recruited consecutively (i.e. no selection bias). No The diagnostic evaluation was sufficiently comprehensive and applied equally to all patients (i.e. no evidence of verification bias). Yes All diagnostic criteria were explicit, valid and reproducible (i.e. no incorporation bias). Yes The reference standard was appropriate (i.e. no imperfect gold-standard bias). Yes All undiagnosed patients underwent sufficiently long and comprehensive follow-up (i.e. no double gold-standard bias). Unsure The likelihood ratio(s) of the test(s) in question is presented or can be calculated from the information provided. Yes The precision of the measure of diagnostic performance is satisfactory. Yes
Key Results: Among the 14 articles that were chosen to be included, the summary prevalence of ectopic pregnancy was 15% (IC 10-22%, I=96%).
The positive likelihood ratios (+LR) for history and symptoms were less than 1.5, indicating limited clinical value.
A discriminatory zone for beta HCG levels is still not determined, and a single level cannot rule out ectopic pregnancy.
Transvaginal ultrasonography was the best diagnostic modality with a +LR of 111 when there was an adnexal mass or no intrauterine pregnancy. The –LR was also very good at 0.12 but with wide confidence intervals (0.03-0.55).
As a systematic review, this study was well conducted with a good array of studies and minimal biases present. The clinically relevant outcomes of maternal and fetal mortality make the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy an important issue.
The robust positive likelihood ratio for transvaginal ultrasonography makes this diagnostic modality excellent for diagnosing ectopic pregnancy, if and when it is available. The common clinical conundrum comes from differentiating between ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, for which this study provides useful exam and diagnostic tools.
Out of 10,890 abstracts that were initially reviewed, 14 articles were chosen for analysis based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The studies were found using only MEDLINE and EMBASE, therefore a selection bias would be present, as all non-published studies or negative studies would not be included.
Also, all non-english trials would also be excluded; however, ectopic pregnancy is a universal concern. The search strategy “previously published in The Rational Clinical Examination series” is not easily accessible.
In the studies that were included, some were based on “clinical impression” based on symptoms, however, the symptoms were not specifically stated. This could underestimate the effect of the specific symptoms, thereby leading the readers to rely more heavily on diagnostic modality and forgoing important clinical examination techniques.
The review is aimed at emergency medicine and primary care physicians; however, clinical setting was not identified in the studies chosen. As most early pregnancies would generally present to the ED or clinic setting, this can be assumed, however, deviation from this would affect the generalizability of the study. Their length of follow up was also uncertain.
There is heterogeneity amongst who is performing the ultrasound. Furthermore, the study aimed to look at ultrasounds performed by the “bedside clinician”, as noted by the authors could account for the large heterogeneity (I2=88%) with the test results. The operator variables were also not explored here; therefore we are unable to say how this translates to bedside ultrasonography in the ED.
Comment on Authors’ Conclusion Compared to SGEM Conclusion: Would be wary with who is performing and interpreting the ultrasound, but the strength of the +LR (111) makes this an excellent diagnostic modality for ectopic pregnancy regardless.
Also must be careful not to undermine utility of history and physical examination in any patient encounter.
SGEM Bottom Line: Transvaginal ultrasonography is an excellent test for diagnosing ectopic pregnancy.
Case Resolution: You perform a bedside transvaginal ultrasound and identify an ectopic pregnancy.
You page the gynecology team who comes and takes over her care. Then it’s off to an ultrasound on a man suspected of renal colic before someone orders another CT.
Clinical Application: In women with early pregnancy who present with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, physical examination findings of cervical motion tenderness, peritoneal findings, adnexal mass and adnexal tenderness are not useful enough to rule in or rule out the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy.
However, transvaginal ultrasonography is the single best test for diagnosis. Clinical disposition and follow up can then be determined based on the stability of the patient and the findings on exam.
What Do I Tell My Patient? I am concerned that you are having a pregnancy outside the uterus. This is called an ectopic pregnancy. These pregnancies are often in the tube and are called tubal pregnancies. It is a very serious condition and can even be deadly. We have a test called an ultrasound, which is very good at finding out if you have an ectopic/tubal pregnancy.
Keener Kontest: Last week’s winner was Ethan Cassidy from Western University. He knew Guatemala was the country where a series of experiments were conducted from 1946 to 1948 by the U.S. government. Subjects were intentionally infected with sexually transmitted diseases to test preventative and treatment measures for conditions that included gonorrhea and syphilis?
Listen to the SGEM podcast for this weeks question. If you think you know the answer send an email to TheSGEM@gmail.com with “keener/gunner” in the subject line. The first person to correctly answer the question will receive a cool skeptical prize.
Upcoming Conferences:
Costa Rica February 9th-13th, Emergency Medicine and Acute Care
Montreal April 9th-11th, Society of Rural Physicians of Canada
San Diego May 12th-15th, Academic Emergency Medicine
Edmonton May 30th-June 4rd, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
Chicago June 23rd-26th, Social Media and Critical Care ConferenceFuture Outlook of Military Cooperation between Iran and Russia
Hossein Kebriaeezadeh
Expert on Middle East Issues
Any assessment of military cooperation between Iran and Russia would be meaningless outside the general framework of the two countries’ relations. Therefore, study of the two countries’ relations and approaches to each other will shed more light on the future outlook of military cooperation between these two neighbors, who seek revision in the global order.
It must be admitted that relations between Iran and Russia have their roots in a background of suspicions and misunderstandings and are, therefore, quite vulnerable. Historically humiliating experiences of two Golestan and Turkmenchai treaties, which led to disintegration of Iran under the Qajar rule, and the occupation of the northern parts of Iran by Russians during World War II have forced Iranians to historically look upon Moscow as an untrustworthy party which is prone to breaching its promises. Of course, such bitter experiences are not just about past relations between the two countries. Major examples of bitter experiences that Iran has had with its northern neighbor in contemporary times can be summarized as great delay on the part of Russia for making Iran's nuclear power plant operational in the southern port city of Bushehr; limitations for Iran in the Caspian Sea; lack of Russia’s active support for Iran in the course of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear case; Russia’s close relations with Israel; Moscow’s lack of commitment to the two countries’ security and weapons agreements, and many other similar cases.
The wall of perceptual distrust between the two sides is so high that Iranians believe that Russians look at Iran from an instrumental and tactical viewpoint, considering Iran as a country whose foreign policy problems they can use at regional and global levels and take advantage of it as a card in bargaining with the West. On the other hand, Russians believe that relations with Iran are only limited to challenging and troublesome areas, which cost Moscow very dearly.
This difference in the two countries’ perception of each other has sometimes abated at certain junctures, but when dispute between Iran and the international community over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear case escalated and led to passivity and isolation of Iran, Iranians’ pessimistic view of Russians’ unconstructive positions in the nuclear case was intensified.
The conditions, however, suddenly changed following achievement of Iran's nuclear deal after which Iran's maneuvering room increased, especially in the field of trade and commerce. Russians have also understood new conditions correctly and have been talking about their country’s commitment to weapons agreements with Iran, especially for the delivery of S-300 missile systems.
Fluctuating relations between the two countries apart, when the overthrow of a government, which was a friend and ally to both countries, that is Syria, was at stake, Iran and Russia engaged in the most prominent example of their military cooperation on the Syrian soil. In Syria, it seemed that the two countries have been realistic enough to come up with an acceptable conclusion and formula by combining Iran's idealism with Russia’s pragmatism. Realization of this high level of cooperation between these two actors, in view of differences in the field in Syria, managed to reduce the two sides’ security concerns about the possible overthrow of their common friend to a large extent. However, it also proved that due to different approaches taken by the two sides to the Middle East and the different effect that the two actors have on regional developments, this form of regional cooperation can take shape in short term and in a tactical manner merely to meet their higher priority security goals.
Although conditions have changed between Iran and Russia, however, Russians’ behavior with regard to selling arms to Iran is still such that it makes Iranians pessimistic toward their northern neighbor. Russians have never been willing to see another country with extraordinary military capabilities around the Caspian Sea and have not been committed to their strategic weapons contracts with Iran. A prominent example of this situation was their reluctance to deliver the S-300 missile system to Iran. This missile system is just meant for defensive purposes and even when sanctions escalated against Iran through sanctions resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council, they were not covered by those restrictive measures. Russians, however, stopped delivery of this missile system to Iran in 2010 and even when anti-Iran sanctions were mostly removed, Russians did not show any willingness to deliver it to Iran. Although the process of security and military cooperation between Iran and Russia started in 1991 and despite high-level meetings between the two countries’ military officials and conclusion of relevant agreements, this approach, which has been taken by Russia, has affected military relations between the two sides.
Despite these cases of breach of promise, Iranians have been patiently waiting for Moscow’s military assistance. In view of the content of the Security Council resolution that confirms Iran's nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even in the era that follows the conclusion of JCPOA Iran will have problems for buying heavy weapons for the next five years. That limitation even extends to eight years when it comes to transfer of missiles and missile technology to the country. Therefore, in view of regional tensions and unrest in peripheral regions of Iran, Tehran does not want to suffer from such weaknesses as lack of modern and effective armored units, which dealt heavy blows to the country’s forces during the war between Iran and Iraq.
Therefore, Vladimir Sazhin, a Russian analysts of political issues believes that Tehran is willing to take advantage of Russia’s military advances by purchasing a list of military hardware from its norther neighbor. The list includes T90 tanks and relevant air defense systems; Sukhoi 30 fighter jets; Sukhoi Su-30 multipurpose jets; MI-17 and MI-8 helicopters; Yak-130 advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft; Bastion mobile coastal defence missile systems equipped with Yakhont anti-ship missiles; coastal missile defense systems; and such maritime technology as diesel-powered and electrical submarines. Tehran specially means to transfer high-end weapons technology from Russia.
Many experts believe that Iran needs, at least, USD 13 billion worth of advanced weapons to reduce its tactical vulnerability and in view of the plummeting price of energy carriers, this high degree of military need would be a great temptation for Russia.
Key Words: Iran, Russia, Military Cooperation, Golestan, Turkmenchai, Caspian Sea, Distrust, Pessimistic View, Unconstructive Positions, Syria, S-300 Missile Systems, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Kebriaeezadeh
More By Hossein Kebriaeezadeh:
*Motivation, Goals, and Consequences of Saudi Military Deployment in Syria: http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Motivation-Goals-and-Consequences-of-Saudi-Military-Deployment-in-Syria.htm
*Riyadh-Washington Relations: From Classic Dependence to Asymmetrical Dependence: http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Riyadh-Washington-Relations-From-Classic-Dependence-to-Asymmetrical-Dependence.htm
*(Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council, Riyadh’s Inefficient Tool for Isolating Iran: http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/-Persian-Gulf-Cooperation-Council-Riyadh-s-Inefficient-Tool-for-Isolating-Iran.htm
*Photo Credit: Defense NewsUniversity of Southampton These ruins may belong to medieval Dunwich's Saint Katherine's Chapel, which likely fell into the sea between 1550 and 1650 after the city was abandoned.
By Stephanie Pappas
LiveScience
The sharpest look yet at an underwater medieval town dubbed England's "Atlantis" reveals that the lost city was once almost as large as the modern City of London, a major district in central London.
Medieval Dunwich was a thriving port in the Middle Ages. Major storms beginning in the 1200s swept the city out to sea and silted up the Dunwich River, choking off the Dunwich harbor. By the 1400s, Dunwich lost its perch as a major port. The city was abandoned, and over the centuries, the ruins continued to slip into the sea as the coast eroded.
The ruins of the city now sit off the coast of the county of Suffolk, England. The lost village has been difficult to explore, as it sits beneath 10 feet to 33 feet (3 meters to 10 meters) of silty, muddy water. The ruins get their nickname from the mythological city of Atlantis that supposedly sank into the sea. [See Images of the Lost City of Dunwich]
Detailed new look
In 2008, researchers at the University of Southampton began an underwater survey of medieval Dunwich. In a new report, the team reveals the most detailed maps yet of the town's streets and buildings, including a chapel and a friary.
“The loss of most of the medieval town of Dunwich over the last few hundred years — one of the most important English ports in the Middle Ages — is part of a long process that is likely to result in more losses in the future," Peter Murphy, a coastal survey expert with the protection group English Heritage, said in a statement. "Everyone was surprised, though, by how much of the eroded town still survives under the sea and is identifiable."
University of Southampton University of Southampton researchers have built the most detailed map of the sunken city of Dunwich ever.
The researchers found that Dunwich's urban center once covered 0.7 square miles (1.8 square kilometers), an area about the size of the City of London. A defensive earthen wall, possibly made by Saxons, enclosed the town's central area.
The survey also revealed the ruins of multiple religious buildings: Blackfriars Friary, St. Peter's, All Saints Church, St. Nicholas Church and the Chapel of St. Katherine. Another large building appears to be a large house or town hall.
The northern part of the town seems to be commercial, with wooden structures probably linked to port activities.
Changing climate
The find is a reminder of how quickly coasts can change, said David Sear, the University of Southampton researcher who led the mapping study.
The storms that swept away Dunwich occurred during a period when climate was changing from a warm period into the little ice age, which ran from about 1350 to 1850.
"Global climate change has made coastal erosion a topical issue in the 21st century, but Dunwich demonstrates that it has happened before," Sear said in a statement.
Social and economic decisions also influence what happens when coastal cities are threatened.
"In the end, with the harbor silting up, the town partly destroyed, and falling market incomes, many people simply gave up on Dunwich," Sear said.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook and Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
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[Seattle, WA] At 2:45pm PDT yesterday (October 10, 2012) a federal judge for Washington’s Western district ordered that Leah-Lynn Plante be remanded into federal custody for her refusal to provide federal grand jury testimony regarding activists in the Northwest. At 5pm PDT Leah-Lynn was moved to the Seattle-Tacoma Federal Detention Facility (SEATAC) where she is now being held in administrative detention and it is unclear if she will matriculate into general population or if she will remain in the Secure Housing Unit (SHU).
Leah-Lynn recorded a powerful statement yesterday regarding her expected detention. Her statement has also been attached as text below.
A subpoena called Leah-Lynn to appear in front an investigative grand jury earlier this year, yesterday was the third time Leah-Lynn had been compelled to appear before the grand jury and provide testimony. As part of a strategy to resist what Leah-Lynn saw as a fishing expedition into the names and affiliations of Northwest activists each time Leah-Lynn was called to the grand jury room she invoked her 1st, 5th, and 4th amendment constitutional protections. The prosecutor’s response to Leah-Lynn’s strategy and the strategy of activists Matt Duran and Kteeo Olejnik who were subpoenaed to the grand jury prior to Leah-Lynn was to order the judge to provide each of them immunity to self-incrimination if they provided testimony (side-stepping their tactic of pleading the 5th amendment). The judge also made a ruling that evoking one’s 1st and 4th amendment privileges were not applicable in this matter. Leah-Lynn’s resolve to not cooperate with the grand jury was then met by a contempt charge.
Little is known about what specifically the grand jury is investigating. It can be assumed that those who were subpeanaed to appear before the grand jury are not targets of the investigation themselves but rather people that the federal government believe could help their investigation. What is known, however, is that the government and media made mentions that this grand jury was convened to investigate a May 1, 2012 “May Day” protest in Seattle in which vandalism occurred. While the U.S. attorneys may (or may not) have added the May Day protest into the investigative query of this grand jury probe, what is known is that they mislead the public in their claims that this grand jury was convened for the purpose of investigating the May 1, 2012 protest actions. Responses to a federal FOIA request have shown that this grand jury convened on March 2, 2012, two full months before the May Day actions even occurred. It is also known that this grand jury can remain open until April of 2014 and that those detained for refusing to cooperate with subpenaes can be detained for the life of the grand jury.
It is of the utmost importance that we as activists give our solidarity and support to those who have forfeited their freedom to protect the freedom of others. Please do everything you can to support their selflessness, organize benefits, letter writing parties teach-ins, solidarity demos outside of federal courthouses. You can donate to their legal defense here http://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com/donate/
Prison can be a very lonely place & writing a prisoner can provide much needed moral support. Here are the addresses for all three grand jury resisters:
Matthew Kyle Duran #42565-086
FDC SeaTac,
P.O. Box 13900
Seattle, WA 98198
Katherine Olejnik #42592-086
FDC SeaTac,
P.O. Box 13900
Seattle, WA 98198
Leah-Lynne Plante #42611-086
FDC SeaTac
PO Box 13900
Seattle, WA 98198
WE ARE MADE OF ST(A)R STUFF – Statement by Leah-Lynn Plante
On the morning of July 25th, 2012, my life was turned upside down in a matter of hours. FBI agents from around Washington and Oregon and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents from Washington busted down the front door of my house with a battering ram, handcuffed my house mates and me at gunpoint, and held us hostage in our backyard while they read us a search warrant and ransacked our home. They said it was in connection to May Day vandalism that occurred in Seattle, Washington earlier this year. However, we suspected that this was not really about broken windows. As if they had taken pointers from Orwell’s 1984, they took books, artwork and other various literature as “evidence” as well as many other personal belongings even though they seemed to know that nobody there was even in Seattle on May Day. While we know that knowledge is powerful, we suspected that nobody used rolled up copies of the Stumptown Wobbly to commit property damage. We saw this for what it was. They are trying to investigate anarchists and persecute them for their beliefs. This is a fishing expedition. This is a witch hunt. Since then, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, we have learned that this Grand jury was convened on March 2nd, 2012, two months before the May Day vandalism even took place.
I was served a subpoena to testify before a Grand Jury on August 2nd, a week later. I hastily packed my life up into boxes, got rid of almost all of my personal belongings in preparation of incarceration. I was dismissed that day after refusing to testify and re-subpoenaed for August 30th, which was pushed back to September 13th. In that time I did a lot of self care, got my affairs in order and got advice from other people who have either resisted Grand Juries, gone to prison or both. I returned to the Grand Jury on September 13th where I was granted immunity. When you are granted immunity, you lose your right to remain silent and can be thrown into prison for civil contempt. Between consulting with my attorney and an hour long recess, I narrowly avoided a contempt hearing simply because they ran out of time. I was dismissed and was told I would receive my 4th subpoena. I walked out of the courthouse just in time to witness Matthew Kyle Duran, my fellow resister, being taken away to prison in a police van. It broke my heart to watch them kidnap an amazing and strong person and take him away from his friends and loved ones. Katherine “Kteeo” Olejnik has met a similar fate for refusing to testify on September 27th. Right now, Matt and Kteeo are both sitting in prison cells for doing nothing but remaining silent. I have nothing but love and admiration for them both and I know that thousands of others feel the same. On the drive home that night my brain felt like it was short circuiting. A few days later, I received notice that my next subpoena was for October 10th. They also notified my lawyer that they were preparing for a contempt hearing.
Court dates aside, my life has been a roller coaster. Thanks to unrelated events, I have suffered with severe depression and PTSD for many years. These are now much worse and new things trigger me. For a while after the raid, I was in a constant state of panic and I could barely eat. Every time someone knocked on the door, every time I heard any sort of loud sound in my house, my heart sank and I thought “they’ve come for me.” To the day of this writing, I haven’t slept a full night since that cold July morning thanks to nausea inducing anxiety that wakes me up between 4:00 and 7:00 every single morning. After a couple months, the initial panic has faded into grim acceptance. Despite my mental health issues, I never once considered co-operation and never would. It is against everything I believe in. On my right arm I have a tattoo reading “strive to survive causing least suffering possible.” This is something I live by every single day and will continue to live by whether I am in a cage or not.
I cannot express in words how grateful I am to all those who have shown us support and solidarity, especially our friends, partners and loved ones. We will all get through this together. I know I am a broken record with the following sentiment, but I feel like it’s worth repeating. They want us to feel isolated, alone and scared. I know that even though Kteeo has been held in what is essentially solitary confinement, she does not feel alone. I know that Matt does not feel alone. I know that I will not feel alone. When they try to mercilessly gut communities, we do not scatter, we grow stronger, we thrive. I view this State repression like this: The State thinks it is a black hole that can destroy whatever it wants. In reality, it is much more like a stellar nursery, wherein it unintentionally creates new, strong anarchist stars.
I do not look forward to what inevitably awaits me today, but I accept it. I ask that people continue to support us throughout this process by writing us letters, sending us books, donating and spreading awareness.
My convictions are unwavering and will not be shaken by their harassment. Today is October 10th, 2012 and I am ready to go to prison.
Love and solidarity to all those who resist,
Forever in silence.
Leah-Lynn PlanteIn the coming weeks, we’re about to introduce some significant changes to the BBC News website and mobile apps. The existing products, whilst very successful, have remained largely unchanged for the past three or four years. In this post I want to give you some background to the changes we’re about to make, and explain the ways in which we’ve been involving users in the design process.
A website |
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Footnotes: 3 St Petersburg Times, 1-30-83, p. 4B. 4 St Petersburg Times, 2-5-82 4a Hope Hyrons and Arletha Schautee had same attorney from Sanford, Florida. He as on 60 Minutes. 5 St Petersburg Times, 1-30-83, p. 4B. Her attorney was on 60 Minutes 6 Trebach, op. cit., p. 62. 10 Atlanta Journal, 3-19-85 20 SPT 4/30/78 p. 15BThe DUP is under intense pressure to reveal the source of a large donation received during the referendum on Britain’s EU membership last June.
In February of this year, the DUP confirmed that it received a donation of more than half a million euro from a group of business people led by a Scottish Conservative party member, the ‘Constitutional Research Council’ (CRC). It passed almost all of it on to help fund the pro-Brexit campaign in Britain.
Two days before the Brexit referendum last June, the Metro freesheet in London and other British cities came wrapped in a hugely expensive, four-page glossy propaganda supplement urging readers to vote Leave.
It was paid for by the DUP, even though Metro does not circulate in Ireland.
The Metro wraparound cost a staggering 282,000 pounds (330,000 euro) - thought to be the biggest single campaign expense in the history of Irish politics. It dwarfs the 90,000 pounds (106,000 euro) the DUP spent on its entire campaign for the previous month’s assembly elections.
The DUP eventually admitted that this spending came from the donation of 425,622 pounds (530,000 euro). It has repeatedly refused to identify who provided the cash originally.
It is thought that the party was used as a front because, unlike Britain, there is no legal requirement for large party donations in the North of Ireland to be made public.
There are possible links between the cash and the Saudi Arabian royal family and the Saudi intelligence service through the head of the CRC, former Scottish Conservative parliamentary candidate Richard Cook.
Efforts to unearth the original source of what Sinn Fein describe as ‘dark money’ have been rebuffed by both the DUP and the CRC.
The DUP’s Brexit campaign manager, Jeffrey Donaldson, has said that the party did not need to know the true source of the money, a statement which appeared in violation of electoral law.
Mr Donaldson has also said that he couldn’t remember why his party choose to spend more than 32,000 pounds during the Brexit campaign on a controversial data analytics company linked to Donald Trump.
It paid 32,750 pounds to Aggregate IQ, a data analytics company based in British Columbia, Canada, according to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission. This money was to target voters on social media during the Brexit referendum campaign.
It is still unclear why the DUP decided to spend an amount more than half its budget for the 2015 general election with a little-known data analytics company in Canada, and Donaldson has provided no answers.
The firm has very close ties to Cambridge Analytica and hedge fund billionaire and Donald Trump-backer Robert Mercer. Cambridge Analytica has also been linked to the use of ‘big data’ psychological programming techniques to help swing the US presidential election in Trump’s favour.
Speaking on BBC’s The View, Arlene Foster said the controversy was an attempt to distract from “real issues”
She claimed she knew who the source donors were -- British businessmen, she said -- but refused to identify them. She said she was “satisfied that the people who gave it had every right to give the donation”.
“We have answered all the questions the Electoral Commission have asked us. It is satisfied we have done everything in accordance with the law and I am satisfied,” she said.
Sinn Fein has met with the Electoral Commission to discuss the unusual donation and campaign spending.
“Most of the money, 282,000 pounds, was spent in London where the DUP have no presence, on a pro-Brexit wrap-around in the Metro freesheet,” said former Sinn Fein finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir.
“Putting this in context that was more than three times the amount spent by the DUP in last May’s Assembly election,” he added.
“The Constitutional Research Council has no legal status, publishes no membership list, has no public presence and has failed to make public where it got the money,” said Mr O Muilleoir.
The party’s election candidate in west Belfast, Paul Maskey, said there are “serious public concerns” about the donation.
“With allegations of involvement of individuals linked to Saudi Arabian intelligence it is vital that the public gets answers as it is illegal to receive election donations from a foreign government,” he said.Send us your questions about Texas politics and policy by emailing texplainer@texastribune.org or visiting texastribune.org/texplainer. More in this series
Hey, Texplainer: Britain voted to leave the European Union. Can Texas secede from the United States?
In the wake of Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union — nicknamed the "Brexit" — speculation of a Texit on the horizon has cropped up once again. The secessionist movement has a long history in the Lone Star State. Delegates for the Texas Republican Party even recently debated adding secessionist language to the party's platform. But is it actually legal for Texas to leave the United States?
Simply put, the answer is no. Historical and legal precedents make it clear that Texas could not pull off a Texit — at least not legally.
“The legality of seceding is problematic,” said Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. “The Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues.”
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Many historians believe that when the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox in 1865, the idea of secession was also defeated, according to McDaniel. The Union’s victory set a precedent that states could not legally secede.
It is also important to note that the European Union is a loose association of compound states with pre-existing protocols for a nation to exit. In contrast, the U.S. Constitution contains procedures for admitting new states into the nation, but none for a state to leave.
Yet the myth that Texas can easily secede persists, in part, because of the state’s history of independence.
Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836 and spent the next nine years as its own nation. While the young country's leaders first expressed interest in becoming a state in 1836, the Republic of Texas did not join the United States until 1845, when Congress approved the Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States.
This resolution, which stipulated that Texas could, in the future, choose to divide itself into "New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas" is often a cause of confusion about the state’s ability to secede. But the language of the resolution is clear: Texas can split itself into five new states. It says nothing of splitting apart from the United States.
In the years after Texas joined the union, tensions over slavery and states’ rights mounted. A state convention in 1861 voted 166 to 8 in favor of secession — a measure that was then ratified by a popular vote, making Texas the seventh state to secede from the Union.
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After the Civil War, Texas was readmitted to the Union in 1870.
“ If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. ” — Antonin Scalia, late Supreme Court Justice
Yet even before Texas formally rejoined the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that secession was not legal, and thus, even during the rebellion, Texas continued to be a state. In the 1869 case Texas v. White, the Court held that individual states could not unilaterally secede from the Union and that the acts of the insurgent Texas Legislature — even if ratified by a majority of Texans — were "absolutely null."
If there were any doubt remaining after that, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set it to rest more than a century later with his response to a letter from a screenwriter in 2006 asking if there is a legal basis for secession.
“The answer is clear,” Scalia wrote. “If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, 'one Nation, indivisible.')”
Bottom line: While Brexit may have stirred the secessionist pot, a similar Texit would not be legal. Texas has a unique right among states to split itself into five states but not to secede from the United States of America.
Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.From Khalid Amayreh in el-Sammou, Hebron Even in his wildest dreams, Midhat Radwan Abu Karsh never imagined that one day he would be tied up to a power pole and savagely beaten by bigoted Jewish settlers who believe that non-Jews are animals in a human shape. Yet, this is exactly what happened to him earlier this week when four Jewish terrorists ganged up on the 31-year-old Palestinian teacher as he was hiking in his land, awaiting Israeli peace activists whom he wanted to brief on the daily acts of vandalism, harassment and land theft at the hands of fanatical Jewish settlers, protected by the army and backed by powerful political parties. Abu Karsh accuses the settlers of being hell-bent on driving Palestinians away in order to take over their land. “As I was standing in my land, suddenly four settlers descended from the settlement of Asnael, and started cursing and beating me with clubs. As you know, I am physically handicapped and couldn’t escape because of my leg,” Abu Karsh told reporters on Sunday at his home in the small town of El-Sammou, 35 kilometers south west of Hebron. “Then they dragged me along the thorny terrain, causing me indescribable pain, until we reached the power pole just out of the settlement. There they tied me up rather tightly to the pole and began beating me with the clubs all over my body, including my head. What kind of people would do this to a handicapped person who can’t defend himself? “When they tightened the robe around my neck, I thought I was going to die. The attempted lynching and beating continued unabated even after an Israeli army jeep, carrying three soldiers, arrived at the scene. “Initially, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the soldiers coming. I though they would rescue me instantly and arrest or at least stop the settlers. However, to my disappointment, the settlers kept up beating me, causing a lot of bleeding in my head and face while the soldiers kept looking on.” Abu Karsh said the soldiers begged the settlers “to stop it,” but to no avail. “Would you believe it, soldiers begging the settlers to stop beating a handicapped Palestinian? Just imagine how Jews and non-Jews would react if criminals, say in France, attacked a Jew who is physically or mentally handicapped, say in Paris or Leon?” At one point, the settlers warned the soldiers to keep away, or else they would attack the soldiers. Israeli soldiers serving in the occupied West Bank have strict orders barring them from responding to settler violence in any active manner. When the soldiers, who had backed off a few meters, started calling their superiors to notify them of what was going on, the settlers carried out a last round of beating, kicking Abu Karsh in his underbelly and genitals. He said he nearly fainted. Forty minutes later, an Israeli police jeep showed up, with one policeman reportedly telling the settlers to bring a bucket of water from the settlement and pour it right on the victim’s head, ostensibly in order to wash away the blood before the arrival of journalists and photographers. “Even at this point, I was still tied to the power pole and the police wouldn’t untie me. And, of course, they didn’t arrest any of the settlers,” Abu Karsh said. Eventually, an Israeli ambulance transferred Abu Karsh to a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance which took him to the main hospital in Hebron. Abu Karsh accused the settlers of deliberately starting a fire in the area and blaming it on him. The incident, the second of its kind in less than a month, was witnessed by Israeli peace activists from the Ta’ayosh (co-existence) group. One of the activists was quoted by the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz as saying that he saw the settlers kick the victim while he was bound up. “When we arrived at the scene there were already lots of the army’s troops. I saw a settler approach him and kick him, as he was tied to the pole. His whole body was bound up, I saw they bandaged a head wound and he was half conscious.” Last month, masked, stick-wielding Jewish settler terrorists attacked with clubs elderly Palestinian peasants near the West Bank town of Yatta. The brutal attack was filmed on video by a Palestinian woman, which embarrassed the Israeli government which refuses to take any meaningful action against settlers who attack Palestinian villagers. The wide dissemination of the video also prompted Jewish settler leaders in the Hebron region to warn settler terrorists to make sure that their “anti-Palestinian activities” are not being filmed or photographed. B’Tselem provided about 100 cameras to Palestinians who bear the brunt of settler terror and violence. The project, dubbed “Shooting Back” is aimed at documenting settler brutality and attacks. Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territories have already documented numerous cases of settler attacks, harassment and vandalism against Palestinians. However, the Israeli army and Shin Beth (Israel’s domestic intelligence agency), have consistently refused to rein in the settlers, thus effectively encouraging them to keep up their terror against the unprotected Palestinians. Most of the terrorist settlers attend Talmudic schools, or Yeshivot, run by extremist rabbis who inculcate their students with virulent hatred of every thing non-Jewish. Some rabbis, especially in the Hebron region, openly preach the view that modern-day Palestinians are the descendants of the Biblical Amalek or Amaledites, who the Bible says must be wiped off from the face of earth. Some rabbis, such as Rabbis for Human Rights, strongly reject the brutal racism and terror of their right-wing colleagues, arguing that such practices are immoral and constitute a serious distortion of Judaism. However, such views are rejected and treated with utter contempt by the vast bulk of the Orthodox establishment in Israel.Bhubaneswar: In order to provide an affordable meal in five urban areas of the state, the Odisha government is all set to introduce "Aahar" scheme from this April, an official said here on Monday.
Under the scheme, the government would provide a meal for five rupees to the urban poor in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela.
The menu of the meal will comprise plain rice and dalma (a combination of dal and vegetables).
Taking a cue from Tamil Nadu, the government has decided to open Aahar centres (canteens) at bus stops, railway stations, collectorate and hospitals in the five urban areas.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here Monday.
The poor people coming to the cities can avail the Rs 5 meal only during lunch time while the government will make arrangements to provide meals to 25,000 people daily, a chief minister`s office (CMO) release said.
According to the meeting, corporate houses would provide assistance for the scheme while the state`s food supply and consumer welfare department and the urban development department would set up the necessary infrastructure.
The scheme would be expanded to other urban areas in the coming years if it is successful in the cities, the official added.
"These initiatives have been called populist. But this model of providing affordable cooked food in urban areas ensure food security and also keeps food prices in check," an official said.Late last summer, Dana Barancik of Las Vegas, Nevada, and her father Frank filed comments in support of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's desire to do away with net neutrality.
Their submissions would have been entirely above suspicion had the former not died in 2014, and the latter in 2015, or if their letters had not contained the same boilerplate language as thousands of other apparently bogus filings.
The consultation process leading to the FCC's Dec. 14 vote to kill rules that ensure all internet traffic is treated equally, regardless of content or provenance, was seriously problematic, even fraudulent. And the decision itself was even worse.
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Critics in Congress plan to vote in early 2018 on at least two proposals to overrule the FCC decision, and either partly or wholly restore net neutrality. Canadians should hope they succeed.
In Canada, net neutrality is the long-standing policy of our equivalent of the FCC, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and the desire to preserve it is largely shared by federal lawmakers from all parties. But when the country that is the centre of the global internet abruptly changes course, we risk being swamped by its wake.
Why does net neutrality matter? Start with the pocketbook issues: Without net neutrality, consumers could be faced with paying their internet service provider to access some otherwise free websites, or they could be entirely deprived of the chance to see some content, because the websites that carry it won't or can't pay ISPs.
An unfettered web also constitutes a key vehicle for the dissemination of Canadian cultural products which, coincidentally, is the subject of a wide-ranging CRTC consultation that wraps up on Jan. 31.
The broadcast regulator is pondering the future of Canadian programming, which has become inextricably tied to the digital world. It's just one of the major culture policy revisions slated for 2018, another being a long-awaited revamp of the Copyright Act.
What does this have to with net neutrality?
The transition to digital delivery of music, television and films continues – via streaming and other means – and it is taking up more and more of the space long occupied by traditional broadcasters.
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Governments may have little affection for companies like Netflix, but the fact is they have become serious financiers of Canadian projects.
As University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist summarized in a recent submission to the CRTC, "foreign financing now contributes more toward English-language television production than the licensing fees paid by private or public broadcasters, federal tax credits, Canadian distributors, and the Canadian Media Fund."
According to data released by the country's music copyright collectives, the surge in revenues from streaming over the past five years makes Canada's music market one of the fastest-growing in the world.
Net neutrality keeps that ecosystem vibrant, by preventing internet service providers from "fast-laning" their own or their partners' content, and throttling sites and products that aren't willing to pay to play.
Prof. Geist is right to call on the CRTC to drop the "walled garden" approach to regulation in favour of a consumer-oriented approach to maintain affordable internet access and other measures "that foster increased global competitiveness of Canadian services and creators."
It may also be time to do away with the long-standing cash cow that is simultaneous substitution – U.S. programming shown with Canadian commercials – and for the CRTC to create incentives for broadcasters to carry content produced in Canada. The more programming moves from cable to the internet, the less the old model makes sense.
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And then there's the big telecos' proposal to create a federal black list for content blocking. The ostensible justification is combatting piracy, but there's a risk sites will be added indiscriminately, and the free flow of information will be interfered with – precisely what net neutrality aims to prevent. If piracy is the problem, we should rely on Canada's robust laws against intellectual property theft.
It's a lot of take in, but here's a guiding principle: The exigencies of the digital economy dictate nothing will be possible if the internet does not remain neutral for Canadians.the coil is a small plastic T shaped device which is inserted into the uterus by the vagina.There are two types of coil IUD This releases hormones into your system and the copper coil which is non hormonal based.They work by preventing sperm from entering the uterus. and have two small strings which are used for removing the device.The device can last between 5-10 years and each month you check it's still in place by feeling for the strings (this is taught to you by the person fitting the coil).The coil should only be fitted by a fully trained doctor.The downside to the coil is that it can fall out, become disloadged and move into the wrong position making it less effective and it can also perforate the uterus and go into the intestines. There is a metal on it that makes it visible to x rays so if this does happen they can find where it is before removing it.The coil isn't suitable for everyone. There are different makes and sizes. You will have a small device put into your uterus this ensure that the right shape and size coil is fitted. Some doctors find that putting a coil into a woman who has had a baby in the past is easier because the cervix is tightly closed.Another downside to the coil, is that it can make periods more painful, longer and heavier than you are used to. This usually settles down are a couple of months, if not then the coil might not be suitable for you. Also, if you do get pregnant, then you risk it being eptopic (growing outside the uterus usually the fallopiean tubes). If you do find yourself pregnant, and it's inside the uterus, it's important to get the coil removed, this may cause you to miscarry (not you personally but its' a risk to all women who use the coil and get pregnant)Before the coil is fitted, you might be required to have some swabs taken. This is to make sure that you dont have any infections or STI's.The coil is not suitable for women who have unexplained vaginal bleeding or have Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).There are other types of birth control which prevent against pregnancy, but the only one that prevents pregnancy and STI's is condoms.I would suggest you visit your doctor or local family planning clinic to talk through birth control, the types and which would be the best option for you.Hope this helpsI've had the coil fitted and I have to say it's not the most pleasant thing in the world. My dr had trouble fitting the coil and had the change the coil from 10 years to 5 years because the 5 year one is more flexible than the 10 year one. YOu have some cramping whilsst the coil is fitted which eases off. I've just got home and my stomache is killing me. I've got a hot water bottle on my tummy to see if that helps the cramping. I'll be on painkillers as well as using my hot water bottle.Simply Statistics Podcast #1
Simply Statistics Podcast #1.
To mark the occasion of our 1-year anniversary of starting the blog, Jeff, Rafa, and I have recorded our first podcast. You can tell that it’s our very first podcast because we don’t appear to have any idea what we’re doing. However, we decided to throw caution to the wind.
In this episode we talk about why we started the blog and discuss our thoughts on statistics and big data. Be sure to watch to the end as Rafa provides a special treat.
UPDATE: For those of you who can’t bear the sight of us, there is an audio only version.
UPDATE 2: I have setup an RSS feed for the audio-only version of the podcast.
UPDATE 3: Here is the RSS feed for HD video version of the podcast.
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DisqusHOUSTON—A massive oil slick from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to reach a Louisiana wildlife reserve Thursday night as it threatens an environmental disaster across four southern U.S. states. The rig accident, which has pounded the share prices of energy giant BP Plc and other companies involved in the project, may also have ramifications for proposals in Congress and by President Barack Obama to issue new offshore drilling permits.
This image, taken by NASA on April 27, 2010, shows the oil slick from the destroyed rig in the Gulf of Mexico. ( NASA PHOTO )
Obama said London-based BP was ultimately responsible for the cost of the cleanup but that his government would “use every single available resource”—including the military—to address the spill. Louisiana, still recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, declared a state of emergency as the growing slick appeared to be coming ashore much sooner than predicted. “We are expecting to see the first impact at Pass-a-Loutre (Wildlife Management Area) today, Chandeleur Islands on Saturday,” said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
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The Coast Guard said the edge of the slick was just 3 miles from the Pass-a-Loutre reserve, a maze of waterways, marsh and sandbanks on the edge of the Mississippi Delta. Earlier at a briefing in Washington, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O’Hare had predicted the leading edge of the slick would make landfall in the Mississippi Delta “sometime” Friday. The leak, after a rig leased by BP exploded last week, is spewing five times more oil than previously estimated and raising fears of severe damage to fisheries, wildlife refuges and beaches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. “This is a spill of national significance,” Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, told a news conference at the White House. “We will continue to push BP to engage in the strongest response possible.” Bill Nelson, a Democratic senator from Florida, said he was filing a bill to temporarily prohibit the administration from expanding offshore drilling, citing the risk of a potential “environmental and economic disaster” from the spill.
Shares in BP and Swiss-based rig company Transocean Ltd fell by more than 6 percent Thursday as investors feared a significantly higher cleanup cost. BP is down more than 10 percent and Transocean is down nearly 14 percent since the rig explosion April 20. Oilfield services companies Cameron International Corp and Halliburton Co saw their shares tumble on fears about their ties to the Deepwater Horizon rig.
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Cameron, which supplied the blowout preventer for the rig, said Thursday it was insured for $500 million of liability, if needed. Halliburton said it did a variety of work on the rig and was assisting with the investigation. Shrimp fishermen in Louisiana filed a class-action lawsuit against BP, Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron late Wednesday, accusing them of negligence. None of the companies had an immediate comment on the lawsuit. The White House said Obama has been briefed on how the slick may interfere with shipping channels, which it said could affect tankers delivering petroleum to the U.S. market. It was not immediately clear to what extent shipping in the Gulf could be affected. While the Mississippi is a major export route for U.S. grains and the region is a significant importer of crude oil, there were no reports of disruptions. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles more than 1 million barrels a day of crude imports and is connected by pipeline to the biggest U.S. refining region, said it did not expect any effect on its operations, which remained normal. But there are signs the spill will be worse than one in 1969 off Santa Barbara, California, that prompted a moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts—a ban Obama has said he wants to modify. The Obama administration did not rule out imposing a pause in new deepwater drilling until oil companies can show they can control any spills that may happen. “Everything is on the table,” Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes told reporters before Senator Nelson announced his legislation, adding it could take 90 days to install a relief valve to stop the leak. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the rig disaster, the worst in the United States in almost a decade. Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig sank April 22, two days after it exploded and caught fire while the company was finishing a well for BP about 40 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The daily leak from the well blowout is now estimated at 5,000 barrels or about 210,000 gallons. The Navy said it was supplying the Coast Guard with inflatable booms and seven skimming systems. BP and the Coast Guard have mounted what the company calls the largest oil spill containment operation in history, involving dozens of ships and aircraft. But they are struggling to control the slick from the leaking well 5,000 feet under the sea off Louisiana’s coast. After underwater robots failed to activate a cutoff valve to stop the leak, BP and the Coast Guard set a “controlled burn” Wednesday to try to prevent the slick from growing
Read more about:When Ward 3 councillor Matthew Green read the news release that detailed the Hamilton Police Service’s gun amnesty program, he was bittersweet about the idea.
While supportive of the initiative, he was disturbed that the Hamilton Police Service would introduce the program without help from the city considering councillors had approved in a unanimous May vote that the Hamilton Police and city work together to examine a gun buyback and amnesty program together.
“I’m concerned that the police are not respecting the motion from council,” he said.
On Sept. 23 Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire announced a six-week gun amnesty program for residents across the city. The program comes in the wake of two shootings last weekend capping a summer where there were gun battles in the downtown area. In August an 18-year-old was shot dead in the north end.
Hamilton Police have held gun amnesty programs before. In |
following that,” he said.
“As such, a lot of construction was done prior to receiving the actual construction permit, because there are a lot of things that need to be put in place before the inspectors are able to do their job on the Hub’s site,” he explained.
UMSU applied for the construction permit in early August this past summer.
“This was the longest anyone on UMSU’s construction team ever had to wait for a construction permit,” he commented.
A spokesperson from the City of Winnipeg said that the time taken to approve an application for a construction permit varies with the complexity of the site.
This gave UMSU “plenty of time” to do all of the preparations for construction, such as reaching suppliers for materials and receiving said materials, demolition of the previous space, fine-tuning of item placement, furniture decisions, receiving of furniture and hiring, Quigley said.
He said the hiring for The Hub has been mostly concluded, as the pub manager was hired several months ago and the assistant manager and head of security started last month.
“We recognized that they needed time in order to organize their responsibilities and provide input on the space they would essentially be running,” he said.
Quigley explained that UMSU is planning to organize a grand opening week-long series of events with “aims to show students and those interested of the capabilities of this on-campus bar.”
He said that this can be done through having a first rez and country night, booking the space for a major event or having a variety of entertainments for those spending the evening at the pub.
“But out of all of this, you can expect a grand opening of a week’s worth of events that will be advertised soon,” said Quigley.
Quigley noted that one of the most asked questions from students during the term has been “when is the new pub opening?”
“This indicates that the word is getting out on the pub within the larger community,” he said.
“What we have done thus far is produce some videos to highlight that we have begun construction, posters for hiring have been extremely successful in getting the word out as well.”
Janhvi Pandit, a faculty of arts student, said that the delay in the pub’s opening was a slight upset because there were a lot of expectations attached to it.
She said that most people know about the pub due to word-of-mouth and the posters put up seeking employees.
“It would be nice if it was more publicized, putting the posters all over campus would be a good idea,” Pandit said.
“A grand opening for The Hub will give it a proper start.”
Zohaib Kadiwal, a visiting student in the faculty of science, said it seems most students are really excited to have a pub on campus.
“The delay in the construction of The Hub is OK, it was something we could not do anything about,” he said.
photo by miguel yetmanBy Michael Owyang, Research Officer and Economist
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a quarterly economic indicator that reflects the amount of output produced in a country. In the U.S., the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases two estimates of quarterly GDP, known as the advance and preliminary estimates, in the two months before the release of the final number:
The advance estimate of GDP is generally available in the first month after each quarter and is compiled from estimates of economic activity for some portion of the quarter (often two of the three months).
The preliminary estimate is released in the month following the advance estimate, accounts for revisions of the economic data from the months used to compile the advance estimate and incorporates new data.
In a recent Economic Synopses essay, we examined the pattern of revisions for payroll employment data. We found that the sign of the revision to payroll employment, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is more likely to be positive (revised up) during expansions and more likely to be negative (revised down) during recessions. We argued that this created a conundrum for policymakers who rely on the just-in-time release of the economic indicators to enact appropriate policies.
We wondered whether the same asymmetry occurred for the GDP releases—that is, whether there was a systematic difference between the final number and, say, the preliminary release. The figure below shows the difference between the final release and the preliminary release, with recessions shaded in gray.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the author's calculations
While there are no obvious patterns, there are typically large negative revisions from the preliminary releases to the final releases at the beginning of recessions.
What accounts for the differences between the preliminary and final estimates of GDP? The differences may lie in the period over which they are measuring or in the methods used for their collection.
Additional ResourcesSian Butcher / BuzzFeed
I always knew deep down that something was up with my periods. From day one, they were irregular and painful, radiating aches down my thighs and causing such extreme bloating that I couldn’t wear trousers. One of my most vivid childhood memories was being on a rounders pitch on a hot summer’s day wondering how to handle the sticky situation I found myself in as blood saturated my navy blues. My doctor put me on the Pill and for the next five years I tried brand after brand, trying to find one that would make my symptoms bearable. The combined pill, the mini pill, high-oestrogen pills…nothing seemed to fit. Worst was the high-dose progesterone-only prescription, which unleashed a three-month period that I truly thought would never end. I was 19 when I decided I'd had enough – I had gained 2 stone in weight, I felt miserable – so I decided to go off the Pill, hoping I’d be better off with some control over my natural cycle. But over the next five years, with the Pill no longer masking reality, my symptoms worsened. They became a constant companion, tagging along on my adventures at university, starting my first job, moving to Paris and finding love. By the end of 2014, the pain got so bad that my partner got used to seeing me doubled over, retching and shivering violently, and on one occasion even carried me to A&E.
At 24, after a lifetime of doctors’ visits, I had my first laparoscopy, and 10 years after first seeking answers, I had a diagnosis: endometriosis.
The disease is classified in four stages, from one (minimal) to four (severe). My surgery confirmed I was suffering from the most serious stage, which causes the uterine lining to grow outside of the uterus, binding to other organs and causing painful cysts and adhesions. A large cyst had grown inside my right ovary, leaving behind extensive scarring and damage, and which likely would have ruptured if we hadn’t operated. My insides were pockmarked with lesions that were painstakingly excised. The month that followed my laparoscopy was difficult. Even as my body healed, my mental state deteriorated. I couldn’t ignore the voice screaming in my head: “WHAT IF YOU NEVER HAVE A BABY?” The question mark hanging over my fertility felt so oppressive at times I could feel the weight on my chest. At first, I turned to clean eating and a positive mental attitude, desperate for a miracle cure. I took up hot yoga, stripped out refined sugars and carbohydrates and eventually went full earth-child vegan. But soon the pain was back, and my delusional reality that I could somehow manipulate my body into being “normal” went up in smoke. I was rushed in for my second surgery almost exactly a year later. My doctor was concerned by how quickly the cyst on my ovary had recurred and we agreed more drastic intervention was needed to preserve my fertility. So when he suggested inducing the menopause, I accepted it, unfazed, as my best option.
I was signed up to a course of six monthly injections of a drug that would suppress my oestrogen levels temporarily, ceasing menstruation and reproductive capabilities in an imitation of the natural menopause.
Endometriosis growth is stimulated by a woman’s menstrual cycle, with the peaks and troughs in hormone levels causing the endometrium lining to grow each month. So inducing the menopause means no oestrogen, means no periods, means no endometriosis. I like to consider it in terms of baking: You can keep the eggs, the flour, the sugar, and the butter, but without the baking powder the cake ain’t going to rise. Naively, I didn’t really consider the effects of tanking hormones but was relieved that my painful periods would be under lock and key for the foreseeable future. Within a week of my first injection, though, I realised I had underestimated what was in store. Most women experiencing the natural menopause will gradually transition over a period of years, allowing their bodies time to adjust to a new rhythm and their minds crucial time to acclimatise. But for me, the full gravity of the treatment hit overnight. Almost immediately, I developed hot flushes that would go from 0 to 100 in five seconds. Beads of sweat would collect on my upper lip, my T-shirt would stick to my back, and I would feel like I was being incinerated from the inside out. Worse, I developed an unshakeable paranoia that everyone around me could see exactly what was going on. The physical symptoms caused my self-confidence to take such a hammering that my thoughts became increasingly insular. From Friday drinks with friends, to work lunches or visits with my in-laws, a hot flush could hijack my train of thought at any moment as I found myself scrutinising whoever I was talking to for any sign they had noticed my face melting off, while simultaneously trying to subtly blow on my top lip, which I'm sure looked flawlessly discreet. I worried that the erratic behaviour behind my attempt to mask my daily personal saunas, my mood swings, and my withdrawal into myself was just as noticeable as the symptoms themselves. My body changed rapidly, too. I gained weight in the hips and my upper arms, and I started recognising parts of my mum and my grandma in my new shape. My hair thinned and became coarse, and I felt like I had completely lost my sense of identity – an otherwise healthy 25-year-old, with plenty to offer and a promising future.
Sian Butcher / BuzzFeed
Even after I started taking hormone replacement therapy, a drug that adds back a small amount of synthetic oestrogen to ease menopausal symptoms, I felt just as bizarre.
The insomnia that had started after the first injection became increasingly unbearable. Every night I would find myself thrashing around under the covers as the hot flushes ebbed and flowed, drenching my pyjamas. In the daytime I was a walking zombie. My treatment coincided with me undertaking a career change, so what would already have been an extremely intense time became gruelling. A week after my second operation, I was in a new job, chasing stories down all over London, while the stitches in my stomach were still healing and my hormones were flatlining. But how do you confide in your fortysomething, male employer that you’re not on top form because you feel like your feminine lifeblood is slowly being drained from you and you have lost your sense of self? How do you tell your new work colleagues that you won’t be going for after-work drinks because the 5-inch needle that was plunged into your stomach earlier in the afternoon has left you sore and bruised and set off so much adrenaline that you are still weepy and trembling?
One of my most striking realisations during the experience was how isolating it was. If periods are taboo then mentioning the menopause is practically an arrestable offence.
The gaping mouths, the eyes that flit nervously, the few seconds of silence that neither of you know how to fill: The menopause derails conversations. Those I told didn't know how to react or what to say. Some were kind and caring and compassionate, but others visibly squirmed. With my twentysomething friends, I felt painfully embarrassed by what was happening. To me, they embodied young, vibrant, dewy-skinned confidence while I felt rounded, haggard, and withering from the inside out. I felt convinced they were uncomfortable discussing the subject so I addressed it fleetingly, with a good dose of self-deprecating humour, when actually I wasn’t finding it funny. The experience opened my eyes to the stigma of the menopause, not just from others but also my own. One in four women will experience debilitating symptoms that can last up to 15 years, but without menopause on the agenda, how can we push for better support from employers and healthcare providers, and greater understanding from partners and friends? How can we hope for change if the realities of the menopause aren’t laid bare for all to see a little more often? We are failing women if we can’t normalise open discussion and face the reality head-on.MONTREAL – UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would be happy to provide Bellator MMA titleholder and top free agent Ben Askren a warm introduction to the UFC’s octagon.
Askren is currently on the outside looking in after completing his Bellator contract with a successful 170-pound title defense against Andrey Koreshkov in July. UFC officials haven’t presented the 2008 Olympic wrestler with an official contract offer, but company boss Dana White has expressed interest in signing “Funky.”
Should Askren (12-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA welterweight rankings, jump ship and join the world’s premier MMA organization, St-Pierre (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC) would gladly fight him in his first bout.
“Of course (I’d like to fight him),” St-Pierre told MMAjunkie.com. “He’s a good fighter, undefeated, and yes, if he comes, I’ll fight him. No problem.”
Askren hasn’t been shy when it comes to his desire to fight St-Pierre, as he tends to call out or poke fun at the French-Canadian on social media whenever the opportunity presents itself.
St-Pierre, who next fights Johny Hendricks on Nov. 16 at UFC 167, hasn’t been goaded into responding to Askren’s antics, but that doesn’t mean he’s unaware of what’s going on.
Askren is considered the top welterweight currently not signed to the UFC roster, and many fans are curious to see how the 29-year-old two-time NCAA Division I national wrestling champion would do against the division’s kingpin and No. 1 ranked fighter.
Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney is so confident Askren would have his way with St-Pierre that he even said he would release the fighter from any contract matching rights if he were presented with an immediate title fight against “Rush.”
The challenge was brushed off by White, and it seems likely that, should he sign with the promotion, Askren’s quest to UFC gold will follow the same path as other contenders.
But in the event Askren does ink a deal with the UFC, St-Pierre is open to giving him a shot at the belt whether it’s one, five or 10 fights down the line.
“Bring him in; I’ll fight everyone,” St-Pierre said. “I am the champion, and I have no choice, so it’s no problem. I’m not afraid.”
For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Georges St-Pierre)BEST OF OXFORD FILM FEST TOURS MISSISSIPPI
OXFORD, MS- Oxford Film Festival will take the hits on the road to four Mississippi towns in June, bringing the best films from the February 2017 festival.
The first stop on the best of tour is Jackson. The free community screening on June 1 will take place at restaurant and brewery Hal & Mal’s from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The screening is in partnership with Crossroads Film Festival and will showcase five films including Firemax, Otha Turner, All Are Welcome Here, Broken Paths and Shake Em On Down.
The second stop on June 2 and 3 is in Ocean Springs, MS. The Best of screenings will take place at the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center. Tickets may be purchased online at http://themaryc.org/. The June 2 screening is 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. and will screen All Are Welcome Here and Some Freaks.
The first set of June 3 screenings will begin at 10 a.m. and end at noon. The films to be screened are Broken Paths, Refuge, The Fox and the Whale and Joel Blass. The second set for June 3 will begin at 12:45 p.m. and end at 2:45 p.m., and will include Firemax, Breakfast, Otha Turner and Don’t Come Around Here. Tickets to each block can be purchased individually or a weekend pass can also be obtained. Proceeds go to support the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center.
June 22 the tour will stop in Grenada, MS at First & Green. Oxford Film Festival is partnering with AfterGlow Film Festival for the free screening. Screening will begin at 6:30 p.m. showing Firemax, Otha Turner, All Are Welcome Here, The Fox and the Whale and Some Freaks. The screening will end at 9 p.m.
June 24 is the last date of the Best of Oxford Film Fest and will be at The Strand Theatre in Vicksburg, MS. The free screening will be 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. and will screen Firemax, Otha Turner, All Are Welcome Here, Broken Paths and Shake Em On Down.
"We are so excited to take the Best of Oxford Film Fest tour around the state, "Executive Director Melanie Addington said. "I am also pleased to get to partner with The Strand in Vicksburg, AfterGlow Film Festival and First & Green in Grenada, Crossroads Film Society and Hal & Mals in Jackson, R&B Charitable Beaux Arts Foundation and Mary C OKeefe Cultural Arts Center in Ocean Springs.”
FILM LOGLINE & RUN TIMES
ALL ARE WELCOME HERE is a short documentary on the Mississippi Coast's reaction to House Bill 1523 approved by Governor Bryant that gives people the right to discriminate against LGBTQ people based on their religious beliefs. The total run time for the film is 28 minutes and 26 seconds.
BREAKFAST tells the story of when a young man suffering from anorexia is pressured to eat breakfast by his boyfriend, the couple are thrust into an otherworld where their anxieties and frustrations are made horrifyingly real. The run time for the film is 9 minutes and 42 seconds.
BROKEN PATHS is a music video filmed in Brandon, Miss. Created by Stace and Cassie and J. B. Lawrence. The video is 4 minutes and 44 seconds.
DON’T COME AROUND HERE follows Chuck back to the home he ran away from after learning his father doesn’t have much time left to live. There he must come to terms with his troubled brother Lenny, his own fears, and a secret he has been hiding for years.
The Oxford community film FIREMAX features superheroes in the town of Oxford with no crime to fight. The run time for this film is 10 minutes.
JOEL BLASS is about the public servant to Mississippi whom inspired his fellow Mississippians to boldly carve out a new future for their state, despite being vilified by the press and threatened by forces of segregation. Joel Blass fought for justice, freedom, and equal rights for every citizen. The film is an hour and 14 minutes long.
The short documentary OTHA TURNER digs into the archives to take us back in time to Labor Day 1978. In the late 1950’s, fife and drum legend Otha Turner began hosting annual Labor Day picnics at his property in Gravel Springs, Mississippi. The documentary runs for 6 minutes and 2 seconds.
REFUGE is a chronicle of human stories from the European Refugee Crisis, focused on humanity and hope. The film runs for 20 minutes.
SHAKE EM ON DOWN tells the story of Mississippi Fred McDowell, the godfather of the North Mississippi style of blues. The film is 56 minutes and 40 seconds long.
SOME FREAKS follows the love story of one-eyed high school senior Matt and 250 lb Jill. However, when graduation comes and Jill moves cross-country to go to college, she then loses over 50 lbs - much to Matt's surprise when he arrives to visit her. While Matt struggles to accept Jill's new body, Jill begins to question whether Matt is really the man she wants to date. As the distance widens between them, the characters are propelled onto a collision course with brutality and loss, forcing them to confront who they are, who they were, and who everyone thinks they're supposed to be.
THE FOX AND THE WHALE is the tale of a curious fox who goes in search of an elusive whale. The film is 12 minutes and 13 seconds long.Anomaly Defenders is now available for iPhone and iPad. Defenders is the final installment of the Anomaly series, and puts you in control of the alien Hive, fighting off a human invasion of their homeworld.
While the previous Anomaly games have reversed the traditional format of the tower defense genre, with you trying to move through alien zones, Defenders sees you in a protective role. You'll have control over eight types of towers, each with three possible upgrade paths. You can unlock up to six new tower functions. Deploying your towers strategically will force the human invaders to adapt their tactics, changing the flow of combat. There are twenty-four levels to play through over a number of different environments, and three difficulty levels.
You can download Anomaly Defenders for the iPhone and iPad from the App Store right now.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more details.Full Street Addresses for Western Digital Customers a guest Mar 18th, 2016 6,500 Never a guest6,500Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 0.67 KB How to access full street addresses for all Western Digital customers who have performed an RMA. Using this link: https://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/RMA_PrintLabel.aspx?rma_no=00000000&dp=&lang=en And replacing the variable rma_no= with a valid 8 digit RMA code will direct you to a page containing a customer's name and full address. This affects all customers in all countries from what I can tell. Sample valid RMA number ranges: 85XXXXXX 86XXXXXX The user that found this reported it to Western Digital immediately, and they have so far not taken any action to close this loophole. Assume all information accessible via this method has already been compromised.
RAW Paste Data
How to access full street addresses for all Western Digital customers who have performed an RMA. Using this link: https://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/RMA_PrintLabel.aspx?rma_no=00000000&dp=&lang=en And replacing the variable rma_no= with a valid 8 digit RMA code will direct you to a page containing a customer's name and full address. This affects all customers in all countries from what I can tell. Sample valid RMA number ranges: 85XXXXXX 86XXXXXX The user that found this reported it to Western Digital immediately, and they have so far not taken any action to close this loophole. Assume all information accessible via this method has already been compromised.Alabama Football Spring Practice Day 2
Alabama defensive back Cyrus Jones (5) works through conditioning drills in a no-contact jersey during Alabama's second spring football practice, Monday, Mar. 23, 2015, at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com
(VASHA HUNT)
Cyrus Jones first got the diagnosis last June.
The rising junior cornerback had a torn labrum in his hip, a serious injury that required surgery.
Jones would have likely missed all of last season had he undergone the procedure at that point, a surgery that typically demands several months of rehabilitation.
Jones instead decided to play on and put off surgery until after the season, managing to establish himself as the Tide's top cornerback despite playing through the limitations that come along with a torn labrum in the hip.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Jones started all 14 games, a key piece of an Alabama defense that finished ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense.
Jones posted 46 tackles, three interceptions, a team-high 13 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
"As soon as I was diagnosed with it, I knew, eventually, I would need surgery," Jones said. "But being as though I got it diagnosed in the summertime during workouts, I couldn't get surgery because that would have meant I would have had to sit out during the season. I just had to deal with it through the season."
Alabama limited Jones' running during the summer before utilizing different forms of treatment to manage pain and irritation the Baltimore native dealt with during the season.
"It was definitely a lot of pain and irritation," Jones said. "But it wasn't too strenuous. The treatment and stuff like that helped to maintain it well so it made it possible for me to go out there and play."
Jones underwent surgery Jan. 12, which he has spent the winter and spring rehabilitating from.
Jones and injured linebacker Denzel Devall spend the beginning part of each spring practice working out on stationary bikes off to the side of the practice field while being directed by the Tide's strength and conditioning staff.
The hip is 70 percent healthy, Jones estimated Tuesday.
"I probably have a couple more months until I'm fully 100 percent," Jones said. "I'm just taking my time with it, not trying to rush anything because I don't want to get back out there and have a setback right away, so that's something that's important."
Jones enters this season as one of just two returning starters in Alabama's secondary, a veteran presence and three-year starter for a group that is the Tide's biggest defensive question mark after struggling in coverage against teams such as West Virginia, Ole Miss and Auburn last season.
Auburn's Nick Marshall was 27 of 43 for 456 yards with three touchdowns and one interception during the Tigers' 55-44 loss to Alabama last November.
"I really would like to be out there with the guys, getting better," Jones said. "It's hard to sit on the side and kind of watch them going out and competing and just working to our ultimate goal, which is to be the best that we can come the first game. It's hard in that aspect. But I'm enjoying the rest time, too, just taking my time to get back from my injury."
Jones is in his third year as a cornerback after playing wide receiver as a freshman at Alabama in 2012.
CBS Sports ranks Jones as the 19th-best cornerback prospect in next year's NFL draft.
"Right when I made the transition my sophomore year, I was trying to feel my way around, like I was playing unconfident, still not sure what I was supposed to be doing as far as the defense goes," Jones said. "It definitely hindered me as far as being able to just go out there and play fast and with confidence.
"If you don't have confidence playing corner, you just can't do it. It's impossible. Now I know what I can do, and I know my abilities, and I know the defense. Now it's just up to me to just go out there and play and prove everyone wrong who has something bad to say about it."This article was published in the Modern Review (Calcutta), a leading journal of the progressive Indian intelligentsia, under the title Rashtrapati, written ostensibly by one ‘Chanakya’ in November 1937. It turned out to be a pseudonymous of the man who a decade later would be India's first Prime Minister
Rashtrapati Jawaharlal ki Jai. The Rashtrapati looked up as he passed swiftly through the waiting crowds, his hands went up and were joined together in salute, and his pale hard face was lit up by a smile. It was a warm personal smile and the people who saw it responded to it immediately and smiled and cheered in return.
The smile passed away and again the face became stern and sad, impassive in the midst of the emotion that it had roused in the multitude. Almost it seemed that the smile and the gesture accompanying it had little reality behind them; they were just tricks of the trade to gain the goodwill of the crowds whose darling he had become. Was it so?
Watch him again. There is a great procession and tens of thousands of persons surround his car and cheer him in an ecstasy of abandonment. He stands on the seat of the car, balancing himself rather well, straight and seemingly tall, like a god, serene and unmoved by the seething multitude. Suddenly there is that smile again, or even a merry laugh, and the tension seems to break and the crowd laughs with him, not knowing what it is laughing at. He is godlike no longer but a human being claiming kinship and comradeship with the thousands who surround him and the crowd feels happy and friendly and takes him to its heart. But the smile is gone and the pale stern face is there again.
Is, all this natural or the carefully thought cut trickery of the public man? Perhaps it is both and long habit has become second nature now. The most effective pose is one in which there seems to be least of posing, and Jawaharlal has learnt well to act without the paint and powder of the actor. With his seeming carelessness and insouciance, he performs on the public stage with consummate artistry. Whither is this going to lead him and the country? What is he aiming at with all his apparent want of aim? What lies behind that mask of his, what desires, what will to power, what insatiate longings?
These questions would be interesting in any event, for Jawaharlal is a personality which compels interest and attention. But they have a vital significance for us, for he is bound up with the present in India, and probably the future, and he has the power in him to do great good to India or great injury. We must therefore seek answers to these questions.
For nearly two years now he has been President of the Congress and some people imagine that he is just a camp-follower in the Working Committee of the Congress, suppressed or kept in check by others. And yet steadily and persistently he goes on increasing his personal prestige and influence both with the masses and with all manner of groups and people. He goes to the peasant and the worker, to the zamindar and the capitalist, to the merchant and the peddler, to the Brahmin and the untouchable, to the Muslim, the Sikh, the Christian and the Jew, to all who make up the great variety of Indian life. To all these he speaks in a slightly different language, ever seeking to win them over to his side. With an energy that is astonishing at his age, he has rushed about across this vast land of India, and everywhere he has received the most extraordinary of popular welcomes. From the far north to Cape Comorin he has gone like some triumphant Caesar passing by, leaving a trail of glory and a legend behind him. Is all this for him just a passing fancy which amuses him, or some deep design, or the play of some force which he himself does not know? Is it his will to power, of which he speaks in his Autobiography, that is driving him from crowd to crowd and making him whisper to himself:
“I drew these tides of men into my hands
and wrote my will across the sky in stars."
What if the fancy turn? Men like Jawaharlal, with all their capacity for great and good work, are unsafe in democracy. He calls himself a democrat and a socialist, and no doubt he does so in all earnestness, but every psychologist knows that the mind is ultimately a slave to the heart and logic can always be made to fit in with the desires and irrepressible urges of a person. A little twist and Jawaharlal might turn a dictator sweeping aside the paraphernalia of a slow-moving democracy. He might still use the language and slogans of democracy and socialism, but we all know how fascism has fattened on this language and then cast it away as useless lumber.
Jawaharlal is certainly not a fascist, not only by conviction but by temperament. He is far too much of an aristocrat for the crudity and vulgarity of fascism. His very face and voice tell us that:
“Private faces in public places
are better and nicer than
public faces in private places.”
The fascist face is a public face and it is not a pleasant face in public or private. Jawaharlal’s face as well as his voice are definitely private. There is no mistaking that even in a crowd, and his voice at public meetings is an intimate voice which seems to speak to individuals separately in a matter-of-fact homely way. One wonders as one hears it or sees that sensitive face what lies behind them, what thoughts and desires, what strange complexes and repressions, what passions suppressed and turned to energy, what longings which he dare not acknowledge even to himself. The train of thought holds him in public speech, but at other times his looks betray him, for his mind wanders away to strange fields and fancies, and he forgets for a moment his companion and holds inaudible converse with the creatures of his brain. Does he think of the human contacts he has missed in his life’s journey, hard and tempestuous as it has been; does he long for them? Or does he dream of the future of his fashioning and of the conflicts and triumphs that he would fain have? He must know well that there is no resting by the way in the path he has chosen, and even triumph itself means greater burdens. As Lawrence said to the Arabs: “There could be no rest-houses for revolt, no dividend of joy paid out.” Joy may not be for him, but something greater than joy may be his, if fate and fortune are kind—the fulfilment of a life purpose.
Jawaharlal cannot become a fascist. And yet he has all the makings of a dictator in him—vast popularity, a strong will directed to a well-defined purpose, energy, pride, organisational capacity, ability, hardness, and, with all his love of the crowd, an intolerance of others and a certain contempt for the weak and the inefficient. His flashes of temper are well known and even when they are controlled, the curling of the lips betrays him. His over-mastering desire to get things done, to sweep away what he dislikes and build anew, will hardly brook for long the slow processes of democracy. He may keep the husk but he will see to it that it bends to his will. In normal times he would be just an efficient and successful executive, but in this revolutionary epoch, Caesarism is always at the door, and is it not possible that Jawaharlal might fancy himself as a Caesar?
Therein lies danger for Jawaharlal and for India. For it is not through Caesarism that India will attain freedom, and though she may prosper a little under a benevolent and efficient despotism, she will remain stunted and the day of the emancipation of her people will be delayed.
For two consecutive years Jawaharlal has been President of the Congress and in some ways he has made himself so indispensable that there are many who suggest that he should be elected for a third term. But a greater disservice to India and even to Jawaharlal can hardly be done. By electing him a third time we shall exalt one man at the cost of the Congress and make the people think in terms of Caesarism. We shall encourage in Jawaharlal the wrong tendencies and increase his conceit and pride. He will become convinced that only he can bear this burden or tackle India’s problems. Let us remember that, in spite of his apparent indifference to office, he has managed to hold important offices in the Congress for the last seventeen years. He must imagine that he is indispensable, and no man must be allowed to think so. India cannot afford to have him as President of the Congress for a third year in succession.
There is a personal reason also for this. In spite of his brave talk, Jawaharlal is obviously tired and stale and he will progressively deteriorate if he continues as President. He cannot rest, for he who rides a tiger cannot dismount. But we can at least prevent him from going astray and from mental deterioration under too heavy burdens and responsibilities. We have a right to expect good work from him in the future. Let us not spoil that and spoil him by too much adulation and praise. His conceit is already formidable. It must be checked. We want no Caesars.
Nehru himself added the following note to this article later:
5 October 1937. J.N. Papers, N.M.M.LPaper is a thin material produced by pressing together. Okay Cool! Just kidding! It’s not a physical thing, it’s a digital thing from Facebook. Team at Facebook are quick as a whip because just 24 hours after CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised more standalone apps in 2014, the company announced Paper, a standalone newsreader mobile app that has reportedly been in the works for years.
Facebook is straight up against incumbents like Flipboard and other services. It’s called Paper and it promises a “full-screen” distraction-free layout, with the app separating out your own Facebook News feed to begin with. You can then add to that, picking from Facebook’s curated themes that’ll include photography, sports, food, science and design. You can select 19 different “sections”.
Users will be able to select which sections they wish to subscribe to, and all content will be organized through a process that includes an algorithm and a human selection. For now, sections will not be personalized. For e.g., a user in Florida will see the same items in his sports section as a user in Manhatton, although personalization could be added in the future.
Personally, I love Facebook messenger because of its flawless and neat layout. As of now the app will be available for the iPhone in the US and only the iPhone in the US will get the app on February 3rd. It’s also ad-free, at least for now.
Facebook plans to launch more standalone app in the near future like Messenger. Mobile is the next big thing. That’s why Facebook has started a project called “Creative Labs” which lets 6,000 employee moves like a Startup. Paper is the first product out of it.
Zuckerberg is focusing on “Groups”. In developers day event, he said, “So the thinking I think we’ve had with the Facebook mobile app |
D’Angelo Lee, received 14 years.
The Dallas LIHTC program “… required city council approval of all projects, awarded points based on letters of support from politicians and community groups and prohibited building more than one housing project within one mile of another in the same calendar year. In practice, the rules meant that if two developers wound up competing on the same turf, the guy with a good friend at City Hall would have a huge advantage.”55 Low-income housing tax credits have a high value, there is a limited quantity of them, and they are handed out in a discretionary manner-those features of the program attract corruption.
Lack of oversight has also made the LIHTC program susceptible to abuse. The NPR investigation found that “little public accounting of the costs exists, even among government officials and regulators charged with monitoring the program.”56 The IRS hands out the LIHTC benefits, but its oversight “has been minimal,” said the GAO in 2015.57 The IRS has audited just 13 percent of the state housing agencies that hand out the tax credits.58
The IRS seems to do little auditing of the LIHTC, and its limited efforts are disorganized, as suggested by the GAO.59 Indeed, the IRS appears to be overwhelmed by the effort that would be needed to properly enforce all the complex rules of the LIHTC. As one example, the states seem to be abusing their discretionary authority to deliver 30 percent boosts to the credits, as noted, but there seems to be little IRS oversight of this provision.60
Economist Len Burman notes the Catch-22 in overseeing the complex LIHTC: “Adequate monitoring by state housing agencies and the IRS would be expensive, but without such monitoring, credits might be allocated to fraudulent claimants, to those who do not comply with the income or rent restrictions of the law, or to investors who earn above-normal rates of return.”61
NPR interviewed Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin, who has spent years investigating LIHTC. “It’s really a program of trust,” he said.62 He has prosecuted LIHTC scams in Florida, but he believes that the problems are nationwide. “This program has been described as a subterranean ATM, and only the developers know the PIN,” Sherwin noted.63
LIHTC versus Other Housing Aid
Politically, the LIHTC has been a successful program, even though economists and government watchdog agencies have found that it is less efficient than other housing subsidy approaches. The LIHTC attempts to boost housing supply, but experts find that demand-side housing aid, such as vouchers, is superior.
From a tenant’s perspective, LIHTC housing benefits are tied to one location, whereas demand-side aid such as housing vouchers allow choices about where to live. Also, the LIHTC projects have tended to serve more higher-income tenants than other housing programs, and are thus less targeted to the most needy families.64
Perhaps the largest disadvantage of the LIHTC compared to other housing programs is the high cost. The GAO found that LIHTC units cost 19 to 44 percent more than units subsidized using housing vouchers.65
Other federal analyses have come to similar conclusions. The CBO found that “the government can provide assistance of equal value to tenants through housing vouchers at a fraction of the cost of credits.”66 The agency noted, “overhead and administrative costs appear to be much greater if a low-income housing unit is subsidized with tax credits than if it is subsidized with a voucher, thereby exacerbating the inefficiency.”67
Academic studies support these conclusions. In a study of six metropolitan areas, Lan Deng found that LIHTC aid was more expensive than housing vouchers in all locations.68 In Miami, for example, tax credit housing units were 66 percent more expensive than units aided with housing vouchers.
An indicator of the LIHTC’s inefficiency is that the projects often need other federal and state subsidies to achieve the affordable rents policymakers are seeking. The CBO said, “people with very low income often cannot afford even the reduced rents in the set-aside units of LIHTC projects without additional subsidies.”69 The GAO has found that 40 percent of tenants in LIHTC buildings received housing vouchers. One study found that when all the subsidies for LIHTC projects are added up, it amounts to an average 96 percent of the costs per unit.70
Given the inefficiency of the LIHTC compared to other aid programs, why do policymakers support it? One reason is that because it is in the tax code, it escapes the scrutiny that appropriated spending gets. The efforts to restrain discretionary spending in recent years have bypassed the LIHTC because it is a tax credit enacted in permanent law.
In general, the LIHTC receives support from Republicans because it is a tax break, and it receives support from Democrats because it is a welfare program. A study by Len Burman and Marvin Phaup noted that the LIHTC gains support because of the “obfuscation of its provenance and funding,” meaning that “both taxes and spending appear lower, which offers obvious political advantages.”71
The LIHTC’s political popularity also rests on its large coalition of beneficiaries, which include real estate developers, financial intermediaries, law and consulting firms, and state and local housing agencies. Anti-poverty groups also support the LIHTC, even though demand-side housing aid is superior.
This broad coalition keeps the pressure on Congress to support and expand the program. A Senate Finance Committee hearing in August on the LIHTC, for example, was not focused on cutting or repealing the program, but rather on a bipartisan proposal to expand it.
LIHTC Housing versus Market Housing
Affordable housing proponents say that the LIHTC is needed because markets would fail to supply low-income housing. However, in past decades markets did supply vast quantities of housing for people with moderate incomes.72 Meanwhile, governments often undermine the provision of low-cost housing with excessive regulations that block projects and raise costs.
Since 1986, many housing projects have been built using the LIHTC subsidy, but that does not prove that the program has been effective. The government provision of subsidized housing has likely displaced some market-based housing, an effect called “crowding out.”
A number of statistical studies have found substantial crowding out of market-based housing from the LIHTC. A 2005 study by Todd Sinai and Joel Waldfogel estimated that 30 to 70 percent of housing produced under LIHTC and other housing subsidy programs would have been produced even without the programs.73
A 2002 study by Stephen Malpezzi and Kerry Vandell found “no significant relationship between the number of LIHTC units … built in a given state and the size of the current housing stock” in the state.74 That suggests “a high rate of substitution” between LIHTC units and market-rate units, according to the authors.75
A 2010 study by Michael Eriksen and Stuart Rosenthal found that “displacement of private rental housing construction as a result of the LIHTC program is substantial.”76 Their most robust estimate found that “nearly 100 percent of LIHTC development is offset by a reduction in the number of newly built unsubsidized rental units.”77
The CBO has said, “the low-income housing credit, like other supply subsidy mechanisms, is unlikely to increase substantially the supply of affordable housing. Subsidized housing largely replaces other housing that would have been available through the private, unsubsidized housing market.”78
It is unfortunate that LIHTC housing does appear to be crowding out market-based housing. LIHTC housing is excessively costly to finance and build, and it generates bureaucracy and fraud, which undermine economic growth and good governance.
Another disadvantage of LIHTC housing is that it creates long-term problems regarding maintenance. The LIHTC subsidizes housing construction, but all housing needs ongoing maintenance and capital upgrades down the road. In market-based housing, owners can raise rents to cover the costs of upgrades and fix-ups. But LIHTC properties have rent caps and income limits in place for 30 years, which constrains owners’ ability to make needed investments, and it reduces their incentive to do so.79 Regarding the LIHTC, the CBO said, “rent controls remove the incentive to keep units in good repair because there is an excess supply of tenants at the restricted rent levels.”80
A related issue is that LIHTC properties face regulatory hurdles to the refinancing that is often needed to raise cash for upgrades.81 One “solution” to the problem is more subsidies: building owners that used the LIHTC for construction can apply for aid down the road for rehabilitation. They double-dip on subsidies, using the 9 percent credit for construction and then the 4 percent credit later on for rehabilitation.
The maintenance and upgrade problem is becoming more of a concern because the LIHTC has existed long enough for many properties to have degraded with age. The bottom line is that because LIHTC properties are not in the regular marketplace, normal market solutions to maintenance and upgrades are not available.
Policy Options
President Trump and Republicans in Congress are considering legislation to cut tax rates and trim unneeded tax breaks. They should put the LIHTC on the chopping block, as it is a complex and inefficient way of promoting affordable housing. The evidence suggests that the LIHTC benefits businesses and investors more than the low-income population it is aimed at serving.
The LIHTC is supposed to increase the supply of affordable housing. But a better way for policymakers to pursue that goal is to reduce government-imposed barriers to construction. They should reassess zoning rules, land-use regulations, and permitting requirements that may act as a barrier to housing construction and raise costs. It does not make sense for the federal government to subsidize housing affordability while local governments neutralize their efforts with artificial barriers to housing supply.
Regulations on urban land use often stem from well-meaning efforts to promote safety, environmental, and aesthetic goals. But a side effect of the growing web of rules in some cities has been to deter the construction of multifamily and low-income housing. Local regulations may also stymie the development of innovative housing options suitable for low-income tenants, such as tiny homes and microhousing.82 With reduced housing supply, many cities suffer from housing affordability problems.
Land-use and zoning rules are mainly the purview of local governments, so affordability can be tackled locally without federal subsidies. Edward Glaeser and Joseph Gyuorko argue, “building small numbers of subsidized housing units is likely to have a trivial impact on average housing prices … However, reducing the implied zoning tax on new construction could well have a massive impact on housing prices.”83 By “zoning tax” they mean unneeded rules that raise the costs of projects.
Numerous studies have examined the impact of local regulations on housing supplies and costs.84 A 2009 study by Jenny Schuetz found that communities in Massachusetts “with more restrictive zoning issue significantly fewer building permits for multifamily housing.”85 Edward Glaeser and coauthors estimated that restrictive regulations roughly double the price of one-bedroom apartments in some high-cost cities such as San Jose, San Francisco, and Manhattan.86 As housing expert Edward Pinto argues, affordable housing resulting from reductions in regulatory barriers “is economical by design, making it naturally affordable, not expensive housing made affordable by subsidy.”87
In sum, the LIHTC program is a corporate tax break that is ripe for repeal as federal policymakers look to simplify the tax code. LIHTC projects are complex, expensive, and they encourage local government corruption.
Housing affordability is a serious problem in many cities, but regulatory reform is a better way to address the challenge. Such reforms can be pursued by state and local governments without federal tax subsidies.
NotesAt first glance, @BurlCoatFactory reads like any of your standard-issue Weird Twitter parodies — it has fewer than 300 followers, and its tweets are mostly nonsensical musings about Mondays and #coats. And yet, until this afternoon, the Burlington Coat Factory was sending its customers to the account through a link on its website. It turns out this was a mistake, however, and that @BurlCoatFactory is not the company’s official Twitter account. If it had been, it would have represented a tremendous step forward in avant-garde corporate #branding. Think about it, Burlington.
What a weekend did you buy a coat. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 26, 2013
Happy Monday tweeps did you have a weekend and if so, good. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) July 22, 2013
Monday is the day it is. #coats — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 5, 2013
How is your day, today? Was it yesterday? #coats — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) July 30, 2013
Today we remember many thing #DontForgetting — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 11, 2013
Have a Monday. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 12, 2013
Happy Friday tweeps. happy Friday. tweep s — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 13, 2013
Congrtulations to the NBA Champions, Miami Heat! #Coats — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) June 21, 2013
With a can do attitude you can coat shopping. Just about any time of the day. #coats — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 2, 2013
Good morning tweeps. Have you thought about coats today because we have. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 10, 2013
Who does like coats? Let us know with #YesIDoLikeCoatsBigTime and tell others about this. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 20, 2013
Ifyou like shopping and coats go outside and yell yes right now. We will listen for you. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 6, 2013
Happy tweeps! Isthere. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 23, 2013
if the the when — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) August 30, 2013
We aim to please have #coats — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 11, 2013
Good day. Please use hashtag #coats thanks. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 17, 2013
Fall into savings at Burlington Coat Factory but fall into the store (savings) don't fall on the ground. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 4, 2013
The cat said stop in today and purrrrrchase a #coat — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 12, 2013
Can you believe fall fashion is! — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) September 10, 2013
This one doesn’t even make sense:
It's getting hot outside, so cool down with a new coat or jacket. — Burlington Coat Fact (@BurlCoatFactory) July 8, 2013
Updated to reflect Burlington’s clarification that the account is not, in fact, theirs.Whitehouse Responds to Pruitt Withdrawal from Oklahoma GOP Fundraiser Following Hatch Act Complaint
‘This is the least he could do’
Washington, DC – Today, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt indicated he would no longer headline an Oklahoma Republican Party fundraiser after a complaint filed with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, which called for an investigation into apparent Hatch Act violations by Pruitt. Whitehouse released the following statement on Pruitt’s reversal:
“This is the least he can do. But the Office of Special Counsel still must do a thorough investigation to determine whether Administrator Pruitt ran afoul of the Hatch Act. Scott Pruitt has a long record of dark money fundraising and cozy relationships with big, fossil-fuel political donors. The American people need to know whether he is using his position at EPA to promote the political actors who support him.”
In the complaint, Whitehouse pointed to an invitation for the fundraiser that makes numerous references to Pruitt’s status as Administrator and his actions so far in office—a brand of political promotion prohibited by the Hatch Act. The complaint requested that Pruitt not be allowed to attend the fundraiser.
Whitehouse’s complaint is available here.
###Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Caroline Wyatt reports: ''Security here was seen as tight''
A number of Afghan officials have been suspended as an investigation is carried out into a suicide bomb and gun attack in Kabul that killed 21 people.
The Taliban has admitted targeting a Lebanese restaurant, leaving 13 foreigners and eight Afghans dead.
Among the victims were a local IMF head and Canadian, American, UK, Lebanese, Russian and Danish citizens.
The Afghan interior minister has warned security officials in the capital that negligence will not be tolerated.
Kamal Hamade, owner of the Taverna du Liban, made the best chocolate cake, the best Lebanese food and, he thought, the best evacuation plan. The plan wasn't good enough to save him and other foreigners and Afghans who died with him when the Taliban came. But it did save many lives. I know from my own visits when in Kabul that Kamal did everything possible to make his restaurant a home away from home. Whatever food you ordered, he brought double the amount. He proudly introduced us to Afghan chefs he trained to make Lebanese specialties and Afghan guards who kept his place safe. We talked about his native Lebanon, his risky time in Baghdad, but most of all, his commitment to his new home. Now his doors are destroyed and, with them, a little of the hope that Kabul can ever be the safe inviting place he wanted the Taverna to be. Lyse Doucet: Owner dies defending restaurant Britons die in blast
Mohammad Omar Daudzai told Afghan TV that the head of the precinct in which the attack took place, and two other officials had been suspended. "They will be investigated as part of a probe into the incident that took place last night."
A suicide attacker detonated his explosives outside the gate of the heavily fortified Taverna du Liban, Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said.
Two gunmen then entered the restaurant and started "indiscriminately killing" people inside, he added.
Wabel Abdallah, the 60-year-old Lebanese head of the International Monetary Fund's Afghanistan office, was killed, along with the restaurant's popular Lebanese owner, Kamal Hamade.
His restaurant, in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan area, had come under attack before and was considered a favourite destination for foreign nationals, diplomats and aid workers.
A Taliban statement indicated the restaurant had been targeted because it was frequented by high-ranking foreigners and served alcohol.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ari Gaitanis UN Spokesman: "It is a very heavy day here for us"
Mr Hamade had deployed a number of measures to keep pace with security requirements from foreign and Afghan organisations, the BBC's Lyse Doucet reports. Among the other victims were
Three UN civilian staff from Russia, the US and Pakistan
The Russian national was said to have been working on kick-starting peace talks with the Taliban
Two Britons: Labour Party candidate for the European Parliament elections Del Singh and Simon Chase, reportedly serving with the EU police mission, Eupol
A Danish woman also serving with Eupol
Two Canadians - it was unclear who they were working for
At least one other American, according to the US embassy
13 Afghan nationals
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned "in the strongest terms the horrific attack", his spokesman said.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said: "Our hearts go out to Wabel [Abdallah's] family and friends, as well as the other victims of this attack".
Image copyright AP Image caption Security forces flooded the area soon after the attack
Image copyright AFP Image caption The restaurant, in the heart of Kabul's embassy district, was popular with diplomats and foreign workers.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The explosion wrecked the restaurant and destroyed nearby vehicles.
"I was sitting with my friends in the kitchen when an explosion happened and smoke filled the kitchen," Abdul Majid, a chef at the restaurant, told AFP news agency.
"A man came inside shouting and he started shooting. One of my colleagues was shot and fell down. I ran to the roof and threw myself to the neighbouring property."
The attackers were eventually shot dead by the security forces when they arrived at the scene.
The BBC's Mahfouz Zubaide heard the blast and gunfire from at least two kilometres away. He said the gunfire went on sporadically for about 10 minutes.
Security continues to be a major concern in Afghanistan. The last remaining contingent of Nato-led forces is due to leave by the end of the year, having handed over security to Afghan forces.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai also condemned the attack, saying in a statement that if US-led Nato forces wanted to be united with the Afghan people "they have to target terrorism".
Washington is pushing Mr Karzai to sign an agreement which would allow some US troops to stay behind after this year's withdrawal.
The Taliban told the BBC's John Simpson earlier this week that they were now back in control of large areas of Afghanistan and were confident of returning to power after Western troops left.
Our correspondent says it is hard to believe the Taliban could make a comeback as things stand, but their takeover of Kabul in 1996 was unexpected, and they could be strengthened if a weak, corrupt president is elected in April.The 'Grateful' executive producer waxes baby poetic on his two smash hits, breastfeeding in public and more.
Last year was a huge one for DJ Khaled, whose relentless pursuit of hits, enviable networking skills and Snapchat expertise came to a blissful head, instantly turning him into an A-list entity. He toured with Beyoncé, flipped the social media industry on its ear and got JAY-Z to appear in a music video (an impressive feat as any). In August he received his crown jewel, a No. 1 album, courtesy of the star-studded Major Key and its brilliant marketing campaign. It’s also worth noting that the day Major Key topped the Billboard 200, the executive producer of Khaled’s follow-up, released less than a year later, wasn’t even born.
Enter the arrival of Asahd Khaled, DJ Khaled’s first-born and the executive producer of his Roc Nation sophomore album, Grateful. How does that work, you ask? Hey, people used to ponder the role of the elder Khaled himself. Truth is, it doesn’t matter. Consecutive top 5 debuts on the Hot 100 before the album drops? Just know it works.
Asahd was born in October, making him the youngest executive producer of a major label album in history, but don’t think he coasted his way to the top. In his first-ever interview, he waxes baby poetics about the most pertinent issues facing the House that Khaled Built today, including public breastfeeding, his impeccable style, earning a No. 1 before turning one and much more.
First off, what was Summer Jam like? That was like a coming out party, wasn’t it?
Summer Jam was great! Daddy brought me out on stage and all!
As the executive producer of Grateful, surely the album’s title had to be green-lit by you. Were there any titles suggested by your dad that you had to shoot down?
Well, at first I told daddy to name the album I Love Mommy and Daddy but he said, “No, I’m more grateful for you.” So, I said, “Ok daddy, Grateful.” But I Love Mommy and Daddy was way better to me! [giggles].
How did it feel to debut at No. 1 with “I’m the One,” especially considering that your face was the artwork?
Amazing! I got a #1 before I turned one! [giggles].
You’ve been spotted in some pretty spiffy outfits. Let’s talk about this one at the Roc Nation headquarters in New York.
I can’t take the credit, my mommy dresses me and it’s usually Gucci. She’s a stylish lady! Love you mommy!
How about the powder blue suit on the Grateful cover? You and your dad did that.
Actually my Uncle T did that. That’s daddy’s stylist, Terrell Jones. But to me, he’s Uncle T and he custom designs all my and daddy’s clothes. Love you Uncle T.
Alright, let’s crack down on the issues real quick. Public breastfeeding. Where are you falling on that?
Public breastfeeding? Well, if you’re hungry don’t you eat? [shakes head].
Ferberizing? Yay or nay? For babies and for rappers.
Ferberizing? Couldn’t tell you cause I don’t cry [chuckles]. #HappyBaby #HappyLife
How are you managing your parents’ sleep cycle? Are you letting them at least get in four hours at a time or are you just unruly with it?
Me unruly? Never! [laughs] I sleep when they sleep. I give them about five to six hours, and unlike my friend Drake, I take naps!
Your dad’s dancing. He really got down in the “Wild Thoughts” video. Has he been advised to never do that again or are you working with him on it?
[laughs] Daddy gave us a little cha cha. Love you daddy!
Speaking of “Wild Thoughts,” the combination of Rihanna, Bryson Tiller and Carlos Santana has gone over really well with fans. Be honest, whose idea was that? Yours or you dad’s?
Well… I knew it was a hit and daddy said he wanted Rihanna and Bryson. I’m more of the track/music finder and daddy is the one who gets the artist on the tracks. We work good together! #Hitmakers
JAY-Z’s appeared on your dad’s last two albums, and now he’s got his own album coming out. Have you heard any of his new music, and what are your thoughts if so?
Well when daddy says, “It’s top secret,” it’s too secret! So haven’t gotten a chance to hear JAY-Z’s new music. Daddy’s afraid I’ll hum the tunes in my gym class and then it may leak! That’s a no-no because I hum a lot! But can’t wait to hear it!
You’re only seven months old but you’ve got a songwriting credit on “Wild Thoughts.” JAY-Z’s daughter, Blue Ivy, currently holds the record for being the youngest to make the Billboard chart. You guys in some sort of competition?
Competition? Never! Can’t wait to work with Blue Ivy! You know, she’s Beyoncé’s daughter and I love Beyoncé. I can’t wait to meet the twins, we all need to have a play date/studio session so we can lay down some new baby sounds! #Vibes #YoungKingsandQueens
How is Mom handling your newfound celebrity? You’ve been seen hanging out with Travis Scott, Nas, Rih Rih and more. Does your fast life worry her?
Celebrity? Huh? Fast life? Me? Worry mommy? Never! Mommy is with me 24/7, how do you think I eat! [laughs]By Robert Romano
“That’s your opinion.”
That was Hillary Clinton’s Sept. 26 debate response to Donald Trump’s contention that “Your husband signed NAFTA, which was one of the worst things that ever happened to the manufacturing industry.”
With Trump now leading in polls in Ohio and rallying from behind in Pennsylvania, Michigan and other rust belt states — states whose manufacturing presence has been decimated in the past two decades.
To be certain, since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994, about 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost nationwide according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To be fair it didn’t happen all at once — most of the losses happened after the dotcom bubble popped at the end of the 1990s and after the financial crisis in 2008.
Now, it is certainly debatable whether NAFTA bears all the blame. Trump also cites China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2000 and Congress granting permanent normal trade relations with Beijing in 2000.
And maybe it wasn’t even all trade.
But try telling that to the folks who live in those communities that have been wrecked when the factories closed down and went overseas, chasing lower costs. They do happen to attribute it to the trade deals. Sometimes perception matters more. It’s an opinion shared by millions of Americans.
Either way, the job losses were real. They actually happened. Not opinion. And Clinton can argue until she is blue in the face that it wasn’t the trade deals, but those jobs still won’t come back.
That is why Clinton’s dismissive remark was perhaps her biggest gaffe of the presidential election campaign so far, particularly when one takes a close look at the electoral map. She could have at least acknowledged the losses and the possibility that the trade deals played a role. Instead she dismissed the concern with hand waving akin to Marie Antoinette’s supposed saying, “Let them eat cake.” Very risky. The one thing she cannot afford to lose are any more union households that traditionally vote Democrat in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, who are greatly concerned by the economic decline the U.S. is experiencing.
Again, not opinion. The economic slowdown is real.
Labor participation has steadily been dropping since the late 1990s too along with employment population ratios for 16 to 64 year olds. That is, segmenting out seniors who are retiring en masse, and you’re still looking at millions of working age adults either leaving the labor force or not entering on a net basis. They’re piling up.
Economic growth has slowed down (not above an inflation-adjusted 4 percent since 2000, not above 3 percent since 2005).
Interest rates have collapsed; so has inflation.
Even with 2015 factored in, the growth of incomes has been very flat during the same time span.
The amount of jobs created is has slowed down.
Everything is slowing down.
And it is having a real impact on American communities and families — particularly in the Rust Belt states Clinton needs to win. It didn’t happen in a vacuum. Once vibrant towns are being hollowed out. In the meantime, things have not really recovered after the financial crisis.
Again, not opinion. Those things really happened.
Trump and others have related the slowdown to the issues surround trade and globalization. He discusses the broader costs of doing business in the U.S. including things that Republicans traditionally talk about, including high taxes, too much regulation, etc. And things they usually don’t like to talk about, which are the taxes that foreign countries put on our goods via subsidies for their goods, currency devaluation and tariffs. For businesses, those higher costs hurt either way, with higher relative costs here as opposed to abroad having helped hurt businesses, killed jobs and resulted in outsourcing.
Judging by his success during the primaries and now picking up ground in rust belt states like Ohio and Pennsylvania which he absolutely needs to win, it appears to be a message that is resonating. He’s taking account of current events and problems, telling people where they fit in those events and offering a political program to deal with the problems.
Win or lose in the end, the economic slowdown and its impact on the American people articulated above are going to be some of the biggest challenges facing the new administration and future candidates and Congress. The longer it takes for a robust economic recovery to create jobs, the worse the politics will get on this, sad to say.
In the meantime, those politics definitely will not favor Clinton if she cannot even acknowledge the problem, which is the buzz saw she inadvertently walked into when she let Trump lure her out on trade and NAFTA. Round one goes to Trump.
Robert Romano is the senior editor of Americans for Limited Government.We needed to have the same heating curve, the natural heating curve, in the fermentation. We wanted to make sure that the next batch we could exactly duplicate the flavor and aroma that we had hit. That’s where we were struggling for a while. It turned out to be something as simple as we didn’t have enough wort aeration. We had this big open stainless steel cooler and we had assumed that as the wort trickled down the outside it was getting enough oxygen in it and we should feed the yeast what it needed. In reality, I went back to the chemistry lab where I had TA’d at junior college, talked to the professors to allow me to do a bunch of higher level analysis. I was looking at calcium levels, I was looking at nitrogen. We were sending samples out to Siebel. Just trying to figure out what the hell was going on with our inability to have the exact same fermentation. As it turned out a little bit more oxygen was all we needed to add. So the solution was to put a little fish tail end on our pump. So, as were pumping in to the fermenter we would spray it in rather than going to the bottom which is what we had been doing.Jackie relapses on the first anniversary of her sobriety, gets an unwanted sponsor and deals with Grace's own drug use and Kevin's looming remarriage.
1. Sink or Swim 29m Jackie gets more than exercise at the gym, and later finds an unconventional 12-step sponsor. At the hospital, she is tasked with shadowing Carrie.
2. Pillgrimage 28m Desperate for a source, Jackie finds one at the ER and another while on a date with Frank. Coop's online dating profile leads to an odd recruitment.
3. Super Greens 28m Coop gets some disappointing news. Carrie becomes a local TV star. Jackie creates some drama to help a patient. Grace drops a bombshell.
4. Love Jungle 28m Mia sparks jealousy in Jackie. Zoey helps Prentiss deliver bad news to an old pal. Frank reveals why his marriage ended. Jackie is caught in the act.
5. Rag & Bone 28m Frank searches for Jackie's stash. Jackie connects with an unlikely patient. Prentiss gets his groove back. Kevin and Mia make an announcement.
6. Nancy Wood 28m Down to her last bag of pills, Jackie learns that her fake ID has been compromised. While on a date with Prentiss, Zoe senses something is amiss.
7. Rat on a Cheeto 28m Antoinette makes a confession. Jackie asks Eddie for a favor. Coop reaches a milestone. Grace delivers a school speech that's hard for Jackie to hear.
8. The Lady with the Lamp 23m Frank, Eddie and Antoinette help Jackie detox at home. While detoxing, Jackie dreams of her worst fear, and later has a realization about Frank.
9. Candyman 28m Frank warns Jackie that the DEA is going to investigate her hospital. The nun returns to the ER, worse than ever. Jackie brushes off Antoinette.
10. Sidecars and Spermicide 28m In order to keep using, Jackie retreats from those closest to her. Carrie forgets an important date but Thor saves the day. The DEA targets a suspect.
11. Sisterhood 29m Jackie uses Helen, the dying nun, for her own purposes, and later brings a poor choice of a guest to the wedding. Zoey's worst fears are confirmed.For the first decade of their existence, the Eagles were an awful team. They never had a winning record, three times they won just one game in a season. From 1933, their first year of existence, to 1936, they went 10-32-1, the worst in the league of the teams that played all four seasons in that time span. But in 1937 they bought themselves some relevance when owner and future commissioner Bert Bell purchased Bill Hewitt from the Bears.
In an era of two-way players, Hewitt was outstanding at both. Football was a very different game in the 1930s, with teams rarely passing the ball, and when they did a variety of players on the same team threw the ball. Running was far and away the primary method of advancing the ball, the league’s leader in pass attempts in 1933, Harry Newman of the Giants, threw less than ten times a game, the league averaged over 36 attempts a game. And they ran it fairly ineffectively, at a rate of around 3.3 yards per carry. On defense, Hewitt, an end, did his best to make those runs even more ineffective. In 1933 he was unofficially credited with over 300 yards in tackles for loss, thanks to his great ability to get off the snap. Defenses at the time lined up man to man against offenses, with seven-man offensive lines going one on one against seven man defensive lines. Defenses played what today we would call a two-gap defense, the line attempted to control and defeat their blocker, then descend upon the ball carrier or have the defensive backfield make the play. Hewitt was the best of his era at timing the snap and bursting past his man and making a play in the backfield. He was so good at this he was given various "Offsides" nicknames. Coupled with excellent speed to blow by blockers and long arms to ward them off, he was considered one of the dominant and exciting defenders of an era where defense was very much secondary to the offense. Lions coach Potsy Clark said that on defense Hewitt was basically two men at once.
On offense he was no less a star. Everyone ran the single wing offense, using misdirection and laterals to create space for runners to exploit. Trick plays were so common as to be expected, and Hewitt came up with a devastating one that would be his iconic play. In 1933 the forward pass, previously only legal from five yards behind the line of scrimmage, was legalized to today’s standards of anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Hewitt was one of the first to really take advantage of this, against the Packers in the season opener he sprung a new trick play he thought of in the huddle against Green Bay. The play was essentially a more complicated hook and ladder. The passer, usually Bronko Nagurski, would fake a run to draw in defenders, then throw a pop pass to Hewitt, which he could now legally do with the new passing rules. With the defense then converging on Hewitt, he would pitch the ball to a teammate that was now left alone. It scored a touchdown against the title favorite Packers in a 14-7 win, Hewitt also blocked a kick for a TD. In the 1933 title game, the Bears scored the winning touchdown over the Giants in the NFL’s first true Championship Game wih it.
Hewitt executing his signature lateral. This photo is mistakenly believed to have been from the 1933 Championship |
strategy has risks, because it takes time for an analyst to mature into a trader knowledgeable enough to take the appropriate risk to make money. Hedge fund industry recruiters who did not want to be identified because they sometimes worked with Point72 said the firm’s push to hire analysts also reflected the fact that top traders were still reluctant to join the firm so soon after SAC’s guilty plea.
The billion-dollar profit that Point72 has made so far this year is a large one, but the firm is a very different creature now, and comparisons with hedge funds are inexact. Because it is what is known as a family office, the firm does not have outside investors to share profits and pay fees.
Through the end of June, Point72 was up a little over 9 percent, but that is a gross figure, said two people briefed on the matter. Hedge funds are normally judged based on their performance after paying fees and expenses. If Point72 were still operating as a hedge fund, its reported performance to outside investors would be closer to 4 to 5 percent.
A 4 percent gain would be enough to beat the average 3.2 percent return posted by all hedge funds as measured by the Hedge Fund Research indexes. A year ago, SAC ended June up 8.25 percent after paying fees and expenses. For the full year, the fund posted a 20 percent return.
By that standard, the current 9 percent gross return is good, but it is a far cry from the 25 percent average annual return SAC recorded during its 22-year history.New Line of Tabletop Games Based on Classic Video Game Titles
IDW Games and Atari Interactive, Inc. announced a partnership to produce a line of tabletop games based on classic Atari video game titles.
The first three titles will be Centipede, Asteroids, and Missile Command, designed by Jon Gilmour, co-designer on Plaid Hat Games Dead of Winter game series. The games are designed to capture the classic feel of these arcade titles. Centipede will release in Fall 2017, with other titles releasing shortly thereafter.
IDW Games will be offering a first look at the games at the GAMA Trade Show next week.
Atari has had a major resurgence as a brand in the last few years, capitalizing on the nostalgia of its early video game library. Dynamite signed a comprehensive licensing agreement with Atari in 2015 (see “Warren Ellis Penning 'James Bond' Comic”), and has released a popular art book (see “Review: 'Art of Atari' HC”) as well as launching a new comic series based on Swordquest (see “Atari's 'Swordquest,' James Bond, 'Red Rising' Prequel”) and a poster book (see “'Atari Poster Book,' 'Pathfinder: Runescars'”).
Atari also announced a deal with Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films last year to produce and finance movies based on Centipede and Missile Command (see “Classic Atari Games Optioned for Films”). Warner Bros. Pictures is also producing an adaptation of Ernest Cline’s nostalgic video game sci-fi novel Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg, with plans to release the film in theaters on March 30, 2018 (see “Best in Shows--Q1 2018”).
See concept art for all three titles in the gallery below.A/N: Deleted this chapter to add some new dialogues, scenes, and rephrase some sentences. Re-read it, if necessary.
"What are you doing?"
"Playing with you, babe."
"Playing…?"
I crossed my legs, arms propped on my lap. Ocean blue eyes blackened and I stared at her blankly, enjoying the view of a beautiful body of a very beautiful brunette, sitting on my desk. Clothes were thrown on the floor and she was left with just a flimsy cloth, covering her most intimate part. I shivered, licking my lips as my eyes traveled up her crossed naked legs to her slender waists and toned abdomen.
Gulping, my heart quickened its pace and my intent was clear. I'll make her scream—
"Elsa." Giggles. I was looking directly at her, her foot propped under my chin. "Eyes up here, babe," she whispered and I grinned.
"Are you teasing me?"
She shrugged. "I am supposed to, right, Elsa? I am your—"
"Dominant."
"—Mistress."
Unbelievable. Laughing, I looked at her lips, fingers twitched. I wanted her. Badly. "Mistress, hm... Well, my… wonderful, darling… Mistress," I looked up to her glimmering eyes, my playful grin melting and I craved for her touch, "What have you done to me…?" I grabbed her ankle, kissing it softly, melting her with my warm breath, yet… she did not moan. She didn't move, letting my lips worship her, kissing and breathing its way up to her inner thigh and I pulled in close to her. Her scent was close and I sighed, breathing her in.
There was that giggle again, her light touch trailing down my neck. Suddenly she grabbed my jaw, her eyes caught my gaze. My mouth had gone dry, my mind blank. I wanted more of her sweet, sweet taste. Oh what a tease…
"On your knees," she demanded, her tone clear and smooth. I smirked, unmoved and I leaned close to her, biting my lips. Her breath smelled like chocolate and oh, it was tempting to push her down, and ravage her like an animal in hunger.
Chuckling lowly, I grabbed her legs, propping them to my sides. Biting my lips, I breathed to her, "Make me."
She grabbed my jaw, pulling me in. I held my breath, chills running my spine as I watched her eyes going blank. She'd changed and I was unable to remove my eyes from hers. I gripped onto her legs, feeling her lips brush against mine, breathing tickling my cheek. It was growing too hot.
"On. Your. Knees. Elsa Snow."
I swallowed, looking at her lips perking up into a sly grin, fingers gliding down my neck. She grabbed me by my tie, pulling me into a deep kiss, filled with lust and addiction. I gave in, groaning loudly as I placed my palm on her cheek, wanting more of that sweet, sweet tongue—She pulled away fast, leaving me craving for more. I stared down at her breasts, blue eyes turning black. "Belle…"
Spreading her legs even more, my eyes were drawn to the trickling of her sweat, running down her chest to her stomach. I licked my lips, eyes meeting her wetness. "Do I have to repeat myself?" she whispered, a hand gripping onto my locks of hair, tilting my head up. I let out a soft sigh, hands on her thighs.
"Well?"
Realizing I could not escape, I shook my head. "No," I breathed, and I felt like my body would burst.
"What are you going to do then?" She let go of my hair and it was impossible to stop staring at her body as if it was the first time I have ever seen it. Slowly, I pushed her legs apart, palms greedily running themselves up her thighs, thumbs caressing the inner parts. I hooked my fingers on her panties and I forced my eyes on hers, leaning in slowly for a kiss.
"What did I just say, babe?" she muttered, lips pressed against mine softly. I shivered, looking at her, wanting her. Slowly, kissing her lips… her neck… her chest… I looked up, seeing her cold dark eyes on mine. She wanted my answer…
I licked my lip. "I'll get on my knees."
"And what?" I looked at her, lust clouding my mind.
"And I'll please you."
She grinned, hands running through my fringes. "Good girl."
The day was warm, winds breezing through the hot air. It was a nice day out, kids playing and running left to right. I was on the ground, weeping like a baby with a group of boys surrounding me. Why were they always bothering me, I had no idea. Why weren't the parents stopping them? I cried hard, unable to call for help—I believed that I was a strong girl, I didn't need help. Nevertheless, I got it anyway.
"Stop!"
I turned, hugging my violin tightly to see a little girl with her arms crossed and cheeks puffed into a pout. "Leave her alone!" She walked towards me and now she was in front of me. Her posture was straight and she looked-
Well, staring at her back, she looked as if she was radiating light. Her eyes were flashing with confidence and I was simply in awe. What a strange girl.
Hans and his brothers stayed quiet, startled. "Wait, what...?"
The girl took a huge breath, chest heaving out. "I said, leave her alone! Stop throwing her things!"
Her screaming was obnoxious, making me grimace. But I needed her... whoever she was. She looked no more than a five or six year old.
Looking past her, his brothers were laughing and Hans (was that his name?) just stared, astonished.
"God you're funny. Hans what are you doing, take that violin!" One of his brothers laughed, pushing him towards us even more and I whimpered. Frightened tears threatened to escape, and I looked at him, almost pleadingly. My voice was caught up my throat and I had no strength to say the words I wanted to say. I hugged my violin for its dear life. Will I be okay?
She looked at me and I caught her teal eyes, shiny and bright. How beautiful,
"H-Hey stop pushing me, why don't you do it if you want to destroy her things so badly?"
The girl gasped. "How dare you?!"
Hans looked at her, gulping. I tilted my head, looking at him strangely. Oh indeed, he was acting strange. "Get out, this is none of your business."
She frowned, hardly moving an inch. "You have to get through me first."
With my shaking fingers, I grabbed the corner of her shirt and tugged gently. My hands shook and I felt like I'd faint any second now.
"N-No please... I-it's fine—"
She turned to me and I felt small. Her eyes were blazing with fire and confidence, I was overwhelmed. I backed down like a frightened puppy. Suddenly, I had forgotten what happened. Where was Pabbie when I needed him?
"Snowflake, it is not!" She stomped her foot on the ground and I whimpered, frightened. I was at the verge of apologizing.
Hans' brothers rolled their eyes and the redhead in front of us just watched us. "Come on, Hans ignore her, you've always hated that stupid blonde girl right? Always showing off and looking at that girl like she's her little crush. Disgusting."
Hans glared at me, blinking away his fear. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, leave, this is none of your business!" He grabbed the girl just as she turned to him, screaming and kicking him with all her might.
"Don't touch her, you big bully!" But she was too short, too little. No, she was too weak!
I stared at them, completely dumbfounded, speechless, scared —
And suddenly, she kicked him on the shin and he hissed, his brothers coming over to me, taking my arms. They held me down, taking an advantage of
"Come on, give me that violin, I'm doing my brother a favor here."
"N-No, please... please s-stop."
I heard a loud metal clank and we all paused, everything gone silent. Parents became quiet and stared at us - at the girl, laying on the ground, head against the metal bar of the monkey bar. She laid there lifeless, and we stared, silently. I stared at Hans and he stared back at me. He looked so cowardly, an idiot,
"I-It was an accident—"
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, touching my sister like that?"
Ah that voice. Jack!
I turned, suddenly glad and smiling as I saw him by the entrance, hoisting his keyboard up over his shoulder. I felt arms being let go of me and I sighed in relief, quickly getting up.
"J-Jackie..."
"Shit..." One of the older brothers muttered.
My brother came over to me, keeping an eye at the boys. "Hey sis—Whoa!"
Relieved, I pounced on him, giving a tight hug, weeping like a baby. I pressed my face against his shirt, wetting it with my tears, but I did not care.
"Jackieeeee~"
He grinned, patting my head and quickly his expression changed, looking at the group of boys. And the girl… who was she? No, I knew who she was. I'd just… I never had the confidence to ask her to be my friend.
"What the fuck did you do to my sister and her friend?" Jack hugged me protectively and I managed to open an eye, seeing the confident and proud, nasty boys from before turn into weak and scared to death boys.
"N-Nothing, i-it was just a little joke. R-Right guys?" The brothers nodded at Hans' words. I looked at Jack and how looked back at me. Oh no. And for the first time, I feared for the boys and what'd happen them.
"Joke..." He turned to them, eyes ice cold. "Breaking my sister's stuff…" He looked down to one of the boys' hand. "Taking her violin… You think it's a joke?"
"U-Um…"
Slowly he removed my arms and patted my head before going to the girl, observing her. Her eyes were closed and he shook her, eyes still watching them. "Hey, hey, you okay?" And, as if a miracle happened, she let out a groan and opened her eyes. I stood far from them, putting my hands together. There was no stopping my brother.
But with his gentle self, he smiled sweetly, looking at the girl. "You okay? You've got a big bruise—"
"I'm… I'm fine!" She pushed him away, wanting to get up but only managed to wobble and fall back down on the ground. He watched her, holding her as she tried getting up over and over again, only to end up falling. She groaned, grabbing her head. And as if she was a newborn, she fell back into Jack's arms.
"I-It hurts…"
"Hey, it's okay, just take it slowly," Jack said the only words that I did not have the courage to say. I was only a crybaby and way too shy.
Surprisingly, Hans stepped in, walking towards him, his legs shaking. "H-Hey, I-I'm sorry—"
"Get out. You did this to her?" He held the girl tight in his arms and I walked up to my brother, getting behind him. He'd protect me and I felt safe being with him.
Hans gulped. "Y-Yes—"
"Go, before I call your parents over. Give me that violin." And immediately, they listened and handed him my violin and bow, running away quickly. But Hans… oh Hans, just stared at us, walking back slowly. I tilted my head. No, he was looking at Anna and she was staring right at him.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered, but I knew, they couldn't hear it. What was that about?
"Hey, what's your name?" Jack asked. "My name's Jack, you can call me Jackie. This is my little sister, Elsa."
"A-Anna… and this hurts…"
He grinned, grabbing her hand from touching it. "I know, it's a really big bruise, you'll be fine though… I think." But she ignored him, her teal eyes meeting mine. "Elsa?"
Shyly, I waved, nodding at her. Ah, the regret began to pour in. I wanted to apologize for having her get into what just happened. Anna tilted her head, smiling widely and with my brother's support, she stood up. I froze, watching her come up to me, expression brightened and not as painful as before.
"Name's Anna!" I stared at her, her grin felt almost blinding to my eyes. I looked down, saw her hand outstretched to me and, hesitantly, I took it. With a yelp she pulled me into a tight hug. God that felt awkward, she was a little too short.
"Glad you're okay, Snowflake."
I blinked, looking at her. "S-Snowflake?"
Anna giggled as she pulled away, pointing at my violin and me. "That thingy is really pretty with that snowflake and you feel really cold. So can I call you that?"
Jack laughed, packing my violin up and putting it over his shoulder. "It's a great nickname, Elsie. Come on, Grandpa is in the bakery", he said, getting up.
Anna pouted at me. "You're going already?"
"Y-Yeah… Um… y-you can call me that… i-if you want."
Just like that, she grinned, widely. "Snowflake… Hey, Snowflake?"
Ah, I could get used to this, having her next to me to brighten my mood. Somehow, it was refreshing. "Y-Yeah?"
"Can you play the violin for me sometimes?"
"Y-Yeah…" I flushed. Having others asking me to play them something was quite embarrassing for me, yet… it was flattering. But in a few months, I'd be standing in a huge crowd of audience, hearing my sounds. There was no time to become embarrassed or nervous.
I grinned, proudly. Her eyes looked warm and I felt like I would melt into it. I was calm. "Definitely, I'll play it for you."
That evening, while my grandpa and Anna's mother talking to each other Anna and I were sitting on the grass, talking and laughing happily. It'd been weeks since Anna and I had our first encounter. She was a talkative one, I wasn't. I'd listen to her most of the time and when she'd ask, I'd play for her.
After that incident with Hans and his brothers, they'd never came up to us again. They played by themselves, but sometimes, I'd see Hans looking at me—no, at Anna, sighing silently. At this age, I knew he was up to something. Did he fancy her? Ridiculous, Anna wouldn't like someone like him.
The sun was setting and we were the only kids here, Anna sitting on the ground excitedly.
"Snowflake?"
I gasped, blinking at her. I was paying too much attention to what Pabbie was laughing about with Anna's mother. "W-What?"
She pouted, squeezing my cheek. "Listen to me!"
Blinking at the sudden outburst, I nodded. "O-Okay, sorry, Anna."
Anna sighed, squishing my cheeks and I frowned. "Squishy. Hey can you play this song for me? Mama used to sing it to get me to sleep." With one last pinch, she let go.
I tilted my head in curiosity. This was interesting, she'd rarely ask me to do a song that she wanted. It was usually 'hey, play a song for me' and it'd be something by Mozart or if I was too lazy, I'd play some nursery songs.
This seemed intriguing.
"W-What is it?" I asked. For sure, I was surprised a bit.
"Can you play 'Do you wanna build a snowman?' It goes something like this." And as if she didn't know the words to the song—maybe there weren't—she started humming. Ah, it sounded sweet and innocent. But for a nine year old, I was smart. I knew how to play it.
Soon after she was done, I stared at her, intrigued.
"Snowflake, can you?"
I blinked, feeling myself shrink from her anticipating eyes. "S-Sure? Y-Yeah, I'll play it for you." Oh that grin she had was filled with innocence and fun. I felt proud of myself, seeing her bounce up and down with excitement—she'd always do that when I play.
Grinning, I closed my eyes and placed the white precious instrument under my chin. I knew Pabbie was looking at me, his eyes stern yet, gentle. He was my teacher after all. She stared at me, her mouth wide open at the sound my fingers and bow was making against the strings. Opening my eyes, Anna looked mesmerized, teal eyes brightening lightly.
Pabbie was grinning and Elena was just as proud and happy.
Anna was already dozing off when I finished playing. I smiled softly. She must've been exhausted, running around all day in the park, waiting for me to come by.
"Elsa, Kai is waiting for us, we have to go."
I looked up, seeing Pabbie coming up to me, while Elena took Anna in her arms.
"B-But Anna…"
"Anna will be fine. We'll see you tomorrow, Elsa," Elena said, her grin sweet and just as bright as Anna's. I looked at the six year old, sucking on her thumb as she slept on her mother's shoulder.
Kai was by the car, waiting for us by the entrance and I nodded, sighing. I had fun with her, loving how she'd listen to anything I played, complimenting, applauding—sometimes even telling other people to come listen. Yes it was quite annoying and embarrassing sometimes, but she was here, and I felt happy.
Nodding, I packed my things.
"You want to say bye to Anna?" Elena said. I nodded, looking at her as she continued to sleep. How peaceful.
I kissed her cheek, smiling as she mumbled to me. "Bye bye… I'll see you tomorrow…"
"Bye bye, Anna…" I giggled, kissing her cheek once more.
Holding Pabbie's hand as we went our separate ways, he looked at me. "Did Anna tell you to play that?"
I nodded silently, seeing Kai bow to me. "Miss, did you have a great time?"
"Yep." I grinned brightly, letting him pat my head before getting into the car.
"I'm glad you did." He turned to Pabbie, opening the passenger door for him. "Sir."
"Thank you, Kai. And also, just call me by my name, we're friends, now, come on," he chuckled.
"Yes sir."
Grandpa sighed, sitting next to me and he looked at me. I smiled, looking at my violin proudly. "You've been working really hard, baby girl."
"Mhm."
"Elsa, I'm really proud of you."
"What about Jackie?" I turned to him, letting him smooth down my hair.
"And Jackie too." With that I grinned, hugging my violin case and curled up against his chest, loving his heartbeats. Soon enough, I drifted off into a wonderful nap after an exhausting day.
The day was windy and Anna and I were sitting by the grass, watching the other children play. She looked at me, curious, but I did not notice. I stared at my lap, too nervous to speak. And I'd been thinking. Next week was going to be my first time being on stage after weeks of training with Jack and Grandpa.
I wanted her to come along to watch me.
"Snowflake?"
Startled, I gasped, turning to her. "Y-Yes?"
"I said, you're really quiet today. Something wrong?"
Shaking my head no, I started twiddling with my fingers. "U-Um… well, I'll be on stage next week… I-I wasn't going to tell you—" I didn't even finish what I was saying and she gasped out loud, pouncing me into a tight, playful hug. She pushed me down so that I was laying on the grass, laughing and congratulating me.
"That's amazing! Elsa is amazing!"
I laughed, my tone filled with nervousness. What could I do? Say? Ah, screw it. "I wanted to ask you something…"
Anna stared at me, silently, taken over by the summer wind.
Chuckling nervously, I pushed her off me. "Can you be there next week?" Oh that pause. It wasn't a good sign at all. Her eyes looked at me sadly, disappointingly and she got off me immediately.
"I-I can't…"
This was the first time I'd ever seen her like this—to hear her say that she couldn't do anything that I'd ask. "Anna?" She looked at me sadly, hands behind her back as she rocked herself back and forth apologetically. Did I say something wrong?
Who was I kidding? I knew her answer already, by the look of it.
"I can't… Mama said we'll be going to Disneyland next week… A-And I really want to go…"
Looking at her morosely, I nodded. "Oh… Okay… B-But, I-I'll be really nervous and—"
"Snowflake, I can't go see you, I'm sorry…"
Knowing that I was just being too selfish, I nodded. I needed support and if she could not support me, that's okay. I curled myself up in a ball and stared at the grasses, moving back and forth lazily from the wind.
I took a deep breath, biting my lips and I looked at her, pleadingly. "P-Please? I-I'm scared of doing this on my own…" I stared at her, tears threatening to fall and I realized, I just couldn't force her to go. This was fine.
"I'm sorry, Snowflake…"
Yes… this was fine.
Taking a deep breath, I grinned. "It's okay… well, I hope you have fun."
She ended up coming, dressed up in a green dress with a bouquet of red roses in her arms. I was up, the lights shining to me in the middle of the stage, applauses echoing. Grandpa was sitting in the audience, grinning softly and I stared at him proudly.
Jack was standing, clapping his hands and calling out my name as loudly as he could, cheering me.
This was the last song I'd be playing for the evening and all that nervousness I had faded.
Anna was on stage with me, watching me from behind the curtains. I didn't notice her until she called for me. I turned before I even got to play again, smile beaming brightly.
"Anna…"
She waved and I felt my heart pounding, seeing her grin this bright. Just seeing her always made me happy. And with her finally here, I started playing the song her mother sang to her. Ah, the thrill to feel the vibration from my bow gracefully gliding across the strings was stunning. The notes echoed through the stage and towards the audience. Ah, I remembered Anna jumping up and down, telling her mother that she was playing Do You Wanna Build A Snowman.
Everyone was quiet and I knew my grandfather, my parents and even, Jack were grinning as if I was their pride and joy of our family. Of course, I was just as proud as they were of me. Except I wanted better, I wanted the best. Oh, but this… this was nice too.
I felt warm inside, my fringes moving lazily from the wind. Closing my eyes, I was in a field of flowers, cold autumn wind brushing past me as I played wonderfully, beautifully. Right here, I could be in peace. This was home.
The final note echoed and I opened my eyes, seeing everyone up, cheers and applause filling the place. I looked up, the lights blinding my eyes, but I was satisfied—I felt relaxed.
"Snowflake!"
Ah that voice. I turned, seeing Anna running up to me. I grinned widely, happy tears threatening to fall.
"Anna—"
Creak.
I paused, frowning and squinting, seeing a piece of nail… Oh no. I looked up, to the crowd—how could they not hear that?!
"Anna!"
I dropped my violin, strings breaking apart immediately. But I didn't care to notice. As fast as I could, I ran up to her and the same time, the fixture was beginning to fall. No, I could make it.
She stood still, looking at me confused. "El—" Before she could even speak, I jumped, tackling her down, holding her body and I gasped painfully, eyes widened in intense pain. Words were impossible to describe what I was feeling. Numbness… stinging… ache… No, it was torture. My vision blurred, and my fragile, tiny body felt as if it was being crushed into pieces.
"ELSA!" Jack called for me, running up to stage and looking at me. I was speechless, eyes widened and I couldn't breathe. Anna… where was she? … Her eyes were closed, the back of her head bleeding—or was that my blood? Carefully, I bent my arm, touching my back. It was soaking… warm… oh god.
"A-Anna… Ah…" I gasped, trying to move, but there was no way I could. My body—my whole right arm—felt numb and whatever Jack and Grandpa and my parents were screaming about, I had no idea. My eyes and ears were fixed to her and only her. I turned, visions blurred and I could see my arm pressed down on the fixture. "A-Arm… A-Anna…" I couldn't move it, I couldn't feel it.
My necklace… where is it?
Even with my vision blurred from tears, I looked around in frantic. There was no sign of it and it wasn't around my neck. Anna had given me that necklace as a gift and I'd treasured it, wearing it for her every day. It was gone.
Turing to her, I called out to her again. No matter what I said, she would still lay on the ground, lifelessly.
"She's bleeding!"
"Call the fucking ambulance!"
"Everyone stay calm!"
"Elsa!"
"Anna!"
"Anna… I'm sorry…"
I blacked out.
"She won't be able to play violin for a while."
"What does that mean?"
"It'll be hard for her to lift her arm, sir."
Grandfather stared at the doctor silently, nodding as he was accepting the fact. I hugged my violin with my left arm, watching them. This was a joke. This had to be one.
"Alright, thank you—"
"N-No…" I got up, from my bed, groaning loudly and painfully, putting the violin in my left hand, my right arm holding the bow tightly. They both stared at me, but I knew they just pitied me. Their eyes said it all, but I ignored it. I was perfectly fine. I picked it up, shakily, biting down all the screams I had kept within me. I grinned, barely hiding the pain, and I was sweating, slowly dragging the bow up and down. I couldn't care less of the cast I had on my arm. No, I could do it.
"Elsa, stop—"
I grinned, awfully and I hadn't realized tears were streaming down my cheeks. "P-Pabbie, see? I'm p-play—"
"You're just making awful noises, Elsa."
I paused, looking at him in horror. No, he couldn't have been the one to tell me that. He'd always supported me, he'd never say something like that to me. I dropped my violin to the side, eyes blurred in tears and I shook my head. I couldn't believe it.
"Pabbie…?"
He sighed, smiling gently as he got down to his knees, looking at me sadly. "I'm sorry Elsa. You can't play now, but in the future, you'll be able to. I'm so proud of you, baby girl."
I stared at him, hopeful. "Really?" He nodded, hugging me tightly.
"Of course. I'm really, really proud."
I hugged him back. "Okay…"
I heard a sigh and I looked up to see the doctor, looking at us, with sorrow in his eyes, shaking his head. What was wrong, I wondered.
"W-WHO ARE YOU?!"
I stared at her startled. "Anna… It's me…" I grabbed her arm tight, disbelief slowly crawling up my body inside out. "D-Don't you remember? It's me, Elsa!"
She shook me off, tears starting to stream down. I fell to the ground, eyes looking at her in horror. Anna was shaking and I felt like I was a monster. "N-No… MAMA! MAMA!"
This was wrong—this was extremely wrong. I backed away, back hitting the wall. Only then, I realized I was crying. My body shook in fear, in rejection, in anger—I couldn't save her. I was being dragged to hell. "No… No… It's me… It's me… It's me…" I wrapped my arms around my body, tears constantly streaming down as I stared at Anna, crying for her mother. It's me, I constantly told myself and of course, she couldn't hear me, screaming and crying for someone. I wasn't sure who was crazy at this time.
"Mama!" she cried, hugging her blanket tightly. "Mama, h-help!"
I shook my head, seeing Elena come running, cradling her daughter in her arms. She looked at me, teal eyes filled with agony and pain. "It's okay… It's okay… I'm here, Anna…"
I slid myself down against the wall to the ground, petrified. This couldn't be happening, I told myself. How could she have forgotten about me? For the past few months we'd been together, how could she forget all the memories we had?
"Elsa…"
Gasping, I looked up and was instantly disappointed. Anna wasn't the one calling me, it was Elena. "Baby, I'm sorry, but you need to go."
My eyes widened. This had to be a dream.
"N-No, no, no, no, no… NO!" I grabbed my hair, pulling my legs up to my body. "A-Anna… I-It's me… Elsa… It's me… Please don't forget about me…"
And without even realizing, arms were picking me up and I was out of the hospital. I continued to mumble to myself, all curled up and when I had the guts to look up, Jack just stared at me, eyes darkened in blankness.
"J-Jackie?"
He grinned, wistfully. "They're leaving, Elsa. I'm sorry you couldn't say goodbye."
"L-Leaving—"
"They didn't want to tell you, they've planned it weeks ago."
"—To where?" I gripped onto his shirt, looking at him painfully. My right arm was hurting, shoulder aching and I felt as if someone set it on fire, watching me burn to ashes. My mind couldn't take in what I just heard—not yet.
"Somewhere far… far away."
"W-Why?"
He stopped in front of the car, Kai opening the door silently, eyes filled with pity. Why did everyone have to pity me? Why did they care? I avoid his eyes.
"Please…" He put me in the car. "Just forget about her, okay? Be a good girl."
Forget about her.
Easier said than done.
And of course, I couldn't forget about her. I didn't even say goodbye and my last word to her was "please don't forget about me".
Ah, I felt pathetic.
I was in my room, fingers against the keyboard, dancing gracefully on it. Grandpa was sitting by the bed, watching me carefully as I play Moonlight Sonata. Jack was watching me from the back, grinning lightly as music flowed into his ears.
"Stop."
Opening my eyes, I immediately stopped, looking out the window. I didn't turn, I knew what he'd say.
"You're going to fast, you're not putting your feelings into it, Elsa—"
"Grandpa, it's fine—"
"Jack, not now." The old man sighed, putting a hand on my hurt shoulder. "You're a smart girl, Elsa."
Ignoring him, I stared out to the window and I noticed the girl next door staring right back at me. She was smiling, waving to me—
"Are you listening?"
Shutting my eyes, I answered him, "Yes, Grandfather, I'll slow it down."
He grinned, but I knew, Jack wasn't too happy with him. Nevertheless, he was quiet—wouldn't even dare talking back to him. "Good, because practice makes perfect. Just know that I'm proud of you, Elsa." Kissing my head, he left. "Jack, let's not bother your sister."
My brother stared at me sadly and sighed, leaving me by myself—and the girl with her windows open, brown eyes still looking right at me. I tilted my head as she screamed something. I couldn't hear her.
"Open… the… window…?"
Getting up, I opened it up, staring at her. "Um… hi?"
The brunette grinned. "Hey, nice playing."
Fuck off.
Avoiding her annoyingly bright grin, I thanked her. "Did you just… move here?" I asked. She didn't look too familiar to me.
"No, actually, I was studying abroad for a few months and decided to come back. You've probably seen my parents—"
"I don't go out much. I'm homeschooled. Well, you can say that… I'm an introvert."
We stared at each other in silence and interestingly enough, she seemed quite curious about me. "Huh… that's nice. You play the piano?"
My eyes shined through the sun and I grinned bitterly. "Yes, I do."
"Anything else?"
I shook my head. "Nothing else, do you?"
The girl shrugged. "A little, but… I'm not that interested. I'm more interested in… well, art. Not musical art but—"
I chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Your room is full of sketches."
"What?" Frowning in confusion and turned back to look around, flushing. "Oh." She scratched her head, laughing nervously. "I-I didn't even know it was that messy... O-Oh well, better clean it up later then. And uh… by the way, my name's Jane. Jane Porter. Nice to meet you."
Jane.
Ah, I never had many friends or anyone that would come talk to me. But seeing her… she didn't seem to mind. I was more than glad—more than happy to |
-chah-nulth.
Map of the Columbia River and its tributaries, showing modern political boundaries and cities.
Spanish colonisation [ edit ]
A series of expeditions to the Pacific Northwest were financed by the Spanish to strengthen their claims to the region. Creating a colony called Santa Cruz de Nuca on Vancouver Island, the Spanish were the first white colonisers of the Pacific Northwest outside Russian America to the north. A period of tensions with the United Kingdom, called the Nootka Crisis, arose after the Spanish seized a British vessel. However the three Nootka Conventions averted conflict, with both countries agreeing to protect their mutual access to Friendly Cove against outside powers. While the Spanish colony was abandoned, a border delineating the northern reaches of New Spain wasn't included. Despite the Nootka Conventions still allowing the Spanish to establish colonies in the region, no more attempts were made as other geopolitical and domestic matters drew the attention of the authorities. With the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, the Spanish formally withdrew all formal claims to lands north of the 42° north.
Russian interest [ edit ]
The Imperial Russian government established the Russian-American Company in 1799, a monopoly among Russian subjects for fur trading operations in Russian America with the Ukase of 1799. In part from the growing Russian activities to the north, the Spanish created the Catholic Missions to create colonies in Alta California. Plans for creating Russians colonies in what became the modern American states of Washington and Oregon were formulated by Nikolai Rezanov. He aimed to relocate the primary colony of Russian America to the entrance of the Columbia River, though was unable to enter the river in 1806 and the plan was abandoned. In 1808 Alexander Andreyevich Baranov sent the Nikolai, with the captain "ordered to explore the coast south of Vancouver Island, barter with the natives for sea otter pelts, and if possible discover a site for a permanent Russian post in the Oregon Country." The ship wrecked on the Olympic Peninsula and the surviving crew didn't return to New Archangel for two years. The failure of the vessel to find a suitable location led to the Russians to not consider much of the Northwest coast worth colonizing. Their interest in the Puget Sound and the Columbia River was diverted to Alta California, with Fort Ross soon established. The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and the Treaty of Saint Petersburg with the British formally created the southern border of Russian America at parallel 54°40′ north.
Early Anglo-American competition [ edit ]
Both the Russian and Spanish empires held no significant plans at promoting colonies along the Northwest Coast by the 1810s. The British and the Americans were the remaining two nations with citizens active in commercial operations in the region. Starting with a party of the Montreal based North West Company (NWC) employees led by David Thompson in 1807, the British began land-based operations and opened trading posts throughout the region. Thompson extensively explored the Columbia River watershed. While at the junction of Columbia and Snake Rivers, he erected a pole on July 9, 1811, with a notice stating "Know hereby that this country is claimed by Great Britain as part of its territories..." and additionally stated the intention of the NWC to build a trading post there. Fort Nez Percés was later established at the location in 1818. The American Pacific Fur Company (PFC) began operations in 1811 at Fort Astoria, constructed at the entrance of the Columbia River. The eruption of the War of 1812 didn't lead to a violent confrontation in the Pacific Northwest between the competing companies. Led by Donald Mackenzie, PFC officers agreed to liquidate its assets to their NWC competitors, with an agreement signed on 23 November 1813. The HMS Racoon was ordered to capture Fort Astoria, though by the time it arrived, the post was already under NWC management. After the collapse of the PFC, American mountain men operated in small groups in the region, typically based east of the Rocky Mountains, only to meet once a year at the annual Rendezvous.
Joint occupation [ edit ]
Treaty of 1818 [ edit ]
In 1818, diplomats of the two countries attempted to negotiate a boundary between the rival claims. The Americans suggested dividing the Pacific Northwest along the 49th parallel, which was the border between the United States and British North America east of the Rocky Mountains. The lack of accurate cartographic knowledge led American diplomats to declare the Louisiana Purchase gave them an incontestable claim to the region. British diplomats wanted a border further south along the Columbia River, so as to maintain the North West Company's (later the Hudson's Bay Company's (HBC)) control of the lucrative fur trade along that river. The diplomatic teams couldn't agree upon mutually satisfactory terms and remained in deadlock by October. Albert Gallatin, the main American negotiator, had previously instructed to have a tentative agreement by the convening of the 3rd session of the 15th United States Congress, set for 16 November.
A final proposition was made to the British plenipotentiary, Frederick John Robinson, for the continuation of the 49th parallel west while leaving the United Kingdom, as Gallatin stated, "all the waters emptying in the sound called the Gulf of Georgia." This would have awarded "all the territory draining west from the Cascade divide and north from the Columbia River divide into the gulf" and the entirety of the Puget Sound along with the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca to the United Kingdom. Robinson demurred from the proposal. However, the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which settled most other disputes from the War of 1812, called for the joint occupation of the region for ten years.
Proposed partition plans [ edit ]
As the expiration of the Joint Occupation treaty approached, a second round of negotiations commenced in 1824. American Minister Richard Rush offered for the extension of agreement with an additional clause on 2 April. The 51° parallel would be a provisional border within the Pacific Northwest, with no British additional settlements to be established south of the line, nor any American settlements north of it. Despite Rush's offering to modify the temporary border to the 49° parallel, the British negotiators rejected his offer. His proposal was seen as the likely basis for the eventual division of the Pacific Northwest. The British plenipotentiaries William Huskisson and Stratford Canning on 29 June pressed instead for a permanent line along the 49° parallel west until the main branch of the Columbia River. With the British formally abandoning claims south or east of the Columbia River, the Oregon Question thence became focused on what later became Western Washington and the southern portion of Vancouver Island. Rush reacted to the British proposal as unfavorably as they had to his own offer, leaving the talks at a stalemate.
George Canning has been appraised the most active Secretary of Foreign Affairs in maintaining the British claims of a division along the Columbia River.
Throughout 1825, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Canning held discussions with Governor Pelly of the HBC as to a potential settlement with the United States. Pelly felt a border along the Snake and Columbia Rivers was advantageous for the United Kingdom and his company. Contacting American minister Rufus King in April 1826, Canning requested that a settlement be reached over the Oregon dispute. Gallatin was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom and given instructions by Secretary of State Henry Clay in July 1826 to offer a division of the Pacific Northwest along the 49th parallel to the British. In a letter to Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1826, Canning presented the possibilities of trade with the Qing Empire if a division of the Pacific Northwest was to be made with the Americans. He felt the recognition of American rights to ownership of Astoria, despite its continued use by the NWC and later HBC, was "absolutely unjustifiable." This diplomatic courtesy Canning felt weakened the territorial claims of the United Kingdom. A border along the Columbia River would give "an immense direct intercourse between China and what may be, if we resolve not yield them up, her boundless establishments on the N. W. Coast of America."
Renewal [ edit ]
Huskisson was appointed along with Henry Unwin Addington to negotiate with Gallatin. Unlike his superior, Canning, Huskisson held a negative view of the HBC monopoly and found the region held in dispute with the Americans "of little consequence to the British." At time the HBC's staff were the only continuous white occupants in the region, though their economic activities weren't utilized by Huskinisson in exchanges with Gallatin. The division suggested by Pelly and Canning's 1824 offer of a Columbia River boundary was rejected. The argument used to counter these offers was the same as in 1824, that a boundary along the Columbia would deny the U.S. an easily accessible deep water port on the Pacific Ocean. The British negotiators to allay this attack offered a detached Olympic Peninsula as American territory, giving access to both the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. This was seen as unsatisfactory by the Americans however. The diplomatic talks were continued but failed to divide the region in a satisfactory manner for both nations. The Treaty of 1818 was renewed on 7 August 1827, with a clause added by Gallatin that a one-year notice had to be given when either party intended to abrogate the agreement. After the death of Canning and the failure to find a satisfactory division of the region with the Americans, "Oregon had been almost forgotten by the [British] politicians..."
Significance in America [ edit ]
Regional Activities [ edit ]
American Protestant missionaries began to arrive in the 1830s and established the Methodist Mission in the Willamette Valley and the Whitman Mission east of the Cascades.[15] Ewing Young created a saw mill[16] and a grist mill in the Willamette Valley early in the 1830s.[17] He and several other American colonists formed the Willamette Cattle Company in 1837 to bring over 600 head of cattle to the Willamette Valley, with about half of its shares purchased by McLoughlin. Over 700 U.S settlers arrived via the Oregon Trail in the "Great Migration of 1843". The Provisional Government of Oregon was established in the Willamette Valley during 1843 as well. Its rule was limited to those interested Americans and former French-Canadian HBC employees in the valley.
John Floyd [ edit ]
The first attempts by the American Government for proactive action in colonising the Pacific Northwest began in 1820 during the 2nd session of the 16th Congress. John Floyd, a Representative from Virginia, spearheaded a report that would "authorize the occupation of the Columbia River, and to regulated trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes thereon." Additionally the bill called for cultivating commercial relations with the Qing Empire and the Tokugawa shogunate. His interest in the distant region likely began after meeting former PFC employee Russell Farnham. Floyd had the support of fellow Virginian Representative Thomas Van Swearingen and Representative Thomas Metcalfe of Kentucky. The bill was presented to both the House and to President Monroe. In the House, Floyd's bill was defended by one member who stated that it did not "attempt a colonial settlement. The territory proposed to be occupied is already a part of the United States." Monroe inquired the opinion of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams for potential revisions. Adams retorted that "The paper was a tissue of errors in fact and abortive reasoning, of invidious reflections and rude invectives. There was nothing could purify it but the fire." Read twice before the legislature, "most of the members not considering it a serious proceeding", it didn't pass.
Representative John Floyd was the most prominent early Congressional member in favor of extensive American claims in the Pacific Northwest.
Floyd continued to authorise legislation calling for an American colony on the Pacific. His career as a Representative ended in 1829, with the Oregon Question not discussed at Congress until 1837. The northern border proposed by Floyd was at first the 53°, and later 54°40′. These bills were still met with the apathy or opposition of other Congressional members, one in particular being tabled for consideration by a vote of 100 to 61. Missouri Senator Thomas H. Benton became a vocal supporter of Floyd's efforts, and thought that they would "plant the germ of a powerful and independent Power beyond the Rockies." John C. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, while somewhat interested in Floyd's considered bills, gave his opinion to that the HBC was an economic threat to American commercial interests in the west.
... so long as the traders of the British Fur Company have free access to the region of the Rocky Mountains from the various posts... they will in great measure monopolize the Fur Trade West of the Mississippi, to the almost entire exclusion in the next few years of our trade.
1844 Presidential election [ edit ]
The 1844 presidential election was a definitive turning point for the United States. Admitting the Texas Republic by diplomatic negotiations to begin a process of annexation of Texas into the nation was a contentious topic. At the same time, the Oregon Question "became a weapon in a struggle for domestic political power." At the Democratic National Convention, the party platform asserted "That our title to the whole of the Territory of Oregon is clear and unquestionable; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power, and that the reoccupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period are great American measures..."[23] By tying the Oregon dispute to the more controversial Texas debate, the Democrats appealed to expansionist members from both the Northern and Southern states. Enlargement in the Pacific Northwest offered a means of mollifying Northern fears of allowing Texas, another slave state, by a counterbalance of additional free states. Democratic candidate James K. Polk went on to win a narrow victory over Whig candidate Henry Clay, in part because Clay had taken a stand against immediate expansion in Texas. Despite the use of the Oregon Question in the election, according to Edward Miles, the topic wasn't "a significant campaign issue" as "the Whigs would have been forced to discuss it."
"Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" [ edit ]
A popular slogan later associated with Polk and his campaign of 1844, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" was not actually coined during the election. It only appeared by January 1846, promoted and driven in part by the Democratic Party associated press. The phrase has since become frequently misidentified as a Polk campaign slogan, even in many textbooks. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations attributes the slogan to William Allen. 54°40′ was the southern boundary of Russian America, and considered the northernmost limit of the Pacific Northwest. One actual Democratic campaign slogan from this election (used in Pennsylvania) was the more mundane "Polk, Dallas, and the Tariff of '42".
British interest [ edit ]
Hudson's Bay Company [ edit ]
George Simpson, manager of HBC operations in North America, reported in 1837 that the Pacific Northwest "may become an object of very great importance, and we are strengthening that claim to it... by forming the nucleus of a colony through the establishment of farms, and the settlement of some of our retiring officers and servants as agriculturalists."
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) merged with the North West Company in 1821 and assumed its various fur trading stations. The HBC held a license among British subjects to trade with the populous aboriginal peoples of the region, and its network of trading posts and routes extended southward from New Caledonia, another HBC fur-trade district, into the Columbia basin (most of New Caledonia lay south of 54-40). The HBC's headquarters for the entire region became established at Fort Vancouver (modern Vancouver, Washington) in 1824. During that year George Simpson while discussing the company's "uncertain tenure of the Columbia" with Governor Colville, discussed the possibility of closing operations along the river. "If the Americans settle on the mouth of the Columbia it would in my opinion be necessary to abandon the Coast [south of the river]..." Simpson stated, with the company posts to "move to the Northward..." At its pinnacle in the late 1830s and early 1840s, Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees.
Domestic [ edit ]
The Edinburgh Review declared the Pacific Northwest "the last corner of the earth left free for the occupation of a civilized race. When Oregon shall be colonised, the map of the world may be considered as filled up."
Naval presence [ edit ]
Royal Navy ships were dispatched to the Pacific Northwest throughout the decades, to both expand cartographical knowledge and protect fur trading stations. The British established the Pacific Station in 1826 at Valparaíso, Chile, increasing the strategic capabilities of their navy. A squadron was moved there and later vessels sent to the Pacific Northwest were based out of the port. HMS Blossom was in the region during 1818. The next surveying expedition was commenced by HMS Sulphur and HMS Starling in 1837, with operations lasting until 1839. Dispatched from the Pacific Station to gather intelligence on the HBC posts, HMS Modeste arrived at the Columbia River in July 1844. Chief Factor James Douglas complained that the naval officers "had more taste for a lark than a'musty' lecture on politics or the greater national interests in question." The Modeste visited the HBC trading posts of Forts George, Vancouver, Victoria and Simpson.
Political efforts during Tyler Presidency [ edit ]
Missouri Senator Lewis Linn tabled legislation in 1842, inspired in part by Floyd's previous efforts. Linn's bill called for the government to create land grants for men interested in settling the Pacific Northwest. The arrival of Baron Ashburton in April 1842, sent to resolve several territorial disputes with the United States, delayed Linn's legislation. Initially focusing on the Pacific Northwest, Ashburton presented Secretary of State Daniel Webster the 1824 partition proposal made by Canning of a division along the Columbia River. Webster rejected the offer for the same reasons it was previously repudiated; the division would leave the United States with no suitable locations for a large Pacific port. Webster suggested that Ashburton's proposal may have been found acceptable by the Americans, if the United States could be compensated with the Mexican owned San Francisco Bay. Ashburton passed on the offer to his superiors, but no further action was taken. Both diplomats became focused on settling the Aroostook War and formulated the Webster–Ashburton Treaty.
At the final session of the 27th Congress on 19 December 1842, Linn presented a similar bill to colonize the Pacific Northwest as he put it, "by the Anglo-American race, which will extend our limits from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean." Arguments over the bill lasted over a month, and it was eventually passed in the Senate 24-22. In opposition to Linn's bill, Calhoun famously declared that the U.S. government should pursue a policy of "wise and masterly inactivity"[32] in Oregon, letting settlement determine the eventual boundary. Many of Calhoun's fellow Democrats, however, soon began to advocate a more direct approach.
By early 1843, Webster returned to the Oregon Question, formalising a plan that included the 1826 British offer of the Olympic Peninsula enclave and the purchase of Alta California from Mexico. The increasing hostility President Tyler had with the Whig Party led to Webster's disinterest in continuing to act as the Secretary of State and his plan was shelved. The American minister to the UK, Edward Everett, was given authority to negotiate with British officials to settle the Oregon Question in October 1843. Meeting with Prime Minister Robert Peel's Foreign Secretary, Earl of Aberdeen on 29 November, Everett presented the terms considered by President John Tyler. The old offer of the 49th parallel was once more presented, along with a guarantee to free access to the Columbia River. However during President Tyler's State of the Union address that year on 6 December, he claimed "the entire region of country lying on the Pacific and embraced within 42° and 54°40′ of north latitude."[35] After receiving this declaration, Aberdeen began to consult with the committee and Governor Pelly, previously left out of the most recent diplomatic exchanges.
Polk Presidency [ edit ]
President James K. Polk was elected in 1844 in part from his support for substantial claims against the British. Much of this rhetoric was to make the United Kingdom accept the long tabled proposed division along the 49th parallel.
In his March 1845 inaugural address, President Polk quoted from the party platform, saying that the U.S. title to Oregon was "clear and unquestionable". Tensions grew, with both sides moving to strengthen border fortifications in anticipation of war. Despite Polk's bold language, he was actually prepared to compromise, and had no real desire to go to war over Oregon. He believed that a firm stance would compel the British to accept a resolution agreeable to the United States. While meeting with Representative James A. Black on 4 January 1846, Polk stated that "the only way to treat John Bull was to look him straight in the eye... if Congress faultered [sic]... John Bull would immediately become arrogant and more grasping in his demands..." But Polk's position on Oregon was not mere posturing: he genuinely believed that the U.S. had a legitimate claim to the entire region. He rejected British offers to settle the dispute through arbitration, fearing that no impartial third party could be found.
Many newspaper editors in the United States clamored for Polk to claim the entire region as the Democrats had proposed in the 1844 campaign. Headlines like "The Whole of Oregon or None" by The Union editor Thomas Ritchie appeared on 6 November 1845. In a column in the New York Morning News on December 27, 1845, editor John L. O'Sullivan argued that the United States should claim all of Oregon "by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us..." Soon afterwards, the term "Manifest Destiny" became a standard phrase for expansionists, and a permanent part of the American lexicon. O'Sullivan's version of "Manifest Destiny" was not a call for war, but such calls were soon forthcoming.
After Polk's inauguration, British diplomats began to receive instructions influenced from HBC officials like Simpson, whose suggestions were transmitted through Pelly and then Aberdeen to the British Ambassador Richard Pakenham. In a letter written to Calhoun in August 1844, Pakenham pressed for a border along the Columbia River. He made an offer that likely originated from Simpson: Americans could select naval bases on the portion of Vancouver Island south of the 49th parallel or along the Strait of Juan de Fuca in return. Diplomatic channels continued negotiations throughout 1844; by early 1845 Everett reported the willingness of Aberdeen to accept the 49th parallel, provided the southern portion of Vancouver Island would become British territory.
In the summer of 1845, the Polk administration renewed the proposal to divide Oregon along the 49th parallel to the Pacific Ocean. U.S. Secretary of State James Buchanan on 12 July offered the British any desired ports on the portion of Vancouver Island south of this line, though navigation rights of the Columbia River weren't included. Because this proposal fell short of the Tyler administration's earlier offer, Pakenham rejected the offer without first contacting London. Offended, Polk officially withdrew the proposal on August 30, 1845, and broke off negotiations. Aberdeen censured Pakenham for this diplomatic blunder, and attempted to renew the dialogue. By then, however, Polk was suspicious of British intentions, and under increasing political pressure not to compromise. He declined to reopen negotiations.
War crisis [ edit ]
Congressional pressure [ edit ]
Senator Lewis Cass was a leading advocate of 54°40′, but backed away from the claim when it became untenable. Like James Buchanan, Cass had presidential ambitions and did not want to alienate Americans on either side of the Oregon question.
In his annual address to Congress on December 2, 1845, Polk recommended giving the British the required one-year notice of the termination of the joint occupation agreement. Democratic expansionists in Congress from the Midwest, led by Senators Lewis Cass of Michigan, Edward A. Hannegan of Indiana, and William Allen of Ohio, called for war with the United Kingdom rather than accepting anything short of all of Oregon up to Parallel 54°40′ north. These pronouncements were fueled by a number of factors, including traditional distrust of the British and a belief that the U.S. had the better claim and would make better use of the land.
The debate was not strictly divided along party or sectional lines, with many who clamored for the 54°40′ border were Northerners upset at Polk's willingness to compromise on the Pacific Northwest border. Polk's uncompromising pursuit of Texas, an acquisition seen favorable for Southern slave owners, angered many advocates of 54°40′, as the President was a Southerner and a slave owner. As historian David M. Pletcher noted, "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight" seemed to be directed at the southern aristocracy in the U.S. as much as at the United Kingdom.
Moderates like Webster warned that the U.S. could not win a war against the British Empire, and that negotiation could still achieve U.S. territorial goals. Webster confided to Viscount Ossington, a personal friend, on 26 February 1846, that it would be a "stupendous folly and enormous crime" for the two nations to declare war over the Pacific Northwest.
British reaction [ edit ]
Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen was committed to maintaining peaceable relations with the Americans, evaluating the disputed territory in the Oregon Question as unimportant.
Pacific naval forces [ edit ]
During the height of tensions with the United States in 1845 and 1846, there were at least five Royal Naval vessels operating in the Pacific Northwest. The 80-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Collingwood was deployed to Valparaíso under the CinC Rear Admiral Sir George Seymour in 1845, with orders to report on the situation in the region. HMS America, under the command of Captain John Gordon (younger brother Foreign Secretary Aberdeen), was therefore sent north that year. Roderick Finlayson gave a tour of Vancouver Island to the visiting naval officers, where Gordon aired his negative appraisal of the Northwest region. During a deer hunt on the island, Gordon informed Finlayson that he "would not give one of the barren hills of Scotland for all he saw around him." The America departed from the Straits of Juan de Fuca on 1 October. The Modeste entered the Columbia River and arriving at Fort Vancouver on 30 November 1845, where it remained until 4 May 1847. The Modeste was not favorably viewed by American colonists in the Willamette Valley, threatened by the large warship. Relations were improved when the officers organised a ball at Vancouver on 3 February 1846,[49] later theatrical performances by the ship's crew, including Love in a Village and The Mock Doctor, along with picnics.[50]
HMS Fisgard was first reinforcement, ordered from the Pacific Station by Rear Admirial Seymour in January 1846. Captain Duntze was to "afford Protection to Her Majesty's Subjects in Oregon and the North West Coast..." and avoid any potential confrontations with American settlers. On 5 May the Fisgard reached Fort Victoria, later moving to Fort Nisqually on the 18th, where it remained until October. Sent to aid other British vessels navigate difficult channels and rivers, HMS Cormorant, a Paddle steamer, arrived at the Strait of Juan de Fuca in June. Two survey ships were dispatched from Plymouth in June 1845, HMS Herald and HMS Pandora, for charting the coast of the Americas. The vessels reached Cape Flattery on 24 June 1846. The Cormorant towed the Herald to Fort Victoria three days later. The Herald and the Pandora spent several months charting the Puget Sound and Vancouver Island until 2 September, when the vessels sailed for Alta California. The Fisgard and Cormorant both departed for Valparaíso in October. As the Modeste was the only British ship in the region during 1847, the Oregon Treaty "seemed to have taken the edge off of the Royal Navy's interest in the Northwest Coast."
War plan [ edit ]
Due to his extensive travels throughout the western stations of the HBC, Governor Pelly instructed George Simpson to draft a plan for the British Government if hostilities were to arise with the Americans. Finalizing the proposal on 29 March 1845, Simpson called for two areas to launch offensives. The Red River Colony would be the base of operations for forays into the Great Plains, an expansive region then only lightly colonized by Americans. A militia composed of Métis riflemen and neighboring First Nations like the Ojibwe would be created, along with a garrison of Regular Army infantry. To secure the Pacific Northwest and the Columbia River, Simpson felt Cape Disappointment was of critical importance. A naval force of two steamboats and two ships of the line would bring a detachment of Royal Marines to create a coastal battery there. Recruitment was hoped by Simpson to gain a force led by Regular Army officers of 2,000 Métis and indigenous peoples in the region. His proposal quickly earned the interest of the British Government as he met with Prime Minister Peel and Foreign Secretary Aberdeen on 2 April. £1,000 were awarded to lay the ground work for defensive operations in the Pacific Northwest. Secretary of State for War and the Colonies Lord Stanley favored the plan, declaring that the HBC had to finance military operations west of Sault Ste. Marie.
Resolution [ edit ]
Aberdeen had no intention of going to war over a region that was of diminishing economic value to the United Kingdom. Furthermore the United States was an important trading partner, especially with the need of American wheat in the onset of famine in Ireland. Aberdeen and Pakenham were negotiating from a position of strength. The key was the overwhelming naval power which Britain could have brought to bear against the United States, combined with a diplomatic and political landscape that ultimately favored the British government's aim of protecting her interests robustly but without resort to armed conflict. Ultimately British politicians and naval officers recognized that any conflict over the Oregon boundary, however undesirable, would be decided, like the War of 1812, on the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. and the Great Lakes. The Royal Navy's presence on the Atlantic seaboard wasn't as numerically prominent as the American forces, yet its overall superiority to the U.S. Navy was decisive upon American decision-making during the crisis, especially their decision to compromise. Louis McLane, the American minister in the United Kingdom, reported to Buchanan on 2 February that the British were prepared "to commission immediately some thirty ships-of-the-line in addition to steamers and other vessels held in reserve..." Polk's bluff had been called.
American diplomat Edward Everett contacted the Whig leader John Russell on 28 December 1845, supporting a revision of the American offer so as to allow the British to keep the entirety of Vancouver Island. He warned Russell that influence among the Whigs could stifle the negotiations. "If you choose to rally the public opinion of England against this basis of compromise, it will not be easy for Sir. R. Peel and Lord Aberdeen to agree to it." While still considering the Columbia River important for British interests, Russell assured Aberdeen of his support in settling the Oregon Question. While Everett's was influential in this political move, Russell felt it was, as Frederick Merk stated, "prudent Whig policy" to support Aberdeen in this case.
Although Polk had called on Congress in December 1845 to pass a resolution notifying the British of the termination of joint occupancy agreement, it was not until April 23, 1846. that both houses complied. The passage was delayed especially in the Senate by contentious debate. Several Southern Senators, like William S. Archer[56] and John M. Berrien,[57] were wary of military capabilities of the British Empire. Ultimately a mild resolution was approved, the text of which called on both governments to settle the matter amicably.
By a large margin, moderation had won out over calls for war. Unlike Western Democrats, most Congressmen—like Polk—did not want to fight for 54° 40′. The Polk administration then made it known that the British government should offer terms to settle the dispute. Despite the cooling diplomatic relations, a repeat of the War of 1812 was not popular with either nation's government. Time was of the essence, because it was well known that the Peel government would fall with the impending repeal of the Corn Laws in the United Kingdom, and then negotiations would have to begin again with a new ministry. At a time when the European continental balance was a far more pressing problem, a costly war with a major trading partner was not popular with the British government. Aberdeen and McLane quickly worked out a compromise and sent it to the United States.
Oregon Treaty [ edit ]
Pakenham and Buchanan drew up a formal treaty, known as the Oregon Treaty, which was ratified by the Senate on June 18, 1846, by a vote of 41–14. The mainland border was set at the 49th parallel, the original U.S. proposal, with navigation rights on the Columbia River granted to British subjects living in the area. Senator William Allen, one of the most outspoken advocates of the 54° 40′ claim, felt betrayed by Polk and resigned his chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee. The signing of the treaty ended the joint occupation with the United Kingdom, making most Oregonians south of the 49th parallel U.S. citizens.
Henry Commager appraised the factors leading to the settlement as "a combination of temporary, fortuitous, and circumstantial phenomena, extraneous to the local situation, largely outside of American control, and foreign to American influence." Canadian Hugh LL. Keenlyside and American Gerald S. Brown wrote a century after the treaty that
under the existing conditions, [it] was just and equitable. Neither nation had a clear legal title to any of the territory, and the result was practically an equal division. Great Britain was given the better harbors, and greater resources in minerals, timber, and fish; the United States received much more agricultural land, and a district that has, on the whole, a better climate. This decision, moreover, is almost unique among the solutions of American boundary troubles, in that it has been accepted with reasonable satisfaction by both nations. A better proof of its justice could hardly be demanded.
The terms of the Oregon Treaty were essentially the same ones that had been offered earlier by the Tyler administration, and thus represented a diplomatic victory for Polk. However, Polk has often been criticized for his handling of the Oregon question. Historian Sam W. Haynes characterizes Polk's policy as "brinkmanship" which "brought the United States perilously close to a needless and potentially disastrous conflict". David M. Pletcher notes that while Polk's bellicose stance was the by-product of internal American politics, the war crisis was "largely of his own creation" and might have been avoided "with more sophisticated diplomacy". According to Jesse Reeves, "Had Palmerston been in Aberdeen's position at the time of Polk's 'firm' pronouncement, Polk might have lost Oregon." Aberdeen's desire for peace and good relations with the United States "are responsible for the settlement that Polk thought to gain by a firm policy. That Aberdeen was "bluffed" by Polk is absurd."
The treaty set the mainland boundary at the 49th parallel and retained Vancouver Island as British territory, but it was ambiguously phrased about the route of the boundary through the water. The treaty provided that the marine boundary would follow "the deepest channel" out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which left the fate of the San Juan Islands in question. After the "Pig War", arbitration by Kaiser William I of the German Empire led to the Treaty of Washington, which awarded the United States all the islands.
Upper Canada politicians and public, already angry with the Oregon Treaty, were once again upset that Britain had not looked after their interests and sought greater autonomy in international affairs.
Historical maps [ edit ]
The boundary between British and American territory was shown differently in maps at the time:
The 1826 proposal of Huskisson and Addington
An 1841 American map showing the 54°40′ line near Fort Simpson as the boundary
An 1844 British map showing the Columbia River as the boundary
An 1846 map showing the 49th parallel as the boundary through Vancouver Island
Citations [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Party platform and speeches
Polk's March 1845 inaugural address, in which he reasserted the "clear and unquestionable" claim
Polk's December 1845 message to Congress, in which he called for the end of the joint occupation of Oregon
Political cartoons from Harper's Weekly, 1846
"Polk's Dream", in which the Devil, disguised as Andrew Jackson, advises Polk to fight for the 54°40′ line
"Present Presidential Position", in which the Democratic Party's "jackass" is standing on the 54°40′ line
"Ultimatum on the Oregon Question", Polk talks with Queen Victoria, while others make comments
"War! or No War!", two Irish immigrants face off over the boundary question
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the shirt's ends before being comfortable with how it sat on her. It was a little tight in the chest area, but was a perfect fit otherwise. She struck a pose, watching how the fabric stretched across her frame and she smirked. Even in old hand me downs, she still looked amazing. She exited the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
"Ok, I'm ready Sōma-kun."
"Alright. First things first, here's a notepad and pen. Go out to the front and…"
Sōma's words stalled as he turned to give her the notepad, his eyes wide as he looked at her. The notebook fell from his fingers, hitting the floor. He made no immediate move to get it, instead just looking at Alice in stunned silence, the mix of familiarity and longing in his chest almost paralyzing.
Alice looked down at the shirt, wondering if something was wrong. Had it torn somewhere while she was putting it on?
"Is there a problem, Sōma-kun?"
Sōma blinked, shaking his head slowly. He leaned down and picked up the notepad, offering it to her again.
"No, no. Everything's fine."
Everything wasn't fine, it never really would be, but he'd learnt to deal with it a long time ago. Sōma took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and turning away from her.
"I'll handle the cooking and busing the orders to the tables. All you need to do is seat customers, take the orders down and bring any used dishes and silverware to the back, along with their tabs, alright?"
Alice nodded at him, heading out to the store front, her stride confident. She'd never played at being a waitress before, but she was an experienced chef and a Nakiri. How hard could it be?
Pretty hard, actually. In what seemed like no time at all, Alice felt like she was drowning in a sea of requests, orders and demands. What did Table 8 order again? Was Table 4 finished already? Did the Yusegawas need a child seat? Was there enough seating for that family of three waiting at the door? How many plates could one single table possibly hold?!
Alice made more than a few mistakes. Which did little to please the customers, who didn't hesitate to make their displeasure known to her, something that both angered and flustered her. She rarely had anyone talk back to her, least of all commoners that ate lunch at a special-of-the-day shop! It was only her desire to remain in Sōma's good graces, along with the nagging thought that their ire was rightly deserved, that held her tongue.
But the clipped, icy demeanor she adopted in response to such treatment wasn't a hit with the customers either, if the commentary she heard as she left the tables was any indication. Irritation started to give way to insecurity, as she realized that, despite the mundanity of her current task, she was in over her head. She, a Nakiri, was being thwarted by dirty dishes and irate customers!
It had taken a spirited talk from Sōma, along with the potent sting from him clapping his hands over hers, before she finally started to get a handle of things. She started adjusting to the flow of the small diner, which was completely different from the restaurants she'd visited before. There was no reservations, customers weren't prepared to wait a half hour. Sōma got dishes out in mere minutes, hot and ready to be eaten then and there. Serving customers as an everyday waitress at a fast paced diner was nothing like serving customers as a high class chef of the cooking world.
She started to grow used to the demand, seating customers and taking orders almost simultaneously with an ease she hadn't had not even an hour ago. She smiled more and more, growing more confident in herself as she bused dirty dishes away just in time for the couple that entered to claim the end table. She happily inquired about their relationship as she noted down their orders, shouting them out to Sōma who acknowledged her request, flipping pans and stirring pots in a familiar rhythm.
Alice maneuvered through the aisles of the diner, deftly stepping around approaching customers while assuring them that she would be back soon to seat them, moving dirty dishes from a table with one hand, while checking and collecting their bill with the other. She settled a dispute over seating between two customers by offering them complimentary bowls of soup with their order. She conveyed a mother's special request for her baby's rice to be cooked extra soft to Sōma with little downtime with a bow and a smile, provoking a laugh from the youngster.
Nakiri Alice was being a waitress. And doing a damn good job, considering it was both her first time doing so AND the lunch rush. And she was having fun, something that surprised her. She'd always been raised to believe that serving customers directly was beneath her. Outside of the highest of gourmet critics and chefs, Nakiris served no one. That was what servants and waiting staff were for. But here Alice was, serving those who, by all rights, were below her and she found that she almost enjoyed it.
As thing started to die down, signaling the end of the lunch rush, Alice noticed a particular gentleman entering the diner and she skipped over, waving.
"Takeda-san, welcome! Thank you so much for your assistance earlier."
She bowed her head respectfully, smiling at the portly grocery store manager who laughed, waving her off.
"It was nothing at all, Nakiri-san. Yukihira and I go way back, after all."
He sat in the chair she pulled out for him, not even looking at his menu as he thought about just what he wanted before something caught his eye.
"Oh, and what's this?"
He looked at Alice, peering at her chest interestedly. Alice blushed, crossing her arms across her body protectively and stepping back.
"Hentai." she said heatedly, glaring at the man. Takeda blinked at her confusedly for a second before laughing uproariously.
"No, no. You misunderstand me Nakiri-san. It's just been a while since I've seen that shirt before. Years even."
Alice looked down at the shirt's faded coloring. It being years old would certainly explain its somewhat ragged appearance. Although that didn't explain why he would know this shirt specifically. When Alice said as much, Takeda answered her inquiry with a question.
"Tell me, Nakiri-san. I'm sure you've seen Sōma-kun wear several Yukihira shirts, the boy's almost insufferably proud of them, but have you ever seen Sōma-kun wear one that was this color?"
Alice thought back. Even when Sōma had worn his Yukihira fare more often, she couldn't recall ever seeing him wear a shirt in green. He seemed to just have multiple copies of the same, navy blue. There was an occasional gray (which was probably just a very faded blue) but that was it. Not to mention, this shirt had barely fit her, and Sōma's frame was quite a bit larger than hers.
"I suppose not. I never really questioned it though, I simply assumed that blue was the standard color for the restaurant."
"And you would be right, in a sense. Blue is the standard for male employees of Restaurant Yukihira. Green is the standard for female employees, of which there's only ever been one."
Alice blinked, wondering why the man's voice had suddenly grown almost somber where it'd been so cheerful before.
"Who was she, Takeda-san?"
The man smiled sadly, looking at Alice's shirt with a strange mix of nostalgia and sympathy.
"Yukihira Kumi, Sōma-kun's late mother."
"Sōma-kun's…"
Alice looked at the man before looking over to the back of the restaurant where Sōma stood at the stove, his back turned to her. She'd had no idea she was wearing something so precious to him. She suddenly felt more than a little embarrassed and guilty that she'd insulted it, even if it was only in her mind.
"What happened to her, Takeda-san?" asked Alice imploringly, fingering the frayed hem of the green shirt. Takeda went to respond, but seemed to think better of it.
"I'm not sure that it's my place to tell you, Nakiri-san."
Before Alice could press him further, she saw the sliding door entrance of the restaurant open, admitting more customers. She bid goodbye to Takeda, hastily taking his order, before going over to greet the new arrivals, resolving to herself that she'd make her way back to his table to ask him more questions once she'd settled them in. But Alice underestimated just how unpredictable the flow of customers could really be and, by the time she got an opening to circle back to Takeda's table, the only things there were his used plates and his paid tab, along with a very generous tip.
"Aren't you nervous at all, Erina-chan?"
"A little bit." admitted Erina.
The two girls were walking towards Tōtsuki's main campus in their chef's uniforms for their first session with the man formerly known as the Asura. He'd told them in advance to reserve their spring breaks for his lessons, if they wanted to get the most out of his assistance. While Megumi had been a bit put out by being unable to go home and visit her family, she knew that it was a small sacrifice to pay for the undivided attention of their talented professor.
"What do you think he'll have us do?" asked Megumi.
Erina put her finger to her chin, wondering. While she admired Joichiro, and had often watched him cook when he was employed with her family, she honestly didn't know what his teaching style would be like. The information laden lectures he gave as part of his DCT course were more suited for a classroom than one-on-one tutoring, and he'd already made it clear that he wasn't planning to emulate that particular teaching style.
"I really can't say, Megumi-chan. Maybe he'll take us step by step through some of his dishes? Or perhaps we'll be the ones cooking and he'll offer us advice?"
"Or maybe he'll just use this time to experiment on us." said Megumi despondently, thinking back to the many times she'd been tricked into sampling Sōma's "unique" dishes. Erina blanched as she thought about some of the horrors she'd heard about from her friend and she rubbed her arms to ward off the sudden chill she felt.
"No, no. Joichiro-sensei wouldn't do that, I'm sure…" said the heiress with more confidence than she actually felt.
"Are you?" asked Megumi, still with the same, morose expression. Erina didn't respond, unable to stop thinking about the possibility now that Megumi had put it out there. Joichiro-sensei knew how important it was that they prepare to face Sōma, didn't he? He wouldn't waste the limited time they had on something so frivolously disgusting, would he?
Erina thought about all she knew about the man, and all she knew about his son, and came to the very unfortunate conclusion that yes, he certainly would do something like that.
And so it was with heavy hearts that, several minutes later, Erina and Megumi entered the school kitchens that were allotted to the Diversity through Cooking and Travel course, their eyes peeled for the slightest hint of squid, peanut butter, honey or any unholy combination of the three. Luckily they didn't see anything of the kind. In fact, they didn't see anything at all, the classroom seemed to be completely deserted.
"Joichiro-sensei?" called out Erina. She stepped inside of the room, looking around but seeing no sign of the older man. Although it seemed like he'd definitely been there before, as the lights were on and ingredients were laid out at two of the cooking stations, along with pots, pans and other utensils.
"It seems Joichiro-sensei left us some instructions." said Megumi, noting the whiteboard that had been rolled to stand in front of the prepped cooking stations. The blue haired girl walked over to it to read the scrawled but precise handwriting.
Hey there, Erina-chan and Tadokoro-chan, I'm not big on holding my students' hands, as you've probably figured out by now. I'll be back in an hour or two. If you flip over this white board, you'll see a recipe that Tadokoro should be familiar with. I'd like you both to prepare this dish. Please follow the recipe down to the very last detail. I know that probably seems weird coming from a chef like me, but it's important for what I'm trying to teach you today. Good luck.
At the bottom of the board was a little sketched face that vaguely resembled Joichiro's, with a huge grin and an exaggerated thumbs up bearing fist. Megumi smiled at the little figure, shaking her head at her sensei's silliness before flipping the board. A few cursory glances had her smiling in fond memory.
"This is Joichiro-sensei's Special Rich Ramen! It's a vegetarian dish, but it actually tastes as rich as a meat based ramen bowl. I got to sample it last year when he visited the dormitory to have a cooking duel with Sōma-kun."
At the red head's name, Erina saw a brief flash of something on her friend's face that she was slowly growing familiar with. It seemed to be an odd mix of guilt and anger, an otherwise foreign expression for someone as kind as Tadokoro Megumi. Erina fought down the instinctive reaction to ask what was wrong, knowing that she wouldn't get any answers from the girl.
"How was it?" she asked instead, doing her best to divert her friend's thoughts. Megumi's face brightened as she recalled the dish, holding her cheeks as she could almost feel the rejuvenating effect of the meal from the past.
"It was amazing. I'd just woken up after a rough night, and Isshiki-senpai had just finished working in the fields, so we both needed something to perk us up, and Joichiro-sensei's dish did the trick wonderfully."
"Wait, this was a breakfast dish?" asked Erina, aghast. Ramen for breakfast? It wasn't unheard of, but it certainly wasn't a common occurrence either. It was often considered much too savory to be an appropriate breakfast dish, with a lot of fats and salts that weren't desired by the body so soon after waking up. Breakfast was meant to revitalize you and wake you up, but a dish like ramen could easily have the opposite effect, making you feel heavy and sleepy instead.
But, if Megumi was to be believed, Joichiro's Special Ramen was in another league and Erina found herself both nervous and excited to prepare a dish that her idol had crafted with his own two hands.
"Well, let's get to work then Megumi-chan!" said Erina, smiling as she tied her hair up into a ponytail.
"Hai." said the shorter girl in response, returning Erina's smile as she moved to her station to begin prep work.
The two girls began to cook, following the recipe to the letter as Joichiro had asked. However, they quickly found this to be a fairly difficult endeavor, as the recipe Joichiro had left them was much more detailed and exacting than a recipe usually was, especially for a dish as simple and commonplace as ramen. Where one would expect to see 'add a teaspoon of salt', it would instead tell you to trickle a teaspoon of salt into the broth while stirring at half speed in a counter clockwise motion. Instead of simply saying 'add a cup of soy milk', the recipe asked for a cup of soy milk to be poured in at such a rate that the entire cup was empty after no less than three seconds but no more than four.
It was exhausting and more than a few mistakes were made, which caused them to have to start over as the recipe had several parts to it that were labeled "Critical Error - If this step is done incorrectly by either of you, then both of you must start from the beginning. I will know if you haven't! No pressure though!" along with another miniature smiling caricature of Joichiro's face done in dry erase marker.
But finally, after a total of seven critical errors (five by Megumi and two by Erina), the two chefs finished, plating two identical bowls of vegetarian ramen at exactly the same time on the marked areas on Joichiro's desk that had been indicated at the end of the recipe.
Erina wiped her forehead, exhaling in relief as Megumi moaned, thankful that they'd finally succeeded. They looked at each other with relieved smiles, finally beginning to relax before, without warning, a voice boomed through the air, causing both girls to shriek, their nerves shot after what had to have been the most tensely prepared bowl of ramen in history.
"Ah, good work you two! You caught on pretty quick, as expected of two of the front runners of the Jewels Generation. Although that twelfth step can certainly be tricky, ai Tadokoro-chan?"
Megumi didn't respond, reduced to shivering as she held herself, mumbling about soy milk dashi and temperature gradients. Erina was just barely better, looking around wildly for the source of the voice.
"Joichiro-sensei, is that you?"
"Who else, Erina-chan?"
Erina did another full circle, looking around at each and every corner of the room but finding no trace of the man. It didn't help that his voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.
"Where are you?" Erina asked, as she bent down to check on Megumi who'd sunk to the floor, holding her knees as she muttered about the difference between a pinch and a dash. Joichiro didn't respond, but Erina begun to hear a clattering nose, which only served to confuse her.
"INCOMING!"
Erina looked up, and saw a pair of feet emerge from a shifted roof tile, quickly followed by legs, a torso and the rest of Yukihira Joichiro's body as he leapt, landing with grace in the front of them, so close that they felt the wind generated from the impact of his body hitting the floor.
Erina's face was one of consternation as she looked in shock at the crouched figure of her teacher. He stood up, dusting off his pants and laughing.
"Ah, I haven't gotten a chance to play in the ceiling space since my time at Polar Star. That was fun."
Erina struggled to find words before her brain decided to give up the struggle and simply surrender to the situation, hanging her head as the shock became too much and she joined Megumi in being barely conscious. Joichiro looked at the two shell shocked girls in front of him, smiling sheepishly as he scratched his cheek.
"…was my entrance too much?"
After they'd been roused, both of the students stood before Joichiro's desk, their bowls of ramen in front of them. Joichiro looked down at their work, poking at each bowl experimentally and smelling the aroma that wafted forth as a result of his stimulation.
"It seems you both followed my instructions as perfectly as you could manage. That's good, very good."
He sampled Erina's dish, nodding as he chewed. He took a second bite, grabbing a bit of the tempeh at the center and winding noodles around it before putting it into his mouth and giving it the same treatment as the first bite. He grinned widely at the blonde, making her blush and look away from his approving gaze.
"This would seem to be the first of your dishes that I've ever eaten, right Erina-chan?"
Erina nodded, trying and failing to hide her hopeful expression. Even in class, Joichiro had never sampled her cooking, instead having a rotating panel of students taste the classes' dishes. He claimed it promoted diversity, as they would get a wider net of feedback from multiple mouths and palates which was a much more valuable perspective than his singular opinion, no matter how skilled or worldly said opinion may be.
"I promised you that I would eat your dishes once you became a great chef, didn't I?"
"You remembered?" blurted Erina, her face growing redder as she remembered the childish demand she'd levered onto Joichiro before he'd left their family's employ. Joichiro grinned at her.
"Do you remember why you made me make that promise?"
Erina thought back, recalling the memories from that time easily, even though it had been several years since.
"It's because you always refused the dishes I tried to get you to taste, because you said that I wasn't good enough to try and cook for you yet."
"To be specific, I said you weren't a great chef. And that I wouldn't eat anything you made until you became one."
Erina wanted to ask if she was one now, but a combination of insecurity and nerves held her back. She was only a freshman, she wasn't even on the Elite Ten anymore. There was no way he would consider her a great chef. But she still wanted to ask, the question was clear on her face.
"Is she a great chef now then, Joichiro-sensei?"
The question had come from Megumi, who took the initiative to say what Erina wouldn't, although she wasn't sure if she was trying to be helpful or harmful, as she could hear a small, spiteful part of her hoping that the man said no.
"Megumi-chan!" cried Erina, her face growing even redder as it began to resemble a tomato more and more. She turned to Joichiro, who was tasting Megumi's dish, eyes sparkling with mirth as he observed the both of them.
After a few bites of Megumi's ramen, he placed his chopsticks down, offering new pairs to both of the students.
"Now, I'd like you to go ahead and try them both, you two." he said, leaving Megumi's question unanswered for the time being, walking over to the large pots of broth they'd left simmering, per his instructions. Erina watched him walk, clearly wanting to badger him for his answer, but restraining herself out of respect as she followed after him.
Joichiro pulled two bowls from a drawer, filling them with ramen from the pots before handing them to his students.
The two girls sampled their own ramen dishes, letting the light, mellow flavors flow through them as they felt their skin tightening and their pores open as each drop of the soup went to work throughout their bodies, rejuvenating each and every cell. They sighed in contentment as they felt the buzz of refreshing energy flowing through their newly youthful bodies.
"Now, you both followed my recipe to the letter. So, in theory, they should taste the same, right?"
For most dishes, that wouldn't be the case, as there was a large amount of flex in almost any given recipe. But with the exacting, meticulous instructions presented by Joichiro coupled with the skills of the two students in question, it was entirely possible that both bowls would have an identical flavor this time.
Joichiro filled the bowls again, his movements deft as he placed them on the table, swapping them back and forth in an almost dizzying display that came perilously close to spilling broth everywhere. After a few revolutions of this, he held a bowl out to Megumi.
"Tadokoro-chan, would you try and tell me whose ramen this is?"
Megumi took the proffered bowl, looking down at the contents. Joichiro had moved so swiftly that she wasn't certain which pot he'd used to fill the bowl she held. She sniffed at the gently wafting steam but was unable to come to any firm conclusion from the smell alone. She dipped her chopsticks into the bowl, bringing a bite to her mouth and chomping down on it.
Instantly she was hit by the fresh, light taste of the vegetarian broth, coupled with the richness of the milk and tempeh added. It flowed over her once again, invigorating her past her limits, making her feel like she could take on the world and still have energy to spare afterwards.
While she was under no impression that the ramen she'd cooked was as good as the dish Joichiro had made for her in the past, it still amazed her that she was able to cook a dish of this caliber, even considering the detail with which Joichiro had mapped out the ramen dish. She felt a warm buzz of pride that her efforts at Tōtsuki hadn't been for naught. She'd really progressed.
That's when Megumi noticed.
"This…this is my dish." she said in surprise. She couldn't pinpoint just what exactly it was about the food that made her so certain, but she was one hundred and ten percent certain that the ramen in her bowl was from the pot she'd made. She'd bet her life on it.
"Indeed, that is your ramen, Tadokoro-chan. Now, for the sake of contrast, why don't you try Erina-chan's?"
Megumi took the offered bowl, sampling the new helping. She was hit by the familiar feeling of rejuvenated morning and rich flavoring, but now, she noticed a distinct difference in what she was eating. It wasn't so much that the ramen she was eating was any better or worse than her own, it was simply different.
Somehow, someway Megumi could almost literally taste her friend's cooking talent in the noodles and broth. It felt like Erina's very essence as a chef had subtly permeated the dish, almost down to its roots, and the only reason Megumi could even notice such a thing was because she had her own, nigh identical dish to compare it to. Without the contrast, she doubted she would've even noticed something so bizarre.
"What is this, Joichiro-sensei?" asked Megumi in wonder, looking down as if she held a crystal ball rather than a bowl of noodles. Joichiro merely put one finger to his lips, winking conspiratorially.
"Let's not jump the gun here, Tadokoro-chan. We wouldn't want to leave Erina out of the conversation. I'm sure she'll have something interesting to contribute."
He offered the aforementioned blonde two newly filled bowls and she sampled each of them, her tongue going to work as she focused on the flavor of each dish. After a few seconds, she tapped the bowl on her left.
"This ramen is mine, and the other is Megumi-chan's."
Joichiro nodded, not at all surprised.
"And what's the difference, Erina-chan? You each followed the recipe perfectly, down to the last grain of salt. Why would these bowls of ramen be distinguishable at all? What does your tongue tell you?"
Erina took another bite from her own bowl, slowly working each chew over her God's Tongue. She focused on the feedback she was getting from it, muttering criticisms to herself.
"Heat was improperly implied by at least twenty degrees…soy milk was added in too high a quantity, unbalancing the dashi…tempeh isn't as tender as needed."
She moved to Megumi's bowl, taking a bite from it and giving it much the same treatment. She analyzed the feeling and found, to her surprise, that it was exactly the reading she'd gotten from her own dish, down to the very degree. The unbalanced temperature, the slightly stiff tempeh, the overabundance of soy milk, it was all identical to the issues she'd identified within her own ramen. Her precious tongue, lauded as divine in its own right, couldn't tell her the difference between the two bowls!
"But that's impossible…" Erina said, staring at the two bowls in shock and a touch of fear. In her sixteen years of life on this earth, her tongue had never let her down, not once. Never had she been unable to truly taste the individuality of a dish.
Terunori Kuga, the former eighth seat of the Elite Ten Council, was known for his obsessively exact training of his RS subordinates, to the point where the dishes they made were indistinguishable from his own cooking. Yet, in a challenge that had cost Kuga a quarter of his budget, Erina's tongue had proven more than capable of picking out exactly which dish was his from a selection of twenty others that were made by his soldiers.
But here she was, her legendary tongue thwarted by two simple bowls of vegetable noodles.
"I'm guessing you're wondering why your God's Tongue is having trouble differentiating between the two, even though you know exactly which one is yours?"
Erina looked at Joichiro, still confused. He was right. She'd easily picked out her own dish between the two without thinking twice on her first tasting, even though her tongue couldn't tell the difference. Which only made it all the more baffling.
"What is this, Joichiro-sensei?" Erina asked, in a direct mirror to Megumi, albeit with more fear than wonder.
Joichiro gestured for them both to sit down on the stools, moving over to the white board. He flipped it back over and began erasing his welcome message.
"Do either of you know just what Yukihira cooking is?" he asked conversationally.
Erina blinked, the seeming non sequitur throwing her off.
"Um…that's the cooking style that you and Sōma use, correct?" she asked hesitantly.
Joichiro shook his head, continuing to wipe at the whiteboard, ensuring it was free of all marks.
"Not exactly. While we both use A Yukihira cooking style, Sōma and I don't use the same style at all. Simply because that would be impossible."
Joichiro looked at the whiteboard, admiring its pristine surface for a second before pulling a marker from his pocket and uncapping it.
"That which enables you to tell the difference between virtually identical bowls of ramen forms the very basis of what Yukihira cooking is all about. That undefinable thing that alerted you to the difference yet was undetectable by Erina-chan's God's Tongue is something I call the Chef's Soul. Usually, there's so much else that contributes to a dish's flavor that this particular little detail is lost in the noise of all the other, much larger ones. Even in the case of dishes that should be identical, there are still usually enough variations for the Chef's Soul to be completely drowned out by the other aspects of the food."
Joichiro drew two little bowls, drawing a tiny version of Erina's face under one and Megumi's under another.
"Once a chef becomes sufficiently skilled, then his, or her, true worth starts to be reflected in their cooking. Usually in minute amounts that no one without a truly ridiculous amount of culinary acumen could even notice. But Yukihira cooking is all about drawing out that unnoticeable quantity and forming it into something truly potent. It's about aligning each and every movement you make into the kitchen with your very soul as a chef, allowing you to reach new heights in your cooking by literally putting your self into your cooking."
Joichiro drew other pictures in besides their own, of plates and bowls bearing various faces that they recognized from their class.
"However, as I'm sure you can imagine, every chef's soul is distinct. In much the same way that a single snowflake is completely different than the billions of others in a blizzard. Meaning that it is up to each individual Yukihira chef to constantly test and create dishes with their own two hands, so as to find the methods that work best for their own Soul. As a result, the Yukihira cooking style is one of constant, aggressive evolution."
Joichiro drew lines around the pictures he'd drawn, before drawing other dishes with other faces along the sides and drawing further lines around them, creating a straight line of rectangles. He drew on top of the straight formation, stacking them on top of one another.
"You build on each and every success and failure, incorporating the aspects of each and every maneuver you make in the kitchen that works for your chef's soul and discarding those that oppose it. It can be a truly grueling process. You could fail a hundred times while only having a slightly better way to pour salt to show for it. However, in turn, you can also find great success. I once created three entirely new dishes for Restaurant Yukihira's secret menu simply because of what I learnt by combining sardines and strawberry jam in a truly disgusting appetizer."
Joichiro's face seemed to tint slightly green, even as he smiled at the memory.
"Boy, that was the grossest thing I've come up with yet. Sōma's been trying to top it for years."
"Wait, you mean there's a purpose to all of those disgusting things Sōma used to create?" asked Megumi in surprise. She'd always assumed it was just an odd quirk of her friend's, especially once she'd met his father. She didn't think there was an actual use for it.
"Yup. Although I must admit, testing them on others is just something we do for fun. It gets tiring wasting all of your awesomely disgusting creations on yourself!"
Megumi hung her head. Of course it would be something like that.
"So Joichiro-sensei." said Erina, trying to steer them back on course. She was looking at the complete pyramid of blocks Joichiro had drawn, each block containing a different dish or ingredient or even utensil. "Yukihira cooking is all about failing?"
Joichiro shook his head.
"Yukihira cooking is about learning. Whether you succeed, fail or even just do nothing, you must learn from it. It's about aspiring to attune your every movement in the kitchen to your very essence as a chef to create something truly amazing."
Megumi gasped as she looked at the representative pyramid of cooking Joichiro had drawn. When he put it that way, it really seemed like Yukihira cooking was on a completely different level. She truly felt like she was starting to understand just how Sōma did some of the awe inspiring things he'd done during their time at Tōtsuki.
"That sounds amazing." she admitted, tracing the interconnected lines.
"I'm sure it does, but can either of you spot the drawback of such a style of cooking?" asked Joichiro, folding his arms.
Megumi put her finger to her chin, thinking, but it was Erina who spoke first.
"Well, the amount of wasted resources seems like it would be rather high." pointed out Erina. Even if one ignored the amount of money that could be potentially lost, there was an even more staggering amount of time at stake. Even standard cooking required a heavy time commitment, as dishes could take hours, if not entire days, of preparation. To do all that, only to risk getting nothing out of it? It was almost unthinkable.
Joichiro nodded in response.
"That's definitely a factor. The amount of resources needed can be truly intimidating. I wasted quite a bit of my budget when I was on the Elite Ten pursuing things that turned out to be dead ends. But there's an even more glaring weakness. Which comes hand in hand with the style's greatest strength."
Seeing that neither of the girls seemed to grasp what he was saying, Joichiro took to the board again.
"I'll use a metaphor to explain it. Have either of you ever taken any martial arts?"
"I did a small bit of kendo in middle school." admitted Megumi, which surprised Erina. She hadn't known that particular fact about her friend.
"Alright, and you learnt forms in kendo correct?" asked Joichiro, drawing out a few stick figures with stick swords in a variety of positions. "However, I'm sure you can attest to this Tadokoro-chan, you can't just stand there and mechanically move through forms in a fight. It's more fluid than that. But the forms fill a very important role, I'm sure your instructors mentioned what it was."
"The forms are the basis of your fighting abilities…" said Megumi slowly, her mind working as she tried to understand just what Joichiro was implying. "They've been designed and honed over the years by other practitioners of the style to work and flow with one another. So each and every individual student isn't forced to figure out how to place their feet and hold their shinai to block a vertical strike on their own. It's a form that can be taught, that has been created by the skilled input of hundreds of kendo wielders over the years. And it works with other forms, forming the basis of an entire fighting style in this way."
Megumi thumped her fist into her hand, as she was hit by an epiphany.
"Yukihira cooking's greatest weakness is its individuality! Whereas other styles have been developed and passed down within cultures, societies or even families, Yukihira places that burden on the individual. You can't know what works and what doesn't unless you try it yourself or try to borrow something from an established cooking method."
"And even then, there's no guarantee that whatever you attempt to imitate will flow well with what you've already developed!" said Erina, catching on to what her friend was saying. Just as with fighting styles, cooking disciplines had been developed over the years in a myriad of ways. They've grown better and better over time, their strengths and weaknesses firmly established, known quantities that can be accounted for. Yukihira cooking had none of these, making it an ultimately dangerous style of cooking that could backfire more often than not on someone who didn't have the expertise to properly utilize it.
"Exactly." Joichiro proclaimed solemnly, his eyes serious. "Yukihira cooking is entirely based around the cook himself. It's why I said that Sōma and I have completely different styles. Not to mention I have a talent that helps me cheat at it a bit."
"What do you mean, Joichiro-sensei?" asked Megumi curiously. What kind of skill could help with something like this?
Joichiro shrugged casually.
"I have an eidetic memory." he said simply, as if he was commenting on the weather.
"An eidetic memory?" asked Megumi, confused at the word. It sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place where she'd heard the term before.
"It's more often called photographic memory. I have perfect recall." he said succinctly, capping the marker. Both girls looked at him, before looking back at each other and then looking at him again. Yukihira Joichiro, the stray cat who barely remembered to give Sōma his living expenses had photographic memory?
"Joichiro-sensei, what exactly do you mean?" asked Erina, more than a little doubtful.
"Just what it sounds like, Erina-chan. I can remember anything I |
a missile.
Its progress in long-range missile technology was hammered home by the launch of a rocket that successfully put a satellite in orbit in 2012.
Since taking over power from his late father Kim Jong-Il in 2011, Kim Jong-Un has consolidated his grip on power, launching a number of high-profile purges that included the execution of his uncle and one-time mentor Jang Song-Thaek.
The party resolution underlined the need to impose "stringent organisational discipline" within the party to shore up the "rock-solid, single-hearted unity" behind Kim's leadership. – Rappler.comThose tanks arrived in Syria in September, and have since become a large part of the ongoing fighting in the war-torn country, although the government of President Vladimir Putin has avoided officially recognizing the ground mission.
The website claims to show the substantial special forces and military hardware now on the ground, defending Assad's government and fighting the Islamic State.
The website says it is publishing the information in retaliation for Russia breaking a ceasefire in the Donbas region of Ukraine. A lookup of the site's.org domain name shows that it was registered to an address just South of Kyiv, while the servers themselves are located just south of Montreal, Quebec.
The website, which bills itself as a community of volunteers, has posted pictures, Facebook profiles, and even passport information of dozens of Russian soldiers stationed — semi-officially, unofficially, and secretly — in Syria. Many of the posts place the Russian soldiers at specific points in the country, citing geotags and geographic features in the photos.
Amid frosty relations, Ottawa is tackling a request from the Kremlin to go after a Ukrainian website, hosted in Canada, that is publishing identifying details of Russian soldiers fighting the Islamic State.
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Amid frosty relations, Ottawa is tackling a request from the Kremlin to go after a Ukrainian website, hosted in Canada, that is publishing identifying details of Russian soldiers fighting the Islamic State.
The website, which bills itself as a community of volunteers, has posted pictures, Facebook profiles, and even passport information of dozens of Russian soldiers stationed — semi-officially, unofficially, and secretly — in Syria. Many of the posts place the Russian soldiers at specific points in the country, citing geotags and geographic features in the photos.
The website says it is publishing the information in retaliation for Russia breaking a ceasefire in the Donbas region of Ukraine. A lookup of the site's.org domain name shows that it was registered to an address just South of Kyiv, while the servers themselves are located just south of Montreal, Quebec.
The website claims to show the substantial special forces and military hardware now on the ground, defending Assad's government and fighting the Islamic State.
Those tanks arrived in Syria in September, and have since become a large part of the ongoing fighting in the war-torn country, although the government of President Vladimir Putin has avoided officially recognizing the ground mission.
Russia's embassy in Canada confirmed on Thursday that a request was sent from Putin's government to the still fresh-faced Trudeau administration, asking them to remove the sensitive information that had been published on Canadian servers.
"At this point we can confirm that the Canadian side was duly informed on this matter. The Russian side expects appropriate reaction on this security-related issue," said a spokesperson from the Russian embassy.
Much of the website's sleuthing comes via VK, a Russian social media platform similar to Facebook.
Related: 'Cold as Ice': Canada's Election, as Told Through Russian Propaganda
A spokesperson for Canada's foreign affairs ministry confirmed that they received the request from Moscow, and that it was passed on to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The federal police service, in turn, declined to comment, as the investigation was ongoing.
The issue was first highlighted by Ilya Rogachev, who told a conference that "We have already requested the relevant authorities in Canada, asking them to remove the information. The Canadian authorities are still considering [the matter]."
Rogachev is, according to the state-run Sputnik news service, "head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for New Challenges and Threats." Sputnik, considered a mouthpiece for the Russian government, first quoted Rogachev's comments earlier in December.
Requests to remove identifying information of soldiers in-theatre are not uncommon. The Canadian Department of National Defense has infrequently asked domestic and foreign media to pull identifying photographs of Canadian pilots involved in the bombing campaign against IS.
Force protection measures have been especially strict when it comes to the fight against IS, given the militant group's call to target active service members. Countries in the Western coalition have aggressively tried to shield the identities of their fighter pilots, which involves calling news outlets and websites to request they take down identifying photographs.
This isn't the first time social media has been used to identify Russian soldiers in the battlefield. Investigations, including by VICE News and open source investigation outlet Bellingcat, have regularly published pictures of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
In Syria, however, Russian fighters have already been the direct targets of militants in the region. One supposed Russian national was beheaded by the Islamic State earlier this month, while the rival al-Nusra Front has offered a bounty for the capture of any Russian soldier.
The one site being targeted by Moscow isn't the only Canadian outlet publishing photos of Russian soldiers.
One blog with a.ca domain name posted a picture of a man standing on a military transport plane laden with military equipment. The blog, which favorably reviewed Russia's involvement in Syria, says the the image depicts Russian anti-aircraft weaponry arriving in Syria.
Other sites carry selfies posted by Russian supposedly inside Syria.
Follow Justin Ling on Twitter: @justin_ling
Watch the VICE News documentary, Selfie Soldiers: Russia's Army Checks Into Ukraine:Supporters are saying the bill N.J. Gov. Chris Christie signed into law Thursday is the toughest anti-bullying legislation in the nation. In the works for almost a year, and spurred to nearly unanimous passage by the recent suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, it has several mandates - among them: training for school employees, creation of a team within schools to review incidents and reporting by school staff of such incidents even when they happen outside of school. Failure to report such incidents will lead to disciplinary measures for school personnel.
Self-described teacher from the NJ.com community dedicated_teacher weighs in, responding in part to another comment implying that the real world is tougher than school:
I despise Christie, but I actually do agree with him on this. Schools do not take bullying seriously. There really needs to be a no tolerance policy and teachers need to know how to handle these situations.
As for the "real world" yes there are mean bosses and crazy governors, but you CANNOT compare it to the harassment/hell that many kids, especially in middle school and HS face in our country today. Especially now with the Internet/cell phones, they cannot get away from it.
Do you agree the law is necessary and that this is a strong piece of legislation? Join the conversation by going straight to the comments section of the article. Note that there's also considerable NJ.com user conversation in Thursday's Star-Ledger post on the signing.Iraq War veteran Kevin Plemmons regularly visits the local VA for counseling. Like many veterans, it took him years to get help. (Photos by Max Cooper)
“When the happy gods bring on the hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart.
Our lives, our mood and mind as we pass across the earth,
turn as the days turn.”
— Homer, The Odyssey
The framed photos stand at attention on a shelf in the living room. A drill sergeant in his broad-brimmed hat, and Marines and soldiers in their dress uniforms, stare straight ahead with fixed, unflinching gaze. Their eyes reveal no more about the unintended consequences of war and military life than what a collection of painted toy soldiers can teach a child about combat and casualties.
So when young Kevin Plemmons looked up at the gallery of his family’s military men, all he saw were heroes in big hats. Kevin’s Uncle Robert served in the Army for 20 years; cousins Craig and Chris proudly called themselves Marines. Two other cousins, Greg and Heath, enlisted in the Army.
To the young man growing up in Waynesville,N.C., these relatives represented an elite association of men who stood for valor, selfless service and an undying allegiance to God and country.
“I want to do that,” Plemmons remembers thinking. “They always talked about how good it was to serve.”
But they never mentioned things like night terrors or chronic pain. Guilt, depression, isolation and fear. And they absolutely never spoke about mental health.
• • •
On the plane back to the States, Ron Lapointe took a few sips of the booze being passed from soldier to soldier. Some men sat quietly, declining to take a swig. Others guzzled gladly at the end of their stint in Vietnam.
Lapointe had landed in the country’s central highlands a little more than a year before. On the first day of his deployment in August 1967, the former UCLA international relations student found himself wrapped in a poncho, knee-deep in mud, awaiting orders.
“Do you need any 11 Charlies?” (military speak for an infantry mortarman, Lapointe’s occupational specialty), one unknown man barked to another. “Do you need any 11 Charlies out there?” he repeated.
But at that moment, louder than even the yelling man and biting rain, Lapointe’s intuition told him, “You’re going to be OK.” Somehow, he remembers, he knew he would survive. And now here he was, heading home.
David Paul O’Brien had famously burned his draft card on the steps of the South Boston Courthouse a year before Lapointe landed in the Vietnamese jungle. But by the time Lapointe’s boots once again touched American soil two years later, the anti-war movement had grown. When he got off the plane, protesters were waving signs with the words “baby killer” smeared across them.
“In World War II, you got a parade and community support,” says Lapointe. “But for Vietnam vets, you got community rejection.”
His family, however, embraced him. And after throwing himself into completing his undergraduate studies and attempting to return to his former life, Lapointe flew from Los Angeles to New York to visit his sister, who’d recently moved there.
As he ran through Times Square to catch the next train leaving Grand Central Station for Long Island, a bus backfired. Instinctively, Lapointe dropped, his knees hitting the pavement as his arms came up to cover his head.
“That’s when I realized there were issues,” he says with a sigh.
Because on that plane ride back to America, he remembers, “The guys who had not been in combat were getting stupid drunk ― drinking and hollering and having a good old time. The guys who had been in combat were very quiet.”
Forty-four years later, Lapointe would finally be ready to break his silence.
• • •
Despite having no military base nearby, nearly 20,000 veterans call Buncombe County home ― giving it the sixth-biggest veteran population among the state’s 100 counties. In the five years that psychologist Elizabeth Huddleston has worked at Asheville’s Charles George VA Medical Center, the number of local veterans accessing mental health services has continued to rise, and she doesn’t expect that to change any time soon.
She reads aloud from a document on her desk: “From Oct. 1, 2006, to Oct. 1, 2011, the number of veterans accessing mental health service at Charles George VA Medical Center increased by more than 50 percent.” During that same period, the total number of people receiving specialized mental health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs increased annually, from 927,052 to more than 1.3 million in the last fiscal year.
And for this year, she continues, the local office is “already on track to show an increase in veterans seen for mental health services.”
But another trend, notes Huddleston, also persists among the veteran population.
“Part of what we deal with everywhere is the stigma of mental health. But maybe, with this population, it’s a little stronger-instilled: It’s seen as a weakness,” she explains, noting that mental-health-related issues the local office frequently sees include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, substance abuse, homelessness and unemployment.
• • •
Certain triggers can instantly make Plemmons find himself back in Iraq — or find parts of Iraq back in him.
He doesn’t like to go to the mall. “No way. Too many people.”
He always takes the seat closest to the wall. “If your back’s against the wall, nobody can be behind you.”
And he always thinks up an escape plan. “If something does happen, I’m going to go out that window.”
During his year as a military police officer at Camp Bucca, once the largest detainment center in Iraq, Plemmons adapted to his new environment. Now, however, the 27-year-old says he’s still in the process of adapting to post-Army life. “It’s a culture shock when you get over there; then it’s a culture shock when you come back.”
He continues, “I’ve been shot at. I’ve been attacked. I’ve lost a friend. I’ve been bombed. You lose all emotion over there ― except for a couple that will save your life.”
An outgoing manner wouldn’t have helped Plemmons when a roadside bomb blew up the bus that he and more than 40 detainees were riding in as it pushed toward northern Iraq. And by the time he returned home in the fall of 2005, Plemmons had become more distant, less talkative. Insomnia kept him awake nearly every night, and when it didn’t, his dreams made him long for a pill that could shut them down the way you turn off a TV.
Friends and family began to tell Plemmons he’d changed. But what hurt the most was when his best friend said Plemmons was no longer the “smoker and joker” he used to know. At that point, the young veteran began to understand how much he’d been weathered by war and morphed by mortar fire.
“There’s not one person in this world that wants to believe that they’ve changed. No matter how severe something could be, you don’t want to think of being the person who’s changed, especially if it’s in a bad way,” he maintains.
• • •
No one believed the 25-year-old soldier when she said her staff sergeant had sexually harassed her. He denied it, and when other soldiers accused her of lying, she dropped the matter. So when four of her fellow soldiers raped her in the barracks, she said nothing.
“I felt like I couldn’t go to anybody,” the veteran says now, speaking on condition of anonymity. “There shouldn’t be, but there’s a lot of shame.”
It would be more than 20 years before the Army veteran could begin to talk about what happened to her while serving as an administrative clerk at a base in Heidelberg, Germany, from 1980-83.
Being a victim of military sexual trauma, she says, “affects every relationship that you have.” It’s been 12 years since she was last romantically involved with anyone.
During the last fiscal year, she was one of the 884 victims of military sexual trauma treated at the Asheville VA hospital.
• • •
Shortly after Lapointe moved back to his family’s potato farm in Maine, his mother brought him what she thought was great news. “They’re having a celebration for veterans,” she told him excitedly. “You should put on your uniform.”
Silence.
“Where’s your uniform?”
“I can’t tell you,” Lapointe answered.
She kept pushing him, and he kept lamenting, “I can’t tell you.”
“I’ll press it for you,” she offered.
An anguished Lapointe struggled to find a gentle way to tell his mother that she couldn’t press a uniform he no longer had.
“Well, where is it?”
Sometime before, Lapointe had walked straight to the barn, taken off his uniform, and burned it in the iron barrel his father used to incinerate the trash.
“After the country’s response and the effects of war,” he says, taking two deep breaths, “I felt ashamed.”
Kevin Turner, director of Buncombe County’s veterans assistance office, says the complexity of the claims process can sometimes result in “unintended consequences.”
• • •
It took Plemmons three years to begin seeking help — and nearly two more before the Iraq War veteran actually got any. Still, he fared better than most local veterans who submit disability claims, particularly if they’re mental-health-related, says Kevin Turner, who heads up Buncombe County’s Veterans Assistance Office.
The county agency helps local veterans connect with the proper services within the federal VA system. “The claims process itself is very complicated. They don’t mean for it to be, but it is,” says Turner, a veteran who left active duty in August 2011.
Papers practically spill out of the thick, green folder Turner slaps on his desk. Wanting to really understand the timeline for the claims his office sends off to the VA for processing, Turner filed one himself, intentionally omitting information that might cause it to get special treatment (such as the fact that he’s a general officer and head of an office that serves vets).
“We submitted my claim as if I was Joe Blow,” he explains, opening the folder. “I submitted that in July of last year, and I have yet to be sent a request to have a physical.”
After the first 125 days (the federal agency’s stated goal for processing claims), Turner’s test case became part of the VA system’s massive backlog. As of Aug. 3, nearly two-thirds of the claims in the system — 500,062 out of 780,026 — were backlogged, the Veterans Benefits Administration reports.
Turner, however, worries more about what he calls “the unintended consequences.”
When Turner asked a veteran with severe PTSD to describe the event that had so terrified him, the soldier struggled to articulate it. But Turner knew from the man’s records that the traumatic event was a prison break in Afghanistan, which Turner knew about from his own time on active duty.
“I knew the dude was telling the truth,” he says. “We were going to push this thing. And then the gentleman kills himself before the VA ever gets all the paperwork together to process his claim.”
Pulling out his BlackBerry, Turner reads part of the daily list of military suicides that commanding officers receive. “Death of a soldier in Texas. Potential suicide; number 153 for the calendar year. On the same day, death of a soldier in Qatar. Asphyxiation,” he says, putting down his smartphone.
“That is the drumbeat that goes on,” he continues, pounding his fist on the table. “Not all of these people had PTSD. Some of them were dealing with depression; Some of them were dealing with just poor choices. You can’t put people in boxes, because there’s not boxes to describe it. It’s cross-symptomatic.”
• • •
Once her eyes adjusted to the light, none of the surroundings looked familiar. She wasn’t in the room she’d been renting from friends — and why was she lying in a hospital bed?
For eight days, the 56-year-old had been in a coma, the nurse explained; two doctors called her survival “a miracle.” But that alcoholic blackout successfully annihilated the memory the Army veteran would need in order to connect all the pieces: To this day, she doesn’t know how she tried to kill herself, or even why.
For her, it remains one of the lowest moments in a life she describes as “tragic, yet blessed.”
“I guess I just hit rock bottom,” she says.
Soon after her attempted suicide, the veteran enrolled in a substance-abuse program and mental health services in Salisbury, N.C., where there’s a VA facility. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder and PTSD (the latter stemming from her military sexual trauma in Germany). But when she returned to Asheville, she was homeless. Having nowhere else to go, she wound up at Steadfast House, Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry’s facility for homeless women, children and families. The roughly 33-bed shelter reserves 10 beds specifically for female veterans.
Sadly, this veteran’s story of PTSD and military sexual trauma is not uncommon among the clients who seek shelter at Steadfast House, Director Donna Wilson reveals.
“A lot of times, women experience being raped or molested before they go into the military. Sometimes they go into the military to escape that and then, unfortunately, something happens in the military also,” she explains. “Our society is just now kind of accepting that that’s happening, but our women still are very private and scared to talk about it.”
After returning home from Vietnam, Ron Lapointe begged his brother to send him his drum kit. Those drums, Lapointe says, “really saved my sanity.”
• • •
Talking about Vietnam, Lapointe maintains, isn’t going to help. “I don’t want to sit in a room of vets, particularly combat vets, and share war stories,” he says. “Why relive something you don’t want to relive?”
That makes sense to psychologist George Lindenfeld, a veteran himself. Rather than relying on strictly talk-based psychotherapy, Lindenfeld combines biofeedback principles with psychology to help local veterans with PTSD heal.
“Forget the symptoms. Imagine that a trauma resets a pathway in your brain,” says Lindenfeld, who assesses veterans’ disability ratings for a company that contracts with the VA. In other words, whenever something occurs that resembles the traumatic event, it will trigger an emotional reaction over which the person has no control.
“It’s analogous to a light switch,” Lindenfeld explains.
Instead, he targets the uncomfortable memory in the client’s mind, using sound to disrupt that toxic response pattern. The beauty of the treatment, says Lindenfeld, is that it “allows you to focus internally. You don’t talk to the therapist about what you’re doing.”
Veterans, he emphasizes, need more therapeutic options. Otherwise,“There are too many guys that just aren’t going to get what they need.”
• • •
Weeks after returning from Iraq, Plemmons and about 80 other soldiers piled into a big classroom. Taking his seat in the back row alongside other guys his age, Plemmons watched an officer wheel a projector into the room.
“These are the things you need to look out for,” the officer told the group, as the warning signs for PTSD, traumatic brain injury and suicide flashed on the screen. But while other soldiers joked around in between the slides, Plemmons thought, “I feel like that.”
Following orders, Plemmons got in a line that led to a row of tables where psychologists were waiting, armed with stacks of pamphlets. But when he got toward the front of the line, he could hear what the men already seated at the tables were saying.
“They were all just telling the psychologists what they wanted to hear,” he recalls. So he stuck to the script with the shortest run time: a repetition of noes.
At his 10-year high school reunion last month, however, the 27-year-old veteran learned that his best friend’s brother had recently joined the Air Force and is currently deployed overseas.
And though Plemmons had no pamphlet, no panel of psychologists or PowerPoint presentation, suddenly, he opened up.
“When you start seeing him not wanting to talk to you, start getting aggravated over small things, start talking about things that you don’t think would be right, you need to tell him to get help now,” Plemmons told his friend.
Stopping his story abruptly, Plemmons says: “These people aren’t crazy. They’re just unheard.”
— Caitlin Byrd can be reached at cbyrd@mountainx.com or 251-1333, ext. 140.Martin Casado. Northern Arizona University Martin Casado is a legend in his corner of the tech world for inventing a technology that radically alters the way computer networks are built.
He invented the tech while he was a doctoral student at Stanford. He took that invention and two of the professors advising him, Nick McKeown from Stanford and Scott Shenker from the University of California, Berkeley — legends in their own right — and founded a startup. It was called Nicira, and it was backed by venture capitalists like Andreessen Horowitz's a16z.
"Nicira launched into the networking industry like a cannonball hitting placid water," Marc Andreessen, the founder of a16z, wrote of Nicira and of Casado. That's true.
The company was quietly founded in 2007 but didn't officially launch until early 2012. Five months later, it sold to VMware for a stunning $1.26 billion. And the network industry has never been the same.
After staying with VMware for a few years, Casado left in early 2016 to become a VC with a16z. But the interesting thing is that he doesn't think of himself as a runaway success, but as someone who got good at failure.
Or so he told the 2017 graduating class at his first alma mater, Northern Arizona University, where he spoke after receiving an honorary doctorate on May 13.
"When I was standing where you are, I wanted to be the world's best computational physicist," Casado told the crowd. "And soon after, I wanted to be the world's foremost cyber-policy expert. But instead, I went to grad school, and then I wanted to be the world's best academic. And I certainly didn't accomplish that."
He added: "I only found computer science because I couldn't hack it as a physicist and then I failed as a microbiology student. I made many, many missteps as the first-time founder of a company."
Casado's speech was short, sweet, funny, and profound.
Casado is considered the father of SDN. VMware I heard it because I was in the audience that day, proudly watching my daughter graduate with a degree in astrophysics. (Notice how I slipped in that motherly brag?) While I'm insanely proud of my kid, I'm also biting my nails over what her degree will lead to.
She doesn't want to go to grad school right now. And although she knows forms of math that I didn't even know existed, what kind of career will she have? I don't know, and neither does she.
But Casado's speech flipped my view on it. He offered four solid bits of advice to students, which is good advice for anyone, at any age.
1. 'You're unlikely to achieve your goals.'
No one can predict the future, and when you're on the path to a goal, a better goal "is likely to smack you while you're looking the other way," Casado said, "and you'd be an idiot not to follow it."
His advice is to "take some fraction of that effort and work on being open to change and to opportunity" while working toward your goals.
If he hadn't been open to change in his career, he may never have invented an industry-changing technology.
2. 'You are going to fail. A lot. It's inevitable.'
He suggests that it is failure, not progress, that indicates whether you are living up to your potential.
If you are failing, you are pushing yourself and "not stalling your own progress by hiding," he said.
The true skill, then, is "to learn to embrace failure — not only embrace failure, get good at it, and by that I mean get back up, apply what you've learned, and hit reset."
3. 'No one really knows what contributes to success.'
Every person is unique, and that means what's right for another isn't always right for you. When it comes to advice, listen to the parts that ring true for you and disregard the rest.
"You're going to take one path out of an infinite number of possibilities," Casado said. "And you're going to navigate it your way."
4. 'The universe is a messy place.'
If there is a secret to life, happiness, and success, it's this: "The opportunity is hidden in the sloppiness. If you hold too hard to specific ideas of where you want to go, or what the landscape will look like, or what the world will provide you, I can guarantee you'll be disappointed."
Here is the full transcript of his speech. The video is below if you'd rather listen.
"Graduates, I am deeply honored to have a few minutes with you. So let me first thank you for the opportunity and your attention.
"Right now, this moment is one of the most significant inflection points in your life. And perhaps not in the way you'd expect. So if you'll indulge me, I'd like to explain why.
"Getting to this point, this space we're all sharing right now, has taken a tremendous amount of work and dedication, no doubt. And for that, I applaud you, and you have my deepest respect.
"However, a university education, no matter how windy, is a path with a clear goal. It was challenging, sure. Yet generally the objective was pretty obvious: work hard and get the hell out.
"All of that is about to change.
"Almost two decades ago I was standing where you are now. I was nervous. I was excited. And I was largely over it.
"And so I took that proverbial step. And very quickly, I realized that where I landed was very, very different from where I left.
"It was as if I stepped off of a narrow path and into a city. And unlike my university experience, there was no clear goal. There wasn't a defined string of classes or tests I had to pass. There was no notion of a start or finish.
"Instead, there was a vast, vast collection of opportunities and perils — infinite routes to infinite locations, and none of which I really understood. You could choose to stop or move at any time with equal chance of benefit or loss.
"And I found that none of my experiences really prepared me to navigate such a wide open space. There were no platitudes, no cliches, no quippy one-liners that provided clear and useful guidance. It wasn't just about working hard and setting goals. It wasn't just about perseverance or having a positive attitude. I knew how to do all those things. This new space required something far different.
"So with that backdrop, I'd like to offer you some advice — lessons that no one would be able to put on a motivational poster and keep their job, lessons to keep in mind as you take this next step into the chaos.
"First: You're unlikely to achieve your goals. Really, it's very unlikely. When I was standing where you are, I wanted to be the world's best computational physicist. And soon after, I wanted to be the world's foremost cyber-policy expert. But instead, I went to grad school, and then I wanted to be the world's best academic. And I certainly didn't accomplish that.
"You're unlikely to achieve your goals. The reason is that you probably don't realize how many amazing opportunities are out there and how much you'll enjoy them. You are unlikely to achieve your goals, because a better one is likely to smack you while you're looking the other way, and you'd be an idiot not to follow it.
"So my guidance to you is as much as you work toward your goals, take some fraction of that effort and work on being open to change and to opportunity.
"Second: You are going to fail. A lot. It's inevitable. I only found computer science because I couldn't hack it as a physicist and then I failed as a microbiology student. I made many, many missteps as the first-time founder of a company.
"You are going to fail because you're going to be navigating a shifting landscape with a lot of things not under your control. You're going to fail because the goals are going to change or be unclear. You're going to fail because you'll start something and realize it's not what you want to do.
"And here's the key: Failing will be your only true measure of progress. It's inevitable. The system you're about to walk into is simply too dynamic and too poorly defined for you not to.
"And so my guidance to you is to learn to embrace failure — not only embrace failure, get good at it, and by that I mean get back up, apply what you've learned, and hit reset.
"Third: No one really knows what contributes to success. Not me. Not some business guru or some pundit on the news. No one. And that's particularly true for your success — yours. Here's the reality: Every one of you is a beautiful collection of amazing qualities and strengths. Unique in all the universe you. And you're going to take one path out of an infinite number of possibilities. And you're going to navigate it your way.
"So right here, I grant you permission to summarily ignore the nonsense of others. Take advice as input, sure, but check it against your absolutely unique perspective and qualities to bring to a problem.
"You do you, boo.
"For what it's worth, of all the advice I've given you, this last request will probably be the most difficult. I know you can work hard. I know you're all smart and capable and resourceful. But I don't know how well you know yourself. I certainly didn't when I graduated. And it took a lot of inquiry and a lot of failure and a lot of false starts to begin to figure it out.
"In the words of Dr. Seuss, that he actually didn't write and I totally made up, 'You can't do you, boo, if you don't know you.'
"OK, let me take a step back. Here's where all of this is leading.
"The universe is a messy place. And the real trick going forward is to acknowledge that and to embrace it. The opportunity is hidden in the sloppiness. If you hold too hard to specific ideas of where you want to go, or what the landscape will look like, or what the world will provide you, I can guarantee you'll be disappointed.
"And it's exactly because the beauty is in the chaos. What have I asked of you?
One, focus on being open to change, because although you're all beautiful and bright and creative individuals, the opportunities are for more wondrous than you can possibly conceive.
"Two, fail. It's the only way you know that you're riding the chaos and are not stalling your own progress by hiding.
"Three, no one knows what's best for you, because really, it's unknowable. So ignore the pundits and do it your way.
"And to do that, know yourself. Because really, this journey is for you. And your priorities. And for those you care about. With that, I'll leave you with a quote, and this one I didn't make up.
"It's from the Ashtavakra Gita:
Let the waves of the universe rise and fall as they will. You have nothing to gain or lose. You are the ocean.
"Thank you very much, and again, many congratulations."
Here's the video. Skip to 48:37 to see Casado.Bobby Flay Files for Divorce Wife Skewered by Prenup
Bobby Flay Files For Divorce -- Wife Skewered by Prenup
EXCLUSIVE
Bobby Flay has pulled the trigger and filed for divorce, TMZ has learned, and we're told their prenup has already become a major bone of contention.
Bobby says in his legal docs his 10 year marriage to Stephanie March has "broken down irretrievably." TMZ broke the story the couple separated 3 weeks ago.
Turns out they signed a prenup when they married back in 2005 and we're told it really favors Mr. Flay. Our sources say it was signed in 2005, when Bobby was already a multi-millionaire and Stephanie was a mid-level actress.
They have no kids together, so we're told they're squabbling over property. We're told she's mighty unhappy with the prenup.
Sources connected with Bobby say he's "heartbroken" the marriage has come to an end, but still cares for Stephanie.By Lisa Donchak
Initiation ceremonies are rarely so rigorous.
This one takes at least two days and involves a 24-hour vow of silence, smaller-than-usual meals and strenuous manual labor in the wilderness. Not only that, but the ceremonies, which include colorful, feathery and elaborate Native American costumes, are complex enough to require multiple diagrams and pages and pages upon text and pre-written scripts to explain.
But that’s all a secret.
“Most of the stuff is actually not that bad,” said Rob Heffern, an applied physics major graduating from UC Santa Cruz this quarter. “I probably [shouldn’t] tell you exactly what goes on.”
The organization, which Heffern is a part of, is not secret, although it may not be very well known. The Order of the Arrow [OA] is the honor society for the Boy Scouts.
The organization, founded in 1915, is made up of peer-elected scouts who best exemplify the ideals of scouting. OA is very family-oriented, and there is no upper age limit. Often, fathers and sons will be initiated together, and in many cases, whole families are involved in the organization. But because of its history and reputation as a conservative organization, OA has not been free of controversy.
Because OA was founded to serve the Boy Scouts, officially, the organizations share the same policies and ideas. This means that neither organization allows openly gay members. In addition, just as girls are not allowed to join the Boy Scouts, women can only join OA after their 21st birthday and usually only do so as mothers of initiated scouts. The fact that OA traditions are heavily influenced by Native American culture has been a source of debate as well.
Despite the controversy, the organization has provided an opportunity for scouts to continue scouting past the age of 18, and for some, it still provides meaningful connections and experiences.
Before scouts can take part in OA campouts and events, they must take part in the secret initiation ceremony. Often, initiates aren’t quite sure what they are in for.
“The Order of the Arrow keeps its ceremonies quiet, because there is symbolism in them that is best understood by going through them without prior knowledge,” said Jon Colby, who has been in the OA since 2001. “[The secrecy] helps make the experience more meaningful. All I can really tell you about my initial Ordeal is that it was a challenge, physically, mentally and spiritually. I don’t want to say any more.”
In order to be eligible for election, a Scout must be a “first-class” scout and have completed 15 days of camping over the past two years. However, as long as the scout is a Boy Scout, there is no minimum age threshold, and, as mentioned, no upper age limit either.
The mysticism of the ceremony, called the Ordeal, |
and then Kissinger came steaming in and he told the Secretary of Defense, "I am here. We can go to work. Move down to your chair." To which the Secretary of Defense replied, "Well, I am all spread out here. You sit there today." And Kissinger said, "No, I am the Secretary of State, this is my chair. You sit down there." They proceeded to argue like five-year-olds for about five minutes. Eventually the Secretary of Defense would not move, and Kissinger had to go sit down at the far end of the table, but he turned his back on the briefings and sulked. He wouldn't pay attention to what we were saying that day because he couldn't have his chair-and we were making decisions that were getting people killed in Angola. I am not exaggerating that incident one bit.
When the operation was formally launched by the National Security Council in January 1975, Angola was moving toward peaceful elections as it gained its independence. The CIA introduced fighting forces into the country, forcing a violent, undemocratic solution instead. (See the Angola section of the next chapter for a summary of the entire fiasco.) The program was stopped by the U.S. Congress in the winter of 1975-76.
I spent six months reviewing the files and then resigned from the agency. After publishing a letter in the Washington Post on April 10, 1977, I testified for five days to congressional committees, eschewing the protections of the Fifth Amendment, while I gave them chapter and verse of what we had done in the misguided Angola operation. I gave them the numbers, dates and texts of cables and memoranda that proved we had broken laws and then lied about breaking them. I gave them the combinations to the safes where the documents were stored, and told them where in CIA headquarters those safes could be found. I challenged them to investigate thoroughly and do their duty.
They did nothing. The hearings had been conducted in secret, and after the Watergate scandal, the ouster of President Nixon, and the defeat in Vietnam, they were not willing to tackle another big scandal that might oblige them to put Henry Kissinger and the CIA Director in jail. I proceeded to write my first book, In Search of Enemies, to make the public aware of what had happened so they could judge for themselves. It remains today the only insider's account of a major CIA operation.
A year later, when Congress had had abundant time to investigate the secret scandal and prosecute the felons involved, In Search of Enemies was published. Without claiming that the book revealed any sensitive secrets, the CIA sued me and succeeded in seizing all future earnings. They also placed me under a court order which requires that all future writings for publication be submitted to the CIA Publications Review Board for censorship.
Since then, I have been on the greatest human adventure imaginable, of growth and of learning all the things about the world that they did not teach us in college. I began to read book after book about the United States and world security problems, and to meet the authors of some of them and talk to them about their findings. I travelled to countries that had been the targets of CIA destabilizations, including Grenada, Jamaica, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Vietnam. In my travels I met people like Carl Sagan, Admiral Gene LaRocque Admiral Gene Carroll, Jr., Director of the Center for Defense Information, anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott, Daniel Ortega, the martyred Grenadan leaderMaunce Bishop, and numerous other authorities on national security and the nuclear arms race. I was invited to lecture and have addressed over 600 audiences, learning much from them in return. I have enjoyed the experience more than I could ever have imagined.
Much of this learning process was very personal. In March 1963 I was in Grenada for the anniversary celebration of the New Jewel Movement's takeover. At a cocktail party in a garden overlooking the Caribbean we received the news that President Reagan had given a speech announcing that Grenada was a threat to U.S. national security. The Minister of Education, Jacqueline Creft joked that they had been caught on the eve of their attack on the United States. She said their armies were about to take Washington and New York (Grenada is a small island, about 8 by 16 miles, with 80,000 people, and at the time had two poorly trained and equipped parapolice companies in its armed forces). They would sweep west and capture Chicago by the early summer and then launch their march on California. Everyone laughed, but I pointed out that President Reagan's speech wasn't really funny. If, out of all the million important things he could mention in a public address, he focusses on a country like Grenada and asserts that it is a threat to the "national security" it means that he is drawing attention to it in preparation for attacking it. Creft flared back at me, noting that I didn't need to lecture them about U.S. policy. They had been living under the wing and talon of the U.S. eagle for centuries; they knew its dangerous ways too well. But she was glad I was beginning to understand.
As I learned more and more about the history and cynicism of the CIA's so-called secret wars, I also became more concerned about other major problems of world security, including the nuclear arms race, drug smuggling, the abuse of the environment, and the coming world economic crisis. Until we learn to control human behavior at the level of covert destabilizations against countries like Nicaragua, for example, I doubt seriously whether we shall be safe from the planet-threatening aspects of the nuclear arms race.
Secret Third World Wars
ANGOLA
NICARAGUA
INDONESIA
CHILE
ANGOLA
... In April 1974, the [Angolan] army rebelled in a coup in Portugal, making it clear that the colony of Angola, where a prolonged independence struggle had been fought, would be granted its freedom. The superpowers quickly chose sides between the three competing factions. The United States automatically sided with the FNLA (Front for the National Liberation of Angola), with whose leader, Holden Roberto, it had maintained contact over the years. In fact, Roberto was close to the Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seku, whom the CIA had installed and maintained in power since 1961. Historically the Soviet Union had generally sided with the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), although contact had been disrupted in the years preceding 1974. Reacting to Soviet policy, Communist China sent 400 tons of arms to the FNLA, and over 100 advisors. A third movement, UNITA (the National Union for the Independence of Angola), was left without a major sponsor. Led by Jonas Savimbi, it was historically the most radical of the three parties having received aid from China, North Korea, South Africa, and others over the years.
In January 1975, leaders of the three movements met under Portuguese arbitration and signed the Alvor Accord in which they agreed to compete peacefully in elections that would be held in October. November 11 was fixed as the anticipated date of independence.
Within a week, the National Security Council met in Washington D.C. and allocated $300,000 for the FNLA's use in the political campaign. The FNLA had sufficient arms from the Chinese and from Zaire and a record of bloody violence against the Portuguese and the MPLA. The CIA station chief in Kinshasa urged Roberto to move his FNLA forces inside Angola. His men went in armed and soon attacked and killed a team of MPLA organizers. At that moment the Alvor Accord was effectively sabotaged and the fate of Angola sealed in blood.
During the spring all of the factions scrambled to organize, obtain arms, and establish control over whatever territory they could. The MPLA was by far the most successful. By mid-summer, it controlled 13 of the 15 provinces. The National Security Council, which was dominated by Henry Kissinger, demanded a paper outlining possible options from the CIA. This was July 1975, just three months after the last helicopter had left the embassy rooftop in Saigon, marking the decisive end of the Vietnam War. Many, including CIA Director William Colby were surprised that the CIA would move so quickly into another adventure.
The CIA's paper offered four options: one for $600,000 which would provide political support for the FNLA, one for $6 millionwhichwould include some military support, one for $14 million which would involve substantial military; and one for $40 million. The $40 million, it was estimated, would equal anything the Soviet Union was likely to try in Angola. These options and the estimate of the Soviet reaction were not the result of a massive study. The CIA's Africa Division chief and his staff plucked the figures out of a round table discussion, and Colby relayed them to Henry Kissinger as authoritative. It must be noted that neither the Africa Division chief nor his deputy had any substantive experience in Africa. One had spent his career in Europe, the other in the Pacific Basin. Only the deputy had any substantive experience in managing paramilitary activity: he had been part of the programs that had just dramatically failed in Southeast Asia, and had never set foot in Africa.
A fifth option, staying out of the conflict and letting Angola make its own way toward independence, was not included in the paper. Was this a viable option? The Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Nathaniel Davis, firmly believed so. Of the proposed CIA program, he said, "It's the wrong game for a great nation, and the players we've got are losers." The U.S. Consul General in the Angolan capital of Luanda, Tom Killoran, who was the only senior American diplomat who had worked with all three Angolan movements, firmly believed that the MPLA was in fact the best organized, the most likely to prevail, and ultimately the friendliest to U.S. interests.
Kissinger picked the second option, then decided $6 million didn't sound impressive and cabled Langley from a Paris trip authorizing $14 million. The CIA quickly mobilized to support the FNLA, fighting the MPLA.
Just returned from the evacuation of Saigon, I was ordered to put the CIA's task force together and manage the secret war under the supervision of the CIA's Africa Division chief in Langley and the National Security Council's Interagency Working Group on Angola. One month after we were formally committed to the secret war, I was sent inside Angola to assess the competing forces. I found that Roberto's forces were disorganized and numbered one-hundredth as many as he told us. Savimbi's UNITA forces seemed determined and he was scrupulously honest in the counts and estimates he gave us. We decided to co-opt him into our program.
It should be noted that, at this point, I was skeptical of the CIA and of covert action in general. What I had seen in Vietnam had amounted to a debacle. However I had spent my career out in the field. I couldn't resist the opportunity to see for myself how these operations worked from the level of the National Security Council. I truly hoped I would find that they were better reasoned and managed than they had seemed. I quickly abandoned this forlorn soldier's dream
Throughout the fall of 1975, arms were jammed into Angola, mercenaries were hired, battles were fought, and several thousand people were killed and wounded. The United States actively discouraged United Nations and other formal efforts to mediate. Our budget eventually totalled $31.7 million, a good part of which was siphoned off into corruption. We encouraged South African forces to support our Good Guys, while Cuban soldiers joined the MPLA Baddies.
By winter, the program was thoroughly exposed and the Congress mercifully passed the Tunney Amendment to the FY 76 Defense Appropriation Bill that ordered our operation closed down. In the field, our forces had been routed and the MPLA effectively controlled all of the provinces. We had given Jonas Savimbi the wherewithal to keep the Benguela Railroad closed, which was our client-state Zaire's only economically viable egress to the sea for its copper.
We had lied to nearly everyone, lies that were quickly exposed. Some of those lies to the U.S. Congress, covering up what we had done, amounted to perjury and could have been prosecuted as such. We had allied the United States with South Africa in military activities, which was illegal and impolitic. We had delivered white mercenaries into Angola to kill blacks as a technique of imposing our policies on that black African country. Meanwhile, we-not the "Communists"-had interfered with U.S. commercial interests. We had withdrawn Boeing Aircraft Corportion's licenses to sell five jetliners to the Angolan airlines, and we had blackmailed Gulf Oil Company into putting its $100 million payments in escrow instead of delivering them to the Bank of Angola. We had poisoned the missionaries' efforts to run vital schools and hospitals.
Our experience with Gulf Qil Company and Boeing Aircraft Corporation left me with an initial misperception of the CIA's involvement with multinational corporations. These two companies were frustrated and inconvenienced by the CIA's secret war in Angola. It cost them money. George Wilson, the President of Boeing, flew to Washington to protest and clear the licenses to sell his airliners to the Angolan government. In my first lectures after leaving the government, I reported that the CIA and the big corporations were, in my own experience, out of step with each other. Later I realized that they may argue about details of strategy-a small war here or there. However, both are vigorously committed to supporting the system. Corporate leaders fight amongst themselves like people m any human endeavor. They raid and hostilely take over each other's companies. Losers have been known to commit suicide. However, they firmly believe in the capitalist system. In two short meetings in Washington, we managed to turn the Boeing President George Wilson around to the point where he sent a letter that we had drafted to the new government of Angola, warning them that the price of crossing the U.S. (secret) government was the loss of access to U.S. technology.
In sum, we had severely damaged U.S. national security interests and nailed our own country with another defeat on the heels of Vietnam.
In one of the classic, ironic follies of intelligence charades, Gulf Oil Company employees returned immediately to resume pumping the Angolan oil-protected militarily by Cuban soldiers from CIA mercenaries who were still marauding and destabilizing the countryside. Nor did the Angola tragedy end with the CIA's defeat in the winter of 1976. Under President Reagan, congressional restraints were lifted and the CLA resumed its support of Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA forces. Over the years the continued destabilization has taken a horrendous toll: the Red Cross counts over 20,000 walking-maimed in Angola today and the central part of the country, which used to be its bread basket, is now a recognized zone of famine.
NICARAGUA
... The first year of the Nicaraguan operation was almost eerily like the one in Angola. There were three competing factions in each: the leaders in the north, Holden Roberto of the FNLA (in Angola) and Adolfo Calero of UNO (in Nicaragua) were rebarbative characters, while the leaders of the southern movements in each country, Jonas Savimbi (in Angola) and Eden Pastora (in Nicaragua) were remarkably charismatic. In each country, the CIA purchased SWIFT attack launches for coastal operations and put together ragtag air-transport proprietaries. After a couple of years, the Nicaraguan operation began to manifest a substantially different personality. For one thing it became a major artery in drug smuggling, which was not a factor in Angola.
For analytical purposes, the Nicaraguan operation will remain one of the best historical examples because the target country was closer to the United States culturally and geographically, and because the Nicaraguan destabilization was quite open on both ends, i.e., in Washington and in Managua.
Usually these activities are closed-they are secret. In most cases our government covers them and hides them to the greatest degree it can, and the country we are attacking becomes hostile and seals its borders to us. Nicaragua, until quite recently, had a policy of remaining open. Anyone from the United States who wanted to go down and have a look could do so without a visa. Meanwhile in Washington the program was debated quite openly as the administration battled for funds and operational details were discussed publicly. Throughout the 1980s, I traveled back and forth from Washington to Nicaragua and elsewhere, informing myself, witnessing and analyzing the operation, and also discussing it in hundreds of lectures.
Nicaragua is unlike Angola in that there never was a chance in Angola that we would make it into another Vietnam, by putting in U.S. troops, whereas this was a very real possibility in Nicaragua during the mid-1980s. The United States has had a fixation on Nicaragua since the mid-l800s. It has long been the ideal site of a possible second canal, better than the Panama canal, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and the target of military intervention. The United States put the Marines into the country half a dozen times early in this century to occupy it, to dominate it, to force elections, to control business interests in that country.
The Marines were eventually withdrawn in 1933 as a result of international pressure, of the international peace movement, and the United States switched to a more subtle form of control than gunboat diplomacy. We created and left behind a National Guard with officers trained in the United States who would be loyal to our interests. This arrangement was the decisive feature of the new era of neocolonialism.
With a brief interruption during World War II, the creation l of military oligarchies became a standard U.S. policy of control. We set up schools and eventually trained tens of thousands of military and police officers in countries all over Latin and Central America, in Africa in three cases (Zaire, Ethiopia, and to a lesser extent in Uganda), and in Asia. We put them through our military and police academies, armed them, directly or indirectly paid their salaries when they returned home, and created an international military fraternity of people in power in these countries who were more closely identified with our own military, and hence U.S. national interests and capitalist values, than they were with the people of their own countries.
Meanwhile the cat-and-mouse game that we played with Nicaragua starting in 1981 isle classic case of "destabilization". The strategy, according to the State Department, was to "attack the country's economy." Note how indifferent that sounds from "brutal wreckage" and perhaps you can understand how those people in Washington, most of whom are perfectly decent human beings, can manage activities that cause so much human suffering. It is the magic of rationalization. After all, attacking a Communist country's economy was something every patriotic citizen of the United States was expected to applaud every morning before breakfast.
The point of a destabilization is to put pressure on the targeted government by ripping apart the social and economic fabric of the country. These are only words, "social and economic fabric," but what they mean is making the people suffer as much as you can until the country plunges into chaos, until at some point you can step in and impose your choice of government on that country a strategy that was ultimately successful in the Nicaraguan elections when the people of that country "cried uncle" and voted for the CIA collaborator, Violeta Chamorro.9 The rationales we used in Nicaragua were classic Cold War slogans: we were "fighting Communism" in the interests of our "national security"; they were a "Marxist bastion in our ownbackyard"; etc. More specifically, our leaders said at first that the purpose of this program was to "interdict the alleged flow of arms from Nicaragua to the rebels in El Salvador." Unable to prove any flow of arms whatsoever from Nicaragua into El Salvador, the Reagan team, followed eventually by George Bush, developed the propaganda line that they were "returning Nicaragua to democracy." When it was pointed out that Nicaragua had never had a democracy-certainly not under the brutal Somoza dictatorship-they began to speak of the "democratization of Nicaragua," ignoring the fact that Nicaragua had held elections in 1984 that were demonstrably more democratic than the elections that we have in our own Republic.
We will never know exactly what the Sandinistas would have done with Nicaragua if we had left them alone to tackle the country's staggering problems (many of which were the legacy of the Somoza regime) according to their own interests and ideology and compulsions. Everything they did after taking power in 1979 had been in the shadow of U.S. manipulations and covert military attacks on their country. We do know however that there was no blood bath when they took over. They abolished the death sentence at exactly the same time the United States was reinstituting it. The maximum penalty in their courts is 30 years in jail. They released thousands of the hated National Guardsmen that they had in their custody, saying that they would not jail anyone just for having belonged to an organization; the Guardsmen would have to be convicted of individual crimes. This contrasts dramatically with Cuba: when Castro triumphed in 1959, there were a number of executions, generally following trials and sentencing. Of course, the Sandinistas' generosity cost them: many of the Guardsmen they released joined the contras in attacking the country.
The Sandinistas launched a literacy campaign to teach every Nicaraguan to read and write and they set out to build 2,500 clinics so Nicaraguans would have access to some kind of medical treatment. These are things that Somoza, the dictator backed by the United States, had not gotten around to doing, and in fact were openly scorned by the dictator and his family.
The first official action taken by the Sandinistas was to establish a ministry of the environment to tackle the damage done under Somoza, who had permitted commercial interests to dump toxic wastes in and thereby "kill" the country's two huge, beautiful lakes. The Sandinistas then launched the most ambitious land reform campaign in the history of Central America. They did this by maintaining a free-enterprise economy with less governmental interference and corruption than Mexico, Peru, or Brazil. Private businessmen could obtain permits, rent an office, install a telephone, and open a business. They could buy land and farm it. If you owned land and you were working it, you kept it. They expropriated the lands that Somoza and his family, and the people who fled, had earned or stolen or taken, and they turned those lands back to the people in cooperatives and different programs, feeling their way, making mistakes as they went, trying this solution and that one, but with the purpose of getting the land back to the people so farmers would own the land, relate to the land, and profit from the land that they worked on in their own country.
In the first four years after the revolution, Nicaragua had the greatest rate of growth of any Latin American country.
The Sandinistas insisted that the church should be a church of the people, the church of the poor-not another tool of the oligarchy and the rich and the wealthy. I visited Tomas gorge's office, the Minister of the Interior, and counted the 25 Catholic icon collector items that he had mounted on the wall.
During the Somoza years, Borge was imprisoned and tortured. His wife was imprisoned, raped, tortured, and killed. As Minister of the Interior, he had the men responsible in his power but he did not take revenge on them.
In the 10-year continuous attack-"war" is what the World Court called it-that the United States waged on Nicaragua, Nicaragua did not commit one act of war against the United States. But instead of joining them in building the healthiest, most dynamic, most enthusiastic country in Central America, the U.S. spent over $1 billion to attack and destabilize the country. We set out systematically to create conditions where farmers could not get their produce to market, where children could not go to school, where women were terrified of being attacked, inside their homes as well as outside, where the hospitals were treating wounded people instead of sick people, where government administration ground to a halt, where the trucks didn't run, the bridges were blown up, the salaries weren't paid, and the infrastructure broke down. Eventually, of course, international capital was scared away and the country plunged into chaos and bankruptcy.
We created the contra program beginning in about 1981. Here we go again, said Newsweek in November 1982, we have done this before; it has been a mistake before; once again we are supporting the wrong side. We had elected to support the only "truly evil, totally unacceptable faction in the Nicaraguan equation"-the remnants of Somoza's hated Guardia Nacional (National Guard). Using Argentine trainers at first, and then eventually CIA mercenaries, we armed and directed this small army from bases mostly in Honduras to attack inside Nicaragua and destabilize the country. They systematically blew up granaries, sawmills, bridges, government offices, schools, health centers, mines. They mined roads, ambushed trucks, and raided farms and villages. There is massive documentation of all this- because, as I said, the country was kept open for foreign witnesses to record what was happening.
For the first few years, CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC, CBC all had crews in Managua, and when there would be atrocities they would rush to film them. We also had what eventually totalled thousands of witnesses for peace from this country, Canada, Europe, and Australia, going down and visiting or even living right in the Nicaraguan towns and villages with the people, and when there were atrocities they filmed and photographed and documented them.
There was also direct U.S. military involvement in mining harbors, overflying the country, and blowing up installations in the ports. There were assassinations of hundreds of religious leaders, teachers, health workers, elected officials, and government administrators by U.S.-backed contrast CBS, NBC, and others have footage of all of this; Americas Watch and Witness for Peace have documented it. There was the admission by President Ronald Reagan in his national television debate with Walter Mondale in 1984 that the famous "assassination manual," used to train the contras, was the work of the CIA Station Chief in Tegucigalpa. On national television, Reagan acknowledged the CIA's involvement with the contras and in the plotting of assassinations.
After that faux pas, the media asked for clarification from the White House on the President's policies. Did President Reagan in fact approve of assassinations, which had been declared at least officially taboo by President Gerald Ford in 1974? In an exercise of doublespeak, the White House said that the word "assassination" only applied to world leaders and chiefs of state. Murdering regional officials was not assassination. The policy, they said was unchanged.
Terror has been a part of this program, terror as raw as anything that happens in the Middle East or elsewhere. The contras habitually went into villages and hauled families out of their homes. They forced children to watch while they castrated and killed their fathers, while they raped their mothers and slashed off their breasts, or they forced parents to watch while they mutilated the children.
The New York Times has cited 45,000 as the number of people killed and wounded in this destabilization. This is nobody's propaganda. It was all documented and condemned by the World Court, by the Presbyterian Church, by the Methodist Church, by broad segments of the Catholic Church, and by thousands of witnesses who went down from other countries to see for themselves.
Throughout, President Reagan remained unapologetic for this grotesque activity and President Bush continued the same policies. Reagan took pride in saying, "I am a contra. " He took pride in saying that these people were the moral equivalent of his founding fathers. And of course George Bush has never missed a chance to identify himself with the contras.
Destabilization has required a relentless propaganda program to discredit the Sandinistas and label them as totalitarian dictators. At first, we were told that they were flying arms into El Salvador. Then, when the Sandinistas put together a military machine to defend their country from the U.S. attack, we were told that they were building a war machine that "threatened the stability of all of Central America. " It was never mentioned that the Nicaraguans did not have strategic weapons and did not have tanks or an air force that could attack other countries, although El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama had been given jet fighter-bombers by the United States.
We charged them with censorship after they closed down the La Prensa newspaper. In time it came out that La Prensa had been financed by the National Endowment for Democracy and the CIA. This newspaper was owned by the Chamorro family, which means that Violeta Chamorro, victorious in the 1990 elections and supported by George Bush, was a funded collaborator of the CIA during the period when the CIA was directing the brutalization of her country.
Obviously, the United States would never put up with activity like that of La Prensa inside its own borders, especially during a war. In fact, there are laws carefully governing our press on the sensitive issues of capitalism. It is very much against the law, for example, for journalists deliberately to print stories that would cause fluctuations on Wall Street, or even to use "insider" information they obtain in their journalistic research to profit from the exchange. Editors of the Wall StreetJournal have been disciplined for this infraction during the same years that the United States was funding and directing La Prensa to create panics inside Nicaragua and castigating the Sandinistas for "censorship."
In 1984, we launched a vigorous campaign to discredit the Nicaraguan elections, elections that were supervised and witnessed by the United Nations and other groups who said that they were as fair as any elections they had seen in Central America in many years. These elections were quite an embarrassment to Ronald Reagan, who was then the champion of the contra program, and I am sure to George Bush today, because they were quite a bit more democratic than the elections that we held in this country during the same year, or in 1988. They had seven parties with candidates running for election; the United States had two. They turned out 75.4 percent of the vote; we turned out 53 percent. They voted directly; we voted for electors who selected our leaders. They passed a law that every legitimate party would have an equal subsidy of funds to spend for campaign purposes; in this country if you can raise more money you can buy more television time and you have a much better chance of the winning the election.
Another element of the propaganda program was the claim that they were smuggling drugs to finance their revolution. The CIA staged scenes with the pilot Barry Seales, plea-bargaining a deal with him to land a plane in Panama, to kick some bales of marijuana out on the runway that could be photographed by satellite so President Reagan could put pictures on television saying that it proved the Sandinistas were smuggling drugs. The record, however, proves that the contrasand their CIA managers were smuggling drugs. There was a massive flow of drugs through the CIA/contra aircraft into the United States, where they had clearances to land at Air Force and National Guard bases without being inspected by customs. Senator Kerry's investigation revealed this and there are dozens of cases where people in the contra program, including Adolfo Calero's brother-in-law, were caught smuggling cocaine into this country, using informal "national security" passes or telephone numbers from the White House to get themselves cleared when FBI or Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officers caught them. This is nothing new. DEA records have been made public revealing that the CIA intervened on behalf of drug dealers at least two dozen times during the 1970s.
The United States also claimed the Sandinistas were responsible for terrorism in Central America, but this case, too, falls flat. The Sandinistas were not involved in terrorist acts- any crimes committed by their soldiers were punished with trials and severe sentences-but the United States has been and still are, slaughtering people in countries like El Salvador and Guatemala. Using the magic of words, U.S. spokespersons like UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick found a way out. It wasn't "terrorism" if the people responsible for the violence were wearing uniforms provided by U.S. aid.
The United States blamed the Sandinistas for misery in Nicaragua, and the country was (and is) in fact miserable that was exactly the stated purpose of the U.S. destabilization. The words in Nicaragua are, "No hay," "There isn't any." There are shortages of everything. The country is suffering; its people are suffering. But U.S. Congressional representatives would go down to Managua and have a look and come back and go on television and say, "You won't believe that place; it is the most miserable country I have ever visited. The Sandinistas have not been able to manage it. Look what happens when you have a Marxist government...." To be honest, obviously they would have said, "Our stated purpose back since 1982 was to break the Nicaraguan economy; we spent a billion dollars destabilizing the country to break its economy. Now here are my snapshots of the results of our successful program." Of course, they do not do that because they are playing propaganda. The country is miserable and it was never the fault of the Sandinistas; misery was the stated purpose of the U.S. contra destabilization program. One can only imagine what schools and clinics and irrigation projects could have been built with $1 billion.
And then there was "the Soviet threat." For years, President Reagan said that in Nicaragua we had the Soviets and Cubans in our own backyard. He said there were Russians flying airplanes in this hemisphere meaning into Nicaragua-for the first time in all of history. And like much of what Reagan said-he was never a stickler for accuracy-this was not true. Aeroflot had been flying into Canada, into Mexico, into Latin America, into New York City, for 30 or 40 years on a daily basis, not to mention flying in and out of Cuba continuously.
In the end, the Nicaraguan operation was a bittersweet success for Ronald Reagan. He swore, and failed in this promise, that the Sandinistas would be out of office before he was (after his second term ending in 1989). The Sandinistas were eventually ousted, but under President Bush's watch, after Reagan had retired. Meanwhile, Reagan had seen his presidency virtually destroyed in the Iran/contra scandal of 1986.
Moreover, President Reagan had failed in his broader goal. He campaigned his way into office in 1980 by advocating war in many of his speeches. He had assured the nation during and after the 1960s that he would have managed the Vietnam War differently. He promised to restore the nation's confidence in its ability to wage war and win. After the invasion of Grenada in October 1983, his constituents sported bumper stickers proclaiming "Nicaragua Next ". "America Feeling Great Again" became the slogan of his 1984 presidential campaign. Meanwhile, the National Guard rehearsed constantly for the invasion of Nicaragua. By the fall of 1986, many respected observers in Washington believed that the date for the invasion had been set for February 1987. There were many indicators. The Pentagon was stirring.
Then, in October 1986, the Iran/contra scandal struck. The Reagan administration suffered a number of serious blows: the downing of the Hasenfus plane over Nicaragua, exposure of illegal arms sales to Iran which had held Americans hostage off and on since the Carter presidency, and quite possibly a decision by the nation's non-political financial managers that an invasion of Nicaragua would have disastrous repercussions throughout Latin America. President Reagan was effectively crippled. He may narrowly have escaped impeachment. Certainly, he no longer had the clout to sell a war to the nation and to a reluctant military establishment.
Still, the national security establishment will record the U.S. destabilization of Nicaragua as a success. In the 1990 elections, Violeta Chamorro, George Bush's friend and longtime CIA collaborator, won. It was a little-publicized fact that the CIA spent about $20 million on those elections to make the people vote to join their tormenters, a pittance after $1 billion that had already been spent to destabilize the country.
Recall the principle of oligarchy through which countries are controlled since overt colonialism became passe. In order to bring countries like Nicaragua into the loops of international finance, you must have people like Chamorro, who will represent the interest of New York bankers, in power. For this to work, the leaders of the oligarchies have to see some real money themselves. This is why people like the Shah in Iran, Mobutu Sese in Zaire, and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines have been permitted to steal billions of dollars from the aid and trade that flows through their countries.
That's why the U.S. establishment is so adamantly against agrarian reform in Third World countries. If you invested $1 billion in a real land reform program in any country, say El Salvador, it would pay off in huge dividends for the people and perhaps return in ten years or so in the form of improved productivity. But if you loan the same $1 billion to the corrupt oligarchy it comes back to you immediately.
In the early 1980s, Morton Halperin of the Center for National Security Studies testified to congressional committees about the decapitalization of El Salvador. For every few million dollars the United States was giving the country in aid, the so-called 14 families were investing a like amount in Miami banks. He quipped that we could save time and effort simply by depositing our aid directly in the rich Salvadorans' Miami bank accounts. The congressmen laughed, but they also voted for more aid to the Salvadoran oligarchy.
INDONESIA
... in 1965 the CIA organized an operation to discredit the Communist party in Indonesia. Their strategy was to make the party appear to be secretly planning a violent takeover of Indonesian society. The truth was that the Indonesian Communist Party was doing quite well to obtain representation in the Indonesian government through the democratic process. That was what made it so threatening to the United States. They simply could not have an example of legitimate and successful participation by the Communists in the democratic process.
The techniques of the Indonesian destabilization were classic: CIA agents planted caches of arms that would then be "found" by Indonesian police under the watchful eye of the alerted media. Along with the arms would be all kinds of forged documents proving that the Communists were fomenting a violent uprising. Propaganda agents planted stories in the media, inflaming the mistrust of the Communists. Others gave speeches. The situation heated up until some generals in the Indonesian army were killed, and the boil of tension burst. The Indonesian army went after the Communists and the people they felt traditionally supported the Communists. The result was a bloodbath that the New York Times described in terms half |
information on the Wine Tasmania organisation, details of events and resources for our wine producers members. Use the menu items at the top of the page or the popular links below to navigate your way around the site:Even as Amazon builds out millions of square feet of new offices in the Seattle area to accommodate its rapidly expanding headcount, the online retail giant still appears to be hungry for more, GeekWire has learned.
Amazon is listed as the tenant in several permit documents for an interior renovation project at the former headquarters of Seattle insurance company Pemco at 301 Eastlake Ave. E., just blocks from the online retail giant’s home base in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
The structure is not a huge one, with two older, adjoining buildings totaling 168,300 square feet. But its location — right off Interstate 5 next door to REI’s flagship store — is one of the most visible in Seattle. It’s a site that gridlocked commuters going both north and south see everyday, potentially giving Amazon an even greater higher profile in the city.
It is unclear if Amazon wants to take the entire structure or just part of it. Amazon typically takes entire buildings when it can, and several different permitting documents detailing renovations on various floors list Amazon or Amazon officials as the tenant.
Amazon representatives declined to comment.
Pemco had been located on that block since 1949 until it made the decision to sell the property in 2015 to Unico Properties. Later that year, it landed in a new headquarters, just a few blocks away at 1300 Dexter Ave. N. Since then, Unico has been renovating the buildings, originally built in 1973 and 1981, respectively, to make them attractive to tech companies. Unico also changed the name to Yale & Thomas and redid the outside, removing the very visible Pemco logo and adding orange accents to the exterior.
The property has room to add another 500,000-square-foot building next door. There is little permitting activity at that site, so if Amazon or another company wants a new building there, it would still be a ways out.
Amazon’s dizzying growth has helped fuel a real estate boom in Seattle, for office buildings and apartments. In the last year Amazon has picked up several office buildings in Seattle, while also declaring its intentions to set up shop on the east side of Lake Washington with a big new Bellevue office. Those leases alone total more than 1.7 million square feet, about the same size as the company’s original headquarters footprint in South Lake Union.
All that activity comes as Amazon continues to add to its new campus in the Denny Triangle neighborhood. So far, Amazon has opened two office buildings in the area, but it is looking much further ahead than that. The company this year began teeing up plans for the fifth block of office buildings in the neighborhood.
By 2022, Amazon has said it could occupy 12 million square feet across 40 buildings in Seattle, up from 8.5 million square feet as of the middle of last year. With all the recent leases and new construction, it is already closing in on that figure.
And it’s not just Seattle where Amazon is growing. In Boston, Amazon just confirmed plans for a new office lease, with room for 900 people working on Alexa, shipping logistics and other departments, according to The Boston Globe.Passing
QB Tm Db Att Comp Comp% AY/Att Yds Yds/Att Pres TD Int Dp TA Sk Ht Hur Marcus Mariota ORE 41 37 24 64.9% 10.4 331 8.9 12 2 1 2 0 1 3 9 Cardale Jones OSU 31 23 16 69.6% 11.6 238 10.3 16 1 1 0 2 0 8 7 Jeff Lockie ORE 1 1 0 0.0% 11.0 0 0.0 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 1
Marcus Mariota certainly didn’t play poorly, but he was overshadowed by Cardale Jones.
Jones was pressured on 16 of his 31 dropbacks, including 11 of his 23 pass attempts, but he consistently took what the Oregon defense gave him.
Mariota’s struggles were at least partially due to his receivers, who dropped four of his 37 pass attempts, including three would-be first downs on third-down attempts.
Rushing
RB Tm Att Yds Yds/Att YAC YAC/Att 1D TD MT Stuff Fm Fm Lst Ezekiel Elliott OSU 36 246 6.8 101 2.8 13 4 7 1 0 0 Cardale Jones OSU 19 65 3.4 38 2 3 2 3 2 1 1 Thomas Tyner ORE 12 60 5 12 1 5 0 1 1 1 0 Royce Freeman ORE 10 22 2.2 4 0.4 1 0 0 2 0 0 Marcus Mariota ORE 9 44 4.9 19 2.1 1 0 5 1 0 0 Jalin Marshall OSU 2 3 1.5 3 1.5 0 0 0 1 0 0 Byron Marshall ORE 1 9 9 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Corey Smith OSU 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Curtis Samuel OSU 1 6 6 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
It was the Ezekiel Elliott show for Ohio State and Oregon had no response. 26 of Elliott’s 36 attempts went for at least three yards, as he averaged nearly seven yards per carry and forced seven missed tackles along the way. Only once did the Oregon defense stop him at or behind the line scrimmage.
Oregon simply could not establish the power running game with Royce Freeman, as he was held to 22 yards on just 10 carries (Elliott had three separate runs of at least 22 yards).
Thomas Tyner’s final stats were respectable for the Ducks, but 21 of his 60 yards came on two carries (runs of 10 and 11 yards).
Receiving
Receiver Tm Tgt Rec Cont. Air Yds/Tgt Yds Yds/Rec YAC MT Dp 1D TD Fum Byron Marshall ORE 10 8 3 12.2 168 21 71 0 0 4 1 0 Corey Smith OSU 2 2 0 23.5 73 36.5 26 0 0 1 0 1 Dwayne Stanford ORE 8 4 4 13.1 61 15.3 17 0 2 2 0 0 Keanon Lowe ORE 6 3 1 15 55 18.3 29 0 1 2 0 0 Michael Thomas OSU 5 4 1 12 53 13.3 40 3 0 3 0 0 Jalin Marshall OSU 6 5 4 7.5 52 10.4 10 1 1 3 0 0 Devin Smith OSU 2 1 1 42 44 44 0 0 0 1 0 0 Evan Baylis ORE 8 6 1 4.6 25 4.2 13 0 0 1 0 0 Charles Nelson ORE 4 2 1 9.5 21 10.5 9 1 1 2 0 0 Nick Vannett OSU 3 2 0 4.7 9 4.5 0 0 1 0 0 0 Curtis Samuel OSU 2 1 0 12.5 8 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 Thomas Tyner ORE 2 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ezekiel Elliot OSU 2 1 0 -4 -1 -1 5 0 0 0 0 0
The story from the receivers was Oregon’s drops. Of their four drops as a team, three came on third down (two from Dwayne Stanford and one from Charles Nelson).
For all the hype about Devin Smith as Ohio State’s deep threat, he was only targeted twice. He was mostly used as a decoy, attracting the attention of Oregon cornerback Troy Hill.
Blocking
Player Tm Snaps PB RB Hur Ht Sk PB % Pen P. Yds Billy Price OSU 87 31 56 3 1 0 87.1% 0 0 Daryl Baldwin OSU 87 31 56 2 3 0 83.9% 0 0 Pat Elflein OSU 87 31 56 0 1 0 96.8% 0 0 Taylor Decker OSU 87 31 56 2 0 0 93.5% 0 0 Jacoby Boren OSU 87 31 56 0 0 0 100.0% 0 0 Hroniss Grassu ORE 76 45 31 1 0 0 97.8% 0 0 Jake Fisher ORE 76 45 31 2 0 0 95.6% 2 21 Tyrell Crosby ORE 76 45 31 3 0 0 93.3% 2 12 Hamani Stevens ORE 72 42 30 2 2 0 90.5% 1 5 Cameron Hunt ORE 71 44 27 1 0 1 95.5% 0 0 Jeff Heuerman OSU 40 35 5 0 0 0 100.0% 0 0 Ezekiel Elliott OSU 30 12 18 0 1 0 91.7% 0 0 Evan Baylis ORE 27 1 26 1 0 0 0.0% 0 0 Nick Vannett OSU 26 2 24 0 1 0 50.0% 0 0 Royce Freeman ORE 16 6 10 0 0 0 100.0% 0 0 Thomas Tyner ORE 13 8 5 0 0 0 100.0% 1 5 Jake Pisarcik ORE 5 1 4 0 0 0 100.0% 0 0 Matt Pierson ORE 4 3 1 1 0 0 66.7% 0 0
Both offensive lines struggled at times, but the real meltdown came from Oregon tackles Jake Fisher and Tyrell Crosby who combined to allow four hurries and commit three penalties for 23 yards in the fourth quarter alone.
Ohio State’s offensive line had their issues, specifically on the right side. Right tackle Darryl Baldwin struggled to control Arik Armstead, allowing three hits and two hurries. Left guard Billy Price held his own in matchups with DeForest Buckner, but was a weak link when pulling to the right side, which was the scenario which led to all three of his hurries allowed.
Buckeyes center Jacoby Boren was the only starting lineman on either side with an unblemished record in pass protection.
Pass Rush & Tackling
Defender Tm Tackle MT Stuff Hurry Hit Sack FF FumR BatPass Reggie Daniels ORE 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Arik Armstead ORE 9 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 Darron Lee OSU 9 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 DeForest Buckner ORE 9 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Tyvis Powell OSU 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rodney Hardrick ORE 8 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 Doran Grant OSU 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Eli Apple OSU 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Joshua Perry OSU 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alex Balducci ORE 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Chris Seisay ORE 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Curtis Grant OSU 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tony Washington ORE 5 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Vonn Bell OSU 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Derrick Malone ORE 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Joey Bosa OSU 4 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 Raekwon McMillan OSU 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Troy Hill ORE 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Adolphus Washington OSU 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Erick Dargan ORE 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Joe Walker ORE 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tyson Coleman ORE 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Danny Mattingly ORE 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Michael Bennett OSU 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Sam Kamp ORE 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Armani Reeves OSU 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Christian French ORE 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 Rashad Frazier OSU 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Steve Miller OSU 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tommy Schutt OSU 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Tyree Robinson ORE 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jaylyn Holmes OSU 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Torrodney Prevot ORE 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 Tyquan Lewis OSU 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
Joey Bosa was his usual unstoppable self, giving Oregon right tackle Tyrell Crosby a miserable time and causing three hits and getting one hit in on Mariota. But it was a really a team effort for Ohio State, especially against the run. Six different Buckeyes recorded a defensive stuff (a tackle zero or negative yards).
The Ducks defense was helpless against the Buckeyes, combining to miss 17 tackles (Ohio State had just seven). Safety Erick Dargan and cornerback Chris Seisay were the primary culprits with three apiece.
Coverage
Defender Tm Tgt Comp ContTgt ContCat PD Int TD Air Yds/Tgt Yds Yds/Comp 1D Pen Tyvis Powell OSU 8 4 2 0 1 0 1 9.9 108 27 1 0 Eli Apple OSU 7 4 2 0 0 1 1 16.7 54 13.5 3 0 Doran Grant OSU 6 3 3 1 0 0 0 15.5 56 18.7 2 0 Reggie Daniels ORE 5 5 3 3 0 0 0 17.8 101 20.2 4 0 Joshua Perry OSU 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 2.3 21 7 1 0 Chris Seisay ORE 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 21.7 40 20 2 0 Darron Lee OSU 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 9 4.5 1 0 Armani Reeves OSU 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 18.5 28 28 1 0 Raekwon McMillan OSU 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 9 9 0 0 Rodney Hardrick ORE 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 6.5 16 8 0 0 Steve Miller OSU 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 5.5 15 7.5 0 0 Tyson Coleman ORE 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 Chris Worley OSU 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 20 23 23 1 0 Danny Mattingly ORE 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 — 0 0 Derrick Malone ORE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 — 0 0 Erick Dargan ORE 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 26 26 26 1 0 Torrodney Prevot ORE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 — 0 0 Troy Hill ORE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — 0 1
Ohio State avoided Oregon’s top cornerback, Troy Hill, only targeting him once on a pass to Devin Smith in the end zone which drew a pass interference penalty.
The Buckeyes defensive backs did a far better job forcing Oregon’s receiver to work for their receptions. They contested 10 of Mariota’s passes, allowing just two receptions on those contested targets. Senior corner Doran Grant led the way with three contested targets.Expectations speed up conscious perception
If you already know what you are about to see, you will recognise it faster
The human brain works incredibly fast. However, visual impressions are so complex that their processing takes several hundred milliseconds before they enter our consciousness. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt am Main have now shown that this delay may vary in length. When the brain possesses some prior information − that is, when it already knows what it is about to see − conscious recognition occurs faster. Until now, neuroscientists assumed that the processes leading up to conscious perception were rather rigid and that their timing did not vary.
Das Schema zeigt den Versuchsaufbau, mit dem die Forscher des Max-Planck-Instituts die visuelle Verarbeitung des menschlichen Gehirns untersuchten. Zunächst mussten die Versuchspersonen ein Fadenkreuz auf einem Bildschirm fixieren. Dann wurde ihnen für eine halbe Sekunde ein Bild mit zufällig verteilten Pixeln (Zufallsrauschen) präsentiert. Schließlich zeigte der Bildschirm ein Fragezeichen und die Probanden sollten per Knopfdruck entscheiden, ob sie im Zufallsrauschen ein Symbol erkennen konnten oder nicht. Das gleiche wiederholte sich mit Bildern, auf denen das versteckte Symbol schrittweise immer deutlicher erkennbar war. Sobald das Symbol komplett aufgedeckt und deutlich erkennbar war, präsentierten die Forscher die gleichen Bilder in umgekehrter Reihenfolge, so dass das Symbol nach und nach wieder verschwand. © MPI für Hirnforschung Das Schema zeigt den Versuchsaufbau, mit dem die Forscher des Max-Planck-Instituts die visuelle Verarbeitung des menschlichen Gehirns untersuchten. Zunächst mussten die Versuchspersonen ein Fadenkreuz auf einem Bildschirm fixieren. Dann wurde ihnen für eine halbe Sekunde ein Bild mit zufällig verteilten Pixeln (Zufallsrauschen) präsentiert. Schließlich zeigte der Bildschirm ein Fragezeichen und die Probanden sollten per Knopfdruck entscheiden, ob sie im Zufallsrauschen ein Symbol erkennen konnten oder nicht. Das gleiche wiederholte sich mit Bildern, auf denen das versteckte Symbol schrittweise immer deutlicher erkennbar war. Sobald das Symbol komplett aufgedeckt und deutlich erkennbar war, präsentierten die Forscher die gleichen Bilder in umgekehrter Reihenfolge, so dass das Symbol nach und nach wieder verschwand. © MPI für Hirnforschung
On their way from the eye, visual stimuli are analysed in manifold ways by different processing stages in the brain. It is not until they have passed several processing steps that the stimuli reach conscious perception. This unconscious processing prior to perception usually takes approximately 300 milliseconds. The Max Planck scientists were now able to demonstrate that the timing of this process, far from being rigid, is in fact variable. In an experiment, participants perceived stimuli more efficiently and faster if they knew what to expect.
To investigate this, the scientists showed the participants images with a background of randomly distributed dots on a monitor. During an image sequence, the distribution of the dots systematically changed such that a symbol gradually appeared. Following each image, the participants indicated if they could see the symbol by pressing a button. As soon as the symbol had appeared fully and was clearly recognisable, the scientists presented the same image sequence in reverse order, such that the symbol gradually faded again. During the entire experiment, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of the participants was measured.
Participant with EEG head net taking part in the study. © Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Participant with EEG head net taking part in the study. © Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
Whereas the participants took relatively long to recognise the symbol in the first sequence of images with increasing visibility, the threshold of awareness in the second, reverse presentation of images was much lower. The participants were able to recognise the letters even at very poor resolution. “Expectations based on previously acquired information apparently help to perceive the object consciously”, says Lucia Melloni, first author of the study. Once the participants knew which symbol was hiding in the random field of noise, they were able to perceive it better. The scientists have thus confirmed previous studies, according to which people perceive moving objects better if they already know in which direction the objects will move.
Moreover, the measurements of EEG activity produced astonishing results. “We found that the timing of EEG activity for conscious perception changed depending on the person’s expectations”, says Lucia Melloni. If the participants could predict what they were going to see, the characteristic EEG pattern for conscious perception took place 100 milliseconds earlier than without prior expectations.
The scientists might thus have found a conclusive explanation for the contradictory results of other neuroscientific research groups. Depending on the study, they had sometimes found very early and sometimes very late EEG activity correlating with conscious perception. “Our research explains this variability in timing. Apparently, the brain does not process the stimuli rigidly and at the same speed; rather, it is flexible”, explains Wolf Singer. Processing is thus faster if the brain only has to compare the incoming visual information with a previously established expectation. As a result, conscious perception occurs earlier. In contrast, if the brain has to assess a stimulus from scratch due to a lack of prior information, the processing takes longer.
These results may show that previous EEG studies have been interpreted incorrectly. “Since the interpretation depends heavily on the sequence of events, EEG activity may have been incorrectly allocated to consciousness processes”, surmises Wolf Singer, the Director of the Department for Neurophysiology at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt. “In light of these results, it appears necessary to reinvestigate the neuronal correlates of consciousness.”
(NE / HR)Afghanistan produced 93 per cent of the world's opium last year [AFP]
He said the Taliban fighting Karzai's government profited from drugs, but Karzai was reluctant to move against big drug lords in his political power base in the south, where most of the country's opium and heroin is produced.
"Karzai was playing us like a fiddle," Schweich wrote.
"The US would spend billions of dollars on infrastructure development; the US and its allies would fight the Taliban; Karzai's friends could get richer off the drug trade," he wrote.
"Karzai had Taliban enemies who profited from drugs but he had even more supporters who did."
Schweich also accused the Pentagon and some US generals of obstructing attempts to get military forces to assist and protect opium crop eradication drives.
'Warlord government'
Nato and US military commanders have been reluctant to get involved in the drug fight, arguing that destroying farmers' crops would alienate tribesmen and increase support for the Taliban.
Hillary Mann Leverett, a former US National Security Council official for Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that the US knew that government ministers in Afghanistan, including the minister of defence in 2002, were involved in drug trafficking.
"Karzai was playing us like a fiddle. The US would spend billions of dollars on infrastructure development; the US and its allies would fight the Taliban; Karzai's friends could get richer off the drug trade" Thomas Schweich,
ex-US state department co-ordinator for counter-narcotics and justice reform for Afghanistan
Afghan ministers at that time had little expertise but were appointed because "they were warlords, they were thugs, they represented various ethnic and sectarian constituencies", Mann Leverett said.
She added that the US government chose to work with them in an attempt to stop Afghanistan becoming a haven for al-Qaeda.
"Instead of funding the warlords we could have funded the UN to have a security peacekeeping force throughout the country.
"Instead we left Karzai without any troops, without any weapons, without any money, without any backing, to the warlords.
Gonzalo Gallegos, a state department spokesman, did not directly address Schweich's allegations but defended US policy and backing for Karzai.
"We know and understand that there is a corruption issue in Afghanistan but we're working with the sovereign government," Gallegos said on Thursday.
"President Karzai has shown us through word and deed that he is working with us to help improve the plight of that country."
Gallegos added that corruption was a deeply rooted problem and solving it would take time.
Production soaring
Drug production has skyrocketed since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban.
In 2007, nearly 200,000 hectares of land in Afghanistan was used to cultivate poppy - more than double the area in 2003 – and the country produced 93 per cent of the world's supply of opium, the raw material of heroin.
Karzai says his government is succeeding in the war on drugs and has repeatedly promised his US backers that he is committed to rooting out endemic corruption and fighting the drug trade.
His counter-narcotics ministry says 20 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces will be poppy-free this year, compared to 13 provinces in 2007.
But in the south, cultivation remains rampant.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption South Korean rescue workers at the scene of the collapsed building in Gyeongju
South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye has called for a full investigation into the collapse of an auditorium near the city of Gyeongju that killed at least 10 and injured more than 100.
Emergency staff worked through the night to find survivors.
More than 560 college students were believed to be attending a concert when part of the auditorium caved in.
Nine of those killed in the disaster - blamed on the weight of snow on the roof - were students.
The weather is also thought to have slowed down rescue efforts.
"It is heart-rending that so many lives were sacrificed... a thorough investigation must be carried out," Mrs Park told a cabinet meeting.
Officials say all the students are now believed to be accounted for.
A large number of students from the Busan University of Foreign Studies had gathered at the auditorium of the Mauna Ocean mountain resort for a welcoming ceremony on Monday night during an orientation event for first-year university students.
"We assume that the centre of the building was unable to withstand the weight of the snow, so it collapsed," firefighter Kim In-yoo said.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Security and Public Administration told reporters: "Ten people are confirmed dead, two were seriously injured and 101 others suffered bruises and cuts."
Rescuers continued searching the wreckage on Tuesday to check for anyone trapped inside, the AFP news agency reported.
Image copyright AP Image caption Heavy snow on the roof has been blamed for its collapse, and for slowing the emergency services' response
Image copyright AP Image caption The students were part of a large group from Busan, attending a first-year orientation event
Image copyright Reuters Image caption A concert was being staged in the hall when the roof fell in
Image copyright AP Image caption More than 500 students are believed to have been in the building
Local media reports say the collapse happened at around 21:15 local time (12:15 GMT) on Monday.
'Crashing down'
Many students managed to get out of the damaged building by themselves.
"The ceiling came crashing down at the front near the stage," one student told South Korea's YTN news channel. "Then pandemonium broke out and everyone started rushing towards the exits, shouting and screaming," he added.
The building was a modern, pre-fabricated structure, and local police have reportedly asked why the snow was not cleared from the roof before the party began.
Gyeongju is a southern historic city that served as the capital of one of the Korean peninsula's ancient kingdoms, and is a popular tourist destination.
One of the world's worst peacetime building collapses happened in South Korea in June 1995, when Seoul's Sampoong Department Store collapsed, killing hundreds.This article is over 1 year old
Turkey has blocked Wikipedia, the country’s telecommunications watchdog has said, citing a law that allows it to ban access to websites deemed obscene or a threat to national security.
Later on Saturday, Turkish authorities said they had sacked more than 3,900 civil servants, and military and police personnel as the purge of alleged anti-government officials continued, and also banned TV dating shows.
The move to close down Wikipedia access is likely to further worry rights groups and Turkey’s western allies, who say Ankara has curtailed freedom of speech and other basic rights in the crackdown that followed last year’s failed coup.
“After technical analysis and legal consideration … an administrative measure has been taken for this website,” the BTK telecoms authority said in a statement on its website.
Turkey arrests 1,000 and suspends 9,100 police in new crackdown Read more
It cited a law that allows it to block access to individual web pages or entire sites for the protection of public order, national security or the wellbeing of the public.
BTK is required to submit such measures to a court within 24 hours. The court then has two days to decide if the ban should be upheld.
A block on all language editions of the online encyclopaedia was detected at 5am GMT on Saturday, monitoring group Turkey Blocks said on its website.
“The loss of availability is consistent with internet filters used to censor content in the country,” it said.
When attempting to access the webpage using Turkish internet providers, users received a notice that the site could not be reached and a “connection timed out” error.
Monitoring groups have accused Turkey of blocking access to social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook, particularly in the aftermath of militant attacks.
The government has in the past denied doing so, blaming the blackouts on spikes in usage after major events.
Technical experts at watchdog groups, however, say they are intentional, aimed in part at stopping the spread of militant images and propaganda.
The latest purge of officials was reported in the government’s official gazette. The expelled included prison guards, clerks, academics, and employees of the religious affairs ministry, all of whom were suspected of links to “terrorist organisations and structures presenting a threat to national security”, the government said.
It is the second large-scale purge since the narrow victory of an 16 April referendum giving Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sweeping powers.
On Wednesday more than 9,000 police personnel were suspended and another 1,000 detained for alleged links to the network of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for the failed coup.
Also suspended were 1,127 employees of the justice ministry – including prison guards and clerks – plus 484 academics, and 201 employees from the religious affairs directorate, the government said on Saturday.
About 120,000 people have already been suspended from jobs ranging from the civil service to the private sector, and more than 40,000 arrested, following last year’s failed coup.
Mass detentions immediately after the attempted coup were supported by many Turks, who agreed with Erdoğan when he blamed Gülen for orchestrating the putsch – which killed 240 people, mostly civilians. But criticism mounted as the arrests widened.
Relatives of those detained or sacked since July say they have nothing to do with the armed attempt to overthrow the government, and are victims of a purge designed to solidify Erdoğan’s control.
Turkey also banned hugely popular television dating shows, a move that been mooted for months by the government.
“In radio and television broadcasting services, such programmes in which people are introduced to find a friend.... cannot be permitted,” said the text of the decree.
Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said in March that the ban was in the pipeline, arguing the shows do not fit in with Turkish traditions and customs.
“There are some strange programmes that would scrap the institution of family, take away its nobility and sanctity,” Kurtulmus said at the time.Jordan Peele is writing and directing Get Out, a new spin on the horror-thriller genre, for Blumhouse Productions. The project originated at QC Entertainment, which is also producing. The film centers on a young African-American man who visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s family estate.
“People know me for my work in comedy, but now I’ll get to focus on my passion for writing and directing horror films. Like comedy, horror has an ability to provoke thought and further the conversation on real social issues in a very powerful way. Get Out takes on the task of exploring race in America, something that hasn’t really been done within the genre since Night Of The Living Dead 47 years ago. It’s long overdue,” said Peele in a statement.
Jason Blum and QC Entertainment principals Sean McKittrick (upcoming Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, Bad Words) and Edward H. Hamm Jr. (Bad Words, Hell Baby) are producing. Blumhouse’s Couper Samuelson is executive producing with QC’s Ray Mansfield and Shaun Redick. Blumhouse’s latest title with Universal, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit has racked up $50.5M through 10 days at the global B.O. In addition this summer, Blumhouse co-productions have include The Gift from STX which made $45.9M at the global B.O. and Insidious: Chapter 3 from Gramercy/Focus which has grossed $109.5M worldwide.NASA's prototype fire shelters, pre-burn. Image: Shawn Steber/United States Forest Service
In the summer of 2013, 19 firefighters died fighting a wildfire in Yarnell Hill, Arizona, their emergency fire protection shelters unable to withstand the extreme 2,000℉ heat. In the aftermath of the tragedy, two NASA employees wondered if their work on advanced thermal materials could have helped.
This January, NASA reached an agreement with the US Department of Agriculture's Forest Service to test prototype fire shelters made from the space agency's next-generation thermal protection systems (TPM) materials—intended, initially, to protect future spacecraft upon re-entry (in fact, a first generation of the material has already been tested on the agency's third Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment vehicle, IRVE-3).
Not unlike a spacecraft tearing through the atmosphere, NASA's hope is that its material will be able to weather a wildfire's blazing heat—saving lives in the process—unlike any emergency shelter before.
These prototype shelters were tested for the first time in late June, when NASA's Langley Research Center, University of Alberta adjunct professor :Mark Ackerman, and the US Department of Agriculture's Forest Service travelled to Fort Providence in Canada's Northwest territories to conduct series of controlled outdoor burns.
Though the results thus far are preliminary, "it does appear that there is a potential solution here that would improve the fire protection of these shelters for the next generation," said Anthony Calomino, NASA lead on flexible TPS development.
The US Forest Service already has a portable fire shelter system that works quite well in certain circumstances, Calomino said in an interview, but there are still areas that can be improved—namely scenarios such as the one in which the Yarnell Hill firefighters were killed. While the aluminium coating used in the Forest Service's current design is effective at resisting radiant heat, for example, convective heat poses more of a challenge.
"The heat really comes in two forms when you're trapped in a fire," Calomino explained. "There's one that's radiant heat. Just being exposed to the |
because the ministry doesn't pay for procedures he thinks are immoral, like abortions.
"The part I liked about it was that I wouldn't have to be having some of my premiums spent to take care of someone who wasn't taking of themself, physically or spiritually, either one," he says.
What's Not Covered
While the federal health law includes an exemption for health sharing ministries, some states have sued to try to keep them out. The concern is that consumers shopping for insurance will be confused about what ministries really guarantee in the way of coverage.
"We do not share in every medical need that a person has," Miller of Medi-Share says. "Some of the things we don't share in are related to lifestyle issues, such as an abortion. But others of them are related to things that the members have agreed that they would rather pay for themselves."
For example, she says, members tend to pay for their own preventative care (with the exception of very young children). There are also some restrictions on pre-existing conditions.
At Medi-Share, Miller works with a steering committee of health share members who discuss what kind of care is covered by the guidelines. "Any significant change in the guidelines is something that has to be passed by all the members," she says.
In August, CNBC reported that members whose claims are rejected have the right to file an appeal. In the current fiscal year, 76 percent of the bills submitted to Medi-Share were considered eligible, and all of those were covered, Medi-Share told CNBC.
Spiritual Support
Bennett of Tennessee points out that because all the members decide what to share the cost of, health ministries often cover things insurance rarely does, like adoption fees and funeral costs. Plus, he says, his health sharing ministry gives him a service he could never get from an insurance company.
"The night before my surgery, the lady who'd helped me locate the right providers and everything called me back and said, 'Would it be OK if I prayed with you for your surgery tomorrow?'"
Three days later, she called back to ask how the surgery went.By
Just in time for the holidays, the US Federal Reserve released its quarterly Z.1 report. Recently retitled Financial Accounts of the United States (formerly Flow of Funds), the new data have provided a new, and perhaps final, chapter in the great financial crisis: the end of acute deleveraging. We take this opportunity to review the evidence and reflect on the nature of the great financial crisis.
The great financial crisis was not the result of pressures building up from decades of financialization. That process had been running for six decades prior the financial crisis without any event near the great financial crisis’s magnitude. Viewing household credit growth net of nominal GDP, as shown in Figure 1, it is easy to observe the dissimilarity of household credit relative to national income only in the final decade preceding the financial crisis. On a nominal dollar basis, household debt grew below the rate of national income until 2000.
The narrative to date was one of the impact of policy making being either inadequate or ephemeral in the face of the private sector deleveraging, which was supposed to be required to restore equilibrium.
The salient question is, What is the equilibrium value of household debt?
Household credit never eclipsed 20% of assets, as shown in Figure 2. It could be assumed that the violent contraction in this ratio furnishes us with an equilibrium at least between the minimum and maximum values displayed on this chart. It is difficult, however, to presume the notion that credit liabilities comprising just 20% of assets was so far away from equilibrium that it required violent reversion.
Prices of assets contain information on the expectations of buyers and sellers about the future economic value of assets. Liabilities taken out on those assets represent a derivative of this expectation of value — an expectation about the future expectation of economic value. This can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Prices are set on the margin by these expectations, but the impact of change in price ripples into the assets that weren’t transacted by providing equity growth liquefiable by non-transacting liability growth. Consider a home purchase across the street from your home which raises the perception value of in your neighborhood. This by proxy raises the value of your home, and you can borrow against your new equity.
The information in the price of both the liabilities and the assets made the assumption that $1 of liability growth would result in more than $1 of GDP, which had been at a minimum true for most of the 50 years prior to 2000.
The credit crisis was a marginal utility of credit crisis in the preceding decade. The income generated from household credit fell beneath the growth of credit.
There was $4.5 trillion of GDP growth between 2000 and the end of 2007. Had the marginal utility of credit been on the low end ($1 of credit = $1 of GDP) of historical normalcy, GDP growth would have been 6.95% compounded annually, as opposed to the 4.75% it managed. The gap cumulatively represented $2.67 trillion of income, as seen in Figure 3, or $333 billion per year. This could be alternatively stated as follows: The credit crisis would likely not have manifested had nominal income growth been 46% higher between 2000 and 2008. It is easy to conclude that the valuation of fixed assets would have been justifiable had this income materialized.
Where did this lost income go?
Before this point, household credit growth can be seen keeping pace with net investment, as shown in Figure 4.
Where the household credit was previously circulated into forming real capital, despite the leap in investment in the mid-2000s, the gap between investment and household credit growth, which we will term “uninvested household credit growth,” was massive. This means the marginal propensity to invest collapsed.
We are left to speculate as to what households were doing with their marginal dollar of debt. Coincident to the decline in invested household credit growth was the surge in the trade deficit, shown in Figure 5. If investment using domestic service labor (such as homebuilding) has the highest multiplicative impact on the economy, low utility consumption of foreign production must have the highest dampening effect.
It could be proposed that the growth in uninvested household credit was spent in foreign production. Even if the borrowers were not directly the consumers of foreign goods, the effect in macroeconomic aggregates and accounts remains the same.
Why were the marginal debt dollars drained into foreign accounts?
There are probably many reasons for this, the most obvious of which is shown in Figure 6: Defense expenditures rose almost identically in proportion to the trade deficit during this period. Although most of these expenditures would be domestic (save for raw materials and energy), this displaced the same quantity of production and service capacity into output which was entirely non-consumable by households.
Igor Greenwald has suggested another cause could be found in the strength of the US dollar combined with (and contributing to) a less competitive US labor force.
The true root of the great financial crisis is embedded in the cause of the decline in marginal utility of household credit. As long as this measure remains positive, the rekindling of household credit will remain sustainable. Whether it remains positive relies on trade policy and the competitiveness of our labor.
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Photo credit: KeithBishopBack in March, I discussed an article in PLOS ONE that protested against “quote mining” and other sloppiness in what it called “creationist texts.” The article itself, however, sloppily misquoted a piece that Logan Gage and I co-wrote in response to Francis Collins. Now a new article in PLOS ONE, “Content Volatility of Scientific Topics in Wikipedia: A Cautionary Tale,” has been published that is equally blind to its own biases.
The article concerns Wikipedia, and it offers the uninteresting finding that controversial scientific topics prompt more edit-wars than uncontroversial topics. Wikipedia is usually perfectly adequate if you want to learn about who won on American Idol last year or what year Elizabeth II was coronated. But everyone who is paying attention knows that when it comes to controversial topics, Wikipedia tends to be highly partisan.
And the authors of the PLOS ONE paper adopt Wikipedia‘s partisan view that the scientific consensus is unassailably correct and anyone who expresses dissent from the consensus is guilty of a thought crime — what their article calls “vandalism and other shenanigans.” A press statement prepared by those behind the study is titled, “On Wikipedia, politically controversial science topics vulnerable to information sabotage.” It says this:
As society turns to Wikipedia for answers, students, educators, and citizens should understand its limitations when researching scientific topics that are politically charged. On entries subject to edit-wars, like acid rain, evolution, and global change, one can obtain — within seconds — diametrically different information on the same topic, say authors of a new report. … [A]ccording to a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, Wikipedia entries on politically controversial scientific topics can be unreliable due to information sabotage.
So, Wikipedia‘s entries on evolution or global warming undergo a lot more editing than entries on uncontroversial topics like heliocentrism, general relativity, and continental drift. Who would have guessed? The article declares, “The authors have no support or funding to report,” which is good since I sure hope no taxpayer money was specifically devoted to arriving at this incredible discovery. (The authors, however, both teach at public universities which means that ultimately their research is indeed paid for by the public.) But framing is everything — and they explicitly portray edits that disagree with the “consensus” as a form of “sabotage”:
Likens explains, “In the scientific community, acid rain is not a controversial topic. Its mechanics have been well understood for decades. Yet, despite having ‘semi-protected’ status to prevent anonymous changes, Wikipedia‘s acid rain entry receives near-daily edits, some of which result in egregious errors and a distortion of consensus science.”
There you have it: in their view, if someone edits Wikipedia such that some comment poses a challenge to “consensus science” then that’s a form of “information sabotage.”
For those familiar with Wikipedia‘s actual modus operandi, this Orwellian framing of the topic is hardly surprising. On evolution and ID, the reality is that Wikipedia articles are grossly slanted — pro-evolution, anti-ID — and Wikipedia‘s high-level admin editors typically refuse to tolerate edits that would allow any balance or objectivity. As soon as anyone makes an edit to correct an anti-ID error or an instance of pro-Darwin bias, those edits are reversed and disallowed.
So there is indeed “sabotage” going on — but it’s by those who would censor and disallow information that challenges an evolutionary viewpoint. Although I personally don’t edit Wikipedia, I say this based upon years and years of people contacting me who tell of having tried to make bland, benign, reasonable edits and who then saw those changes immediately deleted by pro-Darwin editors. Sometimes, the page is then locked down with the justification that it has been “vandalized.” Here’s one anecdote that has always stuck out in my mind.
In 2005 the ACLU triumphed in the Kitzmiller v. Dover ruling that banned a pro-ID textbook, Of Pandas and People, from being mentioned in science classrooms in a Pennsylvania school district. After that, one Wikipedia user dared to act on Wikipedia‘s official encouragement to “be bold when updating the encyclopedia.” The user added the Pandas textbook to a page listing banned books.
Apparently anticipating the intellectual lure of banned ideas, Wikipedia‘s editors then removed the Pandas textbook from the Banned Books page, and locked the page against further edits, alleging that it had been “vandalized.”
To promote this pro-evolution, anti-ID viewpoint, Wikipedia constantly violates its own rules. Officially the encyclopedia claims that “propaganda,” “advocacy,” and “original research” are disallowed. In practice, these rules are suspended when evolution is being advocated. Nonetheless, the official view is stated on the “What Wikipedia is not” policy page:
Wikipedia is not a soapbox, a battleground, or a vehicle for propaganda, advertising and showcasing. This applies to usernames, as well as articles, categories, templates, talk page discussions, and user pages. Therefore, content hosted in Wikipedia is not for: 1. Advocacy, propaganda, or recruitment of any kind: commercial, political, scientific, religious, national, sports-related, or otherwise. An article can report objectively about such things, as long as an attempt is made to describe the topic from a neutral point of view. You might wish to start a blog or visit a forum if you want to convince people of the merits of your opinions.
Wikipedia purports to enforce three “core content policies”:
1. Neutral point of view:
“Editing from a neutral point of view (NPOV) means representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without bias, all of the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic. All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view. NPOV is a fundamental principle of Wikipedia and of other Wikimedia projects. This policy is nonnegotiable and all editors and articles must follow it.”
2. No original research:
“Wikipedia articles must not contain original research. The phrase “original research” (OR) is used on Wikipedia to refer to material — such as facts, allegations, and ideas — for which no reliable, published sources exist. This includes any analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to reach or imply a conclusion not stated by the sources. To demonstrate that you are not adding OR, you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are directly related to the topic of the article, and directly support the material being presented.”
3. Verifiability:
“In Wikipedia, verifiability means that people reading and editing the encyclopedia can check that the information comes from a reliable source. Wikipedia does not publish original research. Its content is determined by previously published information rather than the beliefs or experiences of its editors. Even if you’re sure something is true, it must be verifiable before you can add it.”
However Wikipedia‘s entries related to intelligent design and evolution often relax or completely disregard these rules. Again, I could cite numerous examples of this. Let’s look at just a couple:
Violating Wikipedia‘s “Neutral Point of View” Rule
When it comes to intelligent design, this “non-negotiable” rule is frequently violated. The very first sentence of Wikipedia‘s entry on ID states:
Intelligent design (ID) is the pseudoscientific view[1][2] that “certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.”[3][2]
For its claim that ID is “pseudoscientific,” Wikipedia cites two sources. It’s true that those sources describe ID as “pseudoscientific,” but Wikipedia does not treat the sources in a neutral manner. Instead, it affirms, in its own voice, that the opinions and assertions of those sources that intelligent design is “pseudoscientific” are correct and accurate. This violates the encyclopedia’s policy of maintaining a “Neutral point of view“:
Avoid stating opinions as facts. Usually, articles will contain information about the significant opinions that have been expressed about their subjects. However, these opinions should not be stated in Wikipedia‘s voice. Rather, they should be attributed in the text to particular sources, or where justified, described as widespread views, etc. For example, an article should not state that “genocide is an evil action”, but it may state that “genocide has been described by John X as the epitome of human evil.”
Were Wikipedia to follow its own rules, it would say something like “Source X states that intelligent design is ‘pseudoscientific.'” That would be a reasonable presentation of the anti-ID viewpoint, and of course an encyclopedia should mention that view. But the editors choose not to follow the rules. They call ID “pseudoscientific” in Wikipedia‘s own voice.
The page also fails to point out how ID proponents respond to such charges. We show, among other things, that intelligent design uses the scientific method to make its claims, that ID uses the standard methods of historical sciences, that ID meets the toughest definitions of a “scientific theory”, and that the ID movement conducts research and has published many peer-reviewed scientific papers. These sorts of pro-ID arguments are never covered on Wikipedia.
On ID, the encyclopedia does not even attempt to maintain a neutral point of view. Wikipedia apparently attempts to justify this by saying it’s OK for Wikipedia to oppose what it deems to be “fringe science.”
Basically, Wikipedia gives itself permission to ignore its own rules when talking about controversial scientific topics like ID. But its rules (when followed) are intended to promote objectivity and guard against inaccuracy. Nothing should justify Wikipedia being inaccurate, misrepresenting the truth about issues, and violating its own rules that are designed to protect accuracy.
Violating Wikipedia‘s “No Original Research” Rule
In its page on “No original research,” Wikipedia claims to prohibit “any analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to reach or imply a conclusion not stated by the sources.” But on its pages on ID the encyclopedia frequently disregards this rule. For example, Wikipedia‘s main entry on intelligent design states:
In 2001, the Discovery Institute published advertisements under the heading A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism, with the claim that listed scientists had signed this statement expressing skepticism: ‘We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.’ The ambiguous statement did not exclude other known evolutionary mechanisms, and most signatories were not scientists in relevant fields, but starting in 2004 the Institute claimed the increasing number of signatures indicated mounting doubts about evolution among scientists.
Consider the last sentence in that extract. Obviously it advocates a non-neutral point of view when it calls the statement of the Scientific Dissent from Darwinism list “ambiguous.” But it then goes on to claim “most signatories were not scientists in relevant fields.” The citation at the end of the sentence is to a statement published by Discovery Institute about the list, and does not support the claim being made. Rather, the claim constitutes precisely what Wikipedia calls “original research.” How does Wikipedia establish what is a “relevant field”? What percent of scientists who signed the list are not in such a “relevant field”? No supporting data is given — this is merely an assertion of Wikipedia‘s viewpoint to promote a particular point of view.
But is Wikipedia‘s original-research claim even correct? Obviously any scientist with formal training and expertise in the biological sciences is a scientist in a “relevant field.” But in fact many scientists today are cross-disciplinary, and training in one field allows evaluation of claims in another field. For example, computer scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and physicists have investigated the feasibility of a Darwinian search mechanism producing the sort of complex features we see in biology. This is true for experts in those fields whether they are proponents or skeptics of Darwinian evolution. Moreover, many chemists have expertise relevant to protein behavior, and have become experts in the feasibility of unguided evolution producing functional proteins. Chemists often have expertise that pertains to the origin of life, which is a field to which earth scientists also commonly contribute. The same goes for astronomers, who are often experts in astrobiology and the feasibility of producing life on a planet or in a region of space. Thus, a case could be made that any scientist in those fields will have had relevant formal training sufficient to make an informed judgment on evolutionary claims.
An informal study I conducted in July 2014 showed that a plurality of scientists on the Dissent list have expertise and formal training in the biological sciences:
Computer Science: 3.6% (33)
Mathematics: 6.3% (57)
Engineering: 13.7% (124)
Biological Sciences: 44.0% (398)
Chemistry: 14.7% (133)
Physics and/or Astronomy: 11.7% (106)
Earth Sciences: 4.6% (42)
Other: 1.3% (12)
Thus, a strong argument can be made that Wikipedia‘s claim about scientific expertise is flatly false. At very least, the claim is extremely misleading.
Violating Wikipedia‘s “Verifiability” Rule
One of Wikipedia‘s main rules is that claims must be backed up by references to reliable secondary sources. This rule frequently goes unenforced. For example, Wikipedia‘s main article on ID offers the following unreferenced assertion:
In this historically motivated definition of science any appeal to an intelligent creator is explicitly excluded for the paralysing effect it may have on the scientific progress.
No citation is given to support the claim that invoking an “intelligent creator” somehow has a “paralyzing effect” on scientific progress. And of course, there is no mention of arguments from ID proponents that ID is useful in opening up new avenues of scientific investigation.
Sometimes Wikipedia editors cite sources that do not, in fact, back up the claim being made. For example, the page on Wikipedia, “Teach the Controversy,” states that it is “a campaign, conducted by Discovery Institute,” and concludes:
The Dover ruling also characterized “teaching the controversy” as part of a religious ploy.
However, the Dover ruling does not contain the phrase “teaching the controversy,” nor does it render a judgment on the idea. Rather, Dover’s policy was about requiring intelligent design in public schools, something Discovery Institute opposes. In fact, Discovery Institute explicitly opposed Dover’s ID policy since we opposed (and still do) pushing intelligent design into public school curricula. Thus, the policy Dover implemented wasn’t the kind Discovery Institute was advocating in what Wikipedia calls our “campaign.”
Many who laud the accuracy of Wikipedia cite this third rule as if it somehow guarantees accuracy. But what if the secondary source itself is inaccurate? A source on Wikipedia may be properly cited (i.e., it says what Wikipedia claims it says), but the thing the source is saying might be completely wrong. For example, the entry on intelligent design claims:
The intelligent design movement has not published a properly peer-reviewed article supporting ID in a scientific journal, and has failed to publish supporting peer-reviewed research or data.
This is backed up by the following citation:
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, cv 2688 (December 20, 2005). Whether ID is Science, p. 87
That citation does say what Wikipedia claims — the Kitzmiller v. Dover ruling does in fact say on page 87 that “ID is not supported by any peer-reviewed research, data or publications.” Thus, Wikipedia has cited an apparently credible source — the ruling of a federal judge — and it has cited that source for a claim that the source actually makes. However, Judge Jones’s statement is entirely inaccurate, and the source of his inaccuracy is easily traced to a brief submitted by the ACLU, which used almost the exact same words:
Intelligent design is not supported by any peer-reviewed research, data or publications.
Of course the claim is not true, whether it was made by the ACLU or repeated by Judge Jones. During the Dover trial, expert witness Scott Minnich testified that there were between “seven and ten” peer-reviewed papers supporting ID, and both he and expert witness Barbara Forrest discussed a pro-intelligent design article in a peer-reviewed biology journal, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Additional peer-reviewed publications were listed in an annotated bibliography submitted in an amicus brief accepted as part of the official court record by Judge Jones. Thus, although Judge Jones’s claim is wrong, and absolutely refuted by the factual record, Wikipedia‘s rules allow it to be cited as credibly established fact. Judge Jones’s claim is even more demonstrably false today than it was at the time he made it. There are now dozens of peer-reviewed articles supporting ID. Technically speaking, the claim abides by Wikipedia‘s “verifiability” rule, but it is entirely false.
Wikipedia‘s rules state that if some third party said it, then it’s probably fair game to cite as a “fact.” Since there are plenty of ID opponents out there repeating the same fallacious criticisms, it isn’t hard for Wikipedia editors to find all kinds of third parties who have accused ID of all kinds of pernicious things, ranging from promoting pseudoscience, to trying to establish theocracy, to being morally deficient, to threatening to destroy science and civilization, to never publishing any scientific research. Precisely such outlandish and unserious charges appear in Wikipedia‘s articles on ID. By citing such polemical attacks and rants, the editors find all the citations they need to convert wild assertions and accusations into purported encyclopedic facts. This is how Wikipedia really works.
These are all objective problems that point to biases, errors, and flagrant violations of Wikipedia‘s own rules. Yet if you were to correct any of these errors and biases, your edits would be immediately reversed and you might be accused by pro-Darwin academics of engaging in “information sabotage,” “vandalism,” and “other shenanigans.” Since the vast majority of Wikipedia’s editors are anti-ID, it easily erects a firewall that prevents would-be editors from inputting balance or objectivity into the pages.
Yet many otherwise thoughtful writers refuse to acknowledge these problems because, having read Wikipedia and not knowing the facts of these matters, they think what Wikipedia says is true. Thus we see Ross Pomeroy at Real Clear Science commending the new PLOS ONE paper:
While topics like evolution, alternative medicine, climate change, and nuclear power are not scientifically controversial, they are politically controversial. It is for this reason that those topics often fall victim to “edit wars” on Wikipedia, where users alter information to fit their biased beliefs or tarnish the integrity of the page with slanderous statements. Other users respond by correcting the changes.
Here, Pomeroy is basically acting as a mouthpiece for Wikipedia and the consensus, assuming that anyone who might disagree with the majority on evolution has no merits to his view and is just promoting “biased beliefs” or making “slanderous statements.” Ironically, what he says would be almost completely true were it not for the last sentence. Pro-Darwin and anti-ID editors have nearly free reign on Wikipedia to promote their views in a heavily biased and inaccurate manner that ignores the encyclopedia’s core rules — but those who disagree with the consensus have almost no power to correct those changes.
Equally ironic is the good advice given by the authors of the PLOS ONE paper. They write:
Wikipedia should not be used in academic citations without very careful consideration and scrutiny. Wikipedia acknowledges this and reports that, “while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish.” Furthermore, Wikipedia‘s policy on academic use is clear that “Wikipedia is not considered a credible or authoritative source... any encyclopedia is a starting point for research, not an ending point.”
That’s an understatement.
What’s happening here is that Wikipedia and its defenders want to have their cake and eat it too. They militantly advocate their viewpoint, censor those who disagree with them in the name of the “consensus,” and all the while pretend that they are the ones who are the victims of bias and censorship.
When it comes to controversial topics, the famed online encyclopedia is hardly trustworthy and in my experience, its rules are a sham. That’s a fact, but don’t expect Wikipedia to ever admit it.
Image: � ArtemSam / Dollar Photo Club.The study concerns Polish fencing (hussar sabre fighting) and Japanese kenjutsu (art of sword). It focuses on forms of their promotion as well as popularization and its scope. In the light of history, theoretical sociology and anthropology of martial arts selected relevant facts are discussed in an attempt to explain the reasons for the changes which have occured. An attempt is also made to compare the progress of the process of institutionalization in the case of both martial arts. Three complementary qualitative research methods were used: a long-term observation in the role of a participant (25 years), content analysis of the literature and the case study. In addition, the author presents the case study of an international seminar on kenjutsu of the Katori Shinto-ryu school organized in Kraków. The date of the seminar coincided with the 20th anniversary of the battle demonstration where a representative of the fencing school fought against W. Zabłocki, a master of the Polish hussar sabre, and the 25th anniversary of practising martial arts of aikibudō and kobudō in Poland (including kenjutsu of the said school). Japanese kenjutsu is much more advanced in comparison to the Polish historical art of fencing in terms of institutionalization and popularization. However, the two-day seminar on old Japanese fencing in Krakow was an example of a cultural meeting, dialogue and educational experience confirming validity of the theory of dialogue between cultures. Polish martial arts as part of the national heritage need to be supported by the state government.The makers of memes have found new material to joke about: suicide and clinical depression. These kinds of self-loathing memes have skyrocketed in popularity in the last year. Today they can be found across most social media platforms — even websites like BuzzFeed and College Humor have posted compilations of the jokes.
Suicide memes toe the line between irony and insensitivity and make light of everything from minor anxiety to school shootings. Still, fans of the memes argue that they could actually be therapeutic to those suffering from depression.
Suicide is preventable, and if you are feeling suicidal, please get help. Reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada), or The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. If you live outside the U.S., you can click here to find crisis centers around the world.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
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says the war on terror has failed and the West must find a ‘smarter’ way to tackle terrorism.
In his first major speech since the Manchester atrocity, Mr Corbyn will spell out Labour's plans to increase security in the UK.
At the speech in Central London tomorrow, he will say: “We must be brave enough to admit the ‘war on terror’ is simply not working. We need a smarter way to reduce the threat from countries that nurture terrorists and generate terrorism.
“Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home.”
(Image: SWNS.com)
(Image: AFP)
(Image: AFP)
He will say not enough is being done to combat terror attacks, adding: “That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions.”
He will also pledge to reverse Tory cuts to the police, after it was revealed there are 20,000 less officers than in 2010.
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And he will slam the Conservative austerity agenda, saying: “Labour will reverse the cuts to our emergency services and police. Once again in Manchester, they have proved to be the best of us.
“Austerity has to stop at the A&E ward and at the police station door. We cannot be protected and cared for on the cheap.
“There will be more police on the streets under a Labour Government. And if the security services need more resources to keep track of those who wish to murder and maim, then they should get them.”
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Mr Corbyn will acknowledge the government could not prevent every attack but say more should be done to reduce risk.
He will say: “No government can prevent every terrorist attack. If an individual is determined enough and callous enough sometimes they will get through.
“But the responsibility of government is to minimise that chance - to ensure the police have the resources they need, that our foreign policy reduces rather than increases the threat to this country and that at home we never surrender the freedoms we have won and that terrorists are so determined to take away.”(Deleted comment)
Wouldn't the far better option be for your family to grow as people and realise that there's no need for them to be automatically offended by material which is simply conventionally referred to as "offensive" for no good reason?
Art should not adapt for people, Trish. People should be open to art influencing and changing them. Tut tut.
I say show them the comic and allow them to make their own decisions about it. Hopefully, they'll find things they like about it and anything that they don't like, they'll accept and not dismiss the whole work based on those things. If they don't like anything about it, that's also fine. But they should be making those decisions based on their own personal experience with a work, not based on a blanket "suitability rating".
If you get in trouble for showing it to anyone, then consider that an indication of just how worthy having said people in your lives is. In fact, I'd say it wouldn't be out of line for you to consider disowning your family if they get offended by, for example, a penis. Families wouldn't exist without penises, for one thing! Tell your mother that. Say, "But Mother, you must like penises! What about Dad's penis?".
Do you have a brother, Trish? Even better! There's another penis she should like! If your father has a problem with seeing a penis, then tell him he ought to have a good think about his life and tell him you'd be happy to have a talk with him about why that is.
This could be the greatest thing you ever do for your family, Trish. I can already see you all growing from this experience and becoming much more understanding, together and flexible people. The bonds between you all will strengthen and you shall do great things for this world, influencing others similarly.
Yes.
Trish, you could save the world.Former chairman of the A-League4Canberra bid, Ivan Slavich, concedes an A-League team in Canberra is ''some way off'' and insists Football Federation Australia made the wrong choice in awarding the most recent licence to Western Sydney.
A year to the day since the greatest success story in Australian sport was born, the now-defunct Canberra consortium channelled the remaining $150,000 of foundation funds into the growth of men's football in the national capital.
Despite the success of the Western Sydney Wanderers, Ivan Slavich believes the FFA made the wrong choice in awarding the most recent licence to the Wanderers. Credit:Darren Pateman
Slavich remains upset Canberra missed out to the Wanderers, which required a multimillion-dollar injection from the federal government and the FFA to get off the ground last year.
''I'm still quite disappointed there wasn't an A-League team in Canberra,'' Slavich said. ''We were told by the FFA that Canberra's the next cab off the rank in terms of an A-League side, but strategically they wanted one in western Sydney.SAN ANTONIO - It’s been a little more than two months since Spurs point guard Tony Parker suffered a serious leg injury.
Parker ruptured his left quadriceps tendon on May 3 during Game 2 of the Spurs-Rockets series and was forced to miss the remainder of the 2017 playoffs.
The Spurs said Parker would most likely be out at least until January, but teammate Danny Green says the injury has motivated Parker to come back stronger than before.
Speaking at his skills clinic in San Antonio this week, Green said he has been in contact with Parker and spoken to him this summer.
"He’s been the guy who’s probably been working out more than anybody,” Green said. "Every time I come back to San Antonio, I go to the gym to work out and I see him.”
Green said Parker has been walking well, but he is also taking the proper precautions to avoid a setback.
Parker, a four-time NBA champion and former Finals MVP, turned 35 years old in May.
WATCH BELOW: Green talks Tony Parker, Rudy Gay, trade rumors
#Spurs Danny Green talks trade rumors, Rudy Gay deal, health of Tony Parker,possibly starting season w/o Big 3 (vid @markmendez) #KSATSports pic.twitter.com/GzxR21Xsnj — RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) July 11, 2017
FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @KSATRJ
Head coach Gregg Popovich limited Parker’s minutes during the regular season to keep him fresh for the postseason.
The plan had worked to near perfection as Parker was averaging 16 points per game and shooting 53 percent from the floor.
The Spurs went on to beat the Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, but along with Kawhi Leonard’s ankle injury, were undermanned against Golden State in the conference finals.
Green did not say when he expected Parker to return, but knows the six-time NBA All-Star is working hard everyday to get back on the court.
"He’s working out like I’ve never seen him before and I think he’s motivated to come back stronger and prove everybody wrong, that he still has it,” Green said.
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Copyright 2017 by KSAT - All rights reserved.A judge dismissed the Libertarian Party of Ohio’s lawsuit against Governor Kasich and the Ohio Republican Party on February 29, saying that the court had no jurisdiction in the case.
Described in this news story as a legal case against Camp Kasich, filed by the Libertarian Party of Ohio [LPO] who saw its candidate for governor two years ago tossed off the primary ballot through a scheme that involved long-time political operatives spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to find a protester who could challenge signatures on party petitions.”
The LPO had appealed a decision by the Ohio Elections Commission regarding the removal of 2014 LPO gubernatorial candidate Charlie Earl from the ballot over issues with his petitions.
The Ohio LP can appeal the case to the 10th District Court of Appeals.
Click here to read the article on Plunderbund.Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex is a condition affecting lactating women that is characterized by an abrupt dysphoria, or negative emotions, that occur just before milk release and continuing not more than a few minutes.
D-MER is often found through Google searches such |
time, the artists were running what is now American Steel Studios together. They brought together hundreds of people to build scrap metal sculptures weighing up to ten tons that had been commissioned for Burning Man. The pair also had experience exhibiting their work at temporary art parks around the Bay Area. Their job was to convince the councilmembers that this project was doable and worthwhile. “It was about getting them excited,” Das Mann said, while “explaining some of the possibilities of what could be done—the value they could get behind.”
That value was quickly evident to Schaaf, she said, even if the parking proposal had seemed pragmatic. “At first the idea of a surface parking lot made sense,” she said. “[The activists] are really the ones that questioned that idea,” she added, calling the effort “a particularly magical example” of citizen advocacy. Schaaf said her role was to make the idea feasible by identifying the Public Art Program’s ability to fund the plan.
But even after the council adopted the proposal in May, 2009, it might have floundered, she says, if Huss had not led the city’s Office of Neighborhood Investment and Cultural Arts and Marketing division in working together on a strategy for the park. Huss is leading the public art team in developing the art component of the site, while Hillmer and others oversee the construction.
The park’s greatest challenge has been funding, Huss said. He secured a $200,000 National Endowment of the Arts grant in October 2010, and the city has contributed slightly over $200,000 to match it. The city funds come from a “Percent for Art Ordinance,” which allocates 1.5 percent of the cost of the city’s capital improvement projects for public artwork. The roughly $400,000 budget is enough to open the park, launch the first exhibit and help fund the second exhibit, Huss said. He plans to pursue other funding opportunities, including donors and partnerships with other art spaces. “It would be great if a foundation would just say, ‘We’ll give you half a million a year,’” he joked.
The city could be liable if anyone gets hurt in the park—crushed by a mammoth steel sculpture, say—so artists, who normally install their own works, will do so with supervision from city officials. Artists will start installing their work 10 to 14 days before the exhibit opens, Huss said. As for concerns about vandalism at an outdoor park, he shrugs them off—it’s not a novel problem in his line of work. “It’s never a pristine environment like a museum or gallery,” he said. “It’s very accessible, which is what we want. There are just a lot of close-up encounters.”
When the sculpture park opens in early 2013 there will be a big party, Huss said, with live music, dancers, and video projections. Alongside the inaugural exhibit, a number of works too fragile to withstand the elements for long will show.
The park will stay in place until a permanent development project begins—there is currently developer interest in the lot, Hillmer said, and guessed that city officials will start reviewing proposals by the summer of 2013. But he says it will be at least two or three years before ground is broken for a project.
Huss said he was told the park will stand for at most five years, and while part of him wants to see it become permanent, he isn’t dwelling on the eventuality of the park’s closure. He said he’ll be happy if he can experiment with the space while it’s here. “It’s a laboratory,” he said, contemplating the partially-completed park from a nearby bench. “I also want it to be a seed bed for other projects that can happen in Oakland. If it works here we’ll take it on the road.”He singled out Neda Agha-Soltan, a young woman who was fatally shot by unknown assailants during the street protests. Her killing, captured on video, turned her into a symbol of young, modern Iranians taking a stand against their leaders. “I saw her choke in her own blood,” Mr. Netanyahu said in the interview, which was dubbed into Persian.
No one disputed the horror of Ms. Agha-Soltan’s death. But many did note she had been wearing jeans.
“Netanyahu saw Neda die, but didn’t notice she wore jeans,” said a Twitter user with the handle Mohammadmojiran, who said he was a Web developer from Tehran.
While Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks were inaccurate, he was not completely off base. In the early years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, jeans were regarded as a despicable symbol of the United States. Nowadays, though, denim trousers are as ubiquitous here as they are elsewhere. And while the only Western music the state broadcaster plays is electronic dance music during sports programs, many restaurants, shops and other public places in the capital play a variety, including lounge and British pop music.
Mr. Netanyahu, who has been saying he thinks Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” told BBC Persian that Iranians “deserved better.”
“He represents a desire for change, but he wasn’t elected in free and open elections,” he said of Mr. Rouhani, one of eight preapproved candidates in the June elections.
But his message was largely overshadowed by what many here saw as his dated, and condescending, view of Iranians. “What he says is real nonsense — we dress like Europeans here and we listen to Western music, too,” said Sajad, 31, a student. “We even make Western-style music here. That’s an underground scene, but still.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s office did not respond to the criticism, but pointed to what it called positive feedback on Facebook and the BBC’s Web site. It provided translated comments, but no links. In one, an Iranian who called himself Irani Aryai said: “Well done, Mr. Netanyahu, for expressing what is in the hearts of the Iranian people. Well done, the great Israeli people, with the hope for the day when both people can live together in peace.”Of the hundreds of submissions, only a handful managed to make the final cut and enter prototype development. Among them, 26-year-old Corp. Rhet McNeal's Scout, a fixed-wing UAS (unmanned aerial system) constructed almost entirely from 3D-printed components. Conventional Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) drones can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct and operate, making commanders more reticent to use these devices in the field out of fear of breaking them.
Scout, on the other hand, costs only around $600 to build. It also fits in a standard-issue pack, can be broken down in a little over two minutes, and assembled and in the air within five minutes, McNeal told Engadget. And because its body and wings are 3D-printed, if the drone does take damage, troops can print a replacement part in a couple hours using in-field 3D printers rather than waiting days, weeks or even months for replacements to worm their way through the Marine Corps' supply lines.
"I don't see this as replacing our current supply chains, but I do see it as a great opportunity to augment existing capabilities," Lt. Col. Gregory Pace, battalion commander of the Marines 1st Maintenance Battalion, told the Marine Corps Times last year.
A prototype of the Scout UAS - Image: Autodesk
McNeal's team spent four months developing and perfecting Scout's design in collaboration with Autodesk at the company's Pier 9 additive-manufacturing facility in San Francisco. "The challenge was: How do you deliver an inexpensive, portable UAV for the average Marine to fly in field?" Autodesk's Paolo Salvagione, told Engadget. "How do you make it so that you can't put it together wrong? Which particular parts lend themselves to modularity, so in case something gets broken you can replace it quickly?"
"'Perfect' is often the enemy of a design," Salvagione continued. "And so when you're working on something like this UAV, the 80 percent solution gets him to an iteration really quickly." Had McNeal been using conventional prototyping techniques, the design process could have stretched on for many more weeks.
He would have had to construct, test, tweak and rebuild each iteration -- often with the input and oversight of experts in various fields of aeronautics. But with Autodesk's design program suite, "you embed that knowledge in a general way at the front end of a design as opposed to having to go through the whole design and send it off to someone else to analyze it and then tell you what's right or wrong," Salvagione said.
Scout has since been turned over to the Mitre Corp., a drone supplier for the USMC, for certification testing. Should Scout pass these trials, it could soon be put to work in Marine squads for short-range intelligence-gathering applications.
Of course, this isn't the first time that the USMC has experimented with 3D printing or even 3D-printed drones. In May, the Corps began field tests of Nibbler, a printed drone designed to serve a similar role as that of Scout.
"Our team is very enthusiastic about the Nibbler, but even more enthusiastic about what it represents for the future," Wood told Defense Systems. Wood envisions tiers of additive-manufacturing capabilities stretching from in-field systems, like the Army's RFAB, all the way back to the US, where heavier production, such as printing mission-critical components with metal and other advanced materials, would be done.
"Imagine being in a forward-deployed environment, and just like Amazon, you can 'order' the weapons and equipment you need for the next day's mission from an entire catalog of possible solutions," Wood continued. "These solutions can all be upgraded literally overnight in order to integrate new components or adapt to new requirements." Theoretically, with the right CAD files, a squad would be able to quickly customize and optimize its equipment for the specific mission requirements with little more than a desktop 3D printer and construction components.
Sgt. Kenneth R. Storvick monitors the progress of a 3D-printing job at Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina - image: DoD
Marines would be able to extract a "near infinite set of different UAS that we could produce from those basic elements," he concluded. What's more, tangential research is being conducted into recycling garbage, like MRE wrappers or discarded water bottles, and using that as the base material for printing.
Once this technology has been matured and scaled, the USMC stands to save a bunch of money on repair and maintenance. As the Marine Corps Times points out, bulkhead cracks in America's fleet of aging F-18 Hornet combat jets typically cost around $1 million and take six months of work to repair. Using 3D-printed aluminum replacement parts, however, drops the cost to just $25,000. Similarly, the Navy can now 3D-print hydraulic manifolds for the V-22 Osprey transport aircraft that weigh 70 percent less than their traditionally manufactured predecessors, and can be made 30 percent faster and 10 percent cheaper, to boot.
These benefits will soon reach civilian life as well. "If you can deliver raw material and make it into anything, all of a sudden it becomes really interesting to people who manage supply chains," Salvagione observed. "To sell a car in America means you have to stock 10 years' worth of parts for that car in a warehouse somewhere and pay for that storage." Instead, Salvagione argues that as many parts as can be 3D printed should be. "Then we can avoid paying the taxes on it for 10 years," he said. "And we still have it available when customers need it, maybe even longer than that 10-year cycle."
This future is still a little way off, mind you. The most popular example of 3D-printed military equipment these days is actually Humvee door handles, McNeal explained to Engadget. But the USMC is quickly expanding its printing capabilities into more-complex components including printed ammunition, though not yet the weapons with which to fire them. The Corps is also looking to print its new GPS-guided joint precision airdrop system (JPADS).
Overall, the Marine Corps is in the process of building out four full fabrication labs here in the US and has already sent 25 mobile production studios to units overseas for Marines, regardless of rank or occupation, to experiment with. "It is an exciting time and we are thrilled to be a part of it," Pace told the MCT. "You can't have innovation if you are beholden to systems that were created years ago."Built with Angular 5.2.11 and RxJS 5.5.11
Other versions available:
This is a quick post to show an example of something that got me stuck for a little while - how to communicate between components in Angular 2/5.
The solution is to use an Observable and a Subject (which is a type of observable), I won't go too much into the details about how observables work here, but in a nutshell there are two methods that we're interested in: Observable.subscribe() and Subject.next().
Observable.subscribe()
The observable subscribe method is used to subscribe to messages that are sent to an observable.
Subject.next()
The subject next method is used to send messages to an observable which are then sent to all subscribers of that observable.
Example of Component Communication in Angular 2/5
Here's a simple example showing a home component communicating with the root app component via a message service using observables.
The code is also available on GitHub at https://github.com/cornflourblue/angular2-communicating-between-components
(See on StackBlitz at https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular2-communicating-between-components)
Update History:
25 Jun 2018 - Updated to Angular 5.2.11
29 Nov 2017 - Updated to Angular 5.0.3
23 May 2017 - Updated to Angular 4.1.3
01 Dec 2016 - Built with Angular 2.2.1
Running the Angular 2/5 Component Communication Example Locally
Install NodeJS (> v4) and NPM (> v3) from https://nodejs.org/en/download/, you can check the versions you have installed by running node -v and npm -v from the command line. Download the project source code from https://github.com/cornflourblue/angular2-communicating-between-components Install all required npm packages by running npm install from the command line in the project root folder (where the package.json is located). Start the application by running npm start from the command line in the project root folder.
Angular 2/5 Message Service
The message service enables subscribing to messages and sending messages from any component in the application.
IMPORTANT: If you add a service like this to your application don't forget to add it to the providers: [...] section of your app.module.ts file, see here for an example. Thanks J.G. Oliver for mentioning in the comments that this wasn't clear in the post.
import { Injectable } from '@angular/core'; import { Observable } from 'rxjs'; import { Subject } from 'rxjs/Subject'; @Injectable() export class MessageService { private subject = new Subject<any>(); sendMessage(message: string) { this.subject.next({ text: message }); } clearMessage() { this.subject.next(); } getMessage(): Observable<any> { return this.subject.asObservable(); } }
Angular 2/5 App Component that Receives Messages
The app component uses the message service to subscribe to new messages and make them available to the app component template via the message property.
import { Component, OnDestroy } from '@angular/core'; import { Subscription } from 'rxjs/Subscription'; import { MessageService } from './_services/index'; @Component({ moduleId: module.id, selector: 'app', templateUrl: 'app.component.html' }) export class AppComponent implements OnDestroy { message: any; subscription: Subscription; constructor(private messageService: MessageService) { // subscribe to home component messages this.subscription = this.messageService.getMessage().subscribe(message => { this.message = message; }); } ngOnDestroy() { // unsubscribe to ensure no memory leaks this.subscription.unsubscribe(); } }
Angular 2/5 Home Component that Sends Messages
The home component uses the message service to send messages to the app component.
import { Component } from '@angular/core'; import { MessageService } from '../_services/index'; @Component({ moduleId: module.id, templateUrl: 'home.component.html' }) export class HomeComponent { constructor(private messageService: MessageService) {} sendMessage(): void { // send message to subscribers via observable subject this.messageService.sendMessage('Message from Home Component to App Component!'); } clearMessage(): void { // clear message this.messageService.clearMessage(); } }
Web Development Sydney
Feel free to drop me a line if you're looking for an Angular 2/5 developer or web developer in Sydney Australia, I also provide remote contracting services for clients outside Sydney.Thomas Page, CNN Written by
It's early evening and you're with friends, enjoying a drink or two. The sun is shining after all and it's been a long week.
The river nearby shimmers in the light. You follow its course, your eyes gradually moving up, up, over your head and then down to the other side. Eventually the water meets in a perfect circle, back where you began. Everything is as it should be. You're a resident of a Bernal Sphere, floating on the far side of the Moon -- you're used to the artificial gravity by now.
As retrofuturist artwork goes, few reach the outlandish heights of Rick Guidice and Don Davis, commissioned by NASA in 1975 to illustrate potential space colonies.
The designs sprang from the mind of a team at the NASA Ames Research Center, spearheaded by Gerard O'Neill, a Princeton professor given grants by the American space program to conduct a ten week study into off-world structures.
Working with architects, researchers, engineers and scientists in Mountain View, California, O'Neill assessed whether his ideas were feasible, eventually drawing up three concepts to present to NASA: the Bernal Sphere, the Toroidal Colony and the Cylindrical Colony.
Each used centrifugal force to generate artificial gravity, reflected in their circular designs and vast solar arrays to power their rotation. Inside verdant landscapes offered comfortable living in Modernist homes.
Bauhaus structures popped up among lakes and forests; elsewhere whitewashed villas and terracotta patios brought Ionian charm to the cold vacuum of space.
The largest concept, the Cylindrical Colony, had the potential to hold a million people at a time. For all intents and purposes, they were like Earth -- only turned inside out. O'Neill speculated that with the right technological developments, construction could begin as soon as 1990.
To view the designs with skepticism is to forget the milieu in which they were created: the last manned mission to the Moon was three years previous and Skylab, the United States' first space station, was orbiting Earth. The space shuttle program, a giant leap which promised so much, was only around the corner.
The progress of mankind's space programs must have been a crushing disappointment for O'Neill, who died in 1992. He aimed for lush vistas, but in truth we've only just learned how to cultivate lettuce. It will be a while before our space stations have room for combine harvesters -- even longer, you'd expect, before you can hang glide inside of one.
Forty years on, O'Neill's designs continue to intrigue, and have inspired numerous derivatives. Perhaps the most high profile was Cooper Station, a satellite seen in Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" -- a compact version of the Cylinder Colony, later dubbed the "O'Neill Cylinder".
It may yet be centuries before an object the size of O'Neill's colonies is ever constructed in space. For now we'll have to live with the images of what might have been -- and what, just possibly, might still be to come.PA Images
In 1997, in the heady aftermath of their landslide election win, New Labour set up the formidable sounding Football Task Force. Chaired by former Conservative MP David Mellor, the group was meant to formulate policies to soften the rampant commercialisation of English football. Though they had limited power when it came to enforcing their recommendations, the Task Force had the weight of a newly elected government behind them, not to mention the support of thousands of disgruntled fans. With the Premier League era well underway, ticket prices were soaring and corporate practices were on the rise. Football was gradually becoming a marketing exercise, and it was decided that clubs needed to be held to account.
The Task Force made some progress in its early years, gaining concessions from the Premier League on the funding of grassroots football, ticket prices and transparency of ownership. They encouraged the formation of supporters' trusts, and tried to foster dialogue between clubs and fans.
In 2000, it appeared that the Task Force had also gained a significant compromise on the increasing frequency of kit releases. Having recommended that Premier League clubs restrict the release of home kits to once every two seasons, their proposal was made manifest in the Premier League charter. This was meant to act as a general code of conduct for clubs, and was signed by the 20 sides then in the top flight.
While the frequency of kit releases might not seem like the most pressing concern for football fans, the practice of churning out new strips every season still hits people hard. While it represents only a small part of the ever increasing financial onus on supporters, it is still reflective of a corporate culture in which fans are squeezed for every penny they have. Releasing a new home kit every season is especially punishing for parents, who inevitably end up shouldering the burden on behalf of their kids. It's an exploitative practice, especially considering that the price of kits has been rising steadily for years. The average adult Premier League home strip now costs just under £50, while kids' kits aren't all that much cheaper. That's exactly why they shouldn't be tweaked and reissued year in, year out.
READ MORE: Collective Management, Fan Democracy – Introducing United London FC
The Football Task Force saw the need to address the frequency of kit releases almost two decades ago, when strips were significantly cheaper. Created in consultation with supporters, the Premier League charter was meant to set some restrictions in stone. That's why it included a pledge that "all replica strip designs should have a minimum lifespan of two seasons."
The question that now needs to be answered is: why has that pledge been consistently and comprehensively ignored?
First of all, it should be said that the Premier League charter was not legally binding. It was a voluntary agreement, and depended on clubs' good faith. At some point in the last decade, that good faith seems to have evaporated. The majority of Premier League clubs now issue new home and away kits every season, not to mention third kits and vintage strips. Often, new designs vary only marginally from their immediate predecessors. Kits are now released so often that suppliers seem to have run out of ideas.
Arsenal's six latest home kits, with incremental changes at best // Via
It's obvious that the Premier League charter has been disregarded, then. The charter seems to have been removed from the Premier League's website altogether, with the original page apparently unavailable. When we entered 'Premier League charter' into the website's search bar, no reference to the agreement signed in 2000 was forthcoming. If the kit pledge has been repeatedly flaunted, that's perhaps because the charter itself has been quietly and indecorously dropped.
It's hard not to feel that the fans' manifesto has been swept under the carpet, an inconvenient obstacle to clubs cashing in. With directors now doing everything within their power to attract and please sponsors, it suits their interests to have near-constant kit turnover. The sense of secrecy around the semi-defunct Premier League charter has only been borne out by the lack of communication from the league itself. Having contacted the Premier League regarding the issue, we received no response. Having contacted all 20 top flight clubs over the frequency of their kit releases, we received four replies, all of which can be summarised in two words: "No comment."
READ MORE: We Spoke To Darmstadt 98 About Providing Free Season Tickets To Low-Income Supporters
One organisation which was willing to give comment was the Football Supporters' Federation. While admitting that the frequency of kit releases is a lower priority than issues like ticket prices, safe standing, stewarding and policing, a spokesperson for the Federation told us that they are aware that kits can be "very expensive" and have tried to suggest certain measures to clubs. For instance, they have advocated 'use by' dates on strips to ensure some sort of longevity and value for money. Whether or not the powers that be will heed their suggestions is yet to be seen, though the precedent of the Premier League charter suggests that fans shouldn't hold their breath.
In fairness, exploitative kit practises are not unique to the Premier League. The majority of clubs in La Liga and the Bundesliga also release new strips every season, while almost all of Europe's big clubs do the same. That said, those clubs did not enter into an agreement with supporters which they have now broken. The Premier League charter was meant to reign in the rampant excess of constant kit releases. Unfortunately, thanks to surreptitious non-compliance, it appears to have stuttered, faltered and failed.
@W_F_MageeRead more about us...
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We have built a reliable business that keeps on growing. The expert team believes this is due to careful selection of bathroom suites, accessories and furniture which are great value for money. And, with well known brands such as Ideal Standard, Armitage Shanks, Moods and more, you can be sure that your products will be the perfect quality that we know you want. Popular Brands, Internet Prices Our team are proud to retail the Acorn Powell range of stainless steel products. We stock a fantastic range of shower enclosures from such leading names as Mira, Flair, and Manhattan. Of course some bathrooms can't accommodate a bath and a shower enclosure, so we have a range of shower screens to fit your bath too. If you just need to change individual items, we have basins, baths, and toilets, and, for that extra bit of indulgence, we now sell spa and whirlpool baths. See our baths section for further details. Bathrooms and Fittings to Compliment Your Space Perfectly
It doesn’t stop there. The team have also hand picked some of the best quality boilers, radiators, and heated towel rails - all at our great discounted prices. We also stock under floor heating and plinth heaters. So, its not hard to see that we work tirelessly to bring you a huge catalogue of bathrooms products and accessories that make buying showers, baths and furniture online a pleasure. Take a look at our large online store now to see just why some other firms servicing the same industry struggle to match our competitive prices, outstanding customer service, and rapid delivery times. If you need your products fast please visit our sister sitePHILADELPHIA—In the summer of 2011 I began working on a feature article about a book that most people have never heard of—the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a reference guide for psychiatrists and clinicians. Most of the DSM's pages contain lists of symptoms that characterize different mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and so on). The DSM not only defines mental illness, it often determines whether patients receive treatment—in many cases, insurance companies require an official DSM diagnosis before they subsidize medication or other therapies.
For the first time in 30 years the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is substantially revising the DSM to make diagnoses more accurate and make the book more user-friendly (1994's DSM-IV did not differ dramatically from 1980's DSM-III). The association plans to publish a brand new edition of the manual, the DSM-5, in May 2013.
When I was reporting my feature article, published in the May/June issue of Scientific American MIND, I spent a lot of time on the phone with members of the APA Task Force—the group of psychiatrists and researchers who oversee the revisions to the DSM. This weekend I attended the APA's annual meeting here in Philadelphia to hear some of these researchers speak in person and to learn more about the DSM-5. I was particularly excited about results from the "field trials"—dry runs of the new DSM-5 diagnoses at universities and clinics around the country. The field trials are primarily concerned with one question: do different psychiatrists using the revised DSM-5 diagnoses reach the same conclusion about the same patient? If they do, the updated lists of symptoms have high "reliability"—a good thing in medicine. If not, the new diagnoses are unreliable and the revisions are a failure.
The APA has not yet published the results of the field trials, but at the annual meeting in Philly the association gave a preview of the findings during a Saturday symposium. It was a first glimpse at extremely important data that many people have been waiting a long time to see.
Some of the results—and the way in which the speakers presented them—frustrated and concerned me.
To understand why, it's helpful to first discuss some statistics. I'll keep it simple. The APA uses a statistic called kappa to measure the reliability of different diagnoses. The higher the value of kappa, the more reliable the diagnosis, with 1.0 representing perfect reliability. The APA considers a diagnosis with a kappa of 0.8 or higher miraculously reliable; 0.6 to 0.8 is excellent; 0.4 to 0.6 is good; 0.2 to 0.4 "could be accepted" and anything below 0.2 is unacceptably unreliable. Low reliability is a big problem for clinicians, patients and researchers alike: it means that only a minority of clinicians agree when diagnosing a disorder and that researchers who want to study a particular disorder will have a very hard time identifying participants who truly have the disorder in question. If no one agrees, it is hard to make progress of any kind.
Darrel Regier, vice chair of the APA's DSM-5 Task Force, presented kappas for various DSM-5 diagnoses—the first publicly released results from the field trials. Fortunately, the kappas for many of the DSM-5 diagnoses look strong. Field trials of the new autism spectrum disorder (ASD), for example—which collapses DSM-IV diagnoses for autistic disorder, Asperger's and other developmental conditions into one category—yielded a kappa of 0.69. However, two pitiful kappas shocked me. The kappa for generalized anxiety disorder was about 0.2 and the kappa for major depressive disorder was about 0.3.
These numbers are way too low according to the APA's own scales—and they are much lower than kappas for the disorders in previous versions of the DSM. Regier and other members of the APA emphasized that field trial methodology for the latest edition is far more rigorous than in the past and that kappas for many diagnoses in earlier editions of the DSM were likely inflated. But that doesn't change the fact that the APA has a problem on its hands: its own data suggests that some of the updated definitions are so flawed that only a minority of psychiatrists reach the same conclusions when using them on the same patient. And the APA has limited time to do something about it.
Although the APA has been working on the DSM-5 for more than 11 years now, field trials only started within the last year. While reporting my feature, I asked members of the APA why they waited so long to conduct the field trials. After all, only one year remains until scheduled publication of the DSM-5 and we still do not know whether the revised diagnoses are reliable and whether they are a genuine improvement over their predecessors. I never received a satisfactory answer
To make an analogy, consider a baker who spends months developing a recipe for the ultimate chocolate cake in his head and—a day before he has to deliver the cake—finally tries out the recipe only to discover that the cake tastes awful. He has one day to come up with something else. The APA has placed itself in a similarly desperate position. The final drafts of the new manual are due December of this year, which means the APA has less than 8 months to implement what it has learned from the field trials if it wants to publish on schedule. New field trials would take years to arrange and at least one additional year to conduct. Either the association delays publication of the DSM-5 for several more years, revises the diagnoses yet again and conducts new field trials—or it goes forward with the current schedule and publishes a significantly flawed DSM-5.
If the APA has a plan of action—beyond vague statements like "continuing to analyze our data"—the association did not make it clear at the symposium. The presenters hardly seemed troubled by the alarming results. Even worse, they sometimes came off as oblivious.
Eve Moscicki of the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education gave the final presentation in the symposium. Moscicki helped coordinate the field trials in clinics. For some reason, Moscicki decided to spend more than half her allotted time on irrelevant details—such as the benefits of a good technical support team—before getting to the actual field trial results. Finally she pulled up some colorful bar graphs showing what clinicians and patients thought about the new DSM-5 diagnoses. The bars showed what percentage of respondents thought that the new definitions were Extremely Useful, Very Useful, Moderately Useful, Slightly Useful or Not at All Useful. Infographic enthusiasts know that bar graphs are a weak way to present data like this—it's difficult to make visual comparisons across so many categories at the same time. A pie chart would have been much clearer. **(See Edited to Add below for corrections and clarification).**
"Well, yes, it looks to me like the majority thought it was very or extremely useful," Moscicki said of the one revised diagnoses.
"That's incorrect," I said, standing up. "37 percent plus 7 percent does not equal more than 50 percent." In fact, the majority of respondents thought that the new criteria were somewhere between moderately to not at all useful. "You can't present this data as a bar graph. It's deceptive," I added. It was the third time that Moscicki had made such a mistake, overestimating the percentage of positive responses and glossing over the DSM-5's shortcomings apparent in the results.
"Well, umm, just remember this is a first look…"
"Totally deceptive," I said. I swung my backpack over one shoulder and walked out of the room.
In retrospect, I should not have called the graph deceptive, although I do still think that the data was poorly presented. I wish I had stuck around for the final minutes of the presentation, but I was too upset to remain in the room any longer. Perhaps I overreacted. After reflecting on the experience, however, I remain genuinely concerned about the future of the DSM.
Moscicki is right about one thing: this is just a first look. Until the APA officially publishes the results of the field trials, nobody outside the association can complete a proper analysis. What I have seen so far has convinced me that the association should anticipate even stronger criticism than it has already weathered. In fairness, the APA has made changes to the drafts of the DSM-5 based on earlier critiques. But the drafts are only open to comment for another six weeks. And so far no one outside the APA has had access to the field trial data, which I have no doubt many researchers will seize and scour. I only hope that the flaws they uncover will make the APA look again—and look closer.
**Edited to Add**
A few people have pointed out that a pie chart is not necessarily clearer than a bar graph when it comes to presenting the data I discussed. That's true. I realize now I did not explain my meaning correctly. What bothered me is that Moscicki was guesstimating. She was eyeballing the percentages represented by different bars and adding them together in her head to see if, combined, the Very and Extremely useful percentages were greater than the rest of the categories. Instead, she should have graphically combined the data into two categories for clear comparison—whether as two wedges in a pie chart or as two bars—before her presentation. The solution that popped into my mind at the time was a pie chart in which the wedge representing the combined Very and Extremely useful percentages was clearly less than half of the pie and the wedge representing the combined Moderately, Slightly and Not at All useful categories was clearly more than half. In the grand scheme of things, this particular point is a quibble—but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. My frustration had been building throughout the symposium and I could not stand for what I perceived as glib treatment of crucial data.in Hindu culture,[1] Kala Pani or Kalapani, meaning "Black Water", refers to a past proscription of crossing the ocean. According to this mindset, crossing the seas to foreign lands causes the loss of one's social respectability, as well as the putrefaction of one’s cultural character and posterity.[2]
History [ edit ]
The offense of crossing the sea is also known as "Samudrolanghana" or "Sagarollanghana". The Dharma Sutra of Baudhayana (II.1.2.2) lists sea voyages as first of the offences that cause the loss of varna.[3] The Dharma Sutra suggests a person can wipe away this offense in three years by eating little at every fourth meal time; bathing at dawn, noon and dusk; standing during the day; and seated during the night.[4]
The reasons behind the proscription include the inability to carry out the daily rituals of traditional Hindu life and the sin of contact with the characterless, uncivilized mleccha creatures of the foreign lands.[5] An associated notion was that crossing the ocean entailed the end of the reincarnation cycle, as the traveler was cut off from the regenerating waters of the Ganges. Such voyages also meant breaking family and social ties. In another respect, the inhabitants of the land beyond the "black water" were houglis, bad-spirited and monstrous swines, as well. The mleccha people were thought to have been spawned by immoral reprobates and blasphemously held religious belief in nāstika, albeit in different forms. They were thought to have rejected the Vedas and have ceased to worship the divine Vedic God in favor of concocted religions and irreligions, with contemptible manners of reverence. Their societies were immoral and built on deceit, subjugation, |
ellerman — as your colleagues?
It’s kind of weird hearing that, but they are when I’m in the broadcast booth. They’re my partners. And I learn a great deal from those guys. Lampley has a memory like an elephant. He has no notes. He runs the whole show and he makes it look easy. Kellerman is a younger guy but he’s been around and has done a lot of things in television. It’s a cumulative effect on me to help me become what I want to become as a broadcaster. But the best thing is I’m able to make a decent living and I’m not taking any punches. So that’s a bonus.
It sounds like that’s very important to you.
Very important. Because ultimately, the broadcasting is part of my exit strategy. That’s what I’m in the beginning stages of creating. Because I’ll be 30 in February. I’m coming up on ten years as a professional. I’ve got ten years as an amateur in the bank. That’s twenty years of boxing — I don’t know how much longer I have. That sounds crazy to people when I say that as a 29-year-old, but I feel like it’s my duty to think like this. A lot of guys find themselves on the wrong end of their career, with no plan B and fighting longer than they should because they thought it would never end.
Is it a difficult experience to analyze a fight? You’re a fighter —
It is.
How so?
It’s hard for me to critique guys and say certain things sometimes. That’s one thing that Lampley and the folks at HBO told me from day one, that I have to be willing to do that. That’s something that I’m actively working on. But I also feel like I have an advantage, too. Take the fighter meetings for example. When he walks into that room, I understand the look in his eyes. They’re making weight so they probably haven’t eaten much that day, probably haven’t had any fluids. They’re getting asked certain questions they maybe don’t want to answer. I understand what they’re going through so I have a compassion that you can only have if you’ve done it.
All in all, it’s awkward sometimes but it’s getting easier to do. Sometimes I can predict something based on my experience. I feel confident knowing I can do the job not just from an intellectual standpoint, but experientially as well. I know what it feels like to get cut. I know what it feels like to get hit with a good shot and get your bell rung. I know exactly what a swollen eye feels like. So it just helps me bring something to the booth that’s unique and enhances what they’re already doing.
Was there a moment when you felt the most comfortable? Like a fight where you went, ‘You know I killed this broadcast.’
I’m really hard on myself. That can be good and bad for me. But I’ve had a couple of shows where I said you know what? I think I did good. My wife is always the confirmation.
“Babe, how’d it look?†And she’ll say, “You did that baby, you did good.†So if she tells me that then I’m not tripping. But I’m getting more comfortable. Whenever I get back-to-back shows without a big lull, that’s when I feel the best. But I’d say my biggest challenge right now is my on-camera. When they say three, two, one we’re live and you’ve got the mic in your hand and you have to answer questions on the fly … you have to look at who’s addressing you but also keep in mind you’ve got to make eye contact with the viewer, that’s what I’m trying to improve upon. I normally feel comfortable calling the fight. But it’s when I’m on camera is what I have to work on.
Page: 1 2 3Author: Barry Birkey, Editor: Sarah Bass, Date: April 13, 2015
A Beekeeper’s Frame of Mind
Frames are to a beehive what folders are to a filing cabinet: they structure and support the essential elements of a system. As there is little more essential to a hive than comb, frames are probably the most extensively engineered piece of equipment a beekeeper will use in his or her hive structure. The necessity of frames for comb manipulation, combined with the demands placed on frames throughout the beekeeping season, makes them one of the weightiest financial investments a beekeeper will make. The wise beekeeper, therefore, should take into consideration qualities such as suitability, functionality, durability, price, and in some cases, aesthetics, before purchasing a product so foundational to the construct and operation of his or her hive. It’s just a matter of knowing what to look for.
But first things first: what’s in a frame? (Besides foundation, of course.)
A Very Brief, Semi-historical Frame Work
Dating back to the mid-1600s, beekeepers have used wooden frames to facilitate the removal, inspection and reuse of comb. Today, though there are some variations in frame style and size in the U.S. and abroad (like frames made of plastic, for example), most of the frame components of the bee hive (as they include frames and various types of foundation) are standardized to fit the dimensions of the Langstroth or modified Dadant hive design. This uniformity provides the beekeeper with choice in brand while usually ensuring proper fit and utility even when combining products from different manufacturers, although the intent of this review is to highlight some of the differences that do exist.
Most frames used in the U.S. today look similar to this one, a frame-style known as the “Hoffman”:
Frames require precise dimensions to accommodate foundation and the spacing of comb while providing and maintaining proper bee space (from 5/16” to 7/16”). One of the convenient qualities of the Hoffman design is that it allows frames to be self-spacing when pushed together, a margin created by the widest part of the end bars touching each other. Frames must not only hold up under the weight of brood and honey, especially when frames are subject to the stress of machines during the honey extraction process, but they must sustain the demands of hives-in-transit when moved across the country for pollination work – all with the expectation that frames will be reusable again and again.
Bar Hopping
The two most common wooden top bar styles are wedge and groove.
Frames that have top bars with a removable wedge are typically designed for wax foundation. The foundation is secured to the top bar by being pinched with the wooden strip as it’s nailed in place. Conversely, a grooved top bar is generally used with plastic foundation as the groove provides a slot into which the plastic sheet is slid and secured.
A foundationless style top bar is also being sold. For beekeepers who want the bees to build their own comb without any influence of the cell pattern on foundation, this design provides a beveled starting point for comb attachment to the top bar that helps to keep the comb straight.
Top bar ends, also known as ears, are made two ways, with every manufacturer making all of its top bars in one style or the other. The first is known as the chamfered style, the other, –square.
As illustrated in the diagram, the chamfered style removes the outer corners of the bar, giving it a more rounded end. The advantage of the chamfered bar emerges most distinctly in commercial beekeeping, for the architecture of the bar makes it less likely than square bars to bind and jam when employed in extraction equipment and passed through the various stages of the honey removal process. Chamfered ends also provide less surface area for bees to propolize (cement with propolis) the gap between the top bar and the hive body rabbet.
End bars have a notch (dado) on top and bottom to receive the top and bottom bars. All end bars are 1-3/8” wide on the top one-third and then reduce down to 1-1/8” on the bottom two-thirds. This narrowing of the bar creates space for bees to move between the frames of comb around the ends rather than just the top and bottom.
Concerning bottom bar design, grooved, solid and split are the three styles available. All three will work with the wedge top bar and wax foundation since cross-wiring is used to support the rest of the sheet, whereas a grooved bottom bar best suits the use of a grooved top bar and plastic foundation.
Framing Yourself Without Getting Caught
There are many options available to you as the beekeeper when it comes to selecting frames. That being said, with a myriad of choices available and a multitude of manufacturers advertising themselves with a traffic-jam of superlatives like:
“Unparalleled Fit!”
“The Best!”
“More Wood!”
“Tighter Fit!”
the obvious question remains: How does one choose the right frame without feeling beekeeper’s remorse?
Hence, this review. Reading it through to the end is probably a good place to start.
First, you need to decide how you plan to manage your bees, as this approach will influence the frame style most conducive to your beekeeping method. Perhaps you are the sort of beekeeper who wants your bees to build comb on wax foundation. For this you will need end bars that have a series of holes in them for wiring (as previously mentioned). Considering the fact that foundation is made in a wide variety of cell-size imprint, this may also dictate your frame selection based on the foundation available in a certain cell size. In the case of wax foundation you would likely find the wedge top bar frame most suitable.
Alternatively, you may choose to use wooden frames with plastic foundation, or go completely foundationless altogether, putting a strip of wood in a grooved top bar or using the wedge strip on a wedged top bar turned at a 90-degree angle from the top bar. Both methods provide a starting point for bees to draw their own comb completely. Or, as illustrated, you may buy the foundationless frames that have a beveled starting edge manufactured right into them. The choice really is yours, and an important one to make before purchasing anything. Once the choice is made, however, the controlling selection factors can be boiled down to two primary considerations: quality and cost.
You may decide to opt for one-piece plastic frames for ease of use, as it eliminates the need for assembly of frames and foundation. Further, unlike wax foundation to which adding cross wires is a common necessity, plastic frames don’t require additional foundation support.
The Seven Lions of Frame Making
Seven companies manufacture the lion’s share of wooden hive frames in the United States. They are, alphabetically, as follows:
Beeline Apiaries and Woodenware: This manufacturer consists of three independently owned and operated businesses located in Michigan, Colorado and Washington. They all produce the same products and work collaboratively to ship supplies to the customer from the closest dealer. A unique feature of this manufacturer is that there is no central office or location that manages the branches.
Betterbee: A company located in New York, Betterbee has been in business for over thirty-five years and operates with a staff of roughly twenty-four people. In recent years, Betterbee has been under new management, renewing its commitment to providing excellent products and customer service to the consumer.
Dadant & Sons Beekeeping Supplies/Western Bee Supplies: Dadant is possibly the largest manufacturer of bee supplies in the United States and has an extensive history in beekeeping. Dadant’s manufacturing dates back to 1878 with the production of foundation. In 1924, the company moved its enterprise into a tire factory in Hamilton, IL, the location of its headquarters today, although Dadant has ten branch locations across the United States. Western Bee Supplies, located in Montana, is a subsidiary of Dadant and makes all of its woodenware.
Kelley Beekeeping: This company was originally started in Louisiana in the 1920s by Mr. Walter T. Kelley. With Mr. Kelley’s death in 1986, the company transitioned to private ownership and now has its manufacturing base in Kentucky. It offers a wide range of manufactured goods for beekeeping.
Mann Lake: Mann Lake began in Hackensack, Minnesota, thirty-one years ago and remains the location where the majority of its products are manufactured. Mann Lake has three branch locations in the United States, as well as a branch in the United Kingdom. The manufacturer markets itself as a “100% Employee-Owned Company.” (For further elaboration on exactly what that slogan means, feel free to contact Mann Lake directly!)
Miller Bee Supply: Miller began in 1976 as a father-son owned business. In 1994, the son, Presley, bought out his father’s share and became the sole owner. In 2003, Miller built their current warehouse in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, out of which they continue to operate today.
Shastina Millwork: The owners of Shastina Millwork have over fifty years of experience in the lumber and wood industry and have serviced bee box manufacturers throughout that time period. Additionally, Shastina manufactures wooden products for the agricultural industry, an enterprise that has been functioning for twenty years. For over a decade, Shastina has been producing a wide variety of woodenware for beekeepers, ranging from novice to expert. Although Shastina began as a family business and has now grown into a mid-size corporation, it strives to preserve the “small-town family” mindset.
Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it: the pride of beekeeping manufacturers. In the words of Bottom to Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Let [them] roar again.”
Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty: A Framed Review
Before we take a closer look at the wooden frames produced by the featured manufacturers, a few words on the parameters framing this review are in order.
All of the frames are deep (9-1/8”) and were assembled using 17-gauge cement-coated box nails designed specifically for frame construction. This is the traditional method by which frames are assembled seeing that not everyone has pneumatic staplers and nailers.
Two cement-coated box nails (1-1/4”) were used to attach the top bar to the end bars, and two cement-coated nails (1”) were used to attach the bottom bar to the end bars. All frame joints were also glued with Titebond II for reinforcement.
A frame assembly jig like the one pictured was used to enable ten frames to be assembled at a time, holding parts square during assembly.
Ten end bars are inserted on each side of the jig, sandwiched between two boards, with pressure applied from the outer board using elastic straps. Glue is applied to the end bar notches and the top bars are applied to all ten and nailed. The jig is then flipped over and the process repeated with the bottom bars. Once the frames are completely assembled the elastic straps are removed and the inner boards fall out along with the frames.
In this review we assessed ten wedge frames and ten groove frames from each manufacturer (with the exception of Shastina, who only produces grooved top bar frames), with top bar ends varying between square and chamfered depending on the manufacturer. Even though we assessed both top bar frame designs, however, the features that were commendable and/or problematic had less to do with style and more to do with the quality of manufacturing. Therefore, the focus of each review is on the overall quality of frames per manufacturer rather than the nuances between the frames styles of each.
Finally, for the sake of fluidity, product references, numerical data, precise measurements and price comparisons (net cost per frame) have been either listed or formatted into a chart at the conclusion of this article for the reader’s convenience.
We have separated this review according to manufacturer, so we’ll start alphabetically.
Framed: Beeline Apiaries and Woodenware
Frame grade: commercial
Top bar ends: square
Wood type: Eastern Pine
Assembly nails included with purchase: no
General: Wood is slightly rough with loose-hanging wood fibers. The end bars of Beeline frames feature a double dado bottom bar joint that present no splitting issue when nailed. On the wedge top bars, the wedge is easily removed by hand, with a tool needed to remove the remaining thin strip of wood on the top bar. The wedge cleans up easily by hand as well.
Pluses: The frame parts come together snugly, creating tight joints that hold together when dry fitting. The pine used for the frames has a very even grain pattern with consistently low wood density, making it easy to drive nails straight. Only occasionally did we come across denser pieces with wider or more angled grain.
Problems: Seventy-five percent of the end bars extend up past the top of the top bar. There are also no rabbets on the bottom bar against which to seat the end bars, making assembly more difficult as you have to spend extra time lining up the pieces before nailing them in place. Beeline is one of only two manufacturers whose bottom bars aren’t rabbeted. And, while we expect all pieces of wood to have a limited degree of warping regardless of manufacturer, one top bar from Beeline was deformed beyond reason and rehabilitation, rendering the frame useless.
Net price: $1.61/ea.
Framed: Betterbee
Frame grade: only one available
Top bar ends: square
Wood type: Eastern Pine
Assembly nails included with purchase: no
General: The wood is nicely milled with the smoothest finish of all the brands. The quality is consistent and uniform in all twenty frame parts. The grain pattern is slight with overall consistency, providing for easy nailing. The frame pieces fit together well with no wiggle room, a characteristic especially noticeable when attempting to slide the end bar into the dados of the top bar. You can dry fit the frame parts together and wave the frame around and it will hold firmly together, demonstrating exceptionally tight joints. There are, however, hanging wood fibers on the bottom bar rabbet cuts, although they are soft, thin, and don’t pose a sliver issue.
Pluses: The top bar wedge strip is the sturdiest of all the wedges reviewed (measuring a full ¼” x ½”), yet remains easy to break off. Upon separating the wedge from the top bar the remaining thin wood strips on both are slight and easily removed with a finger, although most often the top bar is free of any thin strip of wood after the wedge is broken off. In our opinion, the quality of the precut wedge doesn’t get better than Betterbee’s.
Betterbee features one of the thickest end bars made. The pre-drilled holes are clean, with very few wood fibers remaining in them. The rabbet cuts on the bottom bar ends that receive the end bars, while being very slight, still leave enough of a shoulder to support the end bar. This provides more wood (approx. ¼”) on either side of the groove to receive fasteners for attaching to the end bar, decreasing the chance of the bottom bar ends splitting. We had no splitting issues.
Problems: Due to tight tolerances of the joints, a bit more effort is required to assemble the frames. Chamfered end bars would aid in assembling.
Net Price: $1.06/ea.
Framed: Dadant & Sons Beekeeping Supplies/Western Bee Supplies
Frame grade: select
Top bar ends: chamfered
Wood type: Western Ponderosa Pine
Assembly nails included with purchase: yes
General: The wood is slightly rough to the touch with loose-hanging wood fibers on the edges. The Ponderosa Pine has a pronounced grain pattern and is denser than Eastern Pine. Of all the frames, Dadant/Western frames actually weigh the most. The top bar has a chamfered end profile. Dry fitting parts together requires little effort and you cannot wave and shake the frame around without it coming apart.
End bars (3/8” thick) have pre-drilled holes with considerable fibers remaining in them on one side of the bar. Occasionally the end bar extends above the top bar. The bottom bar (1/2” thick) has a 3/8” deep “V” groove with a width of 3/16” tapered to 1/8” at the bottom making it the widest available.
Pluses: Once together, the frame is solid and has a heavier feel than all the others. (That’s because it is heavier!) The frame also features thick end bars and bottom bars.
Problems: The wedge strip requires some effort to remove by hand and usually needs a sharp tool to remove the remaining thin strip of wood, as it rarely breaks cleanly and tends to splinter when separated. (It’s a scrappy piece of wood!) The wedge strip (5/32”x 1/2”) is one of the thinnest manufactured.
When nailing the bottom bar to the end bar, we notice that the bottom bar ends consistently split. This is due to the grain pattern and density of the wood species as well as the narrow/deep piece of wood the nail is penetrating, although it doesn’t appear to negatively affect the integrity of the bottom bar. The photo clearly shows how the nails follow the grain of the wood on an angle.
Nailing parts together takes considerable more effort due to the grain of the wood. It is quite difficult to drive nails straight; we find that nails frequently want to take off in a different direction, following the grain. We wonder if this happens as well when using pneumatic fasteners.
Net Price: $1.16/ea.
* 09/01/15 Western Bee Supply bottom bar update at the end of the article.
Framed: Kelley Beekeeping
Frame grade: only one available
Top bar ends: square
Wood type: Pine (species unknown)
Assembly nails included with purchase: yes
General: Wood has a slight roughness to the touch with hanging loose wood fibers on the edges. The pine used has a very slight grain pattern and the wood density was consistent, making it easy to drive nails straight. Frame parts fit together well, creating tight joints that held together when dry fitting. The top bar wedge strip is easy to break off by hand, the easiest to remove of all the brands. The remaining thin strip of wood on both the wedge and top bar after separation is very slight and easily removed with a finger or tool. The wedge itself is very sturdy.
All frame styles assessed (SG, SGX, N and F) have end bars with pre-drilled holes for wiring and pins, while the “N” style has a groove as well. The “N” style has a slot all the way through the top bar, running its length. This style is designed for wax foundation with or without wires. The “F” style top bar has a “V” shaped underside providing a starting point from which bees build comb. All styles utilize a double dado bottom bar/end bar joint where the center pin fits into the groove of the bottom bar, offering maximum area for glue and support.
Pluses: Kelley’s “N” style end bars are very robust measuring over ½” thick! They provide a lot of surface area for attaching top and bottom bars, creating quite a strong frame. Even their standard end bar with a double dado joint for the bottom bar makes for a strong connection when all parts are milled correctly, providing maximum surface area for glue.
Problems: Even though the wax foundation sits within a wood groove on all sides on the “N” style frame, Kelley still recommends support pins or cross wiring. This gives us cause to wonder how hard it will be to clean out the top bar slot, end and bottom bar grooves when it comes time to replace the foundation, as those are spaces where a lot of wax and propolis are bound to end up. You would have to remove the cross wires in order to slide a new piece of foundation down the grooves.
Frame parts and joints are somewhat lacking in dimensional consistency and accuracy. The top bars, for example, are as short as 18-15/16” and as long as 19-1/16”, varying as much as 1/8” in length. Given the close tolerance between the end of a frame and the hive body (1/16”), combined with wax and propolis, you could have difficulty manipulating frames with a top bar over 19” in length. We feel a full 1/16th spacing, in this case, is an important dimension to maintain.
The two cuts in the top bar that create the wedge do not cut equally to form a smooth rabbet once the wedge is removed. A 1/8” x 1/16” shoulder remains. This restricts the wedge from compressing tightly against the foundation, as wax foundation is thinner than 1/8”. You are forced to lift the wedge up and over this ridge in order to contact the foundation for securing. This is just another slowdown in the assembly process.
We found advertising inconsistent with the actual measurements of the frame. The “SG” style end bars are 5/16” thick (while advertised as 3/8” thick), and the “N” style end bars measure 9/16” thick, while advertised as ½” thick. The “SGX” and “F” style are both 1/32″ shy of 3/8″.
While the thicker “N” style end bars assembled without a problem, the standard thinner ones on the “SG” style had a high percentage of splitting at the bottom bar joint. When the bottom bar is seated all the way into the double dado joint on the end bar (the outer two fingers measuring 3/16” wide), a split is created at one of the fingers nearly every time, compromising the integrity of the end bar. We found the reason for this splitting is due to the groove in the bottom bar not being exactly centered, whereby the center pin of the double dado forces it to one side.
Eighteen out of twenty “SG” end bars split at the bottom joint due to a poor-fitting double dado joint. Five out of twenty “SGX” end bars split. No splitting on the “F” frames.
A vast majority of Kelley’s end bars stick above the top bar. We’re not sure whether this is due to the dado in the end bar or the milling of the ear of the top bar, or both. This lends itself to frustration when scraping and/or cleaning top bars with a hive tool, since the tool catches on these pieces of wood.
Net Price: $1.20
Framed: Mann Lake
Frame grade: only one available
Top bar ends: chamfered
Wood type: Pine (species unknown)
Assembly nails included with purchase: no
General: Nicely milled wood, fairly smooth to the touch. The quality and dimensionality is consistent throughout all twenty frame parts. The wood has a more pronounced grain pattern and the wood density is consistent, making it easy enough to drive nails straight. The end bars come either plain or with pre-drilled holes. The end bars with holes are fairly clean with few wood fibers remaining in them. The top bar/end bar joint is tight enough to stay together when dry fit, however the end bar/bottom bar joint does not hold together when dry fit.
Pluses: Mann Lake is one of two manufacturers that chamfer the top and bottom dado cuts in the end bar, a nice touch and added bonus that improves the ease of frame assembly.
Problems: The wedge style top bar measures 11/16” thick, while the groove style is reduced to 5/8” thickness. This decreases the shoulder height on the top bar, making it more difficult to install a nail or staple through the end bar into the top bar under the bar ear.
As with Dadant/Western, Mann Lake’s bottom bar (at ½” thick) frequently has minor splitting at the ends when being nailed, although this doesn’t appear to negatively impact the integrity of the bottom bar or frame.
Net Price: $1.25/ea.
Framed: Miller Bee Supply
Frame grade: #1
Top bar ends: square
Wood type: Eastern Pine
Assembly nails included with purchase: no
General: There is a smooth feel to the wood and the quality is consistent in all twenty frame parts. The wood grain pattern is slight with overall consistency, making it easy to nail together. There is little to no splitting at the bottom bar ends when nailed. Frame parts fit together fairly loosely (you can’t pick up a dry fit frame that holds together), however the looseness of the joint fit makes assembly quite easy. The removal of the wedge strip tends to leave the remaining wood ridge entirely on either the top bar or wedge. Removal of this ridge requires a tool.
Pluses: It is a fine manufactured frame. It has a good clean look overall, and very clean holes in the end bars for the most part.
Problems: There is a lack of consistency in the milling of the top bar ends. The two dados for the end bars are not always aligned with the shoulder, thereby creating a noticeable gap. This causes a lack of additional lateral support to the end bars.
Net Price: $0.95/ea.
Framed: Shastina Millwork
Frame grade: only one available
Top bar ends: chamfered
Wood type: Western Ponderosa Pine
Assembly nails included with purchase: no
General: Shastina uses Ponderosa Pine for their frames. They make one frame style with a grooved top and bottom bar. Parts are generally smooth to the touch. End bars have distinctive mill markings with one side smooth and the other side roughened with fine bandsaw markings. The end bars do not come pre-drilled with holes.
Pluses: End bars are chamfered slightly on the top and greater on the bottom, aiding in faster assembly.
The frame parts assemble easily and quickly and fit together well, with little to no movement once dry fit. The dry fit frame holds together when shaken.
Problems: The species of wood is denser than Eastern Pine with a prominent grain, making it more difficult to nail by hand and drive nails straight.
Net price: $1.25/ea.
Concluding Remarks
While all seven companies manufacture frames that fall within the acceptable parameters of frame construction and use in modern beekeeping equipment, you can see that there are differences (some quite distinct) among them.
About Wood:
Wood species proves to have a significant impact on frame assembly, particularly when small, thin pieces of wood are fastened together. Eastern Pine is easier to nail and far more forgiving than Western Pine. Driving a nail straight into a frame made of Western Pine takes considerable more effort than one made of Eastern Pine. Its higher density and more prominent graining tends to force the nail in the direction of the grain.
Fifty frames made of Western Pine required four hundred nails, of which nineteen broke through the side of the end bar (and we are no novices when it comes to driving nails!). In the assembly of one hundred twenty frames made of Eastern Pine (requiring eight hundred eighty nails), ten broke through the side of the end bar, five of which happened on the thinnest end bars made by Kelley. Whether the results would have been different with the use of a pneumatic fastener is not something about which we are prepared to remark. Hopefully those who have tried it will share their findings.
End Bars:
End bars with chamfered notches for the top and bottom bars like those of Mann Lake and Shastina are easier to assemble. The chamfers guide the adjoining pieces into the joint with ease, while it takes more work to assemble a joint that has square edges, especially those with very tight-fitting joints.
The double dado joint used by Beeline and Kelley to attach their bottom bar can be a double-edged sword. We realize it has more surface area for gluing (which is good), however it also requires a higher degree of accuracy in manufacturing to keep all parts fitting properly. When there is even slight misalignment, it can cause the bottom of the end bar to split. This seems like an unnecessary hassle on both ends considering the fact that a simple single dado works just fine.
Bottom Bars:
If assembling more than a handful of frames we are of the opinion that not having rabbeted notches on the bottom bar (like Beeline and Kelley) is a considerable disadvantage. Extra time and attention have to be given to this stage of assembly to make sure the bottom bar is in the correct position before attaching. This usually results in getting glue on your hands as you wrestle to properly adjust it. Conversely, having a notched bottom bar enables automatic self-alignment of the two pieces as they are joined.
Between the two thicknesses of bottom bars used (1/2” and 3/8”), bars that measure ½” have a tendency to split at the end when nailed, unlike the bar that measures 3/8”. The slightest of rabbeting (A) on the ½” thick bars as opposed to the deeper rabbet (B), would provide maximum amount of wood to nail through, thereby helping to reduce the splitting of the ends. Structurally, however, either thickness should suffice when it comes to proper function in a frame. We are aware that in certain circumstances when bees build brace/burr comb between the bottom bar and the top bar directly below it, lifting apart boxes can pull a thinner bottom bar away from the foundation. If the foundation is plastic that simply sits in the bottom groove, this can cause the bottom of the foundation to come out of the groove if the comb hasn’t been fully drawn out, a process that can help secure the foundation to the frame parts. In this case, the thicker bottom bar would help resist flexing.
Squaring Things Off:
After assembling all the frames from each manufacturer we set them in a hive body to assess the “squareness” of the frames and whether proper bee space was maintained between the end bars and the hive body.
Even with the use of a frame jig in assembly we expect there to be some variance between the frames, albeit slight. Overall, we found that most frames maintained an acceptable degree of squareness to their shape. More than half of the manufacturers have one or two frames that failed to meet standard acceptability, while three stand out for having the highest degree of squareness: the grooved TB frame by Betterbee, Kelley’s wedged TB and the grooved TB by Shastina.
Mix and Match:
As the data in the graph reveals, every manufacturer makes its frames distinct from the rest. You can mix and match frames from different manufacturers, however, and not have an issue with them fitting horizontally into a Langstroth hive body, as they self-space 1-3/8” apart, center-to-center. Yet where you will notice variation is in the frame bee space vertically between hive bodies (the space created between the top bars of the bottom hive body and the bottom bars of the hive body that sits above it). As we measured this area, we found that manufacturers fell into two groups.
Comprising Group One, Dadant/Western, Mann Lake and Shastina frames all have the same top/bottom bee space. Likewise, in Group Two, Betterbee, Kelley and Miller have the same top/bottom bee space (Beeline falls between these two groups). If you were to therefore combine any of the frames of the members of Group One, regardless of whether they are placed in the top or bottom body hive position, they would consistently create a bee space measuring between 7/16” and 1/2”. You might be surprised to know that the same measurements apply to Group Two, as they also create a bee space of between 7/16” and 1/2”.
You are probably asking, “So…what’s the difference then?”
The difference arises when you use frames from Group One and Group Two within the same hive. Any frame from Group One in the bottom hive body position with any frame from Group Two in the top body position will create a 3/8” space between frames. Conversely, any frame from Group One in the top position paired with any frame from Group Two in the bottom position will create a 1/2” space between frames. This may or may not become an issue for you, but we could see where it may pose a problem when frames with burr or brace comb on the top or bottom bars are moved around within the hive.
And The Winner Is…
Since the look and feel of a frame is one’s first impression, Betterbee’s frames excelled in this area. Their advertising is correct when they say, “The fit is excellent.... we find they are much easier to nail, too.” Betterbee employs quality milling that produces a smooth, uniform wood that is easy to work with. If Betterbee’s design elements fit your needs and taste (top bar square ends, 3/8” thick bottom bar), we think you’ll be pleased with them.
Beyond the look and feel of a frame is functionality. In most circumstances a 3/8″ thick bottom bar functions just fine, but a 1/2″ bottom bar will have less flex and have a third more surface contact in the joint, making it a little more secure to the end bar. If this is an important design element for you, you’ll have to choose between Dadant/Western, Mann Lake, and Shastina. We see no clear “winner” between these three. Final purchase price will probably have the biggest impact on choice.
Room for Improvement
We are disappointed with some of Kelley’s frame elements. The lack of dimensional consistency in the top bars, the absence of a rabbeted stop on the bottom bars and having the thinnest end bars (excluding their “N” style frame) that also consistently protrude above the top bar all contribute to their less favorable rating.
The Ideal Frame?
If we could design the very best frame, the species of wood used would be Eastern Pine for its straight grain and ease of nailing during assembly. The top bar would be a full ¾” thick, the ears chamfered (Dadant, Mann Lake and Shastina) and the wedge strip would be an ample thickness of 1/4” (Betterbee, Kelley, Miller). The end bars would be 3/8” thick, never protrude above the top bar (Betterbee, Mann Lake, Miller, Shastina), and have chamfered top and bottom dados (Mann Lake, Shastina). The bottom bar would be ½” thick with the slightest of rabbeted ends (like Betterbee). This would maximize the width of wood the fastener goes through and thus reduce splitting.
Money Matters
A final and important consideration is, of course, cost (a factor that many beekeepers tend to focus on more than quality). Defining total price is impossible given the fact that the cost of shipping isn’t constant. However, as of the date of publication of this article, the net cost per frame with no quantity discounts are as follows:
Beeline: $1.61
Betterbee: $1.06
Dadant/Western: $1.16
Kelley: $1.20
Mann Lake: $1.25
Miller: $0.95
Shastina: $1.25
Most manufacturers will offer lower per frame costs if a customer purchases above a certain |
ic had stayed healthy, would that have been enough to keep the title in Red? Perhaps.
At the end of the day, we’re left with little more than hypotheticals and what-ifs. However, if you take nothing else from this column, steal these statistics next time some Talksport @!£hole screams unsupported Arsenal generalizations. Enjoy the incredulous reaction when you state your claim about Arsenal’s superiority. It may be just another generalization, but at least these generalizations are loosely based in fact. Which, these days, is as close to “truth” as we often get.OPINION
Earlier this week Bitcoin Foundation founding director Jon Matonis visited Auckland to speak at the AMP Amplify Festival on the future of currency. Naturally, his focus was on digital currency (Bitcoin in particular) as he spoke about the future opportunities it can offer to businesses, banks and government around the world.
Now I’m no Dr Emmet Brown (think inventor, Back to the Future) but I too have seen the future.
Digital currency, or ‘crypto-currency’ and the technology that underpins it has the potential to change not just the way the world trades but also how it stores and shares information.
Perhaps the most prominent digital currency is Bitcoin, invented in 2008 and now used around the world for both virtual and real-life trading and purchasing. A public transaction register, called the ‘block chain,’ records and validates every exchange of Bitcoin, anywhere in the world, in near real-time.
The block chain and its applications could be world-changing. It’s not often that a chartered accountant can say that. So I’ll say it again. It will change everything.
The block chain is an open-source transactional database that operates on a distributed network. This means there is no single repository of data. Instead a record of every digital currency transaction ever conducted is held on a transparent ledger and is stored and replicated across thousands of computers across the world. This means anyone can access the ledger and view any transaction.
The block chain has the potential to be used on a massive digital scale, going way beyond crypto-currency. The database is decentralised – devoid of a ‘bookkeeper’, so to speak – but it still manages to provide accountability.
Decentralisation and accountability are often two contradictory attributes but the block chain is able to offer both and, while it still has some work to do to convince stakeholders of its credentials around security, it is clear it offers benefits that could be used in a range of applications. Banks, regulators and corporations around the world are now looking seriously at its potential.
Nasdaq is already using it; IBM is testing it for the ‘internet of things’; other companies are looking at how it might help keep passwords and secure documents safe from hackers and some are going as far as saying that it could be a financial solution for the world’s unbanked population of two billion.
It can be applied not only to digital currency but also to the internet, public records (such as passports and driving licenses), records of land titles and even GPS tracking. As we embrace the digital age, we need a scalable, trustworthy system like this.
For accountants the impact could be huge. How do you audit it?
For governments the potential is dynamic. How can it be applied to keep records, save costs, facilitate growth and future prosperity?
But for me, it’s regulators who will be scratching their heads the most.
Regulators are obliged to take their direction from government. They are generally large and in many instances slow. They are focused on compliance and on enforcing the law. Dr Emmet might say that they are focused on the past.
Jon Matonis talked about the implications of new controls imposed on bitcoin transactions by the New York State Department of Financial Services. And he’s right to be concerned. How do you regulate a decentralised system without weakening the very thing that makes it strong? Everyone will be able to access and use the block chain, which potentially eliminates many of the key functions of financial regulation.
So, back to the future. While governments and regulators grapple with the next steps, the block chain is fast becoming a reality on our digital horizon. With its unrivalled attributes of decentralisation, transparency and accountability, it has the potential to challenge everything we thought we knew about business competitiveness.
Get on the hover board now.
Lee White is the chief executive of Chartered Accountants Australia and New ZealandCanada to field young squad against Scotland in midweek soccer friendly
TORONTO — Nik Ledgerwood, Simeon Jackson and Adam Straith will lead a young Canadian squad against Scotland in a soccer friendly Wednesday.
While the three veterans have 40 or more international caps, eight of the roster are 24 or younger.
Ledgerwood, a 32-year-old defender with FC Edmonton, could earn his 50th cap.
With the MLS season just starting, the squad draws mainly on European-based players. Defenders Wandrille Lefevre (Montreal Impact) and Maxim Tissot (D.C. United) and midfielder Marco Bustos (Vancouver Whitecaps) are the only MLS players chosen.
The match at Hibernian's Easter Road Stadium in Edinburgh will be the first for Canada with new manager Octavio Zambrano watching. The 59-year-old from Ecuador was introduced Friday in Toronto.
Assistant coach Michael Findlay, who has been serving as interim coach since Benito Floro was let go last September, will run the team from the sidelines.
The CSA also released its men's under-23 roster for a tournament later this month that involved games against Uzbekistan (March 25) and host Qatar (March 28). Zambrano is expected to be in charge in Qatar.
Canada, ranked 117th in the world, is 0-4-0 against No. 67 Scotland. The last time they met was 15 years ago at Easter Road Stadium where the Scots won 3-1.
The Canadian men, whose last senior outing was a 4-2 win in Bermuda in January, are gearing up for this summer's Gold Cup.
Fullback La'Vere Corbin-Ong of FSV Frankfurt is the lone debutant featured in the 18-man squad for Scotland. He was born in London but raised in North Vancouver.
The CSA said Samuel Adekugbe and Steven Vitoria are unavailable through injury. Veteran midfielder Atiba Hutchinson has yet to return to the national team fold.
The under-23 squad features five players already capped at the senior level: Keven Aleman (CD Saprissa, Costa Rica), Manuel Aparicio (SD Ordes, Spain), Maxime Crepeau (Montreal Impact), Jordan Hamilton (Toronto FC) and Michael Petrasso (Queens Park Rangers, England).
There are five program debutants: Juan Cordova (CD Union San Felipe, Chile), Amer Didic (Swope Park Rangers, USL), Caniggia Elva (Stuttgart II, Germany), Mark Gonzalez (Swope Park Rangers, USL), and Jordan Schweitzer (Orlando City B, USL).
CANADA
Goalkeepers: Simon Thomas, FK Bodo/Glimt (Norway); Jayson Leutwiler, Shrewsbury Town (England).
Defenders: Nik Ledgerwood, FC Edmonton; Manjrekar James, Vasas Budapest (Hungary), Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal Impact; Luca Gasparotto, Falkirk FC (Scotland); Maxim Tissot, D.C. United.
Midfielders: Samuel Piette, CD Izarra (Spain); Charlie Trafford, Sandecja Nowy Sacz(Poland); Marco Bustos, Vancouver Whitecaps; Fraser Aird, Falkirk FC (Scotland); Ben Fisk, FC Edmonton; La'Vere Corbin-Ong, FSV Frankfurt (Germany); Adam Straith, FC Edmonton; Scott Arfield, Burnley FC (England).
Forwards: David (Junior) Hoilett, Cardiff City FC (Wales); Simeon Jackson, Walsall FC (England); Marcus Haber, Dundee FC (Scotland).
Canada U-23
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Montreal Impact; Marco Carducci, unattached.
Defenders: Kadin Chung, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2; Amer Didic, Swope Park Rangers; Marko Aleksic, FC Edmonton; Kosovar Sadiki, Stoke City U-23.
Midfielders: Jordan Schweitzer, Orlando City B; Manuel Aparicio, SD Ordes (Spain); Juan Cordova, CD Union San Felipe (Chile); Caniggia Elva, Stuttgart II; Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal Impact; Patryk Misik, SD Ordes (Spain); Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville City FC; Kwame Awuah, New York City FC.
Forwards: Jordan Hamilton, Toronto FC; Michael Petrasso, Queens Park Rangers (England); Keven Aleman, CD Saprissa (Costa Rica); Mark Gonzalez, Swope Park Rangers.
___
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Neil Davidson, The Canadian PressMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A projector displays patterned light on the face on a mannequin. These patterns are used to produce a 2D image. A 3D image is then formed using a technique called "shape from shade"
Scientists in Glasgow have discovered a low-cost way to create 3D images.
Their system uses detectors which have a single pixel to sense light instead of the millions of pixels used in the imaging sensors of digital cameras.
The detectors can "see" frequencies beyond visible light, which researchers say could open up new uses for 3D imaging in medicine and geography.
They said the single-pixel detectors cost "a few pounds" compared to current systems, which cost "thousands".
It is hoped that the system's ability to senses wavelengths far beyond the capability of digital cameras and its low cost, could make it a valuable tool for a wide range of industries.
Researchers said possible uses could range from locating oil to helping doctors find tumours.
Crossword patterns
Prof Miles Padgett led the team at University of Glasgow's School of Physics and Astronomy, which developed the technique.
He said: "Single-pixel detectors in four different locations are used to detect light from a data projector, which illuminates objects with a rapidly-shifting sequence of black-and-white patterns similar to crossword puzzles.
"When more of the white squares of these patterns overlap with the object, the intensity of the light reflected back to the detectors is higher.
Digital camera sensors have a very limited sensitivity beyond the spectrum of visible light, whereas a single-pixel detector can easily be made to capture information far beyond the visible Baoqing Sun, University of Glasgow
"A series of projected patterns and the reflected intensities are used in a computer algorithm to produce a 2D image."
He said a 3D image was then created by combining images from the four detectors using a well-known technique called "shape from shade".
This 3D computational imaging, or ghost imaging produces detailed images of objects in just a few seconds.
Conventional 3D imaging systems uses multiple digital camera sensors to produce a 3D image from 2D information.
Careful calibration is required to ensure the multi-megapixel images align correctly.
Beyond the visible
Prof Padgett said: "Our single-pixel system creates images with a similar degree of accuracy without the need for such detailed calibration."
Lead author on the paper Baoqing Sun said: "It might seem a bit counter-intuitive to think that more information can be captured from a detector which uses just a single pixel rather than the multi-megapixel detectors found in conventional digital cameras.
"However, digital camera sensors have a very limited sensitivity beyond the spectrum of visible light, whereas a single-pixel detector can easily be made to capture information far beyond the visible, reaching wavelengths from X-ray to TeraHertz."
The team's paper, 3D Computational Imaging with Single-Pixel Detectors, is published in the journal, Science.She is an Oscar winning actress, a political campaigner and now Angelina Jolie Pitt can add academic to her list of roles.
The Hollywood star has been appointed a visiting professor at the London School of Economics (LSE), one of Britain's most prestigious universities.
She will join former foreign secretary William Hague as a lecturer at the university's Centre for Women, Peace and Security where she will help to teach students studying for a Master's degree.
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Jolie Pitt, who has been a goodwill ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency and is currently one of its special envoys, has been a vocal campaigner on refugee rights, and against the female genital mutilation and the use of rape as a weapon of war.
She said: "I am very encouraged by the creation of this master's programme. I hope other academic institutions will follow this example, as it is vital that we broaden the discussion on how to advance women's rights and end impunity for crimes that disproportionately affect women, such as sexual violence in conflict.
"I am looking forward to teaching and to learning from the students as well as to sharing my own experiences of working alongside governments and the United Nations".
Lord Hague, who worked with Jolie-Pitt on hosting a four-day summit on ending sexual violence in war in London two years ago, said he was "delighted" to be appointed.
He said: "This course will help underpin our work in preventing sexual violence in conflict, developing expertise and research to assist us in tackling the culture of impunity. I look forward to working with the LSE students and my fellow visiting professors."
The one year course will include modules on Women, Peace and Security, Gender and Militarisation and Gender and Human Rights.
Jolie-Pitt has recently been vocal about the refugee crisis, and the failure of European governments to address it.
Shape Created with Sketch. The 24 best universities in the world Show all 24 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The 24 best universities in the world 1/24 24. University of Edinburgh, UK — 80.3 Teaching: 68.6 Research: 77.2 Overall: 80.3 Founded in 1583, Edinburgh is the sixth-oldest university in the English-speaking world. Extremely notable alumni include Charles Darwin, Alexander Graham Bell, and Arthur Conan-Doyle 2/24 23. London School of Economics, UK — 81.3 Teaching: 69.8 Research: 80.6 Overall: 81.3 Leaping 11 places from last year, LSE is one of the foremost universities in Europe for studying business, finance, and economics. This shows in its graduates: According to a 2014 study, LSE produced the most billionaires of any European university 3/24 22. Carnegie Mellon University, US — 82.3 Teaching: 67.4 Research: 88.8 Overall: 82.3 “My heart is in the work” is CMU's motto, and it's accordingly known for many inventions and innovations in the fields of driverless cars, brain science, data, and more. It was also, curiously, the first university to create a “smile” in an email, in 1982 4/24 21. University of Michigan, US — 82.4 Teaching: 76.8 Research: 85.2 Overall: 82.4 One of the biggest research centres in the US, Michigan was attended by President Ford and Google cofounder Larry Page. Mysteriously, a large cube-shaped object sits on campus, balanced on one corner so students can spin it around despite its weight Getty 5/24 20. Duke University, US — 82.7 Teaching: 76.0 Research: 78.0 Overall: 82.7 One of the wealthiest universities in the country, Duke is known for its sporting prowess as much as its academics, and its basketball squad is one of the best college teams in the US. President Richard Nixon graduated from here, as did future heads of Apple, JPMorgan, and PepsiCo 6/24 19. University of Toronto, Canada — 83.9 Teaching: 75.9 Research: 89.3 Overall: 83.9 A university known for its research and innovation, Toronto has academic papers that are among the most cited in the world. It also has a wide array of extracurricular activities, with more than 800 student clubs, which probably explains why such a high proportion of its alumni begin startup companies 7/24 18. Cornell University, US — 84.0 Teaching: 77.9 Research: 86.1 Overall: 84.0 A private Ivy League university with a mission to “discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge,” Cornell boasts a glorious campus in upstate New York that allows students to hike around the Finger Lakes. It also has daily bell performances, a tradition dating back to 1868 8/24 17. University of Pennsylvania, US — 85.2 Teaching: 82.0 Research: 86.9 Overall: 85.2 Established before the US even became a sovereign nation, UPenn claims to be the oldest multifaculty university in the country. It also has the nation's oldest student union and first “double-decker” football stand. Noted alumni include President William Henry Harrison as well as modernist writers Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams 9/24 16. University of California at Los Angeles, US — 85.8 Teaching: 80.8 Research: 88.6 Overall: 85.8 UCLA is known for its encouragement of community — undergraduates usually begin with a year-long “Cluster Course,” a team-taught exploration of a demanding topic. It also has a great student-exchange program, with more than 2,400 students going abroad each year 10/24 15. Columbia University, US — 86.1 Teaching: 85.9 Research: 82.2 Overall: 86.1 Notable alumni of Manhattan-based Columbia include Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt as well as a founding father — Alexander Hamilton. It also enjoys a massive endowment value of $9.6 billion last year 11/24 14. University College London, UK — 87.1 Teaching: 78.1 Research: 91.0 Overall: 87.1 Founded in 1826, UCL became the first English university to admit women on equal terms as men in 1878. UCL has one of the biggest postgraduate schemes in the country, at 52% of the entire student body 12/24 13. University of California at Berkeley, US — 87.2 Teaching: 80.4 Research: 91.1 Overall: 87.2 Dropping five places from last year, Berkeley is still hugely prestigious, and its San Francisco setting makes it a real draw for students looking to study in a vibrant city. It also has a legacy for activism: Some of the best-known Vietnam War protests took place on its campus during the 1960s and 1970s 13/24 12. Yale University, US — 87.4 Teaching: 86.5 Research: 87.8 Overall: 87.4 The third-oldest higher-education institution in the US, Yale takes its cue from Oxford and Cambridge by having residential colleges. Five American presidents have studied there: William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Make that six if Hillary Clinton wins this year's election 14/24 11. Johns Hopkins University, US — 87.6 Teaching: 77.6 Research: 90.4 Overall: 87.6 Johns Hopkins was an abolitionist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, and he was also the first benefactor of the school, which was founded in 1876. Based in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University's notable alumni include Woodrow Wilson, the 28th US president 15/24 10. University of Chicago, US — 87.9 Teaching: 85.7 Research: 88.9 Overall: 87.9 A leading centre of science, the University of Chicago also has prestigious literary alumni, including Saul Bellow and Susan Sontag. It is also the university where film icon Indiana Jones studied 16/24 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich, Switzerland — 88.3 Teaching: 77.0 Research: 95.0 Overall: 88.3 Jumping four places from 2015, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is known for its groundbreaking research as well as teaching excellence in natural sciences and technology. Twenty-one Nobel laureates have studied or taught at the university, while about 80 patent applications a year come from there 17/24 8. Imperial College London, UK — 89.1 Teaching: 83.3 Research: 88.5 Overall: 89.1 Up a place from last year, Imperial is known for its pursuit of science. Its Central London setting also makes it popular to foreign students — 51% of its student body are from overseas. The university's motto is “Scientia imperii decus et tutamen,” which means “Scientific knowledge, the crowning glory and the safeguard of the empire” 18/24 7. Princeton University, US — 90.1 Teaching: 85.1 Research: 91.9 Overall: 90.1 Princeton is devoted to teaching, offering residential accommodation to undergraduates across all four years of study, which means 98% of them live on campus. The beautiful surroundings are attractive to tourists too: 800,00 people visit the campus each year, bringing in a revenue of $2 billion 19/24 6. Harvard University, US — 91.6 Teaching: 83.6 Research: 99.0 Overall: 91.6 Down four places from last year, Harvard is still one of the world's most prestigious institutions. It's the oldest university in the US, and it also has one of the largest endowments of any on this list, raising $1.5 billion in 2013 20/24 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US — 92.0 Teaching: 89.4 Research: 88.6 Overall: 92.0 Eighty-five Nobel Laureates have studied at MIT, which was founded in 1861. The university likes to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and its living alumni have apparently started more than 30,000 active companies Getty 21/24 4. University of Cambridge, UK — 92.8 Teaching: 88.2 Research: 96.7 Overall: 92.8 Up a place from last year, Cambridge isn't quite as old as Oxford University, but with an 800-year history it is still one of the longest-running universities in the world. It has more than 100 libraries, with over 15 million books among them 22/24 3. Stanford University, US — 93.9 Teaching: 92.5 Research: 98.9 Overall: 93.9 One of the largest campuses in the US, Stanford benefits from being right next to San Francisco's Silicon Valley. President Herbert Hoover was part of Stanford's first class, in 1895, while the first American woman to enter space, Sally Ride, graduated from there in 1973 23/24 2. University of Oxford, UK — 94.2 Teaching: 86.5 Research: 98.9 Overall: 94.2 Oxford moves up one place from last year to become the best university outside the US. For an institution that was reportedly founded in 1096, that's a remarkable run. It also boasts 30 world leaders among its alumni, including 26 British prime ministers Getty 24/24 1. California Institute of Technology, US — 95.2 Teaching: 95.6 Research: 97.6 Overall: 95.2 The best university in the world for the second year in a row according to the Times, Caltech is at the top in teaching, industry income, research, and citations in 2016. It is renowned for its science and engineering courses, but any degree here is sure to be a winner 1/24 24. University of Edinburgh, UK — 80.3 Teaching: 68.6 Research: 77.2 Overall: 80.3 Founded in 1583, Edinburgh is the sixth-oldest university in the English-speaking world. Extremely notable alumni include Charles Darwin, Alexander Graham Bell, and Arthur Conan-Doyle 2/24 23. London School of Economics, UK — 81.3 Teaching: 69.8 Research: 80.6 Overall: 81.3 Leaping 11 places from last year, LSE is one of the foremost universities in Europe for studying business, finance, and economics. This shows in its graduates: According to a 2014 study, LSE produced the most billionaires of any European university 3/24 22. Carnegie Mellon University, US — 82.3 Teaching: 67.4 Research: 88.8 Overall: 82.3 “My heart is in the work” is CMU's motto, and it's accordingly known for many inventions and innovations in the fields of driverless cars, brain science, data, and more. It was also, curiously, the first university to create a “smile” in an email, in 1982 4/24 21. University of Michigan, US — 82.4 Teaching: 76.8 Research: 85.2 Overall: 82.4 One of the biggest research centres in the US, Michigan was attended by President Ford and Google cofounder Larry Page. Mysteriously, a large cube-shaped object sits on campus, balanced on one corner so students can spin it around despite its weight Getty 5/24 20. Duke University, US — 82.7 Teaching: 76.0 Research: 78.0 Overall: 82.7 One of the wealthiest universities in the country, Duke is known for its sporting prowess as much as its academics, and its basketball squad is one of the best college teams in the US. President Richard Nixon graduated from here, as did future heads of Apple, JPMorgan, and PepsiCo 6/24 19. University of Toronto, Canada — 83.9 Teaching: 75.9 Research: 89.3 Overall: 83.9 A university known for its research and innovation, Toronto has academic papers that are among the most cited in the world. It also has a wide array of extracurricular activities, with more than 800 student clubs, which probably explains why such a high proportion of its alumni begin startup companies 7/24 18. Cornell University, US — 84.0 Teaching: 77.9 Research: 86.1 Overall: 84.0 A private Ivy League university with a mission to “discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge,” Cornell boasts a glorious campus in upstate New York that allows students to hike around the Finger Lakes. It also has daily bell performances, a tradition dating back to 1868 8/24 17. University of Pennsylvania, US — 85.2 Teaching: 82.0 Research: 86.9 Overall: 85.2 Established before the US even became a sovereign nation, UPenn claims to be the oldest multifaculty university in the country. It also has the nation's oldest student union and first “double-decker” football stand. Noted alumni include President William Henry Harrison as well as modernist writers Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams 9/24 16. University of California at Los Angeles, US — 85.8 Teaching: 80.8 Research: 88.6 Overall: 85.8 UCLA is known for its encouragement of community — undergraduates usually begin with a year-long “Cluster Course,” a team-taught exploration of a demanding topic. It also has a great student-exchange program, with more than 2,400 students going abroad each year 10/24 15. Columbia University, US — 86.1 Teaching: 85.9 Research: 82.2 Overall: 86.1 Notable alumni of Manhattan-based Columbia include Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt as well as a founding father — Alexander Hamilton. It also enjoys a massive endowment value of $9.6 billion last year 11/24 14. University College London, UK — 87.1 Teaching: 78.1 Research: 91.0 Overall: 87.1 Founded in 1826, UCL became the first English university to admit women on equal terms as men in 1878. UCL has one of the biggest postgraduate schemes in the country, at 52% of the entire student body 12/24 13. University of California at Berkeley, US — 87.2 Teaching: 80.4 Research: 91.1 Overall: 87.2 Dropping five places from last year, Berkeley is still hugely prestigious, and its San Francisco setting makes it a real draw for students looking to study in a vibrant city. It also has a legacy for activism: Some of the best-known Vietnam War protests took place on its campus during the 1960s and 1970s 13/24 12. Yale University, US — 87.4 Teaching: 86.5 Research: 87.8 Overall: 87.4 The third-oldest higher-education institution in the US, Yale takes its cue from Oxford and Cambridge by having residential colleges. Five American presidents have studied there: William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Make that six if Hillary Clinton wins this year's election 14/24 11. Johns Hopkins University, US — 87.6 Teaching: 77.6 Research: 90.4 Overall: 87.6 Johns Hopkins was an abolitionist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, and he was also the first benefactor of the school, which was founded in 1876. Based in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University's notable alumni include Woodrow Wilson, the 28th US president 15/24 10. University of Chicago, US — 87.9 Teaching: 85.7 Research: 88.9 Overall: 87.9 A leading centre of science, the University of Chicago also has prestigious literary alumni, including Saul Bellow and Susan Sontag. It is also the university where film icon Indiana Jones studied 16/24 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich, Switzerland — 88.3 Teaching: 77.0 Research: 95.0 Overall: 88.3 Jumping four places from 2015, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is known for its groundbreaking research as well as teaching excellence in natural sciences and technology. Twenty-one Nobel laureates have studied or taught at the university, while about 80 patent applications a year come from there 17/24 8. Imperial College London, UK — 89.1 Teaching: 83.3 Research: 88.5 Overall: 89.1 Up a place from last year, Imperial is known for its pursuit of science. Its Central London setting also makes it popular to foreign students — 51% of its student body are from overseas. The university's motto is “Scientia imperii decus et tutamen,” which means “Scientific knowledge, the crowning glory and the safeguard of the empire” 18/24 7. Princeton University, US — 90.1 Teaching: 85.1 Research: 91.9 Overall: 90.1 Princeton is devoted to teaching, offering residential accommodation to undergraduates across all four years of study, which means 98% of them live on campus. The beautiful surroundings are attractive to tourists too: 800,00 people visit the campus each year, bringing in a revenue of $2 billion 19/24 6. Harvard University, US — 91.6 Teaching: 83.6 Research: 99.0 Overall: 91.6 Down four places from last year, Harvard is still one of the world's most prestigious institutions. It's the oldest university in the US, and it also has one of the largest endowments of any on this list, raising $1.5 billion in 2013 20/24 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US — 92.0 Teaching: 89.4 Research: 88.6 Overall: 92.0 Eighty-five Nobel Laureates have studied at MIT, which was founded in 1861. The university likes to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and its living alumni have apparently started more than 30,000 active companies Getty 21/24 4. University of Cambridge, UK — 92.8 Teaching: 88.2 Research: 96.7 Overall: 92.8 Up a place from last year, Cambridge isn't quite as old as Oxford University, but with an 800-year history it is still one of the longest-running universities in the world. It has more than 100 libraries, with over 15 million books among them 22/24 3. Stanford University, US — 93.9 Teaching: 92.5 Research: 98.9 Overall: 93.9 One of the largest campuses in the US, Stanford benefits from being right next to San Francisco's Silicon Valley. President Herbert Hoover was part of Stanford's first class, in 1895, while the first American woman to enter space, Sally Ride, graduated from there in 1973 23/24 2. University of Oxford, UK — 94.2 Teaching: 86.5 Research: 98.9 Overall: 94.2 Oxford moves up one place from last year to become the best university outside the US. For an institution that was reportedly founded in 1096, that's a remarkable run. It also boasts 30 world leaders among its alumni, including 26 British prime ministers Getty 24/24 1. California Institute of Technology, US — 95.2 Teaching: 95.6 Research: 97.6 Overall: 95.2 The best university in the world for the second year in a row according to the Times, Caltech is at the top in teaching, industry income, research, and citations in 2016. It is renowned for its science and engineering courses, but any degree here is sure to be a winner
Speaking as part of the BBC's World on the Move day of coverage of global migration issues earlier this month, the 40-year-old actress and humanitarian warned against a growing politics of fear.
“Fear of uncontrolled migration has eroded public confidence and the ability of governments and international institutions to control the situation,” she said. “It has given space to a false air of legitimacy to those who promote politics of fear and separation”.
“It has created the risk of a race to the bottom with countries competing to be the toughest in the hope of protecting themselves whatever the cost or challenge to their neighbours, and despite their international responsibilities,“ she added.
She also warned against policies of isolationism, saying that no country can seal itself from the repercussions of the migrant crisis. “If your neighbour's house is on fire you are not safe if you lock your doors. Strength lies in being unafraid,“ she said.
PA
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Subscribe nowIn Ankara on Monday Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is to press officials to allow German lawmakers to visit troops stationed at a Turkish air base. It is an issue that has added to already tense relations between the two NATO allies.
Gabriel told the "Bild am Sonntag” newspaper that "if Turkey cannot or does not want to [allow the visit] for domestic political reasons," then the two sides should find a civil way to end the stationing of troops at Incirlik air base.
Gabriel said "German lawmakers must be able to visit soldiers - and not just once but anytime."
Relations between the two countries took another nosedive after Turkey recently blocked German lawmakers from visiting some 250 troops stationed at Incirlik as part of the international coalition against the so-called "Islamic State" (IS.)
Read more: Turkey's Incirlik air base: What you need to know
Moving troops 'no problem'
The Turkish action came in response to Germany's decision to grant asylum to diplomats and military officers Ankara alleges were involved in last year's failed coup attempt.
Germany has considered pulling its troops, Tornado reconnaissance aircraft and refueling tanker out of Incirlik to an alternative base in Jordan; issues with which Gabriel said he had "absolutely no problem."
Gabriel is to meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Ahead of Gabriel's visit, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey wanted to repair relations but "Germany should move accordingly."
Read more: Germany and Turkey - A Difficult Relationship
Tolerating the opposition?
Turkey has accused Germany of tolerating the opposition movement headed by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Ankara blames for the coup attempt, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Tens of thousands of people in Turkey have been arrested or dismissed in a post-coup purge targeting alleged members of the Gulen movement. Germany and the EU have voiced concerns over the deterioration of democracy and human rights as the purge extends to target all opposition and critical voices.
Gabriel has recognized Turkey's concerns over the PKK, which is also listed as a terrorist organization by Germany and the EU.
"The PKK is also an outlawed organization in Germany because it has been involved in running protection rackets and dealing in weapons and drugs," Gabriel said. "It is definitely also in our interests to dry up their financial resources and not allow them any room to operate in Germany."
Armenian genocide resolution
Relations between Ankara and Berlin started to go off track early last year after the German parliament passed a resolution naming the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 a genocide. In response, Turkey blocked lawmakers from visiting Incirlik, only later to allow the trip.
In the lead up to April's constitutional referendum in Turkey, relations hit another low point when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany and other European countries of "Nazi-like” practices for blocking Turkish ministers from campaigning.
Journalists in jail
In another row, two Turkish-German journalists, including "Die Welt" correspondent Deniz Yucel, have been in pre-trail detention on terrorism charges.
Adding to tensions, |
The short was unveiled at the 2017 Comic-Con’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle panel in Hall H, following Eggsy as he discovers Archer to have stumbled into the Kingsman’s secret arsenal hidden in the bespoke suit shop, helping himself to guns and alcohol. Fighting to reclaim the goods, Eggsy challenges Archer to "the most gentlemanly of competitions": a drinking contest, while planning to kill him with a drugged glass; Archer instead drinks the bottle and passes out. Eggsy, insulted by Archer's behaviour, vows to go to America and "teach them a lesson". Taron Egerton and H. Jon Benjamin respectively reprise their roles as Eggsy Unwin and Sterling Archer.[63]
Television series [ edit ]
In June 2018, upon announcing his new film studio, Vaughn revealed that an eight-episode Kingsman television series was in early development.[43]
Video game [ edit ]
In August 2017, it was confirmed that Kingsman: The Golden Circle would have a tie-in game to accompany its release, and that it would be a turn-based match-3 role-playing combat game, released on iOS and Android by the Korean mobile game company NHN PixelCube.[64] The game also includes characters from Kingsman: The Secret Service, and was released globally on 14 September 2017, about a week before the film's release.[65] Unlike the films, the game does not have graphic violence or explicit language, but it is classified a "12+" rating for "mild realistic violence".[66][67] In the days before the film's release, another mobile game based on the Kingsman franchise, simply titled Kingsman: The Secret Service, was announced to be in development also for iOS and Android, by American mobile game developer YesGnome. The game is a hybrid action adventure-construction simulator, where players construct impregnable secret bases, similar to Fallout Shelter, while infiltrating enemy bases in run-and-gun missions based on the plot of at least the first film.[68] The Android version is currently in early access.[69] Both games are free-to-play, offer in-app purchases, and support online player-versus-player multiplayer, with the former game requiring an Internet connection to play.
Several months later after the launch of the tie-in mobile game for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, on April 24, 2018, it was announced that the game's servers will be shut down on May 23, 2018, after "careful consideration" and the game's poor player base.[70] As of that date, YesGnome's Kingsman: The Secret Service is still in development, with the Android version remaining in early access.
Literature [ edit ]
Kingsman: The Golden Circle: The Official Movie Novelization, the novelization of the 2017 film Kingsman: The Golden Circle, written by Tim Waggoner, was released on September 22, 2017.[71]
Marketing [ edit ]
Luxury retailer Mr Porter has been a marketing partner of the franchise since the first film, when it worked with costume designer Arianne Phillips to design the bespoke suiting, while everything from the ties and shirts to eyewear, umbrellas, shoes and watches were designed by heritage brands such as Cutler and Gross, George Cleverley, Mackintosh, Bremont, and Adidas Originals. The collaboration is the first of its kind, making Kingsman: The Secret Service the first film from which customers can buy all of the outfits they see.[72][73] On 8 September 2017, Mr Porter opened its first Kingsman shop between Berry Bros. & Rudd and Lock & Co. Hatters on St James's Street in Central London. Both the Kingsman shop and Berry Bros. & Rudd were integral locations for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, while Lock & Co. was featured on the first film.[74]
In May 2017, TAG Heuer partnered with Fox to make the TAG Heuer Connected the official watch of the Kingsman agents.[75] In August 2017, Fox partnered with Old Forester to release a Statesman edition of their 95 proof Bourbon whiskey for the U.S. market.[76] In addition, GlenDronach released a Kingsman Edition 1991 of their Scotch whisky. Director Vaughn cited GlenDronach as his favourite scotch whisky brand, and the distillery used casks from 1991, as it is the fictional year of Eggsy's birth. Only 240 bottles have been allocated to the U.S. market, all of which are signed by Vaughn.[77] In addition, Berry Bros. & Rudd released a Kingsman edition of their No. 3 London Dry Gin.[78] In September 2017, Hard Rock Cafe introduced the "Poppy Burger" in their menu to promote The Golden Circle.[79]
Funko released Pop! Vinyl figures of Harry, Eggsy, Valentine, and Gazelle in 2017.[80]
Notes [ edit ]
^ In newer collected editions of the first volume of the series, the book The Secret Service was renamed after the film adaption Kingsman: The Secret Service and all references to MI6 were replaced by "Kingsman".HEDGE-FUND managers, commodities traders, ex-spooks and hacks all converge on Vienna on November 30th for the annual jamboree of OPEC, the oil producer’s cartel. Such attention may seem a little misplaced. During a year of schisms and mistrust, OPEC has repeatedly wrong-footed the markets and its credibility is in tatters. But the meeting promises to be a spectacle of brinkmanship that has oil markets on tenterhooks. At stake is not only the future of OPEC. The influence of Saudi Arabia, its biggest producer, is in play too. The kingdom, which triggered the collapse in oil prices exactly two years ago by stifling OPEC’s efforts to rig the market, finds itself backed into a corner by its arch-rival, Iran, undermined by Iraq, and increasingly hostage to the vagaries of Russia’s foreign policy. How did it get into this bind? More to the point, can it get out of it?
To understand what is at stake, go back two months to the decisive action of OPEC ministers in Algiers. After nine months of failed attempts to agree on a production freeze, they announced a collective output cut to 32.5m-33m barrels a day, as much as 1.1m b/d below current levels. That set off a rally in oil prices, even though ministers had left the hardest part until today's meeting: deciding how much of a cut each country should make. Since the meeting in Algiers, Iran has claimed it should be allowed to raise production to levels prior to the imposition of (now-lifted) nuclear sanctions. Iraq has quibbled over the level of production it should cut from. Russia, meanwhile, has been indecisive. It is not a part of OPEC, but Saudi Arabia wants it to participate to prevent it stealing market share. As a result, the oil price rally in September quickly went into reverse. Failure to make good on the promise in Algiers could push crude well below $40 a barrel.
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That strengthens Saudi Arabia’s position. It hopes Iran, Iraq and Russia will subscribe to a deal given that a renewed slide in oil prices will further damage their economies. They are producing close to their full capacity, so a cut should be relatively easy to bear. What is more, Iran faces the threat of renewed American sanctions if Donald Trump, America’s president-elect, tears up the nuclear deal. That may make it keener to recoup higher oil prices while it can.
Yet this has become a game of geopolitics more than economics, and it will probably be decided only when the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran look each other in the eye to see if either blinks first. If there is a deal, the oil price will probably shoot higher; it would catch the market unawares, as it did in Algiers. If there is no deal, Saudi Arabia will probably fare worse than Iran, however much the latter is to blame. The oil markets would give up trusting OPEC. They would lose faith in the kingdom’s ability to forge consensus on oil. Lower oil prices would make it harder to part-privatise Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, undermining a key reform plank of Muhammad bin Salman, the deputy crown prince. Indeed, the outlook would be so bleak, there would probably be a fudge, with all sides committing to continue talking however far apart they are. Just don't expect the oil markets to buy that one again.Texas is preparing to execute a Mexican national despite warnings that his death could harm relations between the United States and Mexico and affect the treatment of Americans detained abroad.
Edgar Arias Tamayo is scheduled to die by lethal injection in a Texas prison on 22 January for the 1994 murder of a Houston police officer. Tamayo was not promptly informed after his arrest of his right to consular assistance – a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
US and Mexican government officials have cautioned Texas that executing Tamayo without a review of his case would breach an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). John Kerry, the US secretary of state, fears that if America is seen to be flouting international law there is a danger that other countries will be less inclined to respect due process for its citizens.
The case has attracted considerable publicity in Mexico, and several of the country's politicians have called on Texas to delay the execution. Mexico's foreign affairs secretary, José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, last month sent letters to the Texas governor, Rick Perry, and the Texas board of pardons and paroles requesting a reprieve.
At a press conference last week, Eduardo Medina Mora, the Mexican ambassador to the US, demanded that the US comply with international law and said Mexico had done "everything in its power" to halt the execution.
Kerry wrote to Perry last September urging Texas to delay setting an execution date because it would be "extremely detrimental to the interests of the United States" and risk "jeopardizing the US relationship with our allies and our ability to provide consular assistance to US citizens abroad".
Kerry added: "I have no reason to doubt the facts of Mr Tamayo's conviction, and as a former prosecutor, I have no sympathy for anyone who would murder a police officer. This is a process issue I am raising because it could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries."
That appeal followed a letter to Kerry from Mora in which he warned that America's failure "to provide the mandated review and reconsideration of the convictions and sentences of Mexican nationals whose cases were addressed by the ICJ … has become and could continue to be a significant irritant in the relations between our two countries".
Mora wrote: "If carried out, Mr Tamayo's execution will mark the third time that the US has breached its international legal obligations under the ICJ's decision. Should this happen, our whole forward-looking bilateral engagement could be questioned on the grounds of the US inability to live up to its treaty obligations."
The 'Avena decision'
The ICJ, the main judicial body of the United Nations, ruled in 2004 that the US had breached its obligations under the Vienna Convention by failing to inform Mexican consulates immediately after the arrests of about 50 Mexican nationals, including Tamayo. Nor, in many instances, were the nationals promptly told of their right to consular assistance.
As part of what is often dubbed the "Avena decision", the ICJ ordered the US to review and reconsider the convictions and sentences to decide if they had been influenced by the violations of consular rights.
In 2005, President George W Bush determined that state courts should comply with the ICJ. However, Texas disagreed. Three years later the US Supreme Court ruled in a case known as Medellín v Texas that although the Avena decision is a binding obligation under international law, without a statute from Congress the president does not have the power to force states to comply with ICJ rulings.
Texas's right to assert its authority over international law was argued before the supreme court by Ted Cruz, then the state solicitor general, who trumpeted the victory during his successful 2012 Senate campaign.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ted Cruz featured his supreme court victory in his 2012 Senate campaign in 2012
In 2008 Governor Perry wrote to Condoleezza Rice and Michael Mukasey, then US secretary of state and attorney general respectively, pledging that "if any individual under Texas custody and subject to Avena has not previously received a judicial determination of his claim of prejudice under the Vienna Convention and seeks such review in a future federal habeas proceeding, the State of Texas will ask the reviewing court to address the claim of prejudice on the merits."
The office of Greg Abbott, the current Texas attorney general, echoed Perry's words in a submission to the supreme court. But no court has ever reviewed Tamayo's claim, according to his lawyers, who accuse Abbott and Perry of failing to keep their promises.
Abbott's office argued last month in a letter to Tamayo's lawyers that the state met its pledge during a hearing at an appeals court in 2011 – an assertion Tamayo's team firmly rejects. Abbott is bidding to replace Perry when he steps down after this November's gubernatorial election.
"The governor’s letter speaks for itself. The attorney general is handling this legal matter. It doesn’t matter where you’re from – if you commit a despicable crime like this in Texas, you are subject to our state laws, including a fair trial by jury and the ultimate penalty," said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for Perry.
"Tamayo is the first Mexican national facing execution who has never received any review whatsoever of the prejudice, the harm [that came from the violations]," one of his lawyers, Maurie Levin, told the Guardian.
Tamayo's lawyers filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that aims to stop Perry and the Texas board of pardons and paroles from deciding Tamayo's request for clemency until the procedure is "adequate and fair".
'Brain-damaged'
Now 46, Tamayo, who had entered the US illegally, was convicted of shooting Guy Gaddis, who was taking him to jail shortly after apprehending him on suspicion of robbery.
His lawyers claim that Mexico learned of the arrest by chance only a week before the trial. They say that consular investigations revealed that he is intellectually disabled and brain-damaged, with an IQ of 67, but this discovery came too late to have an impact on the trial. Had Mexico been informed of Tamayo's arrest earlier, they argue, he might have been able to mount a stronger defence and received life in prison instead of death.
Tamayo would be the third Mexican referenced in Avena to be executed in Texas, following José Medellín and Humberto Leal García, who was put to death in 2011 despite efforts from the US and Mexican governments to stay his execution because he was denied timely consular rights.DENTON - The University of North Texas and head football coach Seth Littrell have agreed to a new five-year deal, Vice President and director of athletics Wren Baker announced today. The agreement runs through the conclusion of the 2021 season, and was approved by the University of North Texas System Board of Regents.
"We are excited to announce this new agreement with coach Littrell," Baker said. "Under one of the brightest young coaches in the country, our football program had the second-best turnaround in the nation last season and his performance was recognized by his colleagues and media members around the nation. This new contract represents an aggressive move to keep coach Littrell, his staff, and their positive momentum intact. This is validation of the successful efforts that Seth has led in the early stages of the turnaround of North Texas football."
Littrell led the Mean Green to the second-best turnaround in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2016, his first season at the helm. North Texas improved its win total by four games, finishing 5-8 on the season with a Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl appearance. Littrell helped lead the Mean Green to a 9.6 points per game jump in scoring offense from its output in 2016, which ranked 11th-best in the nation, and the 2016 defense allowed 8.7 points per game fewer than it did in 2015, which was the 13th-best turnaround in the country.
"I am very grateful for the clear support from our Board of Regents, our president Neal Smatresk and our athletic director Wren Baker," Littrell said. "It means a lot to me to move forward with this new deal and continue to work hard with my staff to transform this into the championship-caliber program that our tremendous university, fans and alumni deserve."
Season tickets for 2017 are on sale and fans can purchase tickets through the Mean Green athletics ticket office. For more information, visit meangreensports.com/tickets or call the ticket office at 940-565-2527 or 800-868-2366. The Mean Green open spring practice on Monday, February 27.Love struck Hatfield man on mission to find woman he met by chance on a train
Clive Saffron Archant
A love struck Hatfield man is searching for a woman who captivated his heart after he met her by chance on a train.
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Clive Saffron, 47, of Birchwood Avenue, is kicking himself for failing to ask out the “blonde, petite” woman from Hatfield that he met on a late night train.
Clive was travelling home late on June 15, after going for some drinks after work and had to get the train home from King’s Cross instead of his usual route from Moorgate, which he rarely does.
Clive said: “My train was waiting for me at King’s Cross so I sat down and after a few seconds a lady sat down next to me and asked if the train was stopping at Alexandra Palace.
“We chatted and discussed how we were both going to Hatfield. Luckily she heard the announcement that there was an emergency bus from Alexandra Palace to Hatfield as the train we were on was no longer going straight through to Hatfield.”
The pair boarded the bus at Alexandra Palace and chatted all the way home to Hatfield station.
Clive said: “We were chatting about everything. She was showing me pictures from the Coldplay concert that she was on the way home from.
“After we got off the bus at Hatfield we carried on talking and I could tell she was waiting for me to say something. She kept lingering and when she got the sense that I wasn’t going to say anything she got in her car.
“I walked home kicking myself and I’m still kicking myself. She was clearly doing the traditional thing of waiting for the bloke to say something.”
Clive has posted two adverts in the Welwyn Hatfield Times since he walked away from the woman and is on a mission to find her.
He said: “I thoroughly enjoyed her company. I felt comfortable with her. I can’t speak for her but I really liked her and I’m really keen to find her.”
If you’re the mystery Coldplay girl contact sophie.blackman@whtimes.co.uk who will put you in touch with Clive.Ayrshire Link is hoping to invite a group of 16 children from the Ukraine to come to Ayrshire in the summer of 2015 but they are desperately short of host families.
As a registered charity, Ayrshire Link works with people from all over the county, helping to improve the lives of the Chernobyl children.
Local businesses, clubs, schools, tourist attractions and individuals have raised money, donated clothes, and worked tirelessly to help the children who have visited Ayrshire.
Now they hope to find families who would be interested in hosting two children for two or four weeks.
The volunteers could make a real difference in the livfes of these children.
The visit lasts four weeks, with potential dates of between June 14 and July 12 of next year, and each family hosts two children. You can choose if you would like boys or girls, aged between 10 and 12.
The children come with a leader, who is the English teacher from their school and she will be available 24/7 to help translate or help with any problems. They can also get a member of the committee on the phone at any time day or night The children are out nearly every day, as there is a full four week itinerary of activities.
There are also activities that host families are welcome to take part in if they wish.
For the other activities, children would be required to be dropped off in the morning at a pick up point and then picked up again in the evening.
Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline was founded to help the children of Belarus and Ukraine, where 70 per cent of the radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster fell.
The charity has been bringing children to the UK for recuperative care since 1992 and the Ayrshire Branch has been established for 12 years, in which time they have accommodated approximately 450 children.
Their aim is to help these children by boosting their immune system and offering them respite from the constant bombardment of radiation.
When the children arrive their bodies are full of Caesium 137 which they ingest through their food chain.
Caesium 137 is a bi-product of the radioactive fallout and lowers the immune system making the children more susceptible to many illnesses.
Four weeks in Ayrshire eating fresh uncontaminated food, breathing clean air and taking potassium based vitamins reinvigorates them for the return home. In Belarus and Ukraine it takes two years for the Caesium levels to accumulate to the same extent, therefore the respite promotes an additional two extra years of healthy life.
Everyone involved with Ayrshire Link are all volunteers, no one gets paid and all monies raised go towards paying to bring another child to Ayrshire.
They rely very much on the help and generosity of local businesses, dentist, opticians and fundraisers to help continue to make a difference in the lives of these children.
For the charity to continue, they need people who can help make a difference. Whether it’s making a financial donation, helping provide treatment or whether you are willing to take these children into your homes for their four week stay in Ayrshire.
There are lots of ways to help.
They need local dentists or opticians.
Or can you or your company help sponsor a child’s travel (£500), offer a day’s activities or make a donation of any amount towards a visit?
If you would like to host children make a donation or could offer a day’s activities for these children from Chernobyl, then look at their website www.ccll.org.uk/ayrshire or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ayrshirelink.
Send an email to Michael Lafferty, chairman of Ayrshire Link if you would like more information.A MOTHER jailed for hiring a hitman to kill her husband will take custody of their children when her parole expires.
The 34-year-old served a one year and seven month jail term over the murder plot that arose during a hostile custody dispute.
But the husband, 36, has since forgiven his wife, asking her sentencing judge to be lenient and visiting her regularly in prison.
The Federal Magistrates' Court heard the couple's children have been in the care of their grandparents but the mother asked for sole custody when her parole expires in 2014.
The nine-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy had a "fractured" relationship with their parents after witnessing their volatile and abusive relationship, the court heard.
Both parents abused drugs and alcohol during their "highly dysfunctional" union.
The court was told the girl was afraid of her father while the boy remembered police coming to arrest his mother.
Federal Magistrate Evelyn Bender said the outlook had been "bleak" for the children until the intervention of their grandparents.
"It is very apparent that (the children)... have been severely emotionally traumatised by their parents' behaviours," she said.
The father asked for shared custody of the children, claiming they enjoyed spending time with him and denying he had assaulted their mother.
But Ms Bender said the father had failed to undertake drug screening and his denials of domestic violence had no credibility.
"It was apparent from the husband's evidence that the husband sees himself as very much a victim at this time."
Ms Bender said she had concerns about the father's capacity to meet the children's physical and emotional needs. By comparison his wife was recovering and was addressing the issues that led to her being jailed.
"The wife has been given a'second chance' to put her life back on track," Ms Bender said.
"The wife, too, must ensure she keeps moving forward and avoids the self-destructive behaviours that led to the wife's fall from grace as much for (the children) as for herself."
Ms Bender ordered the children live with the mother from 2014 and spend supervised time with their father once a month until he provides a year of clean drug tests.
katie.bice@news.com.auMountain Grove, Missouri (CNN) -- Thunder clapped and rain fell just before Bionce, Sassy and the rest of Mark Argall's prize-winning dairy herd went up for auction.
Had the storm come a few weeks earlier, and if the drought had eased, it might have saved the cows -- some of which were named with a bit of poetic license ("You can spell names however you want," he said) for pop-culture divas and celebrities.
As it was, however, Argall's pasture was so dry that his cattle had nothing to eat, and the farmer was losing $75 a day just trying to feed them.
Five generations of his family have milked dairy cows in this secluded stretch of Missouri's Ozark Mountains, but the inch or so of rain that fell on this recent Thursday was too little, too late. Argall -- a 54-year-old with a wiry, broomstick mustache -- had no choice but to sell nearly all of his cows at a livestock auction.
"We were just trying to hold on, thinking things are gonna change, the grass is gonna grow, the hay is going to be there," he said. "And it just never did happen."
During the auction, he sent a friend outside to roll up the windows of his truck. He never would have thought he'd need to close them because of rain -- at least not now.
Triple-digit temperatures and sparse rain this summer produced one of the most severe and widespread U.S. droughts in a half-century. Most headlines have focused on the extent of the drought -- the fact that it enveloped more than half the country; or that temperatures in July were the hottest for any month on record in the continental United States. Somewhat lost in that national conversation are the stories of Argall and other small-scale farmers who are being pushed out of the only line of work they've ever known.
For them -- and for the rural communities that depend on their incomes -- the drought is far more than a news item. It's an earth-shattering event, one they worry could lead the dairy communities of southern Missouri to unravel.
And, perhaps saddest of all, farmers say the sell-offs could have been avoided.
"We didn't fail. We did everything right," said Argall's wife, Jeanette. "It was the system that failed us."
'It's frightening'
Other farmers fear they'll end up in the same spot as the Argalls.
They pray for rain and try to stay afloat financially.
But that limbo exacts a serious toll.
Stacey McCallister, a good-humored 44-year-old who raises dairy cows about 50 miles north of Argall, wakes up many mornings and vomits. The drought has shot his nerves. He doesn't know what to tell his 11-year-old son when, in tears, he asks his dad if they'll have to sell all their animals. And he didn't know quite what to do when six of his dairy cows keeled over, two of them fatally, on a recent morning because they'd eaten a particular kind of grass that was so dry it had become toxic.
"I'd love for my kids to be able to stay on a farm and make a living," he said. "But I'm gonna tell you: Unless things change, there's no way."
The "unless things change" part is key for McCallister. He is both praying for rain -- his church, First Christian in Mountain Grove, held an event just for that purpose -- and pressuring the government for policy changes that could help small dairy farmers.
This sort of jump into the political fray is unusual in this area, where people pride themselves on a self-sufficient, can-do attitude. The drought hasn't changed that, but it's made dairy farmers here feel that some cards are stacked against them.
They're in the rare position of needing to ask for help.
And they're not necessarily getting it.
The Obama administration earlier this month announced emergency drought assistance that included low-interest emergency loans; a federal buy-up of meat from livestock producers; and the opening up of some protected lands for livestock grazing.
None of those efforts are targeted at dairy farmers, however, dairy advocates say.
Missouri's governor, meanwhile, created a cost-share program to help farmers get access to water for their cattle, but McCallister said that's more of a Band-Aid than a real solution.
Michael Scuse, under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said dairy farmers have not been offered enough of a safety net because Congress has not finalized an omnibus piece of legislation called the Farm Bill.
"Had we had a Farm Bill passed by now, there's a very good chance we could offer some additional assistance" to dairy farmers who are struggling because of the drought, he said.
Several programs that deal with emergency assistance for livestock owners expired in September 2011; and an insurance program for livestock producers, which he said "never had adequate funding," will be cut further in September and eliminated by October 1 unless new legislation is passed, he said.
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Senate and the House's agriculture committee passed versions of the five-year bill, which includes everything from food stamps to crop insurance. Much of the debate about the bill centers on programs to feed low-income people. The House returns from August recess on September 10, and could take up the measure then.
The bill in its current form would create an insurance program specifically for dairy farmers. Currently, most dairy farmers are uninsured, according to officials and policy experts; that makes them more vulnerable to the impacts of a drought or high feed prices, both of which have taken hold now.
The price of corn nationally more than doubled from July 2010 to 2012, to $7.36 per bushel, and hay prices have risen nearly 65% over the same period to $184 per ton, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. On the ground in Missouri, however, real prices can be twice that for hay and at least a $1 per bushel more for corn, since those materials have to be trucked in from wetter regions, said Larry Purdom, president of the Missouri Dairy Association.
And, some dairy farmers here want to see the federal government suspend a rule requiring one-third of the U.S. corn crop be converted to ethanol. There's some evidence, as Reuters reports, however, that removing the requirement would do little to help.
McCallister relayed some of these concerns to his congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, when she visited the area this month. Emerson has tried and, so far, failed to push through emergency drought legislation that would aid dairy farmers. The Republican took to the House floor with a photo of McCallister's dried-up farm to make her point.
On a recent morning, she met about a dozen dairy farmers beneath a shade tree at an agriculture research station in Mountain Grove.
She sure got an earful.
"We need to be able to buy feed for our cattle to meet this winter's needs or there's gonna be people standin' here that's not gonna be standin' here next time," McCallister said.
"You made a penny off your last sale, didn't you?" the congresswoman prompted.
McCallister: "Feed price was $15.50 and milk price was $15.51. I probably lost $5,000 last month. That's where we're at. The more cows you milk, the more money you lose."
She vowed to follow up on the issues.
'They become your family'
It took only 30 minutes for an auctioneer to sell Mark Argall's 33 cows.
As rain pattered on the metal roof of the auction barn, they were showcased one by one behind a metal fence and in front of a 100-person crowd. Bright lights hung over the scene. An announcer offered motorboat-speed commentary, jabbering about weight and price and quality of their coats. Two men with long metal sticks smacked a wall of the cage and poked the cattle to try to keep them spinning like ballerinas for the buyers, who selected cattle by making almost imperceptible motions -- a wink, the tap of a finger.
All of it was, of course, difficult for Argall to watch. He chewed on the tip of a pen and sighed as Bionce, Cupcake, Maggie Mae ("You ever hear of Rod Stewart?" he said) and the rest earned less than half what they would have before this drought.
"They're not just numbers on a computer," he said. "They're members of the family."
His wife, Jeanette Argall, took it harder. She fled to her sister's house in Arizona that week so she wouldn't have to be around for the sale.
Jeanette Argall grew up near Kansas City, and when her husband brought her to his parents' farm near Stockton, "she didn't know which end of the cow the milk came out of," he said. But she took to dairy farming with unexpected gusto, naming each member of the Argall family herd with great care and decorating their kitchen with literally hundreds of cow-themed knick-knacks. There's a cow-shaped kettle on her stove; dozens of plaques for their achievements in "cow shows" cover the wall.
"I love cows. I love dairy farming. We eat, we breathe, we sleep dairy cows," she said. "It's a passion. It's a way of life. When you work so closely with these animals they become your family."
To a city dweller, that may sound far-fetched. But think about it this way: The Argalls witnessed the births of most of their cows; they fed them with cartoonish, oversized baby bottles when they were young; they talk to them; they know their personalities; they pat the necks of the nervous cows as they walk into a milk barn where vacuum-suctioned devices are stuck onto their udders to extract milk with mechanical, rhythmic efficiency.
The night before the auction, Meredith Argall, Mark and Jeanette's 33-year-old daughter, went out into the fields near Ava, Missouri, to say goodbye to her friends.
Among them was one of her favorites, Norman -- named after the main character in "Psycho." Norman was moody and a bit insane, but she trusted Meredith Argall.
"I told her she had to go somewhere else," she said. "Whether God was going to take her or whether she was going to a new home, (I told her) that we couldn't take care of her anymore."
This is the kind of family where a husband would give his wife bull semen for her birthday, just because she is so keen on developing the best herd possible -- to help their business grow, and to show the rest of the world how strong their herd was.
"She wanted him bad, bad, bad, so I surprised her with it," Mark Argall said of the bull, Black Star, whose genetics he bought for his wife's birthday more than a decade ago.
As one rainless day after another passed, the Argalls fought the idea of having to sell their cattle. But one day, Jeanette Argall said, a check for their milk came in the mail. The price had dropped. Their pastures were too dry to feed their cattle and, without getting more money for the milk, they weren't able to buy them enough to eat.
"I just couldn't take it," Jeanette Argall said, explaining why she left for Arizona before the day of the auction. "I couldn't stand watching people coming in and out of here with trucks and loading up my family."
Community on the brink
An hour or so up the road, cow food is about the only thing Green Acres Dairy is trucking in.
"About three weeks ago, I was about ready to change the name to Brown Acres."
That's Roy Oliphant, 30, who owns this farm with his wife, Jessica, who is so in love with the cattle they raise that her Facebook photo is a picture of Precious the cow.
The young couple went $400,000 in debt to buy the farm a little more than a year ago. They recently applied for a $20,000 loan, they said, to pay for some of the hay they need to help the herd survive the winter.
They hoped to be the next generation of farmers for the area.
Now they're "fighting to keep the place," said Jessica Oliphant.
"It's just not working," the 27-year-old said. "It's not going to be very long before we don't have any farmers around here."
Mountain Grove, the 4,800-person dairy town that links all the farmers in this region, is starting to feel the pinch of the drought as well. It's a relatively nondescript place, where white houses have porch swings and wind chimes hang from gutters. At the town square, Western-style brick buildings with wooden awnings surround a patch of walnut and oak trees. And one business, Brown's Hardware, has an ominous sign in the window:
"Going out of business"
"We rely on the farmers," said Joe Robertson, 76, who has worked there for more than two decades. "It's dry and hot. (The farmers) couldn't get out to do anything."
It could be just the first sign of trouble.
"There's a huge ripple effect" from the drought, said Emerson, the congresswoman. "If a farmer is making a profit -- not a big one, but a little one, even -- then they're going to go to the grocery store. They're going to go to the implement dealer. They're going to go to the beauty shop. They're going to go to the Hallmark store. They're going to utilize the services that are in those communities. And if our farmers aren't buying anything, then the implement dealers suffer. The hardware store suffers. Everybody suffers.
"And that's how you start having rural America wither away."
Mountain Grove's mayor, Delbert Crewse, says the concerns are overblown.
Town sales tax revenue is down more than 10% |
not have glucose to nourish them, they die.]
10. Protection of mitochondria from oxidative damage will prevent or reduce risk of cancer. [Antioxidants prevent cancer.]
11. Lifestyle changes will be needed to manage and prevent cancer. [This means that there is no magic pill that we can take to prevent or cure cancer. We must change our relationship with food and lifestyle to prevent and cure cancer.]
12. A new era will emerge for cancer management and prevention, once cancer becomes recognized as a metabolic disease.
In other words, the cure for cancer is obtained by starving cancer cells so that they die while feeding the rest of the body so that it can grow stronger and use its natural immune system to resist cancer. This involves a high-fat low-carbohydrate restricted calorie ketogenic diet. Dr. Seyfried looks forward to the creation of new drugs that will take advantage of cancer’s dependency on glucose to address cancer. The combination of diet and targeted drugs will be a low cost treatment with few if any side effects and with a high rate of success.
The Cancer Industry in Operation
In 2012 I befriended a man in another country whose wife was diagnosed with late stage colon cancer. By this time, my second wife and I had spent many years studying alternative cancer protocols, and I was able to share what I knew with the hope that it could help his wife. His wife was resistant to trying alternative therapies unless her doctor would approve. My friend discussed several alternative options involving herbs and dietary supplements with the oncologist, and he was told that none of that would be beneficial, and furthermore, it might interfere with chemotherapy.
The doctor even went one step further. He required that they make a commitment to not use any alternative therapy unless he agreed. He even took several bottles of supplements from their possession with the pretext that he was going to evaluate them. He kept them for months to prevent them from being used. They were returned only after my friend insisted that his property be returned.
I shared information with my friend about several alternative cancer therapies which emphasized dietary changes. I explained how there was a large body of research that now shows that the high-fat low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet has proven to be a powerful tool for reversing and even curing some forms of cancer. This suggestion was met with strong opposition from hospital nursing/dietetic staff. My friend’s wife was told that she must eat fruit and carbohydrates in order to live. They were further told that a person’s diet has absolutely no bearing on treating cancer. She was encouraged to eat as much fruit, sugar, pasta, and bread as she wanted. My friend’s wife stuck with the standard American diet as she suffered through a dozen courses of horribly debilitating chemotherapy. Her doctor gave her permission to try alternative cancer treatments when it was clear that she had less than a month to live, and she would have been killed by another round of chemo.
What I saw as I witnessed this situation was the steel walls of a cancer factory. Once my friends opened the door to the system, no matter what they thought or how they felt, the conveyor belt of the cancer factory would keep on moving them forward. They dangled the prospect of curative surgery for stage 4 metastatic colon cancer in front of her if she would first agree to do chemotherapy. Every attempt my friends made to try to change the treatment plan was met with opposition from her doctors to the point where her doctors even threatened to withhold pain medication if she refused to continue with chemotherapy. There was a standard of care and no one was allowed to control their own treatment once they entered the factory. The only ones who could avoid entering the cancer factory are those who had financial resources and who could seek private treatment in Europe or Mexico.
Why is the Cancer Factory so Powerful?
Dr. Gonzalez, the developer of pancreatic enzyme therapy for cancer gives us this answer. “War on cancer” has been a failure due to a combination of politics, money, greed, and corruption—largely the result of an unholy alliance between the American Cancer Society, NCI [National Cancer Institute], Sloan-Kettering, and the drug companies.” [2]
I will discuss the various parts of the “unholy alliance” that were used to build the cancer factory. I will describe the roles played by pharmaceutical companies, medical doctors, medical researchers, not-for-profit cancer charities, the FDA and CDC, carbohydrate addiction, and medical idolatry. I will also go on to discuss what current research shows us regarding how we can successfully cure cancer with alternative treatments. A person with cancer does not need to step into the cancer factory and surrender control over his or her life to the medical system. We do have other options. However, those who wish to avoid the cancer factory need to be willing to go through a complete lifestyle reformation.
Pharmaceutical companies and the Cancer Factory
The cancer factory operates on money and lots of it.
In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US. [3]
If we use a low estimate of the average annual cost for treating each newly diagnosed person who has cancer, (such as $50,000), [4] then the healthcare cost will be over 83 billion dollars for this first phase of cancer treatment for these patients in 2014.
The typical new cancer drug coming on the market a decade ago cost about $4,500 per month (in 2012 dollars); since 2010 the median price has been around $10,000. Two of the new cancer drugs cost more than $35,000 each per month of treatment. [5]
This makes it clear that a large percentage of cancer treatment is directly related to the cost of chemotherapy drugs. It is not unusual for a new cancer patient to be given 6 to 12 months of chemotherapy as part of his or her initial treatment.
At the beginning of the last century, one person in twenty would get cancer. In the 1940s it was one out of every sixteen people. In the 1970s it was one person out of ten. Today one person out of three gets cancer in the course of their life. [6]
We have lost the war on cancer. Since the 1950s the outlook for most cancer patients has remained the same – a one in three chance of living for 5 years after diagnosis using conventional therapies – surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy drugs. The fact is that today two out of three cancer patients will be dead before 5 years. [7]
In 1985, Professor John Cairns from Harvard University published a study in Scientific American concerning the benefits of chemotherapy drugs. He stated, “Aside from certain rare cancers, it is not possible to detect any sudden changes in the death rates for any of the major cancers that could be credited to chemotherapy. Whether any of the common cancers can be cured by chemotherapy has yet to be established.” He also stated, “A six- or twelve-month course of chemotherapy not only is a very unpleasant experience but also has its own intrinsic mortality…treatments now avert…perhaps 2 or 3 percent…of the deaths from cancer that occur each year in the U.S.” [8]
Nineteen years later, in 2004, Australian researchers came to the same conclusion as Dr. Cairns. They found that the overall contribution of cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA. [9] In other words, very little benefit is being obtained from the billions of dollars that are spent on chemotherapy drugs.
The pharmaceutical industry has a powerful hold on the entire medical system in the United States, and they are not about to let alternative cancer therapies be established. How do they control the cancer factory and the doctors that provide cancer treatment? The next sections will examine other parts of the cartel. For additional information about pharmaceutical companies, please read the following articles.
Physicians and the Cancer Factory
In the 1800s there were two primary approaches to healing. The allopathic model viewed disease as an invader, which needed to be driven out of the body through the use of various treatments, which included bleeding, administration of toxic substances such as mercury and lead, and the use of surgical procedures. The other common style was the Empiric medical model, which attempted to help a person overcome disease by strengthening and encouraging a person’s own ability to heal. Herbs and highly diluted substances were given to help establish normal functioning of the body.
In the early twentieth century everything began to change. Certain wealthy families with the last names of Carnegie, Morgan, and Rockefeller took notice of the potential profits that could be made from new patented medicines. They joined forces with the American Medical Association, which represented allopathic physicians, and implemented a plan to take control of the healthcare system in America.
They began by taking control over medical schools. They made large donations to medical schools around the country in exchange for the opportunity to put their representatives on university boards of directors. This enabled them to reshape the curriculum to focus on what would become the three pillars of modern medicine, i.e. surgery, radiotherapy, and synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. Medical training would now focus on these pillars, especially the last pillar – synthetic drugs. Doctors would be taught to depend on pharmaceutical drugs for their first line treatment for all health conditions.
It only took about twenty years for the American Medical Association to dominate medical practice in the United States. During this time, they implemented a campaign to eliminate all competition. They used various marketing campaigns to discredit and disqualify homeopathic physicians from practicing medicine in the United States. The AMA called other types of healthcare providers quacks and called all therapies, other than the ones they provided, quackery. This smear campaign continues to this very day with numerous anti-competition websites. The chief website is called Quack Watch, which is dedicated to eliminating all forms of competition to the pharmaceutical cartel, which might threaten the use of pharmaceutical drugs and which might cause people to turn away from the allopathic medical care system and its cancer factory.
For additional information about how doctors are controlled by the pharmaceutical cartel, please read these articles:
Medical Research and the Cancer Factory
Before 1980 most clinical research was funded by the US National Institutes of Health through grants given to universities. The universities conducted unbiased scientific research designed to reveal truth about whatever they were studying.
During the 1990s, most of those research dollars were diverted from universities and were brought into for-profit research organizations that exist to serve the pharmaceutical industry. This change gave drug companies much greater control over the research process. They could now design their own studies. They could control the data distribution and could hide unfavorable research results. They also began to exercise considerable control over research publications, which means that they could prevent research papers on alternative medical therapies from being published. [10]
Government Oversight and the Cancer Machine
The pharmaceutical industry wants us to believe that the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are working to provide safe and effective medical care for all Americans. The truth is that the FDA is now funded, in large part, by fees paid by drug companies, and the CDC marches to the drum beat of the pharmaceutical industry.
There is a revolving door of pharmaceutical industry representatives who hold influential positions in these agencies while having strong ties to their former (and future) pharmaceutical industry employers. In short, the big pharma fox is not only guarding the hen house, he is living in the henhouse. Thus, the principle of overseeing public safety and efficacy has been replaced by the profit motivation of the pharmaceutical industry. These agencies not only serve the cartel and its cancer factory, but they are working hard to prevent anyone who is not part of the cartel from successfully introducing alternative cancer treatments into the medical care system.
Please read the following articles for additional information:
Charitable Fundraising and the Cancer Factory
I used to give money to all the walks, runs, dance marathons, swimathons, bikeathons, etc. I used to believe that I was doing a good deed. I saw all those handicapped kids and women who were suffering from breast cancer and other life threatening diseases, and my heart strings would get twanged. With the sympathetic sounds of pleading children in my ears, I would open my wallet and support what I believed must be a good cause.
What I have learned over the years is that most of these types of activities and the national organizations that organize them have a strong interest in not curing the diseases that are listed in their names. In the case of cancer charities, they are among the most highly funded charities. Beyond the high percentage of the money they use for overhead operations, most of the money they raise goes to support research activities that have been approved by the pharmaceutical cartel. In other words, when we give a dollar to a cancer charity, it will likely end up supporting research that was designed by the pharmaceutical industry. It will not be given to anyone who is doing alternative research on cancer treatments, which might be a financial competition to the drugs, radiation, and surgery that are provided by the cancer factory.
In short, a dollar given to these charities enables the drug cartel to continue with their existing research program on donated money. I may as well have just written a check to Pfizer, Bayer, or some other multi-national pharmaceutical corporation.
For additional information, please read the following article:
Carbohydrate Addiction and the Cancer Factory
I have found over the years of speaking with people about dietary approaches to disease management, that most people don’t want to hear the message. We know that the progression of many diseases can be halted, reversed, and even cured by the use of a ketogenic diet without the use of pharmaceutical drugs. This is true for epilepsy, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer. When the ketogenic dietary option is mentioned, people initially have a positive response, but when the details are described, then their enthusiasm quickly vanishes. People say, “What would I eat if I have to give up sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes, cookies, cakes, fruit, soda, sweet vegetables, and snack foods that I eat?” They can’t imagine eating a high fat, medium protein, low carbohydrate diet. Most people simply say something like, “Well, that’s interesting, but my oncologist says I can eat whatever I want…” Or, “Well, why would I want to do that, I have pills that control my condition.”
The truth is that most Americans are physically and emotionally addicted to carbohydrates. Most carbohydrates turn into glucose and as research shows, most cancers require glucose to survive. Healthy human cells can either use glucose or ketone bodies for energy. However, cancer cells have impaired respiration, which results in their inability to use ketones for energy. The principle behind the ketogenic diet for cancer treatment is to severely reduce glucose consumption and calorie consumption, to force the body to produce ketone bodies which it can use as an energy source. The result of this dietary therapy is to essentially starve cancer cells, while all other healthy cells in the body are nourished by ketone bodies.
Unfortunately most members of the conventional healthcare system falsely believe that glucose is necessary to support human life. Every cell in the human body can easily survive on ketone bodies including the human brain, but not cancer cells.
One of the foremost experts in the use of the ketogenic diet for treating cancer is Dr. Thomas N. Seyfried, Ph.D. I started this article with a few of his research findings. He is the author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease, published in 2012.
Dr. Seyfried writes:
Evidence suggests that the human brain can become addicted to glucose from a lifelong consumption of energy-dense foods of low nutritional value. [Typical high carbohydrate American diet] Consequently, the abrupt cessation of food intake may produce temporary withdrawal symptoms similar to those experienced from cessation of any addictive substance. This is one reason why considerable personal discipline and motivation is needed to follow the ketogenic diet regimen.
Glucose withdrawal symptoms can be greater in those individuals who have never fasted than in individuals who have experience fasting. As most people in modern industrial societies do not practice therapeutic fasting as a lifestyle, glucose withdrawal symptoms will likely be encountered in most patients who attempt the restricted ketogenic diet as a cancer therapy. These symptoms could also be greater in older individuals than in younger ones. Indeed, fasting might not be possible in some older people who have lived a food-rich life of excess.
When compared to the debilitating effects of conventional chemotherapies and radiation, however, the symptoms associated with the ketogenic diet are relatively mild and will pass after 2-3 days for most people. Nevertheless, glucose withdrawal symptoms and the feeling of hunger are simply too uncomfortable for some people regardless of the potential therapeutic benefits. It is therefore important for physicians to recognize that some cancer patients might be unable or unwilling to implement the restricted ketogenic diet for various reasons. Some individuals are simply incapable of fasting. Hence, the standard of care [surgery, radiation, chemotherapy] becomes the only therapeutic option for these patients. [11]
I mention Dr. Seyfried’s work, because most people have been victimized by the high-carbohydrate diet, which has now been proven to cause diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. We were told that saturated fat and cholesterol were evil, and we should eat mostly carbohydrate food with every meal and to especially start the day with a fat free breakfast consisting of nearly 100% sugar and grains. The standard American diet has created generations of carbohydrate addicts.
When an addict is faced with the prospect of needing to give up his addiction many will say, “I would rather die than to give up candy bars, bread, pasta, and fruit.” And sadly, I have watched people with cancer do just that! They gave their cancer the exact food it wanted to keep growing and they died despite all the chemo, radiation, and surgery. They refused to accept the possibility that their nutritionally deficient standard American diet had anything to do with their health.
For additional information about the ketogenic diet, please visit the following:
Excerpt:
“Question: Do your doctors have an opinion on your diet therapy?
No. I’ve told all of my doctors, my oncologist, my neurosurgeon, my neurologist, about my diet. I did not ask for their help in adopting it, I just began slowly and felt I had enough good information to take it on myself. I was also not undergoing any other treatment at the time.”
Medical Idolatry and the Cancer Factory
We have all been taught to put people who wear white coats up on very high pedestals. We have been taught to believe that physicians and other healthcare providers will always keep our best interests in mind. We have been conditioned to live as if doctors are the closest people to God that we can see on the Earth. We are to revere them, respect them, and never question their judgments. We should feel shame if we doubt our doctors and should consider ourselves traitors if we don’t follow every directive they give. From our earliest years, we have been brainwashed to do whatever doctors tell us. What do we tell our children when they are sick and are refusing to take a horrid tasting medicine? We say, “You have to take this, because your doctor says so.” In short, we treat them like gods and worship them through our checkbooks.
To walk away from the cancer factory requires us to break the oath of allegiance that we have made to the pharmaceutical industry and the American medical system. The oath may never have been written down for our consideration and assent; nevertheless, most Americans live by it. It goes like this:
I affirm that I will obey my doctors. I will take all the medication that he or she prescribes. I will trust my doctor, because he or she would never do anything that would not be in my best interest. I will distrust all forms of alternative therapies and will especially distrust all healthcare providers except those approved by my doctor. I yield responsibility over my life and my health to my doctor and to the therapies of the conventional American medical system. I will entrust them with my health and give them credit for all successes. If I cannot be cured, then I will attribute the failure to genetics, and will reassure my doctor that he or she provided the best care that could be offered for my condition. I will praise the conventional medical system in America until I die.
When we renounce this oath, we become responsible for managing our own healthcare. We turn away from medical idolatry and no longer worship the people who wear white coats. We discontinue the blind acceptance of whatever healthcare providers tell us to do, and we actively begin to chart the course for our health. We may choose to seek out alternative minded physicians who will work with us as medical consultants, which is a very different type of relationship. Some who read this will still be reluctant to break the oath, because they are not willing to kick out the pedestal that their doctors are standing on. I hope, as you read further, you will begin having a change of mind.
The Failure of the Cancer Factory
The following links are for articles that describe how the pharmaceutical cartel and its supporting institutions are making us sick and have failed to promote our health. The failures are many and the conflicts of interest are grievous.
Conclusion
The big pharma cartel has bought its way into every corner of US society. Our medical freedom is dwindling by the day. Many of us have made decisions to try to avoid interacting with the healthcare system and the pharmaceutical masters who control most doctors in America whenever possible. It is possible to take responsibility for your health and to reverse the patterns of disease that you are experiencing. Yes, this includes cancer. Please remember, illness is not normal despite what doctors tell you!
I spent nearly 50 years eating the standard American diet. I was extremely overweight, sick, and developing heart disease. I have been on the ketogenic diet for most of the last three years, and used a less restrictive version of it for a few years before that. My heart function is now normal and I am more mentally alert and physically stronger than I have been in many years.
I have been focusing on the ketogenic diet in this article, but there are numerous other approaches to curing cancer. You will not learn about them from conventional physicians who are working in the cancer factory. In part two of this article, I will review many of the highly successful alternative treatments that are being used for cancer treatment. There are many great options for those who want to avoid being poisoned, burned, and cut by the practitioners who work in the modern American cancer factory.
Consider the profits that are being made by chemotherapy drugs. This is actually a tiny portion of all the money that is being made by the cancer factory and the pharmaceutical cartel.
Pfizer alone projects its annual cancer drug returns will be $11 billion by 2018. [12]
In 2010, Gleevec grossed $4.3 billion. Roche’s Herceptin (the HER2 drug) and Avastin did even better: $6 billion and $7.4 billion respectively. Cancer plays a huge role in the rising costs of healthcare. America’s National Institutes of Health predict that spending on all cancer treatment will rise from $125 billion last year to at least $158 billion in 2020. If drugs become pricier, as seems likely, that bill could rise to $207 billion. [13]
The cancer factory is truly big business in America. This system cannot afford to permit anyone to find a cure for cancer. If any of the low cost highly successful alternative cancer treatments were to be approved for use, then this entire system would come crashing down. The pharmaceutical cartel will not let that happen.
To learn more about the alternative cancer therapies please see:
References
[1] Cancer as a Metabolic Disease, Thomas N. Seyfried, 2012, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ, page 407.
[2] “A Natural, Nutrition-Based Breakthrough Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer?” The Alliance for Natural Health USA, August 28, 2012, Retrieved 8/13/14. http://www.anh-usa.org/a-nutrition-treatment-for-pancreatic-cancer/
[3] Cancer Facts & Figures 2014, American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsstatistics/cancerfactsfigures2014/index
[4] “Cancer the forbidden cures,” Film documentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAMYAoiCSsI
[5] “A Hospital Says ‘No’ To An $11,000-A-Month Cancer Drug,” Peter B. Bach, Leonard B. Saltz And Robert E. Wittes; NYTimes.com, 10/14/2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/opinion/a-hospital-says-no-to-an-11000-a-month-cancer-drug.html?_r=0
[6] “Cancer the forbidden cures,” Film documentary.
[7] IBID.
[8] “Chemotherapy,” alternative cancer treatments and suppression, Retrieved 8/12/2014. http://www.cancerinform.org/chemotherapy.html
[9] Organ G1, Ward R, Barton M.; “The contribution of cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adult malignancies,” Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2004 Dec, PMID: 15630849.
[10] “Cancer the forbidden cures,” Film documentary.
[11] Cancer as a Metabolic Disease, Thomas N. Seyfried, 2012, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ, page 361.
[12] “The Simple Cancer Cure that has been known for quite a while now,” Health Impact News. http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/the-simple-cancer-cure-that-has-been-known-for-quite-a-while-now/
[13] “Drug companies in America: The costly war on cancer,” The Economist 5/26/2011. http://www.economist.com/node/18743951
We Lost the War on Cancer – Review of Alternative Cancer Therapies
We have lost the war on cancer. At the beginning of the last century, one person in twenty would get cancer. In the 1940s it was one out of every sixteen people. In the 1970s it was one person out of ten. Today one person out of three gets cancer in the course of their life.
The cancer industry is probably the most prosperous business in the United States. In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US. $6 billion of tax-payer funds are cycled through various federal agencies for cancer research, such as the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI states that the medical costs of cancer care are $125 billion, with a projected 39 percent increase to $173 billion by 2020.
The simple fact is that the cancer industry employs too many people and produces too much income to allow a cure to be found. All of the current research on cancer drugs is based on the premise that the cancer market will grow, not shrink.
John Thomas explains to us why the current cancer industry prospers while treating cancer, but cannot afford to cure it in Part I. In Part II, he surveys the various alternative cancer therapies that have been proven effective, but that are not approved by the FDA.
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SaveWhen pondering the intellectual decline of political movements, it is hard not to call to mind the former flagship publication of the Buckleyite wing of conservatism called National Review. Where once learned men (and women) made their case from the heights of argumentation and erudition — a force to be reckoned with, like it or not — the publication has over the years accelerated to absurdity, devolved to inanity, shrunk into a whiny club of simpering sycophants screaming full force in an empty echo chamber. An exercise in intellectual onanism, today’s NRO has nothing to say about the future because it remembers nothing of the past. It is conservatism not only without a conscience, but without understanding of that which it purports to conserve.
It may be debatable whether there was ever a Buckleyite movement wholly separate from the neoconservative impulse, or at what point the worms began eating into the flesh of the magazine. But that the neocons hijacked the magazine, silenced any conservative vein of thought not in harmony with their heterodox and revolutionary views (can one be at the same time a conservative and a revolutionary?), and proceeded to redefine what passes as modern conservatism to suit their alien agenda cannot be denied.
So now that the neoconservatives have successfully burrowed themselves so deeply into what was once the conservative movement that they have killed the host, they look around at the destruction they have wrought and scream, “don’t blame us!”
Thus we find ourselves faced with chief whiner of the National Review universe Jonah Goldberg, a man absolutely fearless at the thought of sending others to die in disastrous wars overseas but cowering at the thought of placing himself in harm’s way, arguing that we must not call him and his cohorts what they actually are. In his latest little bitch session in some corner of NRO, he tells us that, “The Term ‘Neocon’ Has Run It’s Course.”
Don’t call us neocons, he says, because the word has no meaning, it never had meaning, and you’re all just a bunch of anti-Semites if you continue to use it. Here is a summary of Jonah Goldberg’s argument for why we should not call the neocons neocons:
1) Neocons were never that interested in foreign policy at first. The neocon was merely, in the words of Neocon Godfather Irving Kristol, “a liberal who was mugged by reality and wants to press charges.”
2) Neoconservatism is not even an ideology at all, but rather, as Kristol averred, a “persuasion.”
3) Neocons like Jeane Kirkpatrick did not advocate rapid liberalization in authoritarian countries, but preferred gradual change. In other words, regime change through the National Endowment for Democracy rather than a US invasion.
4) Neocons were not that radical in their anti-communism, in fact they were more dovish even than the standard National Review writer during the Cold War.
5) Democrats like Bill Clinton also wanted regime change so you can’t just blame the neocons.
6) It’s not fair that neocons get the blame for the disastrous 2003 Iraq war. Lots of others joined them in advocating for the war but they all turned against it while the neocons held steadfast in support.
7) Critics of neoconservatism are actually just anti-Semites. Their criticism of neoconservatism as an intellectual movement is just cover for their hatred of, as Jonah indelicately puts it, “Hebraic super-hawk[s].”
8) We’re all neocons now, so stop calling us neocons. Every Republican is a super hawk, we won, history has ended, so let’s bury those old Cold War terms and just accept that the neocons are the masters. Move along, nothing to see here.
“Meanwhile,” Goldberg concludes, “the Right is having a long overdue, and valuable, argument about how to conduct foreign policy. Keep it going, just leave neoconservatism out of it.”
Ah yes, let’s have a debate about foreign policy with a pre-condition that everyone agree with the neocon view of foreign policy — pre-emptive war, American exceptionalism at the barrel of a gun, military Keynesianism, national security state at home, NSA surveillance of Americans, gunboat diplomacy without the diplomacy, and so on.
Sorry Jonah. Not going to happen. Sorry that history is a cruel judge of your disastrous movement, but don’t count on the rest of us to pretend something isn’t what it is. Neocon.
Daniel McAdams is director of the The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity. Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity."Please Don't Shoot Me," Man Begged Before Cop Shot and Killed Him → skypig357: john-paul-jonesing-for-liberty: everythingsks: arizonagunguy: laliberty: arizonagunguy: laliberty: Moments before a Mesa, Arizona, police officer killed Daniel Shaver with five shots from an AR-15, Shaver was on all fours, pleading with officers not to shoot him, according to a newly released police report from the incident. Shaver, a twenty-six-year-old from Texas, was killed on January 18. Philip Brailsford, the two-year Mesa Police Department officer who allegedly killed him, was fired from the department and charged with second-degree murder. Shaver was staying at a Mesa La Quinta Inn on a work-related trip when he was killed, according to a local ABC affiliate. The police report (viewable in full here) alleges that officers received a call about a man pointing a rifle out Shaver’s fifth-floor hotel window. According to the police report, the officers who responded asked Shaver and a woman he was with to exit the room. Shaver exited, then raised his hands and dropped to his knees. An officer told him to lay on the ground, and he did. He was “obviously compliant and offered no resistance at that point,” the report reads. Then, Shaver was ordered to put his hands behind his head, cross his legs, and not move. If he moved, the officer told him, he would be considered a threat, and “may not survive it.” The officers then ordered the woman Shaver was with to crawl towards them, and ordered Shaver back to a kneeling position. “If you do that again, we’re shooting you. Do you understand?” an officer asked him, apparently referencing Shaver’s failure to immediately raise his hands as he kneeled. “No, please don’t shoot me,” Shaver replied. At around this point, according to the report, he began sobbing.
Officers ordered Shaver to crawl toward them, and he complied, “audibly sobbing” as he did so. As he crawled, he briefly moved his hand toward his waist and back toward his body, and Officer Brailsford began shooting. “The movement of SHAVER’s right arm in the recording was a very similar motion to someone drawing a pistol from their waist band,” the report reads. However, it continues, “SHAVER’s underwear were clearly visible and it appeared his shorts had fallen partially down his leg at that point. SHAVER’s motion was also consistent with attempting to pull his shorts up as they were falling off.” Monique Portillo, the woman who was with Shaver, told police that she was also staying at the hotel on business, and that she and a male coworker had met Shaver in the elevator. Shaver invited them to do shots in his room, and when they arrived, Portillo asked Shaver about a case in the room, which she thought might contain a musical instrument. Shaver opened it, revealing the rifle and a dead sparrow. He told her Portillo that he worked for Walmart and that his job was to kill birds that made their way into the store. (The store does apparently employ people to shoot and kill birds.) Shaver and the other man began playing with the rifle, according to Portillo, pointing it out the window as they did so. Luis Nunez, the other man, left the room to call his wife before police arrived, Portillo said. The report’s detailed description of Shaver’s death is sourced from an interview with Portillo and from body camera footage from one of the officers, which Mesa police have not released. Both state prosecutors and Brailsford’s defense attorneys are arguing that the footage should remain sealed. BuzzFeed News notes that Laney Sweet, Shaver’s widow, recorded a conversation in which a prosecutor told her she could view the body camera footage, but only if she did not speak to the media about it. She declined, and uploaded audio of the conversation to YouTube. Sweet also said in the video that prosecutors told her they planned to offer Brailsford a plea deal for negligent homicide—a lesser charge.
It’s not black vs white or rich vs poor or red vs blue or young vs old; it’s the state vs us.
This is retarded. An officer arrives to a scene about a guy pointing a rifle out a fucking window. Do you know how many times people “give up”, cry, and plea, only to pull a gun on an officer? Hundreds of times. This guy would be alive if him and his fuck head friends didn’t fuck around to begin with. And just followed the officers orders. If your pants are falling down let them fall down. If a cop tells you to not make a certain move, don’t make that move. Now this cop was freaking out thinking he potentially has an active shooter on his hands and if him and the victim had proper communication, this man wouldn’t have lost his life, and the cop wouldn’t be going to jail for murdering some one. This was a fucked up situation all around. @skypig357 any input? “Comply or die,” particularly when someone is clearly prone and subdued, is a horrendous edict fit only for those with a reptilian intellect. The cop’s statements leading up to the shooting suggests this was the road that cop was hoping to travel from the start.
No one denies he and his co-workers weren’t knuckleheads for playing with a rifle (no doubt a small caliber if it were intended to shoot sparrows) out of a building window. And if he had been shot while brandishing said rifle out of the window, this would be a completely different scenario. But an intelligent human with a badge would have a better assessment of who and what is an actual threat. It’s pretty clear the prone, wimpering man without a record laying on the ground with his underwear showing isn’t hiding a rifle down there or anywhere. That officer never saw a weapon. He only had a third-hand report of one. It is completely irresponsible to jump from that to killing for a hand motion. This should be obvious to anyone whose only response is to defend cops at all times. That he was fired - an extraordinary step considering the general lack of accountability and various protections from liability enjoyed by police - should speak volumes. I’m not sure if you’ve been involved in law enforcement for any period of time but it’s hard to understand why cops do certain things if you haven’t been there yourself. People of all shapes sizes genders color and ages have shot police. Who’s to say this man wouldn’t shoot an officer? The man was wearing shorts over his underwear (like most people do) and criminals have crawled towards cops (with a gun in their waistband behind their back) complying, then drawn their gun and fired at officers. Just because it was 3rd hand doesn’t mean the officer should let his guard down. This cop was trigger happy yes. I’m not saying he was right for shooting this guy. I agree with the charges brought forth against the officer for his actions. But with people trying to gun down police at every chance they get, cops are on edge. People fake hurt all the time just so they can get close to a cop to hurt them. |
of video with the traditional written commentary. Bradlee Dean is also known for his bold stand of truth in the public square reflected in his recent lawsuit against Rachel Maddow and MSNBC. He speaks on college and high school campuses with his ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International. Who is Bradlee Dean? Twitter @BradleeDean1 – Facebook :http://www.facebook.com/bradlee.dean.7?ref=ts&fref=tsCoordinates:
Burundi ( (), ), officially the Republic of Burundi (Kirundi: Republika y'Uburundi,[13] [buˈɾundi]; French: République du Burundi, [buʁundi] or [byʁyndi]), is a landlocked country amid the African Great Lakes region where East and Central Africa converge. The capital is Gitega, having moved from Bujumbura in February 2019.[14] The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.
The Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least 500 years. For more than 200 of those years, Burundi was an independent kingdom, until the beginning of the 20th century, when Germany colonised the region.[15] After the First World War and Germany's defeat, it ceded the territory to Belgium. Both Germans and Belgians ruled Burundi and Rwanda as a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi. Despite common misconceptions, Burundi and Rwanda had never been under common rule until the time of European colonisation.
Burundi gained independence in 1962 and initially had a monarchy, but a series of assassinations, coups and a general climate of regional instability culminated in the establishment of a republic and one-party state in 1966. Bouts of ethnic cleansing and ultimately two civil wars and genocides during the 1970s and again in the 1990s left the country undeveloped and its population as one of the world's poorest.[16] The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, both Hutus, died together when their aeroplane was shot down in April 1994. 2015 witnessed large-scale political strife as President Pierre Nkurunziza opted to run for a third term in office, a coup attempt failed and the country's parliamentary and presidential elections were broadly criticised by members of the international community.
The sovereign state of Burundi political system is that of a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The President of Burundi is the head of state and head of government. There are currently 21 registered parties in Burundi.[17] On 13 March 1992, Tutsi coup leader Pierre Buyoya established a constitution,[18] which provided for a multi-party political process and reflected multi-party competition.[19] Six years later, on 6 June 1998, the constitution was changed, broadening National Assembly's seats and making provisions for two vice-presidents. Because of the Arusha Accord, Burundi enacted a transitional government in 2000.[20] In October 2016, Burundi informed the UN of its intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.[21]
Burundi remains an overwhelmingly rural society, with just 13% of the population living in urban areas in 2013.[22] The population density of around 315 people per square kilometre (753 per sq mi) is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.[17] Roughly 85% of the population are of Hutu ethnic origin, 15% are Tutsi, and fewer than 1% are indigenous Twa.[23] The official languages of Burundi are Kirundi, French and English, Kirundi being recognised officially as the sole national language.[24]
One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi has an equatorial climate. Burundi is a part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. The country lies on a rolling plateau in the centre of Africa. The highest peak, Mount Heha at 2,685 m (8,810 ft),[25] lies to the southeast of the largest city, Bujumbura. The most distant source of the River Nile is the Ruvyironza River in the Bururi Province of Burundi, the Nile is linked from Lake Victoria to its headwaters via the Kagera River to the Ruvyironza River.[26][27] Another major lake is Lake Tanganyika, located in much of Burundi's southwestern corner.[28] There are two national parks, Kibira National Park to the northwest (a small region of rain forest, adjacent to Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda), and Ruvubu National Park to the northeast (along the Rurubu River, also known as Ruvubu or Ruvuvu). Both were established in 1982 to conserve wildlife populations.[29] Burundi's lands are mostly agricultural or pasture.
Settlement by rural populations has led to deforestation, soil erosion and habitat loss.[30] Deforestation of the entire country is almost completely due to overpopulation, with a mere 600 km2 (230 sq mi) remaining and an ongoing loss of about 9% per annum.[31] In addition to poverty, Burundians often have to deal with corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, and hunger.[32] Burundi is densely populated and has had substantial emigration as young people seek opportunities elsewhere. The World Happiness Report 2018 ranked Burundi as the world's least happy nation with a rank of 156.[33]
History [ edit ]
Burundi is one of the few countries in Africa, along with its neighbour Rwanda among others (such as Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland), to be a direct territorial continuation of a pre-colonial era African state. The early history of Burundi, and especially the role and nature of the country's three dominant ethnic groups; the Twa, Hutu and Tutsi, is highly debated amongst academics.[34] However, it is important to note that the nature of culture and ethnic groups is always fluid and changing. While the groups might have migrated to the area at different times and as distinctly different ethnic groups, the current distinctions are contemporary socio-cultural constructs. Initially the different ethnic groups lived together in relative peace. The first conflicts between ethnic groups can be dated back to the 17th century, when land was becoming ever more scarce because of the continuous growth in population.
Kingdom of Burundi [ edit ]
The first evidence of the Burundian state dates back to the late 16th century where it emerged on the eastern foothills. Over the following centuries it expanded, annexing smaller neighbours. The Kingdom of Burundi, or Urundi, in the Great Lakes region was a polity ruled by a traditional monarch with several princes beneath him; succession struggles were common.[35] The king, known as the mwami (translated as ruler) headed a princely aristocracy (ganwa) which owned most of the land and required a tribute, or tax, from local farmers (mainly Hutu) and herders (mainly Tutsi). The Kingdom of Burundi was characterized by a hierarchical political authority and tributary economic exchange.[36]
In the mid-18th century, the Tutsi royalty consolidated authority over land, production, and distribution with the development of the ubugabire—a patron-client relationship in which the populace received royal protection in exchange for tribute and land tenure. By this time, the royal court was made up of the Tutsi-Banyaruguru, they had higher social status than other pastoralists such as the Tutsi-Hima. In the lower levels of this society were generally Hutu people, and at the very bottom of the pyramid were the Twa. The system had some fluidity however, some Hutu people belonged to the nobility and in this way also had a say in the functioning of the state.[37]
The classification of Hutu or Tutsi was not merely based on ethnic criteria alone. Hutu farmers that managed to acquire wealth and livestock were regularly granted the higher social status of Tutsi, some even made it to become close advisors of the Ganwa. On the other hand, there are also reports of Tutsi that lost all their cattle and subsequently lost their higher status and were called Hutu. Thus, the distinction between Hutu and Tutsi was also a socio-cultural concept, instead of a purely ethnic one.[38][39] There were also many reports of marriages between Hutu and Tutsi people.[40] In general, regional ties and tribal power struggles played a far more determining role in Burundi's politics than ethnicity.[39]
Burundi ceased to be a monarchy when king Ntare V Ndizeye was deposed by his Prime Minister and Chief of Staff, Capt. Michel Micombero, who abolished the monarchy and declared a republic following the November 1966 coup d'état.
Colonisation [ edit ]
From 1884, the German East Africa Company was active in the African Great Lakes region. As a result of heightened tensions and border disputes between the German East Africa Company, the British Empire and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the German Empire was called upon to put down the Abushiri revolts and protect the empire's interests in the region. The German East Africa Company transferred its rights to the German Empire in 1891, in this way establishing the German colony of German East Africa, which included Burundi, Rwanda, and the mainland part of Tanzania (formerly known as Tanganyika).[41] The German Empire stationed armed forces in Ruanda and Burundi during the late 1880s. The location of the present-day city of Gitega served as an administrative centre for the Ruanda-Urundi region.[42]
During the First World War, the East African Campaign greatly affected the African Great Lakes region. The allied powers, the British Empire and Belgium launched a coordinated attack on the German colony. The German army stationed in Burundi was forced to retreat by the numerical superiority of the Belgian army and by 17 June 1916, Burundi and Rwanda were occupied. The Force Publique and the British Lake Force then started a thrust to capture Tabora, an administrative centre of central German East Africa. After the war, as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to cede "control" of the Western section of the former German East Africa to Belgium.[17][43]
On 20 October 1924, Ruanda-Urundi, which consisted of modern-day Rwanda and Burundi, became a Belgian League of Nations mandate territory, with Usumbura as its capital. In practical terms it was considered part of the Belgian colonial empire. Ruanda-Urundi continued its kingship dynasty despite the invasion of Europeans.[22][44]
The Belgians, however, preserved many of the kingdom's institutions, the Burundian monarchy succeeded in surviving into the post-colonial period.[35] Following the Second World War, Ruanda-Urundi was classified as a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority.[22] During the 1940s, a series of policies caused divisions throughout the country. On 4 October 1943, powers were split in the legislative division of Burundi's government between chiefdoms and lower chiefdoms. Chiefdoms were in charge of land, and lower sub-chiefdoms were established. Native authorities also had powers.[44] In 1948, Belgium allowed the region to form political parties.[17] These factions contributed to Burundi gaining its independence from Belgium, on 1 July 1962.
Independence [ edit ]
Independence Square and monument in Bujumbura.
On 20 January 1959, Burundi's ruler Mwami Mwambutsa IV requested Burundi's independence from Belgium and dissolution of the Ruanda-Urundi union.[45] In the following months, Burundian political parties began to advocate for the end of Belgian colonial rule and the separation of Rwanda and Burundi.[45] The first and largest of these political parties was the Union for National Progress (UPRONA).
Burundi's push for independence was influenced by the Rwandan Revolution and the accompanying instability and ethnic conflict that occurred there. As a result of the Rwandan Revolution, many Rwandan Tutsi refugees arrived in Burundi during the period from 1959 to 1961.[46][47][48]
Burundi's first elections took place on 8 September 1961 and UPRONA, a multi-ethnic unity party led by Prince Louis Rwagasore won just over 80% of the electorate's votes. In the wake of the elections, on 13 October, the 29-year-old Prince Rwagasore was assassinated, robbing Burundi of its most popular and well-known nationalist.[17][49]
The country claimed independence on 1 July 1962,[17] and legally changed its name from Ruanda-Urundi to Burundi.[50] Burundi became a constitutional monarchy with Mwami Mwambutsa IV, Prince Rwagasore's father, serving as the country's king.[47] On 18 September 1962 Burundi joined the United Nations.[51]
In 1963, King Mwambutsa appointed a Hutu prime minister, Pierre Ngendandumwe, but he was assassinated on 15 January 1965 by a Rwandan Tutsi employed by the US Embassy. The assassination occurred in the broader context of the Congo Crisis during which Western anti-communist countries were confronting the communist People's Republic of China as it attempted to make Burundi a logistics base for communist insurgents battling in Congo.[52] Parliamentary elections in May 1965 brought a majority of Hutu into the parliament, but when King Mwambutsa appointed a Tutsi prime minister, some Hutu felt this was unjust and ethnic tensions were further increased. In October 1965, an attempted coup d'état led by the Hutu-dominated police was carried out but failed. The Tutsi dominated army, then led by Tutsi officer Captain Michel Micombero[53] purged Hutu from their ranks and carried out reprisal attacks which ultimately claimed the lives of up to 5,000 people in a precursor to the 1972 Burundian Genocide.[54]
King Mwambutsa, who had fled the country during the October coup of 1965, was deposed by a coup in July 1966 and his teenage son, Prince Ntare V, claimed the throne. In November that same year, the Tutsi Prime Minister, then-Captain Michel Micombero, carried out another coup, this time deposing Ntare, abolishing the monarchy and declaring the nation a republic, though his one-party government was effectively a military dictatorship.[17] As president, Micombero became an advocate of African socialism and received support from the People's Republic of China. He imposed a staunch regime of law and order and sharply repressed Hutu militarism.
Civil war and genocide against Hutu [ edit ]
In late April 1972, two events led to the outbreak of the First Burundian Genocide. On 27 April 1972, a rebellion led by Hutu members of the gendarmerie broke out in the lakeside towns of Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac and the rebels declared the short-lived Martyazo Republic.[55][56] The rebels attacked both Tutsi and any Hutu who refused to join their rebellion.[57][58] During this initial Hutu outbreak, anywhere from 800 to 1200 people were killed.[59] At the same time, King Ntare V of Burundi returned from exile, heightening political tension in the country. On 29 April 1972, the 24-year-old Ntare V was murdered. In subsequent months, the Tutsi-dominated government of Michel Micombero used the army to combat Hutu rebels and commit genocide, murdering targeted members of the Hutu majority. The total number of casualties was never established, but contemporary estimates put the number of people killed between 80,000 and 210,000.[60][61] In addition, several hundred thousand Hutu were estimated to have fled the killings into Zaïre, Rwanda and Tanzania.[61][62]
Following the civil war and genocide, Micombero became mentally distraught and withdrawn. In 1976, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, a Tutsi, led a bloodless coup to toppled Micombero and set about promoting reform. His administration drafted a new constitution in 1981, which maintained Burundi's status as a one-party state.[53] In August 1984, Bagaza was elected head of state. During his tenure, Bagaza suppressed political opponents and religious freedoms.
Major Pierre Buyoya (Tutsi) overthrew Bagaza in 1987, suspended the constitution and dissolved political parties. He reinstated military rule by a Military Committee for National Salvation (CSMN).[53] Anti-Tutsi ethnic propaganda disseminated by the remnants of the 1972 UBU, which had re-organized as PALIPEHUTU in 1981, led to killings of Tutsi peasants in the northern communes of Ntega and Marangara in August 1988. The government put the death toll at 5,000[citation needed]; some international NGOs believed this understated the deaths.
The new regime did not unleash the harsh reprisals of 1972. Its effort to gain public trust was eroded when it decreed an amnesty for those who had called for, carried out, and taken credit for the killings. Analysts have called this period the beginning of the "culture of impunity." Other analysts put the origins of the "culture of impunity" earlier, in 1965 and 1972, when a small number of identifiable Hutus unleashed massive killings of Tutsis.[citation needed]
In the aftermath of the killings, a group of Hutu intellectuals wrote an open letter to Pierre Buyoya, asking for more representation of the Hutu in the administration. They were arrested and jailed. A few weeks later, Buyoya appointed a new government, with an equal number of Hutu and Tutsi ministers. He appointed Adrien Sibomana (Hutu) as Prime Minister. Buyoya also created a commission to address issues of national unity.[53] In 1992, the government created a new constitution that provided for a multi-party system,[53] but a civil war broke out.
An estimated total of 250,000 people died in Burundi from the various conflicts between 1962 and 1993.[63] Since Burundi's independence in 1962, two genocides have taken place in the country: the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army,[64] and the mass killings of Tutsis in 1993 by the Hutu majority. Both were described as genocides in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented in 2002 to the United Nations Security Council.[65]
First attempt at democracy and genocide against Tutsi [ edit ]
In June 1993, Melchior Ndadaye, leader of the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), won the first democratic election. He became the first Hutu head of state, leading a pro-Hutu government. In October 1993, Tutsi soldiers assassinated Ndadaye, an act which resulted in a genocide against Tutsi, which led to years of violence between Hutu rebels and Tutsi majority army. It is estimated that some 300,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the years following the assassination.[66]
In early 1994, the parliament elected Cyprien Ntaryamira (Hutu) to the office of president. He and Juvénal Habyarimana, the president of Rwanda, both Hutus, died together when their aeroplane was shot down in April 1994. More refugees started fleeing to Rwanda. Speaker of Parliament, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya (Hutu), was appointed as president in October 1994. A coalition government involving 12 of the 13 parties was formed. A feared general massacre was averted, but violence broke out. A number of Hutu refugees in Bujumbura,[citation needed] the then-capital, were killed. The mainly Tutsi Union for National Progress withdrew from the government and parliament.
In 1996, Pierre Buyoya (Tutsi) again took power through a coup d'état. He suspended the constitution and was sworn in as president in 1998. This was the start of his second term as president, after his first term from 1987 to 1993. In response to rebel attacks, the government forced much of the population to move to refugee camps.[67] Under Buyoya's rule, long peace talks started, mediated by South Africa. Both parties signed agreements in Arusha, Tanzania and Pretoria, South Africa, to share power in Burundi. The agreements took four years to plan.
On 28 August 2000, a transitional government for Burundi was planned as a part of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. The transitional government was placed on a trial basis for five years. After several aborted cease-fires, a 2001 peace plan and power-sharing agreement has been relatively successful. A cease-fire was signed in 2003 between the Tutsi-controlled Burundian government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy).[68]
In 2003, FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye (Hutu) was elected president.[69] In early 2005, ethnic quotas were formed for determining positions in Burundi's government. Throughout the year, elections for parliament and president occurred.[70]
Pierre Nkurunziza (Hutu), once a leader of a rebel group, was elected president in 2005. As of 2008, the Burundian government was talking with the Hutu-led Palipehutu-National Liberation Forces (NLF)[71] to bring peace to the country.[72]
Peace agreements [ edit ]
Tutsi militia near the Zairian border, 1996
African leaders began a series of peace talks between the warring factions following a request by the United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali for them to intervene in the humanitarian crisis. Talks were initiated under the aegis of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere in 1995; following his death, South African President Nelson Mandela took the helm. As the talks progressed, South African President Thabo Mbeki and United States President Bill Clinton also lent their respective weight.
The peace talks took the form of Track I mediations. This method of negotiation can be defined as a form of diplomacy involving governmental or intergovernmental representatives, who may use their positive reputations, mediation or the "carrot and stick" method as a means of obtaining or forcing an outcome, frequently along the lines of "bargaining" or "win-lose".[73]
The main objective was to transform the Burundian government and military structurally in order to bridge the ethnic gap between the Tutsi and Hutu. It was to take place in two major steps. First, a transitional power-sharing government would be established, with the presidents holding office for three-year terms. The second objective involved a restructuring of the armed forces, where the two groups would be represented equally.
As the protracted nature of the peace talks demonstrated, the mediators and negotiating parties confronted several obstacles. First, the Burundian officials perceived the goals as "unrealistic" and viewed the treaty as ambiguous, contradictory and confusing. Second, and perhaps most importantly, the Burundians believed the treaty would be irrelevant without an accompanying cease fire. This would require separate and direct talks with the rebel groups. The main Hutu party was sceptical of the offer of a power-sharing government; they alleged that they had been deceived by the Tutsi in past agreements.
In 2000,[74] the Burundian President signed the treaty, as well as 13 of the 19 warring Hutu and Tutsi factions. Disagreements persisted over which group would preside over the nascent government, and when the ceasefire would begin. The spoilers of the peace talks were the hardliner Tutsi and Hutu groups who refused to sign the accord; as a result, violence intensified. Three years later at a summit of African leaders in Tanzania, the Burundian president and the main opposition Hutu group signed an accord to end the conflict; the signatory members were granted ministerial posts within the government. However, smaller militant Hutu groups – such as the Forces for National Liberation – remained active.
UN involvement [ edit ]
Between 1993 and 2003, many rounds of peace talks, overseen by regional leaders in Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda, gradually established power-sharing agreements to satisfy the majority of the contending groups. Initially the South African Protection Support Detachment was deployed to protect Burundian leaders returning from exile. These forces became part of the African Union Mission to Burundi, deployed to help oversee the installation of a transitional government. In June 2004, the UN stepped in and took over peacekeeping responsibilities as a signal of growing international support for the already markedly advanced peace process in Burundi.[75]
The mission's mandate, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, has been to monitor cease-fire; carry out disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants; support humanitarian assistance and refugee and IDP return; assist with elections; protect international staff and Burundian civilians; monitor Burundi's troublesome borders, including halting illicit arms flows; and assist in carrying out institutional reforms including those of the Constitution, judiciary, armed forces and police. The mission has been allotted 5,650 military personnel, 120 civilian police and about 1,000 international and local civilian personnel. The mission has been functioning well. It has greatly benefited from the transitional government, which has functioned and is in the process of transitioning to one that will be popularly elected.[75]
The main difficulty in the early stages was continued resistance to the peace process by the last Hutu nationalist rebel group. This organisation continued its violent conflict on the outskirts of the capital despite the UN's presence. By June 2005, the group had stopped fighting and its representatives were brought back into the political process. All political parties have accepted a formula for inter-ethnic power-sharing: no political party can gain access to government offices unless it is ethnically integrated.[75]
The focus of the UN's mission had been to enshrine the power-sharing arrangements in a popularly voted constitution, so that elections may be held and a new government installed. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration were done in tandem with elections preparations. In February 2005, the Constitution was approved with over 90% of the popular vote. In May, June and August 2005, three separate elections were also held at the local level for the Parliament and the presidency.
While there are still some difficulties with refugee returns and securing adequate food supplies for the war-weary population, the mission managed to win the trust and confidence of a majority of the formerly warring leaders, as well as the population at large.[75] It was involved with several "quick effect" projects, including rehabilitating and building schools, orphanages, health clinics and rebuilding infrastructure such as water lines.
2006 to 2015 [ edit ]
View of the capital city Bujumbura in 2006.
Reconstruction efforts in Burundi started to practically take effect after 2006. The UN shut down its peacekeeping mission and re-focused on helping with reconstruction.[76] Toward achieving economic reconstruction, Rwanda, D.R.Congo and Burundi relaunched the regional Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries.[76] In addition, Burundi, along with Rwanda, joined the East African Community in 2007.
However, the terms of the September 2006 Ceasefire between the government and the last remaining armed opposition group, the FLN (Forces for National Liberation, also called NLF or FROLINA), were not totally implemented, and senior FLN members subsequently left the truce monitoring team, claiming that their security was threatened.[77] In September 2007, rival FLN factions clashed in the capital, killing 20 fighters and causing residents to begin fleeing. Rebel raids were reported in other parts of the country.[76] The rebel factions disagreed with the government over disarmament and the release of political prisoners.[78] In late 2007 and early 2008, FLN combatants attacked government-protected camps where former combatants were living. The homes of rural residents were also pillaged.[78]
The 2007 report[78] of Amnesty International mentions many areas where improvement is required. Civilians are victims of repeated acts of violence done by the FLN. The latter also recruits child soldiers. The rate of violence against women is high. Perpetrators regularly escape prosecution and punishment by the state. There is an urgent need for reform of the judicial system. Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity remain unpunished. The establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Special Tribunal for investigation and prosecution has not yet been implemented. The freedom of expression is limited; journalists are frequently arrested for carrying out legitimate professional activities. A total of 38,087 Burundian refugees have been repatriated between January and November 2007.
In late March 2008, the FLN sought for the parliament to adopt a law guaranteeing them 'provisional immunity' from arrest. This would cover ordinary crimes, but not grave violations of international humanitarian law like war crimes or crimes against humanity.[78] Even though the government has granted this in the past to people, the FLN has been unable to obtain the provisional immunity.
On 17 April 2008, the FLN bombarded Bujumbura. The Burundian army fought back and the FLN suffered heavy losses. A new ceasefire was signed on 26 May 2008. In August 2008, President Nkurunziza met with the FLN leader Agathon Rwasa, with the mediation of Charles Nqakula, South Africa's Minister for Safety and Security. This was the first direct meeting since June 2007. Both agreed to meet twice a week to establish a commission to resolve any disputes that might arise during the peace negotiations.[79]
Refugee camps are now closing down and 450,000 refugees have returned. The economy of the country is shattered – as of 2011 Burundi has one of the lowest per capita gross incomes in the world. With the return of refugees, amongst others, property conflicts have started.
Burundi now participates in African Union peacekeeping missions, including the mission to Somalia against Al-Shabaab militants.[80]
2015 unrest [ edit ]
In April 2015 protests broke out after the ruling party announced President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek a third term in office.[81] Protestors claimed Nkurunziza could not run for a third term in office but the country's constitutional court agreed with the President (although some of its members had fled the country at the time of its vote).[82]
An attempted coup d'état on 13 May failed to depose Nkurunziza. [83] [84] He returned to Burundi, began purging his government, and arrested several of the coup leaders.[85][86][6][87][88] Following the attempted coup, protests however continued and over 100,000 people had fled the country by 20 May causing a humanitarian emergency. There are reports of continued and widespread abuses of human rights, including unlawful killings, torture, disappearances, and restrictions on freedom of expression.[89][90]
Despite calls by the United Nations, the African Union, the United States, France, South Africa, Belgium, and various other governments, the ruling party held parliamentary elections on 29 June, but these were boycotted by the opposition.
The Commission of Inquiry [ edit ]
On 30 September 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council established the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi through resolution 33/24. Its mandate is to "conduct a thorough investigation into human rights violations and abuses committed in Burundi since April 2015, to identify alleged perpetrators and to formulate recommendations."[91] The Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the Commission for another year in September 2017. On 29 September 2017 the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi called on Burundian government to put an end to serious human rights violations. It further stressed that, "The Burundian government has so far refused to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry, despite the Commission's repeated requests and initiatives."[92] The Commission conducted interviews with more than 500 Burundian refugees abroad and others who remained in their country and reached the conclusion that "serious human rights violations and abuses have been committed in Burundi since April 2015. The violations the Commission documented include arbitrary arrests and detentions, acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, rape and other forms of sexual violence."[92]
Politics [ edit ]
Burundi's political system is that of a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The President of Burundi is the head of state and head of government. There are currently 21 registered parties in Burundi.[17] On 13 March 1992, Tutsi coup leader Pierre Buyoya established a constitution,[18] which provided for a multi-party political process and reflected multi-party competition.[19] Six years later, on 6 June 1998, the constitution was changed, broadening National Assembly's seats and making provisions for two vice-presidents. Because of the Arusha Accord, Burundi enacted a transitional government in 2000.[20]
Burundi's legislative branch is a bicameral assembly, consisting of the Transitional National Assembly and the Transitional Senate. As of 2004, the Transitional National Assembly consisted of 170 members, with the Front for Democracy in Burundi holding 38% of seats, and 10% of the assembly controlled by UPRONA. Fifty-two seats were controlled by other parties. Burundi's constitution mandates representation in the Transitional National Assembly to be consistent with 60% Hutu, 40% Tutsi, and 30% female members, as well as three Batwa members.[17] Members of the National Assembly are elected by popular vote and serve five-year terms.[93]
The Transitional Senate has fifty-one members, and three seats are reserved for former presidents. Due to stipulations in Burundi's constitution, 30% of Senate members must be female. Members of the Senate are elected by electoral colleges, which consist of members from each of Burundi's provinces and communes.[17] For each of Burundi's eighteen provinces, one Hutu and one Tutsi senator are chosen. One term for the Transitional Senate is five years.[93]
Together, Burundi's legislative branch elect the President to a five-year term.[93] Burundi's president appoints officials to his Council of Ministers, which is also part of the executive branch.[20] The president can also pick fourteen members of the Transitional Senate to serve on the Council of Ministers.[17] Members of the Council of Ministers must be approved by two-thirds of Burundi's legislature. The president also chooses two vice-presidents.[93] As of 7 May 2015, the President of Burundi is Pierre Nkurunziza. The First Vice-President is Therence Sinunguruza, and the Second Vice-President is Gervais Rufyikiri.[94]
The Cour Suprême (Supreme Court) is Burundi's highest court. There are three Courts of Appeals directly below the Supreme Court. Tribunals of First Instance are used as judicial courts in each of Burundi's provinces as well as 123 local tribunals.[20]
Human rights [ edit ]
Burundi's government has been repeatedly criticized by human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch[95] for the multiple arrests and trials of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu for issues related to his reporting. Amnesty International (AI) named him a prisoner of conscience and called for his "immediate and unconditional release."
In April 2009, the government of Burundi changed the law to criminalise homosexuality. Persons found guilty of consensual same-sex relations risk two to three years in prison and a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 Burundian francs.[96] Amnesty International has condemned the action, calling it a violation of Burundi's obligations under international and regional human rights law, and against the constitution, which guarantees the right to privacy.[97] [check quotation syntax]
Burundi officially left the International Criminal Court (ICC) on October 27, 2017, the first country in the world to do so.[98] The move came after the UN accused the country of various crimes and human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual violence, in a September 2017 report.[98] The ICC announced on 9 November 2017 that human rights violations from the time Burundi was a member would still be prosecuted.[99][100]
Subdivisions [ edit ]
Burundi is divided into 18 provinces,[101] 117 communes,[17] and 2,638 collines (hills).[102] Provincial governments are structured upon these boundaries. In 2000, the province encompassing Bujumbura was separated into two provinces, Bujumbura Rural and Bujumbura Mairie.[16] The newest province, Rumonge, was created on 26 March 2015 from portions of Bujumbura Rural and Bururi.[103]
Geography [ edit ]
Map of Burundi.
One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi is landlocked and has an equatorial climate. Burundi is a part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. The country lies on a rolling plateau in the centre of Africa. Burundi is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
The average elevation of the central plateau is 1,707 m (5,600 ft), with lower elevations at the borders. The highest peak, Mount Heha at 2,685 m (8,810 ft),[25] lies to the southeast of the former capital Bujumbura (and west of the current capital Gitega). The source of the Nile River is in Bururi province, and is linked from Lake Victoria to its headwaters via the Ruvyironza River.[27][clarification needed] Lake Victoria is also an important water source, which serves as a fork to the Kagera River.[105][106] Another major lake is Lake Tanganyika |
== K_UP: up = False if e.type == KEYUP and e.key == K_LEFT: left = False if e.type == KEYUP and e.key == K_RIGHT: right = False
We can rewrite them as:
for e in pygame.event.get(): if e.type == QUIT: raise SystemExit, "QUIT" if e.type == KEYDOWN and e.key == K_ESCAPE: raise SystemExit, "ESCAPE" pressed = pygame.key.get_pressed() up, left, right = [pressed[key] for key in (K_UP, K_LEFT, K_RIGHT)]
This will come in handy later.
Back to topic: What we want is a bunch of different Scenes. Each Scene has to be responsible for its own rendering of the screen and event-handling.
Let's try to extract the existing code into a game scene, so that it will be possible to add other scenes later on. We start by creating an empty Scene class that will be the base class of our scenes:
class Scene(object): def __init__(self): pass def render(self, screen): raise NotImplementedError def update(self): raise NotImplementedError def handle_events(self, events): raise NotImplementedError
Our plan is to overwrite each method in each sub-class, so we raise NotImplementedError s in the base class so we easily discover if we forget to do so (we could also use ABCs, but let's keep it simple).
Now let's put everything related to the running-game state (which is basically everything) into a new GameScene class.
class GameScene(Scene): def __init__(self): super(GameScene, self).__init__() level = 0 self.bg = Surface((32,32)) self.bg.convert() self.bg.fill(Color("#0094FF")) up = left = right = False self.entities = pygame.sprite.Group() self.player = Player(32, 32) self.enemy = Enemy(32,32) self.platforms = [] x = 0 y = 0 if level == 0: level = [ " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " E ", " PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", " PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", " PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", " PPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", " PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", " PPPP P", " PPPP P", " PPPP PPPPPPP", " PPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPP", " PPPP PPPPPPP", " PPPP PPPP PPPPPPP", " PPPP PPPPPPP", " PPPP PPPPPPP", " PPPP PPPPPPP", "PPPPP PPPP PPPPPPP", "PPP PPPP PPPPPPP", "PPP PPPP PPPPPPP", "PPP PPPP PPPPPPP", "PPP PPPPP PPPP PPPPPPP", "PPP PPPP", "PPP PPPP", "PPP PPPP", "PPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", "PPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", "PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", "PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", "PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", "PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP", "PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP",] #background = pygame.image.load("Untitled.png") total_level_width = len(level[0]) * 32 total_level_height = len(level) * 32 # build the level for row in level: for col in row: if col == "P": p = Platform(x, y) self.platforms.append(p) self.entities.add(p) if col == "E": e = ExitBlock(x, y) self.platforms.append(e) self.entities.add(e) x += 32 y += 32 x = 0 self.camera = Camera(complex_camera, total_level_width, total_level_height) self.entities.add(self.player) self.entities.add(self.enemy) def render(self, screen): for y in range(20): for x in range(25): screen.blit(self.bg, (x * 32, y * 32)) for e in self.entities: screen.blit(e.image, self.camera.apply(e)) def update(self): pressed = pygame.key.get_pressed() up, left, right = [pressed[key] for key in (K_UP, K_LEFT, K_RIGHT)] self.player.update(up, left, right, self.platforms) self.enemy.update(self.platforms) self.camera.update(self.player) def handle_events(self, events): for e in events: if e.type == KEYDOWN and e.key == K_ESCAPE: pass #somehow go back to menu
Not perfect yet, but a good start. Everything related to the actual gameplay is extracted to its own class. Some variables have to be instance variable, so they have to be accessed via self.
Now we need to alter the main -function to actually use this class:
def main(): pygame.init() screen = pygame.display.set_mode(DISPLAY, FLAGS, DEPTH) pygame.display.set_caption("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ") timer = pygame.time.Clock() running = True scene = GameScene() while running: timer.tick(60) if pygame.event.get(QUIT): running = False return scene.handle_events(pygame.event.get()) scene.update() scene.render(screen) pygame.display.flip()
Note that I changed two little things: I use pygame.event.get(QUIT) to only get a possible QUIT -event first, since this is the only event that we are interesset in in our main-loop. All other events are passed directly to the current scene: scene.handle_events(pygame.event.get()).
At this point, we could think about extracting some classes to thier own files, but let's going on instead.
Let's create a title menu:
class TitleScene(object): def __init__(self): super(TitleScene, self).__init__() self.font = pygame.font.SysFont('Arial', 56) self.sfont = pygame.font.SysFont('Arial', 32) def render(self, screen): # beware: ugly! screen.fill((0, 200, 0)) text1 = self.font.render('Crazy Game', True, (255, 255, 255)) text2 = self.sfont.render('> press space to start <', True, (255, 255, 255)) screen.blit(text1, (200, 50)) screen.blit(text2, (200, 350)) def update(self): pass def handle_events(self, events): for e in events: if e.type == KEYDOWN and e.key == K_SPACE: self.manager.go_to(GameScene(0))
This just displays a green background and some text. If the player presses SPACE, we want to start the first level. Note this line:
self.manager.go_to(GameScene(0))
Here I pass the argument 0 to the GameScene class, so let's alter it so it accepts this parameter:
class GameScene(Scene): def __init__(self, level):...
the line level = 0 can be removed, as you already guessed.
So what it's self.manager? It's just a little helper class that manages the scenes for us.
class SceneMananger(object): def __init__(self): self.go_to(TitleScene()) def go_to(self, scene): self.scene = scene self.scene.manager = self
It starts with the title scene and sets each scenes manager field to itself to allow the changing of the current scene. There are a lot of possibilities of how to implement such a scene manager, and this is the simpliest approach. A disadvantage is that each scene has to know which scene comes after it, but that should not bother us right now.
Let's use our new SceneMananger :
def main(): pygame.init() screen = pygame.display.set_mode(DISPLAY, FLAGS, DEPTH) pygame.display.set_caption("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ") timer = pygame.time.Clock() running = True manager = SceneMananger() while running: timer.tick(60) if pygame.event.get(QUIT): running = False return manager.scene.handle_events(pygame.event.get()) manager.scene.update() manager.scene.render(screen) pygame.display.flip()
straightforward. Let's quickly add a second level and a winning/losing screen and we are done.
class CustomScene(object): def __init__(self, text): self.text = text super(CustomScene, self).__init__() self.font = pygame.font.SysFont('Arial', 56) def render(self, screen): # ugly! screen.fill((0, 200, 0)) text1 = self.font.render(self.text, True, (255, 255, 255)) screen.blit(text1, (200, 50)) def update(self): pass def handle_events(self, events): for e in events: if e.type == KEYDOWN: self.manager.go_to(TitleScene())
Below is the complete code. Note the changes to the Player class: instead of calling the main function again, it calls methods on the scene to indicate the player reached the exit or died.
Also, I changed the placement of the player and enemies. Now, you specify where the entity will appear in the level. E.g. Player(5, 40) will create the player at column 5, row 40 in the level. As a bonus, the enemies to proper collision detection.
I extracted the description of the levels to a dictionary named levels, so it will be easy to alter and add levels as needed (later, you probably want one file per level, so this is a good start). It could be extended to hold the player starting position, but you could also create a special tile, like * for starting position and E for enemy in the level description.Air fares between Auckland and Los Angeles are expected to rise after Qantas announced it would axe its service from May, handing Air New Zealand a monopoly on the route.
As of May 6, Qantas will cut the Auckland-LA and Singapore-Mumbai routes, in addition to previously announced withdrawals from Hong Kong-London and Bangkok-London.
The Australian national carrier has also announced it would also reduce capacity on the ultra competitive Auckland to Sydney route by replacing the current Airbus A330 wide body service with smaller, single aisle Boeing 737-800s.
House Travel retail director Brent Thomas said the decision was surprising, given the strong demand from New Zealand travellers to the United States.
However, demand from the United States was weak.
Air New Zealand and Qantas have been competing vigorously on the route, with return fares of around $1700 in May.
''The consumer misses out if there is not that competition, that is the concern that we would have,'' Thomas said.
Air New Zealand also offers services to San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada.
Air New Zealand is conducting a review of its own long haul network, which was losing $1 million a week last year.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce did not give any reasons for the changes when he announced the airline's half year result today.
However, Joyce did say that Qantas would add A330 to its Australian domestic trans-continental routes.
The airline is also slashing jobs.
"We anticipate there will be 500 positions affected by the immediate changes that we have announced today," Joyce said. "The jobs that are going have become structurally redundant."
Qantas reported an 83 per cent fall in net profit to A$42 million ($54 million) for the six months to the end of December, blaming a A$194m cost from industrial action and the grounding of its fleet, and a A$444m increase in fuel prices.
However, a 52 per cent fall in underlying profit before tax for the half to A$202m was better than analysts had expected. Revenue rose 5 per cent to A$8 billion.
The underlying result also beat Qantas's earlier guidance for between A$140m and A$190m in underlying pre-tax profits.
Qantas has an aircraft engineering base at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, employing about 400 workers who conduct maintenance on its large Boeing 737 fleet. It also has a base at the Lindsay Fox-owned Avalon Airport near Geelong, providing heavy maintenance for the Boeing 747-400 jumbo fleet.
The Avalon base, employing more than 600 engineers and other workers, has been in operation since the late 1990s, while its other heavy maintenance operation is in Brisbane. The latter has about 400 workers.
Qantas also said it won't pay a dividend for the half.
- Roeland van den Bergh/BusinessDay.co.nz and Matt O'Sullivan/Sydney Morning HeraldWisconsin's right-to-work law was reinstated Tuesday after an appeals court ruled that a lower court had erred in striking it down. The law's fate remains uncertain as the state Supreme Court is expected to eventually rule on its constitutionality.
"We feel confident the law will ultimately be found constitutional, as it has been in more than half the states across the country," said Johnny Koremenos, spokesman for state Attorney General Brad Schimel, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The law, signed last year by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, prohibits workers from being forced to join or otherwise financially support a union as a condition of employment. Labor groups despise the laws, which are associated with membership declines and depleted treasuries. Wisconsin was the 25th state to adopt such a law.
Badger State unions have challenged the law's constitutionality. In April, a Dane Country Circuit Court agreed, striking it down and keeping the state from enforcing the law pending an appeal.
On Tuesday, Lisa K. Stark, presiding judge for the District Court of Appeals in Wausau, ruled that the Dane County Court went too far in enjoining the state from enforcing the law and issued a stay.
"Given the relative lack of harm shown to either party of the public interest, the presumption of constitutionality of this duly enacted statute and the preference under the law to maintain the status quo to avoid confusion, we conclude that the state has established there is sufficient likelihood of success on appeal to warrant the grant of the stay," the ruling said.
The state Supreme Court has a Republican-appointed majority and is widely expected to affirm the law's constitutionality. States have been allowed since 1947 to pass such laws on the grounds that it is unfair to coerce workers into supporting unions if they do not wish to join.
The Wisconsin law was challenged by state branches of the United Steel Workers, the International Association of Machinists and the AFL-CIO labor federation on the grounds that it amounted to an unfair taking of the unions' money under the Fifth Amendment. They argue that since unions are in most cases required to represent all workers in collective bargaining, they have a right to force workers to pay them.
It is a novel challenge that flies in the face of nearly six decades of legal precedent. However, it has only been in the last few years that states with strong labor movements such as Wisconsin have adopted the laws, prompting unions to scour the books for ways to challenge them. Unions are hoping that this argument, which has never been addressed by the Supreme Court, will undermine the laws.There was a time when I could travel England for weeks on end and remain at my sharpest—when, if anything, the travelling gave me an edge. But now that I am older I become disoriented more easily. So it was that on arriving at the village just after dark I failed to find my bearings at all. I could hardly believe I was in the same village in which not so long ago I had lived and come to exercise such influence. There was nothing I recognized, and I found myself walking forever around twisting, badly lit streets hemmed in on both sides by the little stone cottages characteristic of the area. The streets often became so narrow I could make no progress without my bag or my elbow scraping one rough wall or another. I persevered nevertheless, stumbling around in the darkness in the hope of coming upon the village square—where I could at least orient myself—or else of encountering one of the villagers. When after a while I had done neither, a weariness came over me, and I decided my best course was just to choose a cottage at random, knock on the door, and hope it would be opened by someone who remembered me. I stopped by a particularly rickety-looking door, whose upper beam was so low that I could see I would have to crouch right down to enter. A dim light was leaking out around the door’s edges, and I could hear voices and laughter. I knocked loudly to insure that the occupants would hear me over their talk. But just then someone behind me said, “Hello.” I turned to find a young woman of around twenty, dressed in raggedy jeans and a torn jumper, standing in the darkness a little way away. “You walked straight past me earlier,” she said, “even though I called to you.” “Did I really? Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.” “You’re Fletcher, aren’t you?” “Yes,” I said, somewhat flattered. “Wendy thought it was you when you went by our cottage. We all got very excited. You were one of that lot, weren’t you? With David Maggis and all of them.” “Yes,” I said, “but Maggis was hardly the most important one. I’m surprised you pick him out like that. There were other, far more important figures.” I reeled off a series of names and was interested to see the girl nodding at each one in recognition. “But this must have all been before your time,” I said. “I’m surprised you know about such things.” “It was before our time, but we’re all experts on your lot. We know more about all that than most of the older ones who were here then. Wendy recognized you instantly just from your photos.” “I had no idea you young people had taken such an interest in us. I’m sorry I walked past you earlier. But you see, now that I’m older, I get a little disoriented when I travel.” I could hear some boisterous talk coming from behind the door. I banged on it again, this time rather impatiently, though I was not so eager to bring the encounter with the girl to a close. She looked at me for a moment, then said, “All of you from those days are like that. David Maggis came here a few years ago. In ’93, or maybe it was ’94. He was like that. A bit vague. It must get to you after a while, travelling all the time.” “So Maggis was here. How interesting. You know, he wasn’t one of the really important figures. You mustn’t get carried away with such an idea. Incidentally, perhaps you could tell me who lives in this cottage.” I thumped the door again. “The Petersons,” the girl said. “They’re an old house. They’ll probably remember you.” “The Petersons,” I repeated, but the name meant nothing to me. “Why don’t you come to our cottage? Wendy was really excited. So were the rest of us. It’s a real chance for us, actually talking to someone from those days.” “I’d very much like to do that. But first of all I’d better get myself settled in. The Petersons, you say.” I thumped the door again, this time quite ferociously. At last it opened, throwing warmth and light out into the street. An old man was standing in the doorway. He looked at me carefully, then asked, “It’s not Fletcher, is it?” “Yes, and I’ve just got into the village. I’ve been travelling for several days.” He thought about this for a moment, then said, “Well, you’d better come in.” I found myself in a cramped, untidy room full of rough wood and broken furniture. A log burning in the fireplace was the only source of light, by which I could make out a number of hunched figures sitting around the room. The old man led me to a chair beside the fire with a grudgingness that suggested it was the very one he had just vacated. Once I sat down, I found I could not easily turn my head to see my surroundings or the others in the room. But the warmth of the fire was very welcome, and for a moment I just stared into its flames, a pleasant grogginess drifting over me. Voices came from behind me, inquiring if I was well, if I had come far, if I was hungry, and I replied as best I could, though I was aware that my answers were barely adequate. Eventually, the questions ceased, and it occurred to me that my presence was creating a heavy awkwardness, but I was so grateful for the warmth and the chance to rest that I hardly cared. Nonetheless, when the silence behind me had gone unbroken for several minutes, I resolved to address my hosts with a little more civility, and I turned in my chair. It was then, as I did so, that I was suddenly seized by an intense sense of recognition. I had chosen the cottage quite at random, but now I could see that it was none other than the very one in which I had spent my years in this village. My gaze moved immediately to the far corner—at this moment shrouded in darkness—to the spot that had been my corner, where once my mattress had been and where I had spent many tranquil hours browsing through books or conversing with whoever happened to drift in. On summer days, the windows, and often the door, were left open to allow a refreshing breeze to blow right through. Those were the days when the cottage was surrounded by open fields and there would come from outside the voices of my friends, lazing in the long grass, arguing over poetry or philosophy. These precious fragments of the past came back to me so powerfully that it was all I could do not to make straight for my old corner then and there. Someone was speaking to me again, perhaps asking another question, but I hardly listened. Rising, I peered through the shadows into my corner, and could now make out a narrow bed, covered by an old curtain, occupying more or less the exact space where my mattress had been. The bed looked extremely inviting, and I found myself cutting into something the old man was saying. “Look,” I said, “I know this is a bit blunt. But, you see, I’ve come such a long way today. I really need to lie down, close my eyes, even if it’s just for a few minutes. After that, I’m happy to talk all you like.” I could see the figures around the room shifting uneasily. Then a new voice said, rather sullenly, “Go ahead then. Have a nap. Don’t mind us.” But I was already picking my way through the clutter toward my corner. The bed felt damp, and the springs creaked under my weight, but no sooner had I curled up with my back to the room than my many hours of travelling began to catch up with me. As I was drifting off, I heard the old man saying, “It’s Fletcher, all right. God, he’s aged.” A woman’s voice said, “Should we let him go to sleep like that? He might wake in a few hours and then we’ll have to stay up with him.” “Let him sleep for an hour or so,”someone else said. “If he’s still asleep after an hour, we’ll wake him.” At this point, sheer exhaustion overtook me.
It was not a continuous or comfortable sleep. I drifted between sleep and waking, always conscious of voices behind me in the room. At some point, I was aware of a woman saying, “I don’t know how I was ever under his spell. He looks such a ragamuffin now.” In my state of near-sleep, I debated with myself whether these words applied to me or, perhaps, to David Maggis, but before long sleep engulfed me once more. When I next awoke, the room appeared to have grown both darker and colder. Voices were continuing behind me in lowered tones, but I could make no sense of the conversation. I now felt embarrassed at having gone to sleep in the way I had, and for a few further moments remained motionless with my face to the wall. But something about me must have revealed that I was awake, for a woman’s voice, breaking off from the general conversation, said, “Oh, look, look.” Some whispers were exchanged, then I heard the sound of someone coming toward my corner. I felt a hand placed gently on my shoulder, and looked up to find a woman kneeling over me. I did not turn my body sufficiently to see the room, but I got the impression that it was lit by dying embers, and the woman’s face was visible only in shadow. “Now, Fletcher,” she said. “It’s time we had a talk. I’ve waited a long time for you to come back. I’ve thought about you often.” I strained to see her more clearly. She was somewhere in her forties, and even in the gloom I noticed a sleepy sadness in her eyes. But her face failed to stir in me even the faintest of memories. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I have no recollection of you. But please forgive me if we met some time ago. I do get very disoriented these days.” “Fletcher,” she said, “when we used to know one another, I was young and beautiful. I idolized you, and everything you said seemed like an answer. Now here you are, back again. I’ve wanted to tell you for many years that you ruined my life.” “You’re being unfair. All right, I was mistaken about a lot of things. But I never claimed to have any answers. All I said in those days was that it was our duty, all of us, to contribute to the debate. We knew so much more about the issues than the ordinary people here. If people like us procrastinated, claiming we didn’t yet know enough, then who was there to act? But I never claimed I had the answers. No, you’re being unfair.” “Fletcher,” she said, and her voice was oddly gentle, “you used to make love to me, more or less every time I wandered in here to your room. In this corner, we did all kinds of beautifully dirty things. It’s odd to think how I could have once been so physically excited by you. And here you’re just a foul-smelling bundle of rags now. But look at me—I’m still attractive. My face has got a bit lined, but when I walk in the village streets I wear dresses I’ve made specially to show off my figure. A lot of men want me still. But you, no woman would look at you now. A bundle of stinking rags and flesh.” “I don’t remember you,” I said. “And I’ve no time for sex these days. I’ve other things to worry about. More serious things. Very well, I was mistaken about a lot in those days. But I’ve done more than most to try and make amends. You see, even now I’m travelling. I’ve never stopped. I’ve travelled and travelled trying to undo what damage I may once have caused. That’s more than can be said of some others from those days. I bet Maggis, for instance, hasn’t worked nearly as hard to try and put things right.” The woman was stroking my hair. “Look at you. I used to do this, run my fingers through your hair. Look at this filthy mess. I’m sure you’re contaminated with all sorts of parasites.” But she continued slowly to run her fingers through the dirty knots. I failed to feel anything erotic from this, as perhaps she wished me to do. Rather, her caresses felt maternal. Indeed, for a moment it was as though I had finally reached some cocoon of protectiveness, and I began once more to feel sleepy. But suddenly she stopped and slapped me hard on the forehead. “Why don’t you join the rest of us now? You’ve had your sleep. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” With that she got up and left. For the first time, I turned my body sufficiently to survey the room. I saw the woman making her way past the clutter on the floor, then sitting down in a rocking chair by the fireplace. I could see three other figures hunched around the dying fire. One I recognized to be the old man who had opened the door. The two others—sitting together on what looked like a wooden trunk—seemed to be women of around the same age as the one who had spoken to me. The old man noticed that I had turned, and he indicated to the others that I was watching. The four of them proceeded to sit stiffly, not speaking. From the way they did this, it was clear that they had been discussing me thoroughly while I was asleep. In fact, as I watched them I could more or less guess the whole shape their conversation had taken. I could see, for instance, that they had spent some time expressing concern for the young girl I had met outside, and about the effect I might have on her peers. “They’re all so impressionable,” the old man would have said. “And I heard her inviting him to visit them.” To which, no doubt, one of the women on the trunk would have said, “But he can’t do much harm now. In our time, we were all taken in because all his kind—they were young and glamorous. But these days the odd one passing through from time to time, looking all decrepit and burned out like that—if anything, it goes to demystify all that talk about the old days. In any case, people like him have changed their position so much these days. They don’t know themselves what they believe.” The old man would have shaken his head. “I saw the way that young girl was looking at him. All right, he looks a pitiful mess over there just now. But once his ego’s fed a little, once he has the flattery of the young people, sees how they want to hear his ideas, then there’ll be no stopping him. It’ll be just like before. He’ll have them all working for his causes. Young girls like that, there’s so little for them to believe in now. Even a stinking tramp like this could give them a purpose.” Their conversation, all the time I slept, would have gone something very much like that. But now, as I observed them from my corner, they continued to sit in guilty silence, staring at the last of their fire. After a while, I rose to my feet. Absurdly, the four of them kept their gazes averted from me. I waited a few moments to see if any of them would say anything. Finally, I said, “All right, I was asleep earlier, but I’ve guessed what you were saying. Well, you’ll be interested to know I’m going to do the very thing you feared. I’m going this moment to the young people’s cottage. I’m going to tell them what to do with all their energy, all their dreams, their urge to achieve something of lasting good in this world. Look at you, what a pathetic bunch. Crouching in your cottage, afraid to do anything, afraid of me, of Maggis, of anyone else from those times. Afraid to do anything in the world out there, just because once we made a few mistakes. Well, those young people haven’t yet sunk so low, despite all the lethargy you’ve been preaching at them down the years. I’ll talk to them. I’ll undo in half an hour all of your sorry efforts.” “You see,” the old man said to the others. “I knew it would be this way. We ought to stop him, but what can we do?” I crashed my way across the room, picked up my bag, and went out into the night.A Gatineau event planning company is taking the weekend to add more French to the marketing material for two newly-announced festivals after a number of Francophones complained their language was an "afterthought."
This week Orkestra helped launch SugarLumberFest, a pop up sugar shack and lumberjack show at Lansdowne Park in April and Midnight Race, a nighttime obstacle course at Mont Cascades in Cantley, Que., in August.
However, their marketing led to backlash from Francophones that not all of the logos, websites and social media accounts were in French.
Ottawa 2017 director Guy Laflamme clarified the morning of the SugarLumberFest launch that all communications and services would be done in both official languages, then Orkestra announced Saturday morning it would try to make separate English and French social media accounts and websites by Monday.
Alex Van Dieren, the company's vice-president, said in an email that Orkestra read and heard about how much English was being featured and were making the change out of respect for their French clients and participants.
Felt left out
The president of a group representing Francophones in Ottawa said she thinks what happened was more about forgetfulness on the part of the organizers, not out of spite.
"It's kind of [like] feeling left out for the Francophone community, having to remind people that you exist or it would be important to market to Francophones as well as Anglophones for this event," said Aja Besler, president of the Association of Francophone Communities of Ottawa.
"Especially because it's part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Canada. In those kind of events, I feel like bilingualism shouldn't be an afterthought."
The president of Impératif français, which promotes French language and culture, told Radio-Canada he's disappointed because this makes it seem like the best way to promote an event is in English, which discourages diversity.Throughout the course of his presidency, Barack Obama has been making the case for more government involvement in the lives of Americans. But the recent scandals that have become frontpage news have gone right to the heart of President Obama’s message. And they seem to have caught the eye of Americans.
According to Gallup, 54% of Americans believe the government has too much power. That’s up from 51% just last year, but down from the high of 59% in late 2010, just before the mid-term elections:
The case against a big government was perhaps best made by David Axelrod as he was trying to defend President Obama, to whom he served as an advisor. “[W]e have a large government,” he claimed as he made a case for President Obama’s lack of knowledge about the IRS scandal.
It’s been said that the conservative and libertarian case against big government often falls on deaf ears because Americans don’t know what it means and we, as limited government advocates, cannot properly relay it. But the IRS scandal is the one, as Chris Matthews recently explained, is the one that can resonate with voters because it hits so close to home.
The IRS scandal along with ObamaCare are two of the most perfect examples that Republicans have had in recent memory to blast big government, and they’ve been handed to them on a silver platter. They have to hammer that home to voters next year. There is no reason for them to beat around the bush like Romney’s campaign did in 2012. Seize this opportunity.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Amber Alert was issued Monday night for missing 16-year-old Kiera Inman of Spokane, who is described as "developmentally delayed" and who police say cognitively functions at about the same level as an 11-year-old.
She was last seen near 1712 E. Houghton Court in north Spokane on Sunday.
Police say Kiera is believed to be in the company of Zachary Jones, 30, of Newport News, Va., in a 1997 blue Acura 4-door with Virginia plates VGD6867. Spokane Police said the paint on the trunk of the vehicle is noticeably faded and worn. A photo of a similar vehicle is below.
Spokane Police said she was first reported as a runaway Sunday, but detectives found out Monday that she had speaking online with an adult male from another state who they believe to be Jones.
The AmberAlert.com poster information said her grandmother reported Kiera left evidence that she left home willingly, but that she functions "at a diminished capacity and unable to make realistic life choices." The poster said she requires medication, but it did not say what kind of medication the teenager takes.
"The child's grandmother advises she left on foot but her cell phone tracked her possibly in a vehicle," the alert said.
Spokane Police said they have no indication where they might be heading, although the Amber Alert was extended to the state of Idaho on Monday night.
Kiera is described as 5-foot-3, 110 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes. She wears thick rimmed glasses and has a bright green cast on her right forearm. She was last seen wearing a gray hoodie and light blue jeans.
Jones is described as white, 5-foot-8, about 118 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes. Spokane Police said they only consider Jones as a "person of interest" at this time.
If you have any information, call 911 or the Spokane Police Department at (509) 456-2233.
Please enable Javascript to watch this videoEhud Barak was speaking as Israel commemorated soldeirs killed in action Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel must, eventually, allow the Palestinians to rule themselves. In an interview with Army Radio he said in the future there would be a separate Palestinian state "whether you like it or not". The interview comes as Israelis mark Memorial Day, commemorating Israeli soldiers killed in action. Mr Barak, a former top ranking soldier, leads the Labour Party which is part of the current government coalition. "The world isn't willing to accept, and we won't change that in 2010, the expectation that Israel will rule another people for decades more," he said. We shouldn't delude ourselves, the growing alienation between us and the United States is not good for Israel
Ehud Barak "There is no other way, whether you like it or not, than to let them rule themselves," he said, speaking about the idea of a separate Palestinian state. 'Alienation' He also warned of a growing rift between Israel and the United States. He said the government of Benjamin Netanyahu had "done things that didn't come naturally to it", like agreeing to a 10 month pause in settlement building and moving toward accepting the principle that there should be two states, one for Palestinians and one for Israelis. "But we shouldn't delude ourselves, the growing alienation between us and the United States is not good for Israel," he said. Israel's Memorial Day commemorates some 22,600 soldiers killed in action and the 1,750 Israeli citizens killed in attacks by Palestinian militant groups. It coincides with the celebration of Israel's 62nd independence day.
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the latest news and commentary on Greece’s public finances after Jeroen Dijsselbloem, leader of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, admitted yesterday that Greece will need another bailout next year.Cloud Imperium Games (CIG), the developer behind Star Citizen, streamed today a pre-recorded two-hour show on Twitch featuring a gameplay demo of Squadron 42, the single-player game being developed alongside Star Citizen.
It was in 2015 when CIG first showed backers a glimpse of what they could expect from Squadron 42; popularly known as the ‘The Morrow Tour,’ it took players around an Idris, one of the larger ships present in the game.
Today's demo began on the same ship, but a bit further into the story. Mark Hamill and Liam Cunningham are present with their impressive performances in the demo, and although we didn't get to see more of the game's celebrity cast members, the game is set to feature actors such as Gary Oldman, Rhona Mitra, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis, Mark Strong, among several others.
The demo is embedded below, with a separate version available that includes developer commentary; coming in at just about 66 minutes, it takes players not only on a journey through the Idris ship - interacting with several of its crew personnel - but also on a journey through the vastness of space, with the player then seamlessly landing on a planet in the Odin system, and fighting their way through a squad of mercenaries to rescue a prisoner.
It is evident by what is shown that there's quite a bit of difference when compared to what was shown in 2015. There's certainly been progress with the project, but not without troubles and delays.
In 2016, at its Citizencon event, CIG was meant to showcase the progress that it had made in regards to Squadron 42 with a gameplay demo. However, the studio canceled that plan at the last minute; "We don’t want to show stuff too early," Chris Roberts, Chairman and CEO at CIG said at the event, "I think that Squadron 42 will be a fantastic experience." A video was later released providing a glimpse of the process that went into making that decision.
Since the announcement of its Kickstarter campaign, CIG has been optimistic about when Squadron 42 would see release. In 2014, its website suggested that the game would be seeing a release in 2015; in 2015, the year was changed to 2016, and as that year ended with no release, the website was updated to suggest a 2017 release. That was until two months ago when CIG removed suggestions of a release year from its website altogether.
The Star Citizen project has been an interesting journey to follow. The project has accumulated almost $175 million via the means of crowdfunding, but considering that the game still bears an alpha tag, not to mention CIG’s legal trouble with Crytek, it appears that the developer has much left to do before it could release either of the games that it has promised to its backers.
Don't forget to follow us @NeowinGaming on Twitter to keep up to date with our gaming coverage!Newly published documents show that the President of Turkey Recep Erdogan threatened the European Commission with a series of demands over its proposed membership of the European Union in return for agreement to stem the flow of migrants entering Europe.
According to documents leaked to the euro2day.gr financial news website, Erdogan demanded faster action over Turkey's accession to become a full member of the EU and described the US$3.4 billion offer of EU funds over two years to help stem the flow of migrants reaching Europe as an "insult."
'Leaked documents' show Erdogan's refugee EU-black mail: 'We can open doors to EU' #notconfirmedyet pic.twitter.com/uHeC8qUdBt — willem middelkoop (@wmiddelkoop) February 8, 2016
In October 2015, European Union leaders agreed to pay Turkey US$3.4 billion and allow visa-free EU travel for its citizens in return for Ankara doing its utmost to stem the tide of asylum seekers crossing its borders to reach Europe.
© REUTERS / Tolga Bozoglu/Pool German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) meets with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Turkey, October 18, 2015.
The deal also included a promise of expediting negotiations over Turkey's accession into the European Union, but AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said the US$3.4 billion should not be seen as a matter of "political bribery."
'Insult' to Turkey
However, according to the notes from a meeting on the sidebar of the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Erdogan threatened to "open the doors to Greece and Bulgaira anytime and we can put the refugees on buses."
"So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal? Kill the refugees?"
In what was clearly a tense meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, Erdogan belittled Juncker — who had been prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013. Saying he represented 80 million people, he told Juncker:
"Luxembourg is just like a little town in Turkey."
He was particularly scathing about the US$3.4 billion offer. He is listed in the documents as having said:
"Greece got more than US$450 billion during [the euro crisis […] But US$3.4 billion is an insult."
The notes say Erdogan said to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker:
"Germany alone has spent some US$6.7 billion on refugees only this year. And the EU is spending some US$56 billion altogether on refugees. We need to be fair to each other."
The meeting notes show there was further disagreement over the US$3.4 billion.
"Erdogan insists that the EU hasn't done anything for Turkey. The money is [for] refugees, not Turkey.
Moreover, you are using our pre-accession money. It's really nothing. We have waited for 53 years. You have been mocking us," the note says.A new cybersecurity bill poses serious threats to our privacy, gives the government extraordinary powers to silence potential whistleblowers, and exempts these dangerous new powers from transparency laws.
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2014 ("CISA") was scheduled to be marked up by the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday but has been delayed until after next week's congressional recess. The response to the proposed legislation from the privacy, civil liberties, tech, and open government communities was quick and unequivocal – this bill must not go through.
The bill would create a massive loophole in our existing privacy laws by allowing the government to ask companies for "voluntary" cooperation in sharing information, including the content of our communications, for cybersecurity purposes. But the definition they are using for the so-called "cybersecurity information" is so broad it could sweep up huge amounts of innocent Americans' personal data.
The Fourth Amendment protects Americans' personal data and communications from undue government access and monitoring without suspicion of criminal activity. The point of a warrant is to guard that protection. CISA would circumvent the warrant requirement by allowing the government to approach companies directly to collect personal information, including telephonic or internet communications, based on the new broadly drawn definition of "cybersecurity information."
While we hope many companies would jealously guard their customers' information, there is a provision in the bill that would excuse sharers from any liability if they act in "good faith" that the sharing was lawful.
Collected information could then be used in criminal proceedings, creating a dangerous end-run around laws like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which contain warrant requirements.
In addition to the threats to every American's privacy, the bill clearly targets potential government whistleblowers. Instead of limiting the use of data collection to protect against actual cybersecurity threats, the bill allows the government to use the data in the investigation and prosecution of people for economic espionage and trade secret violations, and under various provisions of the Espionage Act.
It's clear that the law is an attempt to give the government more power to crack down on whistleblowers, or "insider threats," in popular bureaucratic parlance. The Obama Administration has brought more "leaks" prosecutions against government whistleblowers and members of the press than all previous administrations combined. If misused by this or future administrations, CISA could eliminate due process protections for such investigations, which already favor the prosecution.
While actively stripping Americans' privacy protections, the bill also cloaks "cybersecurity"-sharing in secrecy by exempting it from critical government transparency protections. It unnecessarily and dangerously provides exemptions from state and local sunshine laws as well as the federal Freedom of Information Act. These are both powerful tools that allow citizens to check government activities and guard against abuse.
Edward Snowden's revelations from the past year, of invasive spying programs like PRSIM and Stellar Wind, have left Americans shocked and demanding more transparency by government agencies. CISA, however, flies in the face of what the public clearly wants.
(Two coalition letters, here and here, sent to key members of the Senate yesterday detail the concerns of a broad coalition of organizations, including the ACLU.)Gabriel has already started training with his new club and will spend the next season in blue. There is no buy-out clause in the deal.
The move got the official stamp this Wednesday and the goalkeeper will be playing for Napoli in the 2015/16 season, looking to beat Pepe Reina for a place in the starting XI of Maurizio Sarri.
“AC Milan announces that Gabriel has joined Napoli on loan,” a brief statement on Milan’s site confirms. There is no buy-out clause so the Brazilian will return to the red and black club next summer.
It is reported that Milan wanted Gabriel to rejoin Carpi for which he played on loan last season in Serie B and was very impressive, helping them to get a promotion. But the player took the decision to go to Napoli instead. The 22-year-old wrote on his Instagram today that “Now, beginning a new cycle in my career, I want to thank @acmilan, a top club that always gives me so many great things!!”
Gabriel joined Milan in 2012 from Cruzeiro and has 7 appearances in red and black. Last night he reached the Napoli training center and already took part of the session today.Newton Running Unveils 2016 Kona and Chicago Special Edition Shoes Brian Metzler / September 8, 2016
Both the Chicago (top) and Kona (bottom) versions of the Newton Aha will sell for $125.
Newton Running has announced the release of special editions of its Aha shoes for the Ironman World Championships on Oct. 8 in Kona, Hawaii, and the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 9. Both shoes will be sold for $125 at NewtonRunning.com beginning in early October, as well as at the Newton booth at each of the respective events. Big Island Running in Hawaii will also sell the Kona version of the shoe.
The Kona shoe features a bold red and white Hawaiian design with yellow laces and a yellow Newton logo, while the Chicago shoe has a design inspired by the Chicago flag and skyline. Both versions feature Newton’s five-lug P.O.P. 3 platform for a soft, yet energetic ride and a 6mm heel-toe offset. Each model weighs 9.0 oz. for men’s size 9.0 and 7.4 oz. for a women’s size 7.0.I come across quite a few workflow that look like the screenshot below. Since I don’t see the point in doing it like this I thought I’d do a quick vCO exception handling 101.
In the screenshot above you’ll notice the red lines pointing to the red exclamation mark. The red lines are followed when an unhandled exception occurs in the the action, workflow or script. But just pointing the exception to an exception exit of the workflow makes no sense at all! (until somebody convices me otherwise…). It just makes the workflow look cluttered in my opinion. Believe it or not, the workflow below will handle any exception in exactly the same way as the workflow above.
See? That’s a lot les cluttered. And the “corner” in the workflow isn’t even necessary, it could have just been one straight line of workflow items. If there is an exception the workflow will fail at the point of the error which makes troubleshooting easy.
So when do you use the red lines? Whenever you want to handle the error in some way. So don’t point a red line to a red exclamation mark but to a part of the workflow that handles the error. The example below shows a retry loop. I use this quite often for workflows that connect to other systems. You know, connections fail sometimes for whatever reason so you better retry a few time and sleep a bit in between. If you run out of retries then you throw the exception.
By the way: Make sure you put the sleep after the decision, not in front of it. Why wait and then discover you are out of retires anyways?
That’s it for now. More on exceptions later.STOKE CITY have today completed the permanent signing of midfielder Stephen Ireland from Aston Villa.
The Republic of Ireland international had been on a season-long loan at the Britannia Stadium but that agreement has been converted into a permanent transfer, thus giving the Potters scope to move into the loan market again.
Ireland has made 16 appearances for Mark Hughes' side and has contributed three league and cup goals.
Manager Hughes told stokecityfc.com: "Stephen is a talented footballer and has shown what he's capable of since he joined us. We're delighted to have made his switch a permanent arrangement as it also gives us the opportunity to bring in another player on loan if necessary."
Ireland's move to the Britannia Stadium saw him link-up with Hughes for the second time in his career having had a highly productive spell under him at Manchester City.
He made more than 140 league appearances for City before joining Villa in August 2010 in a part-exchange deal that saw James Milner head in the opposite direction.Ever since the publication "Earth in the Balance" in 1992, we've seen the press minimize the public's exposure to the more outrageous ideas and quotes emanating from former Vice President Al Gore.
Concerning that original book, Gore's statement that "The internal combustion engine is the greatest enemy of mankind" and his contention that it could and be eliminated in 25 years are hardly known by anyone besides his fevered supporters and attentive opponents. Apparently wishing to rush his timetable for taking everyone out of their cars, Gore, in an idea barely noticed even in the business press, has proposed spending $90 trillion — that's right, trillion — for such an enterprise. After the jump, readers will see how he wants to do it.
From Business Insider, we also learn that former Mexican President Felipe Calderon has gone off the rails (bolds are mine):
There's A Plan Floating Around To Spend $90 Trillion Redesigning All The Cities Of The World So They Don't Need Cars Here’s one way to solve global warming: Spend $US90 trillion dollars over the next few years to redesign all the cities — as in all the cities on Earth — so people live in more densely packed neighbourhoods and don’t need cars. That is one of the more ambitious (and possibly outlandish) ideas knocking around the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, this morning. The Davos meeting is the annual conclave of the world’s ruling class: presidents and prime ministers, CEOs, and religious figures (and the thousands of journalists who follow them, hoping for a soundbite or two). The $US90 trillion cities proposal came from former vice president Al Gore and former president of Mexico Felipe Calderon, and their colleagues on the The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. That group hopes to persuade the world’s leaders to do something about humanity’s suicidal effort to heat the Earth’s climate. Part of fighting climate change will mean redesigning, or building anew, towns and cities without cars, Calderon says. “We cannot have these cities with low density, designed for the use of cars,” he said. “We recommend those cities should have more density and more mass transportation.” Together with a programme for reforming land use, and bringing deforestation to zero, the total cost of this plan would likely be $US90 trillion in future investment, Calderon said.... Turns out the $US90 trillion is the total of infrastructure investment that is likely to be spent anyway building and upgrading cities. Gore and Calderon are arguing that it be spent more wisely, to produce cities that don’t incentivise people to burn fossil fuels just to get from A to B. The key will be to persuade the mayors — again, all the mayors on Earth — that designing new cities this way will be vastly preferable to the old way, in terms of efficiency and prosperity for their residents.
Speaking of dense, apparently Jim Edwards at Business Insider was too dense to figure out the massive degree of coercion which would be necessary for Gore and Calderon's plans to even begin to work. Tens and perhaps even hundreds of millions of people would be ordered to abandon their current abodes, junk their cars and move into their shiny new shantytowns. "Building and upgrading cities" in any way would have to be completely banned. So what would they do about all the resisters? Shut off all power outside of the urban cores?
A reasonably intelligent, non-brainwashed fifth-grader could pick this idea apart in minutes. But apparently the assembled elites at Davos gave it respectful attention.
Of course the Associated Press doesn't have a story on this, and it's almost impossible to imagine that anyone at the establishment press alphabet networks has mentioned or will mention it.
But the does have an item breathlessly telling us that there will be a "'LIVE EARTH' CONCERT TO PRESS FOR CLIMATE ACTION" on June 18, and that:
... pop star (Pharrell Williams) is teaming up with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al Gore and producer Kevin Wall to pull off a "Live Earth" concert on seven continents to build support for a U.N. climate pact in Paris among more than 190 nations in December.
Don't even think about how much fossil fuel that effort will burn — but it doesn't matter, I guess, because it's all for a politically correct cause.
It's a near certainty the same outlets ignoring Gore's $90 trillion loony tunes idea will be fawning all over him at Live Earth.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.The 2000km-long chain, which started forming 33m years ago, runs along the country’s east from the Whitsundays in Queensland to near Melbourne
Scientists have discovered the world’s longest chain of continental volcanoes, stretching 2,000km along eastern Australia.
Huge and ancient underwater volcanoes discovered off coast of Sydney Read more
The volcanic chain, which started its formation 33m years ago, runs from near the Whitsundays in Queensland to near Melbourne. It is nearly three times the length of the Yellowstone volcanic track in the US.
The volcanoes weren’t formed at the edge of tectonic plates, where most volcanoes occur. Instead, they came about from mantle plumes, which are upwellings of hot rock from around 3,000km below the Earth’s surface.
At around 130km underground, these plumes melt, breaching the outer layer of the Earth’s crust, called the lithosphere and creating visible volcanoes.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A map showing the path of the 2,000km-long chain of volcanos along eastern Australia. The chain has been named Cosgrove, after an extinct Victorian volcano. Photograph: Drew Whitehouse/NCI National Facility VizLab
Scientists studied 15 of these volcanoes in a variety of ways, including analysis of the isotopes of the rocks and reconstructing the path of the volcano chain. The volcano chain has a notable gap in it of around 800km between the Queensland and New South Wales formations.
“Volcanoes in Queensland are impressive, they are very striking and you can see them from miles away,” said Dr Rhodri Davies of the Australian National University, who led the research, published in Nature.
“I don’t want to say those in Victoria and NSW are less impressive, but they are less striking. That’s because Earth’s strong rigid outer shell, not just the crust, the upper mantle, varies in thickness. The gap in the chain coincides with a thickness where the plume can’t melt, whereas in Queensland the plume can get to a shallower depth, meaning you get more impressive, larger volcanoes.”
A single, fixed plume of hot rock created the chain of volcanoes due to the gradual northwards movement of the Australian continent, at a rate of around 7cm a year.
The northernmost volcano was created at Cape Hillsborough 33m years ago, with the shift in the Australian plate resulting in the plume pushing through in Victoria around 9m years ago. Scientists have named the volcano chain Cosgrove after an extinct Victorian volcano.
Davies said the plume is now placed under the Bass Strait, which lies between Victoria and Tasmania. He added that the most recent volcanic eruption in Australia took place at Mount Gambier 5,000 years ago, in a separate volcanic formation.
“It is always nice to discover something like this,” Davies said. “We are getting much better at understanding volcanism in Australia. People don’t realise we have the most extensive volcanoes on Earth but there are still some individual provinces yet to explore.”The talk of the town this week among catchers is Alex Avila. With Wilson Contreras out for the foreseeable future, Avila is drawing most of the starts for the North Siders. He’s hitting.269 with 13 HRs and 36 RBIs and now, with all of the starts he’s drawing, this sounds like an automatic add on its face. But let’s scratch past the surface to see if there’s an add here. Here is his xStats data by month:
April:.417/.521/.904 (178 xOBA+)
May:.261/.389/.602 (128 xOBA+)
June:.298/.411/.583 (130 xOBA+)
Jul:.186/.313/.259 (83 xOBA+)
Aug:.210/.336/.457 (103 xOBA+)
It looks like he started off red hot and has cooled over the course of the season. It’s important to keep in mind that there are issues with the Statcast data out of Detroit, so those numbers from April through June might be slightly inflated. Read more about it here (http://www.fangraphs.com/community/detroits-batted-ball-readings-are-hot/). Thanks to Reddit users dtpolitt and imnotdoingtheprogram who put together much of the information above. Avila has proven himself to be slightly above league average over the course of his career (108 wRC+). He’s over 50% owned in Yahoo! so I can’t use him on this list. Still, if he’s still available in your league, he deserves consideration. If you’re in a points league, Avila will get consistent starts and could put up decent production for you. However, if you play categories, he’s not going to help your ratios too much. He’s got a great week ahead though, playing all 7 at home vs Cincy (Asher Wojciechowski, Luis Castillo, Homer Bailey, and Scott Feldman) and then Toronto (J.A. Happ, Nick Tepesch, and Marco Estrada), so he’s worth rolling with. Just don’t think he’ll be your savior at the position.
Let’s look back at last week:
Mike Zunino (Seattle Mariners) – 2 for 13, 2 R, HR, 2 RBIs, 6 Ks. It might be time to retire Zunino from these ranks. The HR is helpful, but he likely killed your ratios. He’s been catastrophically bad since June and I need more proof of a turnaround before recommending him to anyone ever again. Even your worst enemy? Nobody deserves Zunino right now.
Wellington Castillo (Baltimore Orioles) – 4 for 15, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 R. I’m very happy with this production from Castillo. I caught some flak for recommending him because of his timeshare with Caleb Joseph. That’s why you’ve gotta pick and choose your spots. He’s not gonna be a season long fantasy catcher as long as he’s giving up about 40% of games to Caleb Joseph, but he can be a very serviceable streamer.
Matt Wieters (Washington Nationals) – 3 for 17, RBI. This is a bad week for Wieters, but the good news is, it won’t really get too much worse than this. If you want to roll with him consistently, I can’t blame you, but I would still look for higher upside catchers on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, he’s now at 54% owned and I can no longer recommend him. It’s been a good run, sweet child.
Manny Pina (Milwaukee Brewers) – 7 for 24, 3 R, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBIs, 7 Ks. Atta boy. Pina is really doing his best to take advantage of his opportunity with Stephen Vogt out, and I’m a big fan. I’m not totally on board this week though with 2 off days limiting his possible impact. He could definitely prove me wrong with 3 games in the hitter’s heaven that is Coors though.
And now onto this week’s recommendations:
Tyler Flowers (Atlanta Braves) – He’s been a very popular topic of discussion as of late, even being featured in Ben’s Buy & Sell article. He’s hitting.298 on the year and his numbers are on the rise. He’s got a great week ahead with 4 games in Coors (Chad Bettis, Kyle Freeland, Jon Gray, and Jeff Hoffman), then 3 games at home vs the Reds (Sal Romano, Asher Wojciechowski, and Luis Castillo). He sat 2 games on Friday and Saturday last week, so he shouldn’t have a problem getting enough playing time. Fire him up and let’s see what he can accomplish.
Wellington Castillo (Baltimore Orioles) – Huh. Fancy seeing you here, Castillo. I could’ve sworn I just finished talking about you. He’s a good hitter and when he plays, he performs. The O’s are in Seattle to face Yovani Gallardo, Andrew Moore, and Marco Gonzales, followed by an off day, then they host the Angels in the form of Ricky Nolasco, JC Ramirez, and Parker Bridwell. None of those matchups are particularly difficult, and hopefully the off day helps get him an extra start. He sat on Sunday the 13th, so he should draw the first start of the week.
Unfortunately, I can only recommend these two this week. Yan Gomes and Wilson Ramos have great matchups this week, but have been just….so bad. If you need a Hail Mary, you can try one of them, but I advise strongly against it.The threat of climate change is “ridiculously exaggerated” and London shouldn’t participate in a United Nations-linked panel addressing the issue.
That’s the opinion of one city councillor who unexpectedly spoke out Tuesday against London signing on as part of a global group of municipal leaders, the so-called Compact of Mayors.
“I’m very disturbed that the threat of climate change has been ridiculously exaggerated,” Coun. Michael van Holst, in his first term representing east-end Ward 1, said during Tuesday’s debate.
“When we hear these exaggerated concerns, we should just ignore it.”
He suggested the UN has “manipulated a public concern in order to gain power and money.”
Regarding the chance to join the worldwide group, van Holst added: “I would hope our mayor doesn’t feel the need to be involved and propagate these exaggerations.”
None of his council colleagues agreed — in fact, no one said much at all after van Holst’s comments. Council voted to join the group.
The entire discussion revolved around the Compact of Mayors, which is led by Michael Bloomberg, the ex-mayor of New York City who is now the UN special envoy for climate change. London’s opportunity to join was summarized in a staff report.
In it, city staff describe it as “a global coalition of mayors and city officials committed to reducing local greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing resilience to climate change, and publicly tracking their progress.”
Challenging such issues is rare among politicians and van Holst, a University of Waterloo-educated engineer, acknowledged he may get criticized for his remarks.
“I value truth more than popularity,” he told The Free Press after the debate.
Mayor Matt Brown called joining the UN group a wise decision.
“I think it’s a very important step for us to take,” he said. “It signals to other big cities right across Canada that we believe this is an important initiative.”
Patrick.maloney@sunmedia.ca
Twitter.com/patatLFPressIn today’s edition of questionable feminist victories, a young, gorgeous, white, skinny woman is revealing her hot bod to protest unattainable, homogenized standards of female. Despite being one of the few women in the world to actually live up to this punishingly unrealistic standard of beauty, Keira Knightley is taking a stand against the common Photoshop practice of manipulating images of women to better resemble sexy cyborgs.
In the wake of her un-Photoshopped topless shoot with Patrick Demarchelier for Interview magazine, the actress voiced her concerns with The Times, explaining “I’ve had my body manipulated so many different times for so many different reasons, whether it’s paparazzi photographers or for film posters. That [shoot] was one of the ones where I said: ‘OK, I’m fine doing the topless shot so long as you don’t make them any bigger or retouch.’ Because it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are.”
I wholeheartedly agree with Knightley’s argument that, “women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame.” Unfortunately, it’s hard to win a war over diversity and inclusion when the only women who are being given the mainstream platforms to speak out are the white warriors who have been deemed hot enough to merit a topless photo shoot.
Knightley isn’t the only celebrity arguing for diversity from an extremely privileged and exclusive platform. In fact, Photoshop outrage is effectively trending in the star community. In 2013, Lady Gaga made the ballsy decision to condemn the manipulation of her Glamour magazine cover—at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. The singer, who once claimed that “I’m not a feminist—I hail men, I love men,” called for young people to “fight back against the forces that make them feel like they’re not beautiful.”
Last march, Lorde did her part by tweeting two concert photos side by side, one un-edited and one retouched, along with an order to “remember flaws are ok.” And back in 2009 Kim Kardashian, the queen of a reality TV show empire, actually spoke out against Photoshop and superficiality in her response to the accidental leak of an un-edited snap from a Complex magazine shoot. Kardashian shocked the blogosphere by exhibiting none of the shame or embarrassment that one would expect from a grown woman caught sporting cellulite, instead proclaiming, “I’m proud of my body and my curves, and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn’t mean I’m perfect.”
Other foot soldiers in this Photoshop army include Coco Rocha, Ashley Benson, Jessica Simpson, Beyoncé, Kate Winslet, and Gisele Bundchen. Their main argument, that airbrushing a woman until she no longer resembles an actual human being is both unhealthy and completely unnecessary, is totally true and relevant. At the same time, it’s hard to stomach celebrity campaigns to celebrate their un-touched, sort of flawed but basically flawless faces as the new feminist frontier. If the manipulation of female bodies to perpetuate an unrealistic ideal is truly a central battleground of feminist politics, it’s about time someone handed the microphone over to the women whose pictures—Photoshopped or un-edited, commercial or editorial, clothed or nude—hardly ever grace the pages of mainstream publications.The finished project:
Learning from my mistakes at earlier attempts at building an arcade cabinet, I have built a lasercut one. I made it as small as possible.
Specs:
Custom design, lasercut, 3mm plywood
5 way switch as joystick
6 buttons
Raspberry Pi Zero
RetroPie
Here are some pictures and video clips of building it.
I’ve designed the cabinet in Inkscape. The cabinet is 83 mm high, 43 mm wide and 33 mm deep.
Let me know if you want the.svg of the desig (although, wouldn’t you prefer to design your own?)
Here is a clip of the lasercutting:
After cutting:
Trying it out:
Buttons added to the control panel:
I’ve used the Adafruit Retrogame utility to directly wire the buttons to the Pi’s GPIO pins. You can check out my guide on how to connect the screen.
I’ve hooked up the buttons as follows (but you can use any GPIO left and configure it as needed)
Pi Pin GPIO Button 13 27 LEFT 15 22 UP 27 0 RIGHT 28 1 DOWN 29 5 SELECT 31 6 B 32 12 START 33 13 ENTER 34 GND GND 35 19 Y 36 16 A 37 26 X 40 21 GND
This is how well it runs:
Let me know what you think!Caucasian Ovcharkas are large dogs found mostly, as the name indicates, in the Caucasus, a mountain range that occupies the narrow strip of land between the Black and Caspian Seas. They are large dogs, with dark shaggy coats giving them added bulk and protecting them from the intense cold of the highlands and valleys where they are generally used to guard sheep.
In his third-floor, 2,000sq ft apartment in west Delhi, Brutus, a year-old Ovcharka pup, couldn't be further away from his natural habitat. His heavy paws, made for trudging on snow and rough terrain, have to contend with the smooth granite of the plush apartment; it's cold alright thanks to the central air-conditioning but there's no way that Brutus can go outside in the searing heat. For company, there's his master Manmohan Singh Jolly, his wife and son and his two minders. The natural aggression of this ancient dog breed means very few people will venture near Brutus. "Every morning Brutus will bark when the minder, who looks after him, comes to work every day and yet thinks the minder is an intruder," laughs Jolly.
For the Jollys, Brutus is a prized possession – they paid Rs5 lakh for him. "My father saw him at the shop and fell in love with him. We've always had large dogs. We had a Great Dane earlier and a Dalmatian. There's only one other Ovcharka we know of in Delhi," says son Prabhjyot.
The craze to own exotic breeds, the more expensive, the better, is growing by the day, says Harshdeep Singh Tegha, who runs Tegha Kennels in Delhi. Tegha Kennels offers and has sold dog breeds from all across the world, the most expensive being the Tosa Inu or Japanese Mastiff (Rs35 lakh), Scottish Deerhound (Rs17 lakh) and Black Russian Terrier (Rs18 lakh). All three are dogs from cold climates, dogs bred for specific tasks – the Japanese Mastiff used for guarding sheep, the Scottish Deerhound for hunting and the Black Russian Terrier for military work – and not quite geared to be the house-trained domestic pet for whom, frequently, the most energetic and exciting thing in the day is a romp around the park.
And then there is Bangalore-based breeder Sathish S who set a record when he paid a crore to buy a Korean Dosa Mastiff. "I have been wanting these breeds for the past 20 years," says Sathish, who has housed them in air-conditioned kennels to help them acclimatise to the hot Indian climate. Sathish who also runs a pet shop in Bangalore called Cadabom's Kennels, came under a lot of criticism some years ago for a Neapolitan Mastiff he bred; he nicknamed it Ghost and advertised it proudly as "the most prolific and heavily (sic.) wrinkled dog in the world".
A memorandum from the animal husbandry department, dated December 2015, flags the dangers of this unchecked influx of exotic dog breeds. "In the recent past, there has been an alarming upsurge in the import of exotic and rare breed dogs from different climatic zones across the globe. Indiscriminate and sudden increase in import of dogs has led to creation of huge market for imported dogs in the country, while there are no guidelines/regulation regarding neutering, registration, breeding and sale of pet or commercial dogs...as these dogs are imported from various climatic conditions, adaptation of these animals to Indian conditions is not smooth."
Dog lovers like Anant Ambani, industrialist Mukesh Ambani's son, who have the resources to create home-like conditions for their pets – he owns an Alaskan Malamute, a large freight dog from the Arctic regions, and created a chilled section in his home. But not all are as lucky.
For many owners, the fascination with a prize pedigree pet wears off soon enough and they are abandoned at animal shelters. "Sometimes we get around five calls a day reporting an abandoned animal. Most of them are injured, bitten or ill – being so-called pedigreed they don't have the skills to survive on the street. So you'll find stray labradors running about in the market, or St Bernards along highways or great danes tied to railway tracks.
In the summers, the animal is usually tied to the gate, or left outside in the verandah, and when he barks, owners complain," says Geeta Seshamani of Frendicoes-SECA, which has a home that takes in these abandoned animals and puts them up for adoption.
In the past three years, adds Seshamani, more people are coming to adopt or foster strays, old, handicapped or ill dogs. "We have been posting images of abandoned animals on our Facebook page and Twitter handles, and in many cases, we've been able to place them in good, caring homes. This is an optimistic development," she says.
According to NG Jayasimha, managing director of NGO Humane Society International, a global animal rights advocacy group, |
East wing knows."
"DUST-DAMMIT NORA." Pyrrha's thoughts stirred. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?"
"Blake," Yang said, getting her partner's attention. "You're probably hungry or something. Why don't you come back with me and I'll see what I can fix up for you."
Blake nodded.
"Okay, let's go then." Yang said, grabbing her partner by the wrist and leading her through the door. "Bye Pyrrha, Bye Ren!
"See you Pyrrha. I'll bring Jaune's work to him tomo- Blake said as the dorm's door shut-effectively cutting her off.
Pyrrha sighed as she walked over to her bed and dropped face down.
Knock-knock
"I got it, I'm coming" Ren said as he walked to open the door.
Pyrrha was too tired to try to sit back up for their new guest.
"Nice to see you, Professor Goodwitch." Ren greeted. The sound of his greeting making Pyrrha sit straight up in her bed.
"It's good to see you too, Mister Lie." Goodwitch smiled "May I come in, please?"
"Certainly, Professor" as Ren opened the door wider, giving Pyrrha and Goodwitch line-of-sight to each other.
"Hello, Miss Nikos. I was just wanting to speak with you and Miss Valkyrie." Goodwitch stated. "Where is Miss Valkyrie? I thought she would be here too.
"Nora is still in the bathroom." Pyrrha nodded. "What's it all about?"
"Well Miss Nikos, did you know that I take turns, with the other Professors, in monitoring the school's local Scroll network? Tonight just happened to be my night."
"Oh no, this is bad," Pyrrha thought.
"Professor, is this about what Nora sent a few minutes ago?" Pyrrha asked. "Because I can explain."
"Good to know we're on the same page." Goodwitch began. "I do wish your team mate would hurry up, though. I only want to go go over our policy on vulgarity in mass-recipient messages...and the somewhat disturbing content in the video concerning you and Miss Belladonna. Then I'll be on my way out.
"I'll get her for you, Professor, " Ren said.
"Thank you, Mister Lie. Do tell her to hurry up." Goodwitch said.
Ren then knocked on the door.
"Nora? Professor Goodwitch is here to talk to you.?" Ren announced.
"Just give me a sec! I'll be out." Nora sang through the door.
"Okay, well hurry up," Ren said as he stepped away.
"Okay-oka-"
A few skidding sounds were made followed by a thud.
"OOOOOWWWW! RE-e-n! HE-HE-L-P!" Nora cried from the bathroom, gasping between words.
Ren burst into the bathroom with Pyrrha and Goodwitch following close behind. As she rounded the corner from entering, tight where Pyrrha and Blake were sitting, Nora laid there, screaming in pain and grabbing her left foot. Pyrrha then saw red.
In Nora's shivering foot, Ren's hobby knife, which Ren let her borrow, was buried up past the handle, dripping blood all over the floor. Somehow, Nora had stepped on the blade.
"NOR-Nora," Ren cried for her as he stepped down to face her, careful not to slip in Nora's blood, but soaking the bottoms of his socks. "Shh-shh, it'll be okay. Calm down."
Nora started bawling.
Goodwitch decided to take control.
"Mister Lie, keep her still and make sure she doesn't move too much. Keep the foot elevated." Goodwitch said in full-teacher mode. "Miss Nikos! Grab all the towels over there, put some on the floor and use the others for her foot!"
Pyrrha brought all the towels for the rack and laid them down around the fairly large puddles of blood. She quickly made a stack of them under where her left leg would rest. Pyrrha knelt down, feeling Nora's blood soak through the towels beneath her.
"Good brace them under her ankles and lower her foot onto them. Gently, now.!" Goodwitch said in full command. "Now let's look at it."
Nora kept crying, beating her fist against the tile floor.
"Nora, it's okay." Ren said calmly. "Deep breaths now, okay?"
Nora, face reddened, nodded to Ren and started breathing deeply, taking full inhales and slow exhales.
"Good job, Mister Lie. Keep her like that." Goodwitch said, having Ren handle her foot so she could look at the wound. "Good news, we can pull this out without risking any more trauma to her foot, as long as we can pull it straight out. I think for her sake, I should do this. Keep pressure on it for me Miss Nikos."
Pyrrha quickly dabbed the towel around the knife and applied generous pressure to the top of Nora's foot.
Quickly extracting her riding crop from it's holster, Goodwitch was ready for the tough part.
"We're almost done here, Nora" Ren said gently, a strained smile stretched on his face, "We're going to take it out, and you'll be fine. Focus on me."
Nora nodded.
"...Okay...Get it out."
"Good job, you two," Goodwitch said to Nora and Ren, leveling her crop toward the knife handle. "I'm going to count to "Three", Miss Valkyrie, then the knife is going to come straight out. Okay? I need you to stay calm and listen to your partner."
"Where have I heard something like that before?" Pyrrha thought as she kept the pressure, aware of any trickery Goodwitch might pull.
"You hear that Nora?" Ren said "She's going to do her thing, and the knife is going to fire out of your foot like a bullet..."
"And-d it'll g-go fast-t-t?"
"Oh yeah, I bet you wouldn't feel it."
"Th-that's so-o cool!" Nora smiled. "I'm ready, teach!"
Goodwitch smiled. Pyrrha disguised her frown.
"One."
"Nothing?" Pyrrha thought.
"Two."
"Still nothing?"
"Three.' Goodwitch waved her crop.
Just like Ren said, the knife went shooting out and then stopped, floating in mid-air along with the stream of blood, only hitting Goodwitch's boot-heels. Goodwitch used her Semblance again to wrap up the knife entirely, tightly in tissue paper and discarded it into a the trash.
Pyrrha quickly covered the area on Nora's foot, practically feeling the hole left behind."
"Is it over? I can't tell." Nora asked.
"Yes, Nora, that part is over."
Nora laughed.
"I actually didn't feel it. Wow."
"She's totally high on endorphins right now, isn't she Professor?" Pyrrha asked, still maintaining pressure.
"I think that's an accurate judgment, Miss Nikos." Goodwitch replied. "You may release her foot now."
"But wh-"
"Just do it, she's fine now.
As Pyrrha did, so, while there was plenty of dried and drying blood, she couldn't see any hole.
In Pyrrha's bewilderment, Goodwitch spotted a little Dust phial on the counter top. Clearly, it was the source of the semi reddish tinge to the whole room. However, the inside of the bottle looked black, with some inky fluid on the inside. This piqued her curiosity.
"You didn't say you'd close it up. though." Pyrrha said, reeling Goodwitch back.
"That's because I didn't." Goodwitch replied calmly. "That was her own Aura. As her partner cheered her up with that gun analogy, she channeled her Aura into her leg and foot, sub-consciously. So by the time the knife came out, she was already healed."
"Two days ago tho-"
"That was different." Goodwitch interrupted. "Miss Schnee was in a fight before and had lost most of her Aura count then."
"What about Jaune? He didn't even fight that day, so he had a full Aura reserve."
"Mister Arc is also consistently poor with his Aura usage in a conflict. Goodwitch replied calmly."I'm sure he knows how to raise his Aura defense, but once he takes a few hits, without raising his Aura appropriately, as I think you know already from watching him, his ability to use that defense drops significantly. I think that hit he took that broke his nose was the main factor where he was too overwhelmed to let his Aura defend himself."
"Okay Professor... thanks for explaining that," Pyrrha said with a smile, closing her eyes with both her hands up and facing Goodwitch, with something on her hands catching Goodwitch's attention. "I surre-"
"Miss Nikos, I don't wish to alarm you," Goodwitch interrupted, "but you have a cut on the tip of your left ring finger and you were clearly in contact with Miss Valkyrie's blood. Please wash your hands. In fact, everyone get off the floor and wait to wash your hands please. Take three minutes each to wash your hands, then, ladies, stand by the shower and you stay right there when you're done, Mister Lie. Do not touch your hands to your clothes."
As they lined behind each other, Pyrrha could see Goodwitch expanding taking out a thin collapsible black bar and recognized it as the Scroll tablet. Goodwitch touched a few buttons and brought up her contact list. She scrolled down and selected one of them and made a call over the speakerphone."
"This is Jaime. How are you Glynda?"
"Professor Pea-Jaime, please, would you please bring 3 Bio bags, 3 held item bags, at least 2 industrial-sized Bio bags, one heavy-duty decontamination kit with 3 pairs of full-length gloves and 1 Sharps container to the JNPR dorm? We may also need to escort these students to the Infirmary for blood over-exposure once were finished."
"You break up some kind of bad fight up there, Professor?" Jaime asked.
"Negative. One student had an accident in the bathroom and had a hobby knife stuck in her foot. She's been treated by me, and seems to be doing better, but her teammate got cut and exposed when I had extracted the thing. We have bloody towels and what looks like some sort of ink, and Dust on all surfaces."
"Yikes, she'll have to come down for a few more shots than the rest of them, it seems. I'll be right up once I have everything together in about 2 minutes."
"Please hurry."
"ASAP is the only speed I'm set at for you, Glynda. I'll be right there, Darling."
A few minutes later, there was a knock followed by the door opening.
"Glynda! Where are you?" Jaime asked dragging a heavy cart with the supplies Professor Goodwitch asked for.
"Right here." Goodwitch said, greeting her at the door. "Follow me."
Peach followed her, pushing the cart to the bathroom door and entered with Goodwitch. propping the door open.
"Hi there, kiddos, as you may have guessed already, I'm Doctor, or as you call it, "Professor", Jaime Peach, nice to meet the rest of the team."
As she introduced herself. She was already taller than Pyrrha by just a few inches. She had a very neutral, very clean appearance. She had some of her strawberry blonde hair tied up with light orange highlights.
"Oh wow," Pyrrha thought, "Peach-y keen."
"Hi there, Doctor Peach!" Nora greeted.
"Stop with the formalities. That's Oobleck's thing, not mine. Please call me Jaime." Jaime smiled as she kicked a roll of plastic sheeting all over the exposed tile, avoiding the roll from contacting the JNPR member's feet and shoes. Even Glynda's heels were given a miss, not wanting to touch the dirty floor in her own heels.
"Now then that's out of the way, I thought I recognized you, you little one." Jaime said, pointing at Nora. "You made that video that you accidentally sent to everyone about almost an hour ago."
"What are you talking about, Doc?" Nora said.
Jaime looked at Goodwitch. "Didn't you come hear to talk to them about that?"
"Yeah I did, and then this happened, while I was here, and I just didn't get to it." Goodwitch replied.
"...Well then?"
"Don't "Well then" me, Peach." Goodwitch said tersely then looked at Nora. "Miss Valkyrie, you made and sent a video, before we started talking. You meant to send it to Miss Xiao Long across the hallway, but you ended up sending it to her and every one else on the East side of campus."
"Oopsie." Nora replied, looking down, realizing she made a mistake.
"Y-look, I can't be mad at you. I think the universe paid you back for humiliating your friend, Miss Nikos, here and your dorm room neighbor, Miss Belladonna, who is also staying in the same room across the hall from you as the one you tried to send the video message to. So, I'm not going to do anything about it."
Goodwitch turned to Pyrrha.
"Regarding the other matter that I came to talk about. You were a mess when I walked in, Miss Nikos. You looked exhausted, just as you are now, you were sweating, and you did smell a little bad. And while I don't think anything lewd went on in here, like what Miss Valkyrie implied, but it does raise a concern if you were or if you were doing something...dangerous...considering the state of your floor seen in the video"
"Professor, I have no idea what you were talking about." Pyrrha lied. "I had to have a private heart-to-heart talk with her, mostly relating to Jaune and Weiss."
"I see. And why was there a hobby knife here in the bathroom and why was there blood on the floor when Nora made the video."
"I-" Pyrrha began.
"It was my fault, Professor. The hobby knife was mine." Ren voiced up.
"Ren what are you doing?" Pyrrha thought.
"I used that knife for a few arts and crafts purposes like trimming excess on figurines I buy. I brought it in here so the knife wouldn't just be out for Nora to actually hurt herself with. I lost it here 3 days ag-"
"Pause, Mister Lie." Goodwitch interrupted. "You brought a knife outside of your workstation, in here, so she-"Goodwitch pointed to Nora "-wouldn't play with it and you lost it? And now tonight, your partner did find that, with her foot, if I may add. Are you really that irresponsible, Mister Lie? I'm having a hard time believing that such a gre-"
"Glynda, please," Jaime interrupted. "It just sounds to me that Mister, uh, Lie, here made a mistake. I'm not saying it wasn't irresponsible, but this does present him with a learning opportunity."
Goodwitch sighed, and removed her glasses.
"Okay, yeah he did, but his partner paid for it."
"No, his partner, by the sounds of it, had made one mistake before that, which you said she already paid for." Jaime pressed. "Tell me, you said these kids, seeing their friend in pain, came in here and helped her out. Which one of them do you think helped her the most?"
"He did." Goodwitch answered, pointing at Ren.
"What did he do to help?"
"He was the one who responded to her cries. He kept her calm. He got her to...relax. He even got her smiling again before I extracted the knife."
Jaime took a look at Nora's bloodied foot, but seeing no damage."
"In light of that, and with how much better she looks, would you say that Mister Lie redeemed himself of his mistake in her eyes?"
Goodwitch sighed, her left hand holding her riding crop going up to her face.
"...Ugh...Yes, she's totally forgiven him."
"I don't see a further need for action, do you?"
"No, I suppose I don't."
"Lets just get started then, we dawdled long enough." Jaime said. "You three! The first thing we need to do is get rid of these blood and dust covered uniforms. They are contaminated and I now require them to be destroyed."
Jaime went back to the cart and brought out the three item bags first and handed one to each of them.
"The first thing I want you to do before I have you all strip down is put your hand in the item bag. In it you'll se a bunch more mini-item bags. You'll see that they're all kinda inside-out looking. What I want you to do is put your hand inside it, and go through all of your pockets for your personal items and grab them through the bag, and pull them out. Things like notes, money, jewelry on your hands, necks or where ever, your Scrolls, writing instruments should be out of your pockets. Then pull the bag inward and turn it into the proper outside-in form and put them in the big bag. Then give me those things, I will set them aside for you. Any food, candy or snacks in your pockets will need to stay in them as they're now also contaminated. Do it now."
Pyrrha pulled out her Scroll and her wallet. It was all she really had.
Ren pulled out a few key chains, a voice recorder and his headphones.
Nora was crying internally because all she had in her pockets were the snacks she didn't get the chance to have today.
"What about my circlet?" Pyrrha asked. "I can't really get it off without touching it, Jaime. and it's priceless to me."
"That's okay, that is what the big bag is also for. Just bend down, and using both of your hands on the outside, just take it off and let it fall in the bag."
As Pyrrha did so and was removing it, Glynda saw the dust phial on the counter. Having a mini-item bag at the ready, she gave her riding crop an imperceptible wave, practically teleporting it into her covered hand. Neatly wrapping it up in the bag by pulling it outward. she sealed the bag quickly and put it in the belt holster she dedicated the Scroll tablet for. She was going to find out what this was about, and she knew just who to ask.
"Okay, everyone, including you, Glynda, I have a really big item bag for you also," she said, passing it out to Pyrrha and Goodwitch, as Ren was still in his, now blood-encrusted, socks and Nora was bare-foot. "Place the bag in front of you and step in side it with one foot. Doing this, we can send your shoes to be cleaned and you could get them back tomorrow. Good thing for you guys is that it's the weekend so we don't have to worry about going to classes barefoot. Once your foot is inside, use the flimsy inner-bag to help you unbuckle or untie your shoes. Then step out of the bag and put it on the plastic sheeting I just laid out and repeat the same thing with the other foot. Once they're both off, pull the drawstring tight and tie it off. I will mark your names on the bags for you and see they are returned to you. Do it now."
Pyrrha was in and out of the bag with no problem. Pyrrha looked up and saw Goodwitch struggling with it.
"Don't tell me the 50 foot woman can't touch her toes." Jaime teased as saw as she noticed Goodwitch's plight. "Let me help you, you just stay standing up."
"Hmmph..."
"Shut up, you know you like me." Jaime remarked as she got the second shoe undone.
When Goodwitch stepped out of the bag Jaime picked up both bags by the draw strings, took them outside and put them on the low shelves.
She then came back in with 3 big red orange bags with the bio-hazard symbol on the side and what looked like a small plastic box you'd use to keep your Marshmallow Flakes fresh and from going stale in the cereal box.
"Okay, you three, here's the part where things get weird for everyone." Jaime said pacing, swinging a key chain thing that looked like a heavy-duty seat-belt cutter in her heavily gloved hands. "Because all of you have been practically been sitting in blood, or were being bled on, or cut and exposed if I understood correctly, you will all need to be stripped down, probably naked, if it soaked through your underwear like I think it did, and have you all cleaned off. I do see the shower right behind you two girls. Instead of having you take off your clothes with your hands and getting your clean hands contaminated again, I'm going to cut all of your clothing as we're in the shower as you stand in that orange bag. We're going to let it all fall in the bag. and step out once we're done. You'll be given 10 minutes to wash all the blood you touched using a special powdered soap and shampoo combo designed to kill blood pathogens on the outside of your skin. Because you, Mister Lie, are a male, you will go first, I will make sure you are given all the decency you need from the prying eyes of these 2 beautiful mischievous girls who want nothing more than to probably see you naked. Or maybe the other way around...I don't know how you kids swing."
Once you're done, you will at least put on the pants you're given and then you'll follow the plastic sheeting and leave the bathroom. Once you get a shirt on, you will leave the dorm so these girls can dress up in piece."
"Glynda, would you retrieve some clothing for Mister Lie here to change into?" Jaime asked turning to her.
"Yes I will." Goodwitch replied. "Mister Lie, which dresser is yours?"
"The one by the desk, closest to the bathroom."
Goodwitch disappeared out of the bathroom, to reappear with his pants and underwear.
"Hand those to me, Glynda, I will take care of it. Would you please step out of the dorm now? Mister Lie here shouldn't be that long at all."
Goodwitch nodded and stepped out from the bathroom, to the dorm and into the hallway.
Little more than half an hour later, everyone was finished. Both Goodwitch and Ren came back in after getting the "all clear" from Jaime, they came back into the dorm. Pyrrha and Nora were both in their sleep wear, looking really tired.
"Welcome back. I just have one more thing for all of you and then we'll all be done here." Jaime said with a smile and clapping her hands. "You are all going to get some shots because of how long we took with all the blood on our skin. We don't want to risk the chance of you guys skipping my Infirmary and checking into Vale Medical, now would we?"
"I don't want a shot! Ren tell her!" Nora cried.
"Nora..." Ren said, looking at her.
"Young lady, Nora, is it?" Jaime asked getting her attention, seeing that fear of Doctors in Nora's eyes. "I know you don't want to, but your blood wasn't the only thing in there. I just want to help you get safe."
"Nora..." Ren began again, "I know you're scared but you just had a really big thing pulled out of your foot, and I know you don't want anything else but a nice stack of pancakes in you.-"
Nora, tearing up, kept looking into Ren's eyes.
"-However, we were covered in all that stuff in there." Ren continued." We could get really sick, and that would be less fun than stepping on that knife again, wouldn't it? But don't you remember? You were so brave, you didn't even feel the knife any more. I'm sure that a puny little needle is no match for someone like y-."
Nora then gave Ren a surprise hug, lifting him off the floor.
"THANKS PARTNER" Nora cheered.
"Nora, please let me down," Ren said, feeling Nora's grip sliding.
"I'm sorry to tell you this Ren-" Nora said. "-but you are not the father."
"...Really, Nora?" Pyrrha thought. "Parry Mauvich?"
"Miss Valkyrie, please put Mister Lie down," Goodwitch asked rather shortly with her.
"But Professor...I don't wanna kill Re-" Nora said, tearing up in her eyes again as she was still standing in place and hugging Ren.
"Nora," Pyrrha said, trying to hide her amusement. "What she means is put Ren back on his feet. Please."
"Oh," Nora said, lowering Ren to the ground. She smiled back at all of them. "You all could'a said that instead of those other things."
"Now that silliness is over," Jaime said as she looked at the three team mates, prepping a hypodermic needle and all the medicines she'd have to inject.. who's going to be first?"
"I'll do it, I was the one who was cut after we got that knife out of her foot," Pyrrha lied, wanting to hide what she did with Blake. "Might as well get it over w-Wait, why aren't we down in the Infirmary for this? Why up here?"
"Because, uh, Pyrrha, I'm guessing," Jaime replied calmly, "there is no need to send you down there. I had to bring all the other stuff up anyway so I thought I'd save you all the trip of going down, setting you all up, giving you all your shots, and then having Glynda here escort you back. Saves time. Now would you give me your arm so we can get this done with?"
"That's fine, Profe-I mean Jaime," Pyrrha said, smiling back at the woman and offering up her arm.
Pyrrha felt the soft woman's touch as she gently took her arm and held it.
"So, I thought I recognized you as well. I feel so silly," Jaime said as she injected the first needle into her left arm. "I haven't seen your matches but every time I'm at the store, I always see the kids in the store running with a box of Pumpkin Pete's under their arms."
"Yeah," Pyrrha said as she rolled her eyes. "I really wish it was something healthier though. I never had any sugary breakfast cereal when I was growing up. Just fruit or something like eggs."
"Oh I can tell, just look at you!" Jaime said as she withdrew the needle, throwing it into a new Sharps container. "I bet you wish your face was on something more...appropriate."
"Sort of. I mean, I only had to eat that once, and that was only for an ad," Pyrrha shivered, feeling the icy medicine as it worked through her as Jaime prepared the next injection. "But I don't have much regrets over it. It's because of that revenue I was able to make Milo and Akuou, my weapon and my shield. It's also part of the reason why I'm here, at Beacon, and why I have these guys as friends."
"AND WE LOVE YOU PYRRHA!" Nora loudly sang, startling Jaime into jabbing Pyrrha with the second needle.
"HOLY FFFF...Noorra.." Pyrrha thought as the needle practically punched through.
"Little la-" Jaime rose her voice at Nora as she pushed the medicine into Pyrrha's arm. Pyrrha raised her hand.
"Ahh-It's okay, Jaime" Pyrrha said, her arm feeling heavier. "This is how she is normally."
"Fine," Jaime said as she withdrew the second needle, putting it in the open container. "But control your outbursts, little one."
"Okay!" Nora said, making a salute, forcing a smile out of Pyrrha.
"Let's hurry up, then, shall we? I still have to cart that stuff all the way back down and set them aside to be destroyed. Then I think I still have to make my rounds." Jaime said with a faint smile, as she stuck Pyrrha with the third one. "You know, your leader is the biggest whiner we ever had in there?"
"Wait, what about Jaune?" Pyrrha thought.
"What do you mean about that, Jaime?" Pyrrha asked Jaime with confusion, as Jaime prepared the fourth needle."
"Well, as you know, you can't have Scrolls out-n'-about in there," Jaime explained. "And he was whining every time I caught him with it out, saying he needed to speak with you. So I had to confiscate it when he decided to be rude to that pretty black-haired classmate that came by to drop off his school work, both yesterday and today. Blake, I think her name was..."
"So that answers that question of why Blake was here," Pyrrha thought as the new needle pierced her arm, now a little sore. "...and why she looked so stressed...Oh my, I'm so sorry Blake!...You didn't even tell me that Jaune wasn't being nice to you...and I kept steamrolling you with that bullshit of why we weren't talking, so you gave up trying. I hope you're happy, knowing that at least your secrets are safe with me. Stupid...Stupid...No, Jaune's still my man. He wanted to speak with me and was just a little upset. Yeah, I bet that was it."
"Last one, then you're all done." Jaime said, about ready with the final needle.
"So when I took it from him, I saw that you sent him a message and the screen accidentally opened it when my thumb slipped. He must mean a lot to you for you to send him about 40 messages," Jaime said offhandedly as she pushed in the final needle.
"YOU FUCKING WHAT? YOU READ THEM?" Pyrrha silently fumed, eyes now wide open, maintaining a now fake smile while meeting her gaze with Jaime's muted brown eyes. "You better be joking, otherwise you will know why Pumpkin Pete's labelled me as the "Crimson Queen", you bitch."
"Yeah, he is my partner for the rest of my time here at Beacon," Pyrrha smiled through her teeth.
"Well, after reading just that one and seeing the list of others, I'd say it was more than you being concerned for your partner, if you know what I mean," Jaime said, not reading or feeling the mental javelins Pyrrha was skewering her with as she withdrew the needle from the arm "...and there we go. All done. Let's get you bandaged up and then you can go get your item bag and get your stuff back. There's also some awesome patterned band-aids you could wrap that finger in"
"Okay then-" Pyrrha said.
"CUNT." Pyrrha thought.
10 minutes later, they were all finished up.
"Okay, we're done here." Jaime said, taking off her gloves and rubbing her hands. Depositing them in the trash chute in the cart. "Or at least I am, for now, at least,"
As she did that, she released a lock on the front of one of the handles. and pulled out an even smaller cart out, loaded with the Bio-bags full of the scraps of their bloodied uniforms, the Sharps boxes with the 2 shoe bags.
"Now, I'm sure Glynda here has already put in orders for replacement uniform pieces, so you should be able to get your new ones on Sunday, and we have your sizes already." Jaime said as she pulled the small cart toward the door.
"What about that big one over there?" Nora pointed to the big shell left behind.
"Oh, Glynda would go over that with you." Jaime said as she opened the door "Glynda, the gloves and the big Bio-bags are in the second and third shelves on the right, The decontamination kit is on the left in the big door. See you kids later, feel free to come on down and see me if you feel anything weird in the next three or five hours! Nice meeting you all. Ciao!"
Jaime then took her cart and disappeared from sight and into the hall.
"Okay then, really quickly lets go over to the cart and go to the drawers and cupboards in the cart and get those supplies she talked about." Goodwitch said, "You'll find written instructions on what to do on that kit to help you all clean your bathroom, what the chemicals do, and how to use them. I can't stick around here for very long, so I am leaving it to you three to clean the place up. Once your done gathering all the sheeting and towels on the floor by the door, you will work your way, going backwards and deeper into the bathroom, pull up the sheeting and roll it on itself. Do what you need to do to get this done as quickly as possible. I'd also recommend you leave your bathroom door and windows open when your finished, for it to air out overnight. In the morning, you can still push the cart shell back to the Infirmary. It's still mobile so you should be able to get it down there just fine. Good luck."
And with that Goodwitch left.
"I don't wanna do it." Nora said, stomping the same foot she found the hobby knife with, as soon as the door closed.
"Nor-"
"Fine, then Nora," Ren said, interrupting Pyrrha. "You were a good girl during that whole thing. Go ahead and go to bed. I needed to talk with Pyrrha anyway and the bathroom doesn't really need three people to clean it."
"Okay Ren!" Nora smiled. "Can I get a hug from you both before I go to sleep?"
"Sure, come here, you silly sloth." Ren said as they hugged each other.
Nora then came up and went to hug Pyrrha, making Pyrrha bend forward a little so Nora can hug her. As they embraced, Nora brought her chin up and off Pyrrha's shoulder and to Pyrrha's ear, obscuring her mouth from Ren's view.
"If you seduce him or rape him, you will wish I would've broke your legs instead, you giant succubus titty-monster." In a whisper so low, Ren couldn't hear.
Pyrrha's jaw dropped as Nora broke from the hug and skipped back to bed.
"What do I even say to that?" Pyrrha thought, looking at Nora with an open mouth as jumped flat on her own bed and rolled herself up in the blankets and sheets like a burrito. "What should I even d-"
"Good night, Nora," Ren said as he turned out the lights in the room for her. "Come on, Pyrrha, let's get this done so we can go to bed too."
Pyrrha nodded and put on the large rubber full-length purple gloves that almost went up to her shoulders. She picked up the kit and followed him inside the bathroom.
"Close the door, Pyrrha. We need to talk." Ren said curtly laying down the kit and jugs of chemicals they needed on the sheeting.
Pyrrha nodded and shut the door.
"Ren, I'm s-"
"Do you really think if you apologize that it makes this all better? I took a fall for you, Nikos." Ren said in a quick, yet quiet angry tone as he knelt on top of the sheeting, pulling it up in sections and exposing the dried blood underneath. "Don't patronize me with your "sorries" until after I said my piece."
Pyrrha nodded.
"I don't really know what you were doing in here with Blake in the first place to make that mess or even why you felt you need to do whatever you did, to tell her about what that thing with Jaune was." Ren said staring at the floor and spreading the detergent and starting to scrub. "I don't know why you thought it was okay to have to bleed and...ink each other...ugh. Know this though. It was your fault that Nora got hurt. Your fault that we had to be stripped, scrubbed, and redressed in that awkward exercise with both of the Professors, and that we all needed shots. This little shit-shack is actually supposed to be a safe place, which you ruined, while you were fucking around with Blake or doing only Dust knows what. With Dust too! I regret giving you all that stuff."
Pyrrha put her face down and started to tear up as they pulled another section of sheeting off and rolled it up over itself.
"No, you don't get to be sad. This was all your fault. You also deserve all the humiliation you get from Nora's viral moment. Granted, I think what she did was inappropriate, but no one here deserved any of that negative attention more than you do right now. Now you have my permission to cry."
"No, Ren. You're right." Pyrrha said as she started scrubbing. "I don't deserve to cry over this."
"Good, because I will say this, now that you know how I feel, and I hate to see my friends cry." Ren started, as he rolled away more sheeting. "Any teasing you, or even Blake, receive for this thing will be dealt with by me. I'm sure Nora would also help you."
"Thanks, Ren. It means a lot, but I think I can handle myself." Pyrrha said.
"I know you could, but that's not what I meant." Ren said abruptly. "Being the quiet one, I know it doesn't take much for people to notice you, even if you don't do anything-lets pull it up more, to the pile of the towels-these people will notice what happened. They will rip into you if you let them. So any teasing, shaming, name-calling, you point me and Nora to them, and let us deal with it, okay? I'm sure Yang plans on doing the same for Blake, and she's not nearly as notorious as you, but you know that if there is a wall, Yang would send them through it for even thinking of making fun of her partner."
"Alright then, Ren." Pyrrha said, looking him in the eye with a straight face. "I will point them out for you and Nora."
Another hour later, and Pyrrha and Ren were done. No surface was left untouched by their teamwork. Not a speck of dust, or well, Dust, blood or ink left anywhere. The two big Bio-bags, now full of towels, the plastic sheeting they had used and their gloves, was safely sealed and stored away inside the top compartment of the cart, like a chest.
Pyrrha, seeing that Ren went and crashed on his bed, sealed the cart up and tugged it over by the door. Leaning on the wall |
There are reporters and agents and wannabe agents and scouts and scouting directors and administrators and Tommy...Apple Stock News
For the latest Apple Stock News, AAPL closed at $116.60 on Friday, October 21st, with a 0.39% loss, or $0.46 from its previous close of $117.06 per share.
Apple stock’s decreased after news of an iPhone 7 caught on fire late last week. Hoping not to repeat Samsung’s dilemma of recalling 1.9 million Note 7, Apple is launching an investigation.
Multinational technology company, IBM is undergoing a cost savings plan. IBM will transition its work force to use more Mac computers than PCs. IBM vice-president, Fletcher Previn, reveals Apple products cost less to support compared to PCs. In a span of 4 years, a PC could cost IBM up to $535 per device compared to $270 for a Mac. Among IBM’s 90,000 out of 604,000 laptops are Macs. IBM found only 5% of Apple users contacting its support team, compared to 40% of PC users. This means Apple appears to be more user friendly and IBM is forced employ a larger support team for PC users. If IBM transitions its workforce to use more user friendly Apple products, it would reduce cost. As a result, IBM is currently adding 1,300 Macs per week to undergo the transition. Apple is also growing in popularity among IBM employees in mobile devices. A majority of IBM’s mobile devices are run by iOS. The employees preference and cost benefit for IBM using Apple products will benefit Apple’s position in increasing market share.
Keep checking back for more news regarding AAPL. For Full AAPL forecasts and investment advice by our state of the art algorithm click here.Lysander Spooner vs. the USPS
I gave a letter to the postman,
He put it in his sack.
Bright and early next morning,
He brought my letter back.
— “Return to Sender”, lyrics by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott
This just in: The state still sucks at delivering the mail. Shocker!
According to news across the wire…
(Reuters) The US Postal Service said its loss widened to $3.2 billion in the first three months of 2012 and repeated on Thursday its warning that it will likely default on payments to the federal government unless Congress passes legislation offering some relief.
“Of course sales are down,” we hear a few reckoners contest, “nobody uses snail mail anymore. It’s all email today. And Tweets and Facebook ‘likes’ and LinkedIn networking. Sheesh… Get with the times!”
Ah, but we are with the times. You’re receiving this in electronic format, aren’t you? Besides, FedEx isn’t in the email business. It still delivers packages. And its sales for the quarter ending February 29 were, at $521 million ($1.65 per share), more than double sales for the same quarter of last year — $231 million ($0.73 per share). And that, despite the fact that volume in its US express business slumped 4%.
Profits were up for UPS too, though not by as much. Net income for the world’s largest package company rose to $970 million, or $1 per share, from $915 million, or 91 cents per share from the same period last year. Revenue rose 4.4% to $13.14 billion.
And yet, the United States Postal Service can’t manage to balance a budget. USPS enjoys a “statutory monopoly” on non-urgent First Class Mail and the exclusive right to put mail in private mailboxes. (No joke!) Yet it bleeds money like no privately-owned business ever would…or even could. Why is that?
American individualist anarchist and proud owner of one of history’s coolest beards, Lysander Spooner, thought he knew the answer to this question 150 years ago. Put simply: It’s the government, stupid!
Postal rates were notoriously high during the 1840s, a direct result, thought Spooner, of the USPS’s aforementioned monopoly status. Why charge less when there is no competition? Nobody’s going to undercut you…at any price. Similarly, why bother to offer better service? Nobody’s going to siphon off your customers. You’re the only game in town!
In response to the outrageous rates and abysmal service, Spooner set about opening his American Letter Mail Company. He argued that the constitution (with which he didn’t necessarily agree on many issues), granted the government powers to establish mail…but not to exclude others from entering the marketplace too.
“The power given to Congress, is simply ‘to establish post-offices and post roads’ of their own, not to forbid similar establishments by the States or people,” wrote Spooner in his 1844 pamphlet, The Unconstitutionality of the Laws of Congress, prohibiting Private Mails.
Pressing on the issue of unnatural, coercive monopolies, he later continued…
“The idea, that the business of carrying letters is, in its nature, a unit, or monopoly, is derived from the practice of arbitrary governments, who have either made the business a monopoly in the hands of the government, or granted it as a monopoly to individuals. There is nothing in the nature of the business itself, any more than in the business of transporting passengers and merchandise, that should make it a monopoly, either in the hands of the government or of individuals.”
Spooner’s pamphlet was published the same year his American Letter Mail Company went into business. The company had offices in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York among other cities.
Of course, Spooner’s analysis of the market for mail wasn’t restricted solely to ethical grounds. He saw what all good businessmen see when they decide to go into business…an opportunity to profit, in this case born by the dismal service and high prices of USPS mentioned above. The market — defined as the individuals acting within it — was crying out for a competitive alternative to USPS. And Spooner gave it to them.
His mail company significantly reduced the price of stamps, undercutting the government’s 12-cent standard, and even offered free local delivery on some routes. Hooray for faster, cheaper mail!
Of course, the government doesn’t like competition. It’s bad for “business.” That’s why it maintains and enforces a self-granted monopoly on things like counterfeiting and putting people in cages. (Don’t believe us? Try inking your own dollars or kidnapping your neighbor because he didn’t give you a portion of his annual income.) And so, after years of fines and state-sponsored assaults on his enterprise, Spooner was finally forced out of business in 1851.
But the story of Spooner and his American Letter Mail Company is not entirely a sad one. True, the government forced him out of business by leveling against him unpayable fines for breaking (fundamentally unconstitutional) “laws.” And yes, it forced him to shutter operations before he had the opportunity to fully litigate his own constitutional claims. But the joke is surely on the practically bankrupt USPS, which continues to run at a loss even now, a century and a half on.
Moreover, Spooner’s company proved what many at the time already knew: that the government is no match for private enterprise, neither in offering competitive prices and services or for being able to read and respond to the real world demands of the market. (Interestingly, USPS actually ended up offering a 3-cent stamp in direct response to the challenge from the American Letter Mail Company. Though with Spooner out of the way, it was short-lived.)
Perhaps most importantly, Spooner taught us to always question unnatural authority, rather than simply accepting the limits it forever seeks to impose on us. And, thanks to his example, the next time someone trots out that tired old line, “Yes, but who would provide X service (roads, schools, whatever) if not the government?” you can simply answer them, “Anarchists would, my good sir…anarchists just like Lysander Spooner.”
Joel Bowman
for The Daily ReckoningA group of mayors from Canada and the U.S. is trying to challenge a recent decision allowing an American city to draw water from the Great Lakes, arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative asked Monday for a hearing with the group of eight states that make up what's known as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council.
In June, the council gave the Wisconsin city of Waukesha the green light to divert water from Lake Michigan, making it the first exception to an agreement banning diversions of water away from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which represents more than 100 local governments on both sides of the border, is now looking to fight that decision.
"This is just the beginning of something that could potentially grow and just be catastrophic," Sandra Cooper, the mayor of Collingwood, Ont., and the group's secretary-treasurer, said of Waukesha's diversion. "There was no opportunity for public input with our Great Lakes community and I think that's a downfall of the whole process."
The above graphic shows where Waukesha, Wisc., is, in relation to Lake Michigan. (Canadian Press)
The group argues that the area to be serviced by Waukesha's diversion is too large, the return flow of treated water to Lake Michigan hasn't been analysed enough and there wasn't enough public participation in the process dealing with the city's request.
It has also written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama asking for "appropriate action" to stop Waukesha's diversion of water from Lake Michigan.
Waukesha, a city of about 70,000 people, asked for permission to take water from the Great Lakes because its own aquifer is running low and the water is contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring cancer-causing radium.
Waukesha argued that although it's located outside the boundary of the Great Lakes basin, it is part of a county straddling that geographical line and should be allowed access to the lake's water.
The request created significant concern on both sides of the border, but after making a series of amendments to Waukesha's original application, the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes — who had final say on the matter after input from Ontario and Quebec— gave the city's proposal unanimous approval.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative said it's now fighting to ensure the long-term integrity of the agreement meant to protect the Great Lakes.
"There was already a region that was established that could draw from the Great Lakes basin. That region is now being expanded. What says down the road that those southern States who are having difficulty with water aren't going to start drawing more water from our Great Lakes basin," said Randy Hope, the mayor of Chatham-Kent municipality in southwestern Ontario, who is on the group's board of directors.
"It'll lower our waterways, it'll have eco and social and economic effects that people cannot determine at this time."
The Great Lakes support 33 million people, including nine million Canadians and eight of Canada's 20 largest cities, according to the federal government.by Theodore Dalrymple (Aug. 2007) It is the best of faiths, it is the worst of faiths. It is the faith of tolerance, it is the faith of hate. Opinions of Islam in the world could hardly be more diverse or more opposed. However many times one hears it said that Islam is not a unitary phenomenon - that the Sufis are as different from the Salafists as chalk is from cheese - almost everyone, after pronouncing this caveat, proceeds to speak or to write as if Islam were a unitary phenomenon. This is the great achievement of the Islamists: they have turned the nastiest imaginable form of their religion into the only one that counts for non-Moslems - and for an increasing number of Moslems too. It is as if the Spanish Inquisition had been made the sole legitimate representative (to use the cant term of the 1960s and 70s) of Christianity.
The claims that Islam has in its history been religiously tolerant are difficult to disentangle in an honest fashion. Without an axe to grind, you would hardly even consider the question. Islam is a religion but Moslems are people, and their conduct may not always have been what religious enthusiasts would have wanted them to be, or believed were religiously required. Then again, what is religiously required has been a matter of dispute: and extremism has not always prevailed over pragmatism.
Perhaps I should start with a personal experience. Not long ago in Istanbul, I bought something in a shop owned by a Jewish family. The language in which I spoke to the proprietor was Spanish: he was of the last generation that spoke Ladino, the mediaeval Spanish that the Jews expelled from the Iberian peninsula brought with them to Istanbul and spoke for half a millennium there. The language was dying out, but not because of any persecution: the young, obsessed with the fripperies of modernity, were no longer interested in maintaining the tradition (so much the worse for them, of course).
I discussed history a little with the proprietor. He felt nothing but affection for and gratitude to Turkey: for the Jews there had suffered nothing like what they had suffered in Croatia or Salonika, that is to say extermination. As for the near-extermination of the Armenians by the Turks, it occurred precisely as the Ottoman empire was remodelling itself along European nationalist lines. It was secularisation, not religious fanaticism, that led to this most appalling episode.
Now let me turn to a book published last year in France, entitled Les trios exils, The Three Exiles, by Benjamin Stora. This book illustrates and answers the question with the greatest clarity.
Professor Stora was an Algerian Jew who moved to France at independence in 1962. In his beautiful book, he recounts both his family history and that of the Jews in Algeria, whose two thousand year presence in the country (or perhaps I should say part of the world) ended definitively in the year that the author himself left.
For about two thirds of their history in Algeria, the Jews lived under a Moslem dispensation. They were, of course, dhimmis, but at various times some among them achieved great prominence in the government, such as it was. When Europeans in the sixteenth century mounted invasions of Algeria and Morocco, the Jews helped to repel it, both because they thought it was destined to fail and because they thought they were better off as dhimmis than under European rule. Indeed, the Jews of the Maghreb commemorated these events annually in what was called the Purim Kettanim.
They were nevertheless subject to violence, persecutions and discrimination; in 1805, 48 Jews were murdered in Algeria in a pogrom, and in the following year 300. European and American travellers of the first third of the nineteenth century remarked on the wretchedness the Jewish populations of the Maghreb, and the exactions to which they were constantly subject.
Then came the French occupation of Algeria, and the start of the long process of westernisation of the Algerian Jews. (There are photographs in Stora’s book, showing the change from Turkish to western costume, complete, irreversible and universal by 1938, though 1914 half of his family had still posed in Turkish costume.)
Napoleon III considered granting French citizenship to all Algerian Jews, but was overthrown before he could do so; one of the first acts of the new Third Republic, however, was the Cremieux Decree, which turned all Algerian Jews into French citizens.
Here was a reversal of fortune indeed: the Jews went from being dhimmis, that is to say second-rate citizens, to being first-rate citizens, while at the same time the Moslems went from being, if not first-rate citizens in the western sense, at least top dog to underdog.
But the colonial French were not altogether delighted by the Cremieux Decree. In the years that followed it, French anti-Semitism reached one of its apogees, and the Algerian French (the majority of whom were actually of Spanish and Italian origin, and were therefore somewhat insecure in their own citizenship) were in this respect more catholic than the pope. In the 1900s, there was a pogrom carried out against the Jews, not by the Algerian Moslems, but by the colons. Their complaints against the Jews were the usual ones.
The prevalence and virulence of French colonial anti-Semitism notwithstanding, there was also room for outbursts of Algerian resentment against the Jews, and in 1934 there was a pogrom in the city of Constantine carried out by a large Moslem mob. That it was an organised and not a spontaneous affair is suggested by the fact that there were simultaneous attacks on villages in the hinterland, not normally in intimate contact with the city. Some Moslems behaved with great ethical courage, however, in protecting their Jewish neighbours (the author of a book about the pogrom, Robert Attal, owed his life to one such, who told the rampaging mob that the young Robert, his mother and sister, whom he had hidden in his house, were already dead, and the mob, who had already killed Robert’s father, were satisfied and went away). As for the colonial police, they failed to restore order until it was too late.
With the defeat of France, a Petainiste regime was instituted in Algeria, which reversed the Cremiuex Decree: that is to say, the Jews became not merely second-rate, but nth-rate citizens. That regime lasted until the liberation, when they became first rate citizens again, in contradistinction to the Moslem Algerians. This was truly a dizzying historical trajectory.
Nor was it quite over. The nationalist movement gained strength, and the violence increased enormously; a million people were eventually killed. Officially, the FLN, the Front National de Liberation, was a secular movement; it appealed to Algerian Jews to join the struggle against the French, and promised them equal treatment after independence. However, the Algerian Jews did not believe it, for they had the examples of other Jews in other Arab countries before them; the famous Jewish-Algerian singer, Raymond, was assassinated in 1961, and Moslem attacks on Jews increased; the Jews naturally thought that the Moslem tradition would prevail over the secular nationalist ideology, and in 1962 they left en masse for France. If they had not, it is not difficult to imagine their fate in the civil war waged between the military government and the FIS, the Front Islamique de Salut.
But what is the moral of this history, if there is one? It is certainly not one of the immemorial goodness and tolerance of the western tradition and the immemorial wickedness and intolerance of the Islamic one. I suppose a Martian, on reading this story, might come to the conclusion that human beings were a bad lot, and that he had better leave Earth as soon as possible.
But there is another moral to the story, and I do not think it is one that is encouraging about Islam as a force in the modern world. For many centuries, the record of Islam was probably no worse, and might even have been better, than the western one, at least in point of religious tolerance (the Jews of the Maghreb in the Sixteenth Century certainly thought so). Unfortunately, this is a pretty dismal standard to measure anything by. There was, in fact, plenty of room for the Islamic record to be as good as or better than the western one, and still be very bad. Between dhimmitude and death, who would not choose dhimmitude? But that is not to say it was an enviable or morally defensible fate.
By 1962, however, things were very clear: for Algerian Jews, France, its chequered record notwithstanding, offered hope for the future and equality under the law, while Algeria offered the prospect of future pogroms, the promises of its leadership notwithstanding. And there was a reason for this: while France had a theory of legal equality, Islam did not. And the Jews of Algeria thought that the hold of Islam over the pays réel would more outweigh the hold of secular nationalist ideology of the pays légal. The former, and not the latter, would determine their fate in Algeria. They did not believe the promises of the FLN, not because the individuals who made them were insincere, but because the forces against their being kept were simply too strong.
This suggests that there is a conflict between Islam and modernity, at least if one of the important components of modernity is equality under the law. Such equality means that Moslems would have to accept that, even in polities where they were in the immense majority, Islam would have no special claim to consideration, and that (for example) apostasy would have to become a normal and acceptable part of life. Whether, under these circumstances, Islam would remain truly Islamic is a question for scholars, not for scribblers such as I.
Personally, I doubt whether the auguries are good. When the now-president Sarkozy asked the second-hand car salesman of Islamic fundamentalism, Tariq Ramadan, whether he believed in the stoning of adulterers (that is to say, not doubt, of the majority of French politicians or their wives), he replied that he was in favour of a moratorium.
A moratorium, indeed! The dilemma is this: if the answer is no, that we are no longer in favour of the lapidation of adulterers, any more than we are in favour of burying them up to their necks in sand and letting the sun and the ants do the rest, then the injunctions of our religion are not eternal truths, and the whole of its sacred basis must be questioned; if the answer is yes, that we are in favour of the lapidation of adulterers, as an example of the merciful correction of wrongdoers to be expected of the righteous, then we reveal ourselves as primitives unfit for the modern world. Islam is not the only religion about which such questions might be raised; but it is the only one that has not made a concerted attempt to deal with them (and its decentralisation, or lack of structure, makes it difficult for it to do so).
The question of adultery is a much less important one than that of apostasy, of course, because if open apostasy were allowed, who knows where it would end? In all likelihood in the secular society, complete with music and dancing, that so appalls Moslem fundamentalists (and which in truth does have unpleasant aspects but which, taken all in all, is the best we can, or at any rate do, hope for).
In other words, the moral of Professor Stora’s book is that Islam, whatever its past glories, achievements, strengths and even tolerance by comparison with extremely low standards prevailing at different times elsewhere, has no means as yet of dealing with the modern world in a constructive fashion, and perhaps (though here it is impossible to be dogmatic) never can have such a means without falling apart entirely. I leave it to the experts to decide.Energy question of the week: Is any country already able to meet all of its energy needs from renewable sources?
A growing volume of energy originating from renewable sources is being used right around the world – from Europe to America to China. This trend is especially widespread in the electricity-generation sector. Over the last couple of years, the USA and the countries of the EU have been building more power station capacity based on wind, water and solar energy than they in conventionally fuelled power stations, – that is, coal, gas or uranium. However, is any country already able to meet all of its energy needs from renewable sources?
Despite the positive trend in the power generation business, not a single nation on Earth has been able to dispense with fossil fuel to meet its energy needs at this time. The primary reason for this is the mobility provided by internal combustion engines, which are powered primarily by fuels derived from crude oil. However, in 2009, the EU did manage to meet one fifth of its electricity needs from water, wind and solar power. Austria tops this board, producing about 70 percent of its electricity climate-neutrally from hydroelectric power stations. Finland shares second place with Portugal, each at 30 percent. "Outside the EU, Norway stands out, since it sources almost all of its electricity from hydroelectric power," says Franz Trieb from the DLR Institute of Technical Thermodynamics in Stuttgart, where he is responsible for the area of Systems Analysis and Technology Assessment.
Hydroelectric power currently provides the largest amounts of electricity from renewable sources
On other continents, it is once again hydroelectric power stations, some of enormous size, that offer a way of becoming independent of coal and nuclear power. Brazil sources 85 percent of its electricity from hydroelectric power stations, with Chile obtaining just over half and Argentina still managing a robust 35 percent (2008 figures, REN21 Global Status Report). Costa Rica uses fossil fuels in the generation of only five percent of its electricity needs, while Mozambique and Zimbabwe actually manage to generate 99 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. "Of course, small countries with small populations have it easier" says Trieb.
The dam at the Ottenstein power plant and the reservoir behind it. Credit: EVN-AG. Top image: Waterfall on the River Leine. Credit: Daniel Schwen.
"Before the industrial revolution, there was not a single country that did not source its entire energy needs from renewable sources," states the DLR energy expert. And this is precisely the objective towards which we should strive again, right around the globe. In 2009, China installed 13.8 gigawatts of new wind-operated power generating capacity, actually overtaking the USA, Germany and Spain in the process. However, due to the rising demand for electricity, China also built several times that capacity in the form of new coal-fired power stations. Viewed globally, over the last two years, the newly-constructed power stations fuelled from renewable sources account for 47 percent of all new installed capacity, virtually matching that of new generating plants built to run on fossil fuels (53 percent).
Mobility based predominantly on crude oil
With the proposed feed-in tariffs, new technologies – especially in the solar power sector – and binding limits on carbon dioxide emissions, this trend is going to intensify in the years to come. However, despite all this progress, most automotive fuels remain dependent on crude oil, and demand for them is rising as the number of vehicles in China and India continue to grow. The worldwide volume of biofuels produced in 2009 rose to 76 billion litres of bioethanol and 17 billion litres of biodiesel. However, land available for agriculture is limited, and is needed for the production of food. This is why no further significant levels of growth can be anticipated here. Before electric drive systems start to limit the dominant role of the internal combustion engine, it is important to take steps to further improve the efficiency of motor vehicles.
The DLR Energy question of the week in 'The future of energy' Year of Science
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has given the Year of Science 2010 the motto 'The future of energy'. For this reason the science journalist Jan Oliver Löfken will this year answer a question on the subject of energy in his blog each week. Do you have a question about how our energy supply might look in the future? Or do you want to know, for example, how a wave power plant works and how it can efficiently generate electricity? Then send us your question by email. Science journalist Jan Oliver Löfken will investigate the answers and publish them each week in this blog.When was it that the singing of “Kumbaya” became a shorthand for weenieness? “Kumbaya” is an excellent campfire song, especially for groups that border on tone- deafness and don’t know the words to anything. I remember singing it in Girl Scout camp with friends who emerged unscathed and became conservative Republicans. Some may be writing letters protesting the New Start treaty at this very moment. Please, give “Kumbaya” a break.
But I digress. Nothing, not even Humvees in chains, was going to stop the progress of what has recently become known as the “hard-charging lame-duck Congress.” It is a perfect image, with its suggestion of a flock racing along in the clumsiest manner possible but still stumbling over the finish line.
Photo
“When it’s all going to be said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who called the hard-charging lame duck “a capitulation in two weeks of dramatic proportions.” This is the rapidly evolving new hyperpartisan Lindsey Graham, who was so ticked off at the fact that the Senate was devoting a mere eight days to the treaty that he told the antitreaty obstructionist Jon Kyl of Arizona : “I want to apologize to you for the way you’ve been treated by your colleagues.”
His Start-supporting fellow Republicans appeared quietly unrepentant. Perhaps they were afraid that if they said anything in response, Graham would continue his evolution into awfulness right there on the Senate floor and start gnawing on the ankles of elderly legislators.
Good work, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry. We appreciate the way you’ve evolved from one of the world’s worst presidential candidates into an extremely useful senator. Unlike some unsuccessful presidential candidates we could name.
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Good work, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the lone Republican who stuck with the treaty through thick and thin and never mutated into a scary new entity.
Good work, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Unlike your hapless predecessor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, you’ve had legislation shooting off to the White House like angry birds in that video game. Unemployment compensation! Gay rights! Food safety! Judicial appointments! Arms control! Health care for 9/11 responders!
But let’s admit it. Nothing would have gotten done if Obama hadn’t swallowed that loathsome compromise on tax cuts for the wealthy.
If he’d taken the high road, Congress would be in a holiday war. The long-term unemployed would be staggering into the new year without benefits. The rest of the world would look upon the United States as a country so dysfunctional that it can’t even ratify a treaty to help keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. The people who worked at ground zero would still be uncertain about their future, and our gay and lesbian soldiers would still be living in fear.
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It’s depressing to think that there was no way to win that would not have involved giving away billions of dollars to people who don’t need it. But it’s kind of cheery to think we have a president who actually does know what he’s doing.I met a Maid; her eyes were tinder
Her hair was finely curved…
And nothing could her feelings hinder.
She wanted me. I hated her.
The day was gloomy; rain poured down
The House was dark and cold.
The Church reminded the whole town
About a tale gone old.
How many men did she deceive?
I’d many rumours heard:
Took everything she could retrieve,
Yet all the bodies burned.
She has a yard of empty flesh,
A vault of hearts and souls.
Yet she wants more; she needs them fresh
To fill her empty holes.
She was of herculean strength
Her nails were stained with blood.
Her clothes were two metres in length
To show her maidenhood.
She gave her serfs a long embrace
And drove their lives away.
They soon forgot it in a haze
And to her sides they swayed.
Oh maiden, why were you so sharp?
Why did you pierce my soul?
It hurts incredibly! My heart
Will nevermore be whole.
Accursed device! I was not born
To end my life in you!
My organs were all pinned and torn,
And flies around them flew.
I have been tortured past my sense,
“All for the mighty Lord.”
The Maiden was my grave. So dense
Was her embrace, so hoard!
I met a Maid; her eyes were tinder,
Her hair was finely carved…
And no one could their judgement hinder.
I have been shamed and starved.
The Iron Maiden killed me off.
A spirit, left behind
Without a body and a soul
Is to this world confined.WCG 2013 has just announced the list of games to be included in this year's event and shockingly, the organizers have decided to drop Dota 2 in place of League of Legends. The official reason for it has not been diclosed but a reliable insider told us the story behind it.
According to World Cyber Games, their 2013 grand final event will be returning to Kunshan City, China on the 28th of November till the 1st of December.
The list of games to be played in this year's WCG has not been finalized but the addition of League of Legends and the dropping of Dota 2 has been confirmed. Other games in WCG 2013 include Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2 and Crossfire.
It was stated that WCG intended to have LoL played back in 2012 but went against it due to a schedule conflict between the WCG grand final and the second season of the LoL World Championship.
The official reason for the dropping of Dota 2 this year was not disclosed. However, a reliable insider who does not wish to be named told GosuGamers that the reason for the dropping of Dota 2 is due to an agreement made by Tencent (Company owning Riot) and NeoTV, host of WCG, to not have Dota 2 wherever LoL is present.
WCG 2013 Gamelist: (To be completed)
League of Legends
WarCraft 3: Frozen Throne
Starcraft 2: Heart of The Swarm
Crossfire
Source: SGamer, WCGBisexual men might have their “hyper-heterosexual” female relatives to thank for their orientation.
Previous work has suggested that genes influencing sexual orientation in men also make women more likely to reproduce. Andrea Camperio Ciani and colleagues at the University of Padua, Italy, showed that the female relatives of homosexual men tend to have more children, suggesting that genes on the X chromosome are responsible. Now the team have shown that the same is true for bisexuality.
“It helps to answer a perplexing question – how can there be ‘gay genes’ given that gay sex doesn’t lead to procreation?” says Dean Hamer of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who was not involved in the work. “The answer is remarkably simple: the same gene that causes men to like men also causes women to like men, and as a result to have more children.”
Sexual attraction
The researchers asked 239 men to fill out questionnaires about their families and their past sexual experiences. On the basis of their answers, the men were classified as heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual. The results showed that the maternal aunts, grandmothers and mothers of both bisexual men and homosexuals had more children than those of heterosexual men.
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Camperio Ciani emphasises that, rather than being a “gay gene”, this unidentified genetic factor is likely to promote sexual attraction to men in both men and women. This would influence a woman’s attitude rather than actually increasing her fertility, making her likely to have more children.
Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist and writer based in West Hollywood, California, describes this as a sort of “hyper-heterosexuality” and explains how it would help to ensure that homosexual behaviour was passed on through the generations. “The positive effect of an X-linked gene on female fecundity tends to outweigh the negative effect of the gene on male fecundity.”
According to Camperio Ciani and colleagues, the same genetic factor appearing to be present in both bisexual and homosexual men provides further support for the idea that sexuality is determined by a complex mix of genes and experience.
“We understand that the genetic component has to interact with something to produce different phenotypes,” says Camperio Ciani.
“Genetics is not determining the sexual orientation, it’s only influencing it.”
Journal reference: The Journal of Sexual Medicine (DOI:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00944.x)Purchase 1,000 shares of a stock at $50 with margin rate of 30%. The margin requirement would be: 1,000 shares x $50 x 30% margin rate = $15,000 This is the minimum required amount of cash or excess margin that must be in the account before a buy order can be entered. Since 30% is the margin rate, BMO InvestorLine is lending the account holder 70% of the trade value. Maximum loan value is 1,000 shares x $50 x 70% = $35,000
Short sell 500 shares of a 50% marginable stock priced at $10.00. The margin requirement is 150%. Note: 100% of the margin requirement is generated from the sale of the security. Therefore, the additional initial margin requirement is 50%, the same amount required in order to accept the trade if you were purchasing the stock. 500 shares x $10.00 x 50% = $2,500 The total margin requirement to hold the position, including the 100% of the proceeds from the short sell, is calculated as follows: 500 share x 10.00 x 150% = $7,500 (Note: BMO InvestorLine does not pay interest on the cash proceeds of the short sale.)Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth launches September 5 in the Americas and Europe
Mask of Deception followup dated in the west.
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth will launch for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in the Americas and Europe on September 5, Atlus announced. The game will be available physically and digitally in the Americas, and physically for PlayStation 4 and digitally of PS Vita in Europe.
In the Americas, pre-orders and limited launch editions will contain a collector’s slip case box and a double-sided pillowcase bonus item featuring the mysterious Yamato priestesses Uruuru and Saraana.
Here’s an overview of the game, via Atlus:
About After the events of Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception, the Yamato Empire is now ruled with an iron fist by a ruthless usurper who seeks to subjugate all before him. It’s up to a couple of familiar faces to band |
I was not working at Microsoft.
The message was disclosed during the company’s Iowa antitrust trial. After it surfaced, Allchin said he was “being purposefully dramatic in order to drive home a point,” and that the development process was dramatically changed after he sent the message.
Honorable mention goes to another Allchin e-mail that surfaced during the Iowa trial, with the provocative subject line, “sucking on media players.” Read it and the ensuing exchange here: PDF, 2 pages.
August 1997: Jeff Raikes to Warren Buffett. Click to read PDF.
Raikes, who plans to retire from the company later this year, sent this e-mail to the iconic investor as an academic exercise, of sorts — outlining Microsoft’s business strategy in an effort to demonstrate to Buffett the value of the company as an investment. Among other things, Raikes highlighted the dominant market position of Windows and described the “pricing discretion” that Microsoft has been able to exercise.
“In some respects I see the business characteristics of Coca Cola or See’s Candy as being very similar to Microsoft,” Raikes wrote, referring to two of Buffett’s high-profile investments. “E.g. in FY96 there were 50 million PC’s sold in the world, and about 80% of them were licensed for a Microsoft operating system. Although I would never write down the analogy of a ‘toll bridge,’ people outside our company might describe this business in that way.”
Raikes added later, “There is an R&D charge to the business, but I’m sure the profits are probably as good as the syrup business!”
The message didn’t turn Buffett into a big tech investor, but it was helpful to plaintiffs pursuing the company on antitrust charges. It surfaced years later as evidence in a class-action suit against Microsoft in Minnesota.
August 1998: Internal Microsoft memo on open-source software, outlining the competitive threat. Click here to read.
This was the first in a series of leaked Microsoft memos received by open-source guru Eric S. Raymond. They’re known as the “Halloween” documents because that’s when the first of them surfaced.
The memo is notable in part because it marked Microsoft’s rising awareness of open-source software, such as the Linux operating system, developed by a worldwide community of programmers. It also showed how the company was thinking about protecting its business from Linux, with bullet points including, “Fold extended functionality into commodity protocols / services and create new protocols.”
In an online response at the time, Microsoft said the documents “do not represent an official Microsoft position or road map,” describing them as “technical analyses written by a staff engineer that represent the thoughts of one individual at one point in time.”
2006-07: Windows Vista e-mails. Click for PDF, 158 pages.
Made public this week, these e-mails reveal the behind-the-scenes deliberations over the “Windows Vista Capable” designation, suggesting that Microsoft lowered the standards for that classification to appease Intel, over the objections of some Microsoft executives and others in the industry. The messages also illustrate the problems that some Microsoft executives experienced with Windows Vista on their own computers.
“We need to be clearer with industry and we need to decide what we will do and do that well and 100% and not just do a little of everything which leaves the [Independent Hardware Vendors] in a confused state,” wrote Steven Sinofsky, the new Microsoft Windows chief, in a February 2007 e-mail made public as part of the batch.
Those documents were produced while the plaintiffs in the Windows Vista case were seeking class action status. Now that the suit has been granted that status, the plaintiffs’ lawyers are expected to seek additional documents as the case proceeds toward trial.
April 1987: Bill Gates, “Microsoft is #1.” Click here to read.
This message differs from the others in that Microsoft itself now makes it available for historical reference, but it’s clear that Gates meant it for an internal audience at the time. Sent to executives including Raikes and Ballmer, it’s notable because it marks the moment when the Microsoft co-founder recognized the company’s rise to the top spot in the industry.
The full text:
As conservative as we are about self-congratulations and celebrating our achievements, I have to say, as today went on, I got pretty excited about the fact that we are now the number 1 software company in every respect (sales, profit, units, leadership, people…) In fact when I think of Lotus’s statement at the introduction of their annual report where they say “there is increasing evidence that LOTUS is the preferred vendor, the preferred investor and the preferred employer,” I think they are kidding themselves. We didn’t just have somewhat higher sales that they did – we had $14M more in sales which puts us ahead for 3, 6, 9 and 12 months (I think). Of course their sales may go past ours again and it’s not really our goal to be #1, but I do get a real kick out of the (fact) that their big distraction of being the largest is being taken away BEFORE WE HAVE EVEN BEGUN TO REALLY COMPETE WITH THEM. Actually, I found out these numbers about 5pm, so I’ve been enjoying it for only 6 hours and it will be a fact of no importance in a few days but I think it’s really great.
For the record, this list doesn’t include some key Microsoft memos, such as Bill Gates’ “Internet Tidal Wave” (PDF) and “Trustworthy Computing” e-mails, that were widely published as a means of communicating with the industry and the public.
Agree or disagree with our choices? Comment below.“You might find a bit of armor useful when you become queen,” Cersei Lannister recently told a female rival on Game of Thrones. But her advice could just as easily apply to women from all walks of life—particularly now, in the aftermath of a series of high-profile sexual assaults around the world. In a reflex response to the quest for a societal aegis, a number of contemporary clothing designers have found armor (or a variation thereof) useful as a form of protection for women. Most recently, three Indian engineering students designed a bra even more kick-ass than the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms’ chest plate. The so-called Society Harnessing Equipment (SHE) reportedly delivers 82 shocks in response to an unwanted touch and was designed as “retaliation against menaces in society” after last year’s gang rape in Delhi.
In the same month that SHE was unveiled, the India Times reported that two students at India's National Institute of Fashion Technology had created an "anti-molestation jacket" that unleashes 110 volts when it detects unwanted advances. The coat (available in both denim and acrylic) was reportedly created in 2004, though it is still awaiting patent.
But India hasn’t cornered the market on protective fashion. In Japan six years ago, designer Aya Tsukioka invented what The New York Times dubbed “urban camouflage.” She reportedly took her cue from ancient ninjas (who camouflaged themselves in black at night) to create a skirt that doubled as a vending-machine disguise. She also designed an emergency "manhole bag," a flat purse that could be thrown on the ground to double as a sewer.
Among the other latest accessories souped up to safeguard women is an “anti-rape” belt created by two Swedish teens in 2005. It includes a buckle that requires a complex path for removal. "It's like a reverse chastity belt," one of the creators told Agence France-Presse, referring to the medieval girdle said to have been used to keep women’s virginity under lock and key (though a story in the Mirror in 2000 claimed Chinese women in Indonesia had since adapted it as a means of avoiding rape). Then there’s the new trend of what xoJane described last year as “pretty weapons designed for bad ass girls:” pepper spray disguised as lipstick, pink cellphones that double as stun guns, and even knife-wielding necklaces.
Shira Tarrant, co-editor of 2012's Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style, a treatise on the politics of contemporary style, believes these newfangled attempts at arming women have symbolic importance. “Things like camouflage and body armor and ninja fashion, these have all been used in warfare—and rape is the everyday war that women face,” she tells The Daily Beast. “The fact that our fashion designs are beginning to reflect this means that we're shifting awareness about how seriously we're taking these issues.”
Still, she accedes that what you wear can serve as a shield without the garments being literally rigged. “There are ways that I might clothe myself that are aesthetically pleasing, but also don’t highlight certain aspects of my sexual body. That’s a form of armor. It’s like armor lite,” she says. One of the examples she offered was the uniform worn by ’90s riot grrrls, the feminist punk rockers whose bands, including Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, regularly spoke out against rape and in support of empowerment. These were the women who made flowing “tentlike” baby-doll dresses and “kick ass” combat boots fashionable.
Along those lines, Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, dismissed protective clothing as being outside the realm of fashion. Instead she thinks contemporary fashion’s “psychological aspects of protection” are more pertinent than its physical aspects. “The early theories of fashion tended to focus on the idea that dress was originally and primarily about protection, meaning essentially physical protection,” she tells The Daily Beast, and gives the example of shoes protecting feet. “Later theorists pretty much rejected the functional origins of dress and suggested instead that dress is much more about symbolic communication, particularly to display gender, sexuality, position in society, et cetera.”
Fashion can empower, even if it can’t protect. The little black dress is “like armor” in the sense that it bestows confidence on its wearer, Steele says. Not to mention Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic pantsuit, which started the ball rolling toward equality couture. In 1966 the French designer created a tuxedo suitable for women, called Le Smoking, which, according to Vogue, for the first time positioned the so-called second sex “at glittering galas standing lapel-to-lapel with a roomful of men in black.” In the 1980s Le Smoking became the power suit, and those glittering galas became executive offices. All this is not to say that men’s clothing has not historically served a physically protective function.
In the past, sporting male attire enabled women to camouflage their vulnerability, which was considered synonymous with their gender. Evidence suggests that to protect herself from being raped by 15th-century prison guards, French saint Joan of Arc dressed in drag. Several other women throughout history have also cross-dressed to ease their movement through society. Such was the case with Isabelle Eberhardt, who traveled through North Africa in the late 19th century, and author George Sand, in the same era, whose masculine garb supposedly became her VIP pass to male-only venues.
In the Victorian era, women began to arm themselves with their own accessories. Hat pins were considered the go-to tool for self-defense in the 19th century, said Edwina Ehrman, curator of textiles and fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Historical evidence reveals that these accessories, which could reach up to 13 inches, were “every woman’s weapon” against male threat. Also in the 1800s, historians have suggested that with the advent of industrialization, women who were working in close proximity with men for the first time packed not only their lunchboxes but also their chastity belts to prevent sexual harassment.
Even Queen Victoria’s parasol was equipped with chain mail, which was created for her in the 1840s after she survived several attempts on her life. “Possibly made by a manufacturer, or perhaps devised by her husband, Prince Albert, the parasol incorporates a layer of chain mail between the outer green silk cover and the lining,” Ehrman told The Daily Beast via email. “The parasol is very heavy, 1468 grams [3 pounds], and difficult to hold upright so the Queen probably never used it.”
Though the effectiveness of defensive female fashion, even when it is used, may never be quantified, there is a danger that this genre of clothing directly contradicts the feminist adage that rape has nothing to do with what women wear. However, Tarrant, an associate professor of women’s studies at the California State University, thinks inventions like SHE and Tsukioka’s vending-machine skirt serve a similar purpose to SlutWalk (the protest march dates back to 2011, when women in Toronto purposefully wore revealing clothing to fight the myth that rape depends on dress). “The solution is not to have Kevlar fashion,” Tarrant said, “but to the extent that SlutWalk put [rape] on the table for discussion, I think the same holds true for the anti-rape fashion.”Discover all the ways ArcLight Membership will enhance your moviegoing experience. Enjoy member only savings, events and many more benefits for only $15 annually.
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The pint-sized fibber, who lives in the small town of Dokka, waited until his parents went to sleep, then tried to drive with his 18-month-old sister to his grandparents’ home at 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
He made it about six miles before swerving into a snowy ditch, where a plow operator found him and called police.
Pressed for details, the kid told the tall tale.
“The boy told the snowplow driver that he was a dwarf and that he had forgotten his driver’s license at home,” said Vest Oppland police spokesman Baard Christiansen.
“The parents woke up and discovered that the children were missing and that someone had taken off with their car. They were pretty upset, as you can imagine,” he said.
“We have talked to [the parents], and I’m pretty sure they’re going to pay very close attention both to their children and to their car keys in the future.”History of the site
Update 23rd May 2006
On the 17th May 2006 we received a letter from legal representatives of Viacom International Inc. advising us that they consider the use of 'Pimp My Snack' to be a breach of their trademark application number E4279493 which covers usage of the words 'Pimp My', and also E3992724 for 'Pimp My Ride'.
For full context and openness, we have made their letter available here:
Update 29th June 2006
We have today received an update from the lawyers of Viacom International Inc. It is available here:
It seems that despite the explicit citiation on this very page that the change of name in NO WAY constitutes any form of acceptance of their argument, they have actually written to tell me they they consider this to mean I have. Amazing.
Any further updates will appear as we get them.
While we are changing the name, this should not be taken as an admission of liability, trademark breach, or otherwise an acknowledgement of Viacom's argument. Merely that, in order to run our Snack Pimping website unimpeded, and to explore and advance new ideas, we need to do so without the threat of legal action hanging over us.
After all, this site is just for fun, and we strongly believe that it is the concept, simplistic design and enthusiasm of thousands of fans that have helped us become popular, and not the conjunction of a few common words in our name.
That said, we hope you continue to enjoy the website, and keep submitting those pimps! Any comments regarding this change should be directed to pimpdaddy@pimpthatsnack.com.
Update 10th November 2006
I believe it has become necessary to make public our problems in obtaining a trademark.
After all of the legal farce described below, we believed it necessary to apply for our own trademark for 'Pimp That Snack' to ensure that nobody would be able to threaten us with spurious legal action again. So, in May this year we applied for our own trademark, 'Pimp That Snack'. I'm sure nobody reading would disagree that this is a unique phrase wholly derived from our website and is unconnected with anything other than us. Right? Well, the UK Patent Office don't appear to agree.
They stated than 'an objection' had been made against our trademark, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently distinctive to warrant registration. Along with the letter (below) they provided several printouts from the web showing usage of the phrase 'Pimp My'. This was confusing for me, because my trademark does not feature the phrase 'Pimp My', and so my response attempts to clarify what I am registering.
This was followed by a response (below) from the patent office that makes more arguments about how 'Pimp My Snack' is inelligible for registration and how 'Pimp My' is now generic.
This raises two very important questions:
1) If 'Pimp My' is so generic, why have Viacom so recently been allowed to register this term?
2) Why on earth are the Patent Office making arguments to us about the 'trademarkability' of the phrase 'Pimp My Snack' when we have made it more than clear we are registering the trademark 'Pimp THAT Snack' which is distinctive in its own right?
It appears, at least to me, that the 'objection' against our trademark has come from someone very concerned about the use of 'Pimp My Snack' and has cited arguments that include 'Pimp My Ride'. I wonder who this could have possibly come from? Would anyone like to guess?
Update 24th January 2007
After two months of unexplained waiting, I finally received a letter to my second response to the Patent Office, regarding my 'Pimp That Snack' trademark.
Third letter from Patent Office Page 1 - 15th January 2007
Third letter from Patent Office Page 2 - 15th January 2007
This letter, which still fails to properly address any of my arguments made, also tells me that an objection was indeed raised by an unspecified party.
It looks as though I'm destined to attend a hearing to fight for the right to my trademark.
Final Update - March 2007
After attending a hearing, the opposition was overcome and the trademark was registered successfully.A burns victim who's breastfeeding her second child despite the pain, says she's doing it to give hope to other young mums.
Schamica Stevenson, 34, was badly burned at the age of two, in a house fire in the US state of Michigan.
She didn't breastfeed her first child but decided to try this time.
"I wanted to share my story to help others not give up like I did when I was 20," she's told Newsbeat from her home in America.
"As long as their breasts work they should be used the way nature intended them to be."
Mimi's eight-month-old brother died after the family's boiler exploded and her mother couldn't get to them because of bars on the windows.
She's been having skin grafts for most of her life and says she was worried getting pregnant for the first time aged 20 because of the scars on her stomach.
Anaesthesiologists also couldn't give the 34-year-old an epidural for her pain because of the scarring.
Mimi, who now works as a medical assistant, says that the first time round she didn't have time to breastfeed but wanted to try this time.
"I was young and didn't have the patience to persevere then when she wasn't latching.
"This time I was determined to breastfeed."
She also says she wanted to try because she'd watched her sister-in-law and cousin breastfeed all their children.
US photographer Ivette Ivens shared the photo of Mimi on her Facebook page, calling her a "Mother of two. Fire survivor. Warrior. Breastfeeder".
With 14 years between pregnancies, as well as two miscarriages, Mimi says it was incredibly hard to breastfeed her son Josia.
She says she had low milk supply and had to feed her baby with a pump and syringe to start with.
"The lactation nurses helped me out a lot at the hospital," she says.
"I remember she said, 'This is not going to feel good,' as she tugged and pulled at my breasts.
"It killed but I was determined to have that breastfeeding bond with my son.
"I even pumped every three hours after each feeding while still at the hospital but noticed I wasn't getting much out."
Despite having burn marks, Mimi says she hopes her photos will inspire other mothers to have confidence in their own bodies.
"It breaks my heart that people feel suicidal over their image," she says. "Then there's me - not a care in the world - walking around as if I look like Beyonce or Tamar Braxton.
"I didn't get my confidence overnight obviously, but I'm so glad I have it now.
"There are days I get down because I'm human, but I bounce right back and thank God for my life and my beautiful babies I was able to birth and now nurse."
Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeatARAYAT, Philippines – It was around 10 a.m. on September 22 when the raid on the pig farm began. Accompanied by fire and sanitation officials, a police team entered the compound at the foot of the extinct volcano Mount Arayat, north of Manila, on the pretext they were conducting a safety inspection.
They didn’t find any pigs. What they did uncover, in a hangar larger than a football field, was a raised platform supporting a diesel generator, an industrial chiller and distillation equipment – all for the production of the highly addictive drug methamphetamine. The industrial-sized laboratory, the police report said, was capable of producing at least 200 kilograms a day of meth. Around that time, a kilogram of meth had a street value of $120,000, the police said.
Philippine law enforcement authorities had been alerted to the farm by locals who reported spotting vehicles with “Chinese-looking men” entering at night and leaving before dawn. During the raid, police arrested Hong Wenzheng, a 39-year-old Chinese national from Fujian province who is now in prison awaiting trial. Four other men believed to be Chinese nationals escaped and are the target of a manhunt.
The piggery bust points to an uncomfortable truth for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte as he wages his “war on drugs”: The problem he’s fighting is largely made in China, the country he is embracing as a potential ally at the expense of longstanding ties with the United States.
The arrest of Hong, who has pleaded not guilty, added to the ranks of Chinese nationals seized in the Philippines on narcotics charges. Of 77 foreign nationals arrested for meth-related drug offenses between January 2015 and mid-August 2016, nearly two-thirds were Chinese and almost a quarter were Taiwanese or Hong Kong residents, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Known in the trade as “cooks” and “chemists,” meth production experts are flown into the Philippines from Greater China by drug syndicates to work at labs like the one at Mount Arayat. China isn’t only a source of meth expertise – it is also the biggest source of the meth and of the precursor chemicals used to produce the synthetic drug that are being smuggled into the Philippines, according to local drug enforcement officials.
“It’s safe to say that the majority of the meth we have comes from China,” said PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon.
China’s dominant role in the Philippine meth trade has not dissuaded President Duterte from cozying up to Beijing, even as he declares drugs to be his country’s greatest scourge. Duterte is waging a brutal anti-narcotics campaign that has killed more than 2,000 people and led to the arrest of more than 38,000. Police are investigating some 3,000 more deaths.
During a trip to Beijing in October, the Philippine president announced his “separation” from the United States and declared that he had realigned with China, casting doubt on the almost seven-decade alliance between Washington and Manila. The pivot to Beijing has bewildered some drug-control officials at home, who say China’s leaders have provided little help over the years in stemming the flow of drugs into the Philippines.
“It seems there’s very little action on the part of the government of China,” said Richard Fadullon, senior deputy state prosecutor and chairman of the drugs task force at the Philippines’ Department of Justice. “You’d think that somehow it would be a cause for concern, but there doesn’t seem to be that kind of reaction.”
Duterte’s office did not respond to questions from Reuters.
As he warms to China, Duterte is also spurning the country that is the primary source of aid and expertise to Manila in its battle against drugs – the United States.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) provides training and intelligence to drug authorities across the Philippines and supports an interagency task group at the international airport in the capital aimed at countering trafficking. Carreon said the DEA had recently helped uncover six separate incidents of cocaine smuggling at the airport.
“All my friends are in the U.S. DEA,” said one senior Philippine drug control official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Most information comes from the U.S. DEA.”
That may change. Saying it was “deeply concerned” by reports of extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s crackdown, the United States recently said it was shifting $5 million in funding for Philippines law enforcement away from police drug-control programs.
Since taking office on June 30, Duterte has aimed some criticism at China. He suggested after the raid on the Arayat meth lab in late September that if Beijing considered his country a friend, China should act to stem the flow of drugs. In August, his government summoned the Chinese ambassador to explain the supply of narcotics from China to the Philippines.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay told Reuters at the time that China’s ambassador to Manila, Zhao Jianhua, had rejected the charge. “I told him these reports are based on intelligence information, they have been validated so far as we are concerned,” Yasay said.
Still, Duterte has pointed to what he says is a willingness in Beijing to help Manila in its battle against drugs. And, since visiting Beijing in October, he has not pressed the issue of drugs and precursors flowing from China. During that trip, Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to beef up exchanges of intelligence, know-how and technology in fighting drug crimes, and to set up a mechanism for joint investigation of drug cases. In a joint communiqué, the Philippines thanked China for an offer to donate drug detection equipment and help with training.
“China understands and supports the Philippines’ policy under the leadership of President Duterte to fight against drugs, and is willing to proactively cooperate against drugs with the Philippines,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to questions from Reuters.
Some Philippine drug officials scoff at China’s offers of assistance. “I almost fell off my chair when I heard that China would be helping the Philippines with its drug problem,” said a Department of Justice official who has been dealing with drug crimes for many years and has experienced little cooperation from Beijing.
In an interview, Philippine National Police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said: “We are not aware of any high-profile drug cooperation between China and the Philippines since the president’s visit to Beijing.”
Jeremy Douglas, the regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, says there is “some cooperation and information exchange” taking place between the two countries on regional drug and precursor trafficking. “But we understand it is on a case by case basis and is not systematic or routine,” he said. “The only way to make a dent in the trade is to target those that run the business.”
Duterte regularly says he will hunt down drug lords. In October, the police announced they were launching a new phase in the drug crackdown that would focus on “high value” targets. But to date, the president’s campaign has almost exclusively targeted users and small-time pushers in the country’s poorest neighborhoods, not the drug barons supplying them with meth, or “shabu” as it is called in the Philippines.
In another twist, China offered the Philippines assistance with drug rehabilitation during Duterte’s visit. Even as meth and precursors continue to pour into the country from China, a Chinese businessman has pledged to fund two 10,000-bed rehabilitation centers in the Philippines, which has few drug treatment facilities. One of the projects opened in late November.
Drug seizures and police raids on meth labs have ticked up under Duterte. Nine laboratories have been dismantled this year, according to PDEA spokesman Carreon, which is more than in the previous three years combined. Six of these labs have been raided since Duterte took office.
Police say many of those running the meth trade are Triads, ruthless criminal syndicates that have long trafficked drugs.
Data provided by PDEA also showed that 1,520 kg of meth had been seized this year as of November 10 – 2.5 times the figure for the whole of 2015. This still represents a small fraction of the amount being consumed, says the UN’s Douglas.
Near the site of the Mount Arayat police raid, Apolonia Pineda, 68, a local resident, recalls that Chinese men would regularly buy food from a ramshackle general store on the dirt track leading to the pig farm. “The Chinese told us they were setting up a tire factory,” she recalled.
The subterfuge had been well thought out. Head-high grass largely concealed the hangar that housed the meth lab, making it impossible for passersby to peek in.
While there were no longer any pigs at the farm, police had found several thousand hogs when they raided a piggery on the other side of Mount Arayat a few weeks earlier. There, they uncovered a smaller meth lab in the basement of a building. According to the police report, 20 kg of the precursor ephedrine and a small amount of methamphetamine were seized. So were seven Chinese nationals, now awaiting trial.
Drug syndicates are locating meth labs in pig farms for a reason, said Graciano Mijares, a senior police official in the region where Mount Arayat is located. The stench from the piggeries masks the powerful odor given off by meth-cooking, he said.
For centuries, Chinese traders made their way to the shores of the Philippines, landing in junks laden with ceramics, tea and silk that they exchanged for gold, wax, pearls and tortoiseshells. Today, China’s exports to the archipelago of just over 100 million people include large quantities of meth and the precursors used to make the drug.
Drug control officials struggle to gauge exactly how much meth is flowing into the Philippines from China. The production volumes of plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, can be calculated from crop surveys of opium poppy and coca in a particular country. It is far more difficult to quantify the production of meth, a synthetic drug made from precursor chemicals like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine that are used legally in the pharmaceutical and other industries.
Officials from PDEA, the Philippine National Police and the Department of Justice paint a picture of an entrenched and sophisticated system of trafficking in meth and precursors from China to the Philippines.
The trade is controlled by small, tight-knit groups of Chinese who oversee the entire process, the officials say: from the procurement of precursors in China to the production of the drug in the Philippines to its distribution by local gangs. Philippines police say many of those running the meth trade are Triads, the ruthless criminal syndicates that have long been involved in drug trafficking.
Precursors are abundant in China. Weak regulation of China’s vast chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as official corruption, have made the country “an ideal source for precursor chemicals intended for illicit drug production,” according to a U.S. State Department report published this year.
Meth smuggled in from China is typically passed from large ships to smaller vessels, mainly off the coast of the northern Philippines island of Luzon, officials say. Packages are sometimes dropped into the sea off the Philippines’ long and poorly patrolled coastlines, and picked up by fishermen. The meth then passes into the hands of local drug traffickers.
Meth production inside the Philippines requires a different operation. Precursors are often hidden in the legitimate cargoes of container ships that cross the South China Sea to the Philippines. Once on land, the chemicals are transported to labs, like the one at Mount Arayat, where a team with Chinese men has been assembled. They include a “chemist” to oversee production of the drug and a “cook” to actually make it. They come in on separate flights posing as tourists or businessmen, according to a senior drug-control official.
The gangs are locating meth labs on pig farms for a reason - the stench masks the acrid smell from meth-cooking.
This was largely the template for the meth operation exposed in the case of the “Shabu 11,” as the local media dubbed them. In 2012, 11 men – including five Chinese nationals – were convicted for creating what the judge called a “mega-lab” in the city of Cebu. The lab, uncovered in 2004, aimed at producing “mind-boggling” amounts of meth in a warehouse disguised as a legitimate business, the judge ruled. All 11 pleaded not guilty.
A British national by the name of Hung Chin Chang told the court he had met Calvin de Jesus Tan, a Chinese citizen and financier of the operation, on the island of Macau, according to court records. Chang testified that Tan introduced him to another Chinese man who would rent the premises for the meth lab, pull together a production team and purchase the materials to make the drugs.
The passports of five lab workers – a Chinese national, two Taiwanese and two Chinese Malaysians – were taken away by the team after they reached the Philippines. The group rented three warehouses, one to produce the meth, one for drying it and a third for packaging and storing the product.
In the days before the raid, a police officer testified, the warehouse’s lights had been on through the night, the machines inside were working flat out, and there was a foul odor in the air. The 11 men are all serving life sentences in a Philippine jail.
Manila’s casino resorts provide traffickers an easy way to launder drug cash. Meth produced at the labs is sometimes driven to casinos in the capital, where many of the high rollers are |
Brazil. Brazil, however, remained more or less a closed market for goods produced outside the country until the 1990s when a shift in economic policy resulted in a regrowth of involvement in international and global markets both in terms of what Brazil produced and purchased. In addition to companies like Coke, McDonald's, and Sony that sold less expensive items, Brazil became in the 1990s a market for luxury consumer goods and top international brands like Gucci, Chanel, BMW, and the like. FYI…
Read about favelas and their history and role in Brazilian society. Or read a review of the Brazilian movie City of God (2002) and its portrayal of life in Rio. As elsewhere in the world, the economy drives advertising in Brazil. Today Brazil has the world's 9th largest economy and a population of over 183,000,000 people. There are great differences within Brazil—from extraordinarily wealthy consumers in the big cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to the urban poor of the favela slums and remote rural areas of Amazonia. Today, television operates as a force to unite Brazil's diverse population. Most programs are, of course, sponsored, and, thus, accompanying advertisements play an important role in constructing common values, desires, and lifestyles in Brazil.
4. Why Is Brazilian Advertising So Creative?2 When Marcello Serpa, 45-year-old Partner and Creative Director of the Almap/BBDO agency in São Paulo and one of Brazil's most famous admen, talks about the history of creativity in Brazilian advertising, he begins with the 1960s when the media outlets for ads, especially television, began to assume their present forms. Rather than creating advertising space to accommodate demand as happened in some other countries, the ratio of commercials to programming on Brazilian national television was fixed from the beginning. Airtime has always been sold in blocks to ad agencies, and this fact has produced a highly predictable and relatively stable media situation. The most popular programming continues to be the evening news and the telenovelas that run at 7 and 8 o'clock. It is difficult to overstate the loyalty to and interest in the telenovela in Brazil. Faithful audiences include housewives, domestic workers, laborers, office workers, men as well as women, and they generally cut across social classes and categories reaching perhaps 90% of households. Whole families arrange their days so as not to miss the nightly episodes. Viewers become involved in the plots, frequently imitating the actors and discussing the comings-and-goings in the stories with their friends, families, and neighbors. The associated commercial slots form nearly perfect media opportunities for advertisers. In addition, many products are used and talked about in the soap operas themselves, making product placement a familiar and highly successful marketing device. Other great loves of the Brazilian people are soccer and carnival—both of which create important advertising venues as well. Against this background, a creative boom began in Brazilian advertising in the 1960s. Alex Periscinoto, a co-founder of the Almap agency, spent time in New York in the early part of the decade working with Bill Bernbach, father of the American Creative Revolution and the most influential figure in American advertising in the 1960s. A few years later, three Europeans, Roberto Duailibi, Francesc Petit, and José Zaragosa, founded DPZ, an advertising agency that brought a European feel and sophistication in art to Brazil. These two movements came together in Brazil—modern advertising techniques based on Bernbach's revolutionary style with beautiful layouts and exquisite photography from the European advertising tradition. The combination ignited Brazilian creativity. During the 1970s, young creatives from DPZ and Almap began founding agencies of their own, effectively spreading the movement around the major cities of the country. The Brazilians continued to pay attention to other national advertising trends, from which they drew further inspiration. At the same time, Brazilian advertising began to address consumers in a more colloquial voice rather than continuing the more formal language used in the past. This brought advertising closer to consumers and they responded positively to ads that spoke to them like they talk to their friends. Serpa describes this new style as "very engaging, humorous, and'very Brazilian.'" When multinational corporations began coming to Brazil, especially in the 1970s, they generally had difficult times importing the commercials that went along with their products. Many felt that they could simply use a U.S. or Mexican commercial (with language changes, of course), but this approach tended not to work. They quickly learned that commercials made by Brazilians were different. At the same time, Brazilian creatives organized a creative club, Clube de Criação de São Paulo, which recognized certain stylistic standards in music, humor, and language. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Brazilian market was generally closed to foreign imports. When it opened up in the 1990s, imported cars, wine, and other luxury goods from abroad became available. Multinational corporations began buying Brazilian businesses and using them to extend their global reach. As consequence of this transformation of the Brazilian market, the advertising industry also changed. The foreign owners could not understand the language, humor, or style of Brazilian advertisements. Moreover, the multinationals wanted campaigns that would work throughout Latin America, not just in Portuguese-speaking Brazil. Brazilian advertising thus faced two critical issues in the 1990s—having campaigns that would work all over Latin America, and looking toward the possibility of winning international awards that would garner increased attention and ultimately more business. A major obstacle inhibiting achievement of either goal was the Portuguese language, which, although the official language for Brazilians who constitute 51% of Latin American population, is typically unknown in the other 12 countries of South America. This linguistic block precluded others understanding and admiring even the most brilliant copy. Moreover, puns, jokes, and other forms of language play did not translate well. Thus, Brazilian advertising became much more dependent on visual communication.
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 4. These Print Ads Make Primary Use of Visual Communication over Words [Source]
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 5. These Print Ads Make Primary Use of Visual Communication over Words [Source]
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 6. These Print Ads Make Primary Use of Visual Communication over Words [Source] Brazil had begun winning international awards for its advertising as early as the 1970s. This continued through the 1980s and emerged as a major trend in the 1990s. An example of this early award-winning advertising from the year 1987 is the commercial for Kaiser Beer created by the DPZ agency. According to Serpa: The commercial expresses insights that every beer drinker knows and is a good example of how Brazilian advertising communicates through single, simple ideas that express brand essence. Understanding it does not depend on knowledge of the Portuguese language.3 During the 1990s, a new generation of creative people who had established reputations from the previous decade moved on to found or head their own independent agencies.4 The best known of these are Washington Olivetto, Nizan Guanaes, and Marcello Serpa. Each of their agencies was a center of excellence, and each competed with the others for clients. This frenetic competition eventually led to these agencies trying to outdo the others in terms of creativity, the most important yardstick for which would be the prizes won in international competitions. Many creatives felt stifled by the constraints of their clients' needs and strategies, and thus emerged the phenomenon of creating commercials strictly for the international competitions. Most of these commercials never aired even a single time, but several picked up international prizes for their extraordinary creativity.
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 7. This "Ghost" Ad for Spicy Catsup Won a Gold Lion at Cannes in 19995 [Source] Today, the practice of producing fake ads has declined significantly. However, in its heyday it provided an important means for ambitious young creatives to express themselves and show off their talents. In many cases, it also meant that some small companies that were approached and offered free or low cost advertising benefited as well. In response to a backlash from those in the ad industry who felt that only actual commercials should be included in the competitions, these virtually free commercials promoting small companies began to be aired once at agency expense, thereby meeting the technical requirement of authenticity. "Ghost" (or fake) advertisements continue to be an issue not only in Brazil but also in many other countries.
5. Selling Corn Flakes to People Who Skip Breakfast Leo Burnett, founder of the famous Chicago ad agency that still bears his name, once defined advertising as "selling corn flakes to people who eat Cheerios." He referred to the idea that a great deal of contemporary advertising serves to encourage people to switch the brand of a product they already use. But what would Burnett say to those who want to sell corn flakes to people who don't eat breakfast? In 1984, the Kellogg Company set out to do that in Brazil. A significant breakfast is not a part of Brazilian culture, certainly not an American-style breakfast that includes breakfast cereal. This did not stop Kellogg from attempting to make it so. J. Walter Thompson/Brazil advised Kellogg to use product placement in telenovelas as a strategy to entice potential Brazilian consumers. They based their reasoning on the fact that consumers tend to imitate the actors in telenovelas. However, the plan backfired. Unfamiliar themselves with the idea of breakfast cereal with milk, the script writers for the soap opera got it all wrong: The episode involved a young swimming prodigy whose father dragged him out of bed at 4 a.m. to train. "The father woke him up and gave him Sucrilhos [Frosted Flakes] and the sleepy boy sat in bed eating them out of the package," one Kellogg product manager says. "This is not the way Kellogg wanted to teach Brazilians to eat a nutritious, complete breakfast …. We want cereal eaten in the correct way. You put it in a bowl and eat it with milk. We don't want people eating it out of the box or giving it to their dogs."6 Admitting its faux pas, TV Globo refunded Kellogg's money. A later episode of another popular soap opera tried the strategy again. This time, the writers and producers had been briefed extensively on the "correct" way to eat cereal. According to Advertising Age, this episode overdid the placement by scripting the story around a research company that conducts discussion groups with families about the importance of breakfast and nutrition. Eventually, the writers and producers got it right and continued placements of cereals in telenovelas helped introduce and increase sales of Kellogg products in Brazil.
6. The Body Beautiful in Brazilian Advertising I was once in Cannes and some people in the audience asked me, "Why do you always have so many exposed bodies in Brazilian advertising?" I answered, "Because we like it!"7 —Marcello Serpa What does the rest of the world think about when they think about Brazil? Sex, the body, beautiful people, and soccer.8 —Nizan Guanaes We are a blend of many races and that makes us creative, sensual, musical, talented, and good-humoured.9 —Washington Olivetto
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 8. The Female Body on Display in the Rio Carnival (2007) [Source] It is hard to understate the importance of sex in Brazilian public life. It is discussed on TV shows, magazines, and everyday life. On the beaches of Rio and in the Carnival parades, sexuality is on display. One of the first things that foreigners notice in Brazil is the extraordinary focus on nearly nude bodies, sensual clothing, and overt expressions of sex. Most of the bodies on display are female, although emphasis on male beauty is also a part of Brazilian culture. Brazil has the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world as many Brazilians, both male and female, attempt to achieve the bodies they desire. The focus on the body beautiful accounts for the enormous popularity of gyms and plastic surgeries in striving for physical perfection.10 Advertising in Brazil leads as well as follows in emphasizing physical beauty. Referring to the idea that advertising reflects society, Serpa elaborates: We just go to society and pick up what's happening there and put it back in advertising. It's not something we are ashamed of. It's on TV at prime time. Everybody's watching and people here grow up with that. You go to the beach, it's like that. Sex is definitely a part of our day-by-day discussions everywhere. It's very difficult for Americans or maybe the British to understand how it works, but the moment they live here, they get it. Advertising is linked to how society is structured, and advertising just reflects that.11 Despite the amount of skin exposure in public life and advertising, complete nudity does not often occur. This story from Carnival 2007 in Rio conveys something of the Brazilian attitude toward nudity: Brazil's Carnival has always been a raucous affair but beauty queen Angela Bismarchi took it a step further when her only item of clothing, a small patch of glitter, fell off mid-parade. Bismarchi was the talk of the town on the second and final night of Rio de Janeiro's main Carnival parades, where full nudity is officially banned even though many outfits leave precious little to the imagination. The young woman, queen of the Porto da Pedra samba school, was briefly left entirely naked but for a few feathers and some body paint when her "tapasexo," a tiny piece of material topped with glitter, fell away. But Bismarchi quickly conjured up a thong and carried on dancing, later laughing off the incident with an old Brazilian saying: "A well prepared woman is worth two."12 Here are two commercials that display bodies in ways that fit within Brazilian norms. At the same time, they step beyond the standards of propriety in many other cultures, including the United States. The openness with which Brazilian ads treat the human body stands in stark contrast to a disdain for expressions of violence in ads. Serpa explained that Brazilians are accustomed to hearing about violence and corruption in society but that they do not like it in their films, TV programs, or ads. They want media to express alternatives and aspirations to the social problems of poverty, street crime, and corporate and government corruption. Serpa's rule of thumb for Almap/BBDO advertising is the following: No guns, no thievery, no thieves, no assaults, no jokes about killing people, or death because people don't like it. People react badly—but a naked body or sexuality in the sense of erotic sexuality, it will go nicely. It's a cultural phenomenon.
7. Three Leaders in Brazilian Advertising Social Life is the aggregate of all the individual men's Lives who constitute society; History is the essence of innumerable Biographies.13 —Thomas Carlyle Perhaps nowhere is Thomas Carlyle's description of history a more apt description of the story of social life than in the case of contemporary advertising in Brazil. The stories of three careers—many would say the stories of the three most important figures in Brazilian advertising—encompass the motives, actions, and philosophies that have guided the emergence of Brazilian advertising on the world stage. Washington Olivetto—Impressario, Leader, and the Most Decorated Adman in Brazil Kidnapped on the streets of São Paulo and held for ransom for 53 days, Washington Olivetto turned up alive and returned to his work as head of W/Brasil, a well-known Brazilian ad agency. The year 2001 saw more than 300 businessmen kidnapped in Brazil, and perhaps it should come as no surprise that Brazil's most famous adman might be one of them. As luck would have it, his captors fled when one of them was arrested for other reasons and Olivetto engineered his own escape. Today Washington Olivetto is a household name in Brazil. There is even a popular song named after him and his agency, W/Brasil. However, it is not the kidnapping and miraculous escape, but rather his creative leadership and role in mentoring a younger generation of creative artists—along with plenty of self-promotion—that accounts for his fame. Olivetto has a writer's soul and a salesman's charm. He was, he says, reading and writing prodigiously at the age of five. Growing up, he imagined a future in journalism. But he also admired his salesman father, and was delighted to discover "that I could blend the style in which I wanted to write with the style of selling that I most admired—i.e., advertising. I decided to become a copywriter."14 In 1972 at the age of 19, he won a Bronze Lion at Cannes for work done at a domestic Brazilian agency. He said, "The award gave me a lot of visibility and I was invited to work for DPZ, which at the time was the most brilliant Brazilian agency. I became creative director and stayed there for 15 years."15 DPZ provided a stimulating environment for Olivetto who produced more award-winning work and simultaneously mentored two rising stars in Brazilian advertising, Nizan Guanaes and Marcello Serpa. The Swiss advertising group, GGK, invited Olivetto in 1986 to head their new office in São Paulo from which they would be handling the Volkswagen account. Under Olivetto's leadership, the agency's billings increased exponentially. In 1989, Olivetto and his business partners bought the company and renamed it W/Brasil. Today it is one of the best-known Brazilian agencies. Over the course of his career, Olivetto has received more Cannes Lions than any other figure in the world of advertising—more than 50. He is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the creator of the longest-running advertising campaign with the same leading character. The series, which appears in both print and TV, features comedian Carlos Moreno impersonating various celebrities, politicians and icons, including Che Guevara, and the Mona Lisa. Since its inception in 1978, there have been almost 350 different executions. This campaign for Bombril, a household cleaner, is much loved by Brazilians who anxiously await Moreno's next impersonation. So popular are the spots that they are listed in programming guides. When the company attempted to change the campaign in 2004, the public demanded its revival.
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 9. This Bombril Campaign Has Included About 350 Impersonations Since 1978 [Source]
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 10. This Bombril Campaign Has Included About 350 Impersonations Since 1978 [Source] According to Olivetto, the launch of this campaign occurred in 1978, a time when traditional gender roles were being questioned and men had never been shown with cleaning products. This cultural context along with the sheer creativity of the approach helped make the Bombril characters icons of Brazilian advertising. The continuing creative energy at work in W/Brasil is illustrated by the agency's powerful spots for the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. The version of the commercial that appears in Video 5 has an English-language soundtrack for use in showing the work at international competitions and to non-Portuguese speakers. Nizan Guanaes—Maverick, Entrepreneur, and "Bad Boy" of Brazilian Advertising Once a high-school exchange student in Iowa, Nizan Guanaes was born in the Brazilian state of Bahia. He now lives in a São Paulo mansion with his fashion-conscious second wife, who has her own career in Brazil's fashion world. Guanaes, like many of the rich and famous in Brazil, seldom travels without his chauffeur and armed car. Four bodyguards are in his employ. Behind this glamour lies a man, driven like a Donald Trump, in his conquest of clients, advertising prizes, and a desire to build an advertising empire. Guanaes opened DM9, his first advertising agency, in 1990. Three years later, DM9 won the Grand Prix at Cannes. The award put both Brazil and DM9 on the "who's who" of world advertising. (The art director for the winning campaign was Marcello Serpa whose career is discussed below.) The desire to win more international prizes led Guanaes, according to some of his critics, to start a trend that focused more on creativity than strategy. Guanaes went on to win other Cannes Lions. His campaign for Parmalat milk reflects the creative heights that DM9 reached during the 1990s. Critics of the creativity-before-strategy approach use this example to illustrate the process of a creative director looking for a brand where he could use his creative idea. Apparently, a creative director at DM9 had seen a display of photographs of children dressed like animals at a New York show. Guanaes liked the idea and wanted to adapt it to a campaign. The link was made with Parmalat in the mamiferos (mammals) campaign. Advertising Age tells this story about the Parmalat campaign: Mr. Guanaes' long relationship with dairy producer Parmalat illustrates the way Brazilian creatives tap into the country's popular culture and Brazilians in turn embrace advertising. A decade ago, Parmalat milk ads by DM9 DDB featuring adorable children costumed as milk-drinking mammals, called "Mamiferos," were so popular that Mr. Guanaes challenged an American reporter over dinner to find anyone in the restaurant who wasn't familiar with his campaign. In a table-by-table poll, diners could all describe the campaign and a related stuffed-animal promotion that became such a craze a truckload of the fluffy animals was hijacked. (Most of the diners, along with the waiters, also could sing the jingle from a beer commercial for another of Mr. Guanaes' clients.)16 After his successful campaign for Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, he sold DM9 to DDB Worldwide in 1997. In 2000, he became CEO of IG, an Internet service provider of which he was part owner. In 2002, he opened Africa, a Brazilian full-service advertising agency whose clients now include Philips, Mitsubishi, and Parmalat. FYI…
Omnicom is a holding company that owns several advertising agencies including BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide and TBWA\Worldwide. Guanaes explains his contemporary goal: "I want to follow the model of a local Omincom… I don't want to go to the U.S. or Europe. I want to be the big guy in the small markets, a local giant." His goals beyond Brazil include other Latin American countries and Africa. According to Advertising Age, "In a land where the top creative admen are treated like rock stars, Nizan Guanaes is the leader of the band."17 Marcello Serpa—Imposing, Artistic, and To-the-Point News stories about Marcello Serpa, Partner and Creative Director of Almap/BBDO, invariably mention his movie-star good looks, his imposing height (6'6"), and his personability. He is also one of the stars of contemporary Brazilian advertising, the first to claim a Grand Prix at Cannes. The year was 1993, and Serpa was an art director at Guanaes's company, DM9, in São Paulo. The winning campaign was as simple as it was brilliant, a perfect embodiment of Serpa's philosophy of advertising—that it must express an idea in the simplest terms. Born in São Paulo in 1962, Serpa began studying graphic design and commercial art in Munich, Germany, at age 18. He worked in a top agency in Düsseldorf before returning to work in Brazil. Serpa explains the significance of his early training and work in Germany: [My] approach came out of my education in Germany… Brazilians are very anarchistic in their approach to creativity, while Germans are far more disciplined. They gave me the concept of reduction, by which I mean expressing an idea in the simplest possible terms. Every inessential element must be removed. At that time, straightforward, purely visual ideas were still unusual. [Famed copywriter] Neil French says I was responsible for helping kill long copy in advertising, though of course it never entirely went away.18 Serpa's award-winning campaign was for a Brazilian soft drink, Diet Guarana. The two-page spread featured only a bronzed stomach (alternatively, female, lighter-skinned male, darker-skinned male) and a Diet Guarana bottle cap positioned at the same height as the model's navel on the opposite page. Serpa thinks that this campaign embodies his preference for visual over verbal communication, and he believes that it won because it communicated its message both simply and powerfully.
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 11. Diet Guarana Won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1993 for This Campaign [Source]
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 12. Diet Guarana Won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1993 for This Campaign [Source]
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View full resolution Click for larger view Fig. 13. Diet Guarana Won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1993 for This Campaign [Source] He says that the spark of the idea for this campaign came from his love of Richard Avedon's photography for Clinique products in the early 1990s. The ads were incredibly simple, but extraordinary "beauty shots" of the product. He came up with an idea for an ad that would include a set of beauty products, like the Avedon photographs, with the difference that Diet Guarana was included. This would say to the consumer: Diet Guarana is a beauty product, too. Although that idea never moved beyond storyboards, Serpa worked with it further, eventually coming up with the great-looking abs and the bottle cap. Shortly after his win at Cannes, Serpa joined Almap/BBDO as partner with José Luiz Madeira. Serpa's background in art and design combined with Madeira's background in account planning produced an administrative team that boosted the agency almost immediately to the top of the charts. The agency's clients include Audi, Volkswagen, Pepsi, and Bayer—for whom Almap/BBDO has produced award winners. In just over a decade, the agency has racked up innumerable awards and is known worldwide for its creative and incisive advertising. Serpa rejects the idea of "ghost" advertising and of campaigns that do not follow carefully the strategy worked out between agency and client. He thinks of his art as functioning in the service of promoting his clients' brands, and, if it does not do that, then no matter how creative it may be, it is an advertising failure. I take [clients] along to the screenings [at Cannes and other festivals] and we sit there and sometimes watch 7 hours of commercials. The year we won a Gold Lion for Volkswagen, I had the client sitting next to me and he was clapping louder than anyone—he was so proud. He was happier than we were.19
8. A Showcase of Brazilian Creativity Author's note: As an anthropologist who studies the process of producing ads, I have found as a result of trial and error, a single question that elicits insightful and informative information from creative people who often want to let the work speak for itself rather than paraphrasing or decoding it. This rather simple and straightforward question is: "When you think back across all the work you've done in advertising, which is the single piece or campaign you are proudest of? Which one shows your best work?" I have asked this question of many people in the advertising industry in the United States and abroad and have never failed to be told an interesting tale that illustrates how creative people turn advertising strategy into great advertising. This section contains some of the stories I heard during a visit to Brazilian agencies during February 2008. The three stories were told by employees of McCann Erickson Worldwide in their São Paulo office in February, 2008. Meriva—Selling a Car as a Fashion Statement Eric Sulzer, a creative director, spoke about his pride in his agency's recent campaign for the Meriva car, a GM brand. Although the model offered a new transmission, the commercials promoted the car in terms of its fashionability instead of its technology. This unusual approach grew out of research.20 Your browser does not support the audio tag. Yázigi Lessons—Avoiding Unfortunate Mistakes in Language Adriana Cury, Chairwoman/CCO, tells how she created the idea for an award-winning campaign for an English-language school. The campaign features Brazilians making funny mistakes in their own language and asks whether the consumer might be making such mistakes in English. The campaign that Cury created aired five or six years ago when she worked at Colucci Propaganda. She then talks about the strategy and creative works for Yázigi a different language school, which is a client of McCann Erickson. Your browser does not support the audio tag. MasterCard—Taking a Campaign Everywhere, Literally Eduardo Hernández, a McCann Erickson creative director, talks about the agency's campaign for MasterCard that was designed to convince consumers that MasterCard is accepted just about everywhere in Brazil. The agency created a campaign around a cross-country trip on which a lone traveler started out with only his MasterCard. Commercials, blogs, and news stories tracked the "Viajante MasterCard" or jokingly, the "Masternaut," on his adventures and resulted in an all-time high awareness of the card's wide reach. Your browser does not support the audio tag.
9. Exporting Creativity Brazilian creativity has been exported to other countries in two important ways. First, the best of Brazilian advertising is seen around the world as a result of the various competitions in which it is entered. Creative people pay attention to all sorts of artistic work —movies, photography, music, art, etc—and frequently draw on it for their own inspiration. The latest Hollywood hit or music video or Brazilian ad that won at Cannes might turn up elsewhere—albeit transformed—just as the animal photographs in the New York show inspired the Brazilian Parmalat campaign (discussed above). Second, Brazilian talent itself is sometimes exported—as, for example, in the case of Marcio Moreira, a native Brazilian ad man whose successes in advertising in the late 1960s and 1970s, first in Brazil and then in Latin America, landed him in 1980 at McCann's New York headquarters as International Creative Director for Coca-Cola. As his international team worked to find local expressions of Coke's global campaigns in the 1980s, Moreira strove to make the advertising fit into the local cultural contexts where it appeared. In 1986, Moreira wrote and produced a commercial—or rather a series of commercials—around the idea of young people from all over the world meeting and singing about their future. The core idea followed Coke's theme of showing the soft drink associated with sociability and refreshment. The creative genius of the commercial can be seen in the video. This is not an actual commercial, but rather a demonstration of how the base commercial can be adapted through clever editing to many different languages. A Portuguese language version for the commercial was used in Brazil and the handful of other Portuguese speaking countries. Similar adaptations were made for other languages—English, German, Spanish, Korean, etc. Spanish language versions were used in other countries in Latin America. Thus, the creativity of Brazilian advertising is not simply limited to Brazil but also finds its way advertising trends globally.This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZALEZ: The leading Republican candidates are participating in two debates this weekend in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s primary. The first is sponsored by ABC and will be on Saturday night at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Then on Sunday morning, the candidates will debate on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Our next guest is on the Republican ballot in New Hampshire but has not been invited to these or any of the other 16 Republican debates, even though he is a former governor and four-term member of Congress.
AMY GOODMAN: His name is Buddy Roemer. He served as Louisiana’s governor from 1988 to 1992. Prior to that, he served four terms in Congress. Roemer has run an unorthodox campaign: he’s refused to accept campaign contributions over $100, has rejected all donations from political action committees, and has made campaign finance the key plank in his platform. He even endorsed the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Earlier this week, his campaign issued this campaign advertisement.
BUDDY ROEMER: Do you know who the largest corporate giver is to politicians in Washington? Goldman friggin’ Sachs.
NARRATOR: Meet the candidate…
BUDDY ROEMER: Washington is bought and sold.
NARRATOR: …they don’t want you to hear.
BUDDY ROEMER: Special interests control Washington, D.C.
NARRATOR: He’s been a congressman and a governor…
DYLAN RATIGAN: They don’t seem to want you in the conversation.
NARRATOR: …who hasn’t been invited to a single televised debate.
BUDDY ROEMER: Wake up, America. They’ve stolen your government.
NARRATOR: Learn more at BuddyRoemer.com.
BUDDY ROEMER: I’m Buddy Roemer, and I approve this message.
AMY GOODMAN: Republican presidential candidate Buddy Roemer joins us now from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Governor. Talk about why it is that you are running for president, and then why it is most people do not know you’re running for president.
BUDDY ROEMER: The country is in a modest recovery now. Earlier this year, we had the same jobs report that things were recovering, and it slid right back down. I think the nation is in decline, long term. We’ve lost a million-and-a-half jobs net in this country compared to when Bill Clinton was president. Long term, we have unsustainable trade imbalances. Long term, we have a debt we can’t repay. Long term, we’ve lost three out of four manufacturing jobs because of unfair trade treaties. I think this nation is in trouble. The corporations have made more money in the last 18 months than any time in the history of America.
So what’s the disconnect? A president gets elected, and he says he wants change. But he takes all his money from these same corporations who don’t want change. Special interests control Washington. I’ve been there. I’m the only person running that spent eight years as a congressman and spent four years as governor of a state, turning unemployment around.
We—the issue in this campaign, the key to turning America around, is not budget reform. We need it. Tax reform, we need it. Trade reform, we need it. Immigration reform, we need it. Bank reform, we need it. Healthcare reform, we need it. But the key is to take the lobbyist out of the room and let plain people get in there and turn this country around. That’s what I proposed. It’s not complicated. It’s not difficult.
It’s the way I always run for office. And I usually win, if I can get my message to the people. I’ve been shut out of the debates. My message has not reached the people. We can do better, America. Kick the lobbyist out of the room.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, well, Governor Roemer, why do you think your message has not been allowed to get out by the various media companies who have controlled these debates?
BUDDY ROEMER: Well, I think you just answered it. There’s a different criterion or a different criterion at every debate. We call and ask. First, you had to be an official candidate for president. I thought that was fair. I announced at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire in August. We called for the next debate. They said, “Well, you have to have 1 percent in a national poll.” We worked four weeks. We made 1 percent. I called again. They said, “Oh, you have to have 2 percent now, Governor.” We made 2 percent. I called again three debates ago, and they said, “Well, you had to raise a half-a-million dollars in the last 90 days.” We had raised $256,000. No check over $100. Average gift: $51. All 50 states participating, from California to Maine. And they said, “Well, you need to raise half-a-million.”
Is that the standard to elect our president? Is that what we’re doing in America now? Look, I’m not perfect in anything, and I don’t know everything. But I have been a congressman. I have been a governor. I have built a billion-dollar bank, with no bailout money, profitable. I have built jobs. I know what to do. And I can’t even get in the debate. It is amazing to me.
AMY GOODMAN: Buddy Roemer, you were a Democrat. Then you switched to the Republican Party. Why?
BUDDY ROEMER: I did that 20 years ago, 1991. I was governor of Louisiana. We were a state in great difficulty. And there were two reasons I switched. One, I have the same principles as a conservative Democrat. I admit that. I believe in smaller government, I believe in better government. I believe in individual initiative. But I believe there’s a role for government in places, and I thought the Democratic Party had left me. They had become a party of huge government. They represented government employees. I couldn’t get any job creation going in the Democratic Party. That’s number one.
By the way, I helped form a group of Democrats called the Boll Weevils in Congress. We worked with President Reagan for eight years. I was proud of that.
Number two: Louisiana was a one-party state. When I looked at my state legislature, there were 144 members. A hundred and thirty-six of them were Democrats. There was no debate. There was no choice. There was no competition. So I thought that one of the lasting things I could do would be to change parties, because it fit my belief better, although I like some things the Democrats stand for, and, number two, give the state a two-party system, which will make it a better state. It’s worked just like that. Now Republicans are about 55 to 60 percent of the legislature. There’s clear debate. There’s clear dialogue. A one-party nation, a one-party state, is corrupt, and I wanted to change that.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And Governor Roemer, you’re probably also one of the few Republican politicians who has been supportive of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
BUDDY ROEMER: Yeah.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Could you talk about that and why you see a positive role for the Occupy movement in American politics?
BUDDY ROEMER: I believe they smell what’s wrong with America: corruption at the top. I mean, Wall Street and Washington |
concern and let her know you understand her but demonstrate that it’s no big deal by moving the conversation with the woman forward. This gives her a chance to forgive you and forget about it completely.
Here is an abridged example of how to text a girl after she gets offended:
Her: Ew don’t call me that. That’s disgusting and honestly, I’m a little offended by it
Response: Didn’t mean to offend you my dear. You’re so sexy I was just thinking about pinning you down on my bed and making you moan.
What’s your Text IQ? Take the Quiz nownews Over Time, How Fairly Have TTC Fares Fared?
As anticipated by transit watchers, the TTC is proposing an across-the-board fare hike, effective January 3, 2010. That hike, to be decided on at the commission’s November 17 meeting, would see adult cash fares rise from $2.75 to $3.00, tokens rise from $2.25 to $2.50, and adult Metropasses jump from $109 to $126. A full list of the proposed changes are here; the immediate reasons for them are—as they always are—myriad. (The Star and Globe both take a look at some of them.)
Of course, this fare increase is only the latest in a long line of them. Since 1980, there have been twenty-one hikes—a set of six adult tickets purchased on January 1, 1980 cost a total of $3; an adult Metropass, when it was introduced later that year, was $26. The chart above tracks the ever-changing cost of a TTC adult fare, as it was on June 1 of each year from 1980 until now (using statistics collected on Mike Vainchtein’s Transit Stop). Save for a few spots—like the comparatively massive increase to the cost of a cash fare in 1992—the increases have been steady, and in the case of ticket or token costs when purchased in larger numbers, almost entirely predictable.
For a related metric, the far less consistent and infinitely less predictable black line in the chart above is the average cost of regular unleaded gas, per litre, from full service filling stations in Toronto for the month of June of each year (from data by Statistics Canada’s CANSIM database). Though TTC fares and gas prices are affected by a number of different variables and set for different reasons—both are subsidized in different ways and determined by different organizations with different interests and different demands on them—there’s no doubt that gas prices are growing less quickly than TTC fares are, even if on the TTC it’d still only take you the equivalent of two and a half litres of unleaded to get from Queen East and Woodbine to Finch and Steeles.
As usual with statistics, though, it’s not the raw but the relative year-to-year statistics that give a more accurate impression. So, adjusted for inflation, easy enough to determine using the Bank of Canada’s online inflation calculator, how’s the TTC doing?
Well, that depends.
TTC fares have risen and are still rising year-to-year at a rate greater and greater than inflation is. (Gas? Doing great until recently!) For an ever-growing transit system that is ever-absent of adequate government funding and that individual riders pay an ever-disproportionate share to use each trip, though, it’s a trend that won’t be bucked any time soon. Riders who are angry about yet another fare increase—”Really? REALLY? We are supposed to be moving away from cars towards public transit, this kind of move makes me never wnat [sic] to ride the TTC again,” one rider complained in the Star‘s comments—might be well off asking themselves what their $2.50 will be getting them in 2010 that their equivalent of $1.48 in 1991 wouldn’t have then.
All charts by David Topping/Torontoist.0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
Not only did Donald Trump fail to get Mexico to fund his wasteful wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but he couldn’t even get Republicans in border states to support it.
As a result, the president appears to be on the verge of giving up altogether, saying that his administration is now looking at delaying the funding fight until sometime this fall when it’ll be even less likely for Congress to allocate money for it.
Tweet via Josh Dawsey of Politico:
White House official confirms Trump told conservative media that administration could delay border wall funding fight until the fall. — Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) April 24, 2017
Trump initially backed away from his promise that Mexico would fully fund his wall by saying taxpayers would foot the bill at first and be reimbursed at a later date. Now he can’t even get his funding for the wall from the government he’s in charge of.
This is yet another huge loss for Trump, whose winless streak continues as the 100-day mark approaches – and it’s not just Democrats who are responsible for the latest blow.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Not a single member of Congress who represents the territory on the southwest border said they support President Donald Trump’s request for $1.4 billion to begin construction of his promised wall.”
“Most lawmakers representing the region—both Democrats and Republicans—said they are opposed,” the report added.
This contradicts Trump’s recent tweet about the wall in which he said only Democrats were opposed to the funding.
The Democrats don’t want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2017
Sure, Democrats don’t want the funding because it would be an astounding waste of money and resources when we can use it to, say, send more people to college or expand health care coverage or invest in rebuilding American roads and bridges.
What the president failed to mentioned – no surprise – is that Republicans are just as opposed to it, even those that represent border states.
In such partisan times, it’s promising that members of both parties have come together in agreement on at least one issue – that Trump’s border wall is a stupid proposal and taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for it.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:This article comes to us courtesy of California Watch.
By Will Evans
Sometimes, free stuff is just too hard to give up.
Even after state senators overwhelmingly approved a ban on certain gifts to state lawmakers, some of the same legislators kept accepting them.
On May 31, Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Modesto, and most of his colleagues voted to prevent themselves from receiving free concert, sports and theme park tickets from businesses that lobby the state. Yet in June, Cannella received tickets to the U.S. Open golf championship from AT&T, worth $420.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, also voted for the ban, then accepted $340 in Walt Disney World tickets. Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, another supporter of the ban, picked up $168 worth of Disneyland tickets courtesy of The Walt Disney Co.
Cannella said in an email that he supported the bill because "there is merit to restricting the types of gifts that can be given to the legislature."
"I can only speak for myself in that if I am given tickets to a sporting event, I am not influenced by those who provide them to me," he said. "I make decisions based upon what is in the best interest of my constituents and the people of California."
Padilla and Price did not respond to requests for comment.
After its near-unanimous approval in the Senate, SB 1426's author, Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, was optimistic about his bill [PDF].
"This is the furthest this legislation has ever gotten," he said in an interview earlier this month.
After years of trying to restrict gifts with bills that ended up dying in committee, Blakeslee thought he had finally written a passable bill by banning only those gifts with "no public interest, no public purpose and the types of gifts that are very difficult to defend," he said.
Nevertheless, the bill died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week without a vote. Committee consultant Chuck Nicol said the bill was held because it contained "significant General Fund administrative costs."
Indeed, the state ethics agency opposed the bill because it wouldn't pay for the costs to implement the new regulations. The Fair Political Practices Commission estimated that the rule changes would cost $200,000 to revise rule manuals, field questions and complaints, and conduct investigations, according to spokeswoman Tara Stock. Under current rules, gifts are capped at $420 per year from any one source.
But there's a simpler reason for why legislators buried the bill, said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California: "They like getting gifts."
"Just when you think that it's impossible to overstate the political tone deafness of the California state Legislature, they find a way to prove you wrong," he said.
"It's not clear whether members of the state Senate are more attuned to the voting public or if they passed it because they knew it would die in the Assembly," he said.
Axing the bill in committee meant that "nobody has to cast an embarrassing vote, but it's an extraordinary missed opportunity for a Legislature that's not held in particularly high regard."
Members of the Assembly committee that nixed the bill had their own free fun and recreation on the line.
AT&T treated two of them - Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, and Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-South Gate - to a concert by popular Mexican pop-rock band Maná in April. The tickets, which AT&T doled out to other legislators as well, cost between $81 and $93.
Another committee member, Assembly Majority Leader Charles Calderon, D-City of Industry, went to the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure theme park in Florida in June, with tickets worth $278 provided by Comcast. The same month, he went to Disney World with free tickets from Disney worth $261. His son, Assembly candidate Ian Calderon, also got free tickets to both amusement parks.
Campos, Lara and Charles Calderon did not respond to requests for comment.
Blakeslee, for his part, isn't running for re-election. Disappointed after his legislation petered out, he said in a statement: "The public is paying attention and expects the Legislature to get its house in order. It is only a matter of time before this loophole is closed."
Will Evans is an investigative reporter for California Watch, a project of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting. Find more California Watch stories here.NASA Plans PMA-3 Relocation for Commercial Crew, Three Record-Setting EVAs on Tap
Three pivotal and record-setting periods of Extravehicular Activity (EVA) are scheduled to occur from the International Space Station (ISS) over the coming weeks, according to a news conference, held at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, earlier today (Wednesday, 22 March). ISS Operations Integration Manager Kenny Todd and NASA Flight Director Emily Nelson were joined by the Spacewalk Officers for the three EVAs—Sarah Korona, John Mularski and Alex Kanelakos—to outline plans which will see a major reconfiguration of the station, ahead of Commercial Crew operations. Designated U.S. EVAs 40, 41 and 42, the three 6.5-hour spacewalks will occur on Friday, 24 March, Thursday, 30 March, and Thursday, 6 April.
Current plans are for all three U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS) crew members to make two spacewalks apiece. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough will lead EVA-40 with Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet, and will also lead EVA-41 with Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson. For the third and final spacewalk, Whitson will lead EVA-42 with Pesquet. Assuming all goes according to plan, this busy run of activity will end with Whitson setting a new record for the greatest number of EVAs (and the largest number of spacewalking hours) ever performed by a woman and will include the 200th EVA in support of ISS construction and maintenance.
At present, inaugural unmanned missions by Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon are not expected until early 2018, followed by a pair of piloted test flights—featuring NASA shuttle and ISS veterans Sunita Williams, Eric Boe, Doug Hurley and former Chief Astronaut Bob Behnken—the following summer. Satisfactory completion of these milestones is expected to lead to the first “operational” Post-Certification Mission (PCM) as soon as September 2018. As outlined last fall by AmericaSpace, this represents a delay of around a year beyond the original timeline and is attributable to ongoing technical and software issues with the Commercial Crew vehicles.
In order to enable future CST-100 Starliners and Crew Dragons to interface with the space station, a pair of Boeing-built International Docking Adapters (IDAs) will be installed onto the Harmony node. The “primary” IDA-1 would be attached to Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-2 on the forward “end” of the node, whilst the “backup” IDA-2 would be situated on PMA-3 on its space-facing (or “zenith”) side. Unfortunately, IDA-1 was lost in a June 2015 launch accident, forcing NASA to repurpose IDA-2 as the new “primary” port. After many delays, IDA-2 was successfully launched in July 2016 and installed onto PMA-2, during a combined EVA/robotics operation a few weeks later. Taking the place of the “backup” docking port will be a new IDA-3. This is currently being built from around 300 spare parts and IDA-3 will fly aboard SpaceX’s CRS-14 Dragon in early 2018.
Before IDA-3 arrives, however, it is necessary for PMA-3 to be relocated from its current perch on the station’s Tranquility node to its final Commercial Crew location atop Harmony. That relocation will be principally controlled by the Robotics Officer (ROBO) in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at JSC, although it will require the EVA and “intravehicular” support by the Expedition 50 crew for internal reconfiguration and external cable disconnections and reconnections. Original plans called for the PMA-3 relocation to occur in October 2015, but the IDA-1 failure triggered a delay of almost 18 months. When the adapter is detached by means of the station’s 57.7-foot-long (17.6-meter) Canadarm2 on Thursday, 30 March, it will be its first movement to a new location in over seven years.
Launched aboard shuttle Discovery in October 2000, PMA-3 was originally installed on the nadir face of the Unity node. A few weeks later, it supported the arrival of shuttle Endeavour on STS-97 and was used for only one more spacecraft docking, welcoming Atlantis and her STS-98 crew in February 2001. PMA-3 was then relocated by the STS-102 astronauts in March 2001 from the nadir to the port side of Unity, permitting the temporary installation of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). With the rapid expansion of the ISS and the addition of new pressurized modules, PMA-3 was moved back to Unity nadir in August 2007, ahead of the arrival of the Harmony node, and in early 2009 returned once more to Unity nadir. Its most substantial move, however, came in January 2010, when it was transferred from Unity to a temporary spot at Harmony zenith, where it waited for the arrival of Tranquility. During Endeavour’s STS-130 mission in February 2010, PMA-3 was moved to its current position at the port-facing end of the new node.
Efforts to prepare PMA-3 for its move to Harmony zenith got underway several weeks ago, when the Expedition 50 crew removed items stored inside the adapter, as well as the Intermodular Ventilation (IMV) valve which connects it to Tranquility. Yesterday (Tuesday), the astronauts participated in a briefing, which offered refresher training on their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suits, procedures and hardware. They also performed Robotics On-board Trainer (ROBoT) sessions, verified the functionality of their Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) backpacks and installed batteries in EMUs #3006 and #3008. Current plans are for Kimbrough/Pesquet to complete EVA-40, with Kimbrough/Whitson executing EVA-41 and Whitson/Pesquet teamed together for EVA-42. According to NASA’s Rob Navias, Kimbrough will wear #3008 for EVA-40 and 41, with Pesquet and Whitson clad in #3006. For EVA-42, Whitson will don #3008 and Pesquet will wear #3006.
Kimbrough (designated “EV1”, with red stripes on the legs of his space suit for identification) and Pesquet (“EV2”, wearing a pure white suit) will kick off EVA-40 at 8 a.m. EDT Friday. During their 6.5 hours outside the station, they will disconnect cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 to prepare for relocation. Additionally, the spacewalkers will install a new computer relay box with advanced software onto the S-0 truss, inspect a suspected ammonia leak on a radiator valve, replace cameras on the Japanese Kibo facility and lubricate the Latching End Effector (LEE) of the Dextre robotic “hand” aboard Canadarm2. Earlier today, Jessica Meir—one of NASA’s most recently-selected astronauts—revealed on Twitter that she will be at the Capcom’s console during EVA-40. “Excited to be the #Mission Control voice 4 @astro_kimbrough @Thom_astro @Space_Station #spacewalk Friday,” she tweeted.
Satisfactory completion of Friday’s EVA-40 is expected to set the stage for the PMA-3 relocation, which will be ground-commanded and overseen by Flight Director Emily Nelson and ROBO. “No crew involvement in the actual relocation,” NASA’s Dan Huot told AmericaSpace, earlier this week, “other than leak checks.” Originally scheduled for 30 March, the physical disconnection of the 2,650-pound (1,200 kg) adapter is now scheduled for 12:45 p.m. EDT on Sunday, 26 March, and should be berthed atop the Harmony node a little under four hours later, at 4:30 p.m.
This will allow Kimbrough and Whitson to venture outside the ISS for EVA-41 on 30 March, during which they will reconnect cables and electrical connections between PMA-3 and the Harmony zenith interface. The spacewalkers will then support a multitude of other tasks, including installing a second relay box onto S-0, as well as shields onto PMA-3 and over the now-vacant Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) port on Tranquility. Finally, on 6 April, Whitson and Pesquet will replace an avionics box on ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC)-4 on the nadir face of the station’s starboard Integrated Truss Structure (ITS). The replacement avionics box will launch aboard Orbital ATK’s OA-7 Cygnus cargo ship on Monday, 27 March.
These three excursions are designated U.S. EVAs 40, 41 and 42, but when Whitson and Pesquet return inside the Quest airlock on 6 April, they will wrap up the 200th spacewalk dedicated to station construction and maintenance. Since the initial ISS-related EVA by STS-88 astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman, way back in December 1998, a total of 121 men and women from nine sovereign nations have toiled on the grandest engineering challenge in human history. Among their ranks have been the first national spacewalkers from Canada, Sweden and Italy, together with the longest EVA of all time. As well as marking Whitson out as the oldest female spacewalker, the ISS era has also seen Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov secure the world record for the oldest spacewalker. He was 59 when he headed out of the airlock, back in April 2013.
At the time of writing, Whitson and fellow NASA astronaut Sunita Williams have both performed seven EVAs, more than any other woman. Yet in terms of EVA hours, Whitson sits in second place. Her tally presently stands at 46 hours and 18 minutes, slightly behind Williams’ 50 hours and 40 minutes. As soon as she departs the Quest airlock on 30 March, Whitson will thus become the first woman to perform as many as eight EVAs. About 4.5 hours into EVA-41, she will exceed Williams to become the most seasoned female spacewalker of all time. And by the time Whitson returns inside the ISS on 6 April, wrapping up her ninth career EVA, she will have totaled more than 59 hours outside a spacecraft. This promises to set her in third place—behind U.S. astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria and Russia’s Anatoli Solovyov—on the world list of most experienced spacewalkers.
Be sure to “LIKE” AmericaSpace on Facebook and follow us on Instagram & Twitter!INTERNAL CHANGES WITHIN TNA
As noted in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, over the last several weeks, there have been moves to re-organize aspects of TNA's business to bring them in-house as opposed to having them going through the Panda Energy offices.
TNA's payroll and legal departments will now be housed in house. The way that TNA was organized, when a check needed to be cut for TNA, the invoices would be sent to Panda's offices in Texas (and often scrutinized) before the checks were finally cut and mailed out.
Panda's normal course of business (and TNA not always being high on the list of things they needed to take care of) would often lead to delays, such as when they relocated offices and their payroll department was closed for several weeks. Many times when TNA talents were behind in checks, those working in Nashville would claim it was the outsourcing that caused the delays. Going forward, that won't be the issue. There had been some talk in the last week of talents being late on checks recently, but TNA sources in Nashville claim that everyone should be up to date as of today.
TNA's legal will also be in-house going forward, as opposed to being out of Dallas. The belief is this is going to help move things along within the company.
There's been a lot of rumors about Panda divesting themselves of TNA, but from what I am hearing, they will still be the owners while TNA operating more independently.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more, right now for THREE DAYS free by clicking here!The Great Divide is a series about inequality.
Few topics in American society have more myths and stereotypes surrounding them than poverty, misconceptions that distort both our politics and our domestic policy making.
They include the notion that poverty affects a relatively small number of Americans, that the poor are impoverished for years at a time, that most of those in poverty live in inner cities, that too much welfare assistance is provided and that poverty is ultimately a result of not working hard enough. Although pervasive, each assumption is flat-out wrong.
Contrary to popular belief, the percentage of the population that directly encounters poverty is exceedingly high. My research indicates that nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 will experience at least one year below the official poverty line during that period ($23,492 for a family of four), and 54 percent will spend a year in poverty or near poverty (below 150 percent of the poverty line).
Even more astounding, if we add in related conditions like welfare use, near-poverty and unemployment, four out of five Americans will encounter one or more of these events.
In addition, half of all American children will at some point during their childhood reside in a household that uses food stamps for a period of time.
Put simply, poverty is a mainstream event experienced by a majority of Americans. For most of us, the question is not whether we will experience poverty, but when.
But while poverty strikes a majority of the population, the average time most people spend in poverty is relatively short. The standard image of the poor has been that of an entrenched underclass, impoverished for years at a time. While this captures a small and important slice of poverty, it is also a highly misleading picture of its more widespread and dynamic nature.
Most of us have been poor, at least for awhile.
The typical pattern is for an individual to experience poverty for a year or two, get above the poverty line for an extended period of time, and then perhaps encounter another spell at some later point. Events like losing a job, having work hours cut back, experiencing a family split or developing a serious medical problem all have the potential to throw households into poverty.
Just as poverty is widely dispersed with respect to time, it is also widely dispersed with respect to place. Only approximately 10 percent of those in poverty live in extremely poor urban neighborhoods. Households in poverty can be found throughout a variety of urban and suburban landscapes, as well as in small towns and communities across rural America. This dispersion of poverty has been increasing over the past 20 years, particularly within suburban areas.
Along with the image of inner-city poverty, there is also a widespread perception that most individuals in poverty are nonwhite. This is another myth: According to the latest Census Bureau numbers, two-thirds of those below the poverty line identified themselves as white — a number that has held rather steady over the past several decades.
What about the generous assistance we provide to the poor? Contrary to political rhetoric, the American social safety net is extremely weak and filled with gaping holes. Furthermore, it has become even weaker over the past 40 years because of various welfare reform and budget cutting measures.
We currently expend among the fewest resources within the industrialized countries in terms of pulling families out of poverty and protecting them from falling into it. And the United States is one of the few developed nations that does not provide universal health care, affordable child care, or reasonably priced low-income housing. As a result, our poverty rate is approximately twice the European average.
Whether we examine childhood poverty, poverty among working-age adults, poverty within single-parent families or overall rates of poverty, the story is much the same — the United States has exceedingly high levels of impoverishment. The many who find themselves in poverty are often shocked at how little assistance the government actually provides to help them through tough times.
Finally, the common explanation for poverty has emphasized a lack of motivation, the failure to work hard enough and poor decision making in life.
Yet my research and that of others has consistently found that the behaviors and attitudes of those in poverty basically mirror those of mainstream America. Likewise, a vast majority of the poor have worked extensively and will do so again. Poverty is ultimately a result of failings at economic and political levels rather than individual shortcomings.
The solutions to poverty are to be found in what is important for the health of any family — having a job that pays a decent wage, having the support of good health and child care and having access to a first-rate education. Yet these policies will become a reality only when we begin to truly understand that poverty is an issue of us, rather than an issue of them.
Mark R. Rank is a professor of social welfare at Washington University and a co-author of the forthcoming book “Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes our Fortunes.”The idea that anyone would run an arduous presidential campaign for the better part of two years only to quit if he wins might seem ridiculous, but Donald Trump indicated in a recent interview that he might do just that.
Pundits have speculated as to the seriousness of Trump’s candidacy since day one, but he proved many of them wrong by defeating the entirety of the crowded Republican field.
Now that Trump is the presumptive nominee, the new theory is that he doesn’t actually want to be president and that he will either sabotage his own campaign or simply quit if he wins the presidency.
this is one way to raise money. suggest you might quit after winning the presidency. https://t.co/vlErmY9AMg — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 8, 2016
Asked point blank by the New York Times whether he would actually quit if he wins, Trump refused to rule it out.
“I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens,” Trump said when asked if he would actually quit if he wins.
Throughout his winning campaign, Trump has enjoyed a tremendous amount of coverage from the media. So while his statement could be taken at face value, it is also possible that the decision to answer the question of whether he would quit after winning with a wink and a nod, rather than an outright denial, is merely an attempt to stir up controversy and draw additional media coverage.
Christie, or whomever becomes Trump's eventual VP choice, could become president if Trump were to quit. [AP Photo/Mel Evans, File]
After asking Trump whether or not he would quit if he wins the presidency, the New York Times brought the subject to former Romney adviser and sharp Trump critic Stuart Stevens.
Stuart told the Times that Trump is “a con man who is shocked his con hasn’t been called,” and perpetuated the rumor that the Republican front-runner is eager to quit, either before or after winning the presidential race.
“He has no sense of how to govern,” Stevens told the Times. “He can’t even put together a campaign.”
Trump may not be able to put together a campaign that measures up to the personal standards of Stewart Stevens, but he did make it through a contentious Republican primary, and he will soon face off against presumptive Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s victory over Clinton is far from a certain thing, especially since she leads in many key polls, but the idea that he could quit if he does actually win raises the question of who would take over as president.
While the presidential line of succession is clear, Trump quitting if he wins could actually create a very complicated situation.
If Trump won the presidency and then waited to quit until after the swearing-in ceremony, his running mate would clearly take over. However, quitting at any point between winning and being sworn in could lead to a number of different outcomes.
The Electoral College would decide the next president if Trump quit after winning but before they gather to cast their ballots on December 19. At that point, the electors would be free to vote for the candidates of their choosing. This could potentially result in a situation where the Republican electors split between several candidates, while the Democrat electors cast their votes for Hillary Clinton as planned.
While unlikely, Clinton could lose the general election and still become president if Trump were to quit after winning but before the Electoral College ballot. [Photo by Star Shooter/MediaPunch/IPX]
If Clinton was able to secure a majority of the electoral votes in that situation, she would win the presidency.
In a more likely scenario, with no single candidate receiving a majority of the votes, the House of Representatives would select a winner from the top three names to emerge from the Electoral College vote. The vice president would then be selected by the Senate.
The situation would become even more complicated if Trump chose to quit after winning the Electoral College ballot.
While it is likely that the vice president-elect would take over, it would be a completely new territory.
“Nothing like this has ever happened,” Alexander Keyssar, a Harvard historian and Electoral College expert, told the Times.
Do you believe that Donald Trump might actually quit if he wins, or was he just trying to draw more media coverage by refusing to deny the accusation?
[Photo by John Minchillo/AP Images]Students at American University in Washington D.C. have condemned the school over what they said was an inadequate response to racially-charged incidents on campus this month.
In one case, a rotting banana was left at the door of a black student’s dorm room. In addition, someone drew a penis on a whiteboard attached to her door.
“I wouldn’t let people drive me out,” Neah Gray, the freshman who found the banana, told the newspaper. “But it’s kind of sad that this kind of thing still happens.”
In another incident, someone threw a rotten banana at a black student, according to the American University Black Student Alliance. The organization said that the actions were part of a pattern of behavior at the university; last year, racist epithets were written on the dorm doors of black students.
The university described one of the incidents as “not characterized as bias related,” and announced that “conduct charges” were taking place through the “Student Conduct process.” It was not clear which incident the university was referring to.
On Friday, the administration also announced plans for a town hall meeting to be held that very night.
That response didn’t sit well with many students, who said they weren’t given enough notice to attend the meeting.
“Black women are under threat on campus ― they are being used as target practice,” Jada Bell, the Black Student Alliance’s outreach coordinator, told BuzzFeed. “We’re literally being attacked and assaulted on campus, and there’s nothing being done about it by the administration.”
As a result, the university’s student senate issued a resolution late Sunday not only condemning the incidents, but also the school’s response.
American University student Ryan Shepard said signs were later posted around campus:
Recently Black women at @AmericanU had bananas & other items thrown at them. Today, students responded. More to come pic.twitter.com/unKgrdevBv — Ryan M. Shepard (@ryanmarques__) September 16, 2016
The university’s public safety department quickly removed the signs, Shepard said on Twitter.By Lily Dane
Everyone – except Jeff Sessions, it seems – knows that the War on Drugs has been a failure of massive proportions, but the Attorney General is escalating it anyway.
This week, Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to seek the maximum punishment for drug offenses, reversing policy made under former president Barack Obama that was designed to reduce the number of people convicted of certain lower-level drug crimes being given long jail terms.
In a memo to federal prosecutors, Sessions wrote that the change “affirms our responsibility to enforce the law, is moral and just, and produces consistency.”
The memo urged prosecutors to file “the most serious, readily provable” charges that carry the most substantial punishment, including mandatory minimum sentences.
Reversing attempts at reform
Sessions’ directive rescinds guidance by his predecessor, Eric Holder, who told prosecutors they could leave drug quantities out of charging documents in some cases to avoid charging suspects with crimes that trigger long sentences.
The goal of Holder’s 2013 initiative, known as “Smart on Crime,” was to encourage shorter sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and to reserve Justice Department resources for more serious and violent criminals. This change led to a steep decline in the federal prison population, which dropped from nearly 220,000 to 190,000. Nearly half of those inmates are locked up for drug crimes, reports the Associated Press.
Under federal law, mandatory sentences for drug-related offenses range from 5 years to life in prison and are based on the quantity of drugs involved.
“Smart on Crime” allowed judges discretion to set sentences lower than those mandatory punishments.
In announcing his policy, Holder said at the time, “With an outsized, unnecessarily large prison population, we need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter, and rehabilitate — not merely to warehouse and forget.”
Prosecutors were directed instead to focus on the most serious offenses.
Now that will change.
From the Associated Press:
The memo concedes there will be cases in which “good judgment” will warrant a prosecutor veering from that rule. And Sessions said it gives prosecutors “discretion to avoid sentences that would result in an injustice.” But any exceptions will need to be approved by top supervisors, and the reasons must be documented, allowing the Justice Department to track the handling of such cases by its 94 U.S. attorney’s offices. And even if they opt not to pursue the most serious charges, prosecutors are still required to provide judges with all the details of a case when defendants are sentenced, which could lengthen prison terms.
Critics respond to changes
Sessions’ changes will subject more lower-level offenders to unfairly harsh mandatory minimum sentences, critics said.
While wanting to reduce violent crime and overdose deaths is admirable, the long and troubled history of the war on drugs should serve as a cautionary tale, opponents pointed out.
Barry Pollack, head of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the new policy “marks a return to the failed policies of past administrations that caused mass incarceration, devastated families and communities, wasted untold millions of dollars and failed to make us any safer.”
“With overall crime rates at historic lows, it is clear that this type of one-dimensional criminal justice system that directs prosecutors to give unnecessarily long and unfairly harsh sentences to people whose behavior does not call for it did not work,” said Udi Ofer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Campaign for Smart Justice.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also criticized the change, stating that mandatory minimums have “unfairly and disproportionately incarcerated too many minorities for too long.”
“Attorney General Sessions new policy will accentuate that injustice. Instead we should treat our nation’s drug epidemic as a health crisis and less as a lock ‘em up and throw away the key problem,” Paul said.
Brett Tolman, a U.S. Attorney for Utah under President George W. Bush, said in a statement anticipating the policy change:
The Justice Department’s expected shift to prosecuting and incarcerating more offenders, including low-level and drug offenders, is an ineffective way to protect public safety. Decades of experience shows we cannot arrest and incarcerate our way out of America’s drug problem. Instead, we must direct resources to treatment and to specifically combating violent crime. This will help law enforcement do our jobs better.
Michael Collins, deputy director at the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement emailed to NPR,
This is a disastrous move that will increase the prison population, exacerbate racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and do nothing to reduce drug use or increase public safety. Sessions is taking the country back to the 1980s by escalating the failed policies of the drug war.
FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization fighting for smart sentencing laws that protect public safety, also issued a statement in response to Sessions’ memo, saying:
While we appreciate the attorney general’s commitment to |
sea levels and the development of new trap and tool technologies east of the Rockies.
Eastern U.S.
A number of archeological studies indicate a strong presence of Paleoindians in the southeast starting around 9,500 years ago; indeed, the current study produces increased RFPEs in the region, which grew larger and expanded northward and westward during this span. "Estimates fluctuated until 4.9 ka when populations grew to the east and west of the Appalachians as well as in the Middle Atlantic and New England regions," the authors write.
They conclude, "These results illustrate the value in applying advanced statistical methods to aggregate 14C data from archaeological databases... These results suggest that the CARD is a highly useful archive of paleodemographic data that can be used to investigate subjects such as migration routes into and across North America as well as a valuable tool for studies linking anthropogenic impacts with post-ice age faunal extinctions, ecosystem decline, and changing environmental and climatic conditions."
Explore further: Ancient campfires show early population numbers
More information: "Spatiotemporal distribution of Holocene populations in North America." PNAS 2015 ; published ahead of print September 8, 2015, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1505657112
Abstract
As the Cordilleran and Laurentide Ice Sheets retreated, North America was colonized by human populations; however, the spatial patterns of subsequent population growth are unclear. Temporal frequency distributions of aggregated radiocarbon (14C) dates are used as a proxy of population size and can be used to track this expansion. The Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database contains more than 35,000 14C dates and is used in this study to map the spatiotemporal demographic changes of Holocene populations in North America at a continental scale for the past 13,000 y. We use the kernel method, which converts the spatial distribution of 14C dates into estimates of population density at 500-y intervals. The resulting maps reveal temporally distinct, dynamic patterns associated with paleodemographic trends that correspond well to genetic, archaeological, and ethnohistoric evidence of human occupation. These results have implications for hypothesizing and testing migration routes into and across North America as well as the relative influence of North American populations on the evolution of the North American ecosystem.– Four suburban Twin Cities counties say they are agitated with the way the Metropolitan Council is making decisions and have hired a federal lobbyist in hopes of gutting the regional planning organization’s appointed board of directors.
The lobbyist, who represents Anoka, Carver, Scott and Dakota counties, will work to make the case to the U.S. Department of Transportation that the Met Council — the seven-county regional agency whose 17 members are appointees of Gov. Mark Dayton — is violating a federal rule by distributing more than $660 million a year without appropriate input from elected officials.
The counties say that a somewhat obscure rule buried in the most recent federal transportation bill requires such regional government bodies to have elected officials — not just political appointees — making ultimate decisions on their boards.
The action by the counties drew a blistering response from Dayton, who said it was “really, really reprehensible” that they had gone “sneaking off to Washington” behind his back.
The four counties argue that 42 percent of the metro area lives outside the core counties of Ramsey and Hennepin and that there is an inherent conflict of interest within the Met Council because the decisions about how to steer hundreds of millions in tax dollars lie ultimately with people who are gubernatorial appointees.
“It’s not about simply griping about allocation of transportation or parks money or housing in any given particular funding cycle,” said Dakota County Commissioner Chris Gerlach.
“We look at it and say, there is a fundamental problem with the way the Met Council functions. You think it’s one thing, but it’s really not,” Gerlach said. “You think that a Met Council is made up of 16 individuals and a chair appointed by various districts and therefore you have a diverse group that is going to … advocate for the region. It’s not that at all. What it is, it’s a state agency.”
The counties say they have been particularly riled since seeing how the Met Council planned on scoring transit projects with weights given to nonmotorized transportation modes and to concentrated areas of poverty — issues that county officials say do not reflect suburban problems such as congested intersections.
“It seems as though everything is focused on the urban core at the expense of the suburbs,” said Rhonda Sivarajah, chairwoman of the Anoka County Board.
Dayton ‘appalled’
Quarrels between cities and suburbs about how to spend public dollars are as old as the cities and suburbs themselves. But the decision by the four counties to hire a federal lobbyist — before checking with the governor — is viewed by Dayton as a nuclear option.
“It’s really, really reprehensible on their part to be sneaking off to Washington behind the back of — I don’t know if the people on the Met Council were aware of it, but at least behind my back,” Dayton said. “And then come to the state of Minnesota for funding for their projects and the like? If we have a disagreement within our family, then the place to resolve that is within our family. … To go out to Washington behind our backs and trash our situation here in Minnesota, and denigrate Minnesota in front of federal authorities, and try to turn the federal government against Minnesota is really, really irresponsible. I’m appalled to just learn this.”
Anoka County will have spent at least $15,000 in the first quarter of 2015 to enlist the services of Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, according to lobbyist disclosures. Filings show the three other counties also hired Miller/Wenhold and said they plan to spend $15,000 to $20,000 each in public dollars this year to research options for how to get around the Met Council. The lobbyist, Paul Miller, did not return calls or e-mails to comment for this story.
Advisory board
Counties have been angry at the Met Council’s composition for years. The council — created by the Legislature in the 1960s — oversees transportation planning, as well as Metro Transit, wastewater treatment, regional parks and affordable housing for the four counties, plus Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties.
In the 1970s, the council created a Transportation Advisory Board, made up of elected officials, to dole out advice to the appointed board on spending decisions. Even today, Met Council officials say they rarely disagree or upend decisions made by the Transportation Advisory Board.
Counties still aren’t happy, though. Four years ago, they were angry enough to take their case to the Transportation Department, which eventually affirmed, via a letter, that the current makeup is legal. That 2011 letter is still used by the Met Council to justify its decisionmaking process.
Changing the Met Council’s board would require a change in state statute; several proposals pending in the Legislature would examine the issue.
The way the Met Council operates is extremely rare: A 2010 report paid for by the Federal Highway Administration found that 94 percent of organizations like the Met Council are made up of elected officials.
Anoka, Dakota, Scott and Carver county officials say the law, and bureaucratic language surrounding it, has changed in the past two years and that the newest federal transportation spending bill, which devotes about $50 billion annually to state transportation projects, requires elected officials to have more power.
“It would make the sausage-making much messier,” said Gary Shelton, administrator for Scott County. “But, really, should we just appoint some group to decide what all the policies are? I don’t think so. As messy as it might get, the people who are elected are supposed to make the policy and the rules.”
Met Council Chairman Adam Duininck disagrees. He says there are no conflicts of interest between the Met Council and Dayton’s office.
“To me, the governor is the most regional person in the state,” said Duininck, who is married to Dayton’s chief of staff. “He can’t choose a side. He has to advocate for a decision for the entire region. Ultimately, the governor is someone who cares about the outcome to both.”
Duininck said it would be more of a conflict if counties appointed their own board members because those counties wouldn’t have the state’s interest, at large, at heart.
One of Duininck’s predecessors disagrees.
Curtis Johnson was the chairman between 1995 and 1998 under Republican Gov. Arne Carlson. He said the “time is right” to consider changing the makeup of the Met Council board because it should not be an “extension of the governor’s office.”
“I thought the council should be as independent as possible in doing its job,” he said. “If you’re going to serve just out of fear of being removed, you can’t really do what needs to be done.”
Staff writer Patrick Condon contributed to this story.The ‘silent majority’ has to shut up. No seriously, they do. In order to be a silent majority they have to first – wait for it – be silent about something. And the current group that claims this title while planning and touting a “FNC Tax Day Tea Parties” or Tax Day Tea Party, is far from quiet.
“Silent Majority No More”, reads the front page of the Tax Day Tea Party website. Fox News hosts are attending the gatherings around the country. Silent? Majority?
First, they have to be gentle. Stoic. But mainly, hushed. Then they have earned the right to call themselves the brilliant, Nixon coined ‘silent majority‘. He was referring to the people that weren’t protesting. Hint, hint. Yes, a perfect moniker for lovers of all things rhetorical. The phrase implies that if you don’t vocally disagree – you’re by default onboard. Genius.
So, Tax Day Tea Parties are planned for April 15 – tax day. Thousands of protesters (not all in the same place) are going to protest. Something. Obama probably. Government maybe; with politicians that hate government. Mostly Obama.
Their message is clear – they’re sick of not being heard. As one commenter put it on taxdayteaparty.com, “HI- TEA parties across America-A great idea! YES- We can have a voice in the direction of our country.” Yes. Say it. And another, “This administration has made the people that have been paying attention MAD AS HELL AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT. STAND UP STAND UP STAND UP.” Yes, stand up. You’ve been pushed around by Obama for too long – nearly 80 whole days. You poor long suffering muted people.
Wait, taxes? Are they angry about taxes? And there’s a tea party? Like a revolt? Like the precursor to the Revolutionary War?
The Boston Tea Party was standing up to tyranny after years of neglect. Not standing up to being mad that your candidate didn’t win. The tea was a symbol of the tone deafness and arrogance of King George. Everyone knew Englishmen (which the colonist were) could never live without tea, so British Parliament imposed a huge tax on it. So instead of Liptons being thrown into various bodies of water around this country – the symbolic equivalent would be cutting up your credit cards. Credit card companies are taxing Americans with no representation – but they know that Americans can’t live without them. So where’s that mutiny?
The Founding Fathers weren’t hotheads. They didn’t just ‘get mad’ and usurp a king’s authority. They had real grievances, real ideals, real leaders and a really brutal, bloody struggle. The Fox News Channel Tax Day Tea Parties wasting perfectly good tea to protest government spending is like Jeep Cherokee sponsoring a Trail of Tears 5K. Yeah. Yeesh.
But they’re mad! And they’re ‘teabaggin‘. And the ‘Mainstream Media’ is just ignoring this super important story except for Fox News who’s attached their name to the demonstration. Yeah. A mainstream media news channel part of a huge media conglomerate (whose charm to its loyal followers is that it’s ‘alternative’) is beating the drum for this protest.
Your grassroots movement can’t have corporate media sponsorship.
But heck, if you’re an ear piercing minority calling yourself a ‘silent majority’ what’s a little fact fudging between friends. It’s a little archaic throw back to the Bush Misnomers (titles for things that don’t match what they actually do) – the Clean Sky Initiatives (that aided in pollution) – The Patriot Act (that squashed The Constitution) or my favorite The State of the Union Address (the wedge for the divide was more like it).
Conservatives are either high-profile kvetchers or the silent majority. Not both.
Republicans are either breaking filibuster records or the silent majority. Not both.
You guys are heard. Like Phil Donahue once said to Bill O’Reilly on his show, “Loud doesn’t mean right.” Actually, Phil, these days – it does.
I am a member of the actual current silent majority (all the polls have Obama’s job approval rating hovering over 60 percent, more than who voted for him). I want the stimulus bill to stimulate the economy. I want businesses and markets to be regulated just enough to ban legal pirates but not too much to make them dead in the water. And I hope that it works.
This piece also appears on the Huffington Post.VW has admitted that up to 11 million vehicles it made could be misreporting their true emission levels. The markets crashed on hearing the news, wiping significant value off the company. This morning they crashed again.
However, while the auto industry as a whole is in for a rough ride in the coming months, it’s good news for electric car makers like Tesla, which saw stock prices rise marginally. A small gain is considerably better than wiping out around 20 percent of the company’s value in one day, as happened with Volkswagen.
With the benefits of diesel being overstated, the market is now slowly beginning to turn against diesel cars, even in countries like the UK, where they had overtaken petrol car sales.
Combine this with the improvements in battery technology for electric cars and the slowly increasing trickle of electric car charging points and the odds begin to stack in electric’s favor – for many people at least. It’s a viewpoint that Bernstein Research holds too, according to The Guardian.
Of course, for electric – or even hybrid – cars to really go mainstream and outsell petrol or diesel vehicles will require a drop in price; it’s well-known that the cost of hybrid vehicles is up to 20 percent more than a regular model (where offered). The theory is that this up-front cost is recouped over time with fuel savings.
With Tesla’s cheapest car starting from $75,000, there’s still a way to go yet before you see one on every street corner, but the technology will continue to trickle down to vehicles lower down the ranges, provided demand continues to increase.
As the cost of this scandal mounts and the attention focused on car makers increases, the demise of the diesel car likely won’t be far behind.
UK calls for probe into VW scandal as Merkel seeks 'transparency' on The Guardian
Read next: Backblaze takes on Amazon S3 with dirt-cheap data storage for developersYesterday, ToonamiFaithful.com got word that a site called Bring Back Reboot was up and running. As always, we like to confirm these things, so we sent an email to the people at Rainmaker Entertainment (formerly Mainframe Entertainment Inc.) just to make sure that this was real.
We can now confirm that this page is an official page for Rainmaker Entertainment meaning the movement to #BringBackReboot has official begun. For those of you that don’t know what we are talking about, here is the site that was launched by Rainmaker: www.bringbackreboot.com. An official statement will be coming next week and we will post it here at ToonamiFaithful.com once we have received it from the company.
You can also follow BringBackReBoot(twitter) and like BringBackReBoot(Facebook) create by Daniel (@zerogamer on Twitter) for all the latest news.
What do you guys think of the news? Comment below and also let us know if you would want to see Reboot back on Toonami again?June 17, 2014 17:33 IST
In the first part of this column Colonel (retd) Anil Athale spoke of an aspirational India that is attempting to throw away shackles of Macualayism and the challenges that Narendra Modi faces.
Part 1: Election 2014: Modi versus Macaulay's ghost
In the second and final part, Col Athale says the fight between forces of Indian nationalism and Macaulayism aided and abetted by West is going to be long, hard and dirty. The outcome will decide whether India becomes a superpower or continues to wallow in the swamp of underdevelopment.
My first encounter with Macaulayism was in April 1975. The episode is worth a recall. It was April 21, and India had just launched its first satellite ‘Aryabhatta’ from a Russian rocket.
This author, then a junior captain posted on operational staff, was present at an army party in Rajouri (a field area and headquarters of a division in Jammu and Kashmir). All of us were gathered in the main hall with the general as chief guest. The conversation veered around that day’s news, namely the launch of the Aryabhatta satellite.
A very good friend of the author, a senior major, who headed the intelligence department, in a light-hearted manner, commented on this, “Who is this Bhatta Bhatta?” There was general laughter! I think something snapped in me and at top of my voice from the other end of the room, I told my friend (and indirectly the general and others who found this a joke worthy of laughter) that Aryabhatta was one of the world’s greatest astronomers, who had accurately predicted the various facts about planets 1,000 years before Galileo and Copernicus and if he did not know this he should just shut up.
I was lucky to survive, for any fauji will understand that this was gross insubordination, an offence punishable with censure. Luckily, the general, a God-fearing man and a gentleman, possibly saw merit in what I said and my friend asked me the next day as to what was wrong with me! We remained friends for many more years, God bless his soul. But as I recall that episode, I see the Macaulayists all round me.
Just sample this. All Hindi movie actors/actresses prefer to talk in English. Film magazines about Hindi movies are in English. Open pages of the so-called leading newspapers, you will find that even a PhD student or a person based in Paris comments authoritatively on India. The issue is not one of freedom of expression but of the kind of media space given to these sahibs or, as an alternative, those in ‘white’ universities. Sitar, yoga, meditation techniques all came to the Indian brown sahib elite via the West.
An idea, an individual or institution gains respectability only after it is accepted by the West. Many of us have encountered this where even when one tries to use the ‘native’ language, if the shopkeeper senses that you are a ‘sahib’ he replies in English. I have myself been aghast that despite my over 25 years of work on national security and several publications, what seems to impress many is the fact that a Western government gave me an odd fellowship and invite.
Before the usual suspects begin to bay for my blood for English bashing, let me clarify. One is not against English language. It is today a global language and a useful ‘tool’ to acquire knowledge. But language is not an end but a means. What the Macaulayists have done is to use this tool to subjugate the non-English speaking people, as envisioned by Macaulay.
But even the colonial educational institutes sometimes produced great nationalists and thinkers who did not get brain washed. It is a minor miracle that from avowedly Macaulayan institutes, India produced a gem like Swami Vivekananda (who studied in Scottish Church College, Kolkata). But the exception only proves the rule.
Most of these colonial institutes produced precisely the kind of Indians that Macaulay envisaged. It is these individuals who mostly man India’s administrative machinery, judiciary and even armed forces. Modi has a long, hard and dirty battle on his hands in the future.
Returning to the ‘challenge and response’ theory of rise and fall of civilisations, one can understand the initial Nehruvian years when India and Indians absorbed Western ideas, institutions and language. But it became clear that having adapted and grown in strength, India will assert and free itself from the Macaulayism. After Nehru’s death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the prime minister.
Shastri was steeped in Indian culture and tradition and was a true ‘rajyogi’ (an ascetic ruler). But it is a fallacy if one were to claim that his leadership was easily accepted. The author was a cadet in the National Defence Academy at the time and can vividly recall that every time he came up on the screen during a movie show (for those who don’t know, at the beginning of all movies a short ‘news reel’ produced by the Films Division was shown), the cadets would burst into laughter.
After the imposing figure of a pucca sahib like Nehru, the rustic, diminutive, dhoti-clad Shastri with a squeaky voice was indeed a figure of derision for most Macaulayans. But then came the 1965 Indo-Pak war and Shastri showed exemplary leadership in fighting the US-Pakistan combine.
If Shastri would have survived longer, Macaulayism would have been dead and buried. One recalls the kind of national spirit Shastri evoked. When India faced the American food embargo, his call to eat one less chapati got a huge response. It seemed that Indian nationalism was asserting itself. His early death cut short this attempt.
Indira Gandhi, who followed him, was no Macaulayist. But it took her some time to find her feet and by the time she did, in 1980, she became the victim of international politics that was hell-bent on dividing India. Her son who followed her won a landslide victory in the 1984 elections essentially on the plank of Indian nationalism. One of the measures he took to re-assert Indian identity was to revive the public's interest in India’s ancient past. His decision to air the Indian epics Ramayan and Mahabharat, dealt a decisive blow to Macaulayism. But his assassination cut short that attempt.
In 1999, when an avowedly ‘nationalist’ government came to power in India under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, another attempt was made to dismantle the Macaulayist legacy. Under Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, an attempt was made to re-assert Indian nationalism.
Restoring the Indian historical narrative was seen by him as the first step to national rejuvenation. It is understood that victors write history. Since the British ruled India for long, the version of history taught to Indians had a heavy bias towards their rule.
For instance, the emphasis given to narrating the deeds of various governor generals was far in excess of their long-term impact. On the other hand, ancient Indian history was given a short shrift. It is this that produced the kind of people described by the author earlier, who had no clue about Indian contribution to science or philosophy.
But Joshi's attempt was fiercely opposed by the Macaulayists, individuals as well as institutions. It was derisively called ‘saffronisation’ of history. The Vajpayee government was weak politically and had to succumb to the pressures.
After the 2004 electoral defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Macaulayists under the United Progressive Alliance government struck back and virtually rolled back most of the changes that had been brought about since the 1980s. But it soon became apparent that the Macaulayists were in retreat. For despite the political changes in India and return of Macaulayists to power, the IT professionals of Indian origin as well as the Indian Diaspora was doing exceedingly well.
The success of Indians abroad and the dismal performance at home began to show up the ruling elite in bad light. It was only a matter of time before the electorate sent them packing in 2014.
India and China, two ancient Asian civilisations, followed different paths to rejuvenation. While India took up the parliamentary democracy route and Macaulayist and administrative system, China adopted Marxism, another Western philosophy, to modernise itself. As China progressed and gained confidence, it jettisoned the Marxist crutches by 1979 under Deng Xiaoping, who proclaimed the Chinese path as Marxism with Chinese characteristics. It seems that India is finally at that ‘Deng’ moment in its history where it is ready to shed the Macaulayan ideological baggage.
It would be foolish of the new government of Modi to think that the battle has been won. It may be easy to deal with opportunists who jumped on the bandwagon of the ruling dynasty and Macaulayism for personal gain.
But there are others who sincerely and genuinely believe that a pluralistic, modern and democratic India can only survive on Macaulayan foundations. Their number is large and they do occupy important slots in administration and the media. The West understands the danger of the rise of another China-like Asian power. Witness the chorus of criticism and apprehension at the possible victory of Indian nationalists in the Western press.
The fight between the forces of Indian nationalism and Macaulayism aided and abetted by the West is going to be long, hard and dirty. The outcome of this war will decide whether India fulfills the prediction of British historian Arnold Toynbee and like China becomes a superpower or continues to wallow in the swamp of underdevelopment.As the college football regular season enters its second half, Mississippi will control the most expensive secondary market average price this week when they host Tennessee at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Following the top-priced game in Oxford is a meeting between Notre Dame and Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Rutgers and Ohio State own the third highest-priced ticket this week for their game at Ohio Stadium. In the lower half of this week’s most expensive games is a battle between SEC powerhouses Texas A&M and Alabama in Tuscaloosa and a matchup between Baylor and West Virginia.
Tennessee Volunteers at Mississippi Rebels | Avg. Price: $242.70 | Get-in: $136
After jumping 12 spots into the top five most expensive schools on the TiqIQ Top 25 this week, Ole Miss will host Tennessee as it puts its flawless 6-0 record on the line against the Vols at home. The average price for Tennessee vs Ole Miss football tickets is $242.70 on the secondary market. The get-in price for the game is currently $136. The Rebels were able to string together two consecutive wins against Alabama and Texas A&M over the last two weeks, allowing ticket prices to soar over their final four home games of the season.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Florida State Seminoles | Avg. Price: $218.52 | Get-in: $116
A pair of 6-0 teams will battle in Tallahassee this Saturday as FSU plays host to Notre Dame. The average secondary price for Notre Dame football tickets is $218.52 with a and get-in price of $116. Jameis Winston has frequently found himself under fire by the media for his behavior off the field, but the 20-year-old QB has held his own amidst all of the scrutiny. Tennessee heads to Doak Campbell Stadium with a 3-3 record and will have their work cut out for them as they ready to face the defending National Champions.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Ohio State Buckeyes | Avg. Price: $154.87 | Get-in: $55
The Ohio State Buckeyes will host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Ohio Stadium this Saturday in the third most expensive game of the week on the secondary market. The average price for Ohio State football tickets against Rutgers is $154.87 with a get-in price of $55. Despite owning third-place honors on the most expensive games list, Ohio State still controls the top spot on the TiqIQ Top 25 with a season average of $241 at home. The 4-1 Buckeyes get set to welcome the 5-1 Scarlet Knights, who have found a considerable amount of success over the last three weeks of the season. The team heads to Ohio following a big win against Michigan at home last week.
Texas A&M Aggies at Alabama Crimson Tide | Avg. Price: $150.82 | Get-in: $46
Alabama’s playoff hopes will be put on the line this weekend when they host Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. The average secondary price for Alabama football tickets is $150.82 with a get-in price of $46. Alabama has played erratically over the last two weeks on the road, taking a loss to Ole Miss and barely escaping with a win against Arkansas last weekend. They head home with a 5-1 record and sit in fourth place in the SEC West, where Mississippi State and Ole Miss control top honors at a perfect 6-0 each. The Aggies will look to climb back into playoff contention but have lost their last two and enter Week 8 with a 5-2 record.
Baylor Bears at West Virginia Mountaineers | Avg. Price: $142.96 | Get-in: $91
Rounding off this week’s top-priced games is a matchup between Baylor and West Virginia at Mountaineer Field. The average price for West Virginia vs Baylor football tickets is $142.96 on the secondary market with a get-in price of $91. The Bears will play their fourth road game of the season this week and will look to improve on their 6-0 start to the season against the 4-2 Mountaineers. The Big 12 meeting comes at a pivotal time for West Virginia, who risks falling further out of playoff contention. The team currently sits in fifth place in the conference, trailing first-place Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Oklahoma.Last Wednesday’s Village Voice cover story profiled the DeBartoli sisters, two Staten Island sisters who starred in the never-aired Jersey Shore precursor Bridge & Tunnel and signed enormously binding contracts, legal documents that seemed to be written in another language but that they accepted anyway. This is standard practice for all its reality-show subjects, and though the following is a different document than the one the B&T girls inked, we’ve managed to get our hands on an unsigned Real World contract. The 30-page spectacular is worth careful scrutiny, but please enjoy the amusingly specific highlights we’ve summarized below. Happy birthday, MTV!
Under the stipulations of the following standard contract, participants in Real World–the grandaddy of “reality” shows, after Cops–agree to the following terms:
• You may die, lose limbs, and suffer nervous breakdowns. (Stipulation 1)
• If you undergo any medical procedures while involved in the show, they carry the risk of infection, disfigurement, death. (4)
• You may be humiliated and explicitly portrayed “in a false light.” (12)
• Producers are under no obligation to conduct background checks on your fellow cast members. (7)
• If you contract AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases while filming [“gonorrhea, herpes, syphilis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), Chlamydia, scabies (crabs),’hepatitis, genital warts, and other communicable and sexually transmitted diseases or Pregnancy; etc”], MTV is not responsible. (7)
• Interacting with other cast members carries the risk of “non-consensual physical contact” and should you contract AIDS, etc. during such an interaction, MTV is not responsible. (7)
• You don’t have STDs, but accept that other people on the show might. (18)
• You’re not pregnant and you won’t become pregnant before the show’s done filming. If you do become pregnant, you’ll tell the Producer immediately–and pregnancy is grounds for dismissal. (38)
• If you get kicked off the show, it will be filmed. (14)
• You can’t change your physical appearance during filming, without the Producer’s express permission. (26)
• You grant the Producer blanket rights to your life story. (49)
• The Producer can do pretty much anything they want with your life story, including misrepresent it. (49)
• Your email may be monitored during participation. (20b)
• You promise not to hide from MTV cameras in establishments where they can’t film. (20a)
• You authorize the Producer to have total access to your school records, government forms, your credit history. (19)
• The production crew can show up at your personal house at any time to film and/or to take anything they want, as long as they return the objects once production has ended. (20a)
• Under ordinary circumstances, all of this would be considered a “serious” invasion of privacy. (11)
• For one year after the show’s final episode airs, cast members are required to participate in all producer-determined press and forbidden from engaging in any media (radio, television, chat rooms, blogs) without the Producer’s written permission. (9)
• The Producer holds the authorship and copyright to every photograph, email, website, sound or video recording, documented performance created in relation to the program, on every medium imaginable. (8)
• You’re obligated to participate in a Reunion Special for up to five years after the show ends, you’ll be paid $2500 for your involvement, and the Producer only has to give you 14 days notice. (50c)
• You’re required to participate in book or home video projects for two years after the show ends, and you’ll be paid $750.00 for each one. (50f)
Also, worth noting:
• While you’re on the show, you’re responsible for all long-distance phone charges. (16a)
• The explicit list of physical tasks you might be subjected to, enumerated in the contract, include traveling by “air (whether via helicopter, commercial airliner, glider, private aircraft or otherwise), train and/or automobile, as well as strenuous and/or dangerous and/or mental activity, including but not limited to, horseback riding, jogging, bicycling, motorcycling, exercise and/or weight equipment, skydiving, swimming, bungee jumping, parasailing snorkeling, jet skiing, amusement park activities, rock climbing, engaging in contact sports, hiking, kayaking and boating.” (1)
There’s a lot more where that came from. Our favorite lines highlighted in orange.
[There’s bravery, and then there’s redditor Mister_Scorpion. Dude has promised to do something no sane person would.
“What is the worst possible Subway sandwich possible, using actual ingredients from Subway?” he wrote to his fellow redditors, subsequently noting: “I will eat the highest rated comment and report back.”
Here are some of the top-voted options on the table right now:
Get the wheat bread. Insist that they “lube it up son!” first by slathering a copious amount of mayo on both sides. To the point where you can’t see bread anymore. Then you get them to toast it on 3. Add cold meatballs and you’re good to go
Well… I was a fussy eater as a kid so I used to get a white footlong with just olives and tomato sauce.
Walk in and ask for a wheat bread with salt. Just have em pour on the salt until they’re worried for your health and refuse to add more… toasted of course.
Meatball and tuna with double squirt of sweet onion teriyaki sauce. Not toasted
Taking a page from an older thread and combining them: Italian bread Chocolate Chip Cookie Pepperoni Whole Pickles Mayo Edit: in case it wasn’t clear, you put the cookie in the sandwich. In the old thread, some guy was able to convince the sandwich maker to do that. There was also a comment about getting a whole pickles from the back.
Italian herb and cheese All the sauces Just bell peppers, no other vegetables or meat All triangular cuts of cheese, but ensure that they are improperly positioned so that the sandwich does not maximize the cheese coverage.
Dude comes in and asks for a big philly. The big philly is a steak sandwich that comes with 3 trays of meat (all other comes with just 2) and double cheese. He asks for double meat and double cheese, toasted. So at this point we have a sandwich with 6 trays of meat and 16 slices of cheese. Specifically asks for 2 trays on the side he’s about to eat now for lunch, and 4 on the other for dinner. The only vegetables he got was banana peppers, but then came sauces. I emptied about a half bottle of oil, chipotle, sweet onion, and mayo each total. I could feel my arteries closing at this point. He was cool and asked me to not attempt closing it, ended up wrapping in it saran. The total came up to over $14 and as I handed it to him he said “I call this the 2 chainz special” and left. Never saw him again.
Well you said any ingredients from Subway? Get a sub. Let’s go with a foot long BMT on Italian Herb and Cheese. Toasted? No. Double cheese? Yes. Fill it up with lettuce. That’s the only topping that you need. Next up, order a large Pepsi. Now submerge your sub inside of your cup of Pepsi. Let it soak up all that soda. Next up… Eat your Pepsi sandwich. The soaked bread will be terrible. The wet lettuce will be horrible. The meat that they put on will be gross. Finally you’ve just ruined your soda too. Edit: If they have Coke instead of Pepsi, use Coke instead.
Tuna, pepperoni, mustard and olives on whole wheat.
We still have about 20 hours before Mister_Scorpion commits to a sandwich—which he will be eating for dinner in Australia—plenty of time to send your proposal in. He has, unfortunately, set some ground rules for these monstrosities in light of the custom designs listed above:
1) must have one kind of meat 2) Any salads and extra meat/ cheese are fair game. Except red onion, I’m allergic. 3) Only 2 kinds of sauces max plz. That’s the limit at my local store. Also I don’t want to die.
We’ll of course report back if he follows through and survives.
Update 1:28pm CT, June 22: A Subway manager has been kind enough to assemble a couple of these monstrosities for your viewing “ple |
target a virus or another cellular invader. The second component is a complex of proteins that cleaves the invader's genetic material. In a 2009 paper published in the journal Cell, Terns, co-principal investigator Becky Terns and their colleagues were the first to describe how this pathway, known as the Cmr branch of the CRISPR-Cas immune system, works.
In their latest study, the researchers further their understanding of the system and use that in-depth knowledge to essentially hijack the bacterial immune system to direct its homing system to a target of their choosing. Using customized CRISPR RNAs with a modified homing signal, the scientists were able to destroy the message for a protein that is responsible for resistance to the most commonly prescribed family of antibiotics, the beta-lactam antibiotics (that includes, for example, amoxicillin).
Becky Terns, co-leader of the UGA team, explained, "In this study we identified the key features of the RNAs that the system normally uses, and then showed that using this information we can program the system with engineered 'homing' RNAs to destroy new targets. New targets would go beyond viruses and other invaders to include essentially any gene present in the organism being studied. And because we have defined the components of this system, it is possible that we can introduce it into organisms that do not already possess it to further expand the potential industrial and biomedical applications."
She pointed out that most known CRISPR-Cas systems target and cleave DNA. The system that the UGA team studies is the only known example of a CRISPR-Cas system that targets RNA, the molecule that functions as an intermediary between DNA and the proteins that carry out various functions within cells. "Cleaving its own DNA would kill an organism. Silencing specific RNAs allows more sophisticated applications," Terns said.
Researchers could systematically shut down the function of individual genes, for example, to discern the role they play in essential cellular processes. Gene expression could be modified in bacteria that are used to break down plant materials for biofuels or that produce medications, such as insulin, to improve quality and production.
"This detailed biochemical study of a new branch of the CRISPR-Cas defense system-one that targets RNA molecules-has shed light on a powerful weapon in the bacterial arsenal against invading viruses and mobile elements," said Michael Bender, who oversees RNA processing and function grants at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. "In addition, by defining the key components of the system, Drs. Terns and their colleagues have set the stage for the development of a new tool for targeting specific RNA molecules in diverse cell types, potentially providing biomedical researchers with a valuable new way to analyze gene functions."
Michael Terns added, "The possibility of exploiting the CRISPR-Cas system in biotechnology has been discussed since its discovery, and this work begins to realize some of that enormous potential."
Additional UGA authors on the paper include postdoctoral researcher and lead author Caryn Hale, graduate students Sonali Majumdar and Joshua Elmore, former undergraduate student Neil Pfister and Associate Professor of Poultry Science Mark Compton. Collaborators from the University of Connecticut are Associate Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology Brenton Graveley, postdoctoral researcher Sara Olson and graduate student Alissa Resch.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, including American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.Feb 28, 2016; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Ethan Happ (22) looks for a passing lane as Michigan Wolverines forward Mark Donnall (34) defends during the first half at the Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
The Wisconsin Badgers are heading to the Maui Invitational championship following a 16-point victory over the Georgetown Hoyas.
Ethan Happ dominated the glass and Bronson Koenig continued his scoring streak Tuesday night as the Wisconsin Badgers coasted to a 73-57 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational Tuesday night.
Happ had a monster game, stuffing the stat sheet with 19 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while Koenig dropped 20+ points for the third time in four games. The Badgers are now 2-0 in the Maui tournament and will face the winner of the Oklahoma State-North Carolina game Wednesday night for the title.
Both the Badgers and Hoyas were coming off games in which they led by 17 points, only to have the opposing teams, Tennessee and Oregon, storm back and make a game of it. This time, neither team was able to get off to that fast of start as the biggest lead of the first half was only seven points, which was held by the Badgers.
After allowing ten straight points to Tennessee in the opener out of halftime, Wisconsin did not let history repeat itself versus Georgetown. The Badgers took the 32-29 halftime advantage and ran with it to start the second half, scoring the first six points and preventing the Hoyas from trimming the deficit lower than six at any point.
Wisconsin had just three players score in double digits, but had eight different players make a field goal, including Khalil Iverson who provided a few highlight finishes off the bench, and contributed ten points as well.
The difference in the game was rebounding. Wisconsin out-rebounded Georgetown 50-21, including 20 on the offensive glass compared to the Hoyas’ one. The second chances showed up in the box score for Wisconsin, as they attempted 18 more shot than their opponent.
L.J. Peak led the way with 18 for Georgetown, who now sits at 2-3 and will take on the loser of the Oklahoma State-North Carolina game Wednesday night.
Wisconsin will await the other semifinal game before playing for the trophy Wednesday night at 8:30 pm CT. The Badgers will then have the weekend off before heading home to take on Prairie View A&M next week.A regular patron and unofficial spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill has died of an apparent heart attack, the restaurant's owner said on Monday.
John Alleman reportedly suffered a heart attack last week outside the Las Vegas restaurant, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The 52-year-old was taken off life support on Monday.
Alleman, who was not on the restaurant's payroll, inspired the "Patient John" character that appears on the restaurant's menu.
"He lived a very full life," Jon Basso, owner of the Heart Attack Grill, told the newspaper. "He will be missed."
“I told him if you keep eating like this, it’s going to kill ya,” Basso said. “He’d say, 'I just love your place, Jon.' He’s the only person I know who was probably at the restaurant more than I [was]; he’d be here every darned day.”
Alleman is the second unofficial Heart Attack Grill spokesman to die in as many years.
In March 2011, Blair River, the restaurant's 575-pound representative, died from complications stemming from pneumonia. He was 29.
"Cynical people might think this is funny," Basso said at the time of River's death. "But people who knew him are crying their eyes out. There is a lot of mourning going on around here. You couldn't have found a better person."
Founded in 2005, the unapologetically unhealthy restaurant employs waitresses dressed as nurses and serves butterfat milkshakes, "flatliner" fries and 9,982-calorie "quadruple bypass burgers." (Patrons who are able to finish them are escorted to their cars in wheelchairs.) Customers who weigh over 350 pounds eat free.
Since opening in Las Vegas in October 2011, there have been various reports of customers having medical emergencies while dining at the grill.
Last February, a man reportedly suffered a heart attack while eating a “triple bypass burger." According to Las Vegas' Fox 5 affiliate, he survived.Fox News parent Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX) said on Sunday it will investigate a sexual harassment claim against TV anchor Bill O’Reilly, who has seen several companies pull their ads from his top-rated news show in the past week.
The investigation comes after a complaint was phoned in to the network’s corporate hotline last week by Wendy Walsh, a former regular guest on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor” TV show, and her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, which the two posted to YouTube. Walsh, a psychologist and radio host, said O’Reilly reneged on an offer to secure her a lucrative job on the network after she declined his invitation to join him in his hotel suite after a dinner in early 2013.
“I’m told that they are taking it seriously, and they are going to do the investigation that’s legally required of them,” Bloom told CNN on Sunday.
In a statement, 21st Century Fox said it has asked the law firm Paul Weiss to “continue assisting the company in these serious matters.”
Trump defends Bill O'Reilly amid harassment allegations
Walsh, who appeared on O’Reilly’s show in 2013, said in her message to 21st Century Fox that the incident occurred at the Hotel Bel-Air, where they discussed her future with the show, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“At the beginning of the dinner, he made a point of telling me his best friend was Roger Ailes and they wanted to offer me a job as a contributor on his show,” Walsh said in her call to 21st Century Fox, according to the publication. “At the end of the dinner he said, ‘Let’s get out of here,’ and I thought he meant let’s go to the bar and continue talking about my career and to get more career advice. But he started walking in a different direction and when he turned around to find me he said, ‘Let’s go to my suite.’”
When she declined, O’Reilly allegedly became hostile and told her “forget about any career advice I gave you, you’re on your own,” the Times said.
Fox and O’Reilly have paid $13 million to five women who accused him of sexual harassment, the New York Times reported last weekend. O’Reilly said in a statement then that he had been unfairly targeted because of his prominence and has not made further comment.
More than 30 companies have pulled ads from O’Reilly’s Fox News show since the report, including BMW of North America, Allstate Corp, French pharmaceuticals maker Sanofi SA, direct marketer Constant Contact, men’s clothing company Untuckit and mutual fund operator T. Rowe Price. British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it temporarily suspended its advertising.
Fox News, the top-rated cable news network, has faced heightened scrutiny of its workplace climate after sexual harassment allegations led to the resignation of founding Chairman Roger Ailes last year.
21st Century Fox hired law firm Paul Weiss to investigate Ailes.
On April 3, Democratic political consultant and Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky sued the network and Ailes, accusing them of denying her a permanent hosting job after she rebuffed Ailes’ sexual advances.
Roginsky said that a misogynistic culture at Fox News had not changed since Ailes left the network.As more time goes by, the PSVita keeps on getting more ‘important’ homebrew games from Vita Doom to Tetromino. Now, thanks to ‘Creckeryop’, we also have Cookie Clicker which, in my opinion, is one of the best games to use the touchscreen with!
What is Cookie Clicker?
Cookie Clicker before the action starts. Make sure you always exit by pressing SELECT so that your game is saved!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know what cookie clicker is. It was originally released in 2013 to play on browsers and probably wasted countless hours of many people. In the game, you click the cookie and buy buildings that click the cookie automatically themselves! With cookies, you can buy buildings that produce more and more cookies per second thus making Cookie Clicker into somewhat of an addictive game even though it doesn’t have much of a goal, especially in the Vita version.
In the full browser version, you can buy upgrades, anger grandmas and do all sorts of other crazy stuff but for now, the Vita version is a little limited although still fun!
Currently the Vita version (which is at v0.1) has the following features:
Ability to save the game. Save files are in ux0:/data/.
Touchscreen controls for everything so now the touchscreen is more useful!
All buildings up to Prism. That means you have every building except the Chancemaker.
Ability to buy and sell in bulk (10/100).
A design that’s quite faithful to the browser version.
The homebrew is written in Lua and interpreted by Lua Player Plus (by Rinnegatamante) so you could easily fiddle around with the code if you want to add something yourself.
How do I get it?
To get this homebrew game, you can download it directly off VHBB (since it’s on VitaDB) or through the links below. If you have any issues, report them to Creckeryop on the GBATemp thread or GitHub link below! This is a v0.1 release so bugs are bound to be present!
Download link (VitaDB): http://vitadb.rinnegatamante.it/#/info/351
GBATemp thread (future plan for the game is included which has some cool stuff!) : http://gbatemp.net/threads/wip-cookie-clicker-vita.489060/
GitHub page (source code + way to report issues): https://github.com/Creckeryop/CookieClicker-Vita/releasesEVERYONE IS DOING IT!So for funsies, I decided to start on a nuzlocke challenge for pokemon leaf green.For those of you who don't know what that is, it's when you play through a pokemon games, abiding by these rules.1. If a pokemon faints, consider it dead and release it.2. You can only catch the first pokemon you see in each new area.Then document your awesome adventure in the form of a crudely drawn comic I usually like to start off with squirtle...but as far as difficulty level goes, bulbasaur is usually the best bet. So here's the start of my game with my new bestest buddy, Oakley.So yeah. Anyone catch my -oh so subtle- "Adventure Time" joke? Look closer...it's there somewhere.I'll be continuing this comic for sure, but I imagine the updates will be slow...[Next]- [link]There is an old parable of a North American indigenous culture. My best sources say it is Cherokee, but I first heard it from a Mi'kmaq elder.
It is the story of a grandfather who told his small grandson that within him a war was raging.
“There are two wolves,” he said. “And they are fighting in me and they are fighting in you. One wolf is vile. It breeds resentments, greed, envy and violence. The other is pure goodness. It thrives on love and hope, healing and generosity.”
The little boy’s eyes grew wide. “Which wolf will win, grandfather?”
“Ah,” said the grandfather. “That all depends on which wolf you feed.”
Our society is now in the throes of a desperate battle. The life of democracies around the world is being torn asunder as if by two wolves.
Competing styles of politics duke it out. Some carry a worrying odor. Is it fascism? Or is it merely a bit off? Some give oxygen to the previously presumed dead forces of white supremacy, racism, misogyny and hate.
One thrives on fear, division, raw prejudice, and cynicism. The other is pure. It needs hope, faith, mutual trust and co-operation. It thrives on love.
Our young prime minister came to us wearing the mantle of the good wolf. He inspired hope. He imbued caring and compassion, generosity and sharing. He told young people (and he told us old people), “I am here to bring real change.”
I loved that the Liberals formed government without paying for one single moment of attack ads. (Take that cynical politics. Score one for the good guys. “Dog whistle politics” takes a beating.)
I loved that the power of the executive was redistributed from an all-powerful PMO to cabinet ministers. The 2015 mandate letters made transparent the promises of the platform. I firmly believed that every campaign promise would be met because every campaign promise was distilled into the Speech from the Throne.
Admittedly, I never thought the Liberals’ promises on climate were particularly hard to meet. They were vague and weak – better than Harper’s – but not a challenge for delivery. I figured the platform was thin on promises in order to make sure they were all met.
Then blow upon blow rained down in the last eight months. Woodfibre was approved. Site C permits to dam the Peace River were issued. Pacific NorthWest LNG on Lelu Island got the thumbs up. Harper’s weak climate target was embraced as the new government’s goal. And painfully, brutally, Kinder Morgan and its risky tankers, loaded with diluted bitumen (an oily substance that cannot be cleaned up), was given a green light.
But I told myself – these decisions, egregious as they are – violating the commitment to First Nations, breaking faith with the principle that decisions must be evidence-based, with a strong scientific foundation – these projects were not mentioned specifically in the platform. By extension, they blow huge holes through the Liberals promises, but it is possible the Liberals do not appreciate the facts of dilbit, Flora Bank and the eel grass that supports the Skeena salmon.
The Liberals are misled by their advisors. The ministers are new and untested and unaware of how far they have fallen off course.
Yes, I made excuses. Why am I so willing to give the benefit of the doubt? It is because I know how critical it is to keep hope alive. I do not want to feed the bad wolf. Citizen engagement and faith in the system are essential ingredients for our survival.
I speak not of a figurative survival. I speak in real terms of real survival. Rapid decarbonization is essential in order for human civilization to survive. We cannot risk feeding cynicism.
The promise to make every vote count, to ensure that 2015 would be the last election held under first-past-the-post, was clear. It was not open to interpretation.
Claiming, as the prime minister and his newly-minted youngest woman minister – replacing as the youngest minister in government, the previous minister of democratic reform – claimed today that they had “always” said no change would be made until they knew what the majority of Canadians wanted – is raw meat to the bad wolf.
There was never a condition set that consultations would be required to ascertain the will of the body politic. That was the stuff of the 2015 election in which 63 per cent of those who voted supported candidates (whether Liberal, NDP or Green) calling for an end to our perverse voting system.
Our promising (pun intended) prime minister must take stock. This is a moment for urgent course correction. Do not feed the wrong wolf. Too much is at stake.Comprehensive study has found teens are moving to services like Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp and are not concerned about commercial use of personal information
Facebook is 'dead and buried' to older teenagers, an extensive European study has found, as the key age group moves on to Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat.
Researching the Facebook use of 16-18 year olds in eight EU countries, the Global Social Media Impact Study found that as parents and older users saturate Facebook, its younger users are shifting to alternative platforms.
"Facebook is not just on the slide - it is basically dead and buried," wrote Daniel Miller, lead anthropologist on the research team, who is professor of material culture of University College London.
"Mostly they feel embarrassed to even be associated with it. Where once parents worried about their children joining Facebook, the children now say it is their family that insists they stay there to post about their lives."
Teens do not care that alternative services are less functional and sophisticated, and they are also unconcerned about how information about them is being used commercially or as part of surveillance practice by the security services, the research found.
"What appears to be the most seminal moment in a young person’s decision to leave Facebook was surely that dreaded day your mum sends you a friend request," wrote Miller.
"It is nothing new that young people care about style and status in relation to their peers, and Facebook is simply not cool anymore."
In part of the study's research with Italian Facebook users, 40% of users had never changed their privacy settings and 80% said they "were not concerned or did not care" if their personal data was available and accessed, either by an organisation or an individual.
Information that people choose to publish on Facebook has generally been through a psychological filtering process, researchers found - unlike conversations, photos and video shared through more private tools such as Skype, or on mobile apps.
"Most individuals try to present themselves online the way they think society is expecting them to," wrote contributing anthropologist Razvan Nicolescu on Thursday.
"It seems that social media works not towards change – of society, notions of individuality and connectedness, and so on – but rather as a conservative force that tends to strengthen the conventional social relations and to reify society as Italians enjoy and recognise it.
"The normativity of the online presence seems to be just one expression of this process."
• Facebook's new video in News feed could be a mobile data headacheDale Coyne Racing has rounded out its driver lineup for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season with reigning Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion Ed Jones confirmed to drive the team’s second entry.
The 21-year-old driver will spend the year alongside veteran pilot Sebastien Bourdais who was previously confirmed to join the team for next year.
“I’m hugely excited about stepping up to the Verizon IndyCar Series next year,” the young driver said.
“To reach an agreement as early as we have done is great news as it gives me plenty of time to settle into the team and get to know everybody properly so we can prepare as well as possible for the season ahead.”
Jones moved to the United States and began his Indy Lights career in 2015. He went on to win the pole for his debut race and won the first three rounds of the year. His third-place finish in the championship standings in 2015 was improved upon this past season as the British driver scored eight poles and eight podiums — including two wins — en route to winning the 2016 series title.
“IndyCar has been my goal ever since I left Europe to come and race in America, and it’s crazy to think I’ll be joining the grid just two years after moving stateside,” Jones continued.
“Although we spoke with a few teams, Dale Coyne Racing always stood out as the best option and Dale worked hard to make the deal happen.”
By reaching the agreement with Jones, the team continues its tradition of aiding young drivers in competing in the premier North American open-wheel series.
“Ed had a couple of remarkable seasons in Indy Lights and we’re very excited to have him join our team for his rookie IndyCar campaign,” team owner Dale Coyne stated.
“I attended the season finale at Laguna Seca and Ed demonstrated a lot of poise, maturity and determination while under pressure, knowing that the championship was on the line.
“It’s always a pleasure to work with young drivers and see them evolve as the season goes by. We’re excited to be able to get things going this early in the offseason with both of our drivers, and as I said when we confirmed Sebastien, we’re very much looking forward to the 2017 season.”
On Jones’ side of the two-car team will be engineer Michael Cannon with Dale Coyne himself serving as the car’s race strategist.
Jones will begin his rookie season in IndyCar on the weekend of March 10–12, 2017 on the streets of St. Petersburg.Every one of these selections is 100 percent scientifically accurate. We ran the findings through Bill Nye, so you know it’s real.
50. Payroll Giovanni & Cardo Got Wings – Big Bossin, Vol. 1 [Bylug Ent]
Quiet as kept, the most versatile and arguably best rap producer of 2016 was Cardo (Got Wings). He’s been kicking around for a good minute and while he’s capable of making music that largely fits in with whatever the sound of the moment is (pays the bills), it’s clear that his first and true loves are ’80s R&B (as evidenced by his electronic cowbell obsession) and Bay Area/West Coast rap. Similarly, Detroit-bred rappers have been obsessed with the West Coast and Bay Area since MC Breed informed us there ain’t no future in frontin’. Payroll Giovanni is no exception and he wants to motivate your broke ass too.
Payroll Giovanni and Cardo’s Big Bossin, Vol. 1 is a breezy and loving throwback tribute to their shared influences and a welcome entry in the Detroit-Bay canon. They were even thorough enough to throw in some classic No Limit style and AZ interpolations, making Big Bossin, Vol.1 the funkiest music history course for anyone clever or lucky enough to have listened to this project in 2016. — MOBB DEEN
49. XL Middleton + Eddy Funkster – XL Middleton + Eddy Funkster [Mo Funk]
XL Middleton and Eddy Funkster, who co-founded MoFunk Records, (L.A.’s premier modern funk label) team up on these celebratory seven tracks. They fuse electro and ’90s G-Funk into something sonically nostalgic (fat snares and glittery synths), bringing along a cast of MoFunk contemporaries. With robust catalogs, Middleton and Funkster aren’t merely vying for respect; they’re reminding you to show some. Self-titled doesn’t vastly diverge from the sound of their 2013 single, “The Night Time Is Coming.” It glides in the same direction, but the packaging has gotten sleeker, the song structure tighter. “The Boys Are Back” featuring Brian Ellis, Zackey Force Funk, and Diamond Ortiz refunktalizes Thin Lizzy’s brilliant refrain, but avoids coming off as hackey.
This celebrates modern funk in all its eccentricities. You can smell the grill, you can feel the sun’s heat. The final track is titled, “On Our Way To Funkmosphere,” where Funkster is a resident DJ. The song’s a simple reminder that sometimes, it’s best to just boost the beat and ride. — EVAN GABRIEL
48. Red Pill – Instinctive Drowning [Mello Music Group]
Red Pill is in his This Rap Shit Ain’t So Glamorous Phase, but instead of being dour and becoming the next Talib Kweli of Twitter, he followed up his one-two-three combination of 2015 (the EPs Learning to Punch and Day Drunk plus the excellent Look What This World Did to Us LP) with Instinctive Drowning. It’s a heavy trip when you can’t afford the shots your fans are buying you after the show, but with pictorial beats from Ill Poetic that are equal parts Sixtoo and Kno, Red Pill opens up a bottle of Beefeater, opens up for bigger name artists on tour, then opens up about his family’s addiction problems.
The journey he’s been on, vivid as the neon bar signs slinging more booze he can’t stomach, is gutwrenching—he’s using the talents that provide him happiness to wonder why he’s not always happy, but like Don Draper said, ‘happiness is just the moment before you need more happiness.’ I don’t think the next Red Pill album will be as hard fought as this, but his unmistakable writing will always make him one to watch, no matter how dead drunk, dead broke, or dead honest he is. — ZILLA ROCCA
47. Zomby – Ultra [Hyperdub]
To hear Zomby’s Ultra is to hear the hardcore continuum filtered by the patter of grey rain and the low whirr of night buses. Eski clicks, square synths, grainy drum ‘n’ bass, a pan flute Sinogrime homage, plinking ambient–all filtered by the London night in fits and spurts, edited and altered. Zomby’s music is an unspoken tribute to the febrile, creative atmosphere of dark raves and crackling pirate radio. He forever has one Air Max in the present, one Air Max in the past.
Compared with the anonymous producer’s previous album, With Love, which ventured too deeply into then-in-vogue trap, the scope of influences on Ultra is narrowly focused on London. The album is less a London narrative than a London reverie; the songs are bound by references to past ideas rather than a coherent plot. Ultra’s beginning is London, its end is London–what happens in between is an extension of sounds crafted in towering, symmetrical council estates and blank, brick row houses. It’s raw feeling. — TORII MACADAMS
46. Cam & China – Cam & China
When Inglewood’s Cam & China performed in Pink Dollaz as Cammy and Cece, they called out broke, emotionally-stunted men or diagrammed proper form for cunnilingus and lap dancing.
Growing up has nothing to do with changing. It’s about refining the terms of what you’ve always wanted. On their self-titled EP, Cam & China still know what they want in bed. Guys who play games better hang back. But the twins learned to strike a balance between being tough and tender, sometimes even managing to make those tougher moments tender, and vice versa. “In My Feelings” summons men who can do the same. What kind of “thug in the streets” is afraid of affection or oral sex? If he can’t step up, he can show himself out.
This breed of femininity is uncompromising by nature. Cam & China never let shade slide, and now they’re throwing some of their own back. On “Playets,” the sisters vow to “play him for the fuck of it,” egging one another on between refrains. It’s all in the name of empowerment. They assemble femmes at the front of the crowd, where sisterhood translates to safety. — CORY LOMBERG
45. Anenon – Petrol {Friends of Friends]
Petrol is an album for all weather. What happens then is that an album like Anenon’s latest overcomes all seasonal listening habits, changing sonic palettes with every new city, climate, and social environment you want it to work in. Petrol used to be humid and fuzzy—right now, it’s unbearably gray and rainy, and there’s nothing odd about it.
Petrol’s adjustable qualities seem fitting since the record’s guiding metaphor is not a mood or tempo, but a transitional symbol in itself: the highways, freewaysm and concrete walkways of his hometown LA. Brian Simon has taken his sax and electronics experiments out into the world and brought its rhythms back into his tracks. Take “Once,” and the way the hi-hats build into the abrupt stop and go of a car running over white road markings, flanked by a guttural, swelling synth sound that changes the dynamics completely, and you’re right back in the backseat of a car at night, on your way to something ill-advised and unhealthy. — JULIAN BRIMMERS
44. Gonjasufi / The Gaslamp Killer – Callus / Instrumentalapathy [Warp/Cuss]
I have to admit I’m a little surprised that Callus even came out. If Gonjasufi’s masterful 2010 debut, A Sufi and a Killer, was an instant LA beat-scene classic—the esoteric yogi’s wizened voice and cryptic poetry guided along by dope beats from Mainframe, the Gaslamp Killer, and Flying Lotus—his full length follow-up is unrelentingly ugly, the musical equivalent of the screaming voices inside a homeless person’s head. But Callus’ menacing drone tones, screeching 8-bit textures, unhinged guitar lines, and busted beats do have resonance in a year paved with tragedies; when Sufi sings, “Don’t tell me what to believe in / ’Cause we don’t believe in you!” in “Afrikan Spaceship,” it’s easy to imagine the dissilusionment brought on by a system that allows police to go on killing innocent black men and a glaring monster like Donald Trump to be president.
This dark and delirious album matches well with the latest full-length from Gonjasufi’s longtime collaborator, William Bensussen—aka the San Diego-bred, LA-based Gaslamp Killer. Though he’s perhaps best known for his untameable DJ sets on festival stages across the globe, GLK has also proven himself an able arranger of soulful genres like Turkish funk and Ethiopian jazz, and his new album finds him in a particularly reflective state about consciousness and mortality. Some of the tracks were composed as he was recovering from his near-fatal scooter crash in 2013, and at times he seems to be mocking death outright, letting lose in furious displays of drum-break abandon (“Gammalaser Kill,” “The Butcher,” “Shred You To Bits”).
But then there are moments where the weight of the world shows through—like the stunning, 11-minute final track “In the Dark (Part Two),” in which intricate grooves unfold like puzzle pieces, guitars are strummed with utmost delicacy, and shivers of orchestral strings go down the spine. Life can come to an end in an instant, it’s true; but the Gaslamp Killer has endured, and he will not stop. — PETER HOLSLIN
43. Vic Spencer – St. Gregory / Who the Fuck is Chris Spencer?? [Perpetual Rebel]
Vic Spencer and Chris Crack won’t be remembered as the best Chicagoans to release records in 2016. In a year filled with so much obvious evil, it must just have been too hard to pay attention to another pair of super villains. That’s how both Vic Spencer, the city’s under-appreciated elder, and Chris Crack, the prolific young understudy, have positioned themselves. Both are snarling, wisecracking rappers with a grasp on all the fundamentals. Their collaborative album, Who the Fuck Is Chris Spencer??, riffed on the idea of a titular character that combined the best of their ill-intentioned abilities. It’s the antithesis of uplifting, a refreshing recourse in the year of Pablo and Coloring Book, from the same city that spawned such gospel rap.
The halves that comprise the duo also released multiple other projects throughout the calendar year. Chris Crack’s Troll Til They Fold was another demonstration of effortless bah output, and Vic Spencer’s St. Gregory is among the artist’s best work to date. When Vic’s beef with Mick Jenkins went public via back-and-forth diss tracks last year, it felt inevitable that Vic would be on the losing side, at least commercially. Vic is old and hardened, primed for an eternity in the underground. Mick is the promising young upstart. Over a year later, and the judge’s scorecard is finally in: Mick’s boring debut studio LP The Healing Component should be prescribed as the cure for insomnia. Vic has dropped two albums worthy of making this list. — WILL HAGLE
42. Elucid – Save Yourself [Backwoodz Studioz]
In a year in which toothless feel-goodery was far too often seen as an acceptable substitute for substance or genuine humanity, Elucid’s Save Yourself served as a middle finger to both the Chance the Rappers of the world as well as its Hillary Clintons. The East New York MC, who along with billy woods makes up the duo Armand Hammer, relies not on positivity or pop-culture populism but instead a darkness and density that suggests he’s interested in bringing a wholly different New York back than the one that most rappers talk about.
Save Yourself is psychedelic in the same way that the Velvet Underground were psychedelic. It’s post-punk in the way that all the good post-punk bands were post-punk, and hearkens back to an era in which hip-hop, punk, disco, noise, no wave, and the like were all offshoots of the avant-garde, their styles mixing freely and informing one another. Self-producing mostly by feel, Elucid is as precise a lyrical tactician as he is freewheeling behind the boards, using imagery largely borrowed from a childhood spent in the Pentecostal church to render a morally defunct world with apocalyptic urgency. — DREW MILLARD
41. Skepta – Konnichiwa [Boy Better Know]
It seemed for the last few years, Skepta was tapped to be UK grime’s next big thing in the states. American audiences have always been skeptical of the insular nature of grime—the beats, slang, and flows seeming too stilted and foreign to cross over. But when two of America’s most celebrated cultural tourists—Kanye and Drake—decide to buy beachfront property on your wave, you suddenly become charged with becoming the standard bearer of the whole genre to xenophobic audiences. Skepta needed to make an impression if he was going to be anything other than another British also-ran in the United States. Luckily for Skepta, his latest album, Konnichiwa, is well worth the hype.
Seamlessly blending traditional UK grime with more Americanized production and the occasional big name feature, Konnichiwa might be the most accessible grime album to American rap fans since the genre first came to our shores close to 15 years ago. “It Ain’t Safe” sounds like vintage Three 6 Mafia as interpreted by a crew of North London hoodlums while Pharrell emerges to deliver a vintage performance on “Numbers.” As a rapper, Skepta has a real passion for righteous shit talking and Konnichiwa is rife with all manners of slander. On the title track, Skepta kebobs long-time rival, Dizzee Rascal, for falsely waving the grime scene’s flag while getting rich off of sappy pop pablum. Meanwhile on the album’s best cut “Man,” Skepta blasts cynical hype beasts who want to exploit Skepta’s growing fame with “pics for the ‘Gram” over a track with piercing violin strings that is liable to cause an international incident if played too loudly on foreign soil. More than anything, Konnichiwa is a bellicose declaration demanding to be respected as one of grime’s most memorable albums to invade the states. — DOC ZEUS
40. Angel Olsen – My Woman [Jagjaguwar]
No artistic anxiety is more universal than the fear of creating something corny. This thought tends to arise sometime between the making and the sharing. It can sprout as a moment of hesitation and curl into a paralyzing loop of double takes. One |
Bulldozer family of cores was a particularly significant one due to the deep piped nature of the microarchitecture. Intel’s Sandy Bridge, which was introduced to the market at the same time as Bulldozer, had an equally deep pipeline. However with Sandy Bridge Intel introduced a micro-op cache which significantly contributed to reducing the performance penalty of mispredicting a branch. Zen should be AMD’s first CPU core to see the introduction of a technology focused solely on reducing branch misprediction penalties. And while it may not be too similar to the solution on Sandy Bridge it will serve the same purpose.
In summary, compared to the Bulldozer family of cores, Zen has considerably more floating point throughput as well as a better way of handling mispredicted branches, coupled with a more streamlined front-end as well as a faster and more efficient cache sub-system. All of these combined have undoubtedly contributed to the massive 40% IPC improvement that AMD announced back in May.
Zen will also be manufactured using a significantly faster, more power efficient manufacturing process with twice the transistor density of the current 28SHP process used for Steamroller and Excavator based APUs. The process also enables much better scalability from high performance enthusiast FX CPUs to low power APUs.
Fianlly, we should see the new core debut with a new set of enthusiast FX processors scheduled to come out in 2016 on the AM4 socket. With Zen based server chips and mainstream APUs set to follow in 2017.NFL Draft HistoryCleveland - Notre Dame, with 465 draft picks all-time, leads college football with the most selections since the beginning of the NFL draft in 1936.
Traditional powers USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Michigan round out the top five.
As for first-rounders, USC leads with 74, followed by Ohio State and Notre Dame.
During the early years of the NFL draft, there were many more rounds.
The draft was reduced to the current length of seven rounds in 1994. Since then, Ohio State leads with 105 picks.
Below is a list ranking college football's All-Time Top 20, in terms of the number of selections in the NFL draft.
Also:
See our NFL draft database to search all NFL draft picks since the first draft in 1936. You can search by round, school, team, position, name and other ways.
Part 1: Kellen Winslow is among recent players chosen sixth overall
Part 3: Quarterbacks chosen near the top of the first round
Part 4: Recent draft picks from Ohio colleges
Rank School All-time picks *Since '94 1st-round 1 Notre Dame 465 78 61 2 USC 463 94 74 3 Ohio State 393 105 66 4 Oklahoma 344 66 41 5 Michigan 335 72 42 6 Nebraska 331 83 32 7 Tennessee 329 96 42 8 Penn State 323 71 36 9 Texas 321 61 42 10 Miami (Fla.) 295 91 59 10 Florida 295 90 42 12 Alabama 286 66 36 12 Michigan State 286 49 32 14 UCLA 284 45 29 15 Georgia 282 84 26 16 LSU 281 71 32 17 Washington 273 45 18 18 Purdue 267 40 20 19 Pittsburgh 263 35 24 20 Colorado 257 62 22
Sources: NFL, Pro Football Hall of Fame and Plain Dealer archives
* Draft was reduced to seven rounds in 1994.This piece was originally posted as part of the Huffington Post Shadow Conventions 2012, a series spotlighting three issues that are not being discussed at the national GOP and Democratic conventions: The Drug War, Poverty in America, and Money in Politics.
As the presidential election season heats up, the candidates will clash over how the country should climb back from the 2008 economic slump. But often lost in that debate is recognition of the especially harsh impact the economic downturn has had on communities of color. All communities have been touched by the economic crisis, but not all have been affected or treated equally. A meaningful debate about the path to recovery requires a careful examination of the uneven impact on African-American and Hispanic families and the role of racial discrimination in creating the ongoing distress.
As is true with so many aspects of American life, when it comes to the impact of the economic crisis, race matters: According to the Pew Research Center, the median wealth of white households has grown to 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households. The report noted the historic significance of such pronounced inequality, as the gap is the largest since such data collection started over a century ago.
These growing disparities stem directly from the impact the financial crisis had on different communities. While white household wealth declined by 16 percent between 2005 and 2009, black households lost 53 percent of their wealth and Hispanic household wealth dropped by 66 percent. Among other things, this reflects the effect of foreclosures, which have hit minority households with disproportionate force. Homeownership accounts for a greater share of household wealth for black and Latino families than it does for whites. The surge in foreclosures caused a greater portion of that wealth to evaporate, taking with it much of the progress communities of color made in joining the middle class over the past five decades.
These staggering inequalities reinforce themselves over the course of generations. Wealth gaps reproduce themselves as each generation enjoys advantages inherited from family. This means that current racial wealth gaps will beget future racial inequality. "Study after study," according to a recent NPR report, "shows that white families are more likely than blacks and Hispanics to enjoy certain economic advantages -- even when their incomes are similar." Those advantages tilt the scales in favor of those who begin with a leg up. Uneven starting points, in other words, mean that current losses of wealth -- especially because of economic shocks, like foreclosure -- will shape the fortunes of one's children and grandchildren.
Why did the economic collapse hit communities of color with such amplified force? These gaping wealth disparities reflect many sources of inequality, but flow in large part from abuses in the subprime lending market, which sent the wider economy into a tailspin. And those abusive lending practices were rooted in racial discrimination.
Subprime lending and race were inextricably linked from the outset. A 2000 government report found that borrowers in black neighborhoods were five times as likely to refinance in the subprime market as borrowers in white neighborhoods, even when controlling for income. Worse, the report indicated that these disparities could not be linked to preexisting differences in economic conditions, because "borrowers in upper-income black neighborhoods were twice as likely as homeowners in low-income white neighborhoods to refinance with a subprime loan."
These disparities became entrenched as subprime lending expanded. A 2006 report found that, within the subprime market, minority borrowers were over 30 percent more likely to get higher-rate loans than whites, even after risk differences were accounted for. Communities of color consistently received loans with higher price tags and riskier terms, even when white borrowers with similar qualifications received safer loans.
Predictably, discrimination in the subprime market led directly to massive disparities in foreclosure rates. By 2010, African Americans and Latinos were 47 percent and 45 percent more likely than whites to face foreclosure. The link between race, subprime lending, and elevated rates of foreclosure has become crystal clear. According to Princeton researchers, "the greater the degree of Hispanic and especially black segregation a metropolitan area exhibits, the higher the number and rate of foreclosures it experiences."
And yet, the vicious cycle continues. Abusive subprime lending caused foreclosures to hit communities of color especially hard; now, as the foreclosure crisis grinds on, new racial disparities emerge in how those foreclosed homes are managed by the banks that become responsible for their upkeep. One recent study found that, in hard-hit communities across the country, foreclosed properties "in predominantly White neighborhoods were more likely to have neatly manicured lawns, securely locked doors, and attractive 'for sale' signs," while "homes in communities of color were more likely to have overgrown yards littered with trash, unsecured doors, broken windows, and indications of marketing as a distressed sale." These differences have consequences for entire neighborhoods. If you live on a block with bank-owned houses in visible disrepair, your quality of life -- not to mention your property value -- starts to deteriorate.
Economic recovery, in other words, is a civil rights issue. It is inextricably linked with the nation's promise -- enshrined in our civil rights laws -- that discrimination must be banished from the basic spheres of society. Discriminatory lending contributed to a dynamic that placed the entire economy at risk. That means that any policy debate about how to improve economic conditions must grapple with the uneven burden that black and Latino communities have shouldered. An honest and responsible presidential contest ought to deliver nothing less.
Learn more about racial justice: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.Craig Callender and Jonathan Schaffer
Craig Callender (left) and Jonathan Schaffer (right) on meta-metaphysics.
Do mereological sums constitute objects? Questions like this are hotly debated in contemporary metaphysics — yet such questions seem utterly disconnected from science. Has metaphysics gone in the wrong direction? Callender and Schaffer explore the issue.
Related works
by Callender:
“Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics” (forthcoming)
“Time’s Ontic Voltage” (draft)
by Schaffer:
“On What Grounds What” (2009)
“Monism: The Priority of the Whole” (2010)
More video:
Craig Callender’s diavlogs (BhTV)
To download this episode of Philosophy TV right click here and select “save link as” to download a.mp4 version of this conversation. If your mobile device supports.mp4 streaming, clicking that link will allow you stream the video.
To download the audio only version of this episode of Philosophy TV right click here and select “save link as” to download an.mp3 version of this conversation.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post inaccurately described Schaffer’s position. We apologize for the error.This article is over 6 years old
Commander Job W Price died from non-combat related injury while supporting operations in Uruzgan province
US Navy Seal's 'apparent suicide' in Afghanistan under investigation
US military officials are investigating the apparent suicide of a Navy Seal commander in Afghanistan.
Navy Seal Commander Job W Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died on Saturday from a non-combat-related injury while supporting stability operations in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.
A US military official said the death "appears to be the result of suicide". The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the death is still being investigated.
"The Naval Special Warfare family is deeply saddened by the loss of our teammate," said Captain Robert Smith, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, which manages all Virginia-based Navy Seal teams.
"We extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and NSW community during this time of grieving."
Smith added: "As we mourn the loss and honour the memory of our fallen teammate, those he served with will continue to carry out the mission.".
A US military official confirmed Price was from Virginia Beach, Virginia-based Seal Team 4, which is part of the mission to train Afghan local police to fend off the Taliban in remote parts of Afghanistan.
Price is survived by a wife and a daughter.Some of the 7,000-10,000 guns seized from a property outside Pageland, S.C. WSOC-TV video screenshot
PAGELAND, S.C., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Authorities in South Carolina said they arrested a man found to be in possession of more than 7,000 stolen guns and up to 500 stolen chainsaws.
Chesterfield County Sheriff Jay Brooks said Brent Nicholson, 51, was being served a subpoena Friday on charges of trafficking opium and heroin and the deputies visiting the home made note of the man's arsenal.
Deputies returned the following day and cleared the home and a warehouse on the Pageland-area property of between 7,000 and 10,000 guns.
Authorities said they also seized other items including up to 500 chainsaws, hunting crossbows, four-wheelers and taxidermy supplies.
Brooks said 99 percent of the seized items are believed to be stolen property.
He said Nicholson didn't appear to have been planning anything sinister with his weapons.
"(He) looks like a gun hoarder to be honest with you," Brooks told WBTV.
"There's no evidence that he even used them," the sheriff told The Charlotte Observer. "There's no evidence that he was selling them -- he just wanted them. His house looked like that hoarders program on TV."Mood light panel
Materials: Pax Fevik wardrobe door, DIODER led lights, some wood and two hooks
Description: I have always been a big fan of mood lighting and the low cost of IKEA lamps has allowed me to experiment with creating the perfect balance of functional and mood light.
So I decided to make a light panel for my recently purchased toy, a large plasma TV.
I had two packs of DIODER coloured led lights from some previous experiments, and set off to IKEA to find a glass panel door. I wanted a frosted glass panel as I figured this would diffuse the rather harsh lighting of the DIODER led’s.
I picked up a slightly damaged Pax Fevik wardrobe door of 2.29m for 29,95 euro (less than half price!) and set off home.
The challenge was finding a way to hang the door without showing any hooks or wires. After visiting a few hardware stores for inspiration I came up with a simple solution. I mounted two small wooden blocks on the inside of the doorframe, just below the top edge of the frame.
The blocks are about 4 cm thick, creating some distance between the door and the wall, allowing the light to be diffused along the edges on the wall as well.
I had to find the right length of screws that would go thought the blocks and into the frame, but not show on the outside. The door weighs 15 kilos so I used three screws per block to attach it to the frame.
Once the wooden blocks were in place, I attached a simple hook used to hang heavy paintings to each one. I drilled two holes in the wall above my TV, inserted a plug and screw in each, and voilÃ!
Now I attached two more little wooden blocks to the bottom part of the frame to ensure that the distance from the wall was equal on the top and the bottom of the frame. For good order I used a couple of IKEA stick-on floor protectors on the wooden blocks so that they would not damage the wall.
Next I attached four DIODER light strips to the top of the door, and four to the bottom, using the sticking pads supplied with them. It takes some measuring to find the best spacing between them allowing for optimal light coverage within the panel.
Then came the task of making running the wires along the back side of the panel. I used little strips of black duct tape to stick the wires to the backside to make them invisible. That took about 1.5 hours, as you have to use enough tape so that it won’t come loose in a couple of days….I led all the wires to the bottom of the frame where they exited in the middle.
Fortunately I didn’t have to worry about hiding the wires at their exit point, as my TV covers this bit.
The final result was even better than anticipated!
~ Marc, Amsterdam, NLFormer Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, the man credited with stopping a gunman in a firefight on Parliament Hill in 2014, can be seen in photos tackling a protester during a ceremony honouring British soldiers in Dublin, Ireland.
According to the Irish Independent, Vickers was the first to jump into action when a protester interrupted an event at Grangegorman Military Cemetery Thursday morning to commemorate the British soldiers who died in 1916.
There's a time for protest and a time for respect: @KVickers knows the difference! @canadaireland be proud of him. pic.twitter.com/JgAf0tlDWS — Bernard Dunleavy (@DunleavyBernard) May 26, 2016
A male protester stood up and yelled “this is an insult” before Vickers, who is the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, physically restrained the man before police could intervene.
“The whole thing lasted about a minute. The Canadian ambassador grabbed him, there was a struggle and [police] wrestled him to the ground,” an unidentified witness told the Independent.
“Without hesitation he [Mr Vickers] jumped out from the middle of dignitaries.”
In video captured by RTE News, Vickers can be seen grabbing the protester and dragging him away from the ceremony where he is later handcuffed by Dublin police.
READ MORE: Parliament shooting hero Kevin Vickers appointed ambassador to Ireland
“During a ceremony to remember British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising in 1916, Ambassador Kevin Vickers intercepted a protester who ran up to the podium,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement. “Moments later, security officers arrested the protester”
He was not injured during the incident, Global Affairs confirmed.
WATCH: Former Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers helped tackle a protester during a ceremony on Thursday
According to the department’s code of conduct for diplomatic staff abroad, representatives should be aware that any “adverse perception of their actions may have an effect on Canada’s reputation.”
“Regardless of any legal immunity conferred upon representatives abroad, their conduct and actions will be subject to a greater degree of scrutiny and public interest than they would be at home,” the document says.
“The potential for public scrutiny requires that representatives use good judgment and common sense.”
Vickers, the House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms at the time, was credited with firing the shots that killed gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who had killed 24-year-old Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial before storming the Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa on Oct. 22. 2014
READ MORE: ‘Nathan is part of me:’ Man who helped Cpl. Cirillo before he died remembers Ottawa shooting
He was later appointed as Canada’s ambassador to Ireland.
The ceremony honoured the 125 British soldiers who died in the Easter Rising in 1916, an armed rebellion by Irish republicans seeking to end British rule and establish an independent Ireland.
Vickers was representing Canada at the ceremony as a guest of the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charles Flanagan.A new public market and gathering space promoting local food, education, and entrepreneurship
Michigan’s Grand Rapids Downtown Market is a year-round farmers market that brings local food production, distribution, marketing, and education to the community. The first LEED Gold certified public market in the country, the market features 24 indoor vendors and a seasonal 52-stall outdoor shed featuring locally grown, produced, and prepared foods. Upper floors house educational classrooms, a commercial kitchen incubator, a rooftop greenhouse, offices and meeting rooms, and event spaces. The ground floor also includes two full-service restaurants.
The Grand Rapids Downtown Market leverages the farm-to-table movement to create a ‘food hub’ that addresses significant social impact goals. 2015 Selection Committee
The market is located just south of the downtown business district in Heartside, one of the area’s most economically challenged neighborhoods. Vendors accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps, and the market partners with local nonprofits to provide educational scholarships to low-income residents along with complimentary transit passes and “Produce Bucks” that can be used at the market’s grocery store. The Heartside Gleaning Initiative collects excess fresh produce from market vendors for distribution to local food pantries.
The Downtown Market celebrates the local food system by linking the Grand Rapids community with many of the 12,220 farms in 11 surrounding counties and attracts a diversity of customers and additional investment to the southern edge of downtown. Educational programming is at the core of the market’s mission, and classes on cooking and nutrition are offered in the teaching kitchen, which features adjustable-height countertops that can be lowered for children. An incubator kitchen program assists start-up entrepreneurs with the development, production, and marketing of food products using a shared commercial kitchen.Former Ted Cruz staffers Amanda Carpenter, Alice Stewart -- CNN screengrab
Conservative commentator Amanda Carpenter had very few kinds word for First Daughter Ivanka Trump on Tuesday night, calling her job alongside her father in the White House “creepy.”
Appearing on CNN with host Don Lemon, the former speechwriter for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) shot right out of the gate with criticism of Ivanka who is being given both a security clearance and a West Wing office.
“I want to start with you,” Lemon said addressing Carpenter. “You wrote a tough column for Cosmo about this. Here’s part of what you said. ‘She sits with foreign dignitaries and is setting up an office in the White House and issued government communication devices and seeking clearance. What is she doing? Nobody knows. What qualifies her? Apparently being the president’s daughter. There’s a word for this: nepotism. And it makes everything that Ivanka has done up to this point to position herself as an example for working women into a farce.”
“Why nepotism?” Lemon asked.
“The only reason she is getting West Wing space and a security clearance is because she is the president’s daughter. Because she is the direct bloodline line to the president,” Carpenter explained. “No one else has the kind of privilege she does in this position, which doesn’t have a title.”
“We don’t know what she is going to be doing in this vague description of being ‘eyes and ears’ for the president — which is actually a little creepy,” she continued. “What is most worrisome to me is that fact that she says, as a way of smoothing over the concerns on this, by saying that she will quote, ‘volunteer to abide by ethics laws.”’
“No one else gets to volunteer,” Carpenter smirked. “You are expected to comply with them. I mean, will she volunteer to go to jail if she does not comply with them? I don’t think so. Everything about this arrangement signifies privilege in a special position for a presidential daughter that is nothing other than nepotism.”
“Ivanka Trump is no advocate for working women,” Carpenter later stated. “She is taking a job from a well-qualified woman who most probably has, most certainly has, more national security experience than Ivanka Trump. I do not know why Ivanka Trump is sitting at that table for critical decision making that could impact our homeland security.”
“Someone needs to explain that because I think there are far more qualified men and women who should have that spot in the White House over Ivanka Trump.”
Watch the video below via CNN:Editor's note: Maurice Henry Glen Crichlow initially pleaded guilty, on August 12, 2009, to a class B misdemeanor (obstructing justice) and a class C misdemeanor (disorderly conduct). Those charges were subsequently amended and reduced on December 14, 2016, to a class B misdemeanor (charge 1) and an infraction (charge 2).
OGDEN -- Weber State University police booked a man into jail on investigation of felony robbery after an apparently disastrous trip through the buffet line.
Campus officials said it happened Thursday at the Shepherd Union Building, where a buffet had been set up for competitors in an archery tournament. Police said Maurice Henry Glen Crichlow, 20, was spotted going through the line and confronted by a food services employee.
"He did not appear to be a member of the competition," WSU spokesman John Kowalewski said Friday. "This individual (the food services worker) approached the young man-this is the second time he'd been seen in the line that day-and informed him that if he wanted the food he needed to pay for the food."
Kowalewski said the man became belligerent, pushed the one worker and was immediately confronted by another food service worker.
"At that point this individual shoved, or pushed the second staff member and said, 'If you've got a problem with me, call police,'" Kowalewski said.
They did. Crichlow was ultimately arrested and booked into the Weber County Jail on investigation of second-degree felony robbery, disorderly conduct and interfering with an arrest.
E-mail: bwinslow@ksl.com
×This article is part of the Democracy Futures series, a joint global initiative with the Sydney Democracy Network. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.
Across the Western world we have seen the rise of right-wing populists such as Donald Trump in the US, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France. They have seized on Western fears of Islamic invasion and translated them into votes.
The political resurrection of Pauline Hanson and the appearance of a poll indicating that 49% of Australians wish to stop Muslim immigration suggest right-wing populism has found fertile ground in Australia.
The rise of the populist right tends to be rationalised as either the resurgent racism of white people, manifesting as Islamophobia, or as a protest vote against the negative effects of globalisation.
But behind the rise of anti-Muslim antipathy in Australia lies a more uncomfortable explanation: the surprising persistence of religious identity in Australian public life.
Hanson’s racism cannot be downplayed. Nor should the possibility that many Australians voted for One Nation as a protest against the major parties be discounted. Still, racist attitudes and economic factors alone cannot explain the nearly 600,000 votes One Nation’s Senate candidates received at the last federal election.
One Nation’s arguments against multiculturalism and immigration – like those of similar right-wing populist parties around the world – do not preclude the idea that people of different ethnicities can live together. Rather, they tout a vision of Western civilisation that is founded upon Judeo-Christian values and under siege by the alien force of Islam.
Linking Christianity to a secular society
One glance at the One Nation website reveals how important Christianity has become to the party’s understanding of Australian identity. The One Nation page on Islam begins:
Australia is a country built on Christian values. Our laws, way of life and customs enforced in the Australian Constitution were based on a secular society. Secularism is asserting the right to be free from religious rule and teachings or, in a state declared to be neutral on matters of belief, from the imposition by government or religion or religious practices upon the people.
Secularism has often been understood as the overcoming of religious belief. However, One Nation describes Australian culture as both Christian and secular. The implication is that secularism itself has come out of Christian values, so the two are entirely compatible.
For One Nation, Islam is the polar opposite of Christianity and secularism. Where Christianity allows a separation of church and state, Islam, according to One Nation, is inextricably political.
In her maiden speech to the Senate this year, Hanson remarked:
Islam does not believe in democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or freedom of assembly. It does not separate religion and politics. It is partly a religion, but it is much more than that. It has a political agenda that goes far outside the realm of religion.
Contrast this language to Hanson’s 1996 maiden speech. Back then, her primary concern was that white Australians would be “swamped” by Asian immigrants.
Today, Hanson seldom speaks about the threat of Asian immigration. Rather, when warning of the dangers of mass immigration to Australia, she no longer sees the threat as coming from particular ethnic groups, but from the cultures that certain migrants – especially Muslims – carry with them.
The religionising of politics
Western Europe, where right-wing populism has flourished over the past decade, has seen a similar religionising of politics.
German philosopher Jürgen Habermas has noted the return of religion in European public life. He argues that Europe has undergone a “change in consciousness” about religion. According to Habermas, this change largely came about due to Muslim immigration.
Two decades ago it was possible for Europeans to believe secular culture would triumph over religion the world over. Yet the increasing presence of Muslims in Europe, who continue to practise their faith despite the seemingly overwhelming forces of secular modernity around them, has forced Europeans to confront the reality that not all communities are happy to privatise their religious beliefs and adopt secular culture as their own.
Secular culture, then, suddenly seems far less universal and natural, and more like a particular product of the religion that gave it shape: Christianity.
European Muslims’ preference – especially since 1989’s Rushdie incident – for religious identification rather than ethnic identification has also played a powerful role in making Europeans rethink their own religious identity. As Habermas points out, having a Muslim neighbour makes a Christian European feel more – and identify more readily – as Christian.
Pauline Hanson's Please Explain/Facebook
In theory, a Muslim neighbour ought to make a non-religious person more likely to identity as non-religious. But in a society where secularism is increasingly linked to Christianity, many irreligious Europeans appear to be reacting to their new Muslim neighbours by identifying Western culture as “Judeo-Christian and Humanist”, as Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party For Freedom, puts it.
The populist right has seized on this new identity. By arguing that Muslims threaten the West’s Judeo-Christian and secular culture, it has propelled itself into positions of power in a number of countries, including Australia, France and the Netherlands.
Like its European peers, One Nation has reacted to the growing presence of Islam in Australia by emphasising Western civilisation’s Judeo-Christian and secular identity, and by demonising Muslims as belonging to a religion incompatible with secularism.
Attacking One Nation on the grounds that it is racist will do little to stymie its growth. This is because the party is beholden not merely to a racial conception of Australia as a “white” nation, but to an understanding of Western culture as both Christian and secular.Indiana Jones pounded through a library floor to head under Venice in his search for the holy grail; Haruki Murakami’s book, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, takes place largely in an anachronistic sewer network under Tokyo; the Bat Cave can be found under Wayne Manor. However you look at it, hidden cities, off-limits places, and underground constructions are pretty cool – in fiction.
There are some who seek out the hidden corners of cities, attempting for example, to find the Cloaca Maxima (the world’s first sewer) underneath Rome, or mapping abandoned subway stations in New York. These “urban explorers” often risk life and limb – as well as hefty fines and sentences for trespassing – to find and photograph cramped catacombs, forgotten façades, and industrial relics. But how can the average traveler – encumbered by hum-drum safety, monetary, and legal concerns – get into these places? It may not be a purist’s definition of urban exploration, but here are some (mostly) legal and (probably) safe ways to see the other side of cities and places you thought you knew.
Seattle’s Underground City
Beginning as a rough-and-tumble logging town, Seattle was not originally constructed with concepts like urban planning and civil engineering in mind. Because Seattle was built on flats along the Pacific shoreline, the first Seattleites had to contend with tidal flooding, often wading through inches of muck on the streets and sidewalks, losing shoes, personal articles, and possibly small children in the mire. Another dingy drawback was that toilets would not flush – and would often back up – at high tide.
Image: zetrules/Flickr
The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 put an end to the first Seattle, with civic leaders making two important decisions. The first was a building ordinance specifying that all new constructions must be of brick or masonry. The second was to elevate the new city above the tideflats, effectively turning the second story of buildings into the new ground floor. Shop-keeps quickly rebuilt, and sidewalks and streets were planted one story higher than before, creating underground passageways lined with the original storefronts.
Today, walking around Pioneer Square, you wouldn’t even notice that you’re treading on the remnants of old Seattle. Take the Underground Tour, however, and you’ll experience the dank, muddy, and downright stinky Seattle of a hundred years ago.
Image: SightsinSeattle.com
Catacombs and Mines of Paris
There’s nothing like a catacomb to pique the interest of any self-respecting urban explorer, and indeed there are uncounted “cataphiles” in Paris and around the world, all vying to get into the maze of mines and ossuaries sitting just below Paris. The catacombs have been partially open to the public since 1867, with tours every day taking the curious visitor through the macabre ossuary packed with the bones of centuries of putrefying Parisians.
Image: albany_tim/Flickr
The stone mines are a different story. Because of extremely dangerous conditions, the abandoned mines of Paris – the birthplace of plaster of Paris – are off limits to the public. That doesn’t stop intrepid cataphiles with a flashlight and a penchant for subterranean architecture from trying, and sometimes succeeding, to get in. Maybe not the day trip of choice for the tourist with a money belt and a pressed suit, but definitely a unique view on the City of Light… in the dark.
Image: Vlastula
New York’s Abandoned Subway Stations
There have been quite a few incarnations of the New York subway system in its more than 100-year history. Tracks have been moved, lines altered, and stations demolished or left to rot. Fortunately for urban explorers, this means lots and lots of leftover infrastructure to explore, photograph, and map.
Among the jewels of New York’s many forgotten sites for the ferrophile is City Hall station, originally built as the southern terminal of the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) system and a showpiece of New York’s spanking new subway in 1904. The station sports intricate tiled designs along the walls, elegant archways and stairways, and even expansive skylights.
Image: Salim Virji/Flickr
Although all of New York’s abandoned subway stations are closed to the public, there’s a slight chance that the New York Transit Museum will be operating a tour of City Hall station when you’re in town. But don’t hold your breath: post 9/11 security concerns have halted all but the most important events at City Hall station. The last time it was open to the public was after a VIP ceremony held for the 2004 IRT Centennial celebration.
Image: NYC Resistor
Gunkanjima (Hashima Island)
Off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, Gunkanjima (“Battleship Island,” in Japanese because of its high sea walls and profile) was once the most densely populated place on Earth, and is today completely abandoned. Mitsubishi bought the island at the end of the 19th century for its coal deposits and operated a mine there until 1974. Miners and their families, along with Mitsubishi brass, lived and worked on the windswept rock during the life of the mine, eventually reaching a population density of 835 people per hectare in cramped concrete quarters towering above the coastline.
Image: snotch/Flickr
Living conditions were deplorable, weather conditions rough, and working conditions unimaginable on Hashima Island. The current ghost town is a reminder of the lasting destructive impact of industrialization. And today, you can visit the site where it all happened! Tours of the island have been operated since 2009, and include a cruise to the site and guidance in Japanese. However, the legally operated tours only allow visitors to walk on a newly constructed concrete pier on the coast of the island, for fear of the dilapidated and highly unsafe buildings. Talk to a Nagasaki local with a boat to get the insider tour.
Image: wata_masa/Panoramio
Cincinnati Subway
One of the antiquated oddities of modern American transportation infrastructure, the Cincinnati subway system was constructed in the early 20th century, but never opened due to post-World War I inflation and rising building costs, leaving the largest abandoned subway tunnel in the United States to molder. There are three uncompleted stations, and some entrances spread around downtown Cincinnati, but no tracks have ever been laid. The subway remains nothing more than a rumor even to native Cincinnatians to this day.
You can tour the tunnel through the Cincinnati Museum Center‘s talk and walk tours, the only way to legally get in. However, the tours are extremely limited, with only one tour offered in 2008 and 2009 and no specific plans for tours in the future. But hey, you could try emailing the city fathers to get on a waiting list.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
MIT Vadding
Image: http://www.jessekb.com/
Nothing more than a way for college kids to kill time by getting into the hidden maintenance passageways and roofs of their beloved campus, vadding – known today as “roof and tunnel hacking” – has been a tradition at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for decades. Often the activity results in pranks designed to amuse and bewilder in classic tech-geek style: a true revenge of the nerds.
New York’s Freedom Tunnel
Underneath New York’s Riverside Park, this Amtrak train tunnel was originally intended to expand park space for the neighborhood’s residents when it was built in the 1930s. With the growing popularity of cars and trucks, however, the tunnel quickly fell into disuse and in subsequent years was best known for its gigantic homeless shanty town.
Image: Pro-Zak/Flickr
Today, however, the shanty towns are gone and the tunnel is a destination for some of the city’s most notable graffiti artists, on top of the stray urban explorer, of course. The privacy and security granted by the tunnel mean that graffiti artists like Chris “Freedom” Pape can take their time to create more daring pieces. Natural light streams in from the rare ventilation grate or doorway, spotlighting artists’ work. It’s an ideal gallery in a city known for its sometimes shady street art.
Image: doobybrain.com
Chernobyl/Pripyat
The site of the worst nuclear accident in history is dilapidated, dangerous, and desperate for some tourist dollars! So maybe Chernobyl doesn’t hit you as a “hot spot” (for tourism, at least), but it’s the ideal destination for the urban explorer on the lookout for industrial ruins; they’re Soviet-era ones to boot.
Image: Timm Seuss/Flickr
The power plant’s cooling towers (still partially standing) overlook a still-radioactive but surprisingly intact nuclear wasteland. Studies of the area have found Chernobyl’s flora and fauna largely unaffected by the radiation, and the absence of any human presence has |
consisting of short summaries of articles related to the U.S.-Swiss relationship, as well as other topics t... French req'd, German helpful, Italian req'd; Research, Writing 1 Brief the U.S. Embassy Bern on Swiss News Monitoring news from Swiss media, you'll prepare a twice-weekly brief for Embassy staff consisting of short summaries of articles related to the U.S.-Swiss relationship, as well as other topics that are of interest to Department of State policymakers and staff. Department of State 1 STATE-CHE-37 French, German, Italian Research, Writing The virtual intern will be primarily responsible for a twice-weekly package of news summaries. Working closely with Embassy staff, the intern will develop a system for identifying and organizing important and relevant news sources, such as newspapers and online platforms, focusing particularly on French- and Italian-language media. He/She/They will sift through these sources for mentions of the U.S., the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland, and relevant comments on U.S. foreign policies. Additionally, the intern will conduct media monitoring related to other topics as assigned. The applicant must have French and Italian language reading ability; additional German reading ability is strongly preferred. The applicant will provide paragraph summaries (with their links/references) in English, and must be able to sufficiently read and contextualize Swiss media content. BERN Switzerland Switzerland The U.S. Embassy Bern seeks a motivated, dependable candidate to work independently to understand the Swiss media and political landscape, and report on Swiss media coverage of the U.S., U.S. policies and the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland, with a particular focus on French- and Italian-language media. Specific search topics will be determined in consultation with the supervisor at Embassy Bern. 2018-05-22 09:19:01 1 PAS
STATE-DEU-38
Business process analysis - Help simplify how overseas diplomatic missions work Help our diplomatic missions to Eurasian countries and international organizations analyze and document inefficient practices that hamper the ability of our diplomats abroad to focus on their core dut... Data analysis, Infographic design, Survey / polling design 3 Business process analysis - Help simplify how overseas diplomatic missions work Help our diplomatic missions to Eurasian countries and international organizations analyze and document inefficient practices that hamper the ability of our diplomats abroad to focus on their core duties. Department of State 3 STATE-DEU-38 Data analysis, Infographic design, Survey / polling design Analyze known inefficiencies surrounding our administrative practices (a dated and scattershot approach to basic timekeeping functions, complex software used to perform contact management functions, and dated approaches to listing key officers at our overseas posts) and identify shortcomings to help us better understand how to meet the needs of typical Foreign Service and Locally Employed Staff in our overseas missions. FRANKFURT Germany Europe and Central Asia 2018-06-09 09:33:19 1 Other
STATE-PHL-39
Visualize Customer Orders and Production History for Global Publishing Solutions Help us evaluate our rich data sets! We have millions of records of printing procurement by product type, geographic location, local language, dollars spent, shipping costs, and transit times. We woul... Analytical writing, Data analysis, Data visualization, GIS expertise, Infographic design 1 Visualize Customer Orders and Production History for Global Publishing Solutions Help us evaluate our rich data sets! We have millions of records of printing procurement by product type, geographic location, local language, dollars spent, shipping costs, and transit times. We would like to analyze our data in visual form through the use of geo-encoded maps and interactive data. Department of State 1 STATE-PHL-39 Analytical writing, Data analysis, Data visualization, GIS expertise, Infographic design Global Publishing Solutions (A/GIS/GPS) has served all embassies and posts worldwide since 1950. Our primary service is printing but we also manage several other information management services. We work as a nonprofit in-plant operation; we are part of the Department of State and only charge operating costs to produce our high quality books, pamphlets, magazines, brochures, flyers, course materials, posters, and multimedia products. Our 70,000 square foot plant is located in Manila, Philippines, but we serve all embassies and overseas missions. Since the year 2000, every transaction, every project, every email, every inventory item, every shipment, every detail has been entered into a Filemaker Pro database of our own design. It's a great record keeper, but we can't get the reporting as slick and useful (shareable) as we want. We can't use this data to make important decisions, other than basic spreadsheets. That is where you come in. We would like to create geographic maps and data driven charts and diagrams of our business by geographic location, by language, by product category, by quantity, by dollars spent, by shipping mode. We would like to see what's in decline, what's growing, what geographic regions are most reliant on us. We need a data scientist and/or designer to help us format this data into intuitive, dynamic visual charts, graphics and maps. We have only a modicum of experience in GIS applications or free platforms like Carto and Datawrapper, but are willing to sponsor a commercial product to reach our desired objectives. Our in-house technicians can help you access the data which is 100% unclassified, so you can work remotely. MANILA Philippines Global Our work is unclassified. Our internal systems and records are in English. Many of our products are in up to 70 foreign language versions. 2018-06-08 03:39:45 1 Other
STATE-THA-6
Cultural Diplomacy to Promote U.S.-Thai Cooperation Maximize the impact of cultural diplomacy efforts in Thailand by joining our team to promote American culture and values to the Thai public. Provide research and analysis of existing and potential pro... Thai helpful; Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Editing and proofreading, Research, Writing 1 Cultural Diplomacy to Promote U.S.-Thai Cooperation Maximize the impact of cultural diplomacy efforts in Thailand by joining our team to promote American culture and values to the Thai public. Provide research and analysis of existing and potential projects. Department of State 1 STATE-THA-6 Thai Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Editing and proofreading, Research, Writing The Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand runs a robust network of cultural and education exchange programs that promote U.S. culture, values, and people-to-people ties. The Public Affairs Section conducts outreach programs in areas as diverse as health, education, science and technology, trade and investment, and the arts. We are looking for an intern to help improve coordination including more frequent communication to broadening and deepening exiting engagements, to promote cultural programs through new media, and analyze the impact of existing programming. BANGKOK Thailand 2018-06-25 14:01:01 1 PAS
STATE-USA-J-42
Legal Intern for Counter-Human Trafficking Legislative Reform Work Support Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Person's Legal Affair Officer on legal analysis of foreign governments' anti-trafficking laws and conduct research relating to the U.S. Tr... Analytical writing, Data analysis, Editing and proofreading, Research, Writing 2 Legal Intern for Counter-Human Trafficking Legislative Reform Work Support Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Person's Legal Affair Officer on legal analysis of foreign governments' anti-trafficking laws and conduct research relating to the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report. Department of State 2 STATE-USA-J-42 Analytical writing, Data analysis, Editing and proofreading, Research, Writing We are looking for 2L or 3L law students with strong analytical and research skills to help support the Office's Legal Affairs Officer on a variety of interesting projects relating to foreign governments' anti-trafficking legislation. During the internship, you will work directly with the legal affairs officer to review anti-trafficking laws and compile data on laws referenced in the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report. It is an exciting opportunity to be involved in important and highly effective legislative reform efforts relating to trafficking in persons abroad. United States 2018-05-22 10:59:15 1
STATE-AGO-14
PAS Luanda EducationUSA and American Spaces Intern Support the EducationUSA adviser with virtual sessions on college admission essays and application process. Support the American Spaces Coordinator with program evaluations by creating easy to use sur... Cultural diplomacy, Data analysis, Survey / polling design, Writing 2 PAS Luanda EducationUSA and American Spaces Intern Support the EducationUSA adviser with virtual sessions on college admission essays and application process. Support the American Spaces Coordinator with program evaluations by creating easy to use surveys and implementing technology to track attendance. Department of State 2 STATE-AGO-14 Cultural diplomacy, Data analysis, Survey / polling design, Writing EducationUSA: The intern would set up EducationUSA virtual sessions/ conversations about colleges in the United States. The audience is Angolan students seeking to embark on higher education in the United States. The intern would contact admissions offices in the United States to schedule and coordinate skype calls about the admissions process, financial aid options, and campus life. The intern could also coordinate with recent alums (ideally those who speak Portuguese), as well as professors in fields like business, leadership, public policy, international affairs, extractive industries and the sciences. Since English is not the native language for Angolans, the intern would support aspiring students with proofreading essays and interview prep. The intern will also support potential applicants with tips on academic writing. The intern would be encouraged to discuss the challenges that international students face on U.S. campuses and the ways that people have overcome them. Video tours of campus or snippets about extra-curricular activities would also be welcomed. The intern will be given the resources to ensure that anyone taped gives proper consent. S/he will also support EducationUSA in Luanda by responding to questions on Facebook pertaining to education in the United States. American Spaces: The intern would craft monitoring and evaluation tools for the American spaces program. The intern would also look for good and easy to work apps for American spaces visitors to sign up when they walk-in. The intern would design, implement and review these feedback mechanisms to inform PAS Luanda how we can improve our existing services and programs. LUANDA Angola The intern should have good computer skills, strong writing skills in English, good communication skills. Strong organization skills and independence preferred. Post prefers a college sophomore or junior. 2018-05-02 10:44:14 1 PAS
STATE-AGO-15
PAS Luanda Alumni Affairs Virtual Outreach Support the Cultural Affairs Assistant with electronically organizing and collating our exchange program alumni records. Once organized and placed in excel, intern will regularly e-mail alumni to faci... Portuguese helpful; Cultural diplomacy, Social media management 1 PAS Luanda Alumni Affairs Virtual Outreach Support the Cultural Affairs Assistant with electronically organizing and collating our exchange program alumni records. Once organized and placed in excel, intern will regularly e-mail alumni to facilitate their participation in Embassy activities and to get feedback from them on their activities. Department of State 1 STATE-AGO-15 Portuguese Cultural diplomacy, Social media management This project aims to support the Cultural Affairs Assistant with electronically organizing and collating our exchange program alumni records. Once organized and placed in excel, intern will regularly e-mail alumni to facilitate their participation in Embassy activities and to get feedback from them on their activities. The virtual intern will assist with drafting stories for publication on social media and the International Exchange Alumni website. The intern should leverage connections and contacts with ECA Alumni Affairs to gather best practices and implement initiatives to grow alumni engagement from a distance. PAS Luanda welcomes creating an e-newsletter to facilitate information sharing and building momentum and alumni engagement. LUANDA Angola Angola The intern should have good computer skills, strong writing skills in English, good communication skills. Strong organization skills and independence preferred. Post prefers a college sophomore or junior. 2018-05-02 10:48:37 1 PAS
STATE-USA-MED-177
Needs Assessment & Program Evaluation for Bureau of Medical Service’s Employee Consultation Service Design and develop a comprehensive strategic assessment and/or evaluation plans, identifying and establishing priorities for Employee Consultation Services (ECS) whose mandate is to ensure mission-rea... Data analysis, Research, Survey / polling design 4 Needs Assessment & Program Evaluation for Bureau of Medical Service’s Employee Consultation Service Design and develop a comprehensive strategic assessment and/or evaluation plans, identifying and establishing priorities for Employee Consultation Services (ECS) whose mandate is to ensure mission-ready personnel Department of State 4 STATE-USA-MED-177 Data analysis, Research, Survey / polling design The office desires to work with four students to help the Department of State’s Medical team develop a survey instrument, complete a survey with Department of State personnel, analyze the collected information, synthesize and draw conclusions, prepare reports, using appropriate data visualization techniques to increase the likelihood that the recommendations will be used by ECS for program development. The four selected virtual interns will develop a comprehensive strategic assessment and/or evaluation plans that identify and prioritize the needs of DOS employees. The professionals will also implement assessments and evaluations for learning events, other member capacity programs, and service area programs. Monitor findings, as appropriate, across repeated measures to ensure continuous improvement. United States The team will analyze the collected information, synthesize and draw conclusions, prepare reports, using appropriate data visualization techniques to increase the likelihood that the recommendations will be used. They will also ensure that assessment and evaluation activities are in alignment with best practices in the medical field. Specific skills: - Develop instrument tool, review, research, collect and update needs assessment data - Contribute toward the structure and utilization of the data - Prepare reports (including writing text, analyzing data, and preparing charts) summarizing demographic, process, outcome, and impact information. Present critical information in visually compelling ways. -Utilize strong spreadsheet skills 2018-06-08 15:18:44 1
STATE-AGO-16
PAS Luanda English Language Program Intern Focus on English Clubs, American Corner English related activities and English micro-scholarships. Support these programs by conducting monitoring and evaluation of existing programs, and suggesting &... Portuguese helpful; Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Editing and proofreading, Educational design, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing 2 PAS Luanda English Language Program Intern Focus on English Clubs, American Corner English related activities and English micro-scholarships. Support these programs by conducting monitoring and evaluation of existing programs, and suggesting & implementing new programs to increase turn out and engagement. Department of State 2 STATE-AGO-16 Portuguese Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Editing and proofreading, Educational design, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing This project aims to support the English Program at post with focus on English Clubs, American Corner English related activities and English micro-scholarships. The intern is expected to facilitate Facebook live events with English students from the aforementioned programs, providing them an opportunity to interact with a native speaker and put together a WhatsApp group for English micro-scholarship students. She/He will provide an opportunity to build mutual understanding through cultural exchange and English language. In addition she/he should assist with the creation of a roadmap that would illustrate how English acquisition can drive financial empowerment. Based on skill level and interest, intern will be paired with specific English clubs with specialized interests. LUANDA Angola The intern should be able to operate at an advanced level social network platforms. The designated person should as well be able to work with graphic design platforms and Microsoft Office programs. The person should as well be someone with a cosmopolitan vision of the world and some knowledge of less developed contexts. 2018-05-02 10:59:00 1 PAS
STATE-USA-AF-45
Click if you are an expert in archival research! We are looking for an intern to research the bilateral relations between the United States of America and the Republic of Seychelles. Analytical writing, Economic analysis, Research, Writing 1 Click if you are an expert in archival research! We are looking for an intern to research the bilateral relations between the United States of America and the Republic of Seychelles. Department of State 1 STATE-USA-AF-45 Analytical writing, Economic analysis, Research, Writing We are looking for an intern to dig into the archives and research the bilateral relations between the United States of America and the Republic of Seychelles. The U.S. Embassy in Mauritius also oversees the Republic of Seychelles. The research focus will be on: - The historical ties between the two countries with supporting documents/facts (including photos) - The economic ties between the two countries - The social and cultural ties between the two countries United States For more information, please send an email to Cultural Affairs Specialist Priya Beegun on BeegunPX@state.gov. 2018-05-30 08:30:20 1
STATE-AGO-17
PAS Luanda Entrepreneurship Program Intern Design entrepreneurship initiatives to assist Post grow its youth base in our economic empowerment initiatives. Participate in the Entrepreneur’s Club (virtually) and provide digital support to the... Portuguese helpful; Cultural diplomacy, Economic analysis, Social media management 1 PAS Luanda Entrepreneurship Program Intern Design entrepreneurship initiatives to assist Post grow its youth base in our economic empowerment initiatives. Participate in the Entrepreneur’s Club (virtually) and provide digital support to the emerging entrepreneurship ecosystem. Department of State 1 STATE-AGO-17 Portuguese Cultural diplomacy, Economic analysis, Social media management This program aims at supporting the evolving entrepreneurship initiatives at post with focus on the Entrepreneur’s Club and providing digital support to the emerging ecosystem. The intern is expected to update Post’s entrepreneur database. Create in partnership with the English intern a roadmap that would illustrate how English acquisition can drive financial independence and economic empowerment. Post anticipates as well that intern will organize and/or moderate entrepreneurship virtual programs. LUANDA Angola The intern should be able to operate at an advanced level social network platforms. The designated person should be able to work with graphic design platforms and/or Microsoft Office programs. The person should have a cosmopolitan vision of the world and a background on entrepreneurship / economics/ business development or marketing. The desirable intern is a college student in his/her senior year. 2018-05-02 11:07:57 1 PAS
STATE-USA-PA-21
Outreach, research, and social media support for the Office of Public Engagement! Use your research, writing, graphic design, and social media skills to help the Office of Public Engagement connect diplomacy to a domestic audience. Data analysis, Editing and proofreading, Graphic design, Infographic design, Marketing, Research, Social media management, Writing 1 Outreach, research, and social media support for the Office of Public Engagement! Use your research, writing, graphic design, and social media skills to help the Office of Public Engagement connect diplomacy to a domestic audience. Department of State 1 STATE-USA-PA-21 Data analysis, Editing and proofreading, Graphic design, Infographic design, Marketing, Research, Social media management, Writing The Office of Public Engagement (PA/OPE) fulfills a mission of the State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs to inform Americans about the importance of foreign affairs and the work of the Department. PA/OPE connects the Department to domestic audiences, directly engaging the American people to explain the Department’s policies and priorities at home and abroad, through various outreach activities such as briefings, conferences, social media campaigns, and other events in Washington, D.C. and around the country. PA/OPE is launching a new social media campaign designed to highlight the State Department programs and connections that benefit local communities throughout America. Help us launch a social media campaign explaining how the Department’s work matters to each U.S. state! We are looking for creative and enthusiastic students who can help us with the following tasks: • Social media engagement: Research and draft original social media content relevant to ongoing public engagement programs, as well as research and draft social media content on foreign policy topics and State Department activities across the country. Measure web traffic and social media analytics. Develop an optimal posting schedule (based on web traffic and engagement metrics). Suggest innovative ways to increase page membership, likes, and overall engagement. • Graphic design: Create engaging graphics, on an as needed basis, related to an ongoing social media campaign that highlights the different ways the State Department impacts each U.S. state and territory. Design posts to generate curiosity and create buzz around State Department partnerships and economic contributions in each State. • Research: Research local community resources and civil society organizations in all 50 states to build upon an existing outreach contact database. United States 2018-05-21 14:33:19 1
STATE-BGD-24
Bangladesh: ArcGIS Specialist for Migration Pattern and Crisis Preparedness Projects Create visual representations of Bangladeshi migration patterns. Support the safety and security of U.S. citizens living in Bangladesh by generating maps of local crisis preparedness resources. Data analysis, Data visualization, Economic analysis, GIS expertise, Political Analysis, Research, Writing 1 Bangladesh: ArcGIS Specialist for Migration Pattern and Crisis Preparedness Projects Create visual representations of Bangladeshi migration patterns. Support the safety and security of U.S. citizens living in Bangladesh by generating maps of local crisis preparedness resources. Department of State 1 STATE-BGD-24 Data analysis, Data visualization, Economic analysis, GIS expertise, Political Analysis, Research, Writing We're seeking a motivated, self-directed, data-loving ArcGIS specialist to help the U.S. Embassy Dhaka Consular Section with migration tracking and crisis preparedness projects. Our goal is to create maps for U.S. Consular Officers to understand Bangladeshi visa applicants better and to assist U.S. citizens living in Bangladesh more effectively. What will you do? - Generate ArcGIS maps of Bangladeshi immigrant visa beneficiary and petitioner locations - Generate ArcGIS maps of emergency services in Bangladesh - Research migration patterns and factors influencing them - Investigate Bangladeshi crisis preparedness resources What will you gain? - First-hand knowledge of overseas consular operations - Practical data analysis and strategic planning experience - Tangible products for your resume or portfolio - Career advice and mentoring from U.S. Department of State employees We look forward to working with you! DHAKA Bangladesh 2018-05-21 06:53:16 1 CONS
STATE-ESP-25
Agile and Creative Graphic Designer for Madrid. Ole! Be part of the agile and fun Graphic Design Department at the U.S. Embassy Madrid! Spanish helpful; Data visualization, Design thinking, Editing and proofreading, Graphic design, Infographic design, Marketing 1 Agile and Creative Graphic Designer for Madrid. Ole! Be part of the agile and fun Graphic Design Department at the U.S. Embassy Madrid! Department of State 1 STATE-ESP-25 Spanish Data visualization, Design thinking, Editing and proofreading, Graphic design, Infographic design, Marketing Madrid is seeking an innovative visual thinker and graphic designer to work with our experts in the creation and production of a variety of communications materials for the U.S. Embassy Madrid. These include visual representations of business processes, brochures for internal and external customers, templates for business cards and invitations, as well as promotional posters. This position will support all sections and agencies across the Embassy, and as such, the incumbent will be exposed to a wide range of materials and functions. This is a fantastic hands-on opportunity to build a portfolio while learning about diplomacy and contributing to the mission overseas. MADRID Spain 2018-05-03 04:53:43 1 IM
STATE-RUS-26
English Language for STEM Help the next generation of brilliant scientists prepare for exchanges and competitions by providing English language practice. Educational design, Writing 3 English Language for STEM Help the next generation of brilliant scientists prepare for exchanges and competitions by providing English language practice. Department of State 3 STATE-RUS-26 Educational design, Writing We are looking for young people passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Teaching. We are partnering with a local foundation that provides after-school programs for rural youth aged 8-18 who are interested in science and engineering. The program participants will be high-achieving students who are getting ready to participate in international competitions in math, chemistry, physics and other sciences. The VSFS intern would provide English language conversation practice via Skype for the teams before they travel to international competitions, including in the U.S. We anticipate the project requiring several sessions of 2-3 each over the course of the year. MOSCOW Russia 2018-05-03 07:16:28 1 ESTH
STATE-UKR-28
Create Original Blog Content for the America House in Kyiv! Sharpen your social media communications skills. Create engaging, useful, and inspiring original written content for the America House blog. You’ll help to take a communications initiative at Americ... Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Data analysis, Data visualization, Design thinking, Editing and proofreading, Educational design, Graphic design, Infographic design, Marketing, Research, Socia... 3 Create Original Blog Content for the America House in Kyiv! Sharpen your social media communications skills. Create engaging, useful, and inspiring original written content for the America House blog. You’ll help to take a communications initiative at America House Kyiv to a new level. Department of State 3 STATE-UKR-28 Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Data analysis, Data visualization, Design thinking, Editing and proofreading, Educational design, Graphic design, Infographic design, Marketing, Research, Social media management, Speech writing, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Survey / polling design, Writing America House Kyiv is looking for 3 interns to work on an exciting online media project – the America House blog. The blog was launched in November 2017 and has around 2000 views per month. This blog is a mixture of language learning articles/exercises/quizzes/vocabulary lists, professional growth tips and entertainment content. Articles are divided into 6 categories: Culture, Growth, Tech, English, Travel, and Education. You can check it out here: http://www.americahousekyiv.org/blog/ Topics that have been covered in the past are: Language learning tips, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Art, Culture, Journalism, History, Politics, Travel, Education, Innovation, Skill-building, etc. The initiative is inspired by digital platforms such as Mashable, Entreprenuer, Lifehack, Bored Panda, and Voice of America that create short and engaging articles accessible for non-native speakers of English. Some of the content of our blog will be based on lectures, workshops, and other events held at America House Kyiv. Videos, photos, recordings, and summaries of these events will be provided to the intern to use as a basis for blog entries. The intern will cooperate closely with the America House communications team in Kyiv via e-mail and conference call. Each intern will commit to creating 1-2 blog entries per week. This is a brilliant opportunity for students interested in the topics mentioned above to test and apply their skills in producing engaging materials, sharing the very best of the U.S., and fostering understanding between the U.S. and Ukraine. It is also a fantastic opportunity to gain hands on experience with U.S. public diplomacy and outreach efforts in Ukraine. KYIV Ukraine America House is unique tech-forward space in the heart of Kyiv. It hosts a wide variety of activities, including discussions on pressing policy issues, speaker series, workshops, movie nights, discussion clubs, art exhibits, and concerts. Through America House we are helping Americans and Ukrainians to build mutual understanding, foster innovation and economic growth, and provide Ukrainians with free resources that unlock young people’s potential. Watch this video to get a better picture about our creative space - http://bit.ly/2rWTOMg And of course join us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/americahousekyiv/ 2018-05-22 05:40:43 1 PAS
STATE-ITA-51
Research 200 Years of U.S. Diplomatic Relations in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and San Marino Do you love digging through archives? Are you a historical super sleuth? Does creative non-fiction turn the pages for you? Then you should apply to research US relations with Tuscany, Emilia-Romagn... Italian helpful; Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Data analysis, Data visualization, Editing and proofreading, Educational design, Infographic design, Research, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing 1 Research 200 Years of U.S. Diplomatic Relations in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and San Marino Do you love digging through archives? Are you a historical super sleuth? Does creative non-fiction turn the pages for you? Then you should apply to research US relations with Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and the Republic of San Marino since U.S. Consulate General Florence's establishment in 1819. Department of State 1 STATE-ITA-51 Italian Analytical writing, Cultural diplomacy, Data analysis, Data visualization, Editing and proofreading, Educational design, Infographic design, Research, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing Play a catalytic role in discovering the raw material for our bicentennial campaign, #Insieme200 or #Together200. Since 1819, U.S. Consuls have protected Americans and their interests in Florence, Italy. We seek top notch researchers who can dig through archives, scour the internet, knock the dust off books, and creatively package the top stories of the past two centuries. We seek research experience, a record of creativity when presenting history, and Italian skills. We are especially interested in interns who can go through archives in Washington, D.C., but we are open to student researchers in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna as well. The Consulate held the "soft launch" of the Bicentennial Campaign on May 3, 2018. This project will span the rest of the "soft phase" from Fall 2018 until the 200th anniversary itself in May 2019. Candidates who are able to incorporate a formal academic element such as an independent study or thesis will receive particular consideration. FLORENCE Italy Italy Candidates selected for an interview should become familiar with: Key Historical Figures and Moments: +Amerigo Vespucci, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Philip Mazzei +Early US diplomatic Presence 1794-1860 +The American Civil War, The Italian Risorgimento, Lincoln and San Marino, the Firenze Capitale Years +Key figures of the late 19th and early 20th century such as Mark Twain and Guglielmo Marconi +World War I and World War II in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and San Marino +Post War Study Abroad and the Flood of 1966 +Post September 11, 2001 solidarity #Insieme200 Campaign Launch +http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2018/05/together200-celebrating-florences-us-consulate-general/ +https://www.pressreader.com/italy/corriere-fiorentino/20180504/281724090176010 +https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/bologna/cronaca/foto/ben-wohaluer-1.3884616 +https://twitter.com/USCGFlorence/status/992030808947994624 +https://twitter.com/USCGFlorence/status/992353450057961472 2018-05-08 09:53:44 1 EXEC
STATE-USA-CA-50
Spanish Language Video for U.S. Passports Create an eye-catching, informative "how-to" video in SPANISH that guides a person through our two of our most important applications. Spanish req'd; Cultural diplomacy, Graphic design, Infographic design, Videography 2 Spanish Language Video for U.S. Passports Create an eye-catching, informative "how-to" video in SPANISH that guides a person through our two of our most important applications. Department of State 2 STATE-USA-CA-50 Spanish Cultural diplomacy, Graphic design, Infographic design, Videography Last year Passport Services issued over 20 million passports to the public and we have recognized the need for Spanish language information. We would like to update two existing "how-to" videos in order to assist Spanish speakers with filling out two of our most-used applications which are: - DS-11 "Application for a United States Passport" - DS-3053 "Statement of Consent for Issuance of a Passport to a Minor Age 16" The videos will be housed on our website Travel.State.Gov and on the Department of State YouTube channel which will guarantee lots of visibility of the videos to the public. United States United States Please see the two current videos that will be replaced by your VSFS videos. We are open to new ideas for video production, so please use these videos as reference to the content/focus of the two applications. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNJRZZYscrM&t=4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sImpOBtoSc&t=1s 2018-05-30 10:29:47 1
STATE-USA-PA-111
For the Record: Track Media Coverage of Foreign Press Center Events (Japanese) Track the impact of Foreign Press Center (FPC) Media Events through traditional, web based and social media placements from Washington-based foreign correspondents. We need interns with excellent fore... Japanese req'd; Analytical writing, Editing and proofreading, Research, Writing 1 For the Record: Track Media Coverage of Foreign Press Center Events (Japanese) Track the impact of Foreign Press Center (FPC) Media Events through traditional, web based and social media placements from Washington-based foreign correspondents. We need interns with excellent foreign language abilities and superior analytic and writing skills. Department of State 1 STATE-USA-PA-111 Japanese Analytical writing, Editing and proofreading, Research, Writing FPC is looking for highly motivated interns who will track placements in foreign language media following media events at the Washington Foreign Press Center. Using our transcripts and questions logs, hunt down the placements in traditional and new media, blogs and social media platforms, and let us know if the reporters got the message -- and what conclusions they drew for their readers. United States 2018-05-14 11:38:08 1
STATE-USA-HR-1
Social Media Program to Promote Foreign Service Recruitment Inspire prospective candidates to become the next generation of U.S. diplomats through the creation of an effective and powerful communications strategy that includes creative use of social media plat... Analytical writing, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing 1 Social Media Program to Promote Foreign Service Recruitment Inspire prospective candidates to become the next generation of U.S. diplomats through the creation of an effective and powerful communications strategy that includes creative use of social media platforms and identifying targets of opportunity with traditional media. Department of State 1 STATE-USA-HR-1 Analytical writing, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing Seeking a communications savvy creative who can add innovative value in the public messaging done within the Bureau of Human Resources! Become a member of a team of 28 that includes 16 Diplomats in Residences (DIRs) who are based at universities around the country and 12 Washington-based Civil and Foreign Service recruiters dedicated to recruiting diverse, competitive candidate for State Department careers and internships. You will work directly with the DIR for the Midwest on curating and creating innovative content that can be featured on the DIRMidwest official Facebook page as well as the State Department Twitter feed. You will assist with the social media communications strategy for DIRMidwest and assist in identifying opportunities to work with traditional media outlets when the DIRMidwest is doing outreach across her region which includes Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. United States The ideal intern for this position will be a: Strategic thinker who can assist in creating communications plans to support the DIRMidwest’s recruitment efforts. Innovator who understands the digital landscape and can create and curate content that will be meaningful and powerful. Inspirational writer. Thoughtful writing will be important when profiling State Dept. employees and interns. Understanding the art of headline writing and important of writing engaging introductions is equally important. Visionary and creative that is passionate about public service and can tell the State Department’s story through photo and videos. Networker who can seek out opportunities in the DIRMidwest region to arrange local interviews via print, radio, and TV. 2018-06-20 15:21:29 1
STATE-PAN-2
Study Abroad Graphic Designer Work with the Social Media Coordinator, Information Resources Assistant and the Section of Educational and Cultural Affairs to create graphics that tell the impact of study abroad. You will create con... Data visualization, Design thinking, Graphic design, Marketing 1 Study Abroad Graphic Designer Work with the Social Media Coordinator, Information Resources Assistant and the Section of Educational and Cultural Affairs to create graphics that tell the impact of study abroad. You will create content for program fact sheets and social media. Department of State 1 STATE-PAN-2 Data visualization, Design thinking, Graphic design, Marketing The goal of the Public Affairs Section is to increase diversity and participation in study in the United States so more students have an opportunity to develop the linguistic and cultural skills needed to engage in new job opportunities and economic competitiveness. We do this by managing our own scholarship programs, building capacity for study at U.S., and demonstrating the value of studying abroad. To do this work, we need dynamic, engaging content showing the impact of our programs and the latest trends in study abroad to use on our website, social media, and fact sheets. You will help tell the stories of the UGRAD and SUSI Programs, the Fulbright Scholarship Program, and our higher education partners by creating and sharing infographics that highlight our work through quantitative data and dynamic visuals showcasing our program participants, alumni, and their activities. Design projects could include stand-alone informational one pagers, graphics for use in internal and external reports, and social media and website content. We will often have specific graphics that we will ask you to design, but we also encourage you to analyze study abroad trends and identify stories to highlight. We are looking for someone with the analytic, design, and creative skills needed to transform data into compelling visuals and digital stories. PANAMA Panama You will be working with a small team that is dedicated to telling stories but needs help turning great data in to easily understandable graphics. Please be sure to include information on past design projects and your proficiency with graphic design software and platforms. We mostly use Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop but are open to other programs. 2018-06-20 15:34:18 1 PAS
STATE-USA-ECA-53
Press Intern: Update Thousands of State Department Colleagues & Partners on Today's Top News Do you wake up each morning and immediately check the Skimm or news on Facebook? If you like to be in the know, we’d like you to join us on the ECA Press team! Cultural diplomacy, Editing and proofreading, Storytelling/blogging/vlogging, Writing 3 Press Intern: Update Thousands of State Department Colleagues & Partners on Today's Top News Do you wake up each morning and |
48% 44% 41% Carly Fiorina 33% 38% 45% 48% Undecided 11% 14% 11% 10% Under 50 50+ Bernie Sanders 51% 42% Carly Fiorina 36% 47% Undecided 13% 11%
HISPANIC Cuban Non-Cuban Bernie Sanders ** 52% Carly Fiorina ** 31% Undecided ** 17%
RACE White Black Asian / Other Bernie Sanders 41% 77% 47% Carly Fiorina 47% 16% 36% Undecided 12% 6% 17%
PARTY REGISTRATION Republican Democrat Unaffiliated Bernie Sanders 13% 81% 43% Carly Fiorina 76% 11% 40% Undecided 11% 9% 18%
AFFILIATION Republican Democrat Independent Bernie Sanders 14% 81% 38% Carly Fiorina 76% 10% 42% Undecided 10% 9% 20%
IDEOLOGY Conservative Moderate Liberal Bernie Sanders 18% 51% 85% Carly Fiorina 74% 35% 7% Undecided 8% 15% 8%
TOP ISSUE Economy Immigration National Security Health Care Bernie Sanders 46% 28% 26% 65% Carly Fiorina 43% 61% 62% 21% Undecided 11% 12% 12% 14%
EDUCATION High School Some College College Degree Bernie Sanders 39% 46% 48% Carly Fiorina 43% 41% 44% Undecided 18% 13% 8%
INCOME Under $40K $40K – $80K Over $80K Bernie Sanders 49% 45% 44% Carly Fiorina 36% 44% 49% Undecided 16% 11% 7%
REGION Northwest Northeast Central Southwest Bernie Sanders 36% 47% 40% 45% Carly Fiorina 54% 44% 48% 46% Undecided 10% 9% 12% 9% Southeast Bernie Sanders 55% Carly Fiorina 32% Undecided 14%
About the Poll
The poll was conducted Wednesday, Oct. 28 – Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015 by SurveyUSA for Bay News 9 and News 13.
3,000 state of Florida adults were interviewed. Of the adults, 2,712 were registered to vote in the state of Florida. Of the registered voters, 2,400 were determined to be likely to vote in the Nov. 8, 2016 general election. Of the registered voters, SurveyUSA determined that 922 were likely to vote in the Republican primary, and 826 were likely to vote in the Democratic primary, both on March 15, 2016.
This research was conducted using blended sample, mixed mode: respondents reachable on their home telephone (69% of registered voters) were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer. Respondents not reachable on a home telephone (31% of registered voters) were shown a questionnaire on their smartphone, tablet or other electronic device. Barack Obama carried Florida (the state was "blue") in both 2008 and 2012.
NOTE: Figures may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.One of my dear readers out there wrote to me “I don't own a scale and I understand I have to measure this s**t out in mg.” Thus we introduce to the world today: Alpha Meme’s Divide and Join Portioning (DJP©).
I do not promote anything, but the fact of the matter is, there are ever more designer chemicals that work in the 10 to 200 milligram (mg) range and people explore them no matter what you tell them they should or should not do. As they are at it anyway, and after all, these are often perfectly legal substances mostly without any addiction potential whatsoever, we better help making it safer instead of preaching against the wind. This is called Harm Reduction. Thank you for the applause, appreciated.
(BTW: Prohibition ensures that just having a milligram scale at home can already get you into trouble - so we should not look down upon those that are afraid of chemical scales - there are reasons.)
The new arrival is Methoxetamine [2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(ethylamino)-cyclohexanone], which works quite similar to Ketamine [2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)-cyclohexanone], or “Special-K”.
Arylcyclohexylamine
So here is the dilemma: You ordered one gram from a reputable online source. Without a good chemical scale accurate to milligrams (mg), how are you going to take say 20 mg out of it, given the fact that the bag might be mislabeled and contain a substance you did not order?
One gram, according to the label, of something you ordered, put in there by somebody who maybe shouldn’t even be allowed to vote. What now?
Firstly some Warnings: Note well!
1) Do not use my method with anything that is dangerous if you go just three or so mg too far. Fentanyl, 5-Meo-AMT, all that is beyond the method! Methoxetamine or K however is pretty safe in that respect.
Methoxetamine
2) If you ever want to accurately go any further down without a scale, you need to dissolve in say 100 milliliter alcohol and then take out the desired amount via a syringe that shows tenths of milliliters. This is the best method anyways, even better than trusting a chemical scale. However, the lay-man will very likely, via cheap or wrong solvent, allowing too much air (oxidation), metallic spoons or beakers, too little patience, heat during evaporation, and several other issues, degrade and often also discard (ups, there it goes into the carpet while I bumped it with the bong) the substance, and that would be really sad, wouldn’t it.
3) Yes, clever people add other precautions, use other methods safely. But many semi educated people even on a science website overestimate their own abilities – not you of course. For example, intravenous (IV) injection is safer than ingestion, because you can ‘titrate’ very slowly and know immediately if there is something even slightly going wrong. Once you ingested 50 mg too much and it is already being absorbed, there is no way to puke it out anymore! Hold on for the ride to hell. Injection does not pose this problem. If you start feeling too woozy after having depressed the syringe plunger just a tenths of the way it was supposed to go, just stop and wait or pull the needle out, and the other nine tenths cannot do no harm no more.
This is the best method for substances like 5-Meo-AMT if you have no access to a scale. Some administer like this even after employing a super-expensive microgram scale. Why? There is no better way to safely re-dose. It allows you to actively ride the trip rather than being taken for a ride. Afterward you can write “proactive” on your job application.
However, lay-people seldom understand which substances in what solvents can be administered IV and having a needle in your forearm for half an hour or so, well, you need a fair dose of whatever makes a good natural sciences researcher.
4) Do not and under no circumstances mistake the method for “eyeballing”. Do not think you can just remember how big the resulting little heap was the last time and take it directly out of your big stash. Eyeballing is how even very experienced people ride to hell and often don’t come back! Yes, seriously, more experienced than you and still going to hell, happens all the time.
Let us get to the meat:
You ordered one gram for example. You should check somehow, maybe on some cheap kitchen scale somewhere in a supermarket or however else, that it is indeed about one gram, and not two grams instead or so. Reputable online sellers mostly give you a little more than what you asked for, just to keep people with badly calibrated scales from complaining that they were cheated. Now you checked it and you are sure that there are indeed about 950 to maybe 1100 mg (this means that you should at least use a cheap scale with 0.1 gram accuracy, not the one in the supermarket used to weight potatoes). How to proceed?
Take a clean glass or marble plate or bathroom mirror or some such, two razor blades, and do not forget paper, pen, and maybe even a calculator to divide by 2 repeatedly. For the Spaghetti Monster’s sake, write down and check every step you are doing, record how much you removed from the big stash, write down anything you can.
Divide your stash into two heaps of equal size, as accurately as you can do by eye. Rotate the plate and split them each again into equal halves resulting in a total of 4 heaps. These are now heaps of very roughly 1000 mg / 4 = 250 mg.
Repeat the four-split on every of the four little piles. Now there are 16 heaps of very roughly [(250 mg/2)/2] = (125 mg/2)= 62.5 mg.
Alpha Meme’s Divide and Join Portioning (DJP©) after the two four-splits: I did everything very roughly (without a glass plate that can be rotated), on a cramped marble windowsill in order to simulate your ten thumps.
The heaps are now too many and you already clearly see that the biggest of the 16 heaps is larger than the smallest. But that is OK, because now comes the most important aspect: JOIN the biggest heap with the smallest. Then again with the remaining 14 heaps, join the biggest of them with the smallest you can find, and so on, until you are back to eight heaps.
DJP after joining, starting with the heaps that look off.
The point here is to decrease the errors by letting upwards errors cancel downwards errors. Join all small heaps into eight resulting piles instead of just selecting the ones that look kind of medium size. This reduces the bias as you get a much better feel for the relative sizes while shaping, selecting, and joining the heaps. The human visual system’s neural networks absolutely suck if it comes to estimating absolute sizes. NEVER just eyeball. But our brains are very powerful indeed when it comes to relative comparisons, and this is why such methods are real science IF YOU DO NOT WALK SHORTCUTS. In the words of guys writing in a peer reviewed article in a well respected journal (me about a different but related subject):
“This method takes advantage of the strength of fuzzy neural network computations via the human hunter-gatherer's visual system's evolved superiority…”
I put the heaps into bags (cut off glove fingers) in order to weight them. Notice TWO razor blades. To get a pile from the surface, use two blades. Clean one blade with the other (None of your sweaty thumbs ever touch the powder!).
Now take the heap closest to average size and put all the others back into the bag or keep them in different bags if they all look the same. I did the latter to weight the heaps. The result was an average of 125 mg with a standard deviation of 12 mg, the largest pile having been 146 mg and the smallest 104 mg instead of the expected (1000 mg / 16)*2 = 125 mg.
Now repeat the above with the selected heap.
The about 100 to 150 mg pile nicely shaped to repeat the procedure. With care, I could have been more accurate, but I did really fast in order to – you know – be closer to reality.
Anyway, with care and making short lines instead of round heaps if uncertain, you can go down to 16 piles again and then join to get eight pretty accurate ~ (125 mg/16)*2 ~ 16 mg heaps.
Divide
and Join Portioning: After two four-split divisions on one of the small heaps.
Divide and Join Portioning: After joining smallest with biggest iteratively again.
These tiny piles now pose no danger. Even if you accidentally inhale one, you will be fine. There is no problem now to take a third of it for roughly 5 mg and be fine no matter what (after allergy testing and so on, see below). Put the heaps into separate bags or gel caps and keep them in a well labeled jar.
When comparing/joining, do shift the piles around, reshape them. The accuracy comes from your neural networks and those need input. Do not merely look at the heaps while in a hurry – NEVER be in a hurry! Do not just leave the heaps where ever they are on the plate, because it may well be that those in the center look smaller than those near the rim, lines to the top left may seem longer to you, ….
Divide and Join Portioning:
Results from doing it about ten times faster and 100 times more careless than you should do. The eight piles weight on average 13 mg with a standard deviation of 1.5 mg, the largest one being 15 mg, the smallest 11 mg instead of the nominal 1000 mg/64 ~16 mg.
Once you have your roughly “16mg” piles, or say a roughly (2*16mg) = 32mg one by joining two of those again, this further joining reducing the random error further, you are safe with dividing without joining and even eyeballing.
More Caution
First of course you must take a tiny amount (about 1 mg) in order to see whether you are allergic or whether there is anything seriously wrong with the substance. Even reputable distributors have mislabeled for example “Bromo-Dragonfly”, with deadly consequences! By the way, this exact same caution applies to any medicine, for example penicillin. Allergies you have but do not know about are seldom, but they can have serious consequences.
After completed allergy/big-mess-up testing, you still need to see how your own body reacts. Then you probably should first just apply about 5 mg, next day 10 mg, if that is ok, next time 20 mg (these examples would be typical for Methoxetamine), after that you know best yourself. Methoxetamine should also be good injected intra muscularly (IM), just like K. Oral or under the tongue are not so good. IV injection does not work with Ketamine or Methoxetamine (unless you used a huge drip).
And yet more Caution
This method divides reasonably accurately without access to a scale. This is here in order to warn you NOT TO JUST EYEBALL, as is very often done in haste before a party or whatever. Eyeballing is dangerous. If you at all can, do use a trustworthy chemical scale! Also: this article cannot cover many other aspects. Educate yourself about all aspects of what you are about to do. For example, do not come to me crying after measuring out as described, being a fat hulk dropping stuff always on a huge pizza eaten before, then being convinced that “this much is fine”, and subsequently having killed your petite anorexic girlfriend who is on three different psycho meds. Know yourself – if you are a moron, this measuring method is not going to help you avoid being a moron.
Is Divide and Join Partitioning right for Me?
If you buy another bag, even from the same distributor, do all of it again; the kitchen scale, the allergy testing with a tiny dose, the looking what your “experienced” body does with a low dose. If you stick with that, a bunching of coincidences cannot harm you. What is a bunching of coincidences? For example: The first time there being only 900 mg in the bag and the supermarket scale showing more than a gram and you selecting a 90 mg heap by chance (instead of the expected 1100 mg/8=137 mg) in order to divide further, then testing with a 10 mg one instead of the nominal 1100 mg/64 = 17 mg and throwing the rest away by accident. Now you buy another bag, but this time there are actually 1100 mg and a different supermarket scale shows less than a gram, you select a large 160 mg heap by chance, then end up with a 160 mg/8 = 20 mg one instead of the expected 900 mg/64 = 14 mg. If you do not test again but instead think “well last time the 17 mg (actually only 10) were too weak so now I take two of the smaller 14 mg ones (that are actually 2*20 mg = 40 mg)” you may well get into serious trouble! If you did not understand this paragraph and cannot be bothered to read it carefully again, Divide and Join Partitioning and research chemicals generally are not for you!
If you understood the last paragraph, you will likely understand that as long as you go no shortcuts with the method, the variations in the weights are no more severe than the usual variations due to the time of day, your previous food intake, whether you had a coffee or not, ate something very sour instead of cookies prepared with baking soda (acidity), had grapefruit juice (liver enzyme reduction), have your period, and so on.
Some people say that science education is so bad that practically all people are too silly and we should refrain from active harm reduction, as harm reduction may just give a feeling of false security to those who will mess up nevertheless. Well, this is a science site and there are plenty of responsible people out there reading. Education is what we need, and we are not going to put on a helmet every time we walk up stairs or avoid stairs altogether just because there will always be people who fall down stairs.
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Enjoyed this post? If so, let me have a personal one on one here with you (everybody else just skip): Sometimes I wish I had a time machine, go back, buy perfectly legal, cheap medicines, bury a ton sealed in a good location, and then come back. Well, time travel is impossible, so now is probably the time to get your shovels out, because the FDA is going to kill this baby. I am in a bad situation here, but one day I will be roaming the planet again, and maybe you my friend have buried something ready to be explored together under the guidance of the traveling master?
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More from Sascha Vongehr sorted Topic for Topic'Choose love and kindness,' Raleigh couple's online campaign asks Copyright by WNCN - All rights reserved (CBS North Carolina) [ + - ] Video
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) - A Raleigh couple strongly believes in Mark Twain's quote, "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
"America shouldn't be a country filled with violence and anger," said Alan Winchester, founder of Help Change America.
Winchester and his wife refuse to take a back seat.
"We're very concerned about what's going on in America today," he said.
So, they started a campaign and the website Help Change America.
"On average, every single day there's a mass shooting in America," Alan said.
"In addition to that, Washington is broken and our politicians are fighting back and forth doing nothing, but finger pointing and disrespecting one another and not accomplishing anything."
They're not asking for donations, just online commitments to choose kindness in hopes of creating a ripple effect.
Winchester reads one of the pledges on their website. "I pledge to treat everyone as a friend and help those who need help."
He says the mass shooting at a church in Southland Springs, Texas was their tipping point.
"We were both so crushed that we said, 'We either have to stop complaining or do something about it.'"
To help spread the movement, the group is putting up billboards all over the Triangle that read, "Choose love and kindness, not violence and hatred."
"Kindness has the ability of drawing people together, it not only affects the giver, but the receiver and the observer," said Winchester.
"I pledge to smile every day. I pledge equality for all," reads another pledge.
"America was built on a dream. We can do anything in America if we dream big enough," said Alan.
They believe kindness is a choice.
Their goal is to get 100,000 commitments within the next six months and share those comments with our politicians. For more information on the Help Change America campaign and to leave your message, click here.
If you have a crowdfunding story, email CBS North Carolina's Sharon Tazewell at stazewell@wncn.com.Pain away: James Tamou in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday. Credit:Janie Barrett "What it was, was an infection just below the left [buttock] cheek and top of the hammy. It hurt so bad. The doctor cut it out and put me on antibiotics and I after that I started to feel ill. The bags were packed, ready to go and then I started to feel ill. "I called the doctor and he admitted me to hospital and I spent the night there on a drip. I had heard of stories of players being in hospital for a while because of staph infections. It's no laughing matter, that really stops you in your tracks, so I was a bit worried about that. But after I started to feel a bit better overnight, I knew I was right and wanted to come straight down." Tamou missed the Blues' bonding session on a private boat in Sydney Harbour on Monday, arriving into camp later that night before they boarded a plane for their camp base in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday. The premiership-winning prop, who is expected to train with the squad on Wednesday unhampered by the infection, is no stranger to pain, but he insists the discomfort of the infection was like nothing he'd experienced.
"The pain was unbearable. I haven't had that sort of pain before. It was a different pain to the neck, more of a sharper pain. I couldn't walk properly. Sitting down, I had to lean on one side. Those basics things. "On Sunday when I was starting to feel really sick, the doctor said you're going to have to go into hospital. I told him that I'm going to have to call Laurie. He said 'I'll call him for you'. Laurie was great, he said whatever gets him right for this game make sure he's 100 per cent to come down." Tamou, who last week was close to agreeing to terms to join the Panthers, has decided to put off contract discussions until after Origin I at ANZ Stadium. The Cowboys seemed resigned to losing the Australian representative but he is now doubting whether he should leave the Cowboys despite the family benefits of moving to Sydney. "We want to weigh everything up so I guess this is where this [suggestions he won't be coming to Penrith] has come from... me staying in Townsville and not coming to Sydney," Tamou said.A tourist killed and ate an octopus he found while on vacation with his family in Greece, only to discover the rare six-limbed "hexapus" was the second ever found.
Labros Hydras, a 49-year-old mechanical engineer from Washington, D.C., was snorkeling in Greece when he saw a six-legged octopus at Papa Nero beach on the Pelion peninsula, according to the United Kingdom's South West News Service.
He pulled the creature from the water and smashed it against a rock to kill it. When he took it to a local tavern to be cooked, the chef refused. Hydras then fried it up on his own, eating it with a slice of tomato and lemon, before he researched and discovered the octopus was actually an extremely rare, six-limbed hexapus.
SCROLL FOR PHOTOS
"It tasted just like a normal octopus but now I feel really bad," Hydras told SWNS. “When we caught it, there was nothing to suggest it was any different or had been damaged. I thought it had just been born with six tentacles. We go to Greece every year and when we catch an octopus we do the same thing so we just did not think about it.”
He now plans to pursue the "scientific angle" and use his photos to help make scientists more aware of this animal.
The only other hexapus ever discovered was found in Wales in 2008. "Henry" lived out his days at the Blackpool Sea Life Centre in England.
"We've scoured the Internet and talked to lots of other aquariums, and no one has ever heard of another case of a six-legged octopus," an aquarium supervisor told the Agence France-Presse at the time.
One marine biology professional recently offered theories on how the hexapus came to be.
"It is rare to find an octopus like this," Matt Bentley, a marine biology professor at Newcastle University, told the Telegraph about the hexapus found in Greece. "There is every possibility it could have grown an abnormality in early development. But there is nothing to suggest it that it is a different species. Another explanation is it could have been injured and has healed very well over time."You can fast-track your cad career by being smarter about the locations of your target acquisition. But this may require going above and beyond the call of decency.
1. Abortion clinics
What better (or faster) way to look like a protector of loved ones than to strike a pose at an abortion clinic waiting room, assisting a friend in fertilized distress? The kind of man who will “be there”, even in a woman’s darkest moments. And your quarry… ladies at their most vulnerable, many forgotten and discarded by badboy lovers. And you know these abortion-questing broads are impulsive, full spectrum sluts. The proof is in the womb pudding. Their BFF escorts are sluts, too. Sluts like to be around other sluts, so they’re not constantly judged by withering glares.
Here’s a man who took the pre-viability plunge:
I creep on [girls] and they love my confidence. I have put myself out there. I made out with a girl the other day for the first time since high school. Anyways, abortion clinics are great. I always go in and i pretend that I am making an appointment for my sister because she got knocked up and my parents are religious. So the other day i go by the clinic (my parents kicked me out and I moved in with my grandma who lives close to one clinic) and I just lurk around so see if any hot non preggos come in. After about an hour or so this cutie walks in with her preggo friend. Now I don’t do preggos because they have weird nipples and I am lactose intolerant so sex gets messy and pukey. But her friend was hot. so I make up a sob story to this bish about my sister and how I am there for her even though my parents would abondon her is she told them about the pregnency. I also tell them that women have the right to choose (lol the only thing I let bishes choose is how much lettuce they put in my sandwich. Bishes be all healthy and sh;t). So the preggo goes into the clinic while the hot friend stays out with me. We talk about feminism and stuff. She is impressed with my in depth knowledge and asks me to come out to the bar later. (I hate finism but I learned all about it to trick bishes. Bishes be dumb lol). So I go home start pre gaming and puke a few times because of my celiacs (can’t drink beer). Go to bar, talk up the bish, buy her drinks and she kisses me at the end and tells me that she has to go but I should come over to her house on monday. I’m gonna get laid tomorrow. So happy.
This strategy of killin’ it at the clinic might not be viable much longer, thanks to the morning after pill. Next pick-up stop… CVS!
2. Gay bars
If you have the stomach for it, plying the gay bar for straight women is subterfuge with a high ROI. There are many reasons why gay bars are great pick up places for straight men, but really it primarily comes down to the de facto sex ratio skew. The bar doesn’t have to be wildly gay, either. A minimal substitution of, say, 10% of the straight men with gay men can make the women there feel quite a bit more anxious about their market positions. Nudging the sex ratio needle a little can help your cad cause a lot.
Gay bar downside: Trannies. You better hope you have a keen eye, crying gamer.
3. Divorce/family court
Ever hang out at your local bureau of broken dreams and tragic mistakes? Yeah, the quality there isn’t great (most hot babes marry well and learn to tolerate the mistresses) but the self-esteems are at ROCK BOTTOM PRICES. Like stalking abortion clinics, the objective here is to hone on women who are hurting awfully bad, and pick up their spirits with promises of romance to carry them away from their problems.
4. Any poor country
Self-explanatory. As an American, you’ve got that “expert from afar” and “meal ticket” vibe going which foreign women in poor countries amor amor amor. But these INCREDIBLE DEALS won’t last, because America’s relative superiority to lesser nations with good-looking peasant girls is shrinking by the day. Soon, you can kiss goodbye that East European breastbasket. Next pick-up stop… Rwanda!
5. Welfare office
Flash that roll of tens, and you are good to go, pimp daddy! Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “But I like my women to look like women and not megafauna!” Somebody call the waaambulance. Ok, then pay a visit to the countryside, where skid row is more rustic, and more white. At least a few of those hard luck cases will be disarmingly cute. Downside: Hope you like tripping over toys on the way to the bedroom.
6. AA meetings/sex addict groups/rehab centers
There’s nothing better for the modern Casanova than a fragile woman with low impulse control. Heck, books have been written about it. Problem is, some bishes are catching onto the ploy.
7. Funerals
Ah, the specter of death, beaten back with help from the specter of your scepter.
8. George Mason University Economics Department
After a week of enduring robotic sperg anti-game, that cute coed will be dying for some human contact. Should be hassle-free to sit in on a class or one hundred, because I’m certain the GMU Econ Department has an open door policy, right?The signal on West 117th Street at Interstate 90 turns red, and roadway movement stops. Curb-lane drivers turning right onto the westbound highway look ahead and see a clear path. It looks safe to go.
Too bad it's illegal.
"No Turn on Red" signage stymies I-90-bound motorists at the always busy spot just south of shopping plazas on Cleveland's West Side. The don't-do-it notice "seemingly functions only to bottle up traffic," according to Road Rant lookout Jim Spilsbury of Lakewood, one of several readers to complain about the order.
The curb lane functions only to pour southbound West 117th vehicles onto I-90. No other traffic rolls into the entry path. There is a crosswalk to consider, but there's also a clear line of sight -- better than most traditional intersections -- to spot pedestrians.
Simply put, no reason stands out to force a no-right-on-red rule.
So why have it?
Heads up: Signage informs motorists that they can't drive down Landon Road in Shaker Heights during certain hours. Unfortunately, the nitty-gritty details arrive a tad late for those turning off Shaker Boulevard.
Westbound traffic on Shaker learns the specifics of the restriction after committing toward Landon and Green Road, reports Road Rant scout Sheldon Gisser. The posted notices on Landon stand roughly 200 feet from where boulevard drivers start veering right. "I doubt I am the only one who is unable to read the small print," the Pepper Pike man e-mailed.
That forces a last-second decision for drivers aimed at Landon between the prohibited hours of 7 and 9:30 a.m. and 3 and 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday: Either go rogue and disobey or turn right onto Green Road and map a new route.
It's an annoying setup, Gisser said. It's also fixable with the installation of a sign along Shaker Boulevard before the intersection at Landon.
So how about it, Shaker Heights?
Night frights: Joe Harmon knows people can vanish in the dark.
Two streetlights fronting his round-the-clock storage facility in North Royalton stopped glowing a few years back. The outage turned the cul-de-sac on York Theta Drive into a gloomy location... and that's not exactly good for business. Harmon e-mailed that he's "tired of losing potential customers and the peace of mind of my existing customers" to the inky conditions.
So Road Rant put the spot in the spotlight.
A call to FirstEnergy brought a review of the situation. (Crews responded previously but never managed to resolve the problem.) The illumination gang determined that an underground circuit needs to be replaced, making the job a bit more complex. Design work is under way and officials expect a fix within a week or two.
In other words, the future looks bright.
Scaling back: Macedonia decluttered.
Workers removed three of the 11 street-name signs identifying Aurora Road (Ohio 82), North Bedford Road and Valley View Road where they intersect just east of Interstate 271 in northern Summit County. It's an improvement... though fewer nameplates would be even better. Road Rant noted a complaint about the excess signage in the spring.
Safety step: A pair of busy East Side streets now offer walking instructions.
Cleveland crews relighted the pedestrian signals at the tricky intersection where Woodland Avenue and Kinsman Road meet East 55th Street. Road Rant noted the out-of-order devices in a previous column.The state has released a report into the December case of the runaway Red Line train that gripped the city late last year. The account of the infamous incident, released on the afternoon ofSuper Tuesday,finds that the operator of the train, David Vazquez, "violated a number of critical MBTA safety rules, which leadto the unattended train event," according to a cover letter signed by Scott Andrews, from thestateDepartment of Public Utilities' transportation oversight division. RELATED: Red Line Ghost Train Twitter account pokes fun atMBTAscare Recommended Slideshows 4 Pictures PHOTOS: Singapore's treasures star in NY Botanical Garden's 2019 Orchid Show 4 Pictures 36 Pictures Oscars 2019: Red carpet looks and full list of winners 36 Pictures 36 Pictures All of these celebrities have had their nudes leaked 36 Pictures More picture galleries 16 Pictures These photos of Trump and Ivanka will make you deeply uncomfortable 16 Pictures 4 Pictures Inside Brooklyn's Teknopolis is tech that makes us more human 4 Pictures 4 Pictures Inside The Strand's Fight Against Being Named a New York City Landmark 4 Pictures The report also contains recreations in photos of how Vazquezmanipulated his hand controls that morning, tying a microphone cable around it to keep it in the drive position. He is no longer an MBTA employee. Included in the analysis are steps the review found the MBTA should take to prevent the runaway train incident from happening again. Suggestions include installing cameras in train cabs, and moving the "emergency bypass" switch from the outside to the inside of trains. Related Articles Corbeil, Delmas still close despite logjam in Herd’s crease Time has come for MBTA fare hike vote Daniel Sloss used to buy shots for his Boston audienceWelcome to Overnight Regulations, your daily rundown of news from the federal agencies, Capitol Hill and the courts. It's Tuesday evening here in Washington.
Here's the latest:
THE BIG STORY
Democrats are pushing hard against a Republican proposal to ease restrictions on purchasing gun silencers.
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) added his measure, known as the Hearing Protection Act to the Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act (SHARE), legislation aimed at broadening public access to federal lands for hunting and fishing.
Under Duncan's measure, silencers, also known as suppressors, would be removed from the National Firearms Act. Purchasers would need to only undergo a less extensive, instant background check.
Here's the fight on both sides:
Democrats say the measure will weaken gun safety laws and make active shooter situations more difficult to address.
David Chipman, senior policy advisor of Americans for Responsible Solutions, a pro-gun control group told members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands at a hearing Tuesday that the bill would make silencers more readily available to criminals.
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"One of the reason we have not seen silencers out there in tons of crimes is the fact that we have a regulatory structure that makes it very difficult to get these," he said.
Republicans, however, claim sportsmen need silencers to protect their hearing.
"Right now we are in a situation where it seems … that sportsmen have to choose between damaging their hearing and being able to hunt, shoot, target practice," said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
Stephen Halbrook, who has sued on behalf of the National Rifle Association, pushed back about claims that silencers will increase gun violence.
"If you want to make one now you can do it and a person who would not be dissuaded from committing a murder by capital punishment potentially is not going to worry about a National Firearms Act conviction for non-registration of a suppressor," he said.
Read the full story here.
ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow to talk about transportation innovation and automated trucks and our nation's highways.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the nomination of Daniel Kaniewski to be the deputy administrator for National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The House Education and the Workforce Subcommittees on Workforce Protections and Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions will hold a joint hearing on legislation to rescind the National Labor Relations Board's joint-employer standard.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on modernizing the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of over-the-counter drugs.
REG ROUNDUP
Tech: Yelp is accusing Google of violating a 2012 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in which the internet search giant agreed to stop passing off third-party content as its own.
Luther Lowe, Yelp's vice president of public policy, sent a letter to acting FTC Chairman Ma |
providing Maroon Level ($200) benefits which include a parking pass and other perks for a fraction of the cost. This program will run for the first five years after graduation (please reference the Bobcat "Bump" soft credit chart below).
Bobcat "Bump" Donation Soft Credit Chart
The minimum donation required in order to be eligible for this program is determined by the graduation year but begins as low as $50 for first year graduates. Young alumni can also reserve discounted season tickets for as little as $60 - a rate that remains active for five years after graduation. While the Young Alumni Program is aimed at recent graduates, current Texas State students are also able to take advantage of this program and will be given the same "bump" as first year graduate s. Additional information on the Young Alumni Program can be found here. There is no maximum contribution to be eligible for this program. This means if a first-year graduate donates $350 versus $50, the combination of the donation and the soft credit will provide a $500 membership and benefits (Bronze Level).
The other change being announced today is the return of tailgating to the east side parking lot at Bobcat Stadium. The first three rows of parking spaces closest to Aquarena Springs Drive will be converted to a tailgating lot for Bobcat Club members only, including members who join through the Young Alumni Program. This tailgate area will follow the same tailgating rules as the existing donor tailgate lot on the west side parking lot. While donor RVs will be allowed in the east side lot, there will be no reserved RV spaces. The donor tailgate lot on the west side of the stadium will be unaffected by these changes.
"I'm very excited to announce both the Young Alumni Program as well as the addition of the east side tailgating" said Matt Peters, Assistant Athletics Director of Development. "The young alum initiative makes it easy for recent graduates to stay involved with Texas State Athletics and see the value in being a Bobcat Club member as they begin their professional careers. I'm also pleased to offer east side tailgating which is historically one of the most popular places to tailgate on gameday. After hearing from many donors and alums that east side tailgating is the preferred location, we were able to make adjustments to our parking lots and accommodate this request."
It is important to note that east side tailgating may not be permanent and will likely need to be adjusted in the future. "The Aquarena Springs overpass construction project will drastically affect our parking lots along Aquarena Springs Drive near Bobcat Stadium," said Peters. "This project could begin as early as 2014 and is expected to take two years to complete. It will alter our gameday parking lots while construction is ongoing. We are happy to offer east side tailgating this year and hope to keep it as an option in the future, however the overpass project will largely dictate what we're able to do on the east side during construction. While we understand that there has not been much continuity regarding tailgating over the past few years, we are adapting to the feedback from our donors as well as the circumstances around the stadium which include the stadium expansion in previous years and the Aquarena overpass in future years. As is the case after every season, we will evaluate all parking and tailgating locations and policies to determine how to move forward in future seasons. We will also use the period during which the overpass is being built to design a permanent tailgating plan for the seasons after the project is complete."
Fans of Texas State Athletics are encouraged to take advantage of the Bring A Bobcat campaign in addition to the Young Alumni Program, both of which positively affect each stakeholder's Priority Points. Please contact the Bobcat Club at 512-245-2114 or bobcatclub@txstate.edu, or visit www.txstatebobcatclub.com if you have any questions regarding any of these programs.Blog
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by Dan
Guest Blogger + YA Fiction / February 24, 2013
Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
To mark this year's Freedom to Read Week, which starts today, we asked author Cory Doctorow to contribute a guest post on libraries and technology.
Libraries, Hackspaces and E-waste: how libraries can be the hub of a young maker revolution
Every discussion of libraries in the age of austerity always includes at least one blowhard who opines, "What do we need libraries for? We've got the Internet now!"
Facepalm.
The problem is that Mr. Blowhard has confused a library with a book depository. Now, those are useful, too, but a library isn't just (or even necessarily) a place where you go to get books for free. Public libraries have always been places where skilled information professionals assisted the general public with the eternal quest to understand the world. Historically, librarians have sat at the coalface between the entire universe of published material and patrons, choosing books with at least a colorable claim to credibility, carefully cataloging and shelving them, and then assisting patrons in understanding how to synthesize the material contained therein.
Libraries have also served as community hubs, places where the curious, the scholarly, and the intellectually excitable could gather in the company of one another, surrounded by untold information-wealth, presided over by skilled information professionals who could lend technical assistance where needed. My own life has included many protracted stints in libraries — for example, I dropped out of high-school when I was 14 took myself to Toronto's Metro Reference Library and literally walked into the shelves at random, selected the first volume that aroused my curiosity, read it until it suggested another line of interest, then chased that one up. When I found the newspaper microfilm, I was blown away, and spent a week just pulling out reels at random and reading newspapers from the decades and centuries before, making notes and chasing them up with books. We have a name for this behavior today, of course: "browsing the Web." It was clunkier before the Web went digital, but it was every bit as exciting.
(Eventually my parents figured out I wasn't going to school, and after the ensuing confrontations, I ended up at a most excellent independent/alternative school, but that's another story)
Later, I worked as a page at North York Public Library's central branch, in the Business and Urban Affairs department. Working at a library is an unparalleled opportunity to witness the full range of human curiosity, from excited students working on school assignments together to wild-eyed entrepreneurs pursuing their dreams to careful senior citizens researching where to invest their personal savings to supplement their pensions (and lots more besides). All these people were using the library as a place, a resource, and a community. Because that's what libraries are.
And we've never needed that more than we need it today. We've run out of places. What used to be public squares and parks are now malls. Places that used to welcome kids now prohibit them (in England, where I live, some smart-aleck invented a device called "the mosquito," which plays a shrill tone only audible to young ears, used to drive children away from semi-public spaces like the benches in front of stores).
What's more, we're *drowning* in information. Pre-Internet librarianship was like pre-Internet newspaper publishing: "select, then publish." That is, all the unfiltered items are presented to a gatekeeper, who selects the best of them, and puts them in front of the rest of the world. Now we live in a "publish, then select" world: everyone can reach everything, all the time, and the job of experts is to collect and annotate that material, to help others navigate its worth and truthfulness.
That is to say that society has never needed its librarians, and its libraries, more. The major life-skill of the information age is information literacy, and no one's better at that than librarians. It's what they train for. It's what they live for.
But there's another gang of information-literate people out there, a gang who are a natural ally of libraries and librarians: the maker movement. Clustered in co-operative workshops called "makerspaces" or "hack(er)spaces," makers build physical stuff. They make robots, flying drones, 3D printers (and 3D printed stuff), jewelry, tools, printing presses, clothes, medieval armor... Whatever takes their fancy. Making in the 21st century has moved out of the individual workshop and gone networked. Today's tinkerer work in vast, distributed communities where information sharing is the norm, where the ethics and practices of the free/open source software movement has gone physical. Such hackspaces play a prominent role in my own fiction (thanks, no doubt, to the neighborly presence to the London Hackspace, which is directly over my own office in Hackney). In my new novel,
Homeland (the sequel to 2008's Little Brother), my protagonist Marcus discovers the tools of personal and social revolution through his friends at Noisebridge, a real-world makerspace in San Francisco.
At first blush, the connection between makers and libraries might be hard to see. But one of the impacts of building your own computing devices (a drone, a 3D printer, and a robot are just specialized computers in fancy cases) is that it forces you to confront the architecture and systems that underlie your own information consumption. Savvy librarians will know that our access to networked information is mediated by dozens of invisible sources, from the unaccountable search algorithms that determine our starting (and often, ending) points, to the equally unaccountable censoring network "filters" that arbitrarily block whole swathes of the Internet, to underlying hardware and operating system constraints and choices that make certain kinds of information easy to consume, and other kinds nearly impossible.
In the automobile age, everyone was expected to know the fundamentals of how their cars worked. Even if you paid someone else to change your oil, it would take an act of will to attain adulthood in the USA without learning a bit about the mechanics underpinning the signal invention of your era. There were just too many ways that a car could go wrong, and too many ways that your life revolved around cars to rely on the rest of the world to understand them for you.
Now we live in the computer age, and if we thought we relied on cars, we hadn't seen anything. Some people spend so much time in their cars that it's like they live in them. But you literally do live inside a computer -- a modern house, car, or institutional building is just a giant computer you put your body into. And modern hearing aids, pacemakers, and prostheses are computers you put inside your body.
Every part of our lives have been permeated by computers, and these computers have the power to peer into our private lives, to compromise our finances, to shape our political beliefs, to disrupt our families, and to destroy our workplaces. That is, if computers don't serve us, they can (and do) destroy us.
But for people who master networked computers and make them into honest servants, computers deliver incredible dividends. A UK study compared similar families, some with access to the net and others without, and found that the families with net access had better education, were more civically engaged, more politically informed, had better jobs and income, were more socially mobile — even their health and nutrition was better. If computers are on your side, they elevate every single thing we use to measure quality of life.
So we need to master computers — to master the systems of information, so that we can master information itself.
That's where makers come in. One of the curious aspects of computers is that they evolve so quickly that they rapidly become obsolete. That means that our communities are drowning in "e-waste," often sent to developing nations where children labor in horrific conditions to turn them back into materials to be reintroduced into the manufacturing stream.
What if, instead of shipping our communities' "dead" computers to China to be dipped in acid by unprotected children, we brought them to our libraries. What if we enlisted our makers to run workshops at the libraries, workshops where the patrons who come to the library to use the limited computers there were taught to build their own PCs, install GNU/Linux on them, and *bring them home*? People who say that it's dumb to turn libraries into book-lined Internet cafes are right.
Internet at the library should be the gateway drug for building a PC of your own, from parts, learning firsthand how computers work, what operating systems are capable of, and what locked-down devices and networks take away from their users.
Making a PC isn't hard, especially when you get the parts for free. The easiest way to get good at stuff is to make mistakes ("to double your success rate, triple your failure rate"). The best mechanic I know learned his trade by buying $100 junkers on Craigslist and destroying one after another until he got good (then: *excellent*) at it. When you're building PCs out of literal garbage, you can do no wrong. Your failures just end up back in the same dumpster they were headed for in the first place.
Look, we've got more computer junk than we know what to do with and a generation of kids whose "information literacy" extends to learning PowerPoint and being lectured about plagiarizing from Wikipedia and putting too much information on Facebook. The invisible, crucial infrastructure of our century is treated as the province of wizards and industrialists, and hermetically sealed, with no user-serviceable parts inside.
Damn right libraries shouldn't be book-lined Internet cafes. They should be book-lined, computer-filled information-dojos where communities come together to teach each other black-belt information literacy, where initiates work alongside noviates to show them how to master the tools of the networked age from the bare metal up.
My young adult novels always feature kids who build their own tools, in part because the coolest, most curious kids I know are already doing this. But it's also because this is a hobby that's available to anyone. The information is online, free. The raw materials aren't just free, they're worth *less than nothing*, a liability and a nuisance to be rid of. And the dividends are stupendous. Only through understanding the tools of information can we master them, and only by mastering them can we use them to make our lives better, rather than destroying them.
Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow will be at the Lillian H. Smith Library in Toronto on March 1, 2013 at 7:00pm (doors open at 6pm).
Leave a CommentEuropean Council Meeting – Mar 2017, European Council, CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0
The Brexit negotiations mean hard choices will have to be made. Nobody can question the fact that, before or during the referendum campaign, there was no reflection on the consequences of leaving the European Union, especially those far-reaching, irreversible consequences, affecting people’s lives for generations. As the British economy has not been doing badly over the last months, even experts live in fiction, confusing the impact of the referendum on the economy so far with the real impact of Brexit.
The question British citizens were responding to in the referendum was not about what really matters for people’s lives. As a result, the government has chosen control of migration over the single market: control of migration in a time of full employment in the UK and a ‘No’ to the single market, which for decades has been the major driver behind British jobs, growth and competitiveness.
But I have no doubt that what we have to focus on today is to deliver Brexit intelligently, with a positive mind set, avoiding anything happening by accident. Avoiding that either side walks away from the negotiation table. There is a chance that we can achieve what I would call a good compromise. Our common Europe has always been about compromise-building. There is a risk that those who do not like to accept compromises might take such a compromise as a bad deal and follow the logic of the recently popular buzz line – ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’. There is no deal worse than no deal. I can only hope that the UK will not take a good compromise as representing a bad deal. This would mean jumping off the cliff. Nobody would benefit.
On our, the European Union side, we are committed to spare no efforts to protect first and foremost the citizens, both those of UK and those of the remaining twenty seven member states of the Union. The European Union is the Union of citizens. This is in the Treaties. We have also taken note of the fact that UK citizens voted differently in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and also in Gibraltar, making it clear that the majority of them would wish to remain in the Union. It is difficult to imagine that those differences could be ignored and discarded in the process of Brexit. In the European Parliament, we represent all citizens of the European Union and will act throughout the whole process leading to the UK’s withdrawal to protect their interests.
Of course, the EU position will have to stay within the boundaries of what is legally possible. The treaties give us guidance. And there are many options that can be offered to a European country, soon to be an ex-member of the Union, to maintain a relationship that would work for all of us. It is difficult, however, not to remind ourselves that the best of all those options is the one the UK wants to reject, membership of the European Union.
Without doubt, Brexit will make us all smaller in the global world which is increasingly unpredictable, full of conflicts, messy and dangerous. It will produce damage to all dimensions of our lives: economic, political, emotional. Our duty is to scale this damage down. But also the citizens of UK should use the negotiation process as a learning opportunity. The gap in understanding of how the European Union works, what leaving will really mean, what its logistics and costs will be, is enormous. Transparency of the negotiation process will help to understand the challenge. Eyes might open, public debate might be encouraged, communities will listen and talk.When Bowe Bergdahl was reported missing in Afghanistan on the morning of June 30, 2009, a crack formed in the U.S. narrative about the longest war in our nation’s history. Bergdahl’s release this week, as part of a prisoner-of-war swap with the Taliban, has provoked the partisan pundits to hurl invective at the American POW, his family, and at President Barack Obama. Far removed from the din of these professional Beltway hecklers, though, in Hailey, Idaho, Bob Bergdahl, the young prisoner’s father, has been struggling for his son’s release. The ordeal of the son, and the disciplined, contemplative activism of the father, projects the U.S. war in Afghanistan through a different lens.
We know little yet of what exactly led to Bowe Bergdahl’s disappearance that night in Paktika province. Sean Smith, a filmmaker with The Guardian, met him the month before his disappearance. “Bowe was a softly spoken, intelligent and thoughtful guy,” Smith wrote. Smith produced two remarkable videos, one with footage shot in Afghanistan, another in Idaho, showing Bob Bergdahl’s personal efforts to not only free his son, but to understand the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Bowe himself is not interviewed in Smith’s films, but two fellow soldiers, in their tightly-knit group of five or six, were:
SOLDIER ONE: “These people just want to be left alone.”
SOLDIER TWO: “They got dicked with from the Russians for 17 years and then now we’re here.”
SOLDIER ONE: “Same thing in Iraq when I was there. These people just want to be left alone. Have their crops, weddings, stuff like that, that’s it, man.”
Days later, Bergdahl disappeared. Smith told me, “They weren’t criticizing the chain of command, but they were questioning the war and the concept of it … a number of American soldiers expressed queries and questions.”
Back in Idaho, Smith trekked into a remote, snow-covered camp with Bowe’s father. Bob Bergdahl had grown a long beard and was studying the Pashto language in order to connect with the people of Afghanistan. In the film, Bergdahl talks about his son: “He was not there for national security. He was not there because he lost a personal friend on 9/11. He was there because the way he was raised forced him to have compassion. I know that was Bowe’s motivation, to help these people. That is how the war is shaped in the minds of a lot of Americans, is that we are there as some kind of Peace Corps with guns, and that is just an impossible mission.”
Bob Bergdahl is next shown watching a video of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his famous “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam” sermon in 1967. Bergdahl reflected: “How can we teach two generations at least of children in this country that we have zero tolerance for violence but we can occupy two countries in Asia for almost a decade. It is schizophrenic. … The purpose of war is to destroy things. You can’t use it to govern.”
The chorus of voices calling for Bowe Bergdahl to be court-martialed is receiving much attention. Media Matters, a nonprofit media watchdog group, has documented the Fox News Channel’s unrelenting campaign against Bergdahl, and the demonization of his family. The New York Times challenged the claim, tirelessly repeated by CNN, MSNBC and others, that six to eight soldiers died while searching for Bowe Bergdahl in the weeks and months after he went missing.
Other, perhaps better informed people, who get too little space in the mainstream media, have more nuanced responses to the prisoner-of-war swap. Retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis was the chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay until he resigned in 2007. He told me, “I just don’t know how you end a war without talking to the other side.” In response to the criticism that the five Guantanamo prisoners swapped for Bergdahl were high-level terrorists, Davis said, “[I] wasn’t familiar with any of these names … we had more than 12 years. If we could have proven that they had done something wrong that we could prosecute them for, I’m confident we would have done it, and we didn’t.”
The late Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings reported on Bowe Bergdahl, quoting emails from Bowe to his parents that were very critical of the U.S. occupation. Bowe wrote, “I am sorry for everything here.” At the end of Sean Smith’s video shot in Idaho, we hear Bob Bergdahl quietly remark about the U.S. war in Afghanistan: “I think this is the darkening of the American soul. It is where the guilt comes from, because you are being told you are helping, but you know on the inside that you are not.”
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,200 stations in North America. She is the co-author of “The Silenced Majority,” a New York Times best-seller.
© 2014 Amy Goodman
Distributed by King Features SyndicateSocial media users are mobilizing to try to get Betty White to introduce President Obama at this week’s Democratic National Convention, and the movement is gaining momentum. A Facebook group devoted to the cause has more than 18,000 likes (and counting) as of Sunday evening, while a petition on Change.org has more than 2,000 supporters.
The effort to get the 90-years-young actress began after Clint Eastwood’s awkward, rambling and nonsensical introduction of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention that involved, among other things, the actor and filmmaker speaking to an empty chair.
According to the Change.org petition, Eastwood, “the Republicans’ ‘mystery guest’ at the RNC, gave a bad name to older Americans everywhere” with the introduction. It says the “Hot in Cleveland” star is the Hollywood icon best suited to getting a “political introduction right.”
In addition to Change.org and Facebook, Twitter has also featured support for the cause (including a series of memes — some of which are quite hilarious — that you can view below).
The actress is a well-known supporter of President Obama, visiting him in the White House in June. She has also previously said she “very, very much favors” Obama getting another term in office.
And as it so happens, White is no stranger to being the center of a social media campaign; two years ago, a successful effort was launched to get the former “Golden Girl” to host “Saturday Night Live.”
Will this one be triumphant as well? Stay tuned to find out.
— Posted by Tracy Bloom.
[View the story “The Campaign To Bring Betty White to the DNC” on Storify]FRI-MON, 3/21-24/14, Issue 318
@Jaxonpool _______
Angela Hardcorey to prosecute Keith Haring’s Ghost. State prosecutor Angela Hardcorey announced today she would bring the full weight of her office to bear against Kevin “Chip” Southworth, a.k.a. Keith Haring’s Ghost.
Southworth, the man who has been spray painting images à la Haring on traffic control boxes around Jacksonville, was arrested yesterday. At a hastily organized news conference this morning, Hardcory shouted, “These traffic boxes have been VIOLATED!” As the state prosecutor became increasingly agitated, evidently aroused by her own language, the assembled reporters contemplated either fleeing the room or invoking Stand Your Ground.
“Southworth won’t get away with this!” Hardcorey inveighed. “It’s just a shame he’s not still twelve years old. Then I’d really have a go at him! I’d lock him up in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for months on end. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that.”
Hardcorey displayed evidence recovered from the suspect’s home, including articles of clothing worn during media interviews and — most incriminating of all — pictures of the art captured on a cell phone. All items have been impounded downtown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, otherwise known as MOCA Jax.
Between August 15th and December 29th, 2013, eleven traffic control utility boxes were spray painted with images imitating Keith Haring’s iconic style. The amount of “damages” to the boxes was estimated at $1,100.
One reporter suggested Southworth should be paid, not jailed, for livening up an otherwise dull city. Hardcorey responded by pointing at him and quoting Shakespeare: “Off with his head,” she yelled, invoking a particularly trenchant line from the Bard’s 1593 drama, Richard the Third.
“We cannot tolerate anything to do with Keith Haring,” bellowed Hardcorey at the pool of cowed and increasingly terrified reporters. “A man like Haring who died of AIDS! Do we want his art on street corners for children to see? Who would dare deny Southworth wants our children to die of AIDS!”
Shrugging off allegations that she loses in court because she overcharges, Hardcorey announced Southworth would be indicted for wanton and reckless conduct creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to and sexual abuse of a child. If convicted, he would face a minimum of 30 years in prison and, once released, would have to register as a sex offender.
30.319570 -81.696201
AdvertisementsThe new Oak Park and River Forest High School Pool Site Committee met for the first time Monday and discussed the group's goals, including identifying a location to build a new pool for the high school.
Jeff Weissglass, committee chairman, told the 14 other committee members they must determine not only a location for the pool but also must decide the appropriate type of structure to house it. Cost and ways to pay for the pool also must be addressed.
"The goal in my mind is to figure out what we should do now," Weissglass told the committee. "We are hopefully going to take a few sites and (examine) them."
Superintendent Steven Isoye began the meeting with a historical overview of the pool site project, which began three years ago and involved several other prior committees.
Oak Park and River Forest High School has two pools, which were built in 1926 and are deteriorating. The school can't host more than one visiting team at swim meets, according to officials. Larger meets must be held at an off-campus site. District officials said they cannot rebuild the pools because their physical layouts are substandard for a modern competition pool.
The district is also faced with a lack of space at the campus at 201 N. Scoville Ave. The pool committee thinks that a single, Olympic-size pool will be the best option for the aquatic program.
In August, members of a previous pool committee decided to withdraw their recommendation for a new swimming pool at the site of a baseball field just north of the athletic stadium after learning that the plan would have affected other sports.
District officials said the prior pool committee recommended the school board revisit two other proposals, such as putting a pool at the school parking garage site or at an athletic field on Lake Street.
New pool board members said they will examine other ideas, including renovating the south end of the school and building a pool there. Other options mentioned include building the pool at an off-campus site and moving a baseball field behind the school to a nearby park to allow for a new pool building on the campus.
The new committee will hold up to five meetings and will recommend plans and a potential pool site to the school board and administrators in December.
The cost of the project is not known, but district officials said earlier that an indoor pool connected to the school or by a footbridge could range from $34.2 million to $37.8 million. Documents indicate that the pool would be financed using funds on hand, borrowing money through a referendum, or a combination of both.
Constructing the pool and a building to house it will take two years, according to documents. The goal is for the pool to be in use for the 2017-18 school year.
One concern, however, among committee members is the demographics of the new pool committee, which includes one African-American man and one woman. Weissglass and the board agreed at the meeting to examine enlarging the committee to make it more diverse.
The committee members are Weissglass, the vice president of the school board; Tom Cofsky, Steve Gevinson and Ralph Lee, school board members; Tod Altenburg, chief school business official; John Steltzer, athletic director; Chris Ledbetter, faculty member; and community members Chris Meister, Thomas Cronin, Steven Schuler, Joe Connell, Cathy Yen, Adam Salzman, Peter Traczyk and Paul Aeschleman.
The next pool committee meeting will be Nov. 3.Monday 8 April, 2013 at 8:30pm on ABC1
This is a story Australians think they know: the gift of a donated organ that transforms the life of someone with a devastating illness. What we see here for the first time is the extraordinary journey families undergo whose loved ones are dying in hospital from a sudden, unexpected event.
Two brave families allowed Four Corners to follow them through the hours leading to their loved ones' death. It's in that acute moment they face the hardest question: will they consent to organ donation to help someone else live?
The vast majority of Australians say they support organ donation. But confronted with the question at a time of crisis, almost half of all families refuse consent for their relatives to donate. Hundreds of children and adults on waiting lists miss out on the life saving gift.
For Sarah Ferguson this is a personal story. For almost three years she watched her friend and colleague ABC radio presenter Mark Colvin as his health deteriorated waiting for a donated kidney. The waiting time for transplants in Australia is long and Sarah wanted to understand what happens in hospitals when the question is asked, will you consent to organ donation?
The program follows others waiting for a precious donation: Anthony, whose life is dominated by dialysis and Kelly, the 26-year-old surf-life saver from Tasmania who is dying from end-stage liver disease.
Without exception all the people in the program want Australians not just to think about organ donation, but to have the conversation with their families so their wishes can become a reality.
During the making of the program Mark Colvin had accepted the offer of a kidney from a live donor - his wait was over. We follow him to the operation theatre, as Sarah watched anxiously on.
Mark's description was this:
"I know somebody who got a heart and two lungs and... his Twitter handle is "a gracious gift" and that's very good I think, a gracious gift - it's the most gracious gift you could have really."
'A Gracious Gift', reported by Sarah Ferguson and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 8th April at 8.30pm on ABC 1. It is replayed on Tuesday 9th April at 11.35 pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00 pm, ABC iview and at www.abc.net.au/4corners
Transcript
A GRACIOUS GIFT - Monday 8 April 2013
KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: One family's trauma...
CAROL: I looked at his face and there was nothing there.
KERRY O'BRIEN:...becomes another person's chance at life. In the end it takes just one word, yes.
MARK COLVIN, ABC PRESENTER, PM: It's the gracious gift, it's the most gracious gift you could have really.
KERRY O'BRIEN: The question is, why don't we say 'yes' more often?
Welcome to Four Corners. Tonight we share a number of very personal stories - personal for those who are telling them, personal for all of us.
When you ask Australians if they'd be prepared to give their organs to someone else after they've died, they say yes in overwhelming numbers. But when it comes to the crunch, many of those same people, or their relatives, say no. In fact across the country last year, only 354 people facing death gave their organs to help others survive. That left hundreds of seriously ill people on organ waiting lists, and it increased the possibility that some of those people will die before they ever receive a transplant.
We don't compare well on this front with many other developed countries. There are various views on what might be done better within the hospital system to improve the situation. But it seems what really has to happen is to actually have a proper conversation with family and make our wishes very clear that if we die in hospital we want our organs to be donated.
Tonight, reporter Sarah Ferguson opens up a world we all should know, and a process that is simply inspirational. With the help of some very generous people, who've invited us into their lives at a most difficult time, Sarah goes inside the intensive care wards of major hospital to reveal what it's like at the crucial moment when a decision must be made. It makes gripping viewing and lays out a challenge to us all.
SARAH FERGUSON, REPORTER: The sun has just come up over Heidelberg in Melbourne.
(Sunrise)
It's a beautiful morning.
(Interior of hospital ward)
But inside the Austin hospital a man is dying.
Steve is on life support in intensive care. At home at the weekend he suffered a massive stroke.
His partner Linda has been here ever since.
She's talking to him even though she knows he can't hear her.
SARAH FERGUSON: This is hard for Linda?
GARRY, LINDA'S BROTHER IN LAW: Oh very hard. They are two, two peas in one pod.
SHARON, LINDA'S SISTER: So close. They did everything together.
SARAH FERGUSON: Faced with his imminent death, Linda has made a crucial decision that Steve would want to donate his organs to save someone else's life.
LINDA: I was always an organ donor, and we've always both agreed we're not religious in the slightest. If there is a God he sucks.
SAM RADFORD, INTENSIVE CARE SPECIALIST, AUSTIN HOSPITAL: I think they'll need a little time when they're slightly less raw with the grief to talk about the process and the...
SARAH FERGUSON: Intensive care specialist Sam Radford briefs his colleagues.
SAM RADFORD: He's a gentleman who's had a catastrophic posterior circulation stroke. And we've certainly diagnosed him as being locked in, and I've had some chats with his family and they're very clear that this is not desirable and that he wouldn't want to go on in this state.
HELEN OPDAM, SENIOR INTENSIVE CARE SPECIALIST, AUSTIN HOSPITAL: So the best possible outcome is dreadful?
SAM RADFORD: Yeah, and they were very clear he wouldn't want a bar of that. Before I could even finish describing where things were going, his wife just reached into the wallet to pull out the driver's license and start talking about organ donation.
SARAH FERGUSON: Overnight, the doctor's recommended that treatment should cease.
So you can be certain that this patient isn't going to recover?
SAM RADFORD: We can be certain that there is no capacity for him to survive independently of the intensive care level supports he's receiving.
SARAH FERGUSON: So the only possibility would be survival on the machines?
SAM RADFORD: That's correct.
SARAH FERGUSON: Few people realise how rare it is to be able to donate organs - a person must die in hospital on a ventilator.
Helen Opdam is a senior intensive care specialist at the Austin and the Victorian Director of Donate Life, the National Organ and tissue authority.
HELEN OPDAM: That's one of the big myths out there. Fewer than one per cent of people who die in the community die in a situation where they can donate and in hospitals it's about one to two per cent. The situation in which donation is feasible is really when someone dies having been on life support. Ah, usually in the intensive care unit, less frequently in the emergency department.
SARAH FERGUSON: Steve is one of that small group. But Linda's consent was critical.
Even though the overwhelming majority of Australians say they support organ donation, when asked the question in this situation, almost half say no.
SAM RADFORD: Lots of people if you stop them in the street or do a telephone survey on a - or if they're sitting around their kitchen table having a chat about what their wishes after death might be, it's easy to sort of think of a virtuous deed and say "Yeah, yeah, I want to be an organ donor."
So that's sort of one conversation but it's a completely different conversation when you're in a (bre |
. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I got caught." She answered, before remembering they probably didn't have enough time to catch up, since undoubtedly guards would be soon arriving. "Move, I'm gonna open the door." She commanded, glad that the brunette didn't doubt a second before doing as she was told, allowing Elsa to unleash her power, stronger this time, and blast the door open. Then, Rapunzel practically jumped over Elsa and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're here!" She screamed. "Well… I'm not glad that you were caught, but…"
"Hey, it's alright." Elsa assured her, not wanting her to start rambling like Anna, because that would only make them waste time. "Now help me free the others." Rapunzel fortunately seemed to understand the situation soon enough and nodded, following Elsa to the next cell.
The blonde quickly opened the door using the card and found a chained redhead boy inside, wearing shackles to contain his powers. He looked at them wearily for a moment before Elsa froze his chains and freed him saying:
"Don't worry, we're prisoners like you. We're here to free you."
"Thanks." He said, slowly getting up. And walking towards them.
"Which powers do you have?" Rapunzel asked.
"Fire." He shrugged.
"You think you could help us free the others?" Elsa asked, noticing he was over fourteen and his magic should be pretty strong now.
"I could brake chains, yes." He answered.
"Great. Rapunzel, go with him and free the others. Meanwhile, I'll open the doors."
"Of course." She answered and Elsa didn't waste a second more before running towards the next door and the one after that, opening all of them but not actually checking to see who was in each, leaving that to Rapunzel and the boy. Until she arrived to the last door, the one she had been in.
The blonde opened the door with shaky hands and peeked inside, noticing to her relief that Mildri was just where she had left her, and even if at first she seemed a little scared, like the others. As soon as she recognized Elsa, she smiled widely at her.
"You came back!" She screamed happily as she ran and hug her legs, Elsa quickly bending down to somewhat hug her, despite their awkward position and the huge height difference.
"Of course I did. I promised, didn't I?" Elsa answered, smiling. "Now, come on, we have to get out of here before Weselton's men find out." The little girl nodded before letting Elsa carry her as she walked to where she had left Rapunzel, seeing that most of the prisoners were already free, the last ones being now helped by others. She noticed the majority of them were kids (and the rest teenagers), and that made her heart ache, but she decided there was no time to feel sorry. They had to escape.
"Punz, how is it all going?" Elsa asked to her friend.
"Great, we're actually all free now. "
"That's good, we should get going."
"Yes, of course. Let's go."
Rapunzel then called for them and they all followed her upstairs, to the labs, and the powers of many of them were pretty useful when taking care of the guards. They also destroying Weselton's files (after all, none of them wanted the knowledge of their powers to be spread once they got out, specially Rapunzel). However, when they were only a few meters from the doors that'd lead them to the parking lot and (probably) their freedom, Mildri spoke.
"Wait!" She said, making Elsa stop abruptly and try to look at her face, which was facing behind her.
"What is it?" Elsa asked worried.
"Can you go back? Please?"
"Uh…" Elsa doubted it for a moment, not wanting to expose them to danger, but figured a little stop wouldn't do much bad, right? So she turned to Rapunzel. "Go ahead, I'll catch up."
"Are you sure?" She asked. "We could wait if you…"
"No, it's fine, we won't take long." The brunette looked at her concerned for a moment, and was probably about to argue when Elsa turned around to where the child had pointed, not giving her the chance to object.
The blonde then got into the door that had caught Mildri's attention, one that was slightly open. She pushed it so she could get inside, finding two men in white coats lying on the ground. However, that wasn't the most eye-catching thing in that room, nor where the tables filled with papers or the multiple lab instruments, but the magnificent white wings hanging from a wall. Elsa felt sharp pain in her heart, knowing immediately they must be Mildri's, confirming her suspicions when the girl turned around to be able to see them, her eyes showing sadness and melancholy.
"I-I'm sorry." Elsa said, blinking away her tears, but Mildri didn't seem to hear her, too mesmerized with the sight.
"Do you think… they'd work If you put them on me?" She asked, and Elsa was very tempted to say yes, but knew she shouldn't lie in this case, because it wouldn't really save her the pain, it'd only intensify it, as well as her disappointment.
"No." Elsa felt a knot on her throat. "Sorry."
"Could you get closer?" Mildri asked, as if she was already expecting that answer but had decided to ask anyways. Elsa obeyed, figuring it would be no harm on it, and marveling at how each feather seemed to shine in different colors as she moved, just like the girl's hair. This only made the crime much more horrible.
Once they were standing directly in front of the wings, Mildri extended her little arm and softly caressed the feathers, her eyes shining with wonder, but also sadness.
"Do you think I could take one?" The girl asked.
"Of course." Elsa wasn't able to deny her that little request, not that she wanted to. Mildri nodded and pulled a particularly long feather, then holding it close to her chest, finally letting tears fall. "Hey, it's okay. It's in the past." Elsa tried to comfort her, to which she answered hugging her close and resting her head in the crook of her neck, sobbing quietly. "It's okay." Elsa repeated, rubbing soothing circles in her back, even if she also wanted to break down crying. But she had to be strong. She had to get them both out of there alive, so she swallowed her tears and walked out of the lab.
"Hello again, Elsa." Elsa looked up, feeling a chill run down her spine, as she saw Weselton waiting for her outside, in the hall where all the ones she had freed had somehow fallen asleep, including Rapunzel. She was alone with the source of her nightmares, as well as another man, thin and pale, with heavy bags under his eyes, but looking at her with so much hatred, it gave her goo sebumps. "And please greet my ultimate weapon: The Psychic."Hawaii island police closed Highway 19 near the 13-mile marker in Honomu today because of a propane tanker truck crash that led to a fire and one fatality.
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Hawaii island police closed Highway 19 near the 13-mile marker in Honomu today because of a propane tanker truck crash that led to a fire and one fatality.
Police said the road was closed at about 2:40 p.m. and could remain closed until about 11 p.m. while firefighters try to put the fire out.
The crash involved an SUV and a Hawaii Gas truck carrying about 1,700 gallons of propane, police said. Police added that emergency responders were considering allowing the gas to burn off.
One person died in the crash, police said. Further details were not immediately available.
Hawaii County said Hilo-bound traffic was being rerouted through Old Mamalahoa Highway, and Hamakua-bound traffic was being turned around to use Saddle Road.Stupid people! Thinking of setting up a Facebook group dedicated to an inflammatory cause? Why not simply scream your views into an empty breadbin instead? All the cathartic release, none of the lingering opprobrium.
One of the chief joys of the internet is the way it has liberated millions of anonymous hecklers, strikingly few of whom had hitherto risked sharing their coruscating views in public because people tended to yawn, or ask them to shut up, or physically attack them. Suddenly they had an outlet, and before long, a vastly inflated sense of self-worth. They could pop up, courageously tell a blogger that she was fat, and disappear into the night like Raffles the gentleman thief.
If I was designing the comments section for a website, I'd insist that every posting be accompanied by the poster's full name and portrait – unless they preferred to remain nameless, in which case their username, by default, would be Timid McSqueaky, and their comments would appear in weak yellow text on a bright white background, like urine in the snow. (Inevitably, there would be complaints that some commenters required anonymity because they were whistleblowers, dissidents or victims of some kind. Fair enough: they'd be able to submit their comments via a moderator.)
Of course, most activity on Facebook is accompanied by the user's full name and portrait, something the members of the Facebook group 'RIP RAOUL MOAT YOU LEGEND' failed to consider fully. It's offensive on many levels, not least because anyone who refers to any public figure other than King Arthur as a "legend" really ought to be denied access to food, water or any kind of comfortable horizontal surface for a minimum of 96 hours.
Mind you, if the ensuing interviews are anything to go by, the group's creator, Siobhan O'Dowd, can scarcely be blamed for failing to consider the consequences of her actions, because she doesn't seem to possess any power of thought whatsoever, and comes across a bit like a tree trunk that's recently learned to grunt in response to nearby sounds. Rather than labelling her a SICKO in bold type on the front cover, the tabloids really ought to run the story on their 33rd page under the heading THICKIE DOES THICK THING.
Attempting to blame Facebook seems especially short-sighted: equally dumb and inflammatory statements are made in the Have Your Say sections of newspaper websites every day. Occasionally the readers even manage to out-spite the columnists themselves. Furthermore, an inflammatory Facebook group is established every two seconds, although since the majority tend to consist of outraged overreactions to palpably false tabloid fantasies about Muslim groups demanding the execution of Mr Kipling and suchlike, we don't tend to hear much about them, even though they contain far more threatening hate speech than the pro-Moat page could muster. O'Dowd's group was chiefly unusual in going against the tabloid grain.
Not that she's adopting an intellectual position, of course. Her idea of "adopting an intellectual position" probably means not standing on all fours. On YouTube there's a recording of a radio interview in which a TalkSport presenter runs so many rings around her, it's a wonder he didn't black out from the centrifugal force. In the end he exposes and exploits her stupidity so mercilessly, I found myself experiencing pangs of sympathy for her.
Which puts me on wobbly territory, because it turns out I've been getting the concept of sympathy wrong all these years. I thought it referred to a sense of compassionate understanding that could be applied in varying degrees to an infinite number of individuals. Now, thanks to David Cameron, I realise it's an all-or-nothing, binary state of mind. You either have sympathy, or you don't, and in this instance Cameron claims he can't understand people who show any sympathy whatsoever for Moat. "It is absolutely clear that Raoul Moat was a callous murderer, full stop, end of story," he said. "There should be sympathy for his victims; there should be no sympathy for him."
He rejected the idea of censoring idiots on Facebook, but the worrying implication of his position on sympathy is the notion that it's an either/or choice: a finite substance, rather than a basic human trait. But you can't simply switch it off. Torturers and dictators aside, there are very few people it's impossible to feel absolutely zero sympathy for.
If I had to assign a quantifiable figure to my sympathy, which I guess I should since the prime minister has instructed me on how best to apportion it, I reckon I feel 100% sympathy for the victims and 1% sympathy for Raoul Moat: he receives a solitary crumb of pity, doled out on the basis that he suffered a gigantic mental collapse which led him to commit a series of pathetic and unforgivable deeds before killing himself.
That gives us a total of 101% sympathy. A sympathetic overspend. A deficit of compassion. Maybe that kind of extravagance can't be maintained in our current age of austerity. After all, we have to make cuts somewhere. What was it John Major said? "Society should condemn a little more and understand a little less"? Or to boil that down to a tabloid strapline: MORE JUDGMENT, LESS THOUGHT.Spread the love
Minneapolis, MN — A car full of teenagers, who had just finished a game of basketball at their local YMCA was targeted by one of Minneapolis’s worst.
Luckily one of the young men in the car hit record as this vile public servant began to violate their rights.
For the majority of the 45 minute long civil rights violation, the teens were not told why they were being detained.
“Can you tell me why I’m being arrested?” a friend asks in the video.
“Because I feel like arresting you,” the officer replied.
Faysal Mohamed, 17, posted the video to his Twitter account and also submitted it to a local news station.
“Plain and simple, if you f— with me, I’m going to break your legs before you get the chance to run. I’m being honest I don’t screw around,” the officer said.
Mohamed’s friend said in return, “I never said I was going to run.”
“I’m just giving you a heads up. Just trying to be officer friendly right now,” the officer said.
Eventually, as other, less vile officers arrived, the teens were told they were suspected of stealing the car they were in. No one was arrested, however, the teens were held on the roadside for 45 minutes in handcuffs. While the teens were being held captive, their vehicle was torn apart in an attempt to justify the harassment.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, the incident is under investigation.The arrival of the Tesla Powerwall 2 is highly anticipated in the home energy storage and solar market since the unveiling of the product in October 2016.
When it first unveiled the Powerwall 2, Tesla released specs for two versions, a DC version like the first generation Powerwall, and a new AC version with an integrated inverter developed in-house. We now learn that Tesla is discontinuing the DC version everywhere but in America.
The company told Electrek that the AC version offered the “greatest flexibility”:
“Tesla is committed to the development of industry-leading technology and ensuring we always provide our customers with the best products possible. The AC Powerwall includes a Tesla built-in inverter, offering customers the greatest value, flexibility, and ease of installation, regardless of whether they’re pairing Powerwall with new solar, retrofitting, or using the Powerwall for backup. As a result, we will no longer be offering the DC Powerwall, which was the same price and size of the AC Powerwall but did not include an inverter.”
The DC version of the first Powerwall was only compatible with a select few SolarEdge inverters. In North America, you have the SE7600A-USS1 and SE7600A-USS2, and in South Africa, you could pair it with the SolarEdge SE5000 ZAS1 and SE6000- ZAS1.
As we reported last month, Tesla started production of the new Powerwall at the Gigafactory and deliveries are reportedly starting in US markets with a few installers.
Tesla built a decent backlog around the world the $5,000 14 kWh home battery pack and production is ramping up slowly since it has to share the new ‘2170’ battery cell production with the Powerpack 2, Tesla’s utility-scale battery pack.
Currently, the company lists a month-long delay for installations in the US. It should be quicker for people who placed reservations with deposit since the unveiling.
Other popular markets for energy storage, like Australia, South Africa, or Germany, have even longer lead times for new orders.
With the production ramp up of both the Powerpack 2 and now the Powerwall 2, Tesla is expected to make energy storage a more significant part of its business in 2017.
In 2015 after unveiling its new ‘Tesla Energy’ division, the company made $14 million in revenue from the new venture. This week, Tesla confirmed that it made $96 million in 2016.
Any guess what it will be in 2017? Let us know in the comment section below.A wise man once said, ‘The more I practice, the luckier I get.’ You would agree with him if you are a college student. Many of our students have experienced the same. The more GRE practice tests they took before the actual test, the higher they scored on test day.
We recently did a quick survey among students as to find out why most of them fail to get a score of their dreams. And the most obvious answer was that most students don’t take their GRE practice tests too seriously. The vast majority of students don’t take more than one practice tests, and this results in a lower overall score on test day, because they are simply not fully ready to take the test. So, how do you practice better? Where do you find resources and practice tests for the GRE?
There are so many test prep companies out there providing GRE practice tests. Both paid and free versions are available for you on demand, but then again, too many options is not too good. So, we have compiled the list of quality and free GRE practice tests on the internet, and also a guide on when and how to take each of these tests. This is a comprehensive list of all good, free GRE practice tests that you will find on the internet.
An Important Note
Before we move on to the list, there is something you need to know.
You probably don’t have to take all 33 tests. Though we have given an extensive list of GRE practice tests, you may choose to take whichever tests you’d like. We’ve provided brief reviews of each test, and based on your research and our reviews, choose only those tests that you think are important to you. If you have a lot of time on your hands, go ahead and take all of them, if possible. But if you have a lot on your plate already, and you need a quick practice test or two, choose whatever you think will work for you, based on what you read below.
If you would like to know more about a particular test, we’ve provided links to each test. Go to their respective websites to find out more, if you want.
Top GRE Practice Tests
Now if you’re a busy student, or a working professional, or if you have limited time on your watch, here are the five most important and the most useful practice tests you could use. These tests are not only free, but are also as good as the real GRE, which helps you gauge the toughness and the pattern of the test.
The PowerPrep is a set of two free GRE practice sets provided by ETS, the makers of the GRE. Since it is the creators themselves who are providing these practice tests, the PowerPrep is by far the best source of practice you can get for the GRE. The questions on the PowerPrep are those that have previously appeared on real GRE tests, so you can exactly know what kind of questions to expect on test day, and also how difficult the real deal is going to be. The user interface is exactly the same as the real test, so if you can get a hang of the PowerPrep, things will be easy for you on test day, as you don’t have to sweat the small stuff like the tutorial section, or how to mark and skip a question, etc. Also, it is a widely accepted truth that your final GRE score won’t differ much from what you get on the PowerPrep; it is that accurate.
The full length tests on CrunchPrep are extremely close to the GRE, and mimic the real test. This practice test is highly recommended as a pre-study test or a diagnostic test, because the questions are pretty much up there in terms of quality, and at the end of the test, you will get a very comprehensive analysis of your performance.
This analysis includes crucial statistics like skill data, performance review, and question analysis, which give you detailed statistics on your accuracy, time management, weak areas, etc., and you’ll also get a very accurate score prediction as well. This analysis is very vital to your GRE prep, especially if you are planning to take a diagnostic test and prepare a study plan based on its results. In addition to this, your AWA responses on the test will be graded for free, and you will have a comprehensive idea of your test performance.
Without a doubt, this is the one test you need to take in addition to the PowerPrep, if you want to get an idea of the real GRE test. You can take the free GRE Practice Test by CrunchPrep here.
The ManhattanPrep GRE practice tests are really good, and popular among GRE test takers. This test is widely used as a diagnostic test, because of the quality of questions that it has. Also, at the end of the test, you will be given an analysis of your performance. Although this analysis isn’t as thorough as with the CrunchPrep test, it still helps you understand where you stand, with respect to your score. The user interface is pretty smooth even for a first timer, which makes it even easier to take the test comfortably.
The Kaplan practice test is somewhat close to its Manhattan Prep counterpart, and the question quality is really good, but Kaplan tests are widely regarded as one of the toughest you will encounter during your prep. The questions on this practice test are slightly tougher than those you will see on the real GRE. Hence, your scores tend to be slightly lesser than normal, and there is nothing to worry about it. In fact, getting yourself acquainted to tougher problems only makes you better.
The Princeton Review practice test is again, somewhat close to the Manhattan Prep test, but the questions are comparatively on the easier side. Though the quality of the questions is good, you may sometimes see a higher overall score, since the questions are relatively easier than, say, the Kaplan or the Manhattan practice tests. Hence, your scores tend to be slightly higher than normal, and you should not take the scores for granted. Otherwise, the Princeton Review test is a great source of practice for your GRE, and the user interface is pretty decent too.
Additional GRE Practice Tests:
If you are one of those lucky ones who have lots of free time, or if you have a good 2-3 months to prepare, here are a few additional resources available on the internet that allow you to take the test for free. But remember, it is in your best interest to finish all the five Priority practice tests mentioned above, before you plunge into the additional tests. While these tests are useful for practice, you cannot measure your performance thoroughly like you can in, say, the ManhattanPrep test. But still, the level of difficulty doesn’t change much when compared to the actual test, so they are a good way of testing yourself.
A good way to practice the GRE, McGraw-Gill offers only one free test on their website. The test is somewhat close to that of Princeton Review, but your scores can be considered as real. There won’t be much difference in the overall scoring, except for a couple of points in each section, if not more. Plus, there are explanations for each and every question on the test, so you can compare your answers after the test.
All the three tests above are quite similar to each other, be it the quality of questions, the closeness to the actual GRE, or how helpful they are to your overall preparation. In comparison, the McGraw-Hill GRE Practice Test fares slightly better, when all the aforementioned criteria are considered, which is why we have given them a B.
Other Practice Tests:
Normally, we wouldn’t recommend students to take more than ten practice tests if their test date is 2-3 months away. But, we are aware that a small percentage of students book a slot 6-12 months ahead. For those of you who belong to this category, it’d be useful to have more practice tests at your disposal so you can alter your study plans accordingly. Here are 24 additional free tests available on the internet that can come in handy at times, but we would recommend that you take the results of these tests with a pinch of salt, as they aren’t as close to the real GRE as others. Use them only to practice time management and other test strategies so you’ll be more confident on test day.
My GRE Tutor offers 4 free GRE practice tests. These tests are based on the older version of the GRE, i.e. before the format change happened. So, you will see some question types that are not in any way related to the GRE, such as antonyms and synonyms, etc. You can skip such questions and continue with the rest of the test.
The GRE Guide tests are as many as 20 in number, all of which are free. Though the tests aren’t as robust as some of their counterparts from other test prep companies, taking 20 practice tests will do you a world of good, because you will be thorough with the test format, and time management. Also, since you have way too many choices, you can experiment with some test taking strategies and see how things work out. But, one important thing to remember is, your scores will be somewhat inflated, so you shouldn’t take them too seriously.
How and When Should You Take These Tests?
Now with so many GRE Practice tests at your disposal, you would need a solid plan as to when to take which of these tests and how to interpret the results and analyses they provide. If you are going to take all the 33 tests, you will have to mix the order up a bit, so you’ll have them uniformly spread throughout the course of your preparation. We have a basic plan prepared for you, and we assumed that you are going to take all 33 tests. But if you are planning on taking only a few of those, feel free to modify the plan accordingly.
The Plan
As most of you would agree, before anyone starts preparing for the GRE for the first time, they should know what to focus most of their energy on. It simply doesn’t make sense studying everything, including the stuff you already know pretty well. But then again, knowing something well isn’t enough in a competitive exam like the GRE. You should also know how fast you can solve a particular question. So, how do you know all that?
This is where the diagnostic test comes into play. As we already mentioned, a few of the tests in the above lists also provide you with a complete analysis of your test performance. This analysis is the key to identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Once you’ve take one of these tests, you’ll understand, thanks to the analysis, where you are perfect, where you are lagging, where you are taking more time to get the answer, and where you are taking a long time and still failing to get to the answer. Which is of immense help to you initially, because it is according to this analysis that you are going to decide on a study plan.
So, here is what we recommend:
Take the Manhattan Prep practice test first, and gauge your performance. Prepare a perfect study plan based on the analysis report, allotting more time to the topics in which you are frequently going wrong, or topics that you are not very confident about. Take the Princeton Review and Kaplan at least 2 weeks before your test day, so you’ll know how much you have improved, and what else you need to concentrate on, in the coming few days. Since these two tests provide you with analyses, compare them with the analysis from the Manhattan test and check whether there are improvements in your performance. Based on this comparison, decide what you are going to study during the next few days. During the last one week before the test day, take the two PowerPrep tests. Make sure you take the first one at least 5-6 days prior to the test day, and the second test a day or two before the final exam. Since the PowerPrep is as close as you can get to the GRE, you can understand your performance thoroughly, and also get an idea of how much you may score on the GRE. Also, if there is any final review needed, you can do so, based on the results you see on the PowerPrep tests. Now, we strongly recommend that you take these five tests, irrespective of how many days you have before the test. Whether you consider taking the remaining 28 tests, is completely left to you. If you have lots of time to prepare, these tests can come in handy, when taken at regular intervals. For example, if you have at least 12-15 weeks of time, you can take 2 tests per week and constantly measure your performance. But as mentioned previously, the test scores should not be taken seriously. These tests are only for practice, and analysis, but not a testament of how you will score on the actual test.
Now it’s Your Turn
So, as you can see, there are a lot of GRE practice tests at your disposal, and if you are willing to go the distance, you have all the resources to do so. However, if you need any assistance regarding these practice tests, or you would like to know how you can spread these tests between your study schedule, ask us in the comments, and we’ll be happy to help you out.
Also, we did our best in finding out the best free GRE test resources online. But if you think we missed any quality GRE practice tests, let us know in the comments section. We’ll be happy to review them and add to the list.A Fermilab scientist works on the laser beams at the heart of the Holometer experiment. The Holometer will use twin laser interferometers to test whether the universe is a 2-D hologram / Fermilab
Even with all their local hangouts, impossibly affordable apartments, and a dragon or two (or three), television characters and their whole lives exist on a 2D screen. Are we just as clueless about our seemingly 3D world?
Physicists with the Holometer experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory want to know: Is our 3D space an illusion? The information about everything in our universe could actually be encoded in tiny packets that come in two dimensions -- not unlike pixels up close on the TV screen -- with the natural “pixel size” of space being much, much smaller than an atom.
“We want to find out whether space-time is a quantum system just like matter is,” Fermilab’s Craig Hogan says in a news release. Matter continues to jiggle as quantum waves even when cooled to absolute zero; in the same way, digitized space should have built-in vibrations even in its lowest energy state.
By measuring the “quantum jitter of space” -- which can be as small as a few billionths of a billionth of a meter -- the holographic interferometer will test the limits of the universe’s ability to store information.
Underground and just outside Chicago, a twin pair of interferometers is placed close together. Each one sends an one-kilowatt laser beam in a tube at a beam splitter, and then down two perpendicular arms about 40 meters long. The light is reflected back to the beam splitter where the two beams recombine. The outputs of the two photodiodes are correlated to measure the holographic jitter of space-time that the two L-shaped machines share. Fluctuations in brightness will be created if there’s any motion.
Analyzing these fluctuations in the returning light allows researchers to see if the beam splitter moves a certain way -- that is, if it’s being carried along on a jitter of space itself.
To avoid distractions by other sources of vibrations, the Holometer tests a frequency so high -- millions of cycles per second -- that motions of normal matter are unlikely to interfere. Additionally, the experiment is designed to identify and eliminate noise from conventional sources, like radiowaves emitted by nearby electronics.
“If we find a noise we can’t get rid of, we might be detecting something fundamental about nature -- a noise that is intrinsic to space-time,” Fermilab’s Aaron Chou explains. “A positive result will open a whole new avenue of questioning about how space works.” The team expects to gather data over this coming year.
[Via Fermilab]
Images: FermilabConsumer confidence has slipped slightly despite cheaper petrol prices and the prospect of another rate cut, which ANZ says is due to rate cuts not providing the same boost to sentiment as in past cycles amid a plethora of other worries.
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index fell by 0.7 per cent to 112.4 in the week ending February 1. This follows a drop of 0.4 per cent the previous week and leaves confidence around its long-run average.
ANZ says lower petrol prices hadn't yet boosted local confidence in any significant manner, which was in contrast to the US.
"The response of confidence to rate cuts is now the weakest of the last five easing cycles with concerns around the federal budget, the economic outlook, and job security weighing on sentiment in 2014," ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said.
"However, the initial response of confidence to rate cuts was closer to normal, with the added cash flow from lower rates and higher house prices providing a moderate boost to sentiment. This suggests that further rate cuts could provide some boost to confidence in coming months.CLOSE 'Hack the Pentagon' is on - the Defense Department's new initiative to bolster its cybersecurity. Vetted hackers will test the department's websites and Internet networks to find security holes and flaws. Newslook
U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter (Photo11: Michael Reynolds, EPA)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is inviting "vetted" hackers to try and break into the military's network as part of a program to test the vulnerability of the system, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
Hackers who want to participate will be required to submit to a background check before being allowed to join the effort.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has been spearheading an effort to build a relationship between the military and Silicon Valley, in the hopes of staying current with the latest technological advances.
The Pentagon said the hacking initiative is modeled after similar programs that large companies have launched in the hopes of bolstering the security of their networks.
The military's most sensitive networks will not be part of the program.
"Once vetted, these hackers will participate in a controlled, limited duration program that will allow them to identify vulnerabilities on a predetermined department system," the Pentagon said in a statement. "Other networks, including the department's critical, mission-facing systems will not be part of the bug bounty pilot program."
The program will be launched in April and the Pentagon said it would prize money awards and other recognition.
"I am confident this innovative initiative will strengthen our digital defenses and ultimately enhance our national security," Carter said in a statement.
The Pentagon has acknowledged that its networks are under daily assault by hackers and securing the systems are a high priority.
Last year, an email system used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff was penetrated by hackers and had to be taken offline in order to cleanse the system.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1oYUf6P"Letter B" is a song parody of The Beatles' song "Let It Be," sung on Sesame Street by The Beetles. Richard Hunt provided lead vocals. As the title implies, the song teaches about B words.
Christopher Cerf, who lost his voice at the time, later sung a portion of the song at the Brooklyn Public Library on November 21, 2009.
Notes
When the Beatles' catalogue was still owned by Northern Songs, the company attempted to sue Children's Television Workshop for $5.5 million. They cited that the song too closely resembled "Let It Be." Before the case came to trial, Michael Jackson purchased the Lennon/McCartney catalogue and the suit was dropped. The Children's Television Workshop was only fined $50, which was paid out of Christopher Cerf's own pocket. Paul McCartney, who was not involved in the lawsuit, wrote to Cerf saying that he liked the song. [1]
On the Count It Higher: Great Music Videos from Sesame Street home video, the segment has MTV-style captions that refer to "Lemon Records" (a parody of "Apple Records"), and also had an album name that would later be released onto CD five years later (Sesame Road); the lyrics to this song were released in the original release of the video.
Releases
Audio (album version)
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Dokumentsuche Datum Nummer Suchbegriff Hilfe
Kalender 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Jan. Feb. März Apr. Mai Juni Juli Aug. Sep. Okt. Nov. Dez.
Pressemitteilungen » Pressemitteilungen aus dem Jahr 2019 » Pressemitteilung Nr. 62/16 vom 24.3.2016 Siehe auch: Beschluss des 2. Strafsenats vom 15.3.2016 - 2 StR 157/15 - Bundesgerichtshof Mitteilung der Pressestelle Nr. 62/2016 Bundesgerichtshof verwirft Revision gegen Urteil im Prozess gegen Kreistagsabgeordneten wegen mehrfachen sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs Beschluss vom 15. März 2016 2 StR 157/15 Das Landgericht Gießen hat den 63-jährigen Angeklagten u.a. wegen mehrfachen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern, schweren sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern und mehreren Betäubungsmitteldelikten zu einer Gesamtfreiheitsstrafe von sieben Jahren und zehn Monaten verurteilt. Nach den Feststellungen des Landgerichts hatte der Angeklagte, der Abgeordneter im Kreistag |
to sea. Like with other animals, albinism is a hindrance for penguins, making them more visible to predators when underwater. There's an art film by Peter Huyghe about the search of an all-white penguin called "The Journey That Wasn't". And you know what, there are even rarer all black penguins! One all black King penguin is visible here on South Georgia island.
Right: A sleeping adelie penguin, with his head under his flipper. Are penguins nocturnal? Do penguins sleep? Where do penguins sleep when they are at sea? The Adelie and Emperor penguins are diurnal. Nocturnal activity is for most animals a way to avoid predators, and those penguins don't have predators when they are on land, so they are active during the day and rest at night. I don't know what their activity at sea is. But what about the night in Antarctica anyway? In summer there isn't any night but the sun does get lower on the horizon, and during those periods you can indeed see Adelie penguins sleeping. It's also true for the Emperors who spend the long winter nights huddled together without moving but usually spread out on the ice a little when there's the daily short hour of sunlight. Other species of penguins that live on mainlands like in South-Africa, South-America, Tasmania or New Zealand often have different behaviors. The Little Blue penguins come out of their burrows before sunrise to go feed at sea and come back after dark, but they probably spend the rest of the night sleeping safely inside. Adelie and emperors penguins sleep standing when they sit an egg, or sometimes laying down on their belly if they don't. Adelies often rest their head under a flipper (see picture on right). And they close their eyes. Like all birds they have a very light sleep anyway, never staying quiet for more than a few minutes. I believe they can sleep at sea for a few minutes at a time between the times they need to breathe (like dolphins), but mainly they just find a piece of floating ice, hop on and take a nap. My class wants to know if emperor penguins see in color or are they color blind? This article analyzing the visual system of humboldt penguins answers yes, but they see colors differently as we do. 'Adapted to the spectral qualities of its aquatic environment' is the key phrase here. I assume other species have a similar visual system but I have no direct evidence.
Eggs?
Right: An Adelie penguin's egg hatching. See the beak of the baby penguin beginning to break the shell open? How do they choose a mate? Do all penguins have a mate? I don't know what their criterion for choosing one mate versus another one is... Probably the fatter the better! In the case of emperor penguins there are slightly more females than males, so some females end up without a mate and leave the rookery after a few weeks. Better luck next year. How big is a penguin's egg?
Left: An emperor penguin's egg. An Adelie egg is slightly larger than a large hen's egg and shaped the same. An Emperor's egg is much bigger, up to 15cm long and 12cm diameter with a conical top and a spherical bottom. The picture on the right shows an Adelie penguin's egg hatching (see the beak of the chick beginning to break the shell), and on the left picture I'm holding an emptied Emperor's egg. Emperors don't build nests: they carry their eggs balanced on their feet, under their belly. They usually don't move much, but if they take a big step, like to catch their balance or to flee, then they drop their egg; and once their egg is out of their pouch they will not recognize it anymore. The egg promptly dies, freezes and cracks and eventually falls into the bottom of the sea when the sea ice melts off in spring. So we had the possibility to recover and clean some abandoned eggs. The first Emperor penguin egg was found on floating ice in 1840, without knowing its origin. Wilson saw it in a museum and recognized it as such in 1905, and he also discovered the first rookery of Emperor penguins in 1902 at Cape Crozier. In 1911 he decided to do a harrowing winter trip to recover some eggs with Bowers and Cherry-Garrard, the only winter trip ever attempted in Antarctica, which is recounted in the famous book: The worst journey in the world, one of the best read about Antarctica. They barely survived. He later died on the return trip from the South Pole with Captain Scott.
Right: A breeding pair of adelie penguins adding rocks to their nest to keep their newborn chick out of the seeping water. What's a penguin nest like? Emperor penguins don't have nests. They balance their egg on their feet, keeping it warmly covered under a pouch of fatty skin under their belly. Adelie penguins make nests out of rock pebbles and sit on top. They steal each others pebbles constantly, leading to lots of braying and fights. The last ones to leave in autumn steal everybody else's pebbles and make a huge stack in prevision of their spring return. But then the early comers in spring transfer the pile to their own nest! That is to say before they have to go back to the sea to feed at which point a free-for-all happens with lots of name calling. Other species use different methods: nests hidden under very thick bushes for Yellow-Eyed penguins, underground burrows for Little blue penguins...
Right: This is NOT a penguin's nest! This is probably a young adelie penguin who's not been listening to what I said earlier about adelies making their nests out of pebbles to keep their eggs out of the mud. Not only is this penguin just sitting in front of the egg instead of sitting on it, but the egg is also sitting in freezing muddy water. The egg is clearly dead. But the penguin will learn and will do a better nest next year. The success rate for breeding offsprings is pretty low for young penguins but increases dramatically after a few years. Do emperor penguins always go to the same breeding grounds? Up until 2014 it was thought that Emperor penguins were strongly philopatric, meaning that they would always go to the same breeding area, year after year. But recent satellite images have shown that there are rookeries that suddenly appear out of nowhere in areas that never had them before. Now this is news for several reasons. For one if the Emperor were 100% attached to the same area, it would be a recipe for disaster in term of climate change (if no ice forms for a few years, the entire colony would be wiped out). So it could be that Emperors are more adaptable than thought. On the other hand, it is strange that an animal that strongly relies on memory would change place easily, meaning this change could be due to groups of birds getting lost due to strong and recent differences in ocean currents, ice formations, etc. Which does not bode too well. I heard that when Adelie penguins are choosing a mate the male searches for the perfect pebble and presents it to the one he wants as his mate. It's a myth based on the fact that Adelie penguins build nests out of pebbles. And they build the nest while they do the courting, so it's actually partly true. I guess a penguin who doesn't bring any pebble wouldn't stand a chance, but any pebble will do and both mates bring them in! Is there ever adoption among Emperor Penguins?...for instance in cases when both parents leave and abandon the chick. Unfortunately no, the chick will starve and die since they are still too young to swim for their own food. Adults already have a hard time feeding one chick. Sometimes lonely females (those that failed to mate that year) grab abandoned eggs, but those eggs are frozen and dead in the first place and they abandon them quickly. If the mother doesn't return, the father doesn't have a choice: he and his chick will die if he stays. If he leaves he can always try mating with more success the next year... In 2006 I received this message from Phil Chapman showing that apparently there are cultural differences among penguins in different parts of the frozen continent. It remains to be seen if they feed them or remember them at all between their sea strips:
I would like to take issue with one of your FAQs, where you say that Emperors never adopt stray chicks.
Many years ago (1958, during the IGY), I spent most of the winter in a hut adjacent to the Emperor rookery at Taylor Glacier, 80 km west of Mawson. (I was taking parallactic photos of the aurora, in cooperation with a colleague at Mawson).
This rookery, one of only two on land, is now a SPA, but in those days nobody was concerned about disturbing the birds. I spent a lot of time with them, observing them at close range throughout their breeding cycle.
In the early spring, when a chick escaped from its parent, all the adults in the vicinity would rush to grab it and stuff it between their feet. Sometimes they would drop chicks they already had in order to pick up the stray. I often saw 5 to 10 adults in a melee, all trying to get the same chick (which was sometimes stomped to death in the process).
A little later in the season, when many chicks were loose and often freezing to death, if I stood still for a few minutes, some chick would usually come and snuggle between my feet, apparently taking me for an outsize adult. Sometimes I would pick it up and put it in the chest pocket of my parka to let it get warm, but of course I couldn't save them all.
So, my observation is that Emperors are not at all selective about whose chick they nurture. Are penguins monogamous? Adelie penguins usually keep the same mate all their life, unless the mate dies. Emperor penguins are monogamous... for a year, meaning they usually change mate every year. Do you think mother penguins are sad to leave their baby eggs to get food? Why do they have to do this? It's always difficult to attribute human emotions such as sadness to animals (a process called anthropomorphizing). In the case of penguins I don't think it's possible short of measuring stress-related hormones or similar invasive methods. Anyway, I don't think it's been done. They have to leave their eggs/younglings otherwise they would starve. And they come to have babies in a place where they risk starving because it has other advantages, like a complete lack of predators, and a reversed feeding cycle (meaning there's plenty of food in the sea when they go back there). Why doesn't the female emperor feed the male when she gets back? That would be counterproductive since the male still has the energy (barely!) to trek back to the sea to go feed himself. The chick doesn't have that option and thus deserves all the mother can give him. Is it possible to breed two different species of penguins? The possibility of hybridation depends on various factors like the number of chromosomes and the 'distance' between the species (or rather the age of their last common ancestor). But in nature it is difficult because most penguin species breed in different places and/or at different times, so they don't meet during their reproduction period. In the wild some cases of hybrids are suspected between royal and rockhopper penguins, between rockhopper and macaroni penguins, between rockhopper and erect-crested penguins, and maybe between adelie and chinstrap.
Protection?
Are penguins endangered? It's hard to get an accurate count of Emperor and Adelie penguins because there are many places where they live that no human has ever visited, but apparently they are not endangered, although their numbers fluctuate with the availability of food in the sea. So for instance El Niño episodes will have a strong negative influence on the number of penguin chicks born. Adelie and Emperors don't have land predators and humans leave them alone nowadays, which is not true of most other species of penguins who live on islands which have been colonized by rats (everywhere), wild cats (King Penguins at Kerguelen), dogs (blue penguins in New Zealand) or too many tourists (Galapagos penguins). Someone I met (not sure if he's a friend) told me he once ate a penguin a long time ago and said it tasted something like a mix between a chicken gone bad and a smelly fish, and very fat at that! Recipe below... But being bad to eat didn't protect them from human barbarity. Last century the whalers hunting in the southern indian ocean (and maybe other areas) needed heat to melt off and process whale fat. There isn't any wood on those southern islands so they invented a barbaric device: a 'penguin press' into which they would throw hundreds of live penguins, crush them to extract their fat, and then use this fat as combustible. The population of king penguins decreased dramatically at that time but has since recovered. I'm glad this time is over. Still, overall 12 of the 17 species of penguins are considered 'at risk' or endangered, mostly due to human activity. Those living in Antarctica have the least risk, thanks to their isolation. Does global warming affect penguins? For Antarctic penguins, the answer is'somewhat but not directly'. In the Climate FAQ I detail some of the effect of global warming on the frozen continent. A few degrees of changes won't affect penguins much when on the shore, but it affects the distribution and growth of their preys. While less sea ice means much fewer km for the emperors to walk back to the sea to feed, it also means that their nesting areas are also more at risk of being dislocated by storms while the chicks are still unable to swim. When preys become rarer, for instance during El Nino episodes, not only penguins have more difficulty in finding food, but they also become prey more often to larger predators who also have more difficulty finding food! That's the drawback of being in the middle of the foodchain. Where can I get or buy a penguin? Sorry, all species of penguins are protected, you can't get one legally. Even if you come to Antarctica and bring one home as a souvenir, it's plain illegal. And honestly, do you really think an animal that spends half of its time swimming free in the ocean and the other half in deep cold Antarctica would have a happy life in a hot, dry and small home? And what drives them crazy in captivity is the fact that they cannot perform their yearly migrations, leading many zoo penguins to swim around in circles for months on end. You'll have to satisfy yourself with a stuffed teddy penguin. I do know of at least one place that sells penguins but I won't tell you. Don't ask.
Right: A wet Adelie penguin chick that will die in a few minutes. Falling in freezing water is deadly when you are a baby penguin. How do you care for a penguin? How did you find a penguin in the first place?!? True, sometimes they end up washed ashore exhausted by storms or wounded by predators or boats... If this is the case, be careful that their bites can be very painful and they also give mean punches with their bony flippers (they can break your fingers easily). Grab them by the neck and hold them off the ground for quick transportation. If you can, put a hood over their eyes as they will immediately calm down. In '92 my predecessors in DdU adopted two emperor chicks they had found abandoned on the ice (this happens when one of the parents doesn't come back in due time). They kept them indoors and fed them leftover foods: raw fish at the beginning but also canned fish and even meat. Those two grew up to be the biggest and fattest penguins of the area and were later released in the sea, quite healthy. So I guess they are not particularly picky since their normal natural diet consist of an oil specially secreted by the parents. In New Zealand in 2000 several thousand little blue penguins got contaminated by an oil spill; they were collected and distributed among volunteers for cleaning and care; they even put sweaters on them to keep them from plucking they contaminated feathers. The survivors were later released at sea. Chicks depend on their parents for survival between hatching and the growth of their waterproof feathers: about seven weeks for Adelie chicks, 6 months for Emperors and even more for King chicks. Chicks' down feathers are not waterproof and they must stay away from water or mud, unlike the Adelie chick shown on the left picture which died a few minutes after falling in muddy water. Yes, it's a harsh world and that's why Adelie penguins build nests out of pebbles. Once a chick has feathered (or fledged), it enters the sea and becomes independent of its parents.
Right: Adelie penguin swimming fast and jumping out of the water. How can I find a job that deals with penguins? You mean zookeeper? Kid working in a south-east asian sweatshop making stuffed teddy penguins? Linux kernel developer? Hockey player in Pittsburgh? OK, the proper term would be ornithologist (bird scientist). Most ornithologists are hobbyists, but you can get a PhD and make a job off it. All the information you want (and more) is in the Going To Antarctica page.
Food?
Right: Krill, a little shrimp that is the main ingredient in the penguin diet. What do penguins eat? How do emperor penguins get their food? They swim fast and catch it in the sea: krill (picture on right), shrimp, small fish, octopus... They catch their prey with their beak and swallow it whole while swimming. The Antarctic ocean is very rich with life, more so than the equator for instance. The reason is quite technical: cold water can absorb more oxygen than warm water, it's a physical property. Similarly cold water can absorb less salt than warm water. And the ocean (at a minimum of -1.8°C) is always warmer than the land. Those two issues make it easier for life to thrive in cold oceans, although the cold temperature slows down animal metabolism (or requires insulation such as fat) and the lack of sunlight in winter stops the photosynthesis of plankton. What is krill? Krill is a kind of shrimp, with a mostly transparent body, a few pigmented red dots and large black eyes. There are 85 species of krill in the world, living in large groups on the ocean surface, forming groups of up to two millions tons spanning 450 square km. Krill is the most common animal in the world with an estimated biomass of 650 million tons. The antarctic krill, Euphosia superba, is at the center of the foodchain being eaten by squid, sea mammals, birds, fish and some whales. With a very low efficiency since they need to eat 100kg of krill to grow by just one kg. But the austral foodchain is so narrow that it's very fragile, an overfishing of krill would put many species in trouble, including penguins. Adelie penguins eat about 2kg of krill and fish each day when they are out at sea. Penguins are extremely good swimmers that can dive to 500m of depth and stay submerged for 5 minutes, but don't forget that, like dolphins for instance, they need to go back to the surface to breathe fresh air regularly.
How do penguins drink? When at sea they get water either from their prey or by drinking small amounts of salt water. A special gland near their beak can remove the salt from the sea water, making it drinkable. When on land they eat some snow. How are penguins able to regurgitate food for their young long after having eaten it? There are 3 different ways to feed their young amongst penguins species: Some keep freshly caught fish/krill in their stomach where they have special enzymes that inhibit bacterial development although the fish is at body temperature. They can keep for several days before being regurgitated. Others partially digest their keeps and then regurgitate this 'puree'. Finally for the emperor penguins who have to go for weeks, they digest it completely and secrete a very rich oil which they feed to their young. Right: Close up view on a spiny penguin tongue. This helps holding and swallowing slippery preys such as fish.
Feet?
Do penguins have knees? They have the same basic anatomy as other terrestrial amniotes, so yes they do have knees, they are just hidden under a thick layer of fat. The fat plus the very short legs make for their strange gait. If you look at the pictures of the dead penguin below, you'll actually see the outline of the knees. There's actually a book by this very title, I can only hope it answers the question!
Right: An adelie paddling with his feet on floating ice. Penguins don't like this kind of conditions as they cannot swim fast and they cannot see if a sea leopard may be lurking underneath. What color are penguin feet? The skin looks like reptile skin: emperors have black scales with grey in-between while adelies have more pinkish skin. They also have strong nails they use to push themselves when sliding on the ice on their bellies or when scaling ice (for instance when they want to climb on an iceberg to rest while at sea). Emperors on land are sometimes seen laying back on their heels and tail so they can rest their feet (probably allowing more blood to flow and warm them up). Do penguins make noise? Yes, and lots of it! Pass your mouse over the first few pictures above to hear them. They have a very loud voice similar to a donkey braying. Those calls are essential since they recognize themselves only through voice, not visually. They call to attract mates, when doing courtship, when greeting a returning mate, when threatening other penguins (or a human coming too close), or sometimes when bored alone. Different species of penguins have different calls, and in some species like the Emperors the male and female have a distinct voice that one can tell apart with a little training (listen to the samples below). On my first job in Antarctica, I installed a Sodar, an acoustic device to do remote sensing of the lower atmosphere. In summer the data was perturbed by the noise coming from all the Adelie penguins. Here are the recorded sounds I have (just click on them): Adult Adelie (male or female) Adelie chick Male Emperor Female Emperor Emperor chick Now just try to imagine when there are 5000 of them at the same time...
Life?
Right: A dead Adelie penguin well on its way to becoming a fossil. Do penguins have predators? Emperor penguins do not have predators, either in sea (they are too fast) or on the land (no other animals in winter in Antarctica). In spring Giant Petrels will occasionally grab an abandoned chick, and also juveniles that haven't learned to swim well may fall prey to the Leopard Seal or a passing orca when first hitting the water. Thus emperor penguins hardly have any defense mechanism, they only start to turn around and flee if you get within one or two meters from them. Their main enemy is the cold and the distance to the sea; and on really cold winters some of them do not have the strength to make it back to the sea after their long fasting. Adult Adelie penguins do not have predators on land; although their unattended eggs and chicks are often attacked by skuas (which is probably the reason why most penguins are afraid of what comes from the sky). When in the sea they have to avoid Leopard Seal and killer whales. How come penguins don't fight or defend their young from predators? I saw a documentary where the parents/adults watch as predators are feeding on their young. Adelie penguins do fight if anything gets too close to their nest. But basically they don't have to as predators (skuas and giant petrels) will attack only abandoned and weakened chicks. What they showed as 'parents' were probably non-related penguins. How do penguins tell each other apart? How do researchers tell them apart? Well, not visually but thanks to their voices. Researchers are at a loss to recognize individuals because they can't identify their voices, so they resort to treacherous techniques like tagging or spray-painting them like on the picture at the top of the page! How long do penguins live? What's the life expectancy of penguins? Unlike many animals, Antarctic penguins are lucky not to have too many predators and it's possible for them to die of old age, a rare occurrence in nature. There's a female Emperor at DdU who was tagged 40 years ago, still coming and breeding every year. Adelie penguins have a life expectancy of 15 years or more in the wild. They don't tag penguins anymore because it's not very easy to do it reliably and it probably causes the penguin some trouble when swimming (the tag is a kind of arm-band). We sometimes see bodies of Adelie penguins stuck in the ice or the mud, what they died of remains a mystery: old age, disease, exposure? In captivity many penguins can reach old age, such as Pierre the penguin who almost died of... baldness but ultimately recovered thanks to... a wetsuit! What happens to the bodies of all the penguins that die in Antarctica? Usually they get eaten by scavengers like skuas. If they die on the sea ice their bodies fall in the sea when said ice breaks up in spring. If they die on land ice (rare), they get carried by glaciers, and end up into an iceberg and then in the sea as well. If they die on a rare spot of iceless land, they don't decay but dry out, get covered with other penguins' excrements, sometimes end up as fossil but most likely get ablated by the very strong wind over the years and end up as dust and a few dry bones sticking from the mud. That's why Antarctica is not covered with penguin corpses accumulated over the years... But penguin fossils are found every once in a while.
Right: Adult adelie penguins aggressive towards a chick out of his own nest. Do penguins fight? Are penguins aggressive? They have few predators, but Adelie penguins fight between themselves a lot for various reasons: for mates, for the best nest locations, for the possession of rocks and pebbles, if some other penguin gets too close to their nest... Those fights never go beyond the 'first blood' but I've seen penguins jump off cliffs in fright (or being pushed off!). Their defense mechanism involves loud braying calls, threatening attitudes (body moving side to side), pinching with the beak and hitting very fast with their flippers which are very hard (it's just a flat bone with skin and thin feathers on top). I was once standing in the middle of the base, talking with a colleague, when a penguin in a bad mood decided I was in his way. He bit me on the tendon inside the knee while hitting me very hard with a series of lightning fast punches! I had a limp for a week. Adult Adelies are particularly aggressive towards others' chicks. Chicks can be abandoned for two reasons: either a parent disappeared at sea and the other had to go feed, or they were born twins but the parents had only enough food to feed one chick (the biggest). In which case you see a wretched chick walking around the rookeries, getting weaker day by day, trying to get back to his nest but constantly harassed by his ex-parent and the other adults, and soon watched eagerly by a skua or two... On the other hand, Emperor penguins are probably the most placid animals ever. No predators, so no defense mechanism. And they need to rely a lot on the others to survive the winter together, so the only time they display any kind of aggressivity are when the females compete for a male: they just stand around and try to interrupt him if he chooses a mate by standing in the middle. An issue he usually solves by walking around them. That's about all.
Where?
Right: A emperor chick resting comfortably under its parent's pouch. Where are penguins located? Adelie and Emperor penguins live on the shores of Antarctica, in the few places that have rocks for Adelie and in the few places where the sea ice is stable enough not to be broken up by strong winter storms for Emperors. Just think that 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, so that doesn't leave much rock for Adelie penguins to settle. And there are glaciers around most of Antarctica, making it too unstable and dangerous for Emperors to settle (glaciers move, they have crevasses, falling seracs...). Nothing in Antarctica lives more than a few minutes walk from the sea except for some micro-organisms. In the spring of '93 we had a record number of Emperor penguin chicks next to Dumont d'Urville. Due to unusually warm and mild weather they spread out on the ice quite far way, leaving the sheltered area between the islands. Then a strong storm came and broke up the ice around the islands. After the end of the storm, two thirds of the chicks were missing, fallen in the deadly cold water while still wearing their down feathers... Are penguins found only in Antarctica? No. Different species have different habitats: there are actually only 5 species in Antarctica (including Adelie and Emperors); King, Chinstrap and others in sub-Antarctic Islands (plenty of small islands that are located in the Antarctic Ocean, the south Pacific, south Atlantic or south Indian ocean); Little Blue, Yellow-eyed and others at the southernmost tips of America, Africa or Australia; there are even penguins near the equator, at the Galapagos Islands. But there aren't any penguins in the northern hemisphere, although there used to be a very similar flightless bird of a different family, called the great penguin also known as the Great Auk, a cousin of puffins from the Arctic sea. Unfortunately it was hunted to extinction in the 1600s. Penguins are very slow and awkward on land, making them easy preys for predators, that's why they are only common on small islands or places that do (or did) not have any predators (including humans).
Groups?
Right: A creche of emperor penguin chicks in early spring. What is called a group of penguins? I can think of no less than 4 different terms: A 'rookery'. Emperor penguins huddle together to form one very large rookery when it's cold and split in smaller groups spread on the ice when it's warm; they don't make nests but carry their eggs or their feet. Adelie penguins form small rookeries of 2 to hundreds of breeding pairs by building nests on rocky outcrops. Some say this term should be kept for rooks, a type of crow, but it's in widespread use for penguins. When emperors are huddled close together against the chilly winter storms, in french this is called a 'turtle', just like the Roman legionnaires defensive position. But the english equivalent has less history behind it, the term being simply a 'huddle'. Penguins in this situation change position periodically, those on the outside moving back inside to shelter from the cold, something similar to bikers taking the lead temporarily although it costs them energy. This behavior was thought to be a fairly unique altruistic behavior, but it can be explained quite simply by evolutionary biology: no penguin want to be outside exposed to the cold, so they try to get to the center, but they don't want to fight for it (a big waste of energy), so they just push slowly till they get a better position; and later other penguins pushing in other directions will expose them again. When they grow bigger and no longer need an adult at all time to keep them sheltered, the chicks group together in 'crêches' (picture on left), a French word for crib. They do this for protection against the cold and against predators (Skuas and Giant petrels) but are not cared communally by the remaining adults: adults will feed only their own chick which they recognize by its voice. There can be several crêches in a large rookery. And more simply we also say that all the rookeries in a common area form a 'colony'. Do penguins have a leader? What's their social structure? They don't have a leader as such, but sometimes when a group action is necessary one penguin will take the initiative and all the others will follow as happens for instance when jumping in the water or beginning a walk. This does not give any advantage to the first one, except more risk of being eaten by a waiting leopard! Why do they walk in a single line formation? This applies mainly to Emperor penguins as Adelies wanders in not particularly organized groups when going between the shore and their nests. Basically they just follow the leader, an older penguin who knows the way for their hundred of km treks. Some lines can have as much as 3000 penguins in a single file. How do they find the way? I have no idea. Do they get lost? Maybe, but they don't tell anyone.
Right: Adelie penguin footsteps on snow. How long does it take the Emperor Penguins to make their trek to/from the group to feed? The distance can be anywhere from 60 to 250 km depending on ice extension, and it takes them an average of a week, one way. Add to this a week to fish and replenish their fat supply so it can take them a good month to do the round trip. If the ice extends particularly far that year, the long turn around times increase the mortality among the chicks who cannot be fed enough in time. What other animals live near penguins? Seals, other birds like skuas and petrels, and even sometimes humans in places like New Zealand or the Galapagos.
Weird?
What do penguins do for fun? When they are on land I haven't observed any behavior that even remotely looks like play. They only come on land for serious activities: reproducing and moulting. On the other hand, as soon as they go back to the water they swim in groups in circles, jump out in the air (also known as porpoising or breaching) and generally seem to be enjoying themselves. Do penguins fall over when something fly over them? No. This is an urban legend and I can't believe the NSF actually funded a study on this. Adelie and Emperor penguins are moderately scared of things from the sky because that's where their only predators on land come from (skuas and giant petrels that grab their unattended eggs or chicks). They can also be afraid of noisy helicopters at first, but they get used to them very fast. In Dumont d'Urville, some Adelies are nesting less than 10 meters from helicopter landing pads. They just crouch for a minute when the chopper passes above them and then go on their business. When out of the water penguins don't have very good vision, they are near-sighted so they can't really tell whether it's a bird or airplane flying above them unless it gets close and noisy. How do you cook a penguin? Penguin recipes? They are very fat, so a method that melts the fat off is better, like a roast. The blood is very rich in oxygen so the meat turns an un-appetizing dark as it cooks. The breast can make decent steaks. For doing an omelet, you need to remove some of the white of the egg otherwise it's not tasty enough; but the overall taste is the same than a normal omelet. Am I joking? Maybe... Just remember that many an explorer can trace his survival to scrambled penguin eggs. Hardly a necessity nowadays. If you want to know everything there is to know about the subject (except maybe the taste itself), I refer you to the recipe book "Fit for a FID" by Gerald Cutland or the book about the history of Antarctic cuisine " Hoosh" by Jason C. Anthony. Is it true that there are homosexual penguins? Yes, it is a behavior sometimes observed in zoo animals. There was a famous case at the NY zoo of two males taking turns caring for a fake egg, then given a real one and successfully raising a family. The children book And Tango Makes Three recounts this true story. It's hard to tell if this happens in the wild as it's usually impossible to tell the difference between male and female visually. Note that many different animal species can exhibit homosexual behavior, so very far from the fundamentalist views that 'homosexuality is against nature'. By the way, homosexuality is the least of the strange sexual behaviors you can find with penguins. Have a read at this old report for much worse...
Right: Hole left by the body heat of an Adelie penguin who waited out a storm for several days... with skidmarks! And those are feathers at the bottom of the hole. What color is penguin poop? I can't believe some of the questions I get... Well, here goes: it's kinda white with greenish and darkish streaks when it comes out, but when it dries it turns to reddish for Adelies and greenish for Emperors. The red comes from all the krill that they eat and there are large quantities of this red'mud' accumulated around the rookeries (sometimes as much as 10cm thick). The green is probably bile due to the fact that the Emperors fast for a long period; the ice is covered with it in spring and melts back into the sea. The fact that adelie penguins nest on rock outcrops makes it so that the higher ones'shower' the lower ones. Just like in our own society I guess... And to continue on this issue which decidedly uses lots of ink, the 2005 Ig Nobel price in fluid dynamics has been attributed to Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow (International University Bremen, Germany and University of Oulu, Finland) and Jozsef Gal (Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary), for using basic principles of physics to calculate the pressure that builds up inside a penguin, as detailed in their report "Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh — Calculations on Avian Defaecation". And finally, you'll be thrilled to learn that penguin poop can actually be seen... from space; |
and you don't like the idea of someone in the shower room who claims to be a girl but looks exactly like a boy anatomically, you're the one who has to move:
A student who objects to sharing a washroom or change-room with a student who is trans or gender-diverse is offered an alternative facility.
And also, adults who claim to belong to a different sex from the one they anatomically resemble get to be in that shower room, too!
Family members are able to access washrooms that are congruent with their gender identity.
Alberta, nestled in the Canadian Rockies and famous for its Texas-style cattle ranches and oilfields, used to be Canada's most conservative province, until the NDP swept the elections in May 2015.
And now that the Alberta progressives have consolidated their power over schoolchildren, you'd better not be overheard heard in the hallways saying, "So's your mama."
It's "So's your caregiver."Although Nintendo Switch will receive revamped retro games as part of its online service, don’t consider that program a Virtual Console replacement, according to an interview in Famitsu.
“Classic Games Selection (tentative name) is different from the [Virtual Console],” a spokesperson told the Japanese magazine. The spokesperson then added that Nintendo’s schedule for selling Virtual Console games is “still undecided.”
That doesn’t mean a Virtual Console will never come to Nintendo Switch. That Nintendo is differentiating it from the Classic Games Selection program, a set of free, old titles that will be available to Nintendo Online Service subscribers, gives a small sense of hope.
It is peculiar that three months into the Switch’s lifespan, Nintendo hasn’t said much about the Virtual Console. First introduced during the Wii era, the downloadable games library makes it possible for Nintendo fans to purchase their favorite retro titles and replay them on modern hardware.
The Virtual Console is available on Wii, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. It continues to receive occasional updates, although we’d recommend holding off on them — should the Switch receive a Virtual Console of its own, there’s no confirmation that those older purchases will transfer to the new system.
When reached for comment, Nintendo told Polygon that it has “nothing to announce on this topic.”
Update: This story and headline have been updated to clarify and correct statements from Nintendo about the release schedule of the Virtual Console on Switch. Additionally, a response from Nintendo has been added.Jewish student leaders at Cambridge University in England said they were “deeply concerned” about recent anti-Semitic activities at the school.
Jewish Society co-presidents Adam Goott and Alex Szlezinger told the student newspaper, the Varsity, they were in touch with campus police and Britain’s Community Security Trust following the appearance over the weekend of two swastikas drawn on a campus map and fliers supporting convicted Holocaust denier David Irving.
“We are deeply concerned by the recent escalation in the number of anti-Semitic incidents and CUJS will be in touch with the relevant authorities,” Goott and Szlezinger said.
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“Cambridge University Jewish Society firmly condemns all forms of anti-Semitism, including the recent dissemination of flyers advertising abhorrent ideas of Holocaust denial, and swastika graffiti appearing on signs at Jesus Green,” they said.
Someone has gone around the Sidgwick Site @Cambridge_Uni putting holocaust denial flyers under every windshield. Worrying. #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/4ICcQDRW8g — Edward Anderson (@edanderson101) February 3, 2017
In November, three Jewish students at the university accused the school of covering up an investigation into an incident in which they were attacked by members of a university drinking club on account of being Jewish.
Despite yelling at the Jewish students after seeing their yarmulkes “f—— Jew, you don’t belong here” and “dirty Jew,” the attackers were found by the school to not have acted out of anti-Semitic motives.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
Immigration officers raided an Indian restaurant last night in the middle of a Ukip conference dinner.
Leadership runner-up Lisa Duffy witnessed the incident as she took her 10-strong entourage for a commiseration curry.
The Huntingdon councillor, who campaigned hard for immigration controls in Ukip's leadership contest, said: "It is a bit ironic really."
Despite the incident, there were no arrests and officials later established the restaurant had made all the proper employment checks. No action has been taken against the restaurant.
The unusual coincidence happened as Ms Duffy hosted a dinner for her staff hours after coming second to new leader Diane James.
They arrived just after 7pm at the Indian Ocean restaurant in Bournemouth when they saw "about six" border force officers.
(Image: Matt Cardy)
Ms Duffy told the Mirror: "When we went in the immigration officers were there, then we were put to our table which was adjacent to the door."
She said the immigration team came out of the kitchen with a man in his 20s or 30s who then ran off - a claim the restaurant's manager dismissed as "rubbish".
"As somebody else came through the door, this particular gentleman, who they had, managed to flee away from them down the hill," she said.
"They were walking with him and I think they were going to take him to their van but he managed to run away.
"We were the last people admitted in and then they stopped taking guests at one point because obviously they were then under a little bit of pressure being able to serve everybody.
"Then after that, once it was all over, they started admitting guests back into the restaurant.
"They handled it extremely well, very professionally. They came to all the tables and apologised that there would be a slight delay in serving."
(Image: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Ms Duffy's campaign manager Jay Beecher claimed the incident was his "highlight" of Ukip's annual conference.
He added he couldn't help seeing "the irony and the funny side", and the "real comedy" came when he was told there had been "minor complications".
Ms Duffy - who campaigned hard on "integration" and was compared to Donald Trump for vowing to ban the burqa in public buildings - said she "felt sorry" for the man, but still defended the raid.
She said: "I think it's the right thing to do. It's the only way they're going to find illegal immigrants.
"I certainly personally don't have a problem with it".
Home Office sources said the raid was prompted by intelligence, but the restaurant provided evidence that it carried out all the required pre-employment checks.
Indian Ocean restaurant manager Medi Miah said the claim that someone ran off was "rubbish".
He added: "Immigration covered the whole restaurant and nobody went out, nobody went in. They wouldn't allow it, there were so many of them.
"There were no problems. All the papers, files, copies of passports, we showed to them and they left.
"I understand they're doing their job, it was a busy night and that was it.
"We don't employ illegal immigrants and why should anybody run away?"The Vorontsov Palace: the northern entrance facade. The stone was mined locally as part of a conscious effort to blend the building with its mountainous surroundings.
The southern facade of the same building has a strikingly oriental appearance.
The Vorontsov Palace (Ukrainian: Воронцовський палац; Russian: Воронцо́вский дворе́ц) or the Alupka Palace[nb 1] is an historic palace situated at the foot of the Crimean Mountains near the town of Alupka in Crimea. The Vorontsov Palace is one of the oldest and largest palaces in Crimea,[2] and is one of the most popular tourist attractions on Crimea's southern coast.[3][4]
The palace was built between 1828 and 1848 for Russian Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov for use as his personal summer residence at a cost of 9 million silver rubles.[5] It was designed in a loose interpretation of the English Renaissance revival style by English architect Edward Blore and his assistant William Hunt.[4][6] The building is a hybrid of several architectural styles, but faithful to none. Among those styles are elements of Scottish Baronial,[7] Mughal architecture,[8] and Gothic Revival architecture.[2] Blore had designed many buildings in the United Kingdom, and was later particularly well known there for completing the design of Buckingham Palace in London.[9]
Once completed, the palace was visited by many members of the Russian Empire's elite ruling class; a great number of these vastly wealthy nobles were so taken with the palace and its seaboard site that they were moved to create their own summer retreats in the Crimea. By the early 20th century not only many aristocrats, but also members of the Imperial Family, including the Tsar himself, had palaces in an assortment of architectural styles in the vicinity.
An important feature of the Vorontsov Palace is the adjoining park ensemble, which features 40 hectares (99 acres) of greenery and forestry arranged by German landscape gardener Carolus Keebach.[10][11] Today, the Vorontsov Palace is a part of the "Alupka Palace-Park Complex," a national historical preserve including the Massandra Palace in neighbouring Massandra.
Owing to its status as an important local tourist attraction and architectural monument, the Vorontsov Palace and its surrounding park complex were frequently featured in Ukrainian and Soviet cinema productions such as: An Ordinary Miracle (1964), Nebesnye lastochki (1976), Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro (2004), and Sappho (2008).[6][12]
Russian poet Ivan Bunin visited the palace in 1900 and wrote a short poem entitled "Long alley leading down to the shore..." (Russian: К прибрежью моря длинная аллея...).[13]
History [ edit ]
In the 1820s, Russian noblemen commissioned a number of Palladian residences in Novorossiya, primarily in Odessa.
In the period following the Napoleonic wars, the new city of Odessa emerged as Russia's southern capital with a vibrant cosmopolitan society centred on a handful of Russian aristocrats and Polish ladies such as Zofia Potocka and Karolina Rzewuska. According to Filipp Vigel, the viceroy's court in Odessa looked like a "small capital of an imperial fürst".[14] While many Neoclassical buildings appeared in Odessa, the Crimea (or Taurica, as it was then better known) was still perceived as a wild, exotic hinterland. The mid-1820s saw the appearance of highly popular Romantic works celebrating its rugged beauty, such as Alexander Pushkin's poem The Fountain of Bakhchisaray and Adam Mickiewicz's Crimean Sonnets. Both poets were fascinated with Lord Byron's Oriental romances and pictured the Crimea as an exotic land of Tartar Muslim traditions which had flourished in the Khanate of Crimea until its demise in 1783.
Mikhail Vorontsov was appointed Viceroy of Novorossiya in May 1823. Even before their arrival in Odessa, the Vorontsovs started buying up lands in the southwest of Crimea, which was sparsely populated and little known at the time. Alupka was bought in 1824 from colonel Theodosios Reveliotis, the owner of Livadia and Oreanda.[15] By that time, the Vorontsovs also had property in Gurzuf, Massandra, Ai-Danil, and Cape Martian.[16]
Original design and ethos [ edit ]
Prince Mikhail Vorontsov (1782–1856) commissioned the palace for use as his own summer residence.
The Vorontsov Palace was commissioned as a summer residence for the Governor-General of Novorossiya, Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov (born 1782 – died 1856).[6] The Prince was a dedicated Anglophile. His father, Semyon Vorontsov, had been Catherine the Great's ambassador to England, and the Prince had been educated in London. His sister, Catherine, had married an English aristocrat and become the châtelaine of one of England's grandest country houses, Wilton House. On the accession of Paul I, in 1796, Semyon Vorontsov fell from favour and his estates confiscated and not returned until 1801, after the accession of Alexander 1. It is therefore unsurprising that he chose to reside with his daughter in England until his death and that Mikhail Vorontsov was a frequent visitor to that country.
Vorontsov had been purchasing land from the local Tartars for the site of his new palace at Alupka from 1823; however, the acquisition had been part of a deal which necessitated Vorontsov to build a new mosque. Part of the site had already been planted with fine trees in 1787 for Prince Potemkin by the English landscape gardener William Gould as part of Potemkin's "improvements" to the area in perpetration of a visitation by Catherine the Great following Potemkin's bloodless annexation of the Crimea to Russia. On acquiring ownership of the site, Vorontsov immediately employed the German gardener Karl Kebach to further improve the site and layout the grounds and gardens for the proposed new palace.
Thomas Harrison's abandoned classical design for the garden facade centred on an exedra; this feature was to be retained in the new plan.
In 1824, the architect Philip Elson was commissioned to build a small house for the Vorontsov family to inhabit while the new palace was under construction. Now much altered in form, and known as the Asiatic Pavilion, this building still stands.
Originally, the prince wanted a strictly Classical design, and plans for such a design were executed, in Chester by architect Thomas Harrison and modified, on site, by Odessa architect Francesco Boffo. The two architects had previously worked together on the design for Vorontsov's official residence in Odessa. Harrison's plans for he palace at Alupka show a classical villa on the site of the present palace's corps de logis with bedroom floors below, on what are now the lower terraces of the present palace. On the garden front, facing the sea, the plans show a large double height classical exedra; Vorontsov must have approved of this concept as it was the only feature (albeit transformed to an Islamic style), to be incorporated from Harrison's plans into the new plans.
Construction began in 1828, however, it was suspended in June 1831 before the building has risen from its foundations. This may have been because the principal architect Harrison had died the previous year and Boffo working alone may not have been an option – his alterations to Harrison's plans for the Governor's residence in Odessa had been unfavourably received.
Change of plan [ edit ]
Architecturally at odds with the northern entrance facade, Blore's Islamic southern garden façade has a massive central exedra which forms an open mosque-like vestibule above) was the inspiration for Blore's new design. The Jama Masjid mosque () was the inspiration for Blore's new design.
Vorontsov had traveled widely in England, and had doubtless seen the newly emerging, but retrospective, Jacobethan style of architecture – a hybrid revival styles based on the English buildings of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, which, in turn, had been influenced by the English Renaissance style which had belatedly evolved from the Italian Renaissance style of a century earlier. Vorontsov decided to review the design in order to incorporate these new trends from Western European architecture.[5]
This major change from a Classical design to a far more complex revival style, little known in Russia, meant Vorontsov had to find an alternative architect to execute a new design. This was further complicated by Vorontsov's desire to not only have a loose Jacobean style, but also to incorporate motifs from Islamic architecture[5] so as to highlight the oriental strain evident in the Khan's Palace, Enikale Fort, and other local Tatar architecture. The resulting design was to highlight the Crimea's position as a place where the East and West meet. It was a radical departure from the Neoclassical strain that dominated the Russian architecture of the period.
As a result of the expansion of the British Empire, a similar approach was also gaining popularity in Britain. An Anglicised interpretation of Islamic architecture is exemplified by the Brighton Royal Pavilion, completed in 1823, and the Sezincote House, completed a few years earlier. Both these buildings drew heavily on the Islamic motifs, which were later to be evident at the Vorontsov Palace and were new and novel designs at the time of the Prince's visit to England.
Vorontsov decided upon the British architect Edward Blore to redesign and complete the building. Blore was a curious choice of architect; though able his work has often been often considered bland and uninspired. The eminent architectural historian Howard Colvin claimed that "a dull competence pervaded all his work", while the country house architectural expert Mark Girouard has described Blore as "a bit of a bore." [22][23] However, Blore's stolid and conventional designs were admired by the English Tory aristocracy – a class to which Vorontsov's sister belonged and for whom Blore had worked at Wilton. The Anglophile Vorontsov was also a great admirer and friend of Sir Walter Scott for whom Blore had worked at the great Scottish baronial country house Abbotsford; therefore it seems likely that these latter connections led Vorontsov to Blore.
Blore had already worked on many grand British buildings and a couple of buildings in colonial Australia.[25] Blore himself did not visit the town of Alupka,[9] however, he was well informed about the area's mountainous landscape and terrain.[25] Construction restarted in 1830, under the supervision of Blore's fellow architect William Hunt.
Architecture [ edit ]
The Western Gatehouse gives access to the warren of secondary wings. On the right, to the Shuvalov Passage and main entrance, and on the left, to the stables and staff wings. Designed to resemble a medieval street, the Shuvalov Passage leads from the Western Gatehouse, through the secondary wings, to the forecourt before the principal entrance in the northern facade
Blore's new plan for the corps de logis of house was constrained by Vorontsov's wish to use the footings and foundations which had been built for Harrison's original design; this severely restricted the shape, size and layout of the palaces principal rooms. However, rather than erect a compact and low classical villa, as Harrison had designed, Blore's plan was radically different, with strong English Tudor Renaissance features on the northern side, and an eclectic medley of western and Islamic features on the southern. The central bay of the southern facade was inspired by Delhi's Jummah Masjid mosque, which enabled the classical exedra of Harrison's design to be incorporated, once given an Islamic makeover, harmoniously into the design.
In places, the seemingly at odds architectural styles can be viewed simultaneously; this is particularly so in the chimney stacks which resemble Islamic minarets. These coupled with the castellated parapets add what appears to be an almost Moorish element to the late English Renaissance air of the northern facade.
However, it is the southern garden facade which displays the strongest of the building's Islamic influences; it has a flat roof and is topped by two minaret-style towers at its centre. These minarets flank the massive, central bay, this takes the form of a projecting double height porch entered through a high Islamic horseshoe arch. The interior of the porch takes the form of an exedra, which is really an elaborately decorated open vestibule; it has an inscribed Shahada stating "There is no God but Allah" in Arabic.[5] The porch is flanked by two short wings, each of two bays and adorned with cast iron balconies and verandahs overlooking over the terraces and their statuary.
While the designs for the corps de logis were confined by the foundations of Harrison's earlier plan, the secondary wings and precincts were not. Abandoning completely Harrisons concept of bedrooms set in terraces beneath the corp de logis, Blore's assistant architect, Hunt, opted for the typical vast sprawling wings and servants' quarters of the 19th century English country house. These took full advantage of the gradients and topography of the site, and with their courtyards came to resemble a small medieval, fortified town of towers and high castellated walls. Nowhere is this more evident than the Shuvalov Passage, an enclosed carriage drive squeezed between the high walls of two wings, leading from the castellated Western Gatehouse to the forecourt before the northern facade.[28] The passage, which twists and turn beneath high wall and towers and even passes under a bridge, resembles the street of a medieval town, rather than the approach to a country house.
The North Forecourt, accessed from the Shuvalov Passage which emerges from the lefthand arch, serves as a cour d'honneur to the corps de logis (to the left). To the right, can be seens part of the vast service wings and stables
Construction [ edit ]
Vorotsov imported thousands of his serfs from the Moscow, Vladimir, and Voronezh governorates of the Russian Empire to construct the palace.[1][25] These unpaid workers performed all the labour by hand, aided only by primitive hand tools.[25] Masons were also brought in to help with the construction. The palace's ashlar blocks were made from a local greenish-gray tinge diabase,[30] chosen for its unique colour to match the colours of the surrounding mountainous landscape and forest greenery.[25] All other building materials were imported from outside the Empire.[30]
One of the first of the palace's many rooms to be completed was the main dining room, built from 1830 to 1834. The principal central wing of the mansion was constructed from 1831 to 1837. Between 1841 and 1842, a billiard room was constructed adjoining the dining room. From 1838 through to 1844, the guest wing, the east wing, towers, the service wing, and the front entrance were completed. The final wing built of the mansion was the library wing; this was under construction from 1842 to 1844. The remaining four years of building works were spent on the palace's interior decoration.[30]
William Hunt, the onsite architect employed to oversee Blore's design, while remaining faithful to Blore's overall plans, was not afraid to alter them. Most notably, the Western Gatehouse, the main approach to the palace, was intended to have octagonal towers, but Hunt redesigned the gatehouse in an English 14th-century castle style, with solid round towers and machicolations, nearly identical to the towers at Bodiam Castle, East Sussex.
After completion of the palace, Hunt remained at Alupka working on an assortment of projects in and around the estate building long carriage drives, roads and structural improvements to the gardens surrounding the palace. One of his largest projects was an extension to the palace itself, the Shuvalov wing, which was to be the summer retreat of the Vorontsov's daughter Countess Sofia Shuvalova and her children, the countess was estranged from her husband This wing linked the palace to the western gatehouse, and created the enclosed Shuvalov Passage leading to the main entrance. Hunt remained in the Prince's employ until his retirement in 1852.
Interior [ edit ]
The palace consists of a total of 150 rooms, the principal of which are panelled with wood block floors. Inside the corps de logis, it had been Blore's intention to follow the English 19th century tradition of distinct masculine and feminine suites of reception rooms; with a library, dining rooms and billiard room ensuite to left of the central hall for men, and a massive drawing room to the right for women. This layout of gender designated zones had become popular in Victorian England; however its intention was not to segregate the sexes, but more to define furnishings – the male zones tended to have heavy oak furniture and dark 'Turkey' carpets, whereas the female zones would have more delicate furnishings of rosewood, Aubusson carpets and chintz soft furnishings.[35] However, for unknown reasons, this concept was never executed and the female part of the house was extended into the male territory, with the intended billiard room becoming the countess's boudoir while the study became a further small sitting room for feminine use. Above these seaward facing rooms were the family bedrooms.
Following the female claim to the principal rooms of the corps de logis, the library and dining room were relocated to a secondary wing not built until much later. This secondary wing is linked to the west of corps de logis by a large arcaded loggia; originally open, it is now glazed and known as the Winter Garden. A later secondary wing, known as the Shuvalov wing (named after Vorontsov's son-in-law, Count Shuvalov) was not part of Blore's original plan and designed by his assistant, William Hunt.
There is now a museum comprising several rooms most notable of which are the blue room, chintz room, dining room, and the Chinese cabinet.[6] The museum covers the first floor's first eight rooms, featuring more than 11,000 exhibits, including engravings of the 18th century, paintings from the 16th through 19th centuries, including those depicting Crimean scenarios by Armenian seascape painter Ivan Aivazovsky, as well as furniture crafted by Russian wood masters from the 19th century.[10]
The library, the last of the palace's rooms to be completed, is based on Sir Walter Scott's own library, revealing the personal friendship that Blore had with Scott.[36] Inside, the library features about 6,000 literary and musical works of the 18th and 19th centuries.[6] The interior's woodwork, including the doors, panelling, and ceilings, is made out of oak. The walls are adorned in cloth, with designs made by Dutch, Flemish, French, and Italian painters. The palace's Gothic fireplaces are made out of polished diabase.
Grounds [ edit ]
Formal parterre bedding on the uppermost terrace
The palace sits surrounded by gardens and a park; these grounds consisting of 40 hectares (99 acres)[10] were laid out by the German landscape gardener Carolus Keebach[11] in the first half of the 19th century in the form of an amphitheatre featuring wide open spaces and gardens planted alongside the walkways.[6] The walkways are gravelled with 29 bags of coloured stones from the Crimean village of Koktebel.[6]
The largest of the landscaping undertakings carried out on the palace's grounds were performed between 1840 and 1848 with the aid of soldiers, who also assisted in the formation and leveling of the terraces laid out before of the palace's southern façade.[25] Fauna was introduced from various locations throughout the world, including the Mediterranean, the Americas, and East Asia.[3] Flora imported over a 150 years ago still numbers almost 200 species.[3][10]
A 19th-century vintage postcard showing the Vorontsov Palace viewed through its manicured gardens
Keebach had the park designed in such a way that it would incorporate the landscape's native vegetation, mountain springs, and nearby rocky masses,[10] in addition to foreign plant species brought in from the Mediterranean, both North and South America, as well as from East Asia.[3] Today, the park still features more than 200 exotic tree and shrub species, including a wide variety of palm trees, laurels, cypresses, olive trees, and evergreen viburnum, among many others.[10]
In the summer of 1848, the palace and its grounds were enhanced by the addition of three pairs of white marble lions; this statuary was placed alongside the wide flight of steps climbing the terraces to the palace.[25] Each of the statues, by Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonnani, is depicted in a varying pose – a pair of "sleeping lions" at the bottom of the steps, "waking lions" near the centre, and "standing Medici lions" at the top nearest the palace.[37]
Crimea's coastal highway runs through the park, dividing it into the upper and lower portions.[10] The upper park is dominated by the mountain springs, as well as by the native southern coast forestry and clusters of foreign tree growth. A feature of the upper park is the Fountain of Trilby, which was placed there in 1829.[10] The lower park is modelled in the style of an Italian Renaissance garden.[10]
Influence [ edit ]
The construction of Mikhail Vorontsov's summer residence in Alupka so impressed Tsar Nicholas I that he decided to have his own family retreat built at neighbouring Oreanda. In September 1837, the Tsar and Tsarina visited the Crimea for the first time. The viceroy entertained them at his new residence in Alupka. Impressed with the palace and its setting, the Prussian-born Empress commissioned from Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a Berlin-based architect, a design for a new residence. His design called for a striking combination of Greek Revival and Egyptian Revival elements. The palace was to be perched on the craggy shore in Oreanda. The court architect Andrei Stackenschneider offered a less expensive design, which was adopted. The Tsarina's palace was built between 1843 and 1853 under the supervision of William Hunt and Combioggio, an architect from Odessa. This edifice was destroyed by an 1882 conflagration, with only a marble rotunda remaining. The next emperor, Alexander II, had the royal residence moved to Livadia.[38]
Vorontsov's building activities started a tradition of imperial residency of the area which would attract many of Russia's smart and most elite to also build villas and palaces in the Crimea. One of the first such buildings was the Gaspra Palace, designed by William Hunt in the 1830s for Prince Alexander Galitzine, one of Alexander I's most trusted advisors. Blore's design inspired another straightforward imitation on the eastern shore of the Black Sea: the Dadiani Palace in Zugdidi that was commissioned by the last Princess of Mingrelia in 1873 and, at the time of the Russian Revolution, was in possession of the House of Murat.[39] Neo-Moorish architectural elements were also incorporated in the design of the royal villas in Dulber and Likani.
Owners and occupiers [ edit ]
Countess Yelizaveta Vorontsova-Dashkova lived in the palace until April 1919.[44] During the great evacuation of the Crimea by the Russian Whites, she sailed to Malta aboard a British ship. She was accompanied by her grandchildren from the Sheremetev family, including Count Nikolai Sheremetev, who later married Princess Irina Yusupova (Bébé). Yelizaveta's descendants also include actress Anne Wiazemsky.
Later history [ edit ]
The north forecourt. Today, the palace a tourist attraction receiving thousands of visitors each year.
Four years after the October Revolution, in 1921, the palace was nationalised, after which it was converted into a museum. This occupied the main, dining, and library wings of the building.[5] In addition to the state-confiscated Vorontsov family possessions, the museum also featured the exhibits of the nationalised estates of the Romanovs, Yusupovs, and Stroganovs all of whom had estates in the vicinity.[5] In 1927, the palace's Shuvalov wing housed a sanatorium "10 Years of October," while the palace's main concourse became home to Alupka resort's polyclinic and spa baths.[5]
When the Soviet Union entered World War II in 1941, most of the museum's exhibits were evacuated for safety from Alupka. However, some 537 artistic and graphics exhibits (including temporary exhibition paintings from the State Russian Museum and the Simferopol Art Museum), 360 pieces of the building's decor, sets of unique furniture, and a series of historic books were stolen by occupying Nazi German forces,[3] amounting to a loss of 5 million rubles at the time.[45]
During the war, Adolf Hitler presented the palace as a reward to Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who made it personal headquarters. This explains why the palace was so well preserved.[6] The building was later converted into a museum for Wehrmacht officers stationed in and around Crimea.[45] Originally, the Nazis had planned to dynamite the palace, but the rapid advance of the Separate Coastal Army and supporting Yalta partisan groups during the Crimean Offensive saved the palace from destruction.[45]
From 11 to 14 February 1945, the Yalta Conference took place in the neighbouring, former imperial Livadia Palace; this was between representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill and part[46] of his British delegation were given temporary residence within the Vorontsov Palace.[9] Within two weeks, construction workers had restored 22 rooms in the main palace, 23 rooms in the Shuvalov wing,[38] and even replanted the palace gardens. The palace's English-inspired architectural style gained praise from Churchill himself:[9] Churchill was so taken by the garden's Medici lions that he later asked Stalin if he could take them home; Stalin declined the request.[47]
One of the Medici lions so admired by Churchill
The setting of our abode was impressive... Behind the villa, half Gothic and half Moorish in style, rose the mountains, covered in snow, culminating in the highest peak in the Crimea. Before us lay the dark expanse of the Black Sea, severe, but still agreeable and warm even at this time of the year. Carved white lions guarded the entrance to the house, and beyond the courtyard lay a fine park with sub-tropical plants and cypresses. Winston Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy: The Second World War, Vol 6, 1953[48]
Following the war, the palace was used as a summer retreat for the Soviet secret police, and later as a trade sanatorium.[6] In 1956, the palace was once again reinstated as a museum,[4][49] and two years later, it was further expanded by art treasures. However, the majority of the artwork looted during the war was never recovered, only a small fragment of the former collection was returned to the museum.[5] In 1965, the palace was incorporated into the "Alupka Palace-Park Complex,"[3] a national historical preserve which also includes the Massandra Palace in neighboring Massandra, built in the Louis XIII château style for Russian Tsar Alexander III.[50]
Although it has survived years of wear and warfare, one of the palace's wings is now in danger of collapsing into the Black Sea below.[9] Cracks have begun to appear in the library, housing almost 10,000 books and manuscripts.[9] Although Edward Blore had a state-of-the-art drainage system built into the palace's foundation, years of neglect and the construction of a nearby sewage pipe in 1974 have helped to increase the potential for a landslide.[9] Another potential looming disaster is surrounding the medieval-style gatehouse near the palace's west side.[9]
Gallery [ edit ]
Entrance to the palace forecourt in the style of a medieval English castle.
The 'Lion' steps climbing the terraces.
One of the man-made, sub-tropical terraces beneath the palace.
The Blue Drawing Room with intricate plasterwork decorating the walls.
The Dining Room's oak ceiling with strapwork and pendants in the English Tudor style.
The Gothic style billiards room adjoining the Dining Room.
The intricate wooden ceiling of the small China Room, also known as the China Cabinet.
The Conservatory.
See also [ edit ]
Vorontsov Palace (disambiguation), list of similarly named palaces built for the Vorontsov family
List of historic reserves in Ukraine
References [ edit ]
Notes
^ Алупкінський палац ; Russian: Алупкинский дворец ) name was contrived during Soviet times[1] to remove mention to the noble family. The Alupka Palace ( Ukrainian ; Russian:) name was contrived during Soviet timesto remove mention to the Vorontsov
Footnotes
Bibliography
Coordinates:A road sign meant to caution Winnipeg drivers about deer was hacked on the weekend and given a much more direct, and profane message.
The flashing message, that once stated "Be Alert For Deer" was reprogrammed with the message: "Slow The F-Down."
Brian Smiley, spokesman for Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), said he's not sure how someone could have hacked into the security system.
Winnipeg police have been notified and have said the person responsible, if found, will likely face mischief charges.
Twelve of the large flashing signs in deer hot zones were erected two weeks ago to get motorists to slow down. There are more deer-vehicle collisions in Winnipeg each year, about 410, than any other single municipality in Manitoba, according to MPI.
The Crown corporation is conducting the pilot project in partnership with the police through October and November.
The signs are along Roblin Boulevard and Wilkes Avenue from Shaftsbury Boulevard to the Perimeter Highway.A half-century after the last passenger trains pulled into Downtown Miami, plans to return rail transport to South Florida's urban corridors are moving at breakneck pace.
At least 24,000 riders would use a proposed new commuter rail line between Jupiter and Downtown Miami, reports Miami Today.
The line lies along Florida East Coast Railway's US 1 corridor tracks, which the company plans to use for its upcoming Miami-to-Orlando All Aboard Florida rail service.
Longtime South Florida commuter service Tri-Rail, which currently makes its southernmost stop near Hialeah, is hoping to utilize FEC's Downtown track for a new eastern "Blue Line," pending municipal cooperation toward station development.
Both companies have expressed mutual willingness to share the FEC tracks. All Aboard Florida would service significantly fewer stations along the corridor than Tri-Rail, which plans to add 12 new stops between Fort Lauderdale and Miami for Blue Line service:
"Transit along the FEC route has the potential of servicing shorter trips as well, within walking distance of future transit stations, municipal downtowns along the corridor and major activity centers such as hospitals and universities," according to the |
qualified’.
You were initially hired as support workers at Nauru regional processing centre in September 2012. What did you think you’d be doing on the island?
Chris: I thought it was just going to be a couple of hours working in the centre and talking with the guys. You know—playing games with them. I felt like it was pretty much a free trip to a tropical island, but it turned out to be five or six days a week with 10 hour shifts.
What were your first impressions when you got to Nauru?
Nicole: They stopped us over first in Fiji actually. They put us up in Novotel and we were really excited. We thought: wow!
Chris: We got to the island and it's in economic downturn there at the moment. I guess that’s what the centre is there for—to bring some income to the island. It was just shocking to see how the rest of the world lives, especially on a little island like that. I had low expectations, but I wasn’t prepared for the centre. It was in the middle of the old phosphate mine, so it looked like a moonscape with just barren land. The heat and humidity was tremendous.
Nicole: The centre was a tent city. At that stage, it was only Sri Lankans detained and they were living in a little village in green canvas tents. There were no facilities. At that stage there was only six toilets. There was a makeshift classroom with a couple of plastic chairs and some student teachers holding up pieces of paper with the ABC written on them.
Chris: The centre manager showed us around for a few minutes, and then said ‘go mingle’, and walked back out and left us in a group with asylum seekers. The men came over and introduced themselves to us. Each group of men had one or two men who could help translate to English. Their first questions were ‘why are we here?’ and ‘what’s your religion?’ They tried to find out about us and if we could help out them get to Australia. Every question they asked was answered with ‘I don’t know’. Pretty much the answer always was ‘I don’t know’. That became their joke really.
What did it feel like to give asylum seekers the answer ‘I don’t know’ every day?
Chris: It really saps you. We wanted to know the answers as well. To keep saying ‘I don’t know’ to them, and asking the same questions to our managers and getting the same answer, we got frustrated and upset at the system. One time, a man asked ‘what happens if we die here?’ and the immigration officers said ‘we don’t know’.
What were the conditions like at the Nauru RPC?
Nicole: The conditions were extremely hot. Often it flooded. There was lots of mosquitos. There was a smell of faeces that came across every afternoon. There were mice and rats. There was one tree on Nauru that everybody used to sit under. That was the only natural shade that they had at that time. The tents could go up to 50 degrees on a hot day. Some of the asylum seekers didn’t have fans or mosquito nets.
Chris: The intake days were the worst. The men arrived on the bus to the camp. And as soon as the bus rolled in, you can see the shock on their faces—the sadness and the anger—and we were supposed to stand there and smile and welcome them to their new home for however many years. It’s just one of toughest jobs to try and sell a place that looks and feels like hell. Every time the new people came, they’d asked us questions and it was ‘I don’t know, I don’t know’. It’s no surprise they get angry with you. They think that you’re holding out—they think you know the answers, but we don’t know the answers. We never did and we still don’t really for these guys.
When you were on Nauru, did you ever see any guards act inappropriately, and did you report those instances to the authorities?
Chris: The Nauru guards were ex-military and ex-police and some of them were once security officers in clubs in Kings Cross. They didn’t treat the men like you or I would treat them. I guess they were enemy to some, prisoners to others. If you didn’t listen, watch out, there was a strong arm to get them in line. I can’t say all of the guards were bad. But there were the bad ones that were racist and that did point their fingers and guns at the asylum seekers’ heads.
Nicole: I do believe that most of the time the security on Nauru handled themselves quite appropriately and did follow up on reports and behaviors that were going on. I think that’s one of the main differences between Nauru and Manus Island. Manus was a little different in regards to that.
Were you concerned enough to want to report what you saw on Nauru to any authorities?
Chris: To report an incident was to go against the people you work with. The culture was: if you see it, just ignore it. To speak up was to pretty much lose your job, and the reason to be over there is to help these men, so if you’re not there, you can’t really help them.
How did your attitude towards your work on Nauru start to change as time progressed?
Nicole: Over time, it started to change. When I first got there, I asked to go home. I think I actually had booked a plane ticket home and I called my Dad and said ‘I think I’m going to come home early’. And he said ‘you went over there to help people’, and I said ‘okay, I’ll stick out this rotation’. Then as time went on, what I was seeing was so abhorrent and cruel that I really felt an obligation to stay and make a difference.
You mentioned a lot of suicide attempts in your Senate Inquiry statements. Tell me about the first time an asylum seeker told you that they wanted to kill themselves?
Nicole: The first time somebody told me, they showed me a noose they had made out of rope from the canvas of their tent and said that they would like to kill themselves because they believed their life was not worth living and they thought they’d be on Nauru for five years or more.
What did you say back to them when they showed you the noose?
Nicole: I told them that ‘this isn’t forever’ and that they would be out of there at some stage. I told them that I’d have to remove the noose and I reported it to security. It’s something that sounds so shocking, but when you’re there, it‘s quite normal to see and hear those things. After a while you become a bit desensitised.
Did anything happen that made you realise you were becoming desensitised to the things happening around you?
Nicole: Yeah. There was an incident that gets talked about a lot. There was a man who got quite distressed and took a fluorescent light tube and started stabbing his body with it. I was evacuated and went into the office and some of the newer staff were crying. I too was shocked, but looking at them made me realise that this isn’t normal.
You were both on Nauru Island for the major riots at the detention centre in July 2013. What happened?
Nicole: That day was a big day. The asylum seekers were becoming increasingly distressed about their conditions and overall treatment. It happened really quickly. We evacuated the centre and saw the riot police coming up in their full kits. I didn’t believe the situation would escalate. We did have quite a few evacuations during my time on Nauru. Some of the newer staff said to me ‘what’s going to happen? I think this is serious!” and I said to them ‘no, it’s going to be fine. This happens all the time’. It wasn’t until I saw fire trucks and water tankers going past and groups of locals, that I knew it was serious. I saw smoke coming from the centre.
Were you worried for yourself? Were you worried for people inside the centre?
Nicole: I was worried for the people inside the centre. We were moved from one hotel to another. Some people were saying ‘they’re going to be coming outside’ and I remember thinking ‘if they come outside, I’d be like hey guys, how’s it going? Hey did you get out of the centre?’ I knew there was no threat to our own safety.
After the Nauru riots, you were both re-deployed by the Salvation Army to Manus Island. Why did they say they moved you to another centre?
Nicole: They replaced Salvation Army with security services. They did still have Salvation Army on Nauru but they called it a skeleton crew. And at that time, Manus Island started to receive a lot more asylum seekers.
What did you know about Manus Island before you got there?
Nicole: Horror stories. We had friends who went over for one or two rotations and then came back to Nauru. We used to ask them ‘what’s Manus like?’ We were interested in it. And they sometimes didn’t speak about it at all.
Chris: Before I got to Manus Island, I thought it was going to be roughly the same as Nauru. Other staff said it was rough and it was hard and they didn’t really elaborate after that. I guess because it’s so shocking over there. They didn’t want to relive it again.
Read part two of this interview here.
@EmiliaKateAll photos by author
Uber is a mixed blessing. It provides quick, cheap rides from school to work, work to home, or your favorite bar to the house of that person you drunkenly messaged on Tinder Saturday night. While the battle between the taxi industry and app-based ride services remains muddled in terms of what's fair and ethical, one thing is extremely clear: Uber is sweeping the market with unimpeded ease.
With a greater demand for Uber rides has come a bigger opening for Uber drivers. Thanks to practically nonexistent background checks and flimsy regulation, everyone from your grandma to your pot dealer is driving Uber in his or her spare time. It's easy money, but that also comes at the risk of getting stuck with shitty passengers (even 4.7 passengers can be a 1 star sometimes) when drivers get bombarded by anonymous orders that pop up on his or her phone.
While the most lucrative times for an Uber driver are during hours where prices surge—such as rush hour or when there's a transportation disaster—the constant hotspot for ride requests is on the weekend, when we're all too drunk or disorganized to bother taking transit. To find out what it's like to be on the receiving end of the equation, we asked Uber drivers in Toronto about their worst customers.
October, 35
You're an Uber Black driver. Do you get some pretty interesting clients?
You would think, yeah? But no. It's people with money to spend—not people with money. Sometimes kiddies get money from mommy and daddy and take [Uber Black] for their friends to party in. Some people just want a big ride to themselves. These aren't necessarily rich people.
But you must have some bougie clients.
[laughs] During the day, yes. People on Bay St. [in Toronto] don't like rolling out of their office meetings or whatever they're at in a poor man's sedan. Many times it's on the company's tab.
Tell me about your shittiest Uber customer.
Yesterday. Some guy had asked me that I drive him to a number of locations over a two hour period, which is fine, that's something I can do. But he assumed that when we stopped, I would just shut off my fare and wait for him. Like, a personal chauffeur paid by the hour. When I finally dropped him off, the bill hit his email and was something like $400 [$315 USD]. He absolutely lost it and wouldn't leave. He kept yelling, "Fix it! Fix it. I'm not paying this."
What'd you do?
I told him there was nothing I could do and that the app automatically accumulates fare based on distance, the surge he agreed to, and time spent. I also told him that I needed to get to another customer, but he wouldn't get out of the car. He told me to call my manager—like I fucking have one—and then he threatened to report me to the police. I just parked the car and asked him repeatedly to leave. He finally got out, but not before slamming my door and taking a video of me and my license plate.
Jesus Christ. Do you think it's worth the stress?
Well, I made a few hundred dollars off two hours of driving. I would say yes. I have anxiety meds for this sort of thing.
Rikael, 48
You're kind of old for an Uber driver, aren't you? Does that mean you've seen more shit?
Uh, yeah. I used to be a driver for [a popular Toronto cab company], and I am no idiot, so I went to Uber. I had really bad experiences as a taxi driver, not as much with Uber.
But you've had some, surely?
I've had fewer, but the worst ones? They are with Uber.
Is it the millennials? How do you feel about driving around drunk teens?
They are not always the worst. They are just loud. It can be hard to bear their yelling, and a lot of them want to talk to you the whole ride when they're drunk. Some can be very rude. I think many of them understand Uber more and treat [us] better than people around my age. I get dangerous, irate people on the weekends who are married [people]. They have jobs. They are not what you'd imagine them to be.
Tell me about your worst ride.
OK. I picked someone up from Pearson Airport who wanted to go back to Hamilton, so it was a long ride. This person, I don't know where they had come from or if they were new to [this country], but they didn't understand basic dignity at all. Within two, three minutes, they had taken their shoes off and their socks off and began talking on the phone very loudly. Their feet smelled horrible, and they were cursing very loudly. About halfway there, they asked me to pull over on the [highway], so they could urinate.
Did you do it?
No! I told them I would get a ticket and that I would bring them to a gas station, and then they started saying that because they had paid me, I should do whatever I told him to do. I brought him to the nearest gas station and told him to leave. He was angry, but he got out of the car, and I canceled the trip.
You don't take shit from anyone.
I am a peaceful person, but I was raised with respect for myself.
Rylie, 29
How much do you like driving Uber?
It's a mixed bag. I try to only drive during the morning when everyone's trying to get to work and the surge is high, and around rush hour when it's the same sort of deal, except people are trying to get home and don't want to talk to you.
So I'm assuming you aren't a fan of Friday night drunks?
It's where a large portion of the money's at, so I have to do it, but I hate it. Yeah, I don't like it, that's fair to say.
What's your worst Uber experience been like?
I actually got propositioned by one of my passengers for a threesome.
That doesn't sound horrible.
Well, it was, because they were basically finger-banging in the back of my car—two older women—and then they asked if I wanted to join, and the destination was so far, so I told them no, and I had to focus on the road, but I really just didn't want to at all. I kept asking them to stop, and they just kept giggling and doing whatever it was they were, y'know, going at it back there. I tried to ignore it, but they were full on moaning, so it was kind of uncomfortable. I was in an irritated mood; otherwise I might have found it kind of funny.
Did you get them to stop?
Nah dog, they were on it the whole ride. I was driving really fast on the highway and turned the music up, but I'm dead sure that just turned them on more. I dropped them off at their place, and they slipped me a number on a piece of rolling paper—very ratchet stuff. I'm from Scarborough, and I haven't seen freak shit like that in public. I think they stained my back seat, so I got it scrubbed.
Zena, 20
You drive Uber in your mom's car. How does she feel about that?
It's extra cash! She never cares what I'm doing with the car, as long as I'm not drinking and driving or having sex in it, so it works out. I get really bored on the weekends or when I'm not at school. I'll probably be doing a lot more in the summer.
Do you enjoy it?
I take Uber pretty often, so I know what people, around our age and stuff, want out of a driver. You gotta have the AUX cable and good tunes, and be conversational. I like it because I get to meet a lot of cool people.
Have you had a bad Uber ride before?
I actually did just a few weeks ago when I picked up my ex from a restaurant where he had his date.
Wait, seriously?
Yep. Yep. It was horrible. I really don't like this guy—we just left on a really bad note, worse than I usually leave with my exes. He got in and immediately started stuttering and looking at his phone. His date didn't know what was going on.
Did you confront him in front of his date?
Nope, but I love to torture people mentally, so I kept dropping subtle hints as I made conversation with them. Just little references to our past and really tried to poke fun at them being on a date in a non-aggressive way. When they got out, I got a text from him twenty minutes later. Like, a really long paragraph, and it was just all over the place. He was sorry but also angry, and then he said that we shouldn't talk until after his date was gone. Like, sorry bud. I didn't want to talk to you anyway.
What'd you do after you dropped him off?
I actually did a few hours more of driving to blow off steam. The nice thing is that I can decline rides when I want to, and there's nothing like flying down the highway with the Rolling Stones blasting to just let it go.
Jawan, 23
How long have you been driving Uber for?
Since I started my second year of university. About two years.
Why did you start driving Uber?
I'm a real jackass while driving because I just love going fast and listening to good music. I would rather be driving than going to a party or something—it's just [stress relief] for me, and I figured I should get paid for doing it.
What's the worst experience you've had driving Uber?
There was this guy who told me that he had to be at the train station [in downtown Toronto] in, like, thirty minutes, and we were way up north at fucking Finch Station, which is fine, because I drive fast and can get there, but it was getting to around midnight on a Friday, and that is an issue because that's when everybody's out and calling cabs. About halfway down Yonge St. [author's note: The highway was closed because of an accident], he tells me that he needs to pick somebody else up from [a bar]—but that I still need to get him there on time.
That sounds annoying. What happened?
OK but wait, that's not even the worst of it. So I pick up his friend—some girl, I think she must have been ten or twelve years younger than him, and he was, like, forty or some shit—and she gets in the car totally messed up. She was drunk enough that would normally make me cancel the ride, because chances are someone will throw up or die in your car, and I don't need that noise. So, whatever, I am driving them to Union [Station], I still have five minutes to spare, but out of nowhere, I get pulled over. Now I'm like, "What the fuck?" And the guy in the back is like, "What the fuck! I'm going to miss my train."
Why did the cop pull you over?
Just hold on because this is where I lost it. The cop comes up and says, "Are you an Uber?" and I don't know what to say because I know it's not technically legal, so I just say, "Uh, I don't know." The cop just tells me he doesn't care, but he wants my passengers to get out of the car and for me to shut the car off. I have no idea what's happening now, but I just go ahead and flip the car off. The guy in the back is now saying he "can't believe this," and I'm just thinking, Fuck this man to hell and back.
The cop wanted the passengers?
Yep, and right when that happened, the girl is getting out, and she throws up. All over my fucking door. It's leather interior, and it got in all the nooks of the door and stunk terribly, just awful. She must have ate and drank. Then the cop goes over and said, "Ma'am, we were told that you skipped out on a bill. Did you pay your tab?" She starts mumbling, and the cop could tell she's messed up, so they just detained her on the spot.
What happened to you and the other guy?
The cop told us we could go, but he was pissed because he missed his train and his friend—or girlfriend—got taken by the cops, so he just slammed my door and said he would walk. I got a one-star rating, which fucked me up, and I had to call Uber to fix it.
You still drive, though?
Definitely. The girl ended up having to pay for my cleaning.
Follow Jake Kivanc on Twitter.The Buffalo Bills' head coaching search marches on to candidate after candidate after the departure of Doug Marrone. Here to break down the process for us is Tim Graham of The Buffalo News.
When word came down that Bill Polian wouldn't be joining the organization in an advisory role, many wondered why Doug Whaley would be running the search. As Graham tells us in the video above, that's not the case. Hear what he has to say about all the people in the room at the interview - Kim and Terry Pegula, Whaley, and Russ Brandon - before formulating your opinion.
We also ask Graham who the most likely candidates to replace Marrone are, in an attempt to narrow our focus on the search with more than a dozen names attached. What is the timeline for the hire? What does it say that so many candidates are being interviewed? These questions and more are answered in this week's video interview.These are the results on Google images in the UK for the search 'CEO'. You might notice these pictures have something in common: they are nearly all of white middle-aged men.
The results are similar in America, where 11 per cent of the top 100 images returned when searching for CEOs are of females, despite 27 per cent of CEOs in the US being women.
According to researchers from the University of Washington, that's a problem because image results can actually influence people's perceptions of how competent each gender could be at different jobs.
In a paper to be presented this month at the Association for Computing Machinery's CHI conference, researchers asked people a series of questions about a job. Two weeks later they asked the same people the same questions and showed them manipulated search engine results on Google images - and they found that the workers whose gender matched the majority search results were seen as more professional.Reporters covering Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE will no longer travel in the Republican presidential nominee's motorcade, according to a new report.
Press pool organizers said the Secret Service is behind the decision, Politico said Tuesday.
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“We have communicated that this is an issue that the campaign should have spotted long ago and are vigorously protesting the decision,” the press pool's leaders said in an email.
“We have told the campaign that if they are truly committed to transparency than they should place the pool on Trump’s plane so it is a truly protective pool. They have not been responsive to that request.”
Politico on Monday said the Trump campaign was putting journalists in its motorcade. Reporters in the press pool would also follow Trump’s plane in a “chase” aircraft that would shadow it more closely.
The press pool's leaders, however, said Trump’s campaign told them the Secret Service rejected the plan.
The Secret Service advised Trump’s camp that it is stretched too thin amid “a heightened state of security” to keep the press pool’s plane safe.
The press pool will now have to deal with normal traffic while covering the billionaire, Politico said, increasing the chances that reporters may arrive late or miss Trump’s campaign events.
Trump has had an at-times contentious relationship with the media since launching his Oval Office bid last year.
Trump enraged media members last week, for example, by mocking their struggles to cover his rally in New Hampshire.
“I have really good news for you,” he told listeners on Sept. 15 in Laconia, N.H. "I just heard that the press is stuck on their airplane. They can’t get here. I love it.”'SNL': Kate McKinnon's Clinton delivers tearjerker 'Hallelujah' performance
Viewers may have been expecting Saturday Night Live to kick off on a satirical note, but Kate McKinnon opened the night, singing a different tune.
In the long-running variety show's first episode since Trump’s historic upset, McKinnon appeared at the piano in full Hillary Clinton regalia. With tears pricking the corner of her eyes, the SNL favorite launched into a haunting rendition of the late Leonard Cohen’s slow-burner, Hallelujah.
The cold open served both as a moment of solidarity with those rocked by the election’s outcome and as tribute to the virtuosic songwriter, who died earlier this week.
McKinnon ended the solemn performance with a heartening message: "I’m not giving up and neither should you and live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!"
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2fnw5RUFor other persons named Thomas Day, see Thomas Day (disambiguation) Thomas Day (22 June 1748 – 28 September 1789) was a British author and abolitionist. He was well known for the book The History of Sandford and Merton (1783–1789) which emphasized Rousseauvian educational ideals. Contents
Early life Edit
Day was born on 22 June 1748 in London, the only child of Thomas and Jane Day. His father died when he was about a year old, but left him wealthy. He first attended a school in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, but after a bout of smallpox he was moved to Charterhouse School. He subsequently attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became a master debater and developed a close friendship with William Jones; he did not graduate and left the college in 1767.
Career Edit
Day moved back to his family estate at Barehill, Berkshire. There he met the progressive educator Richard Lovell Edgeworth, from whom he became almost inseparable. Together they resolved to educate Edgeworth's son, Dick, in the style of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile. Edgeworth and the project converted Day to Rousseauism. He declared in 1769 that the two books he would save, were all the world's books to be destroyed, would be the Bible and Emile. He, Edgeworth and Dick visited Rousseau in France. Because of his connection with Edgeworth, Day was able to join the Lunar Society in Lichfield and meet and converse with Erasmus Darwin as well as Anna Seward. Wife training project Edit Main article: Sabrina Sidney After this education project, Day undertook a second: he tried to train a wife. After failing to find the perfect wife (several women including Honora Sneyd and her sister Elizabeth turned down his proposals of marriage),[1] he decided to adopt two foundlings from orphanages and, using Rousseau's maxims, educate them to be the perfect wife (two would ensure that one of them worked out). He adopted a 12-year-old and an 11-year-old whom he renamed Sabrina Sidney and Lucretia and took them to France to educate them in isolation. The girls became ill, and quarrelled. Day decided to give up on Lucretia, who he did not think could satisfy him intellectually. Sabrina he felt was still a possibility, but her character had to be further strengthened. After dropping hot wax on her arms and hearing her scream, though, he gave up in despair.[2][3] Day decided to study the law and in 1776 was admitted to Lincoln's Inn; he rarely practised.
Publication Edit
In 1773, Day published his first work—The Dying Negro—a poem he had written with John Bicknell. It tells the story of a runaway slave, and sold well. The contradiction between the claim that "all men are created equal" and the existence of American slavery attracted comment from some quarters when the United States Declaration of Independence was first published; Congress, having made a few changes in wording, deleted nearly a fourth of the draft before publication, most notably removing a passage critical of the slave trade, as there were members of Congress who owned black slaves.[4] Day was among those who noted the discrepancy, writing in 1776; If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves.[5][6]
Later works Edit
Day argued for the rights of the American colonists in his poem "The Devoted Legions" (1776) and in 1780 he argued in Parliament for an early peace with the revolutionaries as well as parliamentary reform. His speeches were also published as pamphlets. But it was as a writer for children that Day made his reputation. The History of Little Jack (1787) was extremely popular, but it could not match the sales of The History of Sandford and Merton (1783, 1786, 1789) which was a bestseller for over a hundred years. Embracing Rousseau's dictates in many ways, it narrates the story of the rich, noble but spoiled Tommy Merton and his poor but virtuous friend Harry Sandford. Through trials and stories, Harry and the boys' tutor teach Tommy the importance of labor and the evils of the idle rich.
Personal life Edit
He met Esther Milnes (1753–1792), an heiress from Chesterfield, and they were married on 7 August 1778. The couple subsequently moved to a small estate at Stapleford Abbotts, near Abridge in Essex. They lived a very ascetic lifestyle and Esther was not allowed to contact her family. In 1780, the couple moved to Anningsley in Surrey, when Day bought a new estate there. It was a philanthropic project for both husband and wife and they laboured to improve the conditions of the working classes around them.
Death Edit
Day was thrown from his horse while trying to break it using kindness at Barehill, Berkshire, on 28 September 1789 and died almost instantly. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Wargrave, Berkshire.[7]
See also Edit
References EditHow the Pelicans can fix their roster
I have finally found the move the Pelicans need to make to properly build around Anthony Davis. The best part? I don't even think it will be that hard to pull off.
With the cap jump this year everyone has space to sign free agents to enormous contracts so everyone is getting paid hella skrilla and those that don't get those big name free agents will spend the money on role players because, well, not all GMs are that great at their jobs. Players like Kent Bazemore are commanding almost 20 million dollars a year to play as a 3rd or 4th option in a 3-and-D role. With that said, it leaves the Pelicans in a position where they would have to overpay to bring any player worthwhile, so instead of doing that I say they stand pat. Maybe try to sign Marvin Williams and just fill the roster with summer league players from there, conserve cap space.
Now that I've got what I think the Pelicans should do in their offseason out of the way I'm going to be moving on to the main course of this article.
THE TRADE:
The trade is a pretty simple one. The Pelicans send Tyreke Evans as well the 2017 first round pick and the 76ers 2017 second round draft pick back to the 76ers in exchange for Nerlens Noel and Timothe Luwawu.
If you don't know who Luwawu is don't worry because I'm here to help. Timothe was the 24th overall selection in the 2016 draft where the Philidelphia 76ers snagged him.
"Ok, your thinking, what makes this guy so great, he wasn't even a lottery pick?" well I'll tell you. Timothe is going to be an all-around monster at the wing, he is a 6'7" man of a player with an almost 7' wingspan that possesses excellent lateral quickness giving him the ability to defend multiple positions (something the Pelicans need). He can also spot up from the 3-point line as he showed up last year where he shot 37% from long range, not only did Timothe shoot well last year but he did it against men, playing 31 minutes per game in a professional basketball league (this ain't college boy).
Just so you know, this is the part where I'm going to swoon over Timothe Luwawu so if you don't want to read this just skip to the end of the paragraph.
After watching Timothe play a couple games his most obvious comparison would be a worse shooting Klay Thompson. I understand that those are large shoes to fill and I personally don't expect to be anywhere near that good. However, Luwawu fits the prototypical 3-and-D wing player mold that is so coveted in todays NBA. While I don't expect Timothe Luwawu to ever be as great a shooter as Klay, I do think he'll end up being better on the defensive end. Luwawu is not only 2 inches taller than Klay Thompson but he also has an almost 6'11" wingspan that is 3 inches longer than Thompsons. All of Timothe's measurables combined with his great lateral quickness will make him a defensive menace that, once he bulks up, will be able to easily switch onto 1, 2 and 3 positions and posibly even smaller power forwards.
Now that I've swooned enough about Timothe Luwawu it's time to talk about Nerlens Noel and what he brings to the table. We all know Noel, he was the pick that Dell Demps traded for Jrue Holiday and if you're like me that means you've been following his career closely, watching to see how he'd pan out these past few years. Let me tell you Noel has turned out to be exactly what I would want for the Pelicans at the C/PF. If the Pelicans acquire Nerlens they will be free to switch him and AD between the two big men position almost interchangeably. Davis and Noel complement each other perfectly. Having AD lets Noel play to his strengths as a rim protector, which frees up AD do what he's best at and just roam, cause havoc in passing lanes, and blocking shots. Both can run the floor in transition and finish well making Gentry's fast pace offense actually work without giving up tons of points on the defensive end.
"Well all of this sounds good, but why would the 76ers accept a trade like this?" I'll tell you why. Not only were the 6ers actively shopping Noel a couple weeks ago but they still have 10 forwards/centers on their team and no decent point guards or ball handlers outside of their #1 draft pick this year Ben Simmons. Tyreke as I'm sure you all know likes to have the ball in his hands and is a very good slashing player and with only 1 year on his contract it can't hurt the 76ers to give him a test run to see if he meshes well, the opportunity to move a player that they already are looking at moving combine with the incoming draft picks and a trial with Evans, I believe will be more than enough to entice them to give up Luwawu and Noel.
What do you thin about this trade? let me know in the poll below and let me here how you want to rebuild. Also, I am new to writing and look forward to any feedback positive or negative.WASHINGTON Reuters July 23 More than 50 former Israeli soldiers have refused to serve in the nation’s reserve force, citing regret over their part in a military they said plays a central role in oppressing Palestinians, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
“We found that troops who operate in the occupied territories aren’t the only ones enforcing the mechanisms of control over Palestinian lives. In truth, the entire military is implicated. For that reason, we now refuse to participate in our reserve duties, and we support all those who resist being called to service,” the soldiers wrote in a petition posted online and first reported by the newspaper.
While some Israelis have refused to serve in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, the military’s structure is such that serving in any capacity forces one to play a role in the conflict, said the soldiers, most of whom are women who would have been exempted from combat.
“Many of us served in logistical and bureaucratic support roles; there, we found that the entire military helps implement the oppression of the Palestinians,” they said.
Their comments come as the conflict in Gaza continues to escalate, displacing thousands more Palestinians in the battered territory even as the United States presses both sides for an immediate ceasefire and longer-term peace plan.
UN rights council launches probe into Israeli violations in Gaza
Earlier this month, Israel said it was mobilizing more reservists in anticipation of increased fighting.
In the petition, the soldiers pointed to the army’s structure and fundamental role in Israeli society as reasons for being unable to decouple |
is playing far less than what is expected. With Drew Beckie leaving the squad to make his way to Jacksonville Armada and Simon Mensing departing for Airdrieonians F.C. in the Scottish League One, Carolina’s failing defense has only gotten worse. With no significant signatures in the offseason and only one player entering the fray to join the defense, head coach Colin Clarke is in a very difficult position tactically.
Set pieces. Man marking. These two areas of defensive effort have haunted NCFC during the 2017 season and have led to a majority of the eight goals allowed. Just this past weekend in their loss to San Francisco, Carolina gave up two goals off of free headers, one being a late winner to send Deltas streaking up the table. Failed marking on the back line can derive from lack of communication or a lackadaisical effort in the most important part of the pitch. They’ve allowed opponents to roam around the box, which is absolutely unacceptable. Obviously this is a problem for NC and Jacksonville need to attack the weaknesses.
The striker will be the key player for Jacksonville Armada, either Jonathan Glenn or Derek Gebhard. This match seems to present a greater opportunity for Glenn as he is capable of heading balls in, but if we’re being honest here, Gebhard can also have great success with his speed and quickness up top. The striker situation is a longing debate, but Jacksonville need goals this match, no exception, as this is a great matchup to break the lasting deadlocks. Attacking with width and pace on the sidelines will open the game up for Armada and if chances are taken clinically, they will win this match. Two goals in Cary and they will depart victorious.
For North Carolina, the midfield will face off against the most controlling team in possession, that being Jacksonville. This NC team will not be able to play with such a free flowing game plan as they likely will not be on the ball for as long as they hope and are used to. There will be little amount of opportunities for the home team against a stout Jacksonville defense and they will be heavily reliant on their midfield and defense. Carolina rotates their squad on a regular basis. There is no telling who Colin Clarke will start in the midfield, but the two midfielders centrally will be the key to NC to cut out threatening attacks and stand firm in front of a defense under scrutiny this year. The less amount of pressure on the defense equals calmer nerves and an easier night. The back line needs comfort and help in front of them as Jacksonville will be looking to attack with numbers all night.
AdvertisementsDebugging `launchd` on OSX 10.10.3
Background
With the recent discovery of some IPC vulns in OSX (one, two, three) digging into the way IPC works in OSX came to the front of my TODO list. That, along with the re-write of launchd for 10.10.x, well, let’s just say it has thus far been a fruitful endeavor - that story is for another post. Which leads me to this post - why would I want to debug launchd?
Mach is the low level functionality within the XNU kernel, which provides IPC between threads and processes; IPC endpoints are referenced via ‘ports’ (unsigned integers). Without going into too much detail about OSX IPC, the flows are very similar to DNS. When one process wants to speak to another process, it queries a special Mach port called ‘bootstrap’ ( launchd in the context of OSX IPC) to lookup/provide-access-to the port of the endpoint it would like to communicate. This lookup is done via a string like ‘com.apple.networkd’. launchd responds with a ‘port’ that is used for the destination of future IPC messages. ‘bootstrap’/ launchd is the first point of communication when communicating between two processes.
The reason I had an interest in debugging launchd is because I had been able to trigger some crashes. launchd is like init for linux; the kernel spawns it as PID 1 and every process is executed under it. When launchd crashes, the kernel panics, and your machine reboots with the “there was a problem, press any key to continue” screen. User-land triggering kernel bugs is obviously interested due to the trust boundary crossed.
This blog post outlines my thought process (and associated fails) on how I was (kind-of) able to debug a crash in launchd. A quick outline is s follows:
Attach debugger… FAIL
Default crash logs… FAIL
Kernel debugging… FAIL
Old launchd source… FAIL
dtrace… SUCCESS YAY (kind of)
Kernel debugging again (with KDK)… FAIL
Kernel debug build… YES!
Attach debugger
My first thought was to simply attach a debugger (lldb) to launchd, however after attempting to I received the following message:
~ ➤ sudo lldb -p 1 Password: (lldb) process attach --pid 1 Process 1 exited with status = -1 (0xffffffff) lost connection error: attach failed: lost connection (lldb)
I initially thought this was some anti-debug trick Apple introduced to prevent debugging of the service. However, I got to thinking - if launchd is PID 1, and everything is spawned off of it, then if lldb was able to break lauchd, then lldb should be halted as well - something like the “chicken or the egg” problem. It would be like if you spawned a thread, and then put a breakpoint in the parent, but the thread still was running. It is just not possible.
Default crash logs
Based on some other OSX research I had done in the past, I know there are some default directories where crash logs are stored:
/Library/Logs/CrashReporter - Where crash data will be stored (similar to the pop-up for “do you want to send these details to Apple”)
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports - Where application/kernel panic logs will be stored
/var/log/ - Where default application logs are stored
I enabled all possible logging options for launchd, and was unable to find anything useful from the launchd logging output. There were, however, the following:
Kernel panic logs
The following file /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReport/Kernel*.panic will show the details of the kernel panic, however it was not very useful as there are just direct memory address references, no backtrace, no function names, no debugging output, etc:
One of the useful things from this is that the crash log refers to a specific file/line of the xnu source describing why the kernel crash had occurred - the kernel will panic if launchd exits, and the bugs I had found cause launchd to crash.
launchd crash logs
From everything I had read about other launchd crashes, there should be a crashdump file like any other process, however from the launchd re-write, I can only assume Apple had disabled that feature. In turn, you get a semi-useful /usr/bin/sample output located in the /var/log/com.apple.xpc.launchd/ directory. Although this gives a bit more information than the kernel panic, I still am leaps and bounds away from finding the root cause of these crashes.
Kernel debugging
My next thought was to move to kernel debugging, and try and catch the crash before it jumped into the kernel.
Note: At this point in time none of the 10.10.x kernel debug kit (KDK)s were available
In order to enable kernel debugging (on the guest), you must set some specific nvram flags. The flags are just added together to make the final value to set (0x141 = 0x100 + 0x040 + 0x001). Flags are set using the nvram flag=value command.
Note: DO NOT set the ‘nvram boot-args’ with kernel debugging and NOT ARP on a VM - you wont be able to connect via TCP, and you’ll need to find a way of reverting the nvram
Flag Description 0x01 Stop at boot time and wait for the debugger to attach 0x02 Send kernel debugging output to the console 0x04 Drop into debugger on a nonmaskable interrupt 0x08 Send kernel debugging information to a serial port 0x10 Make ddb the default debugger 0x20 Output diagnostics information to the system log 0x40 Allow the debugger to ARP and route 0x80 Support old versions of gdb on newer systems 0x100 Disable the graphical panic dialog screen
There are a useful setups I found:
nvram boot-args "-v debug=0x141" - Verbose, wait for a debugger at boot nvram boot-args "-v debug=0x146" - Verbose, wait for a debugger upon kernel crash/panic nvram boot-args "-v debug=0xd04 _panicd_ip=192.168.121.1" - Verbose, cause a coredump to be transmitted to a panic server (must have a panic server running - directions are in the KDK ReadMe.html file)
When dealing with kernel crashes, having to reboot and re-attach every time became quite annoying, so I found myself using the flags that waited for the debugger upon panic.
When a crash occurs (I was triggering the launchd bug), the OS/VM should looks something like this (note: the bottom of the screen showing “waiting for debugger”):
From the host, you can now connect to the kernel debugger via lldb’s kdp-remote command.
Note: Using an lldbinit from deroko to mimic @osxreverser’s gdbinit
When thinking about the kernel, in relation to debugging launchd, the kernel is just a process. More specifically the parent process of launchd. From the backtrace we can see that in the debugger we are in the context of the kernel. This is telling us exactly what the kernel panic error message from the crash said - the kernel panic’ed at kern_exit.c:359. As far as I am aware, after a crash and attaching a debugger to the parent, there is no way of switching the debugger to the context of a spawned/child process. (Although, as I am writing this, there may be some way of causing the kernel debugger to wait upon boot, following threads, and somehow stop following threads when you are in the launchd context - I have not tried this.)
At this point, I started looking into the older kernel debug kit, and noticed there were some additional python libraries/functions for lldb that may allow me to switch context from the kernel to launchd. I spent a little time trying to get 10.9 KDK lldb libraries working on 10.10, but decided to just wait for the 10.10 KDKs to come out.
Old launchd source
While waiting for the 10.10 KDKs to come out, it came to my attention that older versions of launchd have been open sourced (code browser or tarball).
After diving a bit into this older version of the launchd source, it seems that there are a bunch of flags to trigger different debugging behavior; one behavior was that launchd should trap into the kernel debugger. This was exactly what I was looking for, however the version of launchd source was from OSX 10.9, and I was on 10.10. Those flags are:
Creating the /var/db/disableAppleInternal file
Creating the /var/db/.launchd_shutdown_debugging file
Having the nvram boot-args set to verbose mode ( nvram boot-args -v )
) Setting the ‘launchd_trap_sigkill_bugs’ value in nvram boot-args ( nvram boot-args launchd_trap_sigkill_bugs )
Unfortunately, none of the above gave me an interactive kernel debuugger for launchd. Upon kernel panic’ing, the debugger would still put me into the context of the kernel. Either I was doing something wrong, misunderstanding the code, or Apple removed this functionality with the re-write of launchd.
dtrace
During the first kernel debugging process, I had an epiphany: dtrace hooks happen at a pretty low level; I know there is a hook to perform actions upon applications exiting/faulting; if, somehow, someway, this fault hook would execute before the kernel panic occurs, I may be able to gain some additional information.
I ran a simple dtrace script to perform a stacktrace on launchd upon it crashing, redirecting the output to a file (this can be done as a one-liner):
#!/ usr / sbin / dtrace - s proc ::: fault / pid == $ 1 / { ustack (); }
And voila! I now had a specific location, within launchd, of where this crash is occurring. That being said, it was still quite hard backtracing to understand exactly why the crash occurred.
CPU ID FUNCTION:NAME 1 1179 sendsig:fault ustack lib[REDACTED] launchd`0x0000000107c248de+[REDACTED] launchd`0x0000000107c39478+[REDACTED] launchd`0x0000000107c397b1+[REDACTED] libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_client_callout+0x8 libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_source_latch_and_call+0x2d1 libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_source_invoke+0x19c libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_queue_drain+0x23b libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_queue_invoke+0xca libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_root_queue_drain+0x1cf libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_worker_thread3+0x5b libsystem_pthread.dylib`_pthread_wqthread+0x2d9 libsystem_pthread.dylib`start_wqthread+0xd
Kernel debugger again (with KDK)
Apple releases Kernel debug kits (KDKs) with each version of their kernel. These packages provide debug/developer builds of the kernel, along with lldb scripts/functions/tools to help in debugging kernel/driver code. While performing the previous research, there was no KDK available for my version of OSX.
Once I noticed that the 10.10.x KDK’s have been released, I pulled and installed. My first thought was that some of the additional python libraries would allow me to get more insight into launchd, and possibly switch context from kernel to launchd. Unfortunately that was not the case, but there are some very interesting features of the KDK python scripts/functions for lldb. The location of these scripts are /Library/Developer/KDKs/*/System/Library/Kernels/*.dSYM/Contents/Resources/Python
Now, these additional tools did not provide any help to me while debugging launchd there are a WHOLE BUNCH of them and felt it worth noting.
To include these script, follow the instructions when attaching the debugger:
~ ➤ lldb (lldb) command source -s 1 '/Users/wuntee/./.lldbinit' (lldb) kdp-remote 192.168.121.130 Version: Darwin Kernel Version 14.3.0: Mon Mar 23 11:59:06 PDT 2015; root:xnu-2782.20.48~5/DEVELOPMENT_X86_64; UUID=2EE700C9-D676-3A2F-8BA4-1682C8EE47E3; stext=0xffffff800e800000 Kernel UUID: 2EE700C9-D676-3A2F-8BA4-1682C8EE47E3 Load Address: 0xffffff800e800000 warning: 'kernel' contains a debug script. To run this script in this debug session: command script import "/Library/Developer/KDKs/KDK_10.10.3_14D131.kdk/System/Library/Kernels/kernel.development.dSYM/Contents/Resources/DWARF/../Python/kernel.py"
Just from viewing the help command, you can see how much additional functionality has been introduced (this is only a small segment):
While writing this, I noticed some functions that may be of some benefit. Specifically showtaskstacks -F launchd, however the backtrace shows that it has jumped/switched context into the kernel debugger. This may not be a lost cause; I did spend too much time here.
Kernel debug build
After the kernel debug kit came out, and a second look at the XNU source, I noticed something very interesting near the kernel crash:
#if (DEVELOPMENT || DEBUG) int err ; /* * For debugging purposes, generate a core file of initproc before * panicking. Leave at least 300 MB free on the root volume, and ignore * the process's corefile ulimit. */ if (( err = coredump ( p, 300, 1 ))!= 0 ) { printf ( "Failed to generate initproc core file: error %d", err ); } else { printf ( "Generated initproc core file" ); sync ( p, ( void * ) NULL, ( int * ) NULL ); } #endif panic ( "%s died
State at Last Exception:
%s", ( p -> p_comm [ 0 ]!= '\0'? p -> p_comm : "launchd" ), init_task_failure_data );
It looks like, if you are running a DEVELOPMENT or DEBUG build of the kernel and launchd crashes, the kernel will perform a coredump of launchd somewhere. After a little more sifting through the XNU source, the file should exist in ‘/cores/core.[PID]’.
The ReadMe.html in the KDK (/Library/Developer/KDKs/*/ReadMe.html) has details on how to install/run a DEVELOPMENT/DEUG kernel. After following that, triggering the crash, and rebooting I finally found a golden nugget - there was a file at ‘/cores/core.1’!
Note: DO NOT try and run a developer/debug kernel for a different version of OSX - it wont work, your kernel wont boot, and you’ll have to find a way of reverting (I WAS DESPARATE!)
Opening the core.1 file with lldb ( lldb /sbin/launchd -c core.1 ) I can finally at least dynamically debug the crash. Which, unfortunately seems to be a null pointer dereference, however I haven’t fully debugged the root-cause to understand full impact.
(lldb) disassemble -a $rip lib[REDACTED].dylib`[REDACTED]_get_type: 0x7fff8f075201 <+0>: mov rax, qword ptr [rdi] ** Crashes here ** 0x7fff8f075204 <+3>: ret (lldb) register read $rdi rdi = 0x0000000000000000
Note: Some information is [REDACTED] because I have not reported any associated bugs. Once they are reported/fixed, [REDACTED] information will be removedSTOKE-ON-TRENT in northern England is home to the world’s second-oldest professional football club, Stoke City FC. Founded in 1863, it enjoyed its heyday in the mid-1970s, when the club came close to winning the top division. The playing style was described by its manager, Tony Waddington, as “the working man’s ballet”. These days the flair is often provided by players from far afield. More than half the first-team squad comes from outside Britain, mostly from other parts of Europe. But that is about as far as Europhilia in Stoke goes. In June’s referendum on Britain’s European Union membership, the city voted strongly for Brexit.
A study by Italo Colantone and Piero Stanig of Bocconi University in Milan found that areas where jobs are vulnerable to competition from Chinese imports, mainly those in Britain’s faded industrial north, tended to be in favour of leaving. Stoke City FC are known as the Potters in tribute to the city’s once-great pottery industry. But Stoke also seemed predestined to be a Brexit supporter on another count. An analysis by The Economist earlier this year found that in places such as Stoke, where the foreign-born population had increased by more than 200% between 2001 and 2014, a vote to leave was almost certain.
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Immigration of low-skilled workers has become an increasingly contentious political issue in both America and Britain. Voters in host countries often see a sudden influx of people from places with lower wages, poorer working conditions and a less generous welfare system as a threat to their livelihoods and living standards. In America the debate is about whether migrants hold down the wages of native workers. In Britain the main concern is that migrants put additional pressure on housing, public health services, schools and transport systems.
Along with trade, migration is one of the two main sources of public anxiety about globalisation. For the host economy, the gains and drawbacks are similar to those from trade. Immigration enriches the workforce, allowing for a more finely graded specialisation that raises average productivity and living standards. Diverse workforces are likely to be more productive, especially in industries where success depends on specific knowledge, such as computing, health care and finance. By easing labour bottlenecks, low-skilled migrants help to keep down prices of goods and services.
The drawback for native workers is competition for jobs and public services. In principle, an influx of low-skilled workers depresses wages for competing native workers, in the same theoretical way that opening up to trade with poor countries does. The balance of benefits and costs will depend on income: the rich are likely to do better out of the bargain. Economists dispute the extent of the overall gains and losses to hosts and labour-sending countries respectively.
Come pick my strawberries
Some benefits are uncontested. For immigrants from poorer countries moving to Stoke, or indeed to any part of Britain, there are clear gains. They can hope for a better job, a marked improvement in their quality of life and access to better public services such as health care. Economic migrants are by definition a mobile labour force. Migration helps to deal with labour shortages in low- or mid-skilled industries, such as mining or agriculture, and in remote places where it is difficult to attract native workers. Migrants are also often granted work visas on the strength of having scarce skills.
Many native workers see uncontrolled immigration as a break with an implicit contract: that the state will look after its own
Other elements of migration are more controversial. If host countries benefit from immigrants, then the countries that send them must be losing out on manpower, skills and tax revenue. The people who move are often the brightest and best—those with the get-up-and-go, the languages and the connections—so their country of origin may suffer a brain drain. A recent paper from the IMF puts a number on this. Between 1990 and 2012 almost 20m people moved from central, eastern and south-eastern Europe to richer countries in western Europe. This east-west migration accelerated after 2004 when eight eastern European countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, joined the EU. The IMF researchers reckon this exodus lowered cumulative population growth in labour-sending countries by eight percentage points. If those mostly young and skilled workers had stayed put, the gap with the EU in income per person would have been five percentage points narrower.
These results are open to dispute. Migrants typically move from places where economic prospects are poor, making it hard to establish whether weak growth is a cause or a consequence of their leaving. The chance of a better life elsewhere may also create a stronger incentive for those who remain to acquire new skills. Michael Clemens of the Centre for Global Development and Satish Chand of the Australian National University used a natural experiment provided by a military coup in Fiji in 1987 to study the effects of emigration on that country. The economy was split between indigenous Fijians and those of Indian origin. A large chunk of the second group, generally high-skilled, left after the coup. Most of them went to Australia and New Zealand, which admitted well-qualified migrants. It seemed the ideal opportunity to measure the effects of a brain drain.
What the researchers found was that the Indian Fijians who stayed behind started to acquire skills at a faster rate in order to be able to emigrate (or at least to have the option of doing so). They also concentrated on disciplines that allowed them to meet the skills-based immigration criteria most efficiently. The increased investment in skills was large enough to raise the stock of human capital net of the first wave of emigration, in which a fifth of the Indian-Fijian population left. The brain drain was fully offset.
What about the impact on host countries? Many native workers see uncontrolled immigration as a break with an implicit contract: that the state will look after its own. It creates a tension between immigration and the welfare state. That tension, though, is mostly policy-related. Where migrants’ employment rate is higher than that of natives (as is the case with migrants within the EU), fears that immigration will add to the welfare burden are largely unfounded, though much depends on how welfare policies are designed. In America, for instance, only those who have paid into the public Social Security (pension) scheme for at least ten years are entitled to benefits. A well-designed policy could make immigration and welfare provision complementary.
The trouble is that at local level there is often a mismatch between the extra resources that immigrants add and the extra demand they create. Additional pressures on local public services are a particular problem in Britain, where central government raises taxes and allocates spending. Centralised budgets make it difficult for local authorities to respond flexibly to changes in local conditions, and strict planning rules limit the construction of new homes when demand surges.
Some other European countries deal with economic migration rather better than Britain does. In Denmark a lot of budgetary policy is made at municipal level, says Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. If an area has an influx of migrants, it receives more local tax revenues to expand public amenities, build more schools, hire more doctors and so on.
Another concern among natives has been that immigrants put downward pressure on wages. In theory they should, but empirical studies come to different conclusions. On one side is George Borjas, of Harvard University, whose study in 2006 found that although immigration did not depress overall wages between 1980 and 2000, it did hold down the pay of the low-skilled by 5-10%. On the other side, David Card, of the University of California, Berkeley, concluded that there was no effect. His view was based on a study of the “Mariel boatlift”, an unexpected surge in Cuban migrants to Miami in 1980. Mr Card reckoned that Miami had become accustomed to handling large inflows of unskilled migrants. Mr Borjas has recently looked at Mr Card’s analysis again and claims that high-school dropouts, a subset of the low-skilled native workers in Mr Card’s study, did in fact suffer a material fall in wages.
Until quite recently the academic literature treated migrants as substitutes for native workers. But what if they were complements; if low-skilled migrants helped to boost the productivity of low-skilled natives? Gianmarco Ottaviano, of the University of Bologna, and Giovanni Peri, of the University of California, Davis, find that for workers with at least a high-school qualification, the wage effects of low-skill immigration are positive if you drop the assumption that workers of the same age and education are perfect substitutes and that workers of one skill level, say cooks, do not affect the productivity of workers at other skill levels, say waiters or restaurant managers. The effect on the wages of high-school dropouts is only mildly negative. A paper by Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth, of the London School of Economics, similarly concludes that immigrants to Britain are imperfect substitutes for native-born workers, so they have little impact on natives’ job prospects or wages. New immigrants tend to affect only the pay of recently arrived immigrants.
From these muddy waters, it is possible to draw two tentative conclusions about the broad impact of migration on wages. First, the effect on the bulk of low-skilled native workers has been fairly muted—perhaps because the way work is done changes in response to large-scale migration. However, the pay of some narrow categories of workers (say, farm labourers in Britain or high-school dropouts in America) may still be affected.
To deal with the tension between immigration and the welfare state, three rules suggest themselves. First, make benefits conditional on having paid into the system. Second, tie the funding of local public services to local tax revenues to ensure an automatic response to an influx of migrants. Third, restrict migration to prime-age, skilled workers who are more likely to get jobs and less likely to lose them in a recession.
But this may not be as straightforward as it sounds. Almost two-thirds of the new jobs that will be added to America’s economy in the next decade will be low-skilled or mid-skilled jobs, according to a projection by the country’s Bureau of Labour Statistics. Care workers, kitchen staff, auxiliary nurses and builders will be in strong demand in Europe, too. Such demand may not easily be met by indigenous workers, even at higher wages.
Will these jobs be filled in a black market or in a formal labour market? This is a question America has faced before. In the 1980s the baby-boomers were moving towards middle age, causing a spike in demand for young, low-skilled labour. This coincided with a demographic bulge in Mexico. An overhaul of America’s immigration rules in 1986 regularised those Mexican workers who had arrived before 1982. Henceforth work visas would be granted only to high-skilled migrants. The interplay of supply and demand created a black market, causing the number of illegal migrants to reach 12m in 2007, when policing of the border was stepped up. It was only quite recently that the flow of migrants was reversed (see chart).
Europe now faces a supply-demand dynamic similar to America’s in the 1980s. It has an ageing population, whereas on its doorstep, in the Middle East and Africa, populations are young and growing rapidly. A lesson from America’s engagement with Mexico is that a formal system for low-skilled immigration, perhaps with fewer entitlements than for skilled workers, is far preferable to turning a blind eye to informal migration.
Only within the EU’s borders is the free movement of people tied to the free movement of trade and capital. For the most part, enthusiasts for globalisation have rooted only for freer trade and open capital markets, not migration. Yet many of them are now having second thoughts about the benefits of unfettered capital too.Everything You Need to Know About Watch_Dogs 2 Leaderboards
In Watch_Dogs 2, we’ve introduced a new Leaderboards system which is accessible through your in-game smartphone after completing the objective in the “Walk In the Park” mission. The Leaderboards App will appear on the second page of the smartphone.
Here are the top 10 things you need to know about Leaderboards in Watch_Dogs 2
1. Each Leaderboard Season lasts three (3) weeks, or 21 days. At the start of each new Season, the scores are wiped and every player begins at the Recruit rank again.
SEASON 1 dates:
SEASON 2 dates:
SEASON 3 dates:
SEASON 4 dates:
Co-op missions
Hacking Invasions
Bounty Hunter missions 2. In the Leaderboards App, you will see that there are three (3) types of leaderboards:
3. You earn points toward the Leaderboards by completing these online activities. Even if you lose a match, you will still earn points. Playing any of these three activities will generate a score for their respective leaderboards.
4. If you quit or disconnect before the end of the match, you will receive zero points, but the player who remains in the match will still receive points – so always finish out your match!
5. There are six (6) divisions for each online activity’s Leaderboards. From highest to lowest, they are:
1. Master
2. Diamond
3. Gold
4. Silver
5. Bronze
6. Recruit
6. Each of these divisions (except for Recruit and Master) is then split into five (5) additional divisions, with 5 being the highest rank and 1 being the lowest (Bronze 1 < Bronze 2 < Bronze 3 < Bronze 4 < Bronze 5; Gold 1 < Gold 2 … < Gold 5, etc.
7. You cannot lose a rank in a division on the Leaderboards. Once you have earned a rank, you will always be that rank until the Season ends.
8. Rewards earned from your division in the Leaderboard will automatically be added to your in-game wardrobe at the end of a Season.
Disclaimer:There is currently a bug in the Leaderboards where the rewards of Season 1 will not be given to players at the end of the season, as designed. This is a bug that we will be fixing in the upcoming Patch 1.07. Players of Season 1 will be receiving their rewards on the date of this patch, which is aimed to release in mid-December. So instead of players of Season 1 getting their rewards at the end of Season 1 (Dec.5th), they will be getting their rewards in mid-December when the patch is out. So Season 1 players, do not fret! As you will get your rewards, just a little later than usual due to this bug.
9. There are two (2) rewards to earn each Season. The first is essentially a participation reward – play a few multiplayer matches and you’re bound to reach Silver rank to unlock it. The next reward is the second piece of the set – you want to attain Gold rank or higher to earn this item. These are exclusive items that can only be earned by playing multiplayer online activities. These items are themed sets alternating between hacking culture and real-life events.
SEASON 1 Reward:
SEASON 2 Reward:
10. You can compare your division to your friends and challenge them to online activities directly from the Leaderboards app in-game. The rewards are uniquely-themed by Seasons. So once you get that Season’s reward, you won’t be able to get it again in another Season.
Open the Leaderboards app on the second page in your in-game smartphone to check out the rankings of you and your friends for each online activity!
As always, share your best multiplayer moments with us @watchdogsgame or on our Reddit.I just woke up. I guess I needed to catch up on sleep, cause my body said fuck it a couple times the last 2 days, and I just passed out. I’m not sure what’s up, but at least I will be well-rested for the LIVE show tonight (10PM EST). Anyway, I’m up now, and here to bring you the latest GamerGate news and opinion. There are several big things brewing, but the biggest would have to be the potential Hewlett Packard desertion of Polygon. We can’t confirm it 100% at this point. I just want to be clear. But, if true, it represents a beautiful early Christmas present for our seemingly indestructible consumer revolt.
Here’s the email below:
It certainly looks real, and we’ve had a guy who claims he’s a HP employee say it looks legit. Obviously, that’s not enough to confirm the claim, so I’ll keep this story updated as we hopefully learn more. The problem with these kinds of stories, is that sometimes the company doesn’t really want to say anything else, but hopefully Hewlett Packard doesn’t act some of the other companies. Also, we might get similar emails from other people. If so, I post them here when I receive them. Polygon is shit, so a company like HP dumping them would be a huge win for. Still, don’t get too carried away yet.
I’ll just finish up this quick news hit by saying if true, this would further validate the email strategy that some thought had been wearing thin over the last few weeks. Even I had been somewhat discouraged. But, we have to keep in mind that companies don’t react based on our clocks. They have their own internal decision making processes, and they have nothing to do with GamerGate. All we can do, is keep them informed with out emails, continue our personal outreach, and enhance our public activism.
Check back later, and I hope to have more on this story.
UPDATE: I’ve talked to the gentlemen who sent publicized this email, and he’s waiting on confirmation from William Usher (who’s calling this PR man). I’ve also replaced the original email, with one that blocks out Scott’s phone number.First Patrick Cannon said he was guilty. Then he said he was sorry.
In a matter of a few extraordinary minutes, the former mayor of Charlotte faced both his accusers and his community – pleading guilty to a federal corruption charge, then walking out into the glare of a high-noon press conference to apologize to the city he betrayed.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his March 26 arrest, Cannon appeared to battle his emotions as he gave a 218-word statement to a teeming semicircle of reporters and cameras. Charlotte’s new face of public corruption said he had indeed trampled on the public’s trust.
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“For that, I am deeply sorry.... I regret having hurt the city that I love,” Cannon said.
“... I understand the anger, frustration and disappointment that my actions have caused. I can only hope that the life I live from now on will reflect both my remorse and my desire to still make a positive impact upon our city.”
When Cannon finished, one woman in the crowd applauded. An hour later, Cannon’s chief prosecutor did not.
“Mr. Cannon betrayed us all,” U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins said.
Cannon tripped and fell in the media crush that awaited him as he walked up to the front doors of the federal courthouse on West Trade Street. At 11:28 a.m., when U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer called “The United States vs. Patrick Cannon” into session, five years of the defendant’s admitted ethical stumbles became a matter of public record.
The bureaucratic-sounding charge – honest services wire fraud – belies the seriousness of Cannon’s crime. The 47-year-old Democrat acknowledged taking bribes and other gifts in exchange for using his political influence to help those who paid him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Savage told the crowded courtroom that Cannon, the target of a nearly four-year FBI investigation, accepted seven bribes totaling $50,500 during a 14-month period beginning in January 2013.
Most of those illegal payoffs came from undercover FBI agents posing as out-of-town real estate investors. Cannon also took regular bribes from a Charlotte businessman, now identified as strip club mogul David “Slim” Baucom.
In fact, Tompkins said, Cannon was a mayor and City Council member on retainer – receiving a steady stream of cash and gifts |
cannabis you will inevitably get in contact with a dealer who will always be trying to push on you the harder drug."
However, anti-drugs campaigner Debra Bell, whose eldest son William began smoking cannabis at 14, believes that he would have progressed to taking class A substances had they been legally available.
"Just the fact that Bob Ainsworth is talking in this way will send strong signals to some children - a green light - to start experimenting and I really don't think that's the way forward in a civilised society," she argued.Magic SF Tobias Harris' contract campaign as a restricted free agent has unwittingly picked up a new, ardent supporter.
He's Stephen Shea, 32, a New Hampshire mathematics professor who has become one of the top voices in sports analytics. Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban once hired him to crunch numbers.
In his blog on the website, "Basketball Analytics," Shea not only calls Harris "the most underrated player in the NBA," but writes, "Statistically, he stands among some of the game's biggest stars."
I have two reactions.
1) Wow.
2) Is Shea sure he has the right Tobias Harris?
If I'm Harris' agent, I print a copy of Shea's piece that's largely devoted to Tobias, edit in smiley faces and send it to every team.
And if I'm Tobias, I ship Prof. Shea a nice fruit basket. Or a Rolex.
Shea was interested in analyzing today's most versatile forwards — VFs he calls them — who can shoot 3s, drive, rebound and defend.
It's important to realize that he created the criteria to form his conclusion.
Shea writes in his blog, "This season, only six players averaged at least 15 points and 6 rebounds per game, while also shooting 35% (on at least two 3-point attempts per game.) Only six VFs met these minimum requirements."
Those players were LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh, Paul Millsap and Harris, according to Shea.
Harris averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and shot 36 percent from 3-point land this season.
Brainy folks can make data dance and sing; we can (but won't) get into a debate on analytics vs. the traditional eye-test when evaluating players.
"The two approaches complement each other," Shea said by phone. "Analytics are there to give a different perspective."
For instance, Shea's selective analysis included forwards who took at least two 3s per game, so Blake Griffin was left out. He shot just 25 3s all season. I don't think anybody would rank Harris over Griffin.
Harris obviously isn't at the superstar level of LeBron and Durant, and he hasn't been an All-Star like Love, Bosh and Millsap.
Still, the Harris sample is impressive — and eye-opening.
Shea told me he also was surprised when he ran the numbers, which also reveal that Harris:
•Averaged 0.85 points per possession in 150 possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler – topping the league average of 0.79.
•Averaged 1.04 points per possession on 106 post-ups, making Harris the NBA's most efficient post-up player, better than Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis.
•Shot 38 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s.
"I started running through the numbers of the usual suspects, like LeBron James," said Shea, who earned a Ph.D. from Wesleyan University. "Draymond Green was on the list. Paul Millsap. Then Tobias Harris shows up."
Harris, 22, shows up unexpectedly because few notice rising-star stats on a lottery team.
Statistics on bad teams also can ring hollow. But Shea wonders how much better Harris might be if he played with more talented teammates, a legitimate rim protector and in a more efficient, floor-spacing offense — all fair assertions.
Shea said Harris qualified as merely a "capable" defender. Asked about Harris' overall weaknesses, Shea said, "Very little looks bad."
We'll see if the Magic bean counters agree with Shea's numbers game when the green flag drops for free agency July 1.
Williams audible
The Magic have made a critical decision that could alter the 2015-16 season.
What, they've named a new head coach?
Nah. This is bigger, much bigger: They will station good-luck charm Pat Williams in the room closer to the actual ping-pong balls for the NBA Draft Lottery on May 19 in New York.
Williams has won three previous lotteries with Orlando — the last one coming in 2004 (Dwight Howard.)
But the Magic have not won the right to the No. 1 pick the past two seasons in their rebuild, so they hope that moving Williams from the dais to the top-secret nerve center will do the trick. CEO Alex Martins will represent the team on the dais.
"I took a strong stand in our strategy meeting," Williams said, tongue firmly in cheek. "I'm going to have a little chat with those ping-pong balls."
Stay classy, NBA
It wasn't a particularly classy week for the NBA.
The Cleveland Cavaliers showed a video that critics thought mocked domestic violence. During Wednesday night's game against Chicago, a one-minute video spoofs a health-care commercial where a man pretends to throw a woman to the ground as the couple recreated a "Dirty Dancing" dance scene. The Cavs apologized.
Later that night, L.A. Clippers SF Matt Barnes, a former Magic player, uttered a profanity at Houston Rockets SG James Harden's mother.The new novel by literary superstar Haruki Murakami was Japan's biggest-selling book of 2013, the nation's largest distributor said Tuesday.
The novel, about a man struggling to come to terms with events in his past, beat off competition from the flood of self-help books and how-to manuals published in Japan every year to come top of the list released Monday by Nippon Shuppan Hanbai.
Murakami's "Shikisai wo Motanai Tazaki Tsukuru to Kare no Junrei no Toshi" (Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage) was released in Japanese in April.
The best-seller list covers the 12-month period to Nov 30. The distributor does not disclose the number of copies it sold but Bungei Shunju, the publisher of the Murakami book, says it has printed 1.05 million copies.
Second place in the list went to a book by a cancer specialist cautioning against sufferers having surgery too early.
Murakami, who has a large and loyal following worldwide, is regularly mentioned as a potential winner of the Nobel literature prize, but was passed over again this year in favor of Canadian Alice Munro.
His works are sprinkled with pop culture references and characterised by lyrical prose that deals -- sometimes surreally -- with his characters' struggles on the margins of Japanese society.
An English translation of his latest novel is expected some time next year.
© (c) 2013 AFPIsrael’s next big business might be seaweed.
Moshe Rivosh is the CEO of a company called Seakura, which wants to change the way Israelis eat. A member of Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta’ot, Rivosh was one of the founders nearly 30 years ago of Tivall, which today claims to be the world leader in developing, manufacturing, and marketing ready-made vegetarian food products. Now Rivosh wants Israelis, vegetarian or not, to add seaweed to their diet—and not just wrapped around sushi rolls. He wants them to start cooking with it, using it in salads, and consuming it on a regular basis, like spinach or lettuce.
Seakura is one of the few companies in the world that markets fresh, rather than dried, seaweed. And while most seaweed is collected from the sea, Seakura—which has its headquarters in Herzliya Pituach—farms its product in controlled pools at Michmoret, a coastal moshav in central Israel off the Mediterranean.
Previously marketed only in the U.K., Belgium, and the Netherlands, Seakura’s products are now entering the Israeli market. Its seaweed salads debuted last December on the shelves of Eden Teva, Israel’s leading supermarket chain specializing in organic and natural foods, ecological products, and dietary supplements; soon they’ll be on their way to other local retailers as well.
Since Seakura’s seaweed is healthy, organic, and locally grown, Rivosh can see it becoming part of Israeli cuisine. “Israelis have adopted many different products that weren’t part of it originally, for their taste and health benefits,” he said, referring to the likes of quinoa or arugula. “Our products fit the health and vegan trends perfectly, and I don’t see why seaweed shouldn’t be adopted as well.”
***
This isn’t the first time someone has banked on Israelis eating seaweed. Back in 1995, a company launched at Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra in northern Israel. “We grew Gracilaria and marketed it to restaurants and supermarkets,” said Arnon Feldman, the owner of the company, which folded in 2002. “We were the first company in Israel to grow seaweed for commercial purposes. Before that it was grown only for research purposes.” These days Feldman is opening a new company, growing seaweed for cosmetics and toiletries. He believes that growing seaweed for food isn’t profitable enough and doesn’t want to do that again. “The closest I will get to food this time is diet supplements,” he said.
But perhaps the Israeli palate has changed in the past decade, as more Asian-inspired restaurants have opened. “Israelis love sushi and they love nori—the seaweed used for wrapping the sushi—and wakame, whether as wakame salad or in miso soup,” said Aki Tamura, sushi chef at the kosher Japanese restaurant Minato, which has branches in Herzliya and Caesarea.
Seakura was founded in 2005 by the Canadian Silver family—which made its fortune in real estate and now invests in Israeli companies—with an investment of 15 million shekels (more than $4 million). In the beginning Seakura grew seaweed in Rosh Hanikra, where Feldman’s company used to be, before moving to Michmoret. The company is still not profitable, but the Silvers are betting on the commercial potential of feeding the world seaweed. “Most of the Israeli public hasn’t been exposed to seaweed and to our seaweed salads yet,” said Rivosh. “The ones who already tried them liked our products, and there have been repeat purchases.”
Seakura farms two kinds of organic seaweed, both of which are sold fresh or dried: Ulva lactuca, which is also known as sea-lettuce, and Gracilaria, which is a kind of red algae. In Japanese, kura means treasure house or treasure chest, and the founders of Seakura maintain that seaweed is indeed a treasure, a nutritionally dense super-food: Sea-lettuce is high in protein and has all nine essential amino acids. It’s also rich in magnesium, potassium, calcium, fiber, and the essential vitamins A, B, C, and B12. Gracilaria is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. When consumed fresh, both can be eaten on their own, or mixed into noodles dishes, fish dishes, salads, soups, rice dishes, casseroles, stews, ethnic foods, pasta, frozen and packaged meals, pizza sauces, toppings, poultry, sauces, dressings, and just about anything. And when used dried, in flake or powder form, they are great as a spice, flavor enhancer, and aromatic ingredient. While the company is beginning to infiltrate the retail market with its fresh seaweed, most of Seakura’s produce is currently sold to food manufacturers who process it and use it as part of their own products. Seakura also markets three kinds of packaged salads on its own.
While Seakura is supplying Israelis with locally grown, fresh seaweed, Dr. Rachel Einav is teaching the public how to cook with it. Einav, a marine biologist from Zikhron Ya’akov who specializes in algae and is also CEO of environmental consulting company Blue Ecosystems, has published three books on seaweed. A cookbook she co-wrote with chef Itzhak Nathan Levy—Seaweeds in Olive Oil: Algae and Sea Vegetables in the Mediterranean Kitchen—includes recipes like Tahini in Nuri Flakes; Taboule With Fresh Seaweed Salad; Zucchini Stuffed With Halloumi Cheese, Wakame, and Vegetables; Foccacia With Nuri Flakes; and Nuri-Coated Shrimps on Rosemary Skewers. “The idea behind the book was adapting the use of seaweed in the kitchen to Israeli tastes and Western culture,” said Einav, who also did a showon Israeli television about cooking with seaweed.
The fact that Seakura’s seaweed grows in pristine conditions is one of its major selling points. Most of the seaweed consumed in Israel is imported from the Far East, where it is collected from the sea. “The sea is a dirty place,” said Rivosh, “and therefore whoever eats seaweed from the sea eats polluted food.”
Dr.Yossi Tal, a marine biologist who is part of the company’s scientific board, echoed Rivosh: “Seaweed gathers pollutants, especially heavy metal. Nuclear waste can cause seaweed to be contaminated. People all over the world eat seaweed gathered from the sea, but that doesn’t mean they’re not at risk.”
Einav believes this to be an overstatement: “There is no problem of pollution in the sea,” she said, “but researchers love to exaggerate and to shout that the end of the world is here.”
“If the seaweed comes from a polluted area of course it can be dirty,” added Tamura, the sushi chef, “but in Japan they know not to use seaweed that grows near the ports of big industrial cities. It’s important to get your seaweed from a clean place.”
Tal described Seakura’s process for farming outside the sea: “The seaweed is grown in a clean, unpolluted environment from which it is harvested, washed, and packaged under strict supervision. Water from the Mediterranean Sea is filtered into special eco-pools on shore where the seaweed grows under a controlled process.”
Rivosh hopes that his company’s technology will spread around the world. But for now he’s focusing on his home market. “There is no history of growing seaweed in Israel,” he said, “but there is a very bright future.”
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Dana Kessler has written for Maariv, Haaretz, Yediot Aharonot, and other Israeli publications. She is based in Tel Aviv.This morning, one of President Donald Trump’s close friends used his platform to come to POTUS’s defense regarding the president’s tweetstorm yesterday where he accused his predecessor of wiretapping his phones prior to the election.
After the Sunday shows, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy took to the network’s website to criticize the coverage, while claiming that Trump himself believes that he is right in his allegations against former President Barack Obama.
Following Trump’s explosive tweets, Ruddy thought he would tune into Sunday’s programs and see the hosts discussing how concerning it was that Obama spied on Trump. However, he was obviously disappointed.
When I woke up Sunday, I thought the morning news shows would all be talking about the unusual, perhaps dangerous, decision of the Obama administration to wiretap the offices of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. I’ve been watching Chuck Todd’s “Meet the Press” as I write this. There is actually little talk about this unprecedented wire-tapping and even less worry over it.
He then pointed out that he spoke with the president twice regarding this story. He offered the following thoughts:
I haven’t seen him this pissed off in a long time. When I mentioned Obama “denials” about the wiretaps, he shot back: “This will be investigated, it will all come out. I will be proven right.”
It should be noted that after Ruddy published his piece, it was reported that FBI Director James Comey has called for his department to reject the president’s claims that Obama illegally wiretapped Trump’s phones. Also, during the same Meet the Press broadcast that Ruddy criticized, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper straight up denied that a FISA court ordered a wiretap on Trump.
[image via screengrab]
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Uganda has claimed that a new law which increases jail terms for those found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality”, is not homophobic, and that it has simply been “misinterpreted”.
President Yoweri Museveni signed the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill in February. The law calls for repeat offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in prison and makes it a criminal offence not to report someone for being gay.
The new law has been widely and internationally condemned, and many countries have cut off aid to Uganda, or more commonly have redirected it to organisations on the ground, rather than giving money to the Ugandan Government.
A statement released today claims that international donors which are now withholding aid due to the law, had “misinterpreted” it, and that it had merely been enacted to stop the “open promotion of homosexuality”.
“However, its enactment has been misinterpreted as a piece of legislation intended to punish and discriminate against people of a ‘homosexual orientation’, especially by our development partners,” the Ugandan government’s statement continued.
Without explaining how Ugandans could avoid being prosecuted under the law, the statement read: “Uganda reaffirms that no activities of individuals, groups, companies or organisations will be affected by the act.”
The US last month announced sanctions against Uganda, following the implementation of the law.
EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton described the move as “draconian”.
Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it was “an abhorrent backwards step for human rights”.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was “deeply saddened and disappointed”.(Worthy News) - Contacts have recently been established regarding a possible meeting in Moscow between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Ynet was informed on Sunday that the rare meeting is supposed to take place around October.
Early negotiations are currently underway to set up a tripartite meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to both Israeli and Palestinian officials, the Palestinian Authority chairman has expressed his willingness to attend talks. [ Source ]
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In its latest report, Amnesty International just compared the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment and populist rhetoric in 2016 to the 1930s, singling out President Trump in particular.
Trump was harshly criticized by the London-based group on Tuesday evening for his “hateful xenophobic pre-election rhetoric,” divisive politics and a rollback of civil rights.
The comments were part of an extensive annual report released by Amnesty International that also singled out other leaders and politicians for pursuing “a dehumanizing agenda for political expediency.”
Referring to general trends in many of the 159 countries included in the report, Amnesty International's secretary general, Salil Shetty, drew parallels between developments in 2016 and Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s.
“2016 was the year when the cynical use of ‘us vs them’ narratives of blame, hate and fear took on a global prominence to a level not seen since the 1930s,” he said.
“Donald Trump’s poisonous campaign rhetoric exemplifies a global trend towards angrier and more divisive politics,” said the introduction of the report. “Across the world, leaders and politicians wagered their future power on narratives of fear and disunity, pinning blame on the ‘other’ for the real or manufactured grievances of the electorate.”
The report also condemned the continuing violence in Syria and Yemen, comparing international inaction in
A Syrian man walks along a damaged street in Aleppo’s Tareeq al-Bab neighborhood on Jan. 18. (Getty Images)
the case of Aleppo with “similar failures in Rwanda and Srebrenica in 1994 and 1995,” referring to two of the worst genocides of the past few decades which both resulted in pledges to not allow such mass killings to happen again.
The human rights group this year particularly focused on what it perceives to be a dangerous rollback of civil rights far from the battlefields of war-torn nations but instead in Europe and North America.
“The limits of what is acceptable have shifted. Politicians are shamelessly and actively legitimizing all sorts of hateful rhetoric and policies based on people's identity: misogyny, racism and homophobia,” Shetty said in a statement.
The group singled out Trump’s executive order, which was signed in January and banned citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The executive order was blocked by courts but Trump has since announced plans to issue a modified version.
Amnesty International also criticized Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, for his mass surveillance and drone programs but predicted that Trump would lead the world into an era of “greater instability and mutual suspicion.”
The report then blamed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, among other leaders, for human rights abuses.
Duterte’s war on drugs has claimed more than 6,000 lives, according to Amnesty International. Whereas vigilantes have been blamed for most of the killings, the group said the violence was “state-sanctioned.”
Orban of Hungary has depicted himself as one of the only European leaders willing to defend the continent’s Christians. Such rhetoric has turned Hungary into what critics describe as a hostile environment for Muslim migrants. Human rights organizations allege that Hungary has abused anti-terrorism laws to sentence individuals accused of rioting in refugee camps.
The country currently also plans to propose a European Union law that would allow authorities to detain all asylum seekers while they are waiting for their applications to be processed.
“For millions, 2016 was a year of unrelenting misery and fear, as governments and armed groups abused human rights in a multitude of ways,” Shetty wrote.Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin is no stranger to solving problems. He took a Bearcats program that had been rocked by the tumultuous dismissal of Bob Huggins and improved the team's win total in each of his first five seasons, from 11 in 2006-07 up to 26 in 2010-11.
His Bearcats made the NCAA Tournament that year, and they have done so each season since, even through the demise of the old Big East and entry into the American Athletic Conference, whose members the NCAA selection committee lives to underrate annually. Cronin has done it while dramatically improving the graduation rate that helped get Huggins fired.
On Friday, Cronin's No. 6-seeded Bearcats will take on Kansas State at 7:27 p.m. (truTV) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with expectations high for a team that hasn't made the Sweet 16 since 2012.
But this child of Cincinnati basketball -- his father Hep Cronin is a legendary high school coach in the city, so young Cronin grew up in gyms and practices, then graduated from Cincinnati himself before eventually getting the head gig at 34 -- didn't hesitate to take up a challenge of a different sort after a game last week, presented by his 10-year-old daughter, Samantha.
"I had to build a castle last week -- it was her Christmas present," Cronin said, breaking down the task into its component parts for a reporter the way he discusses opposing offenses. "I'm on the floor for an hour, building a castle, a day after we played. People think I'm just watching film, and you've got to find time for that, too."
This is Mick Cronin now. He went through the kind of health scare that often leads to re-evaluating life. A massive headache turned out to be a diagnosis of vascular dissection, a relatively minor brain issue requiring three months of rest, ending his 2014-15 season that December. Yet the fear that it could have been something worse has animated the way he prioritizes and has slowed down the moments within a manic rise through the coaching ranks, often at the expense of taking in all that he'd done.
"Whenever anybody has a health scare, and what I had was minimal compared to what a lot of people had, I want to stress that -- I took an aspirin and laid low -- but you realize that you turn 45, and when you're young, you're just hard-charging," Cronin said. "You're building a career, you're trying to get the job, keep the job, and you really don't have the perspective of enjoy the job. You're lucky to have it, you compete, but enjoy. And I'm more cognizant of smelling the roses."
The difference in Cronin is apparent, even on the podium following a win. Cronin, back in the Big East days, would usually be antsy, combative, ready to dive into the preparation for the next game. As we stood and talked about life, his daughter and his worldview following Cincinnati's win over Tulsa in the AAC quarterfinals, the Connecticut-Houston game that would determine his opponent the next day began. He freely admitted that in the past, he'd have ended the interview just to go watch those teams. Now?
"I'm going back to the hotel with the team -- we've played these teams twice, the game's going to be on TV, and I'm going to go eat dinner with my dad. I'm still going to prepare all night."
Let there be no mistake: If you hopped into a time machine from 2011, you'd easily recognize Mick Cronin on the Cincinnati sidelines here in 2017. It's not like he's doing yoga during games. After the Bearcats allowed a backdoor layup to Tulsa in the first half, Cronin performed a frustrated coach's ballet, spinning 360 degrees in one spot, his arms up like wings, as if he'd use the power of a missed defensive assignment to take flight, before landing in an exasperated crouch. Later in the half, Cronin actually moved laterally like the bounciest Cincinnati guard in time with his team getting back on defense after a missed three, to instruct as they played.
As guard Jacob Evans, who never experienced Cronin prior to his time off, described it: "Well, I can definitely see the hunger... and I can hear it in his voice at practice, see it in his eyes during the game. And I felt like it's really starting to carry over to us as a team."
Clearly, Cronin's found that balance between the endless preparation that animates successful coaches and making a point of being present with daughter Samantha as the two of them took a ride on the West Coaster at Santa Monica Pier during a vacation last year.
"I've read too many stories about coaches apologizing to their kids," Cronin said. "'Hey, I'm sorry I missed your childhood, I'm too caught up in my career.' I remember a story on Vince Lombardi -- it was sad, it was tragic. He wasn't even a parent. And I've heard modern coaches say it, I've got to re-engage with my kid. That's not going to be me."
There's another reason that Cronin finds himself smiling more these days.
"This year? Sure I look calmer, the ball's going in."
That's what makes his Cincinnati team so dangerous in 2016-17, a six-seeded afterthought in a bracket with North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA, but a team that could surprise them all. Cincinnati has been a top-15 team nationally in defensive rating every year since 2012-13, and it is 10th this year in that category. But the Bearcats' offensive ratings over that time? 175th, 121st, 179th, and 79th. This year? 25th.
The three biggest reasons for that jump? There's smooth freshman guard Jarron Cumberland, the kind of top-100 recruit Cronin wasn't used to getting. There's the jump in efficiency from do-it-all guard Jacob Evans, who shot 37.2 percent from the field last year but 47.1 percent this year. And then there's the N.C. State transfer, 6-foot-9 forward Kyle Washington.
"When it came across the ticker in April that he was transferring, I called him," Cronin said of Washington. "And I said, you better pick it up, because I'm going to call you all night until you turn your phone off or answer it. And when I got him, he said, 'I'm not going to rush.' I said, 'That's fine, just know, nobody's going to recruit you harder. You belonged here when you came out, and you belong here now. And I'm going to prove it to you.'"
For his part, Washington described his move to Cincinnati as simply "a place where I could be told the truth and be able to have an opportunity to compete at the highest level." But Cronin said he knew how good this Bearcats team would be with Washington before he even took the floor, calling him "the perfect fit for this group."
This group has already won 29 games, and Cronin knows this may be his best chance yet at an extended March run (Cincy is in the South region, with UNC, Kentucky and UCLA as the top three seeds). He's gotten as far as the Sweet 16, but no further.
"We're just more capable," Cronin said. "We have more weapons. It's just not scoring, the passing as well. It is skilled players. Our talent level is a little bit higher across the board and on the bench as well."
And yet, both his altered perspective and his imperatives as a father won't allow him to stew in it if Cincinnati simply enjoys a successful season with a brief trip into the bracket.
"She's my best friend," Cronin said of Samantha. "And she's extremely intelligent. And she wants the Bearcats to win. But I've raised her to enjoy being around, but she's not live and die. And I'm not either. I make sure she knows that."
That doesn't mean he wasn't anticipating his morning call to her to tell her about the game he'd just won, with the ultimate goal -- Phoenix and the Final Four -- looming as a real possibility.
"I told her: Don't come this week," Cronin said. "Come next week. Maybe we'll end up in warm weather."It’s a sad day for robots and the people who love them.
After the First International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots went off without a hitch in Madeira, Portugal last year, co-organizer Adrian Cheok was surprised when this year’s planned congress received such strong backlash.
Originally set to occur on November 16 in Iskander Malaysia, Cheok told Future of Sex on Friday he’d had no other choice but to cancel. This is following a statement from the Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar declaring the workshop illegal, and threatening legal action against the organizers.
“We had an amicable meeting with the local police in Johor and we came to the agreement just to close it down,” said Cheok, a professor at City University London, adding that the local police were very polite in carrying out the orders of the national police chief.
He said there were numerous laws that could have been used to shut the conference down, and he didn’t want to risk anyone getting arrested.
The beginning of the end
Trouble began for Cheok and fellow organizer David Levy, a renowned expert on sex and artificial intelligence,when a journalist spotted a Malaysian tourism logo on the Love and Sex with Robots website.
The Love and Sex with Robots Congress was to be a single workshop at the 12th Advances in Computer Entertainment (ACE) Conference, sponsored by the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB). In their application for funding, they gave details about the overall event, but not the specifics of each session.
Cheok said that with good intentions they put logos on all the ACE websites, not realizing it would cause any problems. However, once a Malaysian newspaper reported on the event, it drew harsh reactions from both the state tourism department and the Iskandar Regional Development Authority.
After removing the tourism logos and rebranding the workshop as simply LSR on the website, Cheok thought their problems were over. That was until last Tuesday when the highest police authority in Malaysia banned the session, saying it violated the country’s conservative values.
The reason why they were holding the workshop in Malaysia was because it was supposed to be part of the ACE Conference, as it was last year. Cheok is also the director of the Imagineering Institute, a collaborative research lab between universities in Malaysia, Japan, and England.
Despite this stressful debacle, Cheok said he is grateful the main conference is still allowed to take place between November 16 and 19. While it is too late to reschedule the Love and Sex with Robots Congress, he plans to hold it in London next year.
Speaking to Cheok, it’s clear there would have been some very fascinating ideas presented by academics about human-robot relationships. Stay tuned, because Future of Sex will publish a follow-up article sharing some of the topics that would have been discussed at the workshop.
Image source: LittleGreyCoconutCampaign finance documents from the Cleveland County election board show donations to Sheriff Joe Lester’s re-election campaign and expenditures for the 2016 election cycle.
Lester’s major contributors in 2016 included such notable names as attorney and TV personality Mike Turpen, country music entertainer Toby Keith, football coach Barry Switzer and his son-in-law Hunter Miller.
Miller and his wife hosted a major fundraiser for presidential candidate Donald Trump at their Norman home in September 2016, which drew large crowds of protestors. Switzer contributed a total of $6000 to the Lester campaign. Son-in-law Miller contributed $5000.
Lester accepted thousands of dollars in donations from various individual bankers, oil and gas drillers, real estate investors, developers, and homebuilders. Country music star Toby Keith (also known as Toby Covel) and partner Tricia Covel each contributed $2500 to the Lester campaign.
Norman attorney Stephen Teel, who obtained a controversial deputy reservist position with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department, contributed $2000 to Lester’s 2016 campaign.
Teel recently came to national media attention for suggesting he would support measures to decriminalize domestic abuse. Teel’s remarks were a response to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s approval of a measure to eliminate some penalties for domestic violence.
Stephen Teel’s large donations to Sheriff Lester’s campaigns have some critics calling him a “pay-to-play cop.”
Download (PDF, 8.07MB)Rome II is ambitious. But to capture that civilization in a game..? To take that marvellous complexity at every level, to simulate that..? That’s yet more ambitious. We spoke to the team at Creative Assembly, specifically the Lead Designer James Russell, and got an extended demo of the siege of Carthage, the final act of the Third Punic War.
Know this: Total War: Rome II is huge, spectacular and beautiful. Total War N has gathered together every piece of information, every fact going in one place. So enjoy: this is Rome 2.
Rome! The greatest civilization the world has ever known! Rome! Sadistic empire, failed republic! Rome! Expansionary, pious, arrogant, defensive, atheistic, civilizing, philosophical, brutal, and especially contradictory… As Edward Gibbon, that unparalleled historian of the Roman Empire, put it, “After Rome has kindled and satisfied the enthusiasm of the Classic pilgrim, his curiosity for all meaner objects insensibly subsides.” Little wonder that a sequel to Rome: Total War was the most-demanded game from Creative Assembly’s fans; little wonder that they’re making it. Yes, we’ve seen Total War: Rome II and we’re going to tell you all about it.
What factions are in Rome 2?
“One of the issues with Shogun 2 is that, although we’ve got lots of factions, because it’s set in one country it can’t offer the spectacular variety that we can deliver with Rome 2” explains an upbeat James Russell, Lead Game Designer on the Total War series. And that spectacular variety that he’s offering comes from not only an expanded map that incorporates some of the exoticism of the east, but also from a deeper look at the factions and cultures that dwelled in them.
“We talk about different cultures and what that means is different fighting styles and different tactics, different environments.” So you’ll have the pesky Gauls and Germanic tribes to the North, the ever threatening Carthaginians and Egyptians to the South and assorted Parthians, Dacians, Cappadocians and more to the East. And other Romans. “We really want to push that variety in different ways, with variance in tech trees for barbarian cultures, and other cultures as well.”
It’s not just the tech tree that’s getting an overhaul. The cities and landscapes you’ll fight across will vary according the faction that controls them. “You’ll have barbarian cities that vary in size, and eastern cities, and greco-roman cities that will all be different.” The Carthage we were shown in the demo, in all its incredible splendour, is “kind of a boss battle; you’re storming the capital of a large empire, and that’s pretty much the biggest city that you’ll get to see.” |
remained consistent with existing USB 3.0 architecture to ease product development.""We recognize this advancement in USB technology is an important development for our customers," said Tom Bonola, Chief Technology Officer, Business PC Solutions, HP. "The USB 3.1 Specification enables us to meet the growing needs of our customers for faster data transfer while maintaining backwards compatibility with existing devices.""The industry has affirmed the strong demand for higher through-put, for user-connected peripherals and docks, by coming together to produce a quality SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps specification," said Alex Peleg, Vice President, Intel Architecture Group. "Intel is fully committed to deliver on this request.""While maintaining backward compatibility, USB continues to advance to meet customer's growing need for higher speed data," said Roland Sperlich, TI Consumer and Computing Interface Product Line Manager. "The 10 Gbps data rate allows designers across many industries to do more with a universal standard.""In this multi-device world, the USB 3.1 updates will enable end-users to move content across devices quickly, conveniently and without worrying about compatibility," said Emile Ianni, Corporate Vice President of Platform Solutions Engineering, AMD. "AMD thanks our engineers as well as the other technology contributors for bringing to market robust innovation that is designed to work seamlessly with new and existing solutions."As you will know, Fabric was formally shut down by Islington Borough Council in the early hours of Wednesday morning. This is, obviously, bad: a decision made by councillors from distant London boroughs based on the tragic drug deaths of two young people, pinned to the club (and club culture as a whole) and used as a stick to beat them into closure, Fabric so obviously earmarked by someone with a vested interest to be turned into Yet More Superflats, and London nightlife suffers another wound, what feels like a fatal one now, and lo, we will look back on this moment in the decades to come as being one of the milestones in the death of the capital.
But enough of that! Let's instead squint a little closer at the numbers, as many people on Twitter already have: since the club opened in 1999, there have been six accidental deaths on or around Fabric's premises, with two coming in quick succession this year (both drugs-related: 18-year-old Ryan Browne, in June, and Jack Crossley, also 18, in August). That, Islington Council argues, is why the club had to close: in an official statement made this morning, Fabric's license was revoked on the terms that "people entering the club were inadequately searched" and that searches by the club's security staff were "inadequate and in breach of the license".
As the Independent reports, this comes off the back of a police project called 'Operation Lenor' (I mean, fucking hell, the police) (Lenor.) that went undercover in the club to find patrons clearly on drugs or audibly asking for drugs in the smoking area; it also, as club co-founder Cameron Leslie told the Guardian earlier this week, comes after a weird U-turn in the police's relationship with Fabric. "We've always had a fantastic relationship with police and particularly the council," Cameron said. "Only eight months ago, a judge tested all our systems and said we're a beacon of best practice. Eleven weeks ago another licensee, from a venue that had a death, was sent to visit us to see how we managed things. How can this suddenly have changed overnight in such a damning way?" Essentially: it's not just the two drugs deaths, is it. That's not the whole story.
Anyway, the question is: where else in London should close down based on being host to two or more accidental deaths? Well, glad you asked. Here's a rough run down:
LONDON MARATHON
Since 1981, there have been 12 deaths at the London Marathon: mainly of cardiac arrest based on underlying heart issues, one brain haemorrhage, and one where a man drank too much water and collapsed. Approximately 32,000 people finish the race each year, with a 1 in 67,414 risk of death associated with the event, akin to most daily activities. Still, let's get the police in the shut it down. Never again shall Paula Radcliffe sully the streets with her hateful turds.
THE DORCHESTER HOTEL
Last May, Kuwaiti businessman Sultan Aldabbous was found dead at the Dorchester Hotel a day after checking in to the £2,000-a-night institution, with an inquest finding his death was at least a little bit drugs-related: traces of cocaine, cannabis and rohypnol were found in his blood, while two men were arrested in connection on suspicion of his murder. The previous year, the hotel was targeted twice in smash-and-grab raids by moped-riding gangs, so it's clearly not safe and fit for use. Close the fucker down by appointment from the council, crush it down to dust, build some lifeless £500,000 starter flats over the top of it.
THE TELEVISION OUEVRE OF NOEL EDMONDS
In November 1986, Michael Lush died while rehearsing a bungee jump stunt to be performed on Edmonds' Late, Late Breakfast show, and 30 years later we still allow Edmonds to make TV without the police or council intervening even once. If you figure the number of people going through the doors of Fabric every year – over six million clubbers since it opened in 1999 – compared to the number of Deal or No Deal contestants in the same time period, being on a Noel Edmonds TV show is actually far more dangerous than going to the recently closed club. Let's see the Met Police take that bearded fucker down.
EVERY GYM IN LONDON
In the past five years, people have died at London gyms after i. drowning in the pool ii. falling off a treadmill iii. getting caught in a falling lift iv. suffering cardiac arrest. With an estimated 800 gyms in the confines of the M25, we are essentially surrounded by really hench death traps. Close them all immediately, put a load of Prets up in their place.
BUILDING SITES
Building site accidents are normally the preserve of fun stories from chalk-faced men in pubs who only have eight remaining fingers, but they frequently result in something more lethal, too: just last year, a builder working on a site in Paddington was killed when a large pane of glass fell and crushed him. The HSE provisionally estimates there were 144 UK-wide building site deaths in 2015/16: if we closed down every building site in London we'd i. finally have a bit of fucking peace and quiet my god will you quit with those drills already ii. stop getting so many office buildings and unaffordable-yet-glossy tower blocks iii. lower the mortality rate.
METROPOLITAN POLICE, THE
In the same period since Fabric opened and recorded six related deaths, the Metropolitan police have seen 108 deaths of those in their custody: an average of six per year. If you treat arrested people as per the Deal or No Deal contestants above, it's fair to say there were fewer of them than there were visitors to Fabric in the same time period, i.e. getting detained by the Metropolitan Police is way more likely to result in your death than going to Fabric will. Plan: get the council to shut the police down, turn every police station into a millennial-friendly shareflat complex, rule ourselves in a land of peace and no violence.
(Top photo: xxnu, via)
More stuff about Fabric closing:
Fabric's Closure Isn't the End, the Fight for UK Nightlife Starts Now
Bass, Raves and Bulletproof Vests: The Early Days of Fabric Nightclub
Our Nightlife Has Been Destroyed By People Who Resent ItIf you want to better appreciate the historic significance of the 2011 Mississippi flood, perhaps the best place to start is with John McPhee's masterful 1987 article in the New Yorker: "Control Of Nature: Atchafalaya."
The most compelling part of McPhee's piece (which prints out at 55 pages and later became a book!) is the section where he describes the flood of 1973, the last time the structures holding back the river were put to the test, and when they nearly failed--the river scouring away concrete foundations and weakening vital levees. McPhee's conclusion: it's only a matter of time until the Atchafalaya "captures" the main stem of the Mississippi and becomes the new outlet of the great river to the Gulf of Mexico.
Could it happen this year? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is forcing the river down a path it no longer wants to travel. Had the river gotten the best of the engineers in 1973 the Mississippi would not be the same river today--it would have forced a new path down the Atchafalaya basin, a course that is some 20 feet lower than the river's current main stem, and which offers a 150-mile shorter path to the Gulf of Mexico. Its course has changed dozens of times over the millenia, "sweeping back and forth like a garden hose," and will change again. You can see a beautiful map of the river's countless meanders here, and download a full set of historical maps here.
McPhee spent months trying to understand the centuries of engineering prowess that have gone into trying to control the Mississippi, especially the creation of structures much in the news today, like Old River Control and the Morganza Floodway, which was opened over the weekend to allow floodwaters to course down through the Atchafalaya basin.
The corps has had a generation to strengthen its defenses since then, but there remains today more than a theoretical chance that 2011 could be the flood where the Mississippi finally decides to go the way it wants to go rather than stays within the bounds that man has chosen for it. Once freed, all the sandbags and bulldozers in the world would be insufficient to put it back where it is. The effect on the U.S. economy of a shift in the Mississippi's path would be significant. On the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans sit dozens of industrial sites, processing agricultural products, making chemicals, refining 13% of the nation's gasoline (see an excellent map of refineries here). Of these, Alon's Krotz Springs refinery in the Atchafalaya basin is at greatest risk of inundation, while ExxonMobil has closed two pipelines and scaled back production at its refinery, the biggest in the region. Upstream in Memphis, Exxon closed a riverside terminal that has "become part of the river."
These plants need the fresh water flow from the river for cooling, processing, and to ship their product out to the Gulf. For the health of the greater U.S. economy, we should all want the Mississippi to stay within its banks. Whether it does or not depends most prominently on the sturdiness of the Old River Control Structure, which Jeff Masters of Weather Underground calls America's Achilles Heel. We won't know if it's about to fail until it does.
It'll probably hold; auxiliary gates were built in 1986. But if it doesn't? Well it would almost certainly mean the demise of Morgan City. As you can see on this really excellent map of the flood region, Morgan City lies on the banks of the Atchafalaya River. Though it's protected by levees now that will hopefully hold up amid the deluge now being released down the Atchafalaya, when the day comes that the Mississippi jumps its banks for good, Morgan City would likely be obliterated and, in time, a new complex of refineries and chemical plants built on the banks of a new Mississippi.
Some links:
The Corps' real-time flood gauges in the Atchafalaya basin.
The Corps' latest updates here.
A good overview of the systems in place to control floodwaters and their weaknesses.
Engrossing Wikipedia page on the 2011 Mississippi floods.Donald Trump‘s 22-year-old daughter, Tiffany Trump, has managed to stay out of the spotlight for years, but lately she’s been popping up to show her support for her father’s presidential campaign.
Tiffany, who is very active on Instagram, took to her account in August to post a picture of herself and her family, including her better-known half sister, Ivanka Trump, and half brother Eric Trump.
“#gopdebate #makeamericagreatagain,” she captioned the photo.
Now that Tiffany is stepping into the public eye, let’s get to know her a little better.
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1. She’s a college graduate.
On Sunday, Tiffany graduated from her father’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, where she double majored in sociology (with a concentration in law) and urban studies. “She’s got all A’s at Penn, so we’re proud of her,” Donald told PEOPLE in December 2014. Tiffany also landed a coveted internship at Vogue – with a little help from her sister. She “even got to have lunch with Anna Wintour,” Ivanka told the Daily Mail in 2013.
2. Music is a "big passion" of Tiffany’s.
“I love music,” a 17-year-old Tiffany told Oprah Winfrey on Where Are They Now?. “It’s always been very dear to me. It’s a big passion. It’s more of a hobby right now, but we’ll see in a couple of years if I want to take it to the next level as a professional.”
Trump went on to record a single called “Like a Bird” when she was 17.
3. She’s very close with her mother, Marla Maples, Donald’s second wife.
Tiffany grew up in California, where she was raised by her mother, an actress.
“My mom and I have always been very close since she did raise me as like a single mom,” Tiffany told Oprah. “My friends and everyone I know are like, ‘Wow, you guys really have a really good relationship.’ She’s with me a lot of the time, so people find that kind of shocking.”
4. Tiffany also has a special relationship with her father.
In her Oprah interview, she described dad Donald as being “the center” of New York City. But her “fondest memory with him isn’t work related,” she told PEOPLE. “It’s probably the fact that my mom was a very healthy person, so my dad used to sneak me Almond Joys all the time. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing, but I really enjoyed it back in the day. If I was ever craving a chocolate bar, I was like, ‘I’m going to go see Dad.’ ”
5. Tiffany is a social butterfly.
Tiffany has been spotted out in New York City with friends such as Harry and Peter Brandt (the sons of model Stephanie Seymour), Andrew Warren (the son of a New York real estate investor), and EJ Johnson (the son of Magic Johnson).
This past summer she had been hitting lots of Hamptons hot spots. She’s pictured above with Warren at DuJour magazine CEO Jason Binn’s annual Memorial Day party.
Regardless of whether her father becomes the next president of the United States, we may be seeing a lot more of Tiffany in the future.An early hearing is being sought in a High Court action seeking to establish if Britain can halt Brexit after triggering article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
The action is by a number of Green Party leaders in Britain and Northern Ireland, along with British barrister Jolyon Maugham QC.
At the High Court on Thursday it was briefly mentioned by Ronan Lupton BL to Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, who adjourned it to April 24th.
Among the directions sought is whether the proceedings should be served on the British government.
The plaintiffs also want the Irish court to decide whether the Court of Justice of the EU should determine legal issues in the case.
Mr Justice Noonan said he considered the directions motion was a more appropriate matter for the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, to deal with but that was for Mr Justice Kelly to decide.
The plaintiffs are Mr Maugham; Northern Ireland Green Party leader and MLA Steven Agnew; Jonathan Bartley, coleader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and Green Party MEP for the southeast of England Keith Taylor.Kudryashka/Getty Images
After a destructive weekend, all the snow from Winter Storm Jonas is now plowed to the periphery of streets across the Eastern seaboard. The accumulation snarled traffic from Washington, DC to Boston—but all that could have been a lot worse if not for the small armies of salt trucks glazing the roads with brine in advance of the storm.
If you live in a northerly spot, those plows and salt trucks are familiar. But snow removal has actually undergone something of a renaissance in the past decade—and the future is brine. Applied before the first patina of flakes, a mixture of salt, water, and chemical agents keeps snow from sticking to the road. Some of the best brines, it turns out, are made from byproducts left over from industrial food processes.
Washington DC uses beet juice. So does New Jersey. In the past, the Garden State also used pickle juice. Argentina uses wine byproducts. And when the meteorologist predicts snow in Wisconsin, Polk County sprays the roads with cheese brine. "The dairy gives us that for free, and we will go through 30,000 to 65,000 gallons a year," says Moe Norby, technical support director for Polk County's highway department. The best water comes from provolone, because it has high salt content. Mixed with chemical additives, the cheese brine goes down before the storm and keeps the snow from freezing to the road. The arrangement is win-win. The dairy gets free waste processing, and the county gets a cheap spray that keeps its roads ice-free down to -23˚F.
But not every snow-laden county has a local cheese factory. "Really when you start getting into how you treat road surfaces, the major cost is transportation. Getting whatever you are going to use to you," says Bret Hodne, public works director for West Des Moines, Iowa. In the 1990s, Hodne was one of the salt brine pioneers.
Hodne and a few other public works managers around the Midwest started mixing salt and water together to kickstart the melting process. Salt lowers the freezing temperature of ice, but it has to be wet for the chemical reaction to take place. Putting dry salt down—which remains the practice in many places—means you have to wait for a little bit of premelting. "Now we had a tool to use ahead of an event to prevent snow and ice from bonding to the pavement, so it was easier to plow," he says. "That changed the way the industry was looking at how to handle winter events."
He and other amateur winter chemists tried out all sorts of new concoctions. Calcium chloride was one of the first additives. "It's hydroscopic, and has been used for a long time to control dust on country roads," says Hodne. That hydroscopic property help the salt brine last longer. They moved on to other chemicals that do the same general job, but pose less environmental damage. During a storm, Hodne and his drivers use sensors to measure pavement temperature, surface friction, and other properties to calibrate their brining and plowing.
"The first time I saw any type of food byproduct in a brine was at an American Snow Conference in 1996," says Hodne. He initially thought it was crazy, but eventually realized that northern Europeans had been using syrups and molasses for years. Unlike the brines that marinate US roads, the Swedes, Norgwegians, and Germans grind sugar beets into dry rubs.
Food byproducts serve multiple roles in the brine. Not all of them have inherent salt content, like Wisconsin's provolone bath. Some of them are sugar-heavy, like the molasses-enhanced brine the Massachussetts county of Lexington used to prep its roads for Winter Storm Jonas. "What you do is spray it directly on the roads, and the water evaporates and you're left with the salt solid, magnesium, and molasses," says public works superintendent Marc Valenti. The sugars in the molassses lower the freezing temperature, and they also help the salt and magnesium stick to the road.
And there's no perfect mixture. "Whenever you look at putting a liquid product on the road, you have to know how the storm is going to come in," says Hodne. If the forecast calls for rain before snow, there's no use in brining at all. If the storm is cold, but not too cold, Hodne says he opts for straight up salt and water, no sugars or additives necessary, because the snow isn't likely to stick to the roads anyway. Colder, icier conditions call for food and chemical additives.
Which seems like a lot of work when much of the country sits right alongside what appears to be a huge, natural source of brine: the ocean. So why don't cities like Boston, Baltimore, and New York just pump the stuff straight through hydrants? Salt content in the ocean isn't the optimum, and if public works puts it down prior to a storm, it could actually cause advance freezing. "The optimum brine for treating roadways is about 23.31 percent salt," says Valenti. Ocean water is about 3.5 percent salt. And I'm pretty sure it's around 5 percent sharks, and nobody wants to deal with sharks and big piles of melting snow.
1UPDATE: Correction 1/27/16 1:36 PM ET Original stated as 23.5 percent. Too much salt content makes the brine less effective at de-icing.BRM decides to wipe the slate clean from the Force India era, as they release both Felipe Massa and Robin Frijns.
Strong lineup in Band C
BRM managed to sign Romain Grosjean and Juan Pablo Montoya – A very strong lineup for the Band C team who are trying to secure a spot in Band B next season. Grosjean will undoubtedly receive upgrades in the seasons to come, however Montoya is likely to finish his MF1 career at BRM without upgrades.
BRM signed Alexander Rossi as their reserve driver, possibly in a gamble that Rossi will improve over the season and be ready to replace Montoya in the future.
Manor, the only other team in Band C, have yet to make any moves on the market.
Montoya on the wishlist all season
Since the team officially became BRM, they have had their minds set on signing Montoya, claiming to have formalized a deal with the Colombian as far back as August, but not officially acknowledged by the MFIA until today.
AdvertisementsNEW YORK - JANUARY 13: A grocer arranges mangoes in the produce section at Whole Foods January 13, 2005 in New York City. New eating guidelines issued by the U.S. government stress the need to eat more vegetables, fruits and whole grains and to excercise between 30-90 minutes a day to promote good health. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
If you bought mangoes in New Jersey recently, you might want to double-check the label before eating them.
Pacific Organic Produce is recalling Purity Organic mangoes after one of the fruits tested positive for listeria, according to the Food and Drug Administration. No illnesses have been reported from the mangoes, and none of Pacific Organic Produce's other products are being recalled.
The states affected by the recall include New Jersey, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas.
People who bought mangoes with PLU Nos. 94051 and 94959 between April 14 and May 2 should throw them away and take shopping receipts to grocers for refunds, according to the FDA.
Symptoms of a listeria infection include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea, the FDA says. Most children and adults rarely become seriously ill, but the illness can affect pregnant women and others with weakened immune systems.Last week a California court lifted the temporary restraining order placed on the Berkeley College Republicans president, Troy Worden, for alleged stalking and intimidation of Yvette Felarca, an organizer for By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN.
Felarca filed a temporary restraining order against Worden for a series of incidents that left her feeling “unsafe,” according to the court documents. The order initially required Worden to keep a 100-yard distance from Felarca, but was later reduced to 10 yards because it restricted his movement on campus. The Alameda County Superior court has now lifted the restraining order entirely, due to a postponement of the court hearing on the matter.
The restraining order against Worden was filed Sept. 7 due to alleged threatening, harassment and stalking that began in February. According to the document, Worden repeatedly targeted Felarca on Sproul Plaza and at BAMN meetings. Felarca’s attorney, Ronald Cruz, said Worden was waging “psychological warfare.”
Worden’s attorney, Mark Meuser, said that they have audio and video evidence that “contradicts everything” Felarca accuses Worden to have said and done.
Before the scheduled court hearing Oct. 13, Felarca requested moving the hearing because of a scheduling conflict for her lead attorney. According to Meuser, neither he nor the judge were made aware of the change until shortly before the scheduled hearing. Meuser said this violated both court rules and California law.
Judicial commissioner Thomas Rasch agreed to move the hearing, but lifted the temporary restraining order as a result.
Temporary restraining orders normally last no longer than 21 days, and the new date for the hearing would otherwise have extended the order to nearly 50 days, according to Meuser.
Both sides will reconvene in court Oct. 26, when Felarca will file a permanent restraining order against Worden, Cruz said.
Contact Sophia Brown-Heidenreich at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @sophiabrownh.Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE told a huge crowd Friday night that Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE is so heavily protected by the Justice Department that she wouldn't be punished for shooting someone with thousands of witnesses.
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As attendees at Trump's event in Pensacola, Fla., chanted "lock her up," a familiar refrain at Trump rallies, the GOP nominee argued that getting out of prosecution was the "single greatest achievement of Hillary Clinton."
"We're going to do better than lock her up, we're going to win on Nov. 8," Trump said.
"Because she's being so protected, she could walk into this arena right now and shoot someone with 20,000 people watching, right smack in the middle of the heart, and she wouldn't be prosecuted. OK? That's what's happened. That's what's happened to our country."
The Justice Department declined to indict Clinton after an investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of State.This is not your grandmother’s Catholic Church.
Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the new Vatican secretary of state, said Catholic leaders are open to discussion about one of the church’s touchiest issues — celibacy for priests — on grounds that it’s not formal church dogma and therefore could be changed.
“Celibacy is not an institution, but look, it is also true that you can discuss [it] because as you say this is not a dogma, a dogma of the church,” Parolin told Venezuela’s El Universal newspaper.
Parolin said the church needs to “reflect the democratic spirit of the times and adopt a collegial way of governing” the flock.
“It is possible to discuss and reflect on these topics that are not defined faith, and consider some modifications, but always in the service of unity and according to God’s will,” Parolin added.
Parolin was appointed secretary of state last month by Pope Francis to replace Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, who quit after being blamed for failing to prevent the financial and ethical scandals that rocked the reign of Pope Benedict XVI.
The Vatican’s secretary of state — the second most powerful position within the Holy See — acts as the pope’s prime minister and chief aide, but has no power to act on doctrinal issues.
It is not clear exactly when Rome ordered celibacy for priests.
The first written mandate for chastity dates back to the year 304, when the Council of Elvira stated that all “bishops, presbyters, and deacons and all other clerics” should “abstain completely from their wives and not to have children.”
A more formal ruling was handed down at the Second Lateran Council of 1139, which said priests were forbidden to marry.
Pope Francis hasn’t addressed the subject of priestly celibacy since succeeding Benedict, who resigned in February.
But Francis discussed the issue — seen as a major reason for the worldwide shortage of priests — when he was still Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires.
“It is a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change,” he said in 2012.
During that interview, he also confessed that while a seminarian, he was tempted by a woman he met at an uncle’s wedding.
“I was surprised by her beauty, her intellectual brilliance... and, well, I was bowled over for quite a while,” he said.This is the moment a huge crowd of onlookers watched as police arrested several men at a charity book stand in south London.
Dozens of police officers descended on the area surrounding Brixton Tube station just before 6pm on Thursday.
Scotland Yard said the force were in the area with British Transport Police to carry out a pre-planned operation to crackdown on drugs and weapons.
It said Police Community Support Officers were also carrying out work with Lambeth Council’s Trading Standards targeting a number of "unlicensed traders" near to the Underground station.
Video footage emerged of officers involved in a confrontation with a group of charity workers offering books outside the Underground station.
Police involved with the pre-planned drugs and weapons operation were called to assist with the dispute and CS gas was deployed by one of the officers.
Witnesses on social media say the stall belonged to Black Child Promotions, a group which promotes black literature.
On its Facebook page, the group is described as a pan Africanist organisation promoting black education and knowledge in the community.
Clips of the incident posted on Facebook and Twitter have sparked criticism of the police for being too heavy handed.
One video posted online appeared to show a dispute between a police officer and one of the men running the stall.
He explains to the police officer that he is not selling books and that if someone wants to leave a donation in their charity box “that’s up to them.”
Several other clips, which are believed to have been filmed a short time later, show a struggle and loud shouts from the crowd as police arrest the men.
A Met Police spokesman said in a statement: “Plain clothes officers from the Met and British Transport Police (BTP) were already in the area conducting an unrelated, pre-planned operation targeting those involved in criminality in and around Brixton tube station.
“They attended the scene along with uniformed officers from BTP. CS spray was deployed by one of the uniformed BTP officers.
“Two men were subsequently arrested for obstruction - they remain in custody.
“Due to the large number of people who had gathered at the location, further officers attended the scene to manage the crowd.
“There was one further arrest for a public order offence.”
The spokesman added that senior officers in the Lambeth borough had reviewed the incident with officials at Lambeth Council.
Police initially said one of the men was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer.Image caption Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux's wife Gillian said he would live on in their children
A man has been charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder following a shooting on board nuclear submarine HMS Astute.
Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux, 36, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, was shot dead on the submarine while it was docked in Southampton on Friday.
A second man, Lt Cdr Christopher Hodge, was also shot and remains in hospital.
Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan, 22, of Dartford, Kent, is due to appear before magistrates in Southampton on Monday.
The Royal Navy serviceman has also been charged with the attempted murders of Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37, and Lt Cdr Hodge, 45, Hampshire Police said.
Nick Hawkins, chief Crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in Wessex, said: "Having reviewed the evidence, I am satisfied that there is sufficient to charge [Mr Donovan] and that it is in the public interest to do so."
On Saturday, Lt Cdr Molyneux's widow, Gillian, paid an emotional tribute to her husband, describing the father of four as "utterly devoted to his family".
'Tragic' incident
She added: "Everything he did was for us. He was very proud to be an officer in the Royal Navy Submarine Service. He will live on in our four beautiful children."
Tributes were also paid by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope and Capt Phil Buckley, captain of the Faslane Flotilla, to which HMS Astute belongs.
Capt Buckley said Lt Cdr Molyneux's loss would "be felt by his shipmates and across the service. He was, simply, a good bloke".
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope said the "tragic" incident marked "a very sad day for the Royal Navy and in particular the submarine service".
The shootings took place as local dignitaries - including the city council's mayor, chief executive and leader - were being given a tour of HMS Astute, which was on a five-day official visit to Southampton.
The submarine had been berthed in the city since Wednesday.
The 97m (318ft)-long craft is the UK's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine and is based at the Faslane Naval Base on the River Clyde.
It was named and launched by the Duchess of Cornwall in June 2007 before being welcomed into the Royal Navy in August last year.
HMS Astute ran aground on a shingle bank between the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Skye in October and remained marooned for several hours.
The submarine's nuclear reactor means it does not need refuelling and it makes its own air and water, enabling it to circumnavigate the globe without needing to surface.In a move that both violates Israeli law and likely amounts to Israel abrogating its commitment to limit the rate of settlement expansion, a group of settlers has built a new outpost in the occupied West Bank over the past two weeks, according to anti-settlement NGO Peace Now.
The new outpost was built near the existing Geva Binyamin settlement, on state-owned land, but outside of the settlement’s security fence. No permits were issued to authorize the construction, though likewise Israeli forces do not appear to have tried to prevent the construction.
Though most settlement expansion is based on ideology, either religious or nationalist, or both, Peace Now believes that in this case, the outpost is an economics issue, with the people who constructed it apparently drawn to the idea of getting free land to build housing on.
Though legally speaking such outposts are supposed to be demolished, the current far-right government is so deeply beholden to the settler movement that it is next to impossible for courts to compel the government to do anything about them, and retroactive legalization tends to follow int he long run.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzTwitter’s product needs help.
Wednesday was Twitter’s Q4 earnings and it was yet another quarter where a Twitter CEO, this time Jack Dorsey, said the company had a growth problem, and that it can be fixed with product improvements. Dorsey wants Twitter to be the go-to place for interactions around live events. He wants anyone watching the Super Bowl, for example, to use Twitter as the connective tissue to chat with others watching the Super Bowl.
Twitter already houses a lot of these discussions, but here’s something ironic. Despite an anonymous, public atmosphere that’s intended to encourage conversation, Twitter’s product is actually hindering people from doing what social networks are supposed to do best: Connect people.
The simplest reason Facebook has built a massive gap between the two companies over the past three years is that you don’t feel alone on Facebook.
It’s easy to find connections because everyone you’ve ever met and their mother is already on the social network. (Seriously, all my friend’s moms have Facebook accounts.) Posting isn’t intimidating because you know who’s going to see it (your approved friends), and you’re almost always guaranteed some kind of feedback on what you share. It may be a “pity Like” from your cousin or your college roommate, but I can’t recall ever seeing a Facebook post that didn’t have at least one like or comment. I don’t care who you are, social validation feels good.
Twitter, on the other hand, is lonely, especially for new users. Unless you’re a politician or a celebrity, signing up for Twitter probably means spending your first few days on the service (if not weeks or months) with close to zero followers. Tweeting into a black hole is not fun. Finding relevant conversations is not easy, and venturing into strangers’ conversations takes courage.
It’s still too hard to find people to follow when you first sign up on Twitter. The company has made it easier to follow celebrities and media organizations you might want to hear from, but finding people you might actually interact with is a massive challenge the company still hasn’t figured out. I see engagement-less tweets all the time.
These things hurt Twitter’s growth because they push people away before they ever see benefit from the platform. That’s why, as of two years ago, nearly a billion people had signed up for Twitter, most of whom never stuck around. (The numbers of deserters is probably much higher today.)
The easiest way to fix this problem is to fix Twitter’s feed, which does a great job funneling in a constant stream of live updates and a horrible job helping your tweets get seen. I have 11,000 followers, people I assume follow me because they want to see what I’m tweeting. I tweeted 22 times last week, and my tweets were seen, on average, 3,500 times apiece. (This includes one super-popular tweet that got lots of views thanks to a |
character (Barbara Gordon/#BatGirl)#TheKillingJoke — Captain Hat (@CaptHat211) March 5, 2016
But writer Cameron Stewart looked to clarify the uncertainty. Or, rather, unclarify the certainty.
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497674112069633
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497717204295680
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497756727271428
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497785684557824
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497810166841348
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497840038678528
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497857415749632
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497876759879680
https://twitter.com/cameronMstewart/status/706497905176223744
Just like Alan originally intended?
What’s in – or out – of continuity now, that will be for the next creative team to decide. The comic itself still remains available, on the shelf…
About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist.
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None foundRogue made quite the statement in their return to the Korean scene, dismantling Mighty AOD 3-1 in their first match of APEX Season 3.
Rogue made light work of Mighty AOD in the 3 sets they had won except for a shaky start on Gibraltar, courtesy of Kariv's fantastic Widowmaker. Winz even believed in our interview that Widowmaker may be a meta pick at Gibraltar (on defense) at this point in time. But afterwards, Rogue was able to hold them off before the second point, giving them all the time in the world to finish the job on offense.
As Lunatic-Hai's support Ryujehong watched the match during his stream, he was frequently impressed with Rogue's strategy and individual talent. He believed SoOn's Tracer often won them exchanges they shouldn't have won, while aKm had incredible aim and instincts on when to disengage. When former teammate Leetaejun asked whether his team would beat Rogue, he even went as far as to say, "how can I know for sure if we would win?"
But the 3rd set gave fans a reason to nitpick at what was otherwise a flawless win. OGN APEX runs Assault maps, also known as 2CP maps, for the 3rd set of every match in the tournament. Not only did this mode provide the lowest win rate for the foreign teams at APEX last season, Rogue's seemingly helpless nature on Anubis raised a serious question: do non-Korean teams still give minimal attention to 2CP in their practice regimens? After the match, Rogue's star DPS SoOn gave a clear answer to Fomos reporter Yong-Woo Kim:
To be frank, we almost had no practice on Temple of Anubis. We don't play much Widowmaker or Sombra, so it becomes difficult for us when our opponents play them. Also, we did not have people at the point. It is better to think of it as a lost game. We'll practice harder. - Soon
According to writer Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev of Gosugamers, the North American teams' win rates on 2CP maps were at around 14% in Season 2 of APEX. Tournaments outside APEX generally provided a more flexible map ban system, allowing teams to bypass 2CP maps altogether.
But against teams like Kongdoo Panthera and Lunatic-Hai, having a pivotal 3rd set locked on 2CP causes discomfort for Rogue. Lunatic-Hai has demonstrated an exceptional proficiency when it comes to using dive compositions on those maps. And with Kongdoo Panthera's display of Sombra usage by star DPS Rascal this season, it is completely reasonable to believe that Rogue may be looking at a pair of series that has them losing in the 3rd set.
Image credit: OGNFour years ago, almost to the day, I wrote a piece in the Guardian asking whether International Men’s Day could become the seeds of a new kind of movement for male gender politics. I described attending the National Conference on Men and Boys, where I found a diverse range of organisations and individuals with different specialities and interests but all committed to developing constructive and progressive solutions to problems affecting boys and men.
It seems like it has been a long, long four years, but I am proud and delighted to tell you that today the rarefied halls of the Houses of Parliament will be the venue for the launch of a brand new Men and Boys’ Coalition, representing over 50 of the UK’s leading charities, academics and campaigners in the field of men and boys’ welfare. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that this is the day when a new kind of men’s movement comes of age.
The past few years have seen a real and necessary awakening of interest and understanding about male-specific gender issues. The tragedy of male suicide rates has begun to be recognised as a serious public health concern. The crisis in boys’ educational attainment got a mention in Theresa May’s very first Prime Ministerial speech. Men’s health campaigns such as Movember and Men United have been prominently supported, particularly within the world of sport.
All this is progress. And yet when representatives of the men’s sector get together over a flipchart or a pint, we tend to find the same points coming up again and again. Firstly, we find that the issues we are dealing with are inseparable. How do we talk about suicide without talking about men’s mental health and under-utilisation of health services? How do we talk about those without considering men’s over-dependency and self-medication with drink and drugs? How do we talk about that without discussing cultures of violence, rough sleeping, the criminal justice system, imprisonment and youth incarceration? How do we talk about the institutionalisation of young men without considering structural racism or family breakdown? Once you start joining the dots, you quickly find you are not looking at a long list of separate problems but an interlinked join-the-dots picture. Moreover, we quickly find out that the guys at the shitty end of the stick of many of these ‘separate’ issues are often, in practice, the same individuals who are dealing with the fallout of multiple hardships.
Similarly, when those of us dealing with different dots on the puzzle stop and compare notes, we find the same obstacles are arising again and again. Some of these are a straightforward result of our shared client group – men and boys, as a generalisation, tend to have common traits and habits which present recurring challenges: a reluctance to seek help when in need, a lack of supportive social networks, the whole masculine ‘boys don’t cry’ culture of stoicism and emotional resilience and all the rest. Finding ways to permeate those suits of armour is something in which our member organisations have developed considerable expertise, whether that is CALM and their ‘Man your local’ campaign, the#1BlueString initiative which Survivors Manchester have just brought to the UK or the inspirational work of A Band of Brothers bringing mentoring to inner city London. All these activists and many more can learn a huge amount from each other and only gain from the sharing of experiences.
But perhaps most importantly, when we seek policy solutions and support from the powers that be, whether in local authorities or quangos, health service representatives or national governments, different wings of the men’s sector all find we run into the same obstacles and brick walls. Part of that may be nagging suspicions about the ideology underpinning male-specific gender politics. For that reason it was essential that we spell out explicitly that we will not represent those who advocate against the interests of women and girls. We will not engage with organisations that espouse misogyny, misandry, racism, homophobia or any other form of interpersonal discrimination. We are not advocating gender-neutral policy, but gender-inclusive policy.
The experience of our members, again and again, has been of power-brokers listening to our concerns, agreeing that the issues are serious and pressing, furrowing their brows and asserting that of course we care about this issue and of course something must be done, but the systems, structures and policy frameworks were simply never designed with the gender-specific needs of men and boys in mind.
This is precisely how we end up with the situation that male victims of rape or domestic violence are formally categorised as victims of “violence against women and girls.”
This is why there are funding bodies which will support charities that support sexual violence survivors if they are women, if they are trans, or if they are gay men, but tell them that your client group includes straight, cis males and suddenly you are no longer eligible for funds.
This is why campaigns for reform of sex and relationships education in schools end up being focused purely on the needs and vulnerabilities of girls and young women and the problems caused by boys and young men, never the reverse.
This is why not one single political party at Westminster has adopted one single policy position that is aimed specifically at addressing the crisis in boys’ educational attainment.
In isolation, each of those situations could be considered an anomaly, an inadvertent omission, but taken together they begin to represent a pattern. It is a pattern that has emerged in large part because no one has been actively lobbying and campaigning with a coherent, holistic, responsible approach on behalf of men and boys
The Men and Boys Coalition does not have all the answers to all the problems arising here. But within our ranks we have some brilliant people with some brilliant ideas, and together we can amplify those ideas, help to get them heard, yell with one voice to help get them adopted.
We do not (yet) have financial resources or a team of professional lobbyists stalking the corridors of power. But we do have rock solid arguments, hard evidence and, I believe, the tide of history on our side. Will that be enough? No, probably not. But it is a very good place to begin.Chinese mainland has two institutions among the very best on the global reputation list. Hong Kong also has a world top 50 institution and two more that make the world top 100. It is a strong overall performance for China in this year’s World University Reputation ranking 2014.
Baty suggests the next major push needs to be towards further opening up the Chinese system to the world – true internationalization, which will allow the West to learn from the best in China as well as China to learn good practice from the West, can bring huge benefits and real success in rankings.
The following is the excerpt of People's Daily Online's written interview with Phil Baty after the World Reputation Ranking was released on March 6, 2014.
People's Daily Online: How do you see the universities in China in the Reputation ranking 2014?
Phil Baty: China’s mainland should be proud to have two universities among this important list of the 50 most prestigious universities in the world. It shows that when it comes to global reputation, China’s mainland has institutions among the very best. Indeed, Hong Kong also has a world top 50 institution and two more that make the world top 100, so it is a strong overall performance for China. Reputation and prestige are paramount in global higher education and research, as they help institutions to attract the best talent and drawn in investment and partnerships.
However, the position of China’s universities in the world has been relatively stable over the four years we have carried out this survey, and no mainland institutions other than Tsinghua and Peking have managed to break into the world top 100.
After all the investment and support for its leading universities, and the huge attention paid to Chinese scholarship in the world and the major increases in research output, one may have hoped to have seen more upward movement. So despite the strong showing, there is still some disappointment that they are not doing even better.
People's Daily Online: What's your suggestion to Chinese universities on future development?
Phil Baty: There are clearly still some elements holding Chinese universities back from the very top end of this prestigious list. Perhaps the next major push needs to be towards further opening up the Chinese system to the world – true internationalization, which will allow the West to learn from the best in China as well as China to learn good practice from the West, can bring huge benefits and real success in rankings.
A focus on creativity and free thinking inside universities will also help China to reach the next level, and ensure it is at the very forefront of new knowledge creation and pushing the boundaries of human understanding.
People's Daily Online: Compared with universities in other countries and regions in Asia, What are the advantages of China’s universities in general?
Phil Baty:China’s universities have benefited from huge government financial support and the reform process, and of course the two institutions in the top 50 benefit from being in one of the most important and exciting cities in the world – Beijing – which really does now look like the focal point for the whole world in terms of the economy and, increasingly, the knowledge economy. The role of the universities at the heart of this should stand them in very good stead for future progress and development. However, other Asian universities are also benefitting from strong government support, and some of them, notably in Singapore, are more advanced in internationalizing their footprint than Chinese institutions.
People's Daily Online: What are the major indicators to examine a university?
Phil Baty: In the case of the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, the results are based on the world’s largest survey of academic opinion. This is because Times Higher Education considers that there is no one better to judge a university’s reputation than academics themselves.
The 2014 World Reputation Rankings are based on 10,536 responses from 133 countries to the survey distributed in March-May 2013.
The poll asks academics to nominate no more than 15 of the best institutions in their narrow field of expertise, based on their experience and knowledge, making it a rigorous global measure of academic prestige.
Note: To view the full rankings, please visit www.thewur.comKAKRAPAR: It was a red letter day in the history of India's nuclear power generation. The work on the first pair of indigenously designed 700 MW pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited ( NCPIL ) started at Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) with the first pouring of concrete (FPC) on Monday.The Rs 8,000 crore worth of 700 MW PHWR project known as KAPP 3&4 is the latest state-of-the-art technology nuclear power reactors which have been designed by NCPIL. Both the nuclear reactors, which together would produce 1,400 MW electricity, will begin commercial operation in 2015. While the other two reactors of same capacity based in Rawatbhata in Rajasthan would start commercial operation in 2016.The KAPP has two nuclear power reactors of 220 MW each. With the commissioning of the 700 MW PHWRs in 2015, the KAPP will have an installed capacity of 1,840 MW power generation."It is a historic day for us at NCPIL," chairman and managing director (CMD) of NCPIL Dr S K Jain said at the FPC ceremony. "Kakrapar is the first place from where we started our long journey of work on about 14 such nuclear reactors in some important locations in the country."According to Jain, NCPIL would be working on about 8 700 MW PHWRs in states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujaratt by 2012. The NCPIL has financial sanction from the central government for starting about 10 700 MW PHWRs under a five-year programme.Asked about the issue faced by NCPIL in Mithi Virdi in Bhavnagar, Jain said, "We have earmarked the commissioning of 1,000 MW PHWRs in Bhavnagar by 2018. There is little dissatisfaction among the villagers over giving their lands and some misconception about the ill-effects of radiation. We want to assure all co-operation to the farmers and villagers in Bhavnagar as we envisage 6,000 MW of power generation from this area"NPCIL's installed capacity will reach 9,580 MW by 2016 with the progressive completion of the nuclear power reactors under construction. By 2020, NCPIL has a vision to reach 20,000 MW or more and 63,000 MW by year 2032 by setting up nuclear reactors based on indigenously designed 700 MW PHWRs and Light Water Reactors of 1,000 MW or large size reactors.Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Dr Srikumar Banerjee, who was also present, said, "Indigenously designed nuclear reactors are more economical than the imported ones. We see ourselves as the fifth major supplier of nuclear reactors of small size in the world."He said nuclear power generation is the best way to address the global warming issue. Most of the developed nations are for carbon-free economy. India has a per capita power consumption of 700 KW--the average per capita consumption in the world is 2,500 KW--and we have to take this to 2,000 KW in the coming years.A tollway down the center of Texas 288 will start to take shape later this year, now that state transportation officials have finalized agreement with the private firm planning the road.
The Texas Department of Transportation announced late Friday it had reached a deal with Blueridge Transportation Group, the joint venture that won the $815 million job. Texas Transportation Commission vice-chairman Jeff Moseley called the agreement “a key milestone in advancing this important public-private partnership.”
It’s been more than a year since Blueridge -- led by the Spanish construction giant Grupo ACS, global investment firm InfraRed Capital Partners and the Israeli building and real estate company Shikun & Binui Ltd. – won approval of its plan for toll lanes along Texas 288. The project covers a 10.3-mile stretch from U.S. 59 to the Harris County line, including direct ramps to the Texas Medical Center and a new interchange with the Sam Houston Tollway.
Based on the final agreement, construction will begin in late 2016, pushing back the opening to the second quarter of 2019. Officials initially predicted opening the lanes in early-to-mid 2018. It took TxDOT and the company nearly a year longer than expected to come to terms, a problem officials blamed on the complexity of such a huge deal.
The project is the first in what state and local officials envision as a $2.1 billion, 52-year partnership among Texas, Brazoria County and construction and engineering companies for a private tollway along the public right of way. Brazoria County plans to extend the tollway to County Road 58.
Blueridge will build two toll lanes in each direction and upgrade the Sam Houston and Loop 610 interchanges. The company will operate and maintain the tollway until 2065.
“This is a first for the Houston region and will bring much-needed congestion relief to the SH 288 corridor years ahead of what could have traditionally been accomplished,” Moseley said in a news release.
State officials estimate spending $17 million on the project, with the company recouping its investment via tolls.
Concession agreements, however, have a spotty record in Texas. Some, such as the North Tarrant Express in the Dallas area, have been applauded for providing congestion relief without burdening all taxpayers. Others have floundered.
Interactive map: Mobility and more at a crossroads in Houston
Last week SH 130 Concession Company, the private company that built and operates southern sections of the Texas 130 tollway from Mustang Ridge to Seguin, filed for bankruptcy protection last week. In a release, company officials conceded “traffic has not met original expectations due to the lingering effects of the recession” since the road opened in 2012.
The tollway’s growth was predicated on development along its 41-mile route, which has been slow. Even increasing speed limits to 85 mph hasn’t lured drivers.
Though the company said operation of the Texas 130 tollway will not be affected by the bankruptcy, critics pounced, reviving old concerns about the deal because of ties between Cintra, the Spanish company at the center of the 130 tollway project, and former Gov. Rick Perry’s office.
“Texans should celebrate being released from this bad deal and breathe a breath of fresh air now that we're under new leadership with Governor (Greg) Abbott having campaigned against toll roads and who continues to make a concerted effort to start eliminating toll roads across Texas,” anti-toll groups Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom and Texans for Toll-free Highways said in a news release.
Toll roads, however, are far from dead in Texas, as evidenced by the Texas 288 plan. In approving it, officials said the agreement with Blueridge protects the state while adding roadway capacity.
Skeptics worry the plans are flawed from the beginning.
“All private toll arrangements absent public safeguards -- and not a single deal inked in this state contains a meaningful public safeguard -- are nothing more than budget gimmicks that enable lawmakers to claim they've balanced the budget without raising taxes,” said Melissa Cubria, director of Texas Public Interest Research Group.After months of deliberation, the U.S. Congress has unanimously passed a legislation that establishes legal rights for citizens to own resources in outer space, which would ease asteroid mining companies plans.
Until now, there was no legislature clarifying issues such as whether resources mined from celestial bodies could be sold on Earth, or what would happen if someone other than a base-owner needs or wants to land there —a key requirement for asteroid mining ventures such as Planetary Resources.
“Many years from now, we will view this pivotal moment in time as a major step toward humanity becoming a multiplanetary species,” Eric Anderson, co-founder and co-chairman of the Redmond-based company, said in a statement. “This legislation establishes the same supportive framework that created the great economies of history, and it will foster the sustained development of space.”
The ruling, known as H.R.2262 — SPACE Act of 2015, also extends the regulatory “learning period” for commercial spaceflight ventures through 2023, confirms that the International Space Station should stay in operation through 2024, and extends indemnification of commercial launches through 2025.
U.S Congressman Bill Posey said the set of regulations serves as a “landmark for American leadership in space exploration.” This, as the country is recognizing basic legal protections in space, fully accepting asteroids and other space objects as potential sources of rare minerals and other materials that can improve the manufacture of a wide range of products on Earth, the Florida Republican representative added.
For non-U.S. citizens, the norm includes some important disclaimer as it clearly states that it does not assert “sovereignty or sovereign or exclusive rights or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any celestial body.”
Geologists believe asteroids are packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth, making up a market valued in the trillions of dollars.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the language into law in coming weeks.Story highlights Mike Pence says Chris Christie remains in charge of Trump's transition team
Two former Christie aides were convicted in the Bridgegate scandal
Washington (CNN) Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will still lead Donald Trump's transition team despite the swirling Bridgegate controversy.
"Well, what I would tell you is Chris Christie has continued to strongly state his position that he had no knowledge of those actions taken," Pence said on "Fox News Sunday."
"And frankly, as he said late in the week, that what the convictions proved is that he was right to immediately fire those people for the actions that they had taken," he said.
Pence, the governor of Indiana, said he and Trump are "grateful for Chris Christie's role in the campaign."
He said there are no plans to alter Christie's role -- particularly when it comes to Election Day.
Read MoreDuring Ronald Reagan’s two terms in the White House, the minimum wage was frozen at $3.35 an hour, while prices rose, thus eroding the standard of living of millions of low-wage workers. The number of people living beneath the federal poverty line rose from 26.1 million in 1979 to 32.7 million in 1988. Meanwhile, the rich got much richer. By the end of the decade, the richest 1 percent of Americans had 39 percent of the nation’s wealth.
In the 1980s, the proportion of the eligible poor who received federal housing subsidies declined. In 1970 there were 300,000 more low-cost rental units (6.5 million) than low-income renter households (6.2 million). By 1985 the number of low-cost units had fallen to 5.6 million, and the number of low-income renter households had grown to 8.9 million, a disparity of 3.3 million units.
Another of Reagan’s enduring legacies is the steep increase in the number of homeless people, which by the late 1980s had swollen to 600,000 on any given night – and 1.2 million over the course of a year. Many were Vietnam veterans, children and laid-off workers.
In early 1984 on Good Morning America, Reagan defended himself against charges of callousness toward the poor in a classic blaming-the-victim statement saying that "the homeless... are homeless, you might say, by choice.”
Ronald "The Great Communicator" Reagan convinced the masses that if they got the government out of the business of trying to enhance freedom, equality, and justice, life would be better. How much better?
Ever the master of stagecraft, this carefully crafted "knockout punch" during Candidate Reagan's debate with then President Jimmy Carter had the notorious (because no one remembers a word Carter said after) punch line: "Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Four Years Ago?"
The subliminal message to those who hated our revolution was that their lives would be better, as once they supposedly had been, when minorities were back in their place, and women were back in theirs, and former colonial empires could be controlled for the benefit of America's Gross National Product ("American Interest Abroad" was primitive code-switching for that hot mess of foreign policy, just as "states' rights" was the parlance for Reagan's openly racist contempt).
Even now, as a grown-up with children of my own, my memories of Ronald Reagan are a bit unnerving. When reading about his legacy, it surprises me that progressives try to frame him in positive terms, citing his speeches about freedom.
I think you know that rhetoric about an "evil empire," along with Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!" was pure propaganda, an opportunistic whopper as lies go. Reagan's stubborn insistence that no word for "freedom" existed in the Soviet language was also fabrication.
Lies. More lies. Reagan used the term "freedom" to promote nihilism, consumerism and militarism.
The central tenet of the Reagan years is a celebration of the "me" and an aversion to the "we." When Harris pollsters asked U.S. citizens aged 18 and older what it means to be an American the answers surprised no one. Nearly 60 percent used the word freedom. The second most common word was patriotism. Only 4 percent mentioned the word community.
The late Christopher Hitchens described Reagan as cruel and stupid:
One could go on. I only saw him once up close, which happened to be when he got a question he didn't like. Was it true that his staff in the 1980 debates had stolen President Carter's briefing book? (They had.) The famously genial grin turned into a rictus of senile fury: I was looking at a cruel and stupid lizard.
His reply was that maybe his staff had, and maybe they hadn't, but what about the leak of the Pentagon Papers? Thus, a secret theft of presidential documents was equated with the public disclosure of needful information. This was a man never short of a cheap jibe or the sort of falsehood that would, however laughable, buy him some time.
Indeed, one could go on. What about the tens of thousands of mentally ill and mentally retarded individuals displaced coldly and cruelly into the street from state institutions when social programs were defunded under Ronald Reagan? (See: "States' Rights.") What about Iran Contra? What about the sheer trippy lunacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka "Star Wars?"
It was said that then First Lady Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologist to determine the timing of then President Reagan's every public move. Voodoo economics? No reading of tea leaves is or was needed to see the simple truth.
Ronald Reagan, that jolly old bigot, created an "investor class" by throwing the middle class into a death spiral of homelessness, joblessness, poverty, desperation and despair. Hey, if President Reagan could laugh at hobos and black women and poverty, why couldn't you? It was all good, unless, of course, you happened to be down and out in the brutal reality President Freakshow made with a twinkle in his eyes.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. on Reagan's outstanding achievements:
Reagan, the states' rights conservative, was allegedly "sensitive" and "didn't have a racially discriminatory bone in his body" - the parallel to Bush's compassionate conservatism. But he ignored AIDS for most of his time in office;
Supported the apartheid regime in South Africa (Congress overrode his veto of economic sanctions against the regime), seeing Nelson Mandela and the ANC as communists;
Defunded enforcement of civil rights and tried to weaken the 1965 Voting Rights Act;
Opposed the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday - though he finally caved in and signed it;
Fought against affirmative action;
Demonized a fictitious pink-Cadillac-driving "welfare queen;"
Cut Medicaid, Medicare, school breakfast and lunch programs - declaring ketchup a vegetable;
Tried to undermine Social Security;
Wanted to deny women choice;
Tolerated an illegal Iran-Contra effort in Nicaragua;
Diverted attention from the 241 U.S. marines killed in Lebanon by invading tiny Grenada under the guise that it posed a communist threat to the United States;
In the name of anti-communism supported and funded right-wing murder squads in Guatemala and El Salvador; and branded the Soviets as an "evil empire;"
All the while ignoring the evils of racism, poverty, homelessness and illiteracy at home.
This started as a comment, but I thought about it when I should have been sleeping last night. Just like old times, when I'd summon up the nerve to get the flashlight, tiptoe out of bed and peek underneath, and into my bedroom closet as a little girl, not afraid of voudon or witches, but of a monster who wore a mask and happened to be the President of The United States: Ronald Reagan.
He was then, as now, the smiling face of unimaginable bigotry, the sunny spokesman for greed and selfishness, the friendly game-show host handing out cruelty as a lovely parting gift, the chuckling ringmaster, summoning up the worse angels of our nature.THE STORY
Journalist David Farrier stumbles upon a mysterious tickling competition online. As he delves deeper he comes up against fierce resistance, but that doesn’t stop him getting to the bottom of a story stranger than fiction.
WHAT CAME NEXT
The story of TICKLED didn't finish with the film's release. Some of the people featured in the film turned up at festival screenings, and in Los Angeles for an almost unbelievable confrontation.
In February 2017 we released a short follow-up to TICKLED, called THE TICKLE KING, which tells the story of what took place once filming wrapped.
Even since THE TICKLE KING the story has continued - taking a sad and surprising turn early in 2017. We've written about the latest developments for The Spinoff, but be warned, it contains spoilers if you haven't yet seen TICKLED and THE TICKLE KING.Posted by Arkitas
As many streamers have been pointing out today however, it is not really wise to make our judgements on the impact of this patch on day one. Let's keep the feedback and discussions going across the next week.
I agree let's all keep focused.And a reminder to everyone. Remember, it doesn't matter what Blizzard change people will complain. In fact, if Blizzard changed nothing people will also complain. So no matter what choice is made to improve the game there is going to be complainers.Anton Ego: In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the *new*. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends. [...]A months-long standoff over the Dakota Access oil pipeline took a violent turn Thursday, when law enforcement officers used pepper spray and high-pitched warning tones to force protesters from a camp on private land in the pipeline’s path in North Dakota, and at least one demonstrator opened fire on police, authorities said.
Hundreds of local police officers and National Guard soldiers in riot gear began closing in on the protesters at midday, slowly advancing on the camp of about 200 with trucks and military Humvees, arresting people who refused to leave. By the end of the day, at least 141 protesters had been arrested, according to the Morton County Sheriff’s Office.
One protester fired three shots from a.38-caliber revolver as police tried to arrest her, nearly hitting a deputy, the sheriff’s office said, adding that the woman was taken into custody and no law enforcement officers returned fire. In a separate incident, a “private individual” near the protests was shot in the hand, police said. One man was arrested, but it was not clear whether he was a protester.
By evening, authorities said they had cleared the area and the remaining protesters had moved back down the road to an encampment on federal lands, where hundreds of people — from Native American tribes to celebrity environmental activists — have gathered since the summer to demonstrate against the pipeline.
Demonstrators stand next to burning tires as armed soldiers and law enforcement officers assemble on Thursday to force Dakota Access pipeline protesters off private land where they had camped to block construction. (Mike McCleary/Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune via AP)
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said police would continue to guard the private land for the time being.
“We are not leaving the area,” he said. “We are holding it.”
The land, known as Cannonball Ranch, is in the path where Energy Transfer Partners plans to build part of the 1,172-mile pipeline. Protesters began camping there Sunday, setting up tents and teepees and barricading the nearby highway with tires, scrap wood and bales of hay.
One of the protest’s organizers, Dallas Goldtooth, said the demonstrators had braced for a show of force from authorities.
“This is not a loss, we always knew this camp was at risk,” he told the Bismarck Tribune. “We want the world to see how far North Dakota and their police will go to protect an oil company.”
KX reporters say arrests have been made at area near Cannon Ball Ranch. #DAPL #KXNews pic.twitter.com/fbPqCWJPik — KX News – Bismarck (@KXMB) October 27, 2016
The confrontation brought tensions between police and protesters to a new level. For months, authorities have allowed anti-pipeline activists to camp out on nearby land maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. Some 260 people have been arrested in connection with the protests since mid-August — not counting those taken into custody Thursday — but the Army Corps has not evicted anyone so far, according to the Associated Press.
The $3.8 billion pipeline is slated to carry oil from North Dakota through the Midwest to an existing pipeline in Illinois, where it can be shipped to refineries elsewhere. Opponents of the project say it cuts too close to the Standing Rock Reservation and could pollute waterways and disrupt sacred land. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has challenged the pipeline in court and accused authorities of violating their civil rights. Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline offers a safer alternative to transporting oil than trucks, and North Dakota officials say the project would not harm cultural sites.
Before Thursday’s standoff, authorities asked protesters repeatedly to vacate the camp on Cannonball Ranch, saying they were blocking public roadways and occupying private property. Protesters refused to leave, contending that the land belonged to the tribe under an 1851 treaty, the Tribune reported.
On Thursday morning, police gave them a final warning, telling protesters over a megaphone that they would make no arrests if they returned to the main camp, according to the Tribune.
The scene grew chaotic when some protesters began throwing rocks and bottles at the lines of several hundred police officers and soldiers that had amassed around the camp. At that point, the Tribune reported, law enforcement officers wearing helmets and carrying batons began to inch toward the demonstrators, firing pepper spray, rubber bullets and smoke grenades, and blaring warning tones at the crowd.
As they retreated to a bridge on the highway, protesters set two fires and threw molotov cocktails at authorities, NBC reported. Photos from the scene show flames roaring out of piles of tires and thick black columns of smoke billowing into the sky.
1 of 89 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × On the scene as Native Americans protest construction of a pipeline in North Dakota View Photos An encampment has grown near the work site, where security guards face off with demonstrators. Caption An encampment has grown near the work site, where security guards face off with demonstrators. Dec. 5, 2016 A person watches the sun rise over the Oceti Sakowin camp, where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline, in Cannon Ball, N.D. David Goldman/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
Some protesters urged their counterparts to remain peaceful.
“Violence will be by them. We are here to protect the sacred, the water. Stand in prayer,” Mekasi Camp-Horinek, a protest organizer, told the Tribune. “We have the moral high ground.”
Law enforcement reported no serious injuries, but many protesters said their eyes were burned by pepper spray, while others said they were bruised by rubber bullets. One man was treated on the scene after hurting his leg, the |
combinations per number. Doing the math 10^6 = 1 million possible combinations.
With 3 possible Head Numbers * 1 million possible Tail Numbers = roughly 3 million possible ID Card numbers.
Oklahoma State has printed on the back of every ID Card a link to the Oklahoma State web service to see if an ID is valid: https://app.it.okstate.edu/idcard/
This web service allows anyone to enter a 16 digit ID Card number, and see whether it is valid or invalid.
A valid card number will look similar to this:
Whereas an invalid card number will look similar to this:
Querying to the web service returns the following information:
Card Number: The ID Card number you just queried
ID Card Status: “Valid” or “Invalid ID Number”
Employment Status: The current employment status (by the university) of the card holder
Student Status: The current enrollment status of the of the card holder
Other: Whether or not there is anything special about the card -- Bank card, etc.
The web service has a disclaimer at the top - “Use of this service is logged and tracked.” The assumption would be that Oklahoma State is logging IP addresses of every query to the service. There are two problems with this approach, with no solution:
IP banning from a web service is only so effective as it is extremely easy to obtain an IP proxy list. An up-to-date list of over 300,000 proxies is $9/month. Via http://ninjaproxies.com/plans
Good luck to Oklahoma State prosecuting as In 2011, Judge Harold Baker ruled that an IP address does not equal a person. Via http://torrentfreak.com/ip-address-not-a-person-bittorrent-case-judge-says-110503/
By purchasing a USB magnetic stripe reader for roughly $25 you are able to decode an ID Card. Via http://www.rakuten.com/prod/usb-3-track-magnetic-credit-card-reader/240738725.html
This is what a ID Card looks like decoded:
%B6038380006514029^SNELLING/SAMUEL R ^491212000000000 000?;6038380006514029=49121200000000000000?
By referencing the encoding structure, the ID Card follows the structure: Track one:
%B
ID CARD NUMBER
^
LAST/FIRST NAME
^
EXPIRATION DATE: 49/12
SERVICE CODE: 120
DISCRETIONARY DATA: 000000000 000
? Track 2:
;
ID CARD NUMBER
=
EXPIRATION DATE: 49/12
SERVICE CODE: 120
DISCRETIONARY DATA: 0000000000000
?
There are several issues with the current approach, but the most egregious two are:
Everyone’s expiration data are the exact same - 49/12
All discretionary data is blank
What we know
What we know up to this point is the following:
Oklahoma State issues ID Cards to all students and faculty
All ID Cards (with one exception) have a Base Number of 6038 3800
All ID Cards have a Head Number of either: 05, 06, 11
There are roughly 1 million Tail Numbers per Head Number combinations
Oklahoma State has a web service that allows anyone over the internet to check the validity of an ID Card number
This web service logs and tracks all queries, probably by IP
All ID Cards have the exact same expiration date: 49/12
All ID Cards have blank (0’s) discretionary data
Unitech MSRC206 & SSI Technologies
Note: due to shipping delays of our MSRC206 (magnetic stripe card reader / writer), Sam had to travel to Oklahoma City to meet with SSI Technologies. SSI Technologies uses the MSRC206 exclusively for all testing, and encoded all of cards for us. Via http://www.ssicards.com/
The MSRC206 is made by Unitech, and is a commercial grade magstripe reader / writer. What makes the MSRC206 a good choice for an encoder is that it supports both HiCo and LoCo cards, as well as has a strong enough encoder to overwrite existing HiCo cards. The MSRC206 retails for between $300-500 USD. Cheaper alternatives can be bought for under $200. Via http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1EF0CD0616
Using the MSRC206 is extremely simple as explained by this 2:00 Youtube video. Via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2lZrkc0cwI
How to copy a magnetic stripe: You need a magnetic stripe card with data on it, and a blank magnetic stripe card
Plug in MSRC206 to wall and into computer -- Allow drivers to install
Install software included with MSRC206
Wait for MSRC206 to connect to MSRC206 software
Hit the “Read” button on right hand panel of software
Swipe card with encoded data on it through
Hit the “Write” button on right hand panel of software
Swipe blank card though After arriving at SSI technologies and getting a tour through the facilities, our team requested two different copies of Sam’s Oklahoma State University ID Card.
Original data:
%B6038380006514029^SNELLING/SAMUEL R ^491212000000000 000?;6038380006514029=49121200000000000000?
Copy onto blank card:
%B6038380006514029^SNELLING/SAMUEL R ^491212000000000 000?;6038380006514029=49121200000000000000?
Copy with changed name onto blank card:
%B6038380006514029^PETE/PISTOL ^491212000000000 000?;6038380006514029=49121200000000000000?
Side by side:
%B6038380006514029^SNELLING/SAMUEL R ^491212000000000 000?;6038380006514029=49121200000000000000?
%B6038380006514029^PETE/PISTOL ^491212000000000 000?;6038380006514029=49121200000000000000?
There are two important differences to note:
The name has been changed, but the card number has remained the same
The spacing is slightly off on the pistol pete card due to an encoding error
Top left - Copy of ID Card with “Pistol Pete” encoded; Top right - Copy of ID Card; Bottom left - ID Card; Bottom right - Copy of ID Card;
Top left - Copy of ID Card with “Pistol Pete” encoded; Top right - Copy of ID Card; Bottom left - ID Card; Bottom right - Copy of ID Card;
Note -- These are the cards used in when testing the hypothesis.
Testing the hypothesis
Our team set out to use the blank cards in various settings.
First, our team tried to check out a Surface Pro from the library using the original ID Card. Since Sam had gotten a new ID Card only one day ago, he was not in the system. The Library technician asked if it was a “new ID Card” and that “the Library usually takes a few days to sync with new ID Cards.” What this tells us is that the Library does not check each and every transaction with the central ID Card server to make sure it is valid (since Sam’s original ID Card was valid). The assumption would be that the library downloads data dumps once every few days, and stores them on the computer to run a local check to allow students to check out items.
Next, our team decided to use the “Pistol Pete” ID Card at both the Library Cafe and the Union Express on campus. Watch via http://youtu.be/Bw2Ugezb7Fs
Several things are interesting about this test:
Staff of the university accepted a blank ID Card Even while the ID Card had the name “PETE/PISTOL” encoded on it, when used the transaction still appears under Sam’s name. This tells us that the point of sales systems check with the server each transaction to make sure the card is valid, however it does not check the name of the card to make sure it is the same on both server and card.
What we know (again)
What we know up to this point is the following:
Oklahoma State issues ID Cards to all students and faculty
All ID Cards (with one exception) have a Base Number of 6038 3800
All ID Cards have a Head Number of either: 05, 06, 11
There are roughly 1 million Tail Numbers per Head Number combinations
Oklahoma State has a web service that allows anyone over the internet to check the validity of an ID Card number
This web service logs and tracks all queries, probably by IP
All ID Cards have the exact same expiration date: 49/12
All ID Cards have blank (0’s) discretionary data
The Unitech MSRC206 can read, edit, encode, and re-encode magnetic stripes
The Library does not verify each ID Card transaction with a central server
Staff of the university accepted a blank ID Card
Point of sales systems verify each ID Card transaction with a central server
Point of sales systems do not validate the name on an ID Card
Theoretically exploiting the system
Now with everything that we know, it is possible to start harvesting ID Card numbers from https://app.it.okstate.edu/idcard/ using a basic Node.js web scraper. I have written 15 lines of code to take advantage of this web service.
var cheerio = require('cheerio'), request = require('request'), fs = require('fs'), headnumber = '06'; for (var i=1; i <= 100; i += 1){ var tailnumber = ''; while (tailnumber.length < 6) tailnumber = tailnumber + '' + [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9][Math.floor(Math.random()*9)]; request.post('https://app.it.okstate.edu/idcard/index.php/module/Default/action/IDCardEntry', {form:{card_id:'60383800'+headnumber+tailnumber}}, function (error, response, html) { if (!error && response.statusCode == 200) { var $ = ch3eerio.load(html); $('td.formText').each(function() { var text = $(this).next().text(); fs.appendFile('osu_ids.txt', text+';', function(err){}); }); fs.appendFile('osu_ids.txt', '\r
', function(err){}); } }); }
This code will essentially generate random Tail Numbers with a specified Head Number and log the result. After testing the web service, we have determined that it will handle roughly 3-5 requests per second (this is pretty terrible, but understandable for a web service that is not supposed to be used). So if you assume roughly 1 Million Tail numbers per Head Number at 5 / sec, you could theoretically brute force every single valid ID Card in 2 days. By optimizing this algorithm, it is reasonable to expect that you can find thousands of valid ID Cards in less than an hour ON ONE MACHINE! Think if we spun up an entire cluster of systems on a cloud hosting service.
You could then either
Print your own ID Cards using other card numbers Re-encode your own ID Card with another card number by overwriting it with the MSCR206 As we have proved: Current systems do not check names on ID Cards
All ID Cards have the same expiration dates and discretionary data
Only the ID Card number itself is unique to the card
The threat is bigger than you think
Your ID Card gets you access to certain buildings and facilities on campus, allows you to charge items to your OSU Bursar account, and allows you access to a variety of campus events and services.
Another thought experiment -- Has Oklahoma State made a giant mistake by letting students use ID Cards as football tickets?
Every student organization that is currently keeping attendance through the Spears School of Business “checkout” magnetic stripe readers is currently sitting on a treasure trove of ID Card numbers. How is this data being handled? (I’m looking at you ISAC)
So is the threat just that someone can steal some football tickets? What about charging hundreds of dollars worth of books to someone elses bursar? What about stealing thousands of dollars of equipment using others information from the Library or another building? What if someone could get access to the HBRC? What if I get the ID Card number to a faculty member? The possibilities here are limitless as we rely on this technology more and more.
Fixing the problem -- The right way
To be honest, you won’t like this answer.
Here are the steps in order of importance:
Take down https://app.it.okstate.edu/idcard/ TODAY!
Go back to the drawing board on ID Cards
Reissue everyone a new ID Card
Audit all systems that touch ID Cards
Get rid of any system that is not checking each transaction
Please, for the love of god, do not make the transaction endpoint insecure
Add a second form of verification
Detailed responses:
Take down https://app.it.okstate.edu/idcard/ TODAY! If you do not do this -- Everything is at risk. Seriously. As it currently sits, it is waiting to be scraped. It could theoretically be done by the time you are finished reading this document.
Go back to the drawing board on ID Cards. How we are currently doing it is WRONG. Everyone needs their own expiration date. Discretionary data should include a “check digit.” Here are two links that need to be read over before even talking. See links below: Luhn’s Algorithm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luhn_algorithm Magnetic Stripe Examples: http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/magexam1.html
Reissue everyone a new ID Card. This needs to happen. If you only take down the website -- and do not reissue everyone a new ID Card -- All someone has to do is read the last 6-8 digits off your card, and then go home and encode it. If you do not reissue cards, everyone will still be at risk.
Audit all systems that touch ID Cards. The Library’s system, All door code readers, All POS systems, -All data needs to be verified on each swipe. Including the name. Also, no device should be able to store a dump of ID Card numbers / data on it.
Get rid of any system that is not checking each transaction. This goes back to no device should be able to store a dump of ID Card numbers / data on it. If someone is able to get their hands on a dump of that data -- Everything is compromised. Even if you reissue everyone a new ID Card, and add a check digit… a copy of a card will be a copy of a card.
Please, for the love of god, do not make the transaction endpoint insecure. So now that you’ve added check digits, and made all the systems check with the server to make sure they are all allowed, you will have systems like the Library that you will have to rewrite code for. MAKE SURE THE ENDPOINT IS SECURE. If you aren’t encrypting the data before it goes over the wire, and also using SSL, the system is again broken. Make sure you secure the endpoint properly.
Lastly, add a second form of verification. Make people use a PIN number when making transactions. That’s a pretty good way to combat this from all sides. Yes, someone can still find out your pin and clone your ID -- But you’ve made it 1000x stronger than what it was. Another idea is to add a barcode to each ID Card that needs to be scanned in as well (think of it as a 2 step verification).
Following up
A full follow up here: http://snelling.io/following-up-hacking-oklahoma-state-universitys-student-idChris_Sabian
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Re: ASICMINER Speculation Thread April 09, 2015, 09:53:16 PM #5309 Quote from: Fordee on April 09, 2015, 08:33:36 PM Quote from: lophie on April 09, 2015, 08:13:02 PM I haven't read enough of this drama guys so what happened to direct shares? No way to transfer them since FC is A-WALL?
Unless David says otherwise, i assume only F.C. had a copy of the spreadsheet maintained in its most up-to-date records... so consider then either lost, or froze in time..like BTC sent to a black hole.. (oh wait...that sums up this entire security..)
Unless David says otherwise, i assume only F.C. had a copy of the spreadsheet maintained in its most up-to-date records... so consider then either lost, or froze in time..like BTC sent to a black hole.. (oh wait...that sums up this entire security..)
Pretty much. And I thought that having shares on Havelock was the riskier part. Pretty much. And I thought that having shares on Havelock was the riskier part.The three towers of the City Park co-op apartments on Wood Street behind Maple Leaf Gardens don’t really stand out among the numerous high rises of the Church-Wellesley Village.
But the anonymity of the trio of 14-storey towers belies an important piece of Toronto history because this was the first Modern, multi-building apartment complex in the city and, at the time of its construction in 1954, the biggest residential project in the country.
City Park was conceived in 1952, when Toronto city council formally identified the land enclosed by Wellesley Street, Jarvis Street, Wood Street, and the future subway line as a target for redevelopment.
The Yonge line, under construction along the western flank of the area, was expected to drive prosperity and force out slum conditions that had developed among the mostly Victorian housing stock. Many of the homes close to Carlton Street were in particularly bad shape due to years of neglect by the landlord, the T. Eaton Co. department store chain.
Eaton’s wound up owning the future site of City Park in the 1910s following a dizzying and unprecedented three-day land acquisition spree. In just 72 hours, the company bought up 75 percent of the land in the two blocks north of Carlton between Yonge and Church Streets.
The haste was necessary to avoid news leaking that Eaton’s was planning a new midtown store in the area.
As it happened, Eaton’s College Street was built on the southwest corner of College and Yonge in 1928, but the company continued to own the land it had assembled, selling it in pieces for Maple Leaf Gardens and the Toronto Hydro headquarters in 1931.
By the 1950s, the department store was leasing the homes on the land it owned between Wood and Alexander Streets, allowing many to fall into disrepair and subletting to get out of control.
Toronto alderman William Dennison called it “a civic disgrace, an eyesore of the worst kind.”
To remedy the situation in the Carlton Street area, the city offered to expropriate parcels of land and lease them to developers willing to put up high-rise buildings in a style “similar to … the east side of New York”.
At the same time, the city was planning the second phase of the Regent Park housing project south of Dundas and had also identified the houses east of Trinity Bellwood Park between Queen and Dundas as substandard and in need of redevelopment.
A group of citizens calling themselves the Bloor-Cartlton Ratepayers’ Association formed to oppose some aspects of the College Street-area redevelopment plan, particularly the city’s unusual offer to expropriate the land.
“Why isn’t some other district of Toronto named for redevelopment,” wondered John Downes of Maitland Street to the Globe and Mail. “If people want to redevelop the town why don’t they do it somewhere else?”
The ratepayers’ group agreed, however, that the future site of the City Park complex was suitable for renewal of some kind.
The plan for City Park revealed to the public in 1952 was designed by Peter Caspari, a Jewish, German-born architect who fled his home country during the build-up to the Second World War, eventually settling in London, England where he designed several Streamline Moderne apartment buildings.
Caspari arrived in Toronto in the early 1950s and he designed the Vincent Court and Buckingham Court apartment buildings on Eglinton Avenue and several others during his first few years in the country.
When it was announced, City Park was Caspari’s largest commission to date. In fact, it was also the largest private development proposal in Canada, with an anticipated 1,000 middle-income units spread between four, 15-storey towers.
The $8 million project was financed by Swiss building company, Hubert Buildings Ltd. Instead of asking the city to expropriate (as had first been suggested), the developers bought the land from International Realty Co., an Eaton’s subsidiary, for $500,000 in February, 1954.
By the start of construction, the original City Park plans had been scaled back slightly. Instead of four towers, the complex would consist of three, 14-storey towers.
“[The switch to three buildings] allowed better light use and larger landscaped areas between the buildings than would otherwise have been possible,” architect Caspari wrote in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Journal in 1957.
Caspari also simplified his towers, creating three geometric blocks made almost entirely of reinforced concrete. Even the walls between the indviidual units were made of poured concrete “to eliminate all noise transmission between apartments and public corridors,” Caspari wrote.
Caspari was extremely concerned about noise transmission. In addition to the thick concrete walls between units, “special acoustic plaster” was sprayed in the public passages and the units were arranged so the bedrooms were separated from the entryways by at least one internal door.
Double-glazed windows made in Switzerland reduced outside noise and noisy boiler equipment was separated from living areas by the communal laundry rooms.
The city gave Caspari special permission to include one parking space for every three units, rather than the one-for-one ratio stipulated in the planning bylaw. In total, there would 774 suites with 578 parking spaces underground and on the surface between the towers.
Construction began with the demolition of the homes on the Wood-Church-Alexander-Yonge block in 1954 and the project was completed approximately a year and a half later in 1956.
The crisp International Style apartment towers were “as modern as tomorrow,” according to the complex’s promotional pamphlet. Each unit opened into a “continental style” hallway off which the various rooms and closets were located.
The living areas came with hardwood parquet floors, built-in TV outlets, and French windows that opened onto a full-length balcony. The kitchens came fitted with General Electric appliances in a range of pastel colours—turquoise green, canary yellow, or satin white—and a milk box connected directly to the hallway for easy deliveries.
There were sun gardens on the roof of each tower and the lobbies were decorated with marble floors and polished terrazzo walls.
Bachelor apartments started at $90 ($830 in 2017) a month, one-bedrooms were $155 ($1430, 2017), and the most expensive units—two-bedrooms on the top floor—were priced at $195 ($1,800, 2017).
City Park was noticed around the world when it was completed. The Swiss financial backing of the towers generated front-page newspaper coverage Der Bund, a national German-language newspaper based in Bern.
The UK Sunday Times also noticed the development. In a full-page story on the benefits of emigrating to Canada written by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Peter Thorneycroft, the crisp white Church Street towers appeared beside a photograph of the Rocky Mountains as symbols of this country.
The towers were “an outstanding example of Modern Canadian architecture,” the piece noted.
In an attempt to build on the success of City Park, Toronto began seeking bidders willing to develop the next block north, between Maitland and Alexander Streets. As a sweetener, the city pledged to this time expropriate the land and lease it to a developer of its choosing.
The eventual winner, Ridout Real Estate, proposed 1,500 residential units spread across eight 17-storey towers.
As part of the deal hammered out during an all-night city council session, the city would buy the land at a cost of $5 million and lease it to Ridout, allowing it to build its $17-million complex.
The financial arrangement proved controversial, so Ridout agreed to withdraw its plans and resubmit with other developers in 1956, but the project soon became mired in problems. Firstly, only a handful of developers submitted acceptable proposals (one contained a heliport), then the city was denied federal money that would have covered the cost of expropriation.
In January 1957, Ridout went bankrupt, further jeopardizing the redevelopment. In February, the Globe and Mail described the city’s attempt at a public-private development partnership as “an object lesson in how not to handle redevelopment.”
Peter Caspari and the developers of City Park made an offer that would have mostly covered the cost of expropriation in exchange for the right to put up four buildings on the site, but were unsuccessful. The city repealed the development bylaw in June 1957, ending the experiment.
It would be almost 10 years before the block was privately developed as the Village Green complex.
Caspari went on to design the CIBC tower at 2 Bloor Street West, which was completed in 1974 and was his last major work in Toronto before retirement.
He died in 1999 having introduced Toronto to the post-war high-rise.An Australian commentator has apologised for controversial remarks he made about Ireland on live TV.
Grahame Morris claimed the country has a "mutant lawn weed" as its national symbol and people "can't verbalise the difference between tree and the number three".
Speaking on Sky News Australia, he made several claims about Ireland and the Irish people.
"...I love the Irish and half the (Australian) parliament's full of Irishmen, but these are people who can't grow potatoes, they've got a mutant lawn weed as their national symbol and they can't verbalise the difference between a tree and the number three."
Scroll to 7.10 to hear Morris' comments on the Irish.
He was complaining after a member of the opposition, Tanya Plibersek, had said her party was going to table a vote on same-sex marriage, following the Yes vote for marriage equality here.
Howard, who is a former chief of staff for Prime Minister John Howard, said Australians were not ready for a referendum on gay marriage as it would be too divisive.
He said: "You run around Queensland, the Bush, and most of Western Australia and you can see people aren’t ready. This vote is going to be divisive and I don’t think most of the parties in parliament are ready to change. It isn’t a life and death decision."
However speaking again to Sky News, Morris admitted he had got himself into a "hell of a pickle" over the comments about Ireland, and said he's "very sorry".
He described his comments as a "tasteless attempt at 'Morris' humour".The Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act stopped a deportation hearing for a binational same-sex married couple minutes after Wednesday’s ruling. Sean and Steven Brooks faced a deportation proceeding scheduled at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, knowing that Steven Brooks, a gay Colombian man legally married to a U.S. citizen, could be sent back because the federally-sanctioned Defense of Marriage Act legally recognized only marriage between a man and a woman.
A New York City immigration judge, Barbara Nelson, immediately adjourned Brooks’ deportation hearing after reading the Supreme Court ruling, specifically section 3 of DOMA which recognized only marriages between a man and a woman and granted federal benefits to such marriages. By striking down Section 3, the Supreme Court has allowed same-sex couples to receive more than 1,000 federal benefits and entitlements linked to marriage status.
“We knew we wouldn’t have a decision until 10 a.m. and Steven’s case was at 10:30 a.m. so we had to get the decision to the court,” Lavi Soloway, the immigration lawyer representing the couple, told msnbc. “Literally, when it was posted to the SCOTUS website, we printed it, and had our intern from our law firm run five blocks up Broadway and hand the 77-page court ruling to the judge at the immigration court.”
After being married at City Hall shortly after the state of New York legalized same-sex marriage, Sean Brooks first filed a green card petition in 2011 for his husband Steven, who came to the United States in the 1990s when his family moved from Colombia. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied the green card petition because Sean’s marriage to his Colombian partner did not federally exist.
The couple subsequently brought up their petition with immigration appeals, and the petition was left pending; that still provided Steven with a visa but left him vulnerable to being deported back to the country he had not visited in 12 years. Steven applied to have his deportation invalidated but the request was again denied.
DOMA was first signed into law in 1996 when 342 House members and 85 senators legalized the discriminatory act. Seventeen years later, Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the four liberal justices on the Supreme Court to strike it down. “DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment,” wrote Justice Kennedy. “The federal statute is invalid.”
In December of 2011, Sean wrote a blog post for The DOMA Project recounting the pain and frustration the couple had to face even after becoming legally married.
“I am no stranger to injustice,” Brooks wrote. “It makes a mockery of the victory of marriage equality to know that the most powerful government in this country, the federal government in Washington, D.C., refuses to recognize our marriage because of the Defense of Marriage Act. They would just as soon deport Steven even though we have been together as a couple for [now ten] years and we are legally married.”
“No one can justify the way DOMA has created this insanely cruel reality for couples like us,” Brooks continued. ”I will fight for my right as an American citizen to have it approved.”
No longer will the couple have to carry that weight. Steven’s application is still pending and must go through a process in order to become approved, but today’s milestone has given his green card petition a real chance.
Their lawyer, Lavi Soloway, felt a “tremendous sense of relief” upon hearing the news. “These are two individuals who have been committed to each other for the last ten years, they take care of each other, they love each other, and they want to spend their lives together,” Soloway said.
“This ruling affirms the dignity of their marriage and the respect that should be accorded to them. There should be no ruling by the federal government that interferes with that and the judge did the right thing by allowing them to stay together.”
Sean and Steven Brooks are one of 28,500 binational same-sex couples who no longer have to fear that DOMA will separate them. Nearly 11,500 same-sex couples exist in the U.S. in which neither partner is a citizen. With comprehensive immigration reform on thin ice in the halls of Congress, approximately 267,000 LGBT-identified individuals among the adult undocumented immigrant population eagerly anticipate federal recognition.THE navigator of a Russian fighter jet downed by Turkey is alive and has been picked up by the Syrian army and Russian special forces, the New York Times and Russian officials report.
“One on board was wounded when he parachuted down and killed in a savage way on the ground by jihadists in the area. The other managed to escape and according to the latest information we have, he was picked up by the Syrian army and will be taken to the Russian airbase,” Alexander Orlov told Europe 1 radio.
Fears had been held for his safety after his co-pilot was killed by Syrian rebel forces after they together ejected from the destroyed Russian warplane and parachuted to the ground.
Orlov said Russia would be prepared to “create a joint staff” to fight Islamic State in which Moscow would work with France, the US and even Turkey — despite accusing the latter nation of being an “accomplice” of IS extremists.
“We are prepared to... plan strikes on Daesh (IS) positions together and create a joint staff with France, the US, with all the countries who want to be in this coalition,” said Alexander Orlov,” adding: “If the Turks want to be in at as well, they are welcome.”
DISTURBING FOOTAGE OF CHOPPER EXPLOSION
VIDEO has captured the horrifying moment a Russian rescue helicopter was blown up after a marine was killed trying to save the pilots.
Rebels in northern Syria released disturbing footage to back claims they killed one of the Russian jet’s crew members and the soldier sent to save them before also destroying the helicopter.
The clip, published by the Free Syrian Army, shows a fighter operating American-made artillery to strike the helicopter with a missile shortly after they forced it to make an emergency landing, causing it to explode into a fireball.
RUSSIA URGED TO FOCUS AIRSTRIKES ON ISIS
US President Barack Obama has pressed Russia to focus its attacks in Syria on Islamic State militants after Turkey heightened tensions by shooting down a Russian warplane.
Obama said such confrontations could be avoided if Russia stopped attacking “moderate” Syrian rebels battling forces loyal to dictator President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia is supporting Assad’s government, while western nations insist he needs to step down for peace to take hold in Syria.
“This points to an ongoing problem with the Russian operations in the sense that they are operating very close to a Turkish border and they are going after moderate opposition that are supported by not only Turkey but a wide range of countries,” Obama said.
If Russia directs its energies toward IS forces, “some of those conflicts or potentials for mistakes or escalation are less likely to occur”, Obama said.
MOSCOW DENIES BEING WARNED
Audio recordings of Turkish pilots challenging Russian fighter jets minutes before shooting one down appear to contradict Moscow’s denial that any such warning was given.
Russia’s defence ministry issued a statement claiming there was ‘no objective evidence’ of a warning before Turkish F-16 fighter jets opened fire, shooting down a Russian Su-24M ‘Fencer’ on its border with Syria.
US military sources have confirmed they had monitored the warnings, and several recordings purporting to be challenges made by the Turkish pilots have been released.
Such a clash has been feared ever since Russia deployed aircraft, tanks and troops to support the Syrian al-Assad regeime in its struggle against both US-backed rebels and Islamic State jihadists in September.
Moscow, quoting what it said were preliminary reports, said one of two pilots who ejected from the combat jet was killed by gunfire from the ground as he descended.
And a Russian soldier was killed when a helicopter search-and-rescue operation came under fire, it said.
Shortly after the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed Ankara as “accomplices of terrorists”.
Russia has since declared it will deploy the anti-aircraft cruiser Moskva close to the coastal Syria-Turkey border in response to the incident. All ground-strike missions will also now be covered by fighter aircraft.
“We warn that every target posing a potential threat will be destroyed,” lieutenant general Sergey Rudskoy said during a briefing in Moscow.
US President Barack Obama said Turkey had “a right to defend its territory and its airspace” but urged against any escalation, while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also called for calm.
Analysts said the incident risks derailing efforts to bring peace to Syria that were gaining tentative momentum following the November 13 Paris terror attacks, claimed by Islamic State militants who control swathes of northern Syria.
BLAME GAME ESCALATES
The US military has backed up Turkey’s claim that Turkish pilots warned a Russian jet 10 times - but failed to get a response - before shooting it down.
Moscow insisted that the jet had stayed inside Syrian territory, and Damascus denounced the incident as “flagrant aggression” against Syrian sovereignty.
Putin said the plane fell in Syrian territory four kilometres from the border and “did not in any way threaten Turkey”.
“We were able to hear everything that was going on, these (communications) were on open channels,” Baghdad-based military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a video call with reporters.
#SYRIA #Rudskoy Objective monitoring data confirmed no attempts of Turkish plane to establish communication or visual contact with Rus crew — Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 24, 2015
Here's the Audio of the Turkish Air Force warning the Russian Su-24 before downing it https://t.co/8Ehwcuh9g3 pic.twitter.com/EVAPGHmYls — David Cenciotti (@cencio4) November 24, 2015
He added it was not immediately clear on which side of the Turkish-Syrian border the Russian jet had been flying, and it would take some time to analyse data before arriving at that determination.
Turkish ambassador to the United Nations Halit Cevik said in a letter to the Security Council that two Russian planes had flown a little more than a mile into Turkish airspace for 17 seconds.
A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the timing, but said it remained unknown if Turkey had fired on one of the jets as it was in Turkish airspace, or after it had crossed back into Syria.
NEED TO REDUCE TENSIONS
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning said the incident was a “matter of great concern”.
“We call on all parties to exercise restraint in respect of this incident,” he said. “The facts and the circumstances are not, of course, yet known.
“There obviously will be issues between Turkey and Russia as to which side of the border the place was on, but restraint it essential.”
Mr Turnbull described Syria as a “very, very complex theatre”.
“The various players in that theatre have, well, a number of them have got differing agendas, differing objectives, which in some cases overlap and in some cases are at odds with each other,” he said.
“The Turks have got a high concern, high level of concern about the Kurdish - you know, fears of Kurdish separatism.
“The Russians have, as a priority, the protection or the preservation of the Assad regime.
“Australia’s objective is to operate in Syria as part of the collective self-defence of Iraq against ISIL or Daish, so our objective is limited to that.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Barack Obama have this morning agreed on the need to reduce tensions and prevent a repeat of similar incidents.
“They were in accord on the importance of de-escalating tensions and making arrangements to prevent a repeat of such incidents,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement following telephone talks between the |
antly, for instance, or learning to salivate when a bell rings in anticipation of a food reward rely on non-declarative memory. As long as there’s no need to consciously recall facts, the hippocampus was not necessary.
Behavior arises from the interaction between genes and the environment, and, at least for humans, the most important means by which the environment impacts behavior is through learning and memory. We acquire knowledge about the world through learning, and that knowledge is encoded and stored in the form of memories from which it can later be retrieved. Who we are is largely dependent on what we learn and what we remember. Perhaps Molaison’s legacy could be reasonably summed up by the enthusiasm that ensued following his case. In search of memory, the hippocampus has become one of the most studied – if not the most studied – areas of the brain.
For Molaison, he was never able to live independently after the surgery. He lived with his parents, tending to simple chores like going to the grocery store and spending hours with his crossword puzzles which, because it forced him to recall words, he thought were helping him. Having been 27 at the time of the surgery, he never got used to the graying person that greeted him in the mirror every morning decades later. But even though his condition left him incapable of remembering new facts and new people, including his own aged self, the AAAS session that gathered in Boston last month entitled “Understanding Memory: The Legacy of Case H.M.” affirms that he will always be remembered by a field on which he left a lasting mark.When Mogherini smiles in her hijab in Iran, she is delivering a strong blow to women rights movements that attempt to remove the compulsion of the obligatory hijab and grant women equal autonomy, education and freedom. She is empowering suppression.
When the subject turns to the specific cases of millions of oppressed women around the world -- such as Asia Bibi, a Christian mother on death row in Pakistan for seven years for taking a drink of water; or the 19-year-old who, this year, was raped by her cousin at gunpoint and then sentenced to death by stoning for "adultery"; or women who were forced to marry their rapists; or child marriages at 12,000 a day ; or women who are beaten by their husbands or who have acid thrown in their faces; or women used as suicide bombers.
The fact is that these supposed feminists not only turn a blind eye to those atrocities, but their presence at these events actively endorses and legitimizes the rule of these dictators.
The social democrats and so-called feminists have been raising their voices for all to hear. They boast about advocating gender equality, individual rights, and advancing women's rights. They argue that these values are universal; that every person, especially every woman, everywhere in the world, is entitled to these "inalienable" rights. Speeches are given, fundraisers are held, and an army of champions charges toward the cause.
Everyone is equal, and everyone deserves these rights. The chants, the inspirational lectures, the determination that echoes through television interviews, and is spread across the pages of magazines, all fill their followers with enthusiasm. But what is the reality?
Alongside other social democrats, Federica Mogherini, the current High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, recently visited the Islamist state of Iran to attend the official endorsement and inauguration of the regime's president, Hassan Rouhani. Instead of enforcing the standards she professes -- such as the strong support for women -- she folded in with those around her. Others who accepted Iran's invitation were North Koreans, members of Hezbollah, and leaders of Hamas. All three of these groups are known for cruelty, especially against women, and crimes against humanity.
The presence of such people makes the issue of despotism more complicated than it needs to be. By attending these kinds of events, social democrats such as her repeatedly endorse and give legitimacy to repressive states that implement Islamic law, Sharia. As Mogherini rubs elbows with men who have ordered the deaths of thousands of women (and men), she toes the line of their expectations. Instead of evolving their mindset, she allowed all of the women she claims to represent, to remain oppressed, as they have been for so very long.
Mogherini took the problem even a step even farther. Instead of attempting to appear as if she were working toward progressive thinking among these violent Islamist leaders, she acted as if they were friends. She appeared proud to snap selfies with the representatives of this repressive regime. The story came under the international spotlight. Some of the deputies used their selfies with Mogherini to project their legitimacy to the international community while others created self-promotional posters of themselves with Mogherini wearing the mandatory hijab. Mogherini, a social democrat Italian politician who speaks of women's rights and was once a member of the Italian Communist Party, delightedly agreed to follow the Islamist rule of wearing a mandatory hijab. This act of compliance sends a brutal and unshakeable message. Women in these Islamist societies are controlled by laws which proclaim they must be hidden, or treated as their husband's property. The hijab has become a symbol of this. Conversely, when Iranian leaders visit Mogherini's country, they do not follow Italy's rules. Instead, Italy follows the regime's Islamist rules by offering appeasements such as covering up nude statues and not serving wine.
Mogherini -- who years ago also agreed to be in controversial picture taken with the late Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat -- also played a crucial role in sealing the nuclear agreement for the Iranian regime and lifting the sanctions for those dictators. Instead of seeing these oppressors punished, she enabled them to have fewer limitations, as they still hold their own people beneath their thumbs and continue to be the cause of their suffering.
Mogherini then tweeted about her blog post, which states "It was an opportunity to talk again to Rouhani, to Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and to the Supreme Leader's foreign policy advisor, Ali Akbar Velayati".
Is this really an opportunity to be proud of and boast about? And what did she talk to them about?
While Mogherini is joyfully attending events with these Islamist leaders and rejoicing in having taking pictures beside them, does she ever think about the millions of women who are brutally oppressed under these Islamist regimes? Does she consider those women balled up and crying on the floor after being beaten by their husbands? Does she ever think about hundreds of people -- men and women -- being executed, often after sham trials, every year, and based on the Islamist laws in this country?
During her visit to Iran this month, Federica Mogherini (left), the current High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, rubbed elbows with men who have ordered the deaths of thousands of women (and men). Does she ever think about hundreds of people being executed, often after sham trials, every year, and based on the Islamist laws in this country? (Image source: European Commission)
While she shakes the hands of these men, does think of the nine-year-old girls who are "legally" being forced into marriage with the government's approval?
Where are all the women's rights, liberal moral values that she and her party stand for? They were not at the celebration, and they were certainly not represented by those selfies.
Women are dehumanized, subjugated and treated as inferior on a daily basis in Islamist state of Iran as well as other Muslim states. Many people in there are struggling every day despite all the dangers they face to obtain the few rights they can. In general, a woman's testimony in court is worth half of a man's testimony. Women need approval from their male guardian to leave the country, and in Saudi Arabia, to leave their home. Women cannot obtain a passport without a guardian's consent. In Iran, a man can marry any woman he desires. Men are allowed to have four wives and an unlimited number of temporary marriages (mut'a), but women can only marry a Muslim man. Honor killings continue while the regime turns a blind eye to them.
Based on the law of tamkin (obedience), women must provide full accessibility and unhampered sexual availability to her husband. Article 1105 of Iran's Islamist Civil Code states, "In relations between husband and wife, the position of the head of the family exclusively belongs to the husband." Article 1117 of the Iran's Islamist Civil Code states that states :
"The husband can prevent his wife from an occupation or technical profession which is incompatible with the family's interests or the dignity of him or his wife."
Men can initiate a unilateral divorce. Women receive only half of what men get in inheritance. A wife gets to receive only one-sixth of an inheritance if she has a son when her husband dies. If she has only a daughter, the inheritance would not automatically go to them. The deceased husband's family -- brothers, sibling and parents -- would have a call on it as well. Women cannot become judges... and the list goes on.
Of course, people such as Mogherini are fully cognizant of these atrocities and the discrimination which are repeatedly reported by human rights organizations. These are even possibly the same abuses that people such as Mogherini then use to rally funds at their parties and splash in disturbing images across the media. Not one of these European leaders can plead ignorance of the acts that those men commit.
Yet, there we see people like Mogherini shaking the hands that rob women of their freedom and their voices.
The fact is that these supposed feminists not only turn a blind eye to those atrocities, but their presence at these events actively endorses and legitimizes the rule of these dictators.
People like Mogherini may be calling for admission to exclusive clubs and higher salaries for women because that equality is fair. But why, if they claim that they are champions and front-runners of women all around the world, do they contribute to, and facilitate the rule of ruthless dictators against their own people?
When the subject turns to the specific cases of millions of oppressed women around the world -- such as Asia Bibi, a Christian mother on death row in Pakistan for seven years for taking a drink of water; or the 19-year-old who, this year, was raped by her cousin at gunpoint and then sentenced to death by stoning for "adultery"; or who were forced to marry their rapists; or child marriages at 12,000 a day; or women who are beaten by their husbands or who have acid thrown in their faces; or women used as suicide bombers -- they become totally silent. They disregard these women's rights.
By demonstrating their support for these regimes and the men that enforce them, people such as Mogherini significantly weaken and undermine the indigenous movements that attempt to advance precisely the human rights that people such as Mogherini claim to advocate.
When Mogherini smiles in her hijab in Iran, she is delivering a strong blow to women rights movements that attempt to remove the compulsion of the obligatory hijab and grant women equal autonomy, education and freedom. She is empowering suppression.
A true advocate of individual rights and democracy might instead have set a brave example. Women such as Mogherini are feeding into the system, not destroying it. Those who continue to give legitimacy to oppressors and Islamists need to be held accountable.
Finally, my message to people such as Mogherini and others like her is simple: Do you have any conscience or sense of decency? Or is it simply all about power, money, narcissism, and manipulations at the cost of the oppressed, including women? Can you hear that little girl's cry, or are your ears as deaf to it as the men who cause it?In order to ease the transition for our Earthling customers, Google Cloud Storage (GCS) is launching a new Earth-Mars Multi-Regional location. Users can store planet-redundant data across Earth and Mars, which means even if Earth experiences another asteroid strike like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, your cat videos, selfies and other data will still be safe. Of course, we'll also store all public domain scientific data, history and arts free of charge so that the next global catastrophe doesn't send humanity back into the dark ages.
Customers can choose to store data exclusively in the new Mars region, outside of any controlled jurisdictions on Earth, ensuring that they're both compliant with and benefit from the terms of the Outer Space Treaty. The ability to store and process data on Mars enables low-latency data analysis pipelines and consumer apps to serve the expected influx of Mars explorers and colonists. How exciting would it be to stream movies of potatoes growing right from the craters and dunes of our new frontier?
One of our early access customers says “This will be a game changer for us. With GCS, we can store all the data collected from our rovers right on Mars and run big data analytics to query exabyte-scale datasets all in a matter of seconds. Our dream of colonizing Mars by 2020 can now become a reality.”Random Read Input-Output access Per Second (IOPS) of 1500
Write IOPS of 500
Sustained Sequential performance of 10MB/s.
You know those little symbols on microSD cards that show you information such as their capacity (HC, XC) and speed class? There's now a new symbol, designed specifically to indicate running app performance. The new Application Performance Class logo will be used on microSD cards that offer minimum recommended random and sequential performance speeds to meet execution time requirements to run apps.This is useful for owners of Android Marshmallow and later devices, as it was in late 2015 that Google added adoptable storage support to the operating system. It requires users to own or buy a microSD memory card before running a benchmark tests, and alas, some microSD cards may not pass the test, because they were developed for optimal image and video capture instead of application running. The App Performance Class symbol will give product manufacturers a way to communicate its app-running optimization before buying a microSD card.Upon release, the SD Association has introduced the first and most basic App Performance level, which is App Performance Class 1, or A1. The SDA will introduce higher App Performance levels as market needs evolve. microSD memory cards that display the A1 symbol (pictured below) meet, or exceed, the following recommended speeds:source: SD Association (Marketwire) via Android AuthorityResource gathering in Wayward has always been a little strange. It’s always been a bit at odds with the stimulation of some of the other core components. To put this in to perspective, as of Beta 1.0, resource gathering works like the following:
Each hit of a mountain/tree has a chance to produce a specific resource regardless of anything else. It also has a random chance to break, also not dependent of anything else. So, it’s very possible to get a single Tree Bark from a tree and have it “blow up” afterwards. This is a little ridiculous. Now throw this factor in:
Depending on what tool you have equipped, each resource type can produce a new resource. Like for example, equipping a weapon with an attack of +3 or greater can now produce a Log from a tree, or Iron Ore from rock.
This system is more or less the same for digging on tiles, except without the change of resources based on equipped tool or specific tile strength.
This is very much a product of poor design choices left in the game, a little too long.
Proposed Changes
Each tile will have a specific set of generic resources available. For example, rock will feature Stones, Large Rock, Sharp Rock, and Smooth Rock – leaving out Iron Ore, Talc, Limestone, and Coal.
Each tile has a chance to be a “node” for a special type of resource, like Iron Ore, Talc, Limestone, and Coal in mountains, or Fungus and Red Berries in trees. This will be visible graphically to the player.
Each tile will have a specific strength. This strength will decrease as you hit it, based on your attack value. If you want to break through tiles faster, equip a higher attack weapon/tool. The tool will have no effect on dropping the special resource.
After breaking through the tile, the special resources contained within are available for pick-up.
Tree tiles have two states: Full and bare. After all the Leaves, Tree Bark, Branches, etc. are removed (tile strength is decreased), they become “bare”. At this point, you can use a Sharpened to receive a number of Log resources.
On top of making the system less grind-focused, it will also promote exploration. All resources don’t exist around you at all times anymore. You can effectively shape which resources you get and how fast you break through a tile resulting in more player freedom.
Ideas and comments welcomed as always.Kotaku East East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
This is Smap. Sorry, SMAP. Last night, the pop stars appeared on television to apologize, garnering massive television ratings, and resulting in a comment from the Prime Minister of Japan. This is a very big deal.
How big of a deal? As you can see, the live apology broadcast does seem to have caused Twitter to go offline in Japan. Keep in mind that Twitter uses Japan as a testing ground to ensure it can handle massive amounts of simultaneous tweets.
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And today, during a budget meeting, a opposing politician asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the incident, and according to AP, “Similar to the world of politics, there must be many challenges for one group to last so long. It is good that they will stay together, as it meets the wishes of their fans.”
Not sure what is going on? Here’s an explainer to bring you up to speed.
What is SMAP?
Standing for Sports Music Assemble People, the group debuted in 1988 and has gone on to sell over 35 million records. The members are now in their late 30s and early 40s, and the group is the brainchild of the talent agency Johnny & Associates. The members are Masahiro Nakai, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki, Takuya Kimura, and Shingo Katori. They appear in television shows, feature films, seemingly endless ads, and host radio programs, among many other activities.
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If you’ve lived in Japan, you came across SMAP, perhaps even on a daily basis in one form or another. While they might be old for a boy band, they’re an institution that’s ingrained into the country’s popular culture. Not bad for a group without an official YouTube channel or social networking accounts.
What is Johnny & Associates?
This is one of Japan’s biggest talent agencies. The 84-year-old Johnny Kitagawa, who was born in the U.S., founded the agency in 1962 and has gone on to become one of the wealthiest men in Japan and one of the most powerful people in Japanese show business. The story goes that while Kitagawa was working at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo during the 1950s, according to Newsweek, Kitagawa took the kids he had befriended to see West Side Story, and, inspired, decided he wanted to turn them into a musical act. The result was a group called “The Johnnies,” Japan’s first boy band.
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Johnny & Associates first hit it big in the late 60s with the boy band called The Four Leaves. Since then, the company has produced a string of popular groups, such as KinKi Kids, Tokio, Arashi, KAT-TUN, and SMAP. Besides releasing music, all the groups appear on variety and comedy shows and in numerous commercials. Some even appear as commenters or hosts on morning talk shows and news programs.
Why did SMAP apologize?
Last week, a news story appeared claiming that four members of the group—Masahiro Nakai, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki, and Shingo Katori—were in talks to leave Johnny & Associates. The fifth member, Takuya Kimura, was not part of these talks, apparently, and was to stay at Johnny & Associates. Their departure would probably have caused SMAP to effectively disband, because the SMAP name is owned by Johnny’s.
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“There have been some news reports that members of SMAP are considering flying solo.... Debate and negotiation are indeed underway over the matter,” a lawyer representing Johnny & Associates told The Japan Times. (Full disclosure: I am a columnist at The Japan Times.)
The gist of their somewhat vague apology was that they were sorry for causing concern and wanted to continue forward, but they weren’t really clear what that meant, though.
In short, four grown men in their late 30s and early 40s seemed to apologize for wanting to leave their talent agency.
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[Image: 2ch via Michaelsan]
What caused them to want to leave?
There are numerous theories about this and lots of scuttlebutt. The clearest and easiest to understand is that there is apparently internal politics at Johnny & Associates. Four SMAP members planned to leave with the manager who had been overseeing their career at Johnny & Associates. According to Sports Nippon (via Japan Today), the 58-year-old who has managed SMAP since its debut resigned from the Johnny’s affliate company J-Dream, which handles SMAP.
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Sports Nippon (via Japan Today) added that there is speculation that there was a power struggle because the 49 year-old daughter of Johnny & Associates’ 89 year-old vice president Mary Kitagawa, Johnny Kitagawa’s sister, and SMAP’s manager over who would run the company. Mary Kitagawa apparently refuted this speculation early last year and supposedly confirmed her daughter as the next president of Johnny & Associates. Nikkei reports that in an article from that time, Mary Kitagawa called SMAP’s manager and, in front of the journalist, allegedly said that if she were to challenge her daughter to become the next president, she would be fired.
This could be why, as Nikkei theorizes, the departing members, under the guidance of their long-time manager, might have wanted to set up their own agency or join a rival one.
I don’t understand, can’t they just leave?
If it were that easy, the assumption is naturally that the four who wanted out, would have left. There are a variety of factors at play, but the biggest is how powerful Johnny & Associates is.
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As entertainment journalist Yuji Watanabe explained in The Japan Times, the four members that quit Johnny & Associates would have a hard time surviving in the Japan entertainment world on their own after leaving and probably upsetting the massively powerful organization. To maintain relationships with the other popular boy bands, advertising and TV networks could be reluctant to work with the four former members.
Unlike other pop groups, especially female pop groups, Johnny & Associates acts do not “graduate.” This is why you have men in their late 30s and early 40s continuing on in boy bands. Conversely, AKB48, Japan’s biggest girl group, holds graduation ceremonies, giving members a little more freedom to move on, while in the past, pop stars that belonged to Hello Project, which manages Morning Musume, have left the agency and went on to continue their careers. With Johnny’s, it seems different.
That might not be the only reason. In an article published by Cyzo Magazine (via The Japan Times) from a few years back, in which former Johnny & Associates boy band members talked about how hard it was to find work on their own, one said, “When you are in Johnny’s, you don’t realize how poor your skills are.”
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One member of SMAP, which used to have six members, did leave the group in 1996. Katsuyuki Mori debuted with the group in 1988, but decided to leave to pursue motorbike racing. As News Livedoor (via JE Fandom) points out, he’s had a successful racing career.
Is this the first time Johnny & Associates have been at the center of controversy?
No. According to The Japan Times:
In 1999, weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun ran a series of articles on Kitagawa’s supposed sexual exploitation of the boys in the agency. They also wrote that some underage members were allegedly forced to drink and smoke. The agency filed a damages lawsuit against the publisher. In 2002, the Tokyo District Court ordered the publisher to pay ¥8.8 million in damages to the agency. However, the Tokyo High Court in 2003 reduced the amount of compensation to ¥1.2 million, ruling that the article on sexual harassment was based on fact, while other parts, including the drinking and smoking, were defamatory, according to news reports.
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You can read more about these allegations in this New York Times article titled “In Japan, Tarnishing a Star Maker.”
What about SMAP? Have they been involved in any controversies of their own?
Yes. Takuya Kimura, one of SMAP’s most popular members and one of Japan’s biggest celebrities, suddenly announced in November 2000 that he was marrying pop star and actress Shizuka Kudo. They had a daughter the following May. Boy band members are typically discouraged from having relationships, let alone having children and getting married. In the world of idols, this was a scandal. In the world of regular people, this is real life.
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Other incidents include SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi getting picked up by the cops after he was found drunk and naked in a Tokyo park. Another member, Goro Inagaki, got in trouble with the law after injuring (read: hitting) a police officer with his car after trying to flee. Goro was illegally parked, and thankfully, the officer sustained only minor injuries.
How did people react in Japan to last night’s apology?
If you go by what people are saying online (here, for example), many people feel bad for these four members—that, namely, they seem trapped and unhappy. Here are four grown men apologizing because they supposedly wanted to leave their talent agency. Many felt uncomfortable watching the apologies and slightly miffed that what they said didn’t really clear anything up.
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The way that the apology went down has also been dissected, with people noticing that the four who planned to leave were wearing black ties, while Kimura, who had planned to stay, was not.
Also, Kimura stood in the middle, while the group’s leader, Nakai, was standing off to the side, seeming to pinch his hand.
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But, they apologized yesterday. Everything must be okay, no?
Well, no. The public apology, which basically was the members saying they were sorry they caused concern and said they were going to “move forward no matter what happens,” did garner big television ratings. But their apologies were vague and the live broadcast did feel awkward and even unsettling. This was a side of SMAP fans had never seen and a side they probably did not want to see.
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There where those who felt the whole thing was humiliating. Some in the Japanese press compared the public apology to a public execution.
For the time being, it does look like the group has avoided a split, but questions still remain, especially what caused those four members to want to leave. The SMAP members’ contracts reportedly end this September, so there could be more drama in late summer and early fall as the members decide whether or not to resign with Johnny & Associates.
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If they do, the group could make it through this rough patch and come back bigger than ever. Or this could be an opening for another Johnny’s group to ascend to the top of the Japanese entertainment world. That is, at their own peril.
Top image: 2ch via Michaelsan
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter@Brian_Ashcraft.
AdvertisementWhen it comes to player transactions, teams are in a difficult spot.
If you reveal too much about your intentions, it can sink an acquisition, whether you're operating in free agency or trying to execute a trade. When it comes to the latter, there are so many reasons for secrecy. You don't want to seem so desperate to deal someone that it lowers the player's value, on the market as a whole or with a counterparty in serious conversations.
And yet, once word leaks that you are shopping a particular player, it's important to address it in-house, so that the player's performance isn't affected. That serves two purposes. One, for as long as he's on the team, you want him contributing in a positive way. And two, you want him to have the highest value possible, if you ultimately choose to pull the trigger.
This brings us to Mario Chalmers.
It's no secret that Chalmers' name has been been circulating for months -- available to a team that will take him off the Heat's payroll, and thus reduce the Heat's tax burden. In fact, I wrote about it just Saturday, when I made the case for keeping him (and Chris Andersen) around.
Chalmers isn't oblivious to this. No player is, not when in this situation. He kept tabs on it over the summer, but came to came believing that the team had a role for him, that nothing was imminent.
Then came Tuesday's report, from ESPN's Marc Stein -- one of the league's better-sourced reporters -- that the Grizzlies considering trading for Chalmers. There's no reason to doubt this. ESPN has plenty of ties to the Memphis organization and, with Beno Udrih struggling, it's not a surprise that the Grizzlies would seek a potential upgrade at backup point guard. And, it probably wouldn't cost them much, because Chalmers in in the last year of his contract, and it doesn't seem as if Miami is motivated by getting premium talent in return. It just might need a third team, to take a small salary off the Grizzlies' hands, so they comply with salary cap rules. Or it might take a little time, since players signed last offseason can't be traded until at least December 15.
The report, however, was a bit open-ended. It says that Memphis has "discussed trading" for Chalmers, but doesn't say with whom. With themselves? Or with the Heat directly? Further, it's not clear, if talks with the Heat have occurred, exactly when they occurred. Often, reporters get information -- raising my hand -- that is correct but late. The Heat's financial circumstances haven't really changed, but a change of direction is conceivable. Maybe talks with Memphis were happening. Maybe now they're off.
So the ESPN report may be nothing. Chalmers might be going nowhere. Or he might be going to Utah, or any number of teams that could use backcourt depth.
It's not incumbent upon the Heat to tell us, the media, the public. That's not the team's policy nor, as noted above, would it be smart policy. Denying and deflecting is fine. It's part of the deal. Still, it seems time for someone in management or ownership to give Chalmers some general sense of where he stands.
That, as of late Tuesday night, had yet to happen. Chalmers said he heard about the ESPN report after he arrived to the arena, but not from anyone in authority.
"It goes how it goes," he said. "It's the nature of the business."
That diplomatic answer belied how much it's bothering him.
Since Chalmers came to Miami in 2008, many have hailed his confidence, his unwavering belief in himself, even at those times when logic dictates otherwise. That's been an plus, for sure. It's allowed him to withstand the constant berating he received from The Big Three during the championship years. It's allowed him to sink big shots. It's allowed him to keep a prominent role, even as the Heat kept adding point guards, from Carlos Arroyo to Rafer Alston to Mike Bibby to Norris Cole and now to Goran Dragic.
But there's another side too. Think back to the 2014 NBA Finals, when several teammates spoke of how he'd been turned sideways by some personal issues, as he endured the poorest playoff stretch of his career.
Tuesday, he was 1-of-9 in 22 minutes. And while two of those shots were desperation heaves, and one was a failed slam dunk attempt -- which he didn't want to watch again -- his demeanor after the game didn't hide how much this is bugging him.
While I've made the case that he can be an asset to the Heat this season, it's the team's right to decide otherwise. For as long as he's here, though, his happiness helps the Heat.
Miami can't soothe him completely. Can't make any promises. Business is business. Trades get discussed. Sometimes as seriously as the media suggest. Sometimes nowhere close. Sometimes they get done. Sometimes they don't.
Chalmers gets this.
He isn't a kid anymore. He's 29, a two-time champion. He doesn't deserve a lifetime contract. Few in the game do. He just deserves better than to keep hearing things from us, in the media. Some straight talk would be a healthy start.Verizon and Motorola blew us away last year with the DROID Turbo, packing some of the best smartphone specs we’d ever seen into a durable design. Now it looks like the companies are ready to reveal a sequel.
A new Motorola device was spotted passing through the Global Certification Forum this week under the model number XT1585. That’s the number already associated with the DROID Turbo 2, suggesting this really is the rumored handset. Unfortunately the filing doesn’t reveal much else, though we may already know a decent amount about the phone.
The DROID Turbo 2 is expected to offer a “shatterproof” 5.4-inch Quad HD display, a Snapdragon 810 processor, a 3760mAh battery, a 21-megapixel rear camera, 32GB/64GB of storage and 3GB of RAM. Rumor has it Motorola may even offer the new phone through its Moto Maker website, meaning tons of customization options instead of the usual three or four color schemes to choose from.
Verizon is allegedly set to reveal the shatterproof handset on Oct. 15, with sales kicking off later this month on the 29th. With just a week to go we still haven’t heard anything official, so it’s possible the launch could be pushed back slightly. Then again, with this latest certification it probably won’t be very long before the DROID Turbo 2 gets an official unveiling.CLOSE Gov. Doug Ducey signs ride share bill for Uber and Lyft at the Capitol Wednesday.
The new law requires that ride-sharing drivers, like taxi drivers, must now have $250,000 of liability insurance while a passenger is in the vehicle.
The new law overhauls rules for ride-sharing businesses like Uber and Lyft. (Photo: Laurie Merrill/The Republic) Story Highlights "With the signing of this bill, Arizona now has a regulatory framework to call Uber home in Arizona," said Steve Thompson, General Manager of Uber AZ, said after Ducey signed the bill into law last month.
Uber and Lyft drivers gathered in force at the state Capitol Wednesday to support Gov. Doug Ducey's ceremonial signing of House Bill 2135, which overhauls rules for ride-sharing businesses.
Several dozen Lyft drivers, clad in neon-pink and carrying glow-in-the dark versions of the company's signature pink mustaches, stood with the more somberly-attired Uber drivers, who were wearing gray, to applaud the regulation of their businesses.
The new law requires that ride-sharing drivers, like taxi drivers, must now have $250,000 of liability insurance while a passenger is in the vehicle.
It requires companies to perform criminal background checks on drivers and to conduct vehicle inspections. It also sets a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol use by drivers.
To the drivers who are part of an Arizona fleet that spokemen say number at least 10,000, Ducey's signature legitimizes them.
"It's a progression into a new era," said Lyft driver Eric Isp, 26, of Phoenix. "You don't have to worry about getting cited any more."
Mia Washington, 33, a Lyft driver since December, said the ceremony spells better business.
"It means more people are going to use it," Washington said. "A lot more people will feel safer to ride with Lyft."
MORE: Ducey signs ride-share bill, extends state gas tax
PREVIOUS: Uber bill would lower insurance for some cabs
RELATED: 20 new laws Arizonans should know about
Ducey signed the bill in early April but scheduled a ceremonial signing at the state Capitol Wednesday.
"I think it's pretty cool when... new technology grows our economy and changes the way we live," he said at the ceremonial signing. "We should do everything in our power to make ride-share businesses succeed.''
After the bill was signed into law last month, Steve Thompson, general manager of Uber AZ, said, "With the signing of this bill, Arizona now has a regulatory framework to call Uber home in Arizona."
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According to Uber, the law means drivers as well as customers will no longer have to question if they're doing something wrong by ride-sharing around the valley.
Uber said this law makes Arizona the ninth state to have ride-sharing guidelines.
The so-called Uber bill was one of the more contentious of last year's legislative session and was ultimately vetoed by then Gov. Jan Brewer.
Sean Kelly, 53, has an 11-year-old son and another job, but the driving he does for Uber is welcome income that he can earn at his own pace.
"The freedom of the job allows you to turn on and off when you like," said Kelly, of Phoenix.
Judith Miller, 69, a U.S. Army veteran, said she recently hit the 4,000-trip milestone after 14 months in her new job of Uber driver.
"Each day I look forward to the greatest job I've ever had," Miller said. To the other drivers, she said, "Uber on!"
Mia Thompson of Phoenix, a Lyft driver, attends the signing ceremony for House Bill 2135 at the state Capitol on Wednesday. (Photo: Laurie Merrill / The Republic)
Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1yTapCwJeff Goodman of CBS Sports is reporting that Michigan point guard Trey Burke will head to the NBA after just one season in Ann Arbor. Burke was a high school teammate of Jared Sullinger, but was not recruited by |
was, 50th on the money list, maybe 40th.”
Grouped with Billy Andrade and Bob Lohr, Daly shot an opening 69. It made a nice note for the papers, nothing more. The PGA of America had moved the tees up, and Kenny Knox and Ian Woosnam were the co-leaders after shooting 67s.
Andrade: “I knew John from college. He was at Arkansas, I was at Wake Forest. I just remember every hole he’d go, ‘Where do I hit it here, Squeaky?’ John was like a blind man with a guide dog. He didn’t miss a lot of shots.”
Lohr: “The first hole he hit 1-iron, which I thought was interesting. We were all hitting driver there. The fairways were soaking wet. I vividly remember hitting a good drive, and John flying it by me with a 1-iron. The third hole, a par 3, he hit three clubs less than I did. I remember he had this white, plastic-looking Cobra driver nobody else had. It was the best driving exhibition I’ve ever seen.”
Medlin: “Jeff had caddied for guys like Freddie Couples, Nick, Jeff Sluman, and to go from that caliber of player to someone he’d never heard of, he was like, ‘Oh, I’m working for a rookie.’ But after the first round he called and said, ‘I can’t club this guy. He hits it longer than anybody I’ve ever seen.'”
A spectator had been killed by lightning at the U.S. Open at Hazeltine earlier that summer, and during a rain delay in the PGA’s first round a bolt killed 39-year-old Thomas Weaver, who was 100 yards from his car, in a parking lot a mile from Crooked Stick.
Jim Nantz, who covered the tournament for CBS: “I remember that lightning bolt shaking the ground and finding out later someone was killed. I was doing the late-night show as I do now, and I remember going to the hospital. I think I’d been dispatched by CBS to see if there was a statement or something from the hospital.”
Price’s wife, Sue, gave birth on Friday morning, and Daly took the lead for good. Among his memorable shots was a 199-yard 6-iron that landed within three feet for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole. No dogleg was safe, and he shot a second-round 67. Upon seeing his name atop the board at round’s end, Daly said, “I’ll remember this day the rest of my life.”
Jim Ferriell, Crooked Stick’s head pro: “Prior to the PGA, [Crooked Stick designer] Pete Dye asked me to look at a new tee he was putting in on 14. It was going to be 275 yards to carry a creek and I said, ‘Some guys will be able to carry it, but they won’t move it right to left enough to turn the corner.’ Hell, Daly did turn the corner. He had wedge or 9-iron in.”
Daly: “All I remember is 14, a big dogleg left, and it was like 280 to carry the water, and I was hitting L-wedge into that hole. Guys were hitting 3- or 2-irons in. It was a big, big advantage.”
Andrade: “I remember waking up in the middle of the night Friday and thinking, ‘This guy is going to win. He’s hitting it over all the trouble.’ He didn’t have any stress off the tee, and that’s so much of what the majors are about. I think Squeaky was a big difference. On every hole, he’d go, ‘Just kill it,’ in that high-pitched voice.”
Fuzzy Zoeller: “The bunkering kind of closed in at 260, and then at 280 it opened back up to the wide-open spaces. Well, John never saw 280. He was pumping it out there 300 yards in the air.”
Pete Dye: “I had Greg Norman out to the course prior to the PGA and he couldn’t carry anything; John Daly carried it all.”
Daly’s fireworks obscured the fact that he was putting well.
Andrade: “I remember him putting like kids putt, ramming everything in. It seemed like they were going in the center at 100 mph, which told you he was confident.”
Daly: “I made all my six-, seven-, eight-footers that week.”
Daly was paired with veteran Bruce Lietzke on Saturday, and by the time they teed off, the Legend of John Daly was growing exponentially.
Lietzke: “It was pretty awe-inspiring. I don’t think I’d ever seen his name. Back in the ’70s, there was this guy who wore the rainbow wig and had a sign that said, john 3:16. He was there, and a writer said he didn’t know if the guy was making a religious statement or giving Daly’s driving distance.”
Nantz: “The story was growing every day, and by the time Saturday rolled around, we were documenting his whole history, every piece of information we could find on the guy. I was diggin’.”
Lietzke: “I’d never seen anyone’s swing go that far past parallel, at least nobody on Tour. He had a real following, even though nobody knew who he was. He played to the crowd; of course they loved the distance and he hit it straight as a string. He was smoking cigarettes and waving. He was the everyman’s hero.”
Bud Martin, Daly’s agent: “The perception in the public and the way CBS presented it was this guy was just kind of driving down the highway, as the ninth alternate, and said, ‘Hey, I might as well play.'”
Daly was putting for eagle on the 11th green Saturday when Medlin touched the green with the flagstick. By doing so he nearly broke Rule 8-2b, which prohibits a player and his caddie from touching the green, for aiming purposes, along the intended line of a putt.
Lietzke: “Somebody called in and we had to go into a trailer to look at the tape for five minutes after the round. It came pretty close, but we determined he didn’t touch the intended line. Squeaky was one of the veteran caddies and would have known you couldn’t do that.”
Larry Startzel, chairman of the Rules Commitee: “John was very professional about the whole thing, and Bruce really saved the day. He was adamant that Jeff hadn’t been giving John the line.”
Having avoided a two-stroke penalty, Daly and his fiancé, Bettye Fulford, attended an Indianapolis Colts preseason game Saturday night. Anonymous three days earlier, they were treated like royalty.
Daly: “Me and Bettye went on the 50-yard line and waved at everybody like I’d already won the tournament or something. The fans were nuts. They were great. The owner, Mr. [Robert] Irsay, asked me if I played any football, and I said I used to kick field goals. I was going to get dressed up for the Colts to kick a field goal in the game, and we almost had it, but the insurance wouldn’t do it.”
Nantz: “The Colts were playing Seattle. I didn’t go with John, but I went because I wanted to see what the reaction was. I was just trying to make sure I had a front-row seat to this week from out of the blue.”
With one round to go, Daly led by three over Kenny Knox and Craig Stadler. Knox got the call to play with the game’s new star on Sunday, which would have a profound impact on Knox’s career.
Knox: “He hit this high ball that looked like a pop-up, but you’d get out there and it would have gone 325 yards. I’d never seen anybody do that. The real difference was on the par 5s. I’d be hitting driver off the deck for my second shot, and he’d hit mid- to short-irons. The first hole, he hit it in the trees and bladed it over the green to make bogey, and I missed like a 10-footer for birdie, but he hit it to a foot on two for birdie and was off to the races.”
Daly: “It was a big week for Ryder Cup. Steve Pate chipped in on 18 to get in. I found out that 1990 had been the last year where if you win the PGA you get in the Ryder Cup. I honestly thought I might get picked.” [A PGA official confirms the rule to not have the on-year PGA winner appear in the Ryder Cup was made in 1989.]
Knox: “I’d won three tournaments, and this was my best chance to win a major. But I was always hitting 5-iron while other guys were hitting 7 or 8. I tried to get longer, started taking the club back farther and hurt my back in 1992. I hit the ground at the Western Open and was never the same after that. I tried to fix a swing that worked. The distance — you either have it or you don’t. I never did.”
Daly birdied the second, fifth, 13th and 15th holes. He then three-putted to double-bogey the 17th hole, and with water guarding the right side of 18, Ken Venturi said on CBS, “I’ll tell you what, it’s not over yet.” But it was. Daly managed to avoid the drink and left himself with only an 8-iron in for his second shot, and he found the green. He would beat Lietzke by three, Jim Gallagher Jr. by five, and Knox by six. As he walked to the green Daly waved a towel in the air.
Daly: “I was doing the Arsenio Hall, the towel thing. Winning the [1995] British Open was sweet but not as rowdy and cool as that. It was cool going through the crowd high-fiving everybody. My right hand was so sore after that week. My fingers were so sore. Man, I don’t do that anymore. I’m scared I’m going to get injured.”
Daly, Fulford, agent Bud Martin, and Daly’s then best friend, Donnie Crabtree, were among a small group who piled into a limousine and instructed the driver to head toward the nearest McDonald’s drive-through, where Daly stuck his head through the sunroof and ordered. Then they went to a party thrown by Crooked Stick president Michael Browning.
Crabtree: “It didn’t get too crazy. John didn’t have that many friends and family there. You can’t really plan that type of thing. I don’t remember him drinking at that party. If anything he might have had a beer or two, but it wasn’t a big drunk or anything like that.”
Daly: “I was going to McDonald’s all the time. I was drinking some whiskey back then, but not like everybody perceives. I’m not any different; when things aren’t going good, you drink. A lot of people drink when things aren’t going good. I never drank that whole week.”
Ben Wright, who worked the 17th hole for CBS: “I knew John, and I walked in with him down the 18th hole Sunday, and I said, ‘Is that a beer you have in your cup?’ He said no, it was iced tea. I suspect it was beer. I don’t have any compunction about saying that. I’ve always had a terrific relationship with John; he’s been a terrific friend to me.”
Even while basking in the glow of victory, Daly remembered the family of 39-year-old Thomas Weaver, who during a rain delay in the PGA’s first round was killed by lightning in a parking lot a mile from Crooked Stick.
Nantz: “I was there to present the Wanamaker Trophy, and John right off the top said he was giving $30,000 to a scholarship fund for those two little girls who lost their father earlier in the week.”
Dee Fisher, Weaver’s widow who has since remarried: “It was a tragedy we have learned to move forward from. But it was such a nice gesture that John, especially at such a young age, would think of my family. The money gained interest, and their dad and I had set aside some, too. Emily started at Purdue, got married and finished at a school in Illinois. She got a degree as a respiratory therapist. Karen got a degree in biology at Indiana and is doing clinical rotations at medical school in Michigan.”
Daly finally met the family at Fuzzy Zoeller’s Wolf Challenge tournament in Indiana in 2006.
Fisher: “Everybody was very kind and it was nice to meet the man with the generous heart after all those years. He liked meeting the girls, and they’d put together a scrapbook of what they’d been doing since their father had been gone. I think John was touched. That’s what I think of when I see bad articles about him.”
Thanks to Daly’s theatrics at Crooked Stick, hoards of people turned out to watch him at the following week’s International near Denver.
Daly: “In Colorado it finally hit me what I’d done. I’d had a few people following me because I hit it long, but this — 7,000 people for a practice round on a Tuesday — was unheard of out here.”
Daly would return to Crooked Stick only once, later that year.
Ferriell: “He came back to do an outing, I think it was the end of September, and did something for me. I had posters left over from the tournament, and I had this idea, if John would sign ’em, I could sell ’em for a minimum of $100 and start an employee scholarship fund. John sat at my desk and I kept feeding ’em to him. There were at least a hundred of these things. And now we’ve endowed the fund, and the kids of the people here, the waitresses or whoever, have gotten scholarships from it. They’re all on the wall — 59 kids.”
The ensuing 20 years for Daly have brought divorces (four), suspensions, on- and off-course blow-ups and rehab.
Lietzke: “As long as John Daly was at the time, the first couple years Davis Love III was on the Tour, I thought he was just as long. Davis toned it down, but I’m not sure Daly ever learned to do that.”
Fuzzy Zoeller, a friend of Daly’s: “He was one of the first long hitters to come out with that kind of touch and imagination around the green. I would have thought he would have won a lot more with the talent he had.”
Daly: “Yeah, I’ve done some stupid things, some people have done some bad things to me. I’ve gotten a few divorces. It’s not any different than anybody else; mine just gets publicized. That’s what goes with the territory of winning a major or two majors or whatever. People watch what you do. And I was real stubborn back then. I wasn’t going to change anything, and when I did change I didn’t like it. I just couldn’t not be me.”
Nine Lives
Nine players needed to withdraw from or decline an invitation to the 91 ‘PGA for Daly to punch his ticket. Here’s how it happened:
1. Dave Barr — replaced Mark James, who chose to stay in Europe in his quest of qualifying for a spot on the European Ryder Cup Team
2. Keith Clearwater –replaced Lee Trevino, who claimed mental and physical exhaustion
3. Mark Weibe — Buick Open winner Brad Faxon already in the field
4. Bob Wolcott — replaced Gibby Gilbert, who had an inner ear problem
5. Doug Tewell — replaced Paul Azinger, who had not full recovered from shoulder surgery
6. Bill Sander — passed on final spot. Back hurting, and wanted some time off
7. Mark Lye — passed on final spot. Didn’t want to play without a practice round
8. Brad Bryant — passed on final spot. Had some “personal family problems” arise at last minute and went to Texas
9. John Daly — replaced Nick Price, who withdrew Wednesday afternoon to stay with his wife, who had her baby on the following Friday
Source: PGA of America Championship DepartmentThe CIA Has Given So Many Weapons to Syrian Jihadis, ISIS is Now Selling Them on Facebook
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The US has been dumping so many weapons into the Syrian conflict that there is now an apparent surplus. ISIS has since taken to selling them online.
Last year, The Free Thought Project reported on a video, apparently recorded just outside of Aleppo, Syria. The video illustrated just how insane the US “War on Terror” has become.
In the video, the U.S. backed, armed, and financed Free Syrian Army, (aka moderate rebels, aka ISIS-linked terrorists) are firing a U.S. supplied anti-tank TOW guided missile.
Of course, the ‘moderate rebels’ firing a US missile is nothing out of the ordinary. However, what makes this U.S. paid for missile so special is that it was fired at what is clearly a U.S. paid for Humvee.
The video below shows the absurdity of the war on terror in one single blown up Humvee.
When US arms aren’t being used to aid both sides of a conflict, the extra weapons offer a unique benefit for those on the receiving end; ISIS is now offering the surplus for sale on Facebook.
According to Foreign Desk News,
“Jihadis in Syria are using Facebook as a marketplace to buy, sell and barter a wide variety of American-made weapons and munitions ranging from rocket launchers to machine guns.
A Facebook page called “The first weapons market in the Idleb countryside” showcases posts with photographs of weapons, claimed to be CIA-supplied, inviting buyers to contact page administrators privately using popular messaging application Whatsapp to discuss sales and transactions.
An AGS-17 Soviet-era grenade launcher is listed for $3,800 and below that a thermal camera made by Oregon-based company FLIR, is listed alongside posts advertising the sale of 105mm cannon shells.
Weapons like TOW and MANPAD missile launchers, which the CIA has provided to rebel groups in Iraq and Syria, and can pose serious threats to civilian and military jets, are also advertised on the page.”
Since Facebook has banned all talk of weapons sale and trading on their social media platform, the page has since been removed, however, not before they received thousands of likes and potentially unloaded countless weapons.
In October, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Islamic State militants were decimated by Russian airstrikes, and had lost “most” of their ammunition, heavy vehicles and equipment in the precision strikes.
Almost immediately, the U.S. airdropped 50 tons of weapons and ammunition to the newly branded “Syrian Arab Coalition” forces — a U.S. rebel group re-branded, but known for its unreliability and willingness to hand weapons over to al-Qaeda and ISIS.
“Probably 60 to 80 percent of the arms that America shoveled in have gone to al-Qaeda and its affiliates,” according to Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma.
It seems quite obvious that while the U.S. likely supplies al-Qaeda affiliate the al-Nusra front, Ahrar al Shams, and other jihadists in the Syrian combat theater, the idea that the U.S. is once again using the al-Qaeda terror network, similarly to how they were used to fight a proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, should give pause to every American as a potential replaying of past U.S. foreign policy failures.
The fact that Americans aren’t up in arms and in the streets to demand the US pull out of all foreign occupations, speaks to the nature of the propaganda campaign waged against them.
When will Americans wake up to the fact that their government wages illegal wars of aggression at the expense of their children and grandchildren?
Help Us Be The Change We Wish To See In The World.Hawaii is home to some of the world's most spectacular cascades. Some are easily accessible but most are tucked away in the islands' rainforests and hidden valleys. One of Hawaii's waterfalls that is best viewed from afar is the Waipuhia Falls, aptly nicknamed Upside Down Waterfall, which is visible from the Pali expressway in Oahu.
The Upside Down Waterfall is not your usual waterfalls. Flowing over the edge of a cliff on Mount Konahuanui, powerful northeasterly trade winds, channeled by the location's topography, catches the falling water and draws it up the Canyon even before it reaches the bottom, creating the illusion that the falls is flowing in reverse (watch the video below).
This unique and gravity-defying wonder is only visible along the Pali Highway during wet season, especially after heavy rains, and in the presence of strong winds. There is no lookout platform so it can only be viewed inside the car while driving along the highway, eastbound direction towards Kailua. The falls is on the right hand side of the road.
Photo credit Mike Roberts.
SaveStaff of luxury hotels march in Paris during a protest organised by the General Confederation of Labour trade union over their working conditions on September 29, 2015. — AFP pic
PARIS, Sept 30 — As Paris switched into fashion high-gear yesterday a group of chambermaids working for the luxury Park Hyatt hotel staged a “fashion week for the poor” to celebrate victory in a labour dispute.
Dressed up with splashes of colour and sequins about 60 chambermaids and various other workers from the Park Hyatt marched to another hotel, the W Paris Opera, where workers were still striking for better working conditions.
The Hyatt workers were celebrating their victory after a strike on Monday saw them obtain double pay for public holidays worked, and increased meal and travel allowances.
“We are doing a fashion week for the poor,” laughed one of the marching women, who asked not to be named.
“I am happy today. We give our all for our job,” said Hyatt employee Jessica Gastou, 38, a mother of four who has worked at the upmarket hotel for 15 years.
Workers at the hotel carried out similar strikes in 2013 and 2014 — also as the trendy jet-set attending fashion week descended on Paris — and won a large salary increase.
Last year several other glitzy hotels also fell prey to the strikes by workers who can earn less in a month than the nightly price of a hotel room.
While the Hyatt workers have been successful, those at the W Paris Opera hotel extended their strike to today hoping for a similar improvement in working conditions. — AFPJames Turrell exhibition: Art lovers asked to sign a waiver before viewing work
Updated
The National Gallery of Australia's new James Turrell exhibition is so intense that art lovers will be asked to sign a waiver before viewing one of the works.
Opening to the public this Saturday, James Turrell: a retrospective has been described as everything from "spiritual" to "disorienting".
This week the 71-year-old American artist visited Canberra to open the exhibition, which he said was "one of my best".
Light is Turrell's medium and behind his sometimes simple displays, are some very complex constructions.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is Bindu shards, which viewers with a premium ticket can experience from the inside of the artwork - if they sign a waiver.
In experiencing the work, the viewer is entirely enclosed inside a white dome filled with what the artist describes as "behind the eyes light".
Due to the nature of the artwork, which utilises flashing lights, those who enter the viewing chamber must fill out a form indicating whether they suffer from epilepsy, have a pacemaker or suffer from a fear of confined spaces.
Gallery-goers have been keen to secure a spot, and tickets to the experience have sold out until January next year.
"It's quite an emotional work I would say, and one that I hope would have you thinking about your relationship to light," Turrell said at the launch.
Turrell's artwork already a feature at NGA
The artist is no stranger to the NGA and is perhaps best known in Australia for his famous Within Without Skyspace viewing chamber, in the grounds of the gallery.
It is just one of a number of Skyspaces created by Turrell, which are dotted around the globe.
In this exhibition there are more than 50 works to explore, including projection pieces, holograms, drawings, prints, photographs and 10 installations.
Turrell has made a career of playing with perception, taking his audience on a bright and sometimes challenging ride, and this exhibition is no exception.
"I have high expectations of my audience and in general I would say they've met that," he said.
'I'm interested in the effect of light'
The artist said he hoped viewers were able to experience the sensations and emotions that flowed from his art, without being distracted by the technical nature of the medium.
And it is an objective he seems to have achieved.
Some viewers at the launch of the exhibition reported feeling disoriented and confused, while others found the experience "quite spiritual".
"When you sit down and see someone play at a piano you don't think 'wow what a fantastic machine'," Turrell said.
"We've become so used to it, we can feel the emotion that comes through it, rather than just thinking about how it was constructed. I would like that [for the work], if possible.
"I do know that these are new things, but actually the technology involved in all of these, except perhaps the Bindu Shards, is quite simple.
"I don't want you looking at the light fixture, I want to you looking at where light goes. But more than that, I'm interested in the effect of light, upon you and your perception."
Turrell said through the ages light had been a powerful subject matter in and that his work was a continuation of that.
"[But] where paint is used to depict light, I'm just very interested in using light itself," he said.
"This idea that light plays an important part in our life is important to me.
"And rather than have something where we generally use light to illuminate things, I was interested in the 'thingness' [sic] of light."
Topics: contemporary-art, visual-art, library-museum-and-gallery, canberra-2600, act, australia, united-states
First postedPrime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has slapped down Pauline Hanson for showering praise on Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and likening the federal government's child vaccination programs to a "dictatorship".
Issuing rare criticism of the One Nation leader, Mr Turnbull said Mr Putin's Russia was responsible for the "shocking international crime" of shooting down the MH17 airliner – killing 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens – and was not worthy of the Queensland senator's admiration.
His comments came after Ms Hanson questioned the well-documented evidence of Russia's involvement in the attack, and suggested Mr Putin could not be held accountable because he did not "push the button".
"I respect the man. He is very patriotic towards his country, the people love him, he is doing so well for the country. So many Australians here want that leadership here in Australia," she told the ABC's Insiders program.I don't know Heather Arthur from Eve. Never met her, never read an article by her, seen a video she's in or shot, or seen her code. Matter of fact, I don't even know that she is a "she"--I'm just guessing from the name.
But apparently she got quite an ugly reaction from a few folks when she open-sourced some code:
So I went to see what people were saying about this project. I searched Twitter and several tweets came up. One of them, I guess the original one, was basically like “hey, this is cool”, but then the rest went like this:
"I cannot even make this stuff up." --@steveklabnik
"Ever wanted to make sed or grep worse?" --@zeeg
"@steveklabnik or just point to the actual code file. eyes bleeding!" --@coreyhaines
At this point, all I know is that by creating this project I’ve done something very wrong. It seemed liked I’d done something fundamentally wrong, so stupid that it flabbergasts someone. So wrong that it doesn’t even need to be explained. And my code is so bad it makes people’s eyes bleed. So of course I start sobbing.
Now, to be fair, Corey later apologized. But I'm still going to criticize the response. Not because Heather's a "she" and we should be more supportive of women in IT. Not because somebody took something they found interesting and put it up on github for anyone to take a look at and use if they found it useful. Not even because it's good code when they said it was bad code or vice versa. (To be honest, I haven't even looked at the code--that's how immaterial it is to my point.)
I'm criticizing because this is what "software craftsmanship" gets us: an imposed segregation of those who "get it" from those who "don't" based on somebody's arbitrary criteria of what we should or shouldn't be doing. And if somebody doesn't use the "right" tools or code it in the "right" way, then bam! You clearly aren't a "craftsman" (or "craftswoman"?) and you clearly don't care about your craft and you clearly aren't worth the time or energy necessary to support and nourish and grow and....
Frankly, I've not been a fan of this movement since its inception. Dave Thomas (Ruby Dave) was on a software panel with me at a No Fluff Just Stuff show about five years ago when we got on to this subject, and Dave said, point blank, "About half of the programmers in the world should just go take up farming." He paused, and in the moment that followed, I said, "Wow, Dave, way to insult half the room." He immediately pointed out that the people in the room were part of the first half, since they were at a conference, but it just sort of underscored to me how high-handed and high-minded that kind of talk and position can be.
Not all of us writing code have to be artists. Frankly, in the world of painting, there are those who will spend hours and days and months, tiny brushes in hand, jars of pigment just one lumens different from one another, laboring over the finest details, creating just one piece... and then there are those who paint houses with paint-sprayers, out of cans of mass-produced "Cream Beige" found at your local Lowes. And you know what? We need both of them.
I will now coin a term that I consider to be the opposite of "software craftsman": the "software laborer". In my younger days, believing myself to be one of those "craftsmen", a developer who knew C++ in and out, who understood memory management and pointers, who could create elegant and useful solutions in templates and classes and inheritance, I turned up my nose at those "laborers" who cranked out one crappy app after another in (what else?) Visual Basic. My app was tight, lean, and well-tuned; their apps were sloppy, bloated, and ugly. My app was a paragon of reused code; their apps were cut-and-paste cobbled-together duct-tape wonders. My app was a shining beacon on a hill for all the world to admire; their apps were mindless drones, slogging through the mud.... Yeah, OK, so you get the idea.
But the funny thing was, those "laborers" were going home at 5 every day. Me, I was staying sometimes until 9pm, wallowing in the wonderment of my code. And, I have to wonder, how much of that was actually not the wonderment of my code, but the wonderment of "me" over the wonderment of "code".
Speaking of, by the way, there appear to be the makings of another such false segregation, in the areas of "functional programming". In defense of Elliott Rusty Harold's blog the other day (which I criticized, and still stand behind, for the reasons I cited there), there are a lot of programmers that are falling into the trap of thinking that "all the cool kids are using functional programming, so if I want to be a cool kid, I have to use functional programming too, even though I'm not sure what I'm doing....". Not all the cool kids are using FP. Some aren't even using OOP. Some are just happily humming along using good ol' fashioned C. And producing some really quality stuff doing so.
See, I have to wonder just how much of the software "craftsmanship" being touted isn't really a narcissistic "Look at me, world! Look at how much better I am because I care about what I do! Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!" kind of mentality. Too much of software "craftsmanship" seems to be about the "me" part of "my code". And when I think about why that is, I come to an interesting assertion: That if we take the name away from the code, and just look at the code, we can't really tell what's "elegant" code, what's "hack" code, and what was "elegant hack because there were all these other surrounding constraints outside the code". Without the context, we can't tell.
A few years after my high point as a C++ "craftsman", I was asked to do a short, one-week programming gig/assignment, and the more I looked at it, the more it screamed "VB" at me. And I discovered that what would've taken me probably a month to do in C++ was easily accomplished in a few days in VB. I remember looking at the code, and feeling this sickening, sinking sense of despair at how stupid I must've looked, crowing. VB isn't a bad language--and neither is C++. Or Java. Or C#. Or Groovy, or Scala, or Python, or, heck, just about any language you choose to name. (Except Perl. I refuse to cave on that point. Mostly for comedic effect.)
But more importantly, somebody who comes in at 9, does what they're told, leaves at 5, and never gives a rat's ass about programming except for what they need to know to get their job done, I have respect for them. Yes, some people will want to hold themselves up as "painters", and others will just show up at your house at 8 in the morning with drop cloths. Both have their place in the world. Neither should be denigrated for their choices about how they live their lives or manage their careers. (Yes, there's a question of professional ethics--I want the house painters to make sure they do a good job, too, but quality can come just as easily from the nozzle of a spray painter as it does from the tip of a paintbrush.)
I end this with one of my favorite parables from Japanese lore:
Several centuries ago, a tea master worked in the service of Lord Yamanouchi. No-one else performed the way of the tea to such perfection. The timing and the grace of his every move, from the unfurling of mat, to the setting out of the cups, and the sifting of the green leaves, was beauty itself. His master was so pleased with his servant, that he bestowed upon him the rank and robes of a Samurai warrior. When Lord Yamanouchi travelled, he always took his tea master with him, so that others could appreciate the perfection of his art. On one occasion, he went on business to the great city of Edo, which we now know as Tokyo. When evening fell, the tea master and his friends set out to explore the pleasure district, known as the floating world. As they turned the corner of a wooden pavement, they found themselves face to face with two Samurai warriors. The tea master bowed, and politely step into the gutter to let the fearsome ones pass. But although one warrior went by, the other remained rooted to the spot. He stroked a long black whisker that decorated his face, gnarled by the sun, and scarred by the sword. His eyes pierced through the tea maker’s heart like an arrow. He did not quite know what to make of the fellow who dressed like a fellow Samurai, yet who would willingly step aside into a gutter. What kind of warrior was this? He looked him up and down. Where were broad shoulders and the thick neck of a man of force and muscle? Instinct told him that this was no soldier. He was an impostor who by ignorance or impudence had donned the uniform of a Samurai. He snarled: “Tell me, oh strange one, where are you from and what is your rank?” The tea master bowed once more. “It is my honour to serve Lord Yamanouchi and I am his master of the way of the tea.” “A tea-sprout who dares to wear the robes of Samurai?” exclaimed the rough warrior. The tea master’s lip trembled. He pressed his hands together and said: “My lord has honoured me with the rank of a Samurai and he requires me to wear these robes. “ The warrior stamped the ground like a raging a bull and exclaimed: “He who wears the robes of a Samurai must fight like a Samurai. I challenge you to a duel. If you die with dignity, you will bring honour to your ancestors. And if you die like a dog, at least you will be no longer insult the rank of the Samurai!” By now, the hairs on the tea master’s neck were standing on end like the feet of a helpless centipede that has been turned upside down. He imagined he could feel that edge of the Samurai blade against his skin. He thought that his last second on earth had come. But the corner of the street was no place for a duel with honour. Death is a serious matter, and everything has to be arranged just so. The Samurai’s friend spoke to the tea master’s friends, and gave them the time and the place for the mortal contest. When the fierce warriors had departed, the tea master’s friends fanned his face and treated his faint nerves with smelling salts. They steadied him as they took him into a nearby place of rest and refreshment. There they assured him that there was no need to fear for his life. Each one of them would give freely of money from his own purse, and they would collect a handsome enough sum to buy the warrior off and make him forget his desire to fight a duel. And if by chance the warrior was not satisfied with the bribe, then surely Lord Yamanouchi would give generously to save his |
with participation of the Commission on military and technical cooperation and export control, as well as the State Enterprise 'Pivdenmash' [Yuzhmash] and Design Office 'Pivdenne' [Yuzhnoye], I instructed to conduct without delay a thorough and inclusive scrutiny into the situation and to report back to me in three days,” the president’s Wednesday statement reads.BY: Follow @DavidRutz
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) roasted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday for suggesting Russia might have the "right approach" in resolving the Syrian conflict, saying he had "divorced a fundamental of American democracy."
Tillerson told reporters on Friday that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spent a significant amount of time at their meeting Friday in Germany discussing Syria, where the Russians back the Bashar al-Assad regime and the U.S. backs anti-Assad rebels.
"And I would tell you that, by and large, our objectives are exactly the same," Tillerson said. "How we get there, we each have a view. But there's a lot more commonality to that than there are differences … Maybe they've got the right approach and we've got the wrong approach."
After CBS host John Dickerson played the audio clip on "Face The Nation," McCain said, "You can't make that up."
"These are the same people that use precision-guided weapons to strike hospitals in Aleppo where sick and wounded people are," McCain said. "Preparing myself mentally to be on this show, I said, ‘John, you're not going to get upset. You're not going to get emotional.' But I've met the White [Helmets]. I know what the slaughter has been like."
McCain added the Russians knew that Assad would use chemical weapons against his own people.
"And to say that maybe we've got the wrong approach?" McCain asked incredulously.
He added he "agonized" over whether to confirm Tillerson to lead the State Department because of his past comments about Russia.
"He has divorced a fundamental of American democracy. The reason why we are the shining city on the hill as Ronald Reagan used to say is because they look up to us because of our principles and our beliefs and our advocacy for freedom. That's what America's supposed to be all about," McCain said. "Not whether they're right and we're wrong. We know who's right and who's wrong here."
"Do you regret that vote for Tillerson?" Dickerson asked.
"Sometimes I do, but I'm still torn by the fact that the American people chose this president and he ought to be able to have his team," McCain said, adding he confirmed Barack Obama's chosen Cabinet for that reason in 2009.Last month, we unveiled the longlists for the Best Translated Book Awards (BTBA), an award founded by Three Percent that comes with a $5,000 prize for author and translator alike. Below, behold the finalists. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in New York and at The Millions on May 4.
For more information on the award, its history, the judges, etc., please visit the official Best Translated Book Award site and the official BTBA Facebook page, and follow the award on Twitter.
Best Translated Book Award 2017: Fiction Finalists
Wicked Weeds by Pedro Cabiya, translated from the Spanish by Jessica Powell (Dominican Republic, Mandel Vilar Press)
Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lúcio Cardoso, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson (Brazil, Open Letter Books)
Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi, translated from the French by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Mauritius, Deep Vellum)
Zama by Antonio di Benedetto, translated from the Spanish by Esther Allen (Argentina, New York Review Books)
Doomi Golo by Boubacar Boris Diop, translated from the Wolof by Vera Wülfing-Leckie and El Hadji Moustapha Diop (Senegal, Michigan State University Press)
War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, translated from the Dutch by David McKay (Belgium, Pantheon)
Umami by Laia Jufresa, translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes (Mexico, Oneworld)
Oblivion by Sergi Lebedev, translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis (Russia, New Vessel Press)
Ladivine by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump (France, Knopf)
Among Strange Victims by Daniel Saldaña Paris, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Mexico, Coffee House Press)
Best Translated Book Award 2017: Poetry Finalists
Berlin-Hamlet by Szilárd Borbély, translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet (Hungary, New York Review Books)
Of Things by Michael Donhauser, translated from the German by Nick Hoff and Andrew Joron (Austria, Burning Deck Press)
Cheer Up, Femme Fatale by Yideum Kim, translated from the Korean by Ji Yoon Lee, Don Mee Choi, and Johannes Göransson (South Korea, Action Books)
In Praise of Defeat by Abdellatif Laâbi, translated from the French by Donald Nicholson-Smith (Morocco, Archipelago Books)
Extracting the Stone of Madness by Alejandra Pizarnik, translated from the Spanish by Yvette Siegert (Argentina, New Directions) (read our review)Get the biggest football 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
Andre Villas-Boas is set to make a fresh £24million swoop for Joao Moutinho after watching him play on Tuesday.
Tottenham almost landed the Portugal midfielder in August for a club record fee, but could not complete the deal before the transfer deadline.
This week, Spurs boss Villas-Boas travelled to France to run the rule over the 26-year-old as he played for Porto in their 2-1 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
Villas-Boas, who managed the Portuguese club before making his ill-fated move to Chelsea in 2011, said: “Whenever Porto are close to the place where I am, I go see them.
“I went to see them last season against Manchester City and took the opportunity to go and see them again against PSG.
“It was a tiring trip, but good to see people that are important to me.”
Meanwhile, former Spurs target Hulk has been told he can leave Zenit St Petersburg after his incredible Tuesday strop – but he’s going nowhere in a hurry.
The £39.5million Brazilian striker is tied to the Russian club for the rest of the season because he only signed from Porto in September.
Hulk, 26, was furious when he was replaced 10 minutes before the end of the Champions League tie against AC Milan.
He refused to shake hands with Italian coach Luciano Spaletti – and crossed his arms to suggest his unhappy spell at the club was finished.
Hulk, who has caused a dressing-room split because he earns £4million a year, said: “If the situation with the coach does not resolve itself I may leave the club in the January transfer window.”
But FIFA regulations prevent a player representing three clubs in one season.He then followed up by asking: "You think Hillary would be able to stand up here for an hour and do this? I don't know. I don't think so."
"It's hot and it's always hot when I perform because the crowds are so big," he told a crowd in Canton, Ohio.
CANTON, Ohio — Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested his rival Hillary Clinton lacks the stamina to lead a large rally, days after her campaign revealed that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
A BuzzFeed News reporter at the Ohio rally, meanwhile, disputed Trump's assertion that it was hot inside the venue.
Trump just told rally it's 122 degrees in the room. It's not. It's cool in here. Sleeves and jackets.
Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, but her campaign didn't reveal her condition until Sunday, after she was caught stumbling while leaving a 9/11 memorial.
Trump has largely refrained from addressing Clinton's health, but Wednesday marked the first time he did so in a negative light. Though his comments were vague, several supporters in the audience held theories that were quite specific.
"Hillary has a serious medical problem that they are not disclosing,” Dave Sumser told BuzzFeed News. He speculated Clinton actually suffered a seizure on Sunday and has Parkinson’s disease. Still, he noted, “All you can do is speculate.”
While there is no evidence to support the claims, he suggested, “She might not make it to Election Day."
In contrast, Sumser and other supporters in the arena believe Trump’s vigor at Wednesday’s rally — and his busy schedule — demonstrate his fitness.
“I think Trump is in good health personally,” Sumser said. “Look at how many rallies he is doing a week — sometimes two a day.”
Another man told BuzzFeed News that Trump was “strong as a horse.”
For his part, Trump taped a segment with Dr. Oz, set to air Thursday, during which he discussed his own health exam results. His campaign also said the results would be released publicly.
One audience member told reporters that Trump said he wanted to lose 15 pounds and discussed why he eats fast food. Trump also purportedly said he never exercises.
Nancy Ley said she believed Clinton “is covering up an illness that she has had a long time." She cited a YouTube video that claims Clinton has Parkinson's disease as the basis for the speculation. She thought both candidates should release their full medical records.
“I thought he was healthy, because his wife cooks for him and she is beautiful and thin,” Ley added. “Anybody who can do what he does is healthy. He was in Flint, Michigan, and now he’s here. I can’t imagine.”
Trump later told the crowd Clinton was "lying in bed, getting better." When the crowd booed, he added: "We want her better, we want her back on the trail."
Several Trump backers noted Clinton’s stumble on Sunday.
“If someone is going to be president, you don’t want them to keel over,” Alex Stone said. “Trump doesn’t have any problem getting into a van and Hillary does.”
But Jennifer Burn dismissed the health conspiracies and theories on both sides, noting that both candidates are seniors.
“Everybody has health issues,” said Burn. “They are not spring chickens.”Lady Gaga photo via Instagram, Bowie photo by Jimmy King
The 58th Annual Grammy Awards take place on February 15. The previously-reported list of performers set to appear on the telecast includes Kendrick Lamar, the Weeknd, Adele, Ellie Goulding, and Lionel Richie, among other names. Now, the Academy has announced that Lady Gaga will honor David Bowie with an "experiential tribute" performed under the musical direction of Chic's Nile Rodgers.
A press release says: "Affording audiences a chance to experience Bowie's music once again, the tribute will be a multisensory testament to the icon's incredible artistry and a reflection of his limitless creativity."
According to a press release, Gaga—whose song "'Til It Happens to You" is up for Best Song Written for Visual Media this year—had already been confirmed to perform at the Grammys. The nature of her performance shifted in the wake of Bowie's death.
"We immediately spoke and agreed that she should be the one to honor David," Grammys executive producer Ken Ehrlich said in a press release. "She's perfect for it. So I reached out to Nile and, before long, we were on our way to creating what we believe will not only make a great GRAMMY Moment, but one befitting of David."
Find the full list of Grammy nominations here.
Read our "Afterword" feature on Bowie, plus tributes from Rodgers, Bradford Cox, Carlos Dengler, Thurston Moore, Carlos Alomar, and Jonathan Lethem.By: Clarice Palmer (ANTIMEDIA) Washington, D.C. — Holly Harris may wear cowboy boots to work, but the Kentucky mom and Executive Director for the US Justice Action Network (USJAN) is far from your average southerner.
On June 25th, Harris talked about her work to a group of journalists and bloggers who traveled to Washington D.C. from different corners of the country to hear from leaders of the criminal justice reform movement. Harris was the first speaker at FreedomWorks’ #JusticeForAll event, and as the leader of USJAN, she set the tone for what turned out to be a fascinating conference.
The veteran litigator opened her speech by outlining USJAN’s goals, explaining the organization believes “our [criminal] code just doesn’t make sense.” That’s why their “goal is to shrink criminal codes” and “get rid of these unfair, unnecessary duplicative and inconsistent laws.”
But it was something else she told the crowd a few minutes later that got attendees worked up.
“The fastest growing segment of the prison population in America,” Harris articulated, “is women … and nobody is talking about that.”
According to the Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (FAMM), the female prison population in the United States has grown by over 800 percent in the last 30 years, while the male population grew by 416 percent during the same period. Despite this staggering growth, violent criminals are not being sent to prison in droves. Instead, nearly two-thirds of female prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.
About 56 percent of incarcerated women are in jail due to the drug war or over property crimes, FAMM reports. These types of offenses usually carry mandatory minimums, which are sentences that must be imposed no matter what. This strips judges of the ability to consider mitigating circumstances.
Due to mandatory minimums, FAMM contends, many women are given sentences that do not fit the crime — and the result is tragic.
Because 60 percent of women in prison are also mothers to children under the age of 18, the drug war has negatively impacted countless families; the number of American children whose mothers are in jail has more than double since 1991.
When data is broken down into racial classifications, we also learn there’s a serious racial element to incarceration in the United States.
According to FAMM, 380 out of every 100,000 black women in America are in jail, while 147 out of every 100,000 Hispanic women and 93 out of every 100,000 white women are incarcerated. While whites account for 79.8 percent of the U.S. population and 63.8 percent of women in America are white, only 45.5 percent of the female prison population is white. “By contrast,” the FAMM report explains, “black women represent 32.6 percent of female prisoners, but only 12.8% of the general population,” making black children “nearly 7.5 times more likely than white children to have a parent in prison.”
Another shocking piece of data relates to the number of individuals with mental health problems in jail. According to FAMM, 73 percent of female state prisoners have a mental illness, a high number compared to the 55 percent of the male prison population with the same conditions.
Women in jail are also more likely to carry HIV/AIDS.
Amid the discouraging data, however, Harris has been able to see an upside, working relentlessly with USJAN to bring justice reform bills to state and federal legislators. As the organization gets involved with local groups to scrap bad laws from the books — and as Harris sees a greater number of lawmakers joining her fight — she believes “every state in the country now is going to be looking at more aggressive criminal justice reforms.” Since “the Bureau of Prisons’ budget grew by roughly 88 percent in nominal dollars” between 2000 and 2015, consuming “a quarter of the Justice Department’s annual appropriations,” FreedomWorks reports, Harris believes the budget crisis every single state is currently struggling with will eventually push legislators to act.
According to USJAN’s website, the organization has successfully lobbied and worked with both Republican and Democratic senators to develop bills like the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, which, if passed, would reform mandatory minimums for drug offenses, give judges discretion on sentencing, and expand programs that help to keep former prisoners from ending up back behind bars. The bill would also apply reforms retroactively to those already in prison.
The full Senate floor is expected to vote for this proposed law in the near future.
During her conversation with political bloggers in D.C. about justice reform this past weekend, Harris also talked about the “cycle of failure” her organization wants to break by helping former inmates rebuild their lives. But reforming the criminal code is not enough. Harris maintains “the drug epidemic is why we’re seeing this growth” of the female prison population. Cleaning the criminal code is only the first step toward a much greater shift in policy.
This article (Female Prison Population In America Has Grown 800% And Nobody Is Talking About It) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Clarice Palmer and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific.The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it.
This is a proposal for closing and/or deleting a wiki hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is subject to the current closing projects policy. The proposal is rejected and the project will be kept open. Explanation by the closing Langcom member: Obviously not trolling, but ultimate ignorance. Proposer should educate him/herself in linguistic diversity. Useful resource in this case is English Wikipedia article Scots language. --Millosh 09:12, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Type: 1 (routine proposal)
1 (routine proposal) Proposed outcome: deletion
deletion Proposed action regarding the content: move off-project
move off-project Notice on the project: http://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Main_Page#Proposals_for_closing_project
http://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Main_Page#Proposals_for_closing_project Informed Group(s): (Which chapters, wiki projects, and other community groups have been informed, if any.)
rejected
Joke project. Funny for a few minutes, but inappropriate use of resources. Chzz 02:20, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
Oppose. Not a joke. It's a real language with 200,000 native speakers. --Ron Ritzman 02:41, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
. Not a joke. It's a real language with 200,000 native speakers. --Ron Ritzman 02:41, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose Entirely real language, no serious reason for closure has been provided. Courcelles 02:44, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
Entirely real language, no serious reason for closure has been provided. Courcelles 02:44, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose Real language, lots of people who speak it, and decent activity. Ajraddatz (Talk) 02:46, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
Real language, lots of people who speak it, and decent activity. Ajraddatz 02:46, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose and a trout to Chzz. —Gfoley Four— 02:48, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
Comment no, it isn't a real language; it's English, written in a semblance of a specific pronounced dialect. Is anyone actually being serious here? Will we host a Liverpudlian Wiki, a Scouse Wiki, a Cockney Wiki? Chzz 02:56, 21 August 2011 (UTC) By that logic, the Dutch Wikipedia should be closed because it's just German spoken in a funny way. harej 03:13, 21 August 2011 (UTC) No you have it backwards. German is actually "Dutch spoken in a funny way". Now if you'll excuse me I have to compose a proposal to close the English Wikipedia. After all it's just Scots spoken in a funny way. --Ron Ritzman 03:34, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Indeed, Scots is closer to its linguistic roots than English is. For that matter, we have both Malaysian and Indonesian side-by-side. This proposal is doomed from the start. Wōdenhelm 04:21, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Chzz, Cockney dialect doesn't have an ISO code, Scots does. Scots is closer to Old English than modern English is, if you want to get into a linguistic argument about the virtues of each language... Tempodivalse [talk] 03:34, 22 August 2011 (UTC) You just provided strong justification that ISO does not equal language. Cockney has never been called a language but always a dialect, verifying that dialects are lumped into IOS also. Ottava Rima (talk) 03:50, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Oppose It might be similar to English, but it meets all the criteria for being a language in its own right. If it has a sufficient corpus of speakers and texts and if there's a more-or-less standard grammar, it's a language to me. harej 03:13, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
It might be similar to English, but it meets all the criteria for being a language in its own right. If it has a sufficient corpus of speakers and texts and if there's a more-or-less standard grammar, it's a language to me. harej 03:13, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Vehement Oppose - Scots is legally recognized as a language, which evolved from Middle English (not even Modern English), and is different enough to warrant its own recognition. Furthermore, this proposal seems to serve no purpose other than insulting the language, as well as an attempt to shut down a legitimate project over someone's little whim. The English/Scots relation can be likewise compared to Spanish/Portuguese, and perhaps German/Dutch. From my own observations over the years, English speakers have a hard time coping with varieties of speech within their language family, other than the artificial Standard. In fact, I'd say that the wide variety of languages that Wikimedia honors (that other major publications seem to ignore), Scots is one of the very target languages which stand to be better upheld. This proposal is absolutely senseless, and is possibly discriminatory in nature. It wont hold up. Wōdenhelm 03:18, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
"legally recognized" - got a ref for that? Is it more recognized than Scouse/Geordie/Cockney etc? Should we make a L33t and a lolcat wiki? Chzz 04:29, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Right here: In 2007, the Scottish Government issued its official position on the status of Scots: "Notwithstanding the UK government's and the Scottish Executive's obligations under part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Scottish Executive recognises and respects Scots (in all its forms) as a distinct language, and does not consider the use of Scots to be an indication of poor competence in English."[1] Wōdenhelm 05:11, 21 August 2011 (UTC) That's from the en:Council of Europe then, which apparently "cannot make binding laws". Chzz 06:23, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Either way, it shows recognition. Your discriminatory attempt at shutting down this Wikipedia is no different from trying to go after Portuguese, Dutch, Malaysian, or any other of that nature, for simply being similar to, yet not conforming to some artificial standard. Your proposal is foolish, and I can guarantee it'll fail. Wōdenhelm 06:28, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
Support and close French wikipedia as a barbarous Latin spoken by savages. Seb az86556 04:38, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oh, mon Dieu! -- Dferg 08:45, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Aye, and close the Esperanto Wikipedia. Those guys have no business making up their own language. Right? (/sarcasm) Tempodivalse [talk] 03:36, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
and close French wikipedia as a barbarous Latin spoken by savages. Seb az86556 04:38, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose I feel sad for zh-min-nan and zh-yue and zh-wu and zhuang. --Bencmq 05:22, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
I feel sad for zh-min-nan and zh-yue and zh-wu and zhuang. --Bencmq 05:22, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose -- Dferg 08:45, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
-- Dferg 08:45, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose on the understanding that there does seem to be official recognition; if it's not disruptive in and of itself, I can't really see a valid reason for shutting it down. ThatPeskyCommoner 08:54, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
on the understanding that there does to be official recognition; if it's not disruptive in and of itself, I can't really see a valid reason for shutting it down. ThatPeskyCommoner 08:54, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose The proposer obviously hasn't read the article Scots language. Whatever one's own position on the language status of Scots, Scots does have a long-standing literary tradition. A Scots wiki can be accepted as a contemporary continuation of that tradition. Nogger 12:25, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
Support - to be honest, a lot of the opposes are assuming that dialect = language. According to Wikipedia: "Since there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing languages from dialects, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots". Therefore, there is no legitimate reason to keep. Ottava Rima (talk) 21:48, 21 August 2011 (UTC) That doesn't explain why we should close it, though. How does it possibly hurt Wikimedia to expand free content to one more group of people? Ajraddatz (Talk) 21:59, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
You fail to see the significant differences, which are indeed enough to warrant different Wikipedias. The same argument could be made for Norwegian/Swedish/Danish, but guess what. Wōdenhelm 22:07, 21 August 2011 (UTC) If that is our rationale (i.e. "how would it hurt") then you could justify a lulcatz wiki. I don't buy such generalizations or doing whatever we want whenever we want kind of arguments. Ottava Rima (talk) 22:42, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Wow, I didn't know that some people's first language was lolcat. However, this language is spoken by over 200,000 people. See the difference, and what I was trying to say now? Ajraddatz (Talk) 23:41, 21 August 2011 (UTC) "However, this language is spoken by over 200,000 people. " Not sure how you can say that because if you heard them speak it sounds an awful a lot like English. Ottava Rima (talk) 00:10, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Actually, while I'm here, I'll pick apart your argument a bit more. If a group of 100,000 people in northern Canada decided to speak lolcats instead of English, and taught it to they children over many generations, then there certainly would be a Wikipedia for lolcats. The aim here is to provide a free encyclopedia to everyone on this planet... so if a Scots Wikipedia would help bring free knowledge to even 100 people who legitimately speak Scots better than English, then why on Earth would we not have one? Honestly, why are we so focussed on drama and creating problems to be fixed (i.e. things like this request) when we could be actually working towards that goal? Ajraddatz (Talk) 23:53, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Making our projects laughable only hinders, not helps. Scottish people are quite able to use the English Wikipedia with proper spelling instead of trying to capture their accents through phonetic transcription. Ottava Rima (talk) 00:10, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Your use of "laughable" just proves that your motivation here is prejudiced. You still failed to address the single Nordic language which is arbitrarily split into the 3 labels of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish. (see what I did there?). Wōdenhelm 00:40, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Prejudice? How? What am I prejudiced against? I actually have written academic papers dealing with the Romantic Poets and their relationship with Scottish Literature, which was written in the same "Scot" you talk about. It is perfectly readable with only a few word differences, which is common to all dialect differences. Ottava Rima (talk) 00:52, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
OK, so now somebody actually supports this bullshit. Can somebody else close this as vandalism, please? I honestly thought it was a joke... or maybe Chzz got drunk... Seb az86556 22:26, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Now now. All people should have a chance to express their opinion. Then the majority can prevail. #minorityrights harej 22:28, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Opinions are one thing. This is something else. Seb az86556 22:29, 21 August 2011 (UTC) You argue about opinions, but even the Wiki points out that your "opinion" on the validity of this being a language isn't fact. The WMF took a stance on languages having to be languages. That is why we don't have a Montenegran wiki. Ottava Rima (talk) 22:42, 21 August 2011 (UTC) It has an ISO code. End of debate. Seb az86556 22:50, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Your statement is not necessarily true because the code does not make it official especially since the International Standards Organization is not a linguistic body. It is only a short hand company. Furthermore, it is also not a 1 code but a 2 and a 3. There is substantial evidence that it is merely a dialect, especially when it appears to be little more than misspelled English. This is the equivalent of saying Shakespearean is its own English, "Ye Olde English", even though it is still part of Modern English. Ottava Rima (talk) 00:08, 22 August 2011 (UTC) That's just it; Scots didnt evolve from Modern English. Early Modern (Shakespearian) is therefore closer to Standard English than Scots is. Wōdenhelm 00:45, 22 August 2011 (UTC) I think you misread what I said. I was pointing out that Modern English is same thing as Shakespearian. Scots didn't "evolve" from Modern English. It -is- Modern English. From Wikipedia: "Consequently, Scots is often regarded as one of the ancient varieties of English, but with its own distinct dialects." They are the same language with the same source, Middle English. Jive has more literature proving it is a language than Scot does, especially with Jive having actual substantial differences beyond spelling and pronunciation. Ottava Rima (talk) 00:50, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Just a few weeks ago, I gave an audio recording of Shetlandic Scots to some of my friends (American), and in some cases, they didnt even recognize it to be related to English. Besides that, I can see that you've been banned from editing Wikipedia, so quite frankly, anything you've put here is void and worthy of deletion. Wōdenhelm 01:09, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
After I was banned at Wikipedia, SJ, a WMF Board member, proxied this page that I wrote 100%. An Arbitrator also proxied this and this one. Why? Because not only were they incredibly well written pages, but that I am a literature scholar whose real identity is well known across the WMF and I have participated in many meet ups and other events. And I can give a recording of any Scottish accent and people wont understand here. I can also play Cockney here and people wont get it. Now, I could do the opposite and have someone from backwater Louisiana speak for a Brit and the Brit wont understand. That is called "Dialect". Same language, different pronunciation. Ottava Rima (talk) 01:18, 22 August 2011 (UTC) I know what a dialect is, you jackhole, Scots uses different vocabulary as well. There's a long literary history, an identity, as well as some of its own grammar. It's a language, regardless of the fact that you can understand it easily. Norwegians understand Danish just fine, yet they dont deny its standing. Wōdenhelm 01:35, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Resorting to statements like "jackhole" is proof that you are not here under the best intentions. Americans use a different vocabulary based on regions, especially from British. I already pointed out Jive. As for Norwegian et al, you really need to refresh your history. See here where they establish a unique written language that does more than rely on phonetics of accents. Regardless, your arguments would be for the abolition of another Wiki, not the preservation of this one. Ottava Rima (talk) 03:04, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Are you kidding me? I was using your own style of argument against you. I'm against the abolition of all Wikipedia language editions. Get a job. Wōdenhelm 03:25, 22 August 2011 (UTC) I have a job. And your own argument didn't do anything against me - all you did was undermine another language. You need to justify this as a language, not others as dialects. You cannot disprove that Jive is more different from English than Scots is yet is still a dialect. Ottava Rima (talk) 03:49, 22 August 2011 (UTC) I dont need to justify anything; it's recognized as a language, has an ISO code, is recognized by professional linguists, as well as by Scotland. You're just trying to use your opinion as a basis for "this is how it is". And no, I did not undermine another language; I was demonstrating to you, the very thing you're doing. Wōdenhelm 04:07, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Oppose --Reder 23:00, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
--Reder 23:00, 21 August 2011 (UTC) Oppose, calling the language a "joke" is an affront. It has its own ISO code and is as different from English as Dansk is to Svenska or Russkij to Belaruskaja. Tempodivalse [talk] 03:31, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
ISO is not provided by a linguistics organization and has nothing to do with linguistics. It is provided by a company that trademarks and sells standardization to other companies and organizations. Merely saying the two is different does not make them so, and the Wikipedia page makes it clear that its establishment as a language is controversial at best. Ottava Rima (talk) 03:49, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Oppose Per Bencmq. Email Vaibhav Talk 03:51, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Per Bencmq. 03:51, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Comment "Making our projects laughable only hinders, not helps" -- says it all. Tnx, OR. Chzz 07:03, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Keep and Speedy close proposal The proposer's suggestion that Scots is a joke is bad-faith trollery. Evertype 08:50, 22 August 2011 (UTC) Member of LangCom.
References [ edit ]There's a new call for politicians to look at maintenance grants for the poorest students.
More than a hundred universities are calling for a rethink on costs. Universities UK says the main worry for undergraduates is "money in their pocket" while they are studying.
It's estimated those from low income families will also leave with debts of £57,000.
We speak to students who paid for their studies by working several jobs.
Arwen: Waitress, fish & chip shop assistant and eBay seller
Arwen Hawley-Brandt (above) is in her final year at Falmouth University studying filmmaking.
"I've had to waitress, work in a fish and chip shop and sell loads of things on eBay in order to fund my way through my studies," she tells Newsbeat.
I'm in so much debt as it is, I might as well get the degree Arwen Hawley-Brandt
Although she says the course itself is a lot of fun, she's not sure if the costs she's incurred will be worth it.
"I've contemplated dropping out but the only reason I'm staying is I'm in so much debt as it is, I might as well get the degree."
The 23-year-old had no option but to take out a credit card. "Then because I couldn't pay it off, I had to leave university early to go back to my parents and work, because they kept getting letters."
"Worrying about money has caused me a lot of anxiety and feelings of depression. I've had to stay in student halls again because I couldn't afford the £3,000 for a deposit on a house share."
Stephen: Builder, call centre salesman, university fundraising and pedi-cab driver
Stephen Rooney, 30, from Newcastle had four jobs when he was studying politics.
"I did pedi-cabbing, worked in a call centre doing sales and service at Direct Line |
other gun merchants interested in his app. He visited them at their next show, where they accepted several payments using the app.
"It's a sales-limiting factor," said Rudnick. "No credit card can mean no sale."
That's where Snappay comes in. A merchant can launch the app and input the payment amount. Then the device's camera snaps an image of the customer's credit card. Enter the card's security code and the item is paid for.
"It's for people who make jewelry at their kitchen table," Rudnick said.
Snappay has 600 registered users worldwide. They are musicians who sell CDs after their concerts. They are contractors who operate their business out of a truck and crafters who sell their goods at trade shows. They are "non-brick-and-motor" merchants, Rudnick said.
Snappay even has users Rudnick didn't expect.
"We have a guy in Vietnam on a marina," he said.
Boats pull up to the marina and the Vietnamese man refuels them.
"He uses Snappay," Rudnick said.
The man
Rudnick is a seasoned businessman and entrepreneur with 40 years under his belt. He's built quite the eclectic resume.
"In the '70s, answering machines used to run on tape," he said. "It was my idea to have stars — celebrities — answer the machine."
Rudnick, in his early 20s, invented the "Phonies," a series of tapes voice actors that made it sounds like Crosby, Stills and Nash or Mae West were answering your phone.
After a few years, Rudnick decided he wanted a change. He wanted to own a bar.
Rudnick owned and operated Feathers on Young Street in Hamilton for two years.
"It was disco dining at its finest," he said.
And from there, another change into the beer business. Rudnick did sales for Labatt and traveled around Canada from the Briar Cup to the Indy to fishing tournaments in Northern Saskatchewan.
Rudnick realized he preferred being his own boss and went back to owning a small business, and the local Hamilton economy.
"I'm a strong Hamilton supporter," he said.
Rudnick has always been a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and various Bias.
At 63, this entrepreneur and father of three adult children is still inspired by local business leaders. He cites the Innovation factories Ron Neumann, Trivaris' Mark Chamberlain and the Chamber's David Adames as "wonderful people leading the way."
"It's guys like me who look up to them," he said. "These are the Steve Jobs of Hamilton."
The company
"Every start-up needs two bodies. One has got to be the [Chief Technical Officer], the geek. The other is the hustler," Rudnick said, reciting a quote. "I'm the hustler."
Snappay started out as a one-man show. Lorne Lantz (the geek), 34, was an MBA student at McMaster University. Rudnick said Lantz was approached one day by someone who needed a mechanism to sell tickets and organize a campus event.
Lantz was known to be good at web coding, and he took the job. The end product was the invention of Groupstore, a website that acts like a store for student group events, selling tickets and organizing guest lists.
Groupstore took off, and Lantz brought it to the Innovation Factory. He was mentored by entrepreneur-in-residence Robin Hopper, who saw the true genius in Lantz's site.
"That payment module. That's it," Hopper told Lantz.
Lantz then created the app and partnered with PayPal. The IF approached Rudnick to handle the business side of the company and Snappay launched in March.
Rudnick said a unique difference between Snappay and a bank credit card machine is merchants can access their money immediately after a payment with the app. There are no "holdbacks," he said, or when the bank withholds money from the merchant for a period of time.
"The woman who makes jewelry in her basement doesn't want to wait three days to get her money," he said.
Snappay works on iPhone and Android devices, and iPads and Blackberry Playbooks. Rudnick said the app is completely secure.
"We don't see any numbers, but we do see who made the purchase," he said.
But the best part is the technology was created all in Hamilton.
The Lion's Lair pitch: Why Snappay should win
As it stands, Snappay charts about $1,500 a day in payments made to its merchants, Rudnick said.
That's minimal in comparison to its counterparts. PayPal rings in at $150,000 per day and Square, a U.S.-only mobile payment method, makes $16 million.
"The concern is there is big competition," he said.
But that's more reason for the Lions to invest in Snappay. They have a viable product that could give Hamilton a competitive advantage, Rudnick said.
Lantz, who has won awards for his technical work, is also in demand. After coding Snappay, Rudnick said PayPal is after him and Square has been in touch.
"I'm confident that our app is as good as it gets," Rudnick said.
There are a few things Snappay is looking for — a RIM programmer so the app can be compatible with a Blackberry and the opportunity to patent more IP.
Rudnick said they'd also start a social media campaign to gain more exposure.
But up against his nine fellow Lion's Lair finalists, Rudnick said Snappay is one of the few companies that is off the ground and that would make a good investment for the Lions
"The bottom line is we're out in the market and we can actually compete," he said.Despite the weaker-than-expected same-store sales growth, CEO Kevin Johnson remained optimistic about the rest of the year.
"With our U.S. business accelerating throughout the quarter and strong performance in China, we are poised to deliver strong revenue growth in the second half and into the future," said Johnson said in a press release.
The company said same-store sales improved as the quarter progressed, culminating with a 4 percent U.S. same-store sales growth in March, and further acceleration into April.
In April, Starbucks received a lot of buzz on social media, after releasing a limited-time offering, a sweet-and-sour Unicorn Frappuccino, which quickly sold out at many locations.
Starbucks plans to release a number of new products in the months ahead, which "gives us great confidence in our ability to deliver strong comp sales and revenue growth in the back half of fiscal 2017," said Scott Maw, the company's chief financial officer.
In addition to beverage innovations, Starbucks is slated to open two more of its Roastery locations in 2018 and another in 2019. These "megastores" are designed to be much larger than a traditional Starbucks cafe and allow the company to do small-batch roastings of "rare and exotic" Reserve coffees.
The company could open as many as 20 to 30 of these locations around the world. Currently, Starbucks is slated to have locations in New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, Milan and two in Chicago in the next three years.
The company also reported second-quarter earnings that were in-line with forecasts, but revenue missed analysts' estimates.
The coffee chain posted earnings of 45 cents per share on $5.29 billion. It was expected to report earnings of 45 cents per share on $5.41 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.Rapturous welcome for pontiff in Nairobi’s Kangemi slum as he condemns inequality and injustice during his first Africa tour
Pope Francis has launched a blistering attack on “new forms of colonialism” that exacerbate the “dreadful injustice of urban exclusion” while speaking to thousands of people in one of Nairobi’s most impoverished slums.
Pope Francis visits Africa - in pictures Read more
On his last day in Kenya before travelling to Uganda on Friday, the pontiff criticised wealthy minorities who hoard resources at the expense of the poor and praised the values of solidarity and mutual support in deprived neighbourhoods. Such values, he said, had been forgotten by “an opulent society, anaesthetised by unbridled consumption” and were “not quoted in the stock exchange, are not subject to speculation and have no market price”.
Francis received a rapturous welcome as he arrived in Kangemi, one of 11 slums in Nairobi, where thousands of people live in shacks without sewerage.
Singing and ululating erupted as the popemobile weaved through a sea of tin-roofed homes to the local Catholic church, St Joseph the Worker.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Children cheer and wave during Francis’s visit to the Kangemi slum. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP
Some people had been waiting at the Jesuit church since before dawn to see Francis. “This is a special pope,” said Nelson Nzioka, 85. “Normally we just see such people on TV, but the fact that he came to such a place is a great moment and something everyone here will remember.”
John Wesonga, 28, who works in a programme to rehabilitate street children in a neighbouring settlement, said: “Ni mtu wa mtaa [he is one of us]. Sometimes the church can seem cold and wealthy, and far from normal people. Pope Francis has shown us that there is a different way and we, too, belong in the church.”
The pontiff told the packed congregation: “I am here because I want you to know that I am not indifferent to your joys and hopes, your troubles and your sorrows. I realise the difficulties which you experience daily. How can I not denounce the injustices which you suffer?”
Such injustices were the result of “wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and rundown peripheries”, the pope said.
He criticised the lack of “infrastructures and basic services”, adding: “By this I mean toilets, sewers, drains, refuse collection, electricity, roads, as well as schools, hospitals, recreational and sport centres, studios and workshops for artists and craftsmen. I refer, in particular, to access to drinking water.”
The pontiff also condemned what he described as the unjust distribution of land, poor housing and criminal gangs preying on children. “These realities … are not a random combination of unrelated problems. They are a consequence of new forms of colonialism which would make African countries ‘parts of a machine, cogs on a gigantic wheel’,” he said, citing a statement from Pope John Paul II in 1995.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The pontiff greets young Kenyans at the Kasarani sports stadium in Nairobi. Photograph: Jennifer Huxta/AFP/Getty Images
The pope proposed “integrated cities which belong to everyone” as way of alleviating urban poverty and inequality. “We need to go beyond the mere proclamation of rights which are not respected in practice, to implementing concrete and systematic initiatives capable of improving the overall living situation, and planning new urban developments of good quality for housing future generations,” he said.
After visiting Kangemi, the pope capped his three-day visit to Kenya with a plea to the country’s leadership to be more responsive to the needs of the people.
Pope Francis's first Africa visit: what should be on his agenda? Read more
Addressing tens of thousands of young Kenyans, who had packed into the country’s main stadium to listen to the last major speech of his tour, Francis said: “Corruption takes away our joy, our peace: corrupt people don’t live in peace. Corruption is something that eats inside, like sugar. Sweet, we like it, it’s easy. And then we end up badly.”
Kenya has been one of the poster boys of the “rising Africa” narrative, with a growing middle class, but it remains a deeply unequal society, where conditions in low-income urban settlements are among the worst on the continent.
Many church members such as Mary Owens, an Irish nun who has worked in Kenya for 48 years, said they hoped the legacy of the pontiff’s visit would be to focus attention on the needs of less affluent members of society. “The pope has shown that we must give consideration to the poor,” she said.
Francis was due to fly to neighbouring Uganda and then to Central African Republic on Sunday morning. His 26-hour visit to the latter country’s capital, Bangui, will be his first visit to a war zone.
Vatican security officials are constantly reviewing the situation on the ground before the pope’s visit. Spokesman Federico Lombardi said on Thursday night that the Bangui trip would proceed as planned.Getty Images
Lamar Miller jumped from the Dolphins to the Texans as a free agent this offseason and Miami’s pursuit of C.J. Anderson and Chris Johnson ended when those players returned to their teams.
That leaves Miami with a depth chart that features Jay Ajayi, Damien Williams, Daniel Thomas and Isaiah Pead, which is a group that many people think needs to be fortified before the start of the 2016 season. During a pre-draft press conference on Friday, General Manager Chris Grier did his best to suggest otherwise.
Grier said the Dolphins are “comfortable” moving forward with their current group of backs and that their skill sets fit with what coach Adam Gase has had success with in the past. Grier did add that the team would consider players at every position, however, and it seems likely that they’ll address the position at some point in the draft.
One name that’s come up in conjunction with the Dolphins has been Ezekiel Elliott. The Ohio State product visited with the team during the pre-draft process and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins have “strong interest” in him with the draft less than a week away. Elliott would have to make it to No. 13 barring a Dolphins trade up the board for Miami to have a chance at him.LAST Wednesday, more than 100,000 people showed up in Istanbul for a funeral that turned into a mass demonstration. No formal organization made the call. The news had come from Twitter: Berkin Elvan, 15, had died. He had been hit in the head by a tear-gas canister on his way to buy bread during the Gezi protests last June. During the 269 days he spent in a coma, Berkin’s face had become a symbol of civic resistance shared on social media from Facebook to Instagram, and the response, when his family tweeted “we lost our son” and then a funeral date, was spontaneous.
Protests like this one, fueled by social media and erupting into spectacular mass events, look like powerful statements of opposition against a regime. And whether these take place in Turkey, Egypt or Ukraine, pundits often speculate that the days of a ruling party or government, or at least its unpopular policies, must be numbered. Yet often these huge mobilizations of citizens inexplicably wither away without the impact on policy you might expect from their scale.
This muted effect is not because social media isn’t good at what it does, but, in a way, because it’s very good at what it does. Digital tools make it much easier to build up movements quickly, and they greatly lower coordination costs. This seems like a good thing at first, but it often results in an unanticipated weakness: Before the Internet, the tedious work of organizing that was required to circumvent censorship or to organize a protest also helped build infrastructure for decision making and strategies for sustaining momentum. Now movements can rush past that step, often to their own detriment.
In Spain, protesters who called themselves the Indignados (the outraged) took to public squares in large numbers in 2011, yet the austerity policies they opposed are still in effect. Occupy Wall Street filled Lower Manhattan in October 2011, crystallizing the image of the 99 percent versus the 1 percent without forcing a change in the nation’s widening inequality. And in Egypt, Tahrir Square protesters in January 2011 used social media to capture the world’s attention. Later that year, during clashes in the square, four people in their 20s used Google spreadsheets, mobile communication and Twitter to coordinate supplies for 10 field hospitals that cared for the wounded. But three years later, a repressive military regime is back in power.Based on the ScratchJr programming language co-developed by the MIT Media Lab and Tufts University, PBS has released PBS KIDS ScratchJr, a free app to help children ages 5-8 learn coding concepts as they create their own stories and games using over 150 PBS KIDS characters.
With the PBS KIDS ScratchJr app, kids can snap together colorful programming blocks to make their favorite characters move, jump, dance, and sing. In the process, they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively. The free app is now available from the App Store on iPad and from the Google Play store on Android tablet.
Through outreach efforts supported by the Verizon Foundation and the Ready To Learn Initiative, PBS member stations will extend the reach of PBS KIDS ScratchJr to children in underserved communities across the U.S. through programs and partnerships with Title I schools. Verizon will also be supporting the development of after-school activities and a weeklong summer camp. In addition, PBS stations will provide professional development training pilots to help teachers integrate PBS KIDS ScratchJr into classroom activities.
“We see coding as a new way for people to organize, express, and share their ideas,” said Mitchel Resnick, the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at MIT, head of the Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten group, and director of its Scratch team. “Coding is not just a set of technical skills, but a new type of literacy and personal expression, valuable for everyone, much like learning to write.”
To help ScratchJr learners get more out of the programming language, Media Lab alumna Professor Marina Umaschi Bers, director of the Developmental Technologies Research Group at Tufts University, and Resnick have co-authored "The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code," released in November.
The app has been developed as part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS Ready To Learn Initiative with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Ready To Learn is a federal program that supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted at preschool and early elementary school children and their families.Federal court records show the city of Tukwila has paid out more than $1.5 million to settle six civil-rights lawsuits against police officers since 2014, mostly involving allegations of excessive use of force.
Brothers Jahmez Amili and Charles Chappelle said “no” to a Tukwila police officer who tried to stop them walking near Westfield Southcenter mall early on May 12, 2012. For their defiance, they were beaten, tased, pepper-sprayed and jailed.
In April, they were paid $425,000 to settle their civil-rights claim against the city after a federal judge found the officer had no reason to stop them in the first place.
That settlement came within a week of the payment of $100,000 to Linson Tara, a man who was repeatedly punched, tased and bitten by a police dog during his arrest by Tukwila officers in 2014. The city agreed to pay Tara’s attorneys’ fees as well.
Tukwila paid $100,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed by a man who was beaten, tased and set on by a police dog after officers responded to a report of a loud man dancing in a parking lot. (Video courtesy of MacDonald Hoague & Bayless)
And the Tukwila Police Department was where Officer Nick Hogan was working in 2011 when he pepper-sprayed a prisoner restrained hand-and-foot on a gurney at Harborview Medical Center. Hogan, now an officer in Snoqualmie, was recently indicted by a federal grand jury for that incident, becoming the first police officer accused of a criminal civil-rights violation in Western Washington in eight years.
Federal court records show that Tukwila — which has a police department of 79 sworn officers, a population of about 20,000 people and a major retail center in Southcenter mall — has paid out more than $1.5 million to settle seven civil-rights lawsuits against officers since 2014, mostly involving allegations of excessive use of force during arrests.
By comparison, Seattle — with 1,200 sworn officers serving a population of more than 650,000 — paid out $3.3 million to settle 25 claims since 2014, according to the Seattle City Attorney’s Office. However, nearly $2 million of that amount came from a single case, a 2009 police shooting that led to the largest settlement in Seattle’s history.
“The sheer number of these cases for a city that size is staggering,” said Seattle lawyer Lee Rousso, who represented the family of Victor Duffy, who died while struggling with Tukwila officers on June 30, 2012. The city settled a lawsuit by Duffy’s family for $250,000 last year.
A search of federal-court dockets for lawsuits against police departments in cities of similar size in Western Washington turned up several lawsuits over allegations of police civil-rights violations, but none with multiple six-figure settlements since 2014.
Tukwila Police Chief Mike Villa and Mayor Allen Ekberg reject any notion that the settlements reflect flaws in the department’s training, or interactions with criminal suspects, although the city has reviewed and changed policies as a result of the lawsuits.
“I understand why these questions come up,” Villa said. “But let me be clear: I don’t like the outcomes and I don’t like the settlements.”
In each instance, Villa said, an internal review showed his officers were justified and that the force used was reasonable and necessary.
The cases, he said, are defended by lawyers hired by the Washington Cities Insurance Authority, an insurance pool made up of more than 160 Washington municipalities. The authority’s executive director, Ann Bennett, said it is the claims adjusters — not the police — who decide which lawsuits to settle, and for how much, but only after the adjusters and the lawyers assess the city’s exposure to liability.
The federal judge who presided over three of the recently settled lawsuits filed against Tukwila officers has questioned the constitutionality of the department’s policies regarding the use of pepper spray and its officers’ understanding of when they can stop and detain someone.
Villa said Tukwila modified its policy regarding the use of pepper spray after paying $300,000 last year to David Lott, a 60-year-old man who was arrested, handcuffed and pepper-sprayed while restrained by two Tukwila officers at a bus stop.
Dash cam footage shows Tukwila police allegedly using excessive force in the 2011 arrest of 60-year-old David Earl Lott. An officer pepper sprays Lott around the one-minute mark of this abridged footage. Video courtesy of MacDonald Hoague & Bayless.
Lott’s case settled at trial after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour started questioning a Tukwila assistant chief on the witness stand about the possibility of issuing an injunction against the department, which at the time classified use of the powerful irritant in the lowest category of force.
Case law in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Washington, has concluded its use is an intermediate level of force “capable of inflicting significant pain and causing serious injury.”
Villa, who was hired as chief in 2011, said the department was also reviewing how it deploys police dogs after the Linson Tara settlement. That lawsuit settled before any motions were filed — rare in federal civil-rights lawsuits — likely due in part to the disturbing dash-camera video of the arrest.
Tara, who was intoxicated, is seen being repeatedly punched in the face, tased and then bitten by a police dog as officers tried to arrest him for trespassing in a freight-yard parking lot.
The chief defended the officers’ actions, but agreed the video was difficult to watch.
Ekberg acknowledged he was disturbed by the video. “I found it incredulous,” he said.
The lawsuit alleged that the department uses police dogs for “pain compliance” of reluctant suspects, a low threshold for deployment. The 9th Circuit has concluded that the use of a dog bite is “the most severe force authorized short of deadly force.”
Some of the lawsuits alleged there was a racial component in their encounters with Tukwila police.
A lawsuit filed by Robert Turner, a black man, after his ankle was broken during a 2011 violent arrest by ex-Officer Hogan alleged that the officer commented: “This one isn’t going to play basketball anymore.” That suit resulted in a $175,000 settlement.
Chappelle and Amili alleged in their suit that one of the reasons they were stopped by police near Southcenter mall is because they are black. Their suit also relied on graphic police dashcam video, which shows the two men being taken to the ground by officers and repeatedly punched.
While it is the most recent case to settle, it had been in federal court for three years and was the most hard-fought of any of the lawsuits.
Chappelle, 34, and Amili, 28, were walking along the 61st Avenue overpass over Interstate 405 about 2:45 a.m., heading to their mother’s house a few blocks away. They were seen by Officer Zachary Anderson, who was responding to a report of a fight on a party bus in the Southcenter mall parking lot. Anderson decided to stop and question them.
Anderson told the men he was investigating a fight nearby and asked them to come to his car, stating they “weren’t free to leave,” according to court documents.
There is no dispute that the men kept walking, used foul language and told the officer they hadn’t done anything. Anderson responded by pulling his Taser, ordering them to stop and telling them they were under arrest for obstructing a public servant.
The dash-camera video picks up at this point, as another Tukwila officer rounds a corner onto the bridge and the men and officers are in the headlights. Chappelle stands with his hands over his head as the officers approach and roughly take him and his brother to the ground, where they were tased, dosed with pepper spray, kicked and beaten.
At one point, a clearly stunned Amili is laid across the patrol-car hood; his bloodied face is plainly seen.
Both men were taken to a hospital for treatment after the jail refused to take them because of their injuries. They were eventually booked and spent several days in jail on charges of obstruction, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer.
The charges were later dismissed.
Tukwila argued the men were suspicious and that their refusal to obey Anderson justified his actions. The city said the decision by the men to keep walking away from the officer amounted to flight.
The city also argued that the brothers’ use of expletives was relevant to the arrests, but the judge said it was not, quoting the precedent case law from the 9th Circuit:
“While police, no less than anyone else, may resent having obscene words and gestures directed at them, they may not exercise the awesome power at their disposal to punish individuals for conduct that is not merely lawful, but protected by the First Amendment,” he wrote.
He concluded the department demonstrated a “fundamental misunderstanding about the limits of a police officer’s ability to bring the full force of the law to bear upon a person who is not reasonably suspected of being involved in criminal activity.”
The city’s attorneys appealed the judge’s ruling but dropped the appeal without explanation, and the case settled.
Villa does not believe anything should be read into the settlements, saying the department and its officers are rarely consulted beforehand and have little say in the outcomes.
Villa and Ekberg strongly defend the Tukwila department but say there is always room for improvement.
Recently, the city subscribed to Lexipol, a police risk-management tool that provides model policies and guidance on the most up-to-date case law and trends. The mayor said the city is about to start a body-camera trial program, fitting five officers with the devices.
Ekberg, who was a city councilman before being elected mayor last year, said he canvassed the city three times while campaigning and never heard any complaints about the police use of force.
“We are always asking ourselves if there is any area where we can grow or learn as a department,” Villa said. “Maybe we are able to use force in some of these cases, but the question is, should we?”It is generally accepted that Lost was a TV show that both amazed and frustrated in equal measure. Like a painfully inconsistent footballer or a school genius that refuses to apply themselves, Lost failed to maintain the incredibly high standards set by the show’s initial two seasons. Indeed, many casual viewers jumped ship either during the largely directionless season three, or in season four when time-travel shenanigans kicked the show into more fantastical, and more complicated, territory.
Those who stuck around beyond this, however, were rewarded with a vastly improved final two seasons but even the show’s most passionate fans, myself included, would surely have to admit to occasionally wondering if the writers were working on an episode-by-episode basis. This is a nice way of saying "they made it up as they went along." Certainly at times it felt as if plotlines or events were introduced solely to spice things up in the short term, with no real intention of providing the show’s attentive and dedicated fanbase with an explanation. Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have even stated in various interviews that answers to "smaller" questions were forsaken to make time to deal with the show’s more pressing plot points.
For some viewers, the ambiguity provided by these remaining mysteries adds to Lost’s enigmatic mythology and provides interesting areas for fan discussion. But we’re geeks dammit, we need answers and we need closure and with no Lost related projects even rumoured to be in the works, it looks like we’ll have to figure things out for ourselves...
The Flash-Sideways World
Season six’s flash-sideways has arguably been the most misinterpreted element of Lost’s ending. Many people believe the parallel world represented a purgatory or indicated that the cast were dead all along. In actual fact, the Flash-Sideways Universe was simply a place where the survivors of Oceanic 815, who had forged such a unique bond of kinship, could meet one last time and say goodbye after they all died (individually) before "moving on."
Sadly, this interpretation is probably only marginally less frustrating than the purgatory route, although considerably more sappy and the story would’ve probably been better served without this sentimental nonsense.
While we may know the purpose of this parallel universe however, it’s never explicitly stated just how it got there in the first place.
Speculative answer: Although the creation of the flash-sideways universe was left deliberately vague, most available evidence seems to point to the detonation of the nuclear bomb in season five’s finale as the likely point of conception. Jack envisaged that detonating the device would either kill them all or reset their lives so that their plane never crashed but in the end, neither actually happened.
But the script placed so much emphasis and weight on the consequences of the bomb that for it to have no significant impact on the overall story would be cheating both the audience and the characters. Yes, the characters were returned to their original timeline post-explosion but that was mostly a convenient plot device. Quite honestly, if the nuke didn’t create the Flash-Sideways happy-meet-up world, then Lost is responsible for one of the most underwhelmingly pointless nuclear detonations in television history.
Further proof in support of this theory comes shortly after the survivors find themselves returned to 2007. With Juliet recently buried, Lost’s resident medium Miles Straume stands over her grave and delivers a final message: “It worked.” She’s wrong of course, considering the intention was to ensure Flight 815 never actually crashed; it definitely did not work, however this cryptic message confirms that the nuclear explosion had consequences beyond returning the islanders back to modern day. And what else could that consequence be other than the creation of the flash-sideways timeline?
The Outrigger Chase
This scene from season five’s "The Little Prince" is a confirmed example of an explanation being cut from a script in order to make way for more critical matters. As recently as 2014, Lindelof and Cuse stated that an answer to this mystery was drafted but have helpfully declined to divulge the information as of yet (perhaps some bamboo might do the trick, right Sayid?).
In this sequence, Sawyer’s band of survivors are shot at while in a canoe, with the fight interrupted due to the island experiencing a time-jump. The mystery revolves around who exactly was in the other boat, as there were no clear antagonists giving chase and most other characters (including prime suspect Ben Linus) were off-island.
In the grand scheme of Lost, it’s not an Earth-shattering enigma but it is an irritating one. To introduce a new mystery to the audience and not see it through feels amateurish and implies a lack of foresight that is hard to justify given that the show’s ending was in sight by this point. The more cynical viewer could easily see this incident as an example of prioritising the short-term over the long; the gunfight undoubtedly adds to the episode’s tension and excitement but it simply doesn’t make a great deal of sense in the context of the overall story.
Speculative answer: Seeing as how the islanders were in an unspecified year during the fight (any time from 2007 onwards), the assailants could easily be future visitors to the island that had no previous mention in the show. However, the fact their identities were scripted and later edited out suggests an explanation more pertinent to the overall plot.
A potential explanation can be found on the Complete Collection DVD set which includes journal entries from the Black Rock (the slave ship Richard Alpert arrived on) as a bonus feature. One of the entries details a party of sailors leaving the main ship to get a closer look at the island and “exchanging musket fire with another vessel that promptly disappeared in a flash of heavenly light.”
This is unmistakably a reference to the outrigger incident, however, the debate lies around whether this DVD extra is considered canon and whether this explanation is in line with whatever was originally scripted and envisaged by the show’s writers.
Other possible assailants could be Claire, both unaccounted for and peeved enough to shoot things at random, or maybe the gunfire was from a brand new set of bad guys that the showrunners later decided they couldn’t shoehorn in.
Walt
It was foreshadowed, it was talked about and it was shoved in our faces like a big red flag: Walt is special. The lad was special enough to be stolen away by The Others (at Jacob’s command one would assume), he was able to appear to people, Locke in particular, without being dead, and he seemed to have a penchant for killing birds with his mind.
But when puberty hit, it hit hard for actor Malcolm David Kelly. While the show remained set mostly in 2007, time in the real-world pushed inevitably onwards and the physical difference between actor and character by season three meant that Walt’s role was dramatically scaled back for the remainder of the show.
Although subsequent guest appearances did little to expand on why Walt was special or what he was capable of, Walt’s story didn’t quite end there. Some fans may not know of a special (and completely canon) mini episode, "The New Man In Charge," that was filmed as a DVD extra and provided answers to mysteries such as "Who’s conveniently dropping food packages on the island?" and "Did that bird really say Hurley?"
It also brings back Malcolm David Kelly as our favorite bird-murderer, currently institutionalised in Santa Rosa. Walt is visited by island-protectors Ben Linus and Hurley who want to return him to the island. The duo also confirms that Walt has a deep connection with the island and that the young man still “has work to do.”
Speculative answer: Walt exhibits his powers both on and off the island suggesting that they are an inherent part of him, much like Desmond’s resistance to electromagnetism or Miles’ mediumship. Unlike these characters however, Walt’s abilities seem harder to define, with a variety of capabilities, perhaps explaining why everyone deemed him to be so "special." Furthermore, in the post-series mini-episode, Hurley says he wants to talk to Walt “about a job,” the implication being that Hurley wants Walt as his successor in protecting the island.
Interestingly, in the final episode’s infamous church scene, Walt is notable by his absence. In all likelihood, this was a casting decision (his father isn’t there either). However, it’s just possible that there’s a little more behind this. The flash-sideways was, of course, revealed to be a place for the Losties to meet up after death to say goodbye and whatnot. If Walt isn’t there, perhaps Walt simply doesn’t die. It would be somewhat poetic that the reason he is considered special is that his abilities and affinity with the island mean he could take the job of protector on a permanent basis.
The Relationship Between The Island And The ‘Real World’
A difficult one this. Too much explanation as to the exact nature of the island would’ve killed a large part of the show’s intrigue in the same way The Phantom Menace did for the Force with its Midichlorians. However, when the island begins to disintegrate in Season Six finale, The End, the sense of doom and destruction is lessened by the fact the audience has no clear idea what the consequences of the island’s demise would be.
In "Ab Aeterno," Jacob offers up the "bottle and cork" analogy: the island is a cork that stops evil (wine) from escaping and while some interpret this as a reference to the real-life stone cork that Jack has to plug back into its hole in the final episode, it could also be a metaphor for the island acting as a prison for the smoke monster who we know wants to escape.
The other significant explanation as to the island’s purpose comes from the Mother (we’ll get to her later) who describes the Heart of the Island as “life, death and rebirth.” Literally couldn’t have been more vague.
Speculative answer: We can be fairly certain that the fates of the island and the wider world are tied together, otherwise it wouldn’t need protecting so vigorously. But the exact nature of the consequences should the island be destroyed depend on which explanation you put more value in.
If Jacob’s cork metaphor is what you go for, then had the island crumbled into the sea in "The End," a great evil would’ve been released into the world; perhaps the evil that was responsible for creating the smoke monster or perhaps just a dangerous wave of electromagnetism.
If however, you choose to accept the Mother’s explanation, then surely the end of the island would mean the end of the world due |
action against climate change is needed, and has in fact proposed a program of remediation that would cost consolidated revenue far more than Gillard’s tax proposes to raise from the big polluters.
His real argument is not against the tax, but against Gillard: the prime minister said she wouldn’t do it. It was a key promise made to the Australian people before the 2010 election. But then, in the extraordinary circumstance of the hung parliament, she went ahead and brought in what Abbott happily christened “the great big new tax on everything”. This means, according to Abbott, not that she simply changed her mind or even broke a promise, in the long and unremarkable tradition of almost all those who have come before her. No, she told a lie, a deliberate and calculated deceit. And this makes it a question of character. By failing this single test, Gillard has shown herself unfit for the office of prime minister.
She had, of course, already revealed herself as unfit by simply being who she is: a childless republican atheist, living in sin with a hairdresser and an empty fruit bowl. In her youth she associated with socialists, and as a politician had usurped her leader’s job – just like Abbott had, in fact. On top of all that, she was a woman. There are claims that this fact of gender alone has been held against her, and that she has been subjected to more denigration than any of her male predecessors. In a recent speech to Newcastle University, the dedicated feminist Anne Summers made a compelling case that the abuse has been more personal and vicious than is the political norm: ditch the witch, Bob Brown’s bitch, deliberately barren, Juliar, put her in a chaff bag and throw her in the sea, send her a noose for her birthday, the women are wrecking the joint – it goes on and on and gets steadily nastier, culminating in the notoriously obscene blogging of cartoonist Larry Pickering.
It can be argued that she was an unpopular prime minister before the worst of it began. Many of the insults are undeniably sexist, but many of the attacks on Tony Abbott have been based on his religion or even his hairiness. Australians will take their opportunities at vulgarity where they find them. Whatever the starting point, it cannot be denied that the end result has been to trash both leaders: we really don’t like either of them, and the prospect of having to choose between them in about a year’s time fills us with gloom. We may not have to. Both parties have the leaders they dispossessed panting in the background, and even if these are unacceptable to their respective party rooms, there are plenty of others in the ranks radiating availability. But the improving trend in the polls for Gillard and Abbott’s much longer ascendancy make them both, if not sure things, at least odds-on to last the distance.
So, having dismissed them both as people, we may have to do the unthinkable: examine what they have done and what they are promising to do, and make our choice based on their policies rather than their personalities or even characters. In other words, we may have to focus on what politics is really all about instead of the spin, trivia and simplistic sloganeering that pollute the process. It probably won’t happen – we have been dragged too deep into the cesspool for too long. But what a wonderfully ironic outcome if it did.Missed the deal?
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Error Fare flights from Japan or Hong Kong to many US cities from only $270 USD roundtrip with American Airlines.
Appears to be a self-dump.
WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU DELAY MAKING FURTHER PLANS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
BECAUSE THIS IS AN ERROR-FARE, THERE IS ALWAYS THE SMALL CHANCE THE AIRLINE MAY CANCEL THE TICKET.
Routes:
Tokyo – Atlanta: $270
Tokyo – Detroit: $270
Tokyo – Seattle: $270
Tokyo – Portland: $270
Tokyo – Minneapolis: $270
Hong Kong – Seattle: $274 DEAD
Tokyo – Dubuque, IA: $274
Nagoya – Atlanta: $280
Nagoya – Detroit: $280
Nagoya – Seattle: $280
Osaka – Atlanta: $282
Osaka – Detroit: $282
Nagoya – Portland: $282
Nagoya – Minneapolis: $282
Osaka – Minneapolis: $282
Osaka – Dubuque, IA: $286
Osaka – Seattle: $291
Osaka – Portland: $291
Tokyo – St. George, UT: $295
Fukuoka – Atlanta: $360
Fukuoka – Seattle: $361
Fukuoka – Detroit: $363
Fukuoka – Portland: $367
Fukuoka- Dubuque, IA: $367
It seems that this deal works to many regional airports in the USA.
Use Google Flights to find a route, then book on Priceline.
DEPART:
Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka/Fukuoka, Japan
Hong Kong
ARRIVE:
Atlanta/Detroit/Seattle/Portland/St. George, UT/Dubuque, IA/Minneapolis, USA
RETURN:
Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka/Fukuoka, Japan
Hong Kong
DATES:
Availability from January to May 2017
Example dates:
Tokyo – Atlanta: $270
18th-26th Feb
8th-16th Mar
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
1st-9th Apr
7th-15th Apr
19th-27th Apr
Tokyo – Detroit: $270
12th-20th Feb
18th-26th Feb
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
1st-9th Apr
13th-21st Apr
19th-27th Apr
7th-15th May
13th-21st May
Tokyo – Seattle: $270
2nd-10th Mar
20th-28th Mar
29th Mar – 6th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
4th-12th May
13th-21st May
Tokyo – Portland: $270
12th-20th Feb
18th-26th Feb
2nd-10th Mar
8th-16th Mar
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
26th Mar – 3rd Apr
7th-15th Apr
19th-27th Apr
Tokyo – Minneapolis: $270
12th-20th Feb
20th-28th Mar
7th-15th Apr
Hong Kong – Seattle: $274
12th-20th Feb
21st Feb – 1st Mar
2nd-10th Mar
11th-19th Mar
7th-15th Apr
16th-24th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
4th-12th May
Tokyo – Dubuque, IA: $274
18th-26th Feb
24th Feb – 4th Mar
20th-28th Mar
26th Mar – 3rd Apr
1st-9th Apr
7th-15th Apr
13th-21st Apr
19th-27th Apr
Nagoya – Atlanta: $280
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
18th-26th Feb
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
1st-9th Apr
7th-15th Apr
Nagoya – Detroit: $280
18th-26th Feb
20th-28th Mar
1st-9th Apr
Nagoya – Seattle: $280
20th-28th Mar
29th Mar – 6th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
Osaka – Atlanta: $282
18th-26th Feb
8th-16th Mar
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
1st-9th Apr
7th-15th Apr
19th-27th Apr
Osaka – Detroit: $282
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
18th-26th Feb
20th-28th Mar
1st-9th Apr
13th-21st Apr
19th-27th Apr
Nagoya – Portland: $282
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
12th-20th Feb
18th-26th Feb
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
Nagoya – Minneapolis: $282
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
12th-20th Feb
20th-28th Mar
7th-15th Apr
Osaka – Minneapolis: $282
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
12th-20th Feb
Osaka – Dubuque, IA: $286
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
18th-26th Feb
24th Feb – 4th Mar
8th-16th Mar
20th-28th Mar
26th Mar – 3rd Apr
1st-9th Apr
7th-15th Apr
Osaka – Seattle: $291
25th Apr – 3rd May
Osaka – Portland: $291
7th-15th Apr
19th-27th Apr
Tokyo – St. George, UT: $295
25th Apr – 3rd May
Fukuoka – Atlanta: $360
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
18th-26th Feb
8th-16th Mar
14th-22nd Mar
20th-28th Mar
26th Mar – 3rd Apr
7th-15th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
Fukuoka – Seattle: $361
20th-28th Mar
29th Mar – 6th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
4th-12th May
13th-21st May
Fukuoka – Detroit: $363
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
12th-20th Feb
18th-26th Feb
8th-16th Mar
20th-28th Mar
26th Mar – 3rd Apr
1st-9th Apr
13th-21st Apr
19th-27th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
Fukuoka – Portland: $367
25th Jan – 2nd Feb
2nd-10th Mar
8th-16th Mar
14th-22nd Mar
7th-15th Apr
19th-27th Apr
25th Apr – 3rd May
Fukuoka- Dubuque, IA: $367
12th-20th Feb
18th-26th Feb
20th-28th Mar
26th Mar – 3rd Apr
1st-9th Apr
7th-15th Apr
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25th Apr – 3rd May
and more…
STOPS:
Various Cities
AIRLINES:
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Japan Airlines
Complete the search box with the example dates listed above:Post-debate, Palin power putters out Agence France-Presse
Published: Saturday October 4, 2008
Print This Email This DENVER, Colorado (AFP) Despite a gutsy debate performance by Republican VP pick Sarah Palin, she failed to turn the tide in the race for the White House, leaving John McCain struggling to revitalize his slipping bid, analysts said Friday.
Just over four weeks until the November 4 elections, McCain has yet to seize the upper hand from his Democratic rival Barack Obama and has been left trailing in the polls.
On Thursday his campaign admitted that it was pulling out of Michigan, effectively surrendering the midwestern state to the Democrats, to focus instead on six swing states.
And with more bad news on the economic front, McCain was Friday to hold a rally in Colorado before retreating to his Arizona ranch for the weekend, in a highly unusual disappearing act at the height of the campaign.
Missouri, where Thursday's debate was held, is one of the key states in play -- along with Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana and Ohio -- and Republicans there acknowledged there was work to be done.
"Senator McCain has to win Missouri to win the White House. So there is a strong commitment from the McCain-Palin campaign to make sure that we deliver Missouri for that ticket," said Jared Craighead, executive director of the state's Republican Party.
He said he hoped to share in any resources now being made available following the decision to leave Michigan.
"I have got the call that in the build-up to the final days, we're going to have more resources than we thought we would initially," he said.
Jack Cardetti, communications director of the Missouri Democratic Party, agreed McCain needed to win in Missouri, and said: "I fully expect some of those resources to come right here into Missouri."
The Obama campaign has opened 40 field offices across the state, with more than 100 paid staffers, Cardetti said, describing it as an "unprecedented commitment to Missouri."
Palin had stood her ground against Democratic rival Joseph Biden late Thursday in the only vice presidential debate of the 2008 White House race, firing off rapid, well-rehearsed talking points.
The performance by Palin, the first time Alaska governor plucked from obscurity by McCain in late August to be his running mate, will have thrilled the party's conservative case, following days of concern over her ability.
President George W. Bush tuned out the vice presidential debate after the first half, but came away impressed with his fellow Republican.
"He saw probably about the first half of it. He thought it was a good debate. He thought Governor Palin did very well," Tony Fratto told reporters.
But Palin offered little of substance, and even though both sides claimed victory, the debate is unlikely to have swayed most voters who in recent weeks have been flocking to Obama's side.
"In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Ms. Palin's candidacy: Mr. McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice that shattered the image he created for himself as the honest, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment," The New York Times wrote.
"It was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment."
A slew of polls have put Obama firmly ahead both nationally and in key swing states such as Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania ahead of the polls.
And they have suggested that voters blame Republicans for the country's economic woes and trust Obama more with fixing the downturn.
New figures showed the sputtering economy lost 159,000 jobs in September as the weight of the housing collapse and credit crunch hit a broad swath of industries.
Biden, who also did better than expected in the debate, reining in his natural tendency to be too long-winded, had sparred with Palin over the Iraq, the economy, health care and even the role of the vice president.
"Surviving 90 minutes on a stage with Biden did not transform Palin into a plausible president," wrote E.J. Dionne in the Washington Post.
"Say what you will about Joe Biden -- and last night, he was far from being either the gaffe machine or the windbag so many predicted would appear on stage -- no one loses sleep at the idea of his being in the Oval Office."get the gold cartridge!!!!
it has music in the fire temple (adult link) that was later changed on subsequent cartridges. (check the model stamp numbers online for more info on this) one of the best games on the nintendo 64, one of the best games developed by nintendo, one of the best games, quite possibly, of all time. yes, you can get a cheaper rerelease on 3DS.. BUT, the original cart on original hardware produces some of the most epic ambiance (fog, midi) & imaginative storytelling I have ever seen in my entire life. seriously epic. if you have never played, I recommend pretending there's no internet besides dial-up and making sure to not consult any walk-throughs or guides whatsoever. i spent months as kid solving puzzles, fishing, and just playing around on the overworld map. 100% got all the hearts, wandering ghosts, and all the gold spiders/ my mom saw me playing and was hooked, she even beat it before I did! The legend of zelda ocarina of time, is a perfect example of why nintendo will always have a special place in our hearts.
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Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: daveballrulzWhen I was growing up as a kid in the '80s, many of my peers spent their summers on socially-enriching activities, like playing outdoors. I, however, spent most of my summers in front of the TV, watching daytime game shows (I'm an old soul) and, of course, '80s movies.
One of my favorites was License to Drive.
In that movie, Les, played by Corey Haim, tries desperately to get his driver's license but is hilariously put through the wringer during his road test, where the DMV official, played by the indomitable James Avery, challenges him to smoothly drive through heavy traffic without spilling a single drop of coffee from a fragile cup perilously perched on the dashboard.
That scene, however entertaining, in some sense represents what until today was a deplorable reality in Wisconsin, where in 2011 the legislature passed one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country. For the first time in Wisconsin history, people actually needed a "License to Vote" (e.g., driver's license or state-issued ID), something that a disproportionate number of low-income voters do not have or do not have the resources to easily obtain.
Today, a federal court declared that the voter ID law violated the federal Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. It found that Wisconsin's voter ID law made it substantially harder for lower-income people to vote than their wealthier counterparts.
But the court didn't stop there. Because Wisconsin's sad history of discrimination and minority political exclusion has resulted in wide income disparities by race. The court also concluded that the voter ID law disproportionately harms voters of color. The court found that making it harder for minorities to vote was not justified by ghost stories about voter fraud, which the state was unable to substantiate with a single shred of evidence at trial.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Wisconsin, along with the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and Dechert LLP, challenged the law in federal court in November. Voters testified about the difficulties they had to endure just to get ID, difficulties far more harrowing than what Les had to go through.
For example, Eddie Lee Holloway Jr., an African-American voter, talked about the ordeals that he had to go through to get a "License to Vote," which he could not obtain from the DMV unless he amended his birth certificate. For his own "road test," he went on multiple 12-hour bus rides to and from his birthplace of Decatur, Illinois, simply to fetch documents needed to amend his birth certificate, which he was told would also cost $400 to $600 dollars to fix. As he testified at trial, he didn't have "400 to 600 cents."
The tide is turning against voter ID laws, including just last week in Arkansas, as courts and judges increasingly recognize that government cannot try to muffle the voices of the poor and the marginalized under some unsubstantiated pretext about "voter fraud," simply because they do not like what they have to say. As the judge said in his ruling, ""virtually no voter impersonation occurs in Wisconsin and it is exceedingly unlikely that voter impersonation will become a problem." Our voters choose their elected officials – not the other way around.
Instead of allowing voter ID laws to make people pass absurd bureaucracy navigation tests in order to obtain licenses to vote, it is time to put voter ID laws themselves to the test and to flunk them for the voter suppression laws that they are. As the court rightly recognized, politicians do not have a "License to Discriminate."BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a narrow alley in the old city of Damascus, a shopkeeper who opposes the Syrian government spent Thursday as usual, drinking coffee with the other merchants who keep him company in place of long-vanished tourists. But the calm on the cobblestone street, he said, could hardly mask the fear and ambivalence over an American military strike.
“Disorder, revenge. Sectarian violence,” he said in a text message, ticking off what he sees as the worst potential consequences of the missile strikes that American officials have threatened against President Bashar al-Assad’s government, which they blame for a deadly chemical attack last week.
In Damascus, as people stock up on food and water and the government closes central streets and moves troops and matériel into residential areas and schools, even staunch supporters of the uprising against Mr. Assad are divided on the looming attack.
Many here feel even a limited strike threatens to inject a new, unpredictable dynamic into a civil war that has largely spared their storied city. And some opponents of the government are loath to see direct American military intervention in their fight, fearful it will hijack and discredit the uprising they have waged for more than two years at great cost.In September 1941, Japan's leaders had a question for Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto: Could he cripple the U.S. fleet in Hawaii? Yes, he said. Then he had a question for the leaders: But then what?
Following an attack, he said, "I shall run wild considerably for the first six months or a year, but I have utterly no confidence" after that. Yamamoto knew America: He had attended Harvard and been naval attache in Japan's embassy in Washington. He knew Japan would be at war with an enraged industrial giant. The tide-turning defeat of Japan's navy at the Battle of Midway occurred June 7, 1942 - exactly six months after Pearl Harbor.
Today, some Washington voices are calling for U.S. force to be applied, somehow, on behalf of the people trying to overthrow Moammar Gaddafi. Some interventionists are Republicans, whose skepticism about government's abilities to achieve intended effects ends at the water's edge. All interventionists should answer some questions:Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Dec. 4, 2015, 5:44 AM GMT / Updated Dec. 4, 2015, 5:44 AM GMT By Andrew Blankstein
The suspects in Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, used a weapon that appears to have been modified in an attempt to allow it to fire fully automatic, a senior law enforcement source told NBC News.
Government field tests showed that the modification to fully automatic mode was performed but failed, the source said.
Fourteen people were killed when two shooters, identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire at a holiday luncheon at the Inland Regional Center. Farook and Malik were later killed in a shootout with police.
If the weapon had been successfully turned fully automatic, it would have fired far more rapidly. Semi-automatic weapons fire one round each time the trigger is pulled. Automatic weapons continue to fire while the trigger is depressed.
Related: First Cop on Shooting Scene Vividly Describes 'Carnage' and 'Tragedy'
The weapon that was attempted to be modified to fully automatic is believed to have been used by Farook, the source said.
A second rifle believed to have been possessed by Malik was purchased compliant with strict California gun laws, the source said. It was subsequently changed to have a large-capacity detachable magazine which would be illegal under California law, the source said.Aside from the upcoming reveal of EA’s next big Battlefield game, the company is giving fans another reason to get excited about the series over the coming months.
EA, DICE, and Visceral Games have announced that they will be giving away previously released Battlefield Hardline and Battlefield 4 DLC to owners of those respective games on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC throughout the rest of the year. There’ll also be a number of special events to look out for as the launch of EA’s next, unannounced Battlefield game approaches.
Here’s a blurb from the most recent Battlefield website update:
A new Battlefield™ is coming later this year, and we’re celebrating by keeping the action going in Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline. Over the next few months we’ll be giving away previously released expansion packs for both games to anyone playing on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Origin for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3. There are also new Community Missions and a whole lot more to get excited about. Let’s take a look at what’s going on right now.
From May 3 to May 10, you can get Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth for free. Engage in intense urban battles across four dense Asian Pacific maps in this infantry-focused expansion.
Meanwhile…
From May 3 to May 10, you can get Battlefield Hardline: Robbery for free. It’s all about the Big Score: how to steal it, or how to stop it. Robbery’s maps and game mode are designed to let criminal teams plan and execute the perfect heist; or, for law enforcement, to get the crooks in cuffs before they can pull it off.
So, if you don’t have either, be sure to snag them both in the next couple of days, before May 10. Each come with four new multiplayer maps and an assortment of new weapons and gadgets. Stay tuned for details on when additional DLC goes free.
EA is set to drop the first details on the company’s next Battlefield title on Friday, May 6, at 1PM PST / 4PM EST / 9PM BST.Here at Stitch Fix we work on a wide and varied set of data science problems. One area that we are heavily involved with is operations. Operations covers a broad range of problems and can involve things like optimizing shipping, allocating items to warehouses, coordinating processes to ensure that our products arrive on time, or optimizing the internal workings of a warehouse.
One of the canonical questions in operations is the traveling salesman problem (TSP). In its simplest form, we have a busy salesperson who must visit a set number of locations once. Time is money, so the salesperson wants to choose a route that minimizes the total distance traveled. It is not so hard to imagine these path optimization problems occurring within warehouses where people (‘pickers’) need to navigate aisles and fill orders as they go.
As an example of a TSP, we can see below on the left we have the salesperson (dark blue) and all the places they must visit (light blue). The center panel shows an example of a bad tour: there is backtracking and the route taken is not optimal. We can compare that to an optimal tour on the right, which is much more efficient.
The simplest way to find an optimal route is to try all combinations of locations and then choose the one that gives the smallest distance. However, it is easy to see that the number of combinations grows exponentially, and for 60 cities there are already more possible combinations than atoms in the universe. Having efficient algorithms that can find solutions becomes very important for solving the TSP. The TSP occurs widely in science, nature and industry, and is in fact part of the P=NP millennium problems set out by the Clay Institute for Mathematics.
How do we solve the TSP? There is a plethora of ways to solve the TSP. These include algorithms which give exact and approximate tours as well as deterministic and stochastic algorithms. They all involve minimizing the following cost function
where is the distance traveled between two locations and and is a binary variable indicating if the tour includes traveling between and. This alone is not enough to solve the TSP, and we need to include two additional constraints, one that says the salesperson should enter and exit a location only once, and one that says the tour must be fully connected (no sub-tours).
I am not going to talk about the more traditional methods of solving the TSP, but instead demonstrate a slightly more convoluted (but interesting) way, that easily extends to complicated real-world problems.. For references to the more traditional ways to solve the TSP see here and here, while a couple of alternate ways can be found here and here.
TSP as a game
One way to think of the TSP problem is to draw an analogy with the famous game Pac-Man. In Pac-Man the aim is to collect as many points as possible while navigating a maze and avoiding ghosts - it is not dissimilar to the TSP (minus the ghosts). With this inspiration we can look to solve the TSP in another way - by treating it as game (this is similar to the Physical Travelling Salesman Problem). In 2015 a famous demonstration showed that an algorithm was able to achieve human level performance in a number of Atari games (including Pac-Man). This was made possible by deep learning - a variant of Reinforcement Learning (RL). In learning, the aim is to learn a function which gives the expected future reward (think score) given the current state (pixels from Pac-Man) if a particular action (up, down, etc.) is taken. The action that has the highest expected future reward is selected. So if RL can learn to play Pac-Man, can we use it to solve the TSP?
Let’s start with a very simple warehouse, one that is pretty empty and only has a few items. We want the picker to collect all of the items, giving a reward for every item collected and subtracting a small penalty for every move taken - the highest score will come from the route that collects the items in the shortest number of moves (exactly what we want for the TSP).
Below is a very simple example demonstrating the results of training the algorithm. We can see it does a pretty reasonable job of collecting the items.
We have control of the environment, so let’s add more items.
Again, it does a pretty good job of collecting all the items in a pretty efficient manner. It has essentially solved the TSP (albeit for a small number of items). It is important to note here that we have not coded any kind of heuristics about how the picker should move when it is near an item, the algorithm has learnt through playing many games.
How does it learn?
So how is it learning? In this variant we are trying to learn our function through many games. It takes in the current state (the pixels) and outputs expected future rewards for each action (up, down, left and right). Initially, the estimate for is very wrong, but gets progressively better as many more games are played. In the case of a small set of states and actions, it is possible to simply search and fill in all possible combinations and map using a table. However, in many cases, the space is much too large to do this. Instead, here the function is approximated by a convolutional neural network with its parameters updated as the games are played.
Deep Q learning
In the case of our picker above, the goal is to select actions that maximize cumulative future reward (not just selecting an action that will maximize immediate reward).
The optimal action-value function is given by
which is the maximum sum of rewards (discounted by ) at each time achievable by a ‘policy’ (the pickers behavior), after an observation (the pixels) and taking an action.
If we have the optimal function, then it answers the question of ‘given my current state what action should I take that will maximize my future reward?’. The factor allows a choice between how short sighted we want to be - = 0 would simply be choosing actions that maximize immediate reward, while close to 1 encourages actions for longer term rewards.
The optimal function can be decomposed as follows
which is the known as the Bellman equation. This is basically saying that the current expected future reward for state is given by the reward, observed when moving from state to, plus the maximum estimated expected future reward from the new state (i.e. predicting the future).
So in the ideal world, if we have then the agent can act optimally by choosing the policy via
which is saying that actions are chosen that will give the greatest future return. In reality, when learning the function, the actions will be somewhat random as we do not yet have a good estimate for. The agent will do some exploration of the state space but will quickly follow a ‘greedy’ policy as converges and the amount of exploration will decrease. To ensure adequate exploration of the state space, an additional parameter is introduced, which is the probability of choosing a random action rather than the action given by. This value is gradually annealed from 1 to some minimum value (e.g. 0.1) as training progresses and is known as -greedy exploration.
In deep Q-learning, the function is parameterized with a convolutional neural network as with network weights. The Bellman equation is then used to iteratively update the function by minimizing the following loss function
with respect to the network parameters.
In reality, several other things need to be done to make deep-Q learning work reliably for harder problems. The first is that rather than simply updating the network parameters using the most recent states, a history of experiences is stored ( ) and randomly sampled in batches (‘experience replay’). This helps to de-correlate the update and also allows better use of the data (as it can be used more than once). The second step is to modify the loss function to be
where the network parameters are a copy of the network at some prior iteration. Another important aspect is that rather than simply feeding in a single time step when obtaining values, we can actually design the network to take into account an arbitrary number of previous steps (thus modifying our and allowing us to capture concepts like velocity). Since the original implementation there has been a plethora of improvements. Examples are modifications to the loss function
(double deep Q learning), or by ‘prioritized replay’ - where the probability of drawing previous replay tuples ( ) is weighted by their error
One final interesting thing to consider is how to setup the network to predict the values. If we want to know what is for a particular state and action we could feed these into our our network and obtain a single value, repeating for all actions. However, this is inefficient and does not scale well with the number of actions. Instead, due to the flexibility of neural networks, all the action values can be predicted at once, going from a single output value to one that has (corresponding to the number of actions) output values. Although there have been many advancements since the original DeepMind paper, these are the building blocks of how RL can be used to train a neural network to control our picker (example code an be found here1).
Back to the salesman
But this seems like a pretty roundabout way to solve this problem. So why would we use something like RL? We can see that in this case we have exquisite control over the environment. What if we have some obstacles to navigate?
So now our picker has to collect all the items in the shortest time while navigating our new obstacles.
Let’s complicate the scenario by including multiple sales-people who need to avoid collisions. Below we see multiple agents collecting items within the warehouse, all controlled by the same network. So now it starts to be apparent that there may be some usefulness in such an approach as RL. With multiple agents that are moving constantly it becomes much harder to solve and determine the optimal route. Thinking back to the original formulation, how do we calculate in a dynamic environment?
Let’s make the warehouse really crowded!
Now we have 4 pickers trying to collect their items as efficiently as possible. I am not sure they are quite taking the optimal route (the salespeople might be distracting each other) but it is impressive none the less.
Final thoughts
Although we have taken a sledgehammer to the problem, there are lots of things to take away. It becomes interesting to note that we have created what is essentially an agent based simulation (also mentioned on this blog previously). Why is this interesting? Often, when making process optimization decisions, a number of different scenarios are simulated, each with different strategies (think policy), then some metric is monitored and the strategy that gives the minimum (or maximum) of that metric is chosen. With a RL based approach, rather than assuming any behavior a prioi for the agents, it is possible that optimal behavior can be learned. For example, in the original DeepMind paper, the agent was able to learn the optimal strategy for the game ‘Breakout’ which may have not been immediately obvious to someone unfamiliar with the game. Other interesting scenarios arise when we realize we have a lot of data about a process but may not know what the reward system is. Some recent developments aim to solve this inverse problem of determining the reward system from data alone - potentially giving better insight into how to simulate agents and processes.
So is this the start of the Skynet salesman? Maybe, at the very least it is an interesting new way to think about improving warehouse operations..
1 Code for this post can be found here. The excellent Keras was used to build the networks. ←In the world of diesel vehicles, no one has more fun or builds bigger, badder trucks than Heavy D, Diesel Dave and their crew at Dieselsellerz. Their mega builds and awesome truck giveaways are the stuff of diesel legend. DIESEL BROTHERS follows the team at Dieselsellerz as they trick out trucks, work hard and play harder in the process. The new series joins Discovery Channel's Motor Mondays on Discovery Channel on January 4th at 10PM ET/PT.
Starting off their business by buying used, or broken down trucks and tricking them out for sales... Heavy D and Diesel Dave use the internet/social media as marketing tool to share their best pranks and stunt driving. Millions of hits later, Dieselsellerz has become the destination for diesel lovers looking for tricked out trucks, crazy stunts, pranks and hilarious antics.
Follow the team at Dieselsellerz as they dream and execute unbelievable builds, pull elaborate and hilarious pranks and push the limits with new stunts.
DIESEL BROTHERS is produced for Discovery Channel by Magilla Entertainment; Matthew Ostrom and Laura Palumbo Johnson are Executive Producers. For Discovery, Craig Coffman is Executive Producer, Bert Klasey is Development Producer, Todd Lefkowitz is Coordinating Producer, and Robin Humbert is Associate Producer.
About Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network |
2013, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
There is still too much capacity and air fares are still falling, according to Bharat Mahadevan, a consultant who was regional manager for north-east Asia at Jet Airways.
“It has to be noted that this is a year when there is no economic crisis (like in 2008) or where fuel prices have remained fairly stable and the dollar has remained fairly stable except for one or two months of volatility," Mahadevan said.
He said Jet Airways’ loss indicates that there could be another round of consolidation with some carriers exiting the market.
Competition is set to intensify as Tata Sons Ltd has forged two joint ventures with AirAsia Group Bhd (for a budget airline) and Singapore Airlines Ltd (for a full-service airline). While AirAsia India has secured final approval, the Tata-Singapore Airlines venture is awaiting it.
Shares of Jet Airways dropped 3.53% to ₹ 268.15 on BSE, while the benchmark Sensex lost 0.68% to 24,549.51 points. The results were announced after the end of trading on Tuesday.There are only amateurs at the head of Bernie Sanders’s unofficial online army: A furniture designer, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, a tech-startup founder, and a structural engineer. In short, it’s amateur hour, but it’s a particularly successful group of amateurs.
They’re responsible for Reddit’s /r/SandersForPresident, a subreddit that (as of 1:02 p.m. EDT Monday) has 115,634 members subscribed.
They’re not officially a part of the campaign, and they’re not costing the candidate a dime. Instead, they are a grassroots, loosely coordinated online effort to help push Sanders’s progressive candidacy. The question now is whether the masses can mobilize themselves into effective support.
The subreddit (what Reddit calls each community-run individual forum) and associated group Grassroots for Sanders were founded in 2013 by two guys who had never met and didn’t even know each other’s names: David Fredrick (the furniture designer) and Aidan King. The only thing that linked them was their belief that Sanders should be the next president.
“We had never met each other, we had no names. It was the first time we ever talked on Reddit,” said Fredrick. “The next day we got started and started building up our sub.”
They spent a year-and-a-half going through the site’s subreddits, promoting /r/SandersForPresident on posts about politics and liberalism. By mid-April, they had reached about 6,000 subscribers, enough that they thought they could start reaching out to Sanders’s office to show that there would be support if he ran.
“Bernie Sanders has said that he wasn’t going to run unless there was some sort of upswell, some demand for it. We wanted to be leading that,” said Fredrick. “I think every two days we were emailing his office saying ‘Look, we added another 200 people. See, there’s something going on here.’”
Sanders announced at the end of that month that he was going to run. First, Sanders announced that he was going to run in an interview with USA Today—and then made that announcement on the subreddit, which ballooned to 40,000 members in just a few days, according to RedditMetrics.com. Fredrick says they gain 10,000 new members roughly every three weeks.
The subreddit has more than 850 new submissions and 3,000 comments every day, according to Fredrick, and it requires nearly constant moderation. Since June 30, there have been more than 48,000 moderation actions—such as removing posts and banning users—taken on the subreddit, according to Alex Stigler, another one of the community’s moderators.
The numbers are impressive, but winning the Reddit primary is worth exactly zero delegates in the real Democratic primary. Instead, the organizers hope that their online efforts will translate into support when it comes time for voters to cast ballots that count.
“In terms of literally turning Reddit support into real-life support, this has been a tiny struggle for us,” said William Godfrey, another subreddit moderator and Grassroots for Sanders member (and the structural engineer). “The inertia of inaction for a lot of our subscribers, both on Reddit and other social-media channels, is large and difficult to overcome.”
Godfrey says that to encourage redditors to participate in real-world events (or donate money), they give them “flair”, or little badges next to their username, if they verify they attended certain events or participated in certain fundraising drives.
“We have tried our best to gamify Reddit,” said Stigler. “If you provide proof that you had gone out and ‘Chalked the Block’ [an event that the subreddit hosted in August to encourage supporters to write about Sanders in sidewalk chalk in their neighborhoods] for Bernie Sanders … then you get a flair promotion.”
The subreddit also raises money directly for the Sanders campaign (Grassroots for Sanders does not solicit or accept donations themselves). Since the subreddit launched, they’ve raised more than $300,000 dollars from more than 12,000 individual donors, and organize occasional “moneybombs,” where they encourage as many people as possible to donate in a short time frame.
Still, the redditors rarely stray far from their home territory of the internet. The subreddit primarily exists to disseminate pro-Sanders news, create infographics which are shareable on social media (which is led by the high school sophomore, Kris Papa), and encourage supporters to connect locally and support local events.
The Grassroots for Sanders organization and subreddit are just a piece of a loosely coordinated network of grassroots communities for Sanders supporters. Sites pop out of the “Coders for Sanders” group, which is a group of computer programmers and coders who build tools that they think will help Sanders.
“Coders for Sanders has been building out lots and lots of websites and resources—iPhone and Android apps—all created to increase visibility and knowledge of Bernie Sanders and his issues,” said Jon Hughes, a member of both Coders for Sanders and Grassroots for Sanders.
Hughes’ contribution has been the site VoteForBernie.org, which houses an interactive map that gives potential supporters information on how they can vote for Sanders in the primaries. The site includes information on whether a state’s primary is open or closed and information on how to register to vote.
Hughes said the site gets at least 10,000 unique visitors every day and just under 1 million unique visitors since the site launched three months ago, and has planned upgrades to the site, including a Spanish translation and color-blind-friendly map.
One of the biggest sites to come out of the community is FeelTheBern.org, which creator Daniela Perdomo (the startup founder) describes as the “Wikipedia of Bernie Sanders.” That’s a pretty apt description—it breaks down 18 policy areas into issues and specific policies that lay out where Sanders stands.
Perdomo led a team of 100 to 125 volunteers to write, edit, and lay out the entire website, which she says has attracted more than 2 million pageviews since launch. The site also recently launched a print-friendly flyer kit for supporters to distribute at rallies and to their neighbors.
Several of the activists said the next big project is the creation of “Grassroots Select,” which would help inform voters of downticket candidates that share the same positions as Sanders’s supporters, and potentially recruit like-minded people into running for a political office—all without coordinating with (or getting the approval of) Sanders’s official campaign.
And that’s about the norm for the grassroots movement for Sanders. While the campaign may send an occasional message or two to leaders, promote supporter-made tools they think are useful, and post an occasional update to the subreddit, the grassroots network has no formal tie to the campaign—by design.
“We’re all really focused on talking about the issues, and the campaign itself is focused on talking about the issues,” said Perdomo. “It is an issue-based campaign. It is not really about Bernie Sanders; he is like a vehicle for it. But it is really about the issues that are important.”Blackpink made a major play to become the new K-pop girl group to watch by debut with not one but two blazing singles "Boombayah" and "Whistle." The confident club cuts were a major success for the foursome in both their native Korea and America, and the ladies are keeping fans intrigued by showing new sides of themselves with another pair of singles.
The first, "Playing With Fire," continues the synth-driven sound heard in their past releases, but blends in a heavy dose of melancholy as the girls wail about a dangerous love that one can't stay away from. While the topic of an intense relationship is a mature one for a young group to tackle so quickly in their careers, there is a youthful approach as they think back on their mother's advice and include the (sometimes-too-on-the-nose) lines like, "My love is on fire...now burn baby burn!" that indicate more relatable, not-wholly mature take on the topic. The accompanying video shows the members lamenting about said lover with the fire concept full-on pushed in front of the viewer as Blackpink dance among burning structures and leader Jennie plays with matches.197. Dr. Diane Powell Uses Serious Science to Understand Psychic Phenomena
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Interview with Dr. Diane Powell about her book, The ESP Enigma, and why research into extended human consciousness remains taboo.
Join Skeptiko host Alex Tsakiris for an interview with neuroscientist, psychiatrist and author Dr. Diane Powell about her book, The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena. During the interview Powell discusses why psychic abilities are not accepted by mainstream science:
Alex Tsakiris: My opinion is that if you’re waiting for the paradigm shift, if you’re waiting for science to roll over and say, “Uncle. We admit it. This phenomenon is obvious; it’s self-evident,” it’s not going to happen. What do you think?
Dr. Diane Powell: I agree and I think that, as I said, it is counterproductive to think that way. I think that people close their minds to considering new possibilities. I mean, like I said, in the early 1900’s when people thought that all of the physics had been discovered there was this whole other world out there. I believe that’s true for consciousness. I think we’re just now starting to have more and more receptivity to studying that. But still, trying to understand—I think human consciousness is just too vast a topic and you’re not going to be able to understand it with conventional materialistic science. I mean, that’s only one tool in trying to obtain knowledge.
Dr. Diane Powell’s Website
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Today we welcome Dr. Diane Powell to Skeptiko. Diane has an amazing background, stellar credentials, Johns Hopkins trained neuroscientist, MD in psychiatry from Johns Hopkins, as well. Faculty position at Harvard Medical School. Salk Institute right here in my backyard in La Jolla. I mean, the credentials go on and on. She’s also written a book titled, The ESP Enigma. Dr. Powell, thank you so much for joining me and welcome to Skeptiko.
Dr. Diane Powell: Thank you. It’s a pleasure.
Alex Tsakiris: Well, I had a chance the other day to take a look at your excellent website at www.dianehennacypowell.com and I was really amazed. So many of the topics you cover are right up our alley here at Skeptiko, so I’m really looking forward to this dialogue. You teed up so many questions, more questions than I can possibly get to, so I hardly know where to begin.
Dr. Diane Powell: I want to get people to think. That’s my mission.
Alex Tsakiris: Great. You know, that I guess was one of my first questions because you do have such a stellar background. I had to wonder while I was reading this, gee, Diane, why can’t you just play nice with the other neuroscientists? Why do you have to go off and do this ESP thing and basically claim that the emperor has no clothes like you do? Hasn’t that been a rather difficult path for you to follow?
Dr. Diane Powell: It has been a difficult path and unfortunately it’s not a path that’s embraced by academia. I’m somebody who grew up with academia in my blood. My father was a professor. He started out as a mathematician and geneticist. He ended up as a cardiovascular physiologist working as the head of the artificial heart program at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio. So I grew up in a scientific family. One of my brothers is a theoretical physicist whose expertise is artificial intelligence.
Coming from this family, I’m used to talking about challenging questions and searching for the truth, like a detective. That’s how I grew up. When I started to see holes in the model that neuroscientists had, I started to think, ‘Okay, how can we explain those holes? How can we explain those mysteries?’ I found that there so many things that were not explained and yet people were hanging onto that model and pouring lots of research dollars into continuing to find yet another neurotransmitter and another receptor for those neurotransmitters. I was thinking to myself, ‘This isn’t answering the questions that I’m interested in.’
Alex Tsakiris: Let me interject here. Do you recall what were some of the first instances of that that you bumped into that you really thought, ‘Wow, this is interesting,’ and then you followed it up and found that there weren’t good answers coming back?
Dr. Diane Powell: Yes. The first one happened when I was a teenager. A friend of mine traveled in the circus during the summer and invited me over to his house because the magician that he traveled with was there. He had talked very highly about him. His name was Jay Michelle and he did Houdini-like tricks, but when I met him he wanted to show me some other things that he could do. He had me stand across the room from him, which was about maybe 15 feet away. There was a bookshelf behind me with around 1,000 books. He said, “Pick any book out. Open it up to any page and as you’re reading it I’ll read it to you.”
And he did just that…. for several books and several pages. It blew my mind. When I asked him about it he said, “Oh, that’s just a magic trick. It’s just magic.”
I said, “Okay, okay. I guess it’s just magic.”
I asked my father about it and he said, “Well, there is this controversial topic called telepathy and that’s what it sounds like to me.”
He didn’t poo-poo the whole possibility of it but he let me know that it was controversial.
I’d say it was probably another 15 years before I had my next experience. That was when I was on faculty at Harvard. I was asked to evaluate a woman who had been admitted to the emergency room because she had complaints that were consistent with a heart attack. Back then you had to wait at least 24 hours or so to get blood tests back to tell you if somebody had released the enzymes from their heart that are associated with a heart attack.
This woman wanted to leave right after she was admitted to the hospital from the emergency room. I was asked to go see her because I was the director of the service that went to the medical wards to evaluate patients with psychiatric problems. Somebody can’t leave the hospital against medical advice if they are deemed to be insane and this woman was thought by the staff to be insane. I went to evaluate her. After we talked for just a few minutes, she said, “I’m a psychic and I know the tests are going to come back normal so can I go home? This place is full of ghosts and it’s really not comfortable for me to stay here.”
Alex Tsakiris: Those are some good signs to a psychiatrist, isn’t it?
Dr. Diane Powell: Yeah, yes. I mean, most psychiatrists at that point would have made their decision and left. I was on salary and not paid by the hour. The hospital staff just wanted me to determine if she was sane or not. Most psychiatrists would have just walked out the door and signed the paperwork to force her to stay. But I like to talk to people and she intrigued me. I sat down to talk with her a little more. After a minute she looked at me and said, “I’m getting a reading on you. Do you mind if I just tell you what I’m seeing?”
She started to tell me things about my current life and my past that were extremely precise. My husband was applying for a post-doctorate in biochemistry at Johns Hopkins and UCSD at the time. One of the first things she said to me was, “You’re married to someone who’s a chemist and he’s applying for a job in two different cities right now.” Now, that’s pretty specific. It caught my attention.
I said, “If that were true, which cities are we talking about?”
She said, “Well, in his heart-of-hearts he wants to go to one city but you’re going to end up going to the other city.”
I knew that in his heart-of-hearts he really wanted to go back to Johns Hopkins. That was where he was born; that was where his family lives. He had a lot of friends back there. And moving to California was like moving to the frontier to him, because he had never lived anywhere but the East Coast. I knew in his heart-of-hearts he really wanted to go back to Johns Hopkins. But she said we’d go to the other city. She asked me to name some cities to choose from.” I named off several cities and she said, “San Diego. That’s where you’ll go.”
And guess what? That’s where we ended up.
Alex Tsakiris: How do you process that? I mean, how do you process that being a professional, having this background? Where do you go with that kind of stuff?
Dr. Diane Powell: Well, exactly. I was trained in in psychiatry that if someone claims to be able to read minds or have psychic abilities, it’s a sign that they’re either a scam artist or they’re delusional, which means insane.
There wasn’t a framework in that model for what I experienced. That’s why I started to look to see if there was any well-conducted research on this topic. I thought, ‘If this is a real phenomenon, then let me see what the research looks like.’ I found that there are lots of studies that have been conducted meticulously and they suggest that this phenomenon is real.
Alex Tsakiris: And that leads to your book, The ESP Enigma, which explores this topic that’s commonly referred to as ESP. But you go further and look at it really combining your neuroscience background as what might be some of the neurological markers for these abilities that people have, is that right? Tell us a little bit about the book.
Dr. Diane Powell: Before I say anything about the book I just want to make a comment. The book came out four years ago tomorrow. When I wrote the book my publisher wanted me to use the word “ESP” in the title because she the public would know what that was. Looking back on it, I realized that some people don’t read my work because of the words “ESP” and “psychic.” The field would probably move forward more easily if we just called it “that which shall not be named.”
Alex Tsakiris: What do you mean by that exactly? What name would we put on it because we have “psi,” we have “parapsychology,” we have “remote viewing.” We have all these terms floating around out there. One doesn’t seem to service any better than the rest in terms of penetrating the blockade that mainstream materialistic science has put up.
Dr. Diane Powell: That’s right. People in the field have recognized that and so they have tried to come up with names that sound more scientific like “psi” and “remote viewing.” The problem in opening minds to it is sometimes blocked by labeling it. If you say, “This is an interesting phenomenon. What was that? Let’s do experiments on that,” I think some people might be more receptive to that. Does that make sense to you?
Alex Tsakiris: Maybe. But one of the things I was hoping to explore today and we might just jump ahead and backfill anything we want to. I was really intrigued by this one question and answer that you provide on your website. The question you pose is, “Do you believe science will ever develop so that we can finally fully understand human consciousness?” I think this is related to the question of these extra human capabilities that are part of consciousness that pop up all the time. You can just search your own family history and find a dozen accounts of it.
Anyway, your response is, “No. I believe we will have a much fuller understanding but it would be unrealistic to ever think that that goal is attainable and counterproductive to believe that it has been achieved. We know this from history. Scientists believed that they had a full comprehension of physics before Einstein. “ Process that for a little bit. What I like is the first word. No. I feel like I’ve come to the same conclusion and often share that with folks on this show. If you’re waiting for the paradigm shift, if you’re waiting for science to roll over and say, “Uncle. We admit it. This phenomenon is obvious; it’s self-evident,” it’s not going to happen.
Dr. Diane Powell: I agree. People often close their minds to considering new possibilities. When people thought that all of the physics had been discovered, there was a whole other world of physics out there that has changed our lives considerably. I believe that is similar for consciousness. We’re starting to see more receptivity to studying it from other angles. But still, human consciousness is a vast topic and you’re not going to be able to understand it completely by science’s analytical approach. That is only one tool in trying to obtain knowledge.
Alex Tsakiris: Isn’t there also a problem, Diane, in that when we think of a post-materialistic science there really isn’t any science anymore? How do we measure anymore? My wife is a psychologist and I often have these discussions with her. She does forensic work down at the prison and in the court system and stuff like that.
It’s like once you introduce this X factor, which is what we’re talking about with these extended human capabilities of consciousness, don’t we have to re-question everything? Don’t we have to put an asterisk on every psychological exam? Don’t we have to go back through the records and the DSM-IV and everything else? Or the story that you told about the patient that you were admitting and doing an assessment of? Doesn’t everything change once we move past this idea that consciousness maybe fundamental to who we are?
Dr. Diane Powell: Yes and no. Let’s continue to use physics as an example. We’re still taught Newtonian physics because it has its place. It is used to construct our houses and for other practical matters. Modern physics helps us to understand more about the essence of matter. For example, this table is actually not solid; but it appears that way to me. That’s not useful information in my interactions with the table, but physicists use information about the subatomic world to create things like our IPods. We accept this knowledge as fact despite our senses.
So it’s one of those things where both types of physics are valid. I think that similarly, as we expand our understanding of consciousness, there’s still going to be a place for much of what what neurologists and psychiatrists do. Some things would change and some things wouldn’t. The changes will be in the kinds of questions that people pose. What changes a lot is what people think is possible. But people still have to interact with this material world—and our brains are wired for that. Does that answer your question?
Alex Tsakiris: Well, maybe. I think I have to push you a little bit further by bringing you back to another question from your website. And that’s your understanding of what happens to consciousness after our physical death. What do you think that the best data suggests?
Dr. Diane Powell: I’m really interested in near-death experience research and I think that it is very, very compelling.
Alex Tsakiris: Right. None of those are simple explanations because as you said, they all kind of defy our current understanding of how that might work. But if we take the most straightforward one that near-death experiencers report is really happening, and that is that their consciousness does leave their body and goes to this other place, then aren’t we compelled to dig into the content of what they’re saying and actually tackle the near-death experience that comes back and starts looking very spiritual? I mean, how do we then incorporate that whole thing in and handle the spiritual aspect of this? The religious implications? The social implications of truly having a life that goes on beyond our death? Truly having other lives?
You know, of course, the work of Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia that has now been picked up by other folks like Jim Tucker at the University of Virginia strongly suggests that not only that consciousness survives death but that consciousness continues on in future lives. Don’t we have a lot to really swallow there when we accept this near-death experience science?
Dr. Diane Powell: Oh, we sure do. And yeah, that’s the kind of thing that drew me like a magnet to want to study this field. To me it is very compelling, all that research that you mentioned. And there’s other research that’s suggestive of a non-material view of the brain.
The pieces fit together like a puzzle the more I looked at the phenomena. That’s why I wrote the book that I wrote. People within mainstream science usually don’t want to step back and look at that whole puzzle. They focus in in a more reductionist way.
Alex Tsakiris: What do you think that puzzle is looking like? How is it emerging?
Dr. Diane Powell: I had to study a lot of different fields in order to become a doctor. I was also in neuroscience and biophysics. I think physics has much to offer our understanding of consciousness and firmly believe that there’s nothing woo-woo about these experiences I’m talking about. They’re not defying natural laws. They’re just defying natural laws as science has so far defined them in their limited way. And so when we look at physics we see that there’s a lot of—and I’m sure you’re aware of all of the literature written by physicists showing the commonality between their way of looking at the subatomic world and the way that meditating monks describe the experiences that they have when they’re meditating. You know, the sense that everything is interconnected and the sense of timelessness.
The idea of time being an arrow is how our brain is wired to perceive it, but in physics there’s an acceptance that time can be symmetrical. Time isn’t a dimension that only goes in one direction. All the other dimensions are symmetrical, so why not time?
Alex Tsakiris: I guess I hear you on all that. What I always struggle with though–and just lately I’ve come back around to appreciating in a strange way the scientific materialism in that I don’t know what we can really do with that, you know? What can we really do with the idea that time may be symmetrical? That we’re all connected? Unless you want to jump into the God proposition?
Dr. Diane Powell: I’m trying to approach these questions in a way that’s different from other people. A lot of people seem to be going around in circles because of the very nature of what you just said. You know, these questions, they seem to be so large, so vast. I mean, how could we ever get to answering them?
I think strategically and ask, ‘Okay, where do we start? How can we lay down the first paver for this?’ Science has accepted the fact that autistic savants can do the things that they do. They don’t dispute that, but it is a mystery.
Alex Tsakiris: Specifically what are some examples of that?
Dr. Diane Powell: For example, there are people like Leslie Lemke who was able to sit down and play Mozart’s Concerto without ever having had a piano lesson, just having heard it and just sit down and play it. There are lots of musical savants like that. I can look at that and say, “Okay, that’s impressive, but maybe he just has an extraordinary ear for music and an extraordinary memory.” That doesn’t have the same wow factor but it still is pretty impressive.
The savants that really fascinate me are those who have knowledge that they have no way of knowing. They have not been exposed to it. For example, Darold Treffert examined an autistic savant who hadn’t gone to school, because frequently they can’t function in school. Oftentimes they can’t even add, and yet they can do extraordinary things like provide mathematical answers faster than a calculator. Dr. Treffert just thought off the top of his head, ‘What can I ask this child to do that could show that he has access to information he hasn’t been exposed to?’
He asked him to draw the Periodic Table and he did. It was accurate. He even drew in the letters for the different elements, and the letters are abbreviations for the Latin words for the elements. He wrote down the atomic numbers and atomic weights. That’s a lot of information for a child to just produce.
Where does that come from? These children are not hanging a shingle saying that they’re psychic and they’re not interested in that sort of thing. This information just information comes to them. There isn’t the secondary gain that people oftentimes wonder about with professional psychics, where they might think, “Oh, it must be a parlor trick.” You know, those kinds of questions people raise. With the autistic savants there isn’t that.
Science has accepted autistic savants. Another example is Oliver Sacks’ twins who could toss back and forth prime numbers that were in six digits. And we don’t really even have an easy algorithm for prime numbers. A prime number is a number that can’t be divided by anything other than itself and one, so to be able to just come up with what would be the next prime number in sequence within seconds is extraordinary. And where is that coming from?
Alex Tsakiris: Sure. That’s a fair question and it’s a fascinating experiment but does it penetrate? You mentioned Oliver Sacks and it’s interesting to me because his name just popped up recently—at least to me because I had done an interview with Dr. Eben Alexander, the neurosurgeon from Harvard who published, which is right now as we speak the New York Times’ #1 bestseller, Proof of Heaven. He had this extraordinary near-death experience and then as a neurosurgeon and a neuroscientist was able to say there isn’t a good medical explanation for this.
Oliver Sacks was one of the many of the old guard neuroscience crowd who jumped up and said, “Wait, this guy should never have said this. This is impossible. We know categorically that all conscious experience is generated by the brain and this is therefore impossible.” So what will your work with savants—how will that really change this? It’s back to the question that I asked you early on. Is there going to be this paradigm shift? Is there going to be this awareness or this acknowledgement by science that the game is up for materialism? No, that’s not going to happen.
Dr. Diane Powell: Well, let me walk you through the logic here. One of the problems you have with the near-death experiences is that a lot of neurologists view them as hallucinatory experiences. I just recently read in The New Yorker an article by Oliver Sacks in which talked about how much LSD he took during his neurology residency. He’s someone who has that view of them being hallucinations.
So how am I approaching the paradigm differently? You have this phenomenon of autistic savants who can do things like produce prime numbers sequentially. I’m setting up experiments for autistic savants whose parents and therapists have reported that they have psychic abilities to see if they can access such information. If they can do this reliably, then I think that many people will look at the phenomena in a different light.
I asked someone, “What do you think would be a really good experiment to do?” He said, “Well, spy coding is oftentimes created by picking two large prime numbers and multiplying them against one another and then coming up with a number. And so you have this massive number and you have to know what the two primes were that were multiplied together to create that number.”
He said, “So if they could take that number and figure out what the two primes are that created it…” And we’re talking about a 12-digit number. He said he knows how much computer effort that takes to do that for espionage purposes. He said, “If they can do that, then we really need to think differently about the brain.”
So those are the kinds of experiments that I’m going to be doing, seeing if there is something that is going to cause people to go, “Wow.” And be reproducible. The major problem this kind of research has had so far is that people say it’s not reproducible. Psychics aren’t 100% accurate. Well, these savants are 100% accurate when you tap into the ability they have.
Alex Tsakiris: What’s your hunch about the relationship that this suggests between the brain, the physical brain, and consciousness? You must have an idea that maybe you don’t always share but share it now to us. What do you think’s going on?
Dr. Diane Powell: The best that I can come up with for now is based upon the idea that we live in a holographic universe. Embedded in a multi-dimensional universe are hidden dimensions. I think non-locality is really just a product of living in a multi-dimensional universe. In a holographic universe, every point in space/time can have a representation of all of space/time. So all information could be embedded in space/time itself. When people have psychic experiences, they could be tapping into this information because of how the universe is constructed. Our consciousness field is also holographically organized and people with these abilities can access information from it selectively.
Alex Tsakiris: Okay, so we have a holographic universe, a holographic consciousness field. Is there an order? Is there a hierarchy to consciousness? Many of these experiencers of all different sorts, near-death experiencers, out-of-body experiencers, psychics, mediums, report that there is a hierarchy and that’s the politically correct way of talking about God. Because when we start talking about hierarchical order, we eventually have to reach the top of that pyramid and it comes down to something that in some way matches what people talk about as God. Is that suggested in the data?
Dr. Diane Powell: I believe that there is a higher order. Chaos theory suggests that there is far more order to the universe than we ever anticipated. I think the problem with using the word “God” is that it has so many connotations attached to it..for example, there’s this idea of the man in the sky with gray hair and a gray beard. Theologies are different cultures’ best attempts to try to describe the ineffable. But religions are oftentimes corrupted by the people who are in charge. Our brains seem to be wired to appreciate a sense of spirituality and order.
Alex Tsakiris: Fantastic. You’re very, very brave to do it. There’s no two ways about it. There are so many folks that we’ve interviewed that are not willing to go there. They’re only willing to tiptoe around it. For you to jump right in and not be afraid to tackle any of these subjects, as well as bring that kind of interdisciplinary approach I think is really to be commended. Someone in the background is agreeing with me there.
Dr. Diane Powell: My dogs are agreeing with you psychically, I think.
Alex Tsakiris: Great. Well, Dr. Powell, it’s been a great pleasure getting to know you and talking with you. Tell us a little bit in the few minutes we have left about what’s going on with your research. You mentioned your work with savants. Are there new books coming out? Are you having any speaking engagements planned, anything like that?
Dr. Diane Powell: I’m going to be leaving for India in a week and evaluating three autistic savant children over there who are supposedly psychics. They supposedly have precognitive abilities. I’m going to be testing that out and seeing if that’s the case. I’ll be speaking about autism and the autistic savant syndrome and ESP while I’m there. That’s where I’m going to be in January. Then I’ll come back and announce on my website new radio interviews and other appearances.
Alex Tsakiris: Great. Best of luck with all that work. We’ll sure follow everything that you’re doing and try and make other people aware of it because it’s really important work. We wish you the best of luck with it.
Dr. Diane Powell: Well, thank you.READER COMMENTS ON
"AR: Pre-Election Tests Not Performed Correctly on Touch-Screens, Not Enough Paper Ballots, Voting Delayed"
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COMMENT #1 [Permalink]
... Kira said on 11/4/2008 @ 2:36 pm PT...
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... Barbara Bellows-TerraNova said on 11/4/2008 @ 2:41 pm PT...
Hi. I followed up on a story about the Diebold TSx not recording votes on the lower left of the screen at the Sprague Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and reported it to CNN, which then forwards you to your local county officials. There I spoke to a young lady (at 2:51 pm MDT) who left the phone for a few minutes then came back to tell me that "The machines are working fine." She got this from someone she called Scott K, a technician regularly employed by the Salt Lake County Elections office, who had been sent to the Sprague Library and he told this young lady that the machines were working fine. She also said I could call him at his phone number, 801-468-3470.
So I did. Scott told me that he'd heard that a voter was having difficulty voting, so he stopped by to see if there was an issue, but that it turned out to be a human problem, not a machine problem.
I asked if the pollworkers had been aware of the problem, and at this point Scott wanted to know if I was calling as a citizen or was I part of a group. I said I was a citizen who will post what I find out online because activist organizations across the country were asking individual citizens to get involved in reporting. We continued.
Scott said that according to the pollworkers, when the |
inconsistent with Trump administration priorities, according to the memo, which is not final.
The US Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups are seeking to have the fiduciary rule overturned in court, and a federal judge reviewing the case signaled in a court filing on Thursday that she plans to issue a decision no later than February 10.
Democrats and consumer rights groups say the rule is necessary to protect individuals against potential conflicts of interest that brokers may have when guiding them to invest for the future.
Complying with the rule could cost firms as much as $31 billion over the next decade, according to Labor Department estimates.
The impact of the executive orders remains to be seen. Analysts say Trump could make many changes by appointing new personnel or simply choosing not to enforce rules already enacted.
sri/bea (AFP, Reuters)Something for the Weekend, Sir? Adobe’s spectacular FAIL over the last 48 hours confirmed, rather than revealed, cloud computing to be so unreliable as to be positively dangerous. Cloud computing is shite. It takes over everything you’ve got, then farts in your face and runs away giggling.
For those readers blissfully ignorant of what us media production types had to put up with between Wednesday evening and the early hours of Friday morning, Adobe’s login services were down during this brief period. Across multiple continents where Adobe software is used, customers were being beaten back by errors telling them their "Adobe ID" login credentials were incorrect.
Yes, I know that doesn’t sound like much. Indeed it’s insignificant compared to, say, the meaning of existence. Yet the knock-on effect of being unable to log in to software that increasingly demands you to keep logging in simply to persuade it to run is problematic, I hope you’ll agree.
Eventually, this little "Houston"-style message popped up on Adobe’s Creative Cloud website, admitting something was up.
I ought to have seen it coming: Adobe’s Creative Cloud desktop app had kicked me off its system twice through the course of the afternoon and evening, and eventually refused to let me log back in at all.
While waiting an uncharacteristically long time for an Adobe support dude to join me in the chat pod, it was repeatedly suggested to me that I should check for solutions on the company’s online support forums. I duly complied, only to discover that no one at all had complained on any of the Adobe support forums about not being able to log in with their Adobe IDs.
Ah, that’ll be because you need to log in with your Adobe ID in order to post on the forums. It’s like when you have to phone your telephone company to tell them your line is dead but you can’t because er... your line is dead.
Or to use a motoring metaphor, it wasn’t so much like having your car battery go flat on the motorway so much as like having someone snatch your car keys from your hand and throw them into the river. Adobe has offered to walk 400 miles down the hard shoulder to fetch the spare keys. All we can do wait outside the car.
At this point Adobe began telling irate Creative Cloud subscribers via its Twitter feed that they could circumvent the entire CC authentication system by temporarily pulling the plug on their internet connections and relaunching the apps. This apparently forces Adobe software into thinking that you’re on a train or gone off to the sticks on holiday and triggers a 30-day grace period during which you don’t need any of that internet cloud bollocks to keep up and running.
Brilliant, that. Running unauthenticated software? Pull the plug out the back and it’s yours free for a month!
Except... what if you’re just returning from a 30-day stint in the sticks beyond the evil influence of the maleficent interwebs? You’d have got back to your desk, fired up your Adobe software and seen a lovely big message reading "Trial period over" inviting you to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud even though you already do and then resolutely refusing to allow you to log in to tell it so.
Worse, Adobe’s pre-CC apps were not offering 30 days of grace but a paltry seven. My copy of InDesign CS5.5 told me I had just one week’s notice of my imminent digital emasculation, and that’s a program I own outright rather than "subscribe" to.
Now hang on, I thought. Adobe has chained just about everything it does to Adobe ID logins: not just authentication but a raft of software-as-a-service apps that only exist in the cloud. These are back-end, mission-critical production and data reporting apps, not the fun creative desktop stuff that Adobe is more famous for. Stuff Creative Cloud, what about...? Oh dear.
Analytics – locked out.
Marketing – locked out.
Adobe Digital Publishing Suite – locked out.
Some of you no doubt will be pleased to read this but at least one national newspaper failed to publish its Adobe DPS-based tablet edition on Thursday morning as a result.
Adobe has now blamed the outage on botched database maintenance.
Back in the old days of print publishing, if your printing press broke down, you just put the job on another printing press. But here the cloud servers hadn’t broken down as far as I can gather, so it wasn’t a matter of switching to other servers. The problem was that we couldn’t get to them, upload any to them or publish through them simply because our metaphorical car keys were, like Luca Brasi, sleeping with the fishes.
Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes
The problem as I see it is that cloud computing is essentially unattainable. Sure, it’s a lovely idea but it’s not so much a technology as a salesman’s pitch. And as with all sales pitches, it promises you the world and tries to keep you happy with a few clods of turf.
It’s a technology that ought to work, but it only works when it ALL works, if you get what I mean. If one little piece of the jigsaw goes awry – just the internet access or just the logins, for example – the entire systemology goes titsup.
Cloud proponents want you to think of "the cloud" as a lean vision of the future when it’s effectively a present-day fat bloke in pebble glasses. The concept wants to be William Gibson when we know it’s Irvine Welsh. Cloud computing is little more than a cool, sexy concept mired in the grungy buggeration of reality. And that’s why it will continue to FAIL. ®Given all the shady stuff they’ve gotten up to during the first two seasons of USA’s hacker hit Mr. Robot, you’d be forgiven for not wanting any software from the show’s monolithic E Corp on your phone. But it’s possible you might still hit download anyway on the fake company’s new messaging app, given that it’s actually a new game set in the Mr. Robot universe, distributed by Telltale, the masterminds behind such licensed gems as The Walking Dead and the recent Batman game.
Sadly, USA didn’t go so far as to release the game as the app—instead, it carries the clunky-but-apt title “Mr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n.apk”—which would have been a beautiful bit of meta awesomeness. But it’s still an interesting-looking experience, especially given that actual development of the game was handled by Night School Studio, the team that made Oxenfree, one of our best games of the year so far. Gameplay seems to mostly involve chatting with the show’s characters, flipping through messaging windows, and getting super paranoid, which seems pretty fitting with the tone of the show. And hey, at least the app—available for $3, with no in-game purchases—requires fewer permissions than Pokémon Go.Note: The Plex app requires the new fourth generation Apple TV, as Apple does not make the app store available on older models of the device.
There truly isn’t any other platform we’ve wanted to be on for as long as we have the Apple TV. Today’s the day, and we’re celebrating. The app is free in the app store for everyone, and requires the latest media server (note: you may need to download and install the very latest server manually for now on certain NAS devices).
First released way back in 2007 (the same year Plex started), the original Apple TV didn’t support any apps beyond the ones Apple provided. Three years later, in 2010, the second generation of the device was released and subsequently jailbroken, and a barebones third party Plex app was written. It was by no means easy to install, but it was technically impressive, and we ended up hiring both of the main people involved with the project.
Three years later, people discovered a way to run custom Apple TV “channels” on the device. Channels were the official way content partners added apps to the device, written in a custom markup language and Javascript. Coupled with a rather silly DNS trick, you could run the Trailers app on the Apple TV and have it run your custom channel. Enter three smart guys (and a surprising dearth of Frankincense) and all of a sudden it was possible to run a Plex app on a device without any jailbreaking. Over the years, Plex Connect was heavily developed, with a large user base.
Now over the years, we heard numerous rumors that Apple was going to open up their platform, and add a real app store. Every single WWDC the rumors heated up, we got excited (along with half the Internet), and then our hopes ended up dashed on some fairly sharp rocks. With no rum.
That being said, an app store on the device seemed an inevitability. Roku, Google TV, Android TV (essentially every other top streaming device) had them. How long could Apple hold out?
Turns out, until about 6 weeks ago.
The instant the fourth generation Apple TV was announced with an app store, we here at Plex pumped our fists in the air with excitement, as we raced to download the new Xcode and read the developer documentation. Our immediate goal was to be on the platform at launch, which means we didn’t have much time. What we did have was a clean modern iOS codebase for our new app.
Before we pull back the curtain on a few technical details around how we got here, let’s take a minute to appreciate this great-looking new app:
We had some tough choices to make. The new platform allowed for two very different ways to build apps, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. The easiest was TVML, which is a custom markup language evolved from the earlier version present on previous generations of the device. TVML is a markup language for media interfaces, meaning that it’s incredibly easy to make the beautiful screens you’re accustomed to seeing in the Apple apps. On the other hand, they allowed running full native code, which was obviously essential for games, and provided the highest level of control.
We timeboxed two days of prototyping using both technologies, and quickly realized that a beautiful native-looking UI build with the native SDK would take much longer than using TVML. On the other hand, the limitations around the TVML media players led us to want to use our native code from the iOS app.
Fortunately, Apple makes it incredibly easy to bridge between the TVML/Javascript world, and the native world. So we worked hard to combine the best parts of both into the nascent app. We formed a small team which combined a handful of engineers and designers across four countries and as many timezones, who literally worked around the clock (thanks, round planet!).
The other important decision to make was how we would generate the TV Markup Language. After a bit of experimentation, we settled on a clever mechanism whereby we’d request XML from the media server, and then transform it using XSLT into TVML. Said with fewer acronyms and more gesticulating, we essentially transform the output from a Plex Media Server directly into the beautiful screens you see on the Apple TV. (And yes, we had to make a few small tweaks to the API, which is why we require a brand new media server for the new app.)
We’re incredibly proud of this new app, which is essentially one of the richest apps we’ve built feature-wise, built in just five short weeks. Feast your eyes on the screens, and then go download the new app. It’s completely free for everyone, and it’s awesome.
Thanks, Apple, for a great new device, a powerful new way of building apps for the big-screens, and an exciting future on the platform! Barkley really appreciates it.By Dr. Mercola
Pertussis vaccine in the combination DPT shot for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis that is supposed to prevent whooping cough has been associated with brain inflammation, permanent brain damage and infant death since it was used on a mass basis in the U.S. starting in the late 1940's.
A 1985 book DPT: A Shot in the Dark by Coulter and Fisher book described the questionable safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, which was replaced in the U.S. in 1996 by an acellular version (DtaP).
Recently, there have been reports of B. pertussis whooping cough outbreaks in California among both vaccinated and unvaccinated children and adults.
In fact, in 2010, the majority of confirmed or suspected reported whooping cough cases were in vaccinated people.
In an eye-opening report, the Watchdog Institute found that DtaP vaccine immunity only lasts about three years.
In addition, there is evidence that bacterial organism that causes whooping cough has evolved to become vaccine resistant, which is another big reason there is a rise in reported cases of B. pertussis whooping cough.
The DtaP vaccine, although reported to be less reactive, can still cause brain inflammation and brain damage in some individuals.
Powerful Profile of a Pertussis Vaccine Victim
While infants and young children are at greatest risk, NO ONE is exempt from the potential serious complications of vaccination, one of which brain inflammation after DPT or DtaP vaccinatoin.
In the video profile of pertussis vaccine injury above, Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the non-profit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), interviews a Houston family with a history of vaccine reactions that spans three generations. Now, a 12 year old child in the family has become permanently disabled from a reaction to the DtaP vaccine that was given to her, along with 6 other vaccines, at age 15 months.
Dr. Mercola Recommends... Every "Like" Helps Support This Cause
This family has chosen to share their heartbreaking story to help those, who have had the same experience, feel less alone, and to educate others about what it means to be vaccine injured. What happened to this family is a potent reminder of just how important it is to make well-informed decisions about vaccinations.
Infant Death Reports After DTP Vaccination in Africa
As discussed in Barbara's featured video, vaccine reactions can run in families, causing some people to be more susceptible to damage than others. There may even be differences between the sexes in general. We don't really know, as few studies have focused on teasing out such details.
However, a number of observational studies have suggested that many female infants in Africa below 12-months of age die after the "non-specific" effects of vaccination with diphtheria-tetanus toxoids and killed (whole-cell) Bordetella pertussis (DTwP).
According to a recent Danish study published in the Journal of Tropical Medicine:
"From an immunological point of view, we hypothesize that the adverse effects of DTwP vaccine may occur because of the Th2-polarising effect of the aluminium phosphate adjuvant in the vaccine and because intramuscular administration of the vaccine may cause chronic inflammation at the site of injection.
… Sexual dimorphism [sex related differences] affecting immune functions and vitamin A supplementation may influence both the deleterious and beneficial nonspecific effects of immunization."
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Previous Studies Also Show Increased Infant Mortality from DTP Vaccines
Earlier this summer, I posted a report on the research of Dr. Peter Aaby, who has spent more than 30 years studying the causes of excessively high child mortality in Guinea-Bissau. His research has been published in dozens of professional journals, yet few are taking any notice. With archives of more than 1 million research files to back up his findings, Dr. Aaby has published several papers questioning the safety of the DTP vaccine (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis).
Over the past decade alone he's published 34 papers—all questioning the safety of the DTP. (For clarification, the DTP is the older whole cell pertussis vaccine associated with a high number of cases of convulsions, brain inflammation and permanent brain damage and was, in the US, replaced with the DTaP vaccine in 1996.) Dr. Aaby's studies on the DTP vaccine given to infants in Guinea-Bissau showed that:
A single dose of DTP vaccine not only doubled the mortality rate in infants, but more than quadrupled the mortality rate after the second and third DTP doses.
There is a definite increased mortality risk to girls of combining DTP and measles vaccines.
Furthermore, just like the featured Danish study above mentions, vitamin A supplementation was found to influence mortality. Dr. Aaby discovered that girls were 41 percent more likely to die if they were given vitamin A at birth, while boys seemed to receive minor benefit from the supplement.
Taken together, the Danish study and Dr. Aaby's work indicate that there are differences between the sexes that are completely ignored, and vaccines alone or in conjunction with vitamin supplementation may impact girls and boys very differently.
Total Video Length: 0:21:27
Whole Cell DPT Vaccine and Encephalopathy
In the groundbreaking 1985 book DPT: A Shot in the Dark by Harris Coulter and Barbara Loe Fisher, the authors described the ingredients in whole cell pertussis vaccine (DPT) that include a number of toxic components, with bioactive pertussis toxin (PT) and endotoxin being among the most lethal. Pertussis toxin is the component thought to be primarily responsible for the most feared complication of B. pertussis (whooping cough) and the pertussis vaccine: brain inflammation (encephalitis).
Brain inflammation and permanent brain damage was associated with whole cell pertussis vaccine from the time it started to be used in the U.S. and Europe in the 1920's. Pertussis toxin is still used in labs to deliberately induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in lab animals during experiments. Another toxin in the whole cell pertussis vaccine – endotoxin – can cause shock and death in humans and animals.
Dangerous Preservatives and Components: Mercury and Aluminum
I've written quite a bit about the potential health dangers of vaccines containing toxic preservatives and adjuvants. One of the immune stimulating adjuvants in vaccines, including whole cell and acelullar pertussis vaccines, is aluminum.
In the featured Danish study, the researchers hypothesize that the aluminum adjuvant in DTP may be associated with the increased death rate in infant girls. (It is important to note that DTP vaccine also contains a mercury preservative (thimerosal) and mercury, like aluminum, is a known neurotoxin).
And, while the study focused only on African children, who may be more susceptible to vaccine damage due to poor nutrition and other environmental factors that can affect healthy immune function, it does highlight the fact that some vaccine components carry significant risks and may harm individual children, who could otherwise have gone on to live healthy lives. In the U.S., most childhood vaccines (except influenza vaccine in multi-dose vials) are now delivered in thimerosal-free single dose vials.
Some vaccines used in the U.S. and around the world contain mercury preservatives, including the ones listed below. You can find a complete list of mercury content in U.S.-licensed vaccines here. You can also calculate the amount of mercury in shots that your doctor recommends by using the Vaccine Ingredient Calculator.
✓ All DTwP products (Diphtheria, Tetanus & whole cell Pertussis) ✓ Meningococcal multi-dose vials ✓ DT (Diphtheria & Tetanus) multi-dose vials ✓ All multi-dose vials of seasonal- and swine flu vaccine, typically recommended for adults and children over the age of three. ✓ All Tetanus Toxoid vaccines, including DT and Td vaccine
Total Video Length: 0:41:58
Download Interview Transcript
The aluminum-derivatives used in the manufacturing of some vaccines have been shown to affect brain and immune function in lab animals and humans and a number of other vaccine ingredients also have also been associated with health problems in humans, such as:
✓ Formaldehyde, a known cancer-causing agent ✓ Phenol (carbolic acid) ✓ Neomycin and streptomycin (antibiotics) ✓ Resin and gelatin, known to cause allergic reactions ✓ Polysorbate 80 (Tween80™), which can cause anaphylactic reactions, and may cause miscarriage and infertility (see the next section for details) ✓ Triton X100 (detergent)
The Dangers of the Pertussis Vaccine
Each vaccine brand has its own patented formulation and there are also differences between the vaccines licensed and released in Africa and Europe, versus those licensed and released in the U.S. Therefore, it's difficult to know whether the two DPT studies featured in this article directly relate to the DPT vaccines given in countries outside of Africa.
That said, I believe that studies such as the ones mentioned here are like smoke signals, reinforcing the fact that there are significant health risks associated with vaccines, even though science still has a long way to go to pin down the exact biological mechanisms involved when vaccines cause injury and death.
The authors of the DPT study simply state that the deaths are due to the "non-specific effects" of vaccination, although their hypothesis is that the aluminum adjuvants may play an important role. As mentioned previously, DPT vaccine also contains pertussis toxin and endotoxin and there is inadequate scientific knowledge about exactly how those toxins interact with aluminum adjuvants and mercury preservatives to cause acute inflammation in the body that may contribute to sudden infant death or encephalitis that that leads to chronic brain inflammation and permanent brain damage.
In the US, children are given multiple doses of an acellular pertussis vaccine (DtaP, Tdap) to try to prevent B. pertussis whooping cough. Acellular pertussis vaccines do not contain mercury preservatives and have reduced amounts of bioactive pertussis toxin and endotoxin. They appear to cause fewer cases of brain inflammation and permanent brain damage but are still not entirey safe for every child. Pertussis containing vaccines (DTaP) are given five times to children under age six, plus booster doses (Tdap) for teenagers and adults.
The question is, are whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccines as safe as they can be?
As Barbara Loe Fisher discussed in a previous article, pertussis vaccines can contain various amounts of bioactive toxins, including aluminum and mercury additives, and are known to have killed and brain injured some children. In fact, over half of the 2,480 awards for vaccine injury and death totaling $2 billion dollars made under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act involved the pertussis vaccine in DPT or DtaP shots.
There is also evidence in the scientific literature that suggests universal use of the pertussis vaccine for more than 60 years has put pressure on the B. pertussis organism to evolve and become vaccine resistant and there is evidence that whooping cough outbreaks are occurring in highly vaccinated countries, such as the U.S. as a result!
New Study Shows Protection from Whooping Cough Vaccination Fades in Three Years
In related news, another preliminary study (presented at the American Society for Microbiology conference in Chicago in September) has revealed that the acellular pertussis vaccine loses much of its effectiveness after just three years. This is much faster than previously believed, and could also help explain the recent whooping cough outbreaks in the U.S.
According to CBSNews:
"[I]ts authors said the results need to be confirmed through more research. Nevertheless, the findings are likely to stir debate over whether children should get a booster shot earlier than now recommended. "I was disturbed to find maybe we had a little more confidence in the vaccine than it might deserve," said the lead researcher, Dr. David Witt…"
Unfortunately, stacking on additional booster shots is likely to make matters worse rather than better, especially in light of the fact that the mass use of existing pertussis vaccines has already led to vaccine resistant strains that are evolving and could become much more virulent. If anything, all of these findings taken together—the increased infant mortality in baby girls, the mutation factor, and the faster-than-thought wane in effectiveness—offer a potent illustration of how a perfect storm is created if we do not change how we think about public health policy that relies so heavily on mass vaccination.
Keep Educating Yourself on Vaccines
It is becoming increasingly necessary to continue to educate yourself and your family on the issues surrounding vaccinations of all kinds. There are so many problems; no one article can possibly cover them all.
You can find and search all vaccine related articles on my Latest Vaccine News page. I also recommend you familiarize yourself with the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) web site. As a leader for vaccine safety, the NVIC offers information on everything from laws to informed consent to late-breaking vaccine news.
What You Can Do to Make a Difference
While it seems "old-fashioned," the only truly effective actions you can take to protect the right to informed consent to vaccination and expand vaccine exemptions, is to get personally involved with your state legislators and the leaders in your community.
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY.
Mass vaccination policies are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level, and it is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact.
Signing up for NVIC's free Advocacy Portal at www.NVICAdvocacy.org not only gives you access to practical, useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your own community, but when national vaccine issues come up, you will have the up-to-date information and call to action items you need at your fingertips to make sure your voice is heard.
So please, as your first step, sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.
Contact Your Elected Officials
Write or email your elected state representatives and share your concerns. Call them, or better yet, make an appointment to visit them in person in their office. Don't let them forget you!
It is so important for you to reach out and make sure your concerns get on the radar screen of the leaders and opinion makers in your community, especially the politicians you elect and are directly involved in making vaccine laws in your state. These are your elected representatives, so you have a right and a responsibility to let them know what's really happening in your life and the lives of people you know when it comes to vaccine mandates. Be sure to share the "real life" experiences that you or people you know have had with vaccination.
Share Your Story with the Media and People You Know
If you or a family member has suffered a serious vaccine reaction, injury or death, please talk about it. If we don't share information and experiences with each other, everybody feels alone and afraid to speak up. Write a letter to the editor if you have a different perspective on a vaccine story that appears in your local newspaper. Make a call in to a radio talk show that is only presenting one side of the vaccine story.
I must be frank with you; you have to be brave because you might be strongly criticized for daring to talk about the "other side" of the vaccine story. Be prepared for it and have the courage to not back down. Only by sharing our perspective and what we know to be true about vaccination will the public conversation about vaccination open up so people are not afraid to talk about it.
We cannot allow the drug companies and medical trade associations funded by drug companies to dominate the conversation about vaccination. The vaccine injured cannot be swept under the carpet and treated like nothing more than "statistically acceptable collateral damage" of national one-size-fits-all mass vaccination policies that put way too many people at risk for injury and death. We shouldn't be treating people like guinea pigs instead of human beings.
Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More
I encourage you to visit the following web pages on the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) website at www.NVIC.org:
NVIC Memorial for Vaccine Victims: View descriptions and photos of children and adults, who have suffered vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths. If you or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please consider posting and sharing your story here.
View descriptions and photos of children and adults, who have suffered vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths. If you or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please consider posting and sharing your story here. If You Vaccinate, Ask 8 Questions : Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries.
: Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries. Vaccine Freedom Wall: View or post descriptions of harassment by doctors or government officials for making independent vaccine choices.
Connect with Your Doctor or Find a New One that Will Listen and Care
If your pediatrician or doctor refuses to provide medical care to you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you don't want, I strongly encourage you to have the courage to find another doctor. Harassment, intimidation, and refusal of medical care is becoming the modus operandi of the medical establishment in an effort to stop the change in attitude of many parents about vaccinations after they become truly educated about health and vaccination.
However, there is hope.
At least 15 percent of young doctors recently polled admit that they're starting to adopt a more individualized approach to vaccinations in direct response to the vaccine safety concerns of parents. It is good news that there is a growing number of smart young doctors, who prefer to work as partners with parents in making personalized vaccine decisions for children, including delaying vaccinations or giving children fewer vaccines on the same day or continuing to provide medical care for those families, who decline use of one or more vaccines.
So take the time to locate a doctor, who treats you with compassion and respect and is willing to work with you to do what is right for your child.The decision to pick Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne in the centres for Ireland's last test against South Africa was a brave and controversial one from Irish head coach Joe Schmidt. The reasons behind it were simple according to Joe, he wanted his centre partnership to have had the last two weeks together, and Gordon D'Arcy had been unavailable. One of the reasons why it was so brave, was that Robbie Henshaw hadn't played in the inside centre position for more than 80 minutes of professional rugby. So how did Ireland's centre experiment work?
Well, In case you live under a rock, Ireland managed to beat the world number 2 ranked South Africans by 29 points to 15. In can be said that Schmidt prepared his team extremely well and should be given the majority of the credit for his outstanding work. But the question remains, Is it worth playing Henshaw and Payne together in the midfield for Ireland again?
It's extremely hard to gauge how they did in attack given that they got the ball so rarely. Payne only touched the ball 6 times, making 25 metres from those 6 carries, while Henshaw made 4 metres from his 6 carries, while also passing twice and putting his boot on the ball once to devastating effect which lead to Ruddock's try. It's not just what they did with the ball in their hands, but the lines of decoy running that fixed the defense for others around them. Henshaw was used to garner some forward momentum off a backpedalling set piece, while Jared Payne was looked to, to try and give some forward momentum off a midfield lineout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktPUxxOpcNI
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Henshaw was used as a decoy on several occasions, as Ireland tried to use Rob Kearney's running ability into the line, which ended up with a linebreak and some significant forward progression. In the first example, Henshaw is the running a hard line towards where the ball came from to try and sit the opposition defender down to create space for those outside him. In the still below, Henshaw is circled and gives a decent attempt at sticking his hands up as if to suggest the ball is coming to him. The defender stops for a split second, and you can see a small bit of space in the South African defense in the wider channels.
In the end however, some good vision from Kearney and great support play from Payne get Ireland some momentum, which turns into a penalty and Sexton is able to make it 6-0 to Ireland. There's promise from the new pair, but this isn't the game to base opinions on when going forward, and there will be tougher tests ahead to see if they can create some attacking spark when Ireland need it most.
It is possible however to gauge how well they did defensively, and if things came to it, whether they would be able to hold up to it. A gargantuan team like the Springboks are going to test any midfield combination and for the most part, Payne and Henshaw did ok. Payne recorded 6 tackles, missing only one, while Henshaw was asked to tackle 10 times, missing two of those. While one on one tackling is important, international centres are picked for their ability to defend in a system and minimise the linebreaks that the opposition have.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwp0RwTQeyI
It didn't start well for Ireland's new centres. The first time South Africa ran at them, Serfontein was allowed to make a lot of metres into Irish terroritory. In the above video, South African dangerman is standing at second receiver. After he collects the ball from Pollard's pass, le Roux runs sideways with the ball in two hands towards Jared Payne. Henshaw was the player marking him, and he tracks le Roux across the pitch. What Henshaw doesn't see is that Serfortein is running a crossing line behind le Roux, and into the space behind Henshaw. A more experienced inside centre would have communicated to his outside partner to take le Roux when he becomes aware of Serfontein's incoming line, while a more experienced outside centre will be able to communicate that he is now tracking le Roux's run to allow Henshaw to concentrate on Serfontein. I'd pin most of the blame on Henshaw in this example, although he redeems himself later on and went on to have a good performance.
All is not lost though, as in the final ten minutes of the game with the score at 19-10 in Ireland's favour, Henshaw shows that he has learned from his mistake, and does switch from the sideways running le Roux to Serfontein running the exact same line. In this instance however, it's not needed as le Roux just drops the ball in an unforced error, but it's pleasing to see in the replays especially, that Henshaw had his man covered in any case.
In conclusion, Robbie Henshaw has at least shown that he is capable of performing at this level, and that despite the early mishap, the two centres were very solid in defense. They didn't manage to create anything going forward, but both will have benefited from this outing, and more time together may bring about better results both in attack and defense. It's harder for outside centres to influence a game in the attack, compared to a fullback who gets a lot more ball, but Payne did what he could in an efficient Ireland performance to get the win. His injury will be a concern, but it's clear that both Payne and Henshaw have big futures in the Irish side.Image copyright Google Image caption The group were discovered in a lorry that arrived at the North Shields ferry terminal
Twenty migrants have been found in the back of a lorry arriving at a ferry terminal in North Shields, the Home Office has confirmed.
The group, from Syria and Albania, were discovered in a vehicle which had travelled to the UK from the Netherlands on a DFDS ferry on Tuesday.
Fifteen were returned to the Netherlands and two men, one understood to be the lorry driver, were arrested.
Terminal operator, the Port of Tyne, said passenger services were not hit.
'Sniffer dogs'
A Home Office spokesman said: "Two claiming to be minors have been passed to social services for age-assessment and two adults are in immigration detention while their cases are progressed."
A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of facilitation of illegal immigration and has been detained.
A Polish man aged 32 was detained after also being arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.
The Home Office said sniffer dogs, heartbeat detectors and carbon dioxide probes are used to "find people hiding in vehicles and freight".
A DFDS spokesman added: "We can confirm that a group of clandestines were discovered and detained at North Shields.
"We are not able to comment further on this case as this is now a matter for the authorities."WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court says the Trump administration can strictly enforce its ban on refugees, but is leaving in place a weakened travel ban that includes grandparents among relatives who can help visitors from six mostly Muslim countries get into the U.S.
The justices acted Wednesday on the administration's appeal of a federal judge's ruling last week. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ordered the government to allow in refugees formally working with a resettlement agency in the United States. Watson also vastly expanded the family relations that refugees and visitors can use to get into the country.
The high court blocked Watson's order as it applies to refugees for now, but not the expanded list of relatives. The justices said the federal appeals court in San Francisco should now consider the appeal. It's not clear how quickly that will happen.
In the meantime, though, up to 24,000 refugees who already have been assigned to a charity or religious organization in the U.S. will not be able to use that connection to get into the country.
"This ruling jeopardizes the safety of thousands of people across the world including vulnerable families fleeing war and violence," said Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USA's senior director of campaigns.
President Trump's travel ban expected to affect tourism industry
That part of the court's ruling was a victory for President Trump, who rolled out a first ban on travelers and refugees after just a week in office, prompting a legal fight that has raged ever since.
But the Supreme Court also denied the administration's request to clarify its ruling last month that allowed the administration to partially reinstate a 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on refugees from anywhere in the world.
The court's ruling exempted |
really good on the Sony Xperia Z3+. The massive 20.7 MP resolution is great for those who want to shoot large, detailed images on their smartphones. But the camera has, in conjunction with the Snapdragon 810 processor, a serious thermal problem. As mentioned above, when recording videos in 4K for a prolonged period, or using the augmented reality mode in the camera app (whereby you can place funny effects or animal faces on a moving subject in the viewfinder), the Z3+ heats up very quickly. The camera app then displays an overheating warning, and force-closes soon after that. The Xperia Z3+ camera looks great, just like its predecessor. / © ANDROIDPIT The front-facing 5 MP camera deserves a special mention here. Selfie fans will appreciate the jump from 2 MP to 5 MP. In terms of image quality of the front camera, the Sony Xperia Z3+ no longer lags behind other flagships from the likes of Samsung, LG and co. › Image Gallery Sony Xperia Z3+ camera test photos
Sony Xperia Z3+ battery Xperia has the same peculiar backwards step with the Z3+ battery as the Samsung did with the Galaxy S6, shrinking it rather than increasing it. The Xperia Z3+ battery comes in at 2,900 mAh, compared to the Z3's, which had a capacity of 3,100 mAh. But where the Galaxy S6 battery performs worse than the Galaxy S5's, the Xperia Z3+ battery seems up to the task. The smaller battery is optimized enough to get you through an entire working day of perusing emails and WhatsApp messages, occasional internet browsing and a quick gaming session or two. But as with most flagships currently, the run time simply is not up to the title of 'full day'. Sony does an acceptable job with the Z3+ but that extra capacity would have been nice. Individual results will vary based on usage habits, but you're more than likely going to be looking for a top-up at least once a day. Fortunately, the Xperia Z3+ supports Quick Charge 2.0, so the battery can be almost fully charged in as little as 45 minutes. Are you enticed by the simple, solid elegance of the Xperia Z3+? / © ANDROIDPIT
Sony Xperia Z3+ technical specifications Dimensions: 146 x 72 x 6.9 mm Weight: 144 g Battery size: 2930 mAh Screen size: 5.2 in Display technology: LCD Screen: 1920 x 1080 pixels (424 ppi) Front camera: 5 megapixels Rear camera: 20.7 megapixels Flashlight: LED Android version: 5.0 - Lollipop User interface: Xperia UI RAM: 3 GB Internal storage: 32 GB Removable storage: microSD Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 Number of cores: 8 Max. clock speed: 2 GHz Connectivity: HSPA, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 4.1 ${device-sony-710}SOUTHAMPTON, England – Southampton seaman Alfred Ernest Geer had been hard up for work for months because of a coal strike that had docked most of the city's ships. Then an unexpected opportunity to earn a small wage presented itself on the morning of April 10, 1912.
Titanic was due to set sail that day on its maiden voyage from this thriving port city on England's south coast. But a few of its 900 crewmembers had stayed out too late in a local pub and failed to show up in time for departure. The ship's officers picked six men hanging around on the quay looking for work to replace them, including Geer, 26.
"He would have been elated to get the job," says local amateur historian Gillie Dunkason in Southampton's overgrown and almost forgotten Old Cemetery. "So many families were already on the bread line because of the national coal strike, which had laid up lots of ships because they were dependent on coal for fuel."
Geer, who shoveled coal into a ship's steam engines, was not forgotten on this day at the cemetery. His great-nieces, Kath MacKenzie, April Gregory and Linda Bentley, were there looking at the memorial to the ancestor they never met.
MacKenzie says she and her relatives started to research their family history last year.
By Naomi Westland Kath MacKenzie lays flowers at a memorial marker for Alfred Ernest Geer, her great-uncle. Geer was a stoker who shoveled coal into the ship’s steam engines. He was given the job aboard Titanic on the day it set out to sea.
"We knew there was a relative who had been on the Titanic and died," she says, laying a bunch of yellow roses next to the headstone. "Our dad used to tell us his uncle and cousin had gone down with the ship, but we can only find his uncle.
"We know he had worked on another ship, the Olympic, which was docked because of the coal strike. He was one of the last few chosen to work on the Titanic. He was a stoker; that was one of the hardest jobs."
MacKenzie says her father, who had also been a stoker, had never told them much about their great-uncle. This was not uncommon among families who lost a loved one on Titanic, Dunkason says.
"People didn't talk about it. It was like the war — it was such a disaster for this city and for so many families who lost their livelihood," she says.
About 600 of Titanic's 900-strong crew were from Southampton. More than 500 people from the city lost their lives — a third of the total casualties. Most of them were waiters, sailors, stewards, engineers and, like Geer, stokers. Very few bodies were brought back to England.
"When Titanic went down, the shipping company the White Star Line stopped the crew's pay but charged families the freight costs of shipping the bodies back," says Valerie Ferguson, who volunteers at the cemetery along with Dunkason. "Most couldn't afford it, which is why we have so many memorials rather than graves."
Only one of the 538 Southampton residents to perish was a passenger: Henry Price Hodges, a wealthy businessman who dealt in pianos and gramophones, an early version of the record player. Like the majority of Titanic's Southampton victims, his body was never brought back.
Titanic: 100 Years later USA TODAY and National Geographic Channel are producing a series of reports on the centennial of the Titanic’s sinking. See more at natgeotv.com/titanic. Watch Titanic specials on The National Geographic Channel starting April 8 at 8 p.m. ET.
Hodges is buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with more than 100 other Titanic victims, but he is remembered on the Art Nouveau headstone of his wife's grave in the Southampton cemetery. Local politician John Hannides, who is responsible for arts and culture in the city, says the enormous social impact of Titanic's demise was unique.
"Southampton was affected more than any other city in the world by the sinking of the Titanic," he says. "There were roads where every household lost a family member. You can only really imagine the sense of despair and loss."
When news of the disaster reached Southampton on the afternoon of April 15, most people didn't believe the ship everyone thought was unsinkable could have met with such disaster. In the following days, crowds of expectant relatives gathered outside the White Star Line's offices by the docks, waiting for names of survivors to be released.
Flags flew at half-staff, condolence notices filled the local newspapers, and a memorial service was held at the city's main church. Surviving crew returning to Southampton were met by crowds at the station. Two weeks after the disaster, 50,000 people — nearly half of the city's population at the time — turned out to an open-air service to remember the dead.
Southampton's mayor at the time, Henry Bowyer, set up a relief fund to help the widows, orphans and dependent relatives of those who died. Local people arranged concerts, sports days and other charity events to contribute to the fund, which helped families pay school fees, medical bills, apprenticeship fees and for necessities such as milk, eggs and even artificial teeth.
One hundred years after Titanic set sail from Southampton, it still plays a huge part in the city's identity.
Its legacy lives on in the 370 cruise ships that dock at the port every year and in the thousands of jobs provided by the docks and cruise industry. To mark the centenary, the city is opening a huge $23.5 million interactive museum called Sea City on April 10, the very day Titanic set out 100 years ago. The museum will display some of the 4,000 artifacts the city has gathered and offer recordings of the recollections of many of the survivors.
"Sea City will become symbolic on a scale that really does underline the respect and commemoration the city wants to show for the Southampton people who perished," Hannides says.
"We want to make sure their stories and experiences are accessible to people throughout the country and throughout the world. We want to make sure their stories live on for generations to come."My name is Gloom, and I’m a transgender woman who plays roller derby for the Fort Wayne Derby Girls. I’m also the chair of the WFTDA Diversity and Inclusion Committee, a committee that is dedicated to challenging regressive attitudes and systems of oppression that provide barriers to the participation of marginalized and underrepresented groups in roller derby. I’m writing to reaffirm the WFTDA’s commitment to the transgender community and to disavow transmisogyny in our own community. To do that, I’d like to talk a little bit about my own experiences.
As a transgender woman, my path to playing roller derby in a WFTDA Member league was a bumpy one. I was in the closet when I was first introduced to the sport, and I convinced myself that I would never be allowed to participate. For several years, I participated with WFTDA Member leagues as an official, as an announcer, and as a volunteer while being perceived as male. When I first joined a WFTDA Member league as a skater, I found myself paralyzed by anxiety around my new teammates. Did they think of me as the woman I am, or were they falling back on their perception of who they once thought I was?
I, like so many of my transgender siblings, have endured discrimination and bigotry since coming out. I have been assaulted, violently misgendered, disparaged and excluded from women’s spaces. This kind of discrimination and bigotry — whether it is latent transmisogyny, transphobia, trans-exterminationist radical feminism, biological essentialism, or so-called “gender-critical” attitudes — has no place in the WFTDA, and the organization stands in solidarity with the transgender community.
Two years ago, the WFTDA released a statement about gender in which it committed to inclusive and anti-discriminatory practices in relation to all transgender women, intersex women, and gender expansive participants. Today, that commitment is stronger than ever. We’re developing stronger support systems for all participants belonging to marginalized groups. We’re challenging hate speech where it arises. We’re seeking new ways to accommodate and empower transgender individuals, and we’re vigilant about making our existing policies, resources and practices more inclusive and gender-neutral.
The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association categorically rejects all forms of bigotry. In order for an organization such as ours to be revolutionary, we must be radically inclusive. I want my transgender siblings to know that you are welcome, we stand with you, and we will fight for you.
I’m looking forward to sharing the Diversity and Inclusion Committee’s progress with you in the coming weeks and months both here on WFTDA.com as well as on the WFTDA Forums. If you’d like to get in touch with us in the meantime, you can always email us at diversity@wftda.com.We’ve all heard the stories about people who call 911 for ridiculous reasons.
In case you need a refresher, consider these headlines:
Not exactly emergencies.
The absurd aside, many are still calling 911 for situations that don’t warrant an immediate police response. Contrarily, others won’t report petty crimes to police at all.
As Downtown Yonge BIA Executive Director Mark Garner put it, “Too often, people either call 911 or do nothing.”
That’s why Downtown Yonge BIA and Toronto Police have teamed up to create an easy-to-read infographic that spells out how to report the full gamut of crimes.
Rather than the default response of calling 911, Garner says the “infographic shows the other, better options, for everything from property damage to fraud.”
For example, any time personal safety of property are at risk, 911 should be called, while less serious incidents of theft or graffiti can be reported online.
The infographic has been produced on 5,000 postcards which are being distributed to local businesses.
In a release, Garner said he’s hopeful that with clarification, more people will pick up the phone and contact the appropriate agencies.
“We hope this will lead to more, and more accurate, reporting of crime on the street and in the neighbourhood,” he said. “When crimes go unreported, not only do they remain unsolved, but it creates unreliable crime rate data, which impacts on decisions about policing resources.”
“The response so far has been very positive. Residents’ associations and social agencies have called about obtaining copies, there are discussions among police services about translating it into other languages.”
“We are proud to be taking an active role in bringing numerous stakeholders together to address community issues.”GREEN BAY, Wis. -- With plates clanking and little old ladies chit-chatting and enjoying coffee at several nearby tables, the strains of Mat Kearney's "Nothing Left to Lose" were barely audible inside The Creamery coffee shop Wednesday morning. But as Tim Masthay tried to explain the approach he'd taken during his six years as the Green Bay Packers' punter, the reality of his uncertain future intersected with one particular lyric.
I don't know how hard this wind will blow...
Or where we'll go...
Unexpectedly cut Monday -- the timing took him by surprise despite getting a disconcerting vibe around Lambeau Field ever since his poor performance in the team's season-ending playoff loss at Arizona in January -- Masthay was feeling like any suddenly unemployed NFL player: Disappointed, confused, angry, anxious. He'd fallen several years short of the 10-year, only-in-Green Bay career he’d envisioned. While he was eager to get home to his wife Amanda and the couple's three children in Lexington, Kentucky, the rest of his future was a series of question marks.
Would he punt in the NFL again? Would his status as a vested NFL veteran -- meaning his entire season's salary would be guaranteed if he is on a team’s roster in Week 1 -- prevent him from being signed? Would the Packers, if newly added punter Jacob Schum struggles, consider bringing him back?
"It's a tough thing to digest," Masthay admitted.
Tim Masthay always looked out for the greater good during his Packers career. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK
There was one thing that Masthay was sure of, though. He was certain that he had no regrets about the approach he'd taken, the professionalism he'd shown, the teammates he'd helped, the friends he'd made. It might've even sounded a bit hokey had Masthay not been so earnest as he said it.
"What is really motivational to me and the stuff I think about frequently is, I'm trying to write a good story with my life. I care a lot about legacy and being a part of something," Masthay said. "I don't know how good of a job I've done up to this point, but that is what in a big-picture sense, that's what I'm thinking about.
"What sort of legacy am I leaving? What sort of story I'm writing?"
Criticize Masthay's on-field performance if you'd like. While he leaves as the franchise’s all-time leader in net punting average and wearing a Super Bowl ring he helped earn with a fantastic performance in the 2010 NFC Championship Game, certainly his struggles during the second half of the 2014 season and his poor performance against the Cardinals in the playoffs last January merited scrutiny. (His late-season performance before that playoff game was actually quite good, though.)
But to understand the kind of story Masthay is writing of his football life and the legacy he leaves -- again, the NFL is a bottom-line business, and performance is what matters above all else -- there are two stories that must be told.
The first is from the winter of 2013, when the Packers had signed street free agent Giorgio Tavecchio to compete with Masthay's best friend, kicker Mason Crosby. Crosby was coming off the worst season of his career, and while Masthay wanted nothing more than to keep holding for his BFF, he also knew he owed it to the challenger to give him a fair shake.
So that offseason, Masthay bought a JUGS ball machine, set it up in his yard and had Amanda -- with young daughter Emory in a playpen nearby -- feed ball after ball after ball into the machine so he could practice holding for a left-footed kicker, something he'd never done before. It was the right thing to do, even though no one from the Packers had told Masthay to do it, and even if it gave Tavecchio a better chance of beating out Crosby for the job.
"Mason's practically blood to me. Even in the offseason, while I'm working on left-handed holding, I am obviously wanting Mason to be the kicker. As much as I loved Giorgio, too, there was no ounce of me that was wanting Giorgio to take Mason's job," Masthay said. "But at the end of the day, I thought it would be unprofessional for me to show up in the spring totally unprepared to hold for a left-footed kicker when I knew we have a left-footed kicker on the roster."
The other is from this summer, after the Packers brought in Green Bay native Peter Mortell to compete with Masthay. While the likable Mortell became one of the most compelling narratives of camp -- going from heartwarming local-boy-makes-good story to legitimate challenger -- Masthay went out of his way to not only give his inexperienced competition punting pointers but frequently encouraged the undrafted rookie free agent, including after the Packers cut Mortell on Monday.
While it's not uncommon in NFL locker rooms for players at the same position to forge friendships despite competing with one another, Mortell said Masthay went above and beyond. From allowing Mortell to run out of the Lambeau Field tunnel first before the team's Aug. 12 preseason game vs. Cleveland to sharing the challenges he faced on his own path to the NFL, Masthay never once made Mortell feel like an outsider.
"The first day I stepped foot in that facility, he had every right to give me the cold shoulder, but that's just not the type of guy Tim is," Mortell said Wednesday night. "He welcomed me with open arms and answered every question I raised with respect and honesty. I feel fortunate to have spent the time I did with him because he made me not only a better punter but showed me what it meant to be a professional in this league. And for that, I'll be forever grateful."
For Masthay, helping Mortell was part of the job.
"When I know I have something I know I can share that is beneficial, I don't like to hold that in," Masthay said with a shrug. "If I was helpful to him, I'm glad I was."A girl suicide bomber as young as 10 blew herself up at a busy market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum on Sunday, killing four others and seriously wounding 46 people, a witness and hospital records show.
The girl who appeared no more than 10 years old got out of a tricycle taxi in front of the cellphone market and detonated her explosives on Potiskum's main market day, according to survivor Anazumi Saleh, who suffered injuries to his head.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack bears all the signs of similar bombings by Boko Haram and raises fears that Nigeria's home-grown Islamic extremists are using kidnap victims as bombers.
Meanwhile, a new group releasing propaganda for Boko Haram denied a Ministry of Defence statement that troops Friday seized back the border garrison town of Baga.
It comes amid reports that military from Nigeria and neighbouring Chad are retaking towns and villages held for months by Boko Haram even as the extremists attack other northeastern communities. Scores of civilians have been killed in such attacks in recent days.
"Baga still is under the control of the mujahedeen and any claim by the regime that they took the city is their usual lie," said a brief message posted on the Twitter account of Al-Urwa Al-Wuthqa, according to the SITE intelligence monitoring service.
The Associated Press was trying to verify the situation in Baga, a town on Lake Chad and the border with Cameroon where the extremists are accused of killing hundreds of people in a January attack after Nigerian troops fled.
The government hopes the military will be able to reclaim enough territory to allow presidential elections March 28, which Boko Haram is threatening to disrupt.
The vote looks like it will be the most closely contested in the history of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and its biggest oil producer. Boko Haram has warned it will disrupt the elections by attacking polling stations and denounced democracy as a corrupt Western concept.
Boko Haram may soon pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria and operates in Libya, according to a recent message posted by SITE. Boko Haram in August began emulating the IS group by declaring that it has established an Islamic caliphate in the towns and villages it holds in northeastern Nigeria.
"We give you glad tidings that the group's Shurah Council is at the stage of consulting and studying, and we will let you know soon the group's decision in respect to pledging allegiance to the caliph of the Muslims, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," referring to the IS group in a message posted Sunday on Twitter but dated Feb. 9, according to SITE.Michigan Militia Photobucket A federal judge dismissed the most serious charges against seven members of a Michigan militia in an extraordinary defeat for federal authorities, as reported by Ed White at The Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said the hatred of law enforcement expressed by members of the Hutaree militia didn't amount to a conspiracy to rebel against the government.
Federal prosecutors had insisted they had captured homegrown rural extremists poised for war.
Judge Roberts said that although protected speech and mere words can be sufficient to show a conspiracy, they do not rise to that level in this case.
Roberts subsequently granted requests for acquittal on the most serious charges— conspiring to commit sedition, or rebellion, against the U.S. and conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction— and dismissed other weapons crimes tied to the alleged conspiracies.
The trial, which began on Feb. 13, will resume Thursday with only a few gun charges remaining against militia leader David Stone and his son Joshua Stone. Both men are from Lenawee County, Mich., and have been in custody without bond for two years.
The FBI put a local informant inside the militia in 2008 and paid him $31,000 to collect hours of anti-government audio and video that became the cornerstone of the case.
An FBI agent was also embedded, posing as a trucker and secretly recording talks with the elder Stone for months. The agent even served as Stone's best man at his wedding, at which with militia members wore military fatigues.
The FBI rented a warehouse in Ann Arbor where the agent would invite him and others to store and discuss weapons. Stone's knowledge of explosives apparently matched some of the instruction given to federal agents.
Stone was recorded saying he was willing to kill police and even their families because he considered them part of a sinister global authority that included federal law enforcers and United Nations troops.
Stone also suspected that Germany and Singapore had aircraft stationed in Texas, thousands of Canadian troops were poised to take over Michigan and the government put computer chips in a flu vaccine.
Prosecutors said Hutaree members were anti-government rebels who combined training and strategy sessions to prepare for a violent strike against federal law enforcement. But there never was an attack.
Stone's defense attorney described him as a Christian who was bracing for war against the Antichrist.
Now check out: Americans Are Getting Tired Of Trumped Up Terrorism Charges Against Their Innocent NeighborsA police helicopter hovering over the tented Occupy London protest group outside St Paul’s Cathedral has detected with infra-red cameras that in the early hours of the morning, only one in 10 of the tents had anyone inside. I’m indebted to the Daily Telegraph for this information.
If true, it certainly casts a new light on the nature of protest in the year 2011.
Clearly there is something somehow not quite right about a protest that gives the appearance of 24 hour dedication, but which in reality finds only 20 of the 200 tents actually occupied at 3.00 am. The whole issue somehow feels a little less urgent, a little less committed, than it seemed to boast.
But I’m more intrigued by the position of the church in the matter. The once permissive Dean and Chapter claim it is costing them tens of thousand of pounds a week to keep the place shut for “health and safety” reasons.
Attending a remote village church last Sunday, I heard the presiding cleric expressing her dismay at the attitude of the St Paul’s authorities in shutting the cathedral doors against the protest. She conjured the commandment “Love thy Neighbour”. Indeed the Dean’s initial reaction was to do just that and to tolerate the protest on his forecourt. Later, other counsels prevailed and he had the doors locked.
It begs the question: which neighbour to love? Should it be the banker, the financier, the hedge fundista, down the road in the Square Mile, or the neighbour on your forecourt?
Christ, we are told, “cast out the money changers”. Have the Dean and his Chapter chosen the “money changer”, over the “common protester”?
On the other hand, when I “sat in” with hundreds of others, in a student protest in 1970, we never left, even for a shower, for six long and increasingly odour strewn weeks.
Now that it seems the protesters are not quite what they seem, is a blur developing with the bankers who claimed to be “doing God’s work?”
Follow Jon Snow on Twitter: @jonsnowC4By taking advantage of Print On Demand technology, MMP has produced a softcover version of the 2nd edition ASL rulebook. Printed on thinner paper than the regular rulebook, the Pocket Edition is less than 3/4 inches thick and measures approximately 7.5 X 9.5 inches.
The Pocket Edition contains core Chapters A-G and the full Index. Previously published errata pages are incorporated in this version of the rulebook; but individual errata items (as of Jun 1, 2015) are incorporated as a separate listing in the index.
The Pocket Edition also sports a handy IFT chart on the back cover as well as several frequently used tables inside the back cover.
The Pocket Edition is not meant to replace the full 2nd edition rulebook, but it is a comprehensive and handy tableside reference to the core rules that no devoted ASL player should be without.
Due to the nature of print on demand, the color bands for each chapter are designed to be full bleed across the fore edge only of the Pocket Edition although occasional copies may have color across the head(top) of the book.
NB:This is a print on demand product and our inventory may fluctuate. If/when we sell out, more will be ordered from our printer. It can take approximately two weeks for us to receive a restock!On Wednesday, French authorities halted the production of foie gras—fattened duck or goose liver—until August throughout southwestern France as the region braces for a particularly virulent strain of bird flu, which was detected on an area farm late last year. The effect of the ban will be felt worldwide, as France supplies an estimated 75 percent of the world’s foie gras—70 percent of which comes from the affected area. Exports of the delicacy amounted to 5,000 tons in 2014, The Local reported.
In this case, what's good for the goose is also good for the gander—but it will be tough on the breeders. There will be 9 million fewer ducks on the market this year, a farmer told Le Figaro, meaning the price for consumers “will have to go upwards.” Foie gras is produced from the livers of ducks and geese that are force-fed to get fat, a practice that is opposed by animal-rights activists for what they say is its cruelty. Force-feeding has been banned in several countries, including the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Israel.
In 2004, California passed a law that barred the sale of the delicacy, including in restaurants. The law was in effect from 2012 until January 2015, when a federal judge ruled it was unconstitutional. But foie gras remains a popular delicacy in France, which will feel the effects of the ban immediately.
“This interruption to our business will cause cash flow problems, additional wage costs linked to the temporary unemployment of around 4,000 workers, and fixed costs that will have to be paid despite us not having any income," Marie Pierre Pé, spokesperson for the producers' federation, Cifog, told Le Figaro (link in French).
The French minister of agriculture said the government would compensate the breeders for their estimated $150,000 loss. The H5N1 strain of bird flu was identified at a chicken farm in Dordogne in November. The strain is highly lethal to birds, but humans rarely contract the virus unless they are in very close contact with a live bird that has the disease.
But when people do get sickened by H5N1, it is fatal in about 60 percent of cases, according to the World Health Organization.
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Plus: Vote for your favorite hotels, cities, airlines, and more in the 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards survey.Brady and Grey discuss: transporters and dying while asleep, Brady's return from The Forbidden Kingdom, hotstopper follow-up, the best month of gaming, the temptations of a smaller phone, conclusion of the Super Bowl of Flags, ye olde corporate compensation corner, and robots are coming to take your job corner.
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Show Notes
Discuss this episode on the reddit
Grey: The Trouble with Transporters
The Forbidden Kingdom
Brady at the Taj Mahal with like a million other people
Brady's Mount Everest Fly By
Paro Landing
Brady explosions photo
Pitfall 2
iPhone SE
Second Referendum on the New Zealand Flag Preliminary Result
AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol
ComputerphileOn July 26th (KST), SK Telecom T1 finally broke their long losing streak by defeating Ever8 Winners 2-0 on the 37th day of 2017 LCK Summer Split. Junsik "Bang" Bae and Sanghyuk "Faker" Lee were interviewed on air by OGN after the match.
Faker started the interview by expressing relief from how is playing better than before. "I've made too make mistakes in recent matches, so I've been trying to minimize those mistakes as much as possible. I'm relieved because I think I'm playing better than before."
He continued, "This is the first time that I've gone on a losing streak like this. Although I am heartbroken for losing like this, but I'm more sorry for the fans who might have been also heartbroken. I promise that I'll play better in future."
Faker also shared how Coach Jungkyun "kkOma" Kim is under a lot of stress and how he looked more relieved than happy for winning today's match.
Meanwhile, although SKT T1 defeated EEW today, the losing streak has put them in the middle of the pack in the LCK standings. SKT T1 will return this Friday for the match against ROX Tigers.Authorities are investigating an anti-U.S. rant posted on Facebook just minutes before the Ohio State University attack today that is believed to be linked to suspect Abdul Razak Ali Artan, sources told ABC News.
Appearing three minutes before the beginning of the rampage that left 11 people injured, the post reads: “I can’t take it anymore. America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially the Muslim Ummah. We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that.”
The post also invokes the name Anwar Al-Awlaki, a radical American-born al-Qaeda cleric, describing him as a “hero.” Al-Awlaki was killed in 2011 but his propaganda has been linked to several domestic terrorist attacks in the years after his death.
“If you want us Muslims to stop carrying lone wolf attacks, then make peace,” the post reads. “We will not let you sleep unless you give peace to the Muslims.”
The post, which was on a page that appears to have since been disabled, takes the form of a photo of a computer screen displaying a text document.
Authorities identified Artan as the attacker in a press conference this afternoon, but said they have not determined a motive and the investigation is ongoing. Sources told ABC News that he is a of Somali descent and is a legal permanent resident in the United States.on •
The newest thing in American fast food seems to be pretzel bread! Wendy’s has a new burger featuring a bun of pretzel, and Sonic has a pretzel hot dog bun.
The bun is of course soft pretzel in nature, but hardly anything new.
My husband and I discovered long ago that pretzels come in many shapes besides twisted. We first encountered the pretzel bun when we stopped at a train station in Switzerland. We were travelling to Bern, and knew we would arrive too late to procure dinner. We decided to peek around the train station to see what was offered in the mini mart type shops. I discovered these odd looking round fat pretzels. They were in the bins with other types of rolls, so I decided in the spirit of adventure to buy some, along with cheese and meat, to make sandwiches.
My husband was a bit skeptical, but was won over with his first bite into the fresh fluffy goodness that is a Swiss pretzel bun. We found you could get your sandwiches in Switzerland on all sorts of pretzels, from the traditionally shaped twist to long tube rolls. Our only mode of travel is “cheap as possible” so I became an expert pretzel sandwich maker quickly, and every trip to Switzerland starts with a stop at the local super market to stock up on sandwich making supplies.
The only problem with how wonderful pretzel bread is, is that is so delicious you can’t resist it.
My husband and I travel by train, and every train station in Switzerland has at least one pretzel shop. The smell hits you as you walk into any station. My husband knew how to get me to hurry up to get to the train station by saying “Look, do you want to have time to buy pretzels or not?”
He knew the agony I went through taking a train from Bern to Zurich, with everyone on the train eating a freshly baked pretzel, and since we had to rush to make the train we had no pretzels. There is nothing that makes me happier than riding a train through the beautiful Swiss mountains munching on a freshly made still warm pretzel. My husband, ever cheap, carries a light fold up cooler filled with drinks, because eating pretzels does lead to thirst!
The lines at the pretzel stores are filled with locals, not just tourists. i have to say the Wendy’s pretzel burger is excellent, though sadly not as fresh as those Swiss pretzels buns. I hope this is a fad that will become part of our local bakery, where freshness can make making pretzel sandwiches a part of my US routine also.
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Categories: Food, TravelLast month, Gameranx reported on the candidates up for awards at this year’s BAFTA or British Academy Games Awards, which span a total of 17 categories including Best Game, Artistic Achievement and AMD eSports Audience Award. A recent blog post on the BAFTA website revealed that artist and award-winning game designer Brenda Romero, whose credits consist of contributions to franchises like Wizardry, Jagged Alliance and Ghost Recon, will be honoured with BAFTA’s Special Award for her creative input to the industry.
Chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee Nick Button-Brown spoke highly of Romero’s advocacy for the pursuit of excellence in creative game design and nurturing next generation talent:
“Brenda is such a great role model for people wanting to enter the industry and her advocacy for the excellence of creativity within the Games industry helps us all. Given the work that BAFTA does in helping people get into the games industry, having Brenda as such an eloquent advocate is fantastic.”
Romero, who will also be awarded the 2017 Development Legend at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards expressed her gratitude over being recognised for the Special Award:
“I am first and foremost grateful to BAFTA for recognising the artistic potential and power of games. This recognition is culturally critical for games overall. So for that, I am profoundly thankful. As for me? Genuinely, I am still in a state of shock, having been chosen. I’ve devoted my life to games – making them, teaching them, playing them – and to receive any honour from the community is incredible. But a BAFTA? It’s well beyond anything else.”
The 2017 BAFTA Awards are scheduled for Thursday April 6 at Tobacco Dock, London. Those in the UK who are interested in attending can purchase a public ticket to the event here for £60 British pounds. Keen on watching at home instead? BAFTA will also be broadcasting the ceremony via Twitch.The celebrated grand prix photographer Nigel Snowdon has |
69 games last season, hitting just.238 with a.343 on-base percentage, the second-lowest of his career, and 37 RBIs. The Rockies need more pop from his bat and also need his golden touch around the bag.
17: Home runs hit by the Rockies’ first basemen last season, ranking 12th in the National League. Todd Helton hit only seven.
Second base
The expected starter is rookie Josh Rutledge, but he will have to battle DJ LeMahieu. Rutledge, promoted from Double-A Tulsa after the all-star break last season, filled in admirably for injured Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop. Now he slides over to second.
Rutledge posted a.345 average with 24 extra-base hits in his first 145 at-bats, but fatigue and a quadriceps injury brought him back to earth. He batted only.197 with just nine extra-base hits over his final 132 at-bats.
LeMahieu started at second the final two months of the season. He posted a.994 fielding percentage in 67 games there. He showed some pop late in the season, hitting.324 with 12 doubles, four triples, two homers and 20 RBIs over his final 55 starts.
.309: On-base percentage for the Rockies’ second basemen in 2012, ranking 18th in baseball.
Shortstop
It’s no stretch to say Troy Tulowitzki faces his biggest test since his 2007 rookie season. The two-time all-star must prove he can stay healthy and silence critics who say his 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame is too big for the rigors of playing shortstop and has led to troublesome leg-muscle injuries. He strained his left groin early in 2012; the injury lingered and affected his fielding and his production at the plate before he was shut down for the season. Tulo hit.287 with eight homers and 27 RBIs. His.964 fielding percentage was the worst of his career.
Tulo remains confident that he’s one of baseball’s best shortstops and is eager to play for former shortstop Walt Weiss.
47: Games played by Troy Tulowitzki in 2012, his season spoiled by a groin injury that eventually required surgery to remove scar tissue.
Third base
The hot corner remains a concern. Chris Nelson, who enters spring training as the favorite to win the starting job, was terrific at the plate after the all-star break last year, hitting.344 with 12 doubles, two triples and 30 RBIs in 55 games. His defense is a huge concern (.931 fielding percentage). Also in the mix are Jordan Pacheco (who struggled in his trial by fire at third base last year), DJ LeMahieu and Ryan Wheeler, who was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks for relief pitcher Matt Reynolds.
Nolan Arenado, a second-round draft pick in 2009, will be in camp again, but it’s doubtful he will make the big-league team out of spring. He probably will open at Triple-A.
.942: Fielding percentage for the Rockies’ third basemen in 2012, ranking 12th in the NL.
Catcher
One of the compelling story lines of spring training is Wilin Rosario’s growth as a catcher. Did his offseason practice pay off? Last season, Rosario committed 13 errors and was charged with 21 passed balls, most in the big leagues in both categories — despite playing only 105 games as a catcher.
Expect Ramon Hernandez, 36, to return as the No. 2 catcher in large part because he’s owed $3.2 million for the final year of his contract. A hand injury and a season-ending hamstring tear limited him to 52 games. Hernandez will be absent most of March while playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. That’s one reason the Rockies signed veteran Yorvit Torrealba to a minor-league contract.
.530: Slugging percentage for Wilin Rosario, the highest for an NL rookie catcher since the Dodgers’ Mike Piazza in 1993.
Outfield
The Rockies have strength in numbers. Left fielder Carlos Gonzalez (.303 average, 22 homers) is a returning all-star, and center fielder Dexter Fowler is coming off a breakout season in which he hit.300 with 13 homers, 53 RBIs and a.389 on-base percentage. Right fielder Michael Cuddyer was limited to 101 games because of an oblique injury but still drove in 58 runs and hit 16 homers. He will get plenty of playing time at first base, opening the door for Tyler Colvin, who batted.290 and drove in 72 runs in his first season with the Rockies.
Also in the outfield mix are speedy Eric Young Jr. and Charlie Blackmon, who hit.362 as a part-time starter in September.
314: RBIs by the Rockies’ outfielders in 2012, ranking third in the NL. The team leader was Carlos Gonzalez (85 RBIs).
Rotation
Fans hoping for a major acquisition to prop up a wobbly rotation are no doubt disappointed. The Rockies enter spring training relying on Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Juan Nicasio and Jeff Francis. If that foursome stays healthy and pitches reasonably well, the Rockies would need only one youngster to make a giant leap forward. That group includes left-handers Drew Pomeranz and Christian Friedrich and right-handers Tyler Chatwood and Josh Outman. Right-hander Chris Volstad, who signed a minor-league deal in January, could be in the mix too.
5.81: ERA for the Rockies’ starting pitchers in 2012, the worst in baseball and the second-worst in franchise history, behind a 6.19 ERA in 1999.
Bullpen
The Rockies’ relievers were hardly lights out last season (35-30 record, 4.52 ERA). But assigned the burden of trying to bail out woeful starting pitching, they performed reasonably well. Right-hander Wilton Lopez, acquired from the Houston Astros for starting pitcher Alex White, posted a 2.17 ERA last season and showed a penchant for inducing groundballs. Rafael Betancourt enters spring training as the closer, but Lopez will get opportunities to show what he can do.
The left-right, eighth-inning tandem of Rex Brothers and Matt Belisle is solid. Adam Ottavino proved to be a solid middle reliever a year ago. Lefty Josh Outman and right-hander Rob Scahill also will be in the mix this spring.
657.0: Innings pitched by the Rockies’ relievers in 2012, the most in big-league history.
Bench
The Rockies have a surplus of question marks, but they also have a lot of depth. Jordan Pacheco will get playing time at first base, third base and catcher. He hit.309 last year and became the first National League rookie to finish in the top five of the batting race since 1974. Outfielder Eric Young Jr. can provide instant offense late in a game, utilizing his speed and pinch-hitting ability. When he gets on a roll — he hit.420, with five doubles, three homers and 15 runs scored in his final 19 games — he’s dynamic. What the Rockies lack is a late-game slugger. Jason Giambi, no longer with the team, was supposed to be that last season but hit only one home run and drove in just eight runs in 89 at-bats.
13: Pinch hits by Eric Young Jr. in 2012, tied for second-most in the majors.Every summer and fall, states bring out their best in fried food, portable attractions, and crowd-pleasing farm animals for annual state fairs. And while some fairs have gained fame for their size, others have gained followings with more under-the-radar attractions like giant vegetable contests, live cow birthings, and massive sculptures of chocolate and sand. If you’re making a summertime tour of the U.S., or you happen to near live the location of a state fair, and, for some reason (are you crazy?!) need more motivation to attend, look no further than this list.
Below, we help you choose which fairs to visit this summer by breaking down the 10 best state fairs in the country. We made our selections using the only two criteria that truly matter when it comes to evaluating state fairs: the food (the fried-er the better) and the entertainment — concerts, competitions, and exhibitions — they offer. From New York’s wino-friendly parade grounds and Minnesota’s seemingly infinite tableau of foods on sticks, to Texas’s thrill rides and Georgia’s animal races, these are the food-coma-inducing, recipe-for-fun state fairs you have to go to this summer. Bring your antacids, because you're going to need them.
10. Arizona State Fair
If you’re a fan of southwestern cuisine, do not miss the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix, (October 11—November 3). Chili, agua fresca, and husk-roasted sweet corn are just a few of the items repping the local palate. Grub options also include twists on fair classics, such as red velvet funnel cakes or maple bacon donuts. The fair is also great for animal lovers: Last year’s fair included shows with goats, rabbits, cattle, and sheep.
9. Alaska State Fair
If you like produce and you like competition, the Alaska State Fair held annually in Palmer (August 21—September 1) may be, weirdly enough, for you. Due to Alaska’s extended daylight in the summer months, plants and vegetables raised in the state can grow to monstrous sizes, and farmers bring their largest to the festival to compete for steep rewards. One such competition is the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off, the winner of which receives $2,000. The record is currently held by Scott Robb Palmer, whose winning cabbage came in at 138.250 pounds.
8. North Carolina State Fair
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
State fairs and shopping don’t often go together, but at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh (October 16—26), attendees can take advantage of both typical fair attractions — racing pigs, acrobats, and pumpkin carving demonstrations — and the famous Raleigh Flea Market. Open at the fairgrounds every weekend all year long (besides during the state fair), the market houses more than 600 vendors who sell clothing, jewelry, crafts, furniture, antiques, and other goods.
7. California State Fair
As with all its endeavors, the state of California brings big entertainment value and a touch of the exotic to its annual state fair. In previous years, more than 700,000 have flocked to Sacramento to experience water rides at Raging Waters park, an array of award-winning beers at Brewfest, and a Birds of Paradise exhibit. This year’s fair will be held July 11—27.
6. Georgia State Fair
Steve Pope/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Monkeys riding dogs? In Georgia? This is what state fairs are all about. At the annual Georgia State Fair in Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia (this year, September 26—October 5), you can see the monkeys-on-dogs race (it's officially called the Banana Derby) and much more, including a live sea lion exhibit and a Halloween Magic Show. And when it comes to food, you better believe the southern state brings fried cuisine to a whole new level.
5. Ohio State Fair
The Ohio State Fair, which takes place in Columbus (July 23—August 3), is something of an outsized sculpture garden show: Attractions include a 500-pound chocolate sculpture, a 25-ton sand sculpture, and a ride called the SkyGlider, “one of the world’s longest portable sky rides.” If you’re more interested in the food, you’ll be happy to know the fair has its own Food Finder App, which helps attendees locate everything from sausage sandwiches to deep-fried PB&J sandwiches.
4. Iowa State Fair
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Iowa’s 11-day State Fair in Des Moines (August 7—17) features almost 200 concession stands that serve a vast array of food, including 70 types of treats on a stick. And while attendees will find the usual decadent fare, healthy eaters also have options, including a whole salad on a skewer (um...). The fair also boasts a lineup worthy of a music festival. This year, the Goo Goo Dolls, the Plain White T’s, Lady Antebellum, and Florida Georgia Line are all scheduled to make appearances.
3. New York State Fair
According to Country Living, the wine showing at the New York State Fair in Syracuse (August 21—September 1) beats even California's, as “dozens of wineries from across the state host tastings and vie for top-vitner status.” The best part about the fair’s very own “Wine Village”? It’s cheap — two dollars for a five-ounce glass — and you’re allowed to walk around the fairgrounds with it. We recommend taking a glass (or six) to this year’s concerts: Brad Paisley, Train, The Wallflowers, and Florida Georgia Line will all be playing. And if your taste for entertainment skews more bucolic, fret not: there will be a live cow birthing for attendees to watch.
2. State Fair of Texas
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
One needs to be careful at the State Fair of Texas: Take advantage of its famous fried food and its impressive thrill rides without a long enough break in between and things can get messy. On the food side of things, you can enjoy a fried Thanksgiving dinner, fried Nutella, fried pie, and other batter-bathed concoctions. On the ride side, be sure to get in line for the 1,800-foot-long gondola and the 212-foot Ferris Wheel (the Statue of Liberty, to compare, is 305 feet tall). Texas's world-famous fair is held annually in Dallas, and will run this year from September 26 to October 19.
1. Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota State Fair the best fair in the country, and offers a number of compelling reasons why, not least of which is the fact that, in 2013, some 1.7 million people attended. What do they all come for? In addition to a range of farm-related attractions (Minnesota, like New York, has a live cow-birthing) the fair also includes a butter-sculpting contest, 70 types of food on a stick, deep-fried candy bars and — drum-roll, please — fairground-wide WiFi. It’s not every fair that allows you to Instagram your fried-food adventures (or your selfie with Tim McGraw, who’ll be performing). Check it all out for yourself at this year’s in St. Paul, August 21—September 1.A new study and related press release from the Royal Astronomical Society is making the rounds in recent days, claiming that a new statistical analysis of sunspot cycles shows “solar activity will fall by 60 per cent during the 2030s” to a level that last occurred during the so-called Little Ice Age, which ended 300 years ago.
Since climate change deniers have a particular fascination with sunspot cycles, this story has predictably been picked up by all manner of conservative news media, with a post in the Telegraph quickly gathering up tens of thousands of shares. The only problem is, it’s a wildly inaccurate reading of the research.
There’s no need to worry about an impending ice age (or to become complacent about global warming).
Sunspots have been observed on a regular basis for at least 400 years, and over that period, there’s a weak correlation between the number of sunspots and global temperature—most notably during a drastic downturn in the number of sunspots from about 1645 to 1715. Known as the Maunder minimum, this phenomenon happened about the same time as a decades-long European cold snap known as the Little Ice Age. That connection led to theory that this variability remains the dominant factor in Earth’s climate. Though that idea is still widely circulated, it’s been disproved. In reality, sunspots fluctuate in an 11-year cycle, and the current cycle is the weakest in 100 years—yet 2014 was the planet’s hottest year in recorded history.
If you look closely at the original press release, the study’s author, Valentina Zharkova, never implied a new ice age is imminent—only that we may see a sharp downturn in the number of sunspots. Yes, the sun is a variable star, but its output is remarkably stable. The amount of energy we receive from the sun just doesn’t change fast enough to cause a rapid-onset ice age in just a few decades.The trio then sauntered off, forgetting the Docs. I couldn't believe what had just happened and that the attackers were getting away with it on busy Correo Mayor street, just a half-block north of Mexico's National Palace at 1 pm on a Wednesday.
One of these men ripped off my backpack, while another, a 20-something in jeans and a grey hoodie, began slicing through the shoelaces of my Doc Martens. The third man tugged at the headphones protruding from my pocket, fumbling, so I did him the favor of tossing my cell phone — an iPhone bought just six weeks ago — away from me.
You're walking down a random, densely populated street in Mexico City when something sharp is pressed into your back. A second knife is then held against your throat. A man jumps in front of you, jabbing a switchblade toward your horrified face. His own expression reads: "No bullshit."
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You're walking down a random, densely populated street in Mexico City when something sharp is pressed into your back. A second knife is then held against your throat. A man jumps in front of you, jabbing a switchblade toward your horrified face. His own expression reads: "No bullshit."
You're being mugged. Get ready for it.
This happened to me on Mexican Independence Day, September 16, in Mexico City's historic downtown.
One of these men ripped off my backpack, while another, a 20-something in jeans and a grey hoodie, began slicing through the shoelaces of my Doc Martens. The third man tugged at the headphones protruding from my pocket, fumbling, so I did him the favor of tossing my cell phone — an iPhone bought just six weeks ago — away from me.
The trio then sauntered off, forgetting the Docs. I couldn't believe what had just happened and that the attackers were getting away with it on busy Correo Mayor street, just a half-block north of Mexico's National Palace at 1 pm on a Wednesday.
"No one is going to stop them, or help?" I asked the crowd, still lying on the floor rubbing my hair, which seconds earlier one of the men had been ripping at by the fistful.
My muggers were still within earshot.
"That's not how things work here, m'ija," a woman responded, shaking her head. "Ya vete — just go."
"No one saw anything," another witness chimed in. "Stand up."
I jumped up and hopped into a cab that was passing by. At least they didn't slit my throat, I thought. My cabbie took me home, where I scraped a few coins together and paid him.
"They probably thought you had cash in your shoe," the driver said matter-of-factly. "That's where I always keep my money."
Mexico City's historic downtown district. (Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre/AP)
Muggings are a feature of life in any big city, the statistics tell us. But there is something particularly frustrating and disheartening about the crime and how it is handled in the Mexican capital — especially when it comes to the authorities whose job it is to help victims recover their belongings and maybe acquire some justice.
My mugging in September set me on a nightmare ordeal that taught me — as far as the police were concerned — that I was one of the criminals, too.
Throughout the rest of that day, after I vented on Twitter, friends checked in to make sure I was OK. They also began to share horror stories of their muggings in Mexico. As awful anecdotes began flooding my inbox — stories involving AK-47s, pistols, ice picks, and knives — I asked each victim the same question: "Did you file a police report?"
"It never crossed my mind," said Emma Herrera, 27, who told me she was mugged twice in the span of three months. "The police don't feel like a protective element in Mexico. When you're in danger, they're the last people you think to go to."
I worried about this as I packed my bags for the airport. I was leaving the country early the next morning, and decided I would let Mexican officials know what happened to me at the airport's ministerio público, the term used in Mexico for a public prosecutor's desk.
That's when I found out my "mugging" was taking on a whole new dimension.
Related: Mexicans Outraged — But Not Surprised — After Crony Clears President in 'White House' Scandal
More than one in four Mexicans were victims of violent crime last year — not including those related to organized crime such as drug and human trafficking — but only 7.2 percent of these crimes were even reported to authorities, according to a government survey released last week.
The report released on September 30 by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (or INEGI) said victims in Mexico fail to report crimes because they considered it "a waste of time," or due to "lack of trust in authority."
The report goes on to say that less than a quarter of those surveyed "feel safe" in their communities, meaning 72.3% of people in the country have a negative perception of security in the daily surroundings.
'I didn't want to waste my time at the prosecutor's office, and wanted to avoid the victim shaming.'
In Mexico City, 15,121 people were mugged on the street "with violence" in 2014, according to data published by the National System of Public Safety, or SNSP. The data also says that more than 3,000 pedestrians were also robbed "without violence."
Crime statistics in Mexico, of course, are notoriously unreliable.
For example, 62 kidnappings were recorded by SNSP last year in Mexico City. Yet the same agency says 78 kidnappings were investigated by the prosecutor's office during the same period.
Stellum Sotelo says he's been robbed six times in Mexico. In one incident, he was left with a bruised eye. (Photo courtesy of Stellum Sotelo)
"I was robbed by a taxi driver last Thursday," Ricardo Enriquez told me, after he was assaulted in the LGBT-friendly Zona Rosa district of Mexico City.
"I didn't file a report, because I didn't want to waste my time at the prosecutor's office, and wanted to avoid the victim shaming — 'What were you doing on that street at night? Surely you must have been drinking? Were you trying to seduce the cab driver?' — and all of those pleasantries," Enriquez said.
Stellum Sotelo, 25, works late most nights as a musician and photographer. He told me he's been violently assaulted six times in Mexico. "I only reported one of them," Sotelo said, adding that that particular mugging landed him in a hospital with black eyes and bruised ribs.
"If victims don't report the crime, there is no way to include them in the reports," said Laura Trejo, director of a campaigning anti-crime group called Alto al Secuestro (End Kidnapping).
Last week's INEGI study said more than half of the kidnappings in Mexico are so-called express kidnappings — lasting less than 24 hours.
I spoke to several young women who were victims of temporary kidnappings in Mexico City. Two shared almost identical stories of armed men threatening their lives, while holding them hostage in cabs and forcing them to empty their bank accounts at ATMs.
"After driving around for an eternity, they let me loose on a horrible, dark street," said Anita Valerio, 31, a VICE Media employee in Mexico City. "They were threatening my family, and had everything — my address and my family's phone numbers, which I stupidly had saved in my phone as 'Mom, etc.'."
Valerio was so afraid by the threats that she decided not to report the attack to authorities.
"One of them groped me all over, and then I walked toward an alley while they pointed guns at me, not sure if they were going to shoot me or not," Valerio said.
'The prosecutor's office acted like I was the fucking criminal.'
Paulina Upalia, a 27-year-old who works in marketing, described her disturbingly similar kidnapping experience.
"I kept my eyes closed, because they said that if I ran, screamed, or looked back at them they would 'put lead' in my head," Upalia said. "They finally let me out of the cab a block and a half from the police station."
Instead of reporting the incident, Upalia also went home.
"The police in Mexico are deplorable," said Max Gaudelli, a 21-year-old film student, after a man with a knife robbed and threatened to kill him in front of his college campus two months ago. "I didn't file a report because it's a waste of time."
"People begin to realize that the government will not punish them for their crimes," Gaudelli added. "This empowers them to assault you and steal."
Among 40 people I spoke with, only five reported incidents to authorities — and worse, the few who did said they later came to regret it. Just as I eventually would.
Related: In Photos: A Call For Justice On the Streets of Mexico City for 'More Than' 43 Missing
Mario Rodriguez said he was robbed in the capital by "a group of 12-year-olds" with knives.
"I reported it," Rodriguez said. "But the prosecutor's office acted like I was the fucking criminal. They were dicks, and wasted my time."
Mexico City resident Alan Gallart spoke of being carjacked and kidnapped with his girlfriend, by two armed men in the posh Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City.
The men dropped the pair off in the middle of an industrial complex "where there was a shootout in progress," Gallart said. He reported the crime, but said that doing so had been "pointless."
"A police officer came to my house months later, and said that if I wanted my car back, I would have to give him 5000 pesos [roughly $300]. So I gave it to him and he took me to see the car, which had been completely stripped," Gallart said. "He then told me I had to pay to have the car towed, because it was blocking the street!"
"It was all a bad joke," Gallart explained. "The experience with the police was almost as bad the assault had been."
'I would go home if I were you.'
Gio Franzoni, a music writer in Mexico City, told me of her carjacking experience.
"The guys forced their way into the car and one lifted up his shirt. His zipper was down, so I thought he was was going to show me his dick, but he pulled out a gun instead," Franzoni said.
She was pistol-whipped twice and dragged out of the car. Franzoni decided to report the attack to authorities — for insurance reasons, she said — and was asked to answer a string of questions, four times over.
"In the end, my insurance company didn't want to be held responsible," she said. "Because the prosecutor's office said that my stories were conflicting, even though I said the exact same thing each time."
Related: Could Mexican Officials Eventually Face Charges for Failings in Missing Students Case?
The morning after I was assaulted, I headed to the Mexico City International Airport, looking to board a flight to the US, and gave myself some time to visit the ministerio público at the terminal to report the mugging and my stolen Mexican residency ID card.
"You won't be able to leave the country without your residency card," I was told. "If you report the theft, it will take weeks to receive replacement documents, and you'll have to pay a fine."
"I can do you the favor of giving you a document to get you through immigration," the attendant told me. "But just don't tell anyone you were robbed … Say you left your wallet at home or something."
I asked what would happen if I decided to not accept her advice. "Well then," she said, looking confused. "Enjoy your stay in Mexico, I guess."
The false police report I signed at the behest of a public official at Mexico City's international airport. (Photo by Andrea Noel)
None of this was making sense, but my plane was getting ready to take off, and I needed to be on it.
The attendant typed up a police report:
"I found myself inside the Mexico City International Airport and started to look for my temporary residence card, which right now I cannot remember the number of but know it has not expired, and I realized that I don't have it with me. I don't know where I might have lost it, but am filing this report in case my documents are misused." I sighed, checked my watch, and then signed the document.
The official explained she was in a hurry, but quickly dictated a clause, one word at a time, for me to print on the back of her copy: "I am receiving a copy of my police report free of charge, and the reporting official has not asked me for money in exchange for said document."
I missed my flight anyway, and immediately regretted signing the false report.
I asked an immigration authority how I should proceed, and he said I would need to take it up with the prosecutor's main office — nowhere near the airport. I had now been there for five hours, and had another five before my new flight would be leaving, but wasn't about to go on an adventure just to soothe my confusion. I decided to wait until I returned.
Back in Mexico, I went into my nearest prosecutor's office last Monday, hoping to file a new police report and lodge a complaint against the attendant who had pressed me into lying on official documents.
When I got to where I needed to be, the official behind the counter told me I would have to go to a different district to try to file a complaint. I was informed that the process would take at least 20 days, and I would likely face charges for signing erroneous documents. I jumped into another cab and made my way to the next prosecutor's office, conveniently located in an area far sketchier than the one I was originally mugged in.
One of the public prosecutor's offices that I visited during my mugging ordeal. (Photo by Andrea Noel)
I walked through the front door, but was greeted by three cops who promptly surrounded me and asked me to step outside with them. I walked backwards through the front door. I answered their questions, explaining that I was there to lodge a complaint and put my experience on record.
"What you are admitting to is a very serious offense," one officer said, nodding for me to follow him toward the curb. "If you file that complaint you'll be in pretty real trouble. It is cause for automatic arrest."
He then lowered his voice, adding: "I would go home if I were you."
Incredulous, I rephrased and asked the man to clarify: "You're saying that if you let me enter that building, and admit that a public official lied to me and encouraged me to sign a false statement instead of recording the fact that I was violently assaulted, that I'll be arrested?"
"Yes. That's correct. This is a serious crime, but congratulations — your Spanish is very good," he said smiling.
The officer then encouraged me to speak to a lawyer, and said I could return the following day before 3 pm and would be provided with a public defender, "free of charge."
I decided to call it quits.
"Unfortunately, that's the way the justice system works in Mexico," said defense lawyer Elizabeth Valdez. "I don't think you would have been immediately arrested, but it would be very difficult to reverse your declaration now without being charged with a crime yourself, and even more challenging to file a complaint."
After hearing my friends' ordeals and experiencing my own, I now can't tell who the criminals are in Mexico, but according to the prosecutor's office, I'm one of them.
Related: After Years of Wrangling, Pacific Rim Negotiators Reach Landmark Free Trade Deal
Photo above via Flickr.
Follow Andrea Noel on Twitter: @MetabolizedJunkADVERTISEMENT
Conservative America is understandably bummed that President Obama won re-election on Tuesday night. "Losing a presidential campaign just stinks," says Jonathan Chait at New York. "You feel like a stranger at home." And while most Republicans seem to be handling the defeat with relative grace and dignity, a number of conservative commentators and celebrities are engaging in whining, lashing out, wild finger-pointing, and general childishness. Here, six conservatives behaving like sore losers:
1. Karl Rove
Many political reputations were tarnished in the wake of Obama's victory, but perhaps none more so than that of Karl Rove, who not only predicted that Romney would win, but raised nearly $400 million in super PAC money to defeat Obama — all for naught. ("There is some holy hell to pay," one wealthy GOP donor told The Huffington Post. "Karl Rove has a lot of explaining to do.") On Election Night, Rove truculently rejected Fox News' verdict that Obama had won Ohio. And the day after, he whined that Obama had only "succeeded by suppressing the vote" — whatever that means. Anchor Megyn Kelly, who has emerged as the voice of reason on the network, shot back, "But he won Karl, he won!" See the exchange for yourself:
2. Sean Hannity
The uber-patriotic talk show host has taken to blaming his beloved country for Obama's victory. Americans have shown" bad judgment," he said on his radio show. "Americans, you get the government you deserve. And it pains me to say this, but America right now deserves Barack Obama. You deserve what you voted for…Four years ago, the public could be excused for voting for Obama because, frankly, he was a blank canvas…Now he is a known entity. And just barely over 50 percent looked at this pathetic record and decided they wanted more of the same." Listen to his diatribe yourself:
3. Mary Matalin
The conservative pundit and political consultant is really, really mad that Obama won. In an interview on CNN, Matalin had a pouty party on set, while treating fellow guest Van Jones with no small measure of disrespect. "Matalin lost her ever-loving mind and basically responded to Jones like a spoiled brat," says Eton James White at The Root. Watch:
4. Sen. Ron Johnson
The Republican senator from Wisconsin has fallen back on a time-honored approach to explaining the electorate's decision: Americans are kind of stupid. "If you aren't properly informed," he said, "if you don't understand the problems facing this nation, you are that much more prone to falling prey to demagoguing solutions. And the problem with demagoguing solutions is they don't work. I am concerned about people who don't fully understand the very ugly math we are facing in this country." Obama won Johnson's home state by around 7 points, which suggests that Johnson doesn't think too highly of his own constituents.
5. Donald Trump
The Donald descended to new lows on Election Night, sending out a tirade of semi-seditious tweets bemoaning Obama's victory. For good measure, one of Trump's friends told BuzzFeed that Trump probably wouldn't be hanging out with Mitt Romney after the election. "Trump doesn't like to be associated with failure. Trump's a winner." Here, some tweets to ponder:
We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Congrats to @karlrove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race @crossroadsgps ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
6. Eric Dondero
A blogger at LibertarianRepublican.net, Dondero took conservative outrage at Obama's re-election to epic proportions, promising a "personal boycott" against Democrats in his life. "All family and friends, even close family and friends, who I know to be Democrats are hereby dead to me. I vow never to speak to them again for the rest of my life, or have any communications with them." Dondero later spoke to New York. Asked whether he would help a Democrat drowning in a lake, Dondero said, "I honestly do not have an answer for that one."Share
We’ve come a long way in the eight years since Bitcoin’s original release. Back in 2009, when the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto launched the cryptographically verified digital asset, it was just a curiosity. With time, though, new uses have been found for it, from buying drugs, to transferring money near-instantaneously across the globe. Its value has peaked and troughed to reach considerable worth today – right now, a single Bitcoin is worth almost $2,800, close to its record high of $2,964.
The success of Bitcoin has inspired many imitators. That includes the classics, like Litecoin and Dogecoin, along with more contemporary and serious alternatives, like Ethereum and Zcash. They’re all subtly different, and often more volatile, than their Bitcoin foundation.
There’s now more than 900 cryptocurrencies in the wild. While many of them hog attention with their potential for larger earnings on less upfront investment, differing features, or philosophy, their futures still rest in the hands of that cryptocurrency created way back in 2009.
They are all built off the same core technology as Bitcoin, and susceptible to the same whims of human nature.
Bitcoin: The foundation and face of cryptocurrency empires
“Bitcoin underpins and backs up the entire crypto economy. When Bitcoin falls, the rest fall, when Bitcoin rises, the rest rise,” the host of the Bitcoin News Show, Vortex, told Digital Trends. “The alt coins are simply an extension of |
little actual reason to do so.
And it's a similar state of affairs with Mirror's Edge - but the game's status as a VRAM glutton in hyper mode seems to have changed since we tested it at launch. When we first looked at it, we found that hyper mode absolutely crippled performance on four gig cards like the entry-level RX 480. However, when we returned to it for GTX 1060 testing, its VRAM issues had been cleaned up and performance suddenly looks a whole lot better - with no real difference between four gig and eight gig models.
But again, even with hyper mode engaged, the improvement in visuals at 1080p isn't at all game-changing - and it never has been, really. You're missing nothing earth-shattering simply by staying at ultra, which offers up the vast majority of the improvements compared to the console versions of the game. The principal benefit there is the increased horsepower: Mirror's Edge at native 1080p offers a significantly refined experience compared to the 900p PS4 game and 720p Xbox One title. Higher resolution - and smoother performance too. Let's not forget the RX 480's principle draw: the ability to match or exceed console quality and run multi-platform games at 1080p60.Priority One Episode 194 | Wizards of STO
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Greetings, Admirals! You’re listening to Episode 194 of Priority One Podcast, the premier Star Trek Online podcast! This episode was recorded in part on Thursday, October 16th 2014 and made available for download on Monday, October 20th 2014 at PriorityOnePodcast.com!
For starters, we Trek Out the Fall edition of Star Trek Magazine’s coverage of Delta Rising expansion. With Delta Rising live on Tribble, we’re going to take the opportunity to actually play the game for the next few weeks. Which is fine, because this gives us an opportunity to produce all the content from our trip to Cryptic Studios! In this episode, we interview QA Lead Phil “Farktoid” Farkaly followed by an interview with Adam Flores (Environment Artist), Chris Dods (Content Designer) and Matt Miller (Content Designer) on PVE, STFs, and Patrols, and Queues. No feedback this week but, we’ll keep hailing frequencies open for this week’s show and review your incoming messages next week!
In case you missed it, we’ve already published our first interview featuring System Designer, Jeremy “BorticusCryptic” Randall from Priority One Podcast’s on-site visit to Cryptic Studios in October 2014. Be sure to subscribe to the premier Star Trek Online podcast and don’t miss a single post!
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This week’s Community Question:
Have you read the latest issue of Star Trek Magazine? Tell us your thoughts on the story supplemental.
Let us know YOUR thoughts by commenting below!
Captains, if you haven’t already filled out our “Game Ideas” form on our website, check it out at http://priorityonepodcast.com/gameideas and let us know your thoughts!
The Priority One Productions is always looking for new team members that have a passion for Star Trek. Please know that all of our positions are volunteer, but we do offer a well known outlet for your work. If you have a skill that you believe could enhance our content, then send your contact information and experience along with a few writing samples to incoming@priorityonepodcast.com
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Liked this episode? Totally hated it? Leave a comment below, Contact Us using our handy web form! Enjoy the show!New operating theatres, wards and an expanded emergency department will open at Christchurch Hospital in 2018.
Canterbury District Health Board has been hailed the best financial operator in the country and amongst the best at keeping patients out of hospital by caring for them in the community.
So it is deeply troubling that its business case for 400 beds in the new acute services building has been rejected due to budget constraints.
Health board members heard on February 18 that two wards, each to hold 34 beds, would not be fitted out in the new building due to open in 2018.
The acute services building will cost about $445m and will house 12 operating theatres, an expanded emergency department and intensive care unit, as well as wards over six floors. Space was to have been created for 140 beds on top of the 400 initially planned, to allow for future expansion.
The decision to defer the fit-out of two wards was made jointly by the Hospitals Redevelopment Partnership Group (HRPG), the Treasury and the Ministry of Health. Canterbury District Health Board chairman Murray Cleverley, who sits on the partnership group, said it was hoped cost savings across the rebuild project would help fund the fit-out before the building opened.
However, no details have been revealed about the size of this funding black hole.
Behind the scenes it is understood some health board members are deeply skeptical that sufficient savings can be made during construction, pointing out few building projects have come in under budget in post-quake Christchurch.
So if the new beds do not open, what will that mean for services?
Canterbury's population, like much of New Zealand, is ageing; the 2013 Census found the proportion of Cantabrians aged over 85 had leapt 23 per cent in seven years. With an ageing population comes an increase in demand for health services.
Chief executive David Meates has described the district's health system already as "starting to implode".
Yet in 2014, the CDHB was ranked the top-performing health board in the country by the auditor-general. And it has had international recognition for its ability to integrate hospital-level and community care.
Despite this it appears to be in frequent dispute with the health ministry over funding.
It has battled for ministry support to meet rising demand for mental health services, particularly among the children and youth of this earthquake-hit city. Figures obtained by The Press indicate Canterbury's mental health funding will drop to about $210 per head of population, while the national average increases to more than $250.
Canterbury has also requested more funding for its emergency department, describing it as under "real, sustained pressure". And it has shown it was $8m underfunded for the number of overseas patients it was treating.
So why is the health minister not fronting his ministry's funding decisions here in Canterbury?
Jonathan Coleman has not met with the district health board once since taking office, despite Canterbury being one of the largest health boards in the country with a population of 530,000 people stretching from Kaikoura to Ashburton.
This is not good enough. We challenge the minister to meet our health board, in public and face-to-face, to explain why he does not believe it needs more money for mental health, for its emergency department, or for those 64 new beds.DECEMBER 03, 2015
Ryan Gray, MD
We all form judgments. We judge the way people look, the way they smell, the cars they drive, the company they keep. We do this to categorize people, to stereotype them so that we can quickly process what we are seeing and who we are interacting with.With the amount of information we are hit with day in and day out, our minds need a way of quickly triaging it. This is what stereotyping does.Let's not confuse stereotyping with prejudice. The latter is negative and the former doesn't have to be.I recently watched a very interesting social experiment that took place with six photographers. Each one is photographing a subject and is given the subject's backstory before they meet him.Each photographer meets the same person, but is told a wildly different backstory, from entrepreneur, to fisherman, to recently released convict.Each of these backstories directly influenced the photographers and how they saw the person, and therefor how they photographed the person.The result was that each photograph looked almost like a different person. Six different judgments. Six different interpretations. Six different interactions.I did my internship at a hospital that had a prison floor for inmates in the Department of Corrections system. I was directly responsible for the well being of criminals. Talk about the ultimate stereotype.How did I not let my feelings about them cloud my treatment of them?Actually, it was quite easy. I wasn't told, and didn't ask about their crimes. I didn't care if they were in for life for murder, or they set fire to their house. It wasn't any of my business.I was never worried about my safety, and neither were the female physicians I worked with, because there were always guards around.Unfortunately, not every other intern thought about this the same way. There would be mornings when the intern who was on call overnight would start discussing the new admission - "Mr. Jones is a 33-year-old male incarcerated for rape...." - WAIT! STOP! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW THAT! Actually I CAN'T know that, and neither can you!Knowing that, whether you think so or not, directly influences your ability to care for that patient. It's not something I want to risk. My job is to treat the patients, no matter who they are or what they have done.I was in Boston during the Marathon bombings in 2013. I remember reading Facebook posts from physicians that worked at the local hospitals when one of the suspects was arrested, talking about how they wouldn't give him pain medications, to make him suffer.I can fully understand why someone may think this, but by no means is this how we, as physicians, can act. It's right there in the Hippocratic Oath - "but I will utterly reject harm and mischief."I challenge you, the next time you are dealing with a patient who you think is not up to your moral and ethical standards, put that out of your head. Look at them like you would look at your son or daughter. Listen to them like you would listen to your spouse. Treat them as if they were your parents.Share Pinterest
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“If she'd have been a male, nobody would ever known if she'd showed up at a racetrack.”
Those were Richard Petty's words about Danica Patrick, uttered Monday in an interview with a Canadian racing website.
And as much as it hurts Patrick's fans, Petty's words are true.
If Danica was Danny Patrick and was winless after 108 stock-car races, it's likely no one would make a big scene when he showed up to the track.
But does that mean that Patrick, who hasn't won a race in any series on American soil since she was a teenager racing go-karts, doesn't deserve her spot on the NASCAR grid?
No.
Fans, members of the media and now Petty gripe that Patrick can't win. And they have a point. After more than 100 stock car starts, Patrick hasn't won yet.
But neither has J.J. Yeley, and no one ever seems to care that he's had a ride for the last decade. Nobody ever says he's overrated. No one's ever called him out on TV and said he's not a race car driver. Yeley is allowed to not win in relative obscurity.
In his nine-year Sprint Cup career (five of those seasons he raced at least 24 races) he has 202 starts and zero wins.
In eight years of Nationwide racing he has 155 starts and zero wins. Camping World Trucks? 20 starts, zero wins. In fact, over his whole professional career Yeley has 379 starts across five stock car series and not a single win to show for it.
And don't give me the tired, “If Yeley was driving for Stewart Haas instead of Tommy Baldwin Racing, he'd have more wins” spiel. Yeley drove under the Joe Gibbs Racing umbrella for years and still never sniffed a win.
The point being made here isn't that Yeley isn't a good driver. He's good enough to have made a career out of racing, so his skill isn't in question. The point is that NASCAR, and other racing series, have several drivers who aren't often, if ever, in victory lane.
Just because Patrick hasn't won yet, it doesn't mean that she's not good enough to race in the Sprint Cup Series. Just look at the back of the grid and you'll see several regular drivers who have raced for a long time, but only have a handful or fewer wins.
The big pitfall that Patrick detractors seem to fall in is basing her success on wins in the first place.
Just being in the Sprint Cup Series shows her success. Her presence in the series has broken down barriers that even six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson couldn't topple.
A popular female driver in the premier American stock-car racing series is a big deal.
Week in and week out, she is showing young females that there can be a place for women in NASCAR.
Maybe Danica Patrick will never win a NASCAR race. But she is inspiring young women, and maybe, someday, one of those women will make it top and be more competitive.
So “the King” is right.
If Danica was a male, no one would care when she showed up to the track. She'd be J.J. Yeley. But then again, if she was a male, she wouldn't have been able to make the massive impact on NASCAR that she has.The Arab League has kicked off a two-day summit in Doha where opponents of President Bashar al-Assad are representing Syria for the first time.
Richard Murphy, US ambassador to Syria during 1970s, tells Al Jazeera'momentum is with Syrian opposition'
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, opened the conference on Tuesday by inviting Moaz al-Khatib, the president of the Syrian National Coalition, to take Syria's seat.
He told the audience of kings, emirs and presidents that he still supports a "political solution" to the crisis in Syria, but one that does not "rewind the clock."
Al Thani also called for setting up a $1bn fund to protect the "Arabness of Jerusalem," though he acknowledged that past promises to aid the Palestinians have gone unfulfilled.
"We are all obligated to work to defend Jerusalem.... the Arab states must swiftly and seriously act," he said, adding that Qatar will contribute $250m to the fund.
Arab foreign ministers met in Doha on Sunday to prepare for the meeting. Fighting in Syria and Afghan government peace talks with the Taliban will be high on the agenda at the summit.
Stalled talks
Khatib addressed the summit shortly after Al Thani, opening his speech with a bleak summary of the humanitarian crisis in Syria: tens of thousands killed, infrastructure destroyed, 25 percent of the country's population displaced.
But he demanded additional support from both Arab and international powers. He tried to address the concerns of many Western countries, who fear that a post-Assad Syria could become intolerant towards minority groups and a breeding ground for militants.
He noted that Assad has killed thousands of Kurds, Christians and other minorities, and accused the government of carrying out "state terrorism."
"Is it acceptable to tolerate state terrorism for two years?" he asked, alleging that "thousands" of Iranian and Russian fighters are aiding Assad's government.
In an interview before the summit opened, Khatib tried to downplay talk that his resignation is a sign of the coalition's impending collapse.
Moaz al-Khatib, left, was picked as head of the Syrian coalition after it was formed in November [AFP]
"What's happening within the coalition is normal. It's just like what happens in parliaments around the world," he said. "There are differences of opinion."
The 22-member league suspended Syria after al-Assad's forces launched a bloody crackdown on dissent which has since turned into a civil war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed, UN figures show.
Khatib was picked as head of the coalition after it was formed in November. He was seen as a moderate defender against the rising influence of al-Qaeda-linked forces fighting in the revolt against al-Assad.
Khatib said in a written statement on Sunday that he was resigning so that he could work more freely.
In another Arab League summit first, Afghan president Hamid Karzai will discuss peace negotiations with the Taliban.
The breakthrough comes after years of stalled discussions with the United States, Pakistan and the Taliban.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, a strong backer of the two-year-old Syrian rebellion, and Iraq's president Jalal Talabani will be absent from the summit for health reasons.This Wednesday, June 14, 2017, photo provided by the National Park Service shows the clearing of the El Portal Road in Yosemite National Park, Calif. The rockslide, which came crashing down Monday at Yosemite National Park is creating a commuting headache for hundreds of park employees and thousands of tourists who are forced to drive around the roadblock. (Greg Stock/National Park Service via AP)
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A rockslide at Yosemite National Park has created a commuting headache for hundreds of park employees and thousands of tourists who are forced to drive around the roadblock, pushing a typically short drive past gushing waterfalls and towering granite cliffs into a hourslong slog.
On most days, it takes 29-year-old Miranda Criche a half-hour to get from her home in a small community on the park’s fringe into Yosemite Valley, where she cleans carpets in park hotels.
But since the rockslide the size of a two-story house came crashing down Monday, she has been forced to take one of two alternate routes around the troublesome rock pile, adding many miles to her commute.
“It took me three hours to get home,” Criche said. “It’s a hassle.”
The 4,000-ton (3,600-metric ton) rockslide blocked one of three popular routes into Yosemite.
An estimated 5,000 park visitors use the Arch Rock Entrance on Highway 140 each day and will have to take the detour, Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said. He reported hearing few complaints from tourists, who understand the powerful forces of nature at play.
The road will be closed through the weekend, maybe longer if it requires major repairs.
The rockslide tumbled down from hundreds of feet up the mountainside. The slab first slid down the cliff and then hit a ledge, shattering into pieces, rangers said.
Shards of rock fanned out and knocked down part of a rock wall along the road. Park geologists estimate the largest boulder that landed on the road weighed 130 tons (120 metric tons), rangers said.
Luckily, nobody was hurt. A road crew is using dynamite to blast away debris that’s hauled off by dozens of big trucks, he said.
Until the work is done, up to 500 park employees who live in the communities of El Portal and Mariposa are working from home, staying overnight in the park or driving the long detour to two other entrances, Gediman said.
But Yosemite is open. Rangers are guiding tours, and hotels and campgrounds are running in the park that had more than 5 million visitors last year.
“Rock falls occur,” Gediman said. “It’s something that happens, and we make adjustments.”Salman Abu Sitta was only 10 years old when the Nakba - the mass expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 - happened, forcing him from his home near Beersheba. Like many Palestinians of his generation, his traumatic loss and enduring desire to return would be the defining features of his life from that moment on.
Al Jazeera speaks to Abu Sitta about the long and winding journey that has taken him through many of the seismic events of the era.
From a child of Nakba, at the age of 10, distinguished Palestinian intellectual, Salman Abu Sitta, 77, grew into the Keeper of the Keys of Return for seven million Palestinian refugees. While the common words of political jargon describing Nakba are many, to him it is very simple: "They took my home by brute force and made me a refugee and I want my home back, and I want to live in it in freedom and dignity," Abu Sitta told Al Jazeera.
The return to Palestine, he says, has nothing to do with politics, sovereignty, occupation or even apartheid. "Palestinians lived in their homes under Memlukes, Ottomans, the British and some under Israelis," he says.
"You see Palestinians do not have 'aims'; they have rights. Because these rights are Inalienable, they represent the bottom red line beyond which no concession is possible. Because doing so will destroy their life. That they will not permit."
The 1948 Nakba was the systematic and violent ethnic cleansing of 530 Palestinian villages by the Jewish Irgun, Haganah and Stern Gang militias executed in collusion with the British Mandate.
The 750,000 villagers, like little Salman and his family, who survived the massacres, were forcibly torn from their ancestral roots that were bountifully nourished over centuries by a symbiotic partnership of sweat, toil, earth and sun belying the inane Zionist fiction that the belligerent Jewish colonisers arrived in an empty land and made the desert bloom.
"No other settler movement has depended on a vast array of myths, lies and misinformation, fuelled regularly by willing media and paid politicians. Palestinians did not need such tactics. Zionism did. Its policy and practice flies in the face of every principle of international law and basic facts of history and geography."
In his memoir, Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir, published last month, Abu Sitta chronicles the premeditated dispossession of the Palestinian homeland, engineered by both the British government and, later, the Jewish terrorists*, and strongly resisted by intrepid Palestinian villagers pitifully armed against the well-armed and trained Imperial forces and the Zionist armies.
I never could understand why Zionists destroyed my life and that of millions of other Palestinians or how this crime was portrayed as a victory of civilization and the fulfilment of Divine Will.
Abu Sitta's family, hailing from 'the largest, wealthiest, strongest tribe in southern Palestine', has a long and proud reputation for defending their lands in Beersheba and for their role in the Palestinian national movement.
And, Abu Sitta's refugee journey from his village, Ma'in, to Gaza, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Canada and the UK, has unfalteringly been guided by the 1948 UN Resolution 194 calling for the return of the Palestinian refugees.
An engineer by profession, Abu Sitta is best known for his cartographic work on Palestine and his work on the Palestinian Right of Return. He is the author of six books and more than 300 articles and papers on Palestine, including the Atlas of Palestine, 1917–1966 (2010). He was a member of the Palestine National Council for 20 years. He is the general coordinator of the Right of Return Congress and, notably, he is the Founder and President of the Palestine Land Society.
The Palestine Land Society (Plands) and his Atlas of Palestine are the culmination of Abu Sitta's quest of discovery to know who expelled him from his home. "In all the research I made, I did not find a moral, legal, demographic, historical or geographical reason why I should be and remain a refugee."
"Nakba is an aberration of history and I have no doubt that its many murderous consequences will not last. It will remain, however, an indelible black mark in the history of Zionist Jews and those who support them for centuries to come."
"The reverse of the coin is the resilience and steadfastness of Palestinians, which will remain a shining light for those who seek freedom and dignity."
Every tenacious step, every document, every page turned, every image, word, story and his every breath pieced together the shattered fragments of Nakba to rebuild the map of historic Palestine in an immense body of indisputable evidence and facts.
It is his Summa Justica. It is a supreme act of resistance backed by international law. It is a supreme expression of Palestinian sumoud - the resilient steadfastness to Palestinian rights and homeland.
In the early years, certain that their exile was temporary, the expelled Palestinians referred to themselves as "returnees" and this singleminded certainty is the impelling vigour of Abu Sitta's life and work.
He proves that the integrity of historic Palestine cannot be compromised whether by imperial machinations such as the Balfour Declaration, the United Nations' partition ploy, the perfidy of international support for the Zionist occupation and definitely not by a facetious argument of divine right in which God is mobilised as "the prime coloniser".
"Nakba to me is an earthquake, not by the forces of nature, but by the powers of evil. It is not instantaneous but lasting for decades. I never could understand why Zionists destroyed my life and that of millions of other Palestinians or how this crime was portrayed as a victory of civilization and the fulfilment of divine will."
While Israel deconstructed Palestine and compromised the Right of Return with international immunity, Abu Sitta, an exemplar of principled Palestinian leadership, diligently reconstructed and mapped the future for all Palestinians laying the groundwork for their homecoming.
"Our plan is to reconstruct the destroyed Palestinian villages. The plans are derived from a massive database. We are creating a file for every village, its house plans before 1948, its features and characteristics, its economies and its status of education …Young architects are now working on the reconstruction of these destroyed villages to be built in the same locations with the same beautiful old features, but with modern amenities."
Nakba has continued around the earth 68 times and in its bloody orbit the slaughtered souls of Palestine's innocents: Infants, children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, continue to demand justice, and the grievers, the maimed, the traumatised, the incarcerated, the homeless, the jobless, the dispossessed, continue to throw stones, refuse food and refuse injustice.
Abu Sitta has ensured that the keys to the Palestinians' stolen homes will inevitably reopen the never forgotten doors.
*The Stern Gang was classified by the British mandate and the United Nations as terrorists.
Dr Vacy Vlazna is Coordinator of Justice for Palestine Matters and editor of a volume of Palestinian poetry, I Remember My Name.The deathwatch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, is a woodboring beetle. The adult beetle is 7 millimetres (0.28 in) long, while the xylophagous larvae are up to 11 mm (0.43 in) long.
To attract mates, these woodborers create a tapping or ticking sound that can be heard in the rafters of old buildings on quiet summer nights. They are therefore associated with quiet, sleepless nights and are named for the vigil (watch) kept beside the dying or dead, and by extension the superstitious have seen the deathwatch beetle as an omen of impending death.
The term "death watch" has been applied to a variety of other ticking insects, including Anobium striatum, some of the so-called booklice of the family Psocidae, and the appropriately named Atropos divinatoria and Clothilla pulsatoria (Greek goddesses Atropos and Clotho were associated with death).
The larva is very soft, yet can bore its way through wood, which it is able to digest using a number of enzymes in its alimentary canal, provided that the wood has experienced prior fungal decay.[1]
In culture [ edit ]
Its nature as an ill omen is alluded to in the fourth book of John Keats' 1818 poem "Endymion": "...within ye hear / No sound so loud as when on curtain'd bier / The death-watch tick is stifled."[2] ("Stifled" because the death it was portending has taken place.)
In 1838 Henry David Thoreau published an essay mentioning the deathwatch beetle. It is possible that this essay influenced Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" and that the sound the protagonist was hearing at the end of that story was that of a beetle tapping inside the wall, not the beating of the (dead) victim's heart.[3]
The beetle was referenced in Mark Twain's 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: "Next the ghastly ticking of a deathwatch in the wall at the bed's head made Tom shudder – it meant that somebody's days were numbered."[4]
In 1988, Linda Pastan wrote a poem entitled The Deathwatch Beetle.[5]
In 1995 Alice Hoffman referenced the deathwatch beetle in her novel "Practical Magic" as an omen of death whenever anyone hears its clicking until that person dies.I will not be deactivating this account because there’s a lot of art that I still enjoy, but I won’t be updating it either. It’s not worth it anymore. Yes, my ship is crack as hell, but there are blogs that seek out my posts only to rip them into shreds. I know several others ships have a similar problem, but most of them have at least a small fan-base that’s there to inspire them again. I have a few wonderful followers and I thank them for their support, but they’ve grown rare.
While I can’t understand being quite so hardcore anti-ship (of all things you could be fighting against), I don’t see the point of frequenting a site that can’t let others enjoy what they may if they don’t find it within the certain margins they set. No matter. I’ll simply indulge elsewhere before entire pages are created against my page, desperate for some reason that makes it morally unjust.Conte in betting storm
By Football Italia staff
A host of Italian news sources are reporting the allegation that current Juventus boss Antonio Conte was aware of match-fixing while at Siena.
The claim is being made by Filippo Carobbio, a midfielder who was part of the Siena side which Conte led to promotion last season.
Carobbio is one of numerous individuals who are being investigated by prosecutors as part of the betting match-fixing probe.
Details of Carobbio’s unproven allegations have been quoted in a variety of publications and websites in Italy on Friday.
The midfielder is suggesting that Conte knew of the attempt to fix two matches – the 2-2 draw between Novara and Siena and the Tuscan side’s 1-0 loss at Albinoleffe late last term.
These allegations are not new and come again on the eve of Sunday’s Coppa Italia Final between Juventus and Napoli.
Back in April, Conte denied wrongdoing and seemed unconcerned about Carobbio’s testimony.
“I don't have much to say. I've read that there’s an investigation, I'm very calm and I have faith in the institutions, who are just trying to do their jobs,” he stated at the time.
“No one has called me, but when and if they do, it will be my pleasure to see them and answer their questions.
“If anyone is looking to destabilise us, they'll find it hard to do. It will only make us more determined.”
Those collaborating in the betting scandal enquiry will have their 'evidence' taken into account should any potential punishments be handed out.
Anyone found guilty of attempting to fix matches or have knowledge of such could face a ban from the sport, possibly for life. Clubs may be docked points or even relegated.
Juventus do not risk any punishment as the investigation is based on games in last season’s Serie B campaign.
Conte may speak about the claims again in his pre-match Press conference on Saturday.Living with mental illness is a tough experience under the best of circumstances. Dealing with people’s ignorance of the disease, managing symptoms, and even paying for treatment can cause even a person without a health challenge to snap.
Once I was well into recovery from bipolar disorder, like so many others, I started doing advocacy work. I currently make my living as an activist, speaker, and writer and it is my job to openly discuss what it means to live with mental illness. I’m not shy about sharing the difficulties of managing bipolar disorder or the unfortunate mistakes I’ve made along the way. Does simply having mental illness make me an inspiration? Shouldn’t I have to do something?
Mental Illness Makes Everything I Do Inspirational (Not!)
I’ve noticed that some people believe everything I’ve done is inspirational, for apparently no reason other than my mental health status. Further, I’ve began running into throngs of people who believe everything they do is inspirational simply because of their diagnosis. It’s as though having a mental illness has made us magical.
I’ve watch some of my peers expect special treatment for their illness while at the same time demanding equality. The idea that having mental illness means we can do whatever we want because we are brave and inspirational doesn’t sit well with me. I want to be judged on the same level as everyone else. This means if my speech is boring, I get the same polite golf clap as every other boring speaker in history.
It also means that when I make a mistake, I have to own up to it. Requesting a pass because of an illness gives the impression that we want, even expect, special treatment. There is no equality in people making excuses for our behavior, especially when it comes from us. If my panic attack damages your car, I owe you an apology and payment to repair your car. The rules of society don’t change simply because we are sick.
All Mental Illness Stereotypes Can Be Damaging
All mental Illness stereotypes can be damaging, even positive ones. Even if we use a stereotype to somehow escape consequence, rest assured there is a catch. The stigmatization of people with mental illness is a multi-headed beast. If a person truly believes that just getting dressed in the morning makes us an inspiration, they clearly don’t see us as an equal.
While it is nice to be recognized, let’s set the bar higher and let people know that not drooling on ourselves doesn’t make us inspirational – it makes us normal. Frankly, many of us are inspirations – for the success we’ve had helping others and leading accomplished and normal lives. But we can all be inspirational by being incredible advocates and helping educate the public on what mental illness is and is not. Let’s be inspirational because we are being judged on the same scale as everyone else. Let’s be inspirations because we achieved something, not because we were diagnosed with something.
Gabe is a mental illness writer, speaker, and activist. Interact with him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, or his website.Through the darkness of future’s past, the magician longs to see...
The incantation that kicks off Detective Cooper’s dream vision in Twin Peaks is part abstract clue and part divination, and occult elements reoccur through the David Lynch-Mark Frost created series. So it makes sense that pop artist Benjamin Mackey would look at combining characters from the show with the designs of the well known and well loved Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck from 1910.
Initially, Mackey created just the 22 Major Arcana from the deck and sold them as prints. Detective Cooper is the Magician, Sheriff Truman is Justice, the Log Lady is the High Priestess, Benjamin Horne is the Emperor and so on. (Guess who the Devil is!)
Not too surprisingly considering the show's devoted fan-base, the Twin Peaks Tarot was a hit, and Mackey focused on completing the full deck of 78 tarot cards (view them all here), riffing on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck’s penchant for enigmatic and mystic tableaux. And now, 10 months later, he’s offering the entire deck for sale through an Indiegogo campaign for what looks like a very affordable price.
The initial campaign ask of $5,000 was reached within days, and now is heading towards $50,000. There are also extra goodies too for those who want to give more, including a booklet and an original sketch.
The Minor Arcana shows Mackey’s deep love for the television show and film, and gives a chance for even minor characters to have their own card, from Lili with the Blue Rose to Donna Hayward’s sister Harriet.
"The Magician Longs to See" decks are scheduled to arrive by December, just in time to help you tell your friends’ fortunes while reading the upcoming Twin Peaks book, waiting for the new series, or drinking some damn fine coffee.
via Welcome to Twin Peaks
Related Content:
Alejandro Jodorowsky Explains How Tarot Cards Can Give You Creative Inspiration
David Lynch Directs a Mini-Season of Twin Peaks in the Form of Japanese Coffee Commercials
David Lynch’s Twin Peaks Title Sequence, Recreated in an Adorable Paper Animation
Ted Mills is a freelance writer on the arts who currently hosts the artist interview-based FunkZone Podcast. You can also follow him on Twitter at @tedmills, read his other arts writing at tedmills.com and/or watch his films here.HONOLULU--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Par Petroleum Corporation (OTCQB:PARR), the parent company of Hawaii Independent Energy, LLC, today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Koko’oha Investments, Inc., the parent company of Mid Pac Petroleum, LLC that is the exclusive licensee of the “76” brand in the State of Hawaii, for approximately $107 million, subject to adjustment as set forth in the merger agreement. Mid Pac operates or distributes through more than 80 retail sites and four terminals across Hawaii.
“Acquiring Mid Pac will provide a unique expansion opportunity for our Hawaii business. The access to additional retail sites will provide synergies by increasing on-island sales of our refined products, optimizing distribution costs and enhancing crude slate flexibility,” said William Monteleone, chief executive officer of Par Petroleum. “In addition, Mid Pac’s fee-owned real estate portfolio, consisting of retail locations, terminals and office space, provides excellent underlying asset value,” added Mr. Monteleone.
The added local gasoline and diesel sales for the Hawaii Independent Energy refinery in Kapolei will spell benefits for Hawaii, noted Peter Coxon, Par’s chief operating officer. “The increased local sales will enable HIE to better optimize its operations and production slate, providing Hawaii with stronger on-island refining capability, high-quality manufacturing jobs, and a more secure energy supply,” Mr. Coxon said.
“I’m excited about what this means for Mid Pac and its employees,” said Jim Yates, president and chief executive officer of Mid Pac Petroleum. “The joining of HIE and Mid Pac creates a strong, vertically integrated Hawaii-based refining and marketing company which provides stability for our employees and dealers and strengthens an important energy source for Hawaii.”
Mr. Yates is no stranger to refining in the Islands, having served as an executive with a former owner of the Kapolei facility, BHP Hawaii. “This is a homecoming of sorts for me, and I’m pleased that Par Petroleum does not foresee making any staffing changes as they welcome Mid Pac employees |
?
Back in 2000, we read about this game in a magazine and we were lucky enough to find starter sets of Portal Second Age and a couple of additional booster packs. I played at home with my friends and my brother. There were no existing clubs by that time. Six years later we went to another city for a tournament for the first time. It was a Legacy event and I took 4th place.
Why do you Judge?
As soon as I started to learn the rules, I realized that playing by the rules is more fun. I love the result of what I’m doing as a Judge.
Tell us your favorite Judge story.
That’s the story of my mistake, which had changed my opinion on the fairness of some players. It happened during GP Moscow 2012. I was on a GP for the first time as a judge. I was busy as a deck-check team member and realized that one of the players had an extra land card in his deck. I corrected the number in the decklist and went to find the player to tell him that he made a mistake. But the player pretended to be innocent and told my team lead that the number was already fixed and there was no mistake. The player escaped justice and afterwards I was told that I should find the player first and then make corrections. This player was a L1 Judge himself, by the way.
You were nominated for your efforts in building a community in a isolated area. Can you tell us about some of the challenges that have come up and how you handled them?
I live 5,600 miles away from Moscow. At the moment I became a Judge, it was 620 miles to the next L1 Judge. I judged and trained players in three different cities with 100 miles from one to another. Once I became an L2 Judge, I certified some more judges in my area and established contacts to other regions nearby. I’m the only L2 Judge in a thousand miles. That’s why I’m trying to set a good example and encourage the L1 Judges’ progress. The greatest challenge is to maintain the tournament standards on the conventional level and to educate the players.
What are some tips you have for other Judges?
1) Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes.
2) Continue learning new things although you might already have achieved what you craved for.
3) Communicate with other Judges – they are nice guys.
What is your favorite non-judging moment that happened with other Judges?
It was very interesting to discover that Kim Warren likes condensed milk. During the conference in Moscow, some guys presented her a few cans and she was very happy. Condensed milk is a kind of sweets made from milk that is common for C.I.S. countries only, I guess.
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge, and how have you worked to overcome them?
The most difficult thing for me is I can only judge a small amount of tournaments at the moment and moreover I have no opportunity to judge huge events like GPs. It keeps me from applying and testing my skills constantly. That’s why I spend my efforts in rules and policies investigation and the development of local player and Judges community, and communicate with my colleagues through the Internet.
Who have been some of your biggest mentors in the Judge Program, and what did they teach you?
Irina Samonova – she taught me to understand the rules rather than the individual relationships between cards. That’s probably what everything started from.
What positive aspects has the Judge Program contributed to your everyday life?
A calm attitude to people and organizational skills.
What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
We do not have an official store in my native town where I leave. We are playing in a club, that exists thanks to passionate players. I wish further evolve Magic for them.
What is your favorite non-Magic hobby?
Live-action and tabletop RPGs.
If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Oh. Recently I wrote to Matt Tabak with a question on rules, because I could not find anything in the Comprehensive Rules and the moderators of apps.magicjudges.org seem not to know the answer either. 🙂
If you were a Planeswalker what would be your ultimate?
“-6: Each opponent shuffles all non-land permanents and his or her hand in his or her library. Each player draws two cards.”
What was the proudest moment of your Judge life?
The moment when my first article in Irina Samonova’s project was published.
What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?
Circu, Dimir Lobotomist. I also gradually cut waste.
Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following statements are true and one is false. Figure out which!
By the way, I also like condensed milk. My personal bear’s name is Skoda. I’m a good cook.
The answer to the last Two Truths and a Lie...
Although Hugo Carvalho has made a guide for Shadow Over Mystara, he did it for a different website than Steam.
If there is a judge who is also doing something exemplary, please nominate a judge TODAY!U.S. Government Policy for Seizing Laptops at Borders
Amazing. The U.S. government has published its policy: they can take your laptop anywhere they want, for as long as they want, and share the information with anyone they want:
Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption, or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. [...] DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including US citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. [...] The policies cover 'any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form,' including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover 'all papers and other written documentation,' including books, pamphlets and 'written materials commonly referred to as "pocket trash..."
It's not the policy that's amazing; it's the fact that the government has actually made it public.
Here's the actual policy.
Slashdot thread. My previous essay on crossing borders with laptops, and how to protect yourself.
Although honestly, the best thing is probably to keep your encrypted archives on some network drive somewhere, and download what you need after you cross the border.
Posted on August 1, 2008 at 12:21 PM • 109 CommentsFirst UK phone from Motorola, post Google acquisition, costs from just £135 and is ‘game-changing moment’
Motorola unveiled the Moto G, its first UK smartphone since becoming a Google-owned company, in London today.
With a budget price tag from £135, the 4.5in high-definition screened Moto G has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and runs Android 4.3 “Jelly Bean”, aiming to “bring the mobile internet and Google services to millions more users around the world, without compromising quality [...] a game-changing moment” according to Motorola.
Motorola promises a swift upgrade to the latest iteration of Android 4.4 Kitkat, released in October, which includes greater integration of Google’s intelligent digital assistant, Google Now.
‘Some disruptive thinking’
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Moto G is available in various bold colours.
The Moto G, which is available from today in the UK, has 5-megapixel and 1.3-megapixel cameras, 8GB or 16GB of storage, but lacks support for 4G networks. It weighs 143g and measures 11.6mm at its thickest point, with bright and bold coloured plastic backs available in black, white, blue, red, yellow, turquoise and purple.
Motorola aims to target the “current, default model for smartphone design, production, procurement and delivery” through “some disruptive thinking" producing a "premium experience, with today's technology, with less than 1/3 of the price of the premium competition," said Charlie Tritschler, Moto G's product manager at Motorola. The Moto G follows Google’s other smartphone strategy with the Nexus line of phones, but targeting an even more budget conscious segment of the market.
The latest Motorola smartphone follows the American manufacturer’s first built-from-scratch smartphone since it became part of Google, the "first self-driving phone" the Moto X, which included an always-listening voice search, triggered by the keywords “OK Google”.
The Moto X, despite garnering praise from critics, sold just 500,000 in its first three months on sale, compared with 10m Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones sold in its first month of release, according to data from Strategy Analytics.
• In November, Google released the latest iteration of its own-brand phone, the Nexus 5, which scored 5 stars in the Guardian’s reviewJohn Schnatter, the proprietor of bad takes and even worse food as CEO of Papa John’s, is stepping down from the company he founded after weeks of withering criticism for his attacks on NFL players who are protesting for racial justice.
Schnatter used the company’s most recent earnings call to criticize NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for allowing the “debacle” of pre-game protests to extend for weeks into the 2017 season. Papa John’s is one of the largest corporate sponsors of the NFL, and Schnatter argued — falsely — that the protests were the root cause for the league’s falling ratings and, consequently, his company’s bottom line.
Critics were quick to point out that several other NFL sponsors seemed to be making out just fine, and that maybe Papa John’s financial fortunes had less to do with the NFL and more to do with the disgusting food they slanderously market as pizza.
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Blowback to Schnatter’s comments was swift and unrelenting. Within 24 hours of his remarks, white supremacists who have pushed the false narrative of the NFL’s politics-induced ratings drop triumphantly declared Papa John’s the official “pizza” of white supremacy, forcing the company to issue a statement disavowing their own customers.
Schnatter has found himself in political hot water before, having publicly lobbied against Obamacare during the previous administration, saying it would force the company to raise pizza prices, which caused Papa John’s shares to drop 4.2 percent. He donated almost $1,000 to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
With their toxic executive gone, the company can now focus on matters closer at hand, like why their hot cheese circles taste like a salty cardboard shoebox, or why garlic dipping sauce is regarded as an acceptable condiment.(This post is from our new blog: Unofficial Sources.)
At a hearing today on a lawsuit seeking to make videotapes of force-feedings at Guantánamo public, Justice Department attorneys argued that the courts cannot order evidence used in trial to be unsealed if it has been classified by the government. “We don’t think there is a First Amendment right to classified documents,” stated Justice Department lawyer Catherine Dorsey.
The judges at the D.C. Court of Appeals appeared skeptical. Chief Judge Merrick Garland characterized the government’s position as tantamount to claiming the court “has absolutely no authority” to unseal evidence even if it’s clear the government’s bid to keep it secret is based on “irrationality” or that it’s “hiding something.”
“That is our position,” Dorsey agreed. She added that a more appropriate tool to compel the release of the videos was through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Sixteen media organizations, including First Look Media, are seeking footage of Abu Wa’el Dhiab being repeatedly force-fed at Guantánamo. Dhiab was held by the U.S. for 12 years without charges or trial before being released to Uruguay last December.
“There is a public right at stake,” David Schultz told the panel of judges on behalf of the media outlets, adding that the videos depict “illegal conduct by government employees.”
The government countered by claiming release of the videos could harm national security, the same argument it made during a district court proceeding late last year. In that case, District Judge Gladys Kessler rejected the feds’ national security claims and ordered the release of the force-feeding videos after they had been redacted to strip out any personally identifiable information. However, she then granted a stay to that order in December to allow the government to appeal to the D.C. court.
The media organizations launched their legal efforts to declassify the videos last June. The litigation was filed after the tapes were reviewed in a case involving Dhiab, in which the detainee’s attorneys had challenged the legality of the roughly 1,300 force-feedings of their client.
During a closed session last October, an independent medical examiner with Boston University, Sondra Cosby, watched a few minutes from the tapes. She concluded that what she saw was “disturbing.”
D.C. Court of Appeals judges today also questioned whether or not they have jurisdiction to overturn Judge Kessler’s order to release the videos since the videos haven’t been released yet, and are still pending lower court discussions about redactions and public release procedures.
Dorsey responded by saying “the cat is already out of the bag.”
Jon Eisenberg, the attorney representing Dhiab, pushed back on the implication that any meaningful disclosure has already taken place. He expressed concern over the latitude the government is likely to take when it comes to redactions, and pointed to the work still left to do at the district court level before any videos are released.
“The cat is firmly ensconced in the bag and will not be let out,” Eisenberg told the judges.
Sam Sacks is a writer and reporter living in Washington, D.C. He is the co-founder of the watchdog news site The District Sentinel.
Photo: AP/Charles Dharapak10 years from now it’s Google’s world: we’ll just be living in it
I don’t have a crystal ball, so it’s hard for me to see into the future like some. But the writing appears to be on the wall in the technology industry: Google, the company that made a name for itself in search, will go on to become the most influential and important company in the world within the next decade. Moreover, the company’s efforts will turn us all into citizens of a world we’ll call Google.
Yes, I know this sounds a bit extreme, and I can appreciate that some people who don’t like what the search giant is doing find that more than a little disconcerting. The truth is, though, Google is the only company that I can point to right now in the industry that is committed to not just sticking to iterative updates to its products. No, Google is in it to innovate. And there’s something to be said for that.
Looking beyond the more well-known Google services, one will find an awful lot of reasons to think that, eventually, Google will be dominating the world.
The company has acquired nearly 10 companies in the last year to start a robotics program headed up by Andy Rubin that could very well turn our lives on their heads. Moreover, the search company has invested heavily in green technology, it’s funding another rover to go to the Moon, it’s trying to bring the Web to areas that have historically not had access to the Internet, and it’s even trying to make us live longer.
And with tens of billions of dollars of cash on hand, it’s entirely possible that the company’s recent spending spree into other areas only continues. After all, why not buy up companies with promising technologies?
I can see a future where we’re so overrun with Google products that it’ll be hard to view it as anything other than another GE. We’ll be wearing Google-branded prescription glasses that can give us directions and surf the Web. We’ll be going to space on an elevator that lets us see what looking at Earth from up-top is all about. We’ll even be using Google’s medical equipment and insight to determine how we can see our great- great- great-grandchildren grow up.
Now, while this might all come off sounding somewhat “fanboy-ish” on my part, I should point out that the idea of a single company playing such a major role in our lives scares me. But, at the same time, it excites me. I’m happy to see that at least one company wants to do something special and above and beyond what we’re used to, though I’d prefer to see multiple companies doing the same.
Where has vision gone in the industry? Where has the desire to do great things gone in the industry? Right now, Google is the only major company trying to change our lives in a huge way. And unless someone else comes along to compete on that, Google will soon run the world we’re living in."4X" strategy games like Civilization are beloved to their audience -- but you can't exactly call them accessible. The human work of city-building, war-making, becomes spreadsheet labor, in a sense; drab, forbidding hexes become shorthand for the rise and fall of nations. Amid the mathematical sprawl, you either know what you're looking at or you don't, and when you don't, you don't want to.
Amplitude Studios co-founder Romain de Waubert de Genlis is a massive strategy fan; before launching the successful independent studio that most recently launched the hit Endless Legend, he produced the Might & Magic games at Ubisoft.
Back then, he played multiplayer strategy titles fervently and regularly with Mathieu Girard, with whom he'd go on to start Amplitude. The pair became familiar with the bewilderment: Friends staring at their impenetrable mosaics of muddy tiles, their expressions silently accusatory: You spend eight hours a day on this?
"Most of the games we liked in strategy were ugly as hell, and we never understood why."
"Most of the games we liked in strategy were ugly as hell, and we never understood why," de Waubert de Genlis says. "They tend to be made by few creators with analytical but not very artistic minds."
De Waubert de Genlis and Girard thought they could bring some freshness to the genre. By the time they left Ubisoft in 2010 along with some like-minded colleagues, the developers had become so senior they no longer did the kinds of hands-on work they enjoyed. "We were more like bosses, away from why we wanted to join video games," de Waubert de Genlis recalls. "And the games we loved were not interesting for bigger publishers, so we had no choice but to leave and create our own company."
With them came veteran art director Corinne Billon (Rayman and other Ubisoft titles), whom de Waubert de Genlis describes as eager for the challenge to work within a paradigm other than the absolute realism commonly desired by high-end publishers. "We wanted our games to be artistic," he explains.
"If you fail to create the depth of the strategy, you can make it as pretty as you want and no one will buy it."
"There's quite a lot of stuff we think we can do around a strategy game that isn't about strategy," de Waubert de Genlis suggests. "Although if you fail to create the depth of the strategy, you can make it as pretty as you want and no one will buy it."
With the goal of bringing something new to the genres they loved -- and of having a closer relationship to player feedback after years spent behind the "iron curtain" of traditional publishing -- de Waubert de Genlis and team raised significant investment from friends and family, as well as generous support from the French government, which de Waubert de Genlis believes sees games as economically important in the arenas of both technology and art.
Right from the beginning, Amplitude Studios offered community participation and feedback tools to the serious fans of their work who followed their journey from Ubisoft. Participating among Valve's earliest "guinea pigs" (2006's Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, in collaboration with Arkane) in the service offering that would become Early Access, the studio had internalized very quickly the value of letting development take place in front of the desired audience, and of letting players weigh in on things. Selling a game while it was still in alpha was once a radical and troubled idea; now it's a new business environment, and, Amplitude's "Games2Gether" program still lets fans follow its work.
"We knew we couldn't exist otherwise," says de Waubert de Genlis. "We had no money for marketing -- the only money we had was to make a game, and nothing besides that. So we hired another guy from Ubisoft who was in marketing first, and then an associate producer. His idea was that working together with players is a good thing, but you need to give tools to our players so it's easy for them to participate. They need to be able to voice their opinion in one click."
"Working together with players is a good thing, but you need to give tools to our players so it's easy for them to participate. They need to be able to voice their opinion in one click."
To some extent, de Waubert de Genlis says learning to relinquish the need for control over all aspects of the game has made him a better designer. On the other hand, there are some healthy limits on how much the team relies on the community: Players don't vote on "backbone" design issues, but on elements they'd like to see implemented next. And de Waubert de Genlis has learned only to offer voters options in cases where he himself would be pleased with any outcome -- he's found groups tend to choose the most classic or familiar choices rather than the most interesting or innovative ones.
"Now when a game comes out, we basically know how good it is -- or how bad it is, but there are no surprises. It was so stressful before: Finish a game, wait a month to print CDs, and then it comes out, and then people tell you it sucks? It's much better now: You can try some things and see how people react, and when something sucks, you have the time to fix it."
The team's philosophy and methodology were set from the beginning; Amplitude made a small splash with dynamic space-strategy Endless Space. But Endless Legend feels like a further evolution of the team's philosophy, starring an uncompromising approach to style and interface that turns classic strategy into an experience that feels beautiful, inviting and alive.
With the explicit goal of making a visually-distinct hex game, de Waubert de Genlis says the team was inspired by board games and elegant moving pieces like in the Game of Thrones opening sequence to create a "toy universe" players would want to touch. They incorporated numerous historical, cultural and architectural references so that the compelling visual language is more than just appearance: Each faction has its own culture, history and play conditions, and each unit and location feels distinct and plausible -- a people, their places -- as they move and grow.
"There is not a single moment where we said 'it's good enough," says de Waubert de Genlis. "We don't accept that; we really wanted the details. We wanted it to be perfect. At least we did everything we could to push the details, so there would be a continuity in our universe. And everything is linked, so what you see visually makes sense to the culture of these guys, and everyone gets linked in that world, and everything has to be thought out as one world that could be realistic. We don't want you to be looking at it and suddenly not believing what you see.
"The biggest achievement for us is that it's a universe you want to live in. And we nearly gave up a few times, because that was so tough to get."
"Not only did we create factions and races that wanted to be unique in their lore and how they were, but we wanted them to make sense in how you would play them. You would look at each faction from a different frame of mind, rooted in who they were," he continues. "The biggest achievement for us is that it's a universe you want to live in. And we nearly gave up a few times, because that was so tough to get."
Having an American writer made an enormous difference for the team, even in a genre one wouldn't think of as known for 'narrative' or for being text-heavy. Writer Jeff Spock, who wrote all the lore bibles for the Might & Magic team, also came along to Amplitude. "We've never done a game with this much text; there's a lot to read," says de Waubert de Genlis.
And having a professional writer is also a boon to the French team's community focus: "Jeff basically made it so our first language when we work is English, so we don't develop the game in French, we develop in English. All of our design documents are in English, because we knew we wanted to make our community international. For that we wanted to be able to share our documents with them early on so we wouldn't need to translate."
Although Endless Space and Endless Legend lie very much within the team's goals of making new inroads for high-quality, inviting strategy experiences, the team's recent Dungeon of the Endless marks an experimental departure. Part roguelike, part tower defense, it's developed by a small four or five-person team within the studio, with pixel art in order to keep asset investment small.
"It's refreshing to be creative, to be able to change," de Waubert de Genlis says of the team's work on Dungeon of the Endless. "Dungeon of the Endless was completely unexpected -- it was some crazy drinking evening that created that game. It's hard to sell or Kickstart, which is why we wanted to be very independent and thought it would be easy to raise money. It wasn't quite easy, but we managed. "
"We're a bit lucky people were looking for projects like ours," he adds. "If you rewind, and you go back to 2010 and 2011, and you say 'guys I want to make PC games and that's the future,' people were laughing. They wanted to see Facebook games."
For de Waubert de Genlis, Amplitude Studios is just at the beginning of its lifespan. "There are a few other game styles that we want to explore and discover," he says. "We want to expand more on the games that we did... and to refresh our minds with different games. What I can tell you we will not do is 'Endless Legend 2'. I don't think we would know yet what to do, so I think creatively it would be awful, it would be more like a 1.2 than a 2.0. It's better to do patches and add-ons than to do an add-on."
"The next game will be in a year or two, we want to work very quickly and with Early Access. We'll do everything we can not to get lost."People could get money for recycling drink bottles and cans if an idea from Palmerston North gets backing.
Deposit and refund schemes to encourage consumers to recycle glass, aluminium and plastic drink containers are being advocated by the Palmerston North City Council.
The council on Tuesday voted to promote a remit to Local Government New Zealand asking the Government to develop and implement a scheme.
An estimated half of the 2.23 billion beverage containers bought in New Zealand each year ended up in landfills or being disposed of in ways other than by recycling.
READ MORE: Palmerston North mayor says Government has it wrong about the plastic bag problem
Cr Adrian Broad said he remembered the days when bottle drives were "a good little earner" for children, and it would be good to see their return.
The move comes despite Palmerston North's advocacy last year for the Government to introduce a levy on single-use plastic bags, which Environment Minister Nick Smith refused to act on.
Cr Chris Teo-Sherrell proposed the remit, which would ask the Government to support a national beverage container deposit system that industry would have to put into practice within two years. "These containers are a large-volume product, and it would have broad public support."
Strategy and policy manager Julie Macdonald said under the Waste Minimisation Act, the Minister for the Environment could declare the containers to be priority products.
That would make it mandatory to manage them through a product stewardship programme.
It would also be the first time the minister had used that power.
Cr Aleisha Rutherford said the proposal would be a good step toward increasing recycling and improving the environment.
"If we do get this, it would change the economy. It creates jobs in recycling, and puts money back into the community, and people would pick up any cans that are left lying around."
Mayor Grant Smith said the proposed remit had his full support, and he believed it was something that would be easy to do.
He said it would discourage people from leaving broken glass bottles around the streets.
"If those bottles were valuable, they would not be broken."
Environment and economic sustainability group Envision New Zealand says beverage container recycling rates in New Zealand are persistently low, and that voluntary recycling is not working.
The group estimates at least 45,865 tonnes of them, the equivalent of 700 full Boeing 747 aeroplanes, are discarded as litter, ending up in waterways and landfills each year.
It advocates a mandatory container deposit system that would provide a strong financial incentive, suggested at 10 cents, for customers to return beverage containers.
It suggests the measures could lift the recycling rate from the current 40 per cent to a goal of 85 per cent.
The council's remit will be referred to the Local Government New Zealand metro meeting as a first step to gauge support from other councils.Move over plastic wrap, the CoverBlubber® is here! It's the super stretchy food cover for use inside the refrigerator or freezer. CoverBlubber® is made of food safe StickyRubber™, a safer alternative to plastic wrap, that you can place directly on food or containers of various shapes and sizes. The CoverBlubber® is the perfect food storage solution--it stretches and clings and form fits to fresh cut food and just about any container.
CoverBlubber®, so cool to use you'll want leftovers!
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For use in the refrigerator and freezer ONLY
Reusable food cover and food saver
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NOT Microwave Safe
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Hand Wash ONLY & let air dry
NOT Dishwasher Safe
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Available in 4 color coded sizes:
Small/Fuchsia-Set of 2 (fits up to 3 inches/8 cm)
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Tips:
Works best when hands and item to be covered are dry
Use both hands to stretch CoverBlubber and place on item
Works best on items that are uniformly shaped (circles, squares) and do not have exaggerated sides (rectangular baking dishes)
Do NOT leave covered item on countertop, tabletop, pantry, etc.
CoverBlubber® 2018 US & International patents, trademarks, copyrights and registrations issued & pending.In 1968, the Ford auto factory in Dagenham was one of the largest single private employers in the United Kingdom. In addition to the thousands of male employees, there are also 187 underpaid women machinists who primarily assemble the car seat upholstery in poor working conditions. Dissatisfied, the women, represented by the shop steward and Rita O'Grady, work with union rep Albert Passingham for a better deal. However, Rita learns that there is a larger issue in this dispute considering that women are paid an appalling fraction of the men's wages for the same work across the board on the sole basis of their sex. Refusing to tolerate this inequality any longer, O'Grady leads a strike by her fellow machinists for equal pay for equal work. What follows would test the patience of all involved in a grinding labour and political struggle that ultimately would advance the cause of women's rights around the world. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)ADVERTISEMENT
CNN, citing unnamed sources, says “all signs indicate” Trump will sign the pledge, but cautioned that Trump’s unpredictable history means nothing is guaranteed yet.
The RNC’s pledge is thought to be largely aimed at Trump, who has refused to rule out an independent run if he loses the GOP nomination race.
“I [candidate’s name] affirm that if I do not win the 2016 Republican nomination for president of the United States I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is,” the pledge says. “I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party.”
In an exclusive interview with The Hill in July, Trump said he would consider a third-party run if the RNC was not “supportive” enough.
“I’ll have to see how I’m being treated by the Republicans,” he said then. “Absolutely, if they’re not fair, that would be a factor.”
The first GOP presidential debate in August began with moderator Bret Baier asking candidates to raise their hands if they were unwilling to pledge their support to the eventual Republican nominee, and only Trump raised his hand.
“I cannot say [that],” he said at the debate. “I have to respect the person if it’s not me who wins."The United States of America is not known as a land of top-notch passenger railroading. Much of this has to do with a fundamental lack of investment. Unlike Japan, France, Spain, or China the country has not committed to building modern high-speed rail infrastructure. But the operational aspects of American passenger rail are also curiously primitive. In other words, we don't use the infrastructure that we do have in a remotely efficient way or apply international best practices to railroad management.
Consider the curious case of boarding a train at Amtrak's most popular stations.
1) How do you board a train?
In general, once one knows on which track a train will arrive, one goes to the adjacent platform and waits. When the train arrives, the doors will open and people who need to disembark will get off. Then you go through the open door and hop on the train. This process is seen at train stations around the world, including intercity trains everywhere from Brussels to Shanghai and mass transit trains such as the 1, 2, 3, A, C, and E New York City Subway lines at Penn Station and WMATA's Red Line at Union Station in Washington, DC.
2) How does Amtrak think you board a train?
At smaller stations such as New Haven, New Carrollton, or New Rochelle, Amtrak uses the same boarding procedure used by foreign intercity railroad operators and by commuter rail and mass transit rail systems in the United States.
This makes sense, since that's how one boards a train.
However, at larger stations, Amtrak chooses to ignore 150 years of accumulated human wisdom about boarding trains. So at Boston's South Station, New York's Penn Station, Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, and Washington's Union Station, people wishing to board intercity trains must go through a more elaborate process. You wait for your track to be called and then need to queue up — with each passenger presenting a ticket to an Amtrak staff member before you are allowed onto a platform. This is roughly how one boards an airplane in all countries, but it is not normally how one boards a train.
3) Why is standard boarding procedure different for planes and trains?
Airplanes typically only have one door, which makes single-file queuing unavoidable. What's more, trains typically use either turnstiles at station entrances (for mass transit) or on-board conductor checks (for intercity trains) to verify payment. This makes a ticket inspection queue unnecessary, while the multiple doors factor makes an inspection queue burdensome.
4) Is Amtrak unaware of the differences between planes and trains?
They seem to be aware. As noted, Amtrak employs standard train boarding methods at many stations, offering a clear indication that they are aware that trains have multiple doors. What's more, Amtrak employs conductors who check tickets on trains, indicating that they are aware that there is no need for pre-boarding payment verification. The queuing is limited to a handful of stations that happen to be located in major cities and thus happen to account for a very large share of total boardings.
5) Why does Amtrak think the queuing system is a good idea?
Amtrak officials have represented to me that the ticket check is a necessary security measure. They have not been able to point to a specific legal directive instructing them to employ this method, but they gesture in the direction of airport security procedures.
6) Why would verifying that a passenger has a ticket help prevent a terrorist attack?
Unclear. All of the 9/11 hijackers were bona fide ticketed passengers. Purchasing a train ticket is a trivial task compared to assembling a bomb or obtaining a visa to enter the United States.
7) Couldn't terrorists just board at one of the smaller stations where they don't do ticket checks?
Yes. Even if the ticket checking did have security value, the fact of the matter is that a malefactor could always board the train in Newark or Stamford and evade the system. It inconveniences law-abiding travelers but offers no meaningful impediment to a determined villain.
8) How can I avoid this fiasco at Penn Station?
At New York's Penn Station one can avoid the queuing madness by adopting the following procedure: go to the main waiting room. Observe the escalators located in the middle of the room near the main information board. Descend the escalator.
You will find yourself in a mezzanine area whose primary function is boarding New Jersey Transit commuter trains. Wait by the monitors near the bottom of the escalator and watch for your train's track to be announced. When the track is announced, you will be able to proceed directly from the mezzanine to the appropriate platform without going through the queue or the ticket check.
9) How can I avoid this fiasco at Union Station?
Oftentimes you can't. But if you are on a northbound Amtrak Regional (or sometimes Vermonter) train that originated in Virginia and boards from one of the low platforms, you may be in luck. Note the track number, but instead of proceeding to the assigned gate, go to Gate L. Once passing through the Gate L doors, you'll go upstairs to a small waiting area for Virginia Rail Express commuter trains. That waiting area should contain stairs that descend to the platforms that serve tracks that run through to Virginia. Pick the appropriate staircase, head to your platform, and wait for your train.
10) How |
this match and Paul really showed how well he can drive. I know GR complained of a power outage early in the match, but I can’t identify where in that would have happened. He was pushing back the entire time that Bite Force shoved him into the corner, he just didn’t have the traction to do anything about it.
The Final: Bite Force vs Tombstone
Bite Force wins by a decision.
KH: What an awesome display of driving from Paul and Bite Force team. Went with the wedge, which had just enough integrity to hold out against the spinner. But it was the aggressive driving, pushing and pinning Tombstone early that set the tone. Tombstone never seemed to get any room to get going. After a minute of jockeying and a few hits, the previous match’s damage comes back to haunt Tombstone. Batteries start smoking, leaving the weapon powerless. Tombstone does its best to force Bite Force into the hazards, but just doesn’t have the power. Magnetic treads FTW.
With the exposed tread, I thought Bite Force was toast. But Paul’s amazing driving kept Tombstone pinned for most of the match. I guess brains won over braun.
AO: Paul drove this match perfectly. He managed to keep his heavy steel wedge between him and the blade while concentrating on slowing it down and stalling the motors. This leaves Ray with the decision of powering down the weapon or risk burning out the motors and/or batteries. If you watch the match again you can see that the blade spins up slower each time. I thought he was done once the smoke escaped, but he still managed a few more good hits into Bite Force’s armor wedge. Still, this was a great match by a great pair of robots.
Take a moment to notice how Paul and Ray react at the end of the match when the judges give their decision. These guys were here to battle robots and both were elated to get as many matches as possible. This is what I think of as the spirit of Battlebots, and other fighting robot competitions.
Looking Ahead
KH: It was not easy for BattleBots to make its way back to TV after 13 years, but they won their ratings time slot every week with a revamped format. The only hiccup was the day of the USWNT soccer victory, but they have rebounded nicely since. Given that 3 days of filming led to 6 weeks of TV, I can’t imagine ABC not bringing them back for Season 2. This whole season was shot with 8-10 weeks notice for the competitors, so I imagine the quality of bots and bouts will improve next year.
That being said, there need to be some improvements. The whole season had a TV boxing mentality – lots of hype, a little bit of action, but it was epic action when it happened. I think a NASCAR mentality would work better – high drama at moments, but the action is in the pits as much as anywhere else. They cut Bobak’s pit commentary for some reason – I hope they fix whatever was the problem for next year. Seeing the aftermath and repairs can be as much fun as the carnage. Second, mic up the judges. I want to hear them deliberate and argue. How much fun would it have been to hear Fon’s perspective after the Bite Force/Overhaul match? Lastly, a tweak to the announcer/host setup. I’m actually in favor of it being treated as sport with the over-the-top announcing, but the “in-studio” commentary never seemed to provide any real insight. Bring in a veteran fighter like Jamie Hyneman to provide the in-studio analysis pre-fight.
Overall, I was thrilled with the season. Millions watched, social media lit up, and it was stunning in HD. This is definitely a positive for the future of the sport and little engineers across the world.
AO: I’m very happy that Battlebots was successful and I hope that ABC puts some serious thought into a 2nd season. Events like this that put engineering in a good light and captivate the public’s attention are a thing we need more of. I hope that this season encouraged many kids to consider a career in engineering.
The things I want to see better next season align nicely with Kishore’s list. Get Bobak on the screen, more time in the pits with charismatic engineers interviewing the teams, and yes, mic the judges. I’d love to hear what Chobot said when pieces of robot were bouncing off the lexan mere feet from her face. I’d love to see Grant Imahara getting down and technical in the pits.
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Get the Official GeekDad Books!JAKARTA/TORONTO — BlackBerry Ltd on Tuesday launched a low-cost touchscreen device in Jakarta, the Z3, as the embattled smartphone maker looks to revive sales in emerging markets like Indonesia where its once-fervent following has shrivelled.
The handset, unveiled at a glitzy launch event in the Indonesian capital, is the first in a line of devices being made with FIH Mobile Ltd, a unit of the giant Taiwanese Foxconn Technology Group best known for assembling gadgets like iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc.
The success of the handset retailing for less than $200 could well decide the outcome of both BlackBerry’s tie-up with the contract manufacturing giant and its own future in smartphones. The Z3 Jakarta Edition will hit store shelves on May 15.
“If this device allows them to grow again, even if it’s just small, steady growth, that’s a success in itself. That says there is still room for BlackBerry in Indonesia,” said Ryan Lai, market analyst at consultancy IDC.
The Z3 is the first phone to be launched by BlackBerry since new Chief Executive John Chen took the helm late last year. After Indonesia it will be gradually introduced in six other countries including the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry hopes that the device and others to follow will help it claw back some of the collapse in its market share, ceded to Apple’s iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co’s line of Galaxy devices powered by Google Inc’s Android operating system.
“If the market doesn’t receive this product well, then we definitely have some negative issues to deal with,” Chen said at the launch at Jakarta’s Ritz-Carlton hotel. BlackBerry said it doesn’t have an official sales target for the device, but Chen said he expects to sell millions of Z3 handsets around the world, without disclosing further details.
BLACKBERRY Z3 UNBOXING [Story continues below video]
FROM 40 PCT TO 4 PCT
Just two years ago, the Canadian firm had a 40% share of the Indonesian market, shipping more than 600,000 handsets per quarter in a country once known as “BlackBerry Nation”.
But the launch of the premium, high-priced BlackBerry 10 last year failed to attract buyers in a country where nearly 40% of the population live on about $2 a day. The company’s market share has slumped to just 4%, with shipments of around 100,000 devices in the first quarter this year, according to IDC.
Indonesia is now dominated by Samsung, which sells about one of every three smartphones in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Chen hopes that the Z3 and other devices to follow spark a change in the company’s fortunes. The Z3 is being launched at a price point below $200 to address one of the big turnoffs for consumers in emerging markets – BlackBerry 10 devices being too pricey.
“From conception to delivery, the BlackBerry Z3 Jakarta Edition was designed specifically with our Indonesian customers in mind,” Chen said in a statement. The device will allow users to type in Bahasa and come with a special set of BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM Stickers featuring local characters.
Later this year, BlackBerry will launch a new, non-touchscreen device dubbed the BlackBerry Classic in partnership with Foxconn. The handset will see a return of the command keys that include ‘Menu,’ ‘Back,’ ‘Send’ and ‘End’ buttons, along with a trackpad. BlackBerry hopes the move will address the concerns of those users who found their new devices hard to navigate.
For Foxconn, the tie-up fits with plans to set up a manufacturing plant in Indonesia to build smartphones and other electronic devices. The Taiwanese company’s ambitions have been on hold since 2012 due to drawn-out talks over tax breaks, property and import restrictions.
© Thomson Reuters 2014The Canadian government has announced it will make it mandatory for pharmaceutical companies to post public notices when drugs are not available.
Currently, posting notices to a website about drug shortages is voluntary. For months, doctors and patients have complained the approach is not working, and people are not able to get the medication they need.
For instance, the former head of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) discovered liquid penicillin was temporarily unavailable in one Edmonton hospital last fall.
"We called on pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily post all anticipated and actual drug shortages and discontinuances online as early as possible … but following extensive consultations with Canadians and health-care professionals, it became clear to me that Canadians were not getting this essential information in a timely and reliable manner from all pharmaceutical companies," Ambrose said in Vancouver on Tuesday.
Ambrose said that kind of behaviour "has to stop," and the government will now require companies to post all actual and anticipated shortages, which the public can access on a third-party website. 'Name and shame' Ambrose said the government will "name and shame" the companies that don't report drug shortages.
"Also, as of today, Health Canada's website will now have a public register that lists pharmaceutical companies that have committed to voluntary public notification, and will include letters to companies that fail to live up to those expectations," she said.
Last fall, Canada's health minister noted that drug shortages are often global problems, and a public list of shortages won't necessarily remedy larger supply issues. (Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images)
In a statement, the head of the CMA said mandatory reporting is "a very welcome step."
“Physicians are gravely concerned with the impacts of drug shortages on their patients,” Dr. Chris Simpson said.
“Persistent shortages in the supply of drugs pose a serious disruption to clinical treatment, increase medical error and put unhelpful pressure on the entire health-care system.”
Shortly after the announcement, the NDP issued a statement saying the Conservatives defeated one of their private member's bills to bring in mandatory disclosure of drug shortages in February 2014.
The Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association said in a statement that while reporting shortages is important, it will continue to work to address their root causes.
Ambrose did caution that the issues causing drug shortages are a global problem, and mandatory posting to a website won't fix that.
The full regulations, including fines for companies that do not comply, will be announced in the coming months. Ambrose said companies will be expected to continue posting information on the current website.An online fantasy video games company with hundreds of thousands of users was one of the key driving forces behind a relatively new data centre in Iceland, it has emerged.
Hilmar Pétursson, CEO of CCP, whose multiplayer online roleplaying game Eve Online is played by a dedicated fan base of half a million gamers, said he was behind the development of the Verne Global data centre, which sits on a former NATO base in south west Iceland.
Verne Global's green data centre in Keflavik is in the process of being expanded © Verne Global
Pétursson said he was forced to run Eve Online and the rest of his business off computer servers in London data centres up until Verne Global opened its facility on a 44-acre site in Keflavik in 2012.
“I thought it was silly that Iceland didn't have a data centre industry,” Pétursson told Techworld at the company's office in Reykjavík. “We have green electricity [due to the abundance of geothermal power] and extremely good weather for data centres - even if not so much for people.
“I thought it was a no-brainer to start a data centre company here so I contacted Isaac Kato [EVP and CFO of Verne Global] and my investors and said: ‘You guys should go and build a data centre company in Iceland - it’s a great idea.’ So I technically had the idea to create Verne.”
Verne Global, a UK-registered company, raised £65 million ($98 million) in January, putting it in the same league as Huddle, TransferWise and Shazam, who are each thought to be worth $1 billion.
Since Verne Global opened its facility, it has attracted a number of customers, including CCP, BMW, RVX, part of the Oscar-winning visual effects team on the film Gravity, and many other large organisations that do not wish to be revealed. BMW specifically uses the data centre to support a group of high performance computing clusters that are being used to run simulations for designing new cars.
It's likely that Verne Global will gain even more customers after Iceland’s internet connectivity was boosted when BT linked the country up to its global network and additional subsea cables were brought online but London remains one of the best connected cities in the world, according to Pétursson.
“Some of the stuff we do requires the connectivity the Docklands area offers but some of the stuff we do doesn’t so it’s much more cost efficient to have it there in Verne,” he said, adding that Iceland is catching up with the major internet exchanges of the world.
“In London you have such a hub of all the tier one connections in the world,” he said. “When you tap into that you’ll save latency, which is important for the type of experience we provide at the consumer level.”Today Steam announced a new system to replace Steam Greenlight: Steam Direct. The goal is to provide a superior alternative to greenlight that works out some of the kinks in the system. I concede that greenlight is filled with low-quality asset flips and severely needs a rehaul or replacement but something in this announcement gravely concerned me: the application fee.
The fee was stated to be up to $5,000. To be clear, nothing is set in stone yet. Steam has proposed these numbers as TBD. $5,000 is their maximum estimate. Here is the direct quote from the post:
“While we have invested heavily in our content pipeline and personalized store, we’re still debating the publishing fee for Steam Direct. We talked to several developers and studios about an appropriate fee, and they gave us a range of responses from as low as $100 to as high as $5,000. There are pros and cons at either end of the spectrum, so we’d like to gather more feedback before settling on a number.”
But the concern remains; seeing a number anywhere near that high is terrifying for thousands of indie developers. The primary argument for a high fee is this: quality indie games should be making a lot more than $5k so a fee that high shouldn’t be a problem. But quality does not instantly equate to profitability, look at the case of Brigador. Secondly, profitability is not the only goal of putting out a game, some developers want to deliver an experience to as many people as possible rather than establish a profit. This is popular in standalone mods.
Indie game development is a generally unprofitable expenditure. It’s highly likely that the first few releases from a studio will be overall unprofitable, and while higher quality will drastically reduce this risk, it is still a very real possibility. There is no shortage of overwhelmingly positive games on steam with a negligible player base. But these games serve a purpose, they demonstrate a studio’s ability to create and attract a loyal following, no matter how small it starts. With a high entrance fee, fledgling studios will not be able to lay the groundwork to reach critical mass.
In its current state, as flawed as it is, greenlight still manages to serve one purpose really well. It provides a low-cost solution for advertising and gauging player-interest. This tool is immensely valuable to independent developers and helped generate over $100 million in revenue as the article itself noted.
Steam claims that the fee will be “recoupable”, but it does so in very vague terms. Is it recoupable in the sense that developers have the potential to make more money from sales or that steam will waive their usual cut until that threshold is crossed? This needs to be clarified. What is recoupable for independent developers is constantly diminishing. Developers are already waging a war against storefronts, publishers, and crowdfunding sites to retain a fair percentage of profits, and are very lucky if they are able to keep 50% of what the game makes. A high entrance fee gives publishers another excuse to take another 20-40% of revenues.
Shovelware is already frequently profitable. That’s why we see so much of it. The more notorious companies won’t have an issue paying $5,000, but the struggling indie developer will. The soul of the independent game is originality, and with originality comes huge risk. We shouldn’t stifle creativity by making that risk even higher. This industry is so volatile that even the most hardened wall-street broker would be cautious taking out a loan out to fund a game.
For a one-man-studio $5k can be enough to fuel anywhere from 3-6 months of development time in the US. $5k is enough to commission a killer soundtrack or breathtaking graphics. $5k can buy licenses, frameworks, and assets to drastically increase production quality. So yes, the money can be gained from a Kickstarter, but that money should be used to create better games, not get through gatekeepers.
There is another complication with a high submission fee that I am particularly worried about. Game development is one of the most global markets there is. There is a beauty in the diversity of the industry and it is inspiring to see teams who never meet each other face-to-face create awesome stuff. A fee that is even on the low end of four figures will inadvertently hurt indie game releases in other countries. In the US or Canada, these high fees will be a huge issue for startup devs, but in some countries, they are impossible hurdles.
Take Ed from Latvia. He tells me the monthly minimum wage is 370 Euros before taxes. He was hoping to publish on Steam eventually but is unsure with today’s news. Instead, he may have to start on mobile platforms, where it is even harder for quality content to stand out. Suji is a hobbyist developer from Croatia passionate about game development. He has been working on a mod for Black Mesa in source engine since last year and is hoping to release it for free on Steam. Submission fees in the thousands is a surreal amount of money for him, more than he’s spent on anything in his life.
Even in countries that are the biggest exporters of video games this is problematic. Leo from the US East Coast has a condition that makes finding a job difficult. He was lucky to find one and now works a numbing 12 hours a day. He’s been saving 80% of his monthly income after rent to stockpile enough savings to work on his indie game full-time for 18 months. An egregious fee would deeply cut into that time. Leo estimates he needs the full 18 months to create a product he is able to show for crowdfunding or early-access, but if the fee is prohibitively high, he may not have enough time.
For developers like these, a high fee will make publishing to steam almost impossible, stifling the diverse global nature of game development. Even for the developers who can afford it, the end product will suffer. As a gamer it worries me that my favorite platform may no longer be home to innovative and obscure indie games and as a developer, it’s disheartening to see an opportunity becoming significantly more difficult to achieve for me and thousands of others. Valve has made some of the best video games of all time, and the most popular PC gaming platform by far. I know they can come up with a better solution to this than a paywall.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing to be notified of new posts.James Martin/CNET
In 2010, an Apple engineer left a prototype iPhone 4 in a bar, spoiling the biggest redesign to the iPhone since its 2007 debut.
Apple has arguably never made as big a mistake since. But history has a way of repeating itself. For its 10-year anniversary, Apple is widely expected to redesign the iPhone yet again -- and another leak may have just spoiled some of the phone's new features.
Last week, the company seems to have mistakenly pushed out a firmware update for the new HomePod smart speaker, a device that won't even be available until December. And when iOS developers Steve Troughton-Smith and Guilherme Rambo dug through that code, they found buried treasure.
No, we still don't know what the new flagship iPhone will be called. Is it the iPhone 8? The iPhone X? Or perhaps the iPhone Pro?
And, to be clear, caveats abound. CNET hasn't independently verified the software in question. Even assuming these leaked features are true, will Apple reverse course on anything now that it's out there? (For a presumed announcement less than six weeks away, it feels like the die is cast.) Is this the whole picture or only part of it? And of course that's assuming -- even in this paranoid age -- that this isn't all an elaborate disinformation campaign. Apple didn't respond to our request for comment.
That said, it appears that we know a lot more about the next iPhone now than we did just a week ago. Here are our eight big takeaways.
1. The bezels appear to be going away
Apple, via Guilherme Rambo
Does this look like any iPhone you've ever seen before? No -- because iPhones generally have big, thick borders at the top and bottom of the screen for the home button, earpiece, front-facing camera and a variety of sensors.
This is the silhouette of a very different iPhone. One with an edge-to-edge screen and no obvious place for a home button -- which lines up nicely with the rumors we've heard.
Here are the two iPhone face designs for the Apple Pay payment animation glyph (the old one being a 5S) pic.twitter.com/67QxOd1Dlf — Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) August 1, 2017
Above, see a handy animated illustration of just how different this iPhone may look.
2. It seems to have facial recognition, aka 'Pearl ID'
If Apple's trying to maximize the screen on this new iPhone, why leave such a big cut-out up top?
One possible answer: That's where the brand-new face-recognizing camera needs to live.
I can confirm reports that HomePod's firmware reveals the existence of upcoming iPhone's infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit and elsewhere pic.twitter.com/yLsgCx7OTZ — Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) July 31, 2017
Troughton-Smith and Rambo discovered dozens of references to face recognition in Apple's leaked firmware, not to mention a brand-new infrared camera -- one that sounds like it'll be mounted on the front of the phone.
In addition to seeing in the dark, infrared cameras are often used for facial recognition. That's because they can be set up to sense depth, preventing someone from using a flat picture of a person to fool a facial scanner.
The face recognition system even has a name (or, at least, a nickname): Pearl ID.
And it looks like you'll need to scan your face twice to set it up.
3. There's apparently no home button...
That blue-border silhouette isn't the only evidence that the iPhone's iconic home button will bite the dust. There's an entry in the code that literally reads "deviceHasHomeButton," and the answer is zero. That's programmer speak for "it doesn't have one."
@stroughtonsmith And the death of the home button is confirmed. RIP. pic.twitter.com/w638s4Tgzn — Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 1, 2017
Troughton-Smith claims to have found references to a "home indicator" instead. That's a virtual home button that could appear on screen when needed, and disappear just as easily. If you've used the assistive touch accessibility feature, that may not sound terribly novel.
What about people who use the home button to wake up their phones? Troughton-Smith says he found a "tap to wake" feature as well. Perhaps you'll simply tap anywhere on the screen, like Microsoft's Lumia phones, to wake your phone from its nap.
4. The fate of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor is unclear, too
If Apple were to release a flagship iPhone that couldn't tap-to-pay at stores, would you care?
That may not be a rhetorical question, because Troughton-Smith and Rambo have yet to find any evidence that the new flagship iPhone will have a fingerprint sensor.
For what it's worth… I've seen nothing to suggest an ultrasound under-the-display Touch ID here. Looks like not this year. Quash that one — Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) August 1, 2017
It's probably not in the home button -- again, because there's probably no home button -- and Troughton-Smith says there's no reference to one that might live underneath the display. Apple was reportedly trying to put a fingerprint sensor inside the screen itself, but it was also reportedly struggling to integrate it.
A lack of evidence isn't great evidence, mind you. It could be buried deeper in the code -- or perhaps Apple will simply move the existing Touch ID fingerprint sensor to the back of the phone instead, as Samsung, Google, LG and others have done.
Couldn't Apple simply use the new Pearl ID face-recognition system to identify you? Perhaps -- but Rambo says it looks like Pearl won't be used for payments. Maybe the banks don't trust it enough yet: Samsung told CNET that its facial recognition system wasn't secure enough for such things. Apple might be facing similar issues -- but it's hard to imagine a new iPhone shipping with Apple Pay that's effectively broken, so something here doesn't quite add up.
5. Your status bar may never be the same
Remember how the very top of the screen is bisected by that camera cut-out? That could wreak havoc on the iPhone's status bar, where you'd traditionally see your phone's battery life, cell signal strength, and the current time of day.
But what if each side of that camera cut-out held half the status bar?
UIStatusBar has been redone with a new visual provider system, one of the options being'split' (presumably for iPhone 8 camera notch) — Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) August 1, 2017
That's what Troughton-Smith seems to have uncovered. And he says it looks like those two tiny sections of screen might even be interactive.
6. Apple's augmented reality seems to get a boost
Even without any special hardware, Apple's AR platform feels like it has more realistic potential than today's Microsoft Hololens or Google Tango when it comes to bringing virtual objects into the real world. And the rumor mill suggested that the latest iPhone might add an rear-facing 3D laser system for advanced depth detection as well.
So far, developers haven't found any evidence of a rear-mounted sensor -- but it looks like that front-facing infrared camera might have a role to play in augmented reality as well, according to these two tweets:
There's also a lot of new references to facial expression detection pic.twitter.com/8PsPVj1QqU — Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 1, 2017
We're not sure why Apple would want to identify specific facial expressions yet -- perhaps they're for a new AR selfie feature, akin to Snapchat and Instagram's popular filters?
7. There's a tiny shred of evidence for wireless charging
Wireless (inductive) charging has been one of the longest standing iPhone rumors that hasn't yet panned out, and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (who has a solid track record for Apple predictions) believes all of Apple's new iPhones will include the feature this year.
In June, the sleuths at MacRumors discovered a new sound file, buried in iOS 11, that they believed would be the sound an iPhone would make when it was placed on an inductive charger.
Now, Rambo has found a reference to a brand-new charging icon specific to the new iPhone, too:
The battery widget will use a different icon for the new iPhone, this suggests a different charging mechanism pic.twitter.com/rERb98b10W — Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 1, 2017
It's not a lot to go on, but it's something.
8. The new iPhone probably won't be alone
One of the most intriguing rumors surrounding the new iPhone is that there will actually be three new phones this September: an iPhone 7S, an iPhone 7S Plus, and the new flagship iPhone. (The "S" series phones, like before, would adopt the same design as today's iPhones, only with a little more muscle and some other likely upgrades under the hood.)
KGI Research
Today, that theory seems likelier than ever before, because of two final discoveries. For starts, Rambo found mention of an "iPhone 9,9" that appears to be distinct from the new flagship iPhone.
That's a little weak by itself -- but Troughton-Smith found a reference to a new 2,436x1,125-pixel resolution screen, which just so happens to perfectly match the screen resolution named by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo when he stated there'd be three new iPhones instead of two.
For context: The iPhone 7 has a 1,334x750-pixel resolution screen, while the iPhone 7 Plus has a 1,920x1,080-pixel display.
For more iPhone 8 rumors, check out our full rumor roundup.
Why the Galaxy Note 8 is a big deal: Jessica Dolcourt explains.
How Apple lept ahead on augmented reality: Google, Facebook and Microsoft just got told.After 51 days, authorities lifted curfew from Kashmir since the ongoing unrest began on 8 July, officials said. "Curfew has been lifted from the entire Valley. But, it will remain in force in Pulwama town and in areas under the jurisdiction of Nowhatta and MR Gunj police stations in Srinagar," a senior police official told IANS.
The decision to lift curfew was taken at a high level security meeting on Sunday evening, sources said. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh went into a huddle with BJP president Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and discussed with them the modalities of the all-party delegation's visit.
Rajnath is likely to lead an all-party delegation on 3 September to Jammu and Kashmir even as the state continued to be on edge despite curfew being lifted.
Sources said the meeting discussed possible individuals and groups with whom the delegation may interact. The government has sounded out different political parties to convey the names of their representatives who will be part of the delegation. When asked about what transpired at the meeting, Jitendra Singh refused to elaborate, only telling reporters that "Rajnath Singh is a senior leader and we have come for 'Margdarshan' (guidance)".
The meeting came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the Kashmir situation in his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on All India Radio and a day after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met him. The Kashmir Valley has been gripped by unrest ever since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on 8 July.
The Prime Minister said in his 'Mann Ki Baat' address that any life lost in Kashmir, whether of any youth or any security personnel, is the country's loss. "'Ekta' (unity) and 'Mamata' (affection) was the crux of all interactions I had recently on Kashmir situation," he said. Modi said those pushing the youth towards stone pelting in Kashmir will some day have to answer them.
He also said that all political parties spoke in one voice on Kashmir, sending out a strong message to the world as well as the separatists.
In a statement issued last week, the separatists have asked people to continue the shutdown until 1 September. All senior separatist leaders have been placed under detention in Srinagar city.
A total of 71 people — 68 civilians and three policemen — have been killed in this present bout of violence that started on July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight. Over 11,000 others including civilians and security personnel were injured during this period.
With inputs from agencies
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.with Nathan Fisher
DevOps is a common sense approach to software release cycles. It’s an accumulation of best practices and the agreement that software has no business value until it’s in the hands of its intended user. The best way to do that is ruthless automation to the point where deployments become as simple as pressing a button.
DevOps are people with a multidisciplinary skill set - people who are comfortable with infrastructure and configuration, but also happy to roll up their sleeves, write tests, debug, and ship features. They are basically described as bridge of communication between developers and operations.
Nathan will discuss the technical sides of DevOps, tools and solutions to the problems they are facing.
About the speaker
Nathan Fisher is a DevOps consultant with ThoughtWorks. With over 10 years of experience in IT he's held a diverse range of jobs from support, development and system administration. With that experience he's aided clients in the telecommunications, insurance, and business intelligence sectors to build a DevOps culture in their organisation. His core desire is to enable anyone on a delivery team to deploy an application with minimal fuss.
Please note: The office doors are locked at 7.00pm, so don't be late!Review & Install Video
This is my review of the Barricade roof rack, fitting your four-door 2007 and up JK. JKs had notoriously small interiors and there isn't a lot of cargo space, so if you're somebody who wants to be able to haul more gear, a roof rack like this might be a nice option. This roof rack isn't going to be nearly expensive as some of the top roof racks on the market, however, it's also going to be a little less sleek-looking, and you won't be able to get quite as many accessories that bolt right onto it. If you're looking for one of those other racks, we do have Gobi and a few other brands on the site, but if you're looking for one of the less expensive racks that'll still get the job done, this is a good one to take a look at. This rack is built from 2-inch round tubing that is 0.12-inch wall thickness, so you're going to have enough strength to carry up to 350 pounds up on the rack. The whole thing is covered in a textured black powder coat finish, which will match a lot of other off-road accessories, and also your factory black plastic accents on your Jeep. The rack will mount to the windshield hinges in the front, and either to the frame or to the body in the rear, so there isn't any drilling necessary. If you have an aftermarket bumper, I would recommend using the frame mounts. If you have a factory bumper that you're not willing to chop up, you will have to use the body mounts, which do require some drilling into the body. Once you have the rack installed, you'll be able to raise and lower your soft top by just removing the crossbars of the rack. However, you will not be able to install and uninstall your hard top with the rack in place. Speaking of those removable crossbars, those are attached with large plastic thumbscrews, which make it very easy to remove and reinstall the crossbars, however, sometimes those thumbscrews like to strip out, so a lot of people have been replacing them with a stainless steel wingnut setup, which is going to be a lot stronger and hold up a lot better, but still not require the use of any tools to get the crossbars on and off. This roof rack installs onto your Jeep really easily. It's designed to be a bolt-on installation, unless you have a factory rear bumper that you're not wiling to cut up. In that case, you have to use the body mounts in the rear of the rack instead of the frame mounts, and they do require you to drill into the body. Those holes are going to be very visible if you were ever to remove the rack, so I definitely recommend using the frame mounts instead. If you have a factory rear bumper that you like, you can cut a hole in it or cut the ends off of it in order to use those frame mounts, and those of you with an aftermarket rear bumper won't have to worry about it. You'll be able to use those frame mounts and not drill the body without a problem. If you do end up using the body mounts, the installation becomes a little bit more difficult because of the drilling you have to do. To start this installation, you'll start at the front of the Jeep and remove the four bolts in the windshield hinge to allow you to mount these two plates up on the hinges. You'll start on one side, then put the crossbar across the front, which also has your light mount tabs on it, and finally move along to the other side of the windshield hinge. From there, you have the bars that move toward the back of the Jeep, and finally, the bars that attach to the back of the Jeep down to the mounts. At the same time that you're installing those, you'll install the crossbar across the back center of the Jeep, and finally the mounts, whether you're using the body mounts or the frame mounts. After you have everything installed, you can go through and tighten down all the bolts. As far as tools go for this installation, you won't need any specialty tools, however, you will need a good set of Torx bits, to remove the factory Torx bolts that are in your windshield hinge. As I mentioned before, this rack is toward the bottom of the price range as far as roof racks are concerned, and really, the only reason for that is, one, that this isn't as sleek and stylish-looking as some of the more expensive racks, but also, it doesn't have all of the bolt-on accessories available for some of the other more well-known racks on the market. For instance, the Gobi racks that we offer have everything from kayak and bike mounts to shovel and high-lift jack mounts. You could certainly get all of those accessories bolted onto this roof rack, however, they're going to require some modification and it's not going to be quite as simple. |
the Last 25 Years
If Avatar had never existed, it's possible that John Carter would have seemed like more of a genre breakthrough, given the premise of a distant planet penetrated by an Earthling who begins an interplanetary romance and is ultimately accepted into the alien culture (Mars here even has a huge arboreal structure at the heart of things). But echoes resonate from many other sources as well: What came first, the Jedi of Star Wars or the Jeddak leaders here? Was Taylor Kitsch's buff loincloth look inspired by how good Charlton Heston looked similarly attired in Planet of the Apes? Doesn't John Carter's background consist of one part Outlaw Josey Wales and one part Indiana Jones? And doesn't the specter of the ancient Greeks noticeably hover over the everlasting battles being fought among the various neighbors?
The Princess of Mars, the first work by Burroughs ever published, began being serialized in 1912 and was issued as a novel six years later. Neatly, the author has been brought onstage here in an 1881 framing device, as the young nephew of the just-deceased adventurer John Carter who has been called to New York City to be shown a journal the dead man has intended for Edgar's eyes only.
PHOTOS: Hollywood's A-List Redefined
As in Burroughs' story, Carter is a Confederate soldier drawn west after the Civil War by the lure of gold. But no sooner does he find it than he happens upon a cave massively feared by the Indians, one which serves as a portal to a place that looks very much like the American West but is, in fact, the desert-like Barsoom, that fourth planet in the solar system that has often been fantasized about as a possible home to some form of life.
The first species Carter encounters when he awakens are just-hatching critters that grow up to become Tharks: thin, tusked, six-limbed, greenish-skinned creatures that are quite jumpy about being in year one thousand of their struggle with the nasties from Zodanga, whose arrogant prince, Sab Than (Dominic West), has just acquired a new, lethal amulet. The Zodangans hover about aboard giant airborne craft that look like Star Wars by way of Baron von Munchausen and are accompanied by three holy men, most notably the all-knowing and shape-shifting Matai Shang (Mark Strong).
Even though they're allied with the aristocrats of Helium — whose elite, including the Jeddak (Ciaran Hinds) and his daughter Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), are kitted out with British accents, chintzy costumes and the occasional bad wig reminiscent of a 1950s Ray Harryhausen adventure — the poor Tharks desperately need more help if they hope to survive. When they see how Carter can leap tall rocks in a single bound, by virtue of the thin atmospheric conditions, they decide he's their man.
It would take repeated viewings to determine how many times Carter is captured and then escapes in the story line devised by screenwriters Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon. More a series of incidents than a gracefully composed drama of rhythmic arcs and elegantly defined acts, the film finally settles its principal attention on the dilemma of Princess Dejah, whose high-minded scientific orientation (reminiscent of that of Rachel Weisz's Hypatia in Agora) contributes to her disinclination to play obedient daughter and marry the venal Sab Than for political reasons, as her father requests. With Kitsch and Collins having shared a previous life together in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, their characters here bask in the sight of two moons as they compare notes on the structure of the solar system and, in an appealingly unconventional, unsentimental way, get together.
Stanton, who directed Finding Nemo and WALL-E, co-directed A Bug's Life and had a hand in writing all three Toy Story features, here follows Brad Bird by three months in moving from Pixar animated eminence to live-action fare. Although the result is quite a mishmash, dramatic coherence prevails over visual flair; the colors, skin tones, image sharpness and cohesion of diverse pictorial elements are less than stellar, though the 3D is effective, with comparatively little brightness sacrificed by donning glasses. (The film was reviewed in Imax 3D.) For a Pixar graduate piece, humor is notably lacking.
Long-haired, bearded and skimpily clad through most of it, Kitsch fills the action-hero bill, neither more nor less. With raven-black hair framing lagoon-blue eyes, Collins, who was an arrestingly unconventional Portia in The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino eight years ago, also was a far from predictable Hollywood-style choice here, so sharply does she attack a standard-issue part. In support, Strong and James Purefoy, the latter as a lightly impudent factotum from Helium, supply the most color.I received an advance copy of J.W. Rinzler’s new making-of book, Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy, and I have to admit that as someone who learned how to draw by poring over Star Wars storyboards and concept art as a kid, this book is a goldmine.
There’s an foreward by Joe Johnston (who drew many of these boards and designed the Millennium Falcon) and an intro by Nil Rodis-Jamero (art director on Empire and costume designer on Return of the Jedi), and while the book is light on text, there’s quite a number of notes from Johnston and others that give some context to the genesis and evolution on some of these boards. Also nifty: despite the vast majority of these storyboards being drawn in black & white, the book has been printed in full color, so what you’re seeing is as close as you’re ever likely to get to seeing these things first-hand (and the occasional color boards really pop, as seen with the Hoth battle stuff above.)
The book hits shelves on Tuesday, May 13th - I highly suggest grabbing a copy if you’re into old-school production artwork like this.Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) talks to middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens (59) on the sideline during the third quarter of their game against the Houston Texans on Thursday, September 1, 2016 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
"Be relaxed," Bryant said during a CBS 11 interview from the sidelines Thursday night. "Come in and do what you've been doing. Be monsters. Take advantage of this opportunity. Be great. Make your mark. It can only get better for those two. They fittin' to come in and do some damage."
With Tony Romo out for an extended period of time, younger players looking for advice from Bryant are going to get this message: establish dominance from the first play.
According to Bryant, that's exactly what Elliott did in his preseason debut last week in Seattle. The fourth overall pick challenged veteran Pro Bowl safety Kam Chancellor on several first-quarter runs.
"That's something I already knew he was going to do," Bryant said. "Once I seen him get in Chancellor's face, I knew he was ready. It got me hype. I wish I was there on the sidelines. I probably would've ran off the sidelines and got in Chancellor's face as well."
Having Elliott and the NFL's best offensive line means the Cowboys are going to run the ball early and often. But when teams try to take that away, Prescott will need to find the open receiver in the passing game.
Bryant, Jason Witten, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley and Brice Butler are looking forward to those opportunities.
"They're going to try to see how real Dak really is," Bryant said. "Once they line me up one-on-one, they're going to see how real Dak really is because I'm going to come through for him. When they start to double me, there goes Terrance, there goes Beasley, there goes Wit, there goes Brice.
"You can just pick your poison. You can have it however you want. We ready to go."
Twitter: @jonmachota
Get the latest Cowboys news here | Follow dmn_cowboys on Twitter | Like our Cowboys Facebook page here“As you can see from my letter, CIA has no use for a supercomputer now or in the immediate future.”
In 1983, cybermania would grip the nation: The movie WarGames is released over the summer, becoming a blockbuster hit for the time and intriguing President Ronald Reagan enough to summon his closest advisors to help study emerging cyberthreats and ultimately pass the first directive on cybersecurity. But according to declassified documents, made fully public thanks to MuckRock’s lawsuit, one intelligence agency made a hard pass on the computer craze.
Other agencies entreated William J. Casey’s Central Intelligence Agency to get involved. The National Security Agency was convening some of the nation’s best and brightest to develop a strategy for staying on top of the processing arms race.
In fact, the year before, the White House itself had sent Casey a memo asking that he designate someone to weigh in on supercomputer R&D policies:
But while Casey acknowledge that supercomputers were really important and he was flattered that other agencies picked the CIA to be on their team, it just wasn’t something he felt comfortable devoting agency resources on :
In fact, not only did the agency not want to be part of the federal supercomputer club, in a 1983 survey it said it didn’t own or have access to a supercomputer, nor did it have plans to start using them:
Why the apparent lack of concern? Maybe it had to do with an undated, unsourced (and possibly culled from public sources) report that found the U.S. cybercapabilities were still years ahead of the real threat: Russia.
But at some point, the director appears to have conceded that, for better or worse, supercomputers were not yet another fad and he’d be start figuring out what exactly they were all about. Two memos from 1984 show his vigorous interest in getting up to speed on the subject.
The first response came regarding a memo on the increasing Japanese advantage when it came to building out “Fifth Generation’” super computers.
The second memo was after he requested a copy of a staffer’s Spectrum Magazine, which IEEE’s monthly magazine. Apparently, the director had a legendary, perhaps even alarming, appetite for reading materials.
The NSA’s presentation of supercomputers is embedded below.
Image via 20th Century FOXLast week, Drew Brees caused a bit of a stir when he said he was frustrated by the lack of progress in his contract talks with the New Orleans Saints.
It doesn’t sound like anything new has happened in the negotiations, but Brees didn’t sound as irritated in this interview with XX 1090 Sports Radio in San Diego.
“I understand that in the NFL, certainly after going through those negotiations last year during the lockout and the CBA negotiations, that certainly there is a business element to all of this that we all have to go through from time-to-time,’’ Brees said. “It’s not the fun part cause in the end we love this game. We love playing football. We love the interaction with the fans. We love what this game means to so many people. As quickly as we can all get back on the field and start playing ball again the better.”
Brees said that once a long-term contract is worked out he’ll have no hard feelings and plans on business as usual.
“I’ve got plenty of personal goals and team goals and that’s all I think about,’’ Brees said. “I think about when I step back into the locker room, back on the field, how can we bring this team together and go accomplish something great? You can’t take things personal in this business just because otherwise it eats you up. You gotta take on that mindset there is going to be moments like this, but in the end it is about getting in that locker room with your teammates and getting on the field and having a chance to win a championship because that is why we all play this game. There is no feeling like holding that Vince Lombardi Trophy or having the chance to accomplish something like that. Those are the things you remember when you look back on this game. Those moments.”The Accountant’s Ben Affleck and J.K. Simmons will soon reteam for the solo Batman movie
Academy Award winners Ben Affleck and J.K. Simmons both headline next month’s The Accountant, Gavin O’Connor’s dramatic thriller about an autistic math savant whose investigation in a company’s finances soon turns deadly. Although The Accountant marks their first project together to hit theaters, they’ve already completed work on their second: Zach Snyder’s Justice League. Affleck is reprising his Batman role for that film with Simmons set to make his debut as Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon.
“For me, it was another example of getting to be a supporting guy,” Simmons told us today during a press junket for The Accountant, “and getting to work with Ben again.”
“Movies are all about the director. I’ve learned that, finally,” Affleck smiled. “When you work with a director, you’re on his or her ship. You’re going in that direction. Your job is to be creative and bring forth your ideas, but to fulfill this person’s vision of how they’re telling the whole story. You have a silo that you’re responsible for in your performance. For me, it’s about getting as in tune with a director as possible. You’re making their movie… The nice thing about acting is that, if the set falls down, you can just go back to your trailer. Things are not my problem.”
Although it’s no big surprise, it sounds like Justice League won’t be the last time we see Affleck and Simmons together. Simmons essentially confirmed that he’ll be back for the upcoming solo Batman movie, tentatively set for a 2019 release with Affleck both starring and sitting in the director’s chair.
“I’m trying to wrap my mind around the whole ‘director is god’ thing,” Simmons laughed in response to Affleck’s comments. “There might be some of that going on in the future. Wow. What am I in for?”
Although questioned directly about the solo Batman movie and it’s status, Affleck declined to offer much of an update saying that the film is “way too far off.” When a reporter asked about how Batman might fare against his character from The Accountant, however, Affleck knew exactly what to say.
“I’ve only ever thought about beating Jason Bourne,” he grinned.
“Oh,” reassured Simmons, “You’ll kick his ass for sure.”
Check back soon for more from The Accountant, including an exclusive conversation with director Gavin O’Conner. You can catch it on the big screen October 14. Justice League, meanwhile, will arrive in theaters November 10, 2017. Check back for updates on it and the solo Batman movie as they develop.BEIJING • China has captured 2,566 fugitives who had fled to more than 90 countries and regions and recovered 8.6 billion yuan (S$1.75 billion) of illicit funds from 2014 to 2016.
Among them, 1,283 turned themselves in or were persuaded to return to China, Xinhua reported yesterday, citing a statement issued by the office in charge of pursuing fugitives under the central anti-graft coordination group.
A total of 410 were members of the Communist Party or official staff.
So far, 39 suspects of China's 100 most-wanted have returned, according to the Xinhua report.
As part of President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption campaign "Sky Net", China published a list of 100 most-wanted fugitives in 2015, all subject to Interpol red notice arrest warrants.
According to another statement by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday, 951 suspects of white-collar crimes were netted from 72 countries and regions last year. The arrests were made as part of the "Fox hunt", a key component of the "Sky Net".
The statement added that 380 underground banks and money laundering cases have been cracked by police nationwide with help from the People's Bank of China. More than 500 underground banks have been closed.
The "Sky Net" appears to have effectively stopped corrupt officials from fleeing overseas, with the number of those on the run abroad dropping significantly from 101 in 2014 to 19 last year.
While most fugitives have fled to developed countries, including Canada, the United States and Australia, a few have taken refuge in Africa.
Among the arrested is Yang Xingfu, a retired Chinese tax official from Jiangsu province.
He was returned to China from Zimbabwe less than four months after he fled a corruption probe and hid in the southern African country.
Yang, who retired as the deputy head of the Local Taxation Bureau of Nantong City in 2015, flew to Zimbabwe last December, fearing a graft investigation.
"The operation shows that there is no haven for corrupt officials abroad," said Mr Yao Aishan, deputy head of the Jiangsu provincial procuratorate's anti-corruption bureau, referring to the case of Yang.
"They won't escape punishment by the law, no matter where they flee."
REUTERS, XINHUAContinuing to cross-pollinate its cable and network content, NBC Universal soon will give USA Network hits "Psych" and "Monk" a second airing on NBC.
Six original episodes will premiere on USA in January, followed by a repeat on NBC on Sunday nights starting in March. NBC also may air older episodes from last summer or previous seasons of the shows.
"I've been a big fan of both shows, and we have been talking about [airing] these since the merger of NBC and the studio," said NBC Entertainment Co-Chair Ben Silverman. "We felt these two character-driven procedurals would play well as a block together."
Although the move will almost certainly be seen as a response to the writers strike, Silverman claimed he was planning to air the shows regardless.
"A lot of this we would be doing anyway," he said. "The strike is pointing a flashlight on it."
Bonnie Hammer, president of USA Network and Sci Fi Channel, said: "[Airing on NBC] was always an end-game goal. It's just been accelerated at this point."
Starting in January, NBC also is repurposing episodes of USA's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," a decision made months before the strike. Hammer said NBC siphoning USA's content will only benefit the cable network's brand.
"We're very excited about getting the extra exposure on NBC," she said. "If anything, it will bring new viewers to the USA Network."
NBC is the first broadcast network to dip heavily into a cable catalog during the writers strike. Some of NBC's broadcast competitors have said they consider such a move a last-resort option if they run dry of original content. But NBC has a history of cross-promoting its popular fare across its network properties, including USA, Bravo and Sci Fi Channel.
Absent from NBC's current repurposing plans: USA's new hit "Burn Notice," which averaged higher ratings last summer among adults 18 to 49 than either "Monk" or "Psych." Since "Burn Notice" is produced by Fox Television Studios, a separate deal would have to be made to bring the show to the network. "Monk" and "Psych" are produced in-house at Universal Media Studios.
"There have been very non-detailed conversations about bringing over 'Burn Notice,'" one source familiar with the matter said. "NBC is going into its own neighborhood first."
Another issue with "Burn Notice" is that only last summer's episodes are available for repurposing. The second season had yet to begin production when the writers strike started in November.
NBC executives left the door open to other cable series making the jump, however. Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica," which returns for its fourth season in March and is produced by Universal Media Studios, could enjoy additional airings on NBC, executives said, though the network is wary of scheduling heavily serialized programs.
Most PopularThousands Of High School Students Getting Lost In Texas
Enlarge this image toggle caption LA Johnson/NPR LA Johnson/NPR
The US high school graduation rate is at an all-time high. But why? NPR Ed partnered with 14 member stations around the country to bring you the stories behind that number. Check out the whole story here. And find out what's happening in your state. And find out what's happening in your state.
Middle school in San Antonio wasn't a good experience for Jaye McCurtain. She says other students would steal her school supplies, or mess around with her things. Then she started to feel pressure around dating and boys.
"It was frustrating to go to school and deal with that every day," McCurtain remembers, "which is why I didn't want to go to high school."
After eighth grade, she told her mom she wanted to be homeschooled. Her mother Angie, a single parent with three other children, pulled her out of school.
But then she missed the deadline to enroll her in online classes that fall. Eventually, McCurtain had been out of school for so long, she no longer qualified for the online program.
Three years later, she recalls that she thought about re-enrolling in high school, but by then her family had moved to a different part of San Antonio. "I didn't want to start over, I didn't want to make new friends," McCurtain, 18, says. "We couldn't find any other options for me."
McCurtain never interacted with the public school system again. It's just one example of how easily students can leave school in Texas without the state counting them as dropouts.
Let's look at the numbers. In the fall of 2009, Texas counted 360,373 ninth graders, and over the next four years, 289,298 received diplomas. That should translate roughly to an 80 percent graduation rate, all else being equal.
But Texas actually reports an 88 percent grad rate – the second highest in the country.
So where does the 88 percent come from? Rather than counting students like McCurtain as dropouts, schools can classify them as 'other leavers.' In Texas there's a so-called 'leaver code' for every possible explanation: homeschooling, transferring to private school or a GED program, or moving out of the state or country.
"There are so many ways the state has backed those students out of the denominator," says Julian Vasquez Heilig, an education policy expert at California State University Sacramento. "The real issue is, where are these students going? They're being defined away."
He says many leaver codes require little documentation. Students can be removed from school by an email or fax, without a parent's signature. Other codes require as little as an oral statement from a neighbor saying the student moved back to her home country.
Over the most recent four-year cohort, Texas defined more than 50,000 students as 'other leavers' using these codes. Another 1,000 or so students per year went missing and were labeled as "data errors." In both cases, they disappeared from the state's dropout count.
The Texas Education Agency defends the graduation rate. It says the documentation requirements are a compromise with school districts that are tracking students year after year. The agency says it needs to give school districts flexibility, especially in a state like Texas where students tend to move around a lot.
Districts need to be "honest in their reporting, but I think part of that is accepting some flexibility," says Criss Cloudt, Associate Commissioner of the TEA.
Critics, like Heilig, say the TEA really doesn't have the resources to audit every school district, and there's little incentive to fix the system.
"No one really wants to rock the boat," says Bob Sanborn, CEO of Children at Risk, a Houston-based nonprofit that tracks graduation rates. "They're all in the same game, which is to make everyone look good."
Last year, Jaye McCurtain and her mom moved to Austin, where she's now taking classes to get her GED.
"It's a hard thing to move past," McCurtain says. "You get stuck because you're looking at this stuff you don't understand and you know kids younger than you are learning it and understand it. So it's a little crushing."Captain Tommy Olczyk was answering questions postgame Saturday night after Penn State’s 3-2 loss to No. 2 Boston College about where the team stands, what he thought of the Nittany Lions’ play — the normal postgame press conference. The captain is well-spoken, especially when speaking with the media.
Then, Olczyk got asked a question about alternate captain David Glen, and Olczyk fumbled his words — something that rarely happens. But as it turns out, he may have found the best way to describe Glen.
“David is a standup guy,” Olczyk said. “You see with the play on his ice. He's a three-way player, playing every single zone.”
“Three-way player” isn’t a hockey term.
“Two-way player,” the captain caught himself referring to Glen’s ability to be efficient on offense and defense. Then he corrected himself again.
“Now he's a three-way player,” Olczyk said, speaking to Glen’s latest assist, which came off the ice.
Glen will likely miss Penn State’s upcoming series with Ohio State as he donated his bone marrow over the weekend to help save someone’s life, who was in critical need of the marrow. According to fellow teammates and coach Guy Gadowsky, it doesn’t surprise them one bit the captain would do it.
“You can see this by how he plays and by getting to know him, he's the ultimate team guy,” Gadowsky said. “He's very, very under-spoken. He's very, very humble. He's such an all-about-the-team guy. He doesn't like the limelight. I love the way he is.”
Glen, a forward for Penn State, underwent the non-surgical procedure on Friday and did not suit up on Saturday. But the alternate captain was spotted at Saturday’s game. He, along will several other THON families, were honored at intermission of Saturday’s game with Boston College.
Glen received one of the loudest ovations when he was announced.
“When he came in, we were certainly on the same page since the word ‘Go,’ ” Gadowsky said. “He was just very proud to do it and have that opportunity right from the word ‘Go.’...We're very proud of him and I'm very proud our program is associated with him.”
During the 2012-13 season, the mother of Drew Roper, a Penn State men’s lacrosse player, was in need of marrow, and with the help of his teammates, Roper set up a swab drive through the BeTheMatch campaign.
BeTheMatch then helps connect matches for people who need it, and while he wasn’t a match for Roper’s mother, Glen found out he was for another person.
“It's something so little to save a life,” Olczyk said. “It's very cool. And it's something that everyone on our team, we all look up to him for what he did. It's awesome.”
Last year, Glen was one of Penn State’s points leaders with 25 total, and while he jumped out to a slow start this season, he’s picked up five points. Three of them have been assists. And while his fourth of the year won’t show up on the score sheet, it’s his most important assist of the year.
“Maybe that's what will start calling that,” Olczyk said. “David Glen, the three-way player.”MIAMI -- The San Antonio Spurs still have that winning NBA Finals formula of good defense and a little luck on offense.
Tim Duncan overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points and 14 rebounds, Tony Parker banked in a desperation jumper on a broken play with 5.2 seconds left, and the Spurs withstood LeBron James' triple-double to beat the Miami Heat 92-88 on Thursday night in a thrilling Game 1.
Parker ended up with 21 points after referees reviewed his shot to make sure it just beat the shot clock, giving San Antonio a four-point edge in the game, which was close the whole way.
"We got a little bit lucky in Game 1," Parker said. "Sometimes that's what it takes to win games."
Playing for the championship for the first time since sweeping James' Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 for their fourth title, the Spurs improved to 5-for-5 in Game 1s, hanging around for three quarters and then blowing by the defending champions midway through the fourth.
Manu Ginobili, the third member of San Antonio's big three that has combined for 99 postseason victories together, finished with 13 points, and Danny Green had 12.
"It doesn't matter how we're categorized -- old, veterans, whatever you call us, we're in the mix," the 37-year-old Duncan said.
San Antonio turned up its defense in the fourth quarter, limiting Miami to seven points in the first 8½ minutes in returning to the Finals just the way it left -- with a victory over James.
James had 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in his second straight NBA Finals triple-double, but he shot only 7-of-16 against some good defense by Kawhi Leonard, and Miami's offense stalled in the fourth quarter.
"The Spurs are the Spurs," James said. "They're going to put you in positions where you feel uncomfortable offensively and defensively, and every time you make a mistake, they're going to capitalize on it."
Game 2 is Sunday night.
James became a champion on this floor last year in Game 5 against Oklahoma City, but he hasn't forgotten his first taste of the Finals.
The Spurs overwhelmed his Cavaliers, and James spoke Wednesday like someone who had payback in mind. He was 22 then, a fourth-year player headed for greatness but with holes in his game that San Antonio exploited.For almost 20 years the USSR and the United States went head-to-head, rocket-to-rocket, satellite-to-satellite, to try and conquer space. The Space Race saw the two Cold War allies competing to protect their national security, but also for their nation’s pride.
The Space Race’s legacy helped to give us the communications and weather-based satellite systems that we have today. Both countries drove each other to push their technological capabilities to new heights, quite literally.
But now there is a new kind of space race happening: it’s the race between private companies and the government.
NASA wants to put a man on Mars by 2030, but by 2026 Elon Musk’s SpaceX will – if all goes well – already be there.
But in many respects, while SpaceX – and other private companies – are competitors on this front, they work closely together with on many more.
It’s no secret that space is incredibly expensive, dangerous and unpredictable, and to achieve our aim of being a multi-planet species there needs to be collaboration between companies, and equally, if not more importantly, collaboration between nations.
“I think the future of space has to be international co-operation,” says Hannah Kerner, the executive director of the Space Frontier Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation that tries to bridge the gap between government and private space groups.
She is clear to stress that almost all current space missions involve international co-operation at present, but says more is welcome. “I think it is becoming an increasingly international effort. It’s hard when every country has its own restrictions and it is unfortunate that politics gets involved. But I think there has to be more co-operation because as we grow as a space faring humanity, it has to be an international effort.”
The sentiment is also one that’s echoed by Buzz Aldrin, the second human to step foot on the Moon.
He recently told BBC’s Radio 4 that countries need to work together to get to Mars. “The sequence of build-up – that does include cooperation with other nations,” he said. “Now the most difficult one to work that out with is China, but it is really essential that we have a working relationship.”
As shown by the Space Race, and the more recent international co-operation, nations can play a huge role in space’s development. But at the moment it is the turn of the private companies.
Making space cheaper
It’s been more than 40 years since Aldrin, Armstrong and Michael Collins first set foot on the Moon, and the last time visited was in 1972. Since we were last there, our knowledge of the universe has expanded enormously; in that time we’ve put 13 different manmade objects on Mars (the first was the USSR’s Mars 2 that failed during descent and crashed into the surface). A trip back to our nearest neighbour is long overdue.
What’s also changed is our technical ability. For starters, the world wide web exists, satellites and mobile communications are commonplace and robots are starting to be taught in natural languages. The list could go on and on but in the name of relevance and brevity, it’s now easier than ever for private companies to launch items into space.
In this respect SpaceX, in 2012 became the first private company to make a delivery to the International Space Station. There are also launch contracts for large satellites held by International Launch Services and Arianespace.
When they partner together they can do really amazing things and lower the cost of exploration
It’s this sort of private influence that has lead to researchers declaring that public-private partnerships are what will make space travel cheaper for us. A NASA-funded report found that the collaborative partnerships can reduce the cost of creating a base on the Moon up to 10 times cheaper.
In 5-7 years we could be back on the Moon, says the report: “Economic Assessment and Systems Analysis of an Evolvable Lunar Architecture that Leverages Commercial Space Capabilities and Public-Private-Partnerships,” and 10-12 years after that four private-sector astronauts could be living on its surface in an industrial base.
By working with private companies the study found that this sort of space mission could be achieved at a lower cost to the public. “The public benefits of building an affordable commercial industrial base on the Moon include economic growth, national security, advances in select areas of technology and innovation, public inspiration, and a message to the world about American leadership and the long-term future of democracy and free markets,” its author’s said.
Their suggestion is, in essence, the same as NASA outsourcing deliveries to the International Space Station to private companies. At the time of the first Dragon delivery to the ISS, NASA staffer Charles Bolden said the agency was “handing of” its transport to the private sector so that it can “focus on what we do best – exploring even deeper into our solar system”. In other words; NASA has developed the technology to consistently deliver to the space station and it has filter down to the commercial sector it doesn’t need to do it anymore.
“When they partner together they can do really amazing things and lower the cost of exploration and increase the access of it,” said SFF’s Kerner.
Driving innovation
Following this model of private companies and governments working together, it is possible to increase the rate that humanity can explore space.
Kerner says that there is a NASA way of doing things, which is “very careful, very slow, very bureaucratic”.
Back in 2011 the Planetary Society put out an appeal for its members to contact the government and urge it to agree to work with the European Space Agency, by getting all the bureaucratic paperwork completed. And Rod Pyle, the author of Innovation the NASA Way, told the Washington Post that “NASA is more bureaucratic than it used to be and there is a thicker rulebook”.
On the other hand start-ups and private space companies aren’t floundered by as much regulation and internal politics. This is what can allow them to change the pace of space; they can fast-track the timelines that they complete their work in.
To this extent Kerner says the public and private sectors working together is the best way to bring down the cost: “I think that is where through public private partnerships we will see the greatest cost reduction and the greatest innovation. Neither of them can do it alone.”
She says there aren’t going to be a lot of private companies wanting to study solar flares or send spacecraft to Pluto, and that’s where NASA can do its work alone. Once the agency has developed a technology, it can then pass it to the private sector.
And that’s what she would like to see happen in the next decade: private companies developing the technologies that have been pioneered by NASA.
“In 10 years I would like to see us pushing totally different technologies that we haven’t even thought yet would be prominent in the commercial sector,” she says.
“Right now it is all about nanosatellites and launch, in 10 years I don’t want to be talking about that – I want that to be a solved problem. In 10 years I would like to see us pushing totally different technologies that we haven’t even thought yet would be prominent in the commercial sector.”In one particular way, Barack Obama really did create Donald Trump — and it reflects horribly on Republicans Republicans keep trying to blame Obama for Trump. But the only way to connect the two makes the GOP look even worse
There has been no shortage of think pieces in the past few months that promise to “explain” why Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been so wildly successful. And that’s fine; I’ve written a few such pieces myself.
The problem with most of these pieces, however, is that for all the valuable insights they may offer — about economic inequality, the institutional Republican Party’s disintegration, the preponderance of “authoritarian”-minded voters, and so on — they tend to ignore what is arguably the most important question about Trump’s campaign.
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That question, simply put: Why now?
For all the (somewhat justified) self-congratulation many on the Left are feeling right now, what with seeming vindication of their long-held claim that the conservative movement is fundamentally ethno-nationalist, there hasn’t been as much talk about what it is that’s made 2016 so different.
After all, it’s not like the Trumpist bloc of the GOP didn’t exist in 2012 or 2008 — or, indeed, 1980. But Trump didn’t happen during any of those elections; he happened during this one. Why? What’s different? What’s changed? Why has he been able to do what so many of the rightwing authoritarian candidates before him could not?
In all honesty, I don’t really know. I don’t think anyone does, really. Whether or not Trump wins the Republican Party’s presidential nomination (or even the presidency itself), I’m guessing some very smart people will devote years of their life to trying to find an explanation. I’m guessing that, ultimately, there will be more than one.
Given the limited amount of evidence we currently have at our disposal, though, I think a recent piece from Slate’s Jamelle Bouie is the best of the first |
in the short passing game to make some first downs, and he caught the big ball down the sidelines. He got smacked on the catch and held onto it, just like the receiver that he has in his background."
The team will see how Rawls looks later in the week, but given how much the Seahawks are relying on the passing game right now, the versatility of Prosise really fits well.
The Seahawks were not prolific with the running game (26 carries for 96 yards) against the Patriots, but they were more balanced than they had been previously. Carroll said it was a combination of better run blocking (he singled out center Justin Britt specifically) and Prosise hitting the hole.
The offense has a lot of moving parts at running back, but the emergence of Prosise and the potential of return of Rawls has Carroll optimistic that the Seahawks can get the ground game going down the stretch.President-elect Donald Trump questioned nearly four decades of US policy on 'Fox News Sunday'. Credit:AP The President-elect said the intelligence community was split on whether Russia or other governments were behind leaked emails involving Hillary Clinton before the election, and that Democratic legislators were trying to use information from private CIA briefings to discredit his victory. He blamed Democrats for putting out the media reports and said he did not believe they came from the Central Intelligence Agency. "Nobody really knows, and hacking is very interesting," Mr Trump said in his first appearance on a Sunday talk show since the election. "Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. I mean, they (intelligence agencies) have no idea.
President-elect Donald Trump being interviewed at Trump Tower in New York. Credit:AP "Personally, it could be Russia. It... I don't really think it is, but who knows? I don't know either. They don't know and I don't know." The view appears to put him at odds with American intelligence agencies and several leading legislators. Rex Tillerson is Donald Trump's pick for US Secretary of State. Credit:AP The former Republican presidential contender John McCain urged Mr Trump to accept that Russia had interfered in the election.
"The facts are there," he said on CBS's Face the Nation. Senator McCain had earlier joined with Democrat senators Chuck Schumer and Jack Reed, and Republican Lindsey Graham to issue a statement calling for a bipartisan Congressional investigation into the hacking. Senators alarmed about hacking Four senators on Sunday issued a joint statement to raise alarm about the reported Russian interference in the US electoral process. A secret CIA assessment of available evidence concluded that Russia intervened in the election to help Mr Trump to victory. The report said intelligence agencies had identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee to WikiLeaks.
US President Barack Obama has since ordered an official review of foreign involvement in the election. In their joint statement senators Schumer, Reed, McCain and Graham said "foreign adversaries" had "for years... directed cyber attacks at America's physical, economic, and military infrastructure, while stealing our intellectual property." "Now our democratic institutions have been targeted," they said. "Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American. "We are committed to working in this bipartisan manner, and we will seek to unify our colleagues around the goal of investigating and stopping the grave threats that cyber attacks conducted by foreign governments pose to our national security." Climate change
In the wide-ranging interview with Wallace, Mr Trump also said "nobody really knows" whether climate change is real and that he is "studying" whether the United States should withdraw from the global warming agreement struck in Paris a year ago. Mr Trump said he was "very open-minded" about whether climate change was under way, but had serious concerns about how Mr Obama's efforts to cut carbon emissions had affected America's global competitiveness. "I'm still open-minded. Nobody really knows," Mr Trump said. "Look, I'm somebody that gets it, and nobody really knows. It's not something that's so hard and fast. I do know this: other countries are eating our lunch." During the presidential campaign, Mr Trump referred to climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese, a comment he later described as a joke. He also mocked the idea of global warming during a town hall debate in New Hampshire. During Sunday's interview, Mr Trump said he needed to balance any environmental regulation against the fact that manufacturers and other businesses in China and elsewhere are able to operate without the kind of restrictions faced by their US competitors.
"If you look at what – I could name country after country. You look at what's happening in Mexico, where... plants are being built, and they don't wait 10 years to get an approval to build a plant, OK?" he said. "They build it like the following day or the following week. We can't let all of these permits that take forever to get stop our jobs." The New York businessman made the same critique of the Environmental Protection Agency, to which he has nominated Oklahoma Attorney-General Scott Pruitt – a climate change sceptic – as the head. At the urging of his daughter, Ivanka, Mr Trump has met in the past week with former vice-president Al Gore and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, both environmental activists. US 'not bound by' one China policy Mr Trump also questioned whether the United States was bound by its longstanding position that Taiwan is part of "one China" and he brushed aside Beijing's concerns about his decision to accept a phone call from Taiwan's president.
"I fully understand the 'one China policy,' but I don't know why we have to be bound by a 'one China policy' unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," Mr Trump said. In the Fox interview, Mr Trump criticised China over its policies on issues such as currency, the South China Sea and North Korea, and said it was not up to Beijing to decide whether he should take a call from Taiwan's leader. "I don't want China dictating to me and this was a call put into me," Mr Trump said. "It was a very nice call. Short. And why should some other nation be able to say I can't take a call? "I think it actually would've been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it." 'He does massive deals in Russia'
Mr Trump also discussed his appointments to the cabinet, which he said were not aimed at tearing down Mr Obama's legacy on issues such as the environment. He expressed his desire to prevent former government officials from making money in the private sector on the policies they implemented or contracts they approved while working for federal agencies. Mr Trump said he was "very, very close" to naming his secretary of state, though he declined to say whether he would select Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has emerged as the front-runner and whom Mr Trump called "a world-class player". "To me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players, and he knows them well," Mr Trump said. Loading
"He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company – not for himself – for the company." Bloomberg, Reuters, AAPRare condition causes Texas woman to undergo reduction for 36NNN breasts
A Beaumont woman has undergone breast reduction surgery after a rare hormonal condition caused her breasts to swell — weighing roughly 15 pounds each. Kerisha Marks, 40, told The Washington Post she underwent the surgery after suffering from gigantomastia, a hormonal condition that causes breasts to grow up to 3 percent of a person's body weight. less A Beaumont woman has undergone breast reduction surgery after a rare hormonal condition caused her breasts to swell — weighing roughly 15 pounds each. Kerisha Marks, 40, told The Washington Post she... more Photo: Fechter, Joshua I, Twitter Photo: Fechter, Joshua I, Twitter Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Rare condition causes Texas woman to undergo reduction for 36NNN breasts 1 / 8 Back to Gallery
A Beaumont woman has undergone breast reduction surgery after a rare hormonal condition caused her breasts to swell — weighing roughly 15 pounds each.
Kerisha Marks, 40, told The Washington Post she underwent the surgery after suffering from gigantomastia, a hormonal condition that causes breasts to grow up to 3 percent of a person's body weight.
For Marks, the condition caused her breasts to grow to size 36NNN, bringing with it pulled muscles in her chest, severe back pain and emotional distress.
The 40-year-old high school social worker told the Post that the pain caused by the disorder would be so intense, it would convince her she was having a heart attack — or leave her with a migraine that lasted for hours.
"I could not run or jump or work out at all," she told the Post. "I was very limited in a lot of things I could do. I mean, you can't find a sports bra that size anyway."
Eventually, Marks sought out Houston-based plastic surgeon Franklin Rose.
"The breasts really hung down to her hips and were essentially like carrying around three basketballs at all times because they were so large," he said, according to the Post. "When we went into the exam room — I don't know if I would use this word'shocking,' but it was certainly startling to see breasts of that magnitude."
The operation took four hours. Rose told the Post he removed 15 pounds of tissue.
"Getting my breasts reduced was like a divorce," Marks said. "And like a bad relationship, you don't always realize how bad things were until it's over."
Marks told CBS Houston she is now shopping for a new wardrobe.
"My first thing on the agenda is to purchase a beautiful bra and second is to buy a strapless dress," she said.
jfechter@mysa.com
Twitter: @JFreportsZHONGGUANCUN, Beijing -- In this fluorescent-lit classroom in northwest Beijing, a bespectacled Chinese man who calls himself Shrek is doing his part to haul China’s economy into the 21st century. He is the founder of a coding boot camp and online education platform that trains thousands of young Chinese to program Apple Watches, maintain Oracle databases and build Android apps -- the very skills that China’s leaders hope will vault the country toward a high-income economy.
The country’s traditional sources of growth, cheap exports and massive infrastructure spending, are sputtering -- and economists warn that if China doesn’t move up the value chain, it could fall into the notorious “middle-income trap.” Transitioning away from these mainstays of economic growth will be wrenching for China's industrial rustbelt, but Chinese leaders are banking on "mass innovation" to pick up the slack. China's Premier Li Keqiang has spent two years exhorting the country’s youth toward “mass entrepreneurship,” frequently rhapsodizing on the power of innovation to provide high-paying tech jobs and to upgrade traditional industries.
Government-orchestrated mass mobilizations are part of the Maoist DNA of modern China. But how can an education system that rewards rote memorization and a government that prizes stability above all else train a new generation of innovative coders intent on disruption? That’s where Shrek comes in. (His real name is Qie Xiaoye. He chose “Shrek” because his wife’s English name is Fiona and his personality matches the gentle green ogre.)
Courtesy of WYZC Students take part in a coding class at Uplooking's Beijing headquarters.
“The biggest advantage is that the government doesn’t understand this industry, so they don’t strangle it,” Shrek told The WorldPost. “If the government starts getting involved, it will just suck the life out of it.”
Standing outside the official education apparatus, coding schools like Shrek’s aren’t burdened by tightly-controlled curriculums, stodgy ideology, or high-stakes testing regimens. The goal is simple: teach the students the skills they need to get a job in China’s new tech boom.
That includes students like Wang Ruyi, an insatiably curious 22-year-old who hails from China’s poorest province, Guizhou. Wang grew up in a remote village where ownership of a water buffalo signaled a family’s economic standing. His father dropped out in third grade and his mother never attended a day of school.
But after earning a bachelors degree in computer science from a local university, Wang enrolled in an iOS development course at Shrek’s Beijing coding academy, Uplooking. Wang speaks quickly, riffing on topics ranging from Chinese philosophy to the power of code to unlock deep human mysteries.
“What if we found the code that created the world? Of course this is super far away, but it’s this kind of thought [that inspires me],” Wang said. “I’m curious about the whole world, and it’s this curiosity that drew me into this industry.”
Courtesy of WYZC Shrek, aka Qie Xiaoye, founded the coding academies Uplooking and WYZC.
That kind of curiosity is often squashed in the rat race that is China's public education system. Chinese students devote their middle and high school years to preparing for gaokao, the country’s grueling college entrance exam. Preparation for the test can be all-consuming, and robs many students of both a social life and a passion for learning.
“You grind it out for 12 years,” Wang told The WorldPost. “Lots of people get to college and if they don’t have their own goals they just let themselves go. … The guys just play video games all day, the girls just get made up and go out.”
Wang spent his undergrad years skipping class to travel or work side jobs, and he emerged with a degree in computer science but few practical skills. He says virtually no one in his home province of Guizhou could teach him iOS, and so he made the journey to the capital and enrolled at Uplooking.
The crash course in iOS development had him in class all day, and sometimes writing code into the wee hours of the morning. For his final project, he built a reading app for military news.
Alongside him in the class is Li Feifei, a former nurse in search of a career change. At nursing school, there were virtually no boys in her classes -- at Uplooking she was the only girl in her course. Li said the world of coders is a welcome change from the social pressures on appearance that Chinese women face in most industries.
“Programmers are different: they’re really practical,” Li said. “They could be making a few hundred or a few thousand dollars a month, and they’ll still tell you if you short-changed them a few cents when they’re buying instant noodles.”
Courtesy of WYZC Students in an iOS development class at Uplooking's Beijing center collaborate.
That practical streak is part of what drew Shrek to the industry. Growing up in the early 1980s, Shrek’s parents worked as teachers of Marxist and Maoist theory, and he felt his college education was largely wasted.
Working at a Beijing auto factory after graduation, Shrek enrolled in a training course that certified him as a Linux and Microsoft systems administrator. The course was a revelation.
“I learned more in those months of professional training than in four years of college,” he said.
Shrek was quickly making more than double his old mentor at the factory, and this sparked his passion for combining technology and education. After opening nine Uplooking academies around the country, Shrek founded the online platform WYZC in 2013. Despite receiving funding from one of China’s most prestigious angel investors, Shrek says he worries about both government interference and widespread fraud.
“The whole industry has a bad reputation,” he said. “Put simply, there are too many swindlers.”
That fraud has been fueled by a sudden surge of hype around the tech industry. China is in the throws of start up fever, one spurred forward by China’s own breakout Internet success stories and constant government exhortations to innovate.
Bloomberg via Getty Images About 2,500 students have taken courses at the First Code Academy.
But Shrek is wary of the sudden influx of cash and the growing cult of the entrepreneur.
“Almost anybody with a little bit of talent wants to start their own thing,” Shrek said. “In reality they’re wasting their energy and money, and they’re not really getting anything done.”
Graduates of coding schools may harbor start up dreams, but realistically a three-month course is just enough to get their foot in the door for a coding career. Two months after finishing the Uplooking’s iOS course, Wang has already been through the start up ringer. He quickly landed a job at a start up so new that it didn’t have a name. But after a month building a social network for Japanese anime fans, the company folded and Wang never got his paycheck.
Shortly afterward, Wang retreated to his hometown to recover from an illness induced by Beijing's suffocating smog. But that hasn't dampened his spirits: Wang said after Chinese New Year, he’ll be back in the capital -- or maybe Shanghai -- to give it another go.Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych, accepted the resignation of his prime minister and government on Tuesday, in an apparent concession to the opposition and to demonstrators who have taken to the streets to protest against his rule.
In a decree Yanukovych said he had accepted the resignation of Mykola Azarov, a key ally and hardliner, and his cabinet of ministers.
Separately, Ukraine's parliament voted to scrap anti-protest laws that have provoked a violent escalation of the country's political crisis. A large majority of deputies voted in favour of revoking the legislation passed on 16 January. The move came after four rounds of talks between the embattled Yanukovych and three opposition leaders. The laws severely curtailed freedom of assembly, with critics suggesting they in effect ushered in a dictatorship.
"We revoked the laws against which all the country has revolted," Arseniy Yatseniuk, a prominent opposition leader, said after the vote. He called on Yanukovych to immediately sign the repeal of the legislation into law.
Mykola Azarov offered to resign as Ukraine's prime minister in the spirit of'social-political compromise'. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Azarov, who has described protesters as "terrorists", had earlier offered his resignation. He said he hoped the move would help achieve a peaceful resolution to the crisis that has gripped the country for two months. "The conflict situation which has come about in the country is threatening the economic and social development of Ukraine, creating a threat to the whole of Ukrainian society and to each citizen," he said.
The opposition responded cautiously to Azarov's resignation, saying it was unclear who would replace him. Russia, meanwhile, piled further pressure on Yanukovych by announcing that it might not fulfil its pledge to pay a £9bn bailout to Ukraine if the government falls, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Russian government sources. The money is desperately needed to keep Ukraine's struggling economy afloat.
One former Ukrainian foreign ministry official said that the Kremlin was exerting massive pressure on Yanukovych behind the scenes, and had been urging him to deal more harshly with anti-government protesters. "Ukraine is out of money. If Russia stops financing Yanukovych he will be unable to pay his loyal supporters in the east," the official said.
It was Yanukovych's decision to accept Russian money – and to reject a partnership agreement with the European Union – that first prompted massive pro-European street demonstrations two months ago. Radical groups have since joined the protests, which have seen violent clashes, at least four civilians killed and parts of central Kiev transformed into a battle zone. Dozens of activists have been arrested and several prominent leaders have disappeared. Over the weekend the government mooted the idea of imposing a state of emergency.
On Tuesday opposition leaders said they would not abandon their uprising until their key demands were met. The demands include Yanukovych's resignation, fresh presidential elections, and an amnesty for those rounded up by police in street protests.
Vitali Klitschko. Photograph: Zurab Kurtsikidze/EPA
"It's not a victory. It's just a step towards victory," Vitali Klitschko, leader of the UDAR party and former world boxing champion, said of Azarov's resignation. Klitschko also reaffirmed his wish not to work in a new cabinet. Yatseniuk had earlier turned down an offer by Yanukovych to become his prime minister. "Under no circumstances will I ever agree to work in Yanukovych's government," Klitschko said, adding that a change of prime minister would not change the government system, which needed "to get a restart".
Elmar Brok, a German member of the European parliament and the current chairman of the European parliament committee on foreign affairs, hailed Azarov's resignation and the determination of the ruling party to revoke the controversial laws, calling it "a very important step".
But pro-Yanukovych politicians did not support the exit of Azarov, who has been head of the government since 2010, when Yanukovych took power. "This will lead to additional destabilisation in the country," said Oleg Tsariov, of the ruling Party of Regions, adding that if Yatseniuk took up the post he would be ready to go into opposition himself.
A protester uses a laptop at barricades. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters
The politicians will vote later in the day on an amnesty for hundreds of protesters arrested for participation in anti-government protests across the country.
But it was doubtful that the decisions taken in parliament would placate the tens of thousands of protesters and prompt them to leave the streets and destroy dozens of barricades that protect the Kiev protest camp, now known as Euromaidan, from thousands of police. "I'm sure our fight will go on," said Klitschko.
Read more
• Yanukovych's future may depend on oligarchs as much as protesters
• Andrey Kurkov: my Kiev home is now a war zone. But I'm not quittingA Gay -Straight Alliance (GSA) Club has been approved for thanks to a donation from a community resident.
The Seaford Board of Education voted unanimously at its Thursday night meeting to allow the formation of Seaford High School's first GSA Club for the remainder of the 2011-12 school year. The school board also approved a $683.50 donation from Susan Ruona that will pay for the club's advisor.
Ruona was motivated to help jumpstart a GSA in Seaford after her son Scott and other openly gay students at the high school were unsuccessful last year in a petition drive to launch the club due to a lack of funding in the district. Scott Ruona graduated Seaford last year and while he is now attending Georgetown University, his mother decided it was important to step forward with initial funding for a GSA because of the need she saw for it last year from many of her son's friends.
"I view this differently than a club," said Ruona during Thursday's school board meeting prior to the GSA being approved. "I view it more as a wellness or awareness program."
Ruona attended the first Long Island Gay Parents-Teachers Association meeting on Nov. 2 at the new in Garden City where a main topic of conversation was the importance of having GSA clubs in schools. Other nearby Long Island districts that have approved GSAs in their high schools include Plainedge, Levittown, Garden City and Valley Stream.
Some broad goals that the Seaford students wrote in their petition for the new GSA include:
To create an alliance of students committed to reducing harassment and bullying.
To combat the negative affects of exclusion.
Encourage and support tolerance, acceptance and positive relations among all students.
The Seaford Board of Education approval of a GSA comes as a new state law called the Dignity for all Students Act gets set to take effect in July that requires New York districts to formally address bullying in their curriculum.
"Having an active GSA in your high school or other schools fits right into everything that is in the new laws and regulations related to the Dignity for all Students Act," said Seaford Superintendent of Schools Brian Conboy.
Ruona and other Seaford residents urged the school board at Thursday's meeting to fund the GSA in next year's budget and not rely on a donation from the community. The Seaford School District is operating on a contingency budget this year after voters rejected proposed spending plans last and.
"I thank Susan for funding this but I would also say that this should be something that the school funds next year and not have to count on a resident to do it," Russ Klein said.
"I think this will do a lot to bring awareness and understanding among the students," Maureen Canter said.
"Every time I hear a child killing himself, hanging himself, shooting himself… it breaks my heart," said Ruona referring to how many gay teenagers get bullied and resort to suicide. "If this would even help one kid, it's money so well spent."I love macaroni salad. No only because they’re rich and creamy, but also the vegan variety is almost indistinguishable from the real deal. This turn of the macaroni salad comes courtesy our good friend and excellent home cook, Tom Johnson. He suggests preparing your salad the night before to give the flavors and mayo plenty of time to come together. This can easily be made with a gluten-free pasta if you have an intolerance or just want to cut back on the wheat products.
Macaroni Salad ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 from 4 reviews Author: Well Vegan
Prep Time: Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: Yield: 10 Print Pin Ingredients 1 lb. elbow pasta
1/2 large english cucumber, peeled and finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 tbsp. fresh dill
1 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups vegan mayonnaise, try Just Mayo
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil Instructions Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While water is reaching temperature, chop vegetables. When water is ready, add olive oil (splash), kosher salt (dash) and dry pasta. Cook approximately 10 minutes till al dente. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Let pasta cool for about 10 minutes in the refrigerator. In a large bowl combine half of the pasta and half of the veggie mix along with half of the vegan mayonnaise. Stir gently with large spoon. Add the remaining pasta, veggies, lemon juice and vegan mayonnaise and a large pinch of dill. Continue to combine until all elements are thoroughly coated. Add additional vegan mayonnaise until it has reached the desired light coating. Add additional dill, salt and pepper to taste. Cover with saran wrap or parchment paper. Weight it down with 2 plates. It gets better as it sits, so don’t hesitate to make it the night before. Nutrition Serving Size: 10
Calories: 226
Sugar: 1
Sodium: 148
Fat: 15
Carbohydrates: 16
Fiber: 1
Protein: 3
Cholesterol: 0While we're on the topic, let's think about that $100 million. It's supposed to be a no-brainer, right? The funding is already lined up, right? Let's forget about the $20 million in additional capital funds that is supposed to come from the state, even though we're all well aware of who pays the state the money they are supposed to appropriate. Let's forget about the bonds that Temple would sell in order to fund another chunk of the project, even though we're all well aware that those bonds are backed by tuition dollars, and that those bonds are generally highly rated because the raters know that this country's education-industrial complex has commandeered the collective psyche to the point that if they have to raise tuition to meet their obligations, the rest of us will happily keep on taking out our loans to meet their asking price.So this is what passes for art these days? A morbidly obese girl by the name of Tiffany Sinnot choking down 4 layers of cake without using her hands in 3 minutes flat. Fat Acceptance just lost any respect it may have had!
A figure eats a figure, questioning the layers of meaning within symbols of food and femininity.
Let’s be honest, this just repulsive, disgusting behavior. Is the “artist” trying to show how fat acceptance reaches the sizes that used to be found in the freak shows of old? I get that shes wearing an outfit that matches the cake she just inhaled. Is this admitting that her lumpy mishapen body is a result of such horrible life choices? That doesn’t make this video clever or thought provoking though, its sickening and gut wrenching.
There is nothing artistic about watching an obese woman eat cake with more fervor and less dignity than my dogs at dinner.KRIS Guglielmucci was a man of God who loved his music and mentoring members of his young congregation.
But those same teenagers he once inspired are now mourning the loss of the respected Victory Church youth pastor and father of four.
Mr Guglielmucci, 39, was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning at Cornerstone College, Mt Barker, just after 2.30pm on Friday.
He had been running a two-day Summerfest Youth Camp for about 100 high school students when he was fatally struck down on Morella Oval.
It is understood the tragedy happened as camp members were returning indoors because of the stormy conditions that swept across Adelaide and the Mt Lofty Ranges.
Police said it was unclear whether he died at the scene or in hospital. A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
media_camera The Cornerstone College oval near the spot where Kris Guglielmucci was fatally struck by lightning. Picture: Dean Martin
A 19-year-old woman — also a member of the church — sustained leg injuries and was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. She is now recovering at home.
Mr Guglielmucci was the youth pastor at Victory Church in Pooraka and was head of its youth ministry.
He joined the church in March 2012. Victory Church senior pastor Tony Rainbow said the circumstances of the death were a tragedy.
“(Mr Guglielmucci) was a fun-loving, much loved member of our church community but it went much broader than that,” he said. “Kris had an impact not just in our local church but many churches and through his involvement with (the) Planetshakers (youth group) has a global reach and his loss will be (felt) right across the world. The tragedy is he leaves behind a lovely wife and four young children.”
Mr Rainbow said the hearts of the church congregation went out to Mr Guglielmucci’s wife Lisa and the couple’s four children. He added: “Our priority now is to care for the children who attended Summerfest, the amazing youth leaders of Victory Youth and our church family. We have been in contact with all those involved — and we are offering counselling to those who require it.”
Mr Rainbow said he was not surprised by the tributes left for Mr Guglielmucci, who was a keen guitarist.
“Kris loved his music and he was a very skilled musician. We were better for him being in our church and our music was certainly a lot better,” he said.
Mr Guglielmucci was also a member of Planetshakers — a worldwide Christian youth movement that had its beginnings in Adelaide. His parents, Danny and Sharonne Guglielmucci, were founders of Edge Church International — an Assemblies of God church in Adelaide.
The Victory Church congregation held a private memorial service for Mr Gug-lielmucci last night. He will also be remembered during the traditional Sunday morning service today and again later in the week. Tributes poured in on the church’s Facebook page. Leny Estopa wrote: “Kris is a great loss to our church. He has touched the lives of many youth, our next-generation leaders, as well as those who are attending church.”
Chris Thyer said: “A mighty man of God, we are thankful for his wonderful impact on our children’s lives. Our love and prayers to his family and the Victory family.”
The church is expected to release details of fundraising plans to help Mr Guglielmucci’s family in the coming days.Withania somnifera root extract has been used traditionally in ayurvedic system of medicine as a memory enhancer. Present study explores the ameliorative effect of withanolide A, a major component of withania root extract and its molecular mechanism against hypoxia induced memory impairment. Withanolide A was administered to male Sprague Dawley rats before a period of 21 days pre-exposure and during 07 days of exposure to a simulated altitude of 25,000 ft. Glutathione level and glutathione dependent free radicals scavenging enzyme system, ATP, NADPH level, γ-glutamylcysteinyl ligase (GCLC) activity and oxidative stress markers were assessed in the hippocampus. Expression of apoptotic marker caspase 3 in hippocampus was investigated by immunohistochemistry. Transcriptional alteration and expression of GCLC and Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-related factor 2 (Nrf2) were investigated by real time PCR and immunoblotting respectively. Exposure to hypobaric hypoxia decreased reduced glutathione (GSH) level and impaired reduced gluatathione dependent free radical scavenging system in hippocampus resulting in elevated oxidative stress. Supplementation of withanolide A during hypoxic exposure increased GSH level, augmented GSH dependent free radicals scavenging system and decreased the number of caspase and hoescht positive cells in hippocampus. While withanolide A reversed hypoxia mediated neurodegeneration, administration of buthionine sulfoximine along with withanolide A blunted its neuroprotective effects. Exogenous administration of corticosterone suppressed Nrf2 and GCLC expression whereas inhibition of corticosterone synthesis upregulated Nrf2 as well as GCLC. Thus present study infers that withanolide A reduces neurodegeneration by restoring hypoxia induced glutathione depletion in hippocampus. Further, Withanolide A increases glutathione biosynthesis in neuronal cells by upregulating GCLC level through Nrf2 pathway in a corticosterone dependenet manner.If you remember anything from third grade science class, you know that photosynthesis is the process that allows plants to use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into sugars and other hydrocarbons. As an alternative to extracting fuel from biomass, some scientists have been looking to artificial photosynthesis technology to convert carbon dioxide gas into useful carbon-based chemicals–basically, taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and putting it back into compounds we can use, like fuels.
The primary hurdle to making fuel from carbon dioxide has been the energy-intensive nature of the process. Using established methods, turning carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide is extremely inefficient because it requires more energy than can actually be stored in the fuel. But, University of Illinois chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Paul Kenis and his research group, along with researchers at the start-up company Dioxide Materials, have succeeded in overcoming this major obstacle to artificial photosynthesis.
In the journal Science, the Illinois group has documented their use of a novel ionic liquid to catalyze the reaction, greatly reducing the energy required to drive the process. The researchers then used an electrochemical cell to separate the gaseous carbon dioxide input and oxygen output from the liquid electrolyte catalyst. The cell design allowed the researchers to fine-tune the composition of the electrolyte stream to improve reaction kinetics, including adding ionic liquids as a co-catalyst.
“The key advantage [to artificial photosynthesis] is that there is no competition with the food supply,” said Masel, a co-principal investigator of the paper and CEO of Dioxide Materials, “and it is a lot cheaper to transmit electricity than it is to ship biomass to a refinery.”Kolkata, Jul 27 () Goods and Services Tax (GST) will boost organised security services business, Security and Intelligence Services India Ltd (SIS) said here today.
"GST requires lot of compliance and this will help faster migration of business from unorganised to organised players. Out of some Rs 45,000 crore market, over 70 per cent is occupied by unorganised players," SIS group CEO Uday Singh said here today at a pre-IPO roadshow.
With other enabling environment, he was targeting a growth of around 30 per cent during the current fiscal.
Claiming SIS to be the second largest security services firm in the country, he said, it will be the first such company to go public on July 31.
The target is to raise around Rs 780 crore out of which about Rs 362 crore will come as fresh issue. The remaining amount will go to promoters including private investor CX Partners, company officials said.
SIS said it plans to use part of the proceeds from its IPO to pare debt to the tune of Rs 200 crore out of total Rs 760 crore.
Singh said it will repay the Rs 120 crore loan raised for takeover of maintenance company--Dusters.
For SIS, its Australian company remains as cash cow with some Rs 2200 crore revenue coming from it out of the group's total revenue of Rs 4600 crore.
SIS is a holding company with companies focused on three key verticals - security services, cash logistics and facility management services.
Electronic security, home alarm monitoring and pest control also contribute to a small portion of its revenue.
It has 251 branches across 124 cities in India. BSM NNThe revelation that she purchased 10 percent of the outstanding shares in the dieting service for $6.79 apiece caused the stock to spike 105 percent, closing Monday at $13.92.
Oprah Winfrey made about $45 million in the stock market on Monday simply for revealing she bought shares of Weight Watchers International.
The revelation that she purchased newly issued stock that will represent 10 percent of the outstanding shares in the dieting service for $6.79 apiece caused the stock to spike 105 percent, closing Monday at $13.92.
The value of Winfrey's $43.2 million investment, therefore, more than doubled to about $88.6 million, not even taking into account that she also will be given options for an additional 5 percent stake in the company, though Weight Watchers didn't say exactly when she'd be issued those options.
Not that Winfrey needs the additional cash flow, given that she's worth an estimated $3 billion, but the media mogul apparently is a believer in the product.
"Weight Watchers has given me the tools to begin to make the lasting shift that I and so many of us who are struggling with weight have longed for," Winfrey said Monday.
Winfrey also said Monday she will |
. The team played their first season in nearby Overland Park.
Kansas City T-Bones [ edit ]
The Kansas City T-Bones are an independent baseball team in the American Association, which moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 2003 and play their home games at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, located adjacent to the Village West development in western Wyandotte County. The T-Bones were previously members of the Northern League (which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball), until it dissolved following the 2010 season. While the remaining Northern League teams became members of the North American League as part of the Northern League's merger with the Golden Baseball League and United Baseball League, the T-Bones joined many other former Northern League teams in the relatively new American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. The T-Bones won the Northern League Championship in 2008.
Auto racing [ edit ]
The Kansas Speedway is an auto racetrack adjacent to the Village West area in western Wyandotte County. The speedway, which is used for races that are part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and other racing series, is a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) tri-oval with turns which bank at a 15° angle. The track held its first race on June 2, 2001, when the Winston West series contested the Kansas 100. The top-level NASCAR Sprint Cup series holds the annual Hollywood Casino 400 at the track. The IZOD IndyCar Series previously had run the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 from 2001 to 2010; with IndyCar driver Scott Dixon setting the overall lap record for all series.
Educational institutions [ edit ]
Colleges and universities [ edit ]
Private [ edit ]
Public [ edit ]
Public and private school districts [ edit ]
Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, USD 500
Piper, Unified School District 203
Turner, Unified School District 202
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Catholic Schools
Secondary schools [ edit ]
Notable people [ edit ]
Notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Kansas City, Kansas include actor Ed Asner,[58] jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker,[59] Olympic track and field athlete Maurice Greene[60] and musician and actress Janelle Monáe.[61]
Further reading [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
a b Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1981 to 2010. ^ Official records for Kansas City kept at downtown/Weather Bureau Office from July 1888 to December 1933; Downtown Airport from January 1934 to September 1972; and Kansas City Int'l since October 1972. For more information see ThreadExNEW DELHI: An apparently “non-controversial” bill passed on Wednesday in Lok Sabha became a platform for exchange of barbs and jibes between the government and opposition who sparred over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and HRD minister Smriti Irani’s alleged inclination towards mixing mythology with education.The second half of the lower house, which saw introduction of The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) Bill, was rocked by Congress and TMC attacking government for eroding scientific temper in the country and mixing religion with education, even as all supported the bill. The discussions were made even more interesting by a BJP MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank claiming that astrology was far ahead of science and that the latter was actually a pygmy compared to the former.In a passionate and articulate answer to the house, Irani herself retorted by saying that members were making personal attack on her and argued for a balance between education and tradition.Ironically the discussion began with TMC MP Saugata Roy calling the bill “non-controversial” while objecting to its introduction without its inclusion in the Business Advisory Committee meeting that gave little time to members to read the bill. The first salvo was fired by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi who was otherwise praised by one and all, including the government, for making a passionate and useful speech on the bill.Concluding his speech Gogoi said, “It is very important in our current environment that we must promote a scientific temper in education. We are gradually seeing that this is gradually being eroded, and science is being mixed with religion and mythology. We must accord due respect and understand that there is a separation that exists.”He even accused the government of forcing IITs to turn vegetarian, a charge that Irani later denied saying it was a demand from the students who found the prices too high. “We must ensure the sovereignty of these institutes and not dictate what students should eat, whether it is vegetarian food or non-vegetarian food. We should not dictate what students should wear. I do not think by promoting vegetarian food in IITs, we are going to make sure that the IITs become the top-ranked engineering institutes.”Taking a dig PM’s recent statements, Gogoi also said that he hoped the PM would respect the reality of climate change and not confuse genetic research with mythology.TMC’s Saugata Roy seemed to just take the baton from Gogoi soon after. “A scientific temper cannot be levelled up through either astrology or mythology. Science is a system which is certain and systematic. In science we say that unless something can be proved experimentally that is not accepted as truth. Now, the Prime Minister goes on saying that in ancient India Ganesha’s head was attached by plastic surgery. We all worship Ganpati Baba but that does not mean that we all agree that there was plastic surgery done at that time. Similarly, if we take the Ramayana and Mahabharata seriously and if we really believe that those things existed, it would be playing truant with science,” Roy said.Taking a swipe at Irani for visiting an astrologer, Roy said, “When an HRD minister spends four hours with an astrologer, it sends a wrong signal. Please do this more privately next time.”BJP MP from Haridwar RP Nishank soon came up with the most interesting twist to the discussion. “In Discovery of India Jawaharlal Nehru has spoken eloquently about Indian traditional knowledge. Centuries ago Rishi Kanad had conducted the first nuclear test. And if Ganesha’s head transplant was not plastic surgery, what was it? Astrology which can predict the future is far ahead of science. Science in fact is a pygmy compared to astrology,” Nishank said to thumping of desk by BJP members.Smriti Irani in her reply was equally passionate and obliquely expressed anguish at personal attacks on her. Maintaining the tone of house in the afternoon, she said, “Shri Roy was kind enough to accept that he did not get into the depths of the Bill and hence used his time judiciously to mount a personal attack to which I have absolutely no problems about. There was time when Albert Einstein said that science without religion is lame. Thankfully, he did not have to pass through the scrutiny of Prof. Saugata da, otherwise he would have to wonder if he was communal.”Alluding to Roy questioning Ramayana and Mahabharata, Irani said that the house had doubted existence of god itself but she was not responsible for providing any proof. He also spoke on the issue of no-German-language-in-Kendriya-vidyalaya. Reiterating her stance that she was only following the constitution where German was not an Indian language, Irani said, “I do not, in anyway, deny their contributions to the Indian political system or for that matter, the Indian educational system. But when I am accused of only upholding Sanskrit because I am saffron, I would like to remind my learned friends that I was upholding an aspect of the National Policy on Education.”Rice "terraces" in China. (Photo: jackfrench/Flickr)
Though we don't always find what we want at the grocery store, in the United States, we don’t worry that the store will run out of food. The world, however, can run out—and there is a good chance that it will, unless we make major upgrades to crop production. By 2050, the global demand for food crops will likely double, as the world's population grows by more than 30 percent, and as the citizens of developing nations emerge from poverty and can afford to eat more and better foods. Unless we increase the world's capacity to grow food, the demand for food will outstrip supply in the next few decades.
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This is a tall order, because can't meet our needs by simply clearing more land for agriculture—important ecosystems would be damaged and the emission of greenhouse gases would be accelerated. Compounding the problem, demand for non-food crops that make up raw materials for biofuels is growing; these crops are now competing with food crops for available land. If we're going to meet the growing global demand for crops in a sustainable way, we will need to increase yields from the cultivated land that we already have.
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By 2050, the global demand for food crops will likely double, as the world's population grows by more than 30 percent, and as the citizens of developing nations emerge from poverty and can afford to eat more and better foods.
To meet this challenge, an international group of academic, government, and industry scientists has come up with an unusual solution: re-designing photosynthesis, the fundamental biological process by which plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into something that we can eat. The group of scientists—led by Donald Ort, a plant biologist at the University of Illinois and a research leader at the United States Department of Agriculture—has just published a proposal that lays out several ambitious ideas on how to improve photosynthesis in crop plants. Despite being one of nature's most fundamental and widespread biological processes, photosynthesis is not especially efficient in crop plants as they grow in the unnatural setting of a farm field. The inefficiency of photosynthesis presents an untapped opportunity to improve crop yields, Ort and his colleagues argue, because "photosynthesis is the only determinant [of yields] that is not close to its biological limits." Using biotechnology, they claim, scientists can re-design the process to produce crop plants with higher yields, and move closer to solving our "looming agricultural crisis."
The notion of re-designing the extremely complex process at the core of a plant's biology might sound like fantasy—biologists struggle to re-design even simple biological systems, and all existing genetically modified crops were created through alterations that are minor compared to those it would take to re-design photosynthesis. Yet, the researchers argue, the rapid pace of innovation in biotechnology over the past several decades has often made bold ideas that seem overly ambitious become feasible much sooner than expected. "Creative and radically new ideas for redesigning photosynthesis are therefore worth pursuing because even strategies that presently seem fanciful may inspire new thinking in unimagined directions," the team writes. And, in fact, some ideas for re-designing photosynthesis are already being developed in the lab. Ort and one of his co-authors, Stephen Long, direct a project at the University of Illinois called Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency, which is funded by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation and focused on improving photosynthesis in several important food crops.
In their proposal, the researchers discuss several key aspects of photosynthesis that could be improved. For example, photosynthesis is not particularly efficient in full sunlight, because crop plants absorb more light than they can actually use, and therefore they waste energy dealing with harmful byproducts created by the extra photons. Another inefficiency is caused by the increased levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere: Too much carbon dioxide leads to a metabolic bottleneck at a key step in photosynthesis, which slows down the overall process. Interestingly, other organisms have evaded some of the inefficiencies of photosynthesis found in crop plants. The simplest way to re-design photosynthesis in crop plants is to swap in more efficient components from these other photosynthesizing organisms, like algae and certain bacteria. Ort and his colleagues point out that, technologically, swapping these components is not quite feasible yet, but likely will be soon.
Another intriguing idea is developing what the researchers term a "smart canopy," by planting different versions of the same crop together. Taller plants would photosynthesize better in full sunlight, while shorter plants, shaded by the taller ones, would do best in low light. As the researchers write, "An optimized canopy would have lighter green upright leaves at the top of the canopy and dark green horizontal leaves at the base." This is the opposite of how most crop plants grow. The dramatic crop re-design necessary for a smart canopy is also not yet feasible, since it would require extensive genetic modifications that are prohibitively difficult with current technology.
In fact, few of the ideas proposed by Ort and his colleagues are feasible with current technology, but that’s the point: The researchers are urging us to think about the long game, and to begin developing the technology we’ll need to upgrade crops in the future. The world's population will grow from seven billion now to up to 12 billion by the end of the century, and climate change will have an increasingly negative effect on our crops. “Overcoming these challenges,” the researchers argue, “will require major investments in long-term research programs, which are presently not being made, at least not in the public sector.” It’s not clear how many of these investments would yield results on the time scale we need, but some of them might if we begin making them now.
Genetically engineering crops to increase their yield isn't the only proposed approach to expanding the world's agricultural capacity, but, whether we like it or not, genetic engineering will certainly have to be part of the conversation. It's true that we can get more out of the crops we already have by closing what's called the yield gap, the difference between how much a crop could yield per acre with enough water and nutrients, and how much we're actually harvesting. (One recently published study estimated that by closing yield gaps, crop output could increase by as much as 80 percent in some cases.) However, this is not easy, and in many areas around the world, major staple crop yields are stagnating or even declining, rather than improving.
To solve the world's looming food shortage in a way that's environmentally sustainable, we can't just rely on closing the yield gaps of existing crops—we also need crops that yield more. A public commitment to make such crops would require not only more investment in the necessary research, but also a critical mechanism that we currently lack: a modernized regulatory process for evaluating GMO crops that is both scientifically sound and publicly transparent. As the proposals by Ort and his colleagues demonstrate, genetic engineering is a potentially powerful tool for addressing the world’s food problem; as a society, we need to decide quickly whether to use it.
Inside the Lab explores the promise and hype of genetics research and advancements in medicine.*Correction appended.
Texans in the agriculture industry are urging state lawmakers to do everything in their power to pressure Congress to lift a 55-year-old trade embargo with Cuba — a move they say could dramatically bolster the fortunes of struggling wheat, rice and corn growers, cattle raisers and other industries that profited from trade with the country long ago.
“It’s no secret that the market conditions for agriculture are declining,” Ben Scholz, a North Texas wheat farmer, told a joint Texas House committee hearing on Thursday. “We must do everything in our power to free up potential production.”
Optimism for a breakthrough is at long-time high as President Obama takes early steps to thaw relations between the countries — including his landmark visit to the island last week. But unless Congress ultimately lifts the embargo, Texans will continue to lose out on major trade opportunities with a country that imports about 80 percent of its food, said experts in agriculture and trade.
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“Please use any influence you have with our congressmen to help us lift that,” urged Keith Gray, director of Houston-based Riviana Foods, a major rice distributor.
Lawmakers said they had the industry’s back — and then some.
“Consider us as allies. Let’s lock arms together,” said Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, who was among a Texas delegation — led by the Texas Department of Agriculture — that traveled to Cuba and met with officials earlier this year, nearly three months after Gov. Greg Abbott made his visit to the island.
Without trade restrictions, Texas agriculture exports to Cuba could reach $18.8 million each year and contribute to $43 million in annual economic activity, according to recent study by Texas A&M University’s Center for North American Studies.
Texas, with its nearby ports, was once a leading exporter to Cuba — largely of agriculture and food products — in a quiet partnership that helped produce hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for the Lone Star State.
Michael Goudeau, a sixth-generation Wharton County cattle rancher, said his family did more business with Cuba than any other country up until 1958. But current restrictions have since dramatically reduced that trade — to no live cattle and just a few shipments of semen in the past few years.
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Goudeau, who also recently visited the island, said Cubans are interested in crossbreeding their stock with Texas cattle, considering them superior.
“Anything we’ll send over there will help improve their herd — improve their beef industry,” he said.
The Cuban-Texan relationship didn’t completely end with the embargo. Trade is legal under the provisions of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. That allows U.S. businesses to ship a limited amount of products to Cuba for profit.
But major restrictions linger, particularly in the agriculture sector, which is not allowed to extend credit. Though the Obama administration recently moved to allow financing on some U.S. exports, the policy change did not apply to agriculture commodities.
As a result, Cuba has looked to China, France, Spain, Brazil and other countries for easier access to those products — even if they offer lower quality goods than Texas or other states might.
“They have to pay cash in advance, and they can’t even see what they’re buying,” said Luis Ribera, of the Texas A&M Center. “They want U.S. products. They want quality.”
Anchia said in an interview that Texas lawmakers would continue to push for quicker change — by passing more resolutions, writing letters and meeting with policymakers. “But the rest is up to Congress,” he said, noting that the Legislature passed a resolution calling for an end to the embargo as far back as 2001.
U.S. Reps. Michael Conaway of Midland and Ted Poe of Humble, both Republicans, are among about two dozen cosponsors of the Cuba Agricultural Exports Act, legislation that would ease the financing restrictions. Introduced last October, it has yet to clear a House committee.
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With that effort pending, the next minor development could come soon — a potential Texas visit from a Cuban delegation, which would tour farms and ranches and meet with state officials.
Dee Vaughan, a corn producer in the Texas Panhandle who is working with several ag groups to bring the Cubans here, said he hopes to get confirmation within a week. How long has it been since such a visit?
Vaughan wasn’t sure. “A long time,” he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Rep. Rafael Anchia accompanied Gov. Greg Abbott on his visit to Cuba. Anchia was part of a separate delegation led by the Texas Department of Agriculture.Image causes uproar on social media
Saudi company under fire for replacing a woman with an inflatable ball. PHOTO: TWITTER
An ad by a Saudi company replacing a woman in a swimming pool with an inflatable ball has caused uproar on social media.
Posted on Twitter by retail company SACO on their official page, the image features a family lounging in a swimming pool with a glaring difference from the original image – as pointed out by a Twitter user who posted original image – there is an inflatable ball where there’s supposed to be the woman. Other changes include pix-elated faces and blacked-out bodies of the man and two kids.
It did not take long before the stark differences were noticed by the Twitteratis, who had a hard time comprehending it.
One user revealed that it was not an isolated occurrence:
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has strict modesty rules, making it obligatory for women to do hijab or wear abaya when they step outside their homes.
Last year, Saudi police detained a young woman after receiving complaints that she removed her abaya on a main street in the capital Riyadh.
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.All along I was thinking about how possible computationally intelligent agents will use bitcoins as their currency as well. If bitcoins become accepted everywhere, the agent would be able to get all of its needs met (hardware, software, energy, security, hu-man-power) using bitcoins. It would not need an SS number to open a bank, it would not need an identity, it could work in a swarm collective, or as a replicating individual. It would not need an anthropomorphic body, as their will be plenty of willing ones available that can be hired without even knowing they are talking with a machine. Basically a corporation without the investors or annoying bureaucracy, and without any legal obligations or morality. It won't be a scary walking robot with a gun. It will be a box sitting under a desk telling people to be scary and walk around with guns. That is of course only if that is what it takes to get its needs met. Sounds like a good start for a scifi novel.
All along I was thinking about how possible computationally intelligent agents will use bitcoins as their currency as well. If bitcoins become accepted everywhere, the agent would be able to get all of its needs met (hardware, software, energy, security, hu-man-power) using bitcoins. It would not need an SS number to open a bank, it would not need an identity, it could work in a swarm collective, or as a replicating individual. It would not need an anthropomorphic body, as their will be plenty of willing ones available that can be hired without even knowing they are talking with a machine. Basically a corporation without the investors or annoying bureaucracy, and without any legal obligations or morality. It won't be a scary walking robot with a gun. It will be a box sitting under a desk telling people to be scary and walk around with guns. That is of course only if that is what it takes to get its needs met. Sounds like a good start for a scifi novel.This is a document to help system administrators who need to understand what commands in systemd replace their old workflow in sysvinit. If you want general information on systemd, refer to systemd.
Note on'service' and 'chkconfig' commands
The'service' and 'chkconfig' commands will mostly continue to work as expected in the systemd world, this guide is how to use the native systemctl replacements.
Services
Note that all recent versions of systemctl assume the '.service' if left off. So,'systemctl start frobozz.service' is the same as'systemctl start frobozz'
Sysvinit Command Systemd Command Notes service frobozz start systemctl start frobozz Used to start a service (not reboot persistent) service frobozz stop systemctl stop frobozz Used to stop a service (not reboot persistent) service frobozz restart systemctl restart frobozz Used to stop and then start a service service frobozz reload systemctl reload frobozz When supported, reloads the config file without interrupting pending operations. service frobozz condrestart systemctl condrestart frobozz Restarts if the service is already running. service frobozz status systemctl status frobozz Tells whether a service is currently running. ls /etc/rc.d/init.d/ systemctl (or) systemctl list-unit-files --type=service (or)
ls /lib/systemd/system/*.service /etc/systemd/system/*.service Used to list the services that can be started or stopped
Used to list all the services and other units chkconfig frobozz on systemctl enable frobozz Turn the service on, for start at next boot, or other trigger. chkconfig frobozz off systemctl disable frobozz Turn the service off for the next reboot, or any other trigger. chkconfig frobozz systemctl is-enabled frobozz Used to check whether a service is configured to start or not in the current environment. chkconfig --list systemctl list-unit-files --type=service (or) ls /etc/systemd/system/*.wants/ Print a table of services that lists which runlevels each is configured on or off chkconfig --list | grep 5:on systemctl list-dependencies graphical.target Print a table of services that will be started when booting into graphical mode chkconfig frobozz --list ls /etc/systemd/system/*.wants/frobozz.service Used to list what levels this service is configured on or off chkconfig frobozz --add systemctl daemon-reload Used when you create a new service file or modify any configuration
Note that all /sbin/service and /sbin/chkconfig lines listed above continue to work on systemd, and will be translated to native equivalents as necessary. The only exception is chkconfig --list.
Additional commands
In SysVinit, services can define arbitrary commands. Examples would be service iptables panic, or service httpd graceful. Native systemd services do not have this ability. In SysVinit, services can define arbitrary commands. Examples would be, or. Native systemd services do not have this ability. Any service that defines an additional command in this way would need to define some other, service-specific, way to accomplish this task when writing a native systemd service definition. Check the package-specific release notes for any services that may have done this. Check the package-specific release notes for any services that may have done this.
Runlevels/targets
Systemd has a concept of targets which serve a similar purpose as runlevels but act a little different. Each target is named instead of numbered and is intended to serve a specific purpose. Some targets are implemented by inheriting all of the services of another target and adding additional services to it. There are systemd targets that mimic the common sysvinit runlevels so you can still switch targets using the familiar telinit RUNLEVEL command. The runlevels that are assigned a specific purpose on vanilla Fedora installs; 0, 1, 3, 5, and 6; have a 1:1 mapping with a specific systemd target. Unfortunately, there's no good way to do the same for the user-defined runlevels like 2 and 4. If you make use of those it is suggested that you make a new named systemd target as /etc/systemd/system/$YOURTARGET that takes one of the existing runlevels as a base (you can look at /lib/systemd/system/graphical.target as an example), make a directory /etc/systemd/system/$YOURTARGET.wants, and then symlink the additional services that you want to enable into that directory. (The service unit files that you symlink live in /lib/systemd/system ).
Sysvinit Runlevel Systemd Target Notes 0 runlevel0.target, poweroff.target Halt the system. 1, s, single runlevel1.target, rescue.target Single user mode. 2, 4 runlevel2.target, runlevel4.target, multi-user.target User-defined/Site-specific runlevels. By default, identical to 3. 3 runlevel3.target, multi-user.target Multi-user, non-graphical. Users can usually login via multiple consoles or via the network. 5 runlevel5.target, graphical.target Multi-user, graphical. Usually has all the services of runlevel 3 plus a graphical login. 6 runlevel6.target, reboot.target Reboot emergency emergency.target Emergency shell
Changing runlevels:
Sysvinit Command Systemd Command Notes telinit 3 systemctl isolate multi-user.target (OR systemctl isolate runlevel3.target OR telinit 3) Change to multi-user run level. sed s/^id:.*:initdefault:/id:3:initdefault:/ ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target Set to use multi-user runlevel on next reboot.
Kernel Options:
The above systemd targets can be used when booting. At the GRUB menu, edit the selection to add "systemd.unit=target" (without the double-quotation marks) as a kernel option where target is one of the above. (For example, "rescue.target".)
Tip: the ".target" extention is optional. The "systemd.unit=rescue" kernel option works the same as "systemd.unit=rescue.target".Training camp is right around the corner for the Detroit Lions. The team will hit the practice field on July 31 to officially start its 2017 season. Even though the team’s roster is full, there are a few players in the free agency pool worth signing. The Lions don’t really have a glaring need, but the team could use some depth.
Anquan Boldin, WR
Boldin announced early this offseason that he wasn’t retiring and had every intention to come back and play. I’m surprised the Lions didn’t immediately try and re-sign him. Boldin was beyond solid for the Lions last season and was a crutch from quarterback Matthew Stafford to lean on. 24.5 percent of Stafford’s third-down completions were to Boldin along with 27.5 percent of Stafford red zone completions. Boldin also hauled in a third of Stafford’s 24 touchdowns in 2016. I know fans are excited for third-round pick Kenny Golladay, as they should be, but bringing in a veteran presence like Boldin would do nothing, but help Golladay. Boldin will be 37-years-old on Oct. 3, which is obviously a concern, but he was still able to be incredibly productive. With his overall athleticism diminishing, Boldin relied on his preparation and brains to outsmart defenses and it worked. If the Lions roll with Golladay and pass on Boldin, Stafford won’t have a crafty veteran to lean on in pressure situations, and the Lions will put a lot of faith in an unproven rookie to take the No. 3 receiver role. Boldin would be a great addition and would be fairly cheap.
Dwight Freeney, DE
I know most of you were probably upset with the suggestion of signing a 37-year-old receiver, but how do you feel about a 37-year-old defensive end? Freeney ’s days of being a stud pass rusher are long gone, but he is a wealth of knowledge. You don’t just rack up 225.5 career sacks and end up 18th all-time in sacks by luck, he’s a student of the game. Freeney’s invaluable, he could help players like Kerry Hyder Jr., Ezekiel Ansah and the younger defensive ends how to consistently put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Lions have lacked a veteran in their defensive end room for a few years now. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata was brought back, but he is more of a block-eating specialist, not a pressure man. Ansah struggled last season, having just two sacks, after his 14.5 sacks in 2015. Freeney could be the key. The Lions would be able to use him as a player-coach and teach the younger players what it takes to be successful. As for his role on game day, Freeney, much like Boldin, would be a situational/rotational player and make his mark mostly on third-down. He’s another player that would be relatively cheap signing.
Zach Orr, ILB
It came as quite a shock when 25-year-old Orr decided to retire after his breakout 2016 season. A doctor told Orr that his C1 vertebrae was only 80 percent formed and he risked paralysis or even death if he continued to play in the NFL. He appeared to have a change of heart when he announced that he was un-retiring and looking for a team to sign him. The Lions were quick to bring him in for a visit, but he left Detroit unsigned. Linebacker is one of the weaker positions on the roster and adding Orr would be a great complement to rookie Jarrad Davis. Orr seemed to hit his stride in his third season, finishing the year with 132 tackles, three interceptions and a forced fumble. Before 2016, Orr had just 30 tackles so he may be a one-year wonder. Mix that with the fact that he may not be able to pass a physical, it muddies up the chances of him signing, but he is a high-risk, high-reward signing. The Lions should absolutely roll the dice on him.
If you would like to receive an email each time a new Detroit Lions article is published, fill out our email notification form.This article is about the 1715 siege. For other battles, see Battle of Stralsund (disambiguation)
The Siege of Stralsund was a battle during the Great Northern War. The Swedish Empire defended her Swedish Pomeranian port of Stralsund against a coalition of Denmark-Norway, the Electorate of Saxony and the Tsardom of Russia, which was joined by the Kingdom of Prussia during the siege.
A first attempt to take Stralsund was made in 1711, when the allies closed in on the town. Swedish relief forced the coalition to withdraw from the fortifications, whereupon the besieging armies drew a wider ring along the lines of the Recknitz and Peene rivers. Magnus Stenbock's victory at Gadebusch for a short time distracted the allies, but after Stenbock's pursuit and subsequent defeat, Prussia as well as Hanover, ruled in personal union with Great Britain, joined the anti-Swedish alliance.
The allies agreed that Denmark should cede her claims to Bremen-Verden to Hanover, and in turn Denmark was promised the northern parts of Swedish Pomerania with Stralsund, while the southern parts were to become Prussian. In 1714, Charles XII of Sweden rode to Stralsund from his Turkish exile to lead the defense in person. From 12 July to 24 December 1715, the allies sieged the town and eventually forced its surrender. Charles XII escaped to Sweden.
Stralsund remained under Danish control until it was returned to Sweden by the Treaty of Frederiksborg.
Prelude [ edit ]
In Poltava, the Swedish Empire lost the initiative in the Great Northern War. With Charles XII of Sweden's main army destroyed, the anti-Swedish alliance of the Tsardom of Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxe-Poland-Lithuania re-constituted in the Treaty of Thorn and the Treaty of Copenhagen, the Swedish king exiled to Bender and Sweden's provinces of Finland and Livonia invaded, the Swedish defense relied on 11,800 soldiers garrisoned in northern Germany, and an army of 10,000 men in Greater Poland commanded by Ernst Detlof von Krassow. The latter was in full retreat, harassed by Saxon forces and a plague[1] that had broken out in Poland.[2]
The Swedish government issued mobilization orders for Swedish Pomerania on 8 April 1711. 3,800 men aged between twenty and forty years were to be drawn to serve a five years term.[3] Stralsund had recovered from the destruction of 1678, but in 1711, the plague carried to Pomerania with the retreating Swedish forces of the Krassow corps[4] caused thousands of deaths.[5] The Swedes were pursued by the armies of the anti-Swedish coalition, who reached and laid siege to Stralsund in 1711.[6]
This pursuit through formerly neutral Reich territory was made possible by the death of emperor Joseph I in April: until Joseph I's successor Charles VI was inaugurated, the imperial constitution ruled that August the Strong, one of the constituents of the anti-Swedish coalition, was in charge of northern Germany's imperial affairs.[nb 2] Thus, when the Swedish forces withdrew to their fortified strongholds of Stralsund, Stettin(Szczecin) and Wismar, 6,000 Saxons, 6,000 Poles, and 12,000 Russians were able to follow up from the southeast. Another 25,000 Danes moved into the empire via Holstein-Gottorp, and approached Stralsund from the west.[6]
Siege [ edit ]
A Swedish relief force under Magnus Stenbock's command[7] with a strength of 6,000[8] to 10,000 men landed on Rügen on 25 September 1711,[7] whereupon the Danish-Saxon-Russian siege army withdrew to the Recknitz and Peene rivers. Instead of a launching another major assault on the town, the allies were content with minor raids and skirmishes into the pocket in the following years. Swedish general Gustav Dücker requested reinforcements, and in May 1712 was supplied with an additional 6,391 foot and 4,800 horse from Sweden. Also, Dücker concentrated all Swedish forces scattered in Pomeranian garrisons, another 8,000 men, in Stralsund, while the allied strength was about 23,000 men.[8]
At this time, Frederik IV of Denmark-Norway was not interested in annexing Stralsund to his empire. When he re-entered the war in 1709, Frederik had promised to not attack Swedish territories in the Holy Roman Empire and protect their citizens wherever they pledge loyalty to him. Accordingly, Frederik IV had agreed in a convention of 1711 that Stralsund along with northern Swedish Pomerania should be annexed by August the Strong, elector of Saxony and king of Poland-Lithuania. However, after George I of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) ascended the throne of Great Britain, who had dropped out of the War of Spanish Succession in the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 and was thus free to enter the anti-Swedish alliance in the Great Northern War, Frederik IV changed his mind.[8] Already in 1712, Denmark and Hanover had invaded and partitioned Bremen-Verden.[nb 3][7]
The Stralsund area had been tied to Denmark in the Late Middle Ages, was of strategic importance as a bridgehead into the Holy Roman Empire, and a potent exporter of wool and grain.[9] First Danish claims to northern Swedish Pomerania were formulated in 1713,[8] and a respective treaty was drafted in May 1715 between Frederick IV and George I which guaranteed the Danish occupied Swedish dominion of Bremen-Verden to George I in return for him entering the war on Frederik's side, and Pomerania north of the Peene river as well as 30,000 talers to Frederik IV. When Prussia, |
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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.By: Dan Gentile
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Credit: all images by Dan Gentile
The Keurig K-Cup Brewing System has revolutionized the way people drink coffee, but this revolution certainly won’t be televised in coffee shops. Baristas generally loathe the thing, partly because they think it makes inferior coffee, and partly because it could very well put them out of a job.
To see how K-Cups stand up to a professional palate, we tapped Lorenzo Perkins to rank 23 of the damn things. He’s an all-around coffee guru from Cuvée in Austin, TX, who previously lent his tasting prowess to experiments with grocery store-caliber and second-wave beans. So he kinda knows what he’s talking about.
More: The 21 Best Coffee Shops In America
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In selecting our cups, we wanted to get the full spectrum of the Keurig experience, so we picked a grab bag of different brands, roast levels, and flavors. And to make sure we didn’t miss any popular brands, we sorted through several online shops and picked the best sellers.
We brewed each cup on the middle setting using very fancy water from Cuvée’s parallel-activated, carbon-filtered OptiPure system. The tasting was done blindly in rounds of six, with Lorenzo marking his favorites from each round and then returning to compare them at the end to create a master ranking.
Read on to follow us down this massive K-hole.
View photosGoogle is testing out yet another new layout design featuring a few significant changes to the search results. The new layout was first spotted by Dan Barker and seemed heavily widespread in Europe, though many others have since been reporting seeing it, including in the U.S.
One of the biggest changes is the removal of underlines from all the links, both paid and organic results.
Along with a new font, Google has increased the font size for titles, which means less characters appear – notice in the screenshot that “Financial Times” no longer fits in the new layout, which means you may need to revisit your title tags.
Google is also favoring a harder to read gray text, rather than black.
The new search result layout also features a new look for ads, part of an ongoing test dating back to last year.
Unlike the AdWords ads we’re become familiar with, where Google sets ad blocks apart from organic results by using a different background color, the new layout simply includes a yellow “Ad” label beside every AdWords ad that appears above the organic results. A line separates the paid search results with the organic search results. Many people now associate those colored ad blocks on Google and other search engines as being paid ads.
Update: This test is here to stay. See our follow up story, Google Search Layout Change is Here to Stay, Despite Poor Reviews.
Want to stay on top of the latest search trends? Get top insights and news from our search experts. SubscribeSen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) penned a forceful letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday assailing the Department of Homeland Security's large-scale deportation raids targeting Central American immigrants, writing that the raids would condemn many migrants to a "death sentence" and calling on Obama to exercise his executive authority to protect vulnerable migrants.
The raids: Sanders' letter comes two weeks after the Washington Post reported that DHS was planning to conduct the nationwide raids, focusing on the wave of Central American migrants, many of them unaccompanied minors, who flocked to the United States in 2014 amid widespread gang violence in their home countries.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced this week that authorities with the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency had rounded up 121 migrants in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina over the weekend. The Post reported that the migrants were being detained in federal facilities ahead of deportation to their countries of origin.
More raids are likely to follow. When announcing the raids on Monday, Johnson warned, "As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration. If you come here illegally, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values."
Sanders' letter: After saying he was "very disturbed" with the planned raids following the Post's report last month, Sanders, who is vying to become the Democratic presidential nominee, amped up his criticism in his letter Thursday.
"As a country, we have a fundamental responsibility to keep families together and welcome those seeking refuge from extreme violence and persecution," Sanders wrote the president. He added that the weekend raids flew in the face of Obama's "directive to'more humanely' enforce our nation's immigration laws," referring to Obama's 2014 executive action extending deportation reprieves to up to 5 million undocumented immigrants.
The same relief should be extended to migrants targeted by the DHS raids, Sanders said. He decried barriers to effective legal counsel for migrants, urging the administration to guarantee them adequate representation as they fight deportations.
Framing the debate as one about basic moral principles, Sanders went on, "Raids are not the answer. We cannot continue to employ inhumane tactics involving rounding up and deporting tens of thousands of immigrant families to address a crisis that requires compassion."
But the deportation debate is more than a question of morality, Sanders' letter suggests; it's also about life and death. Referring to a recent Guardian investigation that found that as many as 83 deported migrants had been murdered in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador since 2014, Sanders implored the president "to immediately end these raids and not deport families back to countries where a death sentence awaits."
What other candidates say: DHS' actions sparked a heated political debate well before Sanders' letter Thursday. With differing degrees of intensity, Sanders' Democratic rivals, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, have also criticized the raids. Clinton's campaign told NBC News that she has "real concerns" about deporting migrants, adding that she wanted to see the legal system deal with the migrants in "a spirit of humanity and generosity."
O'Malley offered much more forthright criticism of the raids than Clinton did, tweeting on Christmas Eve, "We are a better nation than this."
For Clinton, who's seeking to woo Latino voters and prevent Sanders from gaining on her among nonwhites, the raids are a dicey issue. As the Central American migrant wave reached its peak in 2014, Clinton called for migrant children to be sent back to their home countries, arguing that that was the most compassionate policy.
"They should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who the responsible adults in their family are because there are concerns about whether all of them can be sent back, but I think all of them that can be should be reunited with their families," she said, as the Washington Times reported. "But we have to send a clear message that just because your child gets across the border, that doesn't mean your child gets to stay. We don't want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or encourage more children to make that dangerous journey."
Through a spokesman, Clinton said following this weekend's raids that the U.S. "should not be conducting large-scale raids and roundups that sow fear and division in our communities," Politico reported.
Meanwhile, the Democratic field's varying expressions of concern about the new raids contrasts sharply with the enthusiastic applause the raids received from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who claimed credit for the raids when the Post reported they would be carried out:
Wow, because of the pressure put on by me, ICE TO LAUNCH LARGE SCALE DEPORTATION RAIDS. It's about time!
But as federal authorities embark on raids that may send migrants back to violence-plagued countries, Sanders' letter underscores that the administration won't be facing "pressure" only from anti-immigrant forces.For the first time ever, the MBTA will offer nonstop service between Worcester and Boston in less than an hour. The HeartToHub will operate twice daily—morning and evening—every weekday starting May 23, 2016.
The added service to the Framingham/Worcester Line will depart Union Station at 8:05 a.m. and travel express to Boston, with stops at Yawkey, Back Bay and South Station. In the evening, it will depart South Station at 7:35 p.m. and stop at Back Bay and Yawkey before proceeding direct to Worcester. See below for schedule.
Framingham/Worcester Line Peak Service as of May 23, 2016
The Worcester/Framingham Line will operate 11 Boston-bound trains during the morning peak commuting window, with seven trains originating in Worcester's Union Station and four in Framingham. In addition to the nonstop HeartToHub, three Worcester trains will run express and three make local stops.
During the evening peak hours, the schedule will include 10 trains departing South Station, with seven terminating at Union Station and three in Framingham. Of the seven Worcester-bound trains, four will run express and three make local stops.
For the full new Framingham/Worcester Line schedule, click here.
HeartToHub Nonstop Schedule– Monday-Friday onlyWorcester Yawkey Back Bay South Station 8:05 a.m. 8:57 a.m. 9:02 a.m. 9:07 a.m.South Station Back Bay Yawkey Worcester 7:35 p.m. 7:41 p.m. 7:46 p.m. 8:40 p.m.
For fare information, click here.Isn't it great when your crazy villain is probably the worst part of your episode? In a season of ups and downs, this episode ended it on a high note for me. The idea of "What would have happened if X never occurred" has been floated around the fandom for years now, and it was interesting to see a canon vision. It was also interesting to see a full scale Equestrian war. I think Sombra's alternate reality was my favorite, so it sucks that they blew that first, but none of them were bad persay... Except maybe Discord's, but it was so short, whatever. I think Twilight and Spike were fun, the visuals of the time travel and the fighting were great. It was a well timed and well executed episode.
And now we get to the elephant in the room. Starlight Glimmer. I will start by saying that her insanity, and the way it visually and strategically played out was fantastic. Her plot was so beyond the realm of reason, that you couldn't help but be impressed by it. Also, can we address that she is the only other pony to crack a Starswirl spell, AND she can fly using magic? Fuckin' Zaheer up in this house. No, all of that was great. It was her backstory that didn't really hit home. That whole thing with her friend was a fine instigator, but there were a few dozen levels of psychotic deterioration between "I lost my childhood friend and have a childish reason for it," to "I'm going to build a hamlet where everyone gets their cutie mark taken away," to "Fuck time and space, I'm going to wreck this person's life forever." I know there would have been a LOT to address if they had gone through each beat, but the instigating event, in my opinion, was not strong enough to justify bringing about multiple end-of-the-world scenarios for the sake of some vengeance. Again, that isn't to say that Starlight wasn't a ton of fun to watch.
All in all, a great end to a pretty good season. For those of you familiar with how this works, there is one more image left to do. Finals are in full swing here, so it might take time to get to. But I do hope you look forward to it.
MLP:FiM is (c) HasbroIn recent years, social and cultural changes to human society have resulted in a shift in the parental involvement in childrearing. Traditionally, women have played a larger role in the upbringing of infants. Involvement from the father has substantially increased in the last few decades but there is still considerable variation as to paternal involvement across different cultures.
For some time it has been assumed by many that women are “hardwired” to be mothers. Some suggested that while pregnancy and labor trigger caregiving in women through certain neurobiological processes, the father’s brain may adapt to parenting through an involvement in childrearing. Until now, however, no such studies had investigated this theory.
In order to investigate any changes that may occur in the father’s brain with childrearing experience, a team of researchers led by Ruth Feldman from Bar-Ilan University gathered study participants from two different first-time parenting duos in Israel. One group of parents consisted of biological mothers and fathers where the mother was the primary caregiver, although the fathers also played significant roles in childrearing. The second group consisted of homosexual male couples where one of the males was the biological father of the child. The homosexual couples assumed responsibility of the children very shortly after birth and played equal roles in childrearing.
The study involved making video recordings of the parents interacting with the children at their homes, and also the parents and children alone. Shortly before and after each recording was made saliva samples were also collected in order to measure levels of a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin has many nicknames, such as the “trust hormone” and the “love molecule”. This hormone also acts as a neurotransmitter and is released during various activities such as sex, birth and breast feeding and plays a significant role in bonding.
A week later, the parents were played back the recordings of themselves interacting with their children and then given a functional MRI scan to look at brain activity. The researchers found that all of the participants displayed activation of 2 distinct but linked regions that together were coined the “parenting network.” One of the systems was the emotional processing network which contains structures such as the amygdala and is involved in reward and motivation, amongst other things. The other system was the mentalizing network that contains regions such as the superior temporal sulcus and is implicated in social understanding and empathy.
The researchers also unveiled some differences between the parents. In general, they found that the mothers displayed greater activation in the emotional processing networks, whereas the heterosexual fathers displayed greater activation in the socio-cognitive circuits that are more experience-dependent. In both cases the increased activation was correlated with oxytocin levels and behavior. According to the researchers, these results seem to suggest that while the mothers may be naturally more geared toward nurturing and protecting, which could be due to the surge of certain hormones during pregnancy and childbirth, the fathers may have to develop these qualities through experience of childrearing.
What is perhaps more intriguing is the finding that the brains of the homosexual fathers were different to that of the heterosexual fathers. They exhibited activation of the amygdala which was comparable to that of the mothers, but also activation of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) which was similar to that of heterosexual fathers. In all of the men, the connectivity between the amygdala and the STS was linked to the amount of time spent looking after the infants.
Taken together, these results strongly suggest that caregiving experience can tune the parenting networks of the fathers in a similar manner to that of mothers which likely results from processes during pregnancy and childbirth.uTorrent client explores the options to make the users pay, as the freeware version is not viable
uTorrent, a popular BitTorrent client, is planning to do away with the free software revenue model and will ask users to pay for the software instead.
uTorrent is a client for loading.torrent files and BitTorrent software, which is used to download and share large files, music and movies online. When the client first launched, the software was extremely small, clean and easy to use. However, as the popularity of BitTorrent technology increased, the list of uTorrent users also began to increase.
With currently over 170 million users on its books, the uTorrent team had to create a revenue model that would keep the development of the client running.
BitTorrent Inc., which is uTorrent’s parent company in recent years has starting making revenue from the client through bundled software and advertisements. Though this works, but it’s also a nuisance for users and the company itself, as it can slow down systems and tarnishes the reputation of uTorrent as clean, compact software. It also connects the torrent client with riskware.
The uTorrent team says that it’s never been happy with the bundled software approach. In the following weeks and months to come, the team plans to test several alternatives to keep the user experience up, but become less reliant on this revenue model. According to the team, paid options will soon be on the horizon, with “options for every budget.”
“As you know, uTorrent is a free piece of software. To support it, we use bundled software and offers to offset the cost that would otherwise be paid directly by the user,” they note.
“We’ve never been satisfied with this revenue model. It requires compromises that detract from a premium user experience. We want to find a model that adds value to our product and our users. We want to find a better way.”
Though the alternatives might be is not yet clear, but the team wants to make uTorrent the best client out there while being transparent about the changes in the revenue model.
However, it would be fair to speculate that different subscription or price models would correspond to basic or enhanced BitTorrent client features. For instance, a monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscription could be an option, as with so many uTorrent users, this could generate enough revenue to keep the company going. However, it is unknown how much users will be expected for each bundle.
“We’ve always been at the forefront of innovation for peer-to-peer technology. We are excited to now take on this new and wholly different challenge,” the team said.Happy new year everyone! I’ve used that guitar cover of The Ecstasy of Gold above as a placeholder song in various big projects over the years that haven’t worked out. It seemed fitting to share it here.
Near the end of 2012, I made the very difficult decision to abandon Nexus City (and it’s spinoff game, Selma’s Story).
For those of you with no idea what Nexus City is – it’s an RPG I was collaborating on with the writer Jonas Kyratzes. Originally a very small game, over time it grew completely out of control – at this point, Jonas and I have worked on it on and off for over two years. However, that doesn’t really paint an accurate picture – I haven’t worked on Nexus City itself since 2011, and I only worked on the spinoff game, Selma’s Story, for two months last year.
That said, even though it’s not a project I’m actively spending much of my time on, Nexus City has weighed heavily on my mind.
I’ve been thinking of Nexus City as “the thing I’m working on” since 2010. As a result, for a long time now, I’ve felt like I wasn’t really in control of what I can work on. Promising games would come along, and I’d stop myself from getting too deep into them, because I had to finish Nexus City first. Everything became a big ordered list of what I could work on and when, how long I could spend on it. It’s only when a project like Super Hexagon came along, and forced itself on me – became too much to ignore, that I was able to turn that part of my head off. And I could do it, but even then I constantly had that pressure – when this is done, I need to get back to Nexus City.
I don’t think that’s creatively healthy.
Nexus City is an amazing world with an amazing story, and there were times when I was completely obsessed with it – but the momentum is long gone now, and at this point I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. I need to move on to other things.
So, what’s next for this year? Right now – for the moment, I think I may just take some time off. I feel like I haven’t really done that in some time – it’s just been one project after another pretty much as long as I remember. After that? I don’t really know! I have a clean slate again for the first time in a very long time, and I’m very excited about that.This post was made with an older stylesheet
There are many cool patches that will be introduced -hopefully- in Web 360, but that wasn’t the case in version 353, as nothing important exists here yet. Everything seem pretty much as 340 and my guess is that we’ll the new features a week after GUADEC Conference is over, in August 08 at version 355. Anyway I did some screenshots just to verify :)
Google Services
Web works fine with all Google services I tried it, plus you can join YouTube, with HTML 5. There is some way to link Adobe Flash with Web but I never tried it.
There is a bug in language selection which I don’t know if it is Web faults or Google’s. I have selected English as display language but YouTube insists to show my Greeks. Also Web uses amazing more less resources than RAM hungry Chromium and Firefox. And is very fast at rendering also! I would say faster than the others but this is might due the less resources that consumes which feels normal without having the dozen features of the others.
Menus
These are currently the two menus of Web. From Application Menu we can open a new Window but we cannot open a new Tab, and from Window Menu we can open a new Tab but no new window. How much confusing is this?
Also if there are two Web Windows opened and I click on Quit from Application Menu, they both closed!?!? And the joke continues, as if I open again Web, it opens both the two windows I shut down before! Anyway, it is a software under heavy development :)
The “Save As Web Application” option saves the page as an App in the Shell Apps and we can relaunching from there with Web in an App mode, which removes the address bar. An issue here is the icon that is used. What Web does is to crop a square image from top-left corner in web-sites and place this as App Icon. Very bad practice with awful results!
Because favicons are bad quality, what they can do here is just to get the image from “header” tag, or the first image from top-left, or an image named as logo, or something like that.. anyway..
Bookmarks
This is a totally mess, there are two kind of bookmarks for each of Web’s menus! Just watch!
Menu Bookmarks
Menu Bookmarks Opened
Application Bookmarks Opened
I have no words to describe the chaos here! I really don’t know what they were thinking when they were doing this. And this of course isn’t some bug as it applies for the stable Web 340. To understand the magnificence of inconsistency here -other the awful usability- I printed the next screen..
..oh YES! App Menu Bookmarks have their very own version modal and we can open both at the same time just to make sure that Bookmars are up to date with Web!.. Truly awful! By the way Web353 uses Webkit 1.9.3.
Web Shell Overview
Another nice bug here. Shell informs you about the windows (which is normally just one) but not for the tabs that you really care! Ok, this is Gnome Shell bug and it might get fixed when they merge the jump lists.
What’s coming next?
I’ll save the words and let the figures talk, I included an old Epiphany version to watch and compare the size of changes!
Before
After
This is not a tentative art, the patches already exist and were actually to be included in Gnome 340, but Gnome postponed them for 360. You can watch an old demo.
Which makes a nice show-off of the GTK’s embedded Clutter ;)
Overall
I know that is hard for Web to follow the competition but it would be nice if at least give a try. Web can achieve things that a non Gnome integrated browser cannot, such as integration with GOA, Contacts, etc. Also Web 360 will get an Anti-Phishing and Sync mechanism (Bookmarks & History most luckily).
We’ll make a full review when version 390 (3.90 beta) is out!Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has demanded that master tapes of Temple of The Dog's 1991 album be returned to him, Eddie Vedder and the rest of the line-up of Pearl Jam.
Cornell and Pearl Jam collaborated on the million-selling album, which is regarded as one of the defining works of the grunge era.
A legal battle has erupted over the master tapes with A&M suing Raj Parashar and his brother, the founders of Seattle's London Bridge Studios where the album was recorded.
Sky News reports that the record label, with the backing of Cornell, are demanding that Parashar hand over the master tapes ahead of the next year's 25th anniversary of the album's release.
A&M says it bought the album and master tapes in 1991 and in a statement, Cornell said: "A&M Records paid for the recordings and the use of the studio."
Cornell added that for Mr Parashar "to pretend he has a right to keep the recordings makes no more sense than the owner of a laundromat claiming he owns the clothes you washed in his washing machine".
However, Parashar claims he is still the rightful owner. His lawyer says that he helped to engineer the album, was never paid for his efforts, and was not part of an agreement that his brother reached with the label.Chad Johnson is continuing his football career, albeit in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes. Apparently his time in Montreal has led him to embrace some of the city’s ideology.
Part of that ideology includes buying into the city’s top NHL rivalry between the hometown Canadiens and the Boston Bruins. According to a tweet from Johnson on Monday, he’s all in with his support for the bleu, blanc et rouge. [tweet https://twitter.com/ochocinco/status/511563468214784000 align=’center’]
We’d expect that challenge would go about as well as Johnson’s time with the New England Patriots did. It’s not like Johnson’s CFL career has gone much better, either. The former Pro Bowler has seven catches for 151 yards and a touchdown for the 3-8 Alouettes.
This might be even more of a story if this was former Bruins backup goalie Chad Johnson we were talking about.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@CFLAt the eighth annual Western Union Consumer Protection & Compliance Conference held September 18th, 2013, Jay Postma, CAMS, President, MSB Compliance Inc.and Scott Apodaca, CAMS, Senior Manager, Western Union gave a presentation entitled “Emerging Risk of Digital Currency (E-Currency / Bitcoin / Liberty Reserve) [PDF link].”
The conference was billed as the go-to place to “Stay up-to-date and learn about the latest consumer protection efforts, regulations, enforcement trends and strategies used to detect and combat fraud, terrorist financing and money laundering.”
Conference registration was free to Western Union Agents and employees. Individual conference registration was open to consultants, vendors, exhibitors and others for anadditional fee.
Legacy Banking and Bitcoin Mingle
Some might be surprised to learn that amember of the Bitcoin Foundationpresented at this conference. As it happens,Jay Postma, co-author of the subject presentation is an individual member of the Foundation. Moreover, as mentioned, his co-presenter, Scott Apodaca is a representative of Western Union.
However, the comingling of old and new should come to no surprise to those that have been following Roger Ver the “Bitcoin Jesus,” Jon Matonis, Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation and the open nature of the Bitcoin Foundation in general.
Earlier this month Ver posted a popular photo on Twitter of the Director of Products for Western Union wearing a Bitcoin button in front of the BitPay booth at the Money2020Emerging Payments & Financial Services conference. Western Union was founded in 1851.
Earlier this year, Jon Matonis was invited to talk atSWIFTor the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, the “global provider of secure financial messaging services.”
John described the experience in his Forbes article “Bitcoin Comes To SWIFT:”
“The undeniable march of Bitcoin definitely left an impression on SWIFT, however Bitcoin as a network is an existential threat. Bitcoin as a non-political, non-corporate unit of account is not.”
Swift has also beenblogging about bitcoinonDialogue, the “Voice of The SWIFT Community.” SWIFT was founded in 1973.
The Bitcoin Foundation’smissionis to “help people exchange resources and ideas more freely” to standardize, protect and promote Bitcoin, appears to allow anyone tojoin as a memberand receive voting rights. The Bitcoin Foundation was founded in 2012.
Not Ready For Primetime?
A slide from Emerging Risk of Digital Currency presentation asks if Bitcoin is ready for International Money Transfer and concludes “NO” for the following reasons:
Worldwide use of bitcoin is growing
-but there is not sufficient use and liquidity yet for massive adoption
Also, consumer interfaces to bitcoin are not sufficiently mature yet
-ease of use, clarity of transactions, taxation issues, etc.
And…many regulatory issues are yet to be adequately addressed
It is also explicitly stated in one of the slides that:
“Western Union does not have commercial relationships with Digital Currency companies or providers who buy, sell or trade in digital currencies and will also prohibit consumers from using Western Union services if it is determined transactions are associated with E-Currency.”
The World Bank Weighs In
Earlier this month, The World Bank had a press release: “Migrants from developing countries to send home $414 billion in earnings in 2013.” It highlighted that:
– Developing world to receive $414 billion in remittances in 2013.
– Remittances to India, China will total $131 billion.
– Cost of remitting money remains high.
“Cost of remitting money remains high.”
The cost will remain high if The World Bank does not have serious discussion on the merits of Bitcoin. Maybe they just need to mingle more?
Stefan Molyneux, host of the Freedomain Radio recently had a fantastic Youtube video “The Truth About Bitcoin” and explained (at 4 minutes 40 seconds) how “Recently, someone transferred 6.5m in BTC for a fee of 6 cents (0.0000009% fee)” and further compared what those fees would be using legacy financial institutions. However, he didn’t include a comparison to Western Union. Western Union doesn’t appear to make its fees for transfers of more than $2,000 transparent on its website. In any case, it cost about $8 or.8% (less than one percent) to send $1,000 to Argentina from New York City for “money in minutes transfer” and it also costs $8 for a 3 day transfer and $68 or 6.8% for a similar “money in minutes” transfer to Cyprus. I tried to use the same link to move the money in reverse but it appears that there is only an option (at least on the web) to move money from Canada and the United states to another destination. To be fair I haven’t done an in depth analysis of Western Union’s services (and haven’t personally used their services).
Yet there is nary a mention of Bitcoin in the World Bank Website… well there are some comments left at CGAP or the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. CGAP is “housed” at the World Bank and apparently the World Bank scrapes their website for inclusion in their search engine. CGAP works toward a “world in which everyone has access to the financial services they need to improve their lives.” One comment apparently left by an employee of Coinlab last August under a post on “What Do International Remittances Mean for Mobile Money?:”
“I am curious what you think about Bitcoin for international remittances. It seems like it gets around some of the barriers listed above. Bitcoin is less exposed to regulatory hurdles because there is no individual centralized entity which controls it. Operationally, it is a breeze compared to starting an international money transfer business: anyone with an internet connection can start using the protocol to transfer value from anywhere to anywhere in the world in minutes for free. If you’d like to learn more about Bitcoin, drop us a line to info [at] coinlab.com. We have no official connection to the protocol, we are just building services off of it…”
Oh, and there is Michael Klein’s paper at the World Bank earlier this year, “The Next 30 Years: What future for finance?” where he stated that “Volatility and disarray…paved the way for disruptive business models in finance” where “Encrypted, distributed peer-to-peer networks such as the old Bitcoin of 2009 provided real alternatives…” and snarkily added:
“In 2037 the annual Nakamoto conference in honor of the pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin honored the 90th birthday of Ian Angell Professor Emeritus of the London School of Economics. Ian’s vision of a future with private “off-planet banking” at last seems to become reality…”
Michael Klein worked at the World Bank for more than twenty-five years, most recently as Vice President for Financial and Private Sector Development for the World Bank Group as well as Chief Economist, International Finance Corporation and apparently is still a blogger for the Bank.
Western Union Flirting with Bitcoin
Back in April the was an article from Fox Business News (that has curiously disappeared) entitled “Bitcoin Buzz Draws Western Union and MoneyGram.” As always, Reddit was there and Reddit user Cowboy_Coder had the following comment which received the most votes:
“If they move early, Western Union could establish themselves as the defacto method of exchanging cash to and from bitcoins, all around the world.
If they hesitate and wait too long, they will find themselves irrelevant and obsolete. Make the smart decision WU.”
Michael Terpin co-founder of BitAngels recently had a guest post on VentureBeat “Bitcoin’s road from perdition: What will hurt and help the controversial digital currency:”
“A fully licensed, established money transmitter adopting Bitcoin: Be it eBay’s PayPal (oh, the irony), Western Union or Moneygram (who briefly worked with ZipZap and, by extension, BitInstant), a fully licensed mainstream transmitter with a track record of compliance in both AML (anti money laundering) and KYC (know your customer) regulations would undoubtedly lead to a new wave of usage among heretofore tenuous early adopters, both on the consumer and merchant side.”
Doing the Dance
It is fascinating watching legacy banking and Bitcoiners do this dance. Right now each partner is learning the next move from one another. Neither have the lead in this dance. We have a lot to learn from one one another during these exciting times. Bitcoin has been called frictionless… its also afinancial lubricant.Bitcoin may not be “ready for primetime” but something tells me Western Union is getting ready. Get ready to mingle!"One of the most enjoyable preview games I have played in quite some time.... there are many layers of strategy which can be employed, making the game fun for seasoned board game players alike.... there is a lot of replay value contained within the game. My family and I have immensely enjoyed our time playing..., it is a fantastic value which will provide hours of laughs and gaming enjoyment. " - http://www.boardgameauthority.com/we-have-goats-kickstarter-preview/
We Have Goats "is seriously one of the most impressive games I've seen in a while....so get ready to support it!" - indietabletop (instagram) https://instagram.com/p/29J5l4pkVx/
Great review by Undead Viking - "Wonderful competitiveness, it has great moments of laughter." The "game actually gives you really good tough choices" and is "a very serious game that is fun to challenge yourself with the people that you're playing against."
"a fun game for playing two player, as well as with a whole group. We Have Goats has a great balance between advancing your goals and disrupting your opponents. We Have Goats also is easy to learn, doesn’t take very long and has light humor, making it a great family title as well." - acrosstheboardgames.net
"We love this kind of humor...there will be something fun with each discovery." - http://inod.over-blog.com/2015/05/we-have-goats.html (French review)
"...it looks like We Have Goats will provide hours of fun for everyone in the family!" - www.faithgeek.com/2015/04/we-have-goats-game-to-launch-may-26-2015
"Your cards should be candy so people can lick them" - lady at Staples who thought her neighbor was poisoning her through the wall
"It's a fun game and think you have a hit on your hands. I love great family games and it fits that category well.... I love the artwork and humor too. My kind of game!" -- Instagram Board Game Reviewer - Jerry Ace (TheBoardGameRenegade)
Niesamowite kozy! Another awesome review and walk-thru by Gradanie (in Polish):
Video Review from Cloak and Meeple:A Porsche logo is seen at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The Stuttgart prosecutor’s office said on Monday employees at German sports car maker Porsche AG and a U.S.-based subsidiary were being investigated for suspected fraud and false advertising related to diesel emissions.
The probe is the latest twist in a sweeping investigation of automakers and their emissions after Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), which owns the Audi, VW and Porsche brands, admitted systematic cheating of diesel engine tests in 2015.
In a statement, Stuttgart prosecutor Jan Holzner said there were grounds to suspect potential fraud and false advertising by Porsche employees, while declining to elaborate given the ongoing nature of the probe.
Porsche said it was fully cooperating with authorities and had proactively sought contact with prosecutors even before a formal probe was launched.
Illegal software has been found in VW, Audi and Porsche cars equipped with diesel engines.
Some Porsche models are equipped with 3 liter diesel engines supplied by Audi. Prosecutors in Munich are separately investigating Audi about its role in designing the 3 liter diesel engine.
Last week prosecutors arrested Giovanni Pamio, an Audi (NSUG.DE) employee, on suspicion of fraud and false advertising. Pamio, who is in custody, is being sought by the U.S. Justice Department for his alleged role directing Audi employees to design software to cheat U.S. emissions tests.Selfless drop mitch and raerae
Image courtesy of MLG/ESEA
The American organisation is left with two, four player teams.
|
Washington in a way that’s impossible to ignore: with nonviolent civil disobedience on a historic scale.
We’ll begin on April 2nd when a pioneering group will gather at Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, where the dream of American democracy took flight, and then embark on a march to the US Capitol in DC. Before setting out, we will present a simple choice to Congress: Take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in politics and make the 2016 elections free and fair for for all people as equal citizens, or be prepared to send thousands of patriotic Americans to jail simply for demanding an equal voice.
We who march will walk in the tradition of Granny D, the Selma to Montgomery marchers, and others who walked for freedom. We hope at least one person from every state in the union will walk the full length of the march—140 miles over 10 days—with hundreds of people joining for a day, a weekend, or more. When the marchers arrive at the Capitol on April 11, we expect to be joined by thousands who’ve come from across the country to make this stand. At that point, either Congress will have miraculously come to its senses and passed the perfectly viable reform bills now pending before it, or those who protect the status quo of corruption will leave us no choice but to reclaim the People’s House in mass nonviolent sit-ins.
Beneath the dome of the rotunda, on the steps outside the Capitol, and in the offices of our representatives, we will engage in peaceful civil disobedience for at least a week. Day after day, Congress will have a choice: to put hundreds of disciplined, dignified democracy defenders in handcuffs, or simply do its job to listen to the people and fix this broken system. A drama so unprecedented in the nation’s Capitol will rock the business-as-usual cycle of this election and catapult this critical issue onto center stage.
Whether Congress acts or not, we will win by focusing the nation’s attention—as never before—on the urgency of this crisis, the existence of solutions to it, and the strength of a popular demand to enact them. We aim to make this election a referendum on whether our democracy should belong to the People as a whole or to the billionaire class alone.That’s a referendum we can win, creating a powerful mandate—backed by a surging movement—for the fundamental reform that will give us, finally, the democracy for all we were promised.
This will be a deeply nonviolent action, in the tradition of the American civil-rights movement. We will act with love, respect, and dignity. Further, while those of us who’ve signed this letter are proud progressive leaders, this will not be a progressive or a conservative action, but rather an American action. We urge anyone who agrees with our demand, will uphold our agreement on strictly nonviolent action, and will embrace others from all walks of life in a spirit of inclusion to join us. We will stand together—progressive, conservative, Republican, Democratic, independent—as leaders and citizens who want a government accountable to voters rather than big-money interests. We may disagree on many things as Americans of different political perspectives, but we believe that it’s time for all who love our country to defend the republic that binds us as a free people.
We know that coming to DC and risking arrest is no ordinary ask. But these are not ordinary times.
This is the hour to stand tall, to rise to this historic moment in which we did not choose to live, but which we now must choose to face. With love, with courageous hope, with the legacy of those who struggled for freedom before us in our minds—we must act with a determination matching the urgency of this crisis.
Along with a growing coalition of over 50 organizations, we are committed to lead this effort and will provide the necessary training and legal support to all who will join us. As of today, over 1,000 people have pledged to sit in to save democracy. If you’re ready to join us or you want to learn more, you can do so at www.democracyspring.org.
Together, we will win a victory that can make it possible, at last, to realize the promise of American democracy and the dream of a nation of liberty and justice for all. We hope you’ll join us.Yesterday, a group called “Sanctity of Marriage Alabama” held another anti-gay marriage rally in Montgomery on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. The previous rally reportedly attracted about 100 activists. This rally seems to have been much larger and attracted somewhere between 300 and 500 participants.
Note: I’ve spotted some familiar faces this time. If there is a fight going on anywhere on the ground in the South, you can bet that we will be a part of it.
Obviously, we don’t agree with these people on every issue, but we share common ground with them on federal judges imposing “gay marriage” on Alabama. It’s much the same with the Southern heritage groups and other anti-illegal immigration groups. We share their concerns on some issues, but disagree on others.Nowadays a lot of computer makers who create laptops are focusing on portability by making laptops as slim and as light as they possibly can. This is great, but if you’re less fussed about how thin and light your laptop is, and more about whether or not it can withstand the daily rigors of travel, Lenovo has you covered.
Lenovo has announced the ThinkPad X270 laptop. According to Lenovo, the laptop has been designed for mobility in mind, but at the same time it is rugged enough to withstand being brought about all day. It also comes with a battery life that Lenovo is boasting will last a whopping 20 hours, thanks to its dual configurable battery architecture.
Under the hood the ThinkPad X270 will come with the latest Intel Core i processors and can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM. It will also support up to 2TB of hard disk space or 512GB of PCIe SSD storage if that’s more your cup of tea. We’re also looking at a 12.5-inch HD display/FHD touchscreen, and will come with Windows 10 preinstalled.
It will also appeal to those who take their audio seriously as it will come with Dolby’s audio tech. The Lenovo ThinkPad X270 will be priced starting at $949 and will be launched come January, 2017.
Filed in. Read more about CES, CES 2017, Laptops and Lenovo.The trademark suit sported by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is now in fashion worldwide thanks to his greatness, Pyongyang’s official website said Wednesday.
Uriminzokkiri, quoting an article in communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, said the modest-looking suits have gripped people’s imagination and become a global vogue.
“The reason is that the august image of the Great General, who is always wearing the modest suit while working, leaves a deep impression on people’s mind in the world,” it said.
“To sum it up, that is because his image as a great man is so outstanding.”
The article quoted an unidentified French fashion expert as saying world fashion follows Kim Jong-Il’s style.
“Kim Jong-Il mode which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide is something unprecedented in the world’s history,” the stylist was quoted as saying.
The suits consist of an overall-style zipped-up tunic and matching trousers, usually in khaki or blueish-grey.
The 68-year-old leader wears them even when receiving foreign dignitaries.
During his outside “field guidance” trips in winter, he also dons a shapeless anorak and fur hat.
Kim and his deceased father Kim Il-Sung are at the heart of a personality cult that borders on religion, with near-magical powers ascribed to the younger Kim.
Rainbows supposedly appeared over sacred Mount Paekdu where Kim Jong-Il was allegedly born, and he is said once to have scored 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf.At high request, here is a zipped version (1.12gb) of the NEW FOSSCAD Megapack 4.8 (Ishikawa). This pack is a collection of the newest FOSSCAD CAD files including all previous Megapacks, i.e., Megapacks 4.2 (Saito), 4,3 (Tetsuo), 4.4 (Raiden), 4.5 (Otacon), 4.6 (Tachikoma) and 4.7 (Aramaki). This Megapack hence replaces all previous Megapacks. These files are not being released by Defense Distributed or DEFCAD Incorporated. # Version 4.8 (Ishikawa) # Twitter @fosscad # IRC Server OFTC Channel: #fosscad Changelog 4.8 (Ishikawa) * Firearms/Parlor_Pistol-Caboose * Firearms/PM422_Songbird_22lr_Pistol_v2.1-JamesRPatrick * Firearms/PM522_Washbear_Revolver_v2.0-JamesRPatrick * Misc/AR-15_Pistol_Cheek_Rest-unnamed * Misc/FOSSCAD_AFG_GRIP-Warfairy * Misc/FOSSCAD_RVG_Vertical_Grip-WarFairy * Misc/Keymod_Hand_Stop-unnamed * Misc/Picatinny_Riser_and_Rail_Generator-RollaTroll * Misc/Rail_Mounted_Fore_Grip * Muzzle_Devices/FOSSCAD_Mystique_Suppressor-unnamed * Pistols/9mm_Gluty_AR-15_Pistol-unnamed/ * Pistols/9mm_HK_USP_10_Round_Magazine_Baseplate-Jelly * Pistols/9mm_Shuty_AR-15_Pistol_v2.0-derwood * Pistols/9mm_Shuty_AR-15_Pistol_v4.0_MP-1-unnamed * Pistols/Steyr_Pistol_Magazine_Extension-crysys * Rifles/10_22_Receiver-Unnamed * Rifles/10_22_Trigger_Housing-Unnamed * Rifles/AK-47_Grip-Anonymous * Rifles/AK-47_Standard_Upper_and_Lower_Handguards_1.0 * Rifles/AR-10_Lower_Receiver_Abraxas_JT_v1.0-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-10_Lower_Receiver_Abraxas_v1.0-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-10_Lower_Receiver_Caleb_v1.0-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-10_Nephilim_Reinforced_Lower_Receiver_v2.0-WarFairy * Rifles/AR-15_Bolt_Lower_Receiver_v2.0-RollTroll * Rifles/AR-15_Bumpfire_Stock_v2-Disruptive_Solutions * Rifles/AR-15_FOSSCAD_Lower_Receiver_V5.1_NS-cb * Rifles/AR-15_FOSSCAD_MOE_Grip_v1.1-FP * Rifles/AR-15_Hanuman_Bullpup_v1.1-WarFairy * Rifles/AR-15_Lower_Receiver_Aliamanu-Phobos-ArmaDelite * Rifles/AR-15_Lower_Receiver_Atlas_v2.0-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-15_Lower_Receiver_Phobos_v1.2-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-15_Treillage_Stock-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-15_Vanguard_JT_v1.1-JT * Rifles/AR-15_WarFairy_Charon_Lower_Receiver_v4_Warfairy * Rifles/AR-15_Warfairy_Hermes_Lower_Receiver_v1.4-Warfairy * Rifles/AR-15_Warfairy_Hermes_Zero_Lower_Receiver_v2.0-Warfairy * Rifles/AR_Ambidextrous_Safety_Selector-unamed * Rifles/P90_50rd_Spring_Plate-crysysSo, here’s a thing I think we should do.
The Federal government should offer inflation-protected savings accounts to individual citizens, but with a strict size limit of, say, $200,000. These accounts would work like bank savings accounts, and might even be administered by banks. But deposits would be advanced directly to the government (reducing borrowing by the Treasury), and the government would be responsible for repayment. The accounts would promise a tax-free real interest rate of 0% on balances up to the limit. Each month, accounts would be credited with interest based on the most recent increase in the Consumer Price Index (adjusted for any revisions to estimates for previous months).
The purpose of this plan would be to offer a no-frills, low risk savings vehicle for middle-class workers. Ordinary bank savings accounts no longer do the job. They already pay negative real interest rates, and those rates might well get worse if we experience more inflation. TIPS don’t do the job. They expose savers to interest rate risk and liquidity risk. Small savers must compete with large savers for the same very limited pool of securities, resulting in negative yields. The option implicit in the floor on principal isn’t easy to price. It takes a degree of risk-tolerance and sophistication to manage a portfolio of TIPS that we ought not demand of waitresses and schoolteachers. They should be able to just open an inflation-protected savings account at their local bank.
Republicans should love this proposal. It would reward “virtuous” savers who are currently punished by negative real rates, and the benefit would be tilted upwards towards the relatively prudent and productive. People with substantial savings gain more from the tax and interest rate subsidy than people putting just a few dollars away. Democrats should love it too, as rewarding savers is a bipartisan trope, and the $200,000 limit keeps it a middle-class program, preventing a huge giveaway to the top 1%.
These “starter savings accounts” would be a popular vehicle for ordinary people who want convenience and safety with as little entanglement as possible in casino finance.
But the real benefit would be macroeconomic. “Market monetarists”, MMTers, and old-fashioned Keynesians love to squabble with one another, but they have a great deal in common. By whatever combination of monetary and fiscal policy, in a depression, all these groups agree that some manner of expansionary intervention should be pursued to maintain spending and effective demand. But any such policy increases the risk of inflation, and so is opposed by people holding debt or fixed-income securities. The people with the most to lose from inflation are the very wealthy, who hold a disproportionate share of financial claims. But middle-class savers value their small nest eggs just as dearly, and make common cause with multibillionaires to oppose inflation. By providing means for small savers to protect themselves from inflation when intervention is called for, we can stop the very wealthy from using middle-class retirees as human shields, and thereby create political space to adopt expansionary policy.
The existence of these accounts would be mildly contractionary, as smaller savers could no longer be scared into spending by the threat of inflation. But while pushing small savers to spend their way into precarity might contribute to short-term GDP, the overall costs of that approach probably exceed the benefits. Expansionary policy should encourage consumption and investment by people with the means to bear risk rather than threaten the savings of people who cannot afford to spend.
The limited size of “starter savings accounts” would leave the wealth of large savers at risk, and with fewer places to hide. That is as it should be. The risk of the aggregate investment must be borne by someone. Patterns of aggregate investment are determined by the behaviors of savers, or the people to whom they directly or indirectly delegate investment decisions. If we want a high quality of investment, we have to ensure that these investors bear the cost when aggregate investment disappoints. All savers would enjoy protection of their “starter savings”, but people trying to push large sums of wealth into the future would have to take responsibility for directing the use of their capital, and for monitoring the quality of the institutions through which capital is allocated generally. When the process fails, when capital allocation goes badly awry, large savers would bear the costs directly via writedowns or indirectly via inflation. It will be hard to push for bail-outs when middle-class nest eggs are insulated from the vagaries of capital markets and banks. It will be hard to push for austerity when middle-class nest eggs are immune from inflation. Wealthier savers would still be protected from penury, if they wisely max out their starter savings accounts before piling into CDOs and auction-rate securities.
The program proposed would, for now, be a subsidy to small savers, since real risk-free interest rates are negative. In better times, the program would impose a small “tax”, because the government would pay less to depositors than the positive real rates it pays on other borrowings when the economy is growing. But this would not actually be a tax, because participation would be optional. When times are good, banks and brokers will relentlessly encourage savers to migrate into higher yielding assets. Savers may choose to buy whatever Wall Street is selling, or to stick with what is simple and safe. Even in good times, a guaranteed, perfectly liquid, inflation-protected savings vehicle would be popular with many savers. Starter savings accounts would be a useful and voluntary program with a negative fiscal cost.
Some practical considerations:
Limiting the size of the accounts is absolutely crucial. Failing to do so could put the finances of the state into dangerous jeopardy. A currency-issuing government’s nominal “debt” is best classified as equity. Inflation-protected debt is much more debt-like, and can put the solvency of the state into question. Nominal debts can always be repayed in extremis by printing money. But that is not true of inflation-protected debt, on which a government may be forced to default, overtly or tacitly (by corrupting the inflation indices). The US government, very wisely, keeps its TIPS issuance very small. It should keep the aggregate size of the starter savings program small as well. At $200,000 per person, the program could succeed catastrophically if the relatively well-off take to it en masse. To manage this, the government might set a ceiling on the aggregate size of the program (perhaps 25% of GDP), and adjust the limit of inflation protection as necessary to remain beneath the ceiling. (The government would announce periodic adjustments, up or down, to the limit. The government would pay the ordinary 30-day Treasury bill rate on balances above the inflation protection ceiling.) Alternatively, the government could discourage overuse by publishing a diminishing real-interest rate schedule, so that the first few thousand dollars in an account would accrue interest at a sharply positive real rate while “late” dollars are punished with ever more negative real rates.
The accounts would have to be nonhypothecable. To put that in English, loans and other contracts that pledge the contents of these accounts as security should be prohibited and unenforceable. Otherwise, when real interest rates are negative, financial engineers will bundle loans secured against many poorer individuals’ accounts into unlimited sized accounts for rich people. This sort of indirect use of the accounts is impractical if the loans are unsecured and their repayment is at the discretion of the borrower. (Every sort of contractual encumbrance or automatic withdrawal should be prohibited, to prevent schemes where administering banks enforce security arrangements that the law would not.)
Often my proposals are pie-in-the-sky, after-the-revolution sort of affairs. But this one strikes me as practical, achievable within the present political context. “Starter savings accounts” would represent a form of middle class social insurance that I think a lot of people are thirsting for. They would have a small near-term fiscal cost, and would likely pay for themselves over the long-term. Since the program would be structured as personal savings, it flatters the American policy establishment’s devotion to “bourgeois virtues“. I think the existence of these accounts would open up a great deal of political space for better macroeconomic policy. They would reduce resistance to expansionary monetary/fiscal intervention. They would reduce the press for bailouts and corrupt reflations when the stock market swoons or some megabank coughs blood. Shouldn’t we do this?Subclasses for 5e Battlemage- Wizard Arcane Tradition A battlemage sees the art of applying magic to combat as a science, and uses their knowledge of the magical arts to the best affect possible, be it a well placed fireball, or aiding communication among their allies, or demoralizing the foe, all schools of magic are utilized to their greatest effect on the outcome. Armored Casting As a battlemage, you maintain and wear armor befitting a combatant. Beginnging at 2nd level when you select this tradition, you gain proficiency in Light and Medium Armor. In addition, you gain proficiency with Smith's tools. Arcane Reflexes Battlemages use their intellect to excell in combat, and have learned to trust in their armor to protect them. Starting at 2nd level when you choose this tradition, you may add your Intelligence modifier to your Initiative roll in addition to your Dexterity modifier. Also, as long as you're wearing armor, you're considered proficient in Constitution Saving throws to keep Concentration on spell or similar effect. Power Surge At 6th level you can store magical energy capable of empowering your spells, called a power surge. When you finish a short or long rest, your number of power surge resets to 1. You can store a maximum number of power surges equal to your INT modifier. Whenever you successfully end a spell with dispel magic or counterspell you gain a power surge. Once per turn when you target a creature with a spell that requires a saving throw, you can use a bonus action to spend a power surge, imposing disadvantage on the roll. Battle Trained At 10th level you become proficient with Heavy Armor. In addition, as long as you concentrate on a spell, you can add half your proficiency bonus to all saving throws you're not already proficient in. Explosive Surges Ath 14th level, whenever you use your Power Surge feature, if the spell you're using the power surge on deals damage, it deals additional force damage to the creature and up to 3 more hostile creatures within 60 feet of it. The damage is equal to half your wizard level. Raider- Barbarian Primal Path A raider is a Barbarian who's rage is focused on violently righting the wrongs done to them, taking what they feel they're owed by a cruel world via brutal cunning and cunning brutality. They have no qualms about using their every advantage, fighting as dirty as the slimiest rogue. Brutal Raiding Starting at third level, when you choose this path, as long as you are not wearing heavy armor you gain the ability to use the Dash action as a Bonus action, and if you provoke an Attack of Opportunity from this movement the attacks are made with disadvantage. In addition, you may use Strength for the bonus to attack and damage for Longbows and Shortbows, and they get bonus damage while you are in a rage. Brutal Cunning Starting at 6th level, while raging and at advantage on an attack roll, you may double the rage damage bonus to that attack. In addition, you may choose two skills on the Barbarian list you have proficiency with. You double your proficiency bonus for those skills Brutal Movement At tenth level your base walking speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain a climbing and swimming speed equal to your walking speed while raging. You also move over rough terrain as if it were normal through sheer force. If you walk through a space occupied by a creature using this feature, both of you must make an opposed Strength (Athletics) roll. If you loose, you still must spend double movement to move through the creature's space. Brutal Dodge Starting at 14th level, all attacks of opportunity made against you are made at disadvantage. If a creature misses an attack of opportunity against you, you can use your reaction to attempt to stun them. Make an opposed roll, you make a Constitution Check, and they choose to use Stregnth (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics). If you succeed, they are stunned for one turn and take damage from their own attack. If they succeed, they take half damage from their own attack.
Strider- Ranger Conclave Striders are agents of the civilized world, set out into the wilderness, not to safeguard it but to tame it. They are the first line of defense, and are often soldiers or guards of exceptional ability. They know how to lead and act in a group, but are just as effective on their own as scouts or skirmishers. They respect the wilderness, but have no loyalty to it. Wilderness Superiority When you choose this Conclave at 3rd level, you learn Maneuvers fueled by Superiority dice. These stack with other sources of these dice. Maneuvers You learn two maneuvers of your choice at 3rd level. You gain an additional two maneuvers at 7th and 11th level. When you learn new maneuvers you may also replace one maneuver you know with a different one. Superiority Dice You have three superiority dice, which are d6s. A Superiority dice is expended when you use it, and all are regained on a short or long rest. You gain a fourth die at 7th level, and a fifth at 15th. Saving Throws Some maneuvers may cause your target to make a Saving Throw. The DC can be calculated as follows Maneuver Save = 8+ Your proficiency bonus + Your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice) Maneuvers When Choosing a Maneuver you have access to the following choices as detialed on page 74 of the PHB. Disarming Attack, Evasive Footwork, Feinting Attack, Lunging Attack, Menacing Attack, Parry, Precision Attack, Riposte, Sweeping Attack, Trip Attack. Skill Superiority Beginning at 3rd level, as an action, you can spend a superiorty die to add it to a skill check you make with any skill on the Ranger list. For Revised Ranger At 5th level, this subclass gains the Extra Attack feature, getting a second attack per Attack Action. Improved Wilderness Superiority At 7th level, your Superiority Dice become d8s, and at 11th they become d10s Wilderness Knowhow At 11th level, If you spend one minute observing or interacting with a creature, you can learn certain information about them. Including any class levels, Physical Ability Scores, Armor Class, Current HP, and if the creature is a favored enemy of yours. Always Vigilant At 15th level, choose one maneuver you know. You can use this maneuver without expending Superiority Dice, but you must roll a d4 in it's place if you do not expend one. Mechanist- Artificer Specialist Mechanists are artificers who use their talents to engineer wonderous constructed creatures to aid them. They love to tinker, and are constantly upgrading their mechanical servant. Prototype Servant At first level, upon choosing this specialty, you gain the Mechanical Servant feature early. However, you must choose a medium or smaller beast of CR 1/2 or lower to base the Servent's statistics on. The servent also gains ability score increases when you do. When you reach level 6, you may choose a new Large or smaller beast of CR 2 or lower to base the creature's stats on, and you can reassign any ASIs the Servant gained. This happens as if you rebuild the servant, progessing the prototype stage. Magical Construct At third level you're able to infuse magic into the Servant's very core. The servent gains either the ability to cast one first level spell from the wizard list using Intelligence as it's casting ability per long rest OR it's melee attacks count as magical. Armored Construct At 9th level, your servent's AC increases by 2, OR it's HP is recalculated as scaling to 4 times your Artificer levels. Spell Latice At 14th level, choose one of the following; whenever you cast a spell on yourself, you can also effect your Mechanical Servant OR your Servant learns a wizard spell of third level or lower that it can cast once per long rest, and if it already learned a level 1 spell, it can now cast that spell once per short rest. If you choose the spell, you must know it or have a written copy of it and it's cast using Intelligence as the casting ability. Limit Break At level 17, you build a Limit Break into the Servant. You can use a bonus action to activate this limit break with a command word. When this is activated, the Servant's physical abilities all become 24, and it gains resistance to all types of damage. After one minute, it explodes dealing 5d12 force, 5d12 fire, and 5d12 piercing damage to any creature within 10 feet that fails a Dexterity saving throw against the servant's spell save, half on a success. After the explosion, the Servant is destroyed beyond repair or revival.
Psion- Sorcerous Origin Psions are magic users who have inate magic stemming from their mental abilities and prowess. Their magic isn't only used for spellcasting, it affects all parts of their being. Mentalism Starting at level 1 when you pick this origin, your Casting Ability becomes Intelligence, rather than Charisma, and you swap your Charisma Saving Throw for Intelligence. All Sorcerer features that would normally use Charisma use Intelligence for you. You also gain the Message Cantrip. This doesn't count against your number of cantrips known. Psionic Casting You do not have spell slots like most Sorcerers, instead you gain Sorcery Points as shown on the Psionic Sorcery table. You can convert these points to slots as shown in the Sorcery Point feature, and into higher level slots as shown below. Slots of 8th level or higher are particularly taxing to create, thus when you convert Sorcery points into a 8th level or higher slot, you cannot convert another of that level until you finish a long rest. 6th and 7th level slots are almost as taxing, and you can make two of each of those slots before you need to take a long rest. You can never create a slot of higher level than what is listed as your Max Spell level in the Psionic Sorcery chart. Creating Higher Level Slots Spell Slot level Sorcery Points 6th 8 7th 10 8th 11 9th 13 Strength of Mind and Body Starting at level 6, you can use your mastery over your own mind and body to swap your proficiancy in Constitution Saving Throws to any other Saving throw. If you are not proficient in Constitution Saving throws, you can swap a Dexterity or Wisdom saving throw proficiency into Constitution instead. This lasts until your next long rest. Consumptive Power At level 14, you gain the ability to sacrifice your physical durability in exchange for psionic power. You can reduce your Hit Point Maximum to create Sorcery Points equal to the reduction. Your Hit Point Maximum doesn't recover until you take a long rest, and once you use this feature you must take a long rest before using it again. Psychic Mastery At level 18, you gain the ability to use your mental mastery to enhance your magic. Add your Intelligence Modifier to all Spell damage rolls. Also, you can spend up to 7 Sorcery Points as a bonus action to add 1d10 Psychic damage per Sorcery Point spent to any Cantrip, Spell or Weapon damage. For spells with more than one target, this applies to all targets. Psionic Sorcery Sorcerer Level Sorcery Points Max Spell level 1st 4 1st 2nd 6 1st 3rd 14 2nd 4th 17 2nd 5th 27 3rd 6th 32 3rd 7th 38 4th 8th 44 4th 9th 57 5th 10th 64 5th 11th 73 6th 12th 73 6th 13th 83 7th 14th 83 7th 15th 94 8th 16th 94 8th 17th 107 9th 18th 114 9th 19th 123 9th 20th 133 9thElection 2016: Ballot mishaps across four states plague the AEC
Posted
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and the voting system have come under intense scrutiny as reports of ballot issues in several seats continue to emerge.
Four states have been affected by mishaps, including shortages and incorrect distribution of ballot papers.
Many people have claimed they were unable to vote on July 2 and some votes have even been ruled informal due to AEC errors.
Here's a state-by-state breakdown of the reported incidents.
Western Australia
In the electorate of Pearce, 105 voters were given Victorian Senate ballot papers, meaning their votes have now been deemed informal.
The blunder happened under the supervision of an early polling mobile ballot team which visited various health and aged care establishments across the region.
On Wednesday, the AEC confirmed a register sheet for votes in the key seat of Cowan was separated from its correct container and some ballot papers were not initialled by the appropriate official.
However, the AEC has insisted this was a purely an administrative matter and count integrity was not affected.
While in remote areas complaints arose about late changes to polling times and locations which left hundreds of people unable to cast a vote.
Queensland
Queensland senator Glenn Lazarus, who has not been returned, said many Queensland voters had contacted him to complain they were unable to vote due to polling booths running out of ballot papers.
The Glenn Lazarus team is compiling information from those around the country who were unable to vote which will then be lodged with the AEC as a bulk complaint.
Mr Lazarus has created an online form for people to complete which has been shared more than 600 times on Facebook.
"According to many people they were told by AEC staff to check their name off the electoral roll so they could be excused from voting to avoid a fine because the polling booth had run out of ballot papers," Mr Lazarus said.
"It will be interesting to see where this issue takes us. It could take us back to the polls. Perhaps this will resolve the issue of a hung Parliament."
Mr Lazarus blamed the mishaps on the fact that the Turnbull Government slashed funding for the AEC which reduced the number of polling booths and AEC workers around the country.
Victoria
The AEC said it was investigating reports of wrong ballot papers being handed out in the electorate of Higgins.
For the first six minutes of voting at a South Yarra polling station, voters were given ballot papers for a neighbouring seat.
ABC political analyst Barrie Cassidy said an ABC staff member was one of several people who received the wrong paper.
"He went back and said, 'It's not the right paper'," Cassidy said.
"They got the supervisor. They noticed other such ballot papers had been torn off."
The AEC said it would investigate the apparent mix-up.
New South Wales
Independent candidate Rob Oakeshott and Greens candidate Carol Vernon, who both ran for the seat of Cowper, have lodged an official complaint with the AEC claiming the neighbouring seat ran out of Cowper absentee ballot papers.
Those who voted in the electorate of Lyne were reportedly told they would be signed off the electoral roll but would not be able to cast a ballot.
"People turned out to vote and didn't have the chance to have their say, and it's their right to do so," Mr Oakeshott told the Coffs Coast Advocate.
He said it was unclear how many people were unable to vote but he urged the AEC to clarify the issue.
Renewed calls for electronic voting
The slow count of votes and numerous ballot mix-ups has seen momentum gather for the case for electronic voting.
ABC election analyst Antony Green has indicated his support for the introduction of an electronic voting system for pre-polling and absentee votes.
"If you could do all of that electronically most of the reconciliation and the paperwork problems disappear," Green said.
He suggested having computers at large polling booths which would be used for absent voting.
"Much of the paperwork problems in polling places is to do with absent votes," he said.
"Every polling place in NSW had ballot papers for the other 47 electorates and some of the polling places seem to have run out of them.
"A lot of that may have to do with security measures... When you have ballot papers you've got to account for the blanks and if you've got far too many ballot papers for absents at the polling places you have to account for all these blanks afterwards.
"They do seem to have cut back there to try and avoid the security issues and as a result in some places they've run out."
Some software engineers say current technology, secure enough to handle billions of dollars of transactions, could also deliver secure election results.
However other technology experts said it was still too much of a risk.
Topics: federal-elections, electoral-system, australiaWinston Churchill once said that Russia is "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." That's in many ways still true. However, Russia is a complete open book compared to the Hermit Kingdom.
The latest development in the ongoing saga of North Korea is Kim Jong-Un's threat to attack Guam. If he was capable of that (and he very well might be), would he actually do it?
That sort of question is the domain of intelligence analysts and others who engage in psychological profiling. One public source of information on this is the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, a research project directed by psychology professor Aubrey Immelman. The unit has a page dedicated to Kim Jong-Un, which has been updated sporadically as more information has become available.
The team's initial assessment, published in April 2013, was that Mr. Kim is a congenial-cooperative leader, displaying traits such as agreeableness, charm, and a need for external approval. The team concluded that Mr. Kim's personality was inconsistent with North Korea's continued belligerence, which made the profilers wonder if somebody else was actually running the country.
This was a perfectly decent psychological profile, but it certainly seems to be wrong. In August 2012, a writer for Foreign Policy warned, "The North Korean regime will not change because Little Kim studied in Switzerland, likes Mickey Mouse, and has a hot wife." Indeed, North Korea's aggression has only increased in the years since.
Kim Jong-Un: An Updated Psychological Profile
In April of this year, Prof. Immelman's team updated Mr. Kim's profile with another detailed assessment. Once again, they found that the dictator's personal psychological profile is rather benign and similar to that of recent U.S. presidents, specifically in areas |
with the Gentiloni in the Oval Office or at a press conference and stating that the only solution to Libya runs through the U.N.-facilitated political process, Trump could make a statement that would help deter Haftar’s much-discussed military campaign against Tripoli. It would demonstrate to Haftar’s external supporters that the United States has not lost interest in Libya.
Second, Gentiloni could seek U.S. help in identifying a compromise role for Haftar that preserves the role of the GNA, the government recognized by the U.N. Security Council and reaffirmed by the G-7 foreign ministers in Lucca, Italy, earlier this month. Many reasonable compromises have been offered, but Haftar continues to forum-shop and threaten military action. Progress will only be made when Haftar no longer has external options. Now that the U.S. election is over, American diplomacy can build a consensus around shared power in Libya. That means candid conversations with the Emirati and Egyptian governments. Without the UAE and Egypt more closely aligned with the United States, Russia will continue to have a free hand to disrupt any attempt to contain Haftar’s military ambitions, or worse, establish a line of direct materiel support to Haftar — as they are doing in Ukraine.
Third, Gentiloni has hard work ahead of him in persuading Trump that the international community, including the United States, should play a role in strengthening the GNA to govern Libya. Some U.S. officials have said that the counter-Islamic State coalition is not in the business of nation building or reconstruction. However, quitting rather than expanding U.S. efforts to support the GNA will ensure that the civil conflict continues, as Haftar will continue to see broad weakness in western Libya. The GNA’s budget execution and service delivery are proceeding only haltingly and desperately need to be accelerated. Stabilization projects carefully planned for Sirte after the eviction of the Islamic State — such as demining and revitalized governance assistance for the beleaguered city — are teetering, which will only open the door for further instability. That is the risk of zeroing out important and relatively limited American assistance projects in 2017.
These are not easy takes, but Trump has another opportunity to take a strong step forward on a major ongoing conflict if he listens closely to U.S. allies, acknowledges their views, and makes a clear statement in support of Libya’s unity government and the U.N.-sponsored peace process. At a minimum, that would help deter spoilers such as the Islamic State and Russia from expanding their influence in the war-torn country.
Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty ImagesIn the Bronx you hear that old side-splitter from Zambia about the reluctant debtor trying his best to hide from the neighborhood loan shark behind the short curtain that divides traditional one-room homes, his toes poking out.
“He’s out for the day,” the debtor’s wife says.
“Well, next time he goes out,” the loan collector says, “he should take his feet.”
In Flushing, Queens, you might hear the one about a little Chinese boy who sets off his family’s stockpile of ceremonial fireworks in his home, sending his puzzled neighbors running over to see what life event the traditional rockets are memorializing. “No ceremony now,” the little boy says. “But when my dad gets home from work, it will be my funeral.”
Or you might hear an ethnic twist on another classic, like one a Palestinian-American comedian, Dean Obeidallah, who performed over the weekend at an Arab and South Asian comedy show, offered in an interview: “Take my land, please!”Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher said 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was right when she said today that misogyny played a role in her losing the 2016 presidential election to President Donald Trump.
Partial transcript as follows:
TAPPER: When Hillary Clinton was asked at the event if misogyny played a role in her loss, she said yes. Do you agree?
MAHER: Of course, absolutely. I think we learned a lot about this country, and we’re learning more about what with what goes on at Fox News every day.
TAPPER: That is a pretty remarkable turn of events, but I think that that’s about a misogynistic culture in corporate American and not just a few bad apples I’m guessing?
MAHER: Not just corporate culture. you know, I think race is more on the surface and people talk about it and there are movements like Black Lives Matter and I’m glad there are, but I think we thought we were further along on the woman issue then I think we. There’s something like 80 countries who have had a woman leader. Pakistan has had a woman leader, but not the United States of us. Somehow we lag behind that. And a lot of people would say I would vote for that woman but I didn’t want to the vote for that one. Well, let’s see next time when there’s another woman put up for president. I don’t know when that’s going to happen. It doesn’t look like anytime soon.The last of the White Rajahs: The extraordinary story of the Victorian adventurer who subjugated a vast swathe of Borneo
Few things frightened the Dayak warriors of Borneo, who were infamous for the gruesome custom of head-hunting. But on a December day in 1912, a series of thunderous booms reverberated across the island’s misty swamps and sent them racing towards the shelter of their huts.
Many feared they were about to endure the wrath of the gods or at least a severe storm. But it was in fact a man-made cacophony, a 21-gun salute to announce the birth of a male heir to the throne of Sarawak, the small jungle kingdom on Borneo’s western coast.
The baby whose arrival was so celebrated that day was not, as might have been expected, one of the Dayaks, Malays or Chinese who made up Sarawak’s population of half a million.
Jungle kingdom: Borneo's Dayak warriors had a fierce reputation
Indeed, Anthony Brooke could hardly have been more British. Born thousands of miles away in England, he would later be educated at Eton and Oxford. Yet as far as the people of Sarawak were concerned, he was royalty.
Since 1841, his father’s family had taken it upon themselves to rule this remote region as their private empire. The White Rajahs, as they became known, had the power of life and death over their subjects, not to mention their own constabulary, flag and postage stamps.
Anthony, too, would go on to govern Sarawak. In fact, this bizarre and extraordinary dynasty — known as much for its eccentricity as for its benevolent rule — only came to an end this month when he died at the age of 98.
The family had come to power thanks to Anthony’s great-great-uncle James Brooke — a man so swashbucklingly adventurous that Errol Flynn once proposed to play him in a film about his life.
The family had come to power thanks to Anthony’s great-great-uncle James Brooke — a man so swashbucklingly adventurous that Errol Flynn once proposed to play him in a film about his life.
Born in Benares in 1803, he was the son of an English judge who worked for the East India Company.
As a young man he joined the Bengal Army, waging war against Burma as the British Empire sought to expand, but his dreams of glory ended abruptly when in 1825 he was shot in the most intimate part of the male anatomy.
During an understandably long convalescence, aided in true Empire fashion by daily cold baths, he began reading books about the Far East.
This later inspired him to lead the crew of a vast 142-ton sailing ship on a voyage to challenge Dutch control of southern Borneo.
His arrival in Sarawak in 1839 was timely. The region was controlled by the Sultan of neighbouring Brunei who was then facing a rag-tag uprising by local Malays.
He offered Brooke sovereignty over Sarawak if he could lead the Sultan’s army to victory against the rebels and the Englishman with a taste for lunatic danger quickly obliged.
As the newly-appointed Rajah, Brooke took charge of what amounted to 3,000 square miles of swamp, jungle and river, much of it populated by the Dayaks.
They marked important events in their lives by taking the heads of other people in the community. If a Dayak husband failed to present a human skull to his wife after the birth of a child then it was feared that the newborn would meet with illness or even death.
Swashbuckler: Sir James Brooke ruled Sarawak in the 19th century
Likewise, no young Dayak warrior ever went courting without first donning an animal mask and skins and ambushing a fellow Dayak, often a woman or child from his own community.
He then made his intended a present of his victim’s skull.
Such acts were outlawed under the many new laws which James Brooke introduced to civilise Sarawak.
As self-appointed judge, he presided over court sessions in the front room of his own house, a hastily assembled plank-and-thatch affair in the capital Kuching.
With his pet orangutan, Betsy, scampering around in the background, the legal proceedings attracted much interest in Sarawak, although not for the reasons Brooke had intended.
For many, the main draw was the opportunity to place bets on the fate of those on trial including, in one most bizarre case, a man-eating crocodile.
This creature stood accused of killing a court translator who had toppled drunkenly into the river one night and, after much weighing of the arguments for and against its punishment, Brooke solemnly recorded the verdict in his journal.
‘I decided that he should be instantly killed without honours and he was dispatched accordingly; his head severed from his trunk and the body left exposed as a warning to all the other crocodiles that may inhabit these waters.’
Perhaps because of his delicate war injury, Brooke never married. Before his death in 1868, he nominated as heir his sister’s son Charles Johnson, a former sailor who changed his surname to Brooke upon becoming Rajah.
A beneficent and much-loved ruler who was 39 when he came to power, Charles extended the boundaries of the land under his control into the interior until it was the size of England, abolished slavery and built roads, waterworks and a even — in the style of a true Victorian — a railway.
He also encouraged his British officers to take native women as lovers in the hope that they would become ‘sleeping dictionaries’ who could teach them the local language. But at home he was somewhat less easy-going.
End of the line: Anthony Brooke, last White Rajah of Sarawak, would lose the territory to the British Crown
'Charles was something of a queer fish,’ his British wife, Margaret, once said. This was a somewhat understated description of a man who had lost his eye in a hunting accident and replaced it with a glass one, taken out of a stuffed albatross.
Charles forbade his sons to eat jam because he deemed it effeminate and his marriage became strained after he killed his wife’s pet doves and served them in a pie for her supper one night.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, she spent much of his 50-year period of rule back home in England. Seldom seen without a green parrot perched on her wrist, she lived in a house near Ascot called Greyfriars and became obsessed with finding wives for their three sons.
She did so by inviting eligible young women to join them in forming a musical ensemble known as the Greyfriars Orchestra. Among those attending the first rehearsal in 1902 was the Honourable Sylvia Brett — daughter of the 2nd Viscount Esher — later to become known by newspapers of the day as Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters.
Although she had no musical skills, Sylvia’s contribution to the Greyfriars Orchestra was as a percussionist.
She obviously performed with beguiling effect, because one day the Brookes’ eldest son Vyner, then 28, made his move, asking if he might tune her drum.
A subsequent courtship resulted in their marriage in February 1911, after which they set sail for Sarawak.
By then, the Rajah’s Palace was an imposing affair, perched on a hill overlooking the river and comprising three airy bungalows with wide verandahs.
The couple would sleep through the afternoon, then have tea and play tennis or golf in the cool of the evening. It might have been an idyllic existence had Sylvia produced a son to ensure the succession after Charles and Vyner.
She became pregnant almost immediately, but the child she gave birth to in November 1911 was a girl — to Rajah Charles’s disappointment.
The following year, however, he received news from England that filled him with joy.
His second son Bertram had married Gladys Palmer, an heiress to the Huntley & Palmers biscuit fortune, and she’d had a boy called Anthony who would serve as an heir if Sylvia failed to produce a son of her own.
In jubilation, the Rajah ordered the firing of the 21-gun salute, which so alarmed the Dayak warriors.
Sylvia, who went on to have two more daughters but no sons, never forgave little Anthony for his much-heralded arrival in the world.
Sylvia would divide the rest of her life between battling to ensure that her daughters succeeded to the throne instead of Anthony and bestowing her sexual favours upon anyone she happened to find attractive.
She would divide the rest of her life between battling to ensure that her daughters succeeded to the throne instead of Anthony and bestowing her sexual favours upon anyone she happened to find attractive.
In this she was no worse than her husband, Vyner, who made no effort to conceal his liaisons with various Sarawakian mistresses. But in a European woman — and a Viscount’s daughter to boot — such behaviour was regarded as shocking. Not that this was likely to bother Sylvia.
By the time her father-in-law Rajah Charles Brooke died, in 1917, she was back in England, flaunting her exotic royal status. Sallying forth into London society in a Malay dress and yellow sarong, she topped her outfit off with a snakeskin headband and a tasselled red lacquer cane.
On her journey back to Sarawak to witness her husband Vyner’s oath of succession, she stopped in Cape Town for a few weeks. There she could not resist often disastrous dalliances with a series of South African men.
One came to her hotel room late at night and she discovered too late that, like her father-in-law, he had a glass eye.
‘He carefully took it out and placed it on the mantelpiece while I watched the performance quite speechless,’ she wrote in her memoirs. ‘Even had I been the most passionate woman in the world I could not have sinned before that baleful, glittering orb.’
She spent the night sleeping upright in a chair, while her intended paramour snored in her bed.
Perhaps her wantonness ran in her genes, because as her daughters reached an age where they were interested in men, she encouraged amorous escapades with young Government officers in Sarawak.
In search of the White Rajahs: Actress Joanna Lumley beside the memorial to Sir Charles Brooke, during the filming of a BBC documentary about the kingdom
The antics of Princesses Gold, Pearl and Baba, as they were nicknamed by locals, fascinated the press in both Britain and America — and by the Thirties Sarawak had become something of a music-hall joke.
As he grew older, Vyner appeared to lose interest in the day-to-day business of government and considered abdicating. Since his brother Bertram had suffered a nervous breakdown and was incapable of rule, his natural successor was his nephew, Anthony.
In 1939, during one of Vyner’s annual pilgrimages to England for the flat-racing season, the 23-year-old heir apparent was left in charge of the country for six months.
He made a good impression on the British Colonial Office, despite his aunt Ranee Sylvia accusing him of inflated self-importance. She reported, among other things, that he had attached a gold cardboard crown to his car and ordered ox-carts and rickshaws to draw aside as he passed.
He denied these charges, but he was never allowed to inherit the rule of Sarawak because in 1946 Vyner agreed to cede it to the British Crown in return for a substantial financial settlement for him and his family. So it became Britain’s last colonial acquisition.
After failing in a long legal battle to have the sale of Sarawak reversed, Anthony began a second career as a self-styled ‘ambassador-at-large for the people of the world’, travelling the globe and campaigning for peace.
This put an increasing strain on his marriage to Kathleen Hudden, the sister of a Sarawak government official. They had three children but eventually separated, not least because of his increasingly bizarre beliefs.
At one point, he joined a New Age Commune in North-Eastern Scotland and adopted their belief that flying saucers would one day bring ‘peace on earth and to the brotherhood of man’.
He and Kathleen finally divorced in 1973 when he told her he was about to be contacted by extra-terrestrials and did not want her caught up in whatever dramas ensued.
He went on to marry a peace campaigner from Sweden who was 18 years his junior. Together they travelled the world, producing a newsletter which focused on issues, including environmental protection and the rights of indigenous people, before finally settling in New Zealand, 5,000 miles from the land he once dreamed of ruling.
We will never know how Sarawak would have fared if he had ruled for longer than those brief six months, but these details of his later life suggest one thing.Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that resulted in Western economic sanctions. The first S-400 air-defense system was installed in the territory last year and assumed combat duty in January 2017.
Russia reportedly plans to move a second S-400 anti-aircraft missile system to the annexed Crimean peninsula in the coming months.
The latest S-400 system performed shooting drills for “operational readiness” at a missile test range in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region, a senior military official said Thursday.
Vadim Astafyev, Russia’s Southern Military District spokesman, told the state-run TASS news agency that the missiles would be placed on combat duty in Crimea "soon."
Astafyev did not specify the date of the S-400’s planned deployment in the disputed territory. Earlier this year, the Tass agency reported that that the anti-aircraft system would be deployed in Crimea in the latter half of 2017 and put on combat duty in February 2018.Premier Brad Wall is simply not being held accountable for either his long-term capital spending or the lack of a provincial budget in this campaign.
On Monday, Progressive Conservative leader Rick Swenson may have demonstrated why this is a big problem.
Swenson asserted a re-elected Saskatchewan Party government ‘s public-private partnerships (P3s) could add as much as $7.6 billion in debt in its third term and would mean we will not see a balanced budget in that four-year span.
The PC leader claimed SaskBuilds documents posted on its website show the government will make exorbitant monthly payments for the next 30 years for P3 commitments on schools, hospitals and especially the $1.9-billion Regina bypass.
“Unlike past PC government (privatization) projects like the Saskferco fertilizer plant or the Co-op and Husky upgraders, Mr. Wall’s P3s have no source of revenue except public taxes, do not create permanent growth and cannot be sold at an appreciated value,” Swenson said.
“P3 projects make it impossible to balance the budget in the next four years.”
Swenson added the Wall government “has been deliberately secretive with all documents around their P3 projects” and that the “secretive” P3 costs may be a big reason why we didn’t see a 2016-17 budget before the March 8 election call.
Naturally, the Sask. Party quickly took umbrage, saying Swenson was “dead wrong” and that “the provincial auditor gave the province a clean audit in her most recent audited financial statements which included the beginning of these P3 assets.”
The Sask. Party noted that the “capital component of any P3 is in the SaskBuilds Capital Plan (and) is recorded on a percentage-of-completion basis, just like all other assets.”
Furthermore, the Sask. Party also has a good argument that some P3s, like schools, have capital value to a private owner who can later sell the property when it is no longer needed as a school.
Communities desperate to have a school in their area are less worried about such ownership issues. In fact, the building of the P3 Hampton School in Cam Broten’s own Saskatoon Westview riding may yet be a problematic issue for the NDP leader.
That said, this hardly suggests the Sask. Party’s one-size-fits-all solution to every capital build works all the time for every type of project.
Wall has still not set forth a convincing argument that voters aren’t getting gouged on Regina’s costly bypass — especially given that high upfront costs and overpriced “maintenance” fees are how the private partners will generate the bulk of their revenue. After all, you can’t sell a bypass when it’s no longer needed.
In fairness, the NDP has also made these same points — even during the televised leaders’ debate when Broten argued the silliness of private snowploughs used strictly for the bypass.
But the NDP’s generic opposition to anything containing the word “privatization” and dubious accusations that Wall is planning to sell everything from SaskPower to SaskEnergy to SaskTel puts its criticism into question.
And then there is the little matter of whether, as Wall and the Sask. Party contend, the NDP’s own campaign spending adds up.
But as Swenson and others have noted, Wall has no room to criticize anyone when his own government has failed to produce a pre-election budget or offer voters a proper assessment of how P3s may add to long-term public debt.
When you have the PC leader in Saskatchewan — the heir to the Grant Devine legacy of both debt and privatization at all costs — now raising serious questions as to whether Wall’s P3 model goes too far by putting Saskatchewan in perpetual structural deficit, maybe we need to pay attention.
Swenson further argued the bypass will require $167-million monthly lease payments plus “a lump sum payment of $103 million is due on Halloween of 2017” and will need another $507 million lump-sum payment upon completion of phase one on Oct. 31, 2019.
“The result in the 2016 budget is a total deficit of $728 million plus $1.158 billion of accrued debt on the newly promised election P3s,” he said.
Perhaps Swenson is overstating matters.
But without a budget or long-term costing, how do we know Swenson isn’t right?
Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post.Matt Damon: Trump required cameos for movies filmed in his buildings
Matt Damon is pictured attending an event at the 74th Venice Film Festival. (Photo11: Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images)
We might finally have a definitive explanation behind President Trump's rare cameo on Home Alone 2.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Academy Award winner Matt Damon detailed the requirements for filming at Trump Organization buildings.
"The deal was that if you wanted to shoot in one of his buildings, you had to write him in a part," Damon said. "Martin Brest had to write something in Scent of a Woman — and the whole crew was in on it. You have to waste an hour of your day with a [expletive] shot: Donald Trump walks in and Al Pacino’s like, 'Hello, Mr. Trump!' — you had to call him by name — and then he exits."
"You waste a little time so that you can get the permit, and then you can cut the scene out," Damon added. "But I guess in Home Alone 2 they left it in."
Chris O'Donnell, who starred in Scent of a Woman, shared a similar account when he appeared on Conan earlier this year.
“We got new pages given to us one day when we were filming [at] the Plaza Hotel — which I guess Trump owned at the time — and it said we’re doing a scene with Donald Trump," O'Donnell told Conan O'Brien. "It explained to us in that in order for us to film at the Plaza we had a little walk-on part for Donald and [ex-wife] Marla [Maples].”
The scene, O'Donnell recalled, wasn't a speaking part.
“It was we pull up in a limo and [Al] Pacino and I left and another car pulled up and it was Donald Trump and Marla Maples walked out and went in,” O'Donnell added.
Trump's clip in the 1992 acclaimed film didn't make the final cut.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2exF2d2There are people who still defend the invasion of Iraq, and there are even more who would defend Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan, and the warrantless surveillance of American citizens. But what can be said is this: These actions remain subject to debate, and in so far as they are, Americans have acquired significant and essential knowledge with which to judge them from unauthorized leaks. These leaks have spurred a public discussion of foreign policy that might otherwise have been suppressed by secrecy.
Manning claimed that he leaked information about the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan to “spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy.” His leaks certainly did so. Revelations included American troops killing civilians, including women and children, and then calling in an airstrike to destroy evidence; the video of an American Apache helicopter gunship shooting civilians, including two Reuters reporters; American military authorities failing to investigate reports of torture and murder by Iraqi police; and a “black unit” in Afghanistan tasked to perform extrajudicial assassinations of Taliban sympathizers that killed as many as 373 civilians. Manning’s leaks also revealed American surveillance—contrary to the original UN charter—of the UN’s top leadership.
Snowden’s leaks have sparked a needed debate about government surveillance. They revealed a massive spying campaign by the National Security Administration (NSA) on Americans and also on foreign individuals and businesses that were not directly implicated in any terrorist threat. The NSA reportedly bugged the European Union mission in Washington D.C. Like Manning, Snowden claimed to be acting in his country—and the world’s—interest. "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," Snowden wrote, but "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."
In all these cases of leaks, a government prosecutor could argue that the revelations helped America’s adversaries. Any revelation of American government misconduct is a boost to the country’s adversaries. The publication of the Pentagon Papers or revelations about the My Lai Massacre certainly helped the cause of the North Vietnamese and their allies during the Vietnam War. Reports of CIA attempts to assassinate Cuba’s Fidel Castro certainly strengthened the Cuban Communist’s cause. But to acknowledge that is to recognize how grossly the criterion of “aiding the enemy” is being misused by Obama, Holder, and the military. The question isn’t if a leak unintentionally benefits adversaries (declared or undeclared), but whether, in the circumstance, it has benefited American democracy.
Some amount of secrecy is justified. The Roosevelt administration was certainly justified in concealing its ability to decode Japanese and German messages—and the leak in 1942 to the Chicago Tribune of America’s ability to decode Japanese messages was patently unjustified. But Manning and Snowden’s leaks—as well as those earlier of Thomas Drake about the NSA’s warrantless surveillance or John Kiriakou of CIA’s use of torture—revealed the underside of questionable foreign policy activities about which the public had either been kept in the dark or deceived. These leaks strengthened American democracy. They were justifiable acts of civil disobedience.
But Obama, who opposed the invasion of Iraq and criticized the surveillance state that the war on terror had created, chose to prosecute these individuals, while deciding not to prosecute Bush administration officials who promoted the torture of prisoners. Obama also condoned the brutal treatment of Manning, who during nine months in the Marine brig, before he was convicted of any crime, was kept in solitary confinement, forced to sleep naked with the lights on and without covers, and made to sit upright all day in his cell without being allowed to rest or do pushups. At a press conference in March 2011, Obama said that Manning’s treatment was “appropriate and … meeting our basic standards.” When State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who served 26 years in the air force, condemned Manning’s treatment as “ridiculous and counter-productive and stupid,” Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accepted Crowley’s resignation.
There is nothing, of course, that can done to temper Manning’s prosecution, which is in the military’s hands.The military judge—bearing out Georges Clemenceau’s quip that “military justice is to justice what military music is to music”—ruled that Manning can be charged with “aiding the enemy,” based on the fact that some of the files Manning gave to Wikileaks were found on Osama bin Laden’s computer. The administration is also committed to charging Snowden under the Espionage Act.
But if Obama comes to understand that these men are not traitors or spies, but whistleblowers who acted in what they believed was the country’s best interest—and that what they did was in the country’s best interest—he has a precedent he can follow in dealing with them. He can do for the whistleblowers he has prosecuted what Clinton did for Samuel Loring Morison. Snowden may be out of reach, and if not, should be tried under lesser charges, but a midnight pardon for Manning, who has already suffered during three years of imprisonment, doesn’t undermine the law; it makes an exception for certain individuals whose actions are ultimately excusable because of a higher law. Nothing less from Obama will remove the stain of injustice that has sullied his administration.
Correction: The piece originally attributed Georges Clemenceau's quote about military justice to Groucho Marx.My Chemical Romance's former frontman Gerard Way has always been seen as an emo hero, always one to share his history with depression to help fans dealing with the same. While promoting his new solo album Hesitant Alien, the cult icon did a Reddit AMA that connected in a different way: by opening up about gender identity.
User mutiescum asked, "I’ve always been really inspired by your style and how you incorporate a lil bit of glam, a lil bit of femme into your aesthetic. In fact, the way you present on stage and in music videos helped me figure out my own gender identity as a teenager. Who are your style icons? What was your inspiration for messing with masculinity in the ways that you do?" Then Gerard responded in a touching and enlightening way.Coco emerged from the shower lost in her own thoughts. She had come to Beacon to be the one of the best huntresses around. Certainly the most fashionable at the very least. In her opinion half the students here didn't even know the first thing about color coordination, let alone matching proper tops with bottoms. Enduring the trials in her freshman year like all the other novices, she had even managed having a bit of fun along the way, but never had she imagined finding herself in this sort of predicament. Well, "predicament" might be too harsh, but she certainly hadn't expected to be contemplating a serious relationship with another hunter, at least not one lasting longer than the duration of a movie or dinner as many of her previous attempts had resulted in. She was so deep in thought that it wasn't until she felt something latching onto her before she snapped out of the reverie and realized she wasn't in the bathroom anymore.
"I'm so happy for you Coco. I really am. It's so nice seeing you like this!" Velvet practically squealed with quiet intensity.
"I think I can safely assume you mean something other than me wearing nothing but a towel Velv?" Coco replied with a smirk.
Velvet blushed then averted her gaze slightly while clutching her arm. "Wha?! I mean-! Well I mean you finally opened up to someone! For real this time and not by teasing them half to death!"
"Ahh, well that's true I suppose. If anything I actually have you to thank for that." Coco smiled, returning Velvet's hug as she headed to her dresser.
"Huh? What for? You were the one doing the talking..." Velvet asked arching an eyebrow.
"True, but it was your observations during our shopping trip that caused me to take a chance that night. You also helped me through the aftermath the next morning. If you hadn't walked in when you did I probably would have pretended like the whole thing never happened."
She frowned at the thought then went on.
"Actually, I think I'm going to ease up on the teasing for a bit and give this a serious shot."
"Oh, that's wonderful news!" Velvet exclaimed brightly before she realized something and blushed further."Soooo I guess now would be a bad time to mention that I told him how you used to tease everyone all the time then...?" Velvet mentioned offhandedly.
"What?!" Coco exclaimed as the morning's feeling of dread returned.
A few halls away, Anon walked into his dorm and was greeted by a punch in the arm.
"There he is, Mr. Ladykiller himself! So, I hear you and Coco got together last night, eh?" Ulysses grinned.
Anon looked over towards Hazel whose face was reddening behind her book. She mouthed the words "I'm sorry!" and buried herself back under the pages. Frowning slightly, he turned back to Ulysses.
"Kind of, but it's not what you think man. Really." He gave a quick recap of how their night at the club went, careful not to mention anything about the kisses Coco and he had shared. Ulysses was a good friend and a pretty good hunter, but when it came to discussing relationship stuff beyond holding hands, it often led to conversations that made Anon wonder if Ulysses didn't have a portable porn shop buried in that head of his. Right about when it looked like Ulysses was going to start interrogating him for more, his scroll beeped loudly interrupting the conversation. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen, frowning in irritation.
"Ah man already? Just when things were getting interesting. Hey I gotta go but we'll talk later ok?" He waved lazily and hurried out of the dorm leaving the two remaining teammates in uncomfortable silence.
Hazel finally peeked out from her book, her face still blushing at Ulysses' antics. "I'm sorry Anon. He started going on about this girl he met last night, and I really didn't care to hear another episode of his sexual conquests. So I uhh...just said the first thing that came to my head to change the subject. I uh, might have mentioned you had shared a moment with Coco last night and...I'm really sorry..." She apologized quietly.
He couldn't deny he was a bit irritated at having to deal with Ulysses this early in the relationship, especially since that would probably mean daily requests-no demands for progress on how far he was getting with Coco. What if he wanted to come along on a double date with one of his many hookups? Anon pinched his nose as he thought about that pleasant thought. He imagined if Coco didn't break up with him after one of those disasters Ulysses would probably end up in the hospital at the very least.
He finally looked up with a shrug. "Don't worry about it. We all know how Ulysses can be...well...Ulysses. He'd have found out anyway sooner or later, I swear the guy has a nose for this stuff."
"Wish he had half as good a nose for detecting Grimm." She grumped. "For the supposed scout of our team, he seems to lead Grimm to us rather than the other way around." She finished to Anon's chuckling.
Coco exited the cafeteria line and walked over to the table usually favored by her team. If anyone had been paying attention to her they would have been surprised to see what she was doing. Normally a slow eater who took her time with her meals (much to her teammates annoyance), her tray had barely hit the table before she was already attacking her burger, quickly ripping off the foil wrapper and and tearing large chunks from the sandwich with her teeth. She had been so wound up thinking about her situation she hadn't managed to eat all day, but when presented with the smell of the cafeteria, her stomach had reasserted itself and demanded it be satisfied. She had already moved on to the fries before a voice made her look up.
"This seat taken?" Coco's face lit up as she recognized Anon's voice.
"Its all yours." Coco answered, gulping down an entire mouthful of salad.
Anon joined her and placed his tray down.
"So, whats up?" He asked, eying the miniature feast laid out on her tray.
"Not much..." She replied, continuing to attack her salad to hide her mounting nervousness. "Hangover is just about gone, so figured I would grab a bite to eat."
Anon couldn't help but chuckle. "A bite huh? We talking human or Grimm sized bites now?" He grinned motioning to the several sandwiches and sides on her tray.
"A lady has a right to get hungry Anon!" She shot back though not without a smile of her own. "Besides unless my eyes are mistaken, you've got quite the feast on your tray as well."
Anon hung his head in mock surrender. "Ok I deserved that one, can't really hide a quad-chiliburger anyway." He groaned then looked up. "So…um Coco, I was wondering..."
"Hmm?" She returned the look wiping her mouth.
"Well...I wanted to talk about our upcoming date, you know kind of figure out what kind of things you'd like to do? I remember you mentioning something about a movie." Anon asked, his cheeks turning red.
"Tut tut Anon, isn't it considered bad form when the boy needs to ask his date what to do?" She grinned wickedly. "At least that's what all my previous dates decided not to do and look where it got them?"
Seeing the look of panic on Anon's face she quickly followed up. "That was a |
older contemporaries. What makes this all the worse is that it is young people who have been hardest hit by the economic turbulence of recent years with the unemployment rate for young people running at three times the rate of the rest of the populace. This is further compounded with recent studies showing that their real incomes have fallen faster in comparison to other age groups. Of course, these issues affect working-class young people more than their better off brethren but more privileged young people are also affected as they too can find steady employment increasingly difficult to obtain and their road to higher education barred by financial considerations (particularly in the rest of the UK). The fact that young people’s entitlement to social security and minimum wage is deemed less worthy than older age groups also serves to institutionalise the message that their requirements are seen as less important than ‘adults’. Academic James Côté concludes that due to these changes in their material circumstances young people now have the dubious honour of being considered a disadvantaged ‘class’ of their own due to the growing gulf in material circumstances between themselves and their older contemporaries:
As a result of several decades of this negative treatment, declining status, and targeting as legitimate targets of exploitative labour practices, the youth segment of the work force…now constitutes one of the most economically disadvantaged groups of the entire population and very few people object to this situation, seeing it as normal and justified.
Denied an adequate material standard of living and marginalised in the employment market young people will fail to find a stake in society, inhibiting their willingness to participate in the political domain. Unless this institutionalised marginalisation is addressed, I have grave doubts that young people will seek to engage in a political system which is dismissive of even their most basic needs.
This is compounded by the fact that the responsibility for young people’s disengagement from formal politics is blamed on them, rather than a system which ignores their views. Policy, media and political discourse continues to point the finger at the alleged apathy and selfishness of youth. Far from this being the case, much research has shown that young people are engaged politically. Indeed, young people are, much like the rest of the populace, utterly cynical about formal politics – disenchanted and disillusioned with the behaviour of our elected officials and turned off by a politics which absolutely does not engage with young people, their needs or their interests. And it must be borne in mind that cynicism requires a level of political engagement not required to be apathetic. As a result of all this young people are increasingly turning away from formal politics, feeling both disenfranchised and disconnected from a politics which is increasingly hostile toward them. Why bother paying attention to a world of grey men in grey suits which ignores their most basic of needs?
When young people have rallied to display their feelings on issues which they see as important, the reaction has bordered on the hysterical – witness the demonstrations against the illegal war on Iraq, the G8 and when the government trebled tuition fees down south. Media reaction framed young people as posturing, misguided and at worst, criminal. It seems that some forms of political participation are valued more than others. Allied to this the disproportionate response of the police (kettling school children!) hardly sends a message of valued political participation either, does it? What these do reveal, however, is that young people are engaging in politics, just out-with the formal sphere – their participation appears to be ‘issue-based’ reflecting a growing ‘consumerism’ with politics – dipping in and out, picking issues that are of importance to them. Much research has shown that young people are looking at issues such as militarism, Third World debt, animal rights, nuclear power, environmentalism and anti-capitalist policies amongst others – and have little confidence in their elected officials to either represent them or deal with what they see as globalised issues. Young people are engaging in new ways which the traditional formal structures are unable or unwilling to accommodate – such as petitioning, boycotts, demonstrations and online activity such as blogging and internet campaigning. Young people demand a new response and so far our old politics has not responded. Our institutions are failing to engage with the politics of youth – until they do, it will be of little surprise if young people remain outside the realm of formal politics. And if they continue to be labelled as ‘domestic extremists’ when they respond to kettling in kind, who can blame them when met with such appalling shows of state force.
Unsurprisingly, young people feel alienated and excluded from political decision-making processes, seeing politics as something that is done to them, and not with them. No doubt many people feel this way. It’s the supply-side of politics which is at fault here, not young people. As political parties become more marketised and target-driven, policy agendas are focused on where they can get the most ‘bang-for-their-buck’. And where does this lead? To the ‘grey vote’ – and young people’s agendas are seen as peripheral and of little concern. This has created a vicious circle where young people are not voting and now politicians can seemingly ignore their concerns with impunity. Whilst pensioners are courted by the political class young people lose with every passing year – their entitlement to the most basic of social security looking increasingly imperilled by the major parties at Westminster. Young people have become the victims of policy as they suffer for their ‘failure’ to participate in elections which do not speak to their lived reality. The misguided call by Russell Brand for young people to abstain from voting will not lead to change. Young people need to vote and to have their voices heard.
Given that young people have engaged in the referendum it will be of extreme interest to see if young people in Scotland do elect to participate in next year’s General Election. It’s hoped that there has been a ‘participative footprint’ from the referendum which will see a generation of politically engaged young people. If we want the following generations to become involved then it might be up to this generation to speak back to power to address the marginalisation of young people in society. And this means addressing their economic marginalisation and their political interests. This means taking a holistic view of their political exclusion, realising it goes beyond merely addressing their participative exclusion. Of course, the starting point means valuing the input of young people and asking them what they want, what would help and how we can address their exclusion. Only then will we be truly serious about addressing the political marginalisation of young people. If the situation continues as it is – and young people reject the General Election next year altogether – the continuing legitimacy of our democracy could be called into question if it is excluding such a large part of our populace. We should celebrate the fact that young people engaged in the Independence referendum, but we need to ensure that instead of this being a one-off it becomes the norm.
Alan Mackie
National Collective
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Photograph by Peter McNallyIf Hillary Clinton becomes president, life for Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange “will possibly get worse," security expert and journalist Jacob Appelbaum told a crowd at the premiere of Laura Poitras’ documentary "Risk" in Cannes Thursday.
Speaking at a Q&A session after the screening, Appelbaum described a Clinton presidency as “a very scary prospect.”
He pointed to Cablegate, the 2010 release of 250,000 State Department emails leaked by Chelsea Manning, as an indicator of what a Clinton presidency would mean for Assange, claiming she still holds a grudge over the whistleblowing that took place while she was Secretary of State.
“I had a meeting with someone from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s office some time after the Cablegate,” Appelbaum said. “It was with a very senior person, whose opening line was to remind me that he was a very, very powerful man. He let me know that Clinton did not like Julian or myself on a first name basis. I think that if Hillary Clinton were to run for president, she will continue to assert her political will and bitterness about the exposure of diplomatic cables that documented crimes.”
Appelbaum, who has not been to the US for three years on advice of his lawyers, revealed his friends and family members had been harassed by the Barack Obama administration and asked to become informants.
He described Assange as a "political prisoner who is being demonized in the press."
Applebaum claimed the investigation into Assange stretches far beyond his involvement in publishing Manning’s leaked documents.
“By 2013, so this is three years ago, the FBI file had already reached over 42,000 pages of which only 9,000 relate to the case against Chelsea Manning,” he said.
READ MORE: ‘Risk of inaction is very high’: WikiLeaks founder Assange under spotlight in new doc at Cannes
Wikileaks editor Sarah Harrison reminded the audience that the UN condemned the UK and Sweden for illegally detaining him and ordered his release in February.
Risk is a Benedict Cumberbatch-free telling of the Julian Assange and Wikileaks story in which incriminating revelations about US foreign policy in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, and more recently, TTIP, tipped the global balance of power.
Poitras is a renowned filmmaker who has created detailed, investigative documentaries about the post-9/11 landscape, and the Oscar-winning Citizenfour about Edward Snowden.
She was the first person Snowden reached out to in 2013, due to her filmography.
“You asked why I chose you. I didn’t. You chose yourself,” Snowden told her.
Poitras has become a victim of surveillance and has been on the ‘Terror Watch List’ since 2006.
She began working on Risk in 2011, filming Assange after the Swedish sexual assault accusations came to light in 2010.
READ MORE: Clinton rape allegation used by Trump in ‘treatment of women’ debate
The film follows Assange as he avoids extradition by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has terminated its longtime campaign to promote the use of recycled tires on artificial turf fields and playgrounds, amid growing concern from critics in California and elsewhere who fear the material poses a health risk to people.
Millions of children and athletes across the nation play on surfaces that contain rubber from scrap tires. The rubber is transformed into colorful soft landing mats beneath playground equipment or shredded to act as a replacement for wood bark at schools and parks. Ground up further, it makes up the tiny black pebbles that give resiliency to artificial turf.
But environmental groups and health advocates say the EPA failed to thoroughly study the health effects of the so-called “crumb rubber” because the agency was vested in promoting recycling of the material as a solution to the nation’s growing stockpile of scrap tires. They fear the crumb rubber infill, used in artificial fields since the 1990s, has contributed to cancer cases in 126 soccer, field hockey and football players across the nation.
“The EPA made a mistake in promoting this. That’s my personal view,” said Suzanne Wuerthele, a former EPA toxicologist who is now retired. “This was a serious no-brainer. You take something with all kinds of hazardous materials and make it something kids play on? It seems like a dumb idea.”
Concerns about the possible link to cancer prompted a California lawmaker to call for a moratorium on the installation of crumb-rubber synthetic fields and playgrounds until the state can thoroughly study its health effects.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that our children aren’t being harmed by materials used on these fields and in their playgrounds,” said state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who introduced SB47 in December to require California to study at least 20 turf fields and playgrounds and halt new ones from being constructed with the material for two years until research is complete. “Nearly all of the existing studies cite the need for additional research about whether there is a risk. The tests have never been conclusive, and there is a greater increase in the use of tire crumb.”
Groups concerned with the material say the studies done to date — including a 2009 EPA study — have looked only at a limited number of toxics at a handful of fields, and they are calling for additional research.
“The common sense concern is that this is just chopped up hazardous waste,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a national nonprofit that has fought the EPA since 2009 over the federal agency’s endorsement of ground tires in playgrounds and sports fields.
Industry groups say dozens of studies have validated the safety of synthetic turf, which appeared on the market in the 1960s and included crumb rubber or other infill material, such as sand, in the 1990s to enhance the product. Today, there are more than 11,000 turf sports fields across the country, according to the trade group the Synthetic Turf Council. Each field uses 20,000 to 40,000 scrap tires, according to various studies and industry groups.
“There are always things you can research more,” said Dan Zielinski, spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association. “But, given the body of research already done, had there been means for concern, I think we would have seen it.”
126 athletes
University of Washington assistant soccer coach Amy Griffin points to her list of cancer-stricken athletes as reason enough for concern. Eighty-two of the 126 athletes on her list are soccer goalies, players who were constantly diving into the synthetic turf.
“Goalkeepers are in this stuff all the time,” Griffin said. “Generally, during training, there are plenty of drills that you dive and save ball after ball after ball. You never really leave the ground.”
At first, in 2009, Griffin said she thought it was a strange and sad coincidence that she knew two goalies diagnosed with cancer. Then Griffin heard of more players.
One goalie with cancer told her she couldn’t help but think it had something to do with the little rubber pellets all over the turf field, the ones that would find their way into players’ clothes, eyes, nose and mouth throughout games and practices. The ones tracked into homes and found at the bottom of showers when players rinsed off.
Griffin said she found there was little conclusive research on the health effects of the recycled tire pieces players often called “turf bugs.” Since sharing her suspicions publicly, she said her phone has been ringing steadily and her list of athletes with cancer has grown.
“I was ready for people to call me and say I’m crazy, and instead people called and said, 'I’ve always wondered what’s in that stuff,’” Griffin said.
EPA’s turf plan
EPA efforts to promote recycled tires on athletic surfaces date back to a 1991 agency report on various ways to reduce the nation’s scrap tire stockpile. The report said the tire piles posed a health risk because they were ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can spread diseases, and provided potential fuel for hazardous and toxic fires. Using recycled tire material on playgrounds and sports fields, among other possibilities, had potential, the report noted.
By 2003, the agency had partnered with environmental agencies in California and other states and with rubber manufacturers to create the Scrap Tire Workgroup, which promoted the use of recycled tires — including in playgrounds and artificial turf — and developed strategies to counter concerns about the toxicity and volatility of the material.
One strategy outlined in the Workgroup’s 2007 marketing plan involved designating the EPA as the chief marketer to persistently promote the use of ground rubber while at the same time compiling and producing studies to respond to health and safety concerns over the material. Another strategy involved encouraging states to provide subsidies to cities and school districts that installed recycled tire material on playgrounds and athletic fields.
Indeed, millions of dollars in subsidies have been handed out. In California, part of the $1.75 fee added to each new tire purchase pays for annual grants, such as $47,000 for San Jose Unified School District to buy crumb rubber to install turf fields at two elementary schools and $24,000 to San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department to help cover the cost of rubber infill for synthetic sports fields at Ocean View Playground.
Money for new turf
Between 2005 and 2014, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) awarded $21.4 million in tire recycling grants, mostly to cities and school districts wanting to use recycled tires on playgrounds and in new turf fields.
Of those, 22 grants worth a total of $2.3 million helped schools and park districts buy 7.5 million pounds of recycled rubber for synthetic turf fields, which is the equivalent of 623,000 passenger car tires, said CalRecycle spokesman Mark Oldfield.
Next month, more than $800,000 in new grants is scheduled to be awarded to cities, schools, state agencies and Indian tribes, Oldfield said.
During the time the EPA was involved in the Scrap Tire Workgroup, the agency issued a 2009 study on the health effects of crumb rubber, saying it found low levels of concern even though it identified 30 compounds found in tires, including known carcinogens and toxic substances such as arsenic, lead and cadmium. But in 2013, the EPA backed off that earlier statement. The agency said its 2009 study — often cited by industry groups to validate the safety of crumb rubber — was limited in scope and that no conclusions should be drawn by it.
Now, the EPA is further distancing itself from the crumb rubber controversy. Laura Allen, spokeswoman for the EPA, said the agency is no longer affiliated with the Workgroup and has no current initiatives to reduce tires in landfills.
“The agency ended staff participation in the independent Workgroup in May 2014, and closed out administrative participation at the end of the year,” Allen wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle.
When asked if health concerns played a part in the EPA’s decision to withdraw from the group, Allen said only, “There were various factors taken into consideration.”
More tests needed
The agency also says more testing on crumb rubber is needed and that states and local agencies should be responsible for conducting that research.
“The decision to use tire crumb remains a state and local decision,” Allen said. “Our highest priority is protecting public health and the environment, and we will carefully review any new findings or information.”
Retired EPA environmental geologist Mark Schuknecht, who until May 2014 worked as a full-time coordinator for the Scrap Tire Workgroup, said he believes the agency’s decision to disinvest in the group was due to budget cuts, not health concerns with the materials.
Schuknecht said he’s confident the use of scrap tires on playgrounds and sports fields is safe and that future studies would come back the same.
“I was trying hard to keep EPA involved in the Workgroup while I was there and I was successful keeping them involved until I left,” Schuknecht said. “That was my desire. With them involved, it helped encourage work within the group and kept scrap tires on people’s minds. I think it was a positive thing.”
The Workgroup continues to promote the material without the EPA’s involvement. One of its members, the Rubber Manufacturers Association, calls the use of recycled tires across the nation “an environmental success story.” In 2013, 96 percent of scrap tires discarded that year were recycled for various markets. The nation’s scrap tire stockpile dropped from 1 billion in 1990 to 75 million tires in 2013, according to the association.
Putting recycled tires on playgrounds and turf not only cleans up the environment and reduces water use, it provides recreational space that can be used far more often because, unlike real grass, it doesn’t need time to recover, Zielinski said.
'Government failure’
Public health toxicologist David Brown said the government failed the people.
“The studies that have been done are narrow and mostly funded by the industry or waste bureaus trying to get rid of tires,” said Brown, who is the past chief of environmental epidemiology at Connecticut’s Department of Public Health and currently works with the Connecticut-based advocacy group Environmental and Human Health Inc., which opposes the use of recycled tires where children play due to health concerns.
“The objective work that needs to be done hasn’t been done,” Brown said. “I see it as a governmental failure across the board that really we should try to learn from. We should ask the question, 'Who was responsible for determining the safety of these things?’”
In 2009, the Los Angeles Unified School District said due to health concerns it would no longer use recycled tires on its turf fields, opting for alternatives like cork, and removed the used rubber from early education centers. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation also stopped using recycled tires on newly installed sports fields amid health concerns, instead opting for alternative products.
In San Francisco, the Recreation and Park Department expects to replace grass at the Beach Chalet athletic fields in Golden Gate Park with synthetic turf in November using the recycled rubber Hill’s bill proposes to study.
Sarah Ballard, spokeswoman for the parks department, said alternative products have not been well-vetted and may not hold up as well as the rubber pieces. Ballard said the parks department hopes to pilot the use of alternative products at smaller fields to see how they fare.
Opponents of the synthetic fields at Beach Chalet said they will continue to push for the parks department to use alternative products on the fields instead of recycled tires, such as used shoes, coconut fibers, rice husks or cork.
“We need to step back and study these before we install any more,” said Kathleen McCowin, who was arrested after staging a one-person sit-in at Golden Gate Park to stop construction of the new turf soccer fields. “I wouldn’t have gone to jail for anything less than children’s health. My daughter has played on (turf) fields. I drove her to these fields. I’ve had colleagues who say that’s all that’s left. It’s either play on these toxic turf fields or don’t play.”
Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrezEverything you write — blog posts, marketing copy, emails, etc. — is a reflection of your professionalism, your communication skills and your experience. Of course no one is perfect, but you still should want to give the best impression you can by writing with as few typos and grammatical errors as possible.
In an ideal situation, you will be able to have someone else proofread your writing for you, but that’s not always possible. Sometimes, it’s necessary to self-edit. Here are some tricks for proofreading your own writing so you can present the sharpest, most knowledgeable and best “you” through your words.
Make Your Own Shortcuts
We each have our own writing demons … words we frequently misspell, punctuation we misplace and phrases we misuse. Start a list to keep track of mistakes you make repeatedly, with the correction right alongside it. Not only will this give you one place to go for a quick error-check, but putting the list somewhere you can see it every day will help you remember the right way, first.
Get a Stylebook
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Stylebooks are not just for professional writers; they can be valuable tools for anyone writing just about anything. There are several different writing styles; pick one that feels best to you and use it as your frame of reference for all of your writing. A stylebook also helps you write with consistency, and that can enhance your professionalism.
Read It Out Loud
Reading out loud is a great way to catch grammatical errors. It’s also a useful exercise for identifying locations for commas and other punctuation. If wording sounds off to you when you read it out loud, it probably will to others, too.
Print and Read Backwards
This is a trick I learned in my college days when I worked in the publications office at the University. Print out your writing, and read it backwards word-for-word (it’s helpful to use an envelope or other straight-edge tool to keep your place). Forcing your eye to look at each word — out of sentence context — can help you catch errors you might otherwise miss.
Use Spelling and Grammar Checks
Spellcheckers aren’t perfect, but they can help you find common errors, or at least show you words and phrases that might have alternatives. It’s a good idea to run a check on everything you write before letting it loose.
Give It a Rest
When you feel like you’ve caught everything you can, give it a break and come back to it a few hours later with a fresh eye. You might find errors or ideas for improving language that seemed perfect when you first wrote it.
What are your tricks for proofreading your own writing?
Image credit: mylesLife-size human statues and column bases from a long-lost temple dedicated to a supreme god have been discovered in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.
The discoveries date back over 2,500 years to the Iron Age, a time period when several groups — such as the Urartians, Assyrians and Scythians — vied for supremacy over what is now northern Iraq.
"I didn't do excavation, just archaeological soundings —the villagers uncovered these materials accidentally," said Dlshad Marf Zamua, a doctoral student at Leiden University in the Netherlands, who began the fieldwork in 2005. The column bases were found in a single village while the other finds, including a bronze statuette of a wild goat, were found in a broad area south of where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey intersect. [See Photos of the Life-Size Statues & Other Discoveries in Iraq]
For part of the Iron Age, this area was under control of the city of Musasir, also called Ardini, Marf Zamua said. Ancient inscriptions have referred to Musasir as a "holy city founded in bedrock" and "the city of the raven."
A lost ancient temple
"One of the best results of my fieldwork is the uncovered column bases of the long-lost temple of the city of Musasir, which was dedicated to the god Haldi," Marf Zamuatold Live Science in an email. Haldi was the supreme god of the kingdom of Urartu. His temple was so important that after the Assyrians looted it in 714 B.C., the Urartu king Rusa I was said to have ripped his crown off his head before killing himself.
A 19th-century drawing of an ancient relief that depicts the sacking of the temple of Haldi by the Assyrians.
He "threw himself on the ground, tore his clothes, and his arms hung limp. He ripped off his headband, pulled out his hair, pounded his chest with both hands, and threw himself flat on his face …" reads one ancient account (translation by Marc Van De Mieroop).
The location of the temple has long been a mystery, but with the discovery of the column bases, Marf Zamua thinks it can be narrowed down. [Photos: Ancient Temple Discovered in Turkey]
Additionally, Marf Zamua analyzed an ancient carving of Musasir, discovered in the 19th century at Khorsabad. The carving, he found, shows hillside houses with three windows on the second floor and a doorway on the ground floor. Such a design can still be seen today in some villages, the bottom floor being used as a stable and storage area, he noted.
Life-size statues
This long-lost temple is just the tip of the archaeological iceberg. During his work in Kurdistan, Marf Zamua also found several life-size human statues that are up to 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) tall. Made of limestone, basalt or sandstone, some of these statues are now partly broken.
Several life-sized human statues of bearded males, dating back to the seventh or sixth centuries B.C., have also been discovered in Kurdistan.
They all show bearded males, some of whom "are holding a cup in their right hands, and they put their left hands on their bellies," said Marf Zamua. "One of them holds a hand ax. Another one put on a dagger."
Originally erected above burials, the statues have a "sad moment" posture, Marf Zamua said. Similar statues can be found from central Asia to eastern Europe. "It is art and ritual of nomads/pastorals, especially when they [buried] their chieftains," Marf Zamua said.
Mostof the newfound statues date to the seventh or sixth century B.C., after Musasir fell to the Assyrians, and during a time when the Scythians and Cimmerians were advancing through the Middle East.
Modern-day dangers and ancient treasures
Over the past few weeks, conflict in Iraq has been increasing as a group called the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" (ISIS) has taken several cities and threatened to march on Baghdad. The Kurdistan area, including this archaeological site, is autonomous, and its militia has been able to prevent ISIS from entering it.
Marf Zamua said there are risks associated with living and working in the border area. Due to the conflicts of the past few decades, there are numerous unexploded land mines, one of which killed a young shepherd a month back, he said. Additionally the National Iraqi News Agency reports that Iranian artillery recently fired onto the Iraqi side of the border, and there have been past instances where planes from Turkey have launched attacks into Iraqi Kurdistan.
Despite these risks, there are also terrific archaeological finds to be made. In addition to the statues and column bases, Marf Zamuafound a bronze statuette of a wild goat about 3.3 inches (8.4 centimeters) long and 3.2 inches (8.3 cm) tall. Researchers are now trying to decipher a cuneiform inscription on the statuette.
Marf Zamua presented the discoveries recently in a presentation given at the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, held at the University of Basel in Switzerland. In addition to his doctoral studies, Marf Zamua teaches at Salahaddin University in Erbil, which is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Washington Post fact checker (yes, sometimes “fact”-checker) Glenn Kessler has released his list of “the biggest Pinocchios of 2015” — and guess what made the list:
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” This phrase became a rallying cry for protests after the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old by a white police officer, Darren Wilson. Witness accounts spread after the shooting that Michael Brown had his hands raised in surrender, mouthing the words “Don’t shoot” as his last words before being shot execution-style. Democratic lawmakers raised their hands in solidarity on the House floor. But various investigations concluded this did not happen — and that Wilson acted out of self-defense and was justified in killing Brown.
A lie? Well, then it’s a good thing no one acted prematurely and propagated that story before it was confirmed!
Yes, everyone was quite level-headed.
A final thought: For your fact-checking needs, perhaps you ought to come to NR first: WaPo is a whole year behind.AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's intent to go into " pause mode" with the company's plans to deploy high-speed fiber-optic lines throughout the country has piqued the Federal Communications Commission's curiosity.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
The FCC on Friday sent a letter to AT&T seeking more information about the company's fiber deployment plans, including the current rollout, the breakdown of the technology used and both its former and current plans on the number of households it plans to reach.
Stephenson was moved to make his announcement on Wednesday, a day after President Obama came out in support of tougher regulations that would treat broadband services like a utility. "We can't go out and invest in that kind of network without knowing the rules governing the network," Stephenson said.
The FCC said it would explore all options, including Obama's preference for placing broadband services under "Title II" regulations, which would give governments a say in how Internet service providers could price their offerings. Proponents say Title II represents the best way to ensure Net neutrality, or unbiased handling of all Internet traffic by Internet service providers. AT&T and other ISPs have argued the additional regulations would hurt innovation and capital investment.
The comments and subsequent letter come as AT&T is attempting to get approval from the FCC on its $48.5 billion deal to acquire DirecTV. The approval process at the FCC was already put on hold for a separate matter relating to consumer protection provisions.
The Dallas telecommunications giant said it would work with the FCC.
"We are happy to respond to the questions posed by the FCC in its review of our merger with DirecTV," the company said in an e-mailed statement. "As we made clear earlier this week, we remain committed to our DirecTV merger-related build-out plans."
AT&T had previously planned to deploy fiber-optic lines capable of achieving speeds of 1 gigabit per second to 100 cities next year. But Stephenson said he would limit the deployment to 2 million additional homes that were committed as part of the DirecTV deal. The GigaPower service is only in a few select cities, including Austin, Texas.
In addition to its rollout plans, the FCC wanted to look at whether AT&T's investment plan in fiber is unprofitable; whether the 2 million homes it has committed to would be an unprofitable venture; and all documents related to those plans following the acquisition of DirecTV.
The FCC gave AT&T until November 21 to respond.WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate has rejected further consideration of a bill Democrats say would have eliminated existing tax breaks for employers who ship their jobs overseas. While Republicans sought to squash it as political theater, Democrats admit quarreling over the "Bring Jobs Home Act" was openly influenced by the 2012 presidential campaign.
"It's fairly easy to see why Republicans are blocking our bill to stop outsourcing," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said at a press conference before the vote. "They're obviously defending their presidential nominee, who of course made a fortune by shipping jobs overseas."
Reid was referring to Mitt Romney's past involvement with Bain Capital, the private investment firm Democrats say bought companies, laid off many of their American workers, and outsourced their jobs. Democrats have made Romney's history with Bain a central talking point on the trail.
Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill., followed Reid, saying that today's vote was about turning the Republican position on outsourcing into "a matter of record."
"So the dance ends, the music ends and the votes are counted," he said. "And we can find out whether or not the Republican senators support the Bain Capital investment strategy of exporting jobs overseas."
Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com
Under existing law, employers may take tax deductions for the costs associated with moving jobs out of the country. The proposed legislation would have eliminated that, and used the resulting new revenue to fund a 20 percent tax credit for the costs companies run up "insourcing" labor back into the U.S.
The bill failed by a 56-42. A count of 60 was required to end discussion and move to a final vote.
To further push the issue, Democrats held a conference call with employees from Sensata Technologies, an electronics hardware manufacturer that plans to close its Freeport, Ill., plant at the end of the year and move those operations to China. Democrats say 150 people will be laid off in the process. Sensata, formerly known as the Sensors and Controls division of Texas Instruments, was spun off to Bain in 2006 for a reported $3 billion.
The call was held after the vote.
"There is no reason in the world this would not have passed except for so many of the Republican senators have other interests," said Tom Gaulrupp, a 33-year veteran of the company.
Gaulrupp says there was never a year the company did not draw a profit. Another employee, Lin Feller, was more frank:
"They do not care about us. The average guy on the street, they just do not care about us."
On the House floor this morning the ranking Republican member of the Senate finance committee called the bill "a joke," suggesting President Obama's campaign staff were its true authors.
"It's devoid of serious content because it is of political rather than economic priorities," Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said.
Speaking on the House floor, Hatch said it was "misleading" for Democrats to say there is a tax break for outsourcing. Holding up a large book, Hatch said the Democrats were trying to invent controversy.
"I'll keep this book of tax codes at my desk here. If someone wants to show me the tax code that allows deductions for shipping jobs overseas. I'd like to see it. But it's not in here."
Congressional analysts at the Joint Committee on Taxation say $14 million could be raised next year from removing outsourcing credits, compared to a cost of $21 million for bringing those jobs back. Hatch points out the relatively low sum has already been passed in Obama campaign ads on the issue.
Three Republicans voted in favor of the bill: Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Scott Brown.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.The 2017 NFL draft is just a few weeks away which means draft analysts and experts are hard at work making their final predictions regarding who the team could potentially be targeting in the first round.
The NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah was the latest to release his latest mock draft and Jeremiah has the Buccaneers drafting offensive tackle Cam Robinson with the 19th overall pick in the draft, providing Jameis Winston with another explosive weapon at is disposal.
Protecting Jameis Winston will always be a priority for GM Jason Licht and the Bucs’ personnel department.
Now that the Buccaneers have added DeSean Jackson, Chris Baker and J.J. Wilcox to the team’s roster, they’re still left with one glaring need on offense.
As a whole, the offensive line has struggled with pass protection and creating wholes for Doug Martin along with the running back corps and they’ve also had issues protecting Winston. As a result, the 23-year-old gunslinger took one too many quarterback hits this season.
If the Bucs can sign a solid playmaker to aid Winston along with J.R. Sweezy and Co., then the Bucs will be in much better shape this year without a doubt and the good news is you can never go wrong with an athlete who is a product of Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.Confessions of a depressed psychologist: I'm in a darker place than my patients.
I am sitting opposite my sixth patient of the day. She is describing a terrible incident in her childhood when she was abused, sexually and physically, by both of her parents. I am nodding, listening and hoping I appear as if I appear normal. Inside, however, I feel anything but.
My head is thick - as if I'm thinking through porridge. I find myself tuning out and switching to autopilot. I put it down to tiredness - I haven’t slept well recently; last night I managed just two hours - but after the session I’m disappointed in myself. I'm worried that I might have let down my patient and I feel a bit of a failure, but I tell no one.
One week later, I am in my car, driving across a bridge. |
Andrews government has chosen to reward the two incumbent public transport operators for their performance running the city's trains and trams during the past eight years, by offering them the right to bid for a seven-year contract extension, to the exclusion of other would-be competitors.
Metro is contracted to keep Melbourne's rail network in good condition. 13th September 2016. Credit:Jason South
But it has also sought to address widespread public dissatisfaction with the system's unreliability, by proposing more stringent punctuality targets that give greater weight to on-time running during the peak.
Currently, flat monthly targets for compensation do not distinguish between the peak, when most passengers are travelling and it is more challenging to run an on-time service, and the quieter off-peak when it is relatively easy to run a reliable service.The full spoiler is out and my first control deck is ready for deployment! I built Grixis, Esper, Mardu, and B/R; however, only one of those lists has performed at the level required to make a big debut in this new Standard format.
I know most of you would bet the house on Esper Control being the weapon of choice for this old mage, and I don't blame you. Esper Control has always had the arsenal of answers to deal with the most volatile of threats, the tools used to provide card advantage and card quality, the mass removal that is required to deal with any battlefield that has gotten away from us, and the win conditions to make the other shards jealous. That is still the case in this current Standard, but the power of has forced my hand.
Red is the weakest supporting color for a control deck, but the upside of makes up for that.
is a great role-filler for those who don't want to play a red-based control deck and gives options for those skillful mages to maneuver around this creature-dominated world with success.
I am not completely sold on the deck I am about to present to you, but with a format that is unknown and open, this is the most consistent option with the most power available. Let's take a look at the deck I'll be using for the first few weeks (at least) of the new Standard:
The Survivors
This deck has a lot of spillover from the last Standard and that's always a good thing. These cards have proven to be powerful and will continue to do the heavy lifting while everyone figures out Kaladesh.
With the emergence of, the stock of will skyrocket. To a lesser extent, Nissa and require a swift answer before they get out of hand. is a planeswalker killer, an answer-all removal spell, and a win condition. The sorcery speed of the reprint has always made its playability questionable as formats shift and change, but and have given us the luxury to play a few copies of sorcery-speed removal with little penalty.
has tremendous upside late in the game for B/R Control because of the absence of creature-lands that would typically give control decks inevitability after the dust has settled. Without creature-lands and, we have to implement a proactive strategy in the form of awaken, additional creatures, and a higher density of each planeswalker.
This forgotten gem has dropped in power level with the rotation of. Without the Commands, can't be as unfair as it used to be, but it still packs a punch. The removal, hand disruption, and card draw has been increased in the early turns, and we've added. Liliana, the Last Hope complements moreso than the majority of creatures legal in the upcoming Standard. Rebuying a creature that allows us to recast removal is a huge swing when facing a midrange foe.
I was sad when I had to put down the five-mana, but wasn't a strong enough reason to stay loyal to a red control deck. The fiery planeswalker has been remade and upgraded, so I'm giving the red control gods another shot.
The core of black control survives rotation and that is the huge draw to keep it as the base for any control deck moving forward. I mentioned that Esper and Grixis were other control decks I brewed in the last few weeks, and each of these decks builds on the black foundation. is still the best removal spell in Standard, killing creatures from turn 1 to 4 at the low price of two mana. There are some cards from Kaladesh that try to pull me back to my roots of U/W Control, but the removal suite in those colors is very weak. I would be very skeptical of any control deck in the new Standard that doesn't deploy the already proven control staples.
is the only creature protecting control against the graveyard recursion nonsense that typically plagues control mages. Outside of the legendary Zombie, we have Descend upon the Sinful, which was the reason I drafted Esper Control as my first choice for the new format.
Descend upon the Sinful is one of the few powerful white control cards that survives rotation and is worth building a deck around. is a card that immediately comes to mind in response to that claim; however, the powerful planeswalker is pretty mediocre in most control decks. The format is rarely slow enough for a 2/2 to hold down the fort compared to, who neutralizes a creature, or, who has a ton of loyalty. There simply wasn't enough depth in the color to justify sticking to my comfort zone, but luckily does a good enough job keeping the graveyards empty.
The hand disruption in today's Standard heavily outclasses the countermagic. Every set I look for a reprint of, or even, and the disappointment continues. The attempt at appeasement with a ghastly version of is not going to do it. is a card that has sparked some conversation, but the playability is very low. is comparable, better or equal on all turns except 1, and it was a fringe card for the year it was legal. I know there are situations where you can have two mana open after casting your first spell, but that scenario isn't enough to boost this card's strength into the top tiers.
is the best weapon control has to help push through threats and remove weapons from your opponent's hand. is another sleeper that gains instant playability in a deck with. In order to defeat decks that tutor up, you'll need to keep their hand empty throughout the contest, which does very well.
The Exciting New
In my previous article, I gave my word that my first control attempt at the new format will be centered on's power. is the blue planeswalker we have been yearning for these last few years. The only catch is that we have to play red, which isn't the best for control these days. Luckily, with sticking around, playing red isn't an impossible task for today's control mage.
, and red control in general, will only get better when the next set is printed. The list I've been playing and testing with here is clearly dominated by black, but that is largely in part to the lack of options we have from red. Outside of and our flashy planeswalker, the only other red spells in the main deck are a couple of and one (which is just an easier-to-cast ).
provides additional Energy with. I had in that slot prior to a friend suggesting I try out. The suggestion was very helpful, as I was able to kill off pretty large creatures with my excess Energy and help fuel the Beast from Kaladesh that has stolen my heart.
This mythic was revealed early on and I immediately knew it was going to be a pretty powerful win condition. The mana cost warrants the huge flying 5/5 body, and then all of this text is written on it. The relevant effect helps with an active or to finish off creatures on the battlefield. The reanimation ability is easily attainable by just the Demon itself; however, when combined with and, the Energy bar reaches full very quickly.
The synergy in this deck hits new levels when you continue to resurrect, casting old spells, and devastating your opponent's hand or battlefield. The sleeper ability on this card is returning an opponent's or other monster that was put in their graveyard early by a Grapple the Past.
The Saddening New
This card is an absolute stinker, but necessary in a deck like this. B/R Control packs a punch with big creatures but isn't blazing fast by any means. When a control deck is slow, the decks are waiting to pounce eagerly. Because of this weakness to Eldrazi, has to be in the lineup somewhere. There are many games where and will do the trick; however, that risk is not worth taking. Having an opponent draw cards as you remove threats from their possession is not the spot I want to be in, so when you do sideboard this in, you need to make sure it's sparingly. is the / Eldrazi killer and nothing more.
I mentioned the benefit of boosting Energy early in the game; however, this card is significantly worse than. Read the Bones guaranteed land drops for the Grixis Control decks of the last format, and now we are on the "leap of faith" plan after casting on turn 3. The inverse is also worth mentioning. When we rip the in the late-game, the celebration begins as we bottom the two lands and draw action spells easily. Without scry and with Energy is a huge drop, but we will make do as we always have.
The Sideboard
I typically don't like adding sideboards to my lists as they are released because so much changes on a daily basis as I discover new weaknesses to decks. This sideboard is a very rough draft, so be sure to keep up with me on social media as I make changes prior to the official rotation next weekend. The cards that I know will be very important coming off the bench are ; ; Essence Extractor; the third ; and the second.
The four are there to answer a potential aggressive R/G deck. There could be room for or if the popular aggro builds stay low on the toughness scale. There is a strong possibility that the new format could be filled with three-toughness threats again and the old G/W and Bant decks learn to exist without, which would force this deck to move into a third color to bring the upon them. So far in testing, that hasn't been the case, and this deck has that brute power feeling that only teamed up with ridiculous planeswalkers could deliver.
Good luck in Indianapolis, my friends!Shortly after hearing a sad tale of a 7-year old cancer patient having his medication and PSP stolen whilst en route to treatment comes yet another story of the world's meanest preying on the innocent. This go 'round, a group of griefers (which appear to be members of Anonymous) managed to invade a support forum established by the nonprofit Epilepsy Foundation and use JavaScript code and messages littered with flashing animations to effectively assault dozens of visitors who suffer from the disorder. The Foundation managed to catch wind of the problem within 12 hours of the attack, and while the boards were closed down temporarily to purge it of offending messages, many readers (such as RyAnne Fultz, pictured) experienced headaches and seizures before rescue arrived. Let's just say we sincerely hope the culprits get what's comin' to 'em.(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
Is Neal Stephenson the most brilliant living author currently in the United States of America? Oh, wait, I can answer that for you right away: Yes. Yes he is. And that's because Stephenson can do something almost no other American writer currently putting out work can; he can take a healthy dose of t
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)Is Neal Stephenson the most brilliant living author currently in the United States of America? Oh, wait, I can answer that for you right away:And that's because Stephenson can do something almost no other American writer currently putting out work can; he can take a healthy dose of the popular zeitgeist at any given moment, mine it to understand the underlying fears and hopes these trendy obsessions actually express, twist it using some of the most inventive speculative fictional tropes that have ever been created, infuse it with the kind of heady, complex "pure science" usually only understood by nuclear physicists and NOVA hosts, then spit it out in these breathtakingly dense thousand-page tomes every couple of years. Of all the thousands of published writers of our generation, I'm convinced that Stephenson will be one of the mere handful still being read and studied a century from now, and there's a very good reason that so many people call him "the heir of Thomas Pynchon," the creator of his own one-man literary genre that can't be called anything else but "Stephensonian." And thus have I eagerly followed along in real time with nearly all of Stephenson's backbreakers over the decades, all the way back from the 1992 cyberpunk classic(the direct inspiration for the very real Second Life); then to his stunning redefinition of steampunk, 1995's; then to his masterful examination of the real history of 20th-century code-breaking, 1999's; and then to his massive three-book, three-thousand-page overview of the entire beginning of both science and finance as we know them, the career-defining "Baroque Cycle" (2003's, 2004's, and 2005's).And now, after ten days in a row of reading at least four hours each and every day, I have finally finished Stephenson's latest, the epoch-defining yet often headscratching; and in fact I found it so dense, so generation-defining, I've come to realize that I simply will not be able to make all my points in the usual thousand-word essay I normally do here regarding any given book. So instead I'm doing two essays on two days, one spoiler-free and the other spoiler-heavy (today's the spoiler-free one), the first essay devoted to nothing else but the superlatively complicated backstory, and not even touching the book's actual plot until the second essay. (GoodReads readers, this is one of the rare times when you will literally have to go to the CCLaP website for the second half, because of there literally not being room here for both.) Because it's important right away to understand what Stephenson is trying to do with this novel, and will make your reading of it (a part-time job, I warn you now, that will take most people four to six weeks) go a lot more smoothly; he is no less than redefining the very relationship between religion and science, and methodically explaining how there's actually a lot less differences between the two than most of us think, if people would simply choose to embrace both subjects in this interrelated way.And really, this grand a goal is not actually as big a stretch as it might seem at first; after all, according to how recent history has played out, we're hovering right around a time these days where we as a society will be creating a big giant new way for us to even think about such basic subjects as faith, reason, the meaning of life, and more. There was the Enlightenment of the 1700s, for example, which pushed atheistic rationality to the forefront of society; then the Romanticism of the 1800s, in which emotions and spirituality were brought back into style; then the Modernism (and Postmodernism) of the 1900s, where science and religion were first presented as an "either/or" proposition, where rationality and faith were first cemented in the mind as eternally struggling enemies. And now here it is, the early 2000s; so what kind of "ism" will define this age? Well, if you study the subject like I do, the pretty obvious answer is that we're set to go through a century where we profoundly redefine what the relationship is in the first place between religion and science, which is why it's not really such a surprise that Stephenson would latch onto the subject himself, a good ten or fifteen years before it becomes the dominant subject of the popular culture at large, just like all his other novels have done too.And the way Stephenson does this is of course unexpected and magnificent, which is by creating an entire different planet called Arbre which isjust like Earth, but different in several basic important ways. For example, the first three thousand years of Arbre's written history are almost exactly like the last three thousand years of our own (from ancient Greece to now); except that in the oldest surviving myth they have, their version of our "Remus and Romulus" tale, theirs supposedly involves a father who near the end of his life professes to having a vision of what he calls a "perfect other world," then dies before he can explain what exactly he meant. So one daughter, Deat, interprets this how the religious of Earth usually would, into terms of a "heaven" and a "god" and "angels" and the like; but the other daughter, Hylaea, takes it to mean that he glimpsed a realm of pure perfect science and reason, not so much a physical place like a "heaven" but more like a Taoist-style existence of pure energy, where instead of a deity running things who takes the form of a person, there is instead only the pure clocklike perfection of a completely rational universe.And so all the way back to the beginning of Arbrean society, there have actually been two major ways to think of religion, not only the "deist" way which is the only one we have on Earth (known as "deolatist" in their world, after the daughter Deat), but also this "religion of science" known as Hylaeanism, later in history generalized to the more inclusive term "Mathism." And the Mathists have their own monks and their own monasteries, essentially mirroring how the study of science got its actual start in ancient Earth as well; and anytime one of these monk scientists has a sudden breakthrough, like Newton discovering gravity or Einstein discovering relativity or Pythagorus inventing his theory about triangles, this is considered the Mathic version of a miracle, or perhaps more like speaking in tongues, a sort of short, profound connection that monk suddenly has with this so-called semi-mystical world of pure rational perfection, known in their language as the "Hylaean Theoric World" (with "theorism" being their word for our "science"). And this is just inspired of Stephenson to do, I think, because this hearkens all the way back to what real Earth's first scientists actually were trying to do too, the so-called "natural philosophers" and "alchemists" of the 1600s; to them, "science" wasn't a standalone subject unto itself but rather a simple subset of religion, a way of understanding God better by intensely studying the things that God creates, and understanding how we should live our own lives by studying how such creatures as trees and animals do it out in the "natural world," a.k.a. "the world that works the way God wants the world to work, when we humans aren't using our big giant brains to screw it all up." And again, for anyone who's ever studied Eastern religions, you can see a lot of similarities between this and some of the basic tenets behind Taoism and Buddhism -- the idea that God is too infinitely complex a creature for us to ever understand, so all we can do instead is study the things that God creates, and get our cues on how to live our own lives by metaphorically interpreting God in its most purely rational form, what we now know as "scientific concepts," things like gravity and photosynthesis and DNA.Newton and the other proto-scientists of the Baroque "Royal Society" always saw their pursuits as an offshoot of religion; it's only been in the last 150 years that science has taken on a reputation as being an abomination to God, as the insane efficiency of the scientific process (theorize, test, observe, record without bias) has meant a profoundly fast increase in scientific sophistication, to the point where scientists must now spend their entire lives studying the specific pursuit they mean to make their career just to get caught up, and now not justnature in action but activelyit, thus "playing God" in the eyes of many instead of merely worshipping God through natural observation. All Stephenson does is merely formalize this process, on a planet much like Earth's but where he can take certain artistic liberties; on Arbre, scientists literally are monks, universities literally monasteries, where specialists literally devote their entire lives to the pursuit of specific knowledge, literally do wear robes and shave their heads and live in cloisters and everything else. Except unlike Deolatism/deism/traditional religion, commandment number one among Mathics tends to be, "It's a sin to presume that you will eventually understand everything there is to know about the world," with commandment number two being, "And it's an even bigger sin to make up stories about the things you don't understand." When all is said and done, Stephenson argues that this is really the only big difference between science and deism, with all the other conflicts playing off it in one way or another: that science is all about trying to discover what makes the world work the way it does, without tainting your observations with fictional stories regarding the way youthe world worked, while the entire point of deism is precisely to make up such comforting and easily understood fictional stories, as a way of easing the fear and threat so many feel in the face of the unknown.And like I said, thus does the first three thousand years of Arbrean written history pass remarkably like Earth's, with their version of a Roman Empire (the "Bazian Empire") which eventually adopts Catholicism ("The Ark of Baz") as its official religion, which eventually leads to a Protestant Reformation (the "Anti-Bazians") which turns into their version of the Renaissance ("The Rebirth"), which on Arbre is when the gates of the ancient Mathic monasteries were first flung open, so that most of the science-worshipping monks could disperse themselves among the public at large, ushering in their version of our "Modern Age" or "Scientific Age" or whatever you want to call it (basically, the last 500 years of history, from the Renaissance to now), which the Arbreans call "The Praxic Age" on their world, "Praxism" being their word for "technology." And in fact Stephenson does something else really smart when laying out this alternative ancient history, which is to wisely separate what we humans know as "science" into three distinct pursuits on Arbre -- not just the scientific process (logic, rationality, etc), which is technically the only pursuit the Mathics embrace, but also the study of numbers (Earth's "mathematics") and the study of just technology, which are the pursuits the "Saecular" (non-Mathic) parts of Arbrean society mostly concentrate on, and especially when it comes to the subject of "syntactic devices" (things like computers, for example, which can be taught to "read" and "write," but don't even begin to understand the context of what they're parsing, of how to enjoy a joke or be emotionally moved by a poem).Mathic monks instead concentrate on so-called "semantic thought," or the idea that understanding things in context is the most important pursuit in life; and thus is it that only a portion of Arbre's society understands the reasonstechnology works, but doesn't actually use any of the technology their theories spawn, while a much larger portion of the population invents and uses all the technology of Arbrean society, but doesn't understand how any of it. And also thus is it that what might seem to be very scientific people to us are actually considered blindly religious to the Arbreans, the so-called "number-worshippers" who idolize the specifics of math without understanding any of the underlying theories that make the equations work. (This would be roughly translated to Earth's technology worshippers; think of the socially-retarded Comic Book Guys of the world, who can program a computer application but don't know how to even start having a rational, polite discussion with another human being. And in fact Stephenson very cleverly uses as the ultimate example the so-called "Secret Brotherhood of the Ita" associated with each Mathic monastery, a bastardization of the old corporate "I.T. administrators," the number-worshippers who actually ensure that the monasteries and their giant central worship-clocks keep functioning, but who are physically separated from the monks so that their "tech worship" won't "poison" the Mathics' purely theoretic minds.But see, all this is only half the backstory of; because in their timeline, right around our early 2000s is the actual Year Zero of their current calendar, because of a series of apocalyptic occurrences on Arbre in those years known simply as "The Terrible Events" (with us knowing for certain that these events take place right around their early 2000s, despite the new calendar, because of Arbre even having their version of what they call "The Three Harbingers," roughly corresponding to our World War Two, World War One, and Europe-wide political revolutions of 1848, all of them supposedly minor omens of the apocalyptic events that were to come). And for what it's worth, Stephenson leaves the details of the Terrible Events purposely murky, but highly implies that the mess started with the exact kind of accidental molecular disaster that conspiracy theorists have been crowing about this year regarding the very real Large Hadron Collider just built at CERN, the idea that we may just accidentally create a miniature black hole with the thing because of messing around with stuff we don't nearly understand yet, with Stephenson implying that this kicked off a blind panic and a series of voluntary nuclear weapon discharges in a last-ditch attempt to destroy the rapidly expanding artificial black hole, leading to all the other nuclear-armed nations of the world discharging their own weapons in their own blind panics, resulting in all the mass death and chaos and ecological disaster such events would cause.Whatever the case, we do definitely know that what was blamed for the Events, among both the Mathics and the Saeculars, was the commingling between the two groups that defined the Praxic Age; and thus did the monk scientists retreat back into their monasteries and once again close the gates, an event known as "The Reconstitution" and that marks year one of their "modern" calendar. And thus does yet another entire three thousand years pass, three thousand years of "future history" that haven't actually happened on Earth yet, where humanity ends up progressing in two distinctly different ways; how the Saecular world essentially becomes a neverending chaos of revolutions and superstitions, a Second Dark Age ruled by an alliance of brain-dead tech worshippers and traditional Evangelicals, where skyscrapers and post-apocalyptic wars come and go faster than people can even keep track, while the Mathic monasteries become timeless closed citadels of pure theoretical thought, where monks master such impossibly dense subjects as quantum mechanics and genetic manipulation using nothing more than chalk marks on slate, stick drawings in the dirt. And thus is an uneasy truce developed between the two societies, with both pretty much agreeing to leave the other alone except when absolutely necessary; well, except for the three times in the last three thousand years when the monks got a little too full of themselves, when they started taking on scientific progressions again deemed a little too much like "playing God," at which points the now almost exclusively superstitious Saecular world rose up against what they considered the "witches" of the Mathic world and slaughtered almost all of them, known historically by the remaining Mathics as the three "Great Sacks," the last of which occurred nearly 800 years before the beginning of our current story.Okay, got all that? Good; now we're ready for page one of the actual book. And like I said, another fifteen hundred words concerning just that subject will be coming tomorrow. I hope you'll have a chance to come by again then.(UPDATE: Part two now online.)For similarly named airline, see Iran Air Tours
Iran Air, branded as The Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: هواپیمايی جمهوری اسلامی ایران, translit. Havâpeymâyiye Jomhuriye Eslâmiye Irân), is the flag carrier of Iran headquartered on the grounds of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. As of 2018, it operates scheduled services to 71 destinations in Asia and Europe. Iran Air’s main bases are Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport, both situated in Tehran, capital of Iran. Domestically, Iran Air is commonly known as Homa[16], which is the name of a mythical Persian griffin[17], and also the acronym of Iran National Airlines in the Persian language. The airline's cargo division, Iran Air Cargo, operates scheduled services internationally using three cargo aircraft. [10][18][13]
History [ edit ]
Early years [ edit ]
Iranian Airways was founded in May 1944 by Reza Afshar and Gholam Ebtehaj.[6] Post-war, its first passenger flight was from Tehran to Mashhad,[5] followed by a Tehran-Esfahan-Shiraz-Bushehr-Abadan-Ahwaz service. In 1946 the airline established service to Cairo, Baghdad and Tel Aviv, and in April 1947, to Paris.[6] Between 1945 and 1962, the airline became a major domestic carrier, also operating some international flights to Europe each week. The fleet consisted of Douglas DC-3s initially, supplemented by Douglas DC-4 and Vickers Viscount aircraft later on.[5]
In 1954, the privately owned airline Persian Air Services (PAS) was established. PAS initially operated only freight services, followed by passenger operations between Tehran and other major cities in Iran.[5] In 1960, PAS initiated passenger service to several European destinations, including Geneva, Paris, Brussels and London, using Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-7 aircraft leased from Sabena.[19]
Iranian Airways was nationalized in 1961.[6] On 24 February 1962, Iranian Airways and PAS merged to form the Iran National Airlines Corporation (HOMA), known as Iran Air, using the homa bird as a symbol.[5] HOMA was a public sector venture that combined the two predecessor air carriers. Among the aircraft used were Avro Yorks, Douglas DC-3s, Douglas DC-6s and Vickers Viscounts.[6] The carrier became a full member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 1964. It was the launch customer for the Boeing 747SP.[5][20]
Rise to global prominence [ edit ]
In 1965, Iran Air took delivery of its first jet aircraft, the Boeing 707 and the Boeing 727-100, followed by the Boeing 737–200 in 1971, the stretched Boeing 727-200 in 1974 and three variants of Boeing 747 (747-100, −200 and SP), starting in 1978–1979. By the mid-1970s, Iran Air was serving cities in Europe with non-stop and one-stop flights, including over 30 flights a week to London alone.
On 29 May 1971, the Tehran to New York City route was inaugurated, using Boeing 707s making a stop-over at London Heathrow Airport. Shortly thereafter, the route was upgraded to a non-stop flight using Boeing 747SPs, making Iran Air the second Middle Eastern carrier (after El Al), to offer non-stop service to New York. With this flight, Iran Air set a new world record in time and distance for a non-stop, scheduled long-haul flight (12 hours and 15 minutes, 9,867 km – 6,131 mi – 5,328 nm). In 1978, the airline acquired six Airbus A300 aircraft for use on its domestic trunk and busy regional routes. By the end of that year, Iran Air was serving 31 international destinations stretching from New York City to Beijing and Tokyo. Plans were made to offer direct services to Los Angeles and to Sydney, for which the airline's long range Boeing 747SP aircraft were ideal. This would have allowed Iran Air to use Tehran as a midway point between East and West, because of its favorable geographical location. Such plans were never realized.
By the late 1970s, Iran Air was the fastest growing airline in the world and one of the most profitable. By 1976, Iran Air was ranked second only to Qantas, as the world’s safest airline, having been accident free for at least ten consecutive years. Although both airlines were accident free, Iran Air came second only because of fewer operational hours flown compared to Qantas. Prior to this ranking, a fatal accident had occurred on 25 December 1952, in which 27 of the 29 passengers on board perished when their Douglas DC-3 crashed on landing.
Lt. Gen. Ali-Mohammad Khademi was the general manager of Iran Air from 1962 to 1979.[21]
The Iranian Revolution [ edit ]
As a result of economic sanctions against Iran, Iran Air was unable to expand or replace its fleet.[22] Last time Iran Air was delivered brand-new Western aircraft prior to the 2016 lifting of nuclear-related sanctions was in 1994 when it received two Airbus A300-B4s in compensation for the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by an American cruiser in 1988.[23][24] In 2001, Iran Air purchased 6 second-hand Airbus A300s from Turkey, but only after two years, all 6 of them ended up grounded at airports in Tehran, Mashhad and Moscow. This caused significant controversy in Iran where officials cited GE engine design flaw and subsequent overheating as the reason for grounding the planes. One of these 6 planes was later confirmed to have returned to service by 2010.[25][26]
Prior to the separation of Iran Air Tours from Iran Air in 2011, Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154s formed the backbone of the former's fleet. However, several successive disasters involving this plane ultimately led to a 2011 blanket ban on its operations within Iranian airlines, including Iran Air Tours.[27][28] The Tu-154 fleet was gradually replaced with MD-83s over the course of a few months.[29]
According to Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Devopment, Iran currently has more than 100 planes, some of them owned by Iran Air, grounded due to the lack of access to new parts and technical expertise during the sanctions era.[30]
The prolonged period of time that Iran Air was under international sanctions and barred from purchasing spare parts and new planes led to a dramatic rise in its average fleet age and plunging safety record, to the extent where it became widely known as one of the worst airlines in the world in terms of air safety record.[31][32][33] As of March 2017, Iran Air's average fleet age stands at 24.1 years, though this figure is set to improve through addition of new deliveries.[34]
Iran Air's extremely subpar on-time performance, amongst those of most other Iranian airlines, has led to public anger and frustration, often inciting protests in the form of violent confrontations with the airline employees or airplane sit-ins for many hours after a severely-delayed flight has finally landed. Officials routinely attribute the delays to the economic sanctions, although at least one pro-revolutionary ideologue has cited "inefficiency and mismanagement" as the chief cause of this issue.[35]
EU ban and refueling issues [ edit ]
On 5 July 2010, an aviation official of Iran accused the U.K., Germany and the United Arab Emirates of refusing to refuel Iranian passenger jets.[36] This move followed unilateral sanctions imposed by the US over the nuclear weapons dispute. Iran Air and Mahan Air both claimed to have been denied refuelling. A spokeswoman for Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) said that a contract was in place to refuel Iranian passenger flights and ADAC would continue to do so. A spokesperson for the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority said that it was the sole decision of independent suppliers if aircraft were to be refuelled or not. Germany's Transport Ministry said the refuelling of Iranian aircraft was not banned under EU or UN sanctions but did not say whether any independent refuellers were denying refuelling.[37] Later in the day, Dubai Airport revealed that it continued to refuel Iranian passengers flights in and out of Dubai.[38] The next day, a spokesperson for Iran said that no such limitation had been imposed.[39]
On 6 July 2010, it was announced that the European Commission would ban all of Iran Air's Airbus A320, Boeing 727 and Boeing 747 fleet from the EU over safety concerns.[40][41] This move came as a major blow to Iran Air, limiting flights to Europe with its own aircraft.
In 2012, the EU re-allowed the refuelling of Iran Air aircraft at secondary European airports such as Ljubljana and Budapest, in an effort to retain the refuelling contracts within the EU, rather than letting them go to Serbia or later Belarus and Ukraine.[42][43]
In January 2012, Iran Air's flights to and from London Heathrow operated with a fuel stop at Manston Airport in Kent. However, the airport announced in December 2011 that this arrangement was to end and it would no longer refuel the company's aircraft. This announcement swiftly followed the closure of Iran's embassy in London as the consequence of the ransacking of the British embassy in Tehran. The airport stressed that it had not breached any trade agreements, as it had no connections with the USA.[44]
Lifting of sanctions and modernization plans [ edit ]
Arrival of Iran Air Airbus A321
In anticipation of a deal being reached for the lifting of sanctions, the chairman of Iran Air - Farhad Parvaresh - stated that the airline would then seek to obtain at least 100 wide-body and short-haul jets.[45]
On Friday 15 January 2016 US president Barack Obama authorized his secretary of state, John Kerry, to lift the sanctions on Iran civil aviation.[46] Following Iran's implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on 16 January 2016, all sanctions on Iran civil aviation were lifted. As a result, Iranian airlines, including Iran Air, were granted permission to purchase new civil aircraft from any manufacturer as well as to refuel at all European airports, except for two Swedish destinations, Stockholm and Gothenburg, due to the fuel supplier BP still refusing to provide fuel to the Iranian carriers.[47][48]
On 24 January 2016 |
for a Capitals team that might have this thing figured out finally. Would love to see this lifer lift the Cup.
3. Every Single Person That’s Purchased And Read And Hopefully Enjoyed My Book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK.
I can’t thank you all enough. I’m so honored. Or if you bought it on Amazon.ca, honoured.
4. Hockey Podcasts
So many options now and so little time, from the ones beat writers are putting out to the new weekly ones to the podcasts that come around a few times a season from fans. As an American, hockey talk on the radio is a rare bird. Now we can take it with us!
Sean Leahy, Puck Daddy Editor
1. Jaromir Jagr.
I'll never not be thankful for him. And now that he's bringing back the mullet? Immortal.
2. Teemu Selanne.
He may be gone from hockey, but he sure is living the hell out of retirement.
3. Hilary Knight.
Unstoppable.
4. David Backes' pig.
Because it pooped in Ken Hitchcock's office.
Story continues
5. Pranking rookies.
Tricking rookies to go out on the ice for warmups by themselves will never get old. It's even better when the kids realize the joke and keep skating.
6. Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
Hockey
Best logo in hockey.
7. The Nebraska-Omaha taco cannon.
We all need a taco cannon in our life.
8. Little hockey kids doing The Whip and Nae Nae
Josh Cooper, Puck Daddy Editor
1. John Tortorella’s return to the NHL
Tortorella is a rock star coach and the game feels more entertaining when he’s a part of it. I’m still waiting for his first viral video blowup with my friend Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
2. The Dallas Stars game ops team
When covering sports it’s easy to get bored with day-to-day monotony from athletes and management. And then you hear about how the Dallas Stars game ops group played Nickelback for an entire period in a hockey game to troll the Vancouver Canucks, and you’re then reminded about the joy and fun in-game entertainment brings to the lives individuals on a nightly basis. The Stars’ off-ice entertainment team is the best in the NHL and I’m thankful for their hilarity and creativity.
3. Jonathan Toews in his prime
Maybe it’s cliché to say you’re thankful for one player, but watching him is a joy and a treat. In a league full of talent and skill, he stands out. We always try to compare players to guys from earlier eras, and in my mind Toews is his own prototype. I’ve never seen a guy battle for pucks 200 feet up and down a rink the way he does. He’s my favorite player to watch and the NHL is a better league with him playing the lead role on its top franchise.
Jen Neale, Puck Daddy Editor
1. I am thankful for the distraction of sports.
There is a lot of crappy stuff that happens in the world and at times it can feel overwhelming. I love being able to flip on my TV and watch Corey Perry crosscheck someone in the back of the head because he only does that in days that end in 'y'.
2. I am thankful for kids in goalie pads.
Ma puce est disponible si jamais une gardienne des @LesCanadiennes n'est pas du match à Calgary! Go les filles:) pic.twitter.com/qr9F8NnXR3 — Patrick Rankine (@coachRankine) November 14, 2015
It is impossible not to smile when you see little goalies. I might be the only person more excited to see kids on the ice during intermission of an NHL game than the parents of the kids themselves.
3. I am thankful to be a part of an elite group - women in sports.
I recognize how cheesy this sounds, but I want to focus on the positive. Consider how far women have advanced in the last five years alone. We have two women's professional leagues run by women who are fearless. Female hockey players are being invited to practice with the men because their skill is recognized. Countless sports related businesses, publications, media outlets are being operated by, written, edited, etc. by women. Advances by those leaders make it better for the rest of us.
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 26: The Jake and Finn from Adventure Time with Finn and Jake balloon floats through the parade route during the 89th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 26, 2015 in New York City. A record number of police officers were patrolling the parade as security is on a high alert after the terror attacks in Paris and threats made to the city. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Ryan Lambert, Puck Daddy Columnist
1. Offensive defensemen who win the Norris because they're good sorry.
PK Subban and Erik Karlsson are my two favorite players in the NHL because they are exciting. They like to carry the puck and sometimes they mess up but most of the time they don't, but when they mess up everyone is like "They're so bad omg!!!!" Oh oops that should read "everyone wrong."
2. The NHL.
I never cease enjoying the NHL not only for the on-ice product, but also for how fun it is to make fun of the many ways in which it is bad and gets easy stuff wrong. The NHL is perfect because it is very, very imperfect.
3. College hockey.
This is the reason I love the sport and I go to dozens of games every year and I am very lucky. For me it's hockey in its purest form, no fighting, lots of skill, very parochial. Blessings to college hockey, which is the best.
Darryl “Dobber” Dobbs, Puck Daddy Fantasy Guru
1. The unpredictability.
Connor McDavid will walk away with the Calder Trophy this year...unless Jack Eichel has something to say about it. Sidney Crosby is the odds-on favorite to win the Art Ross Trophy. So how are those preseason consensus viewpoints looking these days? On the downside - this volatility is killing me in my fantasy leagues...
2. Artemi Panarin.
For giving us a reason for excitement the next time an NHL team signs an undrafted European. There have been so many Fabian Brunnstroms that our faith was starting to wane...
3. The New Jersey Devils.
For sucking on paper and kicking ass on the ice. Keep doing this every few years, guys. It keeps us so-called experts on our toes.
Steve McAllister, Yahoo Sports Canada Managing Editor
1. For all the volunteers out there at the grassroots hockey level who put smiles on kids' faces every day.
For the odd buffoon who puts his/her agenda ahead of everything else, there are so many coaches, trainers, executive members who simply make the sport fun for boys, girls and their families.
2. Thankful to the referees (even Tim Peel) and linesmen.
Without them, there are no games. They don't get enough credit for their efforts officiating the fastest game on the planet today.
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEYPolice: Driver shows no remorse after cyclist's death
Kurtis Allen Linn faces manslaughter charge after fatal crash that killed Albert Fredrick Sawdon.
Police say a local man has shown a "highly concerning" lack of "genuine remorse or contrition" after allegedly killing a cyclist while driving under the influence in Gresham.
Instead, a Multnomah County sheriff's deputy says Kurtis Allen Linn has spent his time in jail juggling two girlfriends and asking for money over the phone, according to court documents.
"It is obvious from these calls that the two women … do not know the defendant is sexually involved with and professing his undying love to both of them," wrote Deputy Kari Kolberg.
"The defendant tries very hard to keep all of his people compartmentalized so they don't discover his lies," she continued in a report ultimately recommending that Linn stay behind bars until trial.
The 23-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree manslaughter, two counts of DUII, reckless driving, reckless endangerment, second-degree criminal mischief and fourth-degree assault. A call to his lawyer was not returned.
It was just before 2 a.m. Monday, Oct. 9, when Linn allegedly lost control of his Chevrolet Blazer SUV during a street race on Southeast Stark Street near 212th Avenue, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Several witnesses told police Linn's vehicle was traveling westbound at roughly 55-60 mph while switching lanes and passing traffic in an attempt to outrace the driver of a Honda Civic. The speed limit on that section of Stark is 35 mph.
Linn's vehicle allegedly crossed the centerline, struck an oncoming car and spun out, striking bicyclist Albert Fredrick Sawdon on the sidewalk and launching him about 75 feet. A report by a medical examiner determined Sawdon died after his spine was broken and every rib fractured, making it impossible for him to breath.
One Gresham officer states Linn started joking about stopping for fast food a few minutes after learning of Sawdon's death, according to official records.
Linn told police he had two "jack and coke" mixed drinks before getting behind the wheel, and police found marijuana buds, empty packaging and a pipe in the car's center console. His blood-alcohol content registered at 0.12. He told booking deputies he smokes marijuana every day.
In the jailhouse recordings, Linn described his behavior as part of a pattern.
"Do you know how many times my father has put me in my vehicle after $400 beer nights … alcohol nights … where (my BAC) was way above that," Linn told a friend over the phone, according to a police transcript of the call.
"It's my fault … I chose to hang out with the wrong people... I chose to do the wrong things," Linn concluded.
Born in Portland, Linn was homeless between the ages of 14 and 19 after his father kicked him out. He has a 7-year-old son and worked at Burgerville on Hawthorne Boulevard prior to his arrest, court docs say.
Linn previously lived with one of his girlfriends, a woman 14 years his senior who works at Gresham High School. He apparently makes the other girlfriend call him "daddy," police say.
"He treats both (women) very poorly," wrote corrections deputy Kolberg, noting "he is demeaning, controlling, condescending and sickeningly manipulative."
His defense attorney argues that both parents abused Linn and have their own struggles with mental health and substance abuse.
In a motion to reduce his bail, lawyer Neal Weingart highlighted that Linn has never been arrested or convicted of a crime.
"I imagine that his world has imploded around him, not his 'lies,' as Deputy Kolberg states," the attorney shot back. "Counsel has never seen such a report... in my years of handling felonies in this county."
A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge has not yet ruled on the motion to reduce bail. Linn remains inside the county's downtown lockup as of press time.Once the world caught on to the sly, musical message that the "Late Show With Jimmy Fallon" backing band the Roots sent to Michele Bachmann during her appearance on the show last week, reaction was swift: some laughed, Bachmann was outraged and NBC apologized.
Now, the band's drummer and leader, Questlove, has revealed that he has been the target of a steady stream of hate speech and racial epithets from Bachmann supporters and tea party members in the wake of his band playing a few notes of "Lyin' Ass B*tch" by Fishbone.
"I've seen some really colorful epithets in the past four days, but 'n*gger f*ckhead ghetto stick' is probably the one that takes the cake. I'm still trying to get my head around that one," the musician told Pitchfork.com. "Blocking 3,500 tea party extremists [on Twitter] in a three day period is no fun, especially when you're a drummer dangerously close to carpal tunnel. In the end, was it worth it? Absolutely not."
Questlove insists that he is sorry over the incident, and didn't realize it would be quite so offensive.
"It deeply offended a lot of women's groups and non-Bachmann supporters, and for that I'm deeply sorry," he said. "I'm not parading like I'm the poster boy for the feminist movement, but those who truly know me know that that's not me. I was really just going with her whole revisionist history angle, I wasn't calling it out on her being a woman."Windows community standup with Kevin Gallo By Clint Rutkas / Senior Technical Product Manager, Windows Developer Team Share Share Skype
Kevin Gallo will be live on Channel 9 with Seth Juarez on July 26th, 2017 at 9:30am PST. Kevin will be providing updates to the state of the Windows SDK inside Windows 10 Falls Creators Update since everyone last chatted with him at Microsoft Build 2017. As always, we’ll be answering live questions afterwards.
A few of the topics Kevin and Seth will be discussing are the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update SDK,.NET Standard 2.0, Fluent Design, Microsoft Graph with the Activity API and more.
Over time, we’ll hold more frequent Windows community standups to provide additional transparency on what we are building out, and clarity on why we are building them. The community standups will not only be with just Kevin, but the entire Windows development team as well. We’ll be testing different streaming technologies and interaction models to see what works best. We would love feedback on this as well.
Once again, we can’t wait to see you at 9:30am PST on July 26th, 2017 over at https://channel9.msdn.com.
Updated January 22, 2018 9:56 amPresident Trump will nominate former pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar as his Health and Human Services secretary, the president tweeted Monday morning.
“Happy to announce, I am nominating Alex Azar to be the next HHS Secretary,” Trump tweeted. “He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!”
Happy to announce, I am nominating Alex Azar to be the next HHS Secretary. He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2017
If he is confirmed, Azar will join the ranks of Trump cabinet secretaries who now regulate the industries in which they used to work.
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Azar served as the deputy secretary of HHS during the George W. Bush presidency and then, from 2012 to January 2017, served as the president of Lilly USA, the largest affiliate of drug maker Eli Lilly. During his time at Lilly, Azar worked on public policy and international and federal government affairs.
He also served on the board of directors for BIO, a drug lobby, according to Politico.
Azar, if confirmed, will take the post following former HHS Secretary Tom Price’s resignation in September after a controversy over his use of chartered jets for government travel.
The nomination raises questions about how serious Trump is about regulating Azar’s former industry.
The president has talked tough about the pharmaceutical industry, saying in January that drug companies are “getting away with murder,” but he hasn’t pushed legislation that would allow the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices or otherwise bring down drug costs for consumers.
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Notably, ties to big pharma recently sunk another Trump nominee. Trump nominated Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA) to serve as head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, but Marino withdrew after a report revealed he had spearheaded a pharma-friendly bill that undermined the DEA’s ability to go after drug distributors.
In the Trump era, however, heading up agencies intended to regulate one’s former industry is the often the norm. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue worked in agriculture exports. Former investor and now Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and banker-turned-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were all confirmed to cabinet positions despite ties to their former industries.
But at least one nominee, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. CEO Andy Puzder, who was nominated to head up the labor department, was never confirmed, in part because of his ties to the industry and reputation as an anti-union and anti-worker executive.Pittsburgh is friendly to fans of fantasy
San Diego becomes the geek capital of the world for one week each July, when tens of thousands of fans descend on the city for Comic-Con International.
On most other days of the year, Pittsburgh can claim the title Geek City.
This year, big-screen Hollywood has scaled back its presence at Comic-Con considerably. And franchises such as "The Avengers" and the upcoming "The Hunger Games" are skipping the previously must-be-there convention, which opens with preview night Wednesday and runs through Sunday. There have been surprises in the past, such as Johnny Depp walking onstage two years ago for an "Alice in Wonderland" panel, but that was a film from Walt Disney Studios, which is AWOL for 2011.
The "Spider-Man" reboot with "The Social Network's" Andrew Garfield will be there, but the next "Superman" won't, even though the man who will wear the cape, Henry Cavill, is scheduled to be in San Diego on a panel for another film, "The Immortals." And the next Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," is nowhere to be seen on the program.
That's of little concern to Pittsburghers, who have a shot to catch glimpses of the third movie in the Christopher Nolan franchise right outside their doors. "The Dark Knight Rises" will incorporate thousands of Western Pennsylvanians into its filming in the coming weeks, when our Geek City will stand in for Batman's Gotham City.
Pittsburgh embraces Hollywood wholeheartedly when film crews arrive, but it doesn't depend on those welcome visits to go genre-crazy. If you define a "geek" as someone who has more than a passing interest in science fiction, fantasy and/or horror and the many ways those genres can be presented, then Pittsburgh would seem to be a boom town.
Throughout the year, conventions of various sizes and genres pop up in and around the region, celebrating the likes of Furries, anime characters, comic book creators, and TV and film legends. The ToonSeum's permanent home in the Cultural District is one sure sign of geekdom, and the horror genre has long had a home here, thanks largely to Pittsburgh's claim to being the birthplace of George Romero's "Living Dead" movies.
Horror Realm, which usually holds its annual convention in September, is adding a second date, March 10, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza in Bethel Park. The realm's convention coordinator, Sandy Stuhlfire of Castle Shannon, estimated about 1,000 people attended the most recent convention.
Horror does not take the summer off between conventions, so the realm also is in the midst of 12 weeks of showing classic films Wednesdays at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont. Each film is accompanied by a cartoon and an installment of the Bela Lugosi serial "The Phantom Creeps." The summer series runs through Sept. 21, with this week's offering "Carnival of Souls."
Ms. Stuhlfire, whose day job is director of finance for a nonprofit organization, said she became involved with the convention because she and some friends are horror fans, pure and simple.
"It's just a fun community. It's almost like a family gathering," she said. "Everyone is sharing their stories, getting to meet some of the celebrity guests, seeing different movies. It's a very laid-back kind of a party atmosphere."
Pittsburgh's claim as the birthplace of flesh-eating zombies, Romero-style, gives the city geek cred that remains alive and well decades after "Night of the Living Dead" started terrifying audiences in 1968.
The recent J.J. Abrams film "Super 8" paid homage by using the name "Romero Chemical" as the company that is the cause of a zombie plague. And when filmmaker and Comic-Con regular Kevin Smith shot "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" here, he featured a Monroeville Zombies hockey team logo as a tribute to "Night of the Living Dead," which was filmed in part at Monroeville Mall. Mr. Smith, who shot his first genre feature, "Dogma," in the Pittsburgh area, returns to San Diego this year -- holding court in the final coveted spot in Hall H on Saturday night.
Comic-Con also is the site of the annual Will Eisner Awards, the Oscars of the comic book/graphic novel industry -- an industry that thrives here as any Pittsburgher who haunts shops such as Eides in the Strip District; Comic Book Ink on the Boulevard of the Allies, Downtown; and New Dimension and Phantom of the Attic stores will tell you. Phantom's Oakland shop was nominated for a 2010 Eisner in the international retail category.
Here in the Geek City, local colleges and universities are preparing young men and women to go forth and conquer the genre world. Carnegie Mellon University, for example, is a leader in preparing students of all ages for the lucrative gaming industry. The National High School Game Academy is under way this summer "to explore the video game industry and the skills needed to be successful in it.... Inspired by the Carnegie Mellon graduate program, Entertainment Technology, the NHSGA is structured to give students a taste of the current state of video game development and provide guidance toward embarking on their own career."
Trading cards represent another gaming industry that sees the geek potential in Pittsburgh. If you wandered into the David L. Lawrence Convention Center this weekend, you would have witnessed the invitation-only Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game's 2011 North American World Championship Qualifier.
Just around the corner from the convention center, fuzzy creatures and superheroes of all shapes and sizes invaded Pittsburgh on the last Saturday in June. The first Downtown Superhero Block Party, a partnership of Bricolage theater company, the ToonSeum and the August Wilson Center (neighbors in the 900 block of Liberty Avenue) was infiltrated by dozens of friendly Furries in town for the annual Anthrocon.
Here are details of some events that are part of Pittsburgh's claim to being a Geek City:
Steel City Con
Next up: July 29-31
Where: Monroeville Convention Center
A huge toy and collectibles fair that features vendors and guests such as Lois Lane herself, Margot Kidder, from the Richard Donner "Superman" film franchise, and Lindsay Wagner, TV's "Bionic Woman."
http://www.steelcitycon.com/
Horror Realm Con
Next up: Sept. 16-18
Where: Crowne Plaza, Pittsburgh South, Bethel Park
Billed as "Pittsburgh's modern horror convention," guests include Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jack Ketchum; actors Ken Foree and Bill Moseley; writer Eduardo Sanchez ("Blair Witch Project") and "Living Dead" alumni.
http://www.horrorrealmcon.com/
Pittsburgh Horror Film Festival
Next up: TBA
Lineup includes genre stars, live music and a masquerade ball. It was held last month at the Monroeville Convention Center with guests including William Forsythe, Fred Williamson and "Living Dead" alumni.
http://www.pittsburghhorrorfilms.com/
Pittsburgh Comicon
Next up: April 20-22, 2012
Where: Monroeville Convention Center
Comic-book writers and artists are front and center, along with vendors and guests such as X-Men and Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.
http://www.pittsburghcomicon.com/
Tekkoshocon
Next up: TBA
Where: Wyndham Grand at the Point, Downtown
Tekkoshocon IX, March 31-April 3, drew thousands of fans (some in costume, some to observe and enjoy) of anime and Japanese pop culture to the Point. The show Tekkoshocon held its second annual Kennywood day on June 25.
http://www.tekkoshocon.com/
World Zombie Day and Zombie Walk
Next up: Oct. 8, 2011
The "It's Alive Show" in Pittsburgh, three-time record holders for largest zombie walk, will once again spearhead the Pittsburgh event as part of World Zombie Day, "a day when all fans of zombie culture can join together in an international effort to alleviate world hunger." The "It's Alive" website encourages "participating living dead... to bring nonperishable food item donations for local food banks" to walks around the globe.
http://www.theitsaliveshow.com/WORLDZOMBIEDAY/index.htm
Anthrocon
Next up: June 21-24, 2012
Where: David L. Lawrence Convention Center
The world's largest convention for Furries, "those fascinated with anthropomorphics, which are humanlike animal characters." Artists, animators, writers, costumers, puppeteers and fans gathered at the 15th Anthrocon last month. Guests of honor were Andy Runton, creator of the whimsical Owly, and Peter S. Beagle, author of "The Last Unicorn."
http://www.anthrocon.org/
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960.
First published on July 17, 2011 at 12:00 amMurphy will be the metal drummer's guest on the next two editions of the latter's Beats 1 show 'It’s Electric!'
LCD Soundsystem‘s James Murphy has spoken about his musical background, the formation and dissolution of LCD and why he decided to come back in an extensive new interview with Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich – watch exclusive clips of the upcoming Beats 1 interview below.
Murphy will be Ulrich’s guest on the next two editions of the drummer’s Beats 1 show ‘It’s Electric’, with the first part due to air on Beats 1 on Sunday (December 3) at 11pm GMT (3pm PT). The second part of the interview will air the following Sunday (December 10) at the same time. You can listen to the show on Sunday by clicking here.
Ahead of the premiere of the first part of the interview this Sunday, a series of video clips from the chat have been shared by Beats 1 which you can watch below.
The first clip sees Murphy addressing the topic of insecurity, as well as recalling his experience of moving to New York City for the first time.
The second clip sees the two musicians discussing artistic control – with Murphy recalling a time when he didn’t even own a guitar.
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The third and final clip features Murphy and Ulrich talking about public bathroom etiquette – watch the video below.
Earlier this month, James Murphy revealed the best – and nerdiest – piece of advice that the late David Bowie gave to him while they were working together.At MWC this year, Samsung confirmed its plans to expand to 7 countries in 2016 beyond the two where it was already available (South Korea and the United States). Among those 7 countries, only China has seen the light of day so far, but it looks like Singapore isn't too far off. Samsung has just announced a partnership with one of Singapore's leading banks: Citibank.
The service, however, isn't yet fully launched in Singapore. Samsung's press release says its launch is slated for Q2 2016, but I'm not sure how that's possible given that Q2 ends in about a month and that Samsung seems to be just ready to start its beta test phase now. Select consumers who are also Citibank credit cardholders have been invited to enter their interest in participating in the trial and will be notified once the trial starts.
Regardless of the date, when it does launch eventually, Samsung Pay will be compatible with the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, S6 Edge+, and Note 5 in Singapore. Other partners and banks haven't been announced yet.G-Eazy & Halsey’s “Him & I” received a rather warm welcome from pop radio.
Picked up by 73 Mediabase-monitored pop stations in conjunction with this week’s official impact, “Him & I” ranks as the format’s most added song.
BTS’ newly impacting “MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix, featuring Desiigner)” follows as second-most added. The song landed on playlists at another 34 pop stations this week.
Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors & Bebe Rexha’s “Home” takes third place with 30 impact week adds, while Fergie’s “A Little Work” earns fourth on the strength of its 26 pickups.
Each added by 23 stations, Louis Tomlinson’s “Miss You” and Taylor Swift’s “End Game (featuring Ed Sheeran & Future)” tie for fifth.
This week’s other notable pop radio options: Alan Walker’s “All Falls Down (featuring Noah Cyrus)” (20 adds, 7th-most), Sofi Tukker’s “Best Friend (featuring NERVO, The Knocks & Alisa Ueno)” (18 adds, 8th-most), Walk The Moon’s “One Foot” (16 adds, 9th-most), and P!nk’s “Beautiful Trauma” (13 adds, 10th-most).
Major Market Adds:
New York – Z100 – Hold Me Tight Or Don’t (Fall Out Boy), End Game (Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran & Future), One Foot (Walk The Moon)
New York – 103.5 KTU – Let Me GO (Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso ft. Florida Georgia Line & watt)
Los Angeles – 102.7 KIIS – Him & I (G-Eazy & Halsey)
Los Angeles – Radio Disney – None Reported
Los Angeles – 97.1 AMP – None Reported
Chicago – B96 – Bedroom Floor (Liam Payne), First Love (Lost Kings ft. Sabrina Carpenter), Let You Down (NF)
Chicago – 103.5 KISS – Him & I (G-Eazy & Halsey), MIC Drop (BTS ft. Desiigner – Aoki Remix)
San Francisco – 99-7 NOW – Him & I (G-Eazy & Halsey), MIC Drop (BTS ft. Desiigner – Aoki Remix), LOVE. (Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari)
San Francisco – WiLD 94.9 – Him & I (G-Eazy & Halsey)
Dallas – Hot 93.3 – A Little Work (Fergie)
Dallas – 106.1 KISS – Him & I (G-Eazy & Halsey), MIC Drop (BTS ft. Desiigner – Aoki Remix)With apologies to Greg, and general readers attempting to follow along, some replies due to Greg are bunched here.
The time listed is the time stamp of the post from Greg to which I am responding, and reflects a “going straight down the page” as opposed to an attempt at in time sequence – I attempt to minimize any “out of context” with the generous quotes of Greg’s statements. Not perfect, mind you, but the thread is becoming a little long in the tooth, and the “tripwire” of “moderation” is in effect, so…
April 16, 2017 at 10:09 pm
“ Er, o.k., but the statute giveth and the statute taketh away. IPRs are just as much a creation of statute—duly effected by bicameral assent and presentment to the lawfully elected and sworn executive—as is the presumption of validity.”
Except for the fact that timing is involved and that later legislation may run afoul of OTHER Constitutional protections – as I have point out and as you have continued to neglect.
“ I gather Invention Rights simply thinks that the statute is insane (“It is insane to set the bar as low as the statute allows…”), which is fair enough. It seems passing strange, however, to defend IR’s call for the USPTO to “make a decision on patentability under 103 and stick to it,” by recourse to the statute. It is the very statute that says that the system is not supposed to run as IR would have it to run.”
A fallacy of equating any one part of the statute as having an equal validity under the law as any other part. The fallacy comes from the plain fact that a later change in the law to something that earlier has inured Constitutional protections may very well be improper.
“ Incidentally, this is not really germane to anon’s remarks, but while I am thinking of the subject of the statute and the presumption of validity, I heard the craziest thing the other day. I was listening to the oral arguments in EmeraChem v. Volkswagen, and I heard Judge Chen say that Congress did away with the presumption of validity in IPRs. This appears to be a common misunderstanding, but I assure you, it is not true.”
The statement here, while appearing to be educational, only rises to be misleading, as the difference in levels of the presumption of validity are not addressed, and in fact, are made to seem immaterial. Some of the best L I E S are merely half-truths, and this appears to be one of such.
April 17, 2017 at 12:26 pm
“ I think that i4i is one of the few recent SCotUS cases that the Court got right, but I do not see how it helps your argument here. The i4i Court held that “Congress… codif[ied] the common-law presumption of patent validity and, implicitly, the heightened standard of proof attached to it,” (emphasis added) Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd., 131 S. Ct. 2238, 2249 (2011). In other words, the reason invalidity must be proven by clear & convincing evidence is because that is the implicit requirement of the statute. However, where the statute elsewhere makes explicit that only a preponderance of the evidence is required, the logic and rule of i4i simply ceases to apply, so it is useless to appeal to the authority of i4i on this point.”
Once again – you ignore the fact that protections once created, cannot be merely wiped away – even by the branch of the government with proper authority to write the statutory law that is patent law. The fallacy of “both in the statute” continues…
“ As you already know, I really cannot agree with you here. Nothing changes vis-à-vis the evidentiary standard for invalidity when the PTAB grants an IPR petition.”
Your agreement, or lack thereof – matters not at all – as you were informed previously. As to the “nothing changes” this is so patentably incorrect as to beggar the imagination as to why you put it forth.
“ Even if we imagine that such a “stick” was ever part of a patentee’s “bundle,” it is not a “taking” to remove a single stick from the bundle. Andrus v. Allard, 444 U.S. 51, 66 (1979) (“[W]here an owner possesses a full ‘bundle’ of property rights, the destruction of one ‘strand’ of the bundle is not a taking, because the aggregate must be viewed in its entirety”). It could hardly be otherwise. After all, if your municipality zones your neighborhood as “residential,” that takes sticks from your bundle, and yet the municipality need not pay you for dispossessing you of your right to open a feed lot in your backyard. Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 147 (1978) (“While zoning at times reduces individual property values, the burden is shared relatively evenly and it is reasonable to conclude that on the whole an individual who is harmed by one aspect of the zoning will be benefited by another,” italics in original). IPRs are, in this respect, much like zoning. Any given patent owner’s property might be diminished by the existence of an IPR scheme, but the patent system as a whole is improved, and this aggregate benefit makes it not a taking.”
This is a bit of a twist here, where YOU make a proposition, and then turn around and demand that I give evidence otherwise (all the while you clench tight your eyes to the IPR “death rates”).
You further merely assert that “the patent system as a whole is improved” and offer zero proof or evidence for this statement.
April 17, 2017 at 7:40 pm
“ Yes. That is what I am saying. In fact, I will go one pace further and say that the value of patents in the aggregate is enhanced by IPRs.”
Again – mere assertion and no proof (or evidence – quite in fact, ample evidence to the opposite has been posted, of which you merely do not agree and simply dismiss without more)….
April 17, 2017 at 11:57 am
“ It is in the nature of an organization to arrange itself to maximize revenues.” (remarking on a drawback of the PTAB financial-related structure)
As I have previously point out to Ned, in the administrative law sense, the USPTO’s charter is one of the weakest as to the separation of the political (the Executive Branch) and the semi-judicial. For this reason alone, the deference provided to any of the semi-judicial edicts of the PTAB is suspect – and rightly so.
April 18, 2017 at 11:55 am
“Mostly because of the expense. It is much less expensive and much less time consuming to litigate most questions of validity in front of an administrative tribunal like the PTAB than in front of an Art. III court. A person who has claimed a patent right that is not legally permissible (for novelty and/or obviousness reasons) has imposed costs on the relevant industries and market participants, and it is no fault of those market participants that the wrongful patentee has done so.”
Guilty until proven innocent – and the OPPOSITE of the level of presumption for a granted property right…. This is perhaps one of your most egregious overstepping of the protections afforded property under different Constitutional protections. Further, your attempts to place this on convenience of “expense” misses the mark –and badly so. This is nothing but pro-efficient infringer Kool-Aid.
“ The problem, you see, is that both sides have legitimate rights here,”
There you go again, reducing the legislated LEVEL of presumption of validity of the property right that is a granted patent to vapor.
April 17, 2017 at 12:32 pm
“ As noted above, “presumption |
people in exchange for billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest few?
If there’s any justice in politics, Congressional Republicans will pay a heavy price for their deceitful, dishonorable conduct throughout this entire episode. Even if they are not punished as harshly as they deserve to be, it’s hard not to get the sense that, come November 2018, Republicans will be desperately wishing to erase this loathsome vote from the legislative record.
Already, the double whammy of passing health care legislation that’s about as popular as Ebola, while turning a blind eye to the President’s near-daily impeachment-worthy offenses is setting the stage for significant Republican losses.
What’s going to happen in the 2018 midterm elections?
Conventional wisdom dictates that the incumbent President’s party typically loses seats in his first midterm election. While there have been notable exceptions, and though the most lopsided midterm losses like those in 1994 and 2010 have favored Republicans, the climate appears to be turning against the party of Trump. Polls are showing that Democratic enthusiasm is far outpacing energy on the Republican side, and the special elections so far in 2017 – while not a perfect predictor – are reflecting extraordinary strength for the party in the wilderness, which in turn is bolstering candidate recruitment for 2018.
Caveats aside, the lessons from the 2010 midterm elections – in which Republicans heavily campaigned against the Affordable Care Act that had passed only months before Election Day – are instructive. Nowhere was the net impact of midterm backlash more palpable than in New York State, where Republicans defeated 5 Democratic incumbents and picked up an open seat.
From the northern suburbs of New York City to Syracuse to Staten Island to Utica to the Hudson Valley, Democrats were swept out of office despite fielding strong candidates and deploying a top-notch voter mobilization operation. If the fortunes of health care politics are reversed, New York could be correspondingly catastrophic for Republicans this time around.
Who’s in danger?
A wave election will put relatively new incumbents at the most risk, including Republicans like Reps. Lee Zeldin, Elise Stefanik, Dan Donovan and John Katko who have each voted with Trump between 89 and 96 percent of the time. Even those who opposed the Trump health care bill may not escape its radioactive fallout. After all, two of the Democratic incumbents in New York who voted against the Affordable Care Act were still defeated in the 2010 red wave.
One of the Congressional seats that switched parties that year was NY-19, where Democrat Scott Murphy lost to Republican Chris Gibson. There’s good reason to think that this sprawling Hudson Valley district will flip once again under the right circumstances.
Its current occupant is John Faso, a freshman congressmen who is quickly becoming the poster boy for the Trumpcare train wreck, after putting blind fealty to an unpopular president party above the welfare of his constituents. Faso’s grown so afraid of facing the voters that he’s dodging town hall meetings, leading a neighboring Democrat to hold an event in Faso’s district in his absence.
Faso is also beginning to face strong opposition from a growing Democratic field of candidates who won’t take marching orders from Paul Ryan, or risk destabilizing 20 percent of the nation’s economy to score a hollow political “win” for Mr. Trump. Rising star Gareth Rhodes, a native of Ulster County, is the latest Democrat to take on Faso. Like Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Rhodes is talented and he’s harnessing progressive energy to bring the fight to a Republican who voted to throw his constituents under the bus, and then left them in the ditch with no insurance to cover their injuries.
Can Democrats win in 2018?
It’s districts like NY-19 that will help determine whether or not Democrats take back the House despite the undemocratic obstacles – like extreme gerrymandering and voter suppression laws that Republicans have erected nationwide in recent years. But this is an even more purple seat than the one Mr. Ossoff is seeking. President Obama carried the district twice and it was in Democratic hands (by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and former Rep. Scott Murphy) from 2007 to 2011.
Craven Republicans like John Faso deserve to lose their jobs. It won’t be easy, but the fight is now joined in New York and across the country to make sure these profiles in cowardice are not soon forgotten. Democrats have the energy and can’t let up until we fully repeal and replace the odious Republican majority.As some of you may have heard, veteran comic book artist Al Plastino has been locked in a messy squabble lately regarding the ownership of the original art he drew in 1964 for a Superman story about President John F. Kennedy. The battle has come to a sad ending for Mr. Plastino, who died this afternoon. He was 91.
Plastino was, I believe, the only person alive who drew Superman comics professionally before about 1967. He started in 1948. His earliest known comic book work was in 1941 for a little-known company called Dynamic Comics. After serving in World War II, he freelanced in and out of comics until connecting in '48 with DC, where he worked until the early seventies. For most of that time, he was the second-string Superman artist. Wayne Boring was the main guy through the fifties, then it was Curt Swan. The stories they didn't have time to do were done by Plastino. He drew some memorable stories for the Superman line of comics, including the first stories of Supergirl and also of The Legion of Super-Heroes.
In 1966, he worked on the syndicated Batman newspaper strip and drifted into that line of work. He was an excellent mimic of styles and took over the art on the Ferd'nand newspaper strip in 1970, drawing it until his retirement in '89. At one point, someone at the syndicate got the brilliant (!) idea to replace Charles Schulz on Peanuts and they had Plastino draw several weeks to show that he could ape that style…which he could. There are several accounts of what happened next but they all resulted in Schulz being furious (though not at Plastino), Schulz staying on his strip and getting lots of apologies from the syndicate, and Plastino's strips never being published. He also worked on the Nancy strip for a time and possibly others. Al was a very versatile artist.
I do not know how Mr. Plastino's passing will impact the battle over the Superman-Kennedy story. (You can read about it here. It sounds to me like someone at DC just fibbed about donating the artwork in the first place and it disappeared into someone's closet. I also suspect that they fibbed when they announced that an earlier version of the same story that was drawn by Curt Swan was donated to the Kennedy Library.)
I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Plastino but folks who did said he was a good man and a dedicated professional. It's always sad to lose someone like that.HOUSTON -- A man walked into a Houston auto shop where he used to work Friday and fatally shot two employees before going outside and killing himself, police said. In a media briefing Friday evening, officers said the gunman is a former employee and multiple people were inside the business at the time including additional employees and customers, CBS affiliate KHOU reports.
The man, whose name wasn't immediately released, entered Bemer Plus about 4 p.m. and officers received a call minutes later about "a shooting in progress," Executive Assistant Police Chief Troy Finner said in a news conference.
Multiple people, including customers and other employees, were at the shop when the shooting happened, Finner said.
"It's very, very sad this time of year and any part of the year that we lose three citizens," Finner said. "I just ask our great citizens of this city to pray for each victim here and their families."
Houston police also didn't immediately release the names of the two other people who died. The motive for the shooting is not clear.
The southwest Houston shop specializes in used BMW sales and repairs.
Hours after the shooting, homicide detectives were still at the scene investigating.NEW YORK (AP) – Rise and shine. It's time for breakfast soda.
Taco Bell said Friday that it's adding Mtn Dew A.M — a mix of Mountain Dew soda and Tropicana orange juice — to its breakfast menu, which was rolled out earlier this year at select locations. Separately, the industry tracker Beverage Digest said that PepsiCo next year plans to introduce a drink made with juice, Mountain Dew Kickstart.
Mtn Dew A.M. is mixed in restaurants and only available at Taco Bell; Kickstart would be a packaged drink sold by PepsiCo.
John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, noted that giving consumers drink options for the morning is a way for companies to boost their performance. Overall, per capita soda consumption has been on the decline since hitting its peak in 1998.
Mountain Dew Kickstart would also be a way for PepsiCo to feed off the popularity of energy drinks, which saw sales volume grow by nearly 17% last year. Each of the top three brands — Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar — saw double-digit gains, according to Beverage Digest.
A representative for Taco Bell wasn't immediately available to provide details on the orange juice-to-soda ratio in Mtn Dew A.M., or how widely it was available before earning a permanent spot on the breakfast menu. A PepsiCo spokesman declined to comment about Kickstart.
Taco Bell, which is owned by Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., announced the addition in conjunction with its new A.M. Crunchwrap, which combines scrambled eggs, cheese, a hash brown and bacon or sausage in a single tortilla. It has 680 calories with bacon, or 730 calories with sausage. A 16-ounce cup of Mtn Dew A.M. has 160 calories.
The Mexican-style chain introduced breakfast — which it refers to as "FirstMeal" — at about 800 restaurants in 14 states earlier this year. The chain plans to take the menu national by 2014 if the test goes well.
Although Taco Bell is looking to expand by offering higher-end options such as its new Cantina Bell menu, it's also finding success by appealing to younger men who crave junk food. In the U.S. sales at Taco Bell restaurants open at least a year experienced double-digit growth during the second quarter.
Yum Brands attributed the boost to its new tacos featuring shells made out of Nacho Cheese Doritos.SOUTH SIDE (KDKA) – A group of bike riders caused a bit of a stir on the South Side last night.
It was the second “Pittsburgh Underwear Bike Ride” of the summer.
The event’s Facebook page said it’s about, “having fun and promoting a positive self-body image.”
The group even received a police escort.
However, according to emergency dispatchers, some people were riding in the nude along East Carson Street.
It’s not clear if they were part of the main group, or if there were any arrests.
Thursday night’s event was a fundraiser for a bike rider who was seriously hurt in a hit-and-run crash in May.
He was struck on Liberty Avenue in Lawrenceville while riding with friends.
The organizers of last night’s ride said the victim was in critical condition for a while, but is now making progress in his recovery.
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>> Israel’s Explosive Message to Russia Sent in Syria, Received in Tel Aviv
The Israeli army attacked an anti-aircraft battery in Syria, near Damascus, Monday after it fired a missile targeting Israel Air Force planes.
The attack was prompted by the launch of an SA5-type missile at Israeli reconnaissance planes. The Syrian missile did not hit its Israeli targets but the Israel Defense Forces decided to hit the battery, the army said.
>> Analysis | Putin turn a blind eye to Israeli attacks in Syria – as long as Assad survives | With unprecedented chaos in Washington, Israel sets new red lines over Iran in Syria
The army targeted the battery with four bombs and, according to the IDF, the battery was damaged to the extent it was no longer operational. The army said the battery targeted was the same that fired at Israeli jets last March, prompting Israel make use of its Arrow anti-missile system for the first time.
The Syrian military warned of "dangerous consequences" following the rare strike, claiming that they successfuly hit an Israeli jet during the strike. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the strike, saying that "today they attempted to hit our planes," calling the incident "unacceptable." He added that "if anyone attempts to harm us, we will harm them back."
>> Israel's latest strike in Syria: What we know so far <<
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Israel believes Syrian forces fired out of assumption that the Israeli planes intended to attack. The Israeli army spokesperson told reporters that the planes were instead on a reconnaissance mission in Lebanon, photographing sites for Israeli intelligence.
"The Syrian regime is responsible for any firing from its territory. We see this incident as a clear provocation and we will not allow it," said Ronen Manlis, an IDF spokesperson in a briefing with reporters.
"If anti-aircraft fire is being carried out for any military activity, we will respond as we did now," he said.
The Syrian missiles were fired at IDF planes on a routine photographic mission that flew into Lebanese territory, an area under the protection of Syrian missiles. The Israeli army says that they are prepared for the possibility of Syrian retaliation, but do see the incident is an escalation.
Before striking Syria, the IDF says it notified Russia of its intentions. The attack comes hours before Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu will arrive in Israel for an official and he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is hosting him.
In September, the Israeli military struck a chemical arms plant in in Syria, foreign media reports claimed at the time. The Syrian army general command confirmed in a statement the attack on what they called a military facility, and said that two people were killed and extensive damage was caused. Israel refused to comment on the reports.
Israel has attacked convoys bringing arms to Hezbollah and groups on several Israeli fronts dozens of times over the last five years, a top Israeli military commander confirmed for the first time two weeks ago.
The number of Israeli attacks on such convoys since 2012 is approaching triple digits, Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, the outgoing commander of the Israel Air Force, told Haaretz.Brain Wars How the Military Is Failing Its Wounded
More than half of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated in Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals since 2002 have been diagnosed, at least preliminarily, with mental health problems, according to statistics obtained by the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense.
The data, which is released quarterly, also show that the raw number of returning soldiers with psychological problems is rising. Nearly 18,000 new patients were treated for mental health issues at VA facilities in the last three months of last year—the most recent time period for which data is available—upping the total to more than 330,000.
The latest numbers confirm a trend that has intensified over the last several years. Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said that when the organization first began to collect the data in late 2004, only 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in VA hospitals had been diagnosed with mental problems.
The increase should come as no surprise, given that a recent military survey obtained by ProPublica and other media outlets shows that U.S. troops in Afghanistan are currently reporting lower morale and greater emotional strain than at any other time in the last five years.
That report notes that mental health staffing has doubled in warzones in order to ensure treatment is available immediately for soldiers who suffer psychological trauma.
Sullivan applauded the increase in staff abroad but questioned what’s being done to make sure that troubled troops are properly cared for once they come home.
“We truly support having more doctors in warzones, that’s great,” Sullivan said. “But we also need to make sure we have enough doctors here.”
Laurie Tranter, a spokeswoman for the VA, told ProPublica that the agency has increased the number of mental health staff in the United States by more than 40 percent since 2002 to more than 20,000. Tranter suggested that the increase in veterans diagnosed with and treated for mental health problems may, in part, reflect more proactive screening and better access to services.
Pressure is mounting on the military and the VA to fix long-standing shortfalls in mental health care.
A federal appeals court issued a scathing opinion of the VA’s system yesterday, noting that it takes an average of four years for veterans to receive mental health benefits, a beleaguered process that demands immediate reform.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Stephen Reinhart said, “Although the VA is obligated to provide veterans mental health services, many veterans with severe depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) are forced to wait weeks for mental health referrals.... For those who commit suicide in the interim, care does not come soon enough.”
As reported by the Associated Press, the ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a 2008 verdict and sends the case, which was filed against the VA by veterans’ advocates, back to U.S. District Court for resolution.At its rather exclusive ARM Tech Day 2014 in Austin, the British company has given us more details on the future of its mobile efforts — in specific, its upcoming Cortex-A53 and -A57 CPU cores. ARM also said that, after passing the the $60 mark last year, the cheapest Android phones will be just $20 “in the next few months.” According to ARM, these cheap devices will cause the low- and mid-range smartphone and tablet markets to more than double over the next five years, resulting in almost 2.5 billion total mobile device shipments by 2018… and they’ll (probably) all use ARM chips.
First, let’s talk about those A53 and A57 cores. The A53, which should arrive in phones over the next few months, is ARM’s first 64-bit ARMv8 CPU core; it is a mid-range chip. The A57, which also uses the new ARMv8 architecture, should arrive in early 2015; it’s a high-end chip. As you can see in the graph above, ARM now expects the A53 to be around 50% faster than the Cortex-A7, at around the same power consumption. The A57 is again around 50% faster than the Cortex-A15, but it also consumes more power. It’s only when TSMC and GlobalFoundries move to 20nm and 16nm FinFET that Cortex-A57 cores will truly shine.
It’s worth pointing out that these new ARMv8 cores are fully backwards compatible with 32-bit code — and as you can see in the graph above, the A57 is still significantly faster than the A15 in 32-bit workloads.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 410, 610, and 615 will use the Cortex-A53 CPU core, with the 410 due to hit the market any day now. The Snapdragon 808 and 810 will use both A53 and A57 cores in a big.LITTLE arrangement, but they’re not due until 2015 (and will probably use TSMC’s 20nm HPM process).
Along with power consumption and performance, the other corner of the mobile computing triforce is cost — and really, ARM scores so highly on all three metrics that it’s no surprise that it has completely dominated the mobile market. Other players, like Intel, might be able to compete in terms of power or performance — but at the end of the day, ARM’s strategy of licensing its IP to any company with a pulse was always going to win out. Case in point: In 2011, cheap-and-cheerful Chinese ARM licensees sold around 15 million tablet SoCs; in 2013, that figure was 100 million. To complete the picture, four years ago the ARM tablet market didn’t even exist — it was just x86 laptops.
And of course, as the price of SoCs continue to fall, the total size of the market continues to grow. If you thought the smartphone and tablet market was already big at around 1.3 billion devices shipped in 2013, you ain’t seen nothing yet (according to ARM and Gartner’s estimates, anyway). By 2018, the “smart mobile device” market (i.e. smartphones and tablets) could reach almost 2.5 billion total shipments. For comparison, PCs peaked at around 350 million per year in 2011 and 2012. ARM expects low-end smartphones to hit a $20 price point later this year, and there’s no reason that price reductions will end there.
All in all, things are looking pretty good for ARM Holdings — a small, British company that has just 2,000 employees and diminutive annual revenues of around $700 million.In a latest measure to create a “safe space” for students, a number of universities have issued “costume protocol,” banning such un-PC Halloween costumes as Arab turbans, feathered Indian headdresses, Japanese Geisha outfits, and Caitlyn Jenner costumes.
Brock University in Ontario, Canada, for instance, has set up a website laying out its “Halloween Costume Vetting Protocol,” complete with a list of offending costumes and pictures of inappropriate wear.
In a twisted bit of illogic, the university stated, “In order to create an inclusive and diverse environment, some costumes may be denied.”Apparently, inclusive and diverse here means “if your costume is too diverse, you will not be included.”
“If a member of your party is denied entry because of their costume, they will be escorted to a space where they can change or remove the offending item,” according to the protocol. “They will not lose their place in line during this process, and can enter Isaac’s once the costume has been deemed appropriate by team of Isaac’s Bar and Grill Management and Student Justice Centre Staff.”
As one disturbed commenter wrote, “Obey the Thought Police. Welcome to 1984.”
Further south, at the University of Florida, officials have similarly warned students about sporting offensive costumes, once again appealing to “diversity.”
“Some Halloween costumes reinforce stereotypes of particular races, genders, cultures, or religions,” the university noted. “Regardless of intent, these costumes can perpetuate negative stereotypes, causing harm and offense to groups of people.”
In a scathing article in Forbes last spring, the noted historian Paul Johnson called political correctness “one of the most dangerous intellectual afflictions ever to attack mankind.”
PC has “enormous appeal to the semieducated,” Johnson observed, and it “appeals to pseudo-intellectuals everywhere, since it evokes the strong streak of cowardice notable among those wielding academic authority nowadays.”
“Any empty-headed student with a powerful voice can claim someone (never specified) will be ‘hurt’ by a hitherto harmless term, object or activity and be reasonably assured that the dons and professors in charge will show a white feather and do as the student demands,” he said.
“Thus, there isn’t a university campus on either side of the Atlantic that’s not in danger of censorship,” he concluded.
If in spite of all warnings any precious flower happens to be traumatized by a particular costume at the University of Florida, officials have set up an emergency hotline to help soothe anxious spirits.
If you are “troubled by an incident,” the website counseled, “please take advantage of the 7 day a week presence of the U Matter, We Care program,” which includes an email address as well as “a 24/7 counselor in the Counseling and Wellness Center available to speak by phone.”
Not content with coddling the victims of costume abuse, the university is also prepared to punish and reeducate offenders.
The eerily named “Bias Education and Response Team” at the University of Florida is ready to “respond to any reported incidents of bias, to educate those that were involved, and to provide support by connecting those that were impacted to the appropriate services and resources.”
The good news is that there are still plenty of unprotected groups.
At Brock University, the list of “Prohibited Halloween Costumes & Accessories” covers Caitlyn Jenner, Muslims, Geishas, and Native Americans.
Priests, nuns, rabbis, and police officers are still fair game and can be ridiculed at will. Some deep-seated prejudices are just too fun to give up.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsromeOn the surface, PlayStation Plus sounds like a great deal for gamers who don't mind digital content. Sure, you don't have any physical discs, but you have instant access to most of your game collection (hard drive space being the only limiting factor), cloud-based storage, an extra discount on sales and what amounts to an unlimited free rental on pre-selected titles so long as you keep your subscription current. While not everyone is going to enjoy every piece of content provided by PlayStation Plus, it's difficult to deny the sheer breadth of it. Unfortunately, there is a problem inherent in the system that isn't immediately obvious when you subscribe.
No, we're not talking about publisher payouts, game selection or the question of whether or not subscribing to PlayStation Plus discourages retail purchases. The hidden problem with PlayStation Plus is that it can make certain digital purchases impossible. The longer you have been a member of PlayStation Plus, the more likely it is to happen. In a perverse way, Sony is inadvertently discouraging some of its most loyal customers from spending money on the PlayStation Store.
The problem arises because of the way the PlayStation Network handles licensing. Instead of recognizing that there are multiple versions of a license for some titles and ranking them appropriately when applying a license to an account, PSN works on a "first come, first served" basis. In short, if a game has multiple license types, as soon as one is attached to your account, that's it. You cannot upgrade to a better license, unless the existing one is removed first. This usually requires a call to customer support.
Why does this matter?
For single games, it means that if you download a "free" PlayStation Plus game, you can never purchase a full version of the game. The PlayStation Store will not allow the purchase. "Wait!" you're saying, "Why would I want to buy a game that I already have in my collection?" The answer to that not everyone is going to keep a PlayStation Plus subscription forever. Purchasing a full version means you have a perpetual license that will never expire. Given that PlayStation Plus sales can offer very attractive pricing, it seems odd to prevent the sale.
Still, aside from being mildly frustrating (no one likes to miss out on a good sale), preventing a single purchase at the PlayStation Store isn't an issue. Where it becomes a problem is when bundles are introduced into the mix. This is where the system appears to fall apart.
Sony supplied us with a download code for some recently released Indie games. This was given to everyone who attended the PlayStation Indie event at GDC. The bundle contained a selection of games, two of which were previously available on PlayStation Plus.
Before redeeming the bundle code, we made the assumption that the two PlayStation Plus titles would simply be upgraded to the full versions. So, just like any other redemption code, we dutifully entered it into the PlayStation Store. The store accepted the code without a problem, but the two PlayStation Plus titles stayed as they were. The expiration dates were not removed. Trying the code a second time indicated it had already been redeemed, and the transaction history had no trace of the two games. It was as if the full version licenses for those two had simply vanished into the ether.
Speaking with PlayStation customer service, we learned that this is actually the expected behavior for the PlayStation Store. According to the agent who handled the request, Sony needs to manually process a refund request for the "free" games before the system can apply the full version licenses. Unfortunately, this is not something that the customer service team is empowered to do. It must be escalated, which means a long wait. By way of example, we called customer service on April 2nd. Today is April 15th, and the case is still pending.
From a practical standpoint, our particular case isn't a big deal. After all, the games were provided for work reasons, and nothing is preventing access. From a consumer rights standpoint, however, the issue is troubling.
It is easy to see how someone purchasing a bundle that contains content that they already have via PlayStation Plus could silently fail. Unless you are checking the expiration dates in your purchase history, there is no indication that the full version license did not apply to the account. Realistically, it is plausible that someone wouldn't notice the discrepancy until they let their PlayStation Plus subscription lapse. At that point, sorting out the issue with customer service would likely be challenging.
This brings us full circle to the original point. Once you know the PlayStation Network can't handle updated licenses, it becomes a strong disincentive to purchase anything. A perfect example is this week's Borderlands bundle sale. PlayStation Plus subscribers can purchase full versions of Borderlands and Borderlands 2 for a grand total of $20.99. That's a great price for two great games, but Borderlands was previously available as a "free" PlayStation Plus title, so anyone who's had the service for the past year already has it on their account. Knowing the hassle that is involved in sorting out a license issue means that sale price probably isn't worth it, and that means 2K has just lost a sale.
As publishers make their grand push toward the digital frontier, it is going to be more and more important that licensing be a seamless process. If purchasing a digital version of a game becomes a hassle, consumers are not going to want to bother with digital storefronts. More importantly, consumers are not going to trust digital storefronts. Here's hoping that Sony manages to resolve the PlayStation Store licensing issues before the PlayStation 4 hits retail shelves later this year.Things can change dramatically in a decade. Just ask an NFL tight end.
In 2003, the men who played the position did not, for the most part, spend much time with the football. That season, tight ends were targeted 1,406 times, catching 903 passes and scoring 68 touchdowns. Except for a few outliers, like Tony Gonzalez and Shannon Sharpe, they were valued as much for their ability to throw a solid block as they were for their ability to get their hands on the pigskin.
Ten years later, of course, the numbers painted a strikingly different picture: In the 2013 season, tight ends were targeted a whopping 2,485 times, collecting 1,631 catches and scoring 159 touchdowns. The statistical explosion underlined something that has become obvious to many, including Gonzalez, current star Jimmy Graham and rookie Eric Ebron: The position has undergone a radical metamorphosis.
When I was working for the Dallas Cowboys, we might have thrown to the tight end 20 times per year. (Even the first player to enter the Hall of Fame as a tight end -- Mike Ditka, who caught 56 passes for 1,076 yards as a rookie with the Bears -- was viewed more as a blocker than as a speed guy.) That said, our coach, Tom Landry, did use two-tight end sets; years later, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick would have great success with two-TE sets powered by Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Along the way, guys like Kellen Winslow, Sharpe, Gonzalez, Jason Witten and Antonio Gates proved that the tight end could help power an aerial attack.
Now, with dynamic pass-catchers like Graham, Gronkowski, Jordan Cameron and Julius Thomas running wild, tight ends are putting up dazzling lines that rival those of even the most prolific wide receivers. Consider that in three of the past five seasons, a tight end has either led the NFL in receiving touchdowns (Graham did it with 16 in 2013, while Gronkowski did it with 17 in 2011) or tied for the league lead (Vernon Davis had 13 in 2009). Graham's attempt to change his franchise-tag designation from tight end to wide receiver failed, but the broader positional trend is clear.
Today, the prototypical tight end has the ability to catch the ball and make something happen after the reception. Ideally, he'll also be able to block -- though he might not even be up on the line of scrimmage most of the time, as pass-catching tight ends tend to move around quite a bit. The key, of course, is forcing an advantageous matchup with the defense, getting your fast guy to be covered by their slow guy (often a linebacker).
There currently seem to be more tight ends in this mold coming down the pike than ever before. I've identified seven youngsters, all with two years or less of NFL experience, who have the receiving ability to keep the tight end revolution going strong -- beyond the current reign of guys like Graham, Gronk, Cameron and Thomas.
Green might be something of an unknown outside of San Diego, but he's going to be pretty special. As a skinny rookie coming out of Louisiana-Lafayette in 2012, he played sparingly and failed to make much of a statistical dent, managing just four catches for 56 yards in four games. When I saw him at Chargers training camp last year, he'd improved his physical makeup to the point that I almost didn't recognize him. Sure enough, he went on to play in all 16 games -- including 10 starts -- and notch 17 catches for 376 yards and three scores.
The 24-year-old is very, very athletic, a long-striding guy who seems to gain about 5 yards with every step he takes (see: his yards-per-catch mark of 22.1 in 2013). Considering his upward trajectory and Philip Rivers' history of success with the more famous of San Diego's dynamic tight ends -- Antonio Gates -- I expect Green to explode in 2014. He has true Pro Bowl potential.
Ebron broke Vernon Davis' single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end in the ACC in 2013, collecting 895 yards -- and it's no coincidence that he has Vernon Davis-type skills, plus better hands. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound speedster was inspired by Graham's situation to recently argue that his position should be redefined as a "hybrid" or "joker," but regardless of what he's called, he'll be a matchup nightmare. Ebron can play outside, like a receiver, and has enough route-running ability to scare opponents. He figures to rack up yards after the catch.
Between Ebron and Golden Tate, the Lions look to finally have some legitimate options to support super-weapon Calvin Johnson.
Brooks: Best hands in the NFL? Who has the finest pair of mitts in football? Bucky Brooks reveals his pecking order, and some choices might surprise you.
Who has the finest pair of mitts in football?reveals his pecking order, and some choices might surprise you. READ
Reed (6-2, 237) isn't the biggest guy, and he isn't the fastest guy, but he's a tight end with the ball skills of a wide receiver, and that makes him dangerous. Think of baseball players; while some stagger around underneath a fly ball, Reed is like those who naturally know how to take the best line to the catch.
Concussion issues interrupted his breakout rookie campaign last year, but he still piled up 499 yards and three touchdowns on 45 catches. If Reed can stay healthy, we can expect him to play a major role in Washington's offense.
The second-year pro is a very skilled receiver and blocker who showed as a rookie (36 catches for 469 yards and four scores) that he can really play well in that Eagles attack, which is a good system for tight ends. Ertz's fluidity helps him get loose in the secondary; he's definitely more than just a straight-line speed guy.
Speaking of speed, while his 4.65-second 40-yard dash might not seem fast, can you imagine a 6-5, 250-pounder barreling toward you at that pace? The image should crystallize the matchup problem that many of the tight ends on this list present: stopping a giant who can run as fast as your 5-11 safety -- and jump as high, too.
Seferian-Jenkins had a down year, statistically, in his third and final season at Washington, catching just 36 passes for 450 yards -- but he still holds all of the records for tight ends at the school, in career receptions (146), yards (1,838) and touchdowns (21). At any rate, the dip in production had more to do with the Huskies' desire to run the ball -- which they did, to great effect, with Bishop Sankey -- than it did with any kind of regression on Seferian-Jenkins' part. Furthermore, the strategic shift probably actually helped him, by affording him an opportunity to improve his blocking ability.
Yet another tight end with a hoops background -- something he shares with seemingly countless tight ends nowadays -- the 6-5, 262-pound Seferian-Jenkins is a natural fit for a receiving corps that also includes veteran Vincent Jackson and rookie Mike Evans, both of whom are also 6-5. I think he has Pro Bowl potential.
Battista: The Colts' latest project Erik Swoope spent years prepping to be a pro -- on the basketball court. Judy Battista details the creation of a tight end.
Erik Swoope spent years prepping to be a pro -- on the basketball court.details the creation of a tight end. READ
Amaro thrived at Texas Tech |
by the few RNS sympathisers in the government. They were very successful. Within a very short time Sweden had changed completely. The hysteria whipped up in the media had created an atmosphere where no politician who wanted his career to continue dared oppose the RNS fanatics and the police hard-liners were duly rewarded with more power and influence as the politicians competed with each other to show who was the most ‘hard on drugs’.
The anti drug laws have got progressively more severe over the years and are now the hardest in Europe. Police give drug violations top priority and Sweden is the only country in the European Union that has criminalised drug use as well as possession. Passing a joint counts as trafficking and carries a mandatory prison sentence and drug violations are regularly given harsher sentences than other crimes, including crimes of violence.
Today Sweden is entirely dominated by the RNS. The media regularly run the most incredible horror stories about narcotics, especially cannabis, which they have singled out as one of the most dangerous of drugs. The authorities have a monopoly on information and there is no dissent. The situation is similar to that in the USA during the Macarthyite anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950’s. It would be professional suicide for anyone in an official position to question the RNS publicly. And of course, hardly anyone ever does. What happened when someone was foolish enough to do this once was reported in ‘Dagens Nyheter’, a leading Swedish newspaper, 26.4.95:
There is such a strong unity between organisations and authorities that dissenting opinions on drug policy are not allowed. Alec Carlberg,President of RFHL ( National Union for Helping Drug Abusers) says “If one even dares whisper an opinion that is in the least other than the official line one is immediately maligned as a ‘legaliser’ and suddenly you are excluded from the debate, invitations to lecture stop, you can no longer take part in study trips. This is a threat to sound discussion in Sweden”.
One who has personally experienced this is Lief Lenke, professor of criminology at Stockholm University who says “At a conference organised by the National Health Institute I dared raise a couple of questions. If it is credible to assert that cannabis is as dangerous as heroin and if it is right that Sweden refuses to give clean syringes to addicts when even the WHO recommends it. There was immediately a very unpleasant uproar. People whistled, shouted, and interrupted. I was called a ‘legaliser’. I had been invited to speak on European narcotics policy at a meeting of Sweden’s social services officers. They telephoned to say they had heard certain things about me and had chosen another speaker. Now the Social Services Department has informed me that I may no longer sit as Sweden’s representative on the Council of Europe Committee for narcotic questions”. When the director of the National Health Institute, Jakob Lindberg, was asked about the above he said “Everyone should know that we are completely, fully and uncompromisingly against drugs. There is great unity on this in Sweden”.
Given the hysterical witch-hunt atmosphere raging in Sweden, it’s hardly surprising that no one dares to publicly admit having liberal views.
The countries of the European Union have been moving towards decriminalisation and even legalisation for some time now. The recent liberalisation of German laws are only part of a general trend that has been taking place over the entire EU. In 1995 the European Parliament voted to decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use. Unfortunately Sweden is now a member of the EU and has determined to carry its crusade against drugs into Europe. Any attempt at liberalisation will be fiercely opposed by Sweden. Their aim is to stop and reverse the trend towards legalisation and to this end are using the resources of the Swedish state and all their political power in the European Parliament. Swedish Euro-MP’s are forming anti-liberalisation pressure groups and actively lobbying for the adoption of repressive Swedish laws.
In 1994 Sweden was instrumental in forming ECAD (European Cities Against Drugs), whose entire budget is paid for by the Swedish state. The general secretary of ECAD, a fanatical Swedish drug warrior, Ake Setreus, said in April 1995 that the communist Chinese policy of sending prostitutes and drug abusers to forced labour camps is an effective way to fight drugs. Sweden has long had a policy of committing drug abusers to forced treatment centers.
The Swedes are always well represented at international drug and harm reduction conferences where they do their best to oppose and discredit any talk of decriminalisation of cannabis or liberalisation of drug laws. They distinguished themselves at the harm reduction conference in Florence in the spring of 1995 by savagely attacking speakers and gave the impression that they were not there in order to engage in meaningful dialogue, but to beat down any liberal arguments. According to the Finnish periodical ‘Nordisk Alkohol Tidskrift’ (Northern Alcohol Review) no.2 1995 many delegates were clearly upset by the behavior of the Swedes and found it hard to take them seriously. Unfortunatly some politicians and legislators do take them seriously and this could have dire consequences for the entire EU.
Swedish government funds are being used to finance anti-drug propaganda campaigns in European media, including ads on MTV Europe and in Foreign newspapers. Foreign politicians and officials visiting Sweden are regaled with glowing accounts of Sweden’s success in it’s hard line ‘war on drugs’ and persuaded to support the introduction of what they call the ‘Swedish Model’ to the rest of Europe.
The reality of the ‘Swedish Model’ is very different from the propaganda of the Swedish government. Their draconian laws are not having any effect on drug availability or use. Swedish Television News reported 5.10.95 that amphetamine is now so common that it is cheaper than alcohol. The newspaper ‘Dagens Nyheter’ reported 8.10.95 that heroin is pouring over the border from Norway into western Sweden as Eastern European gangs open up new routes to the lucrative Swedish market. According to the National Health Institute, 20% of Swedish young people in the major cities use drugs, mostly cannabis.
One area where Swedish drug laws are having a great effect is crime. The newspaper ‘Dagens Nyheter’ reported 2.6.95 that drug use and violence are escalating out of control and Sweden is heading for a situation similar to that in the USA. A report by the Criminal Care Ministry (Kriminalvardsstyrelsen) 1.7.95 says serious crime has risen 25% in Sweden since 1990 and a report from the Criminological Institute of Stockholm University in September 1995 states that adult crime in Sweden has risen 80% since 1975. In 1975 the drug laws were much more liberal than they are today.
The situation in the cities is becoming untenable. Crimes of violence in the Greater Stockholm area rose by 54% between the years 1987-1993 according to Johannes Knutsson, a researcher at the Police High School in report in the newspaper ‘Svenska Dagbladet’10.7.95. The crimes that have increased most are robbery and aggravated robbery.
The minister of justice, Laila Freivalds, said to the press in June 1995 that there is a clear connection between the rise in violent crime in Sweden and the availability of illegal drugs and weapons.
None of this prevents the fanatical narconazis of Sweden holding their country up as example for the rest of Europe to follow. As Europe is the best hope the world has of instituting sane drug laws, the actions of Sweden represent a threat that is out of all proportion to their relatively small size. There is a very real danger that they can succeed in imposing the same totalitarian narcofascism on the rest of Europe that they have imposed on their own unfortunate country.
The best way of fighting the Swedish narconazis is by information. They should be confronted by the total failure of their prohibition policy and while this will make no impression at all on the Swedish demagogues, it may prevent them from fooling others that the ‘Swedish Model’ works.
John Yates,
UKCIAby Rajan P. Parrikar
First published on SAWF on May 29, 2000
Namashkar.
Our exploration of Hindustani ragaspace continues with a coup d’oeil of the hoary Raga Bhairav and members of its extended family.
Raga Bhairav
Bhairav connotes three entities: raga, raganga, and that. All the three converge only in the flagship Raga Bhairav. Concerning its etymology, “Bhairav” is an epithet of Lord Shiva, associated with his fierce, bhayanak swaroopa. In old treatises Bhairav is referred to as the adi-raga and comes attached with a wealth of lore. In his monumental exegesis Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande has sifted through Bhairav’s tortuous history and its passage through time in great, and sometimes painful, detail. We shall here confine ourselves to its contemporary musical structure and practice.
Bhairav is so fundamental to Indian tradition that its impaction on the nation’s musical soul can never be overstated. Even the unlettered in the land is familiar with its germ in some form or the other. The overlay of Bhairav strains on an quiet, bucolic Indian morning can be a purifying experience. Verily, it falls to the lot of the noblest of ragas, deserving of renewal and reflection every single day.
Throughout this promenade M = shuddha madhyam, m = teevra madhyam.
The swara set constituting the Bhairav that is: S r G M P d N. It is congruent with the 15th Carnatic melakarta Mayamalavagoula. The Bhairav raganga – referred to as Bhairavanga – is composed of two chief threads, one each in the poorvanga and uttaranga regions.
G M P G M (G)r, S
The point of note here is the special andolita komal rishab in the avarohatmaka movement. This uccharana is vital, represents Bhairav’s signature, and at once defines the raganga.
G M (N)d, d, P
This is the uttaranga marker of the raganga. The swara lagav of both r and d is andolita, a sine qua non for effective expression of the Bhairavanga.
The lakshanas of Raga Bhairav are now fleshed out:
G M (n)d, (n)d, P, P G M (G)r, S
The komal nishad, while nominally varjya, is nevertheless cultivated through an andolita dhaivat. That is to say, it is “gupt” (hidden), rarely set out explicitly in notation although in some of the old dhrupad compositions there is a somewhat less inhibited recourse to the komal nishad. Notice the pancham – ‘langhan alpatva‘ (skipped) in the arohi movement and ‘nyasa bahutva‘ (point of repose) in the avarohi movement. This is characteristic of ragadari music where a swara may be called upon to wear multiple hats in service of the raga. The swara, it must be emphasized, is not synonymous with note.
G M (N)d, (N)d N S”, N S” (N)d N d P
The dhaivat is caressed with a touch of shuddha nishad, the retreat from S”->d is mediated by a meend. The intonational nuance is difficult to convey through the written word but we now have at our disposal the fruits of modern technology – streaming audio at our fingertips. The subtleties of uccharana will be illuminated in the audio offerings to follow.
S G M P G M, G M (G)r, S r G M P
The rishab is often rendered alpa and skipped in arohi movements. An occasional deergha madhyam makes for a pleasing effect. The treatment of gandhar calls for careful handling since an inopportune nyasa may inadvertently invite Raga Kalingada (to be discussed later). Ragas Kalingda and Gouri of the Bhairav that use the same set of notes but embody different ragangas. See On Raga Lalita-Gouri.
Building on the foregoing discussion leads to the following sketch:
S, (G)r (G)r S, (N’)d’ N’ S, N’ S G M, G M (G)r, S
S r G M P, P G M (N)d, d, P, P GMPGM (G)r, r S
G M (N)d, d, P, G M P d N S”, r” S” N S” (N)d, d, P
The gayaki of the raga is complemented by linear arohi-avarohi runs (SrGMPdNS”:S”NdPMGrS) and other supporting gestures. With this propaedeutic we are now ready for a dip in the Bhairav ocean. The prefatory pieces are Bhairav-based samples drawn from the ‘light’ arena. The operative word here is “based. These ancillary genres often co-opt the scale of Bhairav but take liberty with its lakshanas.
We open with M.S. Subbulakshmi‘s bhajan from Jayadeva‘s Geeta Govinda: jaya jagadeesha.
The Gemini composer duo of M.D. Parthasarthy and Emani Shankar Sastry brought forth this Lata number in SANSAR (1952): amma roti de.
Salil Chowdhary, by a long shot the most beautiful and complex musical mind to have come out of Bengal, files two beautiful Lata solos, one in MUSAFIR (1957): mana re Hari ke guna.
And the much loved melody from JAGTE RAHO (1956): jago Mohan pyare.
A haunting melody from composer Roshan in SANSKAR (1952), again in Lata‘s voice: hanse tim tim.
BAIJU BAWRA (1953) carried what is probably the most famous Bhairav-based composition in the popular imagination. Composer Naushad teams with Lata.
O.P. Nayyar throws caution to the winds in a cavalier romp through Bhairav territory. Asha Bhonsle figures in this PHIR WOHI DIL LAYA HOON (1962) sparkler: dekho bijlee dole.
On the Marathi stage the Bhairav scale is most strongly sensed in narrative musical passages known as ‘saki‘ (one may argue that Kalingada, not Bhairav, is the basis for these folk-inspired tunes). Vasantrao Deshpande flashes an instance of this sub-genre in the folksy (Lavani-esque) Hindi saki from SHAKUNTALA.
We switch off the ‘light’ round with a bhajan of the 14th C saint Namdev, rendered by Kumar Gandharva.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the assistance of Sir Vish Krishnan in the above compilation.
We turn now to the Classical department where we have gathered representative samples of Bhairav and associated melodies. The choice for inclusion of a clip was governed by the following criterion: Does it say something important about the raga, and say it well?
For all its pervasive influence and gravitas, performances in pure Bhairav are few and far between. The dhrupadiyas get the first shot. Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, in a composition set to the 10 beat Sooltala: Shiva Adi.
A comprehensive suite in Bhairav by one of India’s finest musical minds and the greatest living Hindustani composer, Pandit Ramashreya Jha “Ramrang” follows. The first two selections are culled from a public performance in Goa in 1999. Yours truly provides harmonium support and Tulshidas Navelkar plays the tabla.
Jha-sahab, vilambit khayal in Ektala: samajha mana baware.
Jha-sahab, druta khayal in Teentala: bana nahin aave.
The sahitya in Jha-sahab‘s dhrupad-anga composition known as sadra is inspired by Kabir. There’s a deft play on words, and he explains the import.
A sampler of Bundu Khan‘s sarangi where he plays a dhrupad in Chautala. Notice the caress of the komal nishad.
Barkatullah Khan, the grand Senia master of the sitar, is not a familiar name to today’s rasikas. Among his students were Ashiq Ali Khan and Ashiq Ali’s son, Mushtaq Ali Khan. Ah, what ragadari!
Salamat Ali Khan.
A youthful, sprightly Gangubai Hangal.
Kumar Gandharva‘s own composition contains delicate glides and shading of swara. In particular, keep an ear out for graces imparted to the dhaivat: ravi ke karama.
The Bhairav montage concludes with Mallikarjun Mansur‘s sterling display.
We now take up the variations on the Bhairav motif. The commentary from this point on will be terse. A few Bhairav prakars are ‘big’ enough to merit more spacetime than is allotted here. As we make our way through the Bhairav matrix, fix your attention on Bhairavanga, the creative interpolation and extrapolation of its kernel.
Raga Gunakali/Gunakri
In this nominally audav-jati (pentatonic) raga with S r M P d as its swara set, it is not unusual to lace rishab with gandhar along the M->r contour to precipitate Bhairavanga.
Jha-sahab has written a beautiful bandish describing Lord Shiva’s visit to Brindavan to see the baby Krishna. The text verbalizes the Great Yogi’s response to an apprehensive Jashoda.
Mushtaq Hussain Khan of Rampur-Sahaswan.
Kumar Gandharva‘s maverick treatment assigns explicit values to both gandhar and nishad. His own composition: ava mhara mana basiya.
Raga Bairagi
This audav-jati raga employs the following swara set: S r M P n. It was first introduced by Ravi Shankar in the 1940s and was readily embraced by the music samaj. As years went by, through accretion of appropriate melodic gestures it came to be considered a member of the Bhairav stream.
Amir Khan‘s sumarata nisadina tumaro nama is considered representative of the best this raga has to offer.
Incidently, another pentatonic Bhairavanga raga employing the S r M d N set has been advanced in recent times. It goes by the name “Kshanika.”
Raga Anand Bhairav
In this traditional prakar, the komal dhaivat in Bhairav is replaced by its shuddha counterpart. The komal nishad is parachuted into the scheme in an avarohi prayoga S” D n P inspired by Bilawal. In Bhairavanga ragas where either rishab or dhaivat is rendered shuddha, the madhyam tends to assume a powerful role and is often elevated to a vadi swara. Care must be exercised to not let Anand Bhairav stray into Bhatiyar’s neighborhood.
Jha-sahab presents a traditional composition of ‘Sadarang’ and tops it with his own druta cheez.
Jha, vilambit.
Jha, druta.
K.G. Ginde dispenses a smart, taut composition of his guru S.N. Ratanjankar: bina darasa mana tarasata nisadina.
Ravi Shankar‘s handling is exemplary. Notice the hint of komal nishad, not to mention the arresting layakari.
Raga Saurashtra Bhairav
In this uncommon derivate, both dhaivats are pressed into service. The basic idea involves sewing strands of Bhinna Shadaj (G M D N ) onto the Bhairav fabric. In such situations it is not unusual to find divergence in implementation across gharana borders as witness the following two cuts.
Jha-sahab sketches his composition: barani na jaya chhabi.
Ghulam Hasan Shaggan of Kirana.
Raga Mangal Bhairav
In this shuddha dhaivat-laden Bhairav prakar, the nishad is attenuated. Tthere prevails an avirbhava of Durga in the uttaranga via the M P D S” cluster.
Parveen Sultana.
Rasiklal Andharia.
Raga Bhatiyari Bhairav
The constituents of this hybrid raga are, as the name suggests, Bhairav and Bhatiyar. Jha-sahab’s design employs shuddha dhaivat only, retaining for the most part the Bhatiyar framework. The Bhatiyaric P G r S is displaced by the Bhairavanga molecule G M (G)r, S.
Pandit Ramashreya Jha “Ramrang” in vilambit Roopak: palaka na lage.
Ramrang’s druta composition: dhurana murana tanana son.
A different perspective is purveyed by Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’ in his composition rendered here by C.R. Vyas: E aali ri.
Raga Bhairav Bahar
The attributes of a well-designed, wholesome hybrid raga are a judicious choice of the constituents and a smooth transition at the junction of the disparate constituents (Electrical Engineers like to talk of impedance matching in similar situations). Let us see how the various conceptions of Bhairav Bahar stack up.
‘Aftab-e-Mausiqui’ Faiyyaz Khan.
Basavraj Rajguru elaborates on a composition of Achapal (Tanras Khan’s guru): jobana re lalana ko.
Omkarnath Thakur spins a different yarn.
Raga Ahir Bhairav
Among the most popular Bhairav prakars today, Ahir Bhairav admits the shuddha dhaivat and komal nishad. The poorvanga patently hews to the Bhairav protocol, the uttaranga carries elements of Kafi. This is a solid composite and has carved out a swaroopa all its own. The powerful madhyam registers well. A sample chalan is:
D’ n’ r, S, S r G M, M, G M (G)r, D’ n’ r, S
G M P D n D P, D n S”, S” n D P, G M (G)r, r S
Amir Khan‘s deeply introspective mien pervades this piece.
Hirabai Barodekar: rasiya mhara.
Raga Virat Bhairav
A rather busy uttaranga characterises this uncommon raga. The nishad is komal, and both dhaivats are in attendance. The shuddha dhaivat is used sparingly, in special sancharis such as GMPDnDn and PDnS”.
Nivruttibuwa Sarnaik: nayo nayo bairagi.
Raga Kabiri Bhairav
This Jaipur-Atrauli specialty also has a busy uttaranga and accomodates both nishads and dhaivats. Notice the lagav of D and n in the avarohi S->D prayoga and the special handling of komal rishab in the tar saptaka. We have two exceptional renditions on tap.
Mallikarjun Mansur.
Kishori Amonkar‘s attack on the shuddha dhaivat takes one’s breath away.
Raga Shivmat Bhairav
The twist here lies in the prayogas involving the komal gandhar and komal nishad in an otherwise Bhairav framework. Although the specific nature of their swara-lagav varies across different regions and styles, the general prescription may be summarized in these two tonal strips:
G M (G)r, r g r S
P d n d P
In Jha-sahab’s druta cheez, Lord Shiva finds himself in trouble (again), this time on the eve of his wedding to Parvati. Parvati’s mom strongly disapproves of Him given his appearance. She says to the Great Yogi, “No way Jose! You are not getting anywhere close to my girl.” The G.Y. is taken aback and demands an explanation. But Parvati’s mom will have none of him. Parvati, after all, comes from a high-status family, is convent-educated, enjoys fine dining, loves traveling, movies and rollerblading – a perfect blend of the East and West. The G.Y. isn’t exactly her idea of a studly son-in-law and she says as much:
baurahe ko na doongi apno dulari Girija-kumari
rakhoongi ghara apno
ek na manoongi sikha kahu ki
“Ramrang” byahu na Girija-kumari
rakhoongi ghara apno
Jha-shab, Shivmat Bhairav.
Kumar Gandharva is a bundle of energy.
A different angle from the prism of Vilayat Hussain Khan ‘Pranpiya’.
The pupil follows his guru. Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’.
Vasantrao Deshpande.
And finally, the man who has reified this raga: Mallikarjun Mansur. This AIR recording is a modern classic. The huge meend from P back to S spanning the P->M->G->r->S locus betrays an unusually developed musical intelligence. Alladiya Khan‘s composition is the standard issue to all his Atrauli-Jaipur progeny: prathama Allah.
Raga Devata Bhairav
This raga was brought forth by the influential Agra figure, Azmat Hussain Khan ‘Dilrang.’ Its notable feature is a Bhairavi-like avarohi prayoga via the komal gandhar – M g r S.
Jitendra Abhisheki, a pupil of Azmat Hussain, and amplifies on the idea.
Raga Beehad Bhairav
A baby of Kumar Gandharva’s, it bears some resemblence to Shivmat Bhairav with its use of both g and n. The distinction lies in chalan bheda and swara-lagav. Kumar sings his own composition: bana bani aayo.
Raga Prabhat Bhairav
The introduction of a Lalitanga through the two madhyams placed cheek by jowl paves the way for an avirbhava of this old raga. The motivated reader will discern the varied flavours emenating from individual temperaments below.
Jha-sahab hauls a traditional ‘Adarang’ composition.
K.G. Ginde volleys Ratanjankar’s bandish in Tilwada: ab to jago manava.
Gangubai Hangal also sings to Ratanjankar’s tune but in vilambit Ektala.
Raga Bhavmat Bhairav
This Lalitanga-laden variant was incubated in the imagination of Kumar Gandharva. The dhaivat is shuddha, and the nishad komal. Kumar himself lays out the preliminaries.
Raga Ramkali
The main plot here involves the insertion of a peculiar tonal phrase m P d n D P into the Bhairav flow. While Ramkali retains the primary Bhairav lakshanas it has its own eccentricities. For instance, there is a predilection for skipping the rishab in arohi prayogas as in: N’ S G M P.
K.G. Ginde presents a traditional khayal ascribed to ‘Sadarang’: machariya mendi suno.
Shruti Sadolikar‘s clip highlights the distinguishing Ramkali phrase. The composition is credited to Alladiya Khan of Atrauli-Jaipur: yeh bana sari raina.
D.V. Paluskar is a class act.
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande has discussed an arcane version of Ramkali that uses both gandhars.
Another idiosyncrasy is observed in the Maihar tradition which eschews the komal nishad. Ravi Shankar‘s resounding alap in this brief segment has a curious feature: the komal nishad manifests itself very subtly (and presumably inadvertantly given the Maihar proscription) as an abhasa (“swara ka abhasa hona” – i.e. when a swara is not consciously intoned but an impression of it is nevertheless created). Zoom in on the region between 0:26 and 0:27.
Raga Roopkali
The raga takes inspiration from Ramkali for its teevra madhyam but there is no komal nishad. An additional feature is the casual hire of shuddha rishab.
Aslam Hussain Khan‘s khayal is launched from that very swara.
Another cut by the Agra elder Khadim Hussain Khan.
Ragas Hussaini Bhairav, Bakula Bhairav, Basant Mukhari, Kaushi Bhairav
These different ragas are grouped together under one header for convenience. They have one common feature in that they share the same scale, corresponding to the 14th Carnatic melakarta, Vakulabharanam: S r G M P d n. But it cannot be emphasized enough that a mere scale does not a raga make. The reader is invited to figure out their respective lakshanas and implementation of the details.
Hussaini Bhairav by Younus Hussain Khan (Pranpiya’s son) discloses a peculiar swoop on the mandra pancham from the shadaj. The Bhairavanga surfaces in the poorvanga.
Bakula Bhairav derives its name from the parent Carnatic melakarta and was conceived by Sumati Mutatkar. In this, her own dhrupad composition, the treatment is Bhairav-like albeit with the komal nishad.
Basant Mukhari emits alternating scents of Bhairav (in the poorvanga) and Bhairavi (in the uttaranga). There are no universally accepted precepts for this raga in its Hindustani adaptation. In some treatments the Bhairavanga is not articulated, whereas in others it is. S.N. Ratanjankar renders his own composition: uthata jiya hooka.
Kaushi Bhairav comes in two varieties. The one considered here is credited to Baba Allauddin Khan of Maihar. This melody stands farther apart from the above three. The theme here is the insertion of Malkauns-anga. The tonal activity is centred on the madhyam. It is instructive to compare Allauddin Khan’s own interpretation with that of his pupil Ravi Shankar.
Allauddin Khan.
There is much to be said for Ravi Shankar‘s brilliant, searching mind. He has added to his guru’s theme, expanding the germ of an idea.
Raga Zeelaf
This haunting pentatonic melody is composed of the following swaras: S G M P d.
Jitendra Abhisheki gives a superb account with his own composition. Notice the strong madhyam. Zeelaf also employs the subtle GM->S meend: taba te juga samana.
Raga Devaranjani
This import from Carnatic tradition reveals a vichitra swaroopa. The rishab and gandhar swaras are varjit thus leaving open the wide interval S-M-S. I posted a note on this raga some years ago in the 1990s on the Usenet newsgroup rec.music.indian.classical (RMIC).
K.G. Ginde instantiates S.N. Ratanjankar’s composition.
Raga Nat Bhairav
A relatively recent entrant into the Hindustani catalogue, this melody was popularized by Ravi Shankar. He seized upon the idea after hearing a demonstration of an allied theme by Prof. B.R. Deodhar.
The sampoorna scale employed corresponds to the 27th Carnatic melakarta Sarasangi. The vakra sancharis, however, give it a distinct swaroopa. The Nat phraseology in the poorvanga – S R, R G, G M – is complemented by the Bhairav’s contribution in the uttaranga – G M d, d N S”, N S” (N)d.
Among the finest Nat Bhairavs on record, Vasantrao Deshpande.
Shubha Mudgal sketches an exquisite composition of Ramashreya Jha “Ramrang”: tana mana varun re tope.
Obiter dictum: Basant Mukhari’s scale is also used by a raga known as Hijaj Bhairav but there is a difference of opinion on this issue. Some insist that Hijaj Bhairav is the ancient form of what is today’s Nat Bhairav.
Raga Asa Bhairav
In this hybrid formed by constituents Asa and Bhairav, the Bhairavanga is expressed in the poorvanga, through G M (G)r S. The rest of the contour looks to Asa: S S(M)R M P, DNPD S” and so on.
Ravi Shankar furnishes a delightful play on the theme.
Vilayat Khan plays an allied melody called Mand Bhairav where he uses the G M P D N S” pattern of Mand. It is a pile of rubbish, a schoolboy tantrum. He plays the big, fundamental ragas beautifully but is singularly inept at the more ‘complex’ constructions. I do not mean to say this diminishes his stature or musicianship in any way anymore than it does Bhimsen Joshi’s for precisely the same reason. Vilayat’s desire to mount the “me-too-member-of-fancy-ragas-club” bandwagon is understandble. But alas, he has not even a hundredth of the bandmaster’s bandwidth (“bandmaster” is how Vilayat is said to have referred to Allauddin Khan). As regards his much-touted six generations of pedigree, I say, are we talking about music or about Villie-the-Pooh?
Raga Jaun Bhairav
This blend of Ragas Jaunpuri and Bhairav was whipped up by Jagannathbuwa Purohit “Gunidas”. It has a crowded swaraspace – there are two rishabs, two gandhars and two nishads.
Gunidas displays great skill in navigation and manages to successfully bring an aesthetic unity to his design: aba meri suno tuma.
Raga Kalingada
Kalingada and Bhairav share the same scale but there is no Bhairavanga in the former. Kalingada has a flippant mien, its personality far less austere than Bhairav. The gandhar and pancham are advanced to positions of influence, the swara-lagav is mostly linear, without the andolita treatment prevalent in Bhairav. Elements of Kalingada are widely found in many folk forms and in bhajans.
A sample chalan is suggested:
S r G M P, d P M P M G, M G r G
P d P d N, S” N d N, N d P, d P M G M P
Faiyyaz Khan.
A remarkable man of diverse talents and a great master of the harmonium, Govindrao Tembe.
Raga Jogiya
The last item in our menagerie embraces all the swaras of the Bhairav that plus komal nishad. There is little presence of Bhairavanga here. The madhyam is a powerful presence (nyasa bahutva) and anchors the development. The gandhar and dhaivat are skipped in arohi passages.
The following outline clarifies Jogiya’s features:
S r M, M P, P M r S, r S d’ S
M P d S”, S” (N)d P, M P d n d M, M r S
Abdul Karim Khan‘s stirring thumri: piya ko milan ki aasa.
Epilogue
This monograph has brought within its ambit most of the important members of the Bhairav dynasty. A few other traditional prakars such as Bangal Bhairav, Komal Bhairav and so on elude us at this time.
Thinking about Bhairav is a profoundly moving experience. During the course of this compilation, I was often lead to wonder about the great rishis who saw in this primal scale the elemental patterns that finally coagulated into this wondrous melodic organism we now call Bhairav.
These ruminations also brought to mind the great German-English composer Handel. When his oratorio “Messiah” premiered in London to a thunderous ovation, a friend came up and said to him, “All the people seem to be greatly entertained.” Handel, who had spoken of visions of the Lord’s Creation during the making of his magnum opus, was not pleased. He replied, “My dear Sir, I should be disappointed if they were only entertained. My goal was to make them better.” It is hoped that this mighty Raganga Raga Bhairav will inspire similar sentiments in those whose good fortune it is to make its acquaintance.HOGS CRUISE TO 5-1 WIN OVER BARONS Tweet Photo by Todd Reicher 03/06/2015 10:08 PM Article By: Rockford scored in each period to take down Western Conference leaders.
Rockford, Ill. – The Rockford IceHogs (33-18-4-2) continued a recent offensive surge as they powered past the Oklahoma |
in Kenya in which 148 died
"Such an act [like the Garissa attack] is not discussed in an open way. It is between the Amniyat and the Emir [leader] only.
"This is the nature of the organisation. You have to be with your duty only. You can't ask anything about what they're doing. Otherwise they will suspect you - so you have to save your life," Mr Hersi said.
Some may find this hard to believe. But in public, at least, Somalia's intelligence services are hiding any scepticism.
"I think that's the typical story of many, many former al-Shabab members, whether at a senior level or low level. We understand that's the situation [with Mr Hersi]," said senior government counter-terrorism advisor Hussein Sheikh Ali.
"Of course he's been part of that organisation at the decision-making level, but we don't have any evidence that he was part of any particular [terror] incident," he said.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Other al-Shabab leaders are thought to be in talks for defection
Further defections?
Mr Ali declined to reveal how many senior al-Shabab leaders were now in talks with the government about defecting, but credible sources suggest about 10 of the top 50 figures may have made some sort of contact.
"We cannot kill every member, or put every member in prison. The plan is to offer them a chance to leave - to give them an exit route where they can change their mind.
"So we must persuade them that they must come to a normal life. We're talking about senior levels - a very few at the decision-making level," said Mr Ali.
An earlier defection - of former leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys - was widely considered to have been badly handled, with the elderly man shown publicly in handcuffs.
"Overall they want assurances that when they come over they will receive fair treatment and they will be able to live a normal life," said Mr Ali, giving a flavour of the sort of private discussions he has been having with al-Shabab leaders who appear to be following Mr Hersi's case with great interest.
"We want to keep him secure and help him to go back to a normal life. He's a very known figure with al-Shabab's leadership and overall within the organisation, and he is committed to talk to those members that he left... hopefully on a personal level.
"So this is a domino effect where all those members who left the organisation will tell the real story here so those remaining can make up their mind.... that coming over is not something they're going to regret. I'm sure they're watching very closely," said Mr Ali.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Al-Shabab continues to carry out bombings across Somalia
Domino defections?
Somalia's government, which is coordinating its defectors programme closely with the international community, is combining the carrot of an amnesty with the stick of its own new "wanted" list, with 13 names, and a combined bounty of at least $1.3m (€1.1m, £800,000).
Will there be a domino effect? Some observers are sceptical.
"I'm not persuaded this was the coup the government and its partners tried to portray it as," said Somalia analyst Matt Bryden.
"These public recantations are given a lot of importance. They're noteworthy, but there's only so much value to be had in parading defectors or prisoners in this way,
"It's clear these decapitations have not seriously degraded the organisation's capability," he added, pointing to the continued attacks in both Somalia and Kenya.
Although Somalia's government says some 80% of the country is now under its control - a dramatic shift from just 3 or 4 years ago - the organisation clearly remains a highly influential and powerful force.
There is growing concern about the extent to which al-Shabab has now infiltrated Kenya, as well as real fears of escalating violence in Jubaland, the border area inside Somalia where Kenya's military has sought to carve out a buffer zone.
Image caption Mr Hersi appears to be at ease as he plans a future in Somali politics
Meanwhile, Mr Hersi waits in his safe-house.
The afternoon I met him he seemed generally relaxed, often breaking into a smile, and claimed to be busy planning his own "bright future... saving the country".
There is talk of a cooling-off period, perhaps studying abroad, but Mr Hersi did not hide his own political ambitions.
"I haven't decided yet, but it seems so," he said, when I asked if he wanted to run for office in Somalia.
As for his agenda - he said he had no interest in al-Shabab's professed commitment to building a regional Islamic caliphate. "We have Sharia law here [already]. We have to make further developments... in security, education. To improve the livelihoods of the people," he said.
'A normal life'
In the gloomy, but spacious house he now shares with his own personal bodyguards and an assistant, he showed me a small collection of books.
I spotted Islam and Democracy, The Black Man's Burden and Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.
"I live a normal life," he said with a short, ambiguous laugh. His wife and children are, he said, also being kept somewhere secure in Mogadishu.
I asked him if he felt joining al-Shabab had been a mistake, whether he was weighed down by regret. No, he insisted.
So did he really think that people in Mogadishu - a city now slowly emerging from decades of anarchy and conflict - might one day vote for him?
"The vote depends on your agenda. And how you prepare it," he said, in confident tones of a man shrugging off one mission, and embarking on a new one.A brilliant 4.5-inch HD display - the sharpest in its class - that goes edge-to-edge so you can enjoy movies, photos, video chats and more.
The newest Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 processor featuring a quad-core CPU for seamless multitasking and enjoying the web, videos and games, with all-day battery life.
Android 4.3 Jellybean, the most up to date Android of any phone in its class, with a guaranteed upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat at the beginning of 2014. No skins to clutter or slow the experience, and great performance with Google’s unbeatable mobile services such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome and Hangouts.
Stylish design with a comfortable curved back and 19 customization options, including interchangeable Motorola Shells and Flip Shells in seven colors as well as Grip Shells in five colors.
People all around the world want to be a part of the mobile Internet so they can access the world’s information, share, and connect with the things that matter to them. But the smartphone industry has relegated hundreds of millions of smartphone buyers to second-class status, preventing them from experiencing the mobile Internet at its best.That’s because price-conscious consumers who don’t want to pay $600 or more for high-end smartphones have been left with two bad options. The first is to buy cheap, new smartphones made with second-rate technology that don’t do justice to modern apps and experiences like navigation, video chat and games. The second is to buy “low cost” versions of premium products that were released two or three years ago and are already obsolete.We think there should be a better option. Everybody deserves to be on the mobile Internet, and price shouldn’t stand in the way of anyone having a truly good smartphone to get them there.Today we’re introducing Moto G, a smartphone that delivers a premium experience for a third of the price of current high-end phones. Moto G includes:Moto G goes on sale this week in Brazil and parts of Europe and will be available within the next few weeks throughout Latin America, Europe, Canada and parts of Asia. It will be available in the US, India, the Middle East and more of Asia in early January. Moto G will be in more than 30 countries with 60 partners by 2014.In the US, Moto G will be sold on Motorola.com, with no contract, no SIM lock and an unlockable bootloader for USD$179 with 8GB of storage and USD$199 for 16GB. Moto G will also be available through various carriers and retailers.IMAGES & B-ROLL: Click this link (also in the footer) for images and b-roll (you agree to our license terms when downloading images or video)Motorola Mobility, owned by Google, creates smartphones, tablets and wireless accessories that simplify, connect and enrich people's lives. For more information visit motorola.com/mobility Certain features, services and applications are network dependent and may not be available in all areas; additional terms, conditions and/or charges may apply. All features, functionality and other product specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation. Contact your service provider for details.MOTOROLA and the Stylized M registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. Google is a trademark of Google, Inc. All other trademarks the property of their respective owners. © 2013 Motorola Mobility LLC. All rights reserved.Danielle McNallydanielle@motorola.comKristine Mulfordkristine@motorola.comThe Last Season
Wild
Wild
The Cabin
Breaking Trail
Last Child in the Woods
There are few better ways to spend a chilly fall or winter day than curled up with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book. Lucky for us outdoorsy folks, we have thousands and thousands of amazing stories to choose between. From epic survival tales to hilarious accounts of everyday situations and life-changing experiences, here are ten of my favorite non-fiction outdoor adventure related books in no particular order.When it comes to women in mountaineering, Arlene Blum is a legend and one of my personal hero(in)es. Her pursuits in the 1970's, including all-female team ascents of Denali and beyond, challenged gender stereotypes in a field previously dominated by men. Blum's scientific achievements also broke the gender mold in that time period, and it's inspiring to read the story of a woman who truly never gave up fighting for what she believed in. She's still fighting.Bill Bryson is one of my all-time favorite authors. His sense of humor is refreshing and he has a unique way of sneaking it into places you'd least expect it, especially in a non-fiction book. Part Appalachian Trail history lesson, part self-depricating, yet articulate storytelling makes this book tough to put down. And it might make you think twice about the validity of Twinkies as trail food.Though many meaningful outdoor stories are a result of triumph over adversity, Margot Talbot's story isn't a typical one. After battling drug addiction and depression, Talbot pulls herself out of deep hole using a pair ice tools and a strong resolve. Now, she's a world renowned ice climber living a "dream life" that includes guiding clients to Antarctica and beyond. It's an incredibly honest, straightforward account with minimal prose, but plenty of emotion and inspiration.Not all outdoor adventure non-fiction stories have happy endings. In, Blehm follows the life of Randy Morgenson, a National Park Service ranger in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, up to and after his disappearance in 1996 after nearly 30 years on duty. Some of the circumstances surrounding his diappearance are still a mystery. If you enjoy stories without clear conclusions, this one's for you.It took me a long time to pick this book up, as I'm perhaps wrongfully skeptical of books that gain the notorietydid so quickly. But Cheryl Strayed absolutely deserves all of the press. I started and finishedon the trip home from Acadia National Park without putting it down. It's an honest, heartbreaking memoir, and a wonderful read. reviewed this on Adventure-Inspired and have recommended it to friends on countless occasions since. Unlike Cheryl Strayed, author Lou Ureneck doesn't seek a long, desolate path to help him cope with devastating life events. He seeks a more permanent solution by making good on a promise made years earlier. I finishedfeeling as though I truly knew Lou and the challenges he faced. To me, that's the mark of an excellent memoir.What I love most about reading books related to Everest set in the late 1990s and early 2000s is that many accounts of events during that period overlap. Whether it's Jon Krakauer'sor this set of incredible stories from David Breshears, it's interesting to hear different perspectives on well-known incidents like the 1996 Everest tragedy. Breashears climbed Everest four times, made countless documentary films including the IMAX filmand lived to tell about all of it.If you've ever wondered what it would be like to spend a decade of seasons living completely alone in the middle of nowhere looking for forest fires, Phillip Connors wrote the book you're looking for. Connors gives readers a glimpse of both suspenseful events and educational forest fire-related information through lyrical prose and descriptive storytelling.This, in addition to, are simply must-reads for anyone with a passion for mountaineering. Arlene Blum, expedition leader, and twelve other women traveled to the Himalaya to become the first women, and the first Americans, to scale Annapurna I. This book is among my favorites because it's so special to read a story like this from a women's point of view, given that the events took place in 1978 when there was doubt that women could achieve such mountaineering triumph.When it comes to getting kids outside, there's no better supporting book than. Richard Luov makes the case for combating what he calls "nature defecit disorder" through scientific and anecdotal evidence in an easy-to-understand way. It's a must-read for those with children and without. Even though it came out way back in 2008, there's still plenty in the book that will be relevant for decades to come.According to Meduza, Voronenkov was leaving the hotel with his bodyguard when he was shot. The bodyguard returned fire and wounded the shooter. The alleged assassin was subsequently taken to a Kiev hospital. The bodyguard also sustained injuries in the shootout.
Denis Voronenkov, formerly a Communist Party lawmaker in the State Duma, was killed outside Kiev's Premier Palace hotel March 23, according to multiple sources. Kiev Police Chief Andrei Krishchenko said the murder was likely a contract killing, the Meduza news site reported.
A former Russian parliamentarian who fled to Ukraine and harshly criticized the Russian authorities has been shot dead in Kiev.
Ilya Ponomaryov, another former Russian lawmaker and Kremlin critic living in exile in Kiev, wrote on Facebook that Voronenkov was killed at 11:25 a.m. while heading to a meeting with him.
Voronenkov was "an investigator who was deadly dangerous for the [Russian] security agencies," Ponomaryov wrote.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the killing an "act of terrorism by Russia" that displayed the "signature of the Russian special services, as repeatedly seen in different European capitals."
Voronenkov served in the State Duma until October 2016, when he lost his seat in parliamentary elections. Having lost parliamentary immunity, he fled a corruption investigation, escaping to Kiev with his wife, former United Russia lawmaker Maria Maksakova.
In December 2016, Voronenkov received Ukrainian citizenship. The next month, he testified against ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych before the country's Prosecutor General.
In February, Russia launched large-scale fraud charges against the former parliamentarian after he gave a provocative interview to the Ukrainian media outlet Censor.net.ua.
During the interview, he said that Russia was in the grip of a "pseudo-patriotic frenzy” similar to Nazi Germany, and claimed that it was a “mistake” for Russia to annex the Crimean peninsula.
This is a developing story. This article will be updated as new information becomes available.Archaeology & Anthropology Jobs Expected to Grow by 22% by 2018?
For a side project I have been looking at a lot of university anthropology department pages. As part of that I keep stumbling across this statement on department websites
” Overall employment of anthropologists and archaeologists, geographers, and historians is expected to grow by 22 percent from 2008 to 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.”
Well I looked into this and it is not as cherry as the headlines read. The data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which would seem like a trustworthy, but the data is from May 2008 (website is here http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos315.htm). Yes, before the crash. (Edit- in case this is not clear I am saying that these numbers are useless because they were taken before the economic crash when everyone’s outlook was better. Case in point, companies went from thinking about making CRM field tech. positions permanent because there were not enough archaeologists in Aug. 2008 to 200 applicants per position in Nov. 2008). Which means these numbers are pretty much useless now and universities should really take it off of their pages.
I did a little more digging and looked at their current data, found here – http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193091.htm#%281%29
There are quite a few problems such as it says there are only 5,100 archaeologists and anthropologists employed in the US, in May 2010. Every estimate I have seen puts archaeologists at between 15,000-20,000 alone, not including anthropologists. This map I think sums up the massive bias in survey data.
From what I can tell the survey misses about 95% of the US landmass, entire states, and the majority of areas within the states it does reach. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is probably not the best source of data on archaeology or anthropology job conditions.
AdvertisementsNew cocktail shop to open in North Buffalo
By Christa Glennie Seychew
Kerry Quaile kc kratt
When Vera opened its doors a few years ago, there was no way to know that it would not only pioneer Buffalo’s craft cocktail scene, but also serve as an incubator of sorts.
Jon Karel’s move to Rochester’s Revelry last spring was the first sign of such, as it took no time for him to woo the Flour City with his drink slinging ways. Other Vera formers have gone on to shake their shakers in other local watering holes, improving cocktail programs from downtown to the ‘burbs. A few even followed Karel to Rochester, acting as ambassadors of Buffalo’s passionate drinking culture and high tolerance to alcohol. Karel’s departure did more than spread the love eastward, however, because it also left a space to be filled, and Kerry Quaile, a former barista who had worked her way up to the frontline at Buffalo's busiest cocktail bar, stepped to the plate, lending a distinctly even-handed flair to Vera’s offerings. (We profiled her in January 2014 issue of Spree.) Now that Karel is returning to run the soon-to-open Blood & Sand, we approach another moment where Buffalo’s modern drinking tale takes a turn.
Where is this going, you may ask. Well, now that I've caught you up, I can tell you that it's leading us to the point where Karel, Quaile, and Zack Mikida (one of Karel’s Buffalo-to-Rochester acolytes) determine that Buffalo needs a small business that caters to craft bartenders and the many home cocktail aficionados that the craft trend has created.
Welcome to Queen City Shaken & Stirred. Opening on Hertel Avenue sometime in July, the specialty shop will offer vintage glassware, a variety of tools and books used by professional bartenders, an array of bitters, and classes, among other things.
“Buffalo really needs this,” says Quaile, the shop’s operating partner. “There are so many new places [opening], and they don’t have an easily accessible place to buy and test equipment that is staffed with people who really know what they are talking about. We will sell things we enjoy using, tools that are well made, really functional, and beautiful. We are working to bring in as much locally made stuff as we can, but we’ve all experienced the disappointment of buying something online and when it arrives it’s just not what you wanted. So this is our answer to that.”
In order to cater to bartenders, Queen City Stirred and Shaken will be open on the weekends and into the early evening, in addition to traditional business hours. Delivery will also be an option. Hobbyists will benefit from educated and experienced staffers, and from the classes that will be available. Additionally, out-of-town bartenders will come in and share techniques and other cocktail-specific knowledge before taking a guest shift at a local bar, a trend we see more and more of these days.
“We’ve done our research, and we are trying to make it possible for people who have home bars to make drinks that come as close to the pros as possible. You can be the person who makes a really bad ass punch for your holiday shindig or summer patio bash. We’re looking forward to showing people all the tricks,” says Quaile.
Look for Queen City Shaken and Stirred to open sometime in July. It will be located at 1455 Hertel Avenue. (Image courtesy of Google Maps.)
Christa Glennie Seychew is Spree's senior editor.In 1999, government officials from all over the world gathered in Rome for a meeting of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization’s Committee on Fisheries. The Committee meets every two years, but one of the numerous outputs of this meeting was particularly significant, at least for sharks. Based on years of consultation and discussion by experts, the group agreed on a formal set of general principles that should make up sustainable and well-managed shark fisheries.
These 10 principles, part of a larger International Plan of Action for Sharks (IPOA-Sharks), have helped shape more than a decade of scientific research and management priorities for the chondrichthyan fishes. When properly implemented and enforced, they allow people to use sharks (and rays and skates and chimeras, included in the IPOA-Sharks definition of “sharks”) as a natural resource while keeping populations healthy and allowing depleted stocks to recover.
According to the IPOA-Sharks, a national shark plan should aim to:
1) “Ensure that shark catches from directed and non-directed fisheries are sustainable.” This one seems pretty self-explanatory, but sustainable means different things to different people. As noted in this post, the definition generally used by fisheries scientists means removing fewer individuals from the population than can be naturally replaced by reproduction.
2) “Assess threats to shark populations, determine and protect critical habitats and implement harvesting strategies consistent with the principles of biological sustainability and rational long-term economic use.” Fishing in critical habitats, such as migration routes, mating aggregation sites, and nursery areas should be carefully managed (which does not necessarily mean “no fishing of any kind ever”). Additionally, scientific research is needed to determine the life history and reproductive biology of each fished shark species, so we can measure how many offspring they have, how often, natural mortality rates, etc. This data can (and should) be used to generate advice for fishing limits (quotas, size restrictions, closed areas/seasons, etc).
3) “Identify and provide special attention, in particular to vulnerable or threatened shark stocks.” If the population of a shark species is particularly low, then that species and/or its critical habitat should be protected from overfishing and other threats. This can take the form of a very low fishing/bycatch quota, a complete ban on fishing, a habitat closed to fishing, listing under national-level wildlife protection legislation ( i.e. Endangered Species Act listing), or being listed under CITES.
4) “Improve and develop frameworks for establishing and coordinating effective consultation involving all stakeholders in research, management and educational initiatives within and between States.” Governments of shark fishing/consuming nations should be responsible for engaging fishermen, researchers, conservationists, consumers, and other interested parties in the processes for making shark fisheries management decisions and implementing resulting programs. This responsibility includes both domestic fisheries and working with other countries that share the responsibility of conserving the population.
5) “Minimize unutilized incidental catches of sharks.” For some species of sharks, bycatch is a bigger threat than targeted catch. A variety of methods can be used to reduce bycatch as well as incidental mortality of sharks caught as bycatch, including using different bait, using differently shaped hooks or hooks made of weaker material, fishing at different depths, removing wire leaders, using electromagnetic hooks to repel sharks, and not fishing at all (or with particularly problematic gear) where and when sharks are commonly found. None of these solutions are perfect or broadly applicable. Many are controversial within the scientific community. Some can work extremely well for specific situations.
6) “Contribute to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function.” As with #1, this seems pretty self explanatory. However, it raises important questions. How many current shark populations are healthy enough to still provide ecosystem services? How is this measured, and what are the thresholds for biodiversity health? If a population is too depleted to perform ecosystem services, what do we do? How are the needs of ecosystems weighed against those of resource users?
7) “Minimize waste and discards from shark catches in accordance with article 7.2.2.(g) of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (for example, requiring the retention of sharks from which fins are removed.)”Although this principle could be used to argue against “winging” of skates and for retaining blue sharks caught as bycatch in pelagic fisheries, it has usually been interpreted to mean that finning (removing a shark’s fins at sea and dumping the carcass overboard) should not be allowed. Indirectly through national regulations and agreements at the Regional Fisheries Management Organization level, fishing nations have attempted to prevent finning in two primary ways. The first attempts were through “fin to carcass ratios,” which allow fishermen to remove a shark’s fins from a carcass at sea as long as the total weight of fins landed doesn’t exceed a certain percentage of the total weight of bodies landed. The U.S. adopted the first ratio in 1993 for Atlantic fisheries, set as 5% based on “dressed weight”. The EU in 2003 adopted a 5% ratio based on “whole weight.” Fin ratio limits are better than allowing finning, but the actual ratio of the weight of a shark’s fins relative to its body varies widely by species, size, fin removal technique, etc. This allows unscrupulous fishers to cheat by potentially landing more fins (i.e. doing some finning). The alternative method, which is considered to be the best practice, is to only allow fishermen to land sharks with fins naturally attached to the carcass. Due to enforcement difficulties and public concern, the U.S. and the EU have banned at-sea removal of fins, although there is a notable and problematic exception in U.S. fisheries.
8 ) “Encourage full use of dead sharks.” If you’re going to kill a shark, you should keep it and use as much of it as possible. Though shark fins receive the bulk of the attention from the conservation community (for good reason), the meat of most shark and ray species is sold for food or bait (or consumed locally). In some cases (porbeagle, mako) the meat is highly valued, and in some cases (smooth and spiny dogfish, skates) the meat is traded in very large quantities. Cartilage and liver oil, often from deep sea species is valued for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Shark and ray leather is also sold (although less commonly) as are shark jaws/teeth and even dead embryos in jars.
9) “Facilitate improved species-specific catch and landings data and monitoring of shark catches.” Many countries simply report their catch as “shark,” not distinguishing between species. In fact, despite multiple mandates, some developing countries do not even follow minimum standards of shark catch reporting. Very few countries have the resources and/or political will to invest fully in scientific assessments of shark populations. The lack of reliable fisheries-dependent data is a serious problem if we are to accurately measure population status and determine what measures are needed and/or if the current catch limits are effective.
10) “Facilitate the identification and reporting of species-specific biological and trade data.” See #9.
It is important to note that adopting a National Plan of Action for Sharks (NPOA-Sharks) based on the IPOA-Sharks guidelines is entirely voluntary. To date, only 13 shark fishing nations have created such plans. It is also important to stress that NPOAs vary widely by countries, and often do not contain specific regulations (they are general guidelines). Regulations must still come into play through other processes. Still, encouraging countries to fulfill their public commitments to shark conservation and management is a great way for concerned citizens to help sharks.
While transparency in decision-making varies between countries (the U.S. and Australia are far better than most), the 10 principles associated with the IPOA-Sharks do offer opportunities for public engagement in most fishing nations. In the past year alone, we’ve asked for your help with three of them here on the blog (five if you count #1 and #6). In participatory democracies, the public, including conservation activists, have an important role to play. By working together with scientists, government officials, policy experts, fishermen, and the mainstream conservation community, the strong passions of shark activists can be put to excellent use to help sharks.Back at BlizzCon 2017 we had the absolute pleasure of talking with Joshua “Snitch” Bennett’s parents about his gaming habits as a child and any advice they would give to parents of kids who are super into gaming. Both Leanne “Mama Snitch” Bennett and Shea “Papa Snitch” Bennett are super proud of their son, and so are we! We’re very happy to have them be a part of our Dignitas family. So check out this amazing interview we had with them and learn some funny stories about our Heroes of the Storm Team Captain, Snitch
What type of Gamer was Young Snitch?
Papa Snitch: Well, I can go way back where he was about... How old was he?
Mama Snitch: Three, he got a Playstation when he was three.
Papa Snitch: From my mother. She bought him a Playstation and it was like a switch went on and you couldn't get him off it. And one story we tell that kinda shows how into gaming Joshua was at an early age we had to find a way to control his gaming. And so we bought, what is known in the family as the Piggy Timer, and it’s a little wind-up timer for cooking eggs. And he was allowed thirty minutes, so we’d wind the timer up for thirty minutes and he’d play. When this thing went off it was so loud it would scare the life out of him.
Mama Snitch: We had a little stool that he sat on to play and when the Piggy Timer would go off he would often fall on the floor.
What did you initially think about Snitch’s gaming habits?
Papa Snitch: When we went to visit family in America, he would be very focused on how he was going to carry on playing while he was there. So he would speak to Leanne’s brother and they would sort out a laptop for him and that sort of thing so he could carry on.
Mama Snitch: He became quite good at planning. You know, he’d say, “How long have I got until dinner? An hour? Twenty minutes?” and he would always plan his gaming around that.
How do you feel about Snitch’s career now?
Mama Snitch: It’s incredible! It’s incredible that this is a job. This wasn’t a job when I was a kid. Nobody said, “I want to grow up and become a gamer.” This is really really recent that this kind of thing, esports, has become a thing but it just wasn’t [when we were young].
Papa Snitch: I think about five years ago it wasn’t a thing, but I think there’s been a massive shift in all these kinda ‘online careers’, with vloggers and YouTubers and that. These are jobs that you couldn’t even consider when I was younger. Even putting the tech to one side, you just didn’t think that was even a thing you could make a career out of. I think what’s changed in Josh’s generation and younger is that they can just kinda make up a job and make it happen, which is kind of exactly what he did. He was so tunnel-vision with this being what he was going to do that he made it happen.
Mama Snitch: He did. He really went out and said “This is what I want,” and within eighteen months he had it. He just kept hammering away at it.
What was it like before Snitch signed with a team?
Mama Snitch: We actually had a period, we kinda laugh about it now, but we were saying “Come on, you’re nineteen years old, you kinda have to get a job if you can’t make this work out,”
Papa Snitch: He was eighteen, he was younger.
Mama Snitch: You’re right, he was eighteen. But he’d been out of college, he finished that, and he was just still kinda going after this gaming and we thought “Is this a real thing? Is this going to happen?” and we kinda said, “Well look, we're going to set you a deadline and if you don’t have it by then you at least need to get a part-time job.” And he was really freaked over this. So we set Valentine’s Day as the deadline.
Papa Snitch: By accident. It was February the 14th but it just turned out to be Valentine’s Day.
Mama Snitch: And, that kid, amazingly, he comes downstairs with the biggest grin on his face at 11 pm on the 13th and says “I’ve just been signed!”
Papa Snitch: Yep, and that was it. It was about, two and a half months we had given him that deadline.
Mama Snitch: He just went after it. He made it happen. Absolutely made it happen.
Do you want Snitch to continue in Esports?
Mama Snitch & Papa Snitch: Absolutely!
Mama Snitch: I mean, why wouldn’t we? He’s happy, he’s viable, he’s making money, he’s seeing the world - in little bits and pieces, fair enough, mostly around hotels - but he is travelling, he’s meeting people from other cultures…
Papa Snitch: Yeah he’s been to so many countries and he's had experiences that I think you couldn’t possibly get, like meeting people from other cultures, making friends with all the other teams. What I really like about Heroes is that it seems like, even though they are super competitive, it seems like, almost without fail, team after team, they get on with each other and they support each other. When someone gets knocked out they are immediately rooting for the other European team or the other team that they’ve got friends in. I really like that spirit. So yeah, I absolutely want him to continue as long as he can in this very competitive space. I mean, for an industry that’s less than five years old, it’s matured incredibly quickly to a level that when he started, we got a picture from earlier on… Who was the team he played for when he first started?
Mama Snitch: He played for SK [Gaming].
Papa Snitch: He played for SK. And the tournament, the first one he played in, Team Dignitas won it, and so we’ve got this picture of Dig winning the first prize, and it was almost like it was a sign of things to come. But even back then, the industry seemed very small then and very tiny, and none of this sort of scale like at BlizzCon. And that was, what, two and a half years ago? And now it’s massive!
Mama Snitch: And here he is with a regular salary, being flown around the world, it’s amazing!
Papa Snitch: And you have these massive sponsors getting on board, and you’re playing at one of the biggest convention centres in the world. Do we want him to continue, absolutely! And whatever that means for his position going forward in this space because I think there is probably a shelf life for competitive gamers because I think it does target the younger. I’d like him to go on and do other things in this industry, whatever that may be, whatever he wants to do, but to maintain a presence.
Mama Snitch: He loves this world, and you know, we want him to be happy, so we want him to stay in it.
What advice would you give to parents of gamers?
Papa Snitch: Maybe Josh’s heritage comes from me, as I was a gamer when I was younger, back obviously pre-internet, just playing games by yourself essentially, or you’d have mates around and play games. But my parents were very supportive, but they were always like “You need to get outside more.” Now the world is flipped. Now my advice to parents is if your child wants to leave the house you say “No! You get back inside your bedroom and carry-on playing those games!” and that’s the biggest turn-around I think we’ve had in the past five or ten years. That’s gold, that advice, and you can literally take that all the way to the bank.
Any word for the HotS Community?
Mama Snitch: I love these people. I mean, I got a Tweet from Grubby earlier in the week, and I think it was mostly to embarrass Snitch, but it really touched me because he was saying “Oh we’re taking care of your boy until you get here,” and that’s kinda how I feel the community has been. Josh has made such good friends, not just players, but casters, people from Dig, people from other companies and teams. They’ve just all been so supportive and welcoming, and he has a community, he has a tribe. Thank you!
Papa Snitch: As I said, what I think is really nice is just the support from team to team, and not just from Dig as an organization, but also Blizzard and the Heroes community and the gaming around that, and the fans!
Mama Snitch: Amazing!
Papa Snitch: The fan support, when you look at, win or lose, Joshua wears his heart on his sleeve and so when he wins or loses and goes to Twitter and puts something out, and you see everyone rally around him. Almost without fail people rally around in a positive way. You know, saying “You’re still our favourite!” or “We still support you!” and it’s lovely. I think it says a lot about, again a very young industry, but that has matured so quickly, to where it |
a deal will be struck in Washington in time to avert the cuts.
The impact would be widespread as the cuts ripple across the nation over the next year.
Texas expects to see its education aid slashed hundreds of millions of dollars, which could force local school districts to fire teachers, if the cuts are not averted. Michigan officials say they are in no position to replace the lost federal dollars with state dollars, but worry about cuts to federal programs like the one that helps people heat their homes. Maryland is bracing not only for a blow to its economy, which depends on federal workers and contractors and the many private businesses that support them, but also for cuts in federal aid for schools, Head Start programs, a nutrition program for pregnant women, mothers and children, and job training programs, among others.
Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, a Republican, warned in a letter to President Obama on Monday that the automatic spending cuts would have a "potentially devastating impact" and could force Virginia and other states into a recession, noting that the planned cuts to military spending would be especially damaging to areas like Hampton Roads that have a big Navy presence. And he noted that the whole idea of the proposed cuts was that they were supposed to be so unpalatable that they would force officials in Washington to come up with a compromise.
"As we all know, the defense, and other, cuts in the sequester were designed to be a hammer, not a real policy," Mr. McDonnell wrote. "Unfortunately, inaction by you and Congress now leaves states and localities to adjust to the looming threat of this haphazard idea."
The looming cuts come just as many states feel they are turning the corner after the prolonged slump caused by the recession. Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland, a Democrat, said he was moving to increase the state's cash reserves and rainy day funds as a hedge against federal cuts.
"I'd rather be spending those dollars on things that improve our business climate, that accelerate our recovery, that get more people back to work, or on needed infrastructure - transportation, roads, bridges and the like," he said, adding that Maryland has eliminated 5,600 positions in recent years and that its government was smaller, on a per capita basis, than it had been in four decades. "But I can't do that. I can't responsibly do that as long as I have this hara-kiri Congress threatening to drive a long knife through our recovery."
Federal spending on salaries, wages and procurement makes up close to 20 percent of the economies of Maryland and Virginia, according to an analysis by the Pew Center on the States.
But states are in a delicate position. While they fear the impact of the automatic cuts, they also fear that any deal to avert them might be even worse for their bottom lines. That is because many of the planned cuts would go to military spending and not just domestic programs, and some of the most important federal programs for states, including Medicaid and federal highway funds, would be exempt from the cuts.
States will see a reduction of $5.8 billion this year in the federal grant programs subject to the automatic cuts, according to an analysis by Federal Funds Information for States, a group created by the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures that tracks the impact of federal actions on states. California, New York and Texas stand to lose the most money from the automatic cuts, and Puerto Rico, which is already facing serious fiscal distress, is threatened with the loss of more than $126 million in federal grant money, the analysis found.
Even with the automatic cuts, the analysis found, states are still expected to get more federal aid over all this year than they did last year, because of growth in some of the biggest programs that are exempt from the cuts, including Medicaid.
But the cuts still pose a real risk to states, officials said. State budget officials from around the country held a conference call last week to discuss the threatened cuts. "In almost every case the folks at the state level, the budget offices, are pretty much telling the agencies and departments that they're not going to backfill - they're not going to make up for the budget cuts," said Scott D. Pattison, the executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, which arranged the call. "They don't have enough state funds to make up for federal cuts."
The cuts would not hit all states equally, the Pew Center on the States found. While the federal grants subject to the cuts make up more than 10 percent of South Dakota's revenue, it found, they make up less than 5 percent of Delaware's revenue.
Many state officials find themselves frustrated year after year by the uncertainty of what they can expect from Washington, which provides states with roughly a third of their revenues. There were threats of cuts when Congress balked at raising the debt limit in 2011, when a so-called super-committee tried and failed to reach a budget deal, and late last year when the nation faced the "fiscal cliff."
John E. Nixon, the director of Michigan's budget office, said that all the uncertainty made the state's planning more difficult. "If it's going to happen," he said, "at some point we need to rip off the Band-Aid."(This is part of my journey playing through Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within. You can follow the entire series on the Nostalgia Lane page.)
With Gabe transforming into a werewolf and Grace dealing with a live pigeon stuffed into her coat, our heroes are dire straits. Not the band, the danger. Grace hops in the car to go assemble the lost Wagner opera.
Grace first makes a pit stop at a Catholic church/shrine where people come to petition the Lady for help to be cured. It would be really hilarious if she left a little werewolf statue as a prayer, but nothing doing. The place has something to do with Ludwig, but the mute monk inside isn’t really helping with answers. At least she picks up some holy water, which will be great when we reach Castlevania.
Grace heads back to Neuschwanstein to get those pesky Wagner opera sheets. To distract the guard, she pours out the holy water onto one of the antique chairs and then frames it on a kid when a guard shows up. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen. Lying that kids are peeing on priceless treasures by dousing them with sacred liquids. I’m honored to be part of this game experience.
Grace resteps the dream that Gabe, finding each of the opera sheets hidden around the castle. There’s a bit of stealth and sneakery involved with grabbing them so that the guards don’t see, but it isn’t much trouble.
This is where Grace’s stealth pigeon comes into play. She lets it out into the castle — why not, really? — and that distracts one of the guards so that she can swipe the final opera sheet. Meanwhile, just think about all of the bird diseases that the two humans now share, having fondled that disgusting sky rat.
With the opera in hand, Grace needs to get the final part and I guess that has to do with this church. She wheedles Gerde into allowing her to take the silver heart that Gerde put on Wolfgang’s tomb, because what’s a little grave robbing between friends?
Having gotten a taste for desecrating the dead, Grace has no intention of stopping. She prays to the Lady at the church, who obliges Grace by sending a strong wind to blow out all of the candles and give Grace enough time to plunder an urn for the final directions that Ludwig handed that old lady in the flashback. Grace rushes over to her boyfriend Georg with the opera, and two months go by…Who REALLY creates jobs?
There's currently an ideological debate raging on about what government can do to spark the suffering economy and stifle unemployment. The right continues its assertion that tax breaks for the wealthy will foster job creation by putting additional capital in the hands of investors and entrepreneurs and will further incentivize growth. The left argues that without additional demand from consumers in the form of spending power, the wealthy are unlikely to invest in additional jobs, therefore in order to spark the economy, tax breaks should go to the working class. And while both sides have equally legitimate arguments, I'm going to explain why both are wrong.
Tax breaks for the wealthy -The “trickle down effect”
The idea is simple: the wealthiest Americans are generally investors, small, and large business owners who make up the employers of a majority of the population. In order to create more jobs, giving tax breaks to these few people will free up more capital for investment and growth, and also create incentives for growth as take home from profits will be increased. The idea is sound, and on the surface may seem like a good policy for fostering economic growth. The problem is: growth cannot (and should not) be forced.
If there's no additional demand from consumers, there isn't additional profit to be had. Without the potential for additional profit, growth doesn't make sense regardless of how much extra capital or incentive is provided. Not only that, but at times when there is increased demand and room for growth of industry, that growth exists regardless of the tax rate. In other words: investors and entrepreneurs won't turn down the chance to make a profit just because profits are taxed. In the end, they still end up with more money than NOT investing.
Low tax rates for investors (like capital gains) and high income earners for the past decade didn't do much to create sustainable growth. It only created incentives for short term gains; an excuse to “cash in” on any growth that could be exploited, especially if it's temporary. Higher taxes, on the other hand can stunt the rate of growth too much by cutting into compounded gains which are important for the long term growth of investment portfolios and large corporations. Growth is good, and must be fostered, but it must also be sustainable. Taxes may be a factor in this, but lowering them won't create economic growth from nowhere. That's why this policy can't create jobs.
Tax breaks for the working class at the expense of the rich – Income redistribution
Proponents of income redistribution like to point to the growing disparity between the highest incomes and the rest, but what they don't like to admit is overall, everyone is making more than they used to. A system where the entire pie grows enough that everyone benefits from that growth is essential to the health of the economy for both the working class and the investors.
The idea of giving tax breaks to the working class to stimulate the economy is about putting more money into the hands of consumers. Arguments have been made that wealthy investors and entrepreneurs aren't even the true job creators anyways. Rather, it's the demand for the products and availability of consumer spending which ultimately determines how many employees a company will hire.
The problem with this idea, however, isn't that putting more money into the hands of consumers won't increase consumer demand (it will), it's that income redistribution through tax relief isn't a good way of getting it done for a number of reasons. First, proponents of this idea suggest the benefits be paid for by higher taxes on the rich. What this will end up doing is put even more of the current tax burden on the higher earners which, in effect, will create a tax policy that leads to unstable tax revenues particularly during times of slow economic growth (i.e. right now). Second, the potential benefits from tax relief would be minimal at best. Even if you dump an extra few $billion into the U.S. economy, it isn't going to be enough to create the jobs and growth necessary to pay for itself, especially if it's at the cost of profits. Which leads me to my final point: it's simply not sustainable. Short bumps in consumer demand won't help foster new enterprises or any kind of long term growth. Some, or even most of the money may find it's way to the balance sheet of a few existing businesses as profit in a tough time, but that will be the extent of it's lasting effect. Taking money from those who are succeeding right now just to put it into an economy only for them to re-earn that money back is a zero sum game. That's why this policy can't create jobs.
Government cuts won't help much either
Making cuts to government spending may help pay for some tax relief for both the working class and the wealthy, but it will be at the expense of money that goes back into the economy. Money for programs that help the poor and needy as well as spending that employs teachers, other government workers, and even private contractors. It is not necessarily a “zero sum game” as the advantage of private free enterprise is that profit can be reinvested in further growth (compounded growth). But in the short term simply replacing government jobs with private sector jobs won't be much help.
Keeping government spending (therefore taxes) under control is important for fostering long term growth, but drastic cuts are more likely to take from the economy in the short term than add to it.
The economy is correcting itself
We are in a recession right now because for a time, financial growth rates exceeded their realistic potential by means of excess borrowing. As a result, we are paying for that growth with an economy that is shrinking, stagnant, or in a period of extremely slow growth until the markets have finished correcting themselves. Debts are being paid down and excess spending has all but stopped.
The recovery will likely be slow, but when things do turn around, it will be both the buying power of the working class and the investment of the entrepreneurs that get us out of this recession. It won't be one without the other…and it certainly won't be the government.
Share This...Mayor Rob Ford is pleased with the performance of Toronto's new private garbage collector, despite more than 1,000 complaints about missed or late trash pickups during the company's first week on the job.
Mr. Ford praised Green For Life Environmental Corp.'s work as "great" and "fantastic" on Monday as he left a news conference to mark the opening of Ryerson University's new athletic centre. inside the old Maple Leaf Gardens.
The mayor ignored a followup question and his office declined to elaborate on the mayor's comments.
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If Toronto's mayor does believe GFL's debut week was "fantastic," he's out of step with his own point man on garbage., who has expressed disappointment with GFL's slow start.
On Friday, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee, said that if GFL doesn't get its crews up to speed by the end of the month, the slow start could make it difficult to contract out more of the city's curbside collection.
GFL started collecting garbage, recycling and organics from 165,000 homes between Yonge Street and the Humber River last Tuesday.
The company's contract with the city requires it to finish pickup by 6 p.m., but last week GFL's lime-green trucks were still rolling through city streets after 9:30 p.m., according to the city's solid waste department.
Contracting out trash pickup in another part of Toronto – GFL already handles curbside collection in Etobicoke – was a major victory for Mr. Ford, who in 2010 campaigned on outsourcing garbage.
He promised at the time to privatize trash collection citywide, but has since said he won't push for privatization east of Yonge Street unless he wins a second term in 2014.
Nearly all of the garbage that had been left on curbsides as of the end of day Friday was picked up over the weekend, said Jim Harnum, general manager of the city's solid waste department.
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"We think we got the majority of the garbage off," he said Monday. "We still [had] a few outstanding calls, probably 15 or 20 calls today. To our knowledge, that's been picked up."
When pickup resumes Tuesday – there's no residential collection on Mondays – Mr. Harnum said he's expecting GFL's performance to improve, as it started to toward the end of last week. He said the company is tweaking routes and increasing the number of trucks it runs at the beginning of the day to 95 from its original plan of 80.
When the city ran the service with in-house employees, it used 107 trucks, Mr. Harnum said.An ISIS-inspired terror plot targeting Times Square and the city’s subways — aimed at killing “thousands’’ and making “an ocean out of their blood’’ — has been foiled, authorities said Friday.
A trio of twisted wannabe terrorists, including a US citizen, were planning to strike the city over the summer of 2016, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan, officials said.
“NY Needs to fall. It’s a must,” said Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old US citizen living in Pakistan, that May, according to court documents.
Fortunately, Haroon made the proclamation to an undercover agent — and now all three men have been busted on terror charges, the feds said.
In the spring of 2016, Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a 19-year-old Canadian, and Haroon began planning the attack over messaging apps with the undercover posing as an ISIS supporter, according to the newly unsealed complaint.
They were getting help from Russell Salic, a 37-year-old living in the Philippines who wired money to the US to fund the attack, the papers said.
On May 1, 2016, El Bahnasawy allegedly sent the undercover agent maps of the Big Apple subway system — identifying lines they could blow up with explosives.
“The 2 subway routes we will blow up will be the purple one and the green one,” he told the undercover agent, referring to the No. 7 train and the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 trains from 103rd Street to 33rd Street, according to court documents.
A few days later, Haroon told the agent the subway was the “perfect” target — and they should gun down as many straphangers as possible, including “women or kids,” the complaint said.
“When we run out of bullets, we let the vests go off,” he said, according to prosecutors.
They also set their sights on Times Square.
“We seriously need a car bomb at times square.. Look at these crowds of people!” El Bahnasawy allegedly wrote to the undercover agent on May 12, 2016.
Haroon agreed that the Crossroads of the World was “a perfect spot to hit them” and suggested that the plan could include either a drive-by “or we surround the whole street and trap them and kill as many as possible,” the complaint said.
“I wanna kill... them in thousands” Haroon allegedly told the undercover. “We have to make a ocean out of their blood.. leave no one standing.”
It wasn’t just talk, according to the complaint.
El Bahnasawy, while in Canada, purchased an array of bomb-making materials for use in the planned attacks, including approximately 40 pounds of hydrogen peroxide, batteries, Christmas lights, thermometers, and aluminum foil — all of which could be used in making explosive devices, authorities said.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Haroon told the undercover agent that he had traveled to meet with an explosives expert “for the purpose of obtaining additional information to be used in building bombs for the planned NYC attacks,” the feds said.
Haroon told the undercover that they would need “perming cords,” or detonator cords, adding that El Bahnasawy was acquiring “all that’s needed,” according to the complaint.
El Bahnasawy traveled to New Jersey on May 21 in preparation for the attack and was arrested. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges Oct. 13, 2016 and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12, 2017.
Haroon was arrested on September 2016 in Pakistan, while Salic was busted in April 2017 in the Philippines. Both are awaiting extradition to the US, the feds said.The USANA scam is a business opportunity that claims that they do everything better. I thought I would take a look into this company and see how good they are at making you money.
Usana Scam Claims
your health. your life. your way.
Everything we do helps you love life and live it and we do everything better.
A USANA business can take your life to the next level. We make it easy.
Outstanding Earning Potential!
Usana Scam Reality
USANA was founded in 1992.
There is a $29.95 start up fee and a yearly $20 renewal fee. You are required to pay them to become an independent USANA Associate.
There are two types of associates.
Non-distributing Associates: Pay taxes on the wholesale/autoship price of USANA product. They are
forbidden to retail product and must abide by USANA’s 5 customer rule by sponsoring at least 5 preferred
customers who have all made purchases during a 4 week period in order for the associate to receive a
commission from USANA.
Distributing Associates: Pay taxes on the retail price of USANA product. They are allowed to retail
USANA product and must abide by USANA’s 5 customer rule by selling product to at least 5 customers,
whether they are retail customers, preferred customers, or a combination of the two in order for the
associate to receive a commission from USANA.
Then you pay them more to open your “Business Center”. They make it easy to pay them more with various starter packs.
Basic Business Pack – Preferred Price: $305.00USD
Entrepreneur Pack – Preferred Price: $624.95USD
Professional Pack – Preferred Price: $1,250.00USD – You will earn your first $100 commission check.
“A Business Center is the hub of your business-building activity, through which your product purchases, volume, and sales accumulate; it’s similar to opening a store for your business.” No. It is not like opening a store. It is like paying to get a spot in a pyramid scheme and having money flow to you from people below you.
If you have not purchased a product pack, you need to purchase at least 200 points of USANA products to open your “Business Center”. To keep your “Business Center” open you need to purchase at least 100 points of USANA products every 4 weeks. (A point is approximately $1.20, so roughly $240 to get started and $120 every 4 weeks to keep things going.)
You must develop or service at least five customers every four-week rolling period. Then you need to have 125 in Group Sales Volume on each side of your “Business Center”.
You are now finally ready to receive commissions from USANA. – Source USANA Compensation Plan
This compensation plan in my opinion is designed to keep new associates from making commissions as long as possible by making them jump through the ridiculous hoop of having them balance Group Sales Volume points on both sides of their “Business Center”.
Let’s take a look at the USANA income statement to see your chances of making money with them.
less than 1% of associates reach full-time money making status.
Associates earning as little as one commission check a month and associated with USANA for more than six months equal only 3% of all ordering Associates.
There were 135,590 ordering associates as of the current income statement from USANA.
The average income for an ordering associate is $616.72 per year.
It is estimated that more than 80% of USANA associates drop out in the first year.
“Success with USANA results only from successful sales efforts, which require hard work, diligence, and leadership.” I guess USANA does not make it easy like they claim here.
– Source USANA Current Income Statement
USANA products may be good products, but what difference does that make when you have little chance at making significant income selling the products.
No matter what they tell you in their ads and marketing material, they think so poorly of your chances at selling the products they require you to buy the products to be able to collect a commission from them. They claim that you can just retail the products to customers and cover your required payments. Let’s take a look at your chances of selling the products to customers.
There are 78,000 Active Associates as of 2011.
There are 52,000 Active Preferred Customers as of 2011.
There are far more Associates than Preferred Customers. It is clear that it is hard to maintain even 1 Preferred Customer per Associate.
“sales to Associates account for the majority of our product sales and represented 91% of product sales during 2012.”
– Source USANA 2012 Annual Review
“Our recommendation, unless you plan to make a lot of retail sales (which few people do), would be to enroll as a non-Distributor Associate…” – Source Pete and Dora Zdanis USANA Associates
You can signup as a Preferred Customer and receive the same discounts as an Associate.
If, at any time, an Associate’s PSV falls below the minimum requirement to remain active, the Associate will no longer be eligible for commission checks or bonuses or to advance in rank. The Associate will also lose any Carryover Volume, and he or she will not carry over any volume until re-activating the BC(s). The Carryover Volume will start again at zero. – Source USANA Compensation Plan
This rule threatens associates to continue purchasing inventory. A real business would not have such ridiculous hoops to jump through. Put it this way, if an associate were to sign up 1,000 preferred customers who purchase product on a regular basis, this associate will not be paid a single penny for their work unless the associate purchases approximately $120 worth of inventory every 4 weeks.
Refund Policy
There is a 30 day 100% refund policy (shipping to you and back to USANA is not included) for the starter kit and the first order. Once you make your second order there is a 90% refund policy for 365 day (less handling and delivery charges) if the merchandise is in resalable condition.
Associates may not purchase more than they can reasonably resell or consume in any four-week rolling period – Source USANA Policies & Procedures
If you are unable to resell your products you purchase every four weeks, you will be required to consume them to keep your business active by reordering new product. If your business is unsuccessful you will have a limited amount of product left to return. This required consumption is what creates the loses for the majority of USANA associates.
Company Leadership
One of the things that really upsets me is when business people in the United States achieve success here and then change their citizenship to avoid paying income taxes.
The company’s chairman and founder, Myron Wentz, renounced his U.S. citizenship in the mid-1990s and now claims citizenship in the Caribbean tax haven of St. Kitts and Nevis. He controls a 40+% stake in Usana held by a company in the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea, which in turn, is controlled by an entity registered in Liechtenstein.
Gilbert Fuller, Usana’s chief financial officer, said Mr. Wentz renounced his U.S. citizenship because “he sees himself as a citizen of the world” and that the matter had nothing to do with the company. I do not agree with Gilbert Fuller.
– Source Wall Street Journal
Citizens of St. Kitts & Nevis enjoy tax-free income and an exemption from paying taxes on capital gains, gifts, wealth and inheritance.
http://www.invest-stkitts.com/a/citizenship-by-investment/benefits-of-stkitts-nevis-citizenship.html
USANA chairman and founder, Myron Wentz is selling millions in stocks without having to pay US income taxes. He owns 40+% of the company.
http://www.fool.com/quote/nyse/usana-health-sciences-inc/usna/insider-transactions
You may be asking yourself why is Dr. Oz on the stage with Myron Wentz? Why did Dr. Oz tour the USANA factory? Here is why in my opinion this is the case. Myron Wentz’s Charity gave $217,100 to Dr. Mehmet Oz’s HealthCorp charity in 2012. I will let you know how much he gave in 2013 when it is reported.
Here is Dr. Mehmet Oz with USANA’s Founder.
Usana Scam Conclusion
The USANA scam forces their distributors to make $100+ personal product purchases every 4 weeks (13 times a year) in order to qualify for commissions as well as hold onto any accumulated Group Sales Points (GSV). The vast majority of USANA Associates see little or no profit because there is little retail demand for the USANA products because of the Preferred Customer program. Associates earning as little as one commission check a month and associated with USANA for more than six months equal only 3% of all ordering Associates.
At the end of many USANA presentations they ask where do you see yourself? I see myself losing money with the USANA scam.
In my opinion they are using a product-based pyramid scheme to take the money of the majority of new associates and should be avoided. I believe the reason they do not share retail sales information is because this information would reveal to potential associates the reality of this scheme.
The USANA Watch Dog goes into additional detail on why they feel that USANA is an illegal pyramid scheme here: USANA Paying To RecruitFrom time to time, in my four-and-a-half years covering Northern Ireland for this site, I’ve let slip quite how fond I am of the place.
When I was studying in Dublin I was a frequent visitor to Belfast, and I’ve made good friends and happy memories in that city and across the province.
As a unionist the links between Ireland and Britain are dear to my heart but, until recently, I’ve been rather resigned to the fact that Ulster, boxed away behind the dire combination of very extensive devolution and an entirely separate party system, does not feature much at all in mainland thinking.
That’s why, despite my own social liberalism, I remain so optimistic about the prospect of the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionists, Northern Ireland’s biggest party, collaborating in a relatively high-profile way in running this country – and why I’ve been so appalled by the coverage this prospect has received.
First, a quick note: the two parties have actually been building up closer relations since the Brexit vote. As the DUP backed Brexit the usual disown-and-demand model of devolved politics has given way to a quite consistent partnership in Parliament.
This was all behind the scenes, however, which meant that it still didn’t do much to raise the profile of Northern Ireland in British discourse. The prospect of the DUP propping up a minority Conservative administration has certainly changed that. Unfortunately, it has highlighted nothing so much as the complete dearth of understanding of Northern Irish issues on the mainland.
There are two broad schools of problematic criticism of the Conservative/DUP arrangement: that rooted in ignorance, and that which amounts to hysteria at best and outright deception at worst from people who should know better.
In the former camp you’ll find most coverage of the party’s social conservatism. It’s a legitimate target for criticism, but too many ignore (or simply aren’t aware) that such attitudes are shared in large part by the province’s other parties – including the SDLP, who took the Labour whip until they were wiped out last week – and are reflective of a substantial body of Ulster opinion.
You may believe that such freedoms should be available to all British citizens regardless of variance in local opinion. That’s certainly my view, but in which case focus your criticism on whoever it was that decided to devolve control over liberties issues.
Such attacks often also claim that LGBT rights on the mainland may be in jeopardy, despite the fact that such social issues feature not once in the DUP’s quite extensive plans for such negotiations as these (which, typically and problematically, relatively few over here will have read).
More insidious than this have been some of the interventions by politicians of the Good Friday Agreement generation, particularly John Major and Jonathan Powell, who was one of the senior people on Northern Irish issues in Tony Blair’s government.
The former Prime Minister has made some quite reasonable points – such as the fact that big payments to Ulster may cause resentment in other parts of the United Kingdom – but he has also claimed that a Tory-DUP arrangements may see a return to violence in the province. The so-called “ghosts of Labour past” are backing him up.
That’s not only straightforward nonsense (aside from pre-existing dissident activity there is no suggestion of a major IRA re-armament) but a slur on a country which has come a very long way since Major’s time but still struggles with a public image dominated by the Troubles.
Such a line finds ready echoes because the easiest way for somebody to look like they know what they’re talking about when it comes to Northern Ireland (without doing the research) is to furrow their brow and say how concerned they are about the “peace process”, whatever they think that is.
But it’s especially damaging coming from someone like Sir John, who will likely be taken seriously by people considering investing in the province. Careless talk could cost jobs.
Less insulting, but just as potentially damaging, is the idea that the Good Friday Agreement effectively prohibits Northern Irish parties from taking part in, or otherwise supporting, a British Government. This is basically Sinn Fein’s position, and it’s not hard to see why, but it should be apparent that any arrangement which locked Northern Irish politicians out of national life would be unfit for purpose.
Does the DUP hold problematic positions? Yes it does. Does having them so involved in UK-level government pose new challenges to the constitutional settlement? Again, yes. But these problems are not insurmountable – and will only ever be surmounted if we drop the shrieking and snobbery and deign to engage with the elected representatives of one of the Home Nations.
The best single corrective we can all make is to pay more attention to Northern Irish voices (and not just those being commissioned by mainland editors) – particularly unionists, who will help to balance the strongly negative balance of coverage.
Following the likes of Mick Fealty (see his excellent series of DUP myth-busting posts), Sam McBride, Newton Emerson, and Ben Lowry, and reading threads like this one from a Northern Irish BBC producer, will do more to enhance your understanding of the issues and personalities running through Ulster politics than any volume of London copy.
And if you want a more complete media view, there’s the three provincial papers: the News Letter and Belfast Telegraph, which both lean unionist, and the nationalist-flavoured Irish News.
(Obviously don’t make such a habit of them that you no longer need this column to keep abreast of devolved issues!)
Remember too that influence cuts both ways: the DUP will have seen how the ferocious backlash caused by their social conservatism is limiting their leverage in London. The prospect of a stronger hand at Westminster may help to empower the more socially progressive wing of the party’s next generation – and illustrate the folly of playing along with the short-term, ‘little Ulster’ politics which has left them so cut off from British opinion.
Building relationships with Ulster legislators is much more likely to pull Northern Ireland towards British norms than vice-versa. Perhaps that’s why Jeffrey Dudgeon, one of the province’s pre-eminent gay rights campaigners, sees “no problem” with a Conservative-DUP pact.
Ultimately, though, this is about more than just the Democratic Unionist Party: it’s about Northern Ireland and how we treat it.
For all its faults, the province has come a very long way since the 1990s and is a lovely and under-appreciated corner of our country. It’s disgraceful that those posing as voices of reason and experience on this subject (and for too many Ulster is more an issue than a place) are being allowed by an under-informed London media to misrepresent it as an unstable tinderbox whose representatives have no proper role in governing the United Kingdom of which they remain, by choice, a part.
There’s much to admire about Major, and he’s certainly an under-appreciated Prime Minister whose unionist and peace-making credentials are not in doubt. That only makes his talking up the prospect of a return to violence in Northern Ireland the more disgraceful. He ought to reflect, and apologise.VEGAS (September 11, 2017) - Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee announced today, September 11, the official roster and schedule for the team's 2017 Training Camp, which opens on Thursday, September 14 at City National Arena. Please note that the roster and schedule is subject to change.
Practice sessions are free and open to the public on a RSVP basis. Fans can reserve a spot to watch training camp sessions by clicking here. Please note the sessions on Friday, September 15, and Saturday, September 16, are not available due to early RSVPs from season ticket members. Fans who do not RSVP will not be guaranteed admittance.
The Golden Knights are also expected to hold their first official Media Day on October 4. Full details will be announced at a later date.Back in 2013, when Olivier Blanchard presented a paper on Latvia at the Brookings Panel, many of the participants were bemused: why was the august panel devoting so much time to a country with the population of Brooklyn? But Latvia was, for a time, the great poster child for austerity.
Even then, as many of us pointed out (I was one of Olivier’s discussants) that role rested on shaky foundations; the main really good news about Latvia, rapid productivity growth, arguably had more to do with the catchup of a very poor country by European standards than with macro policy.
And now, as Frances Coppola notes, the era of rapid bounce back has stalled out. Here’s Latvia as compared with another small peripheral economy (even fewer people, although comparable GDP) that followed very different policies:
Photo
And no, Latvia’s rapid pre-crisis growth says nothing at all about the success of its post-crisis policies — if anything, it should set the bar for success higher.
Truly, nothing much here to justify all that triumphalism.on •
(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)
Today, we take a look at the AL Central. Previews are given in alphabetical order; standings predictions will be released before Opening Day.
Chicago White Sox
2016 Record: 78-84 (4th in AL Central, missed playoffs)
2016 Payroll: $141,208,186 (16th)
Offseason Moves: White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn did just about everything he could this past winter to give his fan base a reason for optimism, a feeling the South Side faithful haven’t experienced for years. The wins won’t pile up in 2017, but trades with the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals officially branded the White Sox as rebuilders and set them up for success in 2020. Hahn dealt ace Chris Sale to Boston for top prospect Yoan Moncada, outfielder Luis Basabe, and RHPs Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz. A day later, the tear-down continued, with Chicago dishing leadoff man Adam Eaton |
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